The Comsat Angels were an English post-punk band that co-developed the ethereal neo-psych subgenre with their 1980–82 Polydor albums Waiting for a Miracle, Sleep No More, and Fiction. On Jive Records, they made the 1983–85 albums Land and 7 Day Weekend, followed by the 1986 Island release Chasing Shadows. Members: Stephen Fellows (guitar, vocals), Kevin […]
ABC are an English new wave and soul-pop band that co-headed the Second British Invasion with their 1982 album The Lexicon of Love and the singles “Poison Arrow” and “The Look of Love,” both staples of MTV’s golden age. In 1983, ABC took an edgier turn with Beauty Stab and the songs “That Was Then […]
The Human League are an English synthpop band best known for their 1981 global No. 1 hit “Don’t You Want Me.” Across two incarnations, they released six albums, four EPs, and twenty singles between 1979 and 1990 on Virgin Records. They emerged on the Sheffield post-punk scene with the 1978 DIY release “Being Boiled” (b/w […]
Def Leppard are an English heavy metal band, best known for the Eighties FM/video staples “Bringin’ On the Heartbreak,” “Photograph,” “Rock of Ages,” and “Love Bites.” Between 1980 and 1992, they released five albums and went multi-Platinum with their 1983 third, Pyromania. Members: Joe Elliott (vocals), Rick Savage (bass), Pete Willis (guitar, 1977-82), Tony Kenning […]
The Thompson Twins were an English new wave band that rose to global prominence with the Second British Invasion. They made eight albums between 1981 and 1991 and scored hits with “Love On Your Side,” “Hold Me Now,” “You Take Me Up,” “Lay Your Hands On Me,” and “Doctor! Doctor!” Tom Bailey formed the initial […]
Heaven 17 are an English electro-pop band, best known for the Eighties classics “Penthouse and Paevement,” “(We Don’t Need This) Fascist Groove Thang,” “Let Me Go,” “Who’ll Stop the Rain,” and the UK hits “Temptation,” “Come Live with Me,” and “Crushed by the Wheels of Industry.” They released five albums between 1981 and 1988 on […]
Joe Cocker (May 20, 1944 — Dec. 22, 2014) was an English soul-rock singer from Sheffield who released back-to-back albums on A&M in 1969. That summer, he floored Woodstock attendees with his full-throated rendition of the Beatles‘ “With a Little Help From My Friends.” His 1970 live set Mad Dogs & Englishmen and third studio […]
Shape of the Rain was an English rustic-rock band that released the 1971 album Riley, Riley, Wood and Waggett on RCA/Neon. Members: Keith Riley (vocals, guitar), Len Riley (bass), Brian Wood (guitar, vocals), Tag Waggett (drums, percussion) Background Singer/guitarist Keith Riley and guitarist/vocalist Brian Wood, cousins from the mining village of Eckington near Chesterfield, England, […]
Ramases was the performance moniker of English folk-psych musician Kimberley Barrington Frost, who cut three singles and two albums with his wife Selket (aka Dorothy Frost.) The singles appeared on CBS and Major Minor between 1968 and 1970 under the name Ramases and Selket. Their album, Space Hymns, was recorded at Strawberry Studios with backing […]
Vitamin Z was an English modern-pop trio from Sheffield that scored a transatlantic hit with “Burning Flame” from their 1985 Mercury debut Rites of Passage, followed by the 1989 Phonogram release Sharp Stone Rain. Singer Geoff Barradale appeared on the 1987 Alan Parsons Project album Gaudi. Members: Geoff Barradale (vocals), Nick Lockwood (bass, keyboards), David Rhodes […]
Warm Dust was an English post-psych, jazz-rock band that released the 1970 double-album And It Came to Pass on the Philips-subsidiary Trend, followed by 1971’s Peace for Our Time. Their self-titled third album appeared in 1972 on the German jazz label BASF. Despite the presence of future serial singer Paul Carrack, harpist–guitarist Les Walker (aka […]
I’m So Hollow was an English coldwave/post-punk band from Sheffield that issued a single on self-press Hollogram in 1980, followed by the album Emotion / Sound / Motion on small-press Illuminated in 1981. Members: Jane Wilson (vocals, synthesizer), Rod Leigh (guitar, vocals), Dayton Marsden (bass), Josef Sawicki (percussion) Inception, Early Tracks I’m So Hollow emerged […]
The Box was an English art-punk/funk band from Sheffield that released a self-titled EP and the album Secrets Out on Go! Discs in 1983, followed by Great Moments in Big Slam in 1984. The EP Muscle In and the live album Muscle Out appeared in 1984/85 on Cabaret Voltaire‘s Doublevision imprint. Members: Charlie Collins (saxophone, […]
Vice Versa were an English coldwave combo from Sheffield that released a four-song EP and a cassette-demo album on Neutron Records circa 1979/80, followed by a standalone single on Backstreet Backlash Records. The band’s core membership of Martin Fry, Mark White, and Stephen Singleton subsequently formed the nucleus of 1980s sophisti-pop sensation ABC. Members: David […]
Cabaret Voltaire was an English electro/experimental band from Sheffield that released seven singles, four studio albums, and three live discs on Rough Trade between 1978 and 1982, followed by a trio of 1983–85 albums on Virgin/Some Bizzare. Members: Richard H. Kirk (guitar, synthesizer), Stephen Mallinder (vocals, bass, 1973-95), Chris Watson (tapes, 1973-81) Background Cabaret Voltaire […]
2.3 was an English post-punk trio from Sheffield that released the single “All Time Low” / “Where to Now?” on small-press Fast Product in 1978. The band initially called itself 2.3 Children, based on the average number of children beared per U.S. household. Both their songs were included with early sides by labelmates The Human […]
