David Bowie (January 8, 1947 – January 10, 2016) was an English singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and actor with a career in music and the performing arts that spanned more than fifty years. He played in a sequence of mid-Sixties beat groups and released two self-titled albums, charting first with the 1969 opus “Space Oddity.” Between […]
Todd Rundgren (born June 22, 1948) is an American vocalist, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, bandleader, and producer, originally from Philadelphia. He first emerged in psych-rockers the Nazz, which released two proper albums in 1968–69. He initially recorded solo under the band moniker Runt, issuing the 1970/71 Bearsville albums Runt and The Ballad of Todd Rundgren. Under his […]
Kate Bush is an English singer–songwriter who released five albums between 1978 and 1985 on EMI. She rose to international prominence with her debut single “Wuthering Heights,” one of the biggest global hits of 1978. Background Kate was born Catherine Mary Bush on July 30, 1958, in Bexleyheath, Kent, into an artistic family. Her father, […]
Brian Eno is an English art-rock/ambient musician and producer who first emerged as the original keyboardist for Roxy Music. Between 1973 and 1977, he released four solo albums under his surname on Island Records. From 1978 onward, he issued a series of ambient recordings on E.G. Records Ltd., including collaborative efforts with Harold Budd, Jon […]
Peter Gabriel is an English singer, composer, multi-instrumentalist, and activist with a career in music dating back to the late 1960s. He rose to prominence as the vocalist of Genesis, which he fronted for six albums between 1969 and 1974. As a solo artist, he issued four self-titled albums on Charisma between 1977 and 1982. […]
Hiroko Taniyama — 谷山浩子 (born Aug. 29, 1956) — is a Japanese singer/songwriter from Yokohama, Kanagawa, who debuted with an album on King Records in 1972, followed by 14 albums on the Aard-Vark and Canyon labels between 1977 and 1990. Background Hiroko Taniyama was born in Tokyo on August 29, 1956, and grew up in […]
Yumi Matsutoya — 松任谷由実 (born Jan. 19, 1954) — is a Japanese art-pop singer/songwriter who released thirty albums between 1973 and 2004 on Express. Her first two albums appeared under her birth name Yumi Arai (荒井由実), after which she adopted the moniker Yuming (ユーミン). On most of her post-1976 output, she bears her married surname […]
Ryuichi Sakamoto — 坂本龍一 (January 17, 1952 – March 28, 2023) — was a Japanese musician and composer who rose to international prominence in the electro-pop trio Yellow Magic Orchestra. YMO released nine albums between 1978 and 1984, of which four reached No. 1 in Japan. Their Japanese chart hits include “Technopolis” (No. 9, 1979) […]
Taeko Ohnuki — 大貫妙子 (Nov. 28, 1953) — is a Japanese art-pop vocalist and songwriter who fronted the band Sugar Babe during the mid 1970s. As a solo artist, she released two albums on Panama in 1976 and 1977, followed by four albums on RCA between 1978 and 1982. In 1983, she released her first […]
Minako Yoshida — 吉田美奈子 (April 7, 1953) — is a Japanese singer/songwriter who debuted with an album on Showboat in 1973, followed by a four-album run on RCA that culminated with the 1977 release Twilight Zone. Between 1978 and 1983, she released four albums and a live disc on Alfa. Background Yoshida grew up in […]
Haruomi Hosono — 細野晴臣 (July 9, 1947) — is a Japanese multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and producer who first emerged as the bassist for blues-psych rockers Apryl Fool in the late 1960s. Between 1970 and 1973, he recorded three albums with folk-rockers Happy End. In 1978, co-founded the electro-pop trio Yellow Magic Orchestra, which achieved global success […]
Nico (1938–1988) was a German singer, model, and actress who emerged as a co-vocalist in the Velvet Underground. After singing on their 1967 album The Velvet Underground & Nico, she went solo with that year’s Verve release Chelsea Girl. She jumped to Elektra for the 1968 avant-garde album The Marble Index, followed by the 1970 […]
Toyah Willcox (born May 18, 1958) is an English New Wave vocalist, actress, and television personality from Birmingham who released five studio albums and two live discs on Safari between 1979 and 1983. In 1986, she cut a collaborative spoken-word/ambient album with Robert Fripp, whom she married that year. Early Life Toyah Ann Willcox was […]
Scott Walker (Jan. 9, 1943 – March 22, 2019) was an American singer who achieved UK pop fame during the mid-1960s as a member of the Walker Brothers. He went solo with the 1967 Philips release Scott, a mix of originals and select covers (mainly Brel/Shuman), followed by the similar Scott 2, Scott 3, and […]
Akiko Yano — 矢野顕子 (born Feb. 13, 1955) — is a Japanese art-pop singer who released five albums on Philips between 1976 and 1979, followed by three albums on Japan Records during the early 1980s. She has released more than two dozen titles since that time, mostly on Epic and Midi Inc. Background Yano was […]
Robert Wyatt is an English vocalist and songwriter who rose to prominence as the singer and drummer in Soft Machine. After recording four albums with the band between 1968 and 1971, he left to form Matching Mole, which cut two albums for CBS in 1972. The following year, he was paralyzed from the waist down […]
John Cale (born March 9, 1942) is a Welsh multi-instrumentalist and songwriter who emerged on the London/New York avant-garde scene during the early 1960s, playing alongside Michael Garrett, John Cage, Tony Conrad, and La Monte Young. He entered rock as the bassist/violist in The Velvet Underground, with whom he recorded two albums: The Velvet Underground […]
Marc Almond is an English vocalist, songwriter, and arranger from Southport, Merseyside, who rose to fame as one-half of the synthpop duo Soft Cell, which released three albums between 1981 and 1984. Concurrently, he released two 1982–83 albums with the goth–cabaret side-project Marc and the Mambas. As a solo artist, he released nine full-length studio […]
Julian Cope (Oct. 21, 1957) is a Welsh singer, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter who first emerged as the frontman of Liverpool neo-psychsters The Teardrop Explodes. Cope launched his solo career with the 1983 Mercury EP Sunshine Playroom. Four albums followed through his 1988 release My Nation Underground. The title of his first album, World Shut Your […]
Phil Manzanera is an English musician, songwriter, and producer who emerged as the guitarist of Roxy Music. Between 1972 and 1982, he recorded eight studio albums with the band. Pre-fame, he played in Quiet Sun, which reformed for the 1975 album Mainstream. In 1976, he brought Kiki art-rockers Split Enz to the UK and produced […]
Lindsey Buckingham (born Oct. 3, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and producer, best known as the guitarist and co-vocalist of Fleetwood Mac from 1975 to 1987. He joined the band with his then-girlfriend, Stevie Nicks, after they cut the album Buckingham Nicks as a duo. He made his solo debut with the 1981 […]
Annabel Lamb is an English singer and songwriter who emerged in the early 1980s with a literate, synth-laced art pop style. She released two albums on A&M—Once Bitten (1983) and The Flame (1984)—before issuing three more on RCA, BMG, and Metronome between 1986 and 1988. Her work blends electronic textures with live instrumentation, often framed […]
Jane Siberry is a Canadian singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist who debuted with a 1981 folk-pop album on Street Records, followed by the 1984–89 art-pop titles No Borders Here, The Speckless Sky, The Walking, and Bound by the Beauty. Background Siberry was born Jane Stewart on October 15, 1955, and raised in Etobicoke, a former suburb […]
David Sylvian is an English musician, singer, and composer from Beckenham, Kent, best known as the frontman of art-rockers Japan, which he formed in 1974 with brother Steve Batt (Jansen). Between 1978 and 1983, they released five studio albums and a live double-LP. Upon their disbandment, Sylvian issued two singles in collaboration with YMO mastermind […]
Gary Wilson is an American avant-pop musician who privately pressed the 1974 trio album Another Galaxy, followed by the 1977 solo release You Think You Really Know Me. Background Gary Thomas Wilson was born in October 1953 in Endicott, New York. His father played string bass in a hotel quartet and worked at IBM. Wilson […]
Rupert Hine (1947–2020) was an English musician, songwriter, and producer who first recorded with David MacIver during the mid-sixties. They cut a 1965 Decca single as Rupert & David and released the 1971 album Pick Up a Bone, produced by Roger Glover on Purple Records. Hine recorded his 1973 solo album, Unfinished Picture, with backing […]
Kevin Ayers (Aug. 16, 1944 — Feb. 18, 2013) was an English singer–songwriter who co-founded Soft Machine. After their 1968 debut album, he went solo with the 1969 Harvest release Joy of a Toy. Between 1970 and 1988, he released twelve albums. Island Records documented his all-star concert with Brian Eno, John Cale, and Nico […]
Monsoon was an English-Indian ethno/art-pop trio led by singer Shelia Chandra with multi-instrumentalist Steve Coe. They scored a 1982 UK hit with “Ever So Lonely.” Their first release, a four-track EP, appeared in 1981 on Indipop. Signed to the Mobile Suit division of Phonogram, they released three 1982 singles, collected with additional cuts on their […]
Jacqui Brookes is an English vocalist who cut a 1980 single with the minimal-wave trio Shox, followed by three 1981 singles with Siam. In 1983, she formed Intro with Fingerprintz mastermind Jimme O’Neill, who co-wrote her 1984 solo album Sob Stories, a demure art-pop set on MCA. Shox Jacqui Brookes formed Shox in 1979 as […]
Colin Newman is an English musician, vocalist, and songwriter, best known as the frontman of the post-punk band Wire through three periods of activity. He made three 1977–79 studio albums with Wire and launched his solo career with the 1980 Beggars Banquet release A-Z, followed by the 1981–82 4AD albums Provisionally Entitled the Singing Fish […]
Claire Hamill is an English singer–songwriter who debuted at seventeen with the 1971 Island release One House Left Standing, followed in 1973 by October. She signed with Ray Davies’ Konk label for the 1974–75 albums Stage Door Johnnies and Abracadabra. Between 1979 and 1981, she sang for Yes guitarist Steve Howe and hard-rockers Wishbone Ash. […]
Mick Karn — aka Andonis Michaelides (July 24, 1958 — Jan. 4, 2011) — was an English-Cypriot multi-instrumentalist and composer who rose to prominence as the bassist in the New Wave/art-pop band Japan, which released five studio albums between 1978 and 1981. Just as the band announced its breakup, Karn debuted as a solo artist […]
Anthony Moore (born Aug. 13, 1948) is an English musician and songwriter from London who recorded three minimalist albums in 1972 for Polydor. He then formed Slapp Happy, an art-pop trio that made two albums and merged with Henry Cow for the 1975 albums Desperate Straights and In Praise of Learning. Moore resumed his solo […]
Godley & Creme were an English musical duo and video-production team comprised of multi-instrumentalists Kevin Godley and Lol Creme. They first charted in the comedy-rock act Hotlegs, which morphed into 10cc. After four albums and a string of hits with 10cc, Godley & Creme recorded as a duo, starting with the 1977 triple-album Consequences, a […]
Peter Hammill (born Nov. 5, 1948) is an English singer–songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose musical career dates back to the late 1960s. He first rose to prominence as the frontman of Van der Graaf Generator, which he co-founded at Manchester University in 1967. Over the next eleven years, he recorded eight studio albums with the band. […]
Bill Nelson is an English multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, composer, producer, and photographer who rose to prominence as the guitarist–singer of Be-Bop Deluxe, which released five albums between 1974 and 1978 on EMI. He then formed the new wave band Red Noise for the 1979 album Sound-on-Sound. Since 1980, he’s issued vocal and instrumental titles on various […]
