Report by my students of Philippine Contemporary Popular Music 90s alternative

1. 90’S
ALTERNATIVE
MUSIC
GRUET
GUZMAN
PORTILLO PCOPOMU

2. 90’S ALTERNATIVE
Alternative music started with the underground indie music
(i.e. punk and new wave) of the late 70s through the 80s, with
American and British bands like Blondie, David Bowie, Patti
Smith (Godmother of Punk), R.E.M. (said to be the pioneer of
the alternative music genre), The Flaming Lips, The Sex
Pistols, The Cure, The Smiths, and Slowdive.

3. Alternative
(adjective) – as
another possibility
or choice; relating
to activities that
depart or
challenge the norm Alternative rock
consists of other
sub-genres like
grunge, indie rock,
shoegazing, dream
pop, post-rock,
and riot grrrl.

4. Alternative music gained popularity in the 1990s. Nirvana’s
second album, Nevermind, gained incredible commercial
success and became partly responsible for bringing
alternative music to a mainstream audience (and the start of
the grunge revolution).

6. Other bands like Pearl Jam,
Smashing Pumpkins,
Radiohead, and Green Day
followed suit.

8. SOME EVENTS AND
TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENTS
DURING THE 90’S
• Revolutions against communism
• World Wide Web (1989)
• Creation of Ebay, Yahoo, and Email (1995)
• Dolly the Sheep
• Y2K
• 7.7 magnitude earthquake (1990)
• Explosion of Mt. Pinatubo (1991)
• End of Cory Aquino’s term (1992) succeeded by Fidel Ramos
• Unemployment and overpopulation in the Philippines
• Power shortage
• External debt from Martial Law
• Threat from Moro and communist insurgents

9. ALTERNATIVE MUSIC
IN THE PHILIPPINES
Local rock music (mostly progressive rock and underground)
was being played on air. Unknown local acts were featured in
NU107.5 during Francis Brew’s segment “In The Raw”.
DWLA 105.9 also provided a venue for underground bands to
broadcast original music, since most radio stations at the time
wouldn’t allow it due to payola (illegal practice of payment;
bribing for airplay).
LA 105.9 also supported the local music scene by playing badly
recorded singles and demos.
Rock n’ Rhythm magazine (90’s equivalent of Jingle magazine)
provided updates, interviews, and reviews regarding the
alternative music scene.

10. The Dawn, Introvoys, and AfterImage were the
prominent bands at the time, but due to
exposure (live gigs and frequent airplay),
music by younger bands and artists like
Eraserheads, Wolfgang, Teeth, Rivermaya,
Parokya ni Edgar, Cynthia Alexander, and
others dominated the alternative music scene.

12. The Eraserheads (signed with BMG Records Pilipinas) gained
commercial success with the release of their debut album
Ultraelectromagneticpop! (1993). The album featured the
songs Pare Ko, Toyang, and Ligaya. It’s success brought
about Eraserheadsmania.
Since then until their break-up in 2002, the band received
both local and international success, and repeatedly made
OPM music history with each release of their albums: Circus
(1994), Cutterpillow (1995), Fruitcake (1996), Sticker Happy
(1997), Natin99 (1999), and Carbon Stereoxide (2001).

13. The band held a
reunion concert in
2008 which was
flocked by loyal fans
and fellow musicians
influenced by their
music.

14. ISSUES
• Hip Hop-bashing
• Exploitation of Pinoy bands (TV guesting)
• Piracy
• Lack of talent in wannabe bands