The Sisters of Mercy are an English rock band formed in Leeds in 1980. After achieving early underground fame there, the band had their commercial breakthrough in the mid-1980s and sustained it until the early 1990s, when they stopped releasing new records in protest against their record company, WEA. Currently, the band are a touring outfit only.
Simple Minds are a Scottish rock band formed in Glasgow in 1977. They have released a string of hit singles, becoming best known internationally for "Don't You " (1985), which topped the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States. Other commercially successful singles include "Promised You a Miracle" (1982), "Glittering Prize" (1982), "Someone Somewhere in Summertime" (1982), "Waterfront" (1983), "Alive and Kicking" (1985), "Sanctify Yourself" (1986), "Let There Be Love" (1991), "See the Lights" (1991) as well as the UK number one single "Belfast Child" (1989).
Andrew Eldritch is an English singer, songwriter and musician. He is the lead vocalist and only remaining original member of the Sisters of Mercy, a band that emerged from the British post-punk scene, transformed into a gothic rock band, and, in later years, flirted with hard rock.
The Bodysnatchers were a seven-piece all-female band involved in the British 2 Tone ska revival of the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Dead or Alive were an English pop band that released six studio albums from 1984 to 1995. The band formed in 1980 in Liverpool and found success in the mid-1980s, releasing seven singles that made the UK top 40 and three albums on the UK top 30. At the peak of their success, the lineup consisted of Pete Burns (vocals), Steve Coy (drums), Mike Percy (bass) and Tim Lever (keyboards), with the core pair of Burns and Coy writing and producing for the remainder of the band's career due to Percy and Lever exiting the group in 1989.
First and Last and Always is the debut studio album by English gothic rock band the Sisters of Mercy, first released on 11 March 1985 through the band's Merciful Release label. Prior to recording sessions for a debut album, the band started off by releasing multiple extended plays and singles from 1980 through 1984. Guitarist Ben Gunn departed the band in October 1983 and was subsequently replaced by Dead or Alive member Wayne Hussey. This created one of the band's most iconic lineups, comprising Hussey with frontman Andrew Eldritch, guitarist Gary Marx, and bassist Craig Adams.
Icehouse are an Australian rock band, formed in Sydney in 1977 as Flowers. Initially known in their homeland for their pub rock style, the band later achieved mainstream success playing new wave and synth-pop music and attained Top 10 singles chart success locally and in both Europe and the U.S. The mainstay of both Flowers and Icehouse has been Iva Davies supplying additional musicians as required. The name "Icehouse", adopted in 1981, comes from an old, cold flat Davies lived in and the strange building across the road populated by itinerant people.
"Vienna" is a song by British new wave band Ultravox from their 1980 fourth studio album of the same name. It was released as the album's third single on 9 January 1981 by Chrysalis Records and features Midge Ure singing the lead vocal.
"Lovesong" is a song by English rock band the Cure, released as the third single from their eighth studio album, Disintegration (1989), on 21 August 1989. The song saw considerable success in the United States, where it reached the number-two position in October 1989 and became the band's only top-10 entry on the Billboard Hot 100. In the United Kingdom, the single charted at number 18, and it peaked within the top 20 in Canada and Ireland.
"Atomic" is a song by American rock band Blondie from their fourth studio album, Eat to the Beat (1979). Written by Debbie Harry and Jimmy Destri and produced by Mike Chapman, the song was released in February 1980 as the album's third single.
Gary Marx is a British guitarist and musician. He was a founding member of British rock band the Sisters of Mercy and its lead-guitarist and songwriter from 1980 to 1985.
The Bible are an English band. The band released two critically acclaimed albums in the mid-1980s and are best known for the independent chart hits "Graceland" and "Mahalia". Since The Bible's first split in 1990, lead singer Boo Hewerdine has maintained a solo career while the band itself has been intermittently active.
Skeletal Family are an English rock band formed in Keighley, West Yorkshire, in December 1982. The band was formed from the remaining members of an earlier group called the Elements, and took their name from the title of the song "Chant of the Ever Circling Skeletal Family" from the 1974 David Bowie album, Diamond Dogs.
The Colourfield were an English band formed in 1984 in Manchester, England when former Specials and Fun Boy Three frontman Terry Hall joined up with Karl Shale and ex-Swinging Cats member Toby Lyons. Despite the fact that all three members were from Coventry, the band was based in Manchester.
Desperate is the debut studio album and second overall album by Australian rock band Divinyls, released in 1983 by Chrysalis Records. The album contains the singles "Science Fiction" and "Siren " and "Casual Encounter". The international version included the single "Boys in Town" from Monkey Grip.
Great Southern Land is the first compilation album by Australian rock/synthpop band Icehouse, released by Chrysalis Records / Regular Records in October 1989. It peaked at No. 2 on the Australian albums charts, and contained two new singles "Touch the Fire", which peaked at No. 13 on the singles chart, and "Jimmy Dean", which peaked at No. 47. Several different versions of this album exist; the Regular Records release for Australian / New Zealand markets was as a 16 track double vinyl LP, twin music cassette or CD; Chrysalis Records US versions were as 10 track LP / music cassette or 11 track CD release with a different track order; Chrysalis Records UK versions had 12 tracks ; and a video version of 15 tracks was released in VHS PAL format.
"Science Fiction" is a song by Australian rock/new wave group Divinyls, which was the lead single from their first studio album Desperate. Released in December 1982, "Science Fiction", peaked at No. 13 on the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart. The B-side, "I'll Make You Happy" is a cover of The Easybeats 1966 hit.
"Alice" is a song by the British rock band the Sisters of Mercy, written by vocalist Andrew Eldritch. The song was released as a non-album single by the band's own label by Merciful Release, on 21 November 1982. It was re-released in March 1983 as a 12" EP.
Loud were a hard rock band with alternative rock, gothic rock and heavy metal influences, formed in Bradford, England in 1989.
"The Freeze" is a song by the English new wave band Spandau Ballet, released on 12 January 1981 as the follow-up to their debut single, the number 5 UK hit "To Cut a Long Story Short". As was the case with that release, the 7-inch single of "The Freeze" featured a dub mix on its B-side, and the 12-inch single had two additional mixes of the song geared toward dance clubs. The cover art used for both formats of the single also repeated its predecessor in having a simple black-and-white classical motif. This design, however, was also seen on the sets of the music video for the song. Reviews of "The Freeze" were mixed. It reached number 17 on the UK Singles Chart.
