Kids of 88 are a Psychedelic New Wave duo from Auckland, New Zealand signed to independent label Dryden Street. Formed in 2008 by friends of ten years Jordan Arts and Sam McCarthy, Kids of 88 are best known for their single My House which reached number one on the RIANZ charts. Their new single, Just A Little Bit, debuted at #13 on the chart. They released their first album entitled "Sugarpills" on August 16, 2010.
Three bands share this page: an Australian rock group, a 70s punk rock band, and a Serbian pop band. 1. Models were an alternative rock group from Melbourne, Australia, active from 1978-1987. Various versions of Models have reformed for short tours. 1) They formed from two earlier punk/New Wave bands, Teenage Radio Stars (singer and guitarist Sean Kelly) and JAB (Ash Wednesday, Pierre Voltaire and Johnny Crash, keyboards, bass and drums respectively).
When they formed, Models were hailed as one of the most innovative and imaginative Australian bands.
Four decades later, nothing has changed.
Well, that’s not quite right – a lot of things have changed, but not the band’s approach to making music.
Models have always done things their own way.
As the authors of The 100 Best Australian Albums (which featured Models’ The Pleasure Of Your Company) stated: “Melbourne electronic outfit Models followed a distinctly perverse and disjointed course from the outset.”
The band actually had a “no singles” policy when they started – which annoyed Molly Meldrum. In 1980, Molly stopped his car on busy Chapel Street in Melbourne when he spotted a couple of Models. “He blocked traffic for several minutes to berate us,” singer Sean Kelly chuckles, “telling us that we were doing no one any favours and that our song ‘Happy Birthday IBM’ could’ve been a hit!”
(Molly didn’t hold a grudge, later calling Models “one of my favourite bands from the Countdown era”.)
Models rescinded their “no singles” policy with their second album, Local &/or General, and their chart-topping run of hits includes I Hear Motion, Big On Love, Barbados and Out Of Mind Out Of Sight.
Models are that rare breed of bands – one that has successfully straddled critical acclaim, cult appeal and commercial success.
“Alongside The Boys Next Door/The Birthday Party, Models were one of the first Melbourne bands to rise out of the ashes of that city’s hothouse punk/new wave explosion of the late 1970s with a clear vision and wider appeal,” says Ian McFarlane, author of The Encyclopedia Of Australian Rock And Pop.
Models were inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2010.
“We might go into hibernation occasionally – actually, quite a lot,” Sean Kelly says, “but we have never broken up.”
Models have continued to record, recently releasing two EPs, GTK and MEMO. And live, the band pays tribute to the pop genius of James Freud, who died in 2010.
The songs still sound fresh. “We don’t think of them as being old,” Andrew Duffield says.
Models never go out of style.
The Bangles were one of the new generation of independent all-women bands that followed The Go-Go's in the early 1980s. Consisting of Susanna Hoffs (guitar, vocals), Debbi Peterson (drums, vocals), sister Vicki Peterson (guitar, vocals,) and Annette Zilinskas, who was later replaced by Michael Steele, (bass, vocals). The band was formed in Los Angeles in 1981 as The Supersonic Bangs, later shortened to The Bangs.
Pseudo Echo are an Australian new wave band. Formed in the early eighties by school friends Brian Canham (vocals, guitars, and keyboards) and Pierre Gigliotti (bass and keyboards), the band completed its lineup with Anthony Agiro (drums) and Tony Lugton (guitars and keyboards).
Their first album Autumnal Park was an Ultravox-influenced album that yielded the Australian singles "Listening" (produced by Peter Dawkins) , "Stranger in Me", "Dancing Till Midnight", and "Beat for You". It was a mature album that gave little indication of their youth.
Their climb to success in the summer of 1984 was rapid, and they quickly became the second biggest band in Australia after INXS.
"His Eyes", a track from their first album, received exposure overseas as it was used in the movie Friday the 13th: A New Beginning.
There was a lineup change before their second album with Tony Lugton being replaced by James Leigh (real surname: Dingli) after a dispute between Lugton and Canham over money, and another lineup change during the making of the second album with Agiro being replaced by James's brother Vince.
Their second album, Love an Adventure (1986), was also a success with several singles from that album topping the Australian charts including the title track, "Don't Go", "Try", and "Living in a Dream". The album was re-released the following year to include their remake of the Lipps, Inc. song "Funky Town", which brought the group their biggest international success, reaching No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the USA in 1987, as well as spending six weeks at #1 in Australia.
The overseas release of Love an Adventure featured a somewhat different track listing which included re-mixed versions of 3 singles from Autumnal Park: "Listening", "A Beat for You", and "Destination Unknown". These were remixed to sound more rock-oriented, to better-match the other tracks on the album. Brian Canham even re-recorded the vocals for a slicker sound to compliment these rock remixes. Once again, the overseas version of Love an Adventure was re-released to include the re-make of "Funkytown", replacing "Don't Go" in the original track list.
In 1987, the band re-released "Listening" for the movie North Shore starring Nia Peeples.
Their third album, Race (1989), went further in the direction of pop rock and metal. The album featured the Australian singles "Fooled Again", "Over Tomorrow", "Eye of the Storm", and "Don't You Forget". The album wasn't very successful, as the band's move to a more rock/metal genre had apparently alienated a good portion of their established fanbase. Pseudo Echo disbanded shortly after touring for Race in 1990.
The band reunited in 1999 to produce the EP Funkytown Y2K: RMX, which included 6 new remixes of "Funkytown". A year later, they released the double-CD Teleporter (2000), which featured 4 all-new tracks, 5 re-mixed tracks, and a live performance in Melbourne. The live performance featured all the tracks from Autumnal Park except for "From the Shore", along with a few tracks from Love an Adventure and a performance of the rare B-side "In Their Time".
Since reuniting in 1999, the band has been touring constantly in Australia, and were last seen touring with the "Idols of the 80s" in 2005.
In 2014 they released Ultraviolet, their first album in 14 years. Ultraviolet came about after Pseudo Echo gathered for shows in 2012 to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the release of their first hit song ‘Listening’.
To fund recording of the new album singer Brian Canham approached PledgeMusic to use fan-power to finance the album’s recording and manufacturing. Via pledgemusic.com, Pseudo Echo fans could nominate the level they were comfortable with in supporting the funding of ‘Ultraviolet’.
The Pseudo Echo campaign turned out to be one of the most successful take-ups for Pledgemusic generating 126% of the financial goal and guaranteeing the release of the album.
Pseudo Echo has stated they were originally influenced by Simple Minds, Ultravox, Japan and then later Duran Duran and Human League.
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Vocalist Nick Van Eede founded the group along with Canadian guitarist Kevin Scott MacMichael in 1985, and made demos that led to a recording contract, before bassist Colin Farley and drummer Martin Beadle joined in 1986. Their first album, Broadcast, released in 1986, was the first U.S. number one album for Richard Branson's Virgin Records. It included "(I Just) Died in Your Arms", their most popular single, which reached number one in the U.S.
Famously described by john peel as being "always different, always the same", The Fall were formed in Manchester, England in 1976 during the punk era although their style quickly evolved into something more idiosyncratic.
The one permanent fixture amidst the Fall's ever-changing line-up is Mark E. Smith. Smith's lyrics are free, unboxed and unpredictable, touching on an extremely wide range of subjects and places and caring little for being tied down to easily digestible messages.
Culture Club was a popular 1980s pop group, perhaps most noticeable for their gender-bending frontman Boy George. The other members of the band were Roy Hay on guitars and keyboards, Mikey Craig playing bass and Jon Moss (ex Damned, London, Adam and the Ants) on drums. Their first album, 1982's Kissing to Be Clever, became a major international hit, spawning the hit singles "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me" (which went 'all the way' in the BBC-Charts in late 1982), "Time (Clock of the Heart)", and "I'll Tumble 4 Ya".
New Order are an new wave/synthpop band which formed in 1980 in Salford, England, United Kingdom by the three remaining members of Joy Division. The band's classic lineup consists of Bernard Sumner (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Peter Hook (bass, electronic percussion), Gillian Gilbert (keyboards, guitar) and Stephen Morris (drums, keyboards). The group effectively disbanded in 1993 but reformed in 1998. Gilbert left in 2001 to look after her and Morris' children and was replaced by guitarist/keyboardist Phil Cunningham. Hook left acrimoniously in 2007 and declared the band to be defunct. Initially, Sumner, Cunningham and Morris denied the band had split up, but in 2009, following the release of the trio's Bad Lieutenant album, they admitted that that they could not continue on without Hook and officially disbanded. However, the band reformed in 2011 for a pair of charity dates without Hook, with Gilbert returning to the fold and Tom Chapman replacing Hook on bass.
Pioneers of dance music in the 1980s and one of the first bands to effectively and popularly synthesize keyboard- and guitar-based music, New Order's members hailed from Salford and Macclesfield, England out of the ashes of Joy Division, are noted as being one of the first bands to bridge the gap between Post-Punk and Dancefloor. They were Factory Records' highest selling artist. They also funded Factory's famous Manchester club, The Haçienda. The band partnered with Quincy Jones's American label Qwest, recorded with legendary hip-hop producer Arthur Baker (on 1983's single "Confusion" and 1984's "Thieves Like Us"), and they embraced Ibizan club culture on the album, Technique.
The band was formed in 1980 by the three surviving members, Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook and Stephen Morris of Joy Division after the lead singer Ian Curtis committed suicide. Morris' girlfriend (and later wife) Gillian Gilbert joined in October 1980 on keyboards and occasional guitar shortly after contributing guitar to the second release of New Order's first single "Ceremony". Their early music followed in the same vein as Joy Division, most notably on debut album Movement. This is mostly seen now as a 'transitional' album where the new 4-piece band was trying to find a new identity.
They continued to develop their music and their identity with tracks such as "Procession" and "Temptation" until 1983 when, under the influence of early electro funk and Italo-Disco tracks (most notably Klein & MBO's Dirty Talk), they released "Blue Monday", arguably their most famous song and the biggest-selling 12" single of all time. This came in such a detailed Peter Saville-designed sleeve (replicating a floppy disc) that it is claimed by some that the band's record company, Factory, lost money on every copy sold.
The release of "Blue Monday" coincided with the album Power, Corruption & Lies which further developed their dance/rock crossover. Other albums followed in 1985 (Low-Life), 1986 (Brotherhood) and 1989 (Technique, influenced heavily by Ibiza's acid house scene). In 1990 the band scored their sole number 1 hit with a song written by Keith Allen and performed with the England football team, "World in Motion", the official England World Cup song. One more album, Republic followed in May 1993, which was released by London Records after the collapse of Factory in November 1992.
The band effectively split in 1993 to pursue solo projects, but returned with a triumphant gig at the Reading Festival in 1998. After the recording of 2001's Get Ready album Gillian Gilbert left the band amicably for family reasons - her and Stephen's daughter Grace had been diagnosed with Transverse myelitis and she came to the decision that it would be easier for the band to replace her than her husband. They have since gone on to produce one more album with the help of Phil Cunningham of Marion when they released their last album, Waiting For The Sirens' Call.
Hook left acrimoniously in 2007 and according to him, the band has effectively broken up. However, Sumner, Cunningham and Morris repeatedly denied that the band was over, and that if Hook no longer wanted to be in the band, that was his choice. Hook has since threatened to take legal action if they attempt to continue as New Order. In 2009, Sumner, Morris and Cunningham announced that they did not plan on continuing on as New Order without Hook. However, in September 2011 it was announced that they will reform as New Order for two concerts in October (Brussels and Paris), without Hook but with Gillian Gilbert. Hook's replacement is Tom Chapman, who is also in Bad Lieutenant with Sumner, Morris and Cunningham. The charity gigs in Brussels and Paris were very successful and New Order decided to go on tour in 2012. They played various concerts all over the world and also some big festivals in the summer.
Discography (studio albums):
Movement (1981)
Power, Corruption & Lies (1983)
Low-Life (1985)
Brotherhood (1986)
Technique (1989)
Republic (1993)
Get Ready (2001)
Waiting for the Sirens' Call (2005)
Lost Sirens (2013)
Music Complete (2015)
Collaborations and other projects:
Shortly after the split, Sumner and Cunningham formed Bad Lieutenant. The band's debut album Never Cry Another Tear, released in 2009, features Morris on drums on several tracks, although he is not an official member of the band and has committed to continue musical projects with Gillian Gilbert. The band's various solo projects understandably seemed to contain elements of the New Order 'sound', and gave some clues as to each member's contribution to the band.
Bernard Sumner worked with Johnny Marr (formerly of The Smiths) and Neil Tennant (of The Pet Shop Boys) in the 'supergroup', Electronic. Peter Hook formed the bands Revenge and, later, Monaco. These projects gained some commercial success. Stephen Morris and Gillian Gilbert recorded two albums of songs as The Other Two, and also did scoring work for film and television.
Each of New Order's four original members have, at various times, acted as producers and/or guest musicians under the moniker of Be Music for a myriad of Factory labelmates and other artists, including: Section 25, A Certain Ratio, Happy Mondays, Paul Haig, The Stockholm Monsters, The Stone Roses, and Stanton Miranda. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.
Elvis Costello & The Imposters is British musician Elvis Costello and his other band incarnation. Since 2002, his touring band (featuring a rotating cast of musicians) has been known as The Imposters; with them Costello has released a series of albums beginning with "Cruel Smile" (2002). The band includes Steve Nieve (keyboards), Davey Faragher (bass/backing vocals), and Pete Thomas (drums). Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.
Blondie is perhaps the most commercially successful band to emerge from the 1970s punk scene. They formed in New York in 1974. The original lineup consisted of Clem Burke (drums / percussion), Jimmy Destri (keyboards), Debbie Harry (vocals), Chris Stein (guitar / bass guitar) and Gary Valentine (bass guitar / guitar). Blondie released their first album Blondie in 1976. The album was mildly successful and spawned the Australian hit single "In The Flesh".