Pulsallama

Pulsallama was a short-lived, yet legendary, 12 piece, then 7 piece all-girl bass and percussion band who ruled Manhattan nightlife for a brief period in 1981 and 1982. Their sound has been described as “13 girls fighting over a cowbell.” The band often fought with each other verbally and physically in the studio and at shows. The groups rowdy behavior, theatrical stage antics, props and costumes and awkward time signatures were what the New York underground loved most about them. 

In 1982 Pulsallama opened for The Clash, where an adoring audience of 6000 showered them with coins and cups of beer. Pulsallama’s single, ‘Devil Lives in My Husband’s Body’ was released on Y Records and was distributed by Rough Trade and became a minor college radio and cult hit. [SOURCE: DISCOGS] 

Teenage Jesus And The Jerks

The first band formed by vocalist/guitarist/provocateur Lydia Lunch, Teenage Jesus & the Jerks were the center of New York's short-lived no wave movement. Cacophonous, confrontational, and fiercely inaccessible, Teenage Jesus generally played ten- to 15-minute shows, never released a full-length album, and disbanded after a relatively brief existence. Even so, they were instrumental in laying the groundwork for the noise rock movement of the '80s, and their work still sounds as forbidding and uncompromising as anything their spiritual followers recorded. Born Lydia Koch in Rochester, NY, Lunch founded Teenage Jesus & the Jerks in 1977 when she was just 16. Initially, the group included saxophonist James Chance (who soon left to form The Contortions), Japanese bassist Reck, and drummer Bradley Field. In 1978, Reck returned to Japan and was replaced by Gordon Stevenson; thus constituted, the trio recorded four tracks with producer Brian Eno for the 1978 compilation 'No New York', the seminal no wave document. By 1979, when the band issued a couple of EPs on the Lust/Unlust label, bassist/percussionist Jim Sclavunos had joined the group; however, they disbanded by the end of the year, as Lunch moved on to other projects. The group's complete recorded output was eventually reissued on CD by the Atavistic label under the title 'Everything'. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC] 

The Bloods

The Bloods were led by part-time Contortions Adele Bertei. Oddly enough 'Button Up', which was released in 1981 on the Au Pairs' EXIT label, was the only release from this band other than the soundtrack for the feminist sci-fi fantasy flick "Born In Flames" which Adele composed and scored and also starred in. More recently "Button Up" appeared on the compilation 'New York Noise' released by Soul Jazz Records. Despite the limited recording output, The Bloods played in the U.S and Europe quite often, sharing bills with The Clash, Gang of Four, Bush Tetras, Richard Hell, Johnny Thunders, The Slits, the Au Pairs, Lydia Lunch, Delta 5 and more. The Bloods were Adele Bertei: vocals, Annie Toone: vocals/keyboards, Kathy Rey: guitar, Kathleen Campbell: Drums and Brenda Alderman: bass. [SOURCE: LOST BANDS OF THE NEW WAVE ERA] 

Red Zebra

Started out as a band of four sixteen-year-olds in 1978 under the name of The Bungalows. After learning to play some instruments and a name change to Red Zebra, they debut with a self-produced, self-written and self-sold EP. 

On this EP figures the song "I Can't Live in a Living Room". This biting indictment of bourgeois society became a radio-hit and is considered one of Belgium's finest cult classics. After another single ("TV Activity") they record the mini-album 'Bastogne' in 1981. Riding on the "cold" and "new" wave, this record has quite an impact. 

Their first full-length album 'Maquis' of 1983 (which is preceded by the singles 'Lust / The Beauty of the Beast' and "Polar Club") gets received with mixed feelings, after which the group goes into a lull and splits up completely in 1986. 

In 1990, most of the original members get together again to play a number of live gigs. In 1992 then release 'From Ape to Zebra', a very well selling "Best of". After this, there was some demand for live-gigs of the group, of which a number of songs were released on the live-CD 'A Red Zebra is not a Dead Zebra'. In the meantime, all of the members of the group had also done solo-projects. 

Guitarist Bruno Melon, who was part of The Strings before joining Red Zebra, ventured out to The Wolf Banes and later on to La Fille d'Ernest. Pip Vreede also joined The Wolf Banes and toured with Whim Punk after that. A few of the other Zebras (Patrick Provoost, Geert Maertens and Johan Isselee) formed His Royal Fume. Peter Slabbynck had developed his own career with the band The Boy Wonders and enjoys/suffers success and devastating critics with the group De Lama's, but decides to come back to the band after a 1994 live-album by the group does surprisingly well. 

In 1996 they even decided to reform the band completely (although without Melon and Vreede, who were replaced by Jurgen Surinx and Nicolas Delfosse). After a single 'Sanitized For Your Protection' they released the second full-length Red Zebra album, over 14 years after the first LP.

In 2000, the band was celebrating the 20th anniversary of the legendary "I Can't Live in a Living Room", with a special 2-hour performance in front of a seated audience in the Stadsschouwburg of their hometown Bruges (October 28th). This performance was also captured on CD, and released on the Belgian Parsifal label in 2001 with the title 'Last Band Standing'. On it, there were 13 new interpretations of the songs that made their fame. [SOURCE: THE BELGIAN POP & ROCK ARCHIVES] 

Mars

Best known in noise circles as the one band on Brian Eno's 'No New York' compilation that had no musical experience whatsoever, Mars first appeared on the New York noise radar in 1977. Originally called "China", and formed in 1975, the band that would become Mars would play only a handful of shows in their short career and would be limited to a handful of recorded tracks. The band was headed for split up in 1978 -regardless of their appearance on 'No New York'- but managed to stay together long enough to record material for an EP, a self-titled affair, posthumously released in 1980. This EP, along with an early 7" and live tracks, was released as a compilation -titled '78'- in on the Widowspeak label in 1986. Atavistic would re-release the compilation in 1996, and Mars bassist Mark Cunningham's label Spooky Sound would release 'The Complete Studio Recordings' in 2003. Founders Sumner Crane and Nancy Arlen, who started the band with Cunningham, Constance "China" Burg, and Rudolph Grey in 1975, tragically passed away in 2003, and 2006, respectively. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC] 

Embrace

Anyone who ever wondered how hardcore pioneer Ian MacKaye could make such a drastic transition from the gritty, explosive, and terse music of Minor Threat to the expansive, melodic, and unpredictable sound of Fugazi can find the answer in Embrace. Along with Rites of Spring (fronted by Fugazi co-singer Guy Picciotto), Embrace is considered to have pioneered the emocore sound. After years of screaming with Minor Threat, MacKaye began singing melodic, introspective lines with Embrace, which kept the fire and passion of hardcore, albeit slower and more heartfelt. Legend has it the new sound prompted someone in the audience to yell that Embrace was "emocore." Though it's hard to argue any of the hardcore bands weren't emotional, the emo label spread around D.C. and attached itself to many of Dischord's bands, as well as Sunny Day Real Estate and its progeny. After MacKaye left Minor Threat and brother Alec MacKaye left hardcore outfit Faith, Ian MacKaye and Faith's other three members -bassist Chris Bald, guitarist Michael Hampton, and drummer Ivor Hanson- formed Embrace in the spring of 1985. Over the next ten months, Embrace recorded an album's worth of material and unceremoniously broke up. In 1987, MacKaye and his label Dischord finally released the band's one and only album, 'Embrace', and the emocore revolution was well underway. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC] 

Lizzy Mercier Descloux

A musician, songwriter, poet, painter, author, and actress, Lizzy Mercier Descloux enjoyed a recording career as eclectic as her résumé would suggest, breaking boundaries as one of the pioneers of New York's no wave scene as well as fusing African rhythms with R&B and pop, anticipating the worldbeat movement before it became a music business buzzword. Mercier Descloux was born in Paris, France on December 16, 1956. She studied art as a teenager, and struck up a romance with Michel Esteban, who like Lizzy was a music fan with a taste for innovative sounds. Esteban ran a new wave boutique, "Harry Cover", that was across the street from her apartment, and together they launched a magazine, "Rock News", that specialized in coverage of the budding punk and new wave scene. In 1976, Mercier Descloux and Esteban left Paris for New York City, where he worked for John Cale's Spy Records and she struck up a friendship with Patti Smith, with the two publishing a joint volume of poetry titled "Desiderata". The book also featured contributions from Richard Hell, who became Mercier Descloux's significant other after Esteban broke up with her, insisting they should not be lovers and work together at the same time. (Despite the breakup, Esteban and Mercier Descloux remained close lifelong friends.) 

Like many on New York's underground art and music scene, Mercier Descloux decided she wanted to make music rather than watch from the sidelines, and after buying a guitar, she formed a short-lived band called Rosa Yemen. Esteban believed she had talent, and when he formed ZE Records with Michael Zilkha, Rosa Yemen became one of their first signings. Their debut EP made little impression, but after Rosa Yemen broke up, ZE opted to hold onto Mercier Descloux as a solo artist. Her solo debut, 1979's 'Press Color', was an ambitious and stylistically diverse set that merged cool dance grooves with harsh, minimal guitar runs and unusual harmonies. ZE had struck up a distribution deal with Buddah Records (whose releases were in turn distributed by industry powerhouse Arista Records), but 'Press Color' was clearly not one of the larger label's priorities and it fared poorly commercially. However, the album received enthusiastic notices in Europe, and thanks to the interest of Island Records prexy Chris Blackwell, Mercier Descloux and Esteban were able to travel to Nassau in the Bahamas to record her second solo set at Compass Point Studios. Mercier Descloux had become a passionate fan of traditional African music, and with the help of keyboardist and producer Wally Badarou, she created 1981's 'Mambo Nassau', a churning mixture of African sounds, alternative rock, and American funk and soul. Once again, American audiences didn't warm to the album, but 'Mambo Nassau' was a success in France, enough so that Mercier Descloux landed a record deal with CBS' French office. 

Eager to learn more about African music firsthand, Mercier Descloux journeyed from Ethiopia to South Africa, defying Apartheid laws to meet and work with some of Soweto's finest musicians. After cutting a pair of singles for CBS ('Mister Soweto b/w Don't You Try to Stop Me' and 'Maita b/w Les Baisers d'Amants', the latter her first single in her native French), Mercier Descloux's third album, 1984's 'Zulu Rock', was a set of songs deeply influenced by South African rhythms that anticipated Paul Simon's 'Graceland' by two years and spawned a major hit single in France, "Mais où Sont Passées les Gazelles?" For her next project, Mercier Descloux hoped to record in New Orleans with a band featuring both local Cajun and zydeco musicians as well as the South African artists she had discovered in Soweto; however, South African authorities refused to grant the visas that would allow the musicians to travel to the United States. Instead, Mercier Descloux traveled to Rio de Janeiro, where she recorded 1986's 'One for the Soul' with producer Adam Kidron and a crew of Brazilian musicians, with jazz legend Chet Baker sitting in on several tracks. 'One for the Soul' was Mercier Descloux's first album for Polydor Records, and didn't match the commercial and critical success of 'Zulu Rock', though it would come to be regarded as one of her strongest works. Released in 1988, 'Suspense' was recorded in England and produced in part by Mark Cunningham, a former member of the no wave ensemble Mars and an old friend from Mercier Descloux's days in New York. The album was largely overlooked by fans and critics, and while Mercier Descloux would record another album in New York City in 1995, it was never released. 

With her career in music stuck in neutral, Mercier Descloux moved to Corsica, where she renewed her interest in painting and visual art, as well as writing a novel, "Buenaventura", that has never been published. Mercier Descloux still kept one foot in music, writing and recording short pieces for film soundtracks. In 2003, Mercier Descloux received the news that she had been diagnosed with cancer, and while she remained upbeat through treatment, on April 20, 2004, she lost her life at the age of 47. Michel Esteban has since worked to keep her music in the public eye, and in 2015 he partnered with reissue label Light in the Attic to present new upgraded editions of the five albums she released in her lifetime. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]

The Scientists

To look at the career of Scientists is, in essence, to look at the career of Kim Salmon, one of the most vibrant musical talents to emerge from Australia in the 1970s. Not that he was the only one. Nick Cave, for example, may have made more of a splash outside of the country, but Salmon is arguably just as important -if not more influential. The proto-grunge they were cooking up in the late '70s/early '80s prefigured the music groups like Mudhoney, Spacemen 3, and The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion would be cranking out a decade later. 

Salmon's first group, formed in 1976, was the Cheap Nasties -which already gives some indication of his distinctive "trash" aesthetic (à la The Trashmen, the Ramones, etc.). The Nasties were the first punk band to emerge from the remote city of Perth in Western Australia. Salmon claimed they really weren't much good, but they did give birth to the Perth punk scene -from which many of Australia's finest musicians would emerge. When the Nasties came to an end the following year, Salmon went on to join The Invaders. Scientists rose from the ashes of this (also unrecorded) band in 1978. The lineup included Salmon on guitar and vocals, Boris Sujdovic on bass, Rod Radalj on guitar, and James Baker, from The Victims, on drums and penning the lyrics. Membership in Scientists would mutate several times over the years (Dennis Byrne, for instance, would soon assume bass duties). 

The name of the band came from Salmon's childhood interest in science, specifically nuclear physics. To judge from some of his later lyrics, he was also a big science fiction fan ("It Came Out of the Sky", etc.). The first single was "Frantic Romantic" (backed with "Shake [Together Tonight]"), proto-punk garage pop in the vein of Australia's Easybeats or Northern Ireland's Undertones (with Salmon sounding a lot like The Kinks' Ray Davies), and wasn't necessarily representative of the bigger, darker noise to come. As a preteen, Salmon liked to listen to British pop/rock like The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. As a teen, he moved on to heavy metal like Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, and Led Zeppelin. He would discover American underground rock later and it would have a more indelible influence on the Scientists sound. 

This version of the group toured Eastern Australia and followed up with a self-titled EP in 1980 (with Ian Sharples on bass and Ben Juniper on guitar). 'The Sweet Corn Sessions', released in 1989, would combine this EP (recorded in Perth's Sweet Corn Studios) with 'Frantic Romantic'. In 1990, the material would again be reissued as 'Pissed on Another Planet', with different artwork. The group finally released a self-titled LP in 1981 as a three-piece (with Salmon, Baker, and Sharples). Shortly afterward, however, they broke up. Fortunately, it was only for a short time. (In 1995, this lineup of the band would reunite with Juniper for a one-off gig in Perth.) By this time, Radalj and Baker had left for Sydney, where they hooked up with Dave Faulkner, another Perth refugee and ex-Victims, in a precursor to the Hoodoo Gurus -Le Hoodoo Gurus (which began life as the Gurus before Radalj and then Baker had joined). 

Around this time, Salmon formed a band called Louie Louie with Kim Williams, who had produced the first Scientists album and co-wrote "Swampland," but the project only lasted a few months. Salmon and Sujdovic then re-formed the band as Scientists, and Salmon became the primary songwriter. In 1981, they also migrated to Sydney. Salmon's musical interests had since segued to American proto-punk like The Velvet Underground, Captain Beefheart, and Television. As with other seminal Australian punk rockers like Radio Birdman and The Birthday Party, The Stooges would prove to be particularly influential. The ultimate goal was minimalism, to pare things down to their primal essence and to avoid pretense at all costs -to the extent of writing purposefully "dumb" lyrics, as Salmon has described them. The result was primitive, psychotic, feedback-drenched swamp blues with a hint of twang (Hank Williams' legacy had also worked its way into the equation). 

The new lineup (Salmon, Tony Thewlis, Brett Rixon [from Louie Louie], and Sujdovic) would release the EP 'Blood Red River' in 1983 on Au-Go-Go, one of Australia's premiere punk labels. By this time, Salmon had also fallen under the sway of Suicide, and it showed as the band was growing heavier in the bass department, more rhythmically repetitive and hypnotic, more dissonant and distorted guitar-wise (à la Link Wray), and increasingly manic and malevolent vocally (somewhat akin to The Cramps -but with an unmistakable Aussie accent). The title 'Blood Red River' would also be used for the 15-track compilation released by Sympathy for the Record Industry in 2001. Scientists soon developed a following in Sydney that surpassed their fan base in Perth. They continued to tour and made a video in support of 'Blood Red River'. Their next release was the EP 'This Heart Does Run on Blood, This Heart Doesn't Run on Love', followed by another tour. 

Just as The Birthday Party and The Go-Betweens had found success in London, Scientists would make the same move in 1984. They would next release the LP 'Weird Love' -one of their best- and EPs 'Demolition Derby' (a Belgian import) and 'Atom Bomb Baby' (recorded live in London) and, as a single, "You Only Live Twice" (virtually unrecognizable from the James Bond original). But their timing, unfortunately, was off. With a few exceptions, the British press -most notably the NME- did not welcome them as warmly as Salmon had hoped. By following in the wake of The Birthday Party, they were perceived by some critics as copyists, even if they had been working on their sound for just as long -and from a different lyrical and geographical perspective (The Birthday Party had formed in Melbourne). 

The next few releases consisted primarily of archival material. 'You Get What You Deserve' (1985) combines 'Atom Bomb Baby', 'Demolition Derby', and the B-side from 'You Only Live Twice' ("If It's the Last Thing I Do"), and 'Heading for a Trauma' combines four new songs with 'Demolition Derby', a few older singles, and a radio session. Drummer Rixon and Sujdovic (whose visa had expired) had since left the band (Rixon would die in 1993 of drug-related causes). 'Rubber Never Sleeps', a tape-only release consisting of live material (from 1978-1983), came next. Then 'Weird Love' (1986) was re-recorded as a three-piece (with Leanne Chock replacing Rixon) along with "Nitro" from the 'This Heart' EP and the original version of "You Only Live Twice." It was the first Scientists recording to be released in the United States and Big Time did the honors. (The label would also release recordings by the Hoodoo Gurus and The Lime Spiders in the U.S.) 

Scientists spent much of this time touring Europe with Alex Chilton, The Gun Club, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Alan Vega (from Suicide), and others. Their next full-length, 'The Human Jukebox' (1987), consisted of new material, but only Salmon and Tony Thewlis now remained from the lineup that had come from Sydney (they were joined by Nick Combe). It was the beginning of the end. Scientists broke up that year, and Salmon moved back to Perth. Gone, but not forgotten, Scientists' excellent cover of Captain Beefheart's "Clear Spot" would be included on the 1988 tribute release 'Fast 'N' Bulbous'. 

Although Scientists had called it quits, the irrepressible Kim Salmon most certainly had not. He went on to form a new, somewhat similar group that year, Kim Salmon & the Surrealists, who would incorporate soul and funk into the mix. Throughout his career with Scientists and the bands to come, Salmon had also been involved with The Beasts of Bourbon (basically Tex Perkins' brainchild) as guitarist and lyricist from 1983 until the end of 1993 (ex-Scientists Sujdovic was a member as well). Salmon's other projects included Salamander Jim (again with Perkins), Kim Salmon's Human Jukebox, Kim Salmon's STM, Kim Salmon & the Business (an extension of The Surrealists; similar approach, different lineup), Antenna (a techno-pop project with old Perth mate Dave Faulkner), Darling Downs (a duo with Died Pretty singer Ronald Peno), an instrumental group called Salmon, and a duo project with former Scientists drummer Leanne Cowie. 

The Scientists legend spread with the help of a couple of compilations, 1990's 'Pissed on Another Planet', a set of early punk and power pop tracks, and 1991's Sub Pop-issued 'Absolute'. Then, after years when they seemed destined to become a cult band that was lost to time, they reunited for a one-off show at 2010's ATP Festival in New York. After another few years of obscurity, in late 2016 The Numero Group issued the comprehensive 'A Place Called Bad' box set, which collected most of their work from the '80s. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]

1919

The band was formed in late 1980 by Guitarist Mark Tighe and Vocalist Ian Tilleard. After starting life as Heaven Seventeen, and with early lineups including a pre-Zodiac Mindwarp Mark Manning, the band eventually settled as 1919 (after a book belonging to Tighe) with Nick Hiles on Bass and Mick Reed on Drums. Their intention was, according to Reed, "to create a heavy melodic intense dance band with no frills and no intentions".

In 1982, 1919 released a 7" white label promo of 'Repulsion//Tear Down These Walls', and were subsequently invited to record their first session with John Peel in May that year. 1982 would see the single re-released on Red Rhino Records, as well as the single 'Caged/After The Fall' and the LP 'Machine'. In 1983, Bassist Hiles was replaced by Steve Madden, and the band recorded their second and final Peel session on May 4. Madden featured on the final recordings of this era, a 7" and 12" version of 'Cry Wolf/Storm' and 'Cry Wolf/Dream/Storm' respectively, which were released on Abstract Records along with the 12" 'Earth Song' EP, released in 1984 after the band's dissolution. During this period, 1919 had also included Kev Aston (Saxophone) and Sputnik (Synthesizer) at various times as part of their ensemble.

With Reed's departure from 1919 to form The Hive, the band decided to take a new direction and changed their name to Another Cinema, with the lineup now Tighe, Tilleard, Madden, and Stefan Khacheturian -who was introduced through a collaboration with former bassist Hiles in ICE- on drums. The band were once again taken under the wing of Red Rhino founder Tony Kostrzewa, this time releasing their single 'Phase One' (1984) and 'Midnight Blue Oceans' under the Altered States banner. The band called it a day in 1986. [SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA] 

I Start Counting

Pop experimentalists I Start Counting favored English artiness with a sense of fun. Unlike many other electronic groups from the '80s, I Start Counting never settled into a single formula; the band continued to tinker with its sound, shifting effortlessly from light to dark, accessible to avant-garde. I Start Counting was formed in the early '80s by David Baker and Simon Leonard. In 1984, the duo was signed by Mute and released its debut single, the quirky 'Letters to a Friend'. "Letters to a Friend" easily distinguished itself from the glut of synthesizer-laden records from the mid-'80s with Baker's distinctly British talk-sing style and the psychedelic feel of the keyboards. The follow-up, 1985's "Still Smiling", was hailed as another instant classic from the band. Writing and recording songs from their basement, Baker and Leonard finally released an LP, 'My Translucent Hands', a year later. I Start Counting gained a significant cult following in the U.K. and the U.S., especially among American suburban teens who were discovering Depeche Mode and Kraftwerk in dance clubs. 1989's 'Fused', heavily influenced by house music, was the last album Baker and Leonard made under the I Start Counting name. Switching their appellation to Fortran 5, the duo ventured further into their bizarre imaginations, sampling the most unlikely of sources and challenging listeners with their unpredictable adventures in electronics. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC] 

The Snakes

Michael Hampton and Simon Jacobsen were close friends who grew up together in Georgetown and they had a band called The Snakes that both predated and co-existed with their other bands, The Extorts, S.O.A. and The Faith. 

The initial idea to record The Snakes at Inner Ear Studios (as opposed to on a Panasonic cassette player) was to simply make a document of the songs, but everyone loved the finished tape so much that the question of release was unavoidable. Jeff Nelson absolutely wanted to put The Snakes record out, but Ian MacKaye was concerned about how what was basically an inside-joke would affect the label's reputation for serious work. It was finally decided that the record would be released, but it would be on "Discard Records" to alert the public that it was a bit tongue-in-cheek. 

The Snakes played their only live show at the 9:30 club with their friends, Brendan Canty and Guy Pizziotto joining them as back-up musicians. They went on to do more recording with Ian at Inner Ear, and songs from those later sessions were released on Jeff's side-label Adult Swim as the 'Happy' album. [SOURCE: DISCHORD RECORDS] 

Material

One of the most high-profile projects of the endlessly prolific bassist and producer Bill Laswell, Material pioneered a groundbreaking fusion of jazz, funk, and punk that also incorporated elements of hip-hop and world music well before either's entrance into the mass cultural consciousness. Formed in 1979, the first Material lineup consisted of Laswell, multi-instrumentalist Michael Beinhorn, and drummer Fred Maher, all three staples of the downtown New York City underground music scene. The group, plus Kramer and a few others backed Gong's Daevid Allen during his New York visit, resulting in the album 'About Time' by New York Gong. After Material's debut LP under their own name, 'Temporary Music', the group's ranks swelled to include figures ranging from Sonny Sharrock to Henry Threadgill to Fred Frith, additions which yielded 1981's superb 'Memory Serves'. A guest list running the gamut from Nile Rodgers to a then-unknown Whitney Houston distinguished the avant funk of 1982's 'One Down', the final Material LP before a nearly decade-long hiatus; Laswell finally reassembled the troops in 1989 to record the atmospheric 'Seven Souls', which spotlighted the spoken word performances of the legendary William S. Burroughs. 1991's 'The Third Power' brought the group back to its soulful roots, with guests including Herbie Hancock, Sly & Robbie, Maceo Parker, and the Jungle Brothers; after 1994's 'Hallucination Engine', another four-year hiatus preceded the release of the remix collection 'The Road to the Western Lands'. 'Intonarumori' followed in 1999. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC] 

The Decorators

The Decorators were a post-punk band from Acton, London, England, formed in 1980. They released two albums before splitting up in 1984. 

The initial line-up of the band was Michael Bevan (vocals, guitar), Johnny Gilani (guitar), Steve Sandor (bass), Joe Sax (saxophone), and Allan Boroughs (drums). They moved to a communal residence in London and released a couple of singles before attracting interest from Island Records, a deal falling through when Island's Andrew Lauder moved on to Demon Records. The band instead signed to Red Flame Records, and expanded to a six-piece with the addition of keyboard player Pete Saunders, fresh from Dexys Midnight Runners. After the 'Strange One' single in June 1982, they released their debut album, 'Tablets', the following month, released by Virgin Records in France. This was followed in late 1983 with a second set, 'Rebel Songs'. The band split up in 1984. [SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA] 

Alternative TV

It was the old, old story. Bored bank clerk falls in love with punk rock, writes a few pages about it, Xeroxes a fanzine, sells it at gigs, creates a monster, starts a new fashion. The first issue of "Sniffin' Glue" featured the Ramones and Blue Öyster Cult; the Punk Reviews page hit The Flamin' Groovies and The Stranglers, and the intro hinted at treats to follow: Nazz, Roogalator, The Raspberries, and The Count Bishops. There really wasn't much punk around in those days. 

The magazine grew with the scene it championed, and for a year, it ruled the British fanzine roost. But the bank clerk, Mark Perry, was sick of writing -he wanted to step out and be written about himself. His last band, The New Beatles, had done nothing; his next, Alternative TV, could scarcely do any worse. 

Featuring Perry on vocals, ex-Generation X drummer John Towe, Mickey Smith (bass), and former Nobodies guitarist Alex Fergusson, the band formed in March 1977, rehearsing at Throbbing Gristle's studios in Hackney -both "Love Lies Limp" and "Alternative to NATO" were written and recorded there- and on May 6, 1977, ATV made their live debut in Nottingham. 

The first lineup splintered almost immediately. Smith was replaced by New Beatle Tyrone Thomas, and on June 5 ATV opened for Wayne County's Electric Chairs in Brighton. Six gigs later, Towe quit, but not before ATV released their first single, "Love Lies Limp," as a free flexidisc with the final, August 1977 issue of "Sniffin' Glue". 

Towe was replaced by Chris Bennett, and in this form the band continued to gig, at the same time as preparing the ground for their debut album. They are caught rehearsing in "The Punk Rock Movie", the cinéma vérité documentary of punk's first savage summer; more exposure came in December, when the "How Much Longer" single appeared on Perry's own Deptford Fun City wing of Miles Copeland's Illegal setup. 'The Image Has Cracked', the group's live and studio debut album, appeared the following spring. 

Singles "Action Time Vision" and "Life After Life" followed, together with the archive Towe-era "Life", but ATV were changing first, as Perry rocketed on toward the Throbbing Gristle sound which by now captivated him (the official bootleg 'Live at the Rat '77', incidentally, was recorded by Genesis P-Orridge). 

By the time of 'Vibing Up the Senile Man (Part One)', the second ATV album, and its accompanying single, "The Force Is Blind", only Perry remained from the original band; only bassist Dennis Burns remained from any of those who had followed. And, of ATV's original, punk-era press disciples, even Sounds found the album unlistenable. 

Unperturbed, Perry took the new album out on the road, but an end of sorts was in sight. In March 1979, on-stage at Chelmsford, ATV called it a day. Side one of the valedictory 'Scars on Sunday' album preserves highlights from this final show; side two introduces The Good Missionaries, the band that would pick up exactly where ATV left off, only without the encumbrance of such an historically resonant name. 

But of course it wasn't the end really. The first ATV reunion, with Fergusson back on board, occurred as early as 1981; another kept Perry amused through the second half of the decade and, in 1999, Perry celebrated the release of his 20th album, under the born-yet-again name of Alternative TV. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC] 

Siekiera

Siekiera was one of the most influential and popular post-punk bands in Poland. With fast, aggressive music and lyrics filled with obscenities, the band was a sensation at the 1984 Jarocin Festival. After lineup changes, the band switched to new wave and dissolved in 1988. 

Siekiera formed in 1982 or 1983 in Puławy, Poland, under the name of "Trafo". The line-up then was Tomasz Adamski -guitar-, Tomasz Budzyński -vocals-, Jerzy Janaczek -bass-, and Irek "Borys" Czerniak -drums-. They started by playing cover songs of UK Subs and The Exploited. In the autumn of 1983 they changed their name to Siekiera (Polish for "Axe"). There is a legend that the name came from a guy who heard their music and compared it to an axe. The original line-up was Tomasz Adamski (a.k.a. Dzwon)- guitar, leader, the author of all lyrics and music-, Tomasz Budzyński (a.k.a. Budzy) -vocals-, Dariusz Malinowski (a.k.a. Malina) -bass-, and Krzysztof Grela (a.k.a. Koben) -drums-. For a while some guy called Piotr Szewczyk played guitar, but they fired him because of his blues influences. 

In 1984 they played their first official show in a club "Remont" in Warsaw. They also performed at the Jarocin Festival, and they were well received by the audience. In October 1984, after a huge show with TZN Xenna and Youth Brigade, Budzynski left the band (he wanted to have some influence on the band's music and lyrics, but Adamski wasn't happy about that). With that line-up they played only 6 shows. After that Budzynski formed a band called Armia (with Robert Brylewski). 

Tomasz Adamski reformed Siekiera with two new members: Zbigniew Musinski -drums- and Pawel Mlynarczyk -keyboards-. Dariusz Malinowski took the vocal duties (besides playing bass). In February 1985 they recorded eight new tracks, some of them were played on the radio. In May and June they recorded some songs for an EP and the 'Jak Punk to Punk' compilation LP. In 1985 they played again at the Jarocin festival, but the orthodox punk public didn't like their new wave image and music. 

In 1986 Siekiera released their only LP, 'Nowa Aleksandria' -it is influenced mainly by Killing Joke and regarded as one of the greatest Polish albums of all time. In 1987, a new guitarist, Wieslaw Borysewicz, was recruited, and Tomasz Adamski concentrated on singing. In 1987 they also played a mini-tour with Variété, a Polish new wave band. Finally, in 1988 they broke up. They were expected to re-form in 1989 with an almost original line up (with Stopa who used to play in Moskwa and Armia as the drummer), but somehow it didn't work out. [SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA] 

The Assembly

The tale of The Assembly is one of unfulfilled potential. After Yazoo split up in 1983, keyboardist Vince Clarke, also formerly of Depeche Mode, began searching for another vocalist he could collaborate with. He eventually found one: Feargal Sharkey, ex-leader of the Irish pop-punk band The Undertones. Along with producer Eric C. Radcliffe and guitarist Dave "Clem" Clempson, the quartet released the single "Never Never" in 1983 as The Assembly. However, Sharkey wasn't intended to be The Assembly's permanent singer; instead, Clarke and Radcliffe wanted to have a revolving door of vocalists, a different one for every track. It didn't happen. "Never Never," a moving ballad about unrequited love, topped the pop charts in England, but it was The Assembly's only record. The Assembly became a new wave footnote, an answer to the trivia question, "What group was Vince Clarke in between Yazoo and Erasure?" After "Never Never," Sharkey released a self-titled solo album, while Clarke formed Erasure in 1985 with Andy Bell. "Never Never" didn't disappear with The Assembly, though. In 1995, the track was resurrected on 'New Wave Hits of the 80s, Vol. 14'. A year later, the song was re-released as a CD single that included its extended version and the instrumental B-side "Stop/Start". [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC] 

Anne Clark

A unique figure in British music, Anne Clark is a singer and lyricist who works in both electronic and acoustic music, performing literate but emotionally charged songs of contemporary life. Clark was born in the South London community of Croydon on May 14, 1960. A bright and restless youth, she left school at the age of 16, and after taking on a variety of odd jobs she began working at Bonaparte Records, an independent record shop that also released discs through an offshoot label. Clark immersed herself in the nascent punk and new wave music scene, and started booking events at the nearby Warehouse Theater, presenting a variety of cutting-edge music, poetry, and comedy. She was also an editor at Paul Weller's short-lived publishing house Riot Stories, and helped assemble an anthology of new authors for Faber & Faber, "Hard Lines", which was a considerable success. In time, Clark began writing her own songs and performing at London clubs, making her live debut at Richard Strange's "Cabaret Futura". In 1982, she released her first album, 'The Sitting Room', in which she worked with Dominic Appleton of This Mortal Coil. On her second LP, 1983's 'Changing Places', she began collaborating with keyboard player David Harrow, whose pulsating synthesizer work gave Clark's songs a compelling yet hard-edged electronic sheen that suited the often-alienated tone of her lyrics. Harrow's electronics would dominate many of Clark's best-known releases, but she also collaborated frequently with classically trained pianist Charlie Morgan (he co-wrote and played on the album 'Hopeless Cases'), as well as recording with John Foxx of Ultravox and Martyn Bates of Eyeless in Gaza (the latter on a collection of songs adapted from poems by Rainer Maria Rilke). Beginning in 1987, Clark spent three years in Norway, where she worked on a variety of projects with musicians Tov Ramstad and Ida Baalsrud, and then returned to the U.K. and resumed collaborating with Morgan, a partnership that ended in 1992 with the pianist's death. In 1994, Clark turned away from electronics to take an acoustic band on the road (the tour was documented on the live album 'Psychometry'), and folk and art music influences began dominating her work. However, as more new electronic artists began citing Clark's work with Harrow as an influence, she began recording new electronic pieces, as well as allowing new acts to sample elements from her catalog. After taking time off to return to school, Clark returned to music in 2001, forming a new acoustic group with guitarist Jeff Aug, percussionist Tobias Haas, pianist Murat Parlak, cellist Jann Michael Engel, and Steve Schroyder on keyboards and programming. Clark also gave permission to the Belgian electronic group Implant to remix some of her songs, leading to an active collaboration between the two on their album 'Self-Inflicted', in which she sings two songs she wrote. In 2008, after releasing a number of live recordings, remix projects, and interpretations of the work of other writers, Clark issued her first set of new original songs in over a decade, 'The Smallest Acts of Kindness', and in 2010, she took a step towards creative self-sufficiency by launching her own label, After Hours Productions. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC] 

Rites Of Spring

Because the term emo has come to define a sensibility more than a particular sound, it can be difficult to pin down even if you're not an outsider. Yet there's a general consensus -by no means universal, but fairly solid- that Washington, D.C.'s Rites of Spring were the first true emo band. Their music epitomized emo (or emocore, as it was then more often referred to) in the original sense of the term: an emotionally charged brand of hardcore punk marked by introspective, personal lyrics and intense catharsis. While Rites of Spring strayed from hardcore's typically external concerns of the time -namely, social and political dissent- their musical attack was no less blistering, and in fact a good deal more challenging and nuanced than the average three-chord speed-blur. Although they didn't exist for long or record that much (two releases in just under two years), and didn't attract much attention outside of D.C. during that time, their influence was tremendous and far-reaching. Not only did they map out a new direction for hardcore that built on the innovations of Hüsker Dü's 'Zen Arcade', they spawned a host of imitators, first locally, then elsewhere; these descendants in turn gradually brought emocore to a wider underground audience, from which point it mutated into varying strands that often bore no surface resemblance to Rites of Spring, but owed them a great debt nonetheless. Additionally, half of the band went on to join Fugazi, whose status as punk icons helped shed light on Rites of Spring's small but still-potent recorded legacy. 

Rites of Spring were formed in March 1984, with a lineup of lead vocalist/guitarist Guy Picciotto, guitarist Eddie Janney, bassist Mike Fellows, and drummer Brendan Canty. Canty had played in the local hardcore band Deadline from 1981-1982, while Janney was a seasoned veteran of the D.C. scene, having been a member of the Untouchables (1979-1981), the short-lived, Ian MacKaye-led Skewbald/Grand Union (1981), and The Faith (1981-1983), which some credit with laying the groundwork for the early emo sound. Breaking free from hardcore's stylistic straitjacket, their music was powered by melody, tuneful (if hoarse) singing, guitar solos, and compelling instrumental interplay. Frontman Picciotto's lyrics were by turns nostalgic, heartbroken, confused, and desperately searching, expanding hardcore's range of subject matter into territory rarely covered (save for Hüsker Dü). Owing in part to the draining intensity of their shows, Rites of Spring didn't play live very often, but when they did, their gigs were full-fledged events, inspiring fierce devotion among fans and usually ending with the stage covered in flowers and smashed instruments. 

Rites of Spring signed with Ian MacKaye's Dischord label and recorded their self-titled debut album in early 1985. Eventually hailed as a landmark in some quarters, at the time it didn't receive the kind of widespread critical attention that 'Zen Arcade' had the year before. In January 1986, the band returned to the studio and cut a four-song EP, upon which point they disbanded; the EP was released posthumously the following year as 'All Through a Life'. Picciotto, Janney, and Canty promptly regrouped as One Last Wish, which moved Janney to bass and put ex-Faith member Michael Hampton on guitar. They disbanded by the end of the year, and in 1987, the entire original lineup of Rites of Spring reunited under a new name, Happy Go Licky, and played a more experimental brand of post-punk influenced by Gang of Four and Mission of Burma. Again short-lived, the group's only recordings were live, but gave Canty the connections to join up with Ian MacKaye in Fugazi later that year; Picciotto would follow him several months later. Mike Fellows, meanwhile, formed Little Baby with ex-members of Soulside, and went on to play with Government Issue and Royal Trux. In 1991, Dischord compiled all of Rites of Spring's recorded output -the 'Rites of Spring' album, one unreleased song left over from the sessions, and the 'All Through a Life' EP- onto the CD release 'End on End', which was remastered in 2001.  [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]

The Dance

A New York based early 80's No Wave band that spun off from The Model Citizens after one EP produced by John Cale while other old band-mates formed Polyrock. Material's Fred Maher joined them on drums for some recordings. The band was fronted by Eugenie Diserio, known for her sexy homemade fashion designs and her sultry voice that often played off suggestive lyrics. 

The Dance also backed and produced a critically acclaimed EP fronted by 12 year old Chandra, a daughter of Eugenie Diserio's art professor Dennis Oppenheim. [SOURCE: DISCOGS]