MTV had an idea for Dave Grohl to take center stage and front Nirvana to perform the B-side “Marigold” on MTV Unplugged in 1993 as an encore, according to a new The Ringer article.
Beth McCarthy-Miller: I will never forget those last [Where Did You Sleep Last Night] vocals. I can hear them in my head right now. And his face …
Scott Litt: The drag for me was that I was in the sound booth for the recording of the show, so I wasn’t in the room as he did that. But seeing him on the monitor right in front of me kind of freaked me out.
Bobcat Goldthwait: I remember being backstage and, I’m not sure if it was MTV or the management, they were trying to get them to come back out to do more songs, and I remember saying to Kurt, “Well, I don’t really think you’re gonna top that. I think you’re done.” I remember saying that. What was the point?
Alex Coletti: I was standing just off to the side of the stage. I said, “Is there anything else you guys wanna do? Now’s the time. You’re not gonna get to do this again.” And they listened and they weren’t just dismissing it. And I threw out “Verse Chorus Verse,” and there was one song that was a B-side that Dave sang, “Marigold.”
So honestly, I wasn’t doing what MTV wanted, which was getting hits. I was throwing out obscure stuff. Just stuff I thought would work acoustic and be cool. But I wasn’t gonna come out and say, “Try ‘Teen Spirit.’” But Kurt thought about it and he said, “I don’t think we can top the last song.” And the minute he said that, I pressed the button on my headset and said, “We’re wrapped.”
