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.
The Human League are an English synth-pop band formed in Sheffield in 1977. Initially an experimental electronic outfit, the group signed to Virgin Records in 1979 and later attained widespread commercial success with their third album Dare in 1981 after restructuring their lineup. The album contained four hit singles, including the UK/US number one hit "Don't You Want Me". The band received the Brit Award for Best British Breakthrough Act in 1982. Further hits followed throughout the 1980s and into the 1990s, including "Mirror Man", "(Keep Feeling) Fascination", "The Lebanon", "Human" and "Tell Me When".
Steps are a British dance-pop group consisting of Lee Latchford-Evans, Claire Richards, Lisa Scott-Lee, Faye Tozer and Ian "H" Watkins. Steps were formed in May 1997 and achieved two number-one albums in the UK, 14 consecutive UK top-5 singles including two number ones, and a string of hits across Europe. The group has sold over 22 million records worldwide in addition to acquiring a BRIT Award nomination in 1999 for Best Newcomer while supporting Britney Spears on tour the same year. When Richards and Watkins departed to form a recording duo, the group disbanded on 26 December 2001. Their penultimate single reached number five in the UK charts while their final album of greatest hits, Gold (2001), was the group's second number-one album in the UK.
The Three Degrees is an American female vocal group formed circa 1963 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Although 16 women have been members over the years, the group has always been a trio. The current line-up consists of Valerie Holiday, Freddie Pool and Tabitha King. The group were particularly successful in the UK, achieving 13 Top 50 hit singles between 1974 and 1985.
Blazin' Squad are an English hip hop group. The group had six top ten hits, including "Crossroads", a cover version of the Bone Thugs-n-Harmony original. Jon O'Brien of AllMusic called them the "self-proclaimed pioneers of 'chav' culture".
Babylon Zoo were an English rock band formed in 1992 in Wolverhampton. Their song "Spaceman" gained considerable exposure through its use in a Levi's jeans television advert in the United Kingdom in late 1995. Released as the band's debut single on 21 January 1996, it entered the UK Singles Chart at number one. "Spaceman" led to the band being considered a one-hit wonder; they had little success with any subsequent releases.
Porcupine is the third studio album by the English post-punk band Echo & the Bunnymen. First released on 4 February 1983, it became the band's highest-charting release when it reached number two on the UK Albums Chart despite initially receiving poor reviews. It also reached number 137 on the American Billboard 200, number 85 on the Canadian RPM 100 Albums and number 24 on the Swedish chart. In 1984, the album was certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry. The album includes the singles "The Back of Love" and "The Cutter."
Red Box is a British pop group founded by Simon Toulson-Clarke and Julian Close. Active from the early 1980s to the present day, they scored two UK top ten hits with the singles "Lean on Me (Ah-Li-Ayo)" in 1985 and "For America" in 1986, both of which were included on their debut album, The Circle & the Square.
Simon Solomon Webbe is a British singer. He is best known as a member of the boy band Blue, selling over 15 million records. Webbe released three solo studio albums in 2005, 2006 and 2017 and had five UK Top 40 singles.
Hits - also commonly known as The Hits Album - is a long-running compilation album series containing contemporary chart music. It originally ran in the United Kingdom and parts of Europe for over twenty years from 1984 until 2006. It was compiled as a joint venture, variously between the compilation arms of the Sony Music, RCA/BMG, and Warner Music groups to rival the Now That's What I Call Music series that had launched a year earlier in 1983, compiled by rival companies EMI and Virgin. Initially, the Hits brand was arguably as popular as its main rival and all of the first eight volumes achieved at least a platinum BPI award, with several of the very early albums going multi-platinum.
Shola Ama is a British singer from London, who scored her biggest hits with "You Might Need Somebody" (1997), a cover of Randy Crawford's 1981 hit, "You're the One I Love" and "Still Believe" (1999) which was one of the first productions by the Norwegian producing team Stargate.
Keisha Kerreece Fayeanne Buchanan is an English singer and a founding member of the girl group Sugababes alongside Mutya Buena and Siobhán Donaghy. With the Sugababes, she had six number one singles and two number one studio albums, making them one of the most successful British pop acts of the 21st century. Buchanan was sacked to leave the group in September 2009 and was replaced by Jade Ewen. Buchanan returned to the group in 2012 with the original lineup.
Brilliant were a British pop/rock group active in the 1980s. Although not commercially successful and mauled by the critics, they remain notable because of the personnel involved – Martin Glover a.k.a. Youth of Killing Joke and subsequently a top producer/remixer; Jimmy Cauty, later to find fame and fortune as one half of The KLF; and Ben Watkins a.k.a. Juno Reactor. Equally notable was their management, their record company A&R manager, and songwriting and production team.
Geraldine Carroll is an English singer. She had a string of hits during the 1990s, including the UK top ten singles, "It's Too Late" (1991), "Don't Be a Stranger" (1993), "The Perfect Year", (1993), and "Escaping" (1996). Carroll released two studio albums, So Close (1993) and Only Human (1996), both of which reached number two on the UK Albums Chart and were certified platinum. She won Best British Female Solo Artist at the 1994 Brit Awards.
Scarlet were an English pop duo from Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. They consisted of Cheryl Parker and Jo Youle. The group originally had a third member, Joanna Fox but she left before the band had any major success.
"House of Fun" is a song by English ska/pop group Madness, credited to Mike Barson and Lee Thompson. It was released as a one-off single on 14 May 1982 and reached number one in the UK Singles Chart, spending nine weeks in the charts. The song was re-released in 1992, reaching number 40. It is the band's only number one single in the UK and in 2015 the British public voted it as the nation's 8th favourite 1980s number one in a poll for ITV.
The Space Brothers are a British trance music duo comprising Richard 'Ricky' Louis Simmonds and Stephen Christopher Jones, noted for producing under a variety of pseudonyms such as Chakra, Lustral, Ascension, Essence, Ultra High, Lamai and The Realm.
Kate Cameron is an English house and trance music singer with a rich alto voice. She signed with MCA in the dance/pop group GMT in 1991, releasing "Feel So Good" and "Inner City Blues" before they were dropped in 1993. Cameron then worked as a session singer, coming to prominence via her involvement with Norman Cook as the vocalist on his Pizza Man single, "P.A.S.S.I.O.N." which went on to be a hit for Jon of the Pleased Wimmin, peaking at number 27 on the UK chart in 1995. Her vocals also featured at this time on Zion Train's album Grow Together, singing lead on "Stand Up and Fight" and the single "Rise" released in 1996 on China. She subsequently made a name as the credited vocalist and writer on a multitude of dance and trance releases.
"The One Thing" is a song by Australian rock group INXS, released in July 1982 as the first single ahead of their third studio album, Shabooh Shoobah, which appeared in October that year.
All Saints are an English girl group formed in London in 1993. They were founded as All Saints 1.9.7.5 by music manager Ron Tom. with members Melanie Blatt, Shaznay Lewis, and Simone Rainford. The group struggled to find commercial success upon being signed to ZTT Records and were dropped by the label shortly after Rainford left the group. In 1996, the group were joined by Canadian-born sisters Nicole and Natalie Appleton and signed to London Records under their shortened name.
