Artists - A
A Certain Ratio
A Certain Ratio (the name is a pointer to a Brian Eno song) formed in Manchester in 1977.
The band's original members were Simon Topping, Martha Tilson, Jeremy Kerr, Martin Moscrop, Donald Johnson and Pete Terrell, though the...
A-ha
The trio at the heart of A-ha met in 1980 in Oslo, Norway, and decided to concentrate on producing a commercial form of music. Travelling to England in 1982, Waaktaar and Furuholmen tried (unsuccessfully) to...
A. B. Skhy
Described by the Los Angeles Times in 1969 as "a lukewarm jazz quartet masquerading as a blues band", San Francisco outfit A.B. Skhy featured a group of musicians who ranged from competent to superb.
Their songs,...
ABBA
Do you remember the wistful trill of pipe music and a soft, haunting voice asking "Can you hear the drums, Fernando?" - If you were tuned into the radio in the seventies you'd have to...
ABC
Sheffield band ABC revolved around Martin Fry (a onetime fanzine editor of a rag called Modern Drugs) and rose from the ashes of post-punk group Vice Versa.
On their first album, The Lexicon Of Love (1982), Fry set his own Bryan...
Abrasive Wheels
Despite initially forming in 1976 with a line up centred around vocalist Phil "Shonna" Rzonca and guitarist Dave Ryan, the Abrasive Wheels (the name was inspired by Shonna's engineering apprenticeship) were quintessentially a 1980s punk...
AC/DC
AC/DC was formed in Sydney, Australia, by ex-patriot Scotsmen Malcolm and Angus Young (brothers of George Young - one of the mainstays of 60s Aussie supergroup, The Easybeats).
Their sister suggested Angus should wear his school uniform...
Accelerators, The
One of the numerous Southeastern bands nurtured in the Mitch Easter/Don Dixon pop bosom (both men played on the ban's first album; Dixon also produced the first and two cuts on the second), North Carolina's...
Accent, The
Yorkshire group The Accent were originally known as The Blue Blood Group before moving to London in 1966.
They secured a residency at Billy Walker's Upper-Cut Club and in 1967 recorded a single for Decca, the...
Ace
If the real secret of success in Rock & Roll lies in choosing the right name, then Ace very nearly came a cropper. When rhythm guitarist Alan 'Bam' King (a former member of legendary mod...
Acker Bilk
Jazzman Acker Bilk (real name Bernard Stanley Bilk ) came to fame during the trad jazz boom of the early 60's.
The clarinettist scored a run of ten top 40 hits, including Stranger On The Shore, which...
Action Pact
Fronted by exuberant vocalist Alison 'George Cheex' Roberts, Action Pact originated from Essex and took their musical cues from the likes of The Ramones, The Saints, X-Ray Spex and Penetration. They also wrote about what...
Action, The
Formed in Kentish Town in 1963, the front man of The Action was singer Reg King, a natural lunatic in the Keith Moon mould. He and the band had originally come together as The Boys,...
Adam & The Ants
Adam & The Ants started off in early 1977, one of a dozen bands trying to keep up in the wake of The Sex Pistols
What turned them into a top-of-the-bill band was the bondage routines -...
Adam Faith
Adam Faith was born Terence Nelhams in Acton, London in June 1940, and left school wanting to enter the film world.
The desire led him to Rank Screen Services where he started at the very bottom...
Adam, Mike & Tim
Adam Sachs, Mike Sedgwick and Tim Saunders were encouraged by a friend to send a demo to Decca records who liked what they heard enough to offer the band the chance to record three singles.
Their...
Adderley Smith Blues Band, The
Alongside Brisbane's Bay City Union and Sydney's The Foreday Riders, Melbourne's Adderley Smith Blues Band is recognised as one of the first authentic blues bands Australia ever produced.
Blues enthusiasts Kerryn Tolhurst and Mark Dindas formed the band,...
Adicts, The
The Adicts were a British punk quartet founded in Ipswich, Suffolk, in the late '70s by lead singer Monkey (Keith Warren), guitarist Pete Davison, bassist Mel Ellis, and drummer Kid Dee (Michael Davison).
The group affected...
Adventures, The
Formed in 1984, The Adventures were a melodic six-piece group from Belfast. Founder member Terry Sharpe had previously been the lead vocalist and guitarist in the excellent punk/power pop band Starjets.
They released their debut single, Another Silent...
Adverts, The
With their raw, enthusiastic immaturity, The Adverts were a bright but short-lived light of the punk era, and their bass player Gaye Advert (pictured below) was one of the first female musicians of punk rock...
