2.3 was a post-punk band from Sheffield, England. Formed in 1977 as 2.3 Children (a moniker that reflected the offspring count of the average household), the group included Haydn Boyes-Weston on drums, Paul Shaft on bass, and guitarist Paul Bower. The group shortened their name to 2.3 a few months after forming and found themselves signed to Bob Last's Edinburgh, Scotland-based Fast imprint (the label that would become the first to release records by The Human League and Gang of Four) after impressing the label head at a show in Doncaster. The band released their first single in March of 1978 in the form of 'All Time Low' and apparently weren't heard from again. Boyes-Weston's talents can also be heard on a couple of early Cabaret Voltaire records. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
Rising out of the expansive early-'90s thrash metal landscape, New York's Prong carved a niche all their own with their minimalist urban take on the genre. After years working as a soundman at New York's CBGB, Tommy Victor (vocals/guitars) drafted doorman Mike Kirkland (bass) and ex-Swans drummer Ted Parsons to form Prong in the mid-'80s. The trio's early independent releases -'Primitive Origins' and 'Force Fed'- were extremely raw and betrayed their hardcore roots. By the time the group signed with Epic for 1990's 'Beg to Differ', though, Victor and company had transformed into a highly technical thrash metal outfit, shelling out clinical staccato riffs and start-stop rhythms peppered with subtle melodies and occasional bursts of speed. The album's title track was a minor hit, helping to put the band on the map once it received regular exposure on MTV's Headbanger's Ball.
Ex-Flotsam and Jetsam bassist Troy Gregory replaced Kirkland for 1991's 'Prove You Wrong', which featured another strong single in "Unconditional," but was essentially a creative holding pattern and lost some of the band's momentum. Gregory was soon ousted and supplanted by two ex-Killing Joke and Murder Inc. members in bassist Paul Raven and keyboard player John Bechdel for 1994's 'Cleansing'. Containing arguably their best work, the album saw a slight change of direction toward a more industrial sound, with Victor's precise riffing making way for a greater sense of groove and melody. It did little to increase the group's commercial appeal, however. Prong would disband following 1996's less inspired 'Rude Awakening'. Parsons then went on to join British industrialists Godflesh while Victor toured with goth punks Danzig, but rumors persisted of an eventual Prong reunion.
Prong re-formed in 2000, and after releasing a live album, '100% Live', the bandmembers went back into the studio to write their first studio album in six years, 2003's 'Scorpio Rising'. Signed to Al Jourgensen's 13th Planet label, Prong released their seventh album, 'Power of the Damager', in 2007. A remix album, 'Power of the Damn Mixxxer', followed in 2009 before the band returned three years later with 'Carved Into Stone'. Their ninth album, the thrash-heavy 'Ruining Lives', appeared in May of 2014. The all-covers album 'Songs from the Black Hole' followed in 2015 and featured songs from influences like Bad Brains ("Banned in D.C."), Neil Young ("Cortez the Killer"), and Sisters of Mercy ("Vision Thing"). The following year saw the release of their 11th studio long-player, 'X (No Absolutes)'. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
The Ramones may or may not have invented punk rock, but they were inarguably the most important band in punk history, creating the stylistic prototype that would be followed by countless bands who emerged in their wake. They were informed by the thunder and flash of The Who and the MC5, the speed and primitivism of Iggy and the Stooges, and the alternately sullen and goofy musings of '60s garage rock, but the Ramones synthesized their influences into something raw and revolutionary, a fury of pounding rhythms and downstroked guitars married to rudimentary melodies and comically absurd lyrics that both mocked and celebrated popular culture and teenage life. The Ramones were tuneful, aggressive, and challenging in their embrace of minimalist fury, and while bands from The Clash and The Sex Pistols to Rancid and Green Day would build on their formula, it's essentially impossible to imagine any of those bands, or punk as we know it, without the Ramones' guiding example. Their first four albums -'Ramones' (1976), 'Leave Home' (1977), 'Rocket to Russia' (1978), and 'Road to Ruin' (1979)- were defining works for the band and the movement they helped inspire, and songs like "Blitzkrieg Bop," "Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue," "Pinhead," "Rockaway Beach," and "I Wanna Be Sedated" would become anthems even if they were never embraced by radio. From 1980 onward, the Ramones recorded a long series of albums in which they often toyed with their formula in an effort to attract a larger audience (working with legendary producer Phil Spector on 1980's 'End of the Century', adding keyboard accents on 1986's 'Animal Boy', recording a batch of covers on 1993's 'Acid Eaters'), though their best work of this era (especially 1984's 'Too Tough to Die') was usually their most elemental, as they focused on what they did first and best.
Based in the Forest Hills section of Queens, New York, the Ramones formed in 1974. Originally, the band was a trio consisting of Joey Ramone (vocals, drums; born Jeffrey Hyman, May 19, 1951), Johnny Ramone (guitar; born John Cummings, October 8, 1951), and Dee Dee Ramone (bass; born Douglas Colvin, September 18, 1951), with Tommy Ramone (born Tom Erdelyi, January 29, 1952) acting as the group's manager. All of the group's members adopted the last name "Ramone" and dressed in torn blue jeans and leather jackets, in homage to '50s greaser rockers. The group played their first concert on March 30, 1974, at New York's Performance Studio. Two months after the show, Joey switched to vocals and Tommy became the band's drummer. By the end of the summer, the Ramones had earned a residency at CBGB. For the next year, they played regularly at the nightclub, earning a dedicated cult following and inspiring several other artists to form bands with similar ideals. All of the Ramones sets clocked in at about 20 minutes, featuring an unrelenting barrage of short, barely two-minute songs. By the end of 1975, the Ramones secured a recording contract with Sire; discounting Patti Smith, they were the first New York punk band to sign a contract.
Early in 1976, the Ramones recorded their debut album for just over $6,000.00. The resulting album, 'Ramones', was released in the spring, gained some critical attention, and managed to climb to 111 on the U.S. album charts. On July 4, the band made their debut appearance in Britain, where their records were becoming a big influence on a new generation of bands. Throughout 1976, the Ramones toured constantly, inaugurating nearly 20 years of relentless touring. By the end of the year, the group released their second album, 'Leave Home'. While the album just scraped the U.S. charts, 'Leave Home' became a genuine hit in England in the spring of 1977, peaking at number 48. By the summer of 1977, The Sex Pistols and the Ramones were seen as the two key bands in the punk rock revolution, but where the Pistols imploded, the Ramones kept on rolling. Following the U.K. Top 40 hit "Sheena Is a Punk Rocker," the Ramones released their third album, 'Rocket to Russia', in the fall of 1977.
Tommy Ramone left the band in the spring of 1977, although he produced the group's subsequent album. He was replaced by former VoidoidMarc Bee, who immediately changed his name to Marky Ramone. With their new drummer in place, the Ramones recorded their fourth album, 'Road to Ruin', which was released in the fall. 'Road to Ruin' marked the band's first significant attempt to change their sound; not only were there stronger bubblegum, girl group, surf, and '60s pop influences on the music, it was the first of their albums to run over a half-hour. Although their sound was more accessible, it didn't gain the band a noticeably larger following. Neither did "Rock N' Roll High School", the 1979 Roger Corman film in which the Ramones had a pivotal part. The soundtrack to "Rock N' Roll High School" and the U.K.-only live album 'It's Alive' were the band's only releases of 1979. For most of the year, they were in the studio recording their fifth album with legendary '60s pop producer Phil Spector. The title song to the Corman movie was the first track released from the sessions, although the soundtrack album did feature a number of older Ramones songs remixed by Spector. 'End of the Century', the Spector-produced Ramones album, finally appeared in January of 1980 to mixed reviews. Despite the lukewarm reception to the album, the record's cover of The Ronettes' "Baby I Love You" became their only Top Ten British hit; in America, none of the singles made an impact, although the record became their biggest hit, peaking at number 44.
The Ramones continued their attempts at crossover success with their sixth album, 'Pleasant Dreams', which was released in 1981. Featuring a production by former Hollies and 10cc member Graham Gouldman, the record was a commercial disappointment in both America and England. The band was relatively quiet during 1982, spending most of their time touring. In the spring of 1983, the band returned with 'Subterranean Jungle', which was produced by Ritchie Cordell and Glen Koltkin, the heads of the American indie label Beserkley Records. Not only did 'Subterranean Jungle' fail to gain the band the larger audience they desired, it continued the erosion of the band's die-hard fan base, as well as their decline in the eyes of many rock critics. Following the album's release, Marky Ramone left the band; he was replaced by Richard Beau, a former member of The Velveteens, who changed his name to Richie Ramone.
With 1984's 'Too Tough to Die', the Ramones delivered a belated response to America's burgeoning hardcore punk scene that was largely produced by Tommy Erdelyi. The album helped restore their artistic reputation, as did the 1985 single "Bonzo Goes to Bitburg," an attack on President Ronald Reagan's 1985 visit to Germany. Instead of continuing with the sound of 'Too Tough to Die', the Ramones began pursuing a more streamlined, stylized, and conventional take on their songwriting formula with 1986's 'Animal Boy'. This was a direction the group followed for the remaining ten years of their career. Following the release of 1987's 'Halfway to Sanity', Richie Ramone left the band and Marky Ramone re-joined the group. In 1988, the career retrospective 'Ramones Mania' appeared. In 1989, the Ramones contributed the theme song to the Stephen King movie "Pet Semetary", and the track was included on 'Brain Drain', which was released in the summer of that year. After its release, the group's bassist, Dee Dee Ramone, left the band to pursue a career as a rapper called Dee Dee King; after his debut rap recording failed miserably, he formed the band Chinese Dragons. Dee Dee was replaced by C.J. Ramone (born Christopher John Ward).
In the early '90s, the Ramones sobered up, with both Joey and Marky undergoing treatment for alcoholism. The band returned to recording in 1992, first releasing the live 'Loco Live' and then 'Mondo Bizarro', their first studio album in three years. 'Mondo Bizarro' turned out to be a commercial failure, as did their 1994 covers album, 'Acid Eaters'. Following the release of 'Acid Eaters', the mainstream guitar rock audience in America finally embraced punk rock in the form of young bands like Green Day and The Offspring. Sensing that the climate may have been right for the crossover success they had desired for so many years, the Ramones immediately followed 'Acid Eaters' with 'Adios Amigos', claiming that unless the new album sold in substantial numbers, the band would call it quits after a final farewell tour. 'Adios Amigos' only spent two weeks in the charts. Nevertheless, the Ramones embarked on a long farewell tour that ran throughout the rest of 1995. The band was set to split in the beginning of 1996 when they were offered a slot on the sixth Lollapalooza, and they toured with the festival that summer.
Following the completion of the tour, the Ramones parted ways, 20 years after the release of their first album. Just a few years later, Joey Ramone passed away on April 15, 2001, at age 49, the victim of lymphoma. Little more than a year after Joey's death, Dee Dee Ramone was found dead in his home in Los Angeles on June 5, 2002. Johnny Ramone passed away two years later on September 15, 2004 after a long battle with cancer. Ten years later, on July 11, 2014, Tommy Ramone -the last remaining member of the original Ramones foursome- died of cancer at his home in Queens, New York. Despite the passing of all four original members, the Ramones' legacy continued to be celebrated in a series of new archival projects. In 2016, Rhino Records coordinated a Super Deluxe 40th Anniversary Edition of the band's 1976 debut, featuring a wealth of alternate takes, an unreleased live concert, and an LP featuring a newly created mono mix of the album. Similarly expanded versions of 'Leave Home' and 'Rocket to Russia' followed in 2017, and a Super Deluxe 'Road to Ruin' appeared in 2018. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
Really Red was a hardcore punk band from Houston, TX who existed from 1978 until 1985. The Really Red line up consisted of John Paul Williams on bass guitar, Ronnie "U-Ron" Bond vocalist/lyricist, Bob Weber on drums and Kelly Younger on guitar. Under occasional variations of their names, these were the original and only band members. Really Red evolved into one of the most prominent and popular Texas punk bands of that era and helped to kick-start the early punk scene in Houston and Texas. Really Red toured the USA several times and played some dates in Canada. They started their own independent record label, C.I.A. Records. On special rare occasions Austrian avant-garde film maker, Kurt Kren, would project his films as a backdrop for the band's performance.
They released their first 45 single recording, 'Crowd Control/Corporate Settings' in 1979. Among their many accomplishments, Really Red were the first Texas punk band to tour extensively outside of Texas. In addition they were the first Texas punk band to have a full length album distributed nationally; 'Teaching You the Fear' was released in 1981. The title track cited the murders of three men by members of the Houston police department; a Black Panther activist Carl Hampton, a Latino man Joe Campos Torres, and a gay man Fred Paez. 'Rest in Pain', Really Red's second album was released in 1985 and most of side two departed from the punk genre into a dark soundscape that was a homage to the Red Crayola's 'Parable of Arable Land' album.. Really Red broke up in 1985 after releasing 2 albums, 2 45 singles, 2 7" EP's, and tracks on various compilations. [SOURCE: DISCOGS]
Formed in 1976 and comprised of guitarist / vocalist Toshio Nakanishi, vocalist Chica Sato, guitarist Hajime Tachibana, keyboard player Masahide Sakuma, and programmer Takemi Shima, the Plastics were the archetypal Tokyo new wave band, combining a quirky, eccentric musical sensibility with sharp observational lyrics satirizing postmodern consumer culture in a way that still draws frequent comparisons with U.S. contemporaries such as Devo and The B-52's.
Beginning life as a party band, the Plastics soon found their sensibility being influenced by glam rock's embrace of superficiality and ephemeral trash culture, as well as the social critique of the emerging punk rock and new wave generation, with the electronic music of German techno-pop pioneers Kraftwerk forming the final piece in the jigsaw puzzle that made up the group's sound. While contemporaries in the Japanese new wave scene like P-Model and Hikashu were more musically experimental, the Plastics' background in fashion and design (Nakanishi was an illustrator, Sato a stylist, and Tachibana a graphic designer) gave them a conceptual edge that, combined with their sparse sound and English lyrics, set them apart. It also helped the band get its international break, when Nakanishi was contracted to design the booklet for Talking Heads' tour program and gave the Plastics' cassette to David Byrne. They were quickly picked up by the manager of The B-52's, with whom they toured following the release of debut single 'Copy/Robot' on the British Rough Trade label and full-length debut album 'Welcome Plastics' on major label Victor Music in 1979.
The album was a hit, reaching number 22 on the Japanese charts, and was quickly followed by 'Origato Plastico', which met with similar success, which was quickly transferred across the Pacific to the United States, where the band made a splash touring. It was short-lived, however, and the group split at the end of 1981, with Nakanishi's desire to develop as a musician conflicting with Sakuma's "amateur band" concept. Following the Plastics' split, the various members all embarked on new projects, with Nakanishi and Sato forming Melon, Tachibana releasing his solo work under the name Low Powers, and Sakuma going on to become a successful producer as well as forming the international supergroups NiNa (who also included Shima) and The d.e.p.
The band was only active for a brief period but its legacy was far-reaching, partially influencing the transformation of mainstream Japanese music from the string and brass-led "kayoukyoku" style that dominated the '60s and '70s to the more electronic-influenced J-pop style that has since come to dominate the charts. The Plastics are still revered among alternative musicians, with numerous new wave and techno-pop bands paying tribute to them, and some, like Polysics, modeling themselves on the image of the Plastics and their contemporaries to an enormous extent. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
Born Thomas Wishart, in Port Glasgow, Scotland, Thomas Leer played in several local experimental pop groups in the early to mid-1970s, moving to London when the punk rock scene was at its height. He formed the punk band Pressure, but by 1978 had moved on to music influenced by synthpop and Krautrock bands such as Can. That year, he self-financed his debut single, 'Private Plane'. Although it was recorded in his own flat and was only issued in 650 copies on his own label, it gained significant attention, with NME naming it "Single of the Week". (It was also included in the fantastic compilation album 'Business Unusual', on Cherry Red). In 1979, he released the album 'The Bridge' in collaboration with Robert Rental. In 1981, he signed to Cherry Red, his first release for the label being the '4 Movements' EP. After two further releases on the label, he was signed by Arista Records, releasing three further singles and his debut full-length solo album, 'The Scale of Ten' in late 1985.
Two years later, he formed the duo Act along with ex-Propaganda singer Claudia Brücken, signing to ZTT Records. The duo released four singles (including the minor UK hit "Snobbery and Decay") and an album, 'Laughter, Tears and Rage', before splitting up, with Brücken pursuing a solo career. Leer retired at this point, but returned in 2003 with a new album and in 2009 on the track "Tonight", from the Stefano Panunzi album 'A Rose' and continues to be musically active. [SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA]
Over the years, The Pretenders became a vehicle for guitarist/vocalist Chrissie Hynde's songwriting, yet they were a full-fledged band when they formed in the late '70s. With their initial records, the group crossed the bridge between punk/new wave and Top 40 pop more than any other band, recording a series of hard, spiky singles that were also melodic and immediately accessible. Hynde was an invigorating singer who bent the traditional male roles of rock & roll to her own liking, while guitarist James Honeyman-Scott created a sonic palette filled with suspended chords, effects pedals, and syncopated rhythms that proved remarkably influential over the next two decades. After Honeyman-Scott's death, The Pretenders became a straightforward rock band, yet Hynde's semi-autobiographical songwriting and bracing determination meant that the group never became just another rock band, even when their music became smoother and pop-oriented.
Originally from Akron, Ohio, Hynde moved to England in the early '70s, when she was in her twenties. British rock journalist Nick Kent helped her begin writing for New Musical Express; she wrote for the newspaper during the mid-'70s. She also worked in Malcolm McLaren's SEX boutique before she began performing. After playing with Chris Spedding, she joined Jack Rabbit; she quickly left the band and formed The Berk Brothers.
In 1978, Hynde formed The Pretenders, which eventually consisted of Honeyman-Scott, bassist Pete Farndon, and drummer Martin Chambers. Later in the year, they recorded a version of Ray Davies' "Stop Your Sobbing," produced by Nick Lowe. The single made it into the British Top 40 in early 1979. "Kid" and "Brass in Pocket," the group's next two singles, were also successful. Their debut album, 'Pretenders', was released in early 1980 and eventually climbed to number one in the U.K. The band was nearly as successful in America, with the album reaching the Top Ten and "Brass in Pocket" reaching number 14.
During an American tour in 1980, Hynde met Ray Davies and the two fell in love. Following a spring 1981 EP, 'Extended Play', the group released their second album, 'Pretenders II'. Although it fared well on the charts, it repeated the musical ideas of their debut. In June of 1982, Pete Farndon was kicked out of the band due to his drug abuse. A mere two days later, on June 16, James Honeyman-Scott was found dead of an overdose of heroin and cocaine. Pregnant with Davies' child, Hynde went into seclusion following Honeyman-Scott's death. In 1983, two months after Hynde gave birth, Farndon also died of a drug overdose.
Hynde regrouped The Pretenders in 1983, adding former Manfred Mann's Earth Band guitarist Robbie McIntosh and bassist Malcolm Foster; the reconstituted band released '2000 Miles' in time for Christmas. The new Pretenders released 'Learning to Crawl' early in 1984 to positive reviews and commercial success. Ending her romance with Ray Davies, Hynde married Jim Kerr, the lead vocalist of Simple Minds, in May of 1984.
Apart from a performance at Live Aid, the only musical activity from The Pretenders in 1985 was Hynde's appearance on UB40's version of "I Got You Babe." Hynde assembled another version of the Pretenders for 1986's 'Get Close'. Only she and McIntosh remained from 'Learning to Crawl'; the rest of the album was recorded with session musicians. 'Get Close' showed The Pretenders moving closer to MOR territory, with the bouncy single "Don't Get Me Wrong" making its way into the American Top Ten in 1987. Hynde recorded another duet with UB40 in 1988, a cover of Dusty Springfield's "Breakfast in Bed."
Hynde's marriage to Kerr fell apart in 1990, the same year 'Packed!' was released, although it failed to ignite the charts in either America or Britain. Hynde was relatively quiet for the next few years, re-emerging in 1994 with 'Last of the Independents', which was hailed as a comeback by some quarters of the press. The album did return The Pretenders to the Top 40, with the ballad "I'll Stand by You." In the fall of 1995, the live album 'Isle of View' was released, then the group remained silent for a few years. Hynde finally returned in 1999 with an album of new material, 'Viva el Amor'. Three years later, The Pretenders left their longtime label for Artemis. The reggae-tinged 'Loose Screw' appeared in November and a tour followed in January 2003. In March 2006, the band released their first-ever box set, 'Pirate Radio', via Rhino. The four-disc package included over five hours of music and a DVD of rare performances. Two years later, The Pretenders released 'Break Up the Concrete', their first album in six years; it debuted at 32 on the Billboard charts and 35 in the U.K.
Following the release of 'Break Up the Concrete', The Pretenders spent the next few years touring, but after 2012, Hynde put the band on hiatus. In 2014, she released 'Stockholm', her first-ever solo album, which was followed in 2015 by her memoir "Reckless: My Life as a Pretender". In 2016, Hynde revived The Pretenders to record a new album with Black Keys guitarist Dan Auerbach as producer. 'Alone' emerged in October 2016. 2019 saw the belated release of 'The Pretenders with Friends', a CD, DVD, and Blu-ray package that documented both sound and images from a 2006 concert in which Hynde and her bandmates were joined on-stage by Iggy Pop, Shirley Manson of Garbage, and members of Incubus and Kings of Leon. The Pretenders reunited with producer Stephen Street for 2020's 'Hate for Sale', which also was the first album since 'Loose Screw' to feature Chambers on drums. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
The Skunks started their short life as The Murderers then The Anarchists then Dole Q. Dole Q were no strangers to the Punk circuit (even though 2 of the members were only 15 years old) as they played support to many of the bigger names on the gig circuit as well as the famous 'Roxy Club'. Original singer Colin Ward left the band, saying he was uncomfortable with the amount of success the band was having as he originally intended it to be 'a laugh'. The band then re-named themselves The Skunks after Siouxsie Sioux had slagged off the name Dole Q in the NME and they went on to support the likes of XTC at the 100 Club, The Police at the Vortex and The Buzzcocks at Manchester Free Trade Hall.
The group became famous for their great live shows, which featured the band dressed in black and white, and even sporting white 'skunk' streaks in their black hair. These streaks were made from flour which meant that by the end of a hot, sweaty gig, it was all one big gooey mess.
It was while the band were supporting Generation X at the Vortex Club that they were spotted by none other than Pete Townshend and Keith Moon of The Who. Impressed with what they saw, they took The Skunks onto their Eel Pie label and pressed their one and only single 'Good from the Bad / Back Street Fighting' in a quantity of 2000 copies. The single got airplay from John Peel, and after that they moved onto Cobra Records (a subsidiary of EMI) and released 'Motions' and then 'Lucy', but by this time they had been re-named (again!) as Craze and had moved away from the Punk / New Wave sound. [SOURCE: BORED TEENAGERS]
Primus is all about Les Claypool; there isn't a moment on any of their records where his bass isn't the main focal point of the music, with his vocals acting as a bizarre sideshow. Which isn't to deny guitarist Larry LaLonde or drummer Tim "Herb" Alexander any credit; no drummer could weave in and around Claypool's convoluted patterns as effortlessly as Alexander, and few guitarists would willingly push the spotlight away like LaLonde does, just to produce a never-ending spiral of avant noise. All of this means that they are miles away from being another punk-funk combo like the Red Hot Chili Peppers; Claypool may slap and pop his bass, but there is little funk in the rhythm he and Alexander lay down. Instead, they're a post-punk Rush spiked with the sensibility and humor of Frank Zappa. Primus' songs are secondary to showcasing their instrumental prowess. Their music is willfully weird and experimental, yet it's not alienating; the band was able to turn its goofy weirdness into pop stardom. At first, Primus were strictly an underground phenomenon, but in the years between their third and fourth albums, their cult grew rapidly. Released in 1991, 'Sailing the Seas of Cheese' went gold shortly before the release of 'Pork Soda'. By the time of the album's 1993 release, Primus had enough devoted fans to make 'Pork Soda' debut in the Top Ten.
After touring for a year -including a headlining spot on Lollapalooza 1993- Claypool revived his Prawn Song record label in 1994 and released a reunion record by Primus' original lineup under the name 'Sausage'. In the summer of 1995, Primus released their fifth album, 'Tales from the Punchbowl'. It was another success, going gold before the end of the year. In the summer of 1996, Primus announced they were parting ways with their drummer, Tim Alexander. He was replaced by Brian "Brain" Mantia, who made his debut on 'The Brown Album', was released in the summer of 1997. The covers EP 'Rhinoplasty' followed in 1998, and a year later, Primus returned with 'Antipop'. 'Antipop' was a departure from previous Primus albums, as different producers were used on almost every track (including such notables as Rage Against the Machine's Tom Morello, Limp Bizkit's Fred Durst, Tom Waits, South Park creator Matt Stone, and former Police drummer Stewart Copeland), and it featured such guest artists as Metallica's James Hetfield and former Faith No More guitarist Jim Martin. After a supporting tour wrapped up in 2000, Mantia left the band to join Guns N' Roses. Claypool talked about reuniting with former drummer Tim Alexander in the press, but shortly afterward announced that Primus was going on indefinite hiatus. During the ensuing break, Claypool focused on recording the debut album by his side project, Oysterhead (who also included Copeland and Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio), as well as releasing his two-part solo outing, 'Live Frogs: Set 1 and Set 2'.
Primus reunited in 2003 with a lineup containing Tim Alexander to release an EP's worth of new material as part of the 'Animals Should Not Try to Act Like People' DVD set. The band focused on touring until 2010, when Alexander once again left the band. Claypool and LaLonde turned to former drummer Jay Lane, and the band went back into the studio to work on a new full-length. In 2011, Primus released their seventh album, 'Green Naugahyde'. Three years later, the band followed up with 'Primus & the Chocolate Factory with the Fungi Ensemble', an album that found the band reuniting with drummer Alexander to cover the iconic soundtrack to the 1971 film "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory". In 2017 they returned with yet another literary-influenced album, 'The Desaturating Seven', which was inspired by Italian author Ul de Rico's children's book "The Rainbow Goblins". Included on the album was the single 'The Seven'. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
PragVEC was a post-punk band from London formed in February 1978 by ex-Derelicts
members Susan Gogan (vocals, synthesizer) and John Studholme (guitar,
synthesizer), along with David Boyd (bass) and Nicholas Cash (drums). The band name was a contraction of the two words "pragmatism" and "vector", chosen at random.
On 16 October 1978, they released their debut EP, the four-song 7" 'Bits', on their own Spec Records label. It was followed on 10 July 1979 by the 'Expert' single. Both records were compiled on an eponymous 12" EP issued on the French label Celluloid Records.
PragVEC played concerts during 1978 and 1979, opening for bands such as Cabaret Voltaire, Scritti Politti, The Psychedelic Furs, The Monochrome Set, Au Pairs, Magazine, Chelsea, Stiff Little Fingers and The Teardrop Explodes. During their short existence, they also recorded a total of three sessions for the John Peel programme. The last of these showed them moving away from the guitar-based sound of the first EP towards the use of the Wasp, a battery-powered portable synthesizer with a built-in speaker. Two of the songs, "Rural Erotic" and "Third Person", were re-recorded for the 'No-Cowboys' album, released in December 1980. Packaged in a polythene bag, the record was presented as a compilation by various bands, although all of the material was recorded by PragVEC.
The band split in 1981, with Cash joining Fad Gadget and The Lines. Gogan joined The Atoms. Jim Thirlwell, who had contributed Wasp synth to 'No-Cowboys', went on to form Foetus. Studholme, who had co-written many of the band's songs with Gogan, died in November 2005 after a long illness. Around the time of his death, he, Gogan and Cash had been working with Mute Records to compile a reissue of PragVEC material. [SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA]
Reputedly the first punk band from Birmingham, The Prefects became the much longer-running Nightingales before they made their official recorded debut in 1980. Motivated by Ramones and The Sex Pistols, they also referred to such proto-punk acts as Captain Beefheart and New York Dolls, and created an identity all their own, despite their short lifespan. The Prefects' studio legacy consists of two Peel Sessions that have been supplemented with assorted live recordings, anthologized most extensively by 'Amateur Wankers' (Acute, 2004) and 'Going Through the Motions' (Call of the Void, 2019).
The Prefects took shape when guitarist Alan Apperley and drummer Paul Apperley placed an ad in a local newspaper and consequently attracted vocalist Robert Lloyd and drummer Graham Blunt. Beginning in March 1977, they gigged around their Birmingham home base, and within only a couple months opened for The Clash during the "White Riot" tour. In August 1978 and January 1979, The Prefects made their only studio recordings, a pair of four-song sessions for John Peel's BBC program. Alan Apperley and Lloyd were the only members present at both visits to BBC's Maida Vale studios; Joe Crow, Ted Ward, and Adrian Moran filled out the 1978 lineup, and were effectively replaced five months later by David Twist on drums and Eamonn Duffy on bass, with Andy Burchell and Dave Whitton supporting respectively on clarinet and saxophone. By the end of 1979, The Prefects had morphed into The Nightingales, a far less combustible act.
Every Prefects release is therefore posthumous. Through Lloyd's Vindaloo label, and at the behest of Rough Trade, the band released a 1980 single consisting of two songs ("Going Through the Motions" and "Things in General") taken from the Maida Vale sessions. Seven years later, the second session was issued in full as a volume in Strange Fruit's extensive The Peel Sessions series. 'Amateur Wankers', released by Acute in 2004, and 'Going Through the Motions', issued 15 years later on Call of the Void, both contained the eight BBC cuts and added varying small quantities of live material. Between those compilations, the Caroline True label circulated a 1978 hometown gig. The Prefects did reunite on-stage in 2001, but The Nightingales have remained Lloyd's primary creative outlet all along. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
From a background working in left-wing English fringe theatre groups, Punishment Of Luxury (aka Punilux) specialized in earnest critiques of western capitalism, utilizing both punk and progressive rock elements. The line-up for the first of the group’s two sessions for John Peel in August 1978 featured Brian Bond (vocals, keyboards), Jeff Thwaite (drums), Malla Cabbala (guitar, vocals), Nevill Luxury (guitar, keyboards) and Jimmy Giro (bass). By the advent of their second session the following year, Steve Secret (aka Steve Sekrit) had replaced Thwaite and dispensed with Cabbala’s services. The same line-up was responsible for recording 'The Laughing Academy'; in later years consigned to Mojo magazine’s Hall Of Shame as one of the 100 worst albums of all time, such criticism is unnecessarily harsh. Although there was undoubtedly something fabricated about the group’s music, the album did include one great moment -the raucous ‘Puppet Life’ single. Herein progressive rock met punk and produced an unlikely, Sparks-like triumph. Elsewhere their heady politicization and self-conscious strangeness could indeed be offputting, especially with the uneven marriage of keyboards and guitars. The album was finally reissued on CD in 1996 -a gap reflecting their critical and popular standing. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
Responsible for the first two releases on Cherry Red, Worcester outfit The Tights were described by label boss Iain McNay as "Malvern's answer to The Sex Pistols - 15/16-year-old kids in a punk band." Originally named The Jerks (because they began by writing "jerky songs"), The Tights debuted in June 1978 with 'Bad Hearts', a Single of the Week in Record Mirror and endorsed by John Peel. September follow-up 'Howard Hughes' was a tribute to the legendarily eccentric America tycoon, but the band were unable to commit to regular gigs and they broke up the following year. [SOURCE: DISCOGS]
