Das Psych-Oh! Rangers

ZTT Records had a reputation in the mid-1980s for signing acts that sat somewhere between art-pop, experimental electronics and media spectacle, and Das Psych-Oh! Rangers fit neatly into that strange corner of the label’s roster. The group arrived during the period when ZTT was riding high on the success of Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Propaganda and other ambitious studio-heavy projects, though Das Psych-Oh! Rangers always seemed rougher around the edges and less willing to play the label’s elaborate game. 

 
The original line-up revolved around vocalist Be Deckard, real name Umberto Rozzo, alongside guitarist Troy Tempest and bassist/pianist Jules Von Vleet, the stage name of Julian Wright. During 1986 the group also featured Steve Honest on bass and keyboards, Che Atlas on drums and Kathy-Anne Joseph providing backing vocals. Later drummer Darren Edwards joined during the 1987-1988 period, by which time the band’s relationship with ZTT had already fallen apart. Their sound mixed theatrical new wave, art-rock and a slightly chaotic post-punk energy, with enough attitude to make them stand out from the cleaner electronic productions dominating British pop at the time. 

 
Their brief spell on ZTT produced just one official single, but the band gained wider attention after appearing live on the Channel 4 music programme The Tube in 1986. They performed two songs taken from that lone ZTT release, giving viewers a taste of their dramatic, confrontational style. At a time when many chart acts relied heavily on backing tracks and polished presentation, Das Psych-Oh! Rangers came across as unpredictable and slightly dangerous, which suited the atmosphere of alternative music television perfectly. 

 
Behind the scenes, though, tensions with the label were growing fast. The band became increasingly frustrated with the expensive remix culture surrounding ZTT productions. In-house producer and engineer Steve Lipson was creating multiple elaborate remixes for the proposed follow-up single “Power Station”, and the mounting studio costs were recoupable from the artists themselves. Das Psych-Oh! Rangers saw the process as excessive and pointless, especially for a band that preferred immediacy over endless studio experimentation. Their complaints echoed frustrations already felt by Frankie Goes To Hollywood during the making of their second album, while Propaganda and several other ZTT acts also struggled with the label’s controlling and expensive production methods. 

 
The situation reached breaking point shortly before the famous legal battle involving Holly Johnson against Trevor Horn and Jill Sinclair. Johnson’s successful court case became one of the defining music industry disputes of the decade, exposing many of the contractual problems surrounding ZTT. Das Psych-Oh! Rangers were released from the label just before the case exploded publicly, and the planned “Power Station” single was quietly shelved and never officially issued. 

 
After leaving ZTT, the group altered their name slightly to Das Psycho Rangers for later releases connected to their manager’s Stress label. Although they never achieved major commercial success, their story captures a fascinating moment in British independent music when adventurous bands collided with ambitious production-heavy labels that often promised creative freedom while tightly controlling the final product. 

 
One of the more intriguing pieces of the group’s history is their BBC Radio One session recorded for Janice Long on 3 December 1986. The session included the songs “Homage To The Blessed”, “Power Station”, “Intellectual Gangsters” and “Medea Tearorists”. Despite interest from collectors and fans of obscure ZTT-related material, the session still remains officially unreleased, adding another layer of mystery to a band whose recorded legacy ended up far smaller than their chaotic reputation suggested.

 

Max

Formed in the late 1980s by Kevin Mooney and Leslie Winer, Max arrived out of the post-punk and art-pop underground with a sound that mixed sleek production, moody atmospheres and a slightly off-center pop sensibility. Mooney had already built a reputation through his time with Adam and the Ants, while Winer brought a cool, spoken-word edge that gave the early material a distinctive character. 

The group signed to Chrysalis Records and released the single “Little Ghost”, a track that later attracted enough attention to be covered by Boy George. Around the same period, Max recorded an album titled 'One Thousand + 1 Nights' with production from Marco Pirroni, another figure closely linked to the post-punk world through his work with Adam and the Ants and Siouxsie and the Banshees. Despite the pedigree involved, the album never saw an official release, leaving it to drift into the long history of lost major-label projects from the era.

 
After Winer’s departure, Mooney rebuilt the group with drummer John Reynolds. The revamped line-up adopted the name Lomax and signed to ZTT Records, the label famous for its extravagant pop productions and association with Trevor Horn. Horn produced a new version of the '1001 Nights' album, scheduled for release as ZTT 5. Expectations were fairly high, but when the single “Waiting For Vain” failed to connect commercially, the label shelved the record before it could properly emerge.

 
Mooney refused to let the material disappear. After leaving ZTT, the project moved to Red Dot Records, another Warner-affiliated label, and went through yet another reshuffle. The Lomax name was dropped and Max returned, while the Trevor Horn gloss was stripped back in favour of a harder, rock-oriented sound. The album resurfaced under a new title, 'Silence Running'. By that stage the early momentum had faded, and neither the album nor its singles managed to gain traction. Warner eventually dropped the group, and Max split in 1994. 

There was a tragic postscript to the story. Guitarist Matthew Ashman, best known for his work with Bow Wow Wow, died in 1995 at the age of 35. Bassist John Keogh also died not long afterwards. Those losses added a darker edge to the history of a group that spent years hovering around success without ever quite getting the breakthrough their connections and recordings seemed to promise.

 

Sinéad O'Connor

When Sinéad O'Connor showed up in the late ’80s, she didn’t just sound different; she completely shattered the mold. With a voice that could cut like glass one minute and feel heartbreakingly tender the next, she turned her own pain into music that called out injustice, hypocrisy, and abuse. The shaved head became iconic, but it was never about style alone. O’Connor rejected conformity in every sense, and she made that clear from day one on 1987’s 'The Lion and the Cobra', where rock, hip-hop, and electronic pop collided with brutally honest lyrics about sex, religion, oppression, and trauma.

 
Unlike a lot of mainstream artists at the time, O’Connor wasn’t afraid to bring politics and personal grief into her work. Her haunting take on "Nothing Compares 2 U" turned her into a global superstar in 1990, but the emotion behind it came from a deeply complicated relationship with her late mother. At the height of her fame, she shocked audiences by tearing up a photo of Pope John Paul II on Saturday Night Live to protest abuse within the Catholic Church; a moment that sparked massive backlash years before the wider public fully understood what she was talking about. The controversy hurt her commercial career, but it also freed her to follow her instincts creatively. 

Over the years, O’Connor refused to stay in one lane. She explored jazz standards on 'Am I Not Your Girl?', blended spirituality and electronic textures on 'Universal Mother', reworked traditional Irish songs on 'Sean-Nós Nua', and dove headfirst into reggae with 'Throw Down Your Arms'. Even decades into her career, albums like 'I'm Not Bossy, I'm the Boss' proved she still had that fire. Her 2021 memoir, 'Rememberings', showed the same raw honesty that defined her music.

 
Born in Dublin in 1966, O’Connor had a difficult childhood marked by family trauma and instability. Music became both an escape and a form of survival. After time spent at a strict reform school, where a nun introduced her to guitar and songwriting, she slowly found her way into Dublin’s music scene before eventually signing with Ensign Records and moving to London. 

Her debut album, 'The Lion and the Cobra', instantly made critics pay attention thanks to songs like "Mandinka" and "Troy". But it was 1990’s 'I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got' that launched her into another stratosphere. Powered by “Nothing Compares 2 U,” the album became a worldwide hit and cemented her as one of the defining voices of the era. Still, O’Connor never seemed comfortable with celebrity culture. She famously refused Grammy recognition and regularly challenged media expectations and political institutions alike.

 
Throughout the ’90s and 2000s, she kept experimenting, collaborating with artists like Peter Gabriel, Massive Attack, and Wyclef Jean, while continuing to make deeply personal records about faith, survival, motherhood, and identity. Even when the spotlight faded, her influence only grew stronger. 

By the time of her death in 2023 at age 56, Sinéad O'Connor had become more than just an incredible singer-songwriter. She was a fearless protest artist, a truth-teller, and a huge influence on generations of emotionally open, politically outspoken musicians who came after her. 

Andrew Poppy

Andrew Poppy has always done things a little differently. Back in 1981, he helped launch The Lost Jockey, a sprawling experimental ensemble digging into the hypnotic, repetitive sounds pioneered by minimalist heavyweights like Glass, Reich, and Andriessen.  

 
By the mid-’80s, he’d landed at ZTT Records, the famously adventurous label run by Paul Morley and Trevor Horn. There, Poppy pushed minimalist ideas into a more pop-oriented world. His album 'Alphabed' blended classical composition with studio experimentation, layering sequencers, samples, and synths alongside vocals from the likes of Annette Peacock, Ashley Slater, Udo Scheuerpflug, and Dee Lewis. 

 
Around the same time, Poppy was also getting deeply involved in London’s experimental theatre scene, collaborating with the Institute of Contemporary Arts on visually ambitious productions like "Secret Gardens" and "Midday Sun". That eventually evolved into a series of chamber operas and music theatre works, including "The Songs of the Claypeople" and the wonderfully strange "The Uranium Miners Radio Orchestra Play Scene’s From Salome’s Revenge". Later projects included "Baby Doll", commissioned by the National Theatre Studio, and "Ophelia/Ophelia" in 1996.

 
The ’90s saw Poppy return to concert music with a string of ambitious chamber works and orchestral commissions. Pieces like "14 Poem and Toccatas", "Ember", and "Eight Movements for Piano Trio" helped cement his reputation as a composer equally at home in avant-garde concert halls and experimental studio spaces. In 1997, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra commissioned "Horn Horn", a concerto for two alto saxophones and orchestra. Around the same time, pianists Jed Distler and Tania Chen began performing selections from "Fruits and Shavings", his collection of solo piano works. 

 
Outside the classical world, Poppy’s résumé gets even more eclectic. Over the years he’s worked in the studio with bands like The The, Erasure, and Nitzer Ebb, while also composing for theatre productions directed by figures such as Kenneth Branagh. Choreographers including Michael Clark and Heidi Latsky have also created dance works set to his music. Add film and TV scoring into the mix, plus a stint as head of music at the National Film and Television School in the late ’90s, and you get the picture: Andrew Poppy has quietly built one of the most fascinatingly unpredictable careers in modern music. 

 

Nasty Rox Inc.

Nasty Rox Inc. were one of those late-1980s groups that arrived before the music industry really knew what to do with rock and club culture colliding together. At a time when most guitar bands and dance acts stayed in completely separate lanes, Nasty Rox Inc. were already throwing together live bass, guitars, hip-hop scratching, go-go rhythms, funk grooves and heavy club production. Their sound sat somewhere between underground warehouse culture and experimental pop, which made them stand out during the rise of UK dance music and the early acid house era. 

 
The core lineup featured Dan Fox on vocals, John Waddell on guitar, Mark "Leo T" Townsend on bass, alongside DJ and production figures who gave the project its club edge. Dave Dorrell played a huge role in shaping their identity and was famously described as the group’s “pop instigator,” which was somewhere between creative director, producer and manager. Dorrell already had a strong reputation in the London club scene, and his influence helped push the project toward a more futuristic blend of rock attitude and dancefloor energy. 

 
Another important early figure was Nellee Hooper, who worked as the group’s DJ before leaving to focus on production work. Hooper would later become one of the most respected producers of the 1990s through collaborations with acts like Massive Attack, Soul II Soul, Björk and Madonna. After his departure, he was replaced by CJ Mackintosh, whose turntable skills and club credibility brought another layer of energy to the lineup. Mackintosh later became a major name in UK dance culture through remix work, Ministry of Sound residencies and his involvement in M/A/R/R/S and the classic single “Pump Up the Volume.” 

 
Nasty Rox Inc. recorded for ZTT Records, the label known for ambitious and genre-bending projects connected to producer Trevor Horn. Their 1988 album 'Ca$h' captured the group’s chaotic hybrid style, bouncing between hip-hop beats, live funk instrumentation, industrial textures and dancefloor experimentation. Tracks like “Escape From New York” showed exactly what made them unusual at the time: they sounded like a club act and a live band fighting for control of the same song.

 
Even though Nasty Rox Inc. never became a massive mainstream act, they ended up feeling ahead of their time. Long before rap-rock, big beat or dance-punk became common, they were already treating turntables, live instruments and club production as parts of the same language. Their work now feels like an early blueprint for the crossover culture that exploded during the following decade. 

 

Novecento

Novecento was one of the most distinctive Italian acts to emerge from the vibrant European pop scene of the 1980s. Formed in 1984 by brothers Pino Nicolosi and Lino Nicolosi together with bassist Rossana Nicolosi and vocalist Dora Carofiglio, the group quickly built a reputation for sleek productions, sophisticated arrangements, and a style that constantly evolved over the years. Their sound first leaned heavily into Italo disco and synthpop, full of shimmering keyboards, dance grooves, and catchy melodies that fit perfectly into the mid-80s European club scene.

 
The first big breakthrough came with the debut single "Movin' On" in 1984. The track became a major success, selling more than 100,000 copies and giving the group immediate visibility across Italy and several international markets. That same year, Novecento received the “Revelation of the Year” award during the television event "Azzurro 1984", confirming that they were far more than another short-lived dance act from the decade. 

As the years passed, Novecento kept reinventing their sound. The glossy disco energy of the early singles gradually opened the door to funk influences, soft rock textures, jazz-inspired arrangements, and polished pop rock songwriting. Albums released throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s showed a growing interest in sophisticated production and international sounds, which helped the group gain listeners outside Italy as well. Dora Carofiglio’s voice became one of the defining elements of their identity, shifting effortlessly between soulful ballads and upbeat dance tracks. 

A major part of Novecento’s appeal came from the Nicolosi family’s songwriting and production skills. Pino handled keyboards and arrangements with a style strongly influenced by American funk and contemporary jazz, while Lino brought melodic guitar work and production ideas that gave many recordings a rich, layered atmosphere. Their collaborations with international artists and producers during the late 80s helped strengthen their reputation among collectors and fans of European pop and funk. 

After recording seven albums and spending more than a decade exploring different styles, Novecento officially disbanded in 1997. Even after the split, interest in their catalog remained strong among fans of Italo disco and sophisticated European pop. The group reunited briefly in 2002 and later returned again in 2008, attracting renewed attention with the single "Cry". That comeback introduced their music to a younger audience while longtime listeners welcomed the return of a group that had always stood apart from many of their contemporaries thanks to their polished sound and willingness to experiment. 

Anne Pigalle

Anne Pigalle doesn’t fit neatly into a single artistic box. Born in France, she built her identity around the idea of the chanteuse, then expanded it into something far more layered. Her work moves between music, literature, performance, and visual art, always carrying that unmistakable Parisian mood, romantic, slightly decadent, and touched with theatrical flair. 

She first gained attention in the mid-1980s, when alternative pop was brushing up against art-school experimentation. Her debut album 'Everything Could Be So Perfect' (1985) set the tone: a sound that feels like stepping into a late-night cabaret where synth textures and chanson coexist in the same dim glow. It never leaned fully into mainstream pop, yet it wasn’t completely underground either. There’s a careful elegance running through it, paired with a sense of distance that gives everything a distinctive edge.

 
Her music is only part of the picture. Pigalle also writes, performs, photographs, and paints, treating all these forms as interconnected pieces of a larger artistic vision. Her lyrics often feel like fragments of poetry, intimate, melancholic, sometimes playful, sometimes elusive. Themes like love, illusion, and identity keep resurfacing, often framed through a stylized femininity that feels both classic and quietly subversive. 

As time went on, her work leaned more into multimedia territory, blending spoken word, visual storytelling, and performance art. Her live appearances can feel closer to small theatrical pieces than traditional concerts, drawing from cabaret traditions while reshaping them through a contemporary lens. That hybrid approach places her somewhere between a singer-songwriter and a gallery artist, which seems entirely intentional. 

Her visual art -especially photography and painting- continues exploring similar ideas: beauty, fragility, transformation. There’s a strong sense that everything she creates belongs to the same evolving narrative, each project adding another layer rather than standing alone. 

Anne Pigalle never really chased mainstream visibility. Her career reads more like a carefully constructed artistic universe than a conventional path, and stepping into it means entering something personal, stylized, and deliberately outside the usual lines.

 

Act

After the original line-up of Propaganda disbanded, German vocalist Claudia Brücken (b. 7 December 1963, Berchenz, Germany) joined the electronics composer and vocalist Thomas Leer to form Act. Staying at Trevor Horn’s ZTT Records label, the pair’s first single, "Snobbery & Decay", revealed their continued experimentation in the studio, and they appeared on the BBC Television science programme "Tomorrow’s World" discussing new music technology. "Absolutely Immune" followed in September 1987 (plus a remix, "Absolutely Immune II"). In March I988, Act issued "I Can’t Escape From You", backed by a bizarre reworking of the Smiths’ "Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now", before unleashing their only album, 'Laughter, Tears And Rage', in June. Like their singles, this combined an array of studio wizardry with superbly crafted songs. Brücken went on to record a solo album, 'Love: And A Million Other Things'. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]

 

Jamie Rae

Jamie Rae, born Jeff Fillingham on 21 November 1967, is one of those quietly enduring figures on the Scottish live entertainment scene who’s built a career through sheer consistency and connection with audiences. Raised in a musical environment as the son of Maureen Hart, he grew up surrounded by performance culture, which clearly left its mark early on. That kind of upbringing tends to shape instincts you can’t really teach, and in his case it translated into a natural ease on stage. 

He first came to wider attention fronting the pop group The MacDonald Brothers’ touring productions and later carved out his own identity as a solo performer. Over the years, Jamie Rae became especially well known across Scotland’s theatre circuit, holiday parks, and cabaret venues, where versatility is everything. His shows usually blend classic pop, light rock, and crowd-pleasing standards, delivered with a style that leans more toward entertainment than strict vocal showcase. 

What sets him apart is that old-school entertainer vibe, the kind where the performance isn’t just about singing songs, but about holding a room. He’s spent decades working audiences of all sizes, which has given him a reputation as a reliable live act who knows exactly how to read a crowd and keep energy levels where they need to be.

 
Outside the spotlight, there’s always been a strong sense of family influence in his story. Being the son of a working performer like Maureen Hart meant he understood the realities of the industry early: the travel, the hustle, the need to stay adaptable. That grounding seems to have helped him sustain a long-running career without chasing trends too hard. 

While he might not be a chart-dominating name, Jamie Rae represents a different kind of success in the music world, one built on longevity, live connection, and staying power in a scene that often overlooks artists who thrive away from mainstream headlines. 

The Untouchables

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

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. 

Jakko

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

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]

 

Tracey Ullman

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]

 

Via Vagabond

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

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

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]

 

Joe King Carrasco & The Crowns

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]

 

Lew Lewis Reformer

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. 

 

Mickey Jupp

Like Dave Edmunds, guitarist/pianist/vocalist Mickey Jupp was a champion of traditional rock & roll during the late '70s, a time when it had been all but discarded. Unlike Edmunds, Jupp wrote the majority of his own material, which updated '50s rock & roll with a tongue-in-cheek irony. 

Jupp began his career with the Essex-based British R&B group The Orioles in the early '60s. The band earned a devoted local following in the early '60s, yet they never had the opportunity to record. The Orioles broke up late in 1965 after Jupp was arrested for not making alimony payments to his wife. Three years later, he returned to music, forming Legend, who laid the groundwork for English pub rock of the early '70s. Following the release of their third album in 1971, Legend disbanded and Jupp took another lengthy break from music. When he was coaxed back into performing in 1975 by Lee Brileaux, the lead singer of Dr. Feelgood, pub rock was in its last days yet Jupp was well respected in the scene, since both Ducks Deluxe and Dr. Feelgood had recorded versions of his songs ("Cheque Book" and "Down at the Doctors," respectively). 

Jupp released his first solo single, "Nature's Radio," on Arista Records in 1978. The single led to a contract with Stiff Records, who released the "Old Rock 'N' Roller" single and the 'Juppanese' album in 1978; the bulk of 'Juppanese' was recorded with Rockpile and produced by Nick Lowe. Released the same year as his debut, 'Mickey Jupp's Legend' featured material from his previous band. Following the release of 'Juppanese', Jupp joined Stiff's Rail Tour, although he left the lineup before it hit the U.S. because he was afraid of flying. Shortly afterward, he left Stiff Records and signed with Chrysalis in 1979. The same year he released 'Long Distance Romancer', which was produced by 10cc members Kevin Godley and Lol Creme; like 'Juppanese', it failed to gain a large audience. Jupp moved over to A&M Records in 1982, releasing 'Some People Can't Dance'. After releasing one more record on A&M, 1983's 'Shampoo Haircut and Shave', he was dropped from the label. Jupp spent the rest of the '80s and '90s touring the U.K., releasing the occasional album on independent labels. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]