Gang of Four are an English post-punk band, formed in 1976 in Leeds. The original members were singer Jon King, guitarist Andy Gill, bass guitarist Dave Allen and drummer Hugo Burnham. There have been many different line-ups including, among other notable musicians, Sara Lee, Gail Ann Dorsey, and Mark Heaney. After a brief lull in the 1980s, different constellations of the band recorded two studio albums in the 1990s. Between 2004 and 2006 the original line-up was reunited; Gill toured using the name between 2012 and his death in 2020. In 2021, the band announced that King, Burnham, and Lee would be reuniting for a US tour in 2022 with David Pajo on guitar and Sara Lee returning to the band. They continue to perform live, including at the Cruel World Festival in Pasadena, CA; headlining Luna Fest in Coimbra, Portugal, a UK Tour in October '23, and will be in Australia and beyond in 2024.
The Fire Engines were a post-punk band from Edinburgh, Scotland.
The Weirdos are an American punk rock band from Los Angeles. They formed in 1975, split-up in 1981, re-grouped in 1986 and have remained semi-active ever since. Critic Mark Deming calls them "quite simply, one of the best and brightest American bands of punk's first wave."
The Ex is an underground band from the Netherlands, started in 1979 at the height of the original punk explosion as a Dutch punk band. The Ex originated from the squatting movement in Amsterdam and Wormer, and was inspired by bands like The Fall and The Mekons. Although initially known as an anarcho-punk band associated with the Dutch post-punk ultra scene, over the decades The Ex's sound has gradually developed into its current form of highly intricate, experimental punk/post-punk/no wave-inspired work. This sound includes a combination of diverse genres and styles, such as noise, folk, world music, free jazz, and crossovers between these genres. Other examples of branching out stylistically include the improvised double album Instant and a release under the moniker Ex Orkest, a 20 piece big band assembled for performances at Holland Festival. "One reason we are hard to describe is that we never had an education at music school, and in that sense we are not influenced by any traditional playing," explained Katherina Bornefeld, drummer for The Ex since 1984. The Ex's lyrics consist of straightforward statements about politics and abuses in society. The band enjoys international acclaim for this socially critical message, as well as for the energetic, rhythmic, atonal guitar playing, and for the furious vocals of singer G.W. Sok, who was replaced in recent years by Arnold de Boer of Zea. The Ex have released over 20 full-length albums.
Basczax were a British post-punk band formed in Redcar in August 1978.
Zoo Records was a British independent record label formed by Bill Drummond and David Balfe in 1978. Zoo was launched to release the work of the perennially struggling Liverpool band Big in Japan. The label also released two singles by Lori and the Chameleons, a Balfe and Drummond band which they formed after Big in Japan folded. Zoo Records went on to release early work from The Teardrop Explodes and Echo & the Bunnymen. The label also released the first single, "Iggy Pop's Jacket", by the Liverpool band Those Naughty Lumps.
John William "Jo" Callis is an English musician and songwriter who played guitar with the Edinburgh based punk rock band the Rezillos and post-punk band Boots for Dancing, before joining the Human League.
Scars were a Scottish post-punk band from Edinburgh, Scotland, and were a part of that city's music scene of the late 1970s and early 1980s.
The Prats were an Edinburgh-based punk rock group, active from 1977 to 1981. More recently, their track "General Davis" was featured in the opening credits of Jonathan Demme's 2004 film, The Manchurian Candidate.
The Times are a British indie band, the brainchild of Ed Ball, co-founder member of the Television Personalities, Teenage Filmstars and 'O' Level.
Boots for Dancing are a post-punk band from Edinburgh, Scotland, active between 1979 and 1982. They reformed in 2015.
The Urinals are an American punk rock band from Southern California, United States. Known for their minimalist approach to songwriting and recording — their lyrics have been called "punk haiku" — the band influenced other punk rockers of the 1970s and 1980s including the Minutemen. They have also been known as 100 Flowers and Chairs of Perception.
The Thought Criminals were an influential and enterprising Australian punk band based in Sydney. They formed in late 1977 and disbanded in late 1981. The "angular, fast and quirky punk rock" of the Thought Criminals "was a fixture in the burgeoning Sydney underground scene." The band's name was derived from the concept of 'thoughtcrimes' from George Orwell's book, Nineteen Eighty-Four. The Thought Criminals exemplified the do-it-yourself punk ethos of the late 1970s, with which they combined considerable business acumen. The band members formed the Doublethink record label and agency which provided recording and live performance opportunities for other new bands.
Drinking Electricity were a post-punk/synthpop trio from Edinburgh, Scotland active during the early 1980s.
The Mekons are a British band formed in the late 1970s as an art collective. They are one of the longest-running and most prolific of the first-wave British punk rock bands.
Pop Mechanix is a New Zealand-based pop music band that played in New Zealand and Australia from 1979 to 1988. Their single "Jumping out a Window" reached number 87 of the all-time top 100 singles for APRA NZ, and number 12 in the all-time top 50 singles for The Press
Ultra is a Dutch post-punk movement that originated in Amsterdam in the early 1980s. The name "ultra" is a shortening of "ultramodernen". The movement had an avantgarde, experimental, and artistic aesthetic. Many of its participants were students in art schools. In contrast to other countries' post-punk movements, the Dutch experimented with, among other things, toy instruments, chainsaws and de-tuned guitars.
The Flowers, active from 1978–1980, were a post-punk band from Scotland, part of the Edinburgh scene which spawned bands such as Scars, Josef K and The Fire Engines. They are known for their feminist lyrics and "astringent" music. The band, and the musical scene of which they were a part, are profiled in the 2015 film Big Gold Dream.
New Hormones was a Manchester independent record label founded by Richard Boon and Howard Devoto and Pete Shelley. It was the first independent punk rock label in the UK.
Big Gold Dream is a 2015 film documenting the story of Scotland's post-punk scene, focusing on record labels Fast Product and Postcard Records. Directed by filmmaker Grant McPhee, the film's name is taken from the 1981 Fire Engines single of the same name, the final release on the Pop Aural label.
