Editing Alternative rock (section)

== 1980s: Origins ==
{{quotebox|quote=The phrase "alternative rock" generally makes people think of the '90s, but it's been well documented that Nevermind was the culmination of something that had been bubbling up since the '80s, not the genre's birthplace. It's never really possible to pinpoint an exact time or place that a genre was born, but for alternative rock–especially the kind that was born out of the American punk underground–1984 might have been the first year that multiple pivotal, widely-influential albums came out at once.|source=Andrew Sacher of ''[[Brooklyn Vegan]]'' (April 29, 2024) [https://www.brooklynvegan.com/10-albums-that-helped-birth-alt-rock-post-hardcore-40-years-ago/]|width=25%|align=left}}
[[File:Padova REM concert July 22 2003 blue.jpg|alt=Male singer in white shirtsleeves and trousers, with a band behind him on a small stage.|thumb|[[R.E.M.]], one of the first alternative rock bands, relied on [[Campus radio|college-radio]] airplay, constant touring, and a grassroots fanbase to break into the mainstream.]]{{quote box|quote="Alternative music is music that hasn't yet achieved a mainstream audience, Alternative isn't new wave any more, it's a disposition of mind. Alternative music is any kind of music that has the potential to reach a wider audience. It also has real strength, real quality, real excitement, and it has to be socially significant, as opposed to Whitney Houston, which is [[wikt:pablum|pablum]]."|source=—Mark Josephson, Executive Director of the [[New Music Seminar]] speaking in 1988<ref>
"POP/JAZZ; Rock by Any Other Name Is 'Alternative' ". ''The New York Times''. July 15, 1988.
</ref>|width=24%|style=padding:8px;}}

Throughout the 1980s, alternative rock remained mainly an underground phenomenon. While on occasion a song would become a commercial hit, or albums would receive critical praise in mainstream publications like ''[[Rolling Stone]]'', alternative rock in the 1980s was primarily featured on independent record labels, [[fanzine]]s and [[Campus radio|college radio]] stations. Alternative bands built underground followings by touring constantly and by regularly releasing low-budget albums. In the United States, new bands would form in the wake of previous bands, which created an extensive underground circuit filled with different scenes in various parts of the country.<ref name="American alt-rock"/> College radio formed an essential part of breaking new alternative music. In the mid-1980s, college station [[KCPR]] in [[San Luis Obispo, California]], described in a DJ handbook the tension between popular and "cutting edge" songs as played on "alternative radio".<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xdLsQBjl0-IC&pg=PA108 |page=108 |last='Enthal |first=Andrea |date=April 1986 |title=College Radio |magazine=[[Spin (magazine)|Spin]] |volume=2 |number=1 |issn=0886-3032 |access-date=August 26, 2020 |archive-date=August 22, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210822135821/https://books.google.com/books?id=xdLsQBjl0-IC&pg=PA108 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Although American alternative artists of the 1980s never generated spectacular album sales, they exerted a considerable influence on later alternative musicians and laid the groundwork for their success.{{sfn|Azerrad|2001|pp=3–5}} On September 10, 1988, an [[Alternative Songs]] chart was created by ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'', listing the 40 most-played songs on alternative and modern rock radio stations in the US: the first number one was "[[Peek-a-Boo (Siouxsie and the Banshees song)|Peek-a-Boo]]" by [[Siouxsie and the Banshees]].<ref>{{citation |title=Top 10 Billboard Chart Milestones |work=Billboard magazine |page=17 |date=November 27, 2004}}</ref> By 1989, the genre had become popular enough that a package tour featuring [[New Order (band)|New Order]], [[Public Image Limited]] and [[the Sugarcubes]] toured the US arena circuit.<ref>"Review/Rock; Arena-Size Bill of Alternative Rock". ''The New York Times''. July 21, 1989. "It was the final show on a package tour that brought what used to be post-punk ''alternative'' rock, the province of clubs and cult audiences, to the arena circuit across the United States."</ref>

Early on, British alternative rock was distinguished from that of the US by a more pop-oriented focus (marked by an equal emphasis on albums and singles, as well as greater openness to incorporating elements of dance and club culture) and a lyrical emphasis on specifically British concerns. As a result, few British alternative bands have achieved commercial success in the US.<ref name="British alt-rock">{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/explore/essay/british-alternative-rock-t579 |title=British Alternative Rock |author=Stephen Thomas Erlewine |work=[[AllMusic]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101028135054/http://www.allmusic.com/explore/essay/british-alternative-rock-t579 |archive-date=October 28, 2010 }}</ref> Since the 1980s, alternative rock has been played extensively on the radio in the UK, particularly by disc jockeys such as [[John Peel]] (who championed alternative music on [[BBC Radio 1]]), [[Richard Skinner (broadcaster)|Richard Skinner]], and [[Annie Nightingale]]. Artists with cult followings in the US received greater exposure through British national radio and the weekly music press, and many alternative bands had chart success there.<ref>Charlton, p. 349 such as [[the Smiths]] and [[the Cure]].</ref>

===United States in 1980s===
[[File:SonicYouth.JPG|alt=A woman and a man playing guitar in performance. The woman on the left is dressed in a short dress and the man on the right is in jeans and a shirt.|thumb|[[Kim Gordon]] and [[Thurston Moore]] of [[Sonic Youth]] performing in July 2005]]
Early American alternative bands such as [[the Dream Syndicate]], [[the Bongos]], [[10,000 Maniacs]], [[R.E.M.]], [[the Feelies]] and [[Violent Femmes]] combined punk influences with [[folk music]] and mainstream music influences. R.E.M. was the most immediately successful; their debut album, ''[[Murmur (album)|Murmur]]'' (1983), entered the Top 40 and spawned a number of [[jangle pop]] followers.<ref>{{cite web|title=REM Biography|url=http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/R-E-M-Biography/9B195AA5AA60344A482568940015EB16|publisher=Sing 365|access-date=June 20, 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120702122250/http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/R-E-M-Biography/9B195AA5AA60344A482568940015EB16|archive-date=July 2, 2012}}</ref> One of the many jangle pop scenes of the early 1980s, Los Angeles' [[Paisley Underground]] revived the sounds of the 1960s, incorporating psychedelia, rich vocal harmonies and the guitar interplay of folk rock as well as punk and underground influences such as [[the Velvet Underground]].<ref name="American alt-rock"/>

American indie record labels [[SST Records]], [[Twin/Tone Records]], [[Touch and Go Records]], and [[Dischord Records]] presided over the shift from the [[hardcore punk]] that then dominated the American underground scene to the more diverse styles of alternative rock that were emerging.{{sfn|Reynolds|2006|p=390}} [[Minneapolis]] bands [[Hüsker Dü]] and [[The Replacements (band)|the Replacements]] were indicative of this shift. Both started out as punk rock bands, but soon diversified their sounds and became more melodic.<ref name="American alt-rock"/> [[Michael Azerrad]] asserted that Hüsker Dü was the key link between hardcore punk and the more melodic, diverse music of [[college rock]] that emerged. Azerrad wrote, "Hüsker Dü played a huge role in convincing the underground that melody and punk rock weren't antithetical."<ref>{{cite news|title=Indie music pioneer returns with a little help from his admirershis|url=https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/music/indie-music-pioneer-returns-with-a-little-help-from-his-admirers-20130305-2fivn.html|access-date=June 20, 2013|newspaper=[[Sydney Morning Herald]]|archive-date=May 11, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130511082649/http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/music/indie-music-pioneer-returns-with-a-little-help-from-his-admirers-20130305-2fivn.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The band also set an example by being the first group from the American indie scene to sign to a major record label, which helped establish college rock as "a viable commercial enterprise".{{sfn|Azerrad|2001|p=159}} By focusing on heartfelt songwriting and wordplay instead of political concerns, the Replacements upended a number of underground scene conventions; Azerrad noted that "along with R.E.M., they were one of the few underground bands that mainstream people liked."{{sfn|Azerrad|2001|p=196}}

By the late 1980s, the American alternative scene was dominated by styles ranging from quirky alternative pop ([[They Might Be Giants]] and [[Camper Van Beethoven]]), to [[noise rock]] ([[Sonic Youth]], [[Big Black]], [[the Jesus Lizard]]<ref>Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. [{{AllMusic|class=artist|id=the-jesus-lizard-mn0000089305|pure_url=yes}} "The Jesus Lizard Biography"]. [[AllMusic]]. Retrieved August 25, 2008.</ref>) and [[industrial rock]] ([[Ministry (band)|Ministry]], Nine Inch Nails). These sounds were in turn followed by the advent of [[Boston]]'s [[Pixies (band)|Pixies]] and Los Angeles' Jane's Addiction.<ref name="American alt-rock"/> Around the same time, the [[grunge]] [[subgenre]] emerged in [[Seattle]], Washington, initially referred to as "The Seattle Sound" until its rise to popularity in the early 1990s.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://rock.about.com/od/top10lists/tp/Most-Influential-Seattle-Bands.htm | title=Here's a List of the Top Most Influential Grunge Bands from Seattle | newspaper=Liveabout | access-date=May 20, 2015 | archive-date=June 27, 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150627194514/http://rock.about.com/od/top10lists/tp/Most-Influential-Seattle-Bands.htm | url-status=live }}</ref> Grunge featured a sludgy, murky guitar sound that syncretized [[Heavy metal music|heavy metal]] and punk rock.<ref name="allmusic grunge"/> Promoted largely by Seattle indie label [[Sub Pop]], grunge bands were noted for their [[Charity shop|thrift store]] fashion which favored [[flannel shirts]] and [[combat boots]] suited to the local weather.<ref name="success NYT">Marin, Rick. "Grunge: A Success Story". ''The New York Times''. November 15, 1992.</ref> Early grunge bands [[Soundgarden]] and [[Mudhoney]] found critical acclaim in the U.S. and UK, respectively.<ref name="American alt-rock"/>

By the end of the decade, a number of alternative bands began to sign to major labels. While early major label signings Hüsker Dü and the Replacements had little success, acts who signed with majors in their wake such as R.E.M. and Jane's Addiction achieved gold and platinum records, setting the stage for alternative's later breakthrough.{{sfn|Azerrad|1994|p=160}}{{sfn|Azerrad|1994|p=4}} Some bands such as Pixies had massive success overseas while they were ignored domestically.<ref name="American alt-rock"/>

In the middle of the decade, Hüsker Dü's album ''[[Zen Arcade]]'' influenced other hardcore acts by tackling personal issues. Out of Washington, D.C.'s hardcore scene what was called "emocore" or, later, "[[emo]]" emerged and was noted for its lyrics which delved into emotional, very personal subject matter (vocalists sometimes cried) and added free association poetry and a confessional tone. [[Rites of Spring]] has been described as the first "emo" band. Former [[Minor Threat]] singer [[Ian MacKaye]] founded [[Dischord Records]] which became the center for the city's emo scene.<ref name=Allmusicemo>{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/style/emo-ma0000004447|title=Emo Music Genre Overview|website=AllMusic|access-date=December 31, 2018|archive-date=May 14, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200514163729/https://www.allmusic.com/style/emo-ma0000004447|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Great Britain in 1980s ===
[[File:Robertsmith.jpg|alt=Head and shoulders shot of man, with wild, tangled hair and lipstick on, playing in a stage spotlight.|thumb|[[Robert Smith (musician)|Robert Smith]] of [[the Cure]] performing in June 2004]]
[[Gothic rock]] developed out of late-1970s British [[post-punk]]. With a reputation as the "darkest and gloomiest form of underground rock", gothic rock uses a synthesizer-and-guitar based sound drawn from post-punk to construct "foreboding, sorrowful, often epic soundscapes", and the subgenre's lyrics often address literary romanticism, morbidity, religious symbolism, and supernatural mysticism.<ref name="Goth">{{cite web|title=Genre&nbsp;– Goth Rock|website=[[AllMusic]] |url={{AllMusic|class=style|id=goth-rock-ma0000002623|pure_url=yes}}|access-date=October 6, 2007}}</ref> Bands of this subgenre took inspiration from two British post-punk groups, [[Siouxsie and the Banshees]],<ref name=petridis>{{cite news |first=Alexis |last=Petridis|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/apr/26/goth-life-fields-nephilim|title=Goth for life |newspaper=The Guardian|date=April 26, 2012 |access-date=September 2, 2017|quote="A lot of musical signifiers [...] – scything, effects-laden guitar, pounding tribal drums – are audible, on [...] ''[[Join Hands]]''"}}</ref> and [[Joy Division]].{{sfn|Reynolds|2006|p=352}} [[Bauhaus (band)|Bauhaus]]' debut single "[[Bela Lugosi's Dead]]", released in 1979, is considered to be the proper beginning of the gothic rock subgenre.{{sfn|Reynolds|2006|p=359}} [[The Cure]]'s "oppressively dispirited" albums including ''[[Pornography (album)|Pornography]]'' (1982) cemented that group's stature in that style and laid the foundation for its large cult following.{{sfn|Reynolds|2006|pp=357–358}}

The key British alternative rock band to emerge during the 1980s was [[Manchester]]'s [[the Smiths]]. Music journalist [[Simon Reynolds]] singled out the Smiths and their American contemporaries R.E.M. as "the two most important alt-rock bands of the day", commenting that they "were eighties bands only in the sense of being ''against'' the eighties".{{sfn|Reynolds|2006|p=392}} The Smiths exerted an influence over the British indie scene through the end of the decade, as various bands drew from singer [[Morrissey]]'s English-centered lyrical topics and guitarist [[Johnny Marr]]'s jangly guitar-playing style.<ref name="British alt-rock" /> The ''[[C86 (album)|C86]]'' cassette, a 1986 ''[[NME]]'' premium featuring [[Primal Scream]], [[the Wedding Present]] and others, was a major influence on the development of [[indie pop]] and the British [[Indie music scene|indie scene]] as a whole.<ref>{{cite news | author=Hann, Michael | date=October 13, 2004 | title=Fey City Rollers | work=The Guardian | url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2004/oct/13/popandrock | access-date=July 19, 2009 | location=London | archive-date=June 5, 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605002754/http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2004/oct/13/popandrock | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | author=Hasted, Nick | date=October 27, 2006 | title=How an NME cassette launched indie music | work=The Independent | url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/how-an-nme-cassette-launched-indie-music-421802.html | access-date=July 19, 2009 | location=London | archive-date=July 27, 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120727024017/http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/how-an-nme-cassette-launched-indie-music-421802.html | url-status=live }}</ref>

Other forms of alternative rock developed in the UK during the 1980s. [[the Jesus and Mary Chain]]'s sound combined the Velvet Underground's "melancholy noise" with [[Beach Boys]] pop melodies and [[Phil Spector]]'s "[[Wall of Sound]]" production,<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/the-jesus-and-mary-chain/biography|title=The Jesus and Mary Chain Biography|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|access-date=July 20, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120829125745/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/the-jesus-and-mary-chain/biography|archive-date=August 29, 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/303087/the-Jesus-and-Mary-Chain?anchor=ref666600|title=Encyclopædia Britannica: the Jesus and Mary Chain|access-date=July 20, 2012|archive-date=December 2, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111202161103/https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/303087/the-Jesus-and-Mary-Chain?anchor=ref666600|url-status=live}}</ref> while New Order emerged from the demise of post-punk band Joy Division and experimented with [[disco]] and [[dance music]].<ref name="British alt-rock"/> The Mary Chain, along with [[Dinosaur Jr.]], [[C86 (album)|C86]] and the [[dream pop]] of [[Cocteau Twins]], were the formative influences for the [[shoegazing]] movement of the late 1980s. Named for the band members' tendency to stare at their feet and guitar [[effects pedal]]s<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2007/jul/27/popandrock|title=Diamond gazers|location=London|work=[[The Guardian]]|first=Jude|last=Rogers|date=July 27, 2007|access-date=December 13, 2016|archive-date=March 7, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170307045900/https://www.theguardian.com/music/2007/jul/27/popandrock|url-status=live}}</ref> onstage rather than interact with the audience, shoegazing acts like [[My Bloody Valentine (band)|My Bloody Valentine]] and [[Slowdive]] created an overwhelmingly loud "wash of sound" that obscured vocals and melodies with long, droning riffs, distortion, and feedback.<ref>{{cite web|title=Genre&nbsp;– Shoegaze|website=[[AllMusic]]|url={{AllMusic|class=style|id=shoegaze-ma0000004454|pure_url=yes}}|access-date=October 6, 2007}}</ref> Shoegazing bands dominated the British music press at the end of the decade along with the [[Madchester]] scene. Performing for the most part in [[the Haçienda]], a nightclub in Manchester owned by New Order and [[Factory Records]], [[Madchester]] bands such as [[Happy Mondays]] and [[the Stone Roses]] mixed [[acid house]] dance rhythms with melodic guitar pop.<ref>{{cite web|title=Genre&nbsp;– Madchester|website=[[AllMusic]]|url={{AllMusic|class=style|id=madchester-ma0000005017|pure_url=yes}}|access-date=October 12, 2007}}</ref>