the next ones going to be the best one.
Left Of The Dial - Alternative Rock 1980-1994
The rise of alternative rock in the USA. From its early underground days where bands like Black Flag drew inspiration from the DIY ethos of punk, Left Of The Dial traces the history of the network of fans, clubs and fanzines that sustained the scene and launched the careers of bands like R.E.M., The Pixies and Hüsker Dü. The film takes a fresh look at the explosion of the Seattle scene, culminating in the success of Nirvana's 'Nevermind' and the tragic loss of Kurt Cobain, an artist whose triumph and tragedy continues to cast an inescapable shadow.
Director's notes
Robert Murphy
Director/Producer
"In the days when 'Teen Spirit' was a brand of deodorant, grunge was something that blocked the sink and R.E.M. still had religion, 'alternative rock' was hard to find. Those in the know followed the advice of The Replacements and tuned their radio to 'the left of the dial' in search of more challenging, authentic and passionate guitar music than the spandex and hairspray acts that straddled mainstream rock in the 80s.
As we embarked on a pilgrimage across America in search of the people and places that helped pioneer alternative rock, it almost felt like we were following in the tyre-tracks of the bands who'd started it all nearly 25 years before.
Four hours drive from Seattle is the mist-shrouded logging town of Aberdeen, Kurt Cobain's home and a place he described as 'Twin Peaks without the excitement.' The welcome sign reads 'Come As You Are', but it's the musty music shops, thrift stores and boarded up houses that most eloquently evoke Kurt Cobain's troubled childhood.
In Seattle, where grunge was born, we filmed a rare interview with Nirvana's Krist Novoselic, no longer the goofy bass player who used to leap around the stage but a thoughtful, lugubrious man who still brightens when recalling the thrill of discovering bands like Black Flag and Hüsker Dü for the first time.
In Los Angeles, we had an appointment with R.E.M. producer Scott Litt and the original studio master tapes of classic R.E.M. tracks including 'The One I Love' and 'Losing My Religion.' Scott reverently pored over tapes and handwritten track-sheets that he hadn't seen in over two decades and as the vintage reels turned, he was back in 1987 with Michael Stipe bashing lyrics out on an old typewriter while Peter Buck strummed the guitar.
In the steamy heat of Athens, Georgia, we filmed R.E.M. landmarks - the railway sleepers on the 'Murmur' sleeve - and ate soul food from Weaver's D's restaurant, where 'Automatic for the People' is still the refrain. Later that night, we convened at John Keane's studio, where the band recorded 'Out of Time', to interview R.E.M.'s Mike Mills. We struggled to light a black grand piano, raiding a linen cupboard for bed-sheets to cope with the reflections, as Mills benignly sipped red wine before regaling us with wonderful tales about the band's early days and impromptu piano versions of songs like 'Nightswimming' and Eric Clapton's 'Layla.'
The tour also took us to two small towns as fittingly strange as alternative rocks' quirkiest band, The Pixies: the hippie enclave of Eugene, Oregon, home to guitarist Charles Thompson, and the industrial, midwest city of Dayton, Ohio, where bassist Kim Deal was born and raised.
Our shoot drew to a close in London with an audience with Michael Stipe, where the R.E.M. singer fondly recalled the band's gruelling years on the road and spoke movingly about the fragile, destructive talent of Kurt Cobain...
The road's a distant memory now, and it's filled with glimpses of what might have been - signposts we didn't get a chance to follow that would have led us to bands like Sonic Youth or Pearl Jam, both worthy of a film in themselves. But I'm hopeful that this programme will introduce people to a few less familiar names who played their part, as well as providing a fresh and intriguing take on some of the biggest bands who took the road less travelled... and made all the difference."
Events talked about
1980 R.E.M. form in Athens, Georgia
1981 Henry Rollins joins Black Flag
1987 R.E.M. release 'Document'
1988 Sub Pop's first single: Mudhoney's "Touch Me I'm Sick"
1988 Pixies release Surfer Rosa
1989 Pixies release Surfer Rosa
1992 'Nevermind' knocks Michael Jackson out of the album chart
1992 Nirvana headline Reading Festival
1994 The Death of Kurt Cobain
Featured Tracks
R.E.M. - It's the End of the World As We Know it (And I Feel Fine)
Black Flag - Six Pack
Black Flag - Gimme Gimme Gimme
R.E.M. - Radio Free Europe
The Replacements - Here Comes A Regular
The Replacements - Left of the Dial
Hüsker Dü - Pink Turns To Blue
R.E.M. - The One I Love
Mudhoney - Touch Me I'm Sick
Nirvana - About A Girl
R.E.M. - Turn You inside Out
R.E.M. - Losing My Religion
Nirvana - Verse Chorus Verse
Pearl Jam - Alive
The Pixies - Gouge Away
The Pixies - Where Is My Mind?
Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit
Nirvana - Something in the Way
R.E.M. - Nightswimming
R.E.M. - Everybody Hurts
Nirvana - Serve the Servants
Nirvana - Come As You Are
Nirvana - Where Did You Sleep Last Night
Black Flag
Mudhoney
The Pixies
Hüsker Dü
