When the Simpsons beat the Nirvana thanks to Michael Jackson

With the arrival on the “Nevermind” marketsthe second studio album of the Nirvana released on September 24, 1991Kurt Cobain’s band was just the success that he would have overwhelmed from there in a short time. Already just before the release, the first single extract “Smells Like Teen Spirit” anticipated a turning point, not only for the group, but for rock music in the mainstream in general. The arrival of that song and a record like “Snowmind“, That In the following January he reached the first position of the Billboard 200undermining Michael Jackson’s “Dangerous”, he recovered that intensity that in the previous decade made the really subversive rock and at the same time attracted the attention of the general public.

Although today he is considered a classic and a jewel of rock nineties, the single single “Smells like Teen Spirit“He never reached the top of the rankings neither in the United Kingdom nor in the United States at the time of his exit. What he came out in those years capable of beating the Nirvana and their generational anthem?

In the same period, Another new phenomenonof another nature, was conquering the world of entertainment: “The Simpsons“. The American animated series conceived by Matt Groeningwho made his debut in the United States in December 1989, was now a success all over the world, being a show thinking not only exclusively for children, but indeed. To take advantage of the growing fame around the Simpson family, the creators of the series therefore decided to publish a musical album played by the various characters. The disc, entitled “The Simpsons Sing the Blues“, It included some songs from the episodes of the series, as well as also in pieces not included in any episode, such as the peak single”Do the Bartman” reach the summit of the rankings in five countries, including the United Kingdom. As reported by the British Official Charts, Bart Simpson’s song remained at first place in the British ranking for three weeks and became the fifth fifth more sold in 1991. His total sales at 2021 amounted to 451,000 copies. Since 2014, the year in which streaming in the rankings were introduced, the song had scored 702,000 reproductions.

One of the possible reasons of its success was the involvement of Michael Jacksonwhich according to some sources collaborated together with Bryan Loren at the drafting of the song and as a chorister, even if he did not officially accredited as an author as he was under contract with another record label. At the time, fans anxiously awaited the sequel to the 1987 album “Bad”, and this was Jackson’s first “new” song after the release of “Liberian Girl”. In addition to this, Bart Simpson had become one of the most loved figures of the series, a symbol of the bachelor’s bare boy par excellence with a sympathy and irreverence capable of conquering the public.

In the 1991 year -end ranking in the United Kingdom, “Do the Bartman“So the fifth more sold singleexceeded only by songs by Bryan Adams, Queen, Cher and Right Said Fred. “Smells like Teen Spirit”, however, did not even enter the top 40 at the end of the year.