"Alternative appeared during an influx of New Wave, Pop, and Punk Rock during the early 1980's. There were several bands emerging on the scene that didn't exactly fit into a certain category of music due to their sound and their point of view. Therefore, these bands were coined as "alternative." The first two successful alternative bands to emerge from the 80's and become icons in the 90's were R.E.M. and Sonic Youth."

~Alternative Music Project - Weebly.