For all intents and purposes, Frank Tovey was best known as the man behind Fad Gadget, one of the most significant cult acts of the post-punk boom. As Fad Gadget, Tovey and his revolving door of conspirators released several singles and four full-length albums that stretched the boundaries of pop music during the late '70s and early '80s. And... [+] Read More

Yes No

Formed in the wake of the punk explosion in England, Joy Division became the first band in the post-punk movement by later emphasizing not anger and energy but mood and expression, pointing ahead to the rise of melancholy alternative music in the '80s. Though the group's raw initial sides fit the bill for any punk band, Joy Division later... [+] Read More

Yes No

Ludus are one of the less-known Manchester bands of the post-punk era. Formed in 1978 by former Manicured Noise guitarist Arthur Kadmon, the group initially consisted of former Nosebleeds drummer Philip Tolman, bassist Willie Trotter, and vocalist Linder (Linda Mulvey), a Manchester scenester who designed record sleeves and posters for Buzzcocks... [+] Read More

Yes No

Arriving in the aftermath of Brit-pop, Mansun was one of the first British guitar-bands to depart from the prevailing styles of the mid-'90s, leaving both light, Beatlesque pop and studied trad-rock behind. Mansun had more in common with early '90s bands like Suede and the Manic Street Preachers, groups that stood defiantly outside of the pop... [+] Read More

Yes No

Ornaith O'Dowd is a recording artist from Galway, Ireland, now based in Brooklyn, New York, who makes home-made postpunk-inflected pop songs about love, loss, and listening to The Cure in one's room on Saturday nights. She has recorded two albums, "Blank Melodies" (1995) and "The Pomegranate Heart" (2006). Check the soundclick.com/ornaithodowd... [+] Read More

Yes No

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

Yes No

The Birthday Party were one of the darkest and most challenging post-punk groups to emerge in the early '80s, creating bleak and noisy soundscapes that provided the perfect setting for vocalist Nick Cave's difficult, disturbing stories of religion, violence, and perversity. Under the direction of Cave and guitarist Rowland S. Howard, the band... [+] Read More

Yes No

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

Yes No

Not to be confused with the avant-prog group of the same name, Edinburgh's Happy Family was one of the 4AD label's early acts. They originally consisted of Nick Currie, David Weddell (ex-Josef K), Paul Mason, and future Win member Ian Stoddart. Debuting with the Puritans single in March of 1982, Stoddart eventually parted, with Ronnie Torrance... [+] Read More

Yes No

One of the great English punk bands of the late '70s, there is only one thing wrong with the careers of X-Ray Spex and lead singer Poly Styrene -- they didn't record enough music. Formed in 1976 by school friends Marion Elliot (Styrene) and Susan Whitby (saxophonist Lora Logic), X-Ray Spex exploded onto the punk scene with one of the era's great... [+] Read More

Yes No