“ROCK HAS TO BE INNOVATIVE, CREATIVE, SHOCKING AND IN OPPOSITION…”
- Roger Trigaux

WHAT IS ROCK IN OPPOSITION? (from Wikipedia)
“Rock in Opposition or “RIO” was a movement representing a collective of “progressive” bands in the late 1970s united in their opposition to the music industry that refused to recognise their music. It was initiated by Henry Cow in March 1978 when they invited four European groups to come to London and perform in a festival called “Rock in Opposition.”

The groups that performed in the inaugural event were: Henry Cow (UK), Stormy Six (Italy), Samla Mammas Manna (Sweden), Univers Zéro (Belgium) and Etron Fou Leloublan (France).

After the festival, RIO was formalised as an organisation with a charter whose aim was to represent and promote its members. Three more bands were also added to the collective: Art Bears (UK), Art Zoyd (France) and Aksak Maboul (Belgium), and further festivals were held later in France, Italy and Sweden. Chris Cutler of Henry Cow established the ReR (Recommended Records) label in the UK, as a model for a non-profit music company.
RIO as a movement did not last long, but its legacy still persists. While RIO never referred to a type of music (the original RIO bands were quite diverse musically), it is still often used by listeners, musicians, and distributors to classify bands (generally bands that appeared at the RIO festivals or bands related to or derived from the RIO bands). Bands familiarized with the RIO movement and genre today include: Thinking Plague (USA), Present (Belgium), Miriodor (Canada), Ahvak (Israel), Neblenest (France), 5uu’s (USA), Guapo (UK) and U Totem (USA).
The term “RIO” today is almost synonymous with Avant-progressive rock or Experimental Rock.”

THIS INFORMATION WAS PROVIDED BY ROGER TRIGAUX:

ROCK IN OPPOSITION - FRANCE - 2007
www.rocktime.org/rio