Slash's 1979 Love Letter to "My Michelle" Hits the Web

A recently unearthed love letter written by a then-14-year-old Slash in 1979 proves that before the guitarist was providing riffs for Guns n' Roses and Velvet Revolver, he was a kid writing cheesy compliments and doodling pot leafs on looseleaf paper to impress girls. The blog Letters of Note, via Hard Rock Memorabilia, posted Slash's handwritten missive to Michelle Young last week, giving us a glimpse of Saul Hudson's teenage mind — he writes about how he regrets that his love of the guitar ruined his relationship with Young, who would later be the inspiration behind the Appetite For Destruction track "My Michelle."

In the letter, Slash ruminates on his weekend, telling Young that he went to the Los Angeles venue Starwood and "spent pretty much of my weekend on cloud 9 if you know what I mean." (Translation: He was stoned) "To get off the subject, you look really nice today, you get prettier & prettier every day," the young Casanova writes, adding, "The girls are pretty (I still think you cuter than any of the girls there)." Later, Slash brags about going to see an up-and-coming band called Quiet Riot the next weekend and predicts, "One of these days I'll play [Starwood]." While he never ended up playing the Starwood — it closed up shop just two years later — he ended up more than exceeding his own 14-year-old expectations.

Related Stories:
• Slash Says Velvet Revolver Still Searching for Undiscovered Singer
• Slash on Recording With Ozzy and Lemmy, Plans for Summer Tour
• Axl Rose Lashes Out on Message Board Over Slash Ban Rumors

• 
  MUSIC The Top 25 Teen Idol Breakout Moments
• 
  MOVIES & TV 'Game of Thrones': The Show Vs. the Books
• 
  POLITICS Matt Taibbi: Facebook IPO vs. Shareholders
• 
  VIDEOS Exclusive: Garbage Rip Through 'I Think I'm Paranoid'

Song Stories

“Smells Like Teen Spirit”

Nirvana | 1991

"Smells Like Teen Spirit," named after a brand of deodorant marketed to girls, was Kurt Cobain's attempt to "write the ultimate pop song," he said, using the soft-loud dynamic of his favorite band, the Pixies. Cobain "had that dichotomy of punk rage and alienation," the song’s producer, Butch Vig, told Rolling Stone, "but also this vulnerable pop sensibility. In 'Teen Spirit,' a lot of that vulnerability is in the tone of his voice." Sadly, by the time of Nirvana's last U.S. tour, in late '93, Cobain was tortured by the obligation to play "Teen Spirit" every night. "There are many other songs that I have written that are as good, if not better," he claimed.

More Song Stories entries »

Twitter