Ian Dury

Rock & roll has always been populated by fringe figures, cult artists who managed to develop a fanatical following because of their outsized quirks, but few cult rockers have ever been quite as weird, or beloved, as Ian Dury. As the leader of the underappreciated and ill-fated pub rockers Kilburn & the High Roads, Dury cut a striking figure -he remained handicapped from a childhood bout with polio, yet stalked the stage with dynamic charisma, spitting out music hall numbers and rockers in his thick Cockney accent. Dury was 28 at the time he formed Kilburn, and once they disbanded, conventional wisdom would have suggested that he was far too old to become a pop star, but conventional wisdom never played much of a role in Dury's career. Signing with the fledgling indie label Stiff in 1978, Dury developed a strange fusion of music hall, punk rock, and disco that brought him to stardom in his native England. Driven by a warped sense of humor and a pulsating beat, singles like "Hit Me with Your Rhythm Stick," "Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll," and "Reasons to Be Cheerful, Pt. 3" became Top Ten hits in the U.K., yet Dury's most distinctive qualities -his dry wit and wordplay, thick Cockney accent, and fascination with music hall- kept him from gaining popularity outside of England. After his second album, Dury's style became formulaic, and he faded away in the early '80s, turning to an acting career instead. 

At the age of seven, Ian Dury was stricken with polio. After spending two years in hospital, he attended a school for the physically handicapped. Following high school, he attended to the Royal College of Art, and after his graduation, he taught painting at the Canterbury Art College. In 1970, when he was 28 years old, Dury formed his first band, Kilburn & the High Roads. The Kilburns played simple,'50s rock & roll, occasionally making a detour into jazz. Over the next three years, they became a fixture on England's pub rock circuit. By 1973, their following was large enough that Dury could quit his teaching job. Several British critics became dedicated fans, and one of them, Charlie Gillett, became their manager. Gillett helped the band sign to the Warner subsidiary Raft, and the group recorded an album for the label in 1974. Warner refused to release the album, and after some struggling, the Kilburns broke away from Raft and signed with the Pye subsidiary Dawn in 1975. Dawn released 'Handsome' in 1975, but by that point, the pub rock scene was in decline, and the album was ignored. Kilburn & the High Roads disbanded by the end of the year. 

Following the dissolution of the Kilburns, Dury continued to work with the band's pianist/guitarist, Chaz Jankel. By 1977, Dury had secured a contract with Stiff Records, and he recorded his debut with Jankel and a variety of pub rock veterans -including former Kilburn Davey Payne- and session musicians. Stiff had Dury play the 1977 package tour Live Stiffs in order to support his debut album 'New Boots and Panties!!', so he and Jankel assembled The Blockheads, recruiting guitarist John Turnbull, pianist Mickey Gallagher, bassist Norman Watt Roy, and drummer Charley Charles. Dury & the Blockheads became a very popular act shortly after the Live Stiffs tour, and 'New Boots and Panties!!' became a major hit, staying on the U.K. charts for nearly two years; it would eventually sell over a million copies worldwide. The album's first single, "What a Waste," reached the British Top Ten, while the subsequent non-LP single "Hit Me with Your Rhythm Stick" climbed all the way to number one. 

Ian Dury had unexpectedly become a superstar in Britain, and American record companies were suddenly very interested in him. Arista won the rights to distribute Dury's Stiff recordings in the U.S., but despite overwhelmingly positive reviews, 'New Boots and Panties!!' stiffed in America, and the label instantly dropped him. Despite his poor U.S. sales, Dury was still riding high in his homeland, with his second album, 'Do It Yourself', entering the U.K. charts upon its summer release in 1979. Dury supported the acclaimed album, which saw him delving deeply into disco, with an extensive tour capped off by the release of the single "Reasons to Be Cheerful, Pt. 3," which climbed to number three. Once the tour was completed, Jankel left the band and Dury replaced him with Wilko Johnson, former lead guitarist for Dr. Feelgood. With Johnson, Dury released his last Stiff album, 'Laughter', which received mixed reviews but respectable sales upon its 1980 release. The following year, he signed with Polydor Records and reunited with Jankel. The pair flew to the Bahamas to record his Polydor debut with reggae superstars Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare. The resulting album, 'Lord Upminster', received mixed reviews and poor sales upon its 1981 release; the album was notable for the inclusion of the single "Spasticus Autisticus," a song Dury wrote for the United Nations Year of the Disabled, but was rejected. 

Following the failure of 'Lord Upminster', Dury quietly backed away from a recording career and began to concentrate on acting; 1984's '4000 Weeks Holiday', an album recorded with his new band The Music Students, was his last major record of the '80s. He appeared in several plays and television shows, as well as the Peter Greenaway film "The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover" and Roman Polanski's movie "Pirates". He also began to write jingles for British commercials. In 1989, he wrote the musical 'Apples' with Mickey Gallagher, and he also appeared in the stage production of the play. Dury returned to recording in 1992 with 'The Bus Driver's Prayer and Other Stories'. 

In May 1998, Dury announced that he had been diagnosed with colon cancer in 1995 and that the disease had spread to his liver. He decided to release the information the weekend of his 56th birthday, in hopes of offering encouragement for others battling the disease. For the next year, he battled the disease while keeping a public profile -in the fall of 1999, he was inducted into Q magazine's songwriting hall of fame, and he appeared at the ceremony. Sadly, it was his last public appearance. Dury succumbed to cancer on March 27, 2000. He left behind a truly unique, individual body of work. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]

Geisterfahrer

Geisterfahrer is a dark wave band from Hamburg that was founded in 1979 by Michael Ruff (vocals), Matthias Schuster (guitar, synthesizer, vocals), Hans Keller (violin, synthesizer, bass) and Holger Hiller (synthesizer). Supported by a drum machine, the group had one of their first appearances at the Hamburg "Into the Future" festival, where they provoked the hardcore punks there with improvised electrical noise so much that they were switched off during the gig. Holger Hiller letf shortly afterwards to form Palais Schaumburg. Jürgen Weiss (drums, bass) joined the band as a replacement.

The Geisterfahrer was the first band to release a single for Alfred Hilsberg's record label ZickZack Records. However, the EP 'Geisterfahrer' was inferior due to the lack of studio technology, so that the group was the first German new wave band to sign a contract with a major label. The debut LP 'Schatten Voraus' was released in 1980. With lyrics by singer Michael Ruff about scarlet fever and plague crosses, as well as a musical mixture of cold wave, gothic rock and medieval moments, The Geisterfahrer steered into the dark wave environment and stylistically anticipated the  Neue Deutsche Todeskunst. In 1980 they were pretty lonely with this kind of music. 

A short later, Hans Keller left to work as a music journalist in New York. Shrinking into a trio, the follow-up LP 'Fest Der Vielen Sinne' turned out to be much more rock. The group now focused more on the dark wave sound a la Joy Division and Bauhaus. With "Himmel Auf Erden" there was even a smaller hit that found its way onto various NDW samplers. After various live concerts, the next LP 'Topal' was released in 1983, which was again produced independently of the industry in its own GF studio, but did not match the success of the previous records. Matthias Schuster recorded some electronic-experimental soundtracks for the GF video together with Erdem Güngörecek and Michael Bühl (trumpet, trombone, flute), but these only appeared on vinyl in 1987 under the title 'The Other Side Of ...' in a limited edition.

In 1986 the group returned in the line-up of Michael Ruff, Matthias Schuster, Erdem Güngörecek and Jürgen Weiss, expanded with Andy Giorbino (guitar) and Kirsten Klemm (cello). With the LP 'Fisch Gott' the band was able to connect with the old classics like 'Fest Der Vielen Sinne'. However, the successor 'Stein & Bein' was disappointing. The title song was successful again, but the rest of the record irritated the audience with English-speaking mainstream rock. After 'G-Far-I', recorded with the new bass player Marco Van Basten, turned out to be similar and offered nothing new, Geisterfahrer split, since the band members pursued various solo projects. [SOURCE. WIKIPEDIA] 

The Homosexuals

With a subversive name that didn't lend itself well to printed handbills, an art school D.I.Y. ethic, and a deconstructionist approach to music, cult '70s British punk rockers The Homosexuals were highly influential to those lucky enough to have heard them, but seemed doomed to obscurity from the beginning. Formed in South London from the ashes of The Rejects -who played at the Roxy alongside The Jam, The Damned, and Wire (probably the most direct comparison to The Homosexuals in terms of musical style)-vocalist Bruno McQuillan, guitarist Anton Hayman, and bassist Jim Welton adopted pseudonyms and changed their band name to The Homosexuals in 1978 as a move to break away from the punk scene and its limiting three-chord formula. After learning of the new name, previous Rejects' drummer Davey Dus departed. McQuillan picked up the slack, playing drums as well as continuing his role as a singer, and the trio started writing and rehearsing while squatting in Union Grove, Clapham Old Town. Apart from a few jam sessions at The Bull's Head, a local pub, most of their time over the next year was spent hopping from various studio sessions, with a rotation of a half-dozen drummers temporarily filling in from track to track. In 1979, McQuillan met and married conceptual artist Suzy Vida, who started collaborating with the group. She influenced them to incorporate performance art into upcoming live shows, appeared on some of their later tracks, and catalogued the majority of their output, which was becoming more and more difficult to locate -with the exception of 1984's 'The Homosexuals Record', pressed for vinyl on their own label Black Noise, the majority of their recorded material was comprised of EPs, bootlegs, and unreleased cassettes. By 1985, the band officially disbanded, shortly after Welton cited the rock-typical "creative differences" rationale as his reason for leaving. Various side projects ensued, including Sara Goes Pop, L. Voag, Amos & Sara, George Harassment, and Nancy Sesay & the Melodaires, but with only a limited number of copies available for collectors, it seemed that The Homosexuals themselves were all but a fading memory. Fortunately, in 2004, Bruno and Anton were united, and, with the help of Vida and Morphius Records, they compiled a complete 81-song overview of their output titled 'Astral Glamour'. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC] 

The Honeymoon Killers

Guitarist Jerry Teel and bassist Lisa Wells founded The Honeymoon Killers in the summer of 1983. They were later accompanied by guitarist Michael O'Neill and former Ritual Tension bassist Claire Lawrence-Slater on their 1984 debut album 'The Honeymoon Killers from Mars', released on the band's own label Fur Records. Drummer Sally Edroso, who became the band's most consistent drummer, joined the band for the release of 'Love American Style' in 1985. Continuing as a trio the band released 1986's 'Let It Breed', which was recorded with Steve McAllister and composer/producer Mark Kramer. The following year Cristina Martinez, of Pussy Galore and Boss Hog, joined the band as a second guitarist for band's fourth album 'Turn Me On'. The EPs 'Take It Off!' and 'Til Death Do Us Part' followed in 1988 and 1990 respectively. 1991's 'Hung Far Low', the band's first studio album in four years, was recorded with drummer Russell Simins and guitarist Jon Spencer. The group disbanded in 1994, with its leader Jerry Teel joining The Chrome Cranks, founded by singer Peter Aaron and guitarist William Gilmore Weber in 1988, plus drummer Bob Bert. The double-disc retrospective anthology 'Sing Sing (1984-1994)' was released in 1997 by Sympathy for the Record Industry. [SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA] 

Hound God With A Tumour

Hound God With a Tumour was a short-lived noise rock / post-punk project from Manchester, United Kingdom. Formed by Harry Stafford after the breakup of his previous band, Inca Babies. [SOURCE: SPUTNIKMUSIC] 

Hugo Race

An important and prolific figure on Australia's post-punk scene, Hugo Race has enjoyed a busy solo career while also working with some of the best-known and most respected names in the Antipodes. Hugo Justin Race was born in Melbourne, Australia on May 23, 1963. Hugo's first musical influences came from his family; his mother played piano, and his father was an avid music buff who favored classical music and musical theater. As the first wave of punk and new wave swept through Australia, Race was swept up, and he formed his first band in 1978, playing guitar and singing lead with the group Dum Dum Fit. In 1980, Race joined the regionally popular new wave-noise combo Plays with Marionettes, but he left the group in 1983 to join a new project from the lead singer of The Birthday Party. Originally known as Nick Cave: Man or Myth, the group was soon renamed Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, and Race played on two of their albums, 1984's 'From Her to Eternity' and 1986's 'Kicking Against the Pricks'. 

In 1987, Race parted ways with Cave to form The Wreckery, a blues-influenced band featuring fellow Plays with Marionettes alumnus Edward Clayton-Jones. The Wreckery released three albums in their short history, 1987's 'Yeh My People' and 'Here at Pains Insistence' and 1988's 'Laying Down Law', before they split and Race stepped forward with his own band, Hugo Race & The True Spirit. Describing their music as "Trance Industrial Blues," Race & the True Spirit would release 13 albums between 1988 and 2015, making it Race's most prolific ensemble, though he also found time for other projects. Sepiatone was a collaboration between Race and Italian musician Marta Collica that resulted in three albums, beginning with 2001's 'In Sepiatone'. In 2001, Race teamed with the Italian ambient group Sacri Cuori to create Hugo Race & Fatalists, who released their first album, 'We Never Had Control', in 2011. With Chris Eckman of The Walkabouts, Race formed Dirtmusic, who issued four albums between 2007 and 2013. And in 2014, Race presented the live premiere of Long Distance Operators, a project featuring Belgian artist Catherine Graindorge; the duo released their self-titled debut album in early 2017. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC] 

The Frantic Elevators

Frantic Elevators were a punk band best known for being the jumping-off point for a pre-Simply Red Mick Hucknall. Formed in 1976 after the band met each other at a Sex Pistols gig, the group consisted of vocalist Mick Hucknall, drummer Kevin Williams, guitarist Neil Smith, and bassist Brian Turner. The band's first single, 'Voice in the Dark', was released in June of 1979 by TJM records. They hopped over to Eric's Records, the label affiliated with the Liverpool club of the same name, for the 'You Know What You Told Me' single, which was released near the end of 1980. A trio of radio sessions for the BBC followed in 1981, along with their third single, 'Searching for the Only One'. After that, an extended recording hiatus ensued, predating what would become their final single, 1982's 'Holding Back the Years' (No Waiting). Just less than four years later, Hucknall re-recorded the song with Simply Red, and it became an international smash. [SOURCE: JOHN PEEL WIKI] 

TV21

The new wave band TV21 formed in the late '70s, comprising drummer Colin Maclean, guitarist Ally Palmer, bassist Neil Baldwin, and vocalist/guitarist Norman Rodger. The band took their name from "Thunderbirds" creator Gerry Anderson's fanzine. After releasing their first two singles on Powerbeat in early 1980, they recorded a session for John Peel's BBC radio program. Another pair of singles followed for the Demon label in 1981. Maclean split and was replaced by Ali Patterson, a former member of The Rezillos. Deram snapped the group up and issued 'A Thin Red Line' in late 1981, the band's only long-player. Renowned producer and musician Ian Broudie (Original Mirrors, The Lightning Seeds), who had produced one of the group's earlier singles, loaned his skills to one of the songs on the record. Yet another single followed in early 1982, and the group's potential hit a peak when they opened a series of shows for The Rolling Stones as they toured Scotland. However, TV21 felt they had reached an impasse musically and opted to break up by the middle of the year. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC] 

Helmet

Like many influential bands, Helmet were born out of an unusual set of influences. Oregon-born guitarist and founder Page Hamilton had actually moved to New York City to study jazz, but found inspiration in the late '80s through post-punk acts Sonic Youth, Killing Joke, and Big Black, and envisioned a group that combined then-unusual tunings (particularly dropped D) with uneven and jazz-like time signatures and harmonies. The result was Helmet, the East Coast's answer to Seattle's then-underground sensation Soundgarden. Hamilton recruited bassist Henry Bogdan from Oregon, along with Australian guitarist Peter Mengede and Florida drummer John Stanier for the group's first incarnation. Helmet's independent label debut EP, 'Strap It On', showcased the group's raw power -both instrumentally and in Hamilton's growling vocals- through tracks like the mocking "Sinatra" and rocking "Bad Mood." 

Signed to the Interscope label soon thereafter, the same lineup released its breakthrough 1992 CD, 'Meantime'. MTV aired three videos by Helmet, then the only band close to the Seattle grunge sound on the East Coast, in "Give It," "In the Meantime," and the distorted, stop-and-start showcase "Unsung." Hamilton, Bogdan, and Stanier collaborated with Irish rap group House of Pain on "Just Another Victim" for the 1993 film "Judgment Night", after Mengede left the band. The popular soundtrack (with its unorthodox mix of rappers and alternative bands like Ice-T and Slayer, Sir Mix-a-Lot and Mudhoney) created even more of a demand for Helmet's next CD. Replacing Mengede with guitarist Rob Echeverria on 1994's 'Betty', Hamilton crafted an album even more versatile -and at times even heavier- than 'Meantime'. The song "Milquetoast" appeared on the soundtrack to the hit film "The Crow"; Stanier's unrelenting drumming drove tracks like "I Know," and Hamilton's jazz background showed on the cover of Dizzy Gillespie's "Beautiful Love." Yet 'Betty' proved to be a critical success but a commercial failure, its versatility relegating it to the cutout bins. 

Echeverria left Helmet in the mid-'90s to join Biohazard, and the band bought time to refocus by releasing the 'Born Annoying' collection of B-sides in 1995. Hamilton played all the guitar parts for 1997's 'Aftertaste' -but his vocals sounded like his heart just wasn't in a group in which he couldn't keep a rhythm guitarist, and the album proved a disappointment. After touring with Orange 9mm's Chris Traynor on guitar and much deliberation, Helmet disbanded in 1999. But the Helmet influence was heard throughout rock, whether by Hamilton's involvement with industrial groups (Nine Inch Nails) or indirectly through metal acts (System of a Down), and even the atonal distortion of rap-rock hybrids such as Korn and Limp Bizkit. 

Helmet returned in 2004 when Hamilton recruited Traynor and a new rhythm section consisting of drummer John Tempesta (Rob Zombie, Testament) and bassist Frank Bello (Anthrax); signed to Interscope, the group released 'Size Matters' in October of that year. The lineup would change with following albums as well. Drummer Mike Jost and bassist Jeremy Chatelain joined Hamilton and Traynor for 2006’s 'Monochrome', released on Warcon/Fontana, and guitarist Dan Beeman and drummer Kyle Stevenson rotated in for 2010’s 'Seeing Eye Dog'. 

After a six-year silence, Helmet reemerged in late 2016 with their eighth album, 'Dead to the World' (earMusic). Produced by Hamilton, it was the first release to feature new bassist Dave Case. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC] 

Elliott Sharp

A major figure in New York City's avant-garde music community since the '70s, Elliott Sharp is a composer and instrumentalist whose body of work runs the gamut from experimental and contemporary classical pieces to blues, noise rock, and electronic music. 

Sharp was born in Cleveland, Ohio on March 1, 1951, and displayed a talent for music at an early age. He insists he began learning the piano when he was six years old, and started performing in public when he was eight. Sharp then took up the clarinet, and later the guitar. Sharp was also passionately interested in science and electronics, and after turning his attention to the electric guitar, he began designing and building his own effects boxes. A self-described "science geek," Sharp studied at Carnegie Mellon University while still in high school under a grant from the National Science Foundation, and his music has been informed by such disparate disciplines as chaos theory, Fibonacci sequences, fractal geometry, algorithms, and genetic metaphors. In 1969, Sharp entered Cornell University, where his studies focused on anthropology, music, and electronics. Sharp later transferred to Bard College, where he studied improvisation and ethnomusicology with noted free jazz artist Roswell Rudd, and composition with Benjamin Boretz. (Sharp's classmates at Bard included brothers John Lurie and Evan Lurie, who would go one to form the "fake jazz" ensemble The Lounge Lizards.) After getting his B.A. at Bard, Sharp did graduate work at the University of Buffalo, where he studied with Morton Feldman and Lejaren Hiller. Sharp completed his studies in 1977, and in 1979 he settled in New York City, where he launched a career in which he has produced a prolific and diverse variety of work. 

Sharp released his first album in 1977, a collaboration with David Fulton called 'Hara', and between then and 2014, he issued over 85 albums, either as a solo artist or with his many collaborative projects, including Carbon, Semantics, Terraplane, and Bootstrappers. Sharp's collaborations have seen him work with an impressive range of artists, including The Kronos Quartet, pop singer Debbie Harry, iconic qawwali vocalist Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, blues legend Hubert Sumlin, turntable artist Christian Marclay, influential jazz guitarist Sonny Sharrock, and contemporary art music group Ensemble Modern. In addition to composing for various instruments and performing on guitar and clarinet, Sharp was an early advocate of electronic music; in the '80s, he began performing on-stage with computers in his 'Virtual Stance' project, and in addition to recording several techno pieces, he regularly performs under the moniker Tectonics, in which he combines eight-string bass with material and manipulations from his laptop. He also released the 2019 effort 'Syzygy', in which he combined pre-programed sounds with electronic and acoustic instruments, including the theremin. 

In addition, Sharp has composed and performed scores for a number of documentaries and independent films, including "Speaking for Myself" (2010), "Commune" (2005), "What Sebastian Dreamt" (2004), and "Daddy and the Muscle Academy" (1991). (He was also the subject of a 2008 documentary, "Elliott Sharp: Doin' the Don't"). Sharp has created sound designs for interstitial "bumpers" used on MTV, the Sundance Channel, and Bravo. And Sharp was the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2014, as well as another from the Parson's Center for Transformative Media that same year. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC] 

Thee Headcoats

Thee Headcoats is one of the various band monikers assumed by garage rock primitive Billy Childish (aka Bill Hamper), a native of Kent, England. Over several decades -and regardless of the fashion of the time- Childish has churned out no-frills garage rock, the likes of which saw a resurgence in hipness in the new millennium with groups such as The Hives and The White Stripes. The ultra-prolific bandleader / producer / poet / painter / publisher first emerged in 1979 with mod-punkers Pop Rivets. By 1982, The Pop Rivets had become the more musically catchy Milkshakes (aka Thee Milkshakes or Mickey & the Milkshakes). The band was remarkably prolific, releasing no fewer than seven albums in 1984 (four of them on the same day). Shortly thereafter, Childish moved on to the similarly minded Thee Mighty Caesars. Nevertheless, since the late '80s, Thee Headcoats -a trio that includes Pop Rivets / Milkshakes / Mighty Caesars drummer Bruce Brand- has been Childish's primary outlet for his more accessible, straight-up rock & roll. 1995's 'Beached Earls' CD combines the vinyl albums 'Beach Bums Must Die' and 'The Earls of Suavedom'. 'Bo in Thee Garage' is a sloppy but interesting tribute album to Bo Diddley, while the live efforts 'Live! At the Wild Western Room' and 'The Sound of the Baskervilles' represent not only Thee Headcoats but the all-girl Thee Headcoatees (comprised of members of the Delmonas, for whom Childish writes and produces). To add to the confusion, Thee Headcoats have also released cover versions of Clash songs under the name Thee Stash. As of 2000, Thee Headcoats were Childish's most prolific outlet (no small accolade). The group played its final gig that year at London's Dirty Water club, though tracks continued to be released. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC] 

Heaven 17

Taking their name from the Anthony Burgess novel "A Clockwork Orange", the U.K. techno-pop trio Heaven 17 grew out of the experimental dance project the British Electric Foundation, itself an offshoot of the electro-pop outfit Human League. The core of Heaven 17 was originally comprised of Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh, a pair of onetime computer operators who first teamed in 1977 as the Dead Daughters, a duo that integrated synthesizer patterns with a heavy reliance on tape loops. Soon, Ware and Marsh were joined by Philip Oakey and Adi Newton and changed their name to the Human League, where they remained before exiting together in 1980. 

As a means of establishing the synthesizer as an expressive, human instrument, Marsh and Ware formed the British Electric Foundation, a production project that employed a variety of musicians and singers including Tina Turner, Sandie Shaw, and Gary Glitter. The B.E.F.'s debut, 1980's 'Music of Quality and Distinction, Vol. 1', also included vocalist Glenn Gregory, a former photographer whom Ware and Marsh met at a Sheffield drama center; in 1981, the duo enlisted Gregory for Heaven 17, the first and most successful B.E.F. alter ego, and debuted with the single '(We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang', a minor hit banned by the BBC over its title. An album, 'Penthouse and Pavement', followed the same year. 

By the release of 1983's 'The Luxury Gap', the B.E.F. had fallen by the wayside and Heaven 17 had become Ware and Marsh's primary focus; the LP proved highly successful, spawning the hit singles 'Temptation', 'Come Live with Me', 'Crushed by the Wheels of Industry', and 'Let Me Go'. The follow-up, 'How Men Are', was another British hit, but Heaven 17 receded from view after its release; when they returned in 1986 with the album 'Pleasure One', it was with a number of guest musicians and vocalists. After the commercial failure of 1988's 'Teddy Bear, Duke & Psycho', Heaven 17 officially disbanded; Ware focused on production chores and worked on Terence Trent D'Arby's debut, 'Introducing the Hardline According to Terence Trent D'Arby'. In 1990, he and Marsh resurrected the B.E.F. aegis, releasing 'Music of Quality and Distinction, Vol. 2' the following year. 

In 1996, a re-formed Heaven 17 returned with 'Bigger Than America' and embarked on a tour, documented by the 'Live at Last' CD released in 1999. The studio effort 'Before After' was issued in 2005; the following year Marsh disappeared from the group’s live lineup, and by 2008 it was confirmed that he had left the band. The group soldiered on as a vehicle for Ware and Gregory, however (and with an expanded role for former backup singer Billie Godfrey), releasing the 'Naked as Advertised' CD -including one new song and re-recordings of early tracks by both Heaven 17 and The Human League- on the Just Music label in 2009 following a tour held in December of the previous year. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC] 

Der Mußikant

Der Mußikant is Rolf Schobert from South Germany. His music from the early '80s and his incredibly rare tape releases are a must-have for any serious collector and fan of minimal/synth and/or NDW music. His purely minimal, straight-forward and powerful synth-sounds, in combination with his extraordinary and highy emotional vocals, have a unique character. Rolf is also one half of the famous duo Heute, which is completed by Georg Alfred Wittner. [SOURCE: HHV] 

Head Of David

Head of David were an experimental heavy metal act whose sound helped pave the way for the subsequent industrial, grindcore, and noise rock genres. Hailing from the town of Dudley, just a few miles outside the city of Birmingham in the heart of England's so-called Black Country, Stephen R. Burroughs (vocals), Eric Jurenovski (guitar), Dave Cochrane (bass), and Paul Sharp (drums) were clearly influenced by the region's heavy industry and depressed economy during the mid-'80s when formulating Head of David's grimy and oppressive sound. This sound was potent enough to make an immediate impact upon the release of their first two efforts in 1986: September's 'Dogbreath EP' and October's simply named 'LP', which remarkably climbed to number three on the U.K. indie charts and was followed in July of 1987 by the live 'Shit Hits the Fans', which made it to number 21. 

That year also saw then-Napalm Death guitarist -and future Godflesh and Jesu mastermind- Justin Broadrick become Head of David's drummer, joining them on-stage and in the studio for the 'Saveana Mixes' EP, 1988's Steve Albini-produced (and, amazingly, Americana-influenced) 'Dustbowl' album, and 1989's John Peel Sessions collection, 'White Elephant'. Unfortunately, the group's tense internal chemistry finally gave way to an implosion at this point, with Cochrane decamping to join God and Broadrick launching his signature project, Godflesh, while Burroughs and Jurenovski soldiered on with new bassist Bipin Kumar for one final Head of David album, 1991's 'Seed State'. In the aftermath of their demise, the group's legacy has regrettably been reduced to a cult level, but Head of David's influence remains alive and kicking in countless subsequent industrial metal acts like Pitchshifter, Fear Factory, Rammstein, and beyond. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC] 

Sermonizer

Bologna (Italy) based Sermonizer started experimenting with primitive (field-) recordings and tape manipulations in late '79. From 1984 he recorded numerous avant-garde, industrial and ambient works on to a 4-track recorder. His massive output consists of numerous private tape albums, both studio and live recordings. Sermonizer is still active. His themes, inspiration and phylosophy have remained the same for the last 30 years. In 2011 a split LP with early tracks got released on Forced Nostalgia. [SOURCE: DISCOGS] 

Boytronic

Boytronic is a German music group that plays electropop. It was founded in 1983 by Holger Wobker and Peter Sawatzki in Hamburg, Germany as Kapitän Sehnsucht ("Captain Desire"). The original Boytronic released two synthpop albums: 'The Working Model' (1983) and 'The Continental' (1985). The record company, claiming rights to the band name, put together a completely different line-up in 1986. It was headed by Hayo Lewerentz (Hayo Panarinfo) (U96, Major Records) and continued to record under the Boytronic name until the mid-1990s. 

In 2002, Boytronic was revived by Wobker from the original group and Panarinfo from the second incarnation. They released the albums 'Autotunes', 'Maxi' and remastered editions of 'The Working Model (Reverse)' and 'The Continental (Replace)' with bonus tracks. The albums was released on Hayo Lewerentz label Major Records. Wobker teamed up with his Beachhead bandmate Hans Johm (Antlers Mulm) and Michael Maria Ziffels for the 'Dependence' (2006) album. On this album the song "Forever" from 'The Continental' album, sees its German version as "Für Immer". The band had three charting singles in Germany. In a 1986 NME interview, Curtis Mantronik said that he had adopted his pseudonym, and the name Mantronix, from an imported recording by this group. [SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA] 

Attrition

Attrition are an electronic music band, formed in Coventry, England in 1980 by Martin Bowes and Julia Niblock. The band emerged from the experimental post-punk scene of the early 1980s and, along with other groups such as Throbbing Gristle, Coil, Einstürzende Neubauten, and In the Nursery, greatly contributed to the development of industrial music in the UK. Still active 30 years later, Attrition have been a stanchion of darkwave and industrial music, influencing many younger bands in the genres while continuously fine tuning their own distinctive sound. 

In 1979, Martin started a xeroxed fanzine called "Alternative Sounds" to document the Coventry music scene (including such notables as The Specials and Furious Apples). The fanzine ran for 18 issues until 1981, and culminated in a vinyl compilation, 'Sent from Coventry' (on Cherry Red) and a brief appearance on the BBC's "Something Else" programme. During this time, Martin met Julia at a local gig and, with the addition of Martin's brother Chris on guitar, Attrition was formed. In 1980 Chris was replaced by Julia's brother Ashley Niblock on synthesizer, and a short time later they replaced their live drummer with a drum machine; these changes facilitated Attrition's development beyond the post-punk of the early 80s into more experimental veins of sound.

Influenced by punk's do-it-yourself aesthetic, Attrition took part in the emerging cassette culture, contributing multiple early tracks to underground cassette compilations and fanzines alongside contemporaries such as Portion Control, Konstruktivits, Chris & Cosey, The Legendary Pink Dots, Nurse With Wound, and Coil. Attrition's first album release came in the form of 'Death House', a cassette of two experimental electronic soundtracks inspired by zombie films. In 1983, Attrition received their first exposure in the national music press through a review by Dave Henderson in his "Wild Planet" column in "Sounds", which led to their "Dreamsleep" track appearing on Henderson's compilation 'The Elephant Table Album', the band's first vinyl appearance. A postal collaboration with Seattle-based improvisational collective Audio Leter led to Attrition's second cassette album release, 'Action and Reaction'. Attrition's first London concert followed, with a supporting slot from Coil, and the first European tour in April 1984 with The Legendary Pink Dots. 

The debut album 'The Attrition of Reason' appeared on Third Mind Records in autumn of 1984. The next year, Julia left the band to join The Legendary Pink Dots, and Bowes returned with new band members Marianne, Alex Novak, and Pete Morris to release the second proper Attrition album, 'Smiling, at the Hypogonder Club', which was generally well received. The following year, however, this lineup dissolved and Bowes released 'In The Realm of the Hungry Ghosts', a collection of rarities, compilation tracks, and B-sides from the preceding few years. This was the last release on Third Mind. The band then switched to Belgium's Antler-Subway Records for the release of 'At the Fiftieth Gate' in 1988, which saw the addition of guitarist Gary Cox.

After a short hiatus, Bowes began work on music once more and Julia rejoined Attrition in 1990. A compilation of songs from previous releases was released by Projekt Records in the US, introducing Attrition to US audiences. 'A Tricky Business' was released in 1991 on Italy's Contempo Records and marked a new era for the band. These US releases were complemented with European editions on German labels Hyperium and Trisol. 'The Hidden Agenda' came out in 1993, followed by 'Ephemera' in 1995, which mirrored the dark ambient nature of early album 'Death House'. 

1996 saw the release of '3 Arms And A Dead Cert', which showed an increased use of organic instruments, including orchestral elements. This album also was the first proper release on Projekt, a relationship that would continue for many years and would see the release of a succession of albums during the '90s that saw progressed development of Attrition's signature sound. Also in 1996 the band toured the US for the first time, at the culmination of which Julia left the band once more. The following year, Bowes revisited various works from the past decade of Attrition music and recorded new classical string variations of the songs, releasing them as 'Etude'. After heavy touring in the late 1990s, including a stop at Wave-Gotik-Treffen, Attrition released 'The Jeopardy Maze' in 1999. 
 

Five years passed between 'The Jeopardy Maze' and the next Attrition album, 'Dante's Kitchen', released in 2004. During the interim a remix album and a rarities album were put out and the entire back catalog of Attrition was reissued on CD in Europe and the band focused on touring and playing live again. Attrition finally founded their own label, Two Gods, in 2006 and released 'Tearing Arms from Deities', a 25th anniversary collection of material spanning Attrition's career, and 'Something Stirs - The Beginning', a collection of many of their cassette compilation tracks from the early 1980s. Two Gods would serve as a vehicle for releasing remastered reissues of the entire Attrition back catalogue in the following years. It has also served as a label for releases from other bands, including Rossetti's Compass.
 

In June 2008 Attrition once more became a multi-member act with the addition of female vocalist Sin D'rella. Bowes and Sin then released the twelfth album proper for the band, 'All Mine Enemys Whispers - The Story of Mary Ann Cotton', a concept album built around the true story of a mid-19th century serial killer in England, the arresting officer of whom Bowes is a descendant. The album bears a marked departure from what has come to be seen as the signature Attrition sound, ditching prominent synthesizer base lines, percussion, and vocals for atmospheric, ambient, and found sounds. Guests on the album include Emilie Autumn, Erica Mulkey, and Bowes' own two children.  
 

2009 has seen the release of a live album, 'Kill the Buddha!', that celebrates 25 years of live touring, and 'Wrapped in the Guise of my Friend', an album of Attrition songs covered by other bands. 2012 and Martin has worked with his wife Kerri on their first full-length movie score, 'Invocation'. Martin taught music technology at City College in Coventry for many years and left in 2011 to work full-time on mastering and production for Attrition and other artists in his studio The Cage. 2013: 'The Unraveller of Angels'. 2015: 'Millions of the Mouthless Dead' and album Martin made with Anni Hogan (of Marc and the Mambas fame) exploring First World War poetry set to dark ambient scores; includes a guest appearance from Wolfgang Flur (ex-Kraftwerk) 
 

Martin Bowes has cited a wide variety of influences on his music, including experimental rock, punk, post-punk, and industrial groups such as The Velvet Underground, Crass, The Sex Pistols, Magazine, Joy Division, and Cabaret Voltaire, early experimental electronic groups like Kraftwerk, classic rock'n'roll (Elvis), and even Beethoven.  
 

In the early 1980s, Attrition was grouped into the post-punk movement, and as post-punk birthed subgenres and cross-pollinated with others, the band came to be seen as an early and influential part of the fledgling industrial and darkwave genres. Later on they would also gain a considerable following among the goth scene. By the early 90s Bowes had become the primary member and songwriter and Attrition had developed its own distinctive electro-acoustic sound. This was based on Martin's deep growl, Julia's fretless bass work and breathy sub-operatic vocals, and a backline of electronic instrumentation, comprising analogue synthesizers (including a Korg Mono/Poly and Korg MS-20), sequencer (Roland MC-202), drum machine (Roland TR-808), and various effects units. [SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA] 

64 Spiders

64 Spiders was a proto-grunge band from Seattle formed in 1984 and disbanded in 1987. Members were Brother James Burdyshaw (vocals, guitar, later Cat Butt, Sinister Six, The Bare-Ass Minimums, Yummy), Joe Ross (vocals, bass, ex The Green Pajamas, later Capping Day, Joe Ross & The Bird Watchers, Yummy), Norman Scott McCollum (drums, later Capping Day, Gruntruck, Skin Yard, Softy). Other members were Brian Wright (drums, 1984), Ross Cottrell (bass, 1984-85), Dave Lee (vocals, 1985-86) and Eric Lee Walker (drums, 1985-86). They released one self-titled cassette on Endgame Records in 1987 and one 7’’ (‘Potty Swat’) in 1989 on the garage punk label Regal Select Records. 

Rinf

Rinf were a rock band from Florence, Italy. They were very popular in the alternative italian club scene in the early 1980's. The band founding members were the singer Michele Santini and guitarist Roberto Toccafondi. Rinf line up included a bass player and a sax player. The band sound was a mix between the No Wave, No New York sound of band like James Chance and the Contorsions, the british band Blurt, australian band Birthday Party and the english punk band Crass. [SOURCE: LAST.FM] 

Tasaday

Tasaday are an industrial and noise group, with accents of tribal and post-rock. The band was the result of the fusion of Die Form and Nulla Iperreale. 

In 1981 Electric Eye released the first album on cassette by Brianzoli band Die Form entitled 'La Dimensione Umana'. The group consisted of Abderezac Ahmed (Saxophone, clarinet and voice), Alessandro Ripamonti, Alessandro Ronchi (Guitar), Carlo Ronchi (electric bass), Roberto Girardi (drums) and Stefano Sangalli (synthesizer and voice). Always in Brianza in those years move the Orgasmo Negato, that soon change name in Nulla Iperreale, formed by Alessandro Ripamonti (synthesizers), Marco Camorali (bass, amputed bass, percussions, voice and various material) and Paolo Cantù (guitar and electronic drums). The two groups started a collaboration, merging in Die Form & Nulla Iperreale. 

Together they activated an intense activity of concerts, fanzine productions, radio broadcasts and numerous tapes co-produced by their own labels Tasaday and ADN; 'Il Nulla Che Attira A Se' (1983, ADN) by Nulla Iperreale and under the name Die Form & Nulla Iperreale 'La Parte Maledetta' (1983) and 'In Un Silenzio Oscuro' (1983, ADN). 

In 1984 the release of the album 'Aprirsi Nel Silenzio' (ADN) sanctioned the definitive merger of the two groups under the name of Tasaday. The name was after the indigenous tribe discovered in the Philippines in 1971. The group merged new wave sounds, the influences of Einstürzende Neubauten and Throbbing Gristle, adding to this the unusual tone of wind instruments and tribal rhythms, with an attitude that made them similar to the avant-garde or free jazz. In their works, not only musical references are often cited, ranging from Heidegger to Georges Bataille, from Jean Baudrillard to the New German Cinema. 

Among 1984 and 1985 they released 'Tra Le Rovine Dei Sensi', 'Implosione Tra Le Pieghe Dell'Anima' -in which appears the song "The Roads Of Delhi" composed together with Laxative Souls- and 'Riflessi Sensibile'. In the autumn of 1988 they performed the Milanese festival Decadenze-a-Dissonanze, organized under the aegis of ADN, in one of their last memorable concerts, with an already restructured line-up. In this period several members left the group; first Abderezac Ahmed, then Roberto Girardi and Paolo Cantù who were to form Afterhours. [SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA] 

Diaframma

Diaframma is an Italian band, one of the dark wave, gothic Italian acts to come out of Florence during the early 80s along with Litfiba. Diaframma originated from the meeting of punk -though it was starting to decline at the time-, new wave and rock.

Leader and co-founder of Diaframma is the poet, singer, guitarist and author Federico Fiumani. Before Fiumani took the lead in 1989, the singer was Nicola Vannini, followed by Miro Sassolini, who recorded the first three Diaframma albums: 'Siberia', '3 Volte Lacrime' and 'Boxe'.

Starting from the initial darkwave sound, the style of Diaframma began to shift toward punk rock. Through changes in the line-up of Diaframma over the years, several well-known Italian rock musicians recorded and toured with the band: Daniele Trambusti (drums, already working with Litfiba, Avida, Bella Band and many other Italian rock acts of the 80s and 90s), Alessandro Gerbi (drums, already working with CCCP Fedeli Alla Linea), Gianni Cerone (drums), Alessio Riccio (drums), Simone Giuliani, now a record producer and film composer living in New York City (keyboards and vocals), Alessandro Gherardi (keyboards), Guido Melis (bass), Riccardo "Foggy" Biliotti (bass). 

Diaframma reached the status of cult band because of charismatic leader Federico Fiumani's statements and fierce lyrics. Fiumani more than once turned down major label deals and declined to participate to mainstream events such as the Sanremo Music Festival in order to preserve his artistic independence and maintain Diaframma's integrity. [SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA]