KIRO NEWSRADIO

Legendary Seattle DJ Marco Collins is the subject of the new SIFF film ‘The Glamour and the Squalor’

Jun 2, 2015, 5:55 PM | Updated: Oct 11, 2024, 10:14 am

(Left to Right) Geffen Records Susie Tennant, Marco Collins, and Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain and Kr...

(Left to Right) Geffen Records Susie Tennant, Marco Collins, and Nirvana's Kurt Cobain and Krist Novoselic backstage at The Paramount Theater in Seattle, 1991. (Photo courtesy of Marco Collins)

(Left to Right)

In 1991, Seattle’s Marco Collins was the first DJ in the country to play Nirvana. He was the first to play a Pearl Jam song.

“We were just able to really forge a path in breaking a lot of artists nationally, even internationally,” Marco said. “Beck being one of the artists that we broke, ‘Loser.’ Garbage, The Presidents of the United States. We were the first station to play the Foo Fighters, Prodigy. Weezer, I was the first person to play Weezer.”

Related: EMP celebrates 15 years of pop culture

Marco was a DJ and music director at 107.7 The End. But about eight years in he started partying hard, hanging out with Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love and the other Seattle grunge rockers he befriended through his show.

“I sort of believed that I was kind of a rock star and I lived that lifestyle. My rule was, I have to be in bed by noon so that I could sleep from noon to six, wake up, be on the air by seven. Very little show prep; I kind of lived the show prep. It was crazy, that was a really crazy time. That really was the beginning of the unraveling, the beginning of the squalor.”

“The Glamour and the Squalor” is the name of a new documentary about Marco Collins’ rise and fall, and everything in between. After several years of production, the film is finally debuting at the Seattle International Film Festival on Wednesday.

“It’s the fastest selling film this year at SIFF, which shocked me. We didn’t even have time to tell our friends to buy tickets,” Collins said.

If you were into the 90s music scene, you will recognize everyone in this film.

“Carrie Brownstein from Portlandia, Sleater-Kinney,” lists Marq Evans, the film’s director. “Mike McCready, from Pearl Jam, not only is in the movie but scored the film too. There’s a great interview we found with Kurt Cobain talking about, I don’t want to spoil it, but talking about Marco and the End. That’s a great little scene with Marco and Kurt. Patty Schemel from Hole, Matt Pinfield from MTV days, Shirley Manson from Garbage.”

One of the other things the film highlights is Marco’s eventual coming out.

“I just didn’t feel comfortable coming out in the 90s. At that time, I felt like it was career suicide. So coming out, for me, has been many stages. And now I really don’t care who knows. But I do regret not having come out earlier because there were so many people that found out that I was gay who wrote me and said, ‘Man, if we had only known that when we were kids, you were our hero, it really could have maybe helped us.’ That’s one of the biggest regrets I have.”

Marco did not agree to do the film right away. He’s trying to move forward, not go back.

“A radio company that I worked for in Sacramento asked me to do the Resurrection Show. And I was like, ‘Hell no! I’m not being typecast as the resurrection guy!’ And they were like, ‘What if we give you a new music show, back-to-back?’ And I’m like, ‘Done!’ I can tell stories for days about the 90s, the stuff that I can remember. But the new music is really where my heart’s at, where my passion is. If you looked at what my playlist is, on my phone right now, nothing on this says 90s at all. It’s just not where I’m at.”

train kills person puyallup...

Bill Kaczaraba

Train hits, kills person in Puyallup Wednesday morning

A person was hit and killed on the train tracks in Puyallup Wednesday morning, according to a report from authorities.

2 years ago

In this courtroom sketch, Salman Rushdie testifies on the witness stand gesturing how the attacker ...

Associated Press

Excerpts from Salman Rushdie’s court testimony about a harrowing attack

MAYVILLE, N.Y. (AP) — Author Salman Rushdie testified Tuesday in the trial of a man accused of attacking him with a knife just after he took his seat for a panel discussion at the Chautauqua Institution in western New York. The noted author was on the witness stand for just about an hour, during which […]

1 hour ago

President Donald Trump, from right, speaks to reporters accompanied by Interior Secretary Doug Burg...

Associated Press

Apple changes Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America based on Trump’s order

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Apple renamed the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America on its maps Tuesday after an order by President Donald Trump was made official by the U.S. Geographic Names Information System. The move follows Google, which announced last month that it would make the change once the official listing was […]

1 hour ago

FILE - PBS President and CEO Paula Kerger speaks during the PBS Executive Session at the Television...

Associated Press

With public broadcasters pressured by the Trump administration, PBS shuts down its diversity office

NEW YORK (AP) — PBS says it is shutting down its office of diversity, equity and inclusion to comply with President Donald Trump’s executive order, firing the two executives brought on when the effort was begun in 2021. The move, eliminating the jobs held by Cecilia Loving and her associate Gina Leow, comes as public […]

2 hours ago

Photo: A customer picks up a dozen eggs to buy....

Julia Dallas

Taking eggs off your shopping list? Here’s why the prices are so high

Many are feeling the impact of egg prices, but what caused them to skyrocket?

2 hours ago

Associated Press

Court sets March 19 date for first execution in Arizona in over 2 years

PHOENIX (AP) — The Arizona Supreme Court set a March 19 execution date Tuesday for a man who pleaded guilty to murder more than 17 years ago and recently said his death sentence was “long overdue.” It would be the state’s first application of the death penalty in more than two years. The court issued […]

2 hours ago

Scrim, a fugitive New Orleans rescue dog who gained fame evading a city-wide effort search for mont...

Associated Press

Fugitive dog recaptured in New Orleans after gaining national fame for escapades

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A scruffy New Orleans rescue dog famed for evading a monthslong effort to recapture him using nets and tranquilizer rifles has finally been caught and returned to domestic life Tuesday. Scrim, a 17-pound mutt who has become a Louisiana folk hero, first escaped from his adopted family in April and roamed […]

3 hours ago

Legendary Seattle DJ Marco Collins is the subject of the new SIFF film ‘The Glamour and the Squalor’