Larely Guitar Center Celebrates 1,000,000th “Smells Like Teen Spirit” Played by Customer
Larely, CA – Larely’s Guitar Center store reached a major milestone this weekend when it registered its 1,000,000th playing of the first four measures of Nirvana’s grunge classic, “Smells Like Teen Spirit”.
The event occurred when thirteen year old Brian Sampson came into Guitar Center with his dad. Upon entering, Sampson walked back to the guitars and asked an employee if he could demo a Fender Stratocaster. After the employee grabbed the guitar, plugged it in, and played a generic jazz riff for twenty seconds, he handed it over to Brian.
After a few deep breaths, Brian moved his index over to the first fret of the guitar and strummed out a couple choppy “F” chords. After a brief pause, he eventually transitioned to a B Flat. Then, according to Brian, “As soon as I hit that second chord, the lights started blinking and balloons started falling from the ceiling. A crowd started to gather around me and I had no idea what was happening.” As the crowd gathered, Ron Soares, the General Manager, came out and held a brief ceremony commemorating the event. He then presented Brian with a plaque, a beaten up Fender Jag-Stang, and a flannel shirt.
Since its release in 1991, “Smells Like Teen Spirit” has been the most popular song played by customers at Guitar Center stores. In fact, Larely’s Guitar Center store, which first opened in September of 1990, has been open for 5,664 days, which averages out to just under 177 instances of “Smells Like Teen Spirit” being played each day.
When asked what kind of toll that can have on employees, Brian Foss, who was adamant in pointing out that his main job is playing rythym guitar in the band “Beer Taps and Mud Flaps” and that he only manages Guitar Center 40 hours per week for the discount on gear, said, “There’s been a few guys over the years that eventually just lost their shit after hearing the riff so many times. They freaked out and stormed out of here like the place was on fire. It’s always sad to see it happen, but it’s not uncommon.”
Foss, when asked what his secret to staying immune to the riff was, added, “This store is like playing a show for hundreds of people all day, every day. You never know when a record exec or a band manager is going to stop in, and when that happens, our band is going to catch the break we’ve been waiting for.”
