Why does the period between 1978 and 1984 remain so influential for artists today, nearly half a century later?
For a range of historical and cultural reasons, the late 1970s and early 1980s represent an unusually fertile moment for the emergence of avant-pop projects. The expansive, virtuoso model of progressive rock was losing momentum, creating a need to re-evaluate the immediacy and conceptual potential of the pop band format.
The DIY ethos of punk demonstrated that neither advanced musicianship nor formal training were prerequisites for creative expression, opening space for more performative, conceptual, and even dada-inspired approaches to music-making. At the same time, the highly manufactured pop apparatus that started in the mid-80s had not yet taken hold, allowing many groups to experiment freely with what “pop” itself could mean.
Technological innovation also played a crucial role: the late 1970s saw the introduction of relatively affordable synthesizers and recording equipment, democratising access to new sonic possibilities. Seemingly disparate musical scenes —punk, disco, funk, dub, and minimal synth— were unfolding simultaneously, and certain bands explored the intersections between them with genuine curiosity rather than calculated experimentalism.
This blog is dedicated to examining the most obscure, eccentric, and anarchic of these post-punk formations: artists who thrived in that brief yet transformative period of creative upheaval.
Curation and texts Fil Ieropoulos
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