Rock Music: 1990s
"A Rock and Roll Band Who'll Throw It All Away": Rock Music in the 1990s
Rock music during the 1990s pushed back against the mainstream hype of the 1980s, generating alternative and independent music scenes that would then take on the same amount of popularity. These library resources illustrate the new-found rock music styles and the attitudes surrounding their success.
Books
Seven Years of Plenty : A Handbook of Irrefutable Pop Greatness, 1991-1998 by
First published in 1998, Thompson charts the development of pop music from the time when guitar bands were the singularly dominant force to the advent of sampling and digital technology. The book features profiles of, and interviews with, leading lights such as Portishead, Tricky, Pulp, Blur, Goldie, the Aphex Twin among others.
Call Number: ML3534 .T466 1998ISBN: 0575066032Publication Date: 1998
Accidental Revolution: The Story of Grunge by
Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Hole and Alice in Chains are the names that come to mind when we talk about grunge. But never before has there been a complete history of grunge with razor-sharp critical analysis--until now. Grunge, a style of music that wed classic rock riffs with punk ethos, was the musical movement that defined the 90's and left an indelible mark on the music scene at large. But how did this musical phenomenon emerge from the Seattle underground to become a universal beacon of despair for millions of restless kids around the globe, and why did it resonate with so many disenchanted outsiders? Kyle Anderson answers these questions and more, examining the connection between grunge and punk, how Kurt Cobain's disdain for Axl Rose propelled Nirvana to instant success, the singer who officially killed off grunge with his trite lyrics and pseudo-grunge attitude and the band the ripped off Pearl Jam, made millions of dollars by selling out to the media and went on to become the most hated band ever. Accidental Revolution is an essential guide to the triumphs and defeats of a musical revolution and its unforgettable icons.
Call Number: ML3534 .A49 2007ISBN: 9780312358198Publication Date: 2007-07-10
Everybody Loves Our Town: An Oral History of Grunge by
Twenty years after the release of Nirvana's landmark album Nevermind comes Everybody Loves Our Town: An Oral History of Grunge, the definitive word on the grunge era, straight from the mouths of those at the center of it all. In 1986, fledgling Seattle label C/Z Records released Deep Six, a compilation featuring a half-dozen local bands: Soundgarden, Green River, Melvins, Malfunkshun, the U-Men and Skin Yard. Though it sold miserably, the record made music history by documenting a burgeoning regional sound, the raw fusion of heavy metal and punk rock that we now know as grunge. But it wasn't until five years later, with the seemingly overnight success of Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit," that grunge became a household word and Seattle ground zero for the nineties alternative-rock explosion. Everybody Loves Our Town captures the grunge era in the words of the musicians, producers, managers, record executives, video directors, photographers, journalists, publicists, club owners, roadies, scenesters and hangers-on who lived through it. The book tells the whole story: from the founding of the Deep Six bands to the worldwide success of grunge's big four (Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden and Alice in Chains); from the rise of Seattle's cash-poor, hype-rich indie label Sub Pop to the major-label feeding frenzy that overtook the Pacific Northwest; from the simple joys of making noise at basement parties and tiny rock clubs to the tragic, lonely deaths of superstars Kurt Cobain and Layne Staley. Drawn from more than 250 new interviews--with members of Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, Screaming Trees, Hole, Melvins, Mudhoney, Green River, Mother Love Bone, Temple of the Dog, Mad Season, L7, Babes in Toyland, 7 Year Bitch, TAD, the U-Men, Candlebox and many more--and featuring previously untold stories and never-before-published photographs, Everybody Loves Our Town is at once a moving, funny, lurid, and hugely insightful portrait of an extraordinary musical era.
Call Number: ML3534.3 .Y37 2011ISBN: 9780307464439Publication Date: 2011-09-06
Milk It!: Collected Musings on the Alternative Music Explosion of the 90s by
Taking its title with suitable slacker irony from a song on Nirvana'sIn Utero,Milk It! is an anthology of pieces written in the heat of the moment-an urgent and diverse overview that mirrors the chaotic rush of the postmodern sounds it covers. Headnotes and connective material-the "stories behind the stories"-provide running commentary on the music business, rock criticism, a troubled generation, and an attempt to put the fast-moving alternative-rock era in perspective from the safe distance of the comparatively bland new millennium. Compiled by a critic who shared the Generation X outlook, attitude, and biting sense of humor with the musicians that he covered-Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Smashing Pumpkins, Hole, and many others-Milk It! is the first serious attempt to chart the alternative music scene. Compelling, amusing, and provocative,Milk It! captures the excitement of an era, and reckons with its enduring influence.
Call Number: ML3534 .D472 2003ISBN: 0306812711Publication Date: 2003-10-02
Women Singer-Songwriters in Rock: A Populist Rebellion in the 1990s by
In Women Singer-Songwriters in Rock: A Populist Rebellion in the 1990s, Ronald D. Lankford Jr. argues that women singer-songwriters formed a substantial movement within popular music during the 1990s, making a significant social and aesthetic contribution that pushed feminism into mainstream American culture. Lankford examines in depth the work of several artists--including Alanis Morissette, PJ Harvey, Liz Phair, Courtney Love, Tori Amos, Sarah McLachlan, and Sheryl Crow--offering thorough descriptions and analyses of their music, lyrics, and album art. By looking at both the broader movement and individual performers, this book provides a comprehensive and accessible overview of the movement and its message. Lankford introduces the singer-songwriter movement and the artists and genres that paved the way for these 1990s rockers, establishing the arch of the popular movement of women in rock as it mirrored the rise of third wave feminism and sketching the cultural and political landscape that served as a backdrop to the women's singer-songwriter movement during the 1990s. Drawing from resources in books, journals, and zines, Lankford focuses on the exploration of women's issues within the music through analyses of its lyrics and album art and examines how the often hard-edged feminist content was able to filter into mainstream popular culture. To help illustrate this, the book includes a select discography of albums and singles, including their placement and number of weeks spent on various charts. A complete bibliography and index round out this important study, which is a must for fans and scholars of music, popular culture, and women's studies.
Call Number: ML82 .L35 2010ISBN: 9780810872684Publication Date: 2009-11-25
Britpop!: Cool Britannia and the Spectacular Demise of English Rock by
Beginning in 1994 and closing in the first months of 1998, the UK passed through a cultural moment as distinct and as celebrated as any since the war. Founded on rock music, celebrity, boom-time economics, and fleeting political optimism, this was "Cool Britannia." Records sold in the millions, a new celebrity elite emerged, and Tony Blair's Labour Party found itself returned to government. Drawing on interviews from all the major bands including Oasis, Blur, Elastica, and Suede, and from music journalists, record executives, and those close to government, Britpop! charts the rise and fall of the Britpop moment. In this wonderfully engaging, page-turning narrative, John Harris, currently the hottest young music journalist in the UK, argues that the high point of British music's cultural impact also signaled its effective demise. After all, if rock stars were now friends of government, how could they continue to matter?"Cool Britannia was an empty promise that was bound to end in tears. John Harris captures the moment when New Labour, desperately wanting to seem hip, invited Britpop into Downing Street. Irresistible."-Billy Bragg
Call Number: ML3534.6.G7 H37 2004ISBN: 9780306813672Publication Date: 2004-10-13
Sellout: The Major-Label Feeding Frenzy That Swept Punk, Emo, and Hardcore by
THE NATIONAL BESTSELLER, NOW FEATURING NEW INTERVIEWS WITH DASHBOAD CONFESSIONAL, CURSIVE, LESS THAN JAKE, AND MORE. "Ozzi's reporting is strong, balanced and well told...a worthy successor to its obvious inspiration, Michael Azerrad's 2001 examination of the '80s indie underground, 'Our Band Could Be Your Life.'"--New York Times Book Review A raucous history of punk, emo, and hardcore's growing pains during the commercial boom of the early 90s and mid-aughts, following eleven bands as they "sell out" and find mainstream fame, or break beneath the weight of it all Punk rock found itself at a crossroads in the mid-90's. After indie favorite Nirvana catapulted into the mainstream with its unexpected phenomenon, Nevermind, rebellion was suddenly en vogue. Looking to replicate the band's success, major record labels set their sights on the underground, and began courting punk's rising stars. But the DIY punk scene, which had long prided itself on its trademark authenticity and anti-establishment ethos, wasn't quite ready to let their homegrown acts go without a fight. The result was a schism: those who accepted the cash flow of the majors, and those who defiantly clung to their indie cred. In Sellout, seasoned music writer Dan Ozzi chronicles this embattled era in punk. Focusing on eleven prominent bands who made the jump from indie to major, Sellout charts the twists and turns of the last "gold rush" of the music industry, where some groups "sold out" and rose to surprise super stardom, while others buckled under mounting pressures. Sellout is both a gripping history of the music industry's evolution, and a punk rock lover's guide to the chaotic darlings of the post-grunge era, featuring original interviews and personal stories from members of modern punk's most (in)famous bands: Green Day Jawbreaker Jimmy Eat World Blink-182 At the Drive-In The Donnas Thursday The Distillers My Chemical Romance Rise Against Against Me!
Call Number: ML3534.3 .O99 2021ISBN: 9780358244301Publication Date: 2021-10-26
Hell of a Hat: The Rise of '90s Ska and Swing by
In the late '90s, third-wave ska broke across the American alternative music scene like a tsunami. In sweaty clubs across the nation, kids danced themselves dehydrated to the peppy rhythms and punchy horns of bands like The Mighty Mighty Bosstones and Reel Big Fish. As ska caught fire, a swing revival brought even more sharp-dressed, brass-packing bands to national attention. Hell of a Hat dives deep into this unique musical moment. Prior to invading the Billboard charts and MTV, ska thrived from Orange County, California, to NYC, where Moon Ska Records had eager rude girls and boys snapping up every release. On the swing tip, retro pioneers like Royal Crown Revue had fans doing the jump, jive, and wail long before The Brian Setzer Orchestra resurrected the Louis Prima joint. Drawing on interviews with heavyweights like the Bosstones, Sublime, Less Than Jake, and Cherry Poppin' Daddies--as well as underground heroes like Mustard Plug, The Slackers, Hepcat, and The New Morty Show--Kenneth Partridge argues that the relative economic prosperity and general optimism of the late '90s created the perfect environment for fast, danceable music that--with some notable exceptions--tended to avoid political commentary. An homage to a time when plaids and skankin' were king and doing the jitterbug in your best suit was so money, Hell of a Hat is an inside look at '90s ska, swing, and the loud noises of an era when America was dreaming and didn't even know it.
Call Number: ML3535.8 .P37 2021ISBN: 9780271090382Publication Date: 2021-09-21
Site and Sound: Understanding Independent Music Scenes by
Site and Sound: Understanding Independent Music Scenes examines how independent pop and rock music scenes of the 1980s and 1990s were constituted within social and geographical spaces. Those active in the production and consumption of «indie» pop and rock music thought of their practices as largely independent of the music mainstream - even though some acts recorded for major labels. This book explores the web of personal, social, historical, geographical, cultural, and economic practices and relationships involved in the production and consumption of «indie» music.
Call Number: ML3534 .K82 2003ISBN: 0820455520Publication Date: 2003-05-09
Bring the Noise: 20 Years of Writing about Hip Rock and Hip Hop by
Bring the Noise weaves together interviews, reviews, essays, and features to create a critical history of the last twenty years of pop culture, juxtaposing the voices of many of rock and hip hop's most provocative artists--Morrissey, Public Enemy, The Beastie Boys, The Stone Roses, P.J. Harvey, Radiohead--with Reynolds's own passionate analysis. With all the energy and insight you would expect from the author of Rip It Up and Start Again, Bring the Noise tracks the alternately fraught and fertile relationship between white bohemia and black street music. The selections transmit the immediacy of their moment while offering a running commentary on the broader enduring questions of race and resistance, multiculturalism, and division. From grunge to grime, from Madchester to the Dirty South, Bring the Noise chronicles hip hop and alternative rock's competing claims to be the cutting edge of innovation and the voice of opposition in an era of conservative backlash. Alert to both the vivid detail and the big picture, Simon Reynolds has shaped a compelling narrative that cuts across a thrillingly turbulent two-decade period of pop music.
Call Number: ML3534 .R4914 2007ISBN: 9780571232079Publication Date: 2007
Articles
- "Red Hot Chili Peppers: Milk Men" by Steffan Chirazi, Kerrang!, 10 February 1990
- "Lenny Kravitz: Lenny Be Me" by Bruce Dessau, Vox, April 1991
- "Nirvana: Smells Like Chlorine Spirit" by Keith Cameron, New Musical Express, 21 March 1992
- "Pearl Jam: Pump up the 'Jam" by Paul Elliott, Kerrang!, 27 June 1992
- "Tracy Chapman: Matters Of The Heart" by Mark Cooper, Q, June 1992
- "Rage Against The Machine: Livid In The Material World" by Steven Wells, New Musical Express, 13 February 1993
- "Courtney Love: Hole in One" by Caitlin Moran, Melody Maker, 19 February 1994
- "Green Day: The Dookies Of Hazards" by Paul Moody, New Musical Express, 3 September 1994
- "No Doubt: Supervixen" by Paul Elliott, Kerrang!, 13 July 1996
- "Bruised: Alanis Morissette: Enmore Theatre, Sydney" by Lucy O'Brien, Q, July 1996
- Rock's BackpagesAn archive of music journalism and popular music writing of the last 60 years. Includes 38,000 articles on all subcategories of popular music.
Archival Materials
Jas Obrecht Collection, 1970s-2016
This collection contains audio interview recordings by Jas Obrecht for Guitar Player magazine. Some of the recordings include 1990s interviews with the Allman Brothers (FS-2, FS-3), Buddy Guy (FS-57, FS-400, FS-401), John Lee Hooker (FS-106, FS-107), Mick Jagger (FS-121, FS-122), Keith Richards (FS-168, FS-169, FS-170) , Eddie Van Halen (FS-226, FS-227, FS-228), Charlie Watts (FS-236), and Neil Young (FS-250, FS-251).
Audio
The Music Library holds more than 60,000 sound and video recordings you can check out. Use the library catalog to find their call numbers, then ask for them at the Music Library Circulation Desk.
- Use ALL FIELDS search.
- Refine your search (to CD, Vinyl record, Audiocassette, etc) with limiters on the left side of the screen
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Ex. ALL FIELDS: Metallica |
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Pay attention to the item's location; there are several collections on campus that have music materials.
When you find a recording you are interested in, click on its Subject tab to find similar items. If the item you want is checked out or we don't own it, you can request it through Interlibrary Loan.
Videos
1991: The Year Punk Broke by
"Take a trip with Sonic Youth and Nirvana as they stumble through their 1991 European club festival tour! Let filmmaker Dave Markey put you on stage, off stage and backstage! Witness the boredom! The cynicism!"--Container.
Call Number: 65-V10142Publication Date: 1993
The Work of Director Spike Jonze: A Collection of Music Videos, Short Films, Documentaries, and Rarities by
A Side: Music Videos: Wax, Beastie Boys, The Pharcycle, The Breeders, Daft Punk, Fatlip, Weezer, Fatboy Slim, Dinosaur Jr., MC 900ft Jesus, The Notorious B.I.G., The Chemical Brothers, Bjork. Interviews: musicians discuss the music videos. Making of Drop with The Pharcyde: interviews and behind-the-scenes. Audio Commentaries: from Fatboy Slim, Weezer, The Pharcyde, Daft Punk, The Chemical Brothers, Bjork, Christopher Walken, Puff, and more. Also includes Beastie Boys comentary on a selection of the videos. B Side: Rarities: How They Get There- a short film with Mark Gonzales Mark Paints- another short film with Mark Gonzales The Oasis video that never happened Rockafella Skank- Richard Koufey's audition tape for Fatboy Slim The Woods- a short film excerpt from Mouse, a Girl Skateboards film. Documentaries: What's up, Fatlip? (the documentary)- After Fatlip left The Pharcyde, outrageous rumors began circulating. This candid documentary happend as Spike and Fatlip worked together on a music video, and Spike let his curiosity take over. (31 min) Amarillo by Morning- while filming pro bull riders at a national rodeo in Houston, Spike befriended two suburban teenagers who aspired to be cowboys. This chronicles a day in their life. (29 min) Torrance Rises- Torrance Community Dance Group on the road to their grand performance at the MTV Video Music Awards. (34 min)
Includes the director's music videos for the bands Wax, Beastie Boys, the Pharcyde, the Breeders, Daft Punk, Fatlip, Weezer, Fatboy Slim, Dinosaur Jr., MC 900ft Jesus, the Notorious B.I.G., the Chemical Brothers, and Bjork, as well as interviews, commentaries, rarities, and three documentaries: What's up Fatlip?, Amarillo by morning, and Torrance Rises.
Call Number: 65-DVD7780Publication Date: 2003
Suggested Subject Headings
"Rock music -- 1991-2000"
"Alternative rock music"
"Alternative metal music"
"Grunge music"
"Heavy metal music"
Hip-hop (Music)"
"Punk rock music"
"Rap (Music)"
"Ska (Music)"
Pictorial Works
The '90s by
The editors of Rolling Stone magazine present this definitive tribute to the 1990s--one of the most electrifying and explosive decades in music history. This fascinating anthology explores every side of the decade's wide-ranging music scene, with in-depth articles by Rolling Stone's best writers; rare and intimate photographs of fans, musicians, concerts and festivals; and flash-backs from some of the most seminal 90's musicians, like Moby, RZA, Liz Phair, Bob Weir, and even Slash. From Pearl Jam to the Wu-Tang Clan, Rolling Stone tells it all.
Kurt Cobain by
In July 1993, Nirvana was the biggest band in the world, and Kurt Cobain was subject to an intense level of celebrity and public scrutiny. In New York City to play the famed Roseland Ballroom and promote their new album In Utero, Cobain and Nirvana were photographed by Jesse Frohman - and Cobain gave a candid interview to Jon Savage - for an article in the Observer. Only nine months later, Cobain killed himself. It was the last formal photo shoot Nirvana ever did, and one of the last major interviews Cobain ever gave. Twenty years after his death, they are published here together for the first time since the Observer article, including previously unpublished material, and accompanied by new commentary from Frohman and Savage about that day, and an essay by pop culture maven Glenn O'Brien on what it all might have meant. Frohman's 100-plus photographs, including contact sheets, get to the heart of one of the most beloved bands of all time, at the height of their success - and the moment when everything was starting to unravel. We see Cobain as he was just months before his death, by turns feral and refined, posing on his own, goofing around with his band mates, engrossed in his music and always ambivalent about the spotlight. Savage's interview reveals an optimistic side of Cobain seemingly at odds with his public image, and particularly poignant as we look back on his life. This book offers a powerful, moving portrait of Kurt Cobain and will be an important contribution to the literature of rock and roll.
Noise from the Underground by
This photo-history charts the route alternative music has taken from its beginnings in early 1980s punk rock to its present pre-eminence. It includes information on over 60 bands, as well as indie labels and clubs.
