I worked in record stores in D.C. back in the late 80’s and early 90’s. I had a grea time over those years. I heard so much great music.

There was one fellow employee at a store called Kemp Mill Records who turned me on to new music that I was unfamiliar with at the time; Prong, Cannibal Corpse and bands like Spundgarden. He made a cassette mix tape titles “Soothing Tunes OF Doom!” I still have it!!! I need to listen to it again. He included a song called “You Suffer” by Napalm Death. He was so excited for me to heard it because, as he said, “Dude!!!!” “This is the shortest song ever made!!” It’s pretty short, I must say. It’s 1.316 seconds long. The lyrics? You guessed it, “YOU SUFFER!” That’s it. It’s funny when I think about it.

The guy who gave me the mix tape suggested I go see Soundgarden at The Bayou, a club in Georgetown at the time.

I was freaked out because I had never seen a band like them. They had long hair, played in odd time meters, they were soulful, very hardcore and really interesting. I later found out that they covered The Ohio Players “Fopp” on an EP. That sold me! These guys know about THE OHIO PLAYERS?!? Sheeeit.

Ever since then, I’ve been a fan. Their 1994 album “Superunknown” was a masterpiece. King Animal, their last album was really good too. I blast it through my noise canceling headphones every time someone asks for anything while I ride the NYC subway, just so I can drown out the madness around me.

It’s sad Chris is no longer around to bless us with his amazing voice. He’s in my top 5 rock singers ever.

I managed to find footage of Soundgarden on YouTube from back in 1990. I have a feeling this is the tour I saw. I’m sure I had just as much of a hard time understanding the lyrics then as I do now. Wow, were they young and energetic back then: