 Marco Collins: The Flannel Years
This is Marco Collins' on-going column for
FadedFlannel.com. Marco was Music Director of Seattle's
Alternative Radio Station, KNDD/The End, when it first signed on in
1991 thru 1997. During this period, the Seattle Music Scene
exploded as did the radio station he helped obtain #1 ratings
for...the first such Alternative Station to do so and still one of but
three in history. Marco has also worked with MTV Networks, 91X in
San Diego, Live 105 San Francisco, KWOD in Sacramento and Slacker Radio.
SUPERFUZZ
BIGMUFF
INDEED
When asked to write a column for Faded
Flannel, I was
at first hesitant on being associated with anything “faded”. I
then got over my bad self and decided that I had
some great memories
of Seattle in the 90’s and the radio station that I helped launch:
“107.7 The
End”.
The station was born in 1991… right before
“Nevermind” and
“Ten” came out. I moved from San Diego
sunshine to Seattle drizzle to be part of a scene that I had admired
for
years. I was a Sub Pop fan and a member
of the Sub Pop singles club (I still have the first, very rare,
Soundgarden green
vinyl 7”!) I was a HUGE Mudhoney fan and
couldn’t wait to land in the Emerald City. The
only people I knew in Seattle were Matt Cameron,
Chris Cornell,
Susan Silver and Kathy from KCMU.
Little did I know that a musical revolution would
evolve and
grow to global proportions by the end of ’91! The
story has been documented by a million writers
and directors, so I
won’t bore you with history. I do,
however, have some great stories that will make for an interesting,
on-going,
column.
 The thing that I always admired about Seattle
was its
naivety. It’s a city that never fully
realized how huge the buzz really was. The
musicians actually hung out together, went to
shows together, drank
beer together and played kick ball together.
One of my first
“wow” experiences was centered on just
that. A
kickball game. Nils Bernstein was
one of the mainstays of
the scene. He ran the Nirvana fanclub, owned his own indie record
store, and
seemed to be the “mayor” of the Seattle scene. It seemed that almost
every "get
together" started at Nil’s Capitol Hill apartment.
One Saturday afternoon, Nils had people over to drink
some
beer… read some Nirvana fan letters, listen to music, and play kickball. I remember being in the middle of a muddy
field and looking around at the players: Dan Peters (Mudhoney), Bob
Whittaker
(Mudhoney), Kim Warnick (Fastbacks), Rusty Willoughby (Pure Joy/ Flop),
Kurt
Bloch (Young Fresh Fellows/ Fastbacks), and Kim Thayil
(Soundgarden).
Holy shit. Act as
if. Just drink some more beer and
pretend that you’re not totally fuckin enamored of ALL THESE MUSICIANS! These people are really friends and hang
out! It was an amazing introduction to
one of the most amazing music and art scenes in the world and there
were plenty
of amazing experiences just like this…
'Til next month,
Marco
MySpace.com/MarcoCollins
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