HeyJaredInside the Milky Way - A Look at Early Alternative Music
A podcast that takes a look at the development of alternative music in the 80's with a focus on post-punk, electronic, dark wave, goth, synth, industrial, and indie genres.
- Indexed episodes, last 90 days
- 13
- Latest publication
- Sep 27, 2026
- Audience
- Checking…
- Earliest in this view
- Jul 5, 2026
Latest episodes
The Sound - The Legacy of Adrian Borland (opens the original)
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Of all the post-punk artists from the early alternative music era, perhaps none more than The Sound did not get the attention they deserved during their active years. This ground-breaking post-punk band did receive praise from the critics for their brilliant work, but they never achieved the commercial success to go with it. The Sound formed in South London in 1979 and released their debut studio album, Jeopardy in 1980. The Sound would follow in 1981 with another post-punk classic, From the Lio
Alphaville - Forever Gold (opens the original)
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The German band Alphaville formed in 1982 and built their music and sound around synthesizers, drum machines, and layered electronic keyboards becoming one of the great synth-pop bands from the era. The band was co-founded by vocalist Marian Gold and keyboardists Bernhard Lloyd and Frank Mertens. Led by Marian Gold, the band released their debut album, Forever Young , in 1984 which included two classic hits, the title track “Forever Young” and their first single released, the number 1 hit, "Big
Cocteau Twins II - The Road to Heaven or Las Vegas (opens the original)
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In the time after their 1984 album Treasure , Cocteau twins continued to evolve from their early atmospheric and dark post-punk music to pioneer ethereal wave and dream pop. This culminated with the masterpiece 1990 album, Heaven or Las Vegas. Cocteau Twins would release a number of EP's in 1985 building off of the style created on Treasure . The road would continue with 1986’s Victorialand , an album with a more acoustic and ambient feel. Beyond a collaboration with composer Harold Budd that fu
The Mekons - Post-Punk Country (opens the original)
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The Mekons arrived during the late 70's UK post-punk scene and still perform today as one of the longest running artists from this era. The band never achieved mainstream commercial success, but has consistently received critical acclaim throughout their career especially in the mid-1980's while blending punk rock with traditional folk and country music to pioneer the alternative-country genre. The Mekons , or just Mekons , formed in Leeds in 1976 as an art collective with many musicians contrib
The Cult - Origins (opens the original)
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The Cult formed in 1983, behind vocalist Ian Astbury and guitarist Billy Duffy. Initially known as Death Cult before changing their name in early 1984, this English band would establish a following with their post-punk and gothic rock sound before changing to a more hard rock sound in the later 80’s. The Cult's debut studio album, Dreamtime, was released in 1984 and their second studio album, Love , followed in 1985. Love was the band's breakthrough success and included the classic singles, "She
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