[Courtney Love - October 2005 - SPIN Magazine Extra Interview]: addicts

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[Courtney Love - October 2005 - SPIN Magazine Extra Interview]

Oct 05, 2005 13:40

It was 20 years ago today that Roland Gift taught the Fine Young Cannibals to play. Doesn't sound quite right, does it? Sweeping nostalgia and alternative culture seem totally incongruous. But it's true: Spin is finally old enough to drink (in Iceland and Japan!). Back when we were an eager start-up, many of the stars who'd go on to define the '80s, '90s, and '00s were just beginning to glow; in fact, some were just tots. To celebrate our milestone, we asked 20 of them (23, if you want to get all technical) to look back on an era that brought several genuine revolutions, scores of brilliant albums, movies, and TV shows, and too many dubious hairstyles to count. Next month, look for more interviews, with luminaries like Perry Farrell, Michael Stipe, and RZA. Why? Because we deserve two parties. Don't we?

20 Years of Spin

The Innovators: Courtney Love
September 23, 2005

"This Kurt thing has burdened me so much. In a lot of ways, I wish I just had a baby with him and didn't marry him. I could've gone my own way."

I was married to Kurt and he had a melodic sense. He also played left-handed and I never really could copy anything that he did. But I could copy things that Billy did, and Billy had done Siamese Dream, which is a lot of songs about me, and I couldn't listen to Siamese Dream at home because my husband would get weird and freaky and jealous about Billy. I might start playing with Erik [Erlandson] again, I'm playing with Patty [Schemel]. I don't think I'll play with Melissa [Auf Der Maur] again just because she crossed over to the [Dave] Grohl side, and you're either on my side or the Grohl side.

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The one weird thing [about recording Live Through This] is that I had to blow my nose all the time when I sang. It must have been like mucus buildup from smoking or something. The only reason I know about it is I got this girl Dana [Kletter] to do the high vocals on it, and she went around and told this awful story about how there were bloody handkerchiefs -- which isn't true. I mean, I'm sure there were handkerchiefs.

The [Live Through This] songs are so easy. People did not think I could play because of Pretty on the Inside and it was like, "Fuck you, I can play. I was just posing as the angriest girl in the world, and it worked, and now none of you think I can fucking play."

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I actually played yesterday on Patti LaBelle's cover record. I played with Mary J. Blige and Babyface and Elton John -- this is how fucking mainstream I am -- and I played "I'll Stand by You."

Bon Jovi came into rehearsal one time and all he wanted to talk about was movies, and I couldn't give a shit. But he did teach me "Livin on a Prayer," and I wanna tell you, if you [disassemble] that song, it's a fucking a good song. Not in an ironic way! It's really good, really nice. Of course he thought I was making fun of him, because I'm so cool.

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I think I might actually do this thing that Eminem does, I might do a radio show -- not like a Howard [Stern] radio show where I talk, [but] a radio show where I play old Australian garage and Nuggets and the shit that I really like. And that's what happened when I went to Celebrity Skin. I was like, "The shit that I really like is Fleetwood Mac, old garage. That's what I like, that's what I want to pay homage to." Live Through This is formless, has no information except these chords I learned from Billy and certain things I learned from Kurt -- really boring three chords and make them fucking magical. And I had a godhead of a guitar player who is Erik, and Erik is the real tragedy of Hole. The guy built a cathedral to fantastic guitar playing. And he should really get credit for it.

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I love Elton. Elton is so good to me. I once sang "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" at the Old Vic Theatre in London, and I got a standing ovation from the Queen. And I wore his duck suit and then I went up on his piano and sang "The Bitch Is Back," which isn't even a great song. And my mascara's a little runny. When I looked inside of my file for the district attorney, that's the first picture you see because my mascara is running! And I'm like, "Context!" I just sang one of the number one requested songs of all time, got a standing ovation from the Queen and I'm smoking cigars -- but my mascara's running.

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One of the reasons I hate Dave so much is he went on Howard Stern and he said, "I like 'Teenage Whore' because I know she wrote it." That stupid motherfucker. He knows exactly what I wrote -- he knows exactly the input I had on his fucking's band's third record -- and that piece of shit goes on Howard Stern and goes, "I know she wrote 'Teenage Whore.'"

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This Kurt thing has burdened me so much. In a lot of ways, I wish I just had a baby with him and didn't marry him. I could've gone my own way.

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I think if you commit suicide -- the minute it happens you're like, "What the fuck did I just do?" That's what's stopped me over the years.

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I'm the kind of girl you wanna fuck, but then you don't want to tell your friends.

Interview by Phoebe Reilly