Spring Break
'Beginnings of Marathons'
It's like stepping into the
sole of a rock star
David Zugnoni
Issue date: 3/19/08 Section: Opinion
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You know, like Nike's famed Air Jordan line.
According to several online sources, the former Nirvana frontman, who killed himself in 1994, will be "commemorated" in shoe form as part of Converse's 100-year anniversary.
What an honor.
There's a variety of sneakers in the line, including a black low-top version with a single white star, Cobain's autograph stitched on the side and the words "Punk rock is freedom" printed on the insole, and there's a whitish high-top version with his drawings and pieces of his personal lyric sheets all over them. They even come marked and beat up and with stained laces, so they look like they've been worn by Cobain himself on a cross-country tour.
How appropriately grunge.
The single-star low-tops are replicas of the shoes Cobain was wearing when he took his life. You can see them in a famous photograph of him lying dead in his Seattle home as a crouching investigator inspects the scene.
God help us.
If you put on Jordans to play basketball, what would you put on Cobains for?
This is pretty twisted.
Certainly, the anti-rock-star rock star didn't endorse these shoes himself. He's been dead for almost 14 years. And from what we know of him (and we know a lot, thanks to books and a recent movie), he would have rejected the idea if Converse proposed it to him during his heyday.
Cobain hit the big time in 1991, became a full-on celebrity and eventually had tabloid newspapers printing stories stating that his wife, Courtney Love, was on heroin while pregnant with the couple's only child.
He complained in interviews that his public image was out of his control, that journalists had invaded his privacy and printed falsities about him.
Over the years, It has been argued that Cobain got what he asked for. As documented in the book "Come As You Are" by Michael Azerrad, Cobain voluntarily jumped into the public eye by plastering his face on his album art and in his music videos. Indeed, he controlled his public image for at least a little while.
But years after his death, it's his widow who controls the use of his name, his drawings, his lyric sheets, his journals and his music.
Love, who's also a musician but not nearly as well-known for her music as for her dead husband, is the one who sold the rights to produce Kurt Cobain-themed sneakers to Converse.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Cherry jones
posted 3/19/08 @ 9:55 AM PST
Courtney Love Cobain has had five dependents since Kurt left her with his mess, his will was rejected by a group of corrupted lawyers and his social security number has been abused to purchase homes. (Continued…)
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