Inside the Milky Way - A Look at Early Alternative Music
A podcast that takes a look at the development of alternative music in the 80's with a focus on post-punk, electronic, dark wave, goth, synth, industrial, and indie genres.
ITMW Music
Show overview
Inside the Milky Way - A Look at Early Alternative Music launched in 2025 and has put out 102 episodes in the time since. That works out to roughly 50 hours of audio in total. Releases follow a weekly cadence, with the show now in its 2nd season.
Episodes typically run twenty to thirty-five minutes — most land between 24 min and 34 min — though episode length varies meaningfully from one episode to the next. It is catalogued as a EN-language Music show.
The show is actively publishing — the most recent episode landed 5 days ago, with 32 episodes already out so far this year. Published by ITMW Music.
From the publisher
A podcast that takes a look at the development of alternative music in the 80's with a focus on post-punk, electronic, dark wave, goth, synth, industrial, and indie genres. The podcast episodes feature stories, background, and discussions of artists, contributors, music, themes, and events of the early alternative era. The title of our podcast is based on the alternative song from 1988 by The Church, "Under the Milky Way".
Latest Episodes
View all 102 episodesThe Stranglers - The Men in Black
The Motels - Out of Los Angeles
The Feelies - Crazy Indie Rhythms
Siouxsie and the Banshees II - The John McGeoch Years
Radiohead - Through The Bends
The Birthday Party - More than the Boys Next Door
Eurythmics - Dark Synth Dreams
The Beat (The English Beat) - Socially Conscious Ska
Front 242 - To the EBM Front
Altered Images - The Post-Punk Roots of Clare Grogan
Further Inside the Milky Way - Skeletal Family, Ghost Dance, James Ray
Gang of Four - More than Entertainment!
The Style Council - The Soul of Paul Weller
Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures
Severed Heads - Beyond Dead Eyes
The Afghan Whigs - Congregation and Gentlemen
Magazine - John McGeoch and Beyond
The B-52's - Rock Lobster and Other Early Tales
S2 Ep 1The Smiths - The Debut of Marr and Morrissey
The Smiths defined UK indie rock on their way to becoming one of the pioneers of indie music and one of the most influential bands of not just of the early alternative music era, but of the history of rock music. After The Smiths formed in 1982, The Smiths would reject the synth-pop and new wave dominated UK music scene, focusing on guitar-based rock. The key to The Smiths was the songwriting collaboration between lead singer Morrissey, with his unique vocal and lyrical approach, and guitarist Johnny Marr, with his jangly guitar style, as they created a new direction of alternative music defined as jangle pop.Over their short career of four studio albums, The Smiths achieved major commercial success while remaining on the independent record label, Rough Trade Records, before the team of Morrissey and Marr would break up in 1987.This episode will tell the story of the early years and formation of The Smiths with a focus on their self-titled debut album of 1984 and the non-album singles from this same time period.
S1 Ep 83ABC - The Lexicon of Love
In 1982, ABC released their debut album, The Lexicon of Love, to critical acclaim as the album went straight to number 1 on the UK albums chart. The album is regarded as a masterpiece and a landmark album for the sophisticated and lush orchestral arrangements created by legendary producer Trevor Horn, as well as the emotional songwriting from the collective efforts of the band members. Horn’s production on this would be an influence to electronic music over the following years.ABC formed in 1980, evolving from the Sheffield, England based band Vice Versa when lead vocalist Martin Fry was added to the group. With the addition of Fry, the band’s music became a new romantic synth-pop style with funk-inspired basslines and electronic textures. The Lexicon of Love well represented this as ABC became a key band to the "New Pop" and "Sophisti-Pop" movements of the early 80’s while the band created several catchy, synth-driven hits including "Poison Arrow" and "The Look of Love," both from The Lexicon of Love.This episode will tell the story of ABC from their roots as Vice-Versa and the forming of ABC, along with the music of ABC focusing on the work with Trevor Horn and the debut album.