ALTERNATIVE ROCK
1) Discuss the meaning of this term.
The use of the term alternative to describe rock music originated around the mid-
1980s;[10] at the time, the common music industry terms for cutting-edge music were
new music and post modern, respectively indicating freshness and a tendency to
recontextualize sounds of the past.[1][11] Individuals who worked as DJs and
promoters during the 1980s claim the term originates from American FM radio of the
1970s, which served as a progressive alternative to top 40 rock music radio formats
by featuring longer songs and giving DJs more freedom in song selection. According
to one former DJ and promoter, "Somehow this term 'alternative' got rediscovered
and heisted by college radio people during the 80s who applied it to new post-punk,
indie, or underground-whatever music".[12] At first the term referred to intentionally
non–mainstream rock acts that were not influenced by "heavy metal ballads, rarefied
new wave" and "high-energy dance anthems".[13] Usage of the term would broaden
to include New Wave, pop, punk rock, post-punk, and occasionally "college"/"indie"
rock, all found on the American "commercial alternative" radio stations of the time
such as Los Angeles' KROQ-FM. The use of alternative gained further exposure due
to the success of Lollapalooza, for which festival founder and Jane's Addiction
frontman Perry Farrell coined the term Alternative Nation. In the late 1990s, the
definition again became more specific.[1] In 1997, Neil Strauss of The New York
Times defined alternative rock as "hard-edged rock distinguished by brittle, '70s-
inspired guitar riffing and singers agonizing over their problems until they take on
epic proportions".[13]
2) When did this music emerge and become popular?
Throughout the 1980s, alternative rock was 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 relegated to independent record labels, fanzines, and college
radio stations. Alternative bands built underground followings by touring constantly
and regularly releasing low-budget albums. In the case of the United States, new
bands would form in the wake of previous bands, which created an extensive
underground circuit in America, filled with different scenes in various parts of the
country.[16] 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.[22] By 1989 the genre had
become popular enough that a package tour featuring New Order, Public Image
Limited and The Sugarcubes toured the United States arena circuit.[23]
In contrast, British alternative rock was distinguished from that of the United States
early on 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.[24] 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, and Annie Nightingale. Artists that had cult
