What caused that enthusiasm for the avantgarde music in the first half of the 80s?

[MYSTERIOUS TRAVELLER]

In this thread I'd like to mention Frank Zappa's London Symphony Orchestra, Vol. I the album from 1983

well, uncle Frankie was the mother of all Avant Rock style Prog music after all

[Taped Rugs]

Partly as a reaction to the commercial dumbing down of so much music during the 1980's, home-recording avant garde, electronic, and experimental artists created a world wide culture centering around the exchange of unique cassette productions. There were no managers or business people around to interfere with the pure expression that is exhibited by so many of these tapes. Several tape labels popped up all over the USA and Europe; there was a substantial Japanese cassette culture as well. A lot of these artists performed live, and their shows were often elaborately costumed, backed with video/unique lighting, involved audience participation, etc. If avant garde music 1980's music is of any interest to you, there's a lot of home recordings from that period now available to hear online. The scope is enormous.

[strawberrybrick]

Art rock had always been in fashion, but perhaps the advent of 12" EP and it's b-side gave artists a chance to stretch out. Bands like Tears For Fears and A Flock Of Seagulls put out some pretty experimental music on the other side of their hits. Then there's this:

Wire's 154.

[Prehensile Pencil]

For me, Bauhaus, Japan, Talking Heads, Wire, etc., have nothing to do with AVANT GARDE. Neither do the Ambient artists so far mentioned in this thread.

TAPED RUGS has come closest to answering the original question, though: That a medium was readily available, and easy to use, when the real freaks came out of the woodwork to trade with one another.

[Jefferson James]

"Avant? I 'avant got a clue." Andy Partridge

[Steve F.]

"Avant? I 'avant got a clue." Andy Partridge

Ronnie Scott beat Andy to that particular punch line by at least 15 years.

[proggosaurus]

how long it's been around or who did it first seems irrelevant. isn't it simply nothing more than challenging ingrained perceptions. every cultural movement in history is embodied by similar changes in discipline. I just don't think it's that unusual to be different or weird as some would call it...whether it's art, science or philosophy. we would still be spawning from decay if left to some folks. fuck that

[Mr.Krautman]

Aren't avantgarde music and enthusiasm mutually exclusive ? An oxymoron ? I can't remember of any more general public interest for avantgarde music in the 80ies than today...or 50 years ago. It allways was (and still is) an obscure genre with a very limited audience. The only exemple I can remember of is Laurie Anderson who suddenly stepped from the unknow experimental/avantgarde scene to the mainstream popcharts, but it was an isolated anomaly.

[Svetonio]

For me, Bauhaus, Japan, Talking Heads, Wire, etc., have nothing to do with AVANT GARDE.
(...)

Of course not. However, sometimes the post-punk bands were recording the songs that were influenced by the Avantgarde.



Šarlo akrobata ("Charles The Acrobat") were a post-punk trio from Belgrade - in 1981 the trio released their only one LP - that is even in Progarchives' database as an "avant-prog" act: http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=3696




Pretty experimental song Leptir ("Butterfly", 1982) from the second album by Belgrade's post-punk band Električni orgazam ("Electric Orgasm"); NME journalist Kris Bohn reviewed their album and stated that they were "one of the most exciting non-British acts".
There are other examples as well.
So, there undoubtedly was a certain degree of enthusiasm for the experimental & avant music in the first half of the eighties, and even among those kids who were post-punk outfit.

[Svetonio]

well, uncle Frankie was the mother of all Avant Rock style Prog music after all

I agree 100%

[Svetonio]

(...) The only exemple I can remember of is Laurie Anderson who suddenly stepped from the unknow experimental/avantgarde scene to the mainstream popcharts, but it was an isolated anomaly.

Well, it was not an anomaly in the 80s. It is hard to imagine now that someone from the avant scene that suddenly becomes mainstream. Back then, it surprised no one.
As you mentioned Laurie Anderson who was / is a multi-media artist actually, I'd also like to remind you on that increased interest of young people for "New Art" in the first half of the 80s when very young artists of the movements like Neue Wilde in the West Germany, Figuration Libre in France, Transavantgarde in Italy, New-Image-Painting in the U.S. - were the stars that "punks" admired & grabbed the zines like "Flash Art".








Though, all that 'zeitgeist' was gone with that decade.

[Steve F.]

It allways was (and still is) an obscure genre with a very limited audience.

Just like almost all of the music discussed on this board for at least 30-35 years.

[Skullhead]

Just like almost all of the music discussed on this board for at least 30-35 years.

Never bought into the "Avant Guard" movement as a thing in and of itself.

What we had in progressive rock WAS "avant" but what made it so wonderful is that it was being performed by top caliber musicians who then opened up to more out of the box thinking than what was going on before.

Look at Miles and how "avant" he was with "In a Silent Way". Pink Floyd with "Atom Heart Mother". Genesis with "Nursery Crime". VG Generator.... etc.

Now on the other side of the coin, you have a hoard of wannabe's who DON'T have the skill set in either musicianship or composition but have this burning desire to contribute something to the scene... so then you have a wave of "interesting" stuff, but not necessarily all that earth shattering. Yoko is a perfect example. She could be very out there and artsy, but you know what? It's not as moving to me as The White Album.

What I do like is when these fringe artists do something that is then further developed by a more developed or sophisticated artist. Then we get some of the wonderful albums that have been mentioned here.

[regenerativemusic]

Never bought into the "Avant Guard" movement as a thing in and of itself.

What we had in progressive rock WAS "avant" but what made it so wonderful is that it was being performed by top caliber musicians who then opened up to more out of the box thinking than what was going on before.

Look at Miles and how "avant" he was with "In a Silent Way". Pink Floyd with "Atom Heart Mother". Genesis with "Nursery Crime". VG Generator.... etc.

Now on the other side of the coin, you have a hoard of wannabe's who DON'T have the skill set in either musicianship or composition but have this burning desire to contribute something to the scene... so then you have a wave of "interesting" stuff, but not necessarily all that earth shattering. Yoko is a perfect example. She could be very out there and artsy, but you know what? It's not as moving to me as The White Album.

What I do like is when these fringe artists do something that is then further developed by a more developed or sophisticated artist. Then we get some of the wonderful albums that have been mentioned here.

+1

[strawberrybrick]

However, sometimes the post-punk bands ... were influenced by the Avantgarde.

Very much true. Just as some of the early Krautrock bands were influenced by the avant-garde in Germany and elsewhere.

Especially with Wire, who were, in their words, an art project as much as a rock band.

[Trane]

It's not like the late-60's and 70's didn't have an Avant-garde, though

Harry Georgeson's first two solo electronic albums (pre-All Things), White Noise, Silver Apple Tangerine Dream's Pink Period (and Krautrock in general) and a whole bunch more... Tomita certainly was also avant garde
I'm not even going to talk about minimalism of those years, either.

I'm pretty sure they sold as many albums as the 80's avant-garde

[Scrotum Scissor]

It's not like the late-60's and 70's didn't have an Avant-garde, though

Obviously not. I think it's firmly established how The Mothers, Velvets, Beefheart, The United States of America a.o. basically introduced the medium of avant-garde as a separate fundament in rock. It's pretty hard to describe a record like Church of Anthrax (by Cale and Riley) or The Marble Index (by Nico, again with Cale) as anything but avant-garde. And the same goes for much of what was created in West Germany, of course, be it the obscurities of I.D. Company (starring Rumpf and Krause) or the usual endeavours by Can, Faust, Neu! etc.

I essentially agree with Mr. Skull that a large portion of the original "progressive rock" wave was at least attemptively avant-garde, and it would certainly not be out of order to point at how the "genre" as such went more or less stagnant once it ceased to seek that aim.

[Svetonio]

It's not like the late-60's and 70's didn't have an Avant-garde, though

Harry Georgeson's first two solo electronic albums (pre-All Things), White Noise, Silver Apple Tangerine Dream's Pink Period (and Krautrock in general) and a whole bunch more... Tomita certainly was also avant garde
I'm not even going to talk about minimalism of those years, either.

I'm pretty sure they sold as many albums as the 80's avant-garde

I don't know how much they sold exactly, but they did become more popular in the first half of the 80s.
As I said earlier, the 70s ambient / minimalistic albums like Another Green World, Discreet Music, Music for Films, Music for Airports and The Pavilion of Dreams were experienced a renaissance in the first half of the 80s, as those days was awakened a new enthusiasm for ambient, minimalistic & experimental stuff as well.

[Scrotum Scissor]

In the words of someone or other, not so much Avant garde, more like Haven't practiced

What a stupendously intelligent remark.

[Svetonio]

This is from an album released in the late 80s actually, but anyway - the influence of minimalism and ambient (haunting vocals are pure magic) is evident and beautiful in this amazing song by Yugo-New Wave icon Alexandra Slađana Milošević...