Listen to Kurt Cobain’s Unearthed 1988 Mix Tape
It’s been known for a long time now that Kurt Cobain wasn’t just a fan of punk rock, or just a fan of The Beatles and The Pixies. Now, the details of a 1988 mix tape created by the fallen Nirvana frontman have proven this.
Titled Montage of Heck, this sonic exploration was – according to United Mutations –assembled upon a 4-track cassette recorder. It “features sounds from Kurt’s extensive and bizarre record collection,” as well as manipulated radio recordings, random sounds created by Cobain, not to mention “elements of Nirvana demos.”
Upon this recording is a diverse field of artists including John Denver, The Jackson Five, William Shatner, to Van Halen, Metallica, Queen, and Iron Maiden.
This in-stereo collection runs for 36 minutes, but reportedly a mono, eight-minute version was also assembled.
You can listen to the big version of Montage Of Heck – and view its tracklisting – below:
Montage of Heck Tracklisting:
“The Men In My Little Girl’s Life” by Mike Douglas
“The Sounds of Silence” by Simon & Garfunkel
“Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!” by The Beatles
“A Day In The Life” by The Beatles
“Eruption” by Van Halen
“Hot Pants” by James Brown
“Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves” by Cher
“Go Away Little Girl” by Donny Osmond
“Rocky Mountain High” by John Denver
“Everybody Loves Somebody” by Dean Martin
“The Candy Man” by Sammy Davis, Jr.
“In A Gadda Da Vida” by Iron Butterfly
“Wild Thing” by William Shatner
“Taxman” by The Beatles
“I Think I Love You” by The Partridge Family
“Are You a Boy or Are You a Girl?” by The Barbarians
“Queen Of The Reich” by Queensryche
“Last Caress/Green Hell” covered by Metallica
“Whole Lotta Love” by Led Zeppelin
“Get Down, Make Love” by Queen
“ABC” by The Jackson Five
“I Want Your Sex” by George Michael
“Run to the Hills” by Iron Maiden
“Eye Of The Chicken” by Butthole Surfers
“Dance of the Cobra” by Butthole Surfers
“The Shah Sleeps in Lee Harvey’s Grave” by Butthole Surfers
“New Age” by The Velvet Underground
“Love Buzz” by Shocking Blue
Orchestral music from 200 Motels by Frank Zappa
“Help I’m A Rock” / “It Can’t Happen Here” by Frank Zappa
“Call Any Vegetable” by Frank Zappa
“The Day We Fall In Love” by The Monkees
“Sweet Leaf” by Black Sabbath (intro)
Theme from The Andy Griffith Show
Mike Love (of The Beach Boys) talking about “Transcendental Meditation”
Excerpts of Jimi Hendrix speaking at the Monterey Pop Festival
Excerpts of Paul Stanley from KISS’ Alive!
Excerpts of Daniel Johnston screaming about Satan
Excerpts from sound effects records
Various children’s records (Curious George, Sesame Street, The Flintstones, Star Wars).
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