In the summer of 1991, an unknown aspiring video director named Samuel Bayer went to lunch with friend Robin Sloane, the Geffen Records executive in charge of commissioning videos for the label. With a flimsy résumé to his name, Bayer had little prospects except for an advance from a regionally popular Seattle group. The band had just finished recording their major label debut and were cajoled into shooting a video. With no previous video credits, Bayer landed, in retrospect, one of the most influential jobs in music history: director for Nirvana’s breakthrough video “Smells Like Teen Spirit.”
20 years ago today, MTV debuted “Smells Like Teen Spirit” on the alternative rock show “120 Minutes.” Nobody, not even the show's host Dave Kendall, knew the impact the video would have on an entire generation, but its influence was quickly felt. "It wasn't just heavy, it wasn't just rock, it was real melancholy, real passion, real vulnerability, the way it married intense rage with deep melancholy and sadness," Kendall told MTV News. "That was the record that ushered in the 'grunge era' into the 'alternative mainstream… It was gutsy and heavy and authentic, and that's what changed the landscape. Nirvana opened people's eyes."
Melodic hard-core quartet 
