Music for Misfits: The Story of Indie

The story of British indie over three musically diverse episodes. Much more than a genre of music, it is a spirit, an attitude and an ethos. In the 1970s, the music industry was controlled by the major record labels, and the notion of releasing a record independently seemed like an impossible dream. At a time when even the Sex Pistols were on a major label, the true act of rebellion was would be to do it yourself. It took an independent release from Buzzcocks in 1976 with the Spiral Scratch EP to begin a change in the game. The initial pressing of 1,000 copies was funded by family and friends and sold out immediately. The notion of independently releasing your own music was compelling, and it became a call to action. Independent record labels began to pop up all over the UK, each one with its own subculture and sound - from Factory in Manchester to Zoo in Liverpool, Postcard in Glasgow and London labels such as Mute, Beggars Banquet and Rough Trade. They were founded by people with no business experience, just a passion for music and a commitment to helping others achieve creative autonomy. These labels were cutting, releasing and distributing the music themselves. Bedsits became offices and basements became studios. This was DIY, and it felt like a countercultural movement set against all that the mainstream had to offer. These labels were pivotal in getting the new sounds to a generation hungry for change. Queues of hopeful bands waited to drop off demo tapes, and the first wave of indie bands emerged from the newly formed labels. It was a fantastically creative, if somewhat hand-to-mouth time, yet bands also had the freedom to make all the decisions about their image and musical direction themselves. Pioneering music from bands such as Joy Division, Throbbing Gristle, Echo and the Bunnymen, Orange Juice and Aztec Camera is featured in this episode. These new indie sounds offered a defiantly oppositional stance to prevailing trends in popular cu

Episode two explores a time when the independent labels transformed from cottage industries into real businesses that could compete with the majors. It examines the evolution of 'indie' - a guitar-based genre of music with its own sound, fashion and culture. Independent record labels provided a platform for some of Britain's most groundbreaking artists at this time, including the Jesus and Mary Chain and the Smiths, who would burst onto the scene in 1983 staging a mainstream intervention and starting a small revolution. In the midst of shiny 80s sounds and shoulder-padded fashion, indie was anti-image and anti-flamboyance. Through many of the indie bands in this period, everyday life was repackaged in melody and poetic lyrics. It's not hard to see why a generation of youth, disaffected from the times they were living in, sought refuge in the poetic haze of early indie. The bands were accessible too, and aspiring music journalists could meet their favourite indie stars at the small and intimate gigs where they performed. The programme concludes in the late 80s with the Madchester scene, as alternative music crossed over into the mainstream chart. This breakthrough was inspired by a merging of indie rock and the burgeoning acid house culture, and it was led by a new crop of bands such as the Stone Roses and Happy Mondays. The series is presented by BBC Radio 6 Music's Mark Radcliffe and this episode features exclusive interviews with performers including James Dean Bradfield of Manic Street Preachers, New Order's Stephen Morris and Gillian Gilbert, Shaun Ryder, Suede's Bernard Butler, the KLF's Bill Drummond, Stuart Murdoch of Belle and Sebastian, Cocteau Twins' Simon Raymonde, the Jesus and Mary Chain's Jim Reid, and Talulah Gosh's Amelia Fletcher. It also includes interviews with a number of influential music industry figures such as former Happy Mondays manager Nathan McGough, Pete Waterman, Factory Records' designer Peter Saville and journalists Ale

Episode three begins with the original independent labels struggling in the wake of acid house, allowing the major labels to move in on 'indie cool' with Britpop and the subsequent rise of early ‘90s heavyweights Blur and Oasis. Bands with an old indie ethos, such as Suede, were still breaking through but switched from independent labels – creatively thriving, but in crisis financially – to majors which, although conservative, were commercially astute, thus guaranteeing international recognition and success. By the mid ‘90s, this move away from the independents, along with the demise of many of the era’s defining bands as a result of money problems and creative divisions, meant the spirit of the DIY boom had all but gone and for now 'indie' became a genre/sound rather than an alternative approach to making and releasing music. It also explores the current indie renaissance, the enduring appeal of the movement’s first wave of bands, the return of labels such as Rough Trade, and the new crop of independent labels that have learnt from the mistakes of the past and are teaming creativity with commercial success, such as Domino, which manages Arctic Monkeys and Franz Ferdinand. This episode features exclusive interviews with performers including Alex Kapranos of Franz Ferdinand, The Libertines’ Carl Barat, James Dean Bradfield of Manic Street Preachers, Shaun Ryder, Suede’s Bernard Butler, Stuart Murdoch of Belle And Sebastian, Bob Stanley of Saint Etienne, and Cocteau Twins’ Simon Raymonde. It also includes interviews with a number of influential music industry figures such as James Endeacott formerly of Rough Trade Records and founder of 1965 Records, Heavenly Recordings’ Jeff Barrett, Creation Record’s Alan McGee, Pete Waterman, journalists Alexis Petridis and Sian Pattenden, and indie music author Richard King.