Episode 10 - Alternative 80s

On this week's episode of Alternative Mixtape, we are going back to the 1980s. But not the 80s you’re thinking of where Duran Duran, Michael Jackson, Thompson Twins and Eurythmics were all over the radio and MTV. Today we’re going into the rock underground, where a new movement was getting started on the US east coast and in the UK. We’re going to hear the alternative rock BEFORE the alternative rock that you remember. The Replacements. Husker Du. Mission of Burma. Black Flag. Gang of Four. RITES OF SPRING. Without these bands, you wouldn’t have The Pixies, Nirvana, The Smashing Pumpkins, Weezer, or Green Day. And other bands that became the bedrock of the alt rock movement in the 90s were just getting started like Dinosaur Jr., Sonic Youth, Mudhoney and REM.

I also reference some important books in this one:

• Trouble Boys: The True Story of the Replacements, by Bob Mehr (2016)
• Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground 1981-1991, by Michael Azerrad (2001)

Original air date: March 16, 2024

1. The Replacements - I Will Dare
2. Mission Of Burma - Academy Fight Song
3. Hüsker Dü - Don't Want to Know If You Are Lonely
4. Dinosaur Jr. - Freak Scene
5. Sonic Youth - Catholic Block
6. Mudhoney - Touch Me I'm Sick
7. Minor Threat - Minor Threat
8. Rites of Spring - For Want Of
9. Black Flag - Rise Above
10. Dead Kennedys - Police Truck
11. X - Your Phone's off the Hook, But You're Not
12. Fugazi - Bad Mouth
13. Wipers - Over the Edge
14. Gang Of Four - Natural's Not in It
15. R.E.M. - Moral Kiosk
16. Meat Puppets - Up on the Sun
17. Wire - Ex Lion Tamer