Music Bloodline

Henry Cow

During their brief and tumultuous lifespan, fiercely political British art rockers Henry Cow spawned a musical subgenre that became known as Rock In Opposition.

Biography

Formed at Cambridge University during the political and social tumult of 1968, Henry Cow maintained that sense of intellectual rigor, fierce left-wing politics and rejection of received wisdom throughout their lifespan. After several albums on the pioneering progressive label Virgin Records, including an album-length collaboration with labelmates Slapp Happy, Henry Cow split in 1978, with drummer Chris Cutler and Fred Frith forming the more song-oriented Art Bears while reeds players Lindsay Cooper and Tim Hodgkinson moved into more abstract free jazz pursuits. A 1978 festival curated by Henry Cow called Rock In Opposition spawned an experimental-rock subgenre of that name.