About a month ago, when Foo Fighters Dave Grohl and Taylor Hawkins appeared on “The Howard Stern Show” to promote Wasting Light, the King of All Media repeatedly pressed Grohl about the fat cash he made while drumming for Nirvana. At some point, the discussion turned to the Nirvana drummer who preceded Grohl, Dale Crover, and how bitter he must be over quitting the band pre-Nevermind. Stern was somewhat obsessed with the notion of an angry, regretful Crover; this morning, however, the long-standing Melvins percussionist called into Stern’s show and proved he’s just the opposite.
“Don’t you wake up every morning and say, ‘SHIT! I coulda been retired!’? Stern pointedly asked Crover (pictured). “You would have had I don’t know how many millions of dollars…”
“The millions of dollars would have been nice,” the easy-going Crover, who gave up a brief 1990 stint in Nirvana to focus solely on the Melvins, replied. “But, you know, the Nirvana story is truly a rags to riches story with an unhappy ending…in the end, somebody’s dead.”
“Everything’s worked out fine for me,” Crover went on to say. “Even though I didn’t play on Nevermind, I play on three of their records and I get paid for those records. I got the best of both worlds. I got to stay with my band and play with my friends’ band.”
Crover’s association with Nirvana actually goes back to the mid-eighties, when he played bass in Kurt Cobain’s fledgling punk band Fecal Matter. The drummer also lent his talents to a 1988 demo that scored Nirvana their Sub Pop record deal.
When needled by a still-disbelieving Stern about exactly how much money he’s garnered from performances featured on Bleach, Incesticide, and With The Lights Out, Crover confirmed that Nirvana has made him a “thousandaire” who hasn’t needed a non-music job since 1991.
Stern then kept Crover on the phone as he played a few selections from the upcoming Melvins live album, Sugar Daddy. Co-host Robin Quivers mirrored mainstream America’s general response over the years to the Melvins and their sludgy, inward material as “Nude With Boots” began (“Are you playing the end of the song?” she innocently inquired). Although Stern and his posse seemed more or less unmoved by what they were hearing, a handful of zealous Melvins fans called in during the segment to sing the legendary band’s praises.
A brief discussion of Osama bin Laden at the top of the interview found Dale Crover “really happy to see” the al-Qaeda leader killed, rhetorically asking, “Was everybody unhappy when Hitler died? No.” Dale Crover, true patriot.
Hear the entire interview below.
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