YBO² (pronounced "Ibo Ibo") was a Japanese underground rock group started in 1984 by Kitamura Masashi –former editor of Fool's Mate magazine and founder of the Transrecords and SSE Communications labels– along with Michio Kurihara and Yoshiki Uenoyama of the recently split band ONNA. The band went through a number of line-up changes, the most famous line-up being Kitamura with Kazuyuki Kishino and Tatsuya Yoshida, before splitting in 1990.
A one-off reunion of the original line-up in 2000 led to the reformation of the Kitamura, Kazuyuki, Tatsuya line-up with Masami Akita joining them for a while. However, this line-up didn't last long and soon Michio Kurihara was back in the band with Kitamura, Kishizawa Mitsumasa (the drummer from Kitamura's 90s band Differance) and Morikawa Seiichiroh (formerly with ZOA). The line-up has changed again since.
Kitamura Masashi passed away in 2006.
A veteran act on the London punk scene, 999 outlived most of their peers among the bands that rose to fame during punk's first major splash in 1977. 999 didn't often employ the speedy tempos that many groups used as their trademark; instead, they played tough, straightforward rock, while the disciplined shout of lead singer Nick Cash, an effective instrument for their confrontational lyrics, gave their music a rebellious edge that pushed the songs forward. The band's second album, 1978's 'Separates', showed off their stripped-down original sound, and 1980's 'The Biggest Prize in Sport' traded a bit of their punk snarl for catchier melodies and a more anthemic rock & roll sound. After breaking up for several years, 999 returned in the 1990s, and their reunion albums 'You Us It!' (1993) and 'Takeover' (1998) demonstrated that their take on punk rock stood the test of time.
Named for the British emergency phone number, 999 was formed by guitarist and singer Nick Cash. Under his real name, Keith Lucas, he played guitar for several years with Kilburn & the High Roads, a popular pub rock band that would produce another major figure on the U.K.'s punk/new wave scene, Ian Dury. (Dury was also Lucas' tutor while he was in art school.) After Kilburn & the High Roads broke up, Lucas started writing songs with Guy Days, a fellow guitarist who had sat in on recording sessions with the Kilburns. When punk rock started to become the next big thing, Lucas and Days thought their new songs would suit the style, and opted to form a band. Lucas adopted the stage name Nick Cash, and after placing an ad in Melody Maker magazine, Cash and Days recruited bassist Jon Watson and drummer Pablo LaBritain (the latter of whom briefly played in an early lineup of The Clash). In January 1977, the new group played their first show under the name The Dials, then settled on 999 as their permanent banner the following May. Regular gigging on the London club scene, including residencies at the Marquee Club and the Hope & Anchor, helped 999 win an audience, and by the time 1977 was out, they released a single, 'I'm Alive b/w Quite Disappointing', on their own Labritain label. The single sold over 10,000 copies, and United Artists signed 999 to a record deal.
999's self-titled first album was released in March 1978, and their second LP, 'Separates', came out the following October. While '999' fared well, 'Separates' was the bigger commercial success, and featured their first major hit single, "Homicide," which edged into the U.K. Top 40. A revised edition of 'Separates', 'High Energy Plan', would become their first American release, issued by the independent PVC label in 1979. 999 moved from United Artists to Polydor for their third album, 'The Biggest Prize in Sport', which introduced a poppier, more mainstream flavor to their music. The band toured widely in support, including a long string of dates in the United States, which helped the LP make the Top 200 albums charts in America for the first time. Some of their U.S. shows were documented on the live EP 'The Biggest Tour in Sport', also released in 1980.
The group's mainstream leanings spread further on 1981's 'Concrete', which also charted in the States but was not regarded well by fans or critics; while it was released in the United States and several other territories by Polydor, it appeared on Albion Records in the U.K. Albion also issued 1983's '13th Floor Madness', which found the group attempting to embrace the new romantic movement; it went unreleased in the United States and was poorly received in England. 999 revived their Labritain label for 1985's 'Face to Face', a creative return to form. Not long after it was released, Jon Watson left the band, and Danny Palmer took over on bass for the 1986 tour documented on the live album 'Lust Power and Money'. By the time the live LP came out in 1987, the group had broken up.
In 1993, 999 re-formed, with original members Nick Cash, Guy Days, and Pablo LaBritain joined by bassist Arturo Bassick, who also worked with The Lurkers. This edition of the band quickly went into the recording studio, with the album 'You Us It!' appearing that same year, steeped in straightforward punk rock. Live work would dominate the band's career from this point on, gigging at clubs and major punk festivals in the U.K. and Europe, as well as playing often in the United States, with the group winning a large and loyal audience in Los Angeles. They continued to record on occasion, issuing 'Takeover' in 1998, and releasing an expanded edition of 'Face to Face' in 1999 under the title 'Dancing in the Wrong Shoes'.
The gritty 'Death in Soho' broke 999's recording drought in 2007, and the band maintained their busy touring schedule, with the reunited version of the group proving to be the longest-lasting in their history, while a steady stream of live albums (both new and archival) helped fans beef up their record collections. In 2020, the first 999 studio album in 13 years arrived, 'Bish! Bash! Bosh!', a set of punky pop tunes with a political slant. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
Where's Lisse were a Northampton (UK) post-punk band active from 1980 to1982. They released two vinyl on Glass Records: the 7" 'Talk Takes Too Long c/w You Stole My Gun' (1981) and the 12" 'Tutorial EP' featuring the songs "Tutorial", "I'll Think Of Something", "Red Light" and "Call It That" (1982). Main member were John Novak (bass, vocals), member also of punk rock band Isaws (1977-79 and 2002-2017), Cats Collide (1983-1985 and 2015-present), Venus Fly Trap (1986-1988), the design team primarily associated with EMI releases The Red Room (1989-1992) and E The Real K (2010-2013). Other members were Pat Egan (guitar), Ady Tilley (bass) and Mick Packwood (drums, also a member of the post punk band from Northampton The Tempest).
Primarily known as the band Joe Strummer was in before he joined The Clash, The 101'ers were part of the last wave of British pub rock bands of the mid-'70s. The group never released any recordings while they were together, yet they were among the important transitional figures in the metamorphosis of pub rock into punk rock.
Joe Strummer formed The 101'ers in May of 1974, recruiting guitarist Clive Timperley, bassist Dan Kelleher, and drummer Richard Dudanski; according to legend, the group either named themselves after the torture room in George Orwell's "1984" or the building where they lived. By the end of the summer, the group had performed their first concert, playing Brixton's Telegraph pub. For the next year and a half, The 101'ers worked the pub rock circuit. During 1975 and early 1976, the group laid down some demos. In the first half of 1976, The 101'ers had been opening for The Sex Pistols on selected dates. Inspired by the Pistols and the burgeoning punk movement, Strummer decided to quit The 101'ers in June 1976 and form The Clash. Within a month, the group's only single, 'Keys to Your Heart', was released on Chiswick Records.
Following the demise of The 101'ers, Dudanski played with The Raincoats and, later, Public Image Limited; Timperley joined The Passions; and Kelleher became a member of The Derelicts. In 1981, after The Clash had become stars, Strummer allowed a 101'ers compilation called 'Elgin Avenue Breakdown' to be released. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
Vágtázó Halottkémek ("Galloping Coroners"), -also known as VHK and Rasende Leichenbeschauer- was a Hungarian rock band active from 1975–2001, and briefly reformed in 2009 and 2013. The band established a unique "shaman punk" or "psychedelic hardcore” sound, and is regarded as one of the most important alternative bands of the 1980s from the Eastern European block. Permanent restrictions by Hungarian authorities made worldwide tours difficult for the band, but its ecstatic concerts garnered surprising success across Western Europe. Though relatively obscure and commercially limited outside of Eastern Europe, Maximumrocknroll described the band as "equal in spirit and grit to faves like Sonic Youth or Big Black but with an identity all its own”. VHK has been praised as a highly important band by Iggy Pop, Henry Rollins, Jello Biafra and Einstürzende Neubauten. The band played repetitive, wild, yet melodic music, combining tribal shamanic music with rock guitars and drumming to form a uniquely pulsating and obsessive sound. Songs regularly feature ritualistic improvisation, and live shows were often accompanied by ecstatic on-stage actions.
Galloping Coroners (VHK) was formed in Budapest in 1975 by Atilla Grandpierre (singer) and his friends independently from Western world's punk movement that started 1–2 years later. Initial lineup: Atilla Grandpierre (vocal), Sándor Czakó (guitar), László Ipacs (drums), Tamás Pócs (bass guitar), Molnár György (solo guitar). More of them were graduated professionals: The group's leader and main theoretician, Atilla Grandpierre is also astrophysicist, a candidate of physical sciences, employed by the Hungarian Mathematics Institute. Guitarist Sándor Czakó is nuclear physicist, later worked on safety system of Paks Nuclear Power Plant, László Ipacs is a physicists, and Lajos Soós teacher.
In early 70's, Budapest youngsters were talking stories about a mysterious, eccentric teenage boy, Attila Grandpierre, who was doing scandalous actions with his friends e.g. creating home-made rockets etc. As a physicstudent Grandpierre gave private lessons to the 5 year younger high-school student, László Ipacs. Grandpierre and Ipacs's mates become friends, and formed a subcultural creative community mainly driven by Grandpierre's unconvenient visions of life and music. When Ipacs and his friend Sándor Czakó, the only educated musician, formed an amateur band, Grandpierre first just helped the band with musical ideas as an external consultant. Surprisingly they won army's countrywide amateur rock contest. By that time Grandpierre as a well-known personality of Budapest underground life was invited to be singer by several amateur bands. But he was only impressed enough by the Ipacs-Czakó formation, so he joined the band in 1975. The band started to use Vágtázó Halottkémek, name suggested by Grandpierre. As Grandpierre remembers, he wanted a name that express their musical and life philosophy regarding that "people should find their way to the basic, elemental natural power of the Universe and being charged with this power should live a more perfect and active life." He felt it must be a two word band name. First, 'Galloping' tag was to express the activity, energy. The second tag took longer to find out, finally they found that 'Coroners' express greatly their feeling that people on the Earth live on a very basic level, almost like 'living deads', and the band is like the Coroners who say the diagnosis of this state.
In 1975 the band recorded their first songs. They aroused their first public acclaim among Budapest teenagers when bandmates walked along Váci Street playing VHK on cassette recorder demonstratively. VHK gave the first concert at a high-school event in 1976. The concert was stopped after 20 minutes by event supervisor singing-teacher finding the band and the audience too excited and scandalous. Fans had to wait 2 years for next concert. In 1978 the concert again was stopped because the organizers were afraid about the allegedly 'violent consequences'. Next 6 concerts were also interrupted by the authorities. In Soviet-block, Goulash-communist Hungary Galloping Coroners' ecstatic music was extremely scandalous sound vs. state controlled music scene. Though VHK didn't play political songs, authorities were afraid of a band that seemed to have 'subversive effect on youths'. VHK soon became the No.1 banned rock band and had been officially banished within Hungary for 11 years. Members were harassed by the police, observed by the secret agent net and not allowed to release an LP and make concerts legally. So in the seventies VHK had only few concerts, still the band continuously found ways to play underground concerts at various scenes. Vágtázó Halottkémek was helped to the stage by the fans of other bands, or there were concert-organizers taking the risk to be kicked out because of allowing them play. They used fake names, played as guest musicians of other bands without revelealing themselves as VHK at the concert. Due to this concerts and fan-made cassette recordings VHK's fame spread rapidly among youth communities in Budapest. By the end of 70's VHK gained countrywide reputation among youths regarded as "the wildest band in Hungary". Experimental film director Gábor Bódy recognised VHK for his 1983 film “Dog's Night Song” featuring the band and lead howler Attila Grandpierre as an actor.
VHK had no LP and forbidden to concert within Hungary, but by the 80's the band's fame reached Western Europe, first Germany through personal channels. In Gábor Bódy movie "Nachtlied des Hundes" (1983) the West-Berlin artist, author and philosopher Wolfgang Müller from the cult-band Die Tödliche Doris discover the band and invited them to West-Berlin, where they were totally unknown. The band played 1984 in Berlin-Kreuzberg Frontkino, which was already a famous underground space. Now they started to build a growing fan-base in Germany. In 1981 the first VHK song was published on a German Ata Tak's 'Fix Planet' compilation LP. From 1984 VHK played regularly in Western-Europe, despite Hungarian authorities tried to obstruct administratively, not giving passport to VHK's members to get concerts in Western-Europe. In 1986 VHK was invited to Amsterdam, that was "Cultural Capital of Europe" in that year. Dutch Queen, Beatrix should have personally pressure Hungarian authorities to give passports and allow band's performance. In 1987 Austrian chancellor, Fred Sinowatz also had to make diplomatic steps toward the Hungarian Ministry of Culture to leave VHK play in Austria. In 1982 Kristen Dehlholm, avantgarde theatre director and VHK-related artists, founded VHK's Ritual Theatre, accompanying concerts with movement and sound theatre elements. Thanks to this 1988 VHK played in the "Mythen, Monstren and Mutationen" festival in Berlin. In 1988 Einstürzende Neubauten, Henry Rollins, Jello Biafra and Iggy Pop met VHK and all of them were impressed by VHK's obsessive performance. In the last years before the collapse of Hungarian communist soft regime, VHK played with Rollins Band in Hungary. Rollins Band invited VHK for a tour in England in 1989. In 1992 they released their 3'rd LP 'Hammering on the Gates of Nothingness' both in Europe and the US. LP's title song reached 2nd position on the top-list of a Belgian music radio station, and VHK were played in numerous US college radios.
First international manager of the band was Dietmar Lupfer. VHK released with him their first 3 records, 'Teach Death a Lesson' (1988), 'Jump Out the World-Instinct' (1990), 'Hammering on the Gates of Nothingness' (1992) at Sonic Boom Records for Europe, while this LP's were released by Alternative Tentacles in the US. Despite Jello Biafra's offer to manage the band in the US, the band decided to leave Alternative Tentacles and produce next LP in USA themselves, but VHK's self-promotion failed. Between 2001-2009 VHK didn't give concerts. From 2005 band leader Atilla Grandpierre continued VHK's musical concept in neotraditional Vágtázó Csodaszarvas ("Galloping Wonder Stag"), changing electronic instruments into traditional Hungarian acoustic folk instruments, developed a clear, modern still ancient style.
In 2009 Grandpierre renewed VHK, releasing 'Forgószél!' ('Tornado!') LP, under "Galloping Life Power" band name. The "Coroners" tag was changed to "Life Power" to express more directly Grandpierre's fully positive life attitude, as he said. Later they started to use Galloping Coroners band name again and released 'Bite the Stars!' LP in 2012.
[SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA]
Formed in the early '80s, the hardcore punk band 7 Seconds has been among the longest lived of any group from the first wave of Cali punk (forming in Reno, NV, and eventually relocating to Sacramento), though frontman Kevin Seconds has proved to be the only consistent member; changes during the mid-'80s moved guitarist Bobby Adams, drummer Troy Mowat, and bassist Steve Youth (Seconds' brother) into the lineup. The group released several 7" singles just after forming, and Seconds signed the band to the Better Youth Organization label by 1982. The three LPs released on BYO culminated in 7 Seconds' most authoritative album, 'Walk Together, Rock Together'. Signed to Restless in the late '80s, 7 Seconds delivered 'Soulforce Revolution' and 'Ourselves' before moving again, to Headhunter. The band released three albums for Headhunter, but signed with their first major label, Epic, in 1995. 'The Music, the Message' was 7 Seconds' first Epic LP, released in 1995. By 1999's 'Good to Go', however, the band was back on the indie front, now releasing material through the Side 1 label. In mid-2000, they released 'Scream Real Loud', followed five years later by their 13th LP, 'Take It Back, Take It On, Take It Over!' Throughout the group's career, Seconds has maintained several side projects, including Drop Acid, Five Feet Ten Inches, and Mustard. He also released several solo efforts starting in the '90s, including a 2002 split acoustic album on Asian Man alongside Alkaline Trio's Matt Skiba. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
Karl Blake (born 1956 in Reading, Berkshire, England) is a vocalist, bassist, guitarist and multi-instrumentalist. Most of his own music can be described as progressive-experimental and sometimes psychedelic.
Blake is most noted, in addition to his solo work, for his work with Lemon Kittens, Danielle Dax, Shock Headed Peters, Sol Invictus, Current 93, Left Hand Right Hand, Seven Pines and Gaë Bolg and the Church of Fand. Other past projects include Alternative TV, The Underneath, Evil Twin, British Racing Green and various other solo and session work.
He began playing and self-recording in 1973/4, and his first band to have a commercially released record, Lemon Kittens, was formed by Blake and Gary Thatcher on 5 April 1978. It went through numerous line-up changes before it again became a two-piece group consisting of Blake and Danielle Dax, with the addition of others for live performance (the group only played around 22 concerts during their entire existence). Between 1979 and 1981, Lemon Kittens released two albums as well as two EPs. Cassette-only Lemon Kittens recordings were made under the name Gland Shrouds in 1980.
Blake also released solo cassettes, including 'Tank Death' and 'The New Pollution'. In 1982 he formed Shock Headed Peters with Ashley Wales, eventually adding Dave Knight, then Mark Rowlatt and Clive Glover. In 1986 he started The Underneath, a solo project, releasing an EP and an album featuring various guests. Shock Headed Peters disbanded in October 1987 before reforming in 1990, again with founder-members Blake and Knight. In 1987, weeks after Shock Headed Peters' first disbanding, Evil Twin and British Racing Green were formed. Evil Twin was Karl Blake and David Mellor, with the addition of guest vocalist Amy Rodenberg. They recorded one album, 'The Black Spot', between 1987 and 1991. Both groups are dormant since the early 1990s.
Blake toured extensively and recorded with Left Hand Right Hand from 1988 through until 2004. In 2005 Blake split ways with Sol Invictus, the group he had long been associated with through studio recordings and live appearances, and denounced both the group and the neofolk genre for, in his view, right wing leanings. At present, Blake plays (live only) for Gaë Bolg and the Church of Fand and also for Seven Pines. The instrumental track "Zoé" on the Seven Pines CD 'Le Cri' (2006) was in fact written and performed by Blake on the spot and, unknown to him, orchestrated and released by the leader of Gaë Bolg, Eric Roger. It is one of the last recorded pieces by Blake to be released to date. [SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA]
After Suspect from Amsterdam split, Peter Prima (drums), Berni von Braun (guitar) and Gila Gröger (a.k.a. Gila Moussou a.k.a. Gila Du Juice) went on to form Schlaflose Nächte.
Dutch artist Rob Scholte (The Young Lions, Suspect), appears on their first record only because it was recorded while they were still Suspect.
Schaflose Nächte also supported acts such as Pigbag, Einstürzende Neubauten and Captain Beefheart.
While their biggest international exposure was a cameo in the Tarantino flick "Kill Bill",5.6.7.8's are much more than one-hit wonders, bearing the proud distinction of being the prime and longest-enduring Japanese garage rock girl band. Featuring a revolving cast of musicians (only one of them ever being a boy) and possessing small but loyal fanbases in countries from China to the U.S., 5.6.7.8's is the brainchild of the sisters Ronnie "Yoshiko" Fujiyama and Fujii Sachiko, and it reflects their love for music of the '50s to the '80s, bluntly alluded to in the group's name.
The band was formed in 1986, at the height of the garage rock hype that seized Tokyo at the time. The first lineup included Fujiyama, who handled the vocals, and Sachiko (the drummer), supported by guitarist Rico and bassist Yoshie, who was replaced by Mikako in time for the band's debut demo 'Golden Hits of the 5.6.7.8's' (1988). It was followed by the band's first EP 'Mondo Girls A-Go-Go' (1989). In 1990 Rico and Mikako defected to start Sleaze Sisters, and were replaced by bassist Akiko Omo and guitarist Eddie Legend, the sole male member of the group, who used to don a wig to blend in better when they played live, but still lasted only a year before departing to start MAD 3. After that, Fujiyama picked up the guitar herself, although 5.6.7.8's still performed as a quartet, with support member Gaku on the saxophone. The band's first full-length album, 'The 5.6.7.8's Can't Help It!', was recorded in 1991, out not only in Japan, but in Australia and the U.S. as well (the American release came in 1992). That began a period of the band's active overseas expansion: they toured Australia and America and released the single 'The Spell Stroll' on the French label Wee Records. Japan remained their main playground -they had several releases there in the '90s, namely EPs 'I Was a Teenage Cave Woman' (1992) and 'Pin Heel Stomp' (1997), as well as the second full-length 'The 5.6.7.8's' (1994)-, but they also had six singles and the EP 'Bomb the Twist' (1995) out in the U.S. The lineup continued to shift, with guitarist Aya joining the band for several months in 1995, and Omo leaving before their first big Japanese tour in 1996, replaced by Yamaguchi Yoshiko. In 1997, Fujiyama took a short break from the band, releasing the solo single 'Coney Island'.
The years between 1998 and 2002 saw no releases, but some heavy touring in Japan, America, Australia, New Zealand, and Europe. In 2002, Quentin Tarantino heard their CD in a clothing shop in Tokyo, and soon invited them to star as themselves in a "Kill Bill" scene (they contributed the song "Woo Hoo" for the movie soundtrack). 2002 also saw 5.6.7.8's releasing the album 'Teenage Mojo Workout' and the EP 'Pretty Little Lilly Can Dance No More', and their compilation 'Best Hits of the 5.6.7.8's' came out in America and Japan in 2003 (it was released in Europe the next year). In 2004, 'Teenage Mojo Workout' was released in Britain, and the single 'Woo Hoo' reached number 24 on the local charts, but long-term British success eluded them. The same year Yoshiko gave up her post for Omo, who returned to being 5.6.7.8's bassist after an eight-year hiatus. The band has kept quiet since 2004, releasing no new material but playing the occasional live show. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
Admittedly, Indianapolis has never really been known for producing much in the way of bands, whether punk or pop or otherwise. But in the late '70s/early '80s, the Midwestern city produced a band whose short-lived first phase (more on that later) produced one of the more memorable full-length hardcore albums of all time. The band, dubbed the Zero Boys, was formed in the spring of 1979 when singer Paul Mahern "discovered" The Sex Pistols in Creem magazine and roped in guitarist Terry Hollywood, bassist John Mitchell, and drummer Mark Cutsinger. Within three weeks of their first practice -in the grand tradition of most great hardcore bands- the band was playing its first show, and six months later the bandmembers found themselves recording their first EP. That debut, 'Livin' in the '80s' (released in 1980), was influenced by the more well-known groups of the time, such as The Sex Pistols, Ramones, and Dictators, who were on major labels and actually got some face time in the mainstream rock press.
The EP got some very minor attention, given that there were only 500 copies pressed, but forces both external and internal to the Zero Boys were to lay the groundwork for their follow-up, which was to be the acclaimed mark they had wished to leave. Internally, the band had a roster change in the form of bassist David "Tufty" Clough replacing John Mitchell. Clough was a faster, more frenetic player, taking the Zero Boys' sound to blazing new places. Externally, by the turn of the decade the West Coast hardcore scene had begun to fully develop, influencing new scenes in Minneapolis, Detroit, and -more specifically- Indianapolis. The speed and polemics of bands such as Black Flag and The Circle Jerks were backed up by an indie label and word of mouth network with zines like Flipside and Maximum Rock and Roll that would allow bands like the Zero Boys to play places as far as Los Angeles, New York, and Vancouver, British Columbia.
The Zero Boys began rehearsing in the garage for recording sessions that were to begin in summer of 1981. Two days of recording and 16 songs later, the band's landmark full-length, 'Vicious Circle', was completed and released on minor-league label Nimrod Records in 1982. Even though the record was to garner critical acclaim and turn the band into one of the legends of early-'80s hardcore, the band was to fold a year later, citing being "landlocked" in Indianapolis in comparison to the larger national scene. Bassist Clough was to join up with Toxic Reasons, and Mahern formed two short-lived bands, Dandelion Abortion and Datura Seeds, before focusing his time as a producer and engineer. The band found new life after the positive reception the reissue of 'Vicious Circle' (with bonus tracks) received upon its release in 1988 on the Toxic Shock label. Three-quarters of the band got back together (with guitarist Hollywood replaced by Vess Ruthenberg), and toured and released two further albums, 1991's 'Make It Stop' and 1993's 'The Heimlich Maneuver' (released on Bitzcore and Skyclad, respectively). The band would fade out, and by the turn of the 21st century had re-formed to tour in support of the release for 'History Of'. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
