Inside the Milky Way - A Look at Early Alternative Music

Jane's Addiction was one of the most influential bands of the alternative rock movement that helped usher in alternative rock of the 1990’s. The band was founded in 1985 in Los Angeles by lead vocalist Perry Farrell, often referred to as the Godfather of Alternative Rock, and bassist Eric Avery following the disintegration of Farrell's previous band, Psi Com. Jane's Addiction would add drummer Ste...

Years before the hit songs "True" and "Gold", the English band Spandau Ballet had formed in 1979 inspired by the local post-punk underground dance scene. By 1980, the band became the house band at London’s Blitz Club for the club clientele, known as the Blitz Kids, and became a key band in the burgeoning New Romantic scene.  Starting with their 1980 debut single "To Cut a Long Story Short", a song...

Although the band Young Marble Giants created only one full length studio album, that one album from 1980, Colossal Youth , would be a post-punk tone setter.   This Welsh band formed in Cardiff in 1978 and was based around the vocals of  Alison Statton along with the minimalist instrumentation of brothers Philip and Stuart Moxham. The trio created a sound from post-punk's experimental tendencies i...

Soon after forming in London in 1977, The Psychedelic Furs would be part of the rising UK post-punk scene. However, they would not be just another post-punk band.  Led by the Butler brothers of Richard, lead singer with his very distinctive vocal style, and bassist Tim, The Psychedelic Furs would start their career with a couple of excellent post-punk albums.  Following their self-titled debut alb...

The English band Catherine Wheel 's 1992 debut album Ferment and the 1993 follow up album Chrome associated the group with the shoegaze music scene. As the band progressed over the years after their debut, the music would become heavier before shifting to a more textured sound crossing through genres with the ever changing landscape of alternative music in the 90’s.  Catherine Wheel ’s early atten...

The Sugarcubes were an Icelandic alternative band that formed in 1986, and by the time the band ended in 1992 they had become Iceland's biggest music group.  During this short career, The Sugarcubes were a complex post-punk, dream pop, experimental, indie dance rock band. Their music was a upbeat blend of psychedelic sounds, punk energy, pop-driven melodies, angular guitar riffs, and tribal rhythm...

The story of Cabaret Voltaire began when they formed in Sheffield, England in 1973 by Chris Watson, Richard H Kirk, and Stephen Mallinder. The band would go on to one of the most innovative, influential, and pioneering industrial and post-punk acts as they became known as the original sound of Sheffield.  Cabaret Voltaire took their name from the Zurich nightclub that was the center of the early D...

Screamadelica , the 1991 third studio album from Primal Scream, was a defining album as it successfully fused indie rock with electronic, techno, and house dance music. The album was instrumental in bringing this musical style to the international mainstream. Although Primal Scream formed in 1982 in Glasgow, Scotland, it was not until lead singer Bobby Gillespie left his other band (The Jesus and...

The Velvet Underground formed in New York City in 1964 and has been considered by many as one of the most influential American rock bands.  The band's music contained experimentation with instrumentation and sounds while containing raw and provocative lyrics from lead singer and guitarist Lou Reed. These features, along with unconventional and minimalist arrangements, would lead to the development...

When 45 Grave formed in Los Angeles in 1979, their music would combine punk rock with a dark and horror themed aesthetic becoming one of the first American gothic rock bands as they helped create the genre, deathrock.  After the rise of the deathrock sound from the LA Punk scene, 45 Grave would release their critically acclaimed debut album in 1983, Sleep in Safety . The band’s most notable succes...

When Bauhaus created the song “Bela Lugosi’s Dead” and released it as their debut single in early 1979, they did not realize the impact the song and the band's aesthetic would have on culture and music. The song would be considered one of the greatest debut singles and the song would be deemed the first gothic rock song. This led to the dark, gloomy, and intense debut album the following year, In...

Chrome was one of the more unusual alternative bands that arrived on the 70's San Francisco music scene.  Chrome’s music would often take on sci-fi themes while employing tape loops, distortion and overloaded acid rock guitar, found sounds from television, and whatever noise they could create with electronics.   These raw experimental and industrial sounds would be blended with elements from punk...

Blancmange formed in London in 1979 behind vocalist Neil Arthur and instrumentalist Stephen Luscombe. On their way to becoming a classic synth-pop duo, they would take a more exotic approach to the music than others in the electropop field. Besides often creating eccentric dance rhythms and a comforting atmosphere, Blancmange would sometimes fuse synth with eastern influences as part of their musi...

In 1977 two art school students in London, Ana da Silva and Gina Birch, would start the post-punk band, The Raincoats . Not only did they develop an unusual sound and approach to music incorporating experimental and other elements, but this band also that took on social and political issues. The Raincoats would release their self-titled debut album in 1979 as an all-female band for this debut. The...

Galaxie 500 formed in Boston in 1987 and would deliver three studio albums before disbanding in 1991.  The creation from the band over this limited span was a mix of indie rock, dream pop, and neo-psychedelia using slow tempos and a minimalist approach. Much of this unique music would be a key to the development of the 90's sub-genre known as slowcore.  Their second album, On Fir e, was the most i...

The Chameleons released their debut studio album in 1983, the classic and one of the best of the era, Script of the Bridge.  This was followed by What Does Anything Mean? Basically in 1985 and Strange Times in 1986, completed an amazing trilogy of post-punk albums to start their career before they abruptly broke up in 1987. This Manchester, England band that formed in 1981 and was known for their...

Coil was an English experimental group formed in 1982 by John Balance, who was soon joined by his Psychic TV bandmate and former original member of Throbbing Gristle, Peter Christopherson.  Over the years, Coil 's work was very diverse exploring various themes including the occult, sexuality, and alchemy while crossing through musical boundaries, styles, and genres such as experimental electronic,...

After forming in the mid-1980's, the music of the English band All About Eve fell loosely into the UK goth rock scene. Over the next few years, the music would evolve into a more unique, folk-rock influenced style, all behind the beautiful voice and songwriting of lead singer Julianne Regan. All About Eve would create four studio albums beginning with the 1988 self-titled debut album that included...

The 1982 self-titled debut album from A Flock of Seagulls was one about extra-terrestrial invasion and alien abduction with themes of technology and space. This concept album blended synth-pop and post-punk while featuring atmospheric synthesizers, electronic sounds, chiming guitars, along with the iconic songs: "I Ran (So Far Away)" and "Space Age Love Song". A Flock of Seagulls ' music and image...

In 1982, Cocteau Twins released their debut album Garlands . For this Scottish band of Robin Guthrie, Will Heggie and the amazing vocalist Elizabeth Fraser, this was the beginning of a new sound on the path to becoming one of the most influential artists of the era. Soon after the debut album, founding member Heggie would leave the band and be replaced by Simon Raymonde prior to the third album, t...

Led by vocalist and guitarist Jeffrey Lee Pierce, the post-punk band The Gun Club blended punk music with blues and other American roots music influences to become one of the first of the early days of post-punk to fuse those genres.   Formed in 1979, The Gun Club became a fixture of the Los Angeles underground scene and would create seven studio LP’s during their history, starting with the blues...

Document was the fifth studio album from R.E.M. , but the first album with producer Scott Litt, who would co-produce this 1987 album and the next five albums with the band. This album, with such classic songs as "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" and "The One I Love", would help move alternative rock to the mainstream. In 1988 the band would sign with Warner Brothers after...

The Slits were one of the first all-female punk bands and one of the pioneering bands of the post-punk era as they blended reggae and dub with punk music.  Formed in London in 1976, the band's unique style and music was represented in their 1978 debut album, Cut , that has been called one of the defining releases of post-punk. The highly influential album included the songs that challenged societa...

The English synth-pop duo of vocalist Marc Almond and instrumentalist Dave Ball, better known as Soft Cell , created one of the most successful singles ever, "Tainted Love", followed by the influential 1981 debut album, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret . "Memorabilia", released just after Soft Cell signed with the independent label Some Bizarre Records, has been recognized as a pioneering song of the synth...

The Wedding Present was one of the pioneering artists of UK Indie rock in the mid-80’s. Led by guitarist and lead vocalist David Gedge, the music of this band was often bittersweet love songs immersed in jangly and whirlwind guitars built on lovelorn lyrics.  After forming in Leeds, The Wedding Present would be associated with C86, a compilation cassette released in 1986 by the British magazine NM...