Inside the Milky Way - A Look at Early Alternative Music

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 indie rock music in the 80’s and 90’s, influencing many artists.  
It would not be until six years after the debut when album number two would be released. That second album, The Good Earth, was co-produced with Peter Buck of R.E.M. By 1992, The Feelies would create two more studio albums before the end of their first run as a band.  
The band reunited in 2008, and released new studio albums in 2011 and 2017.
This episode tells the story of the band from formation and early years through today.

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 sensual and psychedelia style while incorporating string arrangements.
After the third album with McGeoch, they would part ways but not before McGeoch's work with the Banshees would influence many future alternative music guitarists.
This episode tells the story of Siouxsie and the Banshees through the three albums with the legendary John McGeoch, and continues the story of our earlier podcast for the band's early years through their first two albums.

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 to music is credited with advancing the sound of alternative rock and changing the landscape of 90s alternative music. 
This episode will tell the story of: Radiohead’s early years after forming in 1985 in Oxfordshire, England under the name On a Friday; the debut album Pablo Honey; and through the second album, The Bends.
(Photo by Rupert Elvin for EMI)

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 soundscapes. 
Before disbanding in 1983, the band only had limited commercial success, but was very influential to many other artists that followed. 
The Birthday Party' s creative core was much more than the boys next door. Beyond Nick Cave as singer and primary songwriter, this included multi-instrumentalist and Mick Harvey, and guitarist Rowland S. Howard, all of which continued beyond to acclaimed careers. 
This episode will tell the story of the forming of The Boys Next Door through The Birthday Party years, and all their music.
(Photo by David Corio)

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 acclaim along with the number 1 smash hit title track. The music of this January 1983 release featured a dark undercurrent, electro-soul sound built with synthesizers, pioneering drum machines, and unconventional percussion, along with Annie Lennox's emotive lyrics. 
This was the start of a new era for Eurythmics that introduced Annie Lennox’s iconic, gender-bending visual style to the world and the MTV generation. 
This episode tells the story of Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart from their early days in The Tourists through the first two Eurythmics albums, as they rose to the top of the music world in 1983.