The Spitfire Boys were the first Liverpool punk band to release a single. The Spitfire Boys were mainly notable for including in their line-up Peter Clarke, who went on to drum for The Slits and later Siouxsie and the Banshees and the Creatures as Budgie, and Paul Rutherford, later better known for being a member of 1980s pop band Frankie Goes to Hollywood. Jones went on to join The Photons, which also included Steve Strange (Visage) and Vince Ely.
Echo & the Bunnymen are an English rock band formed in Liverpool in 1978. The original line-up consisted of vocalist Ian McCulloch, guitarist Will Sergeant and bassist Les Pattinson. By 1980, Pete de Freitas joined as the band's drummer.
A Certain Ratio are an English post-punk band formed in 1977 in Flixton, Greater Manchester by Peter Terrell and Simon Topping, with additional members Jez Kerr, Martin Moscrop, Donald Johnson (drums), and Martha Tilson (vocals) joining soon after.
Big in Japan were a punk band that emerged from Liverpool, England in the late 1970s. They are better known for the later successes of their band members than for their own music.
The Crucial Three were a short-lived band that existed for approximately six weeks in early 1977. They are nevertheless notable on account of the individual success of all three founding members: Julian Cope formed The Teardrop Explodes and has enjoyed a long and successful solo career as an author, photographer and singer, Ian McCulloch formed the very successful Echo & the Bunnymen, while guitarist Pete Wylie formed Wah! Heat and enjoyed major chart success with "The Story of the Blues". In those early days, McCulloch sang, Cope played bass, and Wylie played guitar. A drummer, Stephen Spence, also joined at some point in their brief life.
The Lurkers are a British punk rock band from Uxbridge, West London. They are notable for being the first group ever on Beggars Banquet Records for whom they released two albums, the first of which charted in the UK Albums Chart, while five singles also charted in the UK Singles Chart.
The Professionals are an English punk rock band active from 1979 to early 1982 and again from 2015. They were formed by ex-Sex Pistols members Steve Jones and Paul Cook after that band's demise.
U.K. Subs are an English punk rock band, among the earliest in the first wave of British punk. Formed in 1976, the mainstay of the band has been vocalist Charlie Harper, originally a singer in Britain's R&B scene. They were also one of the first hardcore punk bands.
Blue Orchids are an English post-punk band formed in Manchester in 1979, when Martin Bramah left the Fall, after playing on the band's debut album Live at the Witch Trials. Christened by Salford-based punk poet John Cooper Clarke the band recorded for Rough Trade and acted as backing band for the Velvet Underground's Nico before a 25-year period of intermittent activity and fluctuating line-ups.
Peter James Wylie is an English singer/songwriter and guitarist, best known as the leader of the band variously known as Wah!, Wah! Heat, Shambeko! Say Wah!, JF Wah!, The Mighty Wah! and Wah! The Mongrel.
Michael Stephen Dempsey is an English musician and composer, who has played bass as a member of several post-punk and new wave bands, including the Cure and the Associates.
Richard John Whitney, also known as John "Charlie" Whitney, John Whitney and Charlie Whitney, is an English rock guitarist and a founder member of the rock bands Family, Streetwalkers and Axis Point.
Department S are a British post-punk/new wave band formed in 1980, who took their name from the 1960s TV series Department S. They are best known for their debut single, "Is Vic There?", which was originally released in December 1980 and reached No. 22 on the UK Singles Chart the following year. Their latest album, When All Is Said and All Is Done, was released in 2016.
Lone Star was a Welsh rock and heavy metal music band formed in Cardiff in 1975. They released two albums on CBS Records before splitting up in 1978.
Glaxo Babies are a Bristol-based post-punk band, formed in late 1977. There were three distinct phases in the band's life and after initially breaking up in 1980, they reformed in 1985, only to finally break up again in 1990. The band reformed once again in 2015 for the Un-Peeled 2015 event with Steve Street on bass and Tony Wrafter's son Oscar on vocals.
"Seven Minutes to Midnight" was the second and final single released by Pete Wylie's Wah! Heat incarnation. The band had made major line-up changes and bass guitar player Pete Younger was replaced by Colm Redmond, then Carl Washington who became Wylie's right hand. The recording included keyboard player King Bluff for the first time. It was during this incarnation that they recorded their only Peel Session on 19 May 1980. The release of the single also marked the departure of Colm Redmond and the transformation of Wylie's first outfit into the better known four piece Wah!.
David Alan Hughes is an English keyboardist who played in different new wave bands, and later became successful making music for films.
Matumbi were one of the top British reggae bands of the 1970s and early 1980s, and are best known as the first successful band of guitarist and record producer Dennis Bovell.
