The Past Was Yours: The View From My Side of the Pond... a Note From the Author.

The independent music scene coming out of England in the late 1980s and the first half of the 1990s was a time of creativity and experimentation.  It was a period in music that simultaneously drew upon the influences of the 60s, as well as creating something new and exciting.  It was a timeless music that sounded as though it could have been released in the wake of the Summer of Love, while still sounding unlike anything that had been done before.  Today, much of the music made by the bands from this period still sounds forward looking and groundbreaking today.  In today’s music scene, the focus seems very much on creating music that sounds as though it came from a previous era; during the time that this magazine chronicles, the focus seemed to be much more about creating something that sounded new, while being inspired by the music that had come before.

            I discovered the majority of this music as it happened, starting in 1988, at 12 years old.  As a shy misfit in Southern California, this music was a liberating force.  I found it, oddly enough, through a local UHF station (KDOC, channel 56) based out of Anaheim, CA.  Hosted by Jim “The Poorman” Trenton, a local D.J., and producer Gia DeSantes, Request Video was completely based on view requests.  I discovered most of the bands featured in this project through them:  The Wonder Stuff, The Stone Roses, Ride, The Charlatans, Catherine Wheel; as well as the Milltown Brothers, Ned’s Atomic Dustbin, The Sundays, Happy Mondays… on and on and on.  It was music that made you feel confident that you would not be stuck where you were, and that your generation would change the world.

This project is dedicated to the artists who created the music that changed my life, the production team of Request Video, and the family that has shared this music with me.  While most of the bands chronicled here are not likely to end up being considered legends, or inducted into halls of fame, for one listener, they shaped the world through sound and provided the score to experiences of every kind. When I heard this music, I felt like someone was singing with my voice, in the same way that Bob Dylan or John Lennon spoke for their generation; Miles Hunt, Rob Dickinson, and Ian Brown, to name a few, voiced what was on my mind, and in my heart.  To paraphrase The Stone Roses, when I heard this music, the heavens opened up, and “…the earth began to move.”

- William Alan Schooling, 2013

  Dominican University of California