Big Flame were a post-punk/indie rock three piece band, based in Manchester, England, and active from 1983 to 1986. The members were Alan Brown, Greg Keeffe (guitar) and Dil Green (drums). After a debut EP ("Sink") on their own Laughing Gun label, they joined the Ron Johnson roster for a series of mid-1980s singles as well as an appearance on the NME's C86 compilation.
The Pop Group are an English rock band formed in Bristol in 1977 by vocalist Mark Stewart, guitarist John Waddington, bassist Simon Underwood, guitarist/saxophonist Gareth Sager, and drummer Bruce Smith. Their work in the late 1970s crossed diverse musical influences including punk, dub, funk, and free jazz with radical politics, helping to pioneer post-punk music.
Mayo Thompson is an American musician and visual artist best known as the leader of the experimental rock band Red Krayola.
Cherry Red Records is a British independent record label founded in Malvern, Worcestershire by Iain McNay in 1978. The label has released recordings by Dead Kennedys, Everything but the Girl, The Monochrome Set, and Felt, among others, as well as the compilation album Pillows & Prayers. In addition to releasing new music, Cherry Red also acts as an umbrella for individual imprints and catalogue specialists.
The Monochrome Set are an English post-punk/new wave band, originally formed in London in January 1978. The most recent line-up consists of Bid, Andy Warren, Athen Ayren and Stephen Gilchrist.
Juvenal de Holanda Vasconcelos, known as Naná Vasconcelos, was a Brazilian percussionist, vocalist and berimbau player, notable for his work as a solo artist on over two dozen albums, and as a backing musician with Pat Metheny, Don Cherry, Jan Garbarek, Egberto Gismonti, Gato Barbieri, and Milton Nascimento.
Aldo Romano is an Italian jazz drummer. He also founded a rock group in 1971.
Helen McCookerybook is a British musician and singer-songwriter, who was the bass player and co-singer with the Chefs, during the late 1970s and early 1980s. She went on to form Helen and the Horns in the mid 80s. Both bands were admired by John Peel, recording six BBC Radio 1 sessions between them. After a long break from her music career, Helen McCookerybook started again as a solo artist in 2005. She regularly plays live gigs, releases recordings, and promotes occasional revivals of Helen and the Horns.
Peter Astor is an English songwriter and solo artist, known for his work with The Loft, The Weather Prophets, The Wisdom of Harry and Ellis Island Sound.
Edward Ball is an English songwriter, singer, guitarist and keyboard player from London, who has recorded both solo and as a member of the Television Personalities, 'O' Level, Teenage Filmstars, The Times, and Conspiracy of Noise. He also worked for Creation Records. He was born and brought up in Chelsea, London.
Strange Boutique is the debut studio album by English band The Monochrome Set. It was released in 1980, through record label Dindisc.
Eligible Bachelors is the third studio album by English band The Monochrome Set. It was released in 1982, through record label Cherry Red.
Dindisc was a UK record label, an imprint of Virgin Records but operating semi-independently, which issued new releases from mid-1979 through early 1982. It is no longer active, but CD reissues on Virgin still mention the label and have Dindisc catalogue numbers.
Ian Button is an English guitarist best known for his work in the bands Thrashing Doves (1985-1991) and Death In Vegas (1994-2011). Button was one of a core of additional musicians originally brought in by Death In Vegas founders Richard Fearless and Steve Hellier, and his contribution was significant throughout the band's first four albums and in the live band up to 2004.
...And the Native Hipsters was an English experimental group formed in London, England in 1979. Centred on the nucleus of musicians William Wilding and Blatt, they are best known for their 1980 single, "There Goes Concorde Again", which attracted the attention of BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel, and reached number five on the UK Independent Charts. The song was listed by New Musical Express in their "NME Writers 100 Best Indie Singles Ever" in 1992.
James 'Foz' Foster is an English composer and multi-instrumentalist. He is best known as the lead guitarist in the art-rock band, David Devant and his Spirit Wife, and in the 1983-5 incarnation of The Monochrome Set. Foster also plays guitar, musical saw and vibraslap in the house band of Karaoke Circus and occasional saw in Martin White's Mystery Fax Machine Orchestra. He plays ukulele and other instruments as part of the double-act, Foster and Gilvan, and is also musical director of Sawchestra – a band of musical saw players who perform Foster's compositions to accompany silent films. He also presents the radio show, 'Adrift with Foz'.
Timo Blunck is a German composer, lyricist, producer, bassist and vocalist.
Spaces Everywhere is the twelfth studio album by English band The Monochrome Set. It was released on 16 March 2015 through German record label Tapete.
Jonathan Lemon is a British and American cartoonist and former musician. He is best known for drawing the Alley Oop comic strip.
Jesus Couldn't Drum were a 1980s eclectic, experimental synth pop duo from Watford, England. They were part of the 80s British loose guitar pop scene and described by Sounds as resembling “The Residents gone crazy in Luton on Eyeless in Gaza demos”. They incorporated humor and parody into their songs, similar to the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band. Their theme tune was "two parts Bo Diddley to one part Eighties rockabilly"
