In this wonderful clip below, Dave Grohl explains to Pharrell that his primary source of rhythmic inspiration for Nirvana's culture-shifting 1991 album Nevermind were disco beats borrowed from the Gap Band, Cameo, and Tony Thompson of Chic.
I love Grohl's wonderful beatboxing of the opening beat to "Smells Like Teen Spirit" which he swiped from the Gap Band's "Burn Rubber On Me" (1980).
"[Tony Thompson] came to my house for a barbecue with somebody," Grohl says. "I was like, 'Man, I just want to thank you because I owe so much, I've been ripping you off my whole life.' And he goes, 'I know.'"
