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Louder
Louder
Entertainment
Simon Young

"Let’s not be grunge. Let’s be more like the Beach Boys. But loud." How Weezer's Rivers Cuomo wrote the perfect power-pop song but almost shelved it

Weezer pose for a portrait backstage in the basement of the 400 Bar in Minneapolis Minnesota in September 1994.

Rivers Cuomo was a student at Santa Monica College when the chorus melody for Buddy Holly came to him while walking across campus.

Having moved from Connecticut to Los Angeles with his high school band Avant Garde (who changed their name to Zoom), Cuomo had dreams of becoming a metal star. He had the hair, the chops and the drive, but they failed to attract any interest from the music industry.

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