Cherry Red
Encyclopedia
Cherry Red is a London
-based independent record label
formed in 1978
.
) founded in 1971 to promote rock concerts at the Malvern
Winter Gardens. In the wake of the independent record boom that followed the advent of punk rock
, founders Iain McNay (who remains company chairman) and Richard Jones released the label’s first single, "Bad Hearts" by local punk band The Tights
, in June 1978.
Cherry Red’s early roster included releases by Morgan Fisher
under various pseudonyms, using a tiny studio installed in his Notting Hill
flat, as well as material licensed from The Hollywood Brats, Destroy All Monsters (band)
and The Runaways
. The latter proved the label’s biggest seller until McNay invested $10,000 in the recording of the debut studio album by San Franciscan political punk band Dead Kennedys
. Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables
(1979) and its attendant singles sold well worldwide and ensured the cashflow that would allow the label to grow to its next stage. New A&R
head Mike Alway had promoted the Snoopy’s venue in Richmond and been involved with The Scissor Fits
, and would sign a clutch of groups (The Monochrome Set
, Eyeless In Gaza
, Felt
, Five Or Six
, Everything But The Girl
etc) who helped define a new aesthetic in independent music. Specifically, he believed that punk had breached the existing music industry edifice but there was an opportunity for artists to follow a different creative path, not limited by what he saw as punk’s self-imposed constraints. Alway would later state: “The records that had the influence on me to do things like sign The Monochrome Set and to get Tracey Thorn
and people like that, and to go in a ‘light’ music direction that ran contrary to the way things were going? They were ‘Ambition’ by Vic Godard
, the first Durutti Column album on Factory Records
and the Young Marble Giants
album on Rough Trade
. All those things said to me that ‘light’ music has a place in this [post-punk] revolution.” McNay’s view is that Cherry Red was at heart a label that offered a space for artists who would otherwise not fit the image of some of the more succinctly defined and stylised independents. 'Cherry Red Records was always about musical individuality, diversity, character, commitment and passion,” he stated in 2008. They also marketed other smaller independent record labels, like Bristol's Heartbeat Records, who recorded the Glaxo Babies
.
Cherry Red’s role as one of the keynote labels of the early 80s independent scene was confirmed by the huge success of a budget compilation album compiled by Alway and released at Christmas 1982. Retailing for 99p, Pillows & Prayers
topped the independent charts for several weeks and significantly raised awareness of the group’s roster. Alway then departed to head the A&R department of 'super-indie' Blanco Y Negro
, under the aegis of Warner Brothers, in which Geoff Travis
of Rough Trade and Michel Duval of Brussels-based Les Disques du Crépuscule
were also involved. In the process Cherry Red lost much of its existing roster, including The Monochrome Set and Everything But The Girl
. For many it also lost is aura as a peer of Factory Records, Rough Trade, Mute
etc – the fertile second generation of UK independents that followed in the wake of Chiswick
and Stiff
. Alway returned in 1985-86 to re-launch él Records
(originally incorporated while at Blanco Y Negro), which established itself as a vehicle for his highly individual tastes.
Cherry Red continued to sign contemporary artists but increasingly moved into the reissue market from the late 80s onwards, where the label remains positioned. It has a number of subsidiary labels dealing in genre-specific releases by Punk, Goth, Pop and Psychobilly
artists, curating many ‘critically unloved’ musical genres, in partial continuation of McNay’s earlier advocacy of the unfashionable. It also has one label, Shout, specifically devoted to the reissue of Soul
and R & B music from the 1950s and 1960s. The company has also forged links with a number of specialist quality reissue labels, which operate with a degree of autonomy using Cherry Red’s logistical and financial support. Joe Foster’s Rev-Ola Records
was initially started during his tenure at Creation Records
and specialises in 60s psychedelia and classic pop. Mark Stratford’s RPM Records
label focuses on pop music from the 60s to the advent of punk. Esoteric Recordings
, headed by Mark Powell, specialises in progressive rock
and folk
catalogue. Mark Brennan, who separately runs his own specialist punk label Captain Oi!, heads 7T’s Records
, which reissues albums by that decade’s glam
/glitter
generation. (Brennan originally helped Cherry Red form one of its first subsidiary labels, Anagram, covering Punk, Psychobilly and Goth, which remains active). él continues under the auspices of Alway (but purely as a re-release label), alongside smaller labels such as Poker, Giant Steps, Mortarhate, Now Sounds, Ork etc. The Cherry Red label itself continues to house reissues as well as the occasional new work by established artists – such as Jim Bob
of Carter USM
’s 2007 solo album It's A Humpty Dumpty Thing.
Still headed by McNay, a fan and director of AFC Wimbledon
, alongside managing director Adam Velasco, Cherry Red also has considerable interests in football-related releases, with the most complete catalogue of soccer-related songs extant. In 2007 the company also launched its own streaming television showcase, cherry red TV, publishes its own in-house magazine and has relaunched its publishing catalogue after selling its original interests (as Complete Music) to BMG
(now Universal
) in 2006. The label won its first major award in June 2008 when the Pillows & Prayers box set won the Best Catalogue Release category at that years' Mojo
Honours. However, the author of the accompanying sleevenotes, Alex Ogg, later complained of censorship in relation to a chapter on the label in his 2009 book 'Independence Days', published by Cherry Red Books, the label's book publishing arm who also published Ogg's "No More Heroes" (a UK Punk history), alongside over fifty other music, football and well-being related titles.
(reissue label)
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
-based independent record label
Independent record label
An independent record label is a record label operating without the funding of or outside the organizations of the major record labels. A great number of bands and musical acts begin on independent labels.-Overview:...
formed in 1978
1978 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1978.-January–April:*January 14 – The Sex Pistols play their final show at San Francisco's Winterland Ballroom....
.
History
Cherry Red grew from the rock promotion company (similarly named after the song "Cherry Red" by The GroundhogsThe Groundhogs
Groundhogs are a British rock band founded in late 1963, that toured extensively in the 1960s, achieved prominence in the early 1970s and continued sporadically into the 21st century.-Career:...
) founded in 1971 to promote rock concerts at the Malvern
Malvern, Worcestershire
Malvern is a town and civil parish in Worcestershire, England, governed by Malvern Town Council. As of the 2001 census it has a population of 28,749, and includes the historical settlement and commercial centre of Great Malvern on the steep eastern flank of the Malvern Hills, and the former...
Winter Gardens. In the wake of the independent record boom that followed the advent of punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
, founders Iain McNay (who remains company chairman) and Richard Jones released the label’s first single, "Bad Hearts" by local punk band The Tights
The Tights
The Tights are an English punk rock band from Worcester. The band's only two singles were released by the Cherry Red Records label: "Bad Hearts" / "It" / "Cracked" and "Howard Hughes" / "China's Eternal" . After John Peel played "Bad Hearts" on BBC Radio 1, this single made it to number six in the...
, in June 1978.
Cherry Red’s early roster included releases by Morgan Fisher
Morgan Fisher
Morgan Fisher is an English keyboard player / composer, and is most known for being a member of Mott the Hoople in the early 1970s. However, his career has covered a wide range of musical activities, and he is still highly active in the music industry...
under various pseudonyms, using a tiny studio installed in his Notting Hill
Notting Hill
Notting Hill is an area in London, England, close to the north-western corner of Kensington Gardens, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea...
flat, as well as material licensed from The Hollywood Brats, Destroy All Monsters (band)
Destroy All Monsters (band)
Destroy All Monsters were an influential Detroit band existing from 1973 to 1985, with sporadic performances since. Their music touched on elements of punk rock, psychedelic, heavy metal music and noise rock with a heavy dose of performance art. Their name likely came from the Godzilla film Destroy...
and The Runaways
The Runaways
The Runaways were an American all-girl rock band that recorded and performed in the second half of the 1970s. The band released four studio albums and one live set during its run. Among its best known songs: "Cherry Bomb", "Queens of Noise", "Neon Angels On the Road to Ruin", "California Paradise"...
. The latter proved the label’s biggest seller until McNay invested $10,000 in the recording of the debut studio album by San Franciscan political punk band Dead Kennedys
Dead Kennedys
Dead Kennedys are an American punk rock band formed in San Francisco, California in 1978. The band became part of the American hardcore punk movement of the early 1980s. They gained a large underground fanbase in the international punk music scene....
. Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables
Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables
Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables is the debut album by the American hardcore punk band Dead Kennedys. It was released in September 1980 through Faulty Products in the United States and through Cherry Red Records in the United Kingdom.It has been certified by BPI gold.The best selling and...
(1979) and its attendant singles sold well worldwide and ensured the cashflow that would allow the label to grow to its next stage. New A&R
A&R
Artists and repertoire is the division of a record label that is responsible for talent scouting and overseeing the artistic development of recording artists. It also acts as a liaison between artists and the record label.- Finding talent :...
head Mike Alway had promoted the Snoopy’s venue in Richmond and been involved with The Scissor Fits
The Scissor Fits
The Scissor Fits were a post-punk English band founded in Hounslow in 1978. They are best known for their classic DIY punk single "I Don't Wanna Work for British Airways", which was recorded before they had appeared in public. A part-time member and occasional manager was Mike Alway, later famous...
, and would sign a clutch of groups (The Monochrome Set
The Monochrome Set
The Monochrome Set are an English post-punk band originally formed in 1978 from the remnants of a college group called The B-Sides...
, Eyeless In Gaza
Eyeless in Gaza
Eyeless in Gaza is a bestselling novel by Aldous Huxley, first published in 1936. The title originates from a phrase in John Milton's Samson Agonistes:The chapters of the book are not ordered chronologically...
, Felt
Felt (band)
Felt were a 1980s British alternative rock band led by Lawrence, whose surname was never listed in any credits or press; the band's name was inspired by Tom Verlaine's emphasis of the word "felt" in the Television song "Venus"...
, Five Or Six
Five or Six
Five or Six was a UK post-punk band, originally signed to Cherry Red Records by A&R head Mike Alway, who deemed them to be the act with the most potential from the scene he had helped create around the Snoopies club in south-west London...
, Everything But The Girl
Everything but the Girl
Everything but the Girl was a two-person English band, formed in Hull during 1981, consisting of lead singer and occasional guitarist Tracey Thorn and guitarist, keyboardist, and singer Ben Watt . They are currently inactive although vocalist Tracey Thorn hinted that they may reform someday...
etc) who helped define a new aesthetic in independent music. Specifically, he believed that punk had breached the existing music industry edifice but there was an opportunity for artists to follow a different creative path, not limited by what he saw as punk’s self-imposed constraints. Alway would later state: “The records that had the influence on me to do things like sign The Monochrome Set and to get Tracey Thorn
Tracey Thorn
Tracey Anne Thorn is an English pop singer and songwriter. She is best known as being one half of the duo Everything but the Girl, which is currently on extended hiatus.-Personal life:...
and people like that, and to go in a ‘light’ music direction that ran contrary to the way things were going? They were ‘Ambition’ by Vic Godard
Vic Godard
Vic Godard is a British singer-songwriter formerly of the punk group Subway Sect. He is now a solo performer.-Biography:Born Vic Knapper in Mortlake c.1959, Godard was raised in Barnes....
, the first Durutti Column album on Factory Records
Factory Records
Factory Records was a Manchester based British independent record label, started in 1978 by Tony Wilson and Alan Erasmus, which featured several prominent musical acts on its roster such as Joy Division, New Order, A Certain Ratio, The Durutti Column, Happy Mondays, Northside and James and...
and the Young Marble Giants
Young Marble Giants
Young Marble Giants were a post-punk band formed in Cardiff, Wales in 1978. A trio, their music was constructed around the powerful and minimal instrumentation of brothers Philip and Stuart Moxham along with the vocals of Alison Statton.-History:...
album on Rough Trade
Rough Trade Records
Rough Trade Records is an independent record label based in London. It was formed in 1978 by Geoff Travis who had opened a record store off Ladbroke Grove...
. All those things said to me that ‘light’ music has a place in this [post-punk] revolution.” McNay’s view is that Cherry Red was at heart a label that offered a space for artists who would otherwise not fit the image of some of the more succinctly defined and stylised independents. 'Cherry Red Records was always about musical individuality, diversity, character, commitment and passion,” he stated in 2008. They also marketed other smaller independent record labels, like Bristol's Heartbeat Records, who recorded the Glaxo Babies
Glaxo Babies
Glaxo Babies were a Bristol-based UK post-punk group, formed in late 1977. There were three distinct phases in the bands life and after initially breaking up in 1980, they reformed in 1985, only to finally break-up again in 1990.-First phase:...
.
Cherry Red’s role as one of the keynote labels of the early 80s independent scene was confirmed by the huge success of a budget compilation album compiled by Alway and released at Christmas 1982. Retailing for 99p, Pillows & Prayers
Pillows & Prayers
Pillows & Prayers is compilation album released Christmas 1982 featuring artists on the Cherry Red record label at the suggestion of A&R head Mike Alway...
topped the independent charts for several weeks and significantly raised awareness of the group’s roster. Alway then departed to head the A&R department of 'super-indie' Blanco Y Negro
Blanco y Negro
Blanco y Negro can refer to* Blanco y Negro in Spain.* Blanco y Negro Music, a record label in Spain.* Blanco y Negro Records, a record label in the U.K....
, under the aegis of Warner Brothers, in which Geoff Travis
Geoff Travis
Geoff Travis is the founder of both Rough Trade Records and the Rough Trade chain of record shops. A former drama teacher and owner of a punk record shop, Travis founded the Rough Trade label in 1978.-Biography:...
of Rough Trade and Michel Duval of Brussels-based Les Disques du Crépuscule
Les Disques du Crepuscule
Les Disques Du Crépuscule was a Belgian independent record label.The label was started in 1980 by Michel Duval and Annik Honoré, residents of Brussels who had previously organised and promoted concerts in the city. Initial releases were by Factory Records artists, and were labelled as being...
were also involved. In the process Cherry Red lost much of its existing roster, including The Monochrome Set and Everything But The Girl
Everything but the Girl
Everything but the Girl was a two-person English band, formed in Hull during 1981, consisting of lead singer and occasional guitarist Tracey Thorn and guitarist, keyboardist, and singer Ben Watt . They are currently inactive although vocalist Tracey Thorn hinted that they may reform someday...
. For many it also lost is aura as a peer of Factory Records, Rough Trade, Mute
Mute
Mute may refer to:* Muteness, a speech disorder in which a person lacks the ability to speak* Mute, a silent letter in phonology* Mute , an upcoming sequel to the movie Moon...
etc – the fertile second generation of UK independents that followed in the wake of Chiswick
Chiswick Records
Chiswick Records was a British record company. Chiswick was the "first true 'indie' label" to be established in Britain for nearly a decade". The label has been described as "significant" in the "punk era"...
and Stiff
Stiff Records
Stiff Records is a record label created in London in 1976, by entrepreneurs Dave Robinson and Andrew Jakeman , and active until 1985. It was reactivated in 2007....
. Alway returned in 1985-86 to re-launch él Records
El records
él Records is an independent record label from the UK founded by Mike Alway. Alway, who cut his teeth in the late seventies working with The Soft Boys and promoting clubs and concerts in Richmond, south-west London, joined Cherry Red Records in 1980 to work alongside the company's founder, Iain...
(originally incorporated while at Blanco Y Negro), which established itself as a vehicle for his highly individual tastes.
Cherry Red continued to sign contemporary artists but increasingly moved into the reissue market from the late 80s onwards, where the label remains positioned. It has a number of subsidiary labels dealing in genre-specific releases by Punk, Goth, Pop and Psychobilly
Psychobilly
Psychobilly is a fusion genre of rock music that mixes elements of punk rock, rockabilly, and other genres. It is one of several subgenres of rockabilly which also include thrashabilly, trashabilly, punkabilly, surfabilly and gothabilly...
artists, curating many ‘critically unloved’ musical genres, in partial continuation of McNay’s earlier advocacy of the unfashionable. It also has one label, Shout, specifically devoted to the reissue of Soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
and R & B music from the 1950s and 1960s. The company has also forged links with a number of specialist quality reissue labels, which operate with a degree of autonomy using Cherry Red’s logistical and financial support. Joe Foster’s Rev-Ola Records
Rev-Ola Records
Rev-Ola Records is a UK record label formed in 1988 that specializes in reissues, as well as select new releases. The label is headed by Joe Foster, a former child actor and musician/producer...
was initially started during his tenure at Creation Records
Creation Records
Creation Records was a British independent record label headed by Alan McGee. Along with Dick Green and Joe Foster, McGee founded Creation in 1983. The label lasted until its demise in 1999. The name came from the 1960s band The Creation , whom McGee greatly admired. McGee, Green and Foster were...
and specialises in 60s psychedelia and classic pop. Mark Stratford’s RPM Records
RPM Records (UK)
RPM Records is a record label founded in 1991, and based in Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, England. The label specialises in reissues under the slogan: "Brought to you by collectors for collectors." It forms part of the Cherry Red group....
label focuses on pop music from the 60s to the advent of punk. Esoteric Recordings
Esoteric Recordings
Established in 2007, Esoteric Recordings is a UK independent record label specialising in 70s progressive rock, folk, psychedelic and jazz-rock reissues as part of the Cherry Red Records umbrella of imprints...
, headed by Mark Powell, specialises in progressive rock
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
and folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
catalogue. Mark Brennan, who separately runs his own specialist punk label Captain Oi!, heads 7T’s Records
7T’s Records
7T’s Records is glam rock reissue record label founded in Buckinghamshire in 2001 by Mark Brennan, as part of the Cherry Red Records group of companies....
, which reissues albums by that decade’s glam
Glam rock
Glam rock is a style of rock and pop music that developed in the UK in the early 1970s, which was performed by singers and musicians who wore outrageous clothes, makeup and hairstyles, particularly platform-soled boots and glitter...
/glitter
Glitter
Glitter describes an assortment of very small pieces of copolymer plastics, aluminum foil, titanium dioxide, iron oxides, bismuth oxychloride or other materials painted in metallic, neon and iridescent colors to reflect light in a sparkling spectrum...
generation. (Brennan originally helped Cherry Red form one of its first subsidiary labels, Anagram, covering Punk, Psychobilly and Goth, which remains active). él continues under the auspices of Alway (but purely as a re-release label), alongside smaller labels such as Poker, Giant Steps, Mortarhate, Now Sounds, Ork etc. The Cherry Red label itself continues to house reissues as well as the occasional new work by established artists – such as Jim Bob
Jim Bob
Jim Bob is the stage name for James Morrison, the London born writer and musician best known as the singer of indie punk band Carter USM.-Biography:Jim Bob was born James Neil Morrison in the city of London, on 22 November 1960...
of Carter USM
Carter USM
Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine is a British indie rock band formed in 1988 by singer Jim "Jim Bob" Morrison and guitarist Les "Fruitbat" Carter. They made their name with a distinctive style of power pop, fusing samples, sequenced basses and drum machines with rock 'n' roll guitars and...
’s 2007 solo album It's A Humpty Dumpty Thing.
Still headed by McNay, a fan and director of AFC Wimbledon
AFC Wimbledon
AFC Wimbledon is a professional English football club that traces its origins to Wimbledon in the London Borough of Merton. Based at Kingsmeadow, Kingston upon Thames, the club are members of Football League Two, the fourth tier of English football....
, alongside managing director Adam Velasco, Cherry Red also has considerable interests in football-related releases, with the most complete catalogue of soccer-related songs extant. In 2007 the company also launched its own streaming television showcase, cherry red TV, publishes its own in-house magazine and has relaunched its publishing catalogue after selling its original interests (as Complete Music) to BMG
BMG
Bertelsmann Music Group, , was a division of Bertelsmann before its completion of sale of the majority of its assets to Japan's Sony Corporation of America on October 1, 2008. It was established in 1987 to combine the music label activities of Bertelsmann...
(now Universal
Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group is an American music group, the largest of the "big four" record companies by its commanding market share and its multitude of global operations...
) in 2006. The label won its first major award in June 2008 when the Pillows & Prayers box set won the Best Catalogue Release category at that years' Mojo
Mojo (magazine)
MOJO is a popular music magazine published initially by Emap, and since January 2008 by Bauer, monthly in the United Kingdom. Following the success of the magazine Q, publishers Emap were looking for a title which would cater for the burgeoning interest in classic rock music...
Honours. However, the author of the accompanying sleevenotes, Alex Ogg, later complained of censorship in relation to a chapter on the label in his 2009 book 'Independence Days', published by Cherry Red Books, the label's book publishing arm who also published Ogg's "No More Heroes" (a UK Punk history), alongside over fifty other music, football and well-being related titles.
Cherry Red artists
(original label)- Attila the StockbrokerAttila the StockbrokerAttila the Stockbroker is a punk poet, and a folk punk musician and songwriter. He performs solo and as the leader of the band Barnstormer...
- Ben WattBen WattBenjamin Brian Thomas Watt is a British musician, DJ, and record producer, best known as one half of the duo, Everything but the Girl.-Family:...
- Blow UpBlow Up (band)Blow Up were a British indie pop/indie rock band active between 1986 and 1991.-History:The band was formed in Brighton, England in 1986 by former 14 Iced Bears member Nick Roughley , along with Alan Stirner , Whirl frontman Trevor Elliott on Bass , and The Milk Sisters Drummer Chris Window...
- The CharlottesThe CharlottesThe Charlottes were a female fronted indie pop band from Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire in England, formed in 1988.-History:The band formed in 1988, initially as The Giant Polar Bears, comprising Petra Roddis , Garham Gargiulo , David Fletcher , and Simon Scott...
- Creation Rebel
- The Dead Kennedys
- The Bodast Tapes
- Destroy All MonstersDestroy All Monsters (band)Destroy All Monsters were an influential Detroit band existing from 1973 to 1985, with sporadic performances since. Their music touched on elements of punk rock, psychedelic, heavy metal music and noise rock with a heavy dose of performance art. Their name likely came from the Godzilla film Destroy...
- Everything but the GirlEverything but the GirlEverything but the Girl was a two-person English band, formed in Hull during 1981, consisting of lead singer and occasional guitarist Tracey Thorn and guitarist, keyboardist, and singer Ben Watt . They are currently inactive although vocalist Tracey Thorn hinted that they may reform someday...
- Eyeless in GazaEyeless in Gaza (band)Eyeless In Gaza are a Post-punk musical duo of Martyn Bates and Peter Becker, based in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, England. They have described their music as "veer[ing] crazily from filmic ambiance to rock and pop, industrial funk to avant-folk styles." Formed in 1980, the group went into hiatus in...
- FeltFelt (band)Felt were a 1980s British alternative rock band led by Lawrence, whose surname was never listed in any credits or press; the band's name was inspired by Tom Verlaine's emphasis of the word "felt" in the Television song "Venus"...
- Five or SixFive or SixFive or Six was a UK post-punk band, originally signed to Cherry Red Records by A&R head Mike Alway, who deemed them to be the act with the most potential from the scene he had helped create around the Snoopies club in south-west London...
- Grab Grab the Haddock
- The Hollywood Brats
- JaneJane (band)Jane is a German Progressive Rock Krautrock band that was formed in October 1970 in Hanover, Germany.-Band history:Their debut album 'Together' is considered by fans to be one of the most iconic German Progressive Rock albums of all time...
- John HowardJohn Howard (singer-songwriter)John Howard is an English singer-songwriter, pianist and recording artist. With his February 1975 debut album Kid in a Big World , Howard emerged as a late voice of the glam-pop wave of the early 1970s...
- Kevin CoyneKevin CoyneKevin Coyne was a musician, singer, composer, film-maker, and a writer of lyrics, stories and poems. The former "anti-star" was born on 27 January 1944 in Derby, UK, and died in his adopted home of Nuremberg, Germany, on 2 December 2004....
- Marine GirlsMarine GirlsMarine Girls were a post-punk group from Hatfield, Hertfordshire. The group was formed in 1980, by two sixth form school friends: Tracey Thorn and Gina Hartman. Originally, Thorn just played guitar and Hartman was the lead vocalist and percussionist. Thorn overcame her shyness and started singing...
- Medium MediumMedium MediumMedium Medium were a post-punk band from Nottingham, England, initially active between 1978 and 1983.-History:Emerging in 1978 out of Nottingham punk/rhythm & blues band The Press, Medium Medium's debut single was "Them or Me", which was released in late 1978 and was still selling well enough in...
- The MisunderstoodThe MisunderstoodThe Misunderstood were a psychedelic rock band originating from Riverside, California in the mid-1960s. The band moved to London early in their career, and although they recorded only a handful of songs before being forced to disband, they are considered highly influential in the then-emerging...
- MomusMomus (artist)Nick Currie , more popularly known under the artist name Momus , is a songwriter, blogger and former journalist for Wired...
- The Monochrome SetThe Monochrome SetThe Monochrome Set are an English post-punk band originally formed in 1978 from the remnants of a college group called The B-Sides...
- Morgan FisherMorgan FisherMorgan Fisher is an English keyboard player / composer, and is most known for being a member of Mott the Hoople in the early 1970s. However, his career has covered a wide range of musical activities, and he is still highly active in the music industry...
- The NightingalesThe NightingalesThe Nightingales are a British punk/alternative band formed in 1979 in Birmingham, England. Original members were Robert Lloyd , Joe Crow on guitar, Eamonn Duffy on bass and Paul Apperley on drums, all formerly of The Prefects...
- The PassageThe Passage (band)The Passage were a post-punk band from Manchester, UK who appeared on several record labels including Cherry Red Records, and their own label Night & Day, a subsidiary label to Virgin Records.-Biography:...
- Red Box
- SoulSoulA soul in certain spiritual, philosophical, and psychological traditions is the incorporeal essence of a person or living thing or object. Many philosophical and spiritual systems teach that humans have souls, and others teach that all living things and even inanimate objects have souls. The...
- Suzi QuatroSuzi QuatroSusan Kay "Suzi" Quatro is an American singer-songwriter, bass player, and actor.She scored a string of hit singles in the 1970s that found greater success in Europe and Australia than in her homeland, and had a recurring role on the popular American sitcom Happy Days.-Music:Quatro began her...
- The RunawaysThe RunawaysThe Runaways were an American all-girl rock band that recorded and performed in the second half of the 1970s. The band released four studio albums and one live set during its run. Among its best known songs: "Cherry Bomb", "Queens of Noise", "Neon Angels On the Road to Ruin", "California Paradise"...
- Thomas LeerThomas LeerThomas Leer is a British musician who as well as releasing a number of albums and singles in his own right, was also one half of the 1980s electropop band Act...
- Tracey ThornTracey ThornTracey Anne Thorn is an English pop singer and songwriter. She is best known as being one half of the duo Everything but the Girl, which is currently on extended hiatus.-Personal life:...
- Zero Le Creche
(reissue label)
- AdorableAdorable (band)Adorable were a British alternative rock band. They formed in Coventry in 1991, and consisted of band members Piotr Fijalkowski , Robert Dillam , Stephen 'Wil' Williams and Kevin Gritton -History:...
- The Band of Holy JoyThe Band of Holy JoyThe Band of Holy Joy are an English band formed in New Cross, London, and initially active between 1984 and 1993, releasing several albums. In 1992, they abbreviated their name to Holy Joy. They reformed in 2002, back under the name of Band of Holy Joy, releasing a new album called Love Never...
- ChapterhouseChapterhouseFor the religious buildings, see Chapter houseChapterhouse are a British shoegazing band originally of the early 1990s, from Reading, Berkshire, England. Formed in 1987 by Andrew Sherriff and Stephen Patman, the band began performing alongside Spacemen 3...
- CranesCranes (band)Cranes are a British music group formed in 1986, whose style has been described as "gothic minimalism".-History:Formed in 1986 in Portsmouth, England by siblings Alison and Jim Shaw, and named after the many mechanical cranes around the city's docks, Cranes are best known for the childlike,...
- CudCud (band)Cud are a British indie rock band formed in Leeds, England in 1987, consisting of vocalist Carl Puttnam , guitarist/keyboardist Mike Dunphy , bassist William Potter , and drummer Steve Goodwin .Though an indie rock band, their music incorporated elements of funk...
- The Dancing DidThe Dancing DidThe Dancing Did were a British post-punk/folk punk group formed in Evesham in 1979, who were described as "a cross between the Clash and Steeleye Span". They released an album in 1982 and split up the following year.-History:...
- Frazier Chorus
- The FreshiesThe FreshiesThe Freshies were a punk band from Manchester, England formed in the late 1970s and dissolved in the early 1980s, fronted by singer and comedian Chris Sievey .-Career:...
- HawkwindHawkwindHawkwind are an English rock band, one of the earliest space rock groups. Their lyrics favour urban and science fiction themes. They are also a noted precursor to punk rock and now are considered a link between the hippie and punk cultures....
- Hazel O'ConnorHazel O'ConnorHazel O'Connor is an English singer-songwriter and actress. She is the daughter of a soldier from Galway who settled in England after World War II to work in a car plant...
- Hurrah!Hurrah!Hurrah! were a British jangle pop band formed in the early 1980s and active until 1991. Two band members traded off lead vocals on track-by-track basis, giving the band two distinctly different sounds.-Lineup:...
- Into A CircleInto a CircleInto A Circle were an English New Wave/Goth duo, formed in April 1985 by Bee and Barry , two former members of Getting the Fear.-Career:...
- John HowardJohn Howard (singer-songwriter)John Howard is an English singer-songwriter, pianist and recording artist. With his February 1975 debut album Kid in a Big World , Howard emerged as a late voice of the glam-pop wave of the early 1970s...
- June Brides
- LaibachLaibach (band)Laibach is a Slovenian avant-garde music group associated with industrial, martial, and neo-classical musical styles. Laibach formed June 1, 1980 in Trbovlje, Slovenia . Laibach represents the music wing of the Neue Slowenische Kunst art collective, of which it was a founding member in 1984...
- La Toya JacksonLa Toya JacksonLa Toya Yvonne Jackson is an American singer-songwriter, musician, author, television personality, actress, businesswoman, philanthropist, activist and former model. She is the fifth child of the Jackson family...
- Martha and the MuffinsMartha and the MuffinsMartha and the Muffins are a Canadian new wave band, active from 1977 to the present. Although they only had one major international hit single under their original band name, they had a number of hits in their native Canada, and the core members of the band also charted in Canada and...
- Marc AlmondMarc AlmondMarc Almond is an English singer-songwriter and musician, who originally found fame as half of the seminal synthpop/New Wave duo Soft Cell...
- Marc BolanMarc BolanMarc Bolan was an English singer-songwriter, guitarist and poet. He is best known as the founder, frontman, lead singer & guitarist for T. Rex, but also a successful solo artist...
- Martin NewellMartin NewellMartin Newell may refer to:*Martin Newell , British computer scientist, creator of the Utah teapot*Martin Newell , British rock musician, poet and author, known as "the Wild Man of Wivenhoe"...
- Marilyn
- The MobilesThe MobilesThe Mobiles were a UK 1980s synth pop band, whose existence was notable for their one major hit single, early in 1982, with the song "Drowning in Berlin". It reached #9 in the UK Singles Chart...
- Mood SixMood SixMood Six was a neo-psychedelic band formed in London's West End in 1981. Emerging from the remnants of mod revival groups like the The Merton Parkas and the VIPs, their original lineup included Phil Ward, Tony Conway, Andy Godfrey, Guy Morley, Paul Shurey, and Simon Smith.Debuting with two tracks -...
- Paul HaigPaul HaigPaul Haig is a Scottish indie composer, musician and singer. He was originally a member of 1980s post-punk band Josef K who were signed to the Postcard record label...
- Pete WingfieldPete WingfieldPete Wingfield is an English record producer, keyboard player, songwriter, singer and music journalist.-Career:...
- R. Stevie MooreR. Stevie MooreRobert Steven Moore is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. In addition to having numerous albums released on labels around the world, the prolific Moore has self-released over 400 cassette and CD-R albums since 1968, as well as dozens of home videos, mostly through the R. Stevie Moore...
- Red Lorry Yellow LorryRed Lorry Yellow LorryRed Lorry Yellow Lorry are a rock band that were formed in Leeds, England in early 1981.- History :The band was formed by guitarist/songwriter Chris Reed and vocalist Mark Sweeney, along with bassist Steve Smith and drummer Mick Brown...
- Sex Gang ChildrenSex Gang ChildrenThe Sex Gang Children are a positive punk group that formed in the early 1980s in England. Although the original group only released one official studio album, they remain one of the more well-known bands out of the early Batcave scene and have reformed for new albums and touring various times...
- Spizzenergi
- Tears for FearsTears for FearsTears for Fears are an English new wave band formed in the early 1980s by Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith.Founded after the dissolution of their first band, the mod-influenced Graduate, they were initially associated with the New Wave synthesiser bands of the early 1980s but later branched out into...
- Television Personalities
- ToyahToyahToyah may refer to:*Toyah Willcox, a singer, actress, and TV presenter, often referred to by her first name only*Toyah , the pop group fronted by Toyah Willcox between 1977 and 1983*Toyah, Texas, a town in Texas, USA...
- Weekend
- The WoodentopsThe WoodentopsThe Woodentops are a British rock band that have enjoyed critical acclaim and moderate popularity in the mid-1980s.-History:The band formed in 1983 in South London with an initial line-up of Rolo McGinty , Simon Mawby , Alice Thompson , Frank DeFreitas , and Paul Hookham .After a...
- Yeah Yeah NohYeah Yeah NohYeah Yeah Noh were a post-punk group formed in Leicester, England in 1984. They released two albums and five singles while still together, and have had two compilation albums issued since they split in 1986.-Biography:...