Alternative culture

Alternative culture had existed for many years before Nirvana broke into the mainstream with their second album Nevermind in 1991. However, it was not until then that alternative culture was even acknowledged let alone taken seriously and even then it was considered as a commodity. The terms "Fringe culture" and "The Alternative Nation" are also sometimes used by the media.

Even though by its very definition alternative culture could mean practically anything, it is generally perceived by the public at large to be something very specific. With the breakthrough of Grunge music, the media christened the alternative audience Generation X. Grunge, punk rock and indie rock are all forms of music commonly referred to by the catch all term of alternative rock and Lollapalooza, put together by Perry Farrell, is recognized as the first true alternative music festival. The festival was later satirized in popular American animated show The Simpsons.

Sports

Sports commonly associated with alternative culture include skateboarding and rollerblading. An annual competition called the Summer X Games showcases these sports as well as mountain biking and street luge. There is also a winter version featuring snowboarding and skiing among other alternative sports. Wrestling is also associated closely with alternative culture. This is most evident in the case of Scott Levy who, during his career as Raven, dressed in the stereotypical grunge fashion.

Television and film

TV shows and movies associated with the alternative culture include The Simpsons, South Park, Jackass, Cheech & Chong's Up in Smoke and The Breakfast Club. In fact, Ally Sheedy's character in The Breakfast Club could be viewed as an early incarnation of Generation X. Horror movies have been widely accepted into alternative culture as, like rock music, they are generally considered trashy by art critics. These shows and movies share little in common apart from their fanbase and a generally liberal political stance.

Some TV shows and movies have featured characters baring trademarks of the alternative culture. Good examples are Darlene Connor in Roseanne, Bridgette and Ginger Fitzgerald in Ginger Snaps and most of the teenage cast members of My So-Called Life. These examples managed to rise above the Generation X stereotype, a good example of which can be be found in The Simpsons episode "Homerpalooza".

In later years, many of the elements in movies that appealed to alternative audiences were being watered down for the mass audience. The most obvious, and culturally significant, example of this is the hit American TV show Buffy the Vampire Slayer. In the case of Buffy, the harsher elements of the horror genre were significantly toned down so that the show would not prove unpalatable to mainstream audiences who had not been big fans of the horror genre. Though Buffy was ultimately the most successful example of this dumbing down, it was not the first.

Even though it was only about 18 months or so before the start of Buffy, the impact of the hit horror movie Scream was felt almost immediately. Though the film was still fairly harsh (it was directed by veteran horror movie director Wes Craven), it was significantly lighter in feel compared to horror films from '70s and '80s like Carrie and Hellraiser. The commercial success of Scream led to two sequels and a stream of imitators, generally regarded by horror fans and critics to be inferior to Scream, as well as a brief interest in horror movies among the media and mainstream audience.

Another interesting product of the success of Scream was the new found interest that movie makers had in the teenage audience. There had always been movies aimed at the teenage audience, but the interest became more intense than ever following Scream. In the '80s, John Hughes' Brat pack movies had been solely made for, and aimed at, the teenage audience. During the late '90s, the gross-out comedy became the successor to Scream style "Slasher horror" movies and were being produced at an even faster rate than the "slasher" movies.

The film that made the big break through was American Pie and, as in the case with Scream, it was followed by a wave of imitators and rip -offs like Road Trip and Dude, Where's My Car?. The lyrical style of Pop punk band Blink 182 was exactly the same as the style of comedy in the "gross out" movies, and this naturally played a part in Blink 182's commercial success. In the 2000s, horror movies came full circle and became darker and more harsh with movies like Ginger Snaps becoming cult favourites. It seems unlikely that the "gross out" comedies will follow a similar path because of a lack of variation from the basic template that was first laid out with American Pie.

Literature

Authors and poets closely associated with alternative culture include J.G. Ballard, J.D. Salinger, Sylvia Plath, Jack Kerouac, William Burroughs, Bret Easton Ellis, Allen Ginsberg and political writer Noam Chomsky. Most of these writers were of a different generation to the alternative kids who picked up on bands like Nirvana, but some alternative bands declared themselves fans of these writers and subsequently turned a large number of people onto them who, in all probability, would never have thought to read those books themselves.

As well as these books, certain comic books and graphic novels are generally excepted into alternative culture. They are generally darker, more gothic in tone than the more famous superhero comics and are more interested in the idea of the anti-hero. The most famous examples are 2000 A.D., Spawn and The Crow.

Lifestyles

Most, if not all, alternatives are politically very left wing and liberal. They are generally tolerant of all groups of people as opposed to the homophobic, misogynistic and racist views of the stereotypical jock. Personal codes of belief associated with alternative culture include straight edge, vegetarianism, and pro-choice, though these are not compulsory and are often lifestyle choices made on a moral basis rather than a communal or social one. Alternatives have no particular religious affiliation, but a large number are atheists.

Dark elements

Other parts of alternative culture are largely ignored by the media, mainly because of their dark, gothic nature. Among them are snuff films (most famous of which is the Faces of Death series) as well as an interest in serial killers, suicide, mental disorders and diseases, conspiracy theories and self-mutilation. An interest in these particular areas is no indication that the individual will be more likely to actually get involved in these activities. These elements of alternative culture are more specialist interests among a minority of the community as opposed to the wider appeal of the music and fashion.

Most of these darker elements were acknowledged by the alternative bands throughout the '80s and early to mid '90s, with alternative icons like Kurt Cobain and Eddie Vedder writing lyrics about suicide and disease as well as Layne Staley's lyrics about heroin addiction. Nirvana's third studio album, In Utero, is a good example of this area of alternative culture. Most, if not all, of the songs refer to suicide, disease, mental disorders, rape, abortion and bodily functions. Also worthy of note is Pearl Jam's third album Vitalogy. The title is a reference to a Victorian medical book singer Eddie Vedder had read and the packaging was designed to resemble the book, cointaining pages referring to the Victorian attitude to masturbation and various diseases.

One of the most visible, provocative and vilified artists in alternative rock during the '80s, Steve Albini, focused almost entirely on writing about dark, dangerous topics. His first and longest lasting band, Big Black, would have a huge influence on many alternative musicians simply because of the barriers that were broken down regarding what could, and in the eyes of some should, be used as subject matter in song lyrics. English Goth band Joy Division would also have a huge influence regarding what was suitable to write about, though their influence was mostly regarding emotional topics of depression and suicide.

The aftermath of grunge

After the demise of most of the original grunge bands, later grunge bands such as Puddle Of Mudd and Nickleback played a watered down, radio friendly take on grunge often referred to as pop grunge or grunge lite. They disposed of many of the darker, more uncommercial lyrical concerns of the original grunge bands as well being more willing to play ball with the corporate record labels that released their records. Most of the bands in the Nu Metal movement of the late '90s also held these beliefs, ultimately making them more successful in the mainstream but deeply mistrusted and disrespected in the alternative world.

Problems for grunge

A number of the original Grunge bands had dealt with problems of drug addiction, mainly heroin, depression and suicide. They were just too self-destructive to have long term careers. Many of the mid/late '90s alternative musicians managed to steer clear of these problems and were able to hold it together for a considerably lengthier period of time.

A possible career model for these bands is The Smashing Pumpkins, who managed to avoid self-destructive behaviour for most of their career until the heroin overdoses of drummer Jimmy Chamberlin and keyboard player Johnathon Melvoin in 1997. Chamberlin survived and was fired from the band, Melvoin died. Chamberlin got over his heroin addiction and returned to the band two years later but the damage was done, the album MACHINA/The Machines of God was released to almost universally bad reviews and the band released their final work, entitled MACHINA II/The Friends & Enemies of Modern Music, to a few close friends who were asked to put the album on the internet as MP3s.

The "selling out" concept

In stark contrast, many of the early alternative bands are much respected in alternative circles for not selling out their original principles. Pearl Jam in particular were not corporate friendly, refusing to make music videos for MTV, organizing a whole tour with a minor ticketing agency plus other anti-commercial actions. Nirvana were also not willing to play ball, refusing interviews with major networks and magazines, refusing to mime properly on the BBC's Top Of The Pops as well as going on live TV shows like The Johnathan Ross Show and playing the wrong song. All of this has placed a distrust of corporations deep into the hearts of many alternatives, resulting in the Battle In Seattle in 1999 as well as the popularization of such anti-corporate authors as Michael Moore and Naomi Klein and the founding of the Anti-Globalization Movement.

Good causes

Another integral part of alternative culture is that of good causes. The Lollapalooza tour includes tents where people can sign up to support causes. Many bands have played gigs for causes including Rock Against Racism and Rock For Choice, and Rage Against The Machine played a gig to raise defence funds for Mumia Abu Jamal, a prisoner on death row who is believed innocent by many alternatives. A more recent case is that of the fight to free The West Memphis Three, a cause supported by many alternative artists including Henry Rollins and Pearl Jam.

Comedy

Comedy is not always associated with the rest of Alternative Culture. However some comedians from the '80s and the '90s, most notably Bill Hicks, successfully endeared themselves to the alternative crowd and have a large core following amongst alternatives.

Japanese influences

Even though the majority of alternative culture is American, other countries have contributed to it, most notably Japan. Japanese contributions to the culture are not as prevalent and popular as many of the American contributions, but they are worth noting. The main ones are Manga, Anime, Japanese wrestling and Japanese Noise Underground artists like Masonna and Merzbow.

Reaction to the culture of the '80s

To a certain degree, alternative culture was a reaction to what was perceived as the unauthentic, fake '80s culture of yuppies and hair metal. Most hair metal bands like Mötley Crüe and Guns N' Roses were living a lifestyle out of the reach of their fans. One of the original missions of Alternative culture was to bridge the gap between audience and artist, especially in the case of Fugazi, as well as making music without the macho attitude that came with hair metal. This macho element alienated many people, making it difficult to feel empathy for the artists.

Rock meets Rap

During the 1980s, both Rock and Roll and Rap were considered the musical choice of the outsider. Synth pop and Dance music had become the most popular forms of music along with "white boy soul" singers like Barry Manilow and Michael Bolton. Though they shared little apart from their rebelious stance, rock and rap eventually came together. Though rap DJs had been sampling rock records for years, the first major collaboration came when Run DMC teamed up with classic American rockers Aerosmith to record a new version of the latter band's Walk This Way. The record was a major success and spawned many others, most notably Anthrax's collaboration with Public Enemy.

Eventually, rap groups were excepted into rock on their own merit without the vindication from major rock acts. The main ones were the aforementioned Public Enemy, New York's The Beastie Boys, Run DMC and, to a lesser extent, LL Cool J. These rap acts were more digestable to rock fans because they made heavy use of rock samples, as opposed to funk, in their music. Gradually, many alternative rock fans became interested in the history of rap music, ultimately leading to even further acceptance of the genre, and set about discovering some of the original rap acts. This led to acceptance, albeit on a smaller scale, of even older rap music like Sugarhill Gang.

By the late '80s, rap began to evolve into the Gangster rap genre. This ultimately proved to alienate many of the alternative crowd who had picked up on the fun loving nature of early '80s rap, though this was also the time of the rise of Beastie Boys and Public Enemy, thus leading to mixed opinions about rap music. Amongst the gangster rappers, which had by now become almost every rapper in the United States, Ice T was one of the few to gain acceptance from the alternative crowd. This is possibly due to a lyrical style that did not involve glamourizing gang culture, as well as Lollapalooza appearances, and he would go even further in courting the alternative crowd in the early '90s with his band Body Count.

During the early '90s, and with the continued domination of rap music by ganster rappers, rap music began to fall out of favour. Rock bands like Rage Against The Machine and Red Hot Chili Peppers were beginning to combine elements of rap, such as funky rhythms and a lighter sound, with rock and became massively successful. One of the few rap groups that managed to endear themselves to the alternative crowd was Cypress Hill, as they represented the slacker ethos that had also been associated with grunge. As the mid '90s approached, rap had almost been entirely discarded by alternative culture. Rap became obsessed with money and status, the polar opposite of alternative rock's "humble but happy" stance, and with the media driven West Coast/East Coast war at its peak, the values of rap had simply become too divorced from rock's more traditional values.

Public Enemy had folded and the Beastie Boys had moved away from their original rap rock sound of the late '80s. Another major contributing factor was that rap had become a dark, violent place as opposed to the fun loving joy that had been its trademark until the arrival of gangster rap. The alternative rock scene had been through a similar, ultra violent and bitchy phase with Hardcore punk and many alternatives did not want to go there again. By the end of the '90s, Cypress Hill were one of a very small number of rap acts that could legitimately claim respect from both rock and hip hop audiences.

An Industrial revolution

In contrast to rap music, Industrial music has had a hard time being accepted into alternative culture. The original industrial bands had focused heavily on the use of electronic instrumentation and tape loops in their music, consciously placing themselves into Avant garde and "high art" circles, and so found it very difficult to be excepted into the alternative community. Of more interest to those involved in the alternative rock scene was the wider community that spawned industrial known as Post punk.

Post punk did not take long to filter over to America, and many musicians that felt liberated by Hardcore punk but did not wish to inherit that genre's limitations, began playing music that had no obvious influences. Though this would would originally include a very small amount of bands, including Mission of Burma and Big Black, it would eventually evolve into a whole scene in New York known as the No Wave scene.

Big Black were one of the first bands to take elements of industrial music, strip away the arty pretention that had alienated many alternatives and make the sound more guitar based. Just as punk had split into the artier New Wave style and the more aggressive hardcore style, industrial split into Big Black's guitar heavy, more aggressive approach and the chart friendly Synth pop and House styles. In the late '80s, Chicago's Ministry would take the sound of Big Black even further into industrial territory.

Nine Inch Nails, Fear Factory, Rammstein and Marilyn Manson would also follow, achieving success during the '90s, though these bands bore little influence from the original industrial bands, taking the music even further into metal territory. The term industrial became incredibly blurred by the time Marilyn Manson released their third studio album Mechanical Animals and little trace of industrial in its original incarnation remained. Germany's Atari Teenage Riot were one of the few industrial bands to incorporate metal into their music without it becoming more metal than dance, though group leader Alec Empire would go down a more metal-influenced route in his solo career, and KMFDM were one of the few groups to make records like those of the original industrial groups. As in the case with rap, industrial only managed to enter alternative culture through incorporating elements of rock into the style thus making it more palatable for the alternative audience.

An emotional alternative

Many alternative artists place great value on being able to connect with their audience on a deeper and more personal level. It would be wrong to say that all alternatives are outsiders, depressives and misfits, but people with alternative views and darker personalities are more likely to be drawn to alternative culture because of the people who make it possible. The ability to relate on an emotional or personal level, or at the very least to be able relate to the artist's message, is seen as a very important quality by many alternatives.

Though this relationship had existed for years in one form or another, it was not until around 1988 and the beginning of Emo that the American alternative rock scene began focusing on emotional subjects in song lyrics. Emo was originally intended as a more cerebral and emotionally involving form of rock, as the Hardcore punk movement that preceded it had focused almost entirely on political concerns. The manner in which these political issues were dealt with were viewed as childish and naive by many and, along with the ridiculously violent nature of many people involved in hardcore, proved to be a turn off for a large number of people.

In 1994, Rollins Band vocalist and songwriter Henry Rollins wrote a song called "Liar", released on the Rollins Band album Weight the same year. The song was an explicit attack on the relationship between artist and audience that had, in the opinion of Rollins, been watered down through increasing commercialisation of alternative rock in the wake of Nirvana's breakthrough. The song did not criticise Nirvana or any other rock act for that matter, and in fact reflected a statement Kurt Cobain had made a few years earlier regarding a section of Nirvana's post-Nevermind audience. The main bone of contention amongst long time alternative rock artists was mainstream people coming to the alternative world because it was the "in" thing that week and not finding out about the history of the alternative scene. In other words, being a tourist!

Subsequently, this view caught on amongst a large section of the alternative community and divided alternatives right down the middle between those who thought Nirvana's success was bad for the scene because it was supposedly destroying the independent spirit that had existed since the earliest days of hardcore punk, and those who thought Nirvana's success was a good thing because the music was receiving the exposure it had deserved, but had been unable to achieve, throughout the '80s. Either way you look at it, the day Nevermind was released alternative culture changed forever.

Women in alternative culture

Another interesting by-product of the rise of alternative culture is the liberation afforded women in most, but unfortunately not all, areas of entertainment. Though punk rock had supposedly opened the door for women to form bands, the world of rock was still, and still is to this day but not to such a degree, a male dominated place. In America particularly, where punk evolved into the ultra violent Hardcore punk scene thereby alienating all but the toughest women, the rock world proved a largely testosterone driven scene. The only real mainstream female rock star at the beginning of the '80s, Debbie Harry, was marketed as a sex object first and a musician second, thereby discouraging women even further.

The real inspiration for women to form their own bands came from the underground, and strong, highly creative female artists such as Patti Smith, British punks The Slits and Velvet Underground drummer Maureen Tucker as well as Glam rockers Suzi Quatro and Joan Jett became role models for the next generation of female musicians. Kira Roessler of hardcore band Black Flag was also an important inspiration to many women simply because of the infamously bad touring conditions that the members of Black Flag had to endure.

This generation would feature many people who would become involved in some of the most creative of the alternative bands and would later become strong, female role models themselves. Among their number are Kim Gordon, D'Arcy Wretzky, Kim Deal, Courtney Love, Jarboe of Swans and almost every musician involved in the early '90s Riot grrl movement. It was not until the mid '90s and the arrival of Alanis Morissette, the woman the media dubbed "The first lady of rage", that a strong, female role model became a part of mainstream culture, though her authenticity has been questioned many times and is not accepted by all alternatives as a positive role model. Most of these criticisms, however, are simply due to her being on a major label, and so are not necessarily justified. The same thing has happened more recently in the case of Avril Lavigne, with most alternatives believing her to be nothing more than a Britney Spears clone in punk rock clothing.

A change in alternative

By the late '90s the alternative stereotype had changed, especially in the UK. The new look consisted of hoodied coats, belt chains, baggy skateboarding jeans and sneakers. In the UK the term Greebo (being different to the original '70s definition of a greebo being a kind of biker),was applied to the new alternative stereotype, skateboarding became even more a part of the culture than ever before and sales of Kerrang magazine were better than ever. Most of this was due largely to Nu Metal bands like Limp Bizkit and the Deftones achieveing success commercially and setting a new trend. The dark gothic elements of grunge were not included for the most part in the new movement except for the rise of certain metal bands including Marilyn Manson and Cradle Of Filth.

Media views

After Grunge exploded in '91, the media view of people in alternative culture was that of general disdain, many using Douglas Coupland's book, Generation X: Tales For An Accelerated Culture, as a guide to alternative culture. The stereotype is that of greasy haired, flannel shirt wearing, apathetic slacker teenagers and 20-somethings. In no way is this true in all cases in the same way that the peace sign waving hippie stereotype is not true in all cases of the '60s counterculture.

The Generation X stereotype was used by corporations to sell everything, from cars to Levis. By the late '90s and early 2000s, hip hop was being used instead, this time to sell designer clothes and McDonalds.

The fallout

By the time Soundgarden broke up in '97, the idea of the "alternative outsider" had become as much of a cliche as the meatheaded jock and the image-obsessed prom queen/cheerleader had been in the '80s and '90s. Almost every Hollywood movie aimed at a teenage audience contained a "weird kid", though alternatives were finding it as hard as ever to be accepted by others in High school and College, and "being yourself" was becoming impossible due to widespread stereotyping and negative attitudes.

For a short period following Nirvana's success it had become desirable, cool even, to be a misfit. However, as the mainstream media began to lose interest, the general attitude amongst young people reverted back to what it had always been, that it was a good thing to fit in with the so called "cooler kids" and that the weirdo in the corner of the dinner hall was a loser.

Throughout this brief but intense period of interest, and the invasion of "cool kids" who cared little for the history of alternative culture, almost all alternatives stuck with the culture that they had helped create and had been created for them by others. For the majority of people, alternative culture had come to mean a lot to them because of how it gave them something to be a part of. Many people involved in alternative culture, including both artists and fans, had not been excepted into the more popular circles in school, had been bullied by others and had felt out of place. Importantly, through discovering this whole new world of artists and fans that had experienced similar discrimination, many people found a new sense of comfort. They were not alone after all.

Conclusion

To suggest that all people interested in alternative culture like all of the things listed here would be wrong, but a lot of the attitudes, TV shows, bands, movies, books and general interests listed here do appeal to similar people.

It is not always easy to decide if something is a part of alternative culture, but it is usually obvious if something is likely to not find a place in mainstream culture. This could be because it is too forceful and uncompromising like the comedy of Bill Hicks or the writings of Bret Easton Ellis, too gross or disturbing like the Budd Dwyer and Daniel Pearl tapes or too intellectual and arty like the music of Throbbing Gristle, Glenn Branca and John Cage. However, many bands, movies and TV shows originally associated with alternative culture do go onto enjoy widespread commercial success.