Inside the Milky Way - A Look at Early Alternative Music

The Scream , the 1978 debut album from Siouxsie and the Banshees, was a landmark release to widespread critical acclaim and is considered one of the most iconic and most influential albums of the post-punk era.  Formed in London in 1976 by Siouxsie Sioux and Steven Severin, the band used experimental rhythms and sonics to develop a new and original music on the way to becoming one of the pioneers...

Yazoo was an English synth-pop duo formed by former Depeche Mode founding member and keyboards master Vince Clarke, and the powerful soulful and bluesy contralto vocalist Alison Moyet.  The band, also known in North America as Yaz , was short-lived after forming in late 1981 and breaking up by mid-1983. However, this was long enough to release two albums, Upstairs at Eric's and You and Me Both , w...

The critically acclaimed 1977 debut album, Marquee Moon , from the New York band Television was a defining and foundational work in the history of music.  With innovative instrumentation, sound, and elements taking music in a more artful and complex direction, the album would impact the development of post-punk, new wave, and alternative rock. The music consisted of intricate and angular guitar wo...

The Hurting , the 1983 debut album from Tears for Fears ,was an intriguing and introspective album that focused on dark subjects such as child abuse, psychological trauma, and depression. This subject matter hit very close to home for the duo of Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith of Tears for Fears , having dealt with these issues as part of their childhood.  This album would hit number 1 on the UK alb...

In 1978, Lene Lovich signed with Stiff Records after years of art schools and travelling Europe , and she found her music career with the song, "Lucky Number". This song would reach number 3 on the UK singles chart and would help define the growing new wave genre. Lene Lovich created a sound that mixed post-punk and new wave styles with international music, along with a quirky style to influence m...

The 1990 debut studio album, Nowhere , from the Oxford, England band Ride is considered one of the top shoegaze albums ever made. The music mixed bits of neo-psychedelia and indie rock with the shoegaze sound to creating this unique album. The band followed with their second album, Going Blank Again , and the lead single, the shoegaze classic, "Leave Them All Behind".  This episode tells the story...

Christian Death rose from the Los Angeles punk rock scene in 1979 to become one of the founding bands of American gothic rock and death rock. Initially led by Rozz Williams, the band would create the landmark debut album in 1982, Only Theatre of Pain . Valor Kand would join Williams in the band for the second and third albums before eventually become the band's leader after the departure of Willia...

The Undertones rose from the time of the Troubles in Derry, Northern Ireland to go on to be one of the biggest and most successful bands from Northern Ireland. The band's music developed from punk rock roots focused on teenage angst, growing up, love and heartbreak.  The band’s first single was “Teenage Kicks”, a song that legendary DJ John Peel would say was his all-time favorite after playing it...

The Boston based post-punk band, Mission of Burma , was together for only four years during their initial run, but they had a lasting impact on music. One of the few releases from the band during these years was the landmark 1981 EP Signals, Calls, and Marches, which would be very influential to the future of alternative rock and indie rock.  This episode discusses the band and their music during...

After taking a couple of years off from recording as Talking Heads , the band returned to the studio for the 1983 album, Speaking in Tongues . This fifth studio album from the band would be the commercial breakthrough and the album would be followed by a tour that resulted in the critically acclaimed documentary, Stop Making Sense . This episode will talk about the band's members getting back to r...

The English music and visual arts group Throbbing Gristle began in 1975 creating music which often contained harsh, mechanical, transgressive, and provocative sounds and themes. This was the start of what would be known as industrial music.   This episode discusses the origins of the group, the creation of their music, and their three studio albums prior to their break-up of 1981.

When they formed in London in 1978, Visage was a collective of musicians that would take an approach to music and style linking to the burgeoning New Romantic fashion and music movement of the early 1980s.  Midge Ure, one of the founding members of Visage , would be part of the band's first two albums, both of which were commercially successful. During Ure's time with Visage , their music would be...

Welsh identical twin brothers, Jay and Michael Aston, formed the band Gene Loves Jezebel. From their post-punk and gothic rock debut album in 1983, the band would achieve commercial success by the third and fourth albums blending their music and their distinctive vocals with a more alternative rock approach. However, the relationship between the twins become strained leading to a separation that w...

Starting in 1981, Sonic Youth pushed boundaries as part of American experimental no wave scene to redefine what noise meant in terms of music. The band would combine innovative guitar tunings, dissonance, and feedback with hardcore punk and avant-garde music as part of the New York no wave scene. The music of Sonic Youth began evolving from these early years taking a more conventional approach as...

In 1989, Nick Cave would experience some life changes and with those changes, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds would take their music in a new direction. By the end of the 1990’s, the band would achieve worldwide mainstream success with piano-driven ballads, most notably with the albums, Murder Ballads and The Boatman’s Call . This episode tells the story of the band and Nick Cave through their five...

When Disintegration was released in May of 1989, the album signified a return to The Cure 's darker and gloomier days of their early years.  The eighth studio album from the band includes classic singles like "Lovesong", "Pictures of You", and "Lullaby", but also other emotionally intense songs like "Prayers for Rain", "Plainsong", and the title track. All of this has led to Disintegration being c...

The Cramps took various music styles including punk rock, rockabilly, surf and garage rock, along with campy humor, sex, and horror/sci-fi film imagery to become the progenitor of what would be called psychobilly music.  Led by the husband and wife duo, Lux Interior and Poison Ivy Rorshach, this American group grew from the New York punk scene of the late 70's to become an iconic band, and the per...

Happy Mondays became one of the pioneering artists of the Madchester scene fusing indie rock, funk, psychedelia and acid house music to create a unique sound associated with this rave club cultural movement. The band's second studio album, Bummed of 1988, and the follow-up, Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches of 1990, were two signature albums of the Madchester era. This episode tells the story of th...

Flesh for Lulu was born London in late 1982 when lead singer and guitarist Nick Marsh met future drummer James Mitchell. Over the years, the band would build off of their post-punk roots to create music of various influences before breaking up in 1992. Flesh for Lulu came close to mainstream success in 1987 with the college radio hit, "I Go Crazy", but was never able to capitalize on this opportun...

The impact Buzzcocks had on music was beyond what Pete Shelley could have imagined when he started the band with Howard Devoto in 1976. Beyond organizing a legendary concert in Manchester that would kickstart the journey of a number of incredible bands, and combining punk rock with elements of pop to become a successful and influential artist, they would release their debut EP on their own indepen...

The English band Shriekback was formed in 1981 by three musicians from post-punk backgrounds. Barry Andrews (formerly of XTC) , Dave Allen (previously with Gang of Four) , and Carl Marsh (from Out on Blue Six) would start this band and create a funk-infused music that would evolve over the years through various styles while maintaining their signature clever and unusual lyrics.  This episode discu...

Mazzy Star , behind the sultry vocals of Hope Sandoval, became one of the legendary bands of 90’s alternative rock with the iconic song, "Fade Into You". The precursor to Mazzy Starr was the band Opal, led by the guitar work and production of David Roback. Opal would add Hope Sandoval as a new lead singer in 1988 and rename themselves Mazzy Star . Behind the creative duo of Roback and Sandoval, th...

In 1982, Simple Minds released the album, New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84) , and with this album the band would begin to solidify the path to worldwide success through next two albums, Sparkle in the Rain and Once Upon a Time .  This episode tells the story of the band from 1982 to 1985 which includes these three classic albums, the development of their sound from the early year more experimental post...

Formed in Hamburg in 1980, Xmal Deutschland started as an all female band and was one of the early gothic groups of the New Deutsche Welle, or New German Wave. The band's second single, "Incubus Succubus", became a goth classic and the band, with lead singer Anja Huwe, would sign with 4AD records for their first two albums. Starting with Fetisch in 1983, the band released four studio albums before...

Sad Lovers & Giants , with their atmospheric and sometimes dark, melancholic, and psychedelia post-punk, was one of the most overlooked bands of the early post-punk era. The original line-up formed in 1980 and produced two albums along with some non-album releases before breaking up in 1983. Led by vocalist and songwriter, Garce Allard, the band has reformed several times over the years. This...