The Paisley Underground Music Scene

I contributed this to Dave’s Turntable Talk series. He wanted us to write about a musical scene. I picked The Paisley Underground Music scene. 

I first picked the 80s Minnesota scene that produced bands like The Replacements, Hüsker Dü, The Suburbs, and Soul Asylum. It’s no secret that The Replacements are my favorite 1980s band but I’ve always been interested in the Paisley Music Underground Scene from Los Angeles that had some great music. Instead of listening to Thriller or Purple Rain…you would hear these artists that sounded like the 1960s bands that I always preferred. It was the same as REM when they began with their jangling guitars.  “Paisley Underground” was a moniker that helped music journalists describe their sound, which didn’t fit the New Wave or Rock.

I didn’t find out about this music scene until around 2020 or so. I was looking at a CD set called Children of Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the Second Psychedelic Era, 1976–1995. The first version of Nuggets covers mostly the 1960s and Graham from Aphoristical Album Reviews is going through each song and he probably introduced the album to me.

I looked up the history of a band named Green On Red and found out they were part of this scene in Los Angeles in the 1980s. I wish I had known about it in real time because I would have been listening.  The scene started in Los Angeles in the early 1980s, the music was a blend of psychedelic rock, folk-rock, and garage-rock influences from the 1960s, mixed with a little punk. The scene’s name reflected its retro-psychedelic sound, with “paisley” referencing the design patterns often associated with 60s fashion.

This scene was full of talent with bands like Rain Parade, The Dream Syndicate, Green On Red, The Long Ryders, Mazzy Star, The Creeps, True West, Game Theory, and others. The Bangles were undoubtedly the most successful band to come out of that group of bands. That really surprised me because there were some very talented bands in this. 

The most known band to come out of it was The Bangles. You hear 1960s artists’ influence like The Byrds, Love, The Velvet Underground, and The Zombies. Many of the bands would contribute to each other’s albums and sometimes form sidebands out of two or three bands. 

All in all…the scene lasted until around 1990. Many of the bands started to break up around that time…even the Bangles. If you like 1960s music…look up some of the bands that I mentioned. I only wish some mainstream stations would have taken a chance and played them more. Many of them would have fit in the mid to late 1960s to early seventies.

The beauty of this music was that it was not a retro-forced sound…it sounded totally organic. 

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

48 thoughts on “The Paisley Underground Music Scene”

  3. Not many remember this short-lived retro scene. Wasn’t the Three O’Clock part of this? My favorite was David Roback and Rain Parade. I felt they got closest to the musical “spirit”…though I always return to the real thing!

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    1. Yes they were. I posted on them before I think…I can’t keep up with the posts anymore.
      You know what I liked so much about this scene? It was so eclectic…you had Green on Red that sounded like the Doors/Stones, the Bangs with pop, and so on….Rain Parade..I wished I would have known about them during this time…and the entire scene….I didn’t like 80s mainstream as much…but this I would have loved.

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  5. thanks again for taking part Max, and you picked a good one – a real ‘scene’ where they all knew each other and hung out – but one that not many people really know about. Some of those groups seemed very good

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  6. okay, now you’ve got me digging throw my music dungeon…I know I have a copy of an album called Rainy Day, that is a very prized possession….Bangles, Dream Syndicate, Rain Parade members, songs like I’ll keep it with mine, I’ll be your mirror and sloop John B….ah ha! had it filed between the Secret Policeman’s Ball and a Danny Kerwin album…and yes that 60s connection on display….

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    1. lol… yes that sixties influence was woven through a lot of them…that is why I like most of the music I’ve heard so far.

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  7. It really a scene I knew very little about. Nothing I dislike about it but most of the names you mentioned I am not familiar with their music. I would not have made that Bangles connection but now it totally makes sense.

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    1. I didn’t know about it either Randy. I started to listen to some of them…I thought…man I wish I could have heard them in the 80s…they all had a sixties vibe.

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  9. Didn’t know about these bands, or that MN music scene. I lived in Bloomington for a year and half, building venues in Mall of America, this was back in the early 90s. At that time, the country rock sound was all over St. Paul and Minni. The best band I heard was Molly and The Heymakers. A popular band that played all over that “doncha know” area. Also, it was the coldest winter I have experienced.

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    1. Thanks Phil! I’m listening to Molly and the Haymakers right now on youtube…really solid…I like them.
      The MN scene…the reason I know about that one is because of the Replacements.

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      1. Yeah, I know of those guys. I visited with Molly a few times when she and the boys played at Gatlin Brothers Bar and Grill at Mall of America. Talented young folks back then, but don’t know if they are still making music in that area.

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  11. I like some bands in the this sub genre–The Bangels, obviously, and foremost, The Plimsouls, I also really like…Mazzy Star I think is a really good band. Fade into You is a great song, I think.

    I don’t know Green on Red, I hear some Jefferson Airplane influences there and Rain Parade, I’m not familiar with them either, but I really like 1 hour 1/2 ago. It’s very approachable, I think.

    Here’s The Plimsouls Million Miles Away…I know you know it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIxgBMNhsKU

    And Lie Beg Barrow and Steal from them which is fantastic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjygKVYFevg

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    1. I love the Plimsouls! You might see me post the Beg, Borrow, and Steal…I’ve posted the other one which like as well.
      In the last few years I’ve been spanning all the years and music I’ve missed. When I first started blogging I only did songs I knew…now I go everwhere…but I have to like it of course.

      A lot of these bands are worth diving into….thank you as always Pam!

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      3. Yes, I need to check out The Nerves…listen there’s no hurry to stop by my blog. My feelings won’t get hurt if you skip it all together.
        With me it’s not quid pro quo. I’ve seen you around Max’s Power Pop for awhile and I thought I’d check out your site. I liked a lot of what I saw. So I commented. And, I will continue to stop by.
        My taste in music is very eclectic…in film, not so much. I’m mainly into crime dramas, suspense, noir and thrillers. If you stop by and see something you like, great, I’d love to hear from you, but I won’t hold it against you if you don’t.😊

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      4. I want to stop by, like I said you have some different titles that caught my interest. Makes it easy for me to pick up some new flicks. I pretty much stay away from the mainstream thing. You’ll make my searching easier. Not like I dont have enough to watch but always like to keep my feelers out. Anyone who digs Eddie Coyle has to have something in the bag. Later.

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    1. You summed it up WAY better than I did. “It’s the 60s but different.” That could have been my post!
      It was a fun scene…and The Bangles weren’t even near the best in this…it was a strong scene…they broke out and the others didn’t.

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      2. Yea that is when they were the Bangs. Lisa here is a song before they made it and they were in that scene… it is different.

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    1. I have to agree on that cover. One song they did that I really liked was “If She Knew What She Wants”
      Jason…I’ll be back to your site soon. Work has been rough and I’ve missed a lot of people.

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  16. Had no idea about the “Paisley” thing but I do know Green On Red (Big fan), Long Ryders. Very cool to expose this music Max. In your travels who else did they group in this scene? Anyone I would know or dig? When I hear G on R it still sounds fresh and new.

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    1. Well when you showed me Green on Red…all these came with them which was a cool scene. It was like a slot machine that paid off big time. It was eclectic to say the least. I listed about all I know…but there are many many more.
      Off topic a little but a Canadian named Warren that comments here…mentioned a Canadian band that I really like. Have you ever heard of The Blue Shadows?

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      1. Yes I know the Blue Shadows. I caught them a few times. Vancouver had a great music scene at one time. They were one of a bunch of great local bands. Cowsell (I forgot his name. Billy?) was the leader. He went solo. Rough lifestyle but I think he straitened out.

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      2. Hell…disregard my email…I was writing that and I thought I took it out of the comment and switched to email…sorry man…
        Oh yea…Cowsill…from the Cowsills…I can’t believe that. He sounded completely different.

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  19. cincinnatibabyhead mentioned Peter Case. I liked the Plimsouls, but that first solo disc Case did for Geffen knocked my socks off. They did a promo that was supposed to be a re process of the first record that was good, too. I still love Case.

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