'Smells like Teen Spirit' - Band gets out of trouble

Thirty years since one of the most well-known album covers in history was made –  its  makers were sued in Court but got relief.

Load up on guns, bring your friends .. .It's fun to lose and to pretend

She's over bored and self assured .. .. Oh no, I know a dirty word

-      Song ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ by Nirvana.

In my school days, had heard of Western music and elites used to speak about troupes like ‘Abba’ and ‘Boney M’ !  ..  then in 1980s came the group ‘Osibisa’ – a  Ghanaian-English Afro rock band, founded in London in 1969 by four expatriate West African and three Caribbean musicians. One of their famous songs was ‘kilele!, kielele!!’ .. ..  I think, they performed and rocked loud at Nehru stadium.  

Nirvana is  an American rock band formed in Aberdeen, Washington, in 1987. Founded by lead singer and guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic, the band went through a succession of drummers, most notably Chad Channing, before recruiting Dave Grohl in 1990. Nirvana's success popularized alternative rock, and they were often referenced as the figurehead band of Generation X. Their music maintains a popular following and continues to influence modern rock culture. Nirvana found unexpected mainstream success with "Smells Like Teen Spirit", the first single from their landmark second album Nevermind (1991).  

Nevermind is the second studio album by the American rock band Nirvana, released in Sept, 1991, by DGC Records. It was Nirvana's first release on a major label and the first to feature drummer Dave Grohl.  Written primarily by frontman Kurt Cobain, the album is noted for channeling a range of emotions, being noted as dark, humorous, and disturbing.  Nevermind became an unexpected critical and commercial success, charting highly on charts across the world.  Nevermind and its singles' success propelled Nirvana to being widely regarded as one of the  biggest bands in the world.

Spencer Elden was the baby on the front of the 1991 Nirvana album Nevermind and to mark the anniversary he's made the iconic picture again. But this time clothes were involved. "I said to the photographer, 'Let's do it naked.' But he thought that would be weird, so I wore my swim shorts," Spencer told the New York Post. The man who was pictured as a baby on the cover of Nirvana's Nevermind album revived his lawsuit against the band after his initial complaint was dismissed by a judge. Spencer Elden, who claimed the photo constituted child pornography, filed papers, meeting a deadline set by the judge to reinstate his case.  He stated that the photo, in which he is pictured nude in a swimming pool, had caused "permanent emotional distress".

Elden, previously had his case thrown out after failing to respond to a motion to dismiss, filed by Nirvana and their co-defendants last month. The amended complaint dropped a claim that the creation of the photograph entailed the sex trafficking of Elden when he was a baby. A US judge dismissed lawsuit against Nirvana over the band's iconic 1991 album cover which showed him naked as a baby. Spencer Elden, 31, said his appearance on the front of the Nevermind record constituted child sexual abuse. But the judge said he had left it too late to claim he had been exploited. The lawsuit focused on a photograph of Mr Elden, which depicted him swimming naked in a pool towards a dollar bill pierced with a fish hook.

He argued that he had been unable to consent to the picture being used. He was seeking $150,000 (£130,000) in damages. Photographer Kirk Weddle was among the defendants, as were former Nirvana members Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic, as well as Courtney Love, the widow of late singer Kurt Cobain. Mr Elden filed his case in 2021, arguing that he was still within his rights to complain about the decades-old image because it had continued to cause him distress and lost earnings into adulthood. The lawsuit was dismissed and then re-filed in January.

The Los Angeles judge ruled on Friday that Mr Elden lodged his case well beyond the 10-year statute of limitations. Welcoming the verdict, a defence lawyer said the case had been "meritless". The defence had argued that Mr Elden had enjoyed being the "Nirvana baby", noting that he had re-enacted the photograph in later life. Mr Elden's parents were paid $200 (£173) for the photo in 1991 by what was then a relatively unknown band.  Worldwide sales of Nevermind went on to surpass 30 million, making it one of the best-selling albums of all time.

Interesting ! 

With regards – S. Sampathkumar
5^th Sept. 2022.