Synopses & Reviews
It was a musical revolution that happened right under the nose of the Reagan Eighties: a small but sprawling network of bands, labels, fanzines, radio stations, and other subversives who reshaped and reenergized American rock music with punk rock's revolutionary do-it-yourself credo. The music that resulted was deeply personal, often brilliant, always challenging, and immensely influential. Remarkably, the stories of these nowlegendary bands have never been told in any depth until now.
Michael Azerrad's Our Band Could Be Your Life vividly traces the arc of the American indie underground in the Eighties, from obscure beginnings to the point a decade later when the mainstream sat up and took notice. Beginning with the pioneering, notorious punk band Black Flag, the story continues with the Minutemen, Mission of Burma, Minor Threat, Hüsker Dü, the Replacements, Sonic Youth, Butthole Surfers, Big Black, Dinosaur Jr, Fugazi, Mudhoney, and Beat Happening, among others. Without major label support, these bands depended on resourcefulness, creativity, and an all-powerful sense of community to survive.
Featuring scores of interviews with band members, label heads, and others within the inner circle, Our Band Could Be Your Life is the first book ever to delve deeply into the gritty realities of life on music's cutting edge in the Eighties, a time when setting one's sights low was virtually a political statement. A sweeping look at a world of margin walkers, Michael Azerrad's incredible chronicle of music, politics, drugs, fear, loathing, and faith is in its own way an indie rock classic.
Review
"This book is essential for anyone who feels personally insulted by the Grammys, MTV, Top 40 radio, etc etc..." Janeane Garafolo
Review
"A substantial, elegantly rendered assessment of the 'indie rock' era....A well-done, thoroughly detailed look at the stories behind the music that captures both the heart and the eccentricity of outsider rock's golden age." Kirkus Reviews
Synopsis
As an alternative to mainstream rock, the "indie" movement in the 1980s reshaped American music with a revolutionary do-it-yourself credo. This is the definitive history of the bands that made it happen. 13 photos.
Synopsis
This is the never-before-told story of the musical revolution that happened right under the nose of the Reagan Eighties--when a small but sprawling network of bands, labels, fanzines, radio stations, and other subversives reenergized American rock with punk rock's do-it-yourself credo and created music that was deeply personal, often brilliant, always challenging, and immensely influential. This sweeping chronicle of music, politics, drugs, fear, loathing, and faith has been recognized as an indie rock classic in its own right.
Among the bands profiled: Mission of Burma, Butthole Surfers, The Minutemen, Sonic Youth, Black Flag, Big Black, Hüsker Dü, Fugazi, Minor Threat, Mudhoney, The Replacements, Beat Happening, and Dinosaur Jr.