Music History

Behold Trent Reznor’s pre-Nine Inch Nails pop music past with this TV clip from the 80s

Before he conceived of Nine Inch Nails, Trent Reznor was in a bunch of New Wave-y/mainstream rock bands: Option 30, The Innocent, Exotic Birds, Slam Bamboo, and Lucky Pierre. A few of them made records but none of them had any kind of success beyond a little regional notoriety. (Exotic Birds can be seen and heard playing a Buddy Holly song as The Problems in the background in the 1987 Michael J. Fox movie, Light of Day. And no, their performance is not on the soundtrack.)

This pre-NIN video is making the rounds. Slam Bamboo hired Trent as a touring keyboardist and it was during his tenure that the group appeared on the local morning show AM Cleveland. This is from 1987.

Alan Cross

is an internationally known broadcaster, interviewer, writer, consultant, blogger and speaker. In his 40+ years in the music business, Alan has interviewed the biggest names in rock, from David Bowie and U2 to Pearl Jam and the Foo Fighters. He’s also known as a musicologist and documentarian through programs like The Ongoing History of New Music.

Alan Cross has 38031 posts and counting. See all posts by Alan Cross

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