Inside the Milky Way - A Look at Early Alternative Music

Of all the post-punk artists from the early alternative music era, perhaps none more than The Sound did not get the attention they deserved during their active years. This ground-breaking post-punk band did receive praise from the critics for their brilliant work, but they never achieved the commercial success to go with it.

The Sound formed in South London in 1979 and released their debut studio album, Jeopardy in 1980. The Sound would follow in 1981 with another post-punk classic, From the Lion’s Mouth. They would release three more albums and some EP’s before disbanding in 1988.

The...

The German band Alphaville formed in 1982 and built their music and sound around synthesizers, drum machines, and layered electronic keyboards becoming one of the great synth-pop bands from the era.

The band was co-founded by vocalist Marian Gold and keyboardists Bernhard Lloyd and Frank Mertens. Led by Marian Gold, the band released their debut album, Forever Young, in 1984 which included two classic hits, the title track “Forever Young” and their first single released, the number 1 hit, "Big in Japan". 

Using catchy and lush electronic hooks, moody and cinematic atmospheres, and Gold's dramatic soaring vocals, Alphaville's music...

In the time after their 1984 album Treasure, Cocteau twins continued to evolve from their early atmospheric and dark post-punk music to pioneer ethereal wave and dream pop. This culminated with the masterpiece 1990 album, Heaven or Las Vegas.

Cocteau Twins would release a number of EP's in 1985 building off of the style created on Treasure. The road would continue with 1986’s Victorialand, an album with a more acoustic and ambient feel. Beyond a collaboration with composer Harold Budd that further expanded their sound, the band created a refined and lush, multi-layered guitar and vocal style album with 1988's Bl...

The Mekons arrived during the late 70's UK post-punk scene and still perform today as one of the longest running artists from this era. The band never achieved mainstream commercial success, but has consistently received critical acclaim throughout their career especially in the mid-1980's while blending punk rock with traditional folk and country music to pioneer the alternative-country genre.
The Mekons, or just Mekons, formed in Leeds in 1976 as an art collective with many musicians contributing over the years as they operated on principles that everything is created by the band and not individuals. This uncompromising band...

The Cult formed in 1983, behind vocalist Ian Astbury and guitarist Billy Duffy. Initially known as Death Cult before changing their name in early 1984, this English band would establish a following with their post-punk and gothic rock sound before changing to a more hard rock sound in the later 80’s.

The Cult's debut studio album, Dreamtime, was released in 1984 and their second studio album, Love, followed in 1985. Love was the band's breakthrough success and included the classic singles, "She Sells Sanctuary" and "Rain⁠⁠⁠".

The Cult’s early work mixed dark, atmospheric sounds with heavy guitar riffs while addi...

After starting on the pub rock scene in England, the core line-up of The Stranglers would form in 1975, and they would release their debut album in 1977 during the British punk explosion.  During the band's early years, the aggressive and uncompromising approach of The Stranglers would result in the press and critics grouping them with the emerging UK punk rock scene. 

However The Stranglers, beyond dressing in all black outfits, were different. After the first two albums and over the following years the sound of the band would gradually shift through various genres and styles as the music ma...

Originally from Berkeley, California as the Warfield Foxes, this band relocated to Los Angeles in the mid-70’s and became The Motels.  

During the late 70's in L.A., The Motels became a vital part of the club circuit that helped launch the local punk and new wave scenes.  The band’s early tracks were along punk rock lines, but by the early 80’s The Motels were more new wave and alternative rock behind atmospheric sound, theatrical style, and the sultry vocals of lead singer Martha Davis.

Following their third studio album, The Motels became a fixtur...

Originating from Haledon, New Jersey in 1976, The Feelies would play a post-punk, indie rock, jangle pop style of music. By 1980, The Feelies had become one of the more unique bands from the New York City underground music scene.

Arriving during the early post-punk era, the band’s debut album was 1980’s Crazy Rhythms. This trend setting and influential album combined jangly guitars with chiming and droning guitar patterns, along with fast and sharp percussive beats setting the rhythm.  

The band was not commercially successful, but The Feelies  would help shape the sound of American alternative and in...

In late 1979 following their second album, two members of Siouxsie and the Banshees departed the band leaving them without a drummer and guitarist. By early 1980, the band had added drummer Budgie and guitarist John McGeoch, which accompanied a change in musical direction for the group.

The shift began with the addition of synthesizers and drum machines on the 1980 album, Kaleidoscope. Changes continued with the fourth studio album, the seminal JuJu which featured innovative and unconventional guitar work from McGeoch. On their fifth studio album, A Kiss in the Dreamhouse, Siouxsie and the Banshees shifted toward a more...

The genre-defying band Radiohead was initially considered as just another alternative rock and grunge act as their debut single "Creep" from their debut album, Pablo Honey, became a global hit in 1993.  

Radiohead's music would quickly evolve beyond the early labels as they developed a more guitar driven and ballad oriented second album, The Bends.

Beyond Pablo Honey and The Bends, the band continued to experiment through the 90's to create a more complex sound on the 1997 landmark recording OK Computer, and abandon traditional rock structures with their 2000 album, Kid A.

Radiohead's experimental approach t...

The Birthday Party was an abrasive and chaotic band that mixed blues, free-jazz, and rockabilly to form a unique style of post-punk music.

Initially named The Boys Next Door when formed in Australia in 1977, the band would relocate to London and rebrand themselves as The Birthday Party in 1980. 

This band would provide the jump start to the career of their lead vocalist and frontman, the legendary Nick Cave. Driven by his vocals along with Rowland S. Howard's screeching guitar work, the band would create songs of unusual stories and violent tales behind unsettling and noisy s...

Following the break up of their previous band The Tourists at the end of 1980, Eurythmics were formed by the duo of Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart. They released their debut studio album, In the Garden, in 1981 under the production of Conny Plank, but the album was not very successful.  

Eurythmics decided on a new approach for their second album, altering their sound to minimal, cold, dark synthesizer-based pop with Annie Lennox's distinct soulful vocals and a very unique visual style. 

With this came their second album, Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This), which achieved global ac...

The Beat, also known as The English Beat in the United States and Canada, formed in 1978 in Birmingham, England. The music of this post-punk act fused various styles including ska, soul, reggae, pop, and punk rock to become one of the key and most successful bands of the UK ska revival and the two-tone scene of the early '80s.  

The Beat's songs would often include lyrics that took on socio-political themes, while the music and the danceable sound gave the band crossover appeal to go along with their message.  

The band released multiple critically ac...

During the 1980’s, Front 242 became a pioneer of Electronic Body Music (EBM) and a key artist in the development of the industrial and electronic music genres. Their music blended aggressive, relentless, danceable, electronic beats with driving basslines, commanding vocals, tense militaristic aesthetics, and innovative media sampling. 

The Belgian based Front 242 formed in 1981 in an effort to create music and graphic design using emerging electronic technology. During their early albums and releases the band developed what would come to known as EBM. After signing with the the Wax Trax! Records label Front 242 achieved international success with their 1988 fourth stu...

Altered Images began in 1979 after forming from a group of five teenagers in Glasgow, Scotland. The band was fronted by singer Clare Grogan with her sweet and bubbly youthful vocals as the band would go from their post-punk roots onto new wave and synth pop in the early 80’s.  

The first two singles by Altered Images as well the majority of the songs on the debut album were produced by Siouxsie and the Banshees co-founder Steven Severin, who had taken the band under his wing. This early work with Severin was dark and moody post-punk along with Gro...

This episode is part of our Further Inside the Milky Way series. These are shows that we will do from time to time where we go deeper into vast collection of the music and artists from the early alternative era. In these episodes we will discuss a few artists in the one show. We will try to pick artists that have something in common or a connection between them.  

In this "Further" episode all of the bands fit into the gothic rock style or genre in some form. 

The first is a band that has ha...

After forming in Leeds in 1976, Gang of Four became one of the most influential and original post-punk bands from the late 70’s UK music scene. Gang of Four took the musical freedoms that punk rock had created and used them to change the future of music. 

Known for post-punk, dance-punk, and funk rock sounds, the band played a stripped-down mix fusing hard funk rhythms, danceable beats, and jagged guitar while moving away from traditional rock structures for a more unconventional method. The band's music also emphasized social and political issues with the inclusion of radical lyrics and phi...

When The Jam broke up at the end of 1982, their lead singer, songwriter, and guitarist Paul Weller decided to do something different musically. Weller, along with Mick Talbot, would form The Style Council, a band that would take a more soulful and polished approach to music. 

This English band would explore and incorporate various influences including European jazz, jazz-pop, classical, funk, R&B, 60's soul, and Northern soul. The music of The Style Council,  with the lush arrangements, smooth keyboards, and fluid guitars would often fit the sophisti-pop style.

The Style Council was not only ab...

Joy Division was one of the first and most influential bands coming out of the early years of the post-punk era, and their debut album, Unknown Pleasures, would inspire generations of artists and change the future of music. 

This English band formed in 1976 and their first recordings were inspired by early punk rock as represented on the 1978 debut EP An Ideal for Living. 
Joy Division soon signed with the new independent label, Factory Records, where they would record Unknown Pleasures with producer Martin Hannett. This June 1979 release developed a sparse sound and style that made Joy Di...

The Australian band Severed Heads was a pioneering electronic and experimental artist, and one that is very underappreciated from the early alternative era. As one of the pioneering Australian alternative music acts, their music was part industrial, synth pop, electronic, dance, and ambient as well as experimental bringing in found sounds, tape loops, samples, and noise.

The original two members, Richard Fielding and and Andrew Wright, formed the band in the late 70’s as Mr. and Mrs. No Smoking Sign.  Tom Ellard joined in 1979 and soon after the band renamed themselves Severed Heads. By mid-1981, both founding mem...

The Afghan Whigs earned a cult following during the early 90's with their music that mixed the Motown sound and R&B with indie and alternative rock. 

Formed in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1986, The Afghan Whigs were led by singer-songwriter Greg Dulli whose songs presented vivid stories of broken relationships, obsession, guilt and toxic masculinity.  

The music was full of emotional anguish and the lyrics were introspective, dark, and mature behind Dulli's intense and  gravelly vocals. The band's signature sound was a fusing of the passionate vocals with melodic guitars, gritty alternative rock of the grunge era...

After being part of Buzzcocks, Howard Devoto left that group in 1977 to start a new band, known as Magazine. He launched this new venture in Manchester, England when he enlisted a young guitarist to join, named John McGeoch. 

Magazine would debut with the song “Shot By Both Sides”, followed by their debut album, Real Life. This classic and critically acclaimed album is considered by many as the first post-punk album. 

As one of the first post-punk bands, Magazine built off the energy of punk while adding various complex musical elements along with darker lyrics. With McGeoc...

After the release of their debut single, The B-52's quickly became known for their campy, high-energy party music with surreal lyrics and distinct retro 1960s fashion. This quirky group blended surf rock, punk, '60s pop, vintage soul, low-budget sci-fi and dance music, along with kitsch culture.

That debut single was the cult hit “Rock Lobster”, which was followed by the classic self-titled debut album in 1979. Along with other early songs such as "Private Idaho," and "Legal Tender", The B-52's crossed over from the underground to the mainstream becoming one of the pioneers of new wave...

The Smiths defined UK indie rock on their way to becoming one of the pioneers of indie music and one of the most influential bands of not just of the early alternative music era, but of the history of rock music. 

After The Smiths formed in 1982, The Smiths would reject the synth-pop and new wave dominated UK music scene, focusing on guitar-based rock.  

The key to The Smiths was the songwriting collaboration between lead singer Morrissey, with his unique vocal and lyrical approach, and guitarist Johnny Marr, with his jangly guitar style, as they created a...

In 1982, ABC released their debut album, The Lexicon of Love, to critical acclaim as the album went straight to number 1 on the UK albums chart. The album is regarded as a masterpiece and a landmark album for the sophisticated and lush orchestral arrangements created by legendary producer Trevor Horn, as well as the emotional songwriting from the collective efforts of the band members. Horn’s production on this would be an influence to electronic music over the following years.

ABC formed in 1980, evolving from the Sheffield, England based band Vice Versa when lead vocalist Martin Fry was ad...

The band Swans formed in 1981 by singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Micheal Gira and began as part of the New York City based no wave scene. Swans early years' music was known for a very intense and abrasive sound. 

Following the addition of vocalist and keyboardist Jarboe in 1986, Swans began to slowly incorporate melody into the music moving beyond the brutal music of the early years to a more diverse sound. The band's music would venture through a variety of styles and explore many different genres over the years including industrial, post-rock, drone, and neo-folk, among many others. 

Following their debut album of 1979, The Cure became one to the key post-punk bands as they developed a dark, gothic rock sound over the next three albums. 

Many refer to the The Cure's three consecutive early-80's releases as The Gothic Trilogy. These melancholic albums represent the band's transition from their debut album into the bleak, atmospheric sound that helped define the gothic genre. These three albums are Seventeen Seconds from 1980, 1981’s Faith, and the conclusion to the trilogy, Pornography of 1982.

At that time, the albums were not intended to form a trilogy nor have the...

The Sundays were a critically acclaimed UK indie band that created the alternative and indie classic song, “Here’s Where the Story Ends”. This single from their 1990 debut album Reading, Writing and Arithmetic would reach number one on the Modern Rock Tracks chart and become one of the most well-known from the 90’s alternative music era.

The Sundays were active from 1988 to 1997, but only released three albums over their career as the band never crossed over into the mainstream that they seemed destined for. Their music combined introspective lyrics with distinctive ethereal and melancholy vocals along with jangly...

1979's London Calling from The Clash is regarded as one of the greatest and most influential albums of all time as the record expanded the beyond the limitations of punk rock to successfully merge punk rock roots with reggae, rockabilly, ska, R&B, jazz, pop and hard rock.

This massive double album of 19 songs contains socially charged lyrical themes include social displacement, racial conflict, unemployment, drug use, the cold war, and nuclear threats, all against the backdrop of a bleak time period in London. 

Behind the music and the themes, the album London Calling would i...

Depeche Mode is one of the most iconic electronic bands and a band that changed the music landscape. As a key synth-pop pioneer, Depeche Mode brought industrial-tinged electronic rock to the mainstream and expanded sampling technology with innovative means. Their synth-driven songs took moody and poetic lyrics mixed with creative soundscapes transforming electronic music into a deeply emotional experience.

The band formed in 1980 in Basildon, England originally consisting of Dave Gahan, Martin Gore, Andy Fletcher, and Vince Clarke. Primary songwriter Clarke departed after the debut album and Alan Wilder joined for the third album, 1983's Construction Time...

In this episode we take a look back to another origin artist of alternative music, The Stooges. Regarded as a seminal proto-punk band, The Stooges were instrumental in the development of punk rock, post-punk, alternative rock and various other forms of rock music. 

The Stooges started in Michigan in 1967, and were known for their sound that was simple, primitive, and energetic with stripped-down aggression. Along with the music, their performances were chaotic and confrontational helping to lay the foundation for punk rock along with the darker, intense, and experimental direction of countless future bands. 

Iggy Po...

By the end of the 1970’s, XTC had evolved from a quirky punk type of band into an intelligent and elaborate art-rock post-punk band with pop sensibilities and punk energy.

The band had formed in the early 70's in Swindon, England and was fronted by songwriters Andy Partridge and Colin Moulding. XTC's music featured distinctive angular guitars and witty lyrics as they were known for their energetic live performances and their non-conventional music.

Their 1979 single "Making Plans for Nigel" was a commercial breakthrough and began the popularization of the reverberating drum sound. This was well re...

The English band The Charlatans were one of the most successful artists from the "Madchester" and "Baggy" music and cultural scene of late 80s and early 90s. 

The music of The Charlatans was a blend of indie rock, dance rhythms, and 60’s psychedelic influenced organ grooves. This was well represented on their 1990 debut studio album, Some Friendly, which debuted at number 1 on the UK albums chart. Their pre-album single release in early 1990, “The Only One I Know”, was a was a top 10 hit and one of the defining songs of the baggy movement.

The band formed...

The Sisters of Mercy rose from the UK post-punk scene after forming in Leeds in 1980. The band’s sound was characterized by gloomy and dark atmospheres, heavy basslines, and cavernous reverb as The Sisters of Mercy and their music became a major influence on the gothic rock genre. 

Initiated by Andrew Eldritch and Gary Marx, The Sisters of Mercy have gone through many members over the years, but the constant force has always been lead vocalist Eldritch along with his drum machine known as "Doktor Avalanche". Eldritch's deep and melancholic singing voice, along with his appearance and sty...

In 1978, Kate Bush hit number one on the UK singles chart with her debut song, “Wuthering Heights”. This was of the start of the unique, creative and successful journey of the legendary English singer, songwriter, musician, dancer, and producer.

After being discovered during her teenage years with the help of Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour, Kate Bush would soon follow the debut single with the release of her debut album in early 1978, The Kick Inside. 

After her second album, Kate Bush would perform her monumental Tour of Life, the first and only formal tour in her car...

After pioneering industrial music greats Throbbing Gristle broke-up in 1981, founding member Genesis P-Orridge started Psychic TV along with former bandmate Peter Christopherson and Alternative TV founding member, Alex Fergusson. 

Psychic TV would be a multimedia and experimental music and video art collective, while becoming one of the most unique bands of the era. Besides experimental music, the band's music explored psychedelic, acid house, industrial, electronic, punk, post-punk, and even melodic pop.

During the late 1980's, Psychic TV was one of the more influential artists for the genre of acid house music releasing several compilation albums o...

After The Church formed in Sydney in 1980, the band would begin to develop a distinctive ethereal and psychedelic indie rock sound with atmospheric and surreal soundscapes. 

The Church released their debut album in 1981, Of Skins and Heart, followed by a number of excellent albums including The Blurred Crusade and Heyday. It would be with the fifth studio album, 1988's Starfish with the hit song "Under the Milky Way", that the band would experience their most success on their way to being one of the most accomplished Australian bands from the post-punk era.

Behind lead singer a...

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 Stephen Perkins and guitarist Dave Navarro to round out the band before their first release.

Jane's Addiction's debut was their self-titled live album in 1987 followed by the two studio albums, Nothing's Shocking of...

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 that would reach No. 5 in the UK, Spandau Ballet would became one of the most successful groups of the New Romantic era and part of the second British inv...

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 in a very minimal and unique form. There was nobody else like this band from this time.

Based on a couple of demo songs, Young Marble Giants was signed by Rough Trade Records and wo...