I happen to be a pretty big fan of both the British and American "alt rock"/underground scenes of the 1979-1991 period. But which do you prefer? The British is far more accessible, if darker or more mannered, and more heavily reliant on synths (I'm taking it to include stuff like Elvis Costello, Squeeze, Joy Division, The Cure, The Smiths, The Eurythmics, lots of the "new wave" and synthpop that was popularized here during the '80s British Invasion.) However, I also love alot of the American material of the "'80s" period, including the Mudd Club/CBGB scene (The Talking Heads, etc.), Pere Ubu, The Replacements, Husker Du, Devo, The B-52s, the singer-songwriters like Suzanne Vega and Tracy Chapman, R.E.M, Sonic Youth, The Pixies, etc. I think one of the merits of the American over the British scene is while that it's rougher, it's less polished.

Bump...

I happen to be a pretty big fan of both the British and American "alt rock"/underground scenes of the 1979-1991 period. But which do you prefer? The British is far more accessible, if darker or more mannered, and more heavily reliant on synths (I'm taking it to include stuff like Elvis Costello, Squeeze, Joy Division, The Cure, The Smiths, The Eurythmics, lots of the "new wave" and synthpop that was popularized here during the '80s British Invasion.)

I wouldn't really say that Squeeze, Elvis Costello, The Smiths or The Eurythmics were 'alternative'. In the UK they were very mainstream - all of them had a good few chart hits. Even The Cure (although they had Goth overtones) were quite a big 'pop' band. The really alternative bands in the UK were people like The Anti-Nowhere League, Becky Bondage, The Specimen and maybe Glove (Robert Smith and Steve Severin from The Banshees).

However, I also love alot of the American material of the "'80s" period, including the Mudd Club/CBGB scene (The Talking Heads, etc.), Pere Ubu, The Replacements, Husker Du, Devo, The B-52s, the singer-songwriters like Suzanne Vega and Tracy Chapman, R.E.M, Sonic Youth, The Pixies, etc. I think one of the merits of the American over the British scene is while that it's rougher, it's less polished.

There were some pretty rough-edged UK bands around too: The Stranglers, The Exploited etc. That said, I'm a big fan of the UK '80s synth sound, so I admit to a strong bias. Though, in my view, the greatest real 'star' of the '80s was Adam Ant who wasn't big on synth (but was big on drums). Though I don't think he ever really managed to make the breakthrough in the USA. Poor old Adam...  :(

I always got the perception there was less alt-mainstream divide in the UK. I like both, in different ways. I love the B-52s, though, so I'm probably a bit biased. I think there are probably more "new wave", synth-y ensembles now in the US than there were c. 1983...that were successful, anyway.

I wouldn't really say that Squeeze, Elvis Costello, The Smiths or The Eurythmics were 'alternative'. In the UK they were very mainstream - all of them had a good few chart hits. Even The Cure (although they had Goth overtones) were quite a big 'pop' band.


I do agree in some respect to this comment...however, I love all of these bands and to be honest - they're more indie-pop than alternative. The thing is, generally people who listen to stuff like this don't like it when they're labelled as pop bands! (To a slight degree I'm one of them, yet I