smokeofhell.jpgYour Sound rock history devotee is headed to a foreign land for two weeks, so the current “This Week” is a selection of events from the next month (or so) in Seattle’s rock past. We’ll return to our regularly scheduled “History” next month.

1985: September 1
C/Z Records releases the legendary Deep Six compilation
Several months before Sub Pop issues its debut LP, Sub Pop 100, C/Z Records announces its indie existence with the prescient Deep Six compilation. Featuring a half-dozen local bands (Green River, the Melvins, Skin Yard, Soundgarden, Malfunkshun and the U-Men), the album highlights a heavy, sludgy rock style that will soon be labeled the “Seattle Sound.” Though Green River and the U-men had already seen a few of their songs pressed into vinyl, the other four bands hadn’t been professionally recorded before Deep Six—produced by Chris Hanzsek and Tina Casale—was released.

1993: September 3
Pearl Jam dominates the MTV Video Music Awards
Nominated for five awards, Pearl Jam takes home four—more than any other group or artist. The band wins Best Video Of The Year, Best Group Video, and Best Metal/Hard Rock Video for their Ten hit “Jeremy,” while director Mark Pellington wins Best Direction in a Video for helming the controversial piece. Pearl Jam doesn’t perform the song at the actual show, though; they play the fast, furious “Animal” from their upcoming second release, Vs., and Neil Young’s “Rockin’ in the Free World.” Young, a surprise special guest, rocks with the band. Pearl Jam doesn’t release another video until 1998, when comics artist Todd McFarlane creates one for Yield’s “Do the Evolution.”

1992: September 4
The Supersuckers’ first album, The Smoke of Hell, is released
Tucson, Arizona’s loud, raunchy Supersuckers’ 1989 move to Seattle pays off when they sign with Sub Pop and see their first studio album, The Smoke of Hell, hit record stores. Bassist and singer Eddie Spaghetti says of Hell, “It was the first time we ever went into a recording studio knowing that we were going to make a full-on record. Recorded and mixed in three days in the same studio that Nirvana recorded Bleach, it still stands up as our announcement to the rock world that we have arrived. Hats’ off to [producer] Jack Endino for making sense of what we were doing. A bunch of shit-ass kids with some great songs and some lousy equipment.”

1979: September 8
The Show Box Theater reinvents itself, becomes rock-friendly
Opening in 1939 and hosting genres and acts as varied as burlesque, jazz and punk, the Show Box Theater becomes the Showbox and begins to host New Wave artists. Magazine, a British New Wave band, plays the historic venue on September 8, 1979, ushering in a rock music trend that revived the Showbox. Gigs by the Police, the Jam and the Psychedelic Furs (among many others) are soon to follow.

1992: September 8
The Screaming Trees’ Sweet Oblivion hits shelves
Three months after the Trees’ “Nearly Lost You” appears on the Seattle-music-scene-highlighting (and platinum-selling) Singles soundtrack, the band issues their sixth studio album. Thanks to the Singles exposure, Sweet Oblivion sells more than 300K copies and brings the band as close to mainstream success as they’ll get. It’s also the band’s first album with Barrett Martin (Skin Yard) behind the drum kit, replacing original drummer Mark Pickerel. Despite the album’s modest success, the Screaming Trees don’t release another album—which will be their last—for four years.

2001: September 11
Bayleaf, Stone Gossard’s solo debut, is released
Pearl Jam guitarist Stone Gossard, after 15+ years as a professional musician, sees his first solo effort through to release—only to be instantly and understandably forgotten, as the horrible events of 9/11/01 unfold. Bayleaf is a product of Gossard’s close work with local folk-rocker Pete Droge, and features the co-producer’s vocals (along with Ty Wilman’s) on several tracks. Gossard not only handles the majority of lead vocals, but plays guitars, bass and drums on the album. The songs themselves touch on multiple genres and styles, the least of which resemble the work of his everyday band.

1970: September 18
Jimi Hendrix dies in London’s Samarkand Hotel
Just over three years after the Jimi Hendrix Experience plays the Monterey Pop Festival and—finally—gains notoriety in the US, Hendrix is found dead in girlfriend Monika Dannemann’s rented flat at the Samarkand Hotel. While the cause of death is initially unknown, and rumors fly that the flamboyant guitarist and singer committed suicide or was murdered, it is soon determined that Hendrix, after taking sleeping medication, drowned in his own vomit. Like fellow Seattle rock icon Kurt Cobain, Hendrix is just 27 when he passes.

1992: September 18
Cameron Crowe’s Seattle-set Singles hits theaters
Though Cameron Crowe’s directorial debut, Say Anything…, is set in Seattle, his next effort focuses on the city’s then-explosively famous rock scene … and still-problematic transportation issues. The romantic comedy stars Campbell Scott, Bridget Fonda, Matt Dillon and Kyra Sedgwick, and features flannel, long hair, Chris Cornell, members of Pearl Jam (Mookie Blaylock at the time of filming) and live appearances by Alice in Chains and Soundgarden. Its soundtrack, released several months earlier, mines local talent, too; included are songs by Mother Love Bone, Mudhoney, the Screaming Trees, Pearl Jam and Jimi Hendrix. Crowe gains fame with his next film, Jerry Maguire, and does not set his subsequent films (to date) in Seattle.

1992: September 20
Pearl Jam plays free show at Magnuson Park
Originally planned for May 20 at Gas Works Park but delayed due to a rejected city permit, Pearl Jam’s free daytime show attracts nearly 30,000 people to Magnuson Park. Supporting the band are local musicians Pete Droge, Jim Rose and Shawn Smith, and hip hop group Cypress Hill, among other acts. Pearl Jam’s 70-minute set concludes with a cover of Neil Young’s “Rockin’ in the Free World.” The Rock the Vote event encourages “approximately 3,000 young people to register to vote.” Pearl Jam doesn’t play Seattle again for over a year.

Happy B-day: Soundgarden’s Kim Thayil (September 4); Sleater-Kinney’s Carrie Brownstein (September 27); PUSA’s Dave Dederer (October 5)

*During its grunge days, “Seattle” was anywhere from Aberdeen to Ellensburg. That’s our measurement.