Elmer Gantry’s Velvet Opera was an English psych-rock band that released multiple singles and a 1968 self-titled album on Direction. After Gantry’s departure, singer/guitarist Paul Brett led them on the 1969 release Ride a Hustler’s Dream. The rhythm section joined the Strawbs and later recorded as Hudson–Ford. Gantry surfaced in funk-rockers Stretch. Members: Colin Forster […]
Fun Boy Three was an English new wave trio that released the 1982–83 albums The Fun Boy Three and Waiting on Chrysalis. They formed as a breakaway act from two-tone ska pioneers The Specials. Fun Boy Three collaborated with Bananarama on the UK Top 5 singles “It Ain’t What You Do (It’s the Way That […]
Still Life was an English organ-rock/psych band from Coventry that released a self-titled album on the Vertigo “swirl” label in 1971. Vocalist Martin Cure had previously sung in the beat-psych groups The Peeps (1965–69), Rainbows (1969), and Cupid’s Inspiration. He later fronted hard-rockers Chevy for a one-off album in 1980. Members: Martin Cure (vocals), Terry […]
Dando Shaft were an English folk-psych band from Coventry that debuted with an album on Young Blood in 1970, followed by two titles on RCA in 1971/72 and a fourth on Rubber Records in 1977. Guitarist/vocalist Kevin Dempsey and singer Polly Bolton were also part of the 1973 Christian project Blue Aquarius. Mandocellist Martin Jenkins […]
Jigsaw was an English pop-rock band from Coventry that released a trio of singles on MGM/Music Factory in 1968, followed by two albums on Philips between 1970 and 1972, a second pair of albums on BASF in 1973/74, and a further trio of longplayers on Chelsea and Splash between 1975 and 1978. They are best […]
Indian Summer was an English post-psych band from the industrial Midlands that released a self-titled album on RCA/Neon in 1971. Members: Bob Jackson (keyboards, vocals), Paul Hooper (drums, percussion), Roy Butterfield (guitar), Al Hatton (bass), Steve Cotteral (guitar), Colin Williams (guitar, vocals), Malcolm Harker (bass, vocals, 1969-71), Wez Price (bass, vocals, 1971-72) Background Indian Summer […]
Hazel O’Connor (born May 16, 1955) is an English New Wave/art-rock vocalist and actress from Coventry who starred in the 1980 rock-drama Breaking Glass. The movie’s soundtrack appeared on A&M under her own name, followed that same year by the album Sons and Lovers. Two further albums appeared on Albion and RCA between 1981 and […]
The Specials were an English two-tone/ska band from Coventry that released two albums and several non-album sides between 1979 and 1981 on 2 Tone, a specialty imprint that keyboardist Jerry Dammers established in cooperation with Chrysalis. After the departure of guitarist Lynval Golding and vocalists Terry Hall and Neville Staple to Fun Boy Three, Dammers […]
The Selecter was an English two-tone/ska band from Coventry that debuted with a self-titled theme song, released on a split 7″ with 2 Tone label-mates The Specials in 1979, followed by the album Too Much Pressure in 1980. A second album, Celebrate the Bullet, followed on parent-label Chrysalis in 1981. Members: Neol Davies (guitar, 1977-92), […]
King were an English soul-pop band from Coventry that released the album Steps in Time with accompanying singles on CBS in late 1984, followed by Bitter Sweet in 1985. Both albums were produced by Richard James Burgess (Easy Street, Landscape, Spandau Ballet). The band lacked an official drummer; Burgess fulfilled that role on the first […]
The Reluctant Stereotypes were an English New Wave/ska band from Coventry that issued a three-song EP on A&M-subsidiary Oval Music in 1979, followed by the album The Label with three accompanying singles/b-sides on WEA in 1980. Vocalist Paul King, who joined just prior to the WEA releases, later recorded two albums with his own surname-sake […]
