Cobain Continues: A Kurt Cobain Survives Collaborative Timeline

AltHistoryNerd

Feburary 7th: The first single from Double Cross is played at a surprise concert in Seattle. Many people showed up to the concert, presumably to boo either the new lineup of Hole or the band itself.

Much to the surprise of the audience, Susan Wallace, Meriel Barham and Kelly Deal are all on stage with the remaining members of Hole. The added presence of Susan Wallace's keyboards combined with the soothing but eerie voice of Meriel Barham and the screaming vocals of Kelly Deal add a unique sort of dark and depressing rage to Hole's already angry sound.

To everybody's surprise, Hole announces to the audience that Susan Wallace and Meriel Barham are going to be guest musicians on the album, and Hole will be auditioning for a new, permanent keyboardist in the near future. But the new interim lead singer of Hole is now Kelly Deal of the Breeders.

The critical acclaim was great. A hastily put together single from the concert was then published. The single is now #5 on the Modern Rock Charts.
 

TheGuyWhoHeartsHistory

February 9th, 1996: Panic skyrockets when Courtney Love is found missing from her room in the Seattle psychiatric facility she was spending six months observation at. Police begin the investigation to find Love, but have not been successful.

February 11th, 1996: Cobain is informed of Love's disappearance and asserts that while he is unaware of her whereabouts that he hopes she can be located and taken back to treatment so she doesn't endanger herself.
 

AltHistoryNerd

February 13th, 1996: Courtney Love is found outside the home of one of her ex bandmates. The police arrive and they take Love into King County Medical center, where she is readmitted into full hospitalization. Her bandmates then show the police a profanity laced e-mail.

The text of the e-mail looks like this.

From: CourtneyCakeHole@AOL.Com
To: BassFaceInSpace@AOL.com

YOU F**** TRADER! AFTER ALL I GAVE TO THE BAND, YOU F***** REPLACE ME! THE NEW LEAD SINGER WAS SUPPOSED TO FILL MY SHOES IN TEMPERARILLY UNTIL I GOT BETTER! WHY THE HELL DID YOU GET 3 B*** WHO CLEARLY DO NOT WANT TO BE A FILL-IN TO REPLACE ME!? YOU ARE THE REAL DOUBLE CROSSERS!!!

Her commitment hearing is set for March 13th. She is expected to be committed to a full time mental institution for the rest of her treatment.
 

TheGuyWhoHeartsHistory

February 16th, 1996: Cobain is informed that Love has been returned to King County Medical Center and is relieved that she won't be able to "pull any shit on the kids while I'm in Europe."
 

TheGuyWhoHeartsHistory

February 19th, 1996: Cobain officially calls off any hope of reconciling with Love, citing her as a: "Total lunatic, and not good to have around." He however, offends many conservatives after he compares her behavior to: "Ol' Ronnie [Ronald Reagan] as of late. I doubt either of them are coherent enough to understand what I'm saying! Like he [Reagan] ever was, though."
 
Last edited:

TheGuyWhoHeartsHistory

February 20th, 1996: Cobain departs for his European Mist tour.

February 21st, 1996: Up and coming singer-songwriter Jared Leto is found dead in his apartment in Los Angeles at the age of 24. An autopsy should bring results within a week.
 

AltHistoryNerd

I'm telling you straight out, it's not easy to escape from a psych ward, especially when you're under civil commitment. These are what sociologists like to call "total institutions". During a horrible breakup, I had to voluntarily commit myself to an institution. Pretty much, the floors are at least 5 stories up (You can't simply smash a window and climb out), the doors to the hospital are locked and all your property is locked in a locker. You're also given a uniform, so if you do escape, you'd be easily identified.

You can't drive away after you're caught, because they have your car keys. You can't call a friend to break you out because they listen to your conversations. If they suspect you're trying to escape, they simply will revoke your phone privileges. If you actually do escape, you're committing a misdemeanor, and you will be treated as a fugitive of the law. If you call a friend to bust you out, your friend is committing a felony. Think of it as being thrown in prison, except once you get out, you won't have a criminal record.

And escaping the country, especially when you're a high profile celebrity as Courtney Love, isn't going to happen when you're under a civil commitment. Even if you make it out of the hospital (You'd be considered a fugitive once you do so) people will figure out who she is. If she makes it as far as the UK, the UK government will find out who she is eventually and swiftly deport her since she's a danger to herself and those around her. She wouldn't even make it past the taxi. She's Courtney Love and she's trying to escape a psych ward in Northwestern Washington.

She's going to be locked away for a very long time. Give it about half a year before she's even allowed to go on a walk around the hospital grounds. And seeing how she has a history of chemical dependency and terroristic threats, give it a full year before she's released from being committed.

It's over for her.
 

TheGuyWhoHeartsHistory

AltHistoryNerd said:
I'm telling you straight out, it's not easy to escape from a psych ward, especially when you're under civil commitment. These are what sociologists like to call "total institutions". During a horrible breakup, I had to voluntarily commit myself to an institution. Pretty much, the floors are at least 5 stories up (You can't simply smash a window and climb out), the doors to the hospital are locked and all your property is locked in a locker. You're also given a uniform, so if you do escape, you'd be easily identified.

You can't drive away after you're caught, because they have your car keys. You can't call a friend to break you out because they listen to your conversations. If they suspect you're trying to escape, they simply will revoke your phone privileges. If you actually do escape, you're committing a misdemeanor, and you will be treated as a fugitive of the law. If you call a friend to bust you out, your friend is committing a felony. Think of it as being thrown in prison, except once you get out, you won't have a criminal record.

And escaping the country, especially when you're a high profile celebrity as Courtney Love, isn't going to happen when you're under a civil commitment. Even if you make it out of the hospital (You'd be considered a fugitive once you do so) people will figure out who she is. If she makes it as far as the UK, the UK government will find out who she is eventually and swiftly deport her since she's a danger to herself and those around her. She wouldn't even make it past the taxi. She's Courtney Love and she's trying to escape a psych ward in Northwestern Washington.

She's going to be locked away for a very long time. Give it about half a year before she's even allowed to go on a walk around the hospital grounds. And seeing how she has a history of chemical dependency and terroristic threats, give it a full year before she's released from being committed.

It's over for her.
Click to expand...

I understand your concerns for realism, but I personally like the possible tension this causes and for that reason, am choosing to keep this storyline in the collaboration. Besides, there's another reason why I'm keeping it that I'll tell you about in private chat. Additionally, rapper Ol Dirty Bastard was able to escape from rehab for a month once without being detected, so that's why I'm justifying the escape as well.
 

AltHistoryNerd

March 2, 1996: Galaxie by Blind Melon hits #2 on the Modern Rock Charts. It's having trouble knocking off the live performance by Kelly Deal and Hole from the top spot.
 

TheGuyWhoHeartsHistory

March 10th, 1996: At a performance in London, England during his Mist tour, Cobain performs the controversial opening track "Scattified", which he claims has "absolutely nothing to do with shit!"

March 13th, 1996: Green Day front-man Billie Joe Armstrong accuses Cobain of ripping off the Mist album title from Green Day's hit album Dookie, but Cobain asserts it was pure coincidence. Although Armstrong believes Cobain and lets go of the hostility, many Green Day fans jump on a bandwagon against Cobain and Nirvana, believing them to be "hack posers".

March 16th, 1996: At a Green Day concert in NYC, many of the fans erupt in violent rage after a number of Nirvana fans hijacked the concert. Rolling Stones writer Tom McBane dubs the recent animosity between Nirvana and Green Day fans as the "Grunge vs. Punk War".

March 18th, 1996: On AOL, the tension rises even more as several posters by the names of "PunkisBest932" and "FuckGrunge421" declare grunge fans: "sadfags".
 
Last edited:

Llamastrangler

Colonel Zoidberg said:
I hate to blow the ASB horn on this, since I like Nirvana's music and respect Cobain, but an established heroin addict choosing Robitussin doesn't make any sense. My wife directs a rehab facility, and she's seen firsthand how damn near impossible it is to get people - never mind hardened addicts - off heroin, the stuff that sends a shudder down her spine. And given how much goddamn heroin Cobain was taking, he was basically the equivalent of the alcoholic who washes down a case of beer with a bottle of Everclear and a moonshine enema.

Realistically, if you want to stop Cobain's death, the POD needs to be in 1986 when he first tried heroin. Part of the problem was that he played a left-handed guitar despite being right-handed. That led to the pain that led him to use heroin. My suggestion is to turn him into, as my best friend describes himself, a functioning pothead.
Click to expand...

Hope I'm not causing problems- I'm enjoying this TL muchly as a true Nirvana geek. But...

I'm afraid this won't really wash either. I'm aware of the story about Kurt first taking heroin in 1986- it appeared in Michael Azzerad's authorised biography Come as You Are in, I think, 1993- but Charles Cross seems to debunk it quite convincingly in Heavier Than Heaven, a must read. Kurt Cobain could be a bit "post-truth" when talking to journalists about himself, and it doesn't help that he had a highly developed sense of irony. It's likely that he started on the heroin in late '91 or early '92. Oh, and he was a regular pot smoker anyway.
 

TheGuyWhoHeartsHistory

March 25th, 1996: At a performance in Paris, France, Cobain is harassed by several Green Day fans who snuck into the concert, calling him : "The stupid sadfag king!" Cobain restrains himself on the stage, but admits in a later interview that dealing with the hecklers made him: "Want to beat the fucking shit out of them! It's meatheads like these that made me want to go into music, just so I could write songs they wouldn't like! At the same time, I didn't think they'd take this shit THIS seriously! Rockstars aren't role models, so if they think we're going to give these idiots some sort of life inspiration, they need to go back to their psychiatrists and stop taking the wisdom of "tortured artists".

March 27th, 1996: Guns 'N' Roses frontman Axl Rose is amused by the latest controversy surrounding the "grunge vs. punk" war, noting that: "It's funny that people are actually listening to the whiny, poorly dressed bitch. I knew him back when he was just a punk in Seattle and now people actually believe he's some sort of guru? Who would've thought!" Rose states that him and Guns 'N' Roses are going to begin production on a new album inspired by the changing rock climate, one that'll heavily "tear into shit like grunge and "genius lyrics".
 
Last edited:

AltHistoryNerd

March 29th, 1996: the nationally renowned KREV/WREV/KFCE in Minneapolis/Saint Paul, MN is sold to CBS Radio inc. The alternative music format of Rev105 is moved over to now sister station KMJZ. KMJZ is now rebranded as the New KJ104. The new Alternative format now includes a heavy rotation of hard rock/industrial alternative acts such as Korn, Nine Inch Nails and Marylin Manson as well as locally based national acts like Soul Asylum, Bob Mould and Semisonic. The smooth jazz format is then adopted by the tri-cast and is now rebranded as Cafe105. CBS radio heard rumors of ABC Radio buying Rev105 and switching it over to hard rock to stem off what was going to be a hard rock/heavy metal revival wave. CBS, wanting to get into what is looking to shape up to be a diverse scene in rock music, as well as being a de-facto auditioning ground for Midwestern bands who want to sign with the newly established Columbia Records. CBS bids 2 million dollars more than ABC for the tri-cast.

KJ104 starts out with a bang. They debut Kurt Cobain's new single "Mist", followed by the title track of the Kelly Deal-coupled Hole's new album.

April 2, 1996: KEGE, KREV's rival station, rebrands itself as "The New 93X" and switches to a heavy metal-alternative format. Like 93X, the station is also used as an auditioning ground for new acts, this time, for ABC's record company. CBS and ABC continue their rivalry around other markets, either retooling their current alternative/rock stations or buying new alternative/rock stations. CBS is rumored to lean towards alternative and punk while ABC stations are leaning towards rap rock and metal.

This is the start of a rock 'n roll war.
 
Last edited:

TheGuyWhoHeartsHistory

April 5th, 1996: Cobain announces that on his next studio album, he will be using a song written by his daughter, which he feels unintentionally could convey a message with its somewhat metaphorical lyrics.

April 8th, 1996: Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters writes a piece for their next album entitled "Cobainity Insanity", regarding the feelings he has towards his former Nirvana bandmate. However, despite the seemingly negative title, Grohl asserts that he means insanity in a positive way.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top
Top