The Untouchables were a Ska and Soul band from the Silver Lake, Los Angeles, formed in 1981 as part of the embryonic L.A. mod revival, and after being inspired by the ska revival/punk rock band The Boxboys. Since some couldn't play instruments, they either hastily learned, or became vocalists. The original lineup included: Kevin Long (vocals), Chuck Askerneese (vocals), Terry Ellsworth (rhythm guitar), Clyde Grimes (guitar), Rob Lampron (drums), Herman Askerneese (bass) and Jerry Miller (vocals, timbales). The Untouchables debuted in 1984 with 'Live & Let Dance' recorded for England's Stiff Records, They released 'Wild Child' in 1985 but after the 1986 EP 'Dance Party', The Untouchables were silent for several years. Finally, 1989's 'Agent Double O Soul' appeared, with the Edwin Starr soul nugget covered therein. The 1990 live album 'Decade of Dance' was the group's last. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
Makin' Time came out of the Black Country area around Wolverhampton in the mid-80s, right when the mod revival scene was having another spark. They were part of that wave of young bands looking back to the sharp style and energy of the 60s, but with their own twist, mixing punchy pop with a strong dose of soul influences.
The lineup was tight and pretty classic: Mark McGounden on vocals and guitar, Fay Hallam on organ and vocals, Martin Blunt on bass, and Neil Clitheroe on drums. Each of them brought something distinct, but it was Hallam’s Hammond organ and voice that often gave the songs that extra kick, while McGounden handled much of the songwriting drive.
They got going around 1984 and quickly built a reputation as a lively act, landing a deal with Countdown Records and putting out their debut single “Here Is My Number,” produced by Pat Collier. Their first album 'Rhythm and Soul' dropped in 1985, followed by 'No Lumps of Fat or Gristle Guaranteed' a year later. The records captured that mix of catchy pop hooks and retro soul vibes, but despite the buzz and strong live shows, mainstream chart success never really clicked.
The whole thing was short-lived, wrapping up after just a couple of years and two studio albums. Still, the story didn’t end there. Martin Blunt went on to join The Charlatans, while Fay Hallam built a long career through different projects and solo work. McGounden moved into other bands like The Upper Fifth, and Clitheroe also stayed active in music.
Even without big chart hits, Makin’ Time left a solid mark on the mid-80s UK scene. They were one of those bands that captured a moment -young, stylish, and full of energy- bridging the gap between mod nostalgia and something fresher, with just enough attitude to keep things interesting.
Multi-instrumentalist, singer, and composer Jakko Jakszyk (aka Jakko M. Jakszyk or the mononymous Jakko) spent years as a valued contributor to British prog and art rock before gaining his widest recognition in the 2010s as lead singer and guitarist in a reboot of King Crimson, a band he had loved since first hearing the durable and groundbreaking proggers in the late '60s (when his age in years had scarcely reached double-digit territory). Born Michael Lee Curran in 1958 in Highgate, London, as a teenager he intended to become a professional soccer player, but he failed his trial with Watford Football Club. Already playing guitar in his bedroom, he also enjoyed acting, and joined the National Youth Theatre at the age of 14. His first band, a trio named Soon After, was formed a year later. In 1975, Soon After won third place in a Melody Maker National Rock Competition.
Jakszyk eventually found acting work after leaving school, participating in the Sixty Four Spoons troupe, whose marriage of punk rock attitude with classical musicianship and bawdy music-hall humor created a memorable sight around the lesser venues of England. Through the Spoons, he met keyboardist Dave Stewart (Egg, Hatfield and the North, National Health), with whom he toured England and Europe, before appearing on Stewart's recording of "What Becomes of the Broken Hearted?" with Colin Blunstone and Barbara Gaskin. He signed a solo recording contract with Chiswick Records in 1981. A series of singles ensued while an album, 'Silesia', was released only in Germany. Jakszyk then moved to Stiff Records for more singles and a second album.
By 1985, Jakszyk had joined Mark Dean's Innervision/MDM record label for album number three. In 1987 he formed an all-acoustic Indo-fusion band named Dizrhythmia, which included Danny Thompson on double bass and various Indian classical musicians. A self-titled album, released by Antilles Records, found critical favor both in the U.K. and U.S. Jakszyk then moved to New York to join avant-garde rock band The Lodge, whose personnel included ex-Henry Cow members John Greaves and Peter Blegvad, plus Anton Fier of the Golden Palominos on drums. After contributing to and arranging material on Sam Brown's 'Stop!' album, he joined with Tom Robinson to tour and co-write the album 'We Never Had It So Good'. Jakszyk joined Level 42 as lead guitarist in 1991, by which time his session credits included Swing Out Sister, Gary Moore, and Mica Paris. In June 1994, the Resurgence label released 'Kingdom of Dust', a mini-album recorded with three ex-members of Japan: Richard Barbieri, Steven Jansen, and Mick Karn. It was followed by the Jakszyk solo album 'Mustard Gas & Roses' in 1995. During the '90s, Jakszyk also undertook 'The Road to Ballina', a biographical project involving both music and spoken word that was broadcast on BBC Radio 3 in December 1996, and released by Resurgence in a CD version early the following year.
In 2002, Jakszyk took a key but not yet recognized step toward later membership in King Crimson by forming the Crimson repertory outfit 21st Century Schizoid Band along with other KC alumni including Ian McDonald, Mel Collins, Peter Giles, Michael Giles, and Ian Wallace. The group toured in the U.K., North America, and Japan over the next five years, and self-released a handful of live albums, before disbanding upon Wallace's death in 2007. Meanwhile, Jakszyk had tapped both previous and new collaborators -including Stewart, Collins, McDonald, Wallace, Soft Machine's Hugh Hopper, and notably Robert Fripp, King Crimson's guiding force for nearly a half century- for appearances on his 2006 double-CD 'The Bruised Romantic Glee Club', which comprised one disc of heartfelt personal songs and a second disc of classic prog, avant-prog, and art rock covers originally recorded by the likes of Crimson, Soft Machine, and Henry Cow.
Following 'The Bruised Romantic Glee Club's release and after hearing Jakko sing "Islands" at Ian Wallace's funeral, Fripp invited Jakszyk to collaborate with him, and their project ultimately expanded to include saxophonist Collins for the 2011 Jakszyk, Fripp and Collins album 'A Scarcity of Miracles', which also featured participation from previous Crimson drummer Gavin Harrison and bassist Tony Levin. King Crimson was not active at the time, but by the fall of 2013 Fripp announced that the legendary prog outfit would indeed be re-forming, and the following year the lineup was set, building on the foundation of 'A Scarcity of Miracles' participants Jakszyk, Fripp, Collins, Levin, and Harrison, and also adding previous bandmember Pat Mastelotto and newcomer Bill Rieflin. This largest ever King Crimson aggregation, with Jakszyk on vocals and second guitar (and even adding an eighth member, Jeremy Stacey), covered Crimson repertory from 1969's 'In the Court of the Crimson King' onward. For the next several years, the band toured worldwide and released a number of well-received live albums, including 2016's 'Radical Action to Unseat the Hold of Monkey Mind' and the following year's 'Heroes' EP, featuring the David Bowie title track, on which Jakszyk delivered a fine singing performance and Fripp revisited the guitar sustain he had played on the original Bowie song in 1977.
Jakszyk has also produced several artists, appeared on television programs including "French and Saunders" and "Birds of a Feather", and written about music widely in such publications as Melody Maker and Musicians Only. His television incidental music has been heard on the BAFTA-nominated "Chef", "Jo Brand Through the Cakehole", and "Birds of a Feather". [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
Passion Puppets were a British new wave band that caught radio listeners with one clever single, "Like Dust," before abruptly vanishing. Seemingly an ode to Italian Western films, "Like Dust," a cult hit on Canadian radio in the '80s, is more often remembered than the group that actually performed it. Formed in 1983 in Camden, England, Passion Puppets featured Ray Burmiston (vocals), Miki Screene (bass, vocals), Andy P. (guitars), Dave Rollins (guitars), and Simon Langford Godfrey (drums). Passion Puppets released three singles, "Like Dust," "Voices," and "Beyond the Pale," on Stiff Records in the U.K. between 1983 to 1984. In 1984, the band released its only album, 'Beyond the Pale', distributed in the U.S. by MCA Records. The LP didn't sell well and the group split up soon thereafter. Burmiston embarked on a career as a photographer, snapping pictures of pop stars for record companies and British teen magazines. In 1994, an extended version of "Like Dust" appeared on 'Hardest Hits, Vol. 1', introducing the out-of-print record to a new generation of fans; it was the first time the band had ever been heard on CD. In 2000, Burmiston recorded an album called 'Miniworld' under the name Kicking the Moon. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
Before she became a famous TV comedienne, Tracy Ullman recorded two albums in the early '80s that effortlessly recalled the classic girl group sound of the '60s. Ullman covered everything from Doris Day ("Move Over Darling") to Blondie ("[I'm Always Touched by Your] Presence, Dear"), finding the underlying connections between classic pop songs of all eras. 'You Broke My Heart in 17 Places', her debut album, was a hit in the U.K., and she even managed to have a Top Ten hit in America with a version of Kirsty MacColl's "They Don't Know." Although it had some fine numbers, the follow-up, 'You Caught Me Out', wasn't as successful, prompting Ullman to return to television. By the end of the '80s, her comedy show, "The Tracy Ullman Show", was one of the most critically acclaimed television shows in America; she hasn't recorded any music since. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
Talking about Via Vagabond as if it were a standalone band is a bit misleading; it’s actually tied to the orbit of Anne Pigalle, and more specifically to a track and creative project that came out of her mid-80s work. What people sometimes refer to as "Via Vagabond" is really the collaboration around that song and the aesthetic world built with Nick Plytas, who played a key role behind the scenes.
So here’s the vibe. In the mid-1980s, Pigalle was moving between Paris and London, soaking up punk, cabaret, fashion, and art scenes, and turning all of that into something theatrical and slightly surreal. She wasn’t just a singer; more like a full-on performer mixing poetry, chanson, and new wave attitude. Around that time she released her debut album 'Everything Could Be So Perfect' (1985), where “Via Vagabond” appears as one of the standout tracks.
Nick Plytas was right there in the engine room of that sound. He handled piano, organ, and synths, and contributed heavily to the songwriting and arrangements, shaping that lush, slightly cinematic backdrop that lets Pigalle’s voice drift between cabaret drama and dreamlike pop. The chemistry between them is what gives “Via Vagabond” its identity: a mix of elegance and oddness, like wandering through a smoky club at 3 a.m. with half the lights off.
Pigalle herself came out of a pretty wild cultural mix: Montmartre roots, early exposure to punk gigs in the ’70s, and later immersion in London’s Soho nightlife. That whole background bleeds into the project; you get traces of French chanson, avant-garde performance art, and a kind of romantic decadence that feels very tied to that era.
Rather than a traditional band with a fixed lineup, Via Vagabond works better as a snapshot of a collaboration and a moment. It captures Pigalle’s artistic universe at a time when pop, art, and underground culture were constantly overlapping, with Plytas helping translate those ideas into sound. The result feels less like a group effort in the usual sense and more like a creative partnership frozen inside one track and one album.
Pookiesnackenburger were one of those wonderfully odd, blink-and-you-miss-it groups that could only really have come out of early-’80s Brighton. Formed around 1981, they pulled together a mix of busking culture, post-punk energy, and theatrical chaos into something that didn’t quite fit any category. The core lineup included John Helmer, Luke Cresswell, Nick Dwyer, Paul Clark, Steve McNicholas and Sue Bradley, each bringing a slightly different background from the local underground scene.
What made them stand out was how loose and inventive everything felt. They weren’t just playing songs; they were staging them. Guitars, violins, sax and accordion sat alongside clattering rhythms and physical comedy, often performed with a busker’s sense of spontaneity. Their shows leaned heavily into visual humour and timing, the kind of thing that worked just as well on a street corner as it did in a late-night cabaret slot. Audiences at festivals like Edinburgh got something closer to a pop-up theatre piece than a gig.
By 1985 they’d made enough noise to land a short run on Channel 4, a five-episode series that captured their offbeat style on screen. It had that deliberately scruffy, self-aware feel that a lot of alternative comedy and music TV was experimenting with at the time. Around the same period, they were also releasing records and popping up in unexpected places, including a now-legendary Heineken advert built around rhythmic bin-bashing.
They didn’t last long, splitting up the same year their TV series aired, but the story doesn’t stop there. A couple of members, especially Cresswell and McNicholas, kept pushing the idea of turning everyday objects into instruments and performance into something physical and percussive. That thread leads straight to Stomp, which took those early ideas and scaled them up into an international stage hit.
Looking back, Pookiesnackenburger feel like a prototype for a lot of things that came later: street performance crossing into theatre, comedy blending seamlessly with live music, and rhythm being built out of whatever happens to be lying around. Short-lived, a bit chaotic, and far more influential than their discography might suggest.
Tenpole Tudor were one the strangest and silliest groups on Stiff Records, a label that was known for its oddball clients. Led by Eddie Tudor (born Edward Tudorpole), a former actor who could barely carry a tune, the group played a mixture of punk, roots rock, pop, and British dancehall music, developing a thoroughly entertaining and ridiculous style. Tudor formed the band in 1974 with guitarist Bob Kingston, bassist Dick Crippen, and drummer Gary Long. Before recording the band's first album, Tudor appeared in the Sex Pistols' movie "The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle", singing "Who Killed Bambi." After releasing a single on Korova Records, the group joined the Stiff roster, releasing "Three Bells in a Row."
Tenpole Tudor released their debut album, 'Eddie, Old Bob, Dick and Gary', in 1981; it sold well, launching two minor singles in addition to "Three Bells in a Row": "Wunderbar" and "Swords of a Thousand Men." That same year, the group released its second album, 'Let the Four Winds Blow', which also performed well. The following year, Eddie Tudor broke up Tenpole Tudor; while he led a Cajun-inspired version of Tenpole Tudor, the rest of the band became The Tudors. After the new incarnation of Tenpole Tudor failed, Tudor left Stiff Records and began performing in jazz and swing bands, as well as returning to acting. New versions of Tenpole Tudor were assembled throughout the subsequent years, although Tudor chiefly focused on acting until 2009, when he released the band's third album. 'Made It This Far' was followed by a national tour, which the frontman deemed "an electronic one-man stadium show." [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
Texas native Joe "King" Carrasco has devoted his career to re-creating the Tex-Mex, Farfisa organ rock & roll sound of such '60s groups as the Sir Douglas Quintet and Sam the Sham & the Pharoahs. After playing in a succession of bands around Texas in the late '60s and early '70s, Carrasco founded his band El Molino in 1976 and recorded Tex-Mex Rock-Roll in 1978.
By 1979, he had formed The Crowns and was calling his music "nuevo wavo," playing especially in New York, where he appeared on-stage in a cape and crown. He was signed to the U.K. Stiff label and Joe Boyd's Hannibal label in the U.S., and released 'Joe "King" Carrasco and the Crowns' in 1980. By 1982, he had moved up to major label MCA for 'Synapse Gap', followed by 'Party Weekend' (1983). He moved to Rounder for 1987's 'Bandido Rock', credited to Joe "King" Carrasco y las Coronas. During the '90s and 2000s, he added reggae and cumbia to his Tex-Mex stew, with releases on Royal Texacali and Anaconda. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
When talking about the late ’70s British pub rock scene, Lew Lewis Reformer stands out as one of those bands with a strong underground reputation. Fronted by Lew Lewis, the group delivered a mix of rhythm & blues and early new wave with a rough, energetic sound that felt very much tied to the live pub circuit they came from.
Before forming the band, Lew Lewis had already made a name for himself playing with Dr. Feelgood, one of the key acts in shaping pub rock. With the Reformer, he pushed that style further, giving the harmonica a leading role in a way that was unusual at the time. His playing came across as sharp and punchy, almost replacing the traditional lead guitar, while his vocals added a raw, slightly chaotic edge.
One of their best-known tracks, “Lucky Seven,” captures the band’s identity pretty well. It’s driven by a tight rhythm section, bluesy hooks, and a slightly unpredictable feel that gives the song its character. The band never reached major commercial success, but their music carried a strong sense of authenticity that connected with audiences who preferred something less polished.
Over the years, Lew Lewis Reformer has built a cult following among fans of pub rock and early new wave. Their place in music history sits somewhere between the back-to-basics R&B revival of the early ’70s and the more aggressive energy that would soon define punk. They may not be widely known, but their sound and attitude continue to resonate with listeners who appreciate that stripped-down, live-driven approach.
