The Current

Great Music Lives Here ®
Listener-Supported Music
Donate Now
Transmission

Spotlight on the music of 1989

Robert Smith of The Cure Performs live at The Forum in Inglewood, California, late 1980s.
Robert Smith of The Cure Performs live at The Forum in Inglewood, California, late 1980s.Andrew D. Bernstein/Getty Images
  Play Now [1:00:08]

by Jake Rudh

November 17, 2023

This week on the show, we spotlight 1989, a year that not only saw the end of the celebrated ‘80s, but a definite shift in music styles. Nirvana released their debut album Bleach that year, but grunge hadn't quite hit mainstream yet. What did hit, though, was a nice alternative mixture of industrial darkwave, pop, hip hop and indie. We're gonna get a sample of all of that and more this Thursday on the show.

Program playlist