Advertise on podcast: Inside the Milky Way - A Look at Early Alternative Music

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 in 1988 and added lead singer Tim Burgess in 1989 before The Charlatans debut studio album. By the band’s third album the Madchester sound was fading and the band evolved their sound over the next few albums. The Charlatans have been one of the most prominent and longest running indie bands from the UK. All of the band's fourteen studio albums, including their newest from October 2025, have charted in the top 40 of the UK albums chart This episode will tell the story of the forming of the band through their debut number 1 album and music during the baggy years. 

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 style led the media to describe him as "The Godfather of Goth" for inspiring and defining the gothic scene.  After releasing a number of singles in the early '80s to underground success, the group created their highly influential debut album, First and Last and Always, in 1985. This seminal gothic rock album with tracks like "Marian" and "Black Planet" would be the first of only three studio LP’s from The Sisters of Mercy ,even though the band continues today performing live and touring. Our podcast episode will tell the story of the band's early years leading up to and through the incredible debut album of 1985, First and Last and Always. 

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 career.   In 1980 her third album, Never for Ever, would reach number 1 in the UK. Bush co-produced this album that saw her sound become more experimental as she discovered new sonic territories, leading to visionary albums and international success. This podcast episode will tell the story of the influential Kate Bush’s early years covering her debut single, the first two albums followed by the world tour of 1979, and through the third studio album, Never for Ever. 

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 of songs they recorded under various fake band names helping to popularize the sound. When formed, Psychic TV was more than just a band as they also built a creative occultist organization known as Thee Temple Ov Psychic Youth or T.O.P.Y., which would be the magical order and philosophical portion of the venture. As a music collective, Psychic TV involved a wide range of artists and collaborators while P-Orridge remained the primary songwriter throughout the band's history. Pyschic TV would release over 100 albums, which included the years 1981 through 1999, and again from 2003 until 2020, until the passing of Genesis P-Orridge.  This podcast episode shall tell the story of the band and their music from formation through the early years and into the beginning of the 90's.

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 and bassist Steve Kilbey, The Church's  music over the years has ventured through various sounds and genre influences. During the 80’s, they were one of those bands that did not get the attention or notoriety they deserved for their music. Still recording and touring today, the band built a large international following while creating 27 studio albums over their career and has become one of the great alternative bands of the 80’s and beyond. This episode will tell the story of The Church from their formation and early years, and through through the 80's and into the 90's beyond the song "Under the Milky Way", a song whose title was the idea behind my title of this podcast series.

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 1988 and Ritual de lo Habitual of 1990. Their fanbase grew with these releases that included iconic songs like "Jane Says", "Mountain Song" , and "Been Caught Stealing".  The band's first farewell tour in 1991 launched the beginning of Lollapalooza. The event was co-founded by Farrell and included bringing together a large and diverse collection of bands forming what Farrell called, the "Alternative Nation".   This episode will tell the story of the forming of and the early years for Jane’s Addiction,  the band from their live album through the turbulent times of their first two studio albums, all while leading the way to being one of the first commercially successful alternative rock bands and setting the stage for 90’s alternative rock.

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 invasion.   In early 1981 the band issued their debut album, Journeys to Glory, with music centered on the underground scene and the New Romantic movement. As the Blitz Club scene had faded, Spandau Ballet recorded and released their second album Diamond in 1982 album. The band chose to pursue a more pop-oriented sound leading to the 1983 International hit album, True, with the title track "True" and second single "Gold" becoming major hit singles. This episode will tell the story of Spandau Ballet and their music from the early years including the first two albums, all before "True", "Gold", and international success. 

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 would create their debut Colossal Youth followed by two EP’s. After that, the members moved on to other projects. The band would reunite a few times over the years as new generations of indie artists would be influenced by the unique music of Young Marble Giants. This episode will discuss the band and their music during the early years, the debut album Colossal Youth, and the years and projects after the original run.

Soon after forming in London in 1977, The Psychedelic Furs would be part of the rising UK post-punk scene. However, they would not be just another post-punk band.  Led by the Butler brothers of Richard, lead singer with his very distinctive vocal style, and bassist Tim, The Psychedelic Furs would start their career with a couple of excellent post-punk albums.  Following their self-titled debut album in 1981 and the follow up album Talk Talk Talk a year later, the band would make a change in production and a slight change in sound. A string of hits in the 80's ensued beginning with the song "Love My Way" from their third album, Forever Now.  The band would reach international recognition when in 1986, filmmaker John Hughes used their 1981 song for his film, Pretty in Pink. This podcast episode will tell the story of The Psychedelic Furs from formation and the early years through all eight of their studio albums with focus on the first four albums, which helped define the Furs.

The English band Catherine Wheel's 1992 debut album Ferment and the 1993 follow up album Chrome associated the group with the shoegaze music scene. As the band progressed over the years after their debut, the music would become heavier before shifting to a more textured sound crossing through genres with the ever changing landscape of alternative music in the 90’s.  Catherine Wheel’s early attention and success started with the debut single , “Black Metallic” . They created another shoegaze anthem, "Crank", as the first single from the second album. It was during this early period over these two albums that Catherine Wheel incorporated shoegaze related elements of hazy and droning guitars, effects pedals, and somewhat buried vocals, along with some grunge and on the debut album, neo-psychedelia. The band, fronted by lead singer and guitarist Rob Dickinson, would end their run in 2000 after five full length studio albums and years of US college radio success. On this episode, we will explore the career of Catherine Wheel and their music with a little more focus on the first two albums.

The Sugarcubes were an Icelandic alternative band that formed in 1986, and by the time the band ended in 1992 they had become Iceland's biggest music group.  During this short career, The Sugarcubes were a complex post-punk, dream pop, experimental, indie dance rock band. Their music was a upbeat blend of psychedelic sounds, punk energy, pop-driven melodies, angular guitar riffs, and tribal rhythms. They combined this with unique storytelling and quirky, surreal lyrics characterized by the distinctive and ethereal vocals of their lead singer, Björk.  Björk had began her music career at the age of 11, but it would The Sugarcubes years where she gained world wide recognition. This would lead to her internationally successful solo career that followed as she became the bestselling Icelandic musician of all time, and an influential pioneer in electronic and experimental music. The episode tells the story of Björk’s early years through the band Kukl, the forming of The Sugarcubes, their signature song “Birthday” and the 1988 international hit debut album, Life's Too Good, and the music over the next two albums before The Sugarcubes ended in 1992. 

The story of Cabaret Voltaire began when they formed in Sheffield, England in 1973 by Chris Watson, Richard H Kirk, and Stephen Mallinder. The band would go on to one of the most innovative, influential, and pioneering industrial and post-punk acts as they became known as the original sound of Sheffield.  Cabaret Voltaire took their name from the Zurich nightclub that was the center of the early Dada movement and began their career with Dada-influenced performance art where they challenged musical norms and experimented with sound creation and processing.  This would lead to Cabaret Voltaire expanding their use and development of raw tape loops, avant-garde noise, sampling and other technology while mixing in danceable electronic sounds along with art, politics, and social issues. Their 70’s and into the early 80’s work would foreshadow industrial and electronic music genres that would follow, and inspire many artists as they became one of the most important bands not to just industrial music, but music in general.  In this episode we tell the story of Cabaret Voltaire and their music starting from the early years including albums Voice of America and Red Mecca, through the music after Chris Watson departed in 1981 as the band continued through the 80's with albums such as The Crackdown and Micro-Phonies.

Screamadelica, the 1991 third studio album from Primal Scream, was a defining album as it successfully fused indie rock with electronic, techno, and house dance music. The album was instrumental in bringing this musical style to the international mainstream. Although Primal Scream formed in 1982 in Glasgow, Scotland, it was not until lead singer Bobby Gillespie left his other band (The Jesus and Mary Chain) in 1986 that Primal Scream began to rise. Behind Gillespie, the band’s music went through periods of jangle pop and a harder garage rock sound in the 80's before a change of direction to the acid house scene. This occurred with a new dance music sound mixing indie pop, techno, dub, and psychedelia on the landmark third album, Screamadelica.  This episode will discuss this band’s formation, the early years and music up through the highly regarding 1990 single mixed by DJ Andrew Weatherall, "Loaded", and the album that followed under Weatherall's production, the classic Screamadelica. 

The Velvet Underground formed in New York City in 1964 and has been considered by many as one of the most influential American rock bands.  The band's music contained experimentation with instrumentation and sounds while containing raw and provocative lyrics from lead singer and guitarist Lou Reed. These features, along with unconventional and minimalist arrangements, would lead to the development of punk rock, new wave, post-punk, indie rock and many other genres of the alternative music world.  In 1966, the Velvet Underground became the house band at pop artist Andy Warhol's studio, The Factory. With Warhol as producer, the band released their debut album in 1967, The Velvet Underground & Nico,  featuring the German singer and model Nico. This album is considered as one of the greatest albums in music history due to it's influence on future artists and genres. This episode will discuss the influence of this band and their music, tell the story of the band's beginning and what was behind this music, and discuss the music of the classic debut album. 

When 45 Grave formed in Los Angeles in 1979, their music would combine punk rock with a dark and horror themed aesthetic becoming one of the first American gothic rock bands as they helped create the genre, deathrock.  After the rise of the deathrock sound from the LA Punk scene, 45 Grave would release their critically acclaimed debut album in 1983, Sleep in Safety. The band’s most notable success came with version of a song from that album, "Partytime", that was featured in the 1985 movie and soundtrack of Return of the Living Dead. 45 Grave broke up in 1985, but founding member and lead vocalist Dinah Cancer would later reform the band. Cancer would be deemed "The Queen of Deathrock" from her commanding stage presence and theatrics, and distinct vocals. This episode will discuss the origin of 45 Grave, the music from the band, and their dynamic lead singer, Dinah Cancer, as we welcome the band as our Halloween representative this week. Happy Halloween!