Spin magazine - November 2008 - Reviews (Page 72)

BLACK ROCK
( An Oral History )
A Tale of
and
In 2008, indie-rock bands with black members virtually amount to
a genre unto themselves; think TV on the Radio, Black Kids, Bloc
Party, the Dirtbombs, Apollo Heights, Earl Greyhound, and Dragons
of Zynth, among many others. But that prolificacy was hardly the case
20 years ago, when four African American New York musicians called
LIVING COLOUR, part of a local movement dubbed the Black Rock
Coalition, released their first album, Vivid. Their goal: to assert that a new
generation of black musicians could play more than just R&B and hip-
hop, and could rock the house as much as Chuck Berry, Little Richard,
Arthur Lee, and Jimi Hendrix had done before. Now most of the scene’s
bands are either footnotes or forgotten. But in light of their heirs, it’s worth
looking back on the successes, struggles, and legacy of ’80s black rockers.
This is their story, in their own words.
( By David Browne )