Courtney Love wants to talk. And she does — for almost two hours.
The occasion is the release of Skinny Little B—, the solid first single from Nobody’s Daughter, the first Hole album since 1998’s Celebrity Skin.
“The disaster record (her 2004 solo album, America’s Sweetheart) didn’t count any more than Mick Jaggger should count She’s the Boss (his 1985 solo bomb).”
Over the course of our conversation, which included countless stream-of-consciousness detours, unexpected tangents, name-drops and revelations, I learned the following:
• After a stint as a stripper in Japan in the early ’80s, Courtney had designs on being a record producer. She dropped into Windmill Lane studios in Dublin to drop off a resume, ended up working with U2 on October for five days “before I was fired.” She didn’t mention why.
• She almost had Mariah Carey sing back-up on Nobody’s Daughter, which would have required her to sing some interesting profanities. Sadly, it wasn’t meant to be.
• Courtney didn’t write a song for almost four years because she had become far too comfortable in her Beverly Hills home, but then she was hit with her own financial crisis.
“Frances (her daughter) getting me out of L.A. was really good because I wasn’t leaving the house. We had some very scary times. They froze my bank account. I had 120 bucks. I’ve been poor before — but maybe it’s good with checking in to be poor because then you get hungry again.” She sought out Duff McKagan (Guns ‘N Roses, Velvet Revolver) for financial advice because he has an MBA and writes a financial column.
• Both she and husband Kurt Cobain disagreed on the choice of Smells Like Teen Spirit as the first single from Nevermind. They both wanted In Bloom, while the record company initially wanted Lithium.
• Courtney is pressing ahead with the bio-pic on Kurt called Heavier Than Heaven. She knows who has been cast in the lead roles but she won’t say anymore than that.
• She also has an idea for a Lollapalooza-like festival and is currently trying to enlist support from her circle of celebrity friends.
There’s more — some of which you can hear for yourself at exploremusic.com — but it’s going to take me a while to sort through the rest of the interview. Nobody’s Daughter will finally be released April 27.
