Siouxsie and the Banshees were a British rock band formed in London in 1976 by vocalist Siouxsie Sioux and bass guitarist Steven Severin. They have been widely influential, both over their contemporaries and with later acts. The Times called the group "one of the most audacious and uncompromising musical adventurers of the post-punk era".
The Associates were a Scottish post-punk and pop band, formed in Dundee in 1979 by lead vocalist Billy Mackenzie and guitarist Alan Rankine. The band released an unauthorized cover version of David Bowie's "Boys Keep Swinging" as their debut single in 1979, which landed them a recording contract with Fiction Records. They followed with their debut studio album The Affectionate Punch in 1980 and the compilation album Fourth Drawer Down in 1981, both to critical praise.
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD) are an English electronic band formed in the Wirral, Merseyside, in 1978. The group consists of founding duo and principal songwriters Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys, along with Martin Cooper and Stuart Kershaw (drums). Regarded as pioneers of electronic music, OMD combined an experimental, minimalist ethos with pop sensibilities, becoming key figures in the emergence of synth-pop; McCluskey and Humphreys also introduced the "synth duo" format to British popular music. In the United States, the band were an early presence in the MTV-driven Second British Invasion.
Soft Cell are an English synth-pop duo who came to prominence in the early 1980s. The duo consists of vocalist Marc Almond and instrumentalist David Ball. The band are primarily known for their 1981 hit version of "Tainted Love" and their platinum-selling debut album Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret.
Robert Steven "Adrian" Belew is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. A multi-instrumentalist primarily known as a guitarist and singer, he is noted for his unusual and impressionistic approach to his guitar tones which, rather than relying on standard instrumental tones, often resemble sound effects or noises made by animals and machines.
Tears for Fears are an English pop rock band formed in Bath in 1981 by Curt Smith and Roland Orzabal. Founded after the dissolution of their first band, the mod-influenced Graduate, Tears for Fears were associated with the synth-pop bands of the 1980s, and attained international chart success as part of the Second British Invasion.
Nervous Gender is an American punk rock electronic band formed in Los Angeles in 1978 by Gerardo Velazquez, Edward Stapleton, Phranc and Michael Ochoa.
Callen Radcliffe Tjader Jr. was an American Latin Jazz musician, often described as the most successful non-Latino Latin musician. He explored other jazz idioms, especially small group modern jazz, even as he continued to perform music of Africa, the Caribbean and Latin America.
Flo & Eddie is a comedy rock duo consisting of Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan (Eddie).
Too Fast for Love is the debut studio album by American heavy metal band Mötley Crüe. The first edition of 900 copies was released on November 10, 1981, on the band's original label Leathür Records. Elektra Records signed the band the following year, at which point the album was remixed and partially re-recorded. This re-release, with a different track listing and slightly different artwork, has become the standard version from which all later reissues derive. The re-recorded album also removed the song "Stick to Your Guns", though it is featured on a bonus track version of the album. The original mix of the album remained unreleased on CD until 2002, when it was included in the Music to Crash Your Car To: Vol. 1 box set compilation.
Everything but the Girl are an English musical duo formed in Kingston upon Hull in 1982, consisting of lead singer, songwriter, composer and occasional guitarist Tracey Thorn and guitarist, keyboardist, songwriter, composer, producer and singer Ben Watt. The group's early works have been categorized as sophisti-pop with jazz influences before undergoing an electronic turn following the worldwide success of the 1994 hit single "Missing", remixed by Todd Terry.
Strawberry Switchblade were a Scottish pop duo formed in Glasgow in 1981 by Jill Bryson and Rose McDowall, best known for their song "Since Yesterday" from 1985, and their flamboyant clothing with bows and polka-dots.
Wham! were a British pop duo formed in Bushey in 1981. The duo consisted of George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley. They were one of the most successful pop acts during the 1980s, selling more than 30 million certified records worldwide from 1982 to 1986.
This is a list of notable events in country music that took place in 1965.
Peter Michael Thomas is an English rock drummer best known for his collaboration with singer Elvis Costello, both as a member of his band the Attractions and with Costello as a solo artist. Besides his lengthy career as a studio musician and touring drummer, he has been a member of the band Squeeze during the 1990s and a member of the supergroup Works Progress Administration during the early 2000s.
Kit Watkins is an American progressive-ambient-jazz recording artist based in Brattleboro, Vermont. He was previously a member of the band Happy the Man.
Eyeless In Gaza is an English musical duo of Martyn Bates and Peter Becker, based in Nuneaton, Warwickshire. They have described their music as "veer[ing] crazily from filmic ambiance to rock and pop, industrial funk to avant-folk styles." Formed in 1980, the group went into hiatus in 1987, re-emerging in 1993.
Dow Jones and the Industrials were a new wave band from West Lafayette, Indiana, from 1979 until 1981. During this time, they released a split LP with the Gizmos, entitled "Hoosier Hysteria", and a self-titled 7-inch EP, both released in the year 1980 alone. A track of theirs, "Ladies With Appliances", was also featured on the "Red Snerts" compilation.
Weekend were a Welsh band formed by Alison Statton in 1981, following the split of Young Marble Giants. The band was a merger between two projects. Statton began writing with Spike of Z Block Records and Reptile Ranch in Cardiff, Wales in the summer of 1981, before moving to London where she teamed up with Simon Emmerson of Methodishca Tune. The band signed to Rough Trade Records in December 1981, but recorded only one studio album, La Variete.
Origami Angel is an American rock band from Washington D.C., consisting of singer and guitarist Ryland Heagy and drummer Pat Doherty. The duo formed the band in 2016 after the demise of a common prior band, and released a series of EPs leading up to their debut studio album, Somewhere City in 2019. The COVID-19 pandemic limited the ability to tour in support of the album, so they instead focused on recording material written during the prior sessions to release their second studio album, Gami Gang in 2021, and wrote and recorded further material for a series of smaller releases, including a mixtape, The Brightest Days, released on June 16, 2023.
