Led by visionary artist Adi Newton, Clock DVA came out of Sheffield, England in 1978 with an experimental electronic music that pushed boundaries. Over the years, Clock DVA and Newton would continue the experimental approach that would blend various styles such as electronics, industrial, jazz, cyberpunk, EBM, and ambient to create a groundbreaking and sometimes dark world of music. 

This episode tells the story of the early years of the band and Newton through the 80's, along with The Anti Group collective formed by Newton in the mid-80's where he would continue his experimental work outside of Clock DVA.

The second album from Adam and The Ants would be the best selling album in the UK in 1981, and would catapult Adam Ant to the front of the British music scene. The band's follow up album would be another hit, but it would be the last album before the band would end leading to Adam Ant embarking on a solo career.

From being on the stage the night of the Sex Pistols influential debut performance, through losing all his band members to a new Malcolm Maclaren project, to reforming the band with a new image and a Burundi drum based sound, this is the story of how Adam Ant built his band leading to success.

The English band A Certain Ratio, or ACR, would mix post-punk music with heavy funk influences as well as dance, jazz and Latin music to create a unique sound unlike other artists from the era. 

They were one of the first bands on the Manchester Independent label, Factory Records, where they would release their first album in 1980 and remain on the label through 1986 when they would release their fifth album.

This episode discusses the origins of the group, the creation of their music, and their albums during the Factory Records years.

After starting in 1978, the post-punk band The Comsat Angels would sign with Polydor Records for their first three albums, including the masterful and highly influential 1981 second album, Sleep No More.

The result of these albums would be that this English band from Sheffield would be considered one of the most impactful bands of the post-punk era with their dark and moody music, but they would not receive the recognition they deserved.

This episode discusses the history of the group and music over their career with a focus on the time period of the first three albums through 1982, known as the Polydor years, before the band changed labels.

When The Human League reconfigured after their first two albums, the band would redefine the synth-pop genre with their third album, Dare. This late 1981 critically acclaimed release became a number one album and contained four successful singles, including the monster hit, "Don't You Want Me". 

This episode tells the story of the band from their late 70's formation in Sheffield through the album, Dare, and discusses the music of the album.

The Stone Roses formed in Manchester, England in 1983 and went on to become an iconic figure of the legendary Madchester scene that emerged during the late 80's. Their self-titled debut album of 1989 is considered one of the best albums of the era, influencing both culture and music by the early 90's.

This episode tells the story of the early years of the band, the music of the debut album, and the events that followed the release of that classic album.

Introduction to our Podcast, Inside the Milky Way - A Look at Early Alternative Music. This episode includes an overview on what our podcast is about, what is early alternative music, the types of episodes we will create, what we will cover in our episodes, and our history of podcasts over the last two years.

Our name of our podcast is based on the alternative song from 1988 by The Church, "Under the Milky Way".
 

More episodes coming as we release at least one new episode each week plus some other recently recorded episodes.