Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore recalls meeting his wife (via Sonic Truth):
Kim wore glasses with flip-up shades and had an Australian sheepdog named Egan. She had an off-center ponytail and wore a blue-and-white-striped shirt and pants outfit. She had beautiful eyes and the most beautiful smile and was very intelligent and seemed to have a sensitive/spiritual intellect.
She seemed to really like me. I definitely liked her, but was scared, as always, to make a move. I was afraid to kiss her. We walked around a couple of times. One night, it got late and we were eating at Leshko’s, and I think she wanted me to ask her over. I only lived up the street. So we parted. She would take the subway, staying at gallery owner Anina Nosei’s place. Before she split, she actually touched my arm (!) and said, “See you later.”
She moved into a raw railway apartment on Eldridge Street, below Grand Street. The artist Dan Graham lived upstairs and had acquired the place for her. She invited me over one evening and I played this beat-up guitar she had. I knew the guitar because it belonged to an associate of the Coachmen gang, who left it at Jenny Holzer’s loft, where Kim had stayed, and somehow it was passed on to her. All she had was the guitar and a foam-rubber cushion for sleeping. That night was the first time we kissed.
"I was 28; Thurston was 23, I think. I’d never really gone out with anyone younger than me, but I thought, “Well, why not? Nothing else has worked.” - Kim Gordon
Thurston met Kim in New York in 1981 through her old band CKM. Shortly after, she formed Sonic Youth with Moore and Lee Ranaldo. The couple married in 1984 and had their daughter Coco in 1994. After recording more than 15 records together, the love for the band and each other still remains.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
I wanna be your Thurston Moore
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Wrestle on your bedroom floor
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Always leave you wanting more
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Throw away those old records"
- Sleater Kinney's 'I want to be your Joey Ramone'I wanna be your Thurston Moore
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Wrestle on your bedroom floor
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Always leave you wanting more
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Throw away those old records"
"I didn’t think anything of it, ‘cause I’d been set up on a couple of dates before and they’d, like, have the lights low and cheese and wine, but they knew nothing about the Ramones, and I would just be like, “l gotta get the fuck outta here.” But l do remember meeting her at this little No Wave hangout, and I remember immediately thinking that she was cool. We were talking about music and art, but I didn’t really think there was any future there, and then I saw her again in the next few days and I was attracted to her but was a little too immature and shy to make any kind of move. And she had a dog, too, that was really kind of fascinating" - Thurston
"Thurston had this charismatic vibe that he put out... he has a golden glow about him, and he was cute." - Kim
Kim & Thurston in 1984 at their wedding reception. |
Kim gave birth to their daughter, Coco Hayley Gordon Moore, on 1 July 1994. Gordon, Moore, and Coco currently reside in Northampton, Massachusetts.
In true rock tradition Moore & Gordon's daughter Coco has gone on to front a punk band of her own - Big Nils.
Kim & Thurston continue to make music together and love together. The godparents of grunge remain one of the most iconic rock couplings and their endurance together only solidifies their importance in rock history even more.