Genre: Rock/Pop
Portland based quartet combining anthemic rock and dark retro dance stylings.
MEMBERS: Shawn Saindon-vox/guitars Ryan Dolan-drums Mike Hamlin-guitars Jasper Rice-bass
Genre: Rock/Pop
Decades Active: 80s, 90s, 00s
R.E.M. mark the point when post-punk turned into alternative rock. When their first single, "Radio Free Europe," was released in 1981, it sparked a back-to-the-garage movement in the American underground. While there were a number of hardcore and punk bands in the U.S. during the early '80s, R.E.M. brought guitar pop back into the underground... [+] Read More
Genre: Rock/Pop
Decades Active: 70s, 80s, 90s, 00s
Best known in the U.S. for their 1985 number one hit "Don't You (Forget About Me)" from the film The Breakfast Club, Scotland's Simple Minds evolved from a post-punk art rock band influenced by Roxy Music into a grand, epic-sounding pop band along the lines of U2. The band grew out of a Glasgow punk group called Johnny and the Self-Abusers,... [+] Read More
Genre: Rock/Pop
Decades Active: 70s, 80s, 90s, 00s
One of the most influential British females of the rock era was born Susan Janet Dallion in London, England, on May 27, 1957. The music of this pioneering punk princess married gothic tones to world rhythms within a chilly new-romantic framework. At age 19, Siouxsie Sioux appeared at the 100 Club Punk Festival, singing the Bay City Rollers'... [+] Read More
Genre: Rock/Pop
Decades Active: 80s, 90s, 00s
The Psychedelic Furs, whose name belies their punk-influenced music, were formed in England in 1977 by brothers Richard Butler (vocals) and Tim Butler (bass), along with saxophone player Duncan Kilburn and guitarist Roger Morris. By the time they released their self-titled debut album in 1980, the group had become a sextet, adding guitarist John... [+] Read More
Genre: Rock/Pop
Decades Active: 80s, 90s
The Smiths were the definitive British indie rock band of the '80s, marking the end of synth-driven new wave and the beginning of the guitar rock that dominated English rock into the '90s. Sonically, the group were indebted to the British Invasion, crafting ringing, melodic three-minute pop singles, even for their album tracks. But their scope... [+] Read More
Genre: Rock/Pop
Decades Active: 80s, 90s, 00s
The The was the guise of Matt Johnson, a mercurial singer/songwriter whose music ran the gamut from dance-pop to country. Born August 15, 1961, in London, Johnson was raised in the flat above his father's pub, the Two Puddings, a haven for well-known celebrities and criminals; he also became exposed to music at the nightclubs and dancehalls... [+] Read More
Genre: Alternative/Indie
Cockpit formed in Tampa Florida in 1984 jumping into the Punk / New wave scene. The band was heavily influenced by groups like the Ramones, XTC, Oingo Boingo and Echo & the Bunnymen.
Genre: Rock/Pop
Decades Active: 70s, 80s
Like the better-known Teardrop Explodes and Echo & the Bunnymen, the post-punk band Modern Eon was based in Liverpool, England. Fitting somewhere between the odd rhythms and textured turmoil of the Comsat Angels and the aggressive side of Sad Lovers and Giants, the band released only one studio LP, 1981's excellent Fiction Tales. Alix Plain... [+] Read More
Genre: Rock/Pop
Decades Active: 00s
Violinist/singer/songwriter Patrick Wolf began experimenting with sound at the age of 11. While his peers were exploring the frivolity of youth, the precocious preteen was dabbling in four-track recording, eventually building an arsenal of instruments that included junk-shop organs and a home-built theremin. At the age of 14 he joined the... [+] Read More
Genre: Rock/Pop
20 years to the day of their last gig as support act on BIG COUNTRY'S 1986 UK Seer tour, The PRIME MOVERS have reunited.
In 1987, The Prime Movers fell from favor with their label Island Records, although the reason is unknown. It was then that The PRIME MOVERS hit on the bright idea to record new music under an assumed name - the...
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Genre: Rock/Pop
Decades Active: 80s, 90s, 00s
Most bands hit the big time immediately and fade away, or they build a dedicated following and slowly climb their way to the top. Pulp didn't follow either route. For the first 12 years of their existence, Pulp languished in near total obscurity, releasing a handful of albums and singles in the '80s to barely any attention. At the turn of the... [+] Read More
Genre: Rock/Pop
Decades Active: 80s, 90s, 00s
With their first records, Ride created a unique wall of sound that relied on massive, trembling distortion in the vein of My Bloody Valentine but with a simpler, more direct melodic approach. The shatteringly loud, droning neo-psychedelia the band performed was dubbed shoegazing by the British press because the bandmembers stared at the stage... [+] Read More
Genre: Rock/Pop
Decades Active: 70s, 80s, 90s
Erroneously regarded as a synth pop band -- and, every now and then -- as a band that peaked with a song placed in a scene of Real Genius, the Comsat Angels were one of the finest bands of the post-punk/new wave era. Often as moody if less dramatic than Joy Division, their first and best albums -- 1980's Waiting for a Miracle, 1981's Sleep No... [+] Read More
Genre: Rock/Pop
Decades Active: 70s, 80s
One of the pivotal groups to emerge from the Liverpool neo-psychedelia community during the late '70s, the Teardrop Explodes was a showcase for Julian Cope, a notoriously eccentric figure whose unfashionable love of Krautrock and hallucinogenic drugs set him distinctly apart from the prevailing punk mentality of the era. Cope formed the band in... [+] Read More
Genre: Rock/Pop
Decades Active: 70s, 80s, 90s, 00s
Wah!, and its number of incarnations, was a vehicle for Liverpool post-punk enigma Pete Wylie. Whether viewed as a prolific genius or as a blowhard lunatic with no quality control, there's no denying that the larger-than-life Wylie was a steamroller of a character who did everything his way to the fullest possible extent. Wylie's recordings... [+] Read More
