The Sisters of Mercy are an English gothic rock band that formed in 1980. After achieving early underground fame in UK, the band had their commercial breakthrough in mid-1980s and sustained it until the early 1990s, when they stopped releasing new recorded output as a strike against their record company. Currently, the band is a touring outfit only.

The group has released three original studio albums, of which the last was released in 1990. Each album was recorded by a different line-up; singer and songwriter Andrew Eldritch and the drum machines called Doktor Avalanche are the only points of continuity among the line-ups. Eldritch and Avalanche were also involved in The Sisterhood, a side-project connected with Eldritch's dispute with former members.

The group ceased recording activity in 1993, when they went on strike against their record company Time Warner, which they accused of withholding royalties and being incompetent. Although Time Warner eventually let the band go in 1997, they have not signed to another label, and have chosen not to go the independent label route, despite showcasing numerous new songs in their live sets.

Since 1985, when the other original members left, The Sisters of Mercy has become the artistic vehicle of Andrew Eldritch. Ex-members of the group established the bands Ghost Dance and The Mission.

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ukihiro Takahashi (高橋幸宏 Takahashi Yukihiro, born June 6, 1952) is a Japanese musician, who is best known as the drummer and lead vocalist of the Yellow Magic Orchestra.[1]

Yukihiro Takahashi first came to prominence as the drummer of the Sadistic Mika Band, and became known to western audiences after this band (led by Kazuhiko Kato, formerly of The Folk Crusaders) toured and recorded in the United Kingdom. After the Sadistic Mika Band disbanded, some of the members (including Takahashi) formed another band called The Sadistics, who released several albums. Finally Takahashi recorded his first solo album Saravah in 1977. In 1978, Takahashi joined Ryuichi Sakamoto and Haruomi Hosono to form the Yellow Magic Orchestra.

After the Yellow Magic Orchestra disbanded in the mid 80s, Takahashi went solo and released a large number of solo albums, primarily intended for the Japanese market. Takahashi has collaborated extensively with other musicians, including Bill Nelson, Iva Davies of Icehouse,[2] Keiichi Suzuki of the Moonriders (often as a duo dubbed "The Beatniks", although Suzuki essentially functioned as a member of Takahashi's backing band during the Moonriders' brief hiatus) and in particular Steve Jansen. Takahashi has released a single Stay Close and an EP Pulse as a duo with Jansen.

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The Lambrettas were an English mod revival band, active in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Named after the iconic Italian Lambretta scooter brand popular among Mods, the band was formed in Brighton. Their original line-up consisted of Jez Bird (singer/guitarist), Doug Sanders (guitarist/vocalist), Mark Ellis (bassist) and Paul Wincer (drummer).

Their biggest hit was in 1980, with a cover version of the 1950s Leiber and Stoller song, "Poison Ivy", which reached #7 in the UK Singles Chart. They scored a #12 hit with the follow-up, "Da-a-a-nce". In the same year, they released the album Beat Boys in the Jet Age, which reached #28 on the UK Albums Chart, and scored another minor hit single single, "Another Day (Another Girl)", at UK. The latter song was originally called "Page Three" but an injunction from the Sun newspaper forced a change of title and the destruction of all the manufactured sleeves. All these releases were issued by Rocket Records, the imprint owned by Elton John. After the Mod revival faded, subsequent singles, which included a 1982 cover of Jefferson Airplane's "Somebody to Love" - featuring Patrick Freyne on drums - and a second album, 1981's Ambience (Drummer Paul Wincer left the band and was replaced on the album by Steve Bray), were commercial failures. The band played their final concert in London, on 14 April 1982. Bird re-formed the band in the 1990s, performing at small venues in England, and recording several demos for a new album that was never issued.

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Cabaret Voltaire were a British music group from Sheffield, England.[1]

Initially composed of Stephen Mallinder, Richard H. Kirk and Chris Watson, the group was named after the Cabaret Voltaire, a nightclub in Zurich, Switzerland that was a centre for the early Dada movement.

Their earliest performances were dada-influenced performance art, but Cabaret Voltaire later developed into one of the most prolific and important groups to blend pop with dance music, techno, dub, house and experimental electronic music.

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The Wake were a British post punk and later indie pop band, founded in Glasgow in 1981 by Gerard "Caesar" McInulty (formerly of Altered Images), Steven Allen and Joe Donnelly, who was later replaced by Bobby Gillespie. Steven's sister Carolyn Allen soon joined, and remained in the band until its end.

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Ciccone Youth is an experimental band which was formed in 1986. It is a side project of Sonic Youth members Steve Shelley, Kim Gordon, Lee Ranaldo, and Thurston Moore, with Minutemen/fIREHOSE member Mike Watt. The band's name is a play on the names "Sonic Youth" and "Ciccone", the original surname of pop singer Madonna.

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Fear is an American punk band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1977, and is still active today. Credited for helping to shape the sound and style of American hardcore punk,[1] the band started out as part of the early California punk rock scene, and gained national prominence after an infamous 1981 performance on Saturday Night Live.

Frontman Lee Ving has been the band's only constant member. Since their formation, the band went through various lineup changes and at one point featured Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers on bass.

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Jah Wobble (born John Joseph Wardle, on 11 August 1958 in Stepney)[1] is an English bass guitarist, singer, poet and composer. He became known to a wider audience as the original bass player in Public Image Ltd (PiL) in the late 1970s and early 1980s, but left the band after two years. Following his departure from PiL, he went on to a successful solo career, continuing to the present. His daughter is actress Hayley Angel Wardle, and he is married to the Chinese-born guzheng player and harpist Zi Lan Liao. In 2009, he published his autobiograpy, Memoirs of a Geezer.

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Monsoon was an early to mid 1980s UK progressive rock trio that consisted of singer Sheila Chandra, record producer Steve Coe, and bass guitarist Martin Smith. They are best remembered for their number 12 hit single in the UK Singles Chart in 1982, "Ever So Lonely".[1]

Midge Ure, (Ultravox and Band Aid), directed the video for Monsoon' second single "Shakti" which went Top 40.

Monsoon's sound took Asian communities around the world by surprise - it was so contemporary and so unlike the “Disco in Hindi” albums, early Bhangra or James Bond influenced Hindi film blockbusters that were around. For Asian and Western audiences alike Monsoon's sound was a “evolutionary leap”.

Monsoon's third single, "Tomorrow Never Knows" (a cover of the Beatles ), featured guest appearances from Bill Nelson (Be-Bop Deluxe), Preston Heyman (Kate Bush), Dave Balfe (The Teardrop Explodes) and Merrick (Adam and the Ants).

Due to differences with their label, Phonogram, Monsoon dissolved in 1982. Sheila Chandra started a solo career, Steve Coe continued writing and producing her albums, as well as Martin Smith, but often under the name Ganges Orchestra.

Phonogram "posthumously" released Third Eye in 1983.

A compilation of Monsoon recordings including several previously unreleased tracks were released in 1995 on CD by Phonogram's partner label Mercury Records.

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Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (often abbreviated to OMD) are a synthesiser group whose founding members are originally from the Wirral Peninsula, England. OMD record for Virgin Records (originally for Virgin's Dindisc Records subsidiary).

The group was founded in 1978 by Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys. Adding Malcolm Holmes and Martin Cooper by the end of 1980, this quartet (with occasional line-up fluctuations) was the core of the outfit until 1989, when Humphreys, Cooper and Holmes all left OMD to found The Listening Pool. McCluskey then retained the OMD name and continued to record and tour as OMD with new line-ups through 1996.

Though McCluskey essentially retired the OMD name in 1996, shortly thereafter Humphreys began playing live shows as OMD with other musicians on an as-needed basis, but without McCluskey. Then in late December, 2005, OMD's official website announced a forthcoming reformation of the 'classic' 1980s line-up (Humpheys/McCluskey/Cooper/Holmes), both for live performances and for a new studio album. This reformed quartet began touring in 2007, and further successful sold out tours took place in 2008 and 2009.

OMD recently announced that they are completing a new studio album called History of Modern, which will be released some time in 2010.

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