It now sounds strange to say it, I guess because of the way scenes and the meaning of words shift over time. But looking back, the truth of it is inescapable. Even from my comparatively young perspective, I remember the hippie influence and crossover into the bohemian or nascent “alternative*” scene that I inherited. There was a lot of woven, Central-American-patterned fabric being worn, Kerouac books being passed around. Things like that.
Peter Buck is very much on record that his guitar sound is predicated on the Byrds
During the 1980s, Buck’s “economical, arpeggiated, poetic” style reminded British music journalists of 1960s American folk rock band The Byrds.[144] Buck has stated “[Byrds guitarist] Roger McGuinn was a big influence on me as a guitar player”,[145] but said it was Byrds-influenced bands, including Big Star and The Soft Boys, that inspired him more.[146]
[^from REM wikipedia] This excerpt itself provides another example of how the hippie scene was filtered into the next generation through other bands.
*(I dislike the use of the word “alternative” but do use it for the sake of brevity)
