Cassette culture refers to the practices associated with amateur production and distribution of recorded music that emerged in the late 1970s via home-made audio cassettes. It is characterized by the adoption of home recording by independent artists, and involvement in ad-hoc self-distribution and promotion networks—primarily conducted through mail and fanzines. The culture was in part an offshoot of the mail art movement of the 1970s and 1980s, and participants engaged in tape trading in addition to traditional sales. The culture is related to the DIY ethic of punk, and encouraged musical eclecticism and diversity.
The Ataris are an American rock band from Anderson, Indiana. Formed in 1996, they have released five studio albums, with So Long, Astoria certified gold. In 2009, an album was announced to be entitled The Graveyard of the Atlantic although the album's status has been on indefinite ambiguity, with just two EPs released in 2010 and 2012 both with the same titles as the awaited album. They are best known for their hit cover song, originally recorded by Don Henley, "The Boys of Summer".
DIY ethic refers to the ethic of self-sufficiency through completing tasks without the aid of a paid expert. Explicitly meaning, "do it yourself", the DIY ethic promotes the idea that anyone is capable of performing a variety of tasks rather than relying on paid specialists.
In the United States, California is commonly associated with the film, music, and arts industries; there are numerous world-famous Californian musicians. Hardcore punk, hip hop, country, and heavy metal have all appeared in California. Furthermore, new genres of music, such as surf rock and third wave ska, have their origins in California.
The Tubes are a San Francisco-based rock band. Their eponymous 1975 debut album included the single "White Punks on Dope," while their 1983 single "She's a Beauty" was a top-10 U.S. hit and its music video was frequently played in the early days of MTV. The band also performed in the 1980 film Xanadu, singing the rock portion of the cross-genre song "Dancin'" opposite a big band.
Lookout Records was an independent record label, initially based in Laytonville, California and later in Berkeley, focusing on punk rock. Established in 1987, the label is best known for having released Operation Ivy’s only album, and the first two albums by Green Day.
Rough Trade Records is an independent record label based in London, England. It was formed in 1978 by Geoff Travis who had opened a record store off Ladbroke Grove. Having successfully promoted and sold records by punk rock and early post-punk and indie pop bands such as the Smiths and Desperate Bicycles, Travis began to manage acts and distribute bands such as Scritti Politti and began the label, which was informed by left-wing politics and structured as a co-operative. Soon after, Rough Trade also set up a distribution arm that serviced independent retail outlets across Britain, a network that became known as the Cartel.
The Oracle Arena is an indoor arena located in Oakland, California, United States, and is the home of the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The arena opened in 1966 and is the oldest arena in the NBA. From its opening until 1996 it was known as the Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena. After a major renovation completed in 1997, the arena was renamed The Arena in Oakland until 2005 and Oakland Arena from 2005 to 2006. It is often referred to as the Oakland Coliseum Arena as it is located adjacent to the Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum. Oracle Arena seats 19,596 fans for basketball.
Chrome is an American rock band founded in San Francisco, California in 1975.
415 Records was a San Francisco record label created in 1978. The label focused its efforts on local punk rock and new wave music acts of the late 1970s through the late 1980s, including The Offs, The Nuns, The Units, Romeo Void, and Wire Train. Its name, pronounced four-one-five, was a play on both the telephone area code for the San Francisco area and the California penal code section for disturbing the peace. The label had a productive partnership with Columbia Records from 1981 until shortly before it was sold in 1989 to Sandy Pearlman, who retitled the label Popular Metaphysics.
Vagrant Records is an American record label based in California. It was founded in 1995 by Rich Egan and Jon Cohen. The label focuses on rock, but features artists in a variety of other genres including folk, soul, electronic, and pop. It is home to artists such as The 1975, Death Spells, Eels, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes, CRUISR, Active Child, PJ Harvey, School of Seven Bells, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, James Vincent McMorrow, Black Joe Lewis, Wake Owl, Blitzen Trapper, and Bombay Bicycle Club. Originally, Vagrant Records was mostly focused on emo bands such as Dashboard Confessional, Saves the Day, The Get Up Kids, Senses Fail, and Alkaline Trio.
Jawbreaker is an American punk rock band active from 1986 to 1996, and again since 2017. The band is considered one of the influential acts of the 1990s emo movement.
Against Me! as the Eternal Cowboy is the second album by the punk rock band Against Me!, released on November 3, 2003 by Fat Wreck Chords. It was the group's first release for the label and their first album with bassist Andrew Seward, who had replaced original bassist Dustin Fridkin the previous year. The album was produced by Rob McGregor, who had also produced their first album Against Me! Is Reinventing Axl Rose (2002). Two singles were released in support of the album, "Cavalier Eternal" and "Sink, Florida, Sink", though each features different versions of the songs than those found on the album. As the Eternal Cowboy was Against Me!'s first album to reach the Billboard charts, reaching No. 36 on Top Independent Albums.
Geza Gedeon, professionally known as Geza X, was a personality in the Los Angeles punk scene in the late 1970s. Geza produced records for a number of early California punk bands including the Dead Kennedys, Germs, Redd Kross, Black Flag, The Avengers and The Weirdos. His productions of "Holiday in Cambodia" for Dead Kennedys and "Lexicon Devil" for Germs separated California's punk sound from others at the time with its eccentricity, humor and spunk, making Los Angeles and San Francisco very different from the scenes in New York or London. Record executive Howie Klein, then writing for BAM, a San Francisco music magazine, was quoted as saying "...Geza X is The Only person to capture the West Coast's compelling power and urgency."
Linda Perry is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. She was the lead singer and primary songwriter of 4 Non Blondes, and has since founded two record labels and composed and produced hit songs for several other artists. They include: "Beautiful" by Christina Aguilera; "What You Waiting For?" by Gwen Stefani; and "Get the Party Started" by P!nk. Perry has also contributed to albums by Adele, Alicia Keys, and Courtney Love, as well as signing and distributing James Blunt in the United States. Perry was also inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2015.
Since the late 1970s, California has had a thriving regional punk rock movement. It primarily consists of bands from the Los Angeles, Orange County, Ventura County, San Diego, San Fernando Valley, San Francisco, Fresno, Bakersfield, Alameda County, Sacramento, Lake Tahoe, Oakland and Berkeley areas.
Before You Were Punk: A Punk Rock Tribute to 80's New Wave is a compilation album released in 1997 by Vagrant Records. It consists of a number of mid-1990s punk rock bands covering songs that were popularised during the 1980s "new wave" musical movement. It was an ambitious release for the label, which was still in its early stages, and proved to be a success by selling over 70,000 copies. It was followed by an equally successful sequel, Before You Were Punk 2: Another Punk Rock Tribute to 80's New Wave, in 1999.
The 1992 Major League Baseball season saw the Toronto Blue Jays defeat the Atlanta Braves in the World Series, becoming the first team outside the United States to win the World Series.
Brainoil is a United States doom and sludge metal band from Oakland, California. Brainoil members have been long-term contributors to the East Bay underground punk and metal music scene.
Bvdub is an American electronic music producer originally from the San Francisco Bay Area. Since 2007 he has released more than 40 albums and EPs under this name and other pseudonyms including his birth name, Brock Van Wey. Residing in Shaoxing, China, he produces ambient and ambient techno music that has received critical acclaim from the likes of online magazines Resident Advisor, Headphone Commute and Gridface. His first release as Brock Van Wey, White Clouds Drift On And On, was included in RA's Top 20 Albums of 2009.
