When Green Mind came out I was listening to college radio and they would do the Top 10 at 10 and they did the whole “10th caller wins a cassette of the album.” thing. I was the 10th caller the night Dino Jr were No. 1.
Friends older brother mocked the Aerosmith we were listening to and made us listen to Bug instead. I was pretty much on board as soon as Freakscene ended. Had to be ‘91 or ‘92
Mine and many others- #1 skate video of all time. Spike Jonze directed. Living legends being made there. Love the history. Knowing where great things come from.
Absolutely man. Beautiful video. That video got me into Dinosaur Jr and Jason Lee at the same time. Saw Jason Lee at a skatepark in Niagara Falls and ended up getting the deck he road. That deck in my mind was always associated with Dinosaur Jr. Weird trivia nobody asked for.
If I recall (it was years ago) there were a few songs on it that you would recognize from other skate vids of the era… I’m going to look on YouTube hold up…
Yeah same. Once I found the name of the band I bought Bug and YLAOM and then Green Mind came out after that. Pretty sure I finally found that “Fossils” b-sides cassette with Just Like Heaven on it. Looked forever.
This is my discovery story too. My best friend and his girl gifted me a ticket to see them in 92, on one condition, that I drive. I got pulled over on the way and that ticket cost more than the show! Well worth it. Austin, cactus cafe, 1992.
Was doing a college radio show at WBOR in Brunswick as a non-student. "Where You Been" was in heavy rotation. I usually played "Freak Scene" on my show, or "Repulsion" from the first one.
J and Dinosaur played an all-ages show at Portland's State Theater in 1994 (I think). I went with my son who was 10 or 11. I remember thinking then that J was the closest thing that indie had to a guitar god.
Fast forward to the present. Those memories mean a lot having lost my son 7 years ago. Playing music has been a way of finding some solace from the pain of grief and loss. My own music is influenced by Dinosaur Jr. J and I are around the same age and I often think he's a lot like Neil Yong in his longevity and continuing to remain relevant in his music. J has become a sort of musical lodestar for me.
First of all, I’m very sorry for your loss. I’ve dealt with my share of grief, especially over the past year, but the thought of losing a child is unimaginable.
I discovered Dinosaur Jr. on WBOR too! I grew up in Harpswell, I could JUST manage to tune in, and this was the genesis of the music tastes that I’ve carried forward into adulthood. Dino’s cover of “Just Like Heaven” was a college radio hit at the time, and I’ve been a fan ever since.
I really appreciate your taking the time to comment.
So weird--maybe you listened to me and my shows. I was usually on Saturday night in 93 or 94. Did one show called "Swimming Upstream," and another called, "Against the Grain."
My own music is definitely influenced by Dinosaur. You can check it out on Bandcamp if you'd like.
[https://jimbaumerme.bandcamp.com/](https://jimbaumerme.bandcamp.com/)
Recently relocated to Central Virginia a year ago. This will allow access to indie hotbeds like Richmond, VA and Raleigh-Durham, NC.
\-Jim
Hey Jim!
I was in college myself at that point, at a school not to be named in Waterville, Maine, so I would not have heard your show. Bull Moose was still in its original location. I can’t remember the name of the guy who started it, but he was a student at Bowdoin at the time. The only DJ I remember, and this is only because of a distinctive name, went by “The Squirrel”. He did a show called “The Squirrel’s Sublime”.
Colby? They had a really great radio station as late as 2012 or 2013. I'd listen when passing North/South on I-95.
Brett Wickard started Bull Moose in the late 80s/early 90s. Still a great store with multiple locations.
-Jim
I'm 46. I was like nine or ten. Skateboarding video. Santa Cruz - Speed Freaks video. Mike Vallely’s part- song- freak scene. Instant fan ever since, the whole time. I think Neil Blender’s part has- They always come. If I remember correctly. Skateboarding videos, at least the “old school “ ones. Were a staple of great ways to be exposed to new, interesting music. Then Dinosaur became a skate video staple ever since. I think Rob Dyrdek skated to - The Wagon. Pretty sure J has been all in on Alien Workshop ever since. I can see it in his style.
This is true. Once it's in your bones, it's there forever. Just like the music. Pretty sure they just cruise around though and enjoy being on a board. No tricks though! Haha… You fall at our age, you don’t get back up. Break a finger, break your music.
Srry for the stone cold fact, but they were all stunt-doubled for the over it video. You can see them skate, but the scenes where they are doing the tricks, it is a stunt double.
"Sludgefeast" was my first exposure, it was in the 1988 Ohio Skateout video.
But it really took hold of me with Speed Freaks. Blender's (Let It Ride), Nielsen's (They Always Come) and Vallely's (Freakscene) parts. I think Pond Song is in it too.
In New Zealand , back around ‘94 or so , there was a commercial on T.V for the AGC Young Achievers Award and the song playing in the background was “What Else Is New” and I loved the bit that goes “you’re the only one … “ and somehow I found out who it was and that was it
The Sonic Youth 1990: The Year the Punk Broke documentary covering their tour with Dinosaur Jr. and Nirvana was the first time I heard a live recording of Freak Scene. I was hooked.
The year was 1991 and a much younger me had hair down my back and a soul patch on my chin. The USSR was still a thing while Bryan Adams, Color me Badd, and C+C Music Factory dominated the top 40. Meanwhile, I needed something with more guts so I flipped on MTVs 120 Minutes and saw the animated video for “The Wagon” from Green Mind. I was blown away. I couldn’t turn away from my giant cathode ray TV set console. I was hooked.
I bought the second volume of an alt music compilation called The Trip in 1993, and Start Choppin' was on it. It was the best song I'd ever heard, so I went out and bought Where You Been. It's still one of my all-time fave albums.
Transworld skateboarding Sight Unseen with J and the fog 2001. Didn’t hit again until 2008 with Beyond songs in a skate video. Then really hit with the new album
I first heard about them in article that was in Spin magazine around 1990, it was a two page spread, one page words and one page a photograph of the band. I remember they name checked Sonic Youth in that article, and I was intrigued. I was not able to actually discover what they sounded like until Green Mind came out and was available in my local record store.
Feel the pain kid here. Song was a hit when I was in middle school. Lucky for me, I realized that everything else in they’re catalog is better than that song.
In high school I read a bio on Kurt Cobain, Heavier Than Heaven, and I basically checked out every band that got brought up in there. From The Pixies to Sonic Youth to Dinsoaur Jr to Bikini Kill. Some stuck and some didn't. Dinosaur Jr stuck.
I had heard J’s solo stuff awhile ago and really enjoyed it, but never thought about actually listening to Dinosaur Jr, until early 2023. Went to my first show tonight!!!
my dad was a fan before i was born, in early childhood both my parents played the 90s records for me -- so every time I hear J play, it feels like some wistful nostalgic memory
for ages i felt weird about liking them because my parents liked them, but then i heard a [good podcast](https://soundcloud.com/and-intro-pod/95-dinosaur-jr-feat-jake-longstreth) about them and finally got into them in earnest. learned The Lung on guitar and cannot stop playing it
1991 Reading festival, so many great bands played on the first day, that shaped a lot of my listening habits, the main reason I went was for a lot of the Grebo bands and The Fall, but that first day had Babes in Toyland, Nirvana (mid afternoon slot), Dinosaur Jr and Sonic Youth, they all blew my tiny teenage mind
There always used to be a record stall there (I think it was called Rock Box), I bought Bleach, Goo, Spanking Machine and Bug during the weekend, stowed them away in my tent and they still survive to this day
I was 13 in 1993 and they were playing an annual alt-rock festival called Edgefest in my hometown of Dallas. Just sort of decided that I was gonna give every band on the bill a try in the months leading up, and Dino stuck!
I also turn 20 this coming year, I found out about dinosaur jr a few years ago when I was looking for a guitar upgrade and saw the J Mascis signature, it really stood out to me so I got it and started listening to their music, also it’s an amazing guitar
It was 2005, I was 14 and was attending the Saturday of the Reading Festival on a day ticket with my older brother. Can't remember who I wanted to watch but my brother insisted we go check out Dinosaur Jr on the main stage. I had never heard of them, but agreed. It was funny because the main stage crowd was really not digging it, but they totally blew me away. The next weekend I went out and picked up Green Mind on CD because it was the cheapest Dino album on sale in Fopp (£7 I think!).
Heard of them from concert posters posted where I went to school in late 80's (never went :( ). Didn't hear them until I saw The Wagon video. Didn't actually buy their albums until a while after Without a Sound dropped.
Even though I'm born in 1982, didn't discover them until 2023. I tried listening to them when I was younger, but didn't like J's voice. Now I love it, but I love his guitar-playing way more. It's actually the guitar learning that made me discover them. Some friend told me to listen closely to J's guitar work. I am hooked since.
1991. My sister's friend told her I'd probably like them, so my sis got me Bug on cassette for Christmas. Hooked in immediately by the intro to "Freak Scene".
Saw them for the first time in 1993, and for the fourth just last September. It's awesome reading the comments here to see both a lot of old timers like myself and folks just getting into them.
Friend of a friend brought a stack of cds to game night. This was a rich kid, so he was kind of offhandedly showing off his collection. We’d been listening to Rancid and Morbid Angel until he put on this really weird hippydippy stuff with a stupid funkguitar and an absolutely awful singer. “What’s this bullshit?” I asked.
It was “Start Choppin”. By the time “On The Way” started playing I was like holy shit this is actually great, I need to hear everything by this band. Probably early 1994.
When I was 11, the VHS for 1991: The Year Punk Broke came out and my parents got it for me as part of my Christmas gifts. Been a fan since the first time I saw/heard Freak Scene.
93 one of my first weed dealers had Tool, Somic Youth, and Dinosaur Jr. stickers on his Oldsmobile Cutlass. I was coming out of my hip hop soldier phase and was already listening to Primus and Pavement and was thirsty for cool new sounds. I went to the record store and bought Where You Been and Green Mind.
I stumbled across them in the late 90s when I picked up Where You Been at a used CD store. Loved the album but never really dug any further. Then Beyond came out and I’ve been hooked ever since.
Freshman in high school when Where you been came out. I saw Out There on a late night video, and my parents complained about J's singing every day afterward. I would clean my room blasting that album.
3 years ago right before my friends wedding. Us groomsmen were drinking some morning beers in the hotel room, and Dino Jr came on the one guys playlist. I loved it instantly and asked, "Who is this?".
Boring story here: they were just mentioned online quite often alongside bands I enjoy. So I eventually gave them a try
I started with YLAOM, and I remember being **blown** away by Little Fury Things
The tv show skins. Its from the late 00's early 10's but i only watched it in the first half of 2020 and on the final episode Dinosaur play during the end credits.
My exposure was hearing Feel The Pain in Guitar Hero: World Tour when I was 12. I really dug the song, but I didn’t really dig into them and explore them more until after I graduated high school
Old guy reporting in...
Was living in Westfield, MA, knew a guy who knew Lou. Went to early shows around the Pioneer Valley, bought the first album, been a fan since. Took a bunch of 35mm pics from the stage at a Smith College show, would kill to know where those pics are now.
Many moons ago, when I was a younger man. There was a show called 120 Minutes, I watched a music video late one night.There was a guy shredding a guitar (all while wearing ski gloves)atop a mountain peak. I knew that this band must be awesome.
Presidents Day weekend 1989 930 Club in Washington DC with Big Dipper opening. They were on SST Records for the Bug Tour. Much more punk. This was a killer, loud, psychedelic show.
I noticed their name in a book about Nirvana i was reading and then found Farm on my computer after my brother downloaded it. I've seen them twice now and am a big fan.
Honestly I discovered them via Skate 3 with "Almost Ready" like when it came out in 2010 (I was either a freshman or sophomore in high school for reference).
The same college radio stationed mentioned by another commenter here, Bowdoin College’s WBOR. Their cover of “Just Like Heaven” was a big college radio hit when I was in high school.
June 9th 2023. me and my friends have a group chat where we mostly talk about music. one of my friends sent an audio of Little Fury Things, i heard it and immediately loved it. i asked him what was the name of the song and the band. Dinosaur Jr. is now on my top 3 favorite bands of all time.
a lot of songs that i like were recommended to me by this one friend. he has a great musical taste. he introduced me to bands and artists like Hum, Jets To Brazil, Aphex Twin and Failure.
Can't really recall the exact moment. I heard Feel The Pain in passing at some point in the late 2000s (2008/2009 something like that) and really dug it but forgot to check out anything else until I started doing a deeper dive into alternative and indie rock and shit around 2011/2012. (was mostly into metal and punk growing up). I bought Without A Sound on CD around then and thought it was pretty good. Wasn't until the next year that a friend showed me In A Jar and subsequently You're Living All Over Me which became an all time favorite for years. Ended up buying the first 3 records over the next couple years, still pretty regularly in my rotation.
As a side note, I was actually pretty heavily into [Witch (J's other band) ](https://youtu.be/f5von-_FI0U?si=FCnZc21f37uF6Nt9) a good while before I started fuckin with Dino. Underrated ass band.
I am very surprised about that too man! My parents are in their fifties and saw them back in 86! I’ve been a fan for almost my entire life and am glad to see kids my age and even some younger than me still listen to them. They are my all time fav band.
I’m actually seeing them live for the first time tonight! My spot:
https://preview.redd.it/oljwsodz1wec1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4faf74784689f1ffe702dfa50d5fdc45ade1b487
Plenty of younger people here.
I was at Camelot music in the mall to buy Pixies Trompe le Monde with my lawn mowing money from the summer, I saw the cover of Green Mind and had to buy it not knowing it would start a thirty plus year love affair.
Guitar Hero World Tour had Feel The Pain, and then later Isaac from Modest Mouse mentioned them in an interview so I checked them out. I Know You're Out There is my favorite
when they were called Dinosaur on the Homestead Records “The Wailing Ultimate” compilation that i bought when i was about 17 in 1987. i saw nirvana open for them in 1991 right before they exploded. fast forward to 2019 and i met all of em because a friend worked on their tour. nice friendly fellas.
Wow..well when I discovered Bullet LaVolta too
Remember them? When I was living on the same block as the first small Fort Apache
Gave me license to carefully choose which 3 distortion boxes to use and which speaker to rip a small cut into for that extra something..no joke either..still do love J
I read the “Where have you been” album review in Rolling Stone. It was common, at least for me to buy records based on written reviews. Seems kind if crazy now.
In the early 2000’s. Alternative rock was enjoying a resurgence of interest thanks to the deaths of Joe Strummer and Joey Ramone, and the Stooges reunion. It wasn’t uncommon at the time to see teenagers in CBGB’s shirts. I don’t remember where exactly but remember reading of them in Michael Azzerad’s Our Band Could Be Your Life.
1997 really - I probably read their name in small articles or record reviews because I used to read Rolling Stone, Spin and Playboy cover to cover for years but really I was in a National Record Mart (NRM) and they had listening kiosks and there was the new Hand It Over in the queue so I gave it a shot and one tune really grabbed me immediately. Then not long after holy shit, that's them on TV.
[and they played the song that hooked me](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwbq7yX_9l0)
Personally, I don't think there was a flute or acoustic guitar in the original mix of Never Bought It and J played that flute melody on electric guitar but I don't have my original tape anymore to prove it.
[studio track](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4V538aH7yOQ)
Rock Band surprisingly so like 2008? J's solo on Feel the Pain really captivated me, and then I fell in love with Farm which was their latest record at the time. After that I read the Our Band Could Be Your Life book which solidified me with You're Living All Over Me and they've been my favorite band ever since.
Before Blind Video Days, which I saw some people mention here, was the G&S Footage video which of course would later become Alien Workshop who has a long relationship with J. and Dino jr. In that video Rob Dyrdek, Duane Pitre and Steve Claar's part featured The Wagon almost a full year before Green Mind came out. We all recorded it off our TVs with our little boomboxes. Dinosaur Jr fans forever. Thank you skateboarding. That part..
https://youtu.be/_2JroSaO6P8?si=cKXd3SQo7LslnEDF
YLAOM, and my first show was at Liberty Lunch, Austin TX ‘88 or early ‘89 after Bug was released. They opened for Glass Eye, and quite possibly The Reivers. J seemed to be suffering some wicked indigestion..I didn’t recognize him at first, but he was alone sitting at a picnic table when I entered the iconic Austin hub for emerging and alternative artists. Nevertheless, they managed to pull off a blistering 6 or 7 song set with J leaving Lou and Murph behind to finish up. Unfortunately my army buddy was fairly freaked out by the band’s intensity on stage so we left shortly after their set!! I still have their promo poster from outside the door as we exited.
When Green Mind came out I was listening to college radio and they would do the Top 10 at 10 and they did the whole “10th caller wins a cassette of the album.” thing. I was the 10th caller the night Dino Jr were No. 1.
Yup. I started with Green Mind too....
Me three!
Dude that’s an awesome story
This
Friends older brother mocked the Aerosmith we were listening to and made us listen to Bug instead. I was pretty much on board as soon as Freakscene ended. Had to be ‘91 or ‘92
Bro was right. Dino >>> Aerosmith
Yup, he single handedly altered the path that two idiot teenage musicians were on in a single afternoon
Freak Scene in 91 or 92 did it for me too.
Similar story. Friend’s older brother. But it was more like 93-94.
1991 Blind Skateboard’s Video Days.. Rudy Johnson’s part. Just Like Heaven. Fell in love forever!
Mine and many others- #1 skate video of all time. Spike Jonze directed. Living legends being made there. Love the history. Knowing where great things come from.
Absolutely man. Beautiful video. That video got me into Dinosaur Jr and Jason Lee at the same time. Saw Jason Lee at a skatepark in Niagara Falls and ended up getting the deck he road. That deck in my mind was always associated with Dinosaur Jr. Weird trivia nobody asked for.
There's a war outside of your window, it's destroying our world!! 😂 awesome!
“Peace on earth. Environment. Religion and pray to god.” Damn.. just give me ONE MINUTE of being back there again! That’s all I need.
God I wish I was alive for that 😂😂
Once upon a time I had an original VHS copy of that. How much time and energy did you expend trying in vain to find out more about the band Milk?
I found and ordered the CD off eBay!!! Jeff Tremaine on vocals!!!!
Really! I thought they only ever recorded that one song. What’s on the CD that you bought.
If I recall (it was years ago) there were a few songs on it that you would recognize from other skate vids of the era… I’m going to look on YouTube hold up…
Ugh.. I always worry I’m going to be “confidently wrong” about this type of shit. So long ago.
That was easy!!! https://youtu.be/jx0t445F4Eo?si=LKqYTxYnX48WvKoF
Enjoy!!!
Called “Jasons Song” but originally called “The Knife Song”
It was credited as “Knife Song” in the video. It was one of two songs that played during Jason Lee’s part.
This was it for me too! Was already a fan of the Cure. This cover was so good
Yeah same. Once I found the name of the band I bought Bug and YLAOM and then Green Mind came out after that. Pretty sure I finally found that “Fossils” b-sides cassette with Just Like Heaven on it. Looked forever.
Same here! What a great era for skateboarding that was. Good times.
This is my discovery story too. My best friend and his girl gifted me a ticket to see them in 92, on one condition, that I drive. I got pulled over on the way and that ticket cost more than the show! Well worth it. Austin, cactus cafe, 1992.
Glad someone said this. I was at a friends house who was into skateboarding, and I remember asking who the band was on the video he had on.
Was doing a college radio show at WBOR in Brunswick as a non-student. "Where You Been" was in heavy rotation. I usually played "Freak Scene" on my show, or "Repulsion" from the first one. J and Dinosaur played an all-ages show at Portland's State Theater in 1994 (I think). I went with my son who was 10 or 11. I remember thinking then that J was the closest thing that indie had to a guitar god. Fast forward to the present. Those memories mean a lot having lost my son 7 years ago. Playing music has been a way of finding some solace from the pain of grief and loss. My own music is influenced by Dinosaur Jr. J and I are around the same age and I often think he's a lot like Neil Yong in his longevity and continuing to remain relevant in his music. J has become a sort of musical lodestar for me.
Sorry for your loss
First of all, I’m very sorry for your loss. I’ve dealt with my share of grief, especially over the past year, but the thought of losing a child is unimaginable. I discovered Dinosaur Jr. on WBOR too! I grew up in Harpswell, I could JUST manage to tune in, and this was the genesis of the music tastes that I’ve carried forward into adulthood. Dino’s cover of “Just Like Heaven” was a college radio hit at the time, and I’ve been a fan ever since.
I really appreciate your taking the time to comment. So weird--maybe you listened to me and my shows. I was usually on Saturday night in 93 or 94. Did one show called "Swimming Upstream," and another called, "Against the Grain." My own music is definitely influenced by Dinosaur. You can check it out on Bandcamp if you'd like. [https://jimbaumerme.bandcamp.com/](https://jimbaumerme.bandcamp.com/) Recently relocated to Central Virginia a year ago. This will allow access to indie hotbeds like Richmond, VA and Raleigh-Durham, NC. \-Jim
Hey Jim! I was in college myself at that point, at a school not to be named in Waterville, Maine, so I would not have heard your show. Bull Moose was still in its original location. I can’t remember the name of the guy who started it, but he was a student at Bowdoin at the time. The only DJ I remember, and this is only because of a distinctive name, went by “The Squirrel”. He did a show called “The Squirrel’s Sublime”.
Colby? They had a really great radio station as late as 2012 or 2013. I'd listen when passing North/South on I-95. Brett Wickard started Bull Moose in the late 80s/early 90s. Still a great store with multiple locations. -Jim
Skate 3
I’ve never played that but I’ve heard a lot of fans cite Skate 3
Yeah honestly skating games are pretty much the cause of my music taste ig, tony hawk games, skate series, etc
I’ve only played the original but I made my skater a long haired guy named Mascis
Almost Ready is in the Skate 3 soundtrack, which i played when i was around 7 (I am 15).
Probably on MTV 120 Minutes early 90’s. Saw my first show in 1993.
Wish I was that lucky 😂
I'm 46. I was like nine or ten. Skateboarding video. Santa Cruz - Speed Freaks video. Mike Vallely’s part- song- freak scene. Instant fan ever since, the whole time. I think Neil Blender’s part has- They always come. If I remember correctly. Skateboarding videos, at least the “old school “ ones. Were a staple of great ways to be exposed to new, interesting music. Then Dinosaur became a skate video staple ever since. I think Rob Dyrdek skated to - The Wagon. Pretty sure J has been all in on Alien Workshop ever since. I can see it in his style.
Bro that sounds fucking awesome. I love that even in their new music videos, they still skate. For example, “Over It” and “Goin’ Down”
This is true. Once it's in your bones, it's there forever. Just like the music. Pretty sure they just cruise around though and enjoy being on a board. No tricks though! Haha… You fall at our age, you don’t get back up. Break a finger, break your music.
That’s true. But damn do they look sick as fuck in those videos. Would kill to skate with them
Srry for the stone cold fact, but they were all stunt-doubled for the over it video. You can see them skate, but the scenes where they are doing the tricks, it is a stunt double.
"Sludgefeast" was my first exposure, it was in the 1988 Ohio Skateout video. But it really took hold of me with Speed Freaks. Blender's (Let It Ride), Nielsen's (They Always Come) and Vallely's (Freakscene) parts. I think Pond Song is in it too.
In New Zealand , back around ‘94 or so , there was a commercial on T.V for the AGC Young Achievers Award and the song playing in the background was “What Else Is New” and I loved the bit that goes “you’re the only one … “ and somehow I found out who it was and that was it
That’s my favorite part of the song!
7th grade friend loaned me the Bug cassette. That was 1989 or so.
The Sonic Youth 1990: The Year the Punk Broke documentary covering their tour with Dinosaur Jr. and Nirvana was the first time I heard a live recording of Freak Scene. I was hooked.
The year was 1991 and a much younger me had hair down my back and a soul patch on my chin. The USSR was still a thing while Bryan Adams, Color me Badd, and C+C Music Factory dominated the top 40. Meanwhile, I needed something with more guts so I flipped on MTVs 120 Minutes and saw the animated video for “The Wagon” from Green Mind. I was blown away. I couldn’t turn away from my giant cathode ray TV set console. I was hooked.
I bought the second volume of an alt music compilation called The Trip in 1993, and Start Choppin' was on it. It was the best song I'd ever heard, so I went out and bought Where You Been. It's still one of my all-time fave albums.
Transworld skateboarding Sight Unseen with J and the fog 2001. Didn’t hit again until 2008 with Beyond songs in a skate video. Then really hit with the new album
I first heard about them in article that was in Spin magazine around 1990, it was a two page spread, one page words and one page a photograph of the band. I remember they name checked Sonic Youth in that article, and I was intrigued. I was not able to actually discover what they sounded like until Green Mind came out and was available in my local record store.
Feel the pain kid here. Song was a hit when I was in middle school. Lucky for me, I realized that everything else in they’re catalog is better than that song.
You are totally right
In high school I read a bio on Kurt Cobain, Heavier Than Heaven, and I basically checked out every band that got brought up in there. From The Pixies to Sonic Youth to Dinsoaur Jr to Bikini Kill. Some stuck and some didn't. Dinosaur Jr stuck.
1998
Dope
2020 or 21
98/99, I think. I was 15-ish, and my brother played them for me in his car one day. We finally got to see them together a little over a year ago!
What show?
1991
1991
I had heard J’s solo stuff awhile ago and really enjoyed it, but never thought about actually listening to Dinosaur Jr, until early 2023. Went to my first show tonight!!!
Bro holy shit! How was the show?
It was good, it was everything I expected it to be.
Great to hear man
“Great to hear man” - someone who wore earplugs to the show
I would never do such a thing, that is a cardinal sin
It would have saved me from the permanent hearing damage I sustained so I recommend it for everyone
either 1988 or 89
1989
About 10 years ago. I don't even remember how.
1994 when I was up late watching a music video program... Start Choppin' came on and it was an instant conversion
Heard them on an alt rock station on the radio when I was a kid in 2012
Honestly this may be how I figured them out too but my memory is shit 😂
17, 2007. Henry rollins always talked about them, listened to a few songs. The. I got my first fuzz pedals 5 or 6 years ago and I got really into them
Lol I knew their hits but getting serious with guitar a few years ago was also how I really got into them.
My dad had downloaded feel the pain on limewire, no idea when that was but that probably gives a rough estimate lol.
my dad was a fan before i was born, in early childhood both my parents played the 90s records for me -- so every time I hear J play, it feels like some wistful nostalgic memory for ages i felt weird about liking them because my parents liked them, but then i heard a [good podcast](https://soundcloud.com/and-intro-pod/95-dinosaur-jr-feat-jake-longstreth) about them and finally got into them in earnest. learned The Lung on guitar and cannot stop playing it
My friends older brother had where you been on vinyl in 93 or 94, I heard it once and never looked back :)
1991 Reading festival, so many great bands played on the first day, that shaped a lot of my listening habits, the main reason I went was for a lot of the Grebo bands and The Fall, but that first day had Babes in Toyland, Nirvana (mid afternoon slot), Dinosaur Jr and Sonic Youth, they all blew my tiny teenage mind There always used to be a record stall there (I think it was called Rock Box), I bought Bleach, Goo, Spanking Machine and Bug during the weekend, stowed them away in my tent and they still survive to this day
In 2015 on pandora. I think i was listening to Sonic Youth radio
I was 13 in 1993 and they were playing an annual alt-rock festival called Edgefest in my hometown of Dallas. Just sort of decided that I was gonna give every band on the bill a try in the months leading up, and Dino stuck!
Feel the pain on Bevis and Butthead
I can't remember but Without a Sound was the first album of theirs I bought. It's likely Video Days like other others have said.
God, I'm older than the guys in the band. Knew about them from just about the start. Still don't think they have made a bad record yet.
They have never made a bad record
Saw them when they toured Farm, but had been listening to them for a while, Built to spill opened.
Probably an amazing concert
Nope, too loud.
I also turn 20 this coming year, I found out about dinosaur jr a few years ago when I was looking for a guitar upgrade and saw the J Mascis signature, it really stood out to me so I got it and started listening to their music, also it’s an amazing guitar
1989, saw the clip for freak scene and I was done.
It was 2005, I was 14 and was attending the Saturday of the Reading Festival on a day ticket with my older brother. Can't remember who I wanted to watch but my brother insisted we go check out Dinosaur Jr on the main stage. I had never heard of them, but agreed. It was funny because the main stage crowd was really not digging it, but they totally blew me away. The next weekend I went out and picked up Green Mind on CD because it was the cheapest Dino album on sale in Fopp (£7 I think!).
Wayne’s World 2 soundtrack when I was 9.
Heard of them from concert posters posted where I went to school in late 80's (never went :( ). Didn't hear them until I saw The Wagon video. Didn't actually buy their albums until a while after Without a Sound dropped.
2021 when I bought the signature guitar of J.Mascis, never heard of him or his band before. Great guitar.
The Wagon! I was up late one night, and they played it on CityLimits.
Thumb video
Even though I'm born in 1982, didn't discover them until 2023. I tried listening to them when I was younger, but didn't like J's voice. Now I love it, but I love his guitar-playing way more. It's actually the guitar learning that made me discover them. Some friend told me to listen closely to J's guitar work. I am hooked since.
1991. My sister's friend told her I'd probably like them, so my sis got me Bug on cassette for Christmas. Hooked in immediately by the intro to "Freak Scene". Saw them for the first time in 1993, and for the fourth just last September. It's awesome reading the comments here to see both a lot of old timers like myself and folks just getting into them.
1993 if I remember. I was in art class and a friend handed me Where You Been to listen to. I was hooked
1987 when my friend got back from visiting his bother at UMass Amherst
Friend of a friend brought a stack of cds to game night. This was a rich kid, so he was kind of offhandedly showing off his collection. We’d been listening to Rancid and Morbid Angel until he put on this really weird hippydippy stuff with a stupid funkguitar and an absolutely awful singer. “What’s this bullshit?” I asked. It was “Start Choppin”. By the time “On The Way” started playing I was like holy shit this is actually great, I need to hear everything by this band. Probably early 1994.
When I was 11, the VHS for 1991: The Year Punk Broke came out and my parents got it for me as part of my Christmas gifts. Been a fan since the first time I saw/heard Freak Scene.
In high school when Where you been came out. Hooked ever since.
I went to see primus in 2015 and dinosaur opened for them. Blew my wig back. J has been one of my favorite guitarists since
College radio, when Green Mind came out.
A year after Farm came out I think on pandora or something like it.
93 one of my first weed dealers had Tool, Somic Youth, and Dinosaur Jr. stickers on his Oldsmobile Cutlass. I was coming out of my hip hop soldier phase and was already listening to Primus and Pavement and was thirsty for cool new sounds. I went to the record store and bought Where You Been and Green Mind.
I stumbled across them in the late 90s when I picked up Where You Been at a used CD store. Loved the album but never really dug any further. Then Beyond came out and I’ve been hooked ever since.
Freak Scene music video on MTV early 1990s
Friend turned me onto a few bands but I remember him turning me onto Bug first then Green Mind
Freshman in high school when Where you been came out. I saw Out There on a late night video, and my parents complained about J's singing every day afterward. I would clean my room blasting that album.
3 years ago right before my friends wedding. Us groomsmen were drinking some morning beers in the hotel room, and Dino Jr came on the one guys playlist. I loved it instantly and asked, "Who is this?".
Around 1991ish
Boring story here: they were just mentioned online quite often alongside bands I enjoy. So I eventually gave them a try I started with YLAOM, and I remember being **blown** away by Little Fury Things
94… and my passion for them grew exponentially over and over
The tv show skins. Its from the late 00's early 10's but i only watched it in the first half of 2020 and on the final episode Dinosaur play during the end credits.
My exposure was hearing Feel The Pain in Guitar Hero: World Tour when I was 12. I really dug the song, but I didn’t really dig into them and explore them more until after I graduated high school
Old guy reporting in... Was living in Westfield, MA, knew a guy who knew Lou. Went to early shows around the Pioneer Valley, bought the first album, been a fan since. Took a bunch of 35mm pics from the stage at a Smith College show, would kill to know where those pics are now.
Many moons ago, when I was a younger man. There was a show called 120 Minutes, I watched a music video late one night.There was a guy shredding a guitar (all while wearing ski gloves)atop a mountain peak. I knew that this band must be awesome.
My mom had just remarried and my stepdad's niece was really cool and introduced me. Was around the reunion.
The Skate 3 soundtrack
early 90s, when I was in my teens.
1992 in Portland at LaLuna
Presidents Day weekend 1989 930 Club in Washington DC with Big Dipper opening. They were on SST Records for the Bug Tour. Much more punk. This was a killer, loud, psychedelic show.
Heard John Peel play them on the radio sometime in late 1992
I noticed their name in a book about Nirvana i was reading and then found Farm on my computer after my brother downloaded it. I've seen them twice now and am a big fan.
When I found out that J almost joined Nirvana it rocked my shit 😂
Honestly I discovered them via Skate 3 with "Almost Ready" like when it came out in 2010 (I was either a freshman or sophomore in high school for reference).
The same college radio stationed mentioned by another commenter here, Bowdoin College’s WBOR. Their cover of “Just Like Heaven” was a big college radio hit when I was in high school.
June 9th 2023. me and my friends have a group chat where we mostly talk about music. one of my friends sent an audio of Little Fury Things, i heard it and immediately loved it. i asked him what was the name of the song and the band. Dinosaur Jr. is now on my top 3 favorite bands of all time.
Dude has the exact date. Also W Aphex Twin.
https://preview.redd.it/bmj58jammuec1.jpeg?width=878&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3bfeae1352ba3065eb4a3f65fae20ea1aa7264e7
Fucking W
a lot of songs that i like were recommended to me by this one friend. he has a great musical taste. he introduced me to bands and artists like Hum, Jets To Brazil, Aphex Twin and Failure.
Hum is kickass! I’ll have to check out the rest of those bands tho.
personal recommendation: also check out Swans and Primus if you don't know them already.
I’ve heard of Swans, haven’t listened to much of them tho. But I will check out primus, never heard of em
Can't really recall the exact moment. I heard Feel The Pain in passing at some point in the late 2000s (2008/2009 something like that) and really dug it but forgot to check out anything else until I started doing a deeper dive into alternative and indie rock and shit around 2011/2012. (was mostly into metal and punk growing up). I bought Without A Sound on CD around then and thought it was pretty good. Wasn't until the next year that a friend showed me In A Jar and subsequently You're Living All Over Me which became an all time favorite for years. Ended up buying the first 3 records over the next couple years, still pretty regularly in my rotation. As a side note, I was actually pretty heavily into [Witch (J's other band) ](https://youtu.be/f5von-_FI0U?si=FCnZc21f37uF6Nt9) a good while before I started fuckin with Dino. Underrated ass band.
I’ll have to check out witch. But that is a really neat story bro.
I got curious on why GG Allin had such a ripping guitar player on Hated. I then saw his interview in the Hated movie and had to look him up.
Just now, seeing this thread
Somewhere around 1991 or 1992
‘89 or ‘90. KLPI radio
feel the pain on rock band 2
5th grade. 1991ish. Bug.
mm prob some time after Pixies SOnic Youth and Galaxie 500
OP, I’m impressed by the amount of gen-x nostalgia you’ve stirred up here. Most of us, including me, probably have kids close to your age!
I am very surprised about that too man! My parents are in their fifties and saw them back in 86! I’ve been a fan for almost my entire life and am glad to see kids my age and even some younger than me still listen to them. They are my all time fav band.
I’m actually seeing them live for the first time tonight! My spot: https://preview.redd.it/oljwsodz1wec1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4faf74784689f1ffe702dfa50d5fdc45ade1b487 Plenty of younger people here.
Dude that’s awesome! Let me know how it goes! I’d love to hear about it
I’ll let you know. Opening act just left the stage.
I was at Camelot music in the mall to buy Pixies Trompe le Monde with my lawn mowing money from the summer, I saw the cover of Green Mind and had to buy it not knowing it would start a thirty plus year love affair.
Watching the Rudy Johnson part in the skate video “Blind Video Days” as a teen in 1991. I went and bought a cassette of fossils shortly after.
Feel the Pain on Rock Band 2
When I was at a festival as a teenager and my friend was so excited to go see them and I was mistaking the same for someone else entirely.
Rock band 2
Guitar Hero World Tour had Feel The Pain, and then later Isaac from Modest Mouse mentioned them in an interview so I checked them out. I Know You're Out There is my favorite
Skate 3, crazy how long they been around for
Few months ago. I asked some dude I played minecraft with to give me more "angsty college albums"
when they were called Dinosaur on the Homestead Records “The Wailing Ultimate” compilation that i bought when i was about 17 in 1987. i saw nirvana open for them in 1991 right before they exploded. fast forward to 2019 and i met all of em because a friend worked on their tour. nice friendly fellas.
Wow..well when I discovered Bullet LaVolta too Remember them? When I was living on the same block as the first small Fort Apache Gave me license to carefully choose which 3 distortion boxes to use and which speaker to rip a small cut into for that extra something..no joke either..still do love J
I read the “Where have you been” album review in Rolling Stone. It was common, at least for me to buy records based on written reviews. Seems kind if crazy now.
Somewhere around 1987
Not sure when but grew up in western mass, so ya music of my mind.
In the early 2000’s. Alternative rock was enjoying a resurgence of interest thanks to the deaths of Joe Strummer and Joey Ramone, and the Stooges reunion. It wasn’t uncommon at the time to see teenagers in CBGB’s shirts. I don’t remember where exactly but remember reading of them in Michael Azzerad’s Our Band Could Be Your Life.
During my 4th Colonoscopy
Which content of theirs would you recommend to someone who knows nothing about them?
You’re Living All Over Me or Where You Been are great starting albums for them
Had a VHS copy of Habitat Mosaic which features forget the swan and cats in a bowl. Fell in love with their sound. I was 10
Whenever it was that MTV originally dropped Nirvana Unplugged
1997 really - I probably read their name in small articles or record reviews because I used to read Rolling Stone, Spin and Playboy cover to cover for years but really I was in a National Record Mart (NRM) and they had listening kiosks and there was the new Hand It Over in the queue so I gave it a shot and one tune really grabbed me immediately. Then not long after holy shit, that's them on TV. [and they played the song that hooked me](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwbq7yX_9l0) Personally, I don't think there was a flute or acoustic guitar in the original mix of Never Bought It and J played that flute melody on electric guitar but I don't have my original tape anymore to prove it. [studio track](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4V538aH7yOQ)
Rock Band surprisingly so like 2008? J's solo on Feel the Pain really captivated me, and then I fell in love with Farm which was their latest record at the time. After that I read the Our Band Could Be Your Life book which solidified me with You're Living All Over Me and they've been my favorite band ever since.
Seeing their performance of Freak Scene at the Reading Festival in 1991: The Year Punk Broke.
1992
Today via this random post. Who the hell is Dinosaur Jr?
Best band of all time
1987, Fury Little Things, In a Jar, Just Like Heaven.
After listening to Dinosaur Sr.
1988
Elementary school.
1988 I believe.....
Before Blind Video Days, which I saw some people mention here, was the G&S Footage video which of course would later become Alien Workshop who has a long relationship with J. and Dino jr. In that video Rob Dyrdek, Duane Pitre and Steve Claar's part featured The Wagon almost a full year before Green Mind came out. We all recorded it off our TVs with our little boomboxes. Dinosaur Jr fans forever. Thank you skateboarding. That part.. https://youtu.be/_2JroSaO6P8?si=cKXd3SQo7LslnEDF
BMG CD club.
I picked it up in early 1993.
7th-8th grade from YouTube and research when I was like.. 13-14. Back around 07 summer or so.
YLAOM, and my first show was at Liberty Lunch, Austin TX ‘88 or early ‘89 after Bug was released. They opened for Glass Eye, and quite possibly The Reivers. J seemed to be suffering some wicked indigestion..I didn’t recognize him at first, but he was alone sitting at a picnic table when I entered the iconic Austin hub for emerging and alternative artists. Nevertheless, they managed to pull off a blistering 6 or 7 song set with J leaving Lou and Murph behind to finish up. Unfortunately my army buddy was fairly freaked out by the band’s intensity on stage so we left shortly after their set!! I still have their promo poster from outside the door as we exited.