Shakatak is an English jazz-funk band founded in 1980 by Bill Sharpe, Nigel Wright, Roger Odell and Keith Winter. Following an initial white label release, "Steppin", the band's name was derived from a record store in Soho, London Record Shack with the name created by Les McCutcheon, Passion records label owner and Northern Soul DJ Kev Roberts, It was they who first showed interest in the initial single.
Visage were a British synth-pop band formed in London in 1978. The band became closely linked to the burgeoning New Romantic fashion movement of the early 1980s, and are best known for their hit "Fade to Grey" which was released in late 1980. In the UK, the band achieved two Top 20 albums and five Top 30 singles before the commercial failure of their third album led to their break-up in 1985.
Orange Juice were a Scottish jangle pop band founded in the Glasgow suburb of Bearsden as the Nu-Sonics in 1976. They became Orange Juice in 1979, and became perhaps the most important band in the Scottish independent music scene that emerged in the post-punk era, inspired by contemporary punk bands including Subway Sect, Television, and Buzzcocks but also 1960s acts, most notably the Byrds and the Velvet Underground. Musically, the band brought together styles and genres that often appeared incongruous, for example, country, disco and punk.
Fred Wesley is an American trombonist who worked with James Brown in the 1960s and 1970s, and Parliament-Funkadelic in the second half of the 1970s.
Chrome is an American rock band founded in San Francisco in 1976 by musician Damon Edge and associated with the 1970s post-punk movement. The group's raw sound blended elements of punk, psychedelia, and early industrial music, incorporating science-fiction themes, tape experimentation, distorted acid rock guitar, and electronic noise. They have been cited as forerunners of the 1980s industrial music boom.
Brian Francis Connolly was a Scottish singer-songwriter, musician and actor, best known as the lead singer of glam rock band the Sweet between 1968 and 1979 and renowned for his charismatic stage presence and distinctive voice.
Anthony Moore is a British experimental music composer, performer and producer. He was a founding member of the band Slapp Happy, worked with Henry Cow and has made a number of solo albums, including Flying Doesn't Help (1979) and World Service (1981).
Girls at Our Best! were an English post-punk band, founded in Leeds, England in 1979 under the name The Butterflies. They had several UK Independent Singles Chart hits during their three-year existence.
The Passions were a British post-punk/new wave band which formed in 1978 and disbanded in 1983. The Passions' music was grounded mainly in Barbara Gogan's voice and Clive Timperley's delicate Echoplex guitar work. They were considered a one-hit wonder due to their early 1981 single "I'm in Love with a German Film Star".
The Danse Society are an English gothic rock band, formed in Barnsley in 1980. They were originally active until 1986, reforming in 2011. They achieved moderate success during their career. Their lineup included Steve Rawlings (vocals), Paul Nash (guitar), Lyndon Scarfe (keyboards), Tim Wright and Paul Gilmartin (drums). Scarfe was replaced by David Whitaker after the Heaven Is Waiting album.
William Murray Bremner is a Scottish guitarist, best known for his work in the band Rockpile and on many of Nick Lowe and Dave Edmunds' albums. He has also played with The Pretenders, Shakin' Stevens, Carlene Carter and The Coal Porters, as well as issuing four solo albums.
Zeus B. Held is a German music producer and musician, known for his work in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. He was involved with several artists of the krautrock, disco, and new wave era, such as Birth Control, Rockets, Gina X Performance, Dead Or Alive, John Foxx, Fashion, and Men Without Hats on their successful album Pop Goes the World.
Zaine Griff is a singer-songwriter who was part of the English new wave and new romantics scene of the early 1980s. Raised in New Zealand, he moved to England in the 1970s, where he continued with his artistic and musical career, becoming a solo artist. He worked with The Human Instinct, The Kinks, Tony Visconti, Hans Zimmer, Kate Bush, Warren Cann and Yukihiro Takahashi, among others.
Blacklands is the second and final album by Music for Pleasure and was released in 1985.
Into the Rain is the first album by Music for Pleasure and was released in 1982.
"Time" is a single by the new wave band Music for Pleasure. It was released in 1983 on Polydor.
"Light" is a single by Music for Pleasure and was released in 1982.
"Switchback" is a single by Music for Pleasure and was released in 1982.
Rolf Graf was a Norwegian singer, bass guitarist, composer and record producer, and the younger brother of keyboardist Haakon Graf and the jazz singer Randi Elisabeth Graf. He is best known as the bassist in the band Lava, but was also recognized as music producer, musician and songwriter for other artists like Randy Crawford, Mezzoforte and Sissel Kyrkjebø. He also released three solo albums and was editor of the journal Musikkpraksis.
John Christopher Parry is a New Zealand record producer and former musician, known for being the former manager and producer for The Cure and for founding Fiction Records.
