Recently I got my hand on Romantic Warriors II, great documentary about Rock in Opposition movement. It seems that this is the very first time that someone actually made a comprehensive summary of this remarkable music genre. A real treat for every fan, including, of course, myself. The movie doesn’t tell much about music itself, but rather concentrates on the ideas and concepts behind it. I realized that although musically I was already quite well informed, I certainly lacked historical context. Romantic Warriors II filled those gaps and made me look at it from a different perspective.
Let’s start with a brief summary. At the end of the 70’s, under the influence of Magma (highly original band formed by drummer Christian Vander), a new kind of music evolved. It happened independently in different European countries. The music itself very diverse, but had some important similarities that distinguished it from other forms; the most important were: high complexity, dissonance, atonality and unpredictability. Musically speaking it was rock, but with a different approach – a rock opposition.
These new bands faced some tough problems on their way. Most importantly no record label wanted to sign them. At that time there was monopoly in the music industry – a couple of record labels held lion’s share of the market, so to put out a record you had to sign to one of them. Non wanted to sign early RIO bands and it seemed that they were doomed to stay underground. Fortunately members of the bands named Henry Cow came up with idea to join forces and make a statement. They invited four European bands, which presented similar approach in their compositions, and together they organized their own festival named Rock in Opposition. In this context the movement was an opposition to the monopolized music industry.
The festival, in it’s original form, didn’t last for long, but the name and the idea of cooperation did. People started to use the term ‘Rock in Opposition’ to describe all music similar to what was being played at this peculiar festival. Bands from different parts of the world had something to relate to and it was easier for them to get together. This helped them to survive the 80’s and 90’s and now, thanks to the growing awareness of the audience and the Internet, they seem to be somewhat growing in strength.
I have already mentioned two different ‘oppositions’ that I distinguish here. First is the musical one. I think it is as valid as it was 35 years ago, nothing really changed in that matter, or maybe got even worse. Mainstream music gets simpler and more predictable every year, yet there is hardly anything else in the mass media. Compared to it, RIO sounds like a sonic mutiny. It’s one of the reasons I like it so much.
But what about the second meaning? Is RIO still fighting with music industry? Well, I don’t know how it looks like from the bands standpoint, but for me, an audience representative, it’s not that bad. There are at least few record labels that specialize in rock avant-garde, for instance Cuneiform Records from USA, Italian AltrOcK or, my personal favourite, French label Soleil Zeuhl. Their releases might not be available in record stores, nor even from national retailer’s websites, but each label has at least one on-line store that offers international shipping. That’s all a determined customer needs.
If publishing is no longer the problem, why is this music still mostly unknown? Maybe it’s because it’s simply too difficult for the listeners? Maybe it has very little to offer, artistically speaking? Maybe it’s just a fad of some small group of audio-masochists that take pleasure in torturing themselves with anything that defies melody and harmony? Well, there might be something to it, but I think that’s not the case. Rock in Opposition is a remarkable genre, full of grace and beauty, created and performed by some of the most ingenious artists in contemporary music. It definitely deserves recognition and the reasons it doesn’t are many.
Number one is… stereotypes. If you tell your friends that you are listening to jazz or classical music, they think “Oh, nice, this guy knows he’s business. Respect”. Now what would they think if you tell them you listen to some noisy and complicated rock music that nobody knows about? “Freak”. Jazz, for instance, comes from an age when music evolution and redefinition was made every day. People weren’t afraid to listen to new things and to express their opinion about it. Today, it’s a medieval ages it seems, because only established classics have their value and new offerings are doomed as unworthy at their birth. Nobody wants to give them credit in fear of being laughed at, but the truth is that music has gone a long way and has so much to offer.
Second is… laziness. It’s just so much easier to listen to things that are served to you rather than to search for yourself. It happens with pop music as well as classical and jazz. It’s safe to follow the path that others have already crossed. One common beliefs is that radio and television serves the best contemporary music, that being up to date is just a matter of turning on the receiver. You just couldn’t be more wrong, because…
Media are commercialized, which means that their goal is to make profit. Profit equals audience, so their goal becomes to attract as many people as possible. It is dangerous to play new stuff to the audience, because they might not like it. It is much safer to play what they already know. Conclusion? You won’t hear anything new on a commercial channel. Unfortunately most people do nothing more than this.
So, after 35 years since it’s birth, RIO is still in opposition. It fights for the recognition it deserves, for the right to be called an art. Let’s be honest, it won’t ever be mainstream, but it should at least be praised by those who call themselves music lovers. In Romantic Warriors II Christian Vander says: “There are many kinds of music in the world. […] I compose music that is missing. The music that I don’t hear anywhere else.“. It feels so natural for an artist to say that, why shouldn’t it be natural for the listeners? If you want to follow this rule, as I do, you must check what Rock in Opposition has to offer. Maybe this is the missing music in your life?
Secret exhibition 