The first alternative band to break? Jane's Addiction?

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by FlatulentDonkey, Feb 8, 2016.

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  1. FlatulentDonkey

    FlatulentDonkey Forum Resident Thread Starter

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  2. vince

    vince Stan Ricker's son-in-law

    While I agree they did 'break'.... when the album came out, I thought it was just 'rock' re-tread.
    Just 'coz they LOOKED all 'punk' and 'alt', I didn't think they were musically challenging enough for me..... but, that's just me.
    I was too busy enjoying Negativland, and Ministry's "Land Of Rape..." & "Mind Is A Terrible Thing..."!
     
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  3. Jeff Kent

    Jeff Kent Forum Resident

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    The first Lollapalooza was a brave mix of styles that's for sure.
     
  4. guidedbyvoices

    guidedbyvoices Old Dan's Records

    Location:
    Alpine, TX
    I agree their breaking laid some groundwork for nirvana later, but first alternative band to break? The Cure maybe? Disintegration was HUGE when it came out, before ritual de lo habitual came out (nothing's shocking was before disintegration but was more under the radar)
     
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  5. Ted Dinard

    Ted Dinard Forum Resident

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    Boston suburb
    R.E.M.?
    Document 1987 #10 Billboard

    whereas
    Disintegration 1989 #12 Billboard

    then again, U2 (are they an "alternative" band?)
    War 1983 #12 Billboard
    The Joshua Tree 1987 #1 Billboard, with two US #1 singles
     
    Last edited: Feb 8, 2016
  6. moople72

    moople72 Forum Resident

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    KC
    I was in high school at the time.
    Nothing's Shocking had a high profile positive Rolling Stone review.
    They had influence but it was nothing like the impact Nirvana had.
     
  7. belushipower

    belushipower Forum Resident

    Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick
     
  8. x2zero

    x2zero Forum Resident

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    If you count U2 as 'alternative', then you can probably go back to Blondie
     
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  9. Jeff Kent

    Jeff Kent Forum Resident

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    or Talking Heads
     
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  10. guidedbyvoices

    guidedbyvoices Old Dan's Records

    Location:
    Alpine, TX
    U2 never really felt alternative though, they didn't have the weirdness of other alternative bands.

    when the article says first alternative band to break, I think of breaking as 'played on top 40' , i.e. No longer for the weird kids. Document may have charted higher, but in my Texas suburb they weren't top 40 radio til green. Janes addiction never were top 40 except maybe been caught stealing. Pictures of You, Love Song, depeche mode's violator singles were all top 40 songs before nirvana. Still find it weird that nirvana crossed over like that too.
     
  11. Aggie87

    Aggie87 Gig 'Em!

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    To me, Janes Addiction is just part of a continuum of alternative (rock) music, dating back to at least Patti Smith and Lou Reed, and continued by many 80's bands, like early R.E.M. and the Replacements.
     
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  12. JoeF.

    JoeF. Forum Resident

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    New Jersey, USA
    I agree with you. It was Talking Heads or Blondie.
    But I think they are talking about "alternative", not "new wave"--even though those terms were interchangeable for a long time.
     
  13. Avenging Robot

    Avenging Robot Senior Member

    We didn't really view Jane's Addiction as a "real" alternative band. We viewed alternative bands as the sons and daughters of the Velvet Underground and the Stooges. Jane's Addiction seemed like a marketing concept of some sort.

    If you really want to propose who the first "alternative" band to break we can list everybody from the Clash to Duran Duran and back again...
     
  14. Steve B

    Steve B Forum Resident

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    Great thread as evidenced by the numerous answers above and with all of the shrink wrapped labels now put on genres of music, any of these bands could be correct as it's a matter of interpretation ."Alternative" is about as bad as it gets with associating names with a genre/identity ("Prog" being another one ) . I think its easier to distill this question by breaking down "Alternative" even further ( and I'm just scratching the surface ) :

    Pre-punk
    Punk
    Post Punk
    New Wave
    No Wave
    Grunge

    You could say MC5 or Velvet Underground since I think they were more "alternative" than the 60's hippie and British Invasion bands or you could say Jane's Addiction which I disagree with. All opinion...
     
  15. FlatulentDonkey

    FlatulentDonkey Forum Resident Thread Starter

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    This is very true and a big part of why I love music so much.
     
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  16. Ted Dinard

    Ted Dinard Forum Resident

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    Boston suburb
    As for labels actually used, in the US, it was punk, then new wave. All along there was something called "college radio" or "college rock." The term "indie" I believe preceded "alternative," though they've coexisted for a long while.

    We're not talking about abstract labels here like "post punk"--I think we're talking about radio formats, and then, later, chart categories.
     
  17. Chuckee

    Chuckee Forum Resident

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    Upstate, NY, USA
    New Wave kind of morphed into Alternative, hard to say exactly when. I would say Jane's Addiction is alternative.
     
  18. Billy Infinity

    Billy Infinity Beloved aunt

    Location:
    US
    "People Are People" (1984) by Depeche Mode and "Just Like Heaven" (1987) by The Cure were each respective band's first single to crack the US Top 40.
     
  19. tremspeed

    tremspeed Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    They always struck me as one of the least "alternative" of the alternative bands. The more you think about this kind of thing though the more you realize how pointless genre labels are. For every "first ever ______ band" someone can dig up a precedent.
     
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  20. guidedbyvoices

    guidedbyvoices Old Dan's Records

    Location:
    Alpine, TX
    After new wave and mtv going live, for me next is "80s modern rock" which to me is that early 120 Minutes era. Then around the time the cure and depeche mode and REM hit top 40, it becomes 'alternative' which carries through most of the 90s. But it's just the evolution of a genre name really.
     
  21. Shmockolovitch

    Shmockolovitch Well-Known Member

    I remember clearly in the late-80s you had a distinct path out of the drek of hairmetal Bon Jovi Byran Adam Elton Johns etc..there was a clear line from Guns and Roses/REM 'orange' to Janes Addiction to Nirvana..even during 'grunge' is was the more jockrock type bands like Pearl Jam, STP, Smashing Pumpkins who were all variations of Guns and Roses really that were big..
     
  22. Arkay_East

    Arkay_East Forum Resident

    Location:
    ATX
    Pixies kinda ride that line for me. They were early, but not early early. Then again, Surfer Rosa and Nothing's Shocking were released same year I believe.

    Talking Heads I would have presumed was pretty firmly New Wave.
     
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  23. Bowieboy

    Bowieboy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Louisville
    I think REM would be the one I'd associate. I'd say U2 even but the "general rock" crowd embraced them more whereas REM were still a little "too alternative" for those people in the day.
     
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  24. DreadPikathulhu

    DreadPikathulhu Senior Member

    Location:
    Seattle
    In my crowd in the late 80s, it was R.E.M. followed by Jane's Addiction and then Faith No More. We were aware of Soundgarden before we heard of Nirvana.
     
  25. Remy

    Remy Forum Resident

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    Brooklyn NY
    Velvet Underground
     
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