The History of Alternative/Indie Rock

RESEARCHING AND UNDERSTANDING THE HISTORY OF MY CHOSEN GENRE: -

[[[ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indie_rock ]]]

Indie rock is a genre of rock music that originated in the United States and the United Kingdom in the 1980s. The term is often used to describe the means of production and distribution of independent underground music, as well as the style of music that was first associated with this means of production. Indie rock artists are known for placing a premium on maintaining complete control of their music and careers, releasing albums on independent record labels (sometimes self-owned and operated) and relying on touring, word-of-mouth, airplay on independent or college radio stations, and in recent years, the Internet for promotion. Musicians classified as indie rock are typically signed to independent record labels, rather than major record labels, although there are many examples of indie musicians switching to major labels mid-career. This practice blurs the lines between indie and mainstream music and is often the subject of debate amongst fans. Indeed, some bands that have spent most of their careers on major labels are still occasionally referred to by the press as indie rock because of their sound or aesthetic.

Stylistic origins	Alternative rock, Post-punk,Electronic music
Cultural origins	Early 1980s, United Kingdom,United States and Canada.
Typical instruments	Guitar – bass – Drums –Keyboard – Synthesizer
Mainstream popularity	Widespread worldwide in the 2000s.

[[[ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_rock#British_genres_and_trends_of_the_1980s ]]]

Alternative rock (also called alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative; known primarily in the UK as indie) is a genre of rock music that emerged in the 1980s and became widely popular in the 1990s. Alternative rock consists of various subgenres that have emerged from the independent music scene since the 1980s, such as grunge, Britpop, gothic rock, and indie pop.

One of the key alternative rock bands 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". Despite the band's limited chart success and short career, 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.

The C86 cassette, a 1986 NME premium featuring such bands as The Wedding Present, Primal Scream, The Pastels, and the Soup Dragons, was a major influence on the development of indie pop and the British indie scene as a whole.

Other forms of alternative rock developed in the UK during the 1980s. The Jesus and Mary Chain wrapped their pop melodies in walls of guitar noise, while New Order emerged from the demise of post-punk band Joy Division and experimented with technoand house music.

Shoegazing bands dominated the British music press at the end of the decade along with the drug-fueled Madchester scene. Madchester bands such as The Stone Roses and the Happy Mondays mixed acid house dance rhythms with melodic guitar pop.

Stylistic origins	Punk rock, post-punk, hardcore punk
Cultural origins	Early 1980s United Kingdom and United States
Typical instruments	Electric guitar – Bass – drums
Mainstream popularity	Limited before the success of grunge and Britpop in the 1990s. Widespread since then.