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Rock in Opposition AI simulator
(@Rock in Opposition_simulator)
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Rock in Opposition AI simulator
(@Rock in Opposition_simulator)
Rock in Opposition
Rock in Opposition or RIO was a movement representing a collective of progressive rock bands in the late 1970s united in their opposition to the music industry that refused to recognise their music. It was initiated by English avant-prog group Henry Cow in March 1978 when they invited four mainland European groups to come to London and perform in a festival called "Rock in Opposition".
Henry Cow spent most of their last five years touring mainland Europe. There they encountered many innovative groups who were virtually unknown outside their own countries. What Henry Cow had in common with these groups was that record companies were not interested in their music. Henry Cow's contract with Virgin Records was cancelled when Virgin realised the band were not profitable.
In early 1978, Nick Hobbs, Henry Cow's manager at the time, decided to expose some of these European groups to British audiences and invited them to tour the United Kingdom with Henry Cow under the banner "Rock in Opposition". With the help of a £1000 grant from the British Arts Council, Hobbs organised a Rock in Opposition festival in London with the slogan: "The music the record companies don't want you to hear". The event took place on 12 March 1978 at the New London Theatre with the following groups performing:
The tour of the UK never materialised, but the festival did generate "a lot of press around the world", and this prompted the five bands to discuss future plans. While "Rock in Opposition" was never intended to be a formal organisation, they met at Sunrise Studio in Kirchberg, Switzerland in December 1978 to reconstitute the movement as a collective. By this time Henry Cow no longer existed as a group, but as RIO's prime mover its former members still actively participated.
RIO's primary aim was to represent and promote its members. It was decided that membership should remain closed and small, although new members would be welcome provided they (i) adhered to "musical excellence" (as evaluated by the collective); (ii) worked actively "outside the music business"; and (iii) had a "social commitment to Rock". Using these criteria, three new members were elected:
A second RIO festival, organised by Stormy Six, took place between 26 April and 1 May 1979 at al Teatro dell'Elfo in Milan, Italy where all seven groups performed, the original four (minus Henry Cow) plus the three new groups. During the festival, the RIO members met formally again to discuss the way forward. However, despite some constructive discussion, disagreements arose between the groups regarding RIO's role and matters were left unresolved. Two further RIO festivals took place in Sweden and Belgium, but no new meetings, and by the end of 1979, RIO as an organisation had "quietly slipped away".
Towards the end of 1978, Chris Cutler from Henry Cow and Art Bears and one of the active participants in RIO, had established Recommended Records (RēR), an independent record label and distribution network for RIO and similar artists. When RIO folded as an organisation, RēR continued RIO's work by representing and promoting marginalised musicians and groups. RēR became a "virtual" RIO, and "... is part of the continuing legacy of RIO".
RIO became a minor category or genre after it ceased being an organisation at the end of 1979. While the term "RIO" was never used to refer to a particular style of music during the organisation's existence (the original RIO bands were quite diverse musically), it became used by listeners, musicians, and distributors as a means of classifying a particular subset of avant-garde artists. Avant-prog (short for avant-garde progressive rock) is a style that appeared in the late 1970s as the extension of two separate prog rock sub-styles: RIO and the Canterbury scene.
Rock in Opposition
Rock in Opposition or RIO was a movement representing a collective of progressive rock bands in the late 1970s united in their opposition to the music industry that refused to recognise their music. It was initiated by English avant-prog group Henry Cow in March 1978 when they invited four mainland European groups to come to London and perform in a festival called "Rock in Opposition".
Henry Cow spent most of their last five years touring mainland Europe. There they encountered many innovative groups who were virtually unknown outside their own countries. What Henry Cow had in common with these groups was that record companies were not interested in their music. Henry Cow's contract with Virgin Records was cancelled when Virgin realised the band were not profitable.
In early 1978, Nick Hobbs, Henry Cow's manager at the time, decided to expose some of these European groups to British audiences and invited them to tour the United Kingdom with Henry Cow under the banner "Rock in Opposition". With the help of a £1000 grant from the British Arts Council, Hobbs organised a Rock in Opposition festival in London with the slogan: "The music the record companies don't want you to hear". The event took place on 12 March 1978 at the New London Theatre with the following groups performing:
The tour of the UK never materialised, but the festival did generate "a lot of press around the world", and this prompted the five bands to discuss future plans. While "Rock in Opposition" was never intended to be a formal organisation, they met at Sunrise Studio in Kirchberg, Switzerland in December 1978 to reconstitute the movement as a collective. By this time Henry Cow no longer existed as a group, but as RIO's prime mover its former members still actively participated.
RIO's primary aim was to represent and promote its members. It was decided that membership should remain closed and small, although new members would be welcome provided they (i) adhered to "musical excellence" (as evaluated by the collective); (ii) worked actively "outside the music business"; and (iii) had a "social commitment to Rock". Using these criteria, three new members were elected:
A second RIO festival, organised by Stormy Six, took place between 26 April and 1 May 1979 at al Teatro dell'Elfo in Milan, Italy where all seven groups performed, the original four (minus Henry Cow) plus the three new groups. During the festival, the RIO members met formally again to discuss the way forward. However, despite some constructive discussion, disagreements arose between the groups regarding RIO's role and matters were left unresolved. Two further RIO festivals took place in Sweden and Belgium, but no new meetings, and by the end of 1979, RIO as an organisation had "quietly slipped away".
Towards the end of 1978, Chris Cutler from Henry Cow and Art Bears and one of the active participants in RIO, had established Recommended Records (RēR), an independent record label and distribution network for RIO and similar artists. When RIO folded as an organisation, RēR continued RIO's work by representing and promoting marginalised musicians and groups. RēR became a "virtual" RIO, and "... is part of the continuing legacy of RIO".
RIO became a minor category or genre after it ceased being an organisation at the end of 1979. While the term "RIO" was never used to refer to a particular style of music during the organisation's existence (the original RIO bands were quite diverse musically), it became used by listeners, musicians, and distributors as a means of classifying a particular subset of avant-garde artists. Avant-prog (short for avant-garde progressive rock) is a style that appeared in the late 1970s as the extension of two separate prog rock sub-styles: RIO and the Canterbury scene.