I started writing this a few days ago and never got around to finishing or posting it.
Steven Jesse Bernstein – writer, poet, musician and performer. He was originally known in the Seattle underground for his unorthodox performances (he once read a poem with a mouse in his mouth) and is recognized as being one of the first punk poetry slammers. He was a big influence on the Seattle music scene during the 80’s, opening for future pop star groups like Nirvana, Big Black and Soundgarden. He’s been labeled as the Godfather of Grunge, although he wasn’t around long enough to hear the term grunge or see that Seattle scene blow up.
He committed suicide on October 22, 1991. He chose one of the more unpopular means – slitting his own throat. During his lifetime his stories and poems appeared in local publications and early on a couple of his novels were published by a small Seattle press. Most of those writings haven’t resurfaced anywhere aside from the two books of random writings released years after he died: “I am Secretly an Important Man” and “More Noise Please.” These seem to be out of print now but you can probably find them in used-book circuits. They feature poems from the album Prison that he recorded for SubPop which he didn’t get to finish.
Come Out Tonight is a recording not included in Prison. He wrote best when sober which was for most of the 80s. He hated being poor and tried to find a regular job with a salary, medical benefits and maybe even a small pension. Nobody would hire him. We remember Steve Jesse Bernstein.