The Pretenders are a British-American rock band formed in March 1978. The original band consisted of founder and main songwriter Chrissie Hynde, James Honeyman-Scott, Pete Farndon and Martin Chambers. Following the deaths of Honeyman-Scott in 1982 and Farndon in 1983, the band experienced numerous personnel changes; Hynde has been the band's only consistent member.
Christopher Cross is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist from San Antonio, Texas. He won five Grammy Awards for his eponymous debut album released in 1979. The singles "Sailing" (1980), and "Arthur's Theme " peaked at number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. "Sailing" earned three Grammys in 1980, while "Arthur's Theme" won the Oscar for Best Original Song in 1980.
Shoegaze is a subgenre of indie and alternative rock characterized by its ethereal mixture of obscured vocals, guitar distortion and effects, feedback, and overwhelming volume. It emerged in Ireland and the United Kingdom in the late 1980s among neo-psychedelic groups who usually stood motionless during live performances in a detached, non-confrontational state. The name comes from the heavy use of effects pedals, as the performers were often looking down at their pedals during concerts.
Ride are an English rock band formed in Oxford in 1988. The band consists of vocalists and guitarists Andy Bell and Mark Gardener, drummer Laurence "Loz" Colbert and bassist Steve Queralt. They have been recognised as one of the key pioneers of shoegaze, an alternative rock subgenre that emerged to prominence in the United Kingdom during the early 1990s.
KMFDM is a multinational industrial band from Hamburg led by Sascha Konietzko, who founded the band in 1984 as a performance art project.
Nihil is the seventh studio album by German industrial band KMFDM, released on April 4, 1995, by Wax Trax! Records. The album marked the return of former band member Raymond Watts and the first appearance of session drummer Bill Rieflin, and was mostly written by frontman Sascha Konietzko.
Sweet is a British glam rock band that rose to prominence in the 1970s. Their best-known line-up consisted of lead vocalist Brian Connolly, bassist Steve Priest, guitarist Andy Scott and drummer Mick Tucker.
1,039/Smoothed Out Slappy Hours is a compilation album comprising early recordings by American rock band Green Day, released October 1, 1991, on Lookout Records. Often erroneously referred to as the band's debut album, the compilation combines the band's actual debut 39/Smooth (1990) and its first two EPs 1,000 Hours (1989) and Slappy (1990), as suggested by the amalgamation of the titles of the debut album and two EPs for the resulting compilation album. The album includes one cover, "Knowledge", which was originally by influential California punk band Operation Ivy, whose singer, Jesse Michaels, contributed the artwork for the album. The cover art features the same image from 39/Smooth.
Andrew Piran Bell is a Welsh singer, songwriter, musician, record producer, and DJ. He is one of two vocalists and guitarists of the English rock band Ride, and was formerly the bassist of Oasis from 1999 until their breakup in 2009. Bell was also a member of Hurricane #1 as well as Liam Gallagher's post-Oasis project Beady Eye until their breakup in 2014.
Natural Selection is the third album by American rock band Fuel, released on September 23, 2003, by Epic Records.
Cowboy is the eighth studio album by English synth-pop duo Erasure, released on 31 March 1997 by Mute Records. In the United States, it was released by Madonna's former label Maverick Records. Cowboy was produced by Gareth Jones and Neil McLellan and marked the band's return to more simplistic three-minute synth-pop music.
Hurricane #1 are an English rock band, formed in Oxford in 1996. The band were formed by former Ride guitarist Andy Bell, along with vocalist / guitarist Alex Lowe, bassist Will Pepper and drummer Gareth "Gaz" Farmer. After releasing two albums, Hurricane #1 (1997) and Only the Strongest Will Survive (1999), the band broke up. Bell went on to join Gay Dad and then eventually Oasis, while Lowe ventured into a solo career. Fronted by Lowe, the band reformed in 2014 and released their third album, Find What You Love and Let It Kill You, in November 2015.
Nowhere is the debut album by British shoegaze band Ride, released 15 October 1990. Rolling Stone called the album "a masterpiece", and online magazine Pitchfork called it "one of shoegazing's enduring moments".
Going Blank Again is the second studio album by English rock band Ride, released on 9 March 1992 on Creation Records. It was produced by Alan Moulder, and peaked at No. 5 in the UK Albums Chart. In October 2009 the album was certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry for sales of over 100,000 units.
Carnival of Light is the third studio album by British rock band Ride, released in June 1994 via Creation Records. The album is named after the lost song by The Beatles of the same name. The album showcased the band's shift from shoegazing to a more traditional, folk rock sound. It was well received by some critics, magazine Select calling it "another fantastic British album in the old tradition" and reached the UK Top 5. However, by the end of 1994 even the band members had become disillusioned, referring to it amongst themselves as "Carnival of Shite", although in a 2022 interview Andy Bell stated that he had "made peace with it. It’s got a lot of good tracks, like Moonlight Medicine and Birdman".
Mark Stephen Gardener is an English rock musician, and a singer and guitarist with the shoegazing band Ride.
"Black Nite Crash" is a single by English shoegazing band Ride, from their album Tarantula. It reached number 67 on the UK Singles Chart on 24 February 1996. The single was released shortly before the band's break up, and was awarded single of the week by the weekly music magazine Melody Maker.
"Twisterella" is a song by the British rock band Ride. It was released as the second single from the band's second studio album Going Blank Again on 13 April 1992. It features Mark Gardener on lead vocals, who wrote its lyrics about his experiences with London nightlife. The song is described as "jangly Rickenbacker pop", in contrast to the band's typical shoegaze stylings.
Puppet Strings is the fifth studio album by American rock band Fuel. Released March 4, 2014, it is their first and only studio effort since 2003's Natural Selection to feature original lead singer Brett Scallions and the only Fuel album not to feature original songwriter/guitarist, Carl Bell and bassist Jeff Abercrombie. Additionally, no one who participated in the recording of Puppet Strings participated in the recording of Fuel's previous album Angels & Devils or the next album Anomaly.
Laurence John "Loz" Colbert is an English musician, best known as the drummer in Ride and formerly of The Animalhouse, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Supergrass and Gaz Coombes. His drumming style has been characterized as furious, drawing comparisons to Keith Moon.
