Quote:
Originally Posted by Howard the Duck
i keep hearing about this RIO thing
pray, tell me more
and i don't want to wiki it, cos those guys are really dry
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RIO = Rock in Opposition. A movement started by the band Henry Cow. Initially they were just against the music industry, who they thought were too narrow minded, and didn't sign many avant garde bands. So they basically set up a "festival" to expose Brits to a few of these lesser known bands.
There were some internal political strife within the movement, and it eventually went away. A few of the members had started their own record company to promote and distribute these types of bands.
Eventually RIO started being used as though it were a "genre". Unlike most genres though this is applied to those bands who were "avant-garde", strived for "musical excellence", and were "socially comitted". So now the term applies to those older bands who were actually participating in the movemnet, but also to those who were influenced by them and are seen to be "carrying the torch".