Dirty Looks was formed in 1977 and began playing cover songs before writing a set of gritty pop songs inspired by the 1960s. The band consisted of singer/guitarist Patrick Barnes, drummer Peter Parker, and bassist Marco Sin. The band released two albums for Stiff Records in the UK (Epic Records in the US), 'Dirty Looks' and 'Turn It Up', along with several singles. Their debut album was Stiff's biggest album release in the United States, selling over 100,000 copies in 1980. 'Turn It Up' was originally produced and mixed by Nick Garvey (of The Motors), Epic Records decided they did not like the edgy approach and wanted a more mainstream sound.
The band was discovered by Squeeze bassist John Bentley at CBGB in New York. Bentley brought then Grand Funk Railroad manager Andy Cavaliere to the band's next show and he made the band sign a napkin promising to appear in his office the next day. Their first album, 'Dirty Looks', was first released in America and the band launched the record by appearing unannounced outside the New York offices of EPIC on a flat-bed truck complete with PA, drums etc., and a film crew. 52nd street became filled with lunch-time office workers all grooving to the band and a bunch of New York cops from the local precinct trying to fight their way through the crowd to stop the disturbance. The result was an arrest and a fifteen-minute movie of three Dirty Looks tracks.
In 1980, Dirty Looks came to the UK for the In the Son Of Stiff tour. With four other Stiff acts, Dirty Looks played 11 countries in 70 days and played 61 gigs. In Milan, they headlined in front of 6,000 fans and witnessed a fatal stabbing outside the concert hall. They are best known for the songs "Let Go" and "Tailing You", which were minor hits.vBoth videos were in rotation in the early days of MTV. By now Dirty Looks had released three singles: "Lie To Me", "Let Go" and "Tailing You".
In 1983, the group prepared demos for an unreleased third album, called 'Unsung Heroes'. Four tracks from it were included on '12 O'Clock High', an Italian career retrospective compilation, in 2002.
Bassist Marco Sin (born Marcus Robert Weissmann) died in 1995, following a lengthy history of substance abuse. In February 2014, drummer Peter Parker (Minucci) worked with Omaha band, Naive Filter, to record two Dirty Looks originals; "Love Crimes" and "Kiss of Death". [SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA]
Billy Idol is one of the first pop/rock artists to achieve massive success in the early '80s due to the advent of MTV. Sporting an appealing blend of pop hooks, punk attitude, and dance beats, Idol quickly rocketed to stardom before hard living briefly derailed his career. Having already established himself in the late-'70s London punk scene as the frontman for Generation X, Idol was primed for pop stardom and spent the next decade releasing huge hits like "Dancing with Myself," "White Wedding," "Rebel Yell," and "Eyes Without a Face." A near-fatal motorcycle accident kept Idol out of the spotlight for the latter half of the '90s, but he staged a comeback in the 2000s with well-received efforts like 'Devil's Playground' and 'Kings & Queens of the Underground'. At the start of the 2020s, Idol began issuing a series of EPs including 'Roadside' and 'The Cage'.
Born William Michael Albert Broad on November 30, 1955, in Middlesex, England, he relocated with his family for a brief spell to New York before returning to England. After a stint at Sussex University only lasted a year, Broad found himself part of a group of teen punk rockers who befriended and followed The Sex Pistols, informally known as "The Bromley Contingent". (Another member of the group was Siouxsie Sioux, eventual leader of Siouxsie & the Banshees.)
It wasn't long before Broad realized that he too could be the frontman of a punk band, and assumed the name Billy Idol shortly thereafter. After a stint playing guitar in a group called Chelsea (interestingly, the group featured future Clash guitarist Mick Jones and future Damned guitarist Brian James), Idol put down the guitar and picked up the mike; he then recruited bassist Tony James, drummer John Towe, and guitarist Bob Andrews to form Generation X in 1976. Named after a 1960s paperback, the band signed a recording contract with Chrysalis shortly thereafter (Towe was replaced with new drummer Mark Laff) and released the anthemic "Your Generation" late in 1977. An appearance on Top of the Pops helped propel the single and their 1978 self-titled debut into the spotlight; the latter was produced by Martin Rushent. The band released two more LPs, 'Valley of the Dolls' in 1979 and 'Kiss Me Deadly' two years later before splitting up.
Disappointed with Generation X's demise, Idol relocated to New York City, where he pursued a career as a solo artist. Hooking up with Kiss manager Bill Aucoin, Idol issued the 1981 EP 'Don't Stop' (comprised of a cover of Tommy James' '60s hit "Mony Mony" and a pair of remixed Generation X tracks), which helped the singer score another record deal with his former band's label, Chrysalis. Idol found the perfect collaborator and partner in guitarist and Johnny Thunders lookalike Steve Stevens, and issued a self-titled debut in July of 1982. A pair of eye-catching videos for the tracks "White Wedding" and "Dancing with Myself" (the latter a remake of a Generation X composition) scored major air time on MTV, with both clips focusing on Idol's spiky, peroxide-blonde hair and Elvis-like sneer. The debut eventually obtained gold certification, and set the stage perfectly for Idol's big commercial breakthrough, 1984's 'Rebel Yell'.
'Rebel Yell' became the best-selling album of his career (eventually going double platinum), spawning such big-time MTV/radio hits as the album's anthemic title track, "Eyes Without a Face," and "Flesh for Fantasy," establishing Idol as an arena headliner stateside. But with massive success came its many distractions, which prevented Idol from issuing a new studio album until three years after 'Rebel Yell'. 1987's 'Whiplash Smile' was another sizeable hit on the strength of such hits as "To Be a Lover" and "Sweet Sixteen," but failed to live up to the lofty expectations set by his previous releases. Stevens jumped ship shortly thereafter to launch his own band, Steve Stevens' Atomic Playboys (he was also eventually a member of Mötley Crüe singer Vince Neil's solo band), leaving Idol to fend for himself.
An eight-track best-of set, 'Vital Idol', was issued later the same year, spawning one of the year's most heavily played MTV videos -a live version of the previously recorded cover of "Mony Mony"- which helped keep Idol in the spotlight. He spent the next few years working on his fourth studio release, but reappeared in the summer of 1989 as part of an all-star rendition of The Who's 'Tommy', with Idol playing the role of the sadistic character Cousin Kevin. Around the time of Idol's next release, 1990's 'Charmed Life', the singer was involved in a serious motorcycle accident (in which he almost lost his leg), forcing him to walk with a cane for a period of time; the video for the album's lead-off single, "Cradle of Love," featured him filmed from the waist up. The ploy worked, as the single (which was also used as the theme song in the failed Andrew "Dice" Clay movie "Ford Fairlane") was another smash hit, making 'Charmed Life' the fourth Idol album in a row to achieve at least reach platinum sales.
Expectedly, several years passed before the release of Idol's next album, during which time he tried his hand at acting with a bit part in Oliver Stone's motion picture "The Doors". By the time 1993's 'Cyberpunk' surfaced, Idol had dropped his spiky peroxide hairstyle in place of dreadlocks, and experimented with techno beats. The move proved to be an unwise one, as the album tanked and sank from the charts. At the same time, Idol was knee deep in drug addiction, resulting in another close brush with death when he overdosed and had to be treated at a Los Angeles hospital in 1994. Not much was heard from him until 1998, when he made a cameo appearance (as himself) in the hit Adam Sandler/Drew Barrymore comedy "The Wedding Singer", which resulted in renewed interest. Idol teamed up once again with Stevens, was the subject of a VH1: Behind the Music special (as well as a VH1 Storytellers episode for the channel, which was ultimately issued as an album), and issued a more extensive 'Greatest Hits' set in 2001; the latter of which sold 500,000 copies in the U.S. alone. Next up was his first studio album since 'Cyberpunk', 'Devil's Playground', released on Sanctuary in 2005 and this was swiftly followed by the seasonal 'Happy Holidays' for which he retained Brian Tichy and Derek Sherinian from the previous album's sessions.
2008 brought 'The Very Best of Billy Idol: Idolize Yourself', which was notable for including two previously unreleased tracks: "John Wayne" and "New Future Weapon." A worldwide tour on the same bill as Def Leppard ensued before 2009 brought "In Super Overdrive Live", a video release of a performance in Chicago; Idol appeared at Donnington Park's Download Festival in 2010. A relatively quiet spell in his career was followed by a period of songwriting with Stevens and Circus Diablo frontman Billy Morrison. In time, recording sessions took place which led to the announcement of a seventh studio album of original material. Produced by Trevor Horn and preceded by Idol's New York Times best-selling memoir "Dancing with Myself", 'Kings & Queens of the Underground' appeared in October 2014. In 2020 Idol teamed up with Miley Cyrus for the song "Night Crawling," which appeared on her 'Plastic Hearts' LP, and in 2021 he released his first new song in seven years, the pensive "Bitter Taste," which served as the lead single from the four-track EP 'Roadside'. He continued working with the EP format on 2022's rousing 'The Cage'.
In 2023, Idol joined his former Generation X bandmate Tony James alongside former Sex Pistols members Steve Jones and Paul Cook in Generation Sex, a band that played the repertoires of the two classic punk bands. A year later, 'Rebel Yell' received a deluxe 40th anniversary reissue featuring a disc of demos and rarities. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
An anti-rock band founded in direct reaction to the pretensions and complacency of 1970s pop music, the Detroit-based noise deconstructionists Destroy All Monsters earned their greatest attention at the peak of the punk era, thanks to a lineup that included alumni of the MC5 and The Stooges. Named after a cult-favorite Japanese monster movie, Destroy All Monsters was formed in 1973 by art students Niagara (a former model), Jim Shaw, Mike Kelley, and Cary Loren; influenced by everything from underground comix to film noir to psychedelia, the highly visual group was experimental and abrasive, with Niagara's Betty Boop-vocals and squealing violin cresting atop waves of trance-like sonic dementia.
The original incarnation of Destroy All Monsters never widely released any official recordings, and by 1976 both Shaw and Kelley had exited to continue their graphic art careers, both later gaining considerable renown as underground talents. Niagara and Loren continued on, recruiting brothers Larry and Ben Miller (space guitar and saxophone, respectively); within six months, former Stooges guitarist Ron Asheton and onetime MC5 bassist Michael Davis had also signed on, pointing the group's sound in a more dynamic and energetic direction. Upon releasing their first-ever single, 1978's "Bored," Destroy All Monsters became darlings of the British music press, based largely upon the connection to the Stooges' legacy; "Bored" was soon set for U.K. release on the Cherry Red label, which licensed the record before ever even hearing it.
Even as a second single, "Meet the Creeper," was being readied for release, Destroy All Monsters was coming apart; tensions within the group had come to a head when Niagara left longtime boyfriend Loren to hook up with Asheton, and soon Loren, as well as the Miller brothers, left the band over creative differences. In response, Loren issued a 1979 live EP, 'The Days of Diamonds'; a year later, he, the Millers, and drummer Rob King formed Xanadu, recording an EP, 'Black-Out in the City', co-produced by Kelley and Shaw. Meanwhile, the remaining members of Destroy All Monsters carried on until 1985 before finally disbanding. In the wake of a 1994 box set, the original lineup occasionally re-formed to play live and record new material. A concert set, 'Live in Tokyo & Osaka', appeared in 2008. The discovery of a cache of unreleased Destroy All Monsters recordings led to the release of 2014's 'Hot Box', which featured rare and little-heard performances from both editions of the group. While Destroy All Monsters were inactive in 2015, Niagara could say she had an album in the charts -one of her paintings was used as the cover artwork for Kid Rock's album 'First Kiss'. Jim Shaw was also getting attention for his visual art in 2015, with a major retrospective of his work, "Jim Shaw: The End Is Near," receiving positive reviews after opening at the New Museum in New York City. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
Beastie Boys crashed into the mainstream in the mid-'80s rapping about "The New Style" and yelling "(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!)," their brash hedonism striking a chord with hip-hop fans and suburban metalheads alike. This loud, obnoxious blend of hard rock and rap, showcased on their debut 'Licensed to Ill', wound up having a lasting impact, but the trio of Adam Yauch, Adam Horovitz, and Mike Diamond were young punks and restless artists. They soon abandoned pounding, aggressive rap-rock for the dense sampladelic vistas of 'Paul's Boutique', their 1989 collaboration with The Dust Brothers. 'Paul's Boutique' stalled the trio's commercial momentum but it became an album revered by hip-hop aficionados, pointing the way to the genre-bending, self-referential pop culture of '90s pop. Beastie Boys played a vital role in that decade, starting with 1992's punk-rap-jazz fusion 'Check Your Head', which gave them another Top Ten album and established the group as alternative rock icons. 'Ill Communication' consolidated the group's comeback in 1994, thanks in no small part to the hit "Sabotage," accompanied by a campily retro video directed by Spike Jonze. Music videos, many directed by Yauch under his Nathanial Hornblower pseudonym, were a crucial component of Beastie Boys' popularity, as was their Grand Royal empire -it spanned a record label and a much-revered but short-lived magazine- and their activism, a social engagement spearheaded by Yauch co-organizing the Tibetan Freedom Concerts in the late '90s. After the 1998 chart-topper 'Hello Nasty', Beastie Boys' productivity slowed in the 2000s as the trio settled into an eccentric middle age, balancing the old-school salute 'To the 5 Boroughs' with the soul-jazz instrumental 2007 LP 'The Mix-Up'. As the trio worked on their eighth studio album, Yauch was diagnosed with cancer. The group finished and released 'Hot Sauce Committee, Pt. 2' in May 2011; he was dead a year later. Horowitz and Diamond stopped working as Beastie Boys, although they reconvened to tell their story through "Beastie Boys Book" in 2018, which was followed by the Jonze-directed documentary "Beastie Boys Story" in 2020.
All three members of the Beastie Boys -Mike D (b. Mike Diamond, November 20, 1966), MCA (b. Adam Yauch, August 5, 1965; d. May 4, 2012), and Ad-Rock (born Adam Horovitz, October 31, 1967)- came from middle-class Jewish families in New York and had become involved in the city's punk underground when they were teenagers in the early '80s. Diamond and Yauch formed the Beastie Boys with drummer Kate Schellenbach and guitarist John Berry in 1981, and the group began playing underground clubs around New York. The following year, the Beasties released the 7" EP 'Pollywog Stew' on the indie label Rat Cage to little attention. That same year, the band met Horovitz, who had formed the hardcore group The Young and the Useless. By early 1983, Schellenbach and Berry had left the group -they would later join Luscious Jackson and Thwig, respectively- and Horovitz had joined the Beasties. The revamped group released the rap record "Cookie Puss" as a 12" single later in 1983. Based on a prank phone call the group made to Carvel Ice Cream, the single became an underground hit in New York. By early 1984, however, they had abandoned punk and turned their attention to rap.
In 1984, the Beasties joined forces with producer Rick Rubin, a heavy metal and hip-hop fan who had then-recently founded Def Jam Records with fellow New York University student Russell Simmons. Def Jam officially signed the Beastie Boys in 1985, and that year they had a hit single from the soundtrack to Krush Groove with "She's on It," a rap track that sampled AC/DC's "Back in Black" and suggested the approach of the group's forthcoming debut album. The Beasties received their first significant national exposure later in 1985, when they opened for Madonna on her Virgin tour. The Beasties taunted the audience with profanity and were generally poorly received. One other major tour, as the openers for Run-D.M.C.'s ill-fated 'Raisin' Hell' trek, followed before 'Licensed to Ill' was released late in 1986. An amalgam of street beats, metal riffs, b-boy jokes, and satire, 'Licensed to Ill' was interpreted as a mindless, obnoxious party record by many critics and conservative action groups. That didn't stop the album from becoming the fastest-selling debut in Columbia Records' history, however, as it sold over 750,000 copies in its first six weeks.
Much of the album's success was due to "Fight for Your Right (To Party)," which became a massive crossover single. In fact, 'Licensed to Ill' became the biggest-selling rap album of the '80s, which generated much criticism from certain hip-hop fans who believed that the Beasties were merely cultural pirates. On the other side of the coin, the group was being attacked from various factions on both the left and the right, who claimed the Beasties' lyrics were violent and sexist and that their concerts -which featured female audience members dancing in go-go cages and a giant inflatable penis, similar to what the Stones used in their mid-'70s concerts- caused even more outrage. Throughout their 1987 tour, they were plagued with arrests and lawsuits, and were accused of inciting crime.
While much of the Beasties' exaggeratedly obnoxious behavior started out as a joke, it became a self-parody by the end of 1987, so it wasn't a surprise that the group decided to revamp its sound and image during the next two years. During 1988, the Beasties became involved in a bitter lawsuit with Def Jam and Rick Rubin, who claimed he was responsible for their success and threatened to release outtakes as their second album. The Beasties finally broke away by the end of the year and relocated to California, where they signed with Capitol. While in California, they met the production team The Dust Brothers, and they convinced the duo to use their prospective debut album as the basis for the Beasties' second album, 'Paul's Boutique'. Densely layered with interweaving samples and pop culture references, the retro-funk-psychedelia of 'Paul's Boutique' was entirely different than 'Licensed to Ill', and many observers weren't quite sure what to make of it. Several publications gave it rave reviews, but when it failed to produce a single bigger than the number 36 "Hey Ladies," it was quickly forgotten about.
Despite its poor commercial performance, 'Paul's Boutique' gained a cult following, and its cut-and-paste sample techniques would later be hailed as visionary, especially after The Dust Brothers altered the approach for Beck's acclaimed 1996 album, 'Odelay'. Still, the record was declared a disaster in the early '90s, but that didn't prevent the Beasties from building their own studio and founding their own record label, Grand Royal, for their next record, 'Check Your Head'. Alternating between old-school hip-hop, raw amateur-ish funk, and hardcore punk, 'Check Your Head' was less accomplished than 'Paul's Boutique', but equally diverse. Furthermore, the burgeoning cult around the Beasties made the album a surprise Top Ten hit upon its spring 1992 release. "Jimmy James," "Pass the Mic," and "So Whatcha Want" were bigger hits on college and alternative rock radio than they were on rap radio, and the group suddenly became hip again.
Early in 1994, they collected their early punk recordings on the compilation 'Some Old Bullshit', which was followed in June by their fourth album, 'Ill Communication'. Essentially an extension of 'Check Your Head', the record debuted at number one upon its release, and the singles "Sabotage" and "Sure Shot" helped send it to double-platinum status. During the summer of 1994, they co-headlined the fourth Lollapalooza festival with the Smashing Pumpkins. That same year, Grand Royal became a full-fledged record label as it released Luscious Jackson's acclaimed debut album, 'Natural Ingredients'. The Beasties' Grand Royal magazine was also launched that year.
Over the next few years, the Beasties remained quiet as they concentrated on political causes and the machinations of their record label. In 1996, they released the hardcore EP 'Aglio e Olio' and the instrumental soul-jazz and funk collection 'The In Sound from Way Out!' Also that year, Adam Yauch organized a two-day festival to raise awareness about the plight of Tibet, and the festival went on to become an annual event. The Beastie Boys' long-awaited fifth LP, 'Hello Nasty', finally appeared during the summer of 1998 and became their third chart-topping album. A longer wait preceded release of their next record, 'To the 5 Boroughs', which appeared in mid-2004. In 2005, Capitol issued 'Solid Gold Hits', a 15-track survey of the Beasties' lengthy career. One year later, the band released a concert film titled "Awesome: I Fuckin' Shot That!", which had been pieced together from footage shot by 50 DV and Hi-8 cameras that had been distributed to fans. The DVD version appeared in July of that year.
An instrumental album, 'The Mix-Up', continued the band's prolific activity in 2007 and garnered a Grammy Award the following year. The Beastie Boys returned to rap with 'Hot Sauce Committee, Pt. 1', parts of which were previewed during the band's performance at the 2009 Bonnaroo Festival, but the album ended up unreleased in the wake of Yauch's announcement that he had cancer. He underwent successful surgery and radiation treatment, and the band announced late in 2010 that 'Hot Sauce Committee, Pt. 2' (including virtually all the material intended for the first volume) would be released in 2011. They made good on their promise; the album appeared in May, and was positively received both critically and commercially. One year later, however, in May of 2012, Yauch finally succumbed to cancer. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
Often called the Godfather of Punk, Iggy Pop created a Dionysian performance style and a variety of street-smart primitivism that made him one of rock's most influential figures when he co-founded The Stooges in 1967. There are few bands in punk (or any sort of left-of-center hard rock) that didn't draw influence from the three studio albums The Stooges released between 1969 and 1973 (especially 1970's 'Fun House' and 1973's 'Raw Power'). After the original collapse of The Stooges, Pop launched a career on his own that was every bit as uncompromising and significantly more diverse, and his first two solo albums, produced by David Bowie (1977's 'The Idiot' and 'Lust for Life') helped blaze a trail for post-punk. Through much of the 1970s and '80s, Pop explored a variety of musical avenues for his iconoclastic world view, but found a successful middle ground between the expressive and the commercially viable with 1990's 'Brick by Brick', which even produced a hit single, "Candy" (a duet with Kate Pierson of The B-52's). Into the 2000s, Pop sought to blend a new level of social commentary with impassioned hard rock, which climaxed with a Stooges reunion in 2003; along with extensive touring, the revived band cut a pair of new albums, 'The Weirdness' (2007) and 'Ready to Die' (2013). After the end of The Stooges, Pop collaborated with Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age for an album that recalled his work with Bowie, 2016's 'Post Pop Depression', and he explored new musical avenues outside the boundaries of rock music on 2009's Euro-pop-inspired 'Preliminaires', the ambient guitar and electronic soundscapes of 2019's 'Free', and an experimental collaboration with composer Catherine Graindorge, 2022's 'The Dictator'.
Born on April 21, 1947, in Muskegon, Michigan, James Newell Osterberg was raised by his parents in a trailer park close to Ann Arbor, in neighboring Ypsilanti. Intrigued by rock & roll (as well as such non-musical, monotonous, and mechanical sounds as his father's electric razor and the automobile assembly plants in and around Metro Detroit), Osterberg began playing drums and formed his first band, The Iguanas, in the early '60s. Via The Rolling Stones, he discovered the blues and formed a similarly styled outfit called The Prime Movers upon graduating from high school in 1965. When a brief stint at the University of Michigan didn't work out, he moved to Chicago instead, where he played drums alongside the city's bluesmen.
His heart remained with rock & roll, however, and shortly after returning to Ann Arbor, Osterberg decided to form a rock band. This time, he would leave the drums behind and be the frontman, taking inspiration from the likes of The Velvet Underground's Lou Reed and The Doors' Jim Morrison. He tried to find musicians who shared his musical vision: to create a band whose music would be primordial, sexually charged, aggressive, and repetitive (using his early electric razor/car plant memories for reference). In 1967, he hooked up with an old acquaintance from his high school days, guitarist Ron Asheton, who also brought along his brother, drummer Scott, and bassist Dave Alexander, thus forming The Psychedelic Stooges. Although it would take a while for their sound to jell -they experimented with such non-traditional instruments as empty oil drums, vacuums, and other objects before returning to their respective instruments- the group fit in perfectly with such other high-energy Detroit bands as the MC5, becoming a local attraction.
It was around this time that the group shortened its name to The Stooges, and Osterberg changed his own stage name to Iggy Pop. Using this moniker, Pop became a man possessed on-stage, going into the crowd nightly to confront members of the audience and working himself into such a frenzy that he would be bleeding by the end of the night from various nicks and scratches. Elektra Records signed the quartet in 1968, issuing their self-titled debut a year later and a follow-up effort, 'Fun House', in 1970. Although both records sold poorly upon release, they've since become rock classics, and can be pointed to as the official catalysts for what later became punk rock.
The Stooges were dropped from their record company in 1971 due to the public's disinterest and the group's growing addictions to hard drugs. Pop's continuous death-defying acts also worried the label, whose decision to drop the band led to The Stooges' breakup the same year. One of the band's more celebrated fans, David Bowie, tracked Pop down and convinced the newly clean and sober singer to restart his career. Pop enlisted guitarist James Williamson (who was briefly a second guitarist for The Stooges before their breakup) and, after the pair signed to Bowie's Mainman management company and relocated to England, they eventually reunited with the Asheton brothers, with Ron moving from the six-string guitar to the bass.
Signed by Columbia Records and hoping to follow in Bowie's footsteps toward a major commercial breakthrough, The Stooges penned another punk classic, the brutally explosive 'Raw Power'. Pop's plan for The Stooges' third release was equally brutal; he wanted to create a record that would be so powerful, so sonically over the top, that it would physically hurt the listener as it poured forth from the speakers. Although the resulting album wasn't quite that extreme, it came fairly close, with Bowie lending his own contributions as the album's producer. Once again, the album sank without a trace. By 1974, Pop and most of The Stooges had fallen back into the world of heavy drugs, and with their star fading, the band called it quits for a second (and final) time.
After spending a brief spell homeless on the streets of Hollywood, during which time there was an unsuccessful attempt to form a band with Pop and former Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek, Iggy Pop checked himself into the Neuropsychiatric Institute in Los Angeles. During his stay at the hospital, Pop made an attempt at writing and recording some new tunes with Williamson, but when no labels expressed interest, the two went their separate ways. (Completed demos of the sessions would surface on the 'Kill City' release in 1977; they would also appear on the 2005 compilation 'Penetration', which featured a number of widely circulated demos, outtakes, and alternate mixes from the 'Raw Power' sessions.)
During his hospital stay, another old friend came to visit him: David Bowie, whose career was still in high gear. Bowie offered to take Pop on the road with him during his tour in support of 'Station to Station', and the pair got along so well that they both moved to Berlin in late 1976, during which time Bowie helped Pop secure a solo record deal with RCA. Bowie had become interested in European electronic rock (Kraftwerk, Can, etc.) and later admitted that he used Pop as a musical guinea pig on such releases as 'The Idiot' and 'Lust for Life' (both issued in 1977 and produced/co-written by Bowie). Both albums sold better than the singer's previous efforts with The Stooges (particularly in the U.K., where Pop was looked upon as an icon by the burgeoning punk rock movement) as Bowie joined Pop on his world tour as a keyboardist. Shortly thereafter, a live album was culled from Pop's most recent tour, titled 'TV Eye (1977 Live)'. It was also around this time that Pop severed his ties with Bowie and struck out on his own.
Signing on with another new label, Arista, Pop reunited once more with James Williamson for 1979's 'New Values', an album that touched off a string of varied recordings on which Pop tried to reinvent himself as a new waver: 1980's 'Soldier', 1981's 'Party', and 1982's 'Zombie Birdhouse'. Also in 1982, Pop penned his autobiography, "I Need More", a fascinating book of rock & roll excess that chronicled his early years straight up to the then-present day. Despite the flurry of activity, Pop began succumbing to his vices once again and stepped out of the spotlight for a long stretch to sort his life out, during which time Bowie scored a massive hit with a remake of the Pop/Bowie nugget "China Girl" (recorded earlier on Pop's 'The Idiot'). It wasn't until 1986 that Pop resurfaced, signing a new contract with A&M and issuing the Bowie-produced 'Blah Blah Blah', which featured his first U.S. hit single (albeit a moderate one), a cover of "Real Wild Child." Released in 1988, 'Instinct' saw Pop try his hand at hard rock/heavy metal, joined by ex-Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones. Its "Cold Metal" was nominated for a Grammy in the category of Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance. Pop's first album for Virgin, 1990's 'Brick by Brick', resulted in his first U.S. gold-certified album and Top 20 hit single "Candy," a tuneful duet with The B-52s' Kate Pierson.
Just as in the mid-'70s when Pop was looked up to by a slew of up-and-coming punk bands, history repeated itself in the early '90s with the emergence of such Stooges disciples from Seattle as Nirvana, Mudhoney, Soundgarden, etc. Around the same time, a wide variety of bands covered Pop and/or Stooges tracks -Slayer, Duran Duran, Guns N' Roses, R.E.M., and Tom Jones- while Pop issued another fine solo set, 1993's 'American Caesar'. In 1996, Pop attempted to re-create The Stooges' sound and approach with 'Naughty Little Doggie', and enjoyed another hit when the nearly 20-year-old "Lust for Life" was used prominently in the movie "Trainspotting". Throughout the decade, Pop also tried his hand at acting in movies, scoring bit parts in such flicks as "Cry Baby", "Dead Man", and "The Crow II: City of Angels", plus a recurring role on the TV show "The Adventures of Pete & Pete". Although he wasn't involved in it, the 1998 movie "Velvet Goldmine" was allegedly based on Bowie and Pop's relationship in the early '70s (Ewan McGregor's character, Curt Wild, was obviously patterned after Stooges-era Pop).
With just about every new rock band listing The Stooges as a major influence by the late '90s, Iggy tentatively began looking back to the band's legacy. He personally remixed a newly remastered version of 'Raw Power' in 1997, after the long-lost original master tapes were rediscovered, and Pop moved the album closer to his original vision of a total sonic onslaught. Also released around this time was another Pop/Stooges-related book, the must-read "Please Kill Me: The Oral History of Punk", which recounted The Stooges' career in great detail (featuring interviews with all the band's surviving members). The year 1999 was a busy one for Pop as he was the subject of a VH1 Behind the Music episode, and a new solo album was issued, the laid-back 'Avenue B'. But his more "refined" musical approach was strictly a detour, as proven by his next release, 2001's in-your-face rockfest 'Beat Em Up'.
After abandoning a promised Stooges reunion in the late '90s, Pop finally made good on his pledge in 2003, bringing Ron Asheton and Scott Asheton aboard to write and record four songs with him for his album 'Skull Ring', and taking the reconstituted Stooges on the road for a short but riotously received tour (with Mike Watt standing in for the late Dave Alexander on bass, and with the set dominated by tunes from 'The Stooges' and 'Fun House'). In 2004, Iggy appeared in Jim Jarmusch's "Coffee and Cigarettes". After issuing the January 2005 effort 'Penetration', Pop released the retrospective 'A Million in Prizes: The Anthology', which spanned his entire career and included a 37-track CD, a previously unreleased live DVD, and a round of essays about Pop's legacy penned by notables like Bowie and Lou Reed. Pop released another compilation, 'Where the Faces Shine', the following year.
Iggy Pop maintained his profile during the subsequent years by appearing on an album by Praxis, singing on the Teddybears track "Punkrocker," performing several Madonna songs at the induction ceremony of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and appearing in TV advertisements for the British insurance company Swiftcover. Back in Ann Arbor, however, Asheton suffered a fatal heart attack in early 2009, robbing Pop of his best friend and plunging The Stooges' career into instability. Nonetheless, Pop released another solo record, 'Preliminaires', that May, taking his inspiration from jazz music and the work of French novelist Michel Houellebecq. In 2010, Pop and the rest of The Stooges were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Iggy continued to tour with The Stooges (now featuring James Williamson on guitar) throughout 2010 and into 2011, taking time to pursue a couple of solo side projects, including singing with The Lilies and with Ke$ha, plus the 2012 album 'Apres', where he sang French standards (and The Beatles' "Michelle," which does have a verse in French). In 2013, Pop went full-bore with the Williamson-fueled 'Raw Power' era of The Stooges, touring and releasing the 'Ready to Die' album in April of that year. However, after the death of Stooges drummer Scott Asheton in 2014, the band quietly broke up, and the next time Pop set out on a tour of the United States in 2015, it was as a solo artist with a different backing band.
In January 2016, a surprise announcement from Pop and Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age, Eagles of Death Metal) revealed that the pair had written an album together with the help of Dean Fertita (QOTSA, The Dead Weather) and Matt Helders (Arctic Monkeys). Recorded secretly and funded entirely independently, 'Post Pop Depression' (Loma Vista) featured the single "Gardenia" and a short supporting tour with live backing from Troy Van Leeuwen (QOTSA) and Matt Sweeney (Chavez). Frequently compared to Pop's first two solo albums with David Bowie, the set was nominated for a Grammy in the Best Alternative Music Album category. 'Teatime Dub Encounters', a four-track EP produced by fellow "Trainspotting" soundtrack contributors Underworld, appeared in 2018. Iggy's next solo project found him stepping back from rock & roll; 2019's 'Free' was dominated by trumpet and atmospheric guitar patterns, and included a musical adaptation of Dylan Thomas' "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night."
A pair of artifacts from Iggy's past would soon surface: 2019's 'The Prime Movers Blues Band' collected unreleased live recordings of the Ann Arbor blues band he played drums with in the mid-'60s, and 2020's 'Live at Goose Lake, August 8, 1970' was sourced from a soundboard tape that captured The Stooges' appearance at the Goose Lake International Music Festival, where they played 'Fun House' in full. Pop stayed busy with European touring and collaborations with a rich variety of artists. Bill Laswell and The Opening Performance Orchestra brought him on board to read the narration for their 2020 musical adaptation of William S. Burroughs' "The Acid Lands". He popped up on a 2021 release from jazz organ master Dr. Lonnie Smith, 'Breathe', adding vocals to covers of Donovan's "Sunshine Superman" and Timmy Thomas' "Why Can't We Live Together." 2021's 'I'll Be Your Mirror: A Tribute to the Velvet Underground and Nico' was an all-star re-creation of the iconic proto-punk album, and he was matched with guitarist Matt Sweeney for an interpretation of "European Son." A poem Pop wrote after the death of his parents, "Mom and Dad," was an alternately bitter and poignant meditation on life and loss, and classical harpist Lavinia Meijer set it to music for her 2022 album 'Are You Still Somewhere?', with Iggy as narrator. Pop lent suitably histrionic vocals to the reworked version of "Kick Me" that appeared on Danny Elfman's 2022 remix album 'Bigger. Messier'. Pop encountered the work of Belgian composer/violinist Catherine Graindorge, and quickly became a fan, playing two of her compositions during an appearance on BBC Radio 6. Graindorge reached out to Pop and asked if he would be willing to work together. Pop immediately agreed, and together they created four songs, with Graindorge composing and performing the music and Pop writing and reading the narration. The four pieces appeared on an EP, 2022's 'The Dictator', from Glitterbeat Records. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
Alaska y los Pegamoides was formed in 1979, after the dissolution of Kaka de Luxe, of which four of its members (Alaska, Nacho Canut, Manolo Campoamor and Carlos Berlanga) were a part of. These four, having realized that the affinity between them was greater and their common interests were completely different from the rest of the band's, which led them to strike out on a different path. In the beginning, they were joined by Poch (who would later join Ejecutivos Agresivos and form Derribos Arias) on solo guitar, and ex-KakaJavier Hamilton (Javier Furia) as backing vocalist, who would soon go on to Radio Futura. The departure of their first drummer, Álvaro de Torres, who also came from Kaka de Luxe, was caused an ideological disagreement between Álvaro and the rest of the group, who did not want to introduce a drum machine that Alaska had bought for his songs, among other disagreements.
They were later joined by two new members: Ana Curra, whom they met at the Pentagrama bar in Madrid, and Eduardo Benavente, who joined after the departure of previous drummer Juan Luis Vizcaya to Ejecutivos Agresivos, who had been unhappy with the inclusion of keyboards. Another departure from the group was that of Manolo Campoamor, who had been their first vocalist. His position was filled first by Carlos and then finally by Alaska, who stopped playing the guitar. Manolo created a new identity, Eddie Neoprene, and tried to form a group with that name to gradually detach himself from the world of music. Still without Eduardo, they participated in the Tribute Concert to Canito (the drummer of Tos, who died in a traffic accident) in February 1980, their first and only concert with a drum machine instead of drums (although two years later they would repeat this for a recording of "Popgrama" by TVE). With this formation, the group recorded their first single, "Horror En El Hipermercado", produced by Julián Ruiz, in 1980. This song became a relative success thanks to its radio broadcast, which facilitated the recording of their second single one year later.
In 1981, their parallel group, Parálisis Permanente, was formed by Nacho Canut and Eduardo Benavente. Their sound reflected the British punk trends of the moment. Alaska and Ana Curra participated, along with Los Nikis, in the Negros, SA project. Ana Curra and Benavente also created another parallel group, Los Seres Vacíos. All these groups released albums in 1982, while Alaska y los Pegamoides were enjoying their most successful period. Before Parálisis Permanente, Eduardo had formed another parallel group, Escaparates. Nacho and Carlos, along with Fernando Márquez, started a new parallel project, called Piernas Ortopédicas, from which songs like "Tokyo" (which the Pegamoides would later record) or "Rendibú en el Hipódromo" (played by The Pegamoides and recorded by Radio Futura under the title "Ivonne") came out.
The dissolution of the group became inevitable during from the recording of their first and only album between the end of 1981 and the beginning of 1982, which was followed by the departure of Carlos Berlanga. In 1982, two more singles were still released, "La Línea Se Cortó", and "El Jardín". Meanwhile, Berlanga formed Dinarama with his childhood friend Nacho Canut, but The Pegamoides still held out until the end of 1982. Tensions within the group led to its dissolution. Alaska, despite having announced her solo career, ended up joining Berlanga's new project, Dinarama, which would soon be renamed Alaska y Dinarama, and would later become one of the most popular groups on the Spanish music scene during the 1980s.
Their last concert was on November 26, 1982, at the Yoko Lennon's nightclub in Bilbao. This concert was released on CD in 1997 by Subterfuge along with another CD with several demo tracks that the group had recorded for Hispavox. They would still meet again on one occasion, on March 1, 1983, to perform at the Rockola room, at the 1st Fiesta of Diario Pop, with the absence of Carlos Berlanga, who was completing his mandatory military service period at the time. [SOURCE: UNEARTHING THE MUSIC]
With their raw, enthusiastic immaturity, The Adverts were a bright, though short-lived, light of the punk era, distinguished by the fact that their bassist, Gaye Advert, was one of the first female stars of punk rock. After they (barely) mastered one chord, The Adverts began playing at London's Roxy Club in 1976, where they quickly came to the attention of the Damned's guitarist Brian James. James offered the band an opening spot on The Damned's tour and directed them toward Stiff Records. Stiff released their self-deprecating debut single, "One Chord Wonders," in 1977, when the band could still barely play, but when they released their second single, the disturbingly funny "Gary Gilmore's Eyes," the group rocketed into the U.K. Top 20 in a storm of controversy. The Adverts' first album, 'Crossing the Red Sea With the Adverts', fulfilled the single's promise, but the second, 1979's 'Cast of Thousands', sounded like they poured all of their musical ideas into their first album; the group broke up the following year. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
One of the first punk-metal fusion bands, Corrosion of Conformity were formed in North Carolina by guitarist Woody Weatherman during the early '80s. In their early years, C.O.C. became known for their aggressive sound, intelligent political lyrics, and willingness to break away from both hardcore and metal conventions. In the '90s, their shift to a more stripped-down, deliberate sound -sort of Black Sabbath filtered through the Deep South- brought them enough in line with the alt-metal Zeitgeist to bring them a measure of mainstream popularity.
C.O.C. debuted in 1983 with the thrashy, Black Flag-influenced 'Eye for an Eye', featuring a lineup of Weatherman, drummer Reed Mullin, vocalist Eric Eycke, and bassist Mike Dean. They began to build up a cult following with 1985's 'Animosity', but their label at the time, Death, grew tired of their internal instability -lineup changes found Eycke replaced by vocalist Simon Bob- and dropped them following 1987's 'Technocracy'. It took several years for a new lineup to come together -featuring Weatherman, guitarist Pepper Keenan, Mullin, vocalist Karl Agell, and bassist Phil Swisher- but when it did, the result was 1991's 'Blind', a powerful, focused, more metallic record that increased their audience by leaps and bounds. Agell was fired following its success, and he and Swisher went on to form Leadfoot; meanwhile, Keenan became the full-time lead vocalist on 1994's even more Sabbath-esque 'Deliverance', which also featured the return of original bassist Mike Dean. During 1995, Keenan took a short detour into the Southern metal supergroup Down (which also featured Pantera's Phil Anselmo and members of Crowbar).
Thanks to a shift in popular taste in favor of the ultra-heavy brand of alternative metal, the group had helped pioneer, C.O.C. found themselves with a larger audience than ever before when they released 1996's 'Wiseblood', which continued and expanded their rock radio success. After a lengthy break from recording and a world tour with Metallica, C.O.C. returned with a new album in the fall of 2000, titled 'America's Volume Dealer'. Another break ensued, resulting in the release of the live recording 'Live Volume' in 2001. It wasn't until April of 2005 that the band regrouped for the hard-hitting and complex 'In the Arms of God'. C.O.C. went on hiatus, with the members working on various side projects until 2010, when drummer Reed Mullin rejoined the band, reuniting the 'Animosity' lineup while Pepper Keenan continued working with his other band, Down. The remaining trio began work on new material, and in 2012 released their eighth album, the eponymous 'Corrosion of Conformity', on Candlelight Records. Their ninth album, aptly titled 'IX', arrived in 2014. Shortly after the latter LP's release, C.O.C. reunited with Keenan and began work on their tenth studio long-player, 'No Cross No Crown', which dropped in January 2018. The band announced the death of Reed Mullin on January 27, 2020. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
Models were a short-lived 1977 punk band formed in Harrow, London, United Kingdom. Band members were Cliff Fox on vocals and guitar, Marco Pirroni on guitar, Mick Allen on bass and Terry Day on drums. This band are sometimes referred to as The Models, but the name on their only official single (and record) is Models.
Pirroni and Allen befriended while attending art school in Harrow. When punk emerged in 1976, the first formed Siouxsie and the Banshees, playing guitar, although for brief time. Shortly after that, he and Allen formed a band called The Beastly Cads, who later changed their name to Models. The band only released one single "Freeze" and recorded four songs in the Peel Sessions, before dissolving. Later, Pirroni and Allen formed Rema-Rema, a post-punk band.
Pirroni later reteamed up with Terry Day, who since then was named Terry Lee Miall, in Adam and the Ants, beginning to work alongside that band's singer and frontman, Adam Ant. Allen went on to other projects, the longest running being The Wolfgang Press on the influential British record label 4AD. After the demise of the band he paired up with Giuseppe De Bellis, to form the experiment project Geniuser. [SOURCE: JOHN PEEL WIKI]
Led by vocalist and frontman Gene October, Chelsea were one of the pioneering bands on the British punk scene, with a tough sound and a populist outlook typified in songs like "Right to Work" and "Urban Kids." Thanks to October's tenacity, they became an enduring presence in U.K. punk, and though the band sounded a bit faster and louder on latter-day albums like 2015's 'Saturday Night Sunday Morning' and 2005's 'Faster, Cheaper & Better Looking' than on early efforts such as 1979's 'Chelsea' and 1982's 'Evacuate' (and October's voice showed signs of wear over time), their commitment to the essential rudiments of first-wave U.K. punk never wavered. Chelsea have gone through so many personnel changes that October himself probably has trouble sorting them out, but he's kept the band in front of audiences since the mid-'70s, with a pair of genuine pop stars (Billy Idol and Sting) briefly included in the lineup.
Based in London, Gene October formed the first edition of Chelsea in August 1976; he placed an ad in the U.K. music journal Melody Maker looking for musicians, and from the responses he came up with a line-up featuring William Broad on guitar, Tony James on bass, and John Towe on drums. In October 1976, they played their first gig, opening for Throbbing Gristle in London. Eager to create more opportunities for punk bands to play, October persuaded the management of a gay nightspot called Shageramas to book punk bands and change the venue's name to The Roxy. Chelsea would become frequent guests at The Roxy, but the first lineup quickly splintered, with Broad, James, and Towe striking out on their own. The three formed a new group, Generation X, with Broad taking on a stage name, Billy Idol, that would serve him well in the years to come.
Undaunted, October put together another Chelsea lineup, featuring guitarist Marty Stacey, bassist Bob Jessie, and drummer Carey Fortune; Stacey and Jessie didn't last long in the band, and were quickly replaced by Henry Daze (aka Henry Badowski) on bass and James Stevenson on guitar. This version of Chelsea lasted long enough to record the band's first single, 1977's anthemic "Right to Work," and the track was featured in Derek Jarman's film "Jubilee", in which October appeared as an actor. Later in 1977, Chelsea's second single, "High Rise Living," arrived in shops, which documented yet another lineup shift, as Simon Cade Williams (aka Simon Vitesse) took over on bass. In August 1978, Chelsea released their third single, "Urban Kids," which was produced by former Who manager Kit Lambert. The single also unveiled another Chelsea lineup, with October and Stevenson now joined by guitarist Dave Martin, bassist Geoff Myles, and drummer Steve J. Jones.
By the end of 1978, Steve J. Jones dropped out and Chris Bashford took over on drums; this version of the band would cut Chelsea's self-titled debut album, and stay together for close to two years. The group toured extensively in 1979, opening a string of dates for The Clash and headlining shows with an up and coming act called The Police as their opening act. Chelsea dropped three singles in 1980 ("No Escape," "No-One's Coming Outside," and "Look at the Outside") before a mass exodus left October in need of a band; a short-lived ad hoc version of Chelsea toured the United States and appeared in the documentary "Urgh! A Music War" performing "I'm on Fire." In early 1981, Chelsea returned to the stage with October accompanied by Nic Austin and Stephen Corfield on guitars, Tim Griffin on bass, and Sol Mintz (aka Malcolm Asling) on drums. This edition of Chelsea cut a pair of singles, "Rockin' Horse" and "Freemans," but Griffin quit in September 1981. The group had a gig the next night, so October recruited a fill-in bassist -Sting, a friend since the days when The Police opened for Chelsea. Sting was a bit too busy to join Chelsea full-time, and Paul "Linc" Lincoln signed on as bassist. After the departure of Stephen Corfield, Chelsea continued on as a quartet, and cut their second full-length album, 1982's 'Evacuate'. By this time, U.K. punk was experiencing a revival of interest thanks to bands like The Anti-Nowhere League and The Exploited, and Chelsea found themselves eagerly embraced by fans of these gritty, no-frills acts. However, after a tour of the United States, tensions once again came to a head in the group, and Chelsea broke up at the end of 1982.
October briefly launched a solo career, releasing the singles "Suffering in the Land" (1983) and "Don't Quit" (1984), but by 1985 October had revived Chelsea, with a lineup featuring guitarists Tim Briffa and Phoenix, bassist Peter Dimmock, and drummer Geoff Colvill. This edition of the band cut the album 'Original Sinners', while Briffa and Colvill were out and guitarist Jonnie Dee, drummer Mark Rathbone, and guitarist Wally Grip were in when 'Rocks Off' arrived in 1986. October practically started from scratch for 1989's 'Underwraps'; only Wally Grip remained, with guitarist Steve Tannett and drummer Jamie Abethell making their debuts and Paul Lincoln returning on bass. (Former Clash drummer Topper Headon appeared on one track.) Lincoln was out by 1992, when Chelsea released 'The Alternative', produced by Dave Goodman (best known for his work with The Sex Pistols), but another former member, guitarist Nic Austin, returned to the fold, with Mat Sargent on bass and Stuart Soulsby on drums rounding out this edition of the group. Chelsea toured Europe and the U.K. in support, with additional guitarist Rob Miller filling out their sound. Goodman was also at the controls for 1996's 'Traitors Gate', which in its original version featured the severed heads of several noted rock stars impaled on spikes, including one-time band member Billy Idol and friend Sting. (Most copies of the album censored the potentially offensive images.) Between the release of those two albums, October found time to write and record a solo album, 1995's 'Life and Struggle'.
In 1999, Gene October reunited the Chelsea lineup that recorded their debut album -James Stevenson, Dave Martin, Geoff Myles, and Chris Bashford- for an American concert tour. This version of the band also played a few festival and club dates in the U.K. in 2000 and 2001, while they later did a string of European dates with bassist Tony Barber of the Buzzcocks standing in for Myles. Stevenson, Barber, and Bashford joined October in the studio to cut 2005's 'Faster, Cheaper, & Better Looking'. Chelsea hit the road again in 2011 with October and Stevenson aided by two returning veterans of the group, Nic Austin and Mat Sargent, as well as drummer Lee Morrell. The group took a fresh batch of songs into the studio to cut 2015's 'Saturday Night Sunday Morning', and remarkably enough, the same lineup was still intact for 2017's 'Mission Impossible'. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
The Cortinaswere, initially at least, Bristol's best-known punk-era band; they were the first punk group from the city to attract the attention of the national music press and radio, the first to release a single, and the first to release a major-label album. During their short lifetime, they were the center of a scene that included Social Security, The Media, The Pigs, and of course The Pop Group, who by the end of 1978 had eclipsed all of their Bristolian peers.
The band formed in 1976, its members still in their mid-teens and attending high school. Featuring Dexter Dalwood (bass), Mike Fewings (guitar), Nick Sheppard (guitar), Daniel Swan (drums), and Jeremy Valentine (vocals), The Cortinas drew on influences ranging from U.S. garage rock and '60s British R&B to glam and pub rock.
By early 1977, they had graduated from the local circuit to gigs in London, performing at the Roxy during the club's mythical first 100 days. Their brand of stripped-down, accelerated R&B, punctuated with bolshy, shouty vocals, found favor with the early punk crowd and several labels began to express an interest. Eventually, the group chose to sign with Step Forward, owned by Miles Copeland and run by Mark Perry (editor of "Sniffin' Glue" fanzine and frontman for Alternative TV).
Things began to happen fast: higher-profile gigs followed as The Cortinas opened for Television, Blondie, and The Stranglers; they recorded a session for the BBC's John Peel show; and Step Forward issued their debut single ("Fascist Dictator"/"Television Families"). A second single ("Defiant Pose"/"Independence") appeared at the end of the year. Although the record cover was designed by Hipgnosis, who produced artwork for punk's greatest nemeses (Pink Floyd, Genesis, and ELP), it remains one of punk's most memorable sleeves: A middle-class couple look dismayed and disapproving while, behind them, their teenage son vomits copiously at the kitchen table.
The Cortinas ultimately switched to a major label (CBS) and released their debut album, 'True Romances', in 1978. This record signaled a change in direction, away from the fast and loud simplicity of punk toward what would soon be called power pop. Nevertheless, critics felt that the record failed to live up to the promise of the band's first two 45s. One more single followed ("Heartache"/"Ask Mr. Waverly") and The Cortinas split at the end of the year.
The bandmembers moved on to other projects. Fewings joined Essential Bop. Swan resurfaced in the San Francisco power pop act The Sneetches and later played in The Cuban Heels. Sheppard joined The Spics, The Clash, and then Head. Valentine briefly hooked up with members of the Glaxo Babies and Maximum Joy and later taught in the Department of Media and Communication at Queen Margaret University College, Edinburgh. Dalwood toured with XTC's Barry Andrews and also found considerable fame in the '90s as a painter. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
The Mono Men were an American garage punk band, based in Bellingham, Washington. Their sound contained elements of grunge (distortion-heavy guitars, sneering vocals), but The Mono Men filtered these through a mimicry of 1960s Washington proto-punk, garage rock bands such as The Sonics. The group was formed by members of another Washington band, The Roofdogs. John Mortensen came from The Dehumanizers and Game For Vultures before joining The Mono Men. The band came together in late 1987. They played shows in Europe, Mexico, Japan, Canada, and the United States. They were featured in the Northwest Rock & Roll documentary "Hype!". Their albums all received generally positive reviews. The band split in 1998, though in 2006, The Mono Men reunited to play a series of concerts called the "Spanish Attack." The band reunited in 2013 to play shows in Bellingham and Seattle in the US, plus a tour in Latin America with shows in Mexico, Argentina and Brazil. [SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA]
