The Importance of Commercial Success in Music

Until the mid-60s an alternative band made no sense at all in rock, pop or R&B. There was no space in this world view for what we might think of as cult success. That started to change around the time that Rock started to differentiate itself from rock and roll and pop,. In this episode and the next, we're going to look at two bands who in different ways provided a model for how to be an alternative band. Both still wanted commercial success, but neither achieved it, at least not at first, and not in the conventional way. But we have to take a rather circuitous route to get to this week's band, because we're now properly introducing