The Rocket exhibit: Local Focus

Though the paper covered artists from across the globe, The Rocket remained committed to its Northwest audience. Musicians and listeners alike relied on The Rocket to navigate the music scene in and around Seattle. Many readers relied on The Rocket to plan their weekends, using the paper’s event calendars as a definitive source to find live music. Musicians connected with one another to form bands, listeners found shows to attend, and local businesses like venues, labels, promoters, and music stores placed advertisements to attract customers.

The Rocket was also a primary connector of musicians, with an active want ad section full of bands looking for their next member or individuals advertising their skills. For some time, it was free to place a classified ad. Famously, Kurt Cobain placed several ads in The Rocket looking for a drummer for Nirvana.

The Rocket also held periodic calls to readers for demo tape submissions, in what was initially dubbed “Massive Tapes” or “Massive Tape Review” before being renamed to the snappier “Demo-Listen Derby.” The annual tradition offered reviews of “hundreds of local demos ripped to shreds by industry’s best,” as advertised in The Rocket’s last issue on October 18, 2000. Unfortunately, with the paper’s abrupt end, the reviews for the 17th annual “derby” never made it to print.

The Rocket also published regular “All Local” issues, dedicated to spotlighting Northwest musicians. The June 1987 edition touts “over 300 reviews” of local bands. A regular staple of the paper, the “NW Music Directory,” debuted in the December 1987 “All Northwest Music Issue” with over 650 entries, listing local bands of all genres as described in their own words. Listings included many artists before they gained acclaim—including Alice in Chains in 1988, before the release of their debut album Facelift and Sarah McLaughlin in 1991, before the release of her hit sophomore album Solace—as well as established artists and some listings of questionable authenticity.

In and out of the “All Local” issues, The Rocket was committed to reviewing local bands. The Rocket was among the first to cover several local bands that grew to major fame like Nirvana, Soundgarden, Mudhoney, Alice and Chains, and more.

Starting in 1987 and continuing somewhat consistently through the remainder of the paper, the “North by Northwest” column was dedicated to up-and-coming northwest bands. The August 1988 column featured Mudhoney after the release of their first single, stating that they “have picked up fans faster than dogdoo sticks to shoes.” In April 1991, the column covered Pearl Jam, just months before the release of their debut album Ten.

Beyond grunge, The Rocket covered all genres. It was one of the first outlets to cover hip hop artist and Seattle local Sir Mix-a-Lot. In 1987, years before skyrocketing to fame with “Baby Got Back,” Sir Mix-a-Lot was crowned one of The Rocket’s “Royal Court of N.W. Rap.” The article credits him with helping to draw attention to the Seattle hip hop scene, remarking on his “deliberate efforts to inject a little of Seattle into the national rap vocabulary.”

In addition to musicians and artists, The Rocket tried to paint a robust picture of the Northwest music industry. The October 21, 1998 issue featured “The Rocket 100,” a list of “the most influential people in the NW music industry,” including names like Paul Allen (number 1), Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam (2), Stephanie Dorgan, owner of the original Crocodile Cafe (19), Ann and Nancy Wilson of Heart (31), and Jack Endindo, “sculptor of the so-called Seattle sound” (35).

The “Seattle sound” is a phrase that littered the pages of The Rocket and was often used in conversations about Seattle’s unique music scene. While “the Seattle sound” is often understood as synonymous with grunge, the phrase’s precise meaning can be difficult to pin down. The phrase is found in the pages of The Rocket as early as 1984, in a classified ad seeking a keyboardist with “Seattle sound.” An early usage of the word “grunge” to describe music is found in The Rocket around this time. An April 1983 edition of the Sub Pop U.S.A. column describes the band Sado Nation’s “cheap, grungy production” as “lack[ing] punch.” In the early 1980s, “grungy” was a derogatory descriptor, but by 1986, “grunge” was being used to describe a specific kind of rock music influenced by previous decades’ hard rock and punk scenes.

Grunge encompassed a range of sounds, though a hallmark of the music was a “grungy,” distorted, heavy, guitar-forward quality. Producer Jack Endino was the architect of some of the most iconic examples of this sound, such as Screaming Life by Soundgarden, Bleach by Nirvana, and Mudhoney by Mudhoney. To the extent that there was a unified “Seattle sound,” Endino helped create it.

The phrase was used outside of Seattle as a marketing buzzword, too. Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam is quoted saying that “in Germany, they put stickers on the Ten record that we still laugh about. Big stickers that said, ‘The Seattle sound.’”

That being said, the “Seattle sound” was also used more broadly to describe bands that didn’t fit the grunge mold such as The Posies, a more melodically inclined guitar-pop group that emerged in the late 1980s. While both “the Seattle sound” and grunge do have some sonic hallmarks, they were also primarily descriptors used by the media, The Rocket included, to make sense of the Seattle scene’s sudden nationwide relevance.

The world-renowned Seattle station, KEXP, was originally broadcasted as KCMU, the University of Washington’s student station. The Rocket chronicled KCMU’s evolution from a student-run training tool to a professional operation with full-time DJs.

KCMU and The Rocket had a symbiotic relationship. The Rocket covered KCMU positively as well as ran ads. The two Seattle music institutions even partnered for a weekly “Live Music Showcase.”

The first signs of waning enthusiasm appeared in 1988’s November issue. In the Lip Service column, the author expressed concerns that KCMU had lost its way following several key figures leaving the station.

In 1992, the station replaced their volunteer DJ slots with two nationally syndicated shows. In response, the group Censorship Undermines Radio Station Ethics (CURSE) formed both in opposition to this and to the firing of DJs who criticized the changes. Much of this debate around radio played out in The Rocket’s pages.

In 1994, the paper ran an article covering the years-long legal dispute between CURSE and KCMU, titled: “KCMU vs. CURSE: Who won?” That year, former KCMU DJ, Veronika Kalmar, became managing editor of The Rocket. The court ultimately sided with CURSE.

The Rocket’s “Raw Power: The Rocket 100” ranked the most powerful figures in the Northwest music industry. KCMU’s program director, Don Yates, was 26th on the list and KCMU was described as “one of the best places to hear local music in the Northwest.”