Muzical Mystery Tour

Alice Cooper is the name of the lead singer and band that recorded released the ' Alice Cooper's Greatest Hits ' album, the very first record I ever bought, from Sounds Groovy in Horsham back in the early 1975 as best as I can remember! Originally the group was Cooper on vocals, Glen Buxton on Drums, Neal Smith on Lead Guitar and Michael Bruce on Rhythm Guitar and Dennis Dunaway on Bass Guitar. After 1975 Alice Cooper became a solo act and the band broke-up. As with many, my first awareness of eth band was with ' School's Out ' an anthem from 1972, which was knocked off the No.1 spot in the UK by Donny Osmond! Warning many of these videos contain snakes.  After this hit, the band had hits with ' Elected ' and ' Billion Dollar Babies ' It was not until I got hold of the Greatest Hits album that I was really hooked on the group until the emergence of Punk and New Wave... Early tracks such as ' I'm Eighteen ' and ' Under my Wheels ...

Neneh Cherry, was a Swedish singer-songwriter, rapper, occasional DJ and broadcaster, her career started in London in the early 1980s, where she performed in a number of punk and post-punk bands, including The Slits. Cherry has released five studio albums under her own name. Her first, ' Raw Like Sushi ', was released in 1989 and peaked at number three on the UK Album Chart, thanks in large part to the worldwide hit single " Buffalo Stance ".  Her second studio album was 1992's ' Homebrew '. Four years later she released ' Man ', with her next studio album, ' Blank Project ', coming in 2014. Her most recent album, ' Broken Politics ', was released in 2018. My ther favourite track by her is ' Manchild '... ... but best by far is ' 7 Seconds '   Youssou N'Dour  featuring Neneh Cherry

Hazel O'Connor was a bit of a flash in the pan, new wave star in the early 1980s, she shot to fame in the film 'Breaking Glass' for which she wrote and performed the sound track.  I saw her perform in Reading, when at Uni and she was supported by an up and coming New Romantic group called 'Duran Duran'. Her two big tracks were ' Eighth Day ' and ' Will You ' 

The Selecter were a 2-Tone ska revival band from Coventry, England, formed in the late 1970s, they featured a diverse line-up, both in terms of race and gender, initially consisting of Arthur 'Gaps' Hendrickson and Pauline Black on lead vocals, Neol Davies and Compton Amanor on guitar, Desmond Brown on Hammond organ, Charley 'H' Bembridge on drums, and Charley Anderson on bass.  The band's name is based on the term "selector", which is a Jamaican word for disc jockey.  The band were one of the most successful ska bands of the 2-Tone era, notching up several top forty singles in the British charts. Having co-released the first 2-Tone Ska single with The Specials , they are considered one of the founding acts of the movement.  Though highly influential, the original lineup only remained together for a year, and even with replacement players the band only continued until breaking up in 1981. Key tracks released by the band were ' Missing Words ' and ...

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD)  were an English electronic band formed in Wirral, Merseyside in the late 1970s. It was composed of co-founders Andy McCluskey (vocals, bass guitar) and Paul Humphreys (keyboards, vocals), along with Martin Cooper (various instruments) and Stuart Kershaw (drums); McCluskey is the only constant member.  OMD released their debut single, " Electricity ", in 1979, and gained popularity throughout Europe with the 1980 anti-war song " Enola Gay ".  The band then had two hits with two Joan of Arc related singles - ' Joan of Arc ' / ' Maid of Orleans ' often performed as a pair in concert.

JoBoxers were a British new wave group formed in the early 1980s, when former Subway Sect members Rob Marche (guitarist), Dave Collard (keyboardist), Chris Bostock (bassist), and Sean McLusky (drummer), teamed up with England-based American singer Dig Wayne. The band's debut single, " Boxerbeat ", peaked at number three in the UK while the group were the opening act on the Madness 'Rise and Fall' tour. However, it was their next hit, " Just Got Lucky ", that broke the band internationally. This single  made the UK Top 10, and cracked the US Top 40, in 1983. The band split in 1985.

The Rolling Stones  were an English rock band formed in London in the early 1960s.  THey were at odds wit hthe prevailing popular pop music of the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered a gritty, heavier-driven sound that came to define hard rock. The band's first stable line-up consisted of bandleader Brian Jones (guitar, harmonica, keyboards), Mick Jagger (lead vocals, harmonica), Keith Richards (guitar, vocals), Bill Wyman (bass guitar), Charlie Watts (drums), and Ian Stewart (piano), the last of whom was removed from the official line-up in 1963, but continued to work with the band as a contracted musician until his death in 1985.  Jones left the band less than a month before his death in 1969, having already been replaced by Mick Taylor, who in turn left in 1974 and was replaced in 1975 by Ronnie Wood, who has since remained.  To my mind there are only four great Stones tracks - three from the late 60s, early 70s period, these being ' Paint it Black ' 'Sympat...

The Police were an English rock band formed in London in the mid 1970s. Their classic line-up consisted of primary songwriter Sting (lead vocals, bass guitar), Andy Summers (guitar) and Stewart Copeland (drums, percussion). The Police became globally popular in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Emerging in the British new wave scene, they played a style of rock influenced by punk, reggae, and jazz. Sting's real name was Gordon Sumner, a former school teacher from Newcastle. Their 1978 debut album, ' Outlandos d'Amour ', reached No. 6 in the UK Albums Chart. From this album we got ' Roxanne ' and " Can't Stand Losing You "  Their second album, ' Reggatta de Blanc '  from 1979, became the first of four consecutive No. 1 studio albums in the UK.  From this album we got ' Walking on the Moon ', ' The Bed's too big Without You' and " Message in a Bottle ", became their first UK number one.  Their next two albums, Zen...

Sean Combs   also known by the stage names Puff Daddy, P. Diddy, Puffy, or Diddy , is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, record executive, entrepreneur, and actor. Combs was born in New York City but was raised in Mount Vernon, New York. He worked as a talent director at Uptown Records before founding his own record label, Bad Boy Entertainment, in 1993. Combs' debut album, ' No Way Out ' from 1997 was an instant success, followed by multiple successful albums and singles. Combs formed the musical group Dirty Money and  also produced and cultivated artists such as Mary J. Blige and The Notorious B.I.G. The Track ' I'll be Missing You ' featuring Faith Evans is about the death of The Notorious B.I.G. in a shooting incident, and samples heavily form The Police 's ' Every Breath I Take '.

 The Psychedelic Furs were a British new wave band founded in London in the mid to late 1970s, led by singer Richard Butler and his brother Tim Butler on bass guitar, the Psychedelic Furs are one of the many acts spawned from the British post-punk scene. Their music went through several phases, from an initially austere art rock sound, to later touching on new wave and elements of hard rock. Early tracks that I particularly liked included ' Sister Europe ' & ' India ' from their self-named debut album in 1979. The band had several hits in their early career. In 1986, filmmaker John Hughes used their song " Pretty in Pink " for his film of the same name. I saw them play at the Sports Centre in Crawley and then again later in Reading, whilst at Uni.

The Beat was the British Beat are a band founded in Birmingham, England, in 1978.Their music references influences form  ska, pop, soul, reggae and punk rock. Consisting of Dave Wakeling (vocals, guitar), Ranking Roger (vocals), Andy Cox (guitar), David Steele (bass), Everett Morton (drums), and Saxa a.k.a. Lionel Augustus Martin (saxophone), released three studio albums in the early 1980s. Known in the USA as the English Beat, due to another US band having the same name. They also had a  string of singles, including " Mirror in the Bathroom ", " Tears of a Clown ", " Can't Get Used to Losing You ". My personal favourite track was not a single as far as i remember, just a heart felt plea ' Stand Down Margaret '.

Bob Marley was a Jamaican singer, songwriter, and musician. Considered one of the pioneers of reggae, his musical career was marked by fusing elements of reggae, ska, and rocksteady, as well as his distinctive vocal and songwriting style. Marley became known as a Rastafari icon, and he infused his music with a sense of spirituality. He is also considered a global symbol of Jamaican music and culture and identity, and was controversial in his outspoken support for the legalization of marijuana, while he also advocated for Pan-Africanism. Marley began his professional musical career in the 1960s, after forming Bob Marley and the Wailers. The group released its debut studio album The Wailing Wailers in 1965, which contained the single " One Love ". In 1971 they released ' Trenchtown Rock ', The group attained international success after the release of the albums ' Catch a Fire ' and ' Burnin ', both from 1973, and they forged a reputation as touring artis...

The Pretenders  were an English–American rock band formed in March 1978. The original band consisted of founder and main songwriter Chrissie Hynde (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), James Honeyman-Scott (lead guitar, backing vocals, keyboards), Pete Farndon (bass guitar, backing vocals), and Martin Chambers (drums, backing vocals, percussion).  Following the deaths of Honeyman-Scott and Farndon in 1982 and 1983, the band experienced numerous personnel changes; Hynde has been the band's only consistent member. The Pretenders' hit songs include " Brass in Pocket " & ' Stop your Sobbing ' from 1979 ' Kid ' from 1980, " Back on the Chain Gang " from 1982, " 2000 Miles " from 1983. " Don't Get Me Wrong " from 1986. and " I'll Stand by You " from 1994.

Patti Smith was an American singer-songwriter, musician, author, and poet who became an influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album ' Horses '. Her most widely known song is " Because the Night ", which was co-written with Bruce Springsteen. It reached number 13 in America and number 5 in the U.K.

Altered Images were an early 1980s Scottish new wave/post-punk band. Fronted by singer Clare Grogan, the band branched into mainstream pop music, having six UK top 40 hit singles and three top 30 albums between 1981 and 1983.[ Their hits included " Happy Birthday" , " I Could Be Happy ", " See Those Eyes ", and " Don't Talk to Me About Love ". Former schoolmates with a shared interest in the UK post-punk scene, Clare Grogan (vocals), Gerard "Caesar" McNulty (guitar), Michael "Tich" Anderson (drums), Tony McDaid (guitar), and Johnny McElhone (bass guitar), were all members of the Siouxsie and the Banshees official fan club.  When they learnt that the Banshees were going to play in Scotland, they sent a demo tape to Billy Chainsaw, who managed the official Siouxsie fan club with a note asking: "can we support them on tour?". The Banshees gave the band a support slot on their Kaleidoscope British tour of 1980. Alte...

Coolio , is an American rapper, actor, chef, and record producer. Coolio achieved mainstream success in the mid-to-late 1990s with his albums ' It Takes a Thief ' released in 1994, ' Gangsta's Paradise ' from 1995 and ' My Soul ' in 1997.  He is best known track is teh title song from his second album " Gangsta's Paradise ",  My other favourite is  " C U When I Get There " from 1997.

Blondie was an American rock band co-founded by singer Debbie Harry and guitarist Chris Stein. The band were pioneers in the American punk and then the new wave scene of the early mid-1970s in New York.  Stein and Harry were joined by drummer Clem Burke on drums, Frank Infante on Guitar and Englishman Nigel Harrison on Bass, then to complete their sound, they recruited keyboard player Jimmy Destri in November 1975. Their first two albums, the self titled ' Blondie ' and ' Plastic Letter s ' contained strong elements of these genres, and although highly successful in the United Kingdom, Blondie was regarded as an underground band in the United States until the release of ' Parallel Lines ' in 1978.  From the first album we got the great ' X-Offender ' and from the second we got ' Denis ' and ' Detroit 442 ' Over the next three years, the band achieved several hit singles including " Heart of Glass ", " Call Me ", ...

Steve Harley was an English singer and songwriter, best known as frontman of the rock group Cockney Rebel , they were big in the mid 1970s, immediately prior to the punk explosion. They were a mix of Art House and Glam rock and between them they came up with three really good sounding tracks. ' Judy Teen ', released in 1974 ' Make me Smile (Come up and See Me) ' the following year and the Beetles cover, ' Here Comes the Sun ', released in 1976

Roxy Music were an English rock band that was formed in 1970 by Bryan Ferry, who became the band's lead singer and main songwriter and bass guitarist Graham Simpson. Alongside Ferry, the other longtime members were Phil Manzanera (guitar), Andy Mackay (saxophone and oboe), and Paul Thompson (drums and percussion). Other members included Brian Eno (synthesizer and 'treatments'), Eddie Jobson (synthesizer and violin), and John Gustafson (bass).  Roxy Music became a successful act in Europe and Australia during the 1970s. This success began with their self-titled debut album in 1972. I first became aware of them through their single ' Virginia Plain' , a track I really loved at the time. The band pioneered more musically sophisticated elements of glam rock while significantly influencing early English punk music and innovated elements of electronic composition.  The group also distinguished their visual and musical sophistication through a preoccupation with glamorous ...

The Cure are an English rock band formed in Crawley, West Sussex, formed in the late 1970s. The band members have changed several times, and guitarist, lead vocalist, and songwriter Robert Smith is the only constant member. The band's 1979 debut album was ' Three Imaginary Boys ' and this, along with several early singles, placed the band in the post-punk and new wave movements that had sprung up in the United Kingdom.  I believe that I'm right in saying that Robert Smith attended St. Wilfred's School in Crawley and that sometime in 1975 or 1976, I played basketball against him for Collyier's School. Beginning with their second album, ' Seventeen Seconds ', released in 1980, the band adopted a new, increasingly dark and tormented style, which, together with Smith's stage look, had a strong influence on the emerging genre of gothic rock. From this era came ' Boys Don't Cry ' Following the release of their fourth album ' Pornography ...

Siouxsie and the Banshees were a British rock band, formed in London in 1976 by vocalist Siouxsie Sioux and bass guitarist Steven Severin. They have been widely influential, both over their contemporaries and with later acts.  Famously, their first gig featured Sid Viscous on drums and the singing of the ' Lords Prayer ' as one of their tracks.  Initially associated with the punk scene, the band rapidly evolved to create a form of post-punk discord full of experimentation. Their debut album The Scream was released in 1978 to widespread critical acclaim.  They gained popular appeal with their 1978 single ' Hong Kong Garden ', which was coincidentally the name of our local Chinese Take-Away on the London Road, when at Uni in Reading. From the 1979 album ' Join Hands ' came ' Poppy Day '. The Banshees embarked on a major tour to promote the album. A few dates into the tour in September, half the band left an in-store signing after an argument and quit. In ...

Grandmaster Flash , is an American hip hop and rap recording artist and DJ. He is considered to be one of the pioneers of hip hop DJing, cutting, scratching and mixing.  Grandmaster Flash started out played parties and collaborated with rappers such as Kurtis Blow. In the late 1970s, he formed his own group. The original lineup consisted of Cowboy (Keef Cowboy), Melle Mel (Melvin Glover) and The Kid Creole and the ensemble went by the name "Grandmaster Flash & the 3 MCs".  Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five developed out of this group and in 1980 they signed to Sugar Hill Records and began touring and releasing numerous singles. The seminal " The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel ", released in 1981. That year, the group opened for The Clash and were poorly received by an audience unaccustomed to the new style. The group's most significant hit was the electro rap song " The Message ". Their other classic was ' White Lin...

Tom Tom Club is an American new wave band founded in 1981 by husband-and-wife team Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz, both also known for being members of Talking Heads. Their best known songs include " Wordy Rappinghood ", " Genius of Love ", and a cover of The Drifters' " Under the Boardwalk ", all released on their 1981 debut album ' Tom Tom Club '. As a fan of The Talking Heads, I had the Tom Tom Club Album on tape and played it to death in the cars, especially when travelling between Horsham and Crawley when working shifts for McDonalds.  I recommend listening to the whole album but will eave you with two lesser known tracks ' L'Elepant ' and ' Lorelei '.

The B-52s were an American new wave band which was famously formed in Athens, Georgia, in the mid 1970s. The original line-up consisted of Fred Schneider (vocals, percussion), Kate Pierson (vocals, keyboards), Cindy Wilson (vocals, percussion), Ricky Wilson (guitar), and Keith Strickland (drums, guitar, keyboards). Ricky Wilson died from AIDS 1985 and Strickland switched from drums to lead guitar.  The group evoked 1950s and 1960s pop sources, trash culture, and rock and roll. Schneider, Pierson. The band has had many hits, including " Rock Lobster ", " Planet Claire ", " Private Idaho ",  " Party Out of Bounds ", and " Love Shack ".

I loved The Monkees , as a young kid I used to watch their show on TV, as a teenager I realised that what had started out as a 'plastic' band put together by a record label actually developed into a really good, outfit. In my opinion thus is the reason that they broke-up, unable to develop further within the confines of the role that TV & record Labels had placed them in. I have their Greatest Hits album! An American rock and pop band originally active between the mid 1960s and early 1970s, their original line-up consisted of the American actor/musicians Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork with British actor/singer Davy Jones.  The group was conceived in 1965 by television producers Bob Rafelson and Bert Schneider specifically for a Sit-Com series The Monkees, which aired from 1966 to 1968. The band's music was initially heavily supervised by the TV company. Following the television show's cancellation in 1968, the Monkees continued to record music until 19...

Squeeze  were a British rock band who's hay-day as from 1978 to 1981, from 1985 to 1999, they were founded by Glenn Tilbrook (vocals), Chris Difford (guitar), Jools Holland (keyboards) and Paul Gunn (drums), the group have had a number of personnel changes since 1982 but are still active as of 2020. They first came to my attention in 1978 with the release of their album 'Squeeze' with its dayglow pick cover design and the take ' Take me I'm yours ', always a New Wave band, their sound mellowed with successive albums. The second album ' Cool for Cats ' with the same named single rack really put them on the map and hey followed this success with  Up the Junction ', all in 1979 if I remember correctly. 1980 saw the release of ' Argybargy ' and two memorable tracks of f this album, ' Another Nail in my Heart' and ' Pulling Mussels (from the Shell) '. 1981 brought us two more great tracks ' Tempted ' and ' Is that Love...

Yusuf Islam , commonly known by his stage name Cat Stevens  is a British singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. His musical style consists of folk, pop, rock, and, in his later career, Islamic music, before returning to secular music in 2006. His 1967 debut album and its title song " Matthew and Son " both reached top ten in the UK charts. Stevens' albums  He wrote and performed  " The First Cut Is the Deepest ", and the song has been a hit for multiple artists. The other tracks of his that I particularly like are  " Father and Son ", which is my particular favourite " Wild World "  " Moonshadow ".

Dexys Midnight Runners were an English pop band with soul influences from Birmingham, who achieved major commercial success in the early to mid-1980s. They are best known in the UK for their songs " Come On Eileen " and " Geno ", both of which peaked at No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart, as well as six other top-20 singles. The original Dexys Midnight Runners were founded in 1978 in Birmingham, England by Kevin Rowland (vocals, guitar) and Kevin "Al" Archer (vocals, guitar). Both had been in the short-lived punk band the Killjoys. Rowland had previously written a Northern soul-style song that the two of them sang, " Tell Me When My Light Turns Green ", which became the first Dexys "song". The band's members were "Big" Jim Paterson (trombone), Geoff "JB" Blythe (saxophone, previously of Geno Washington's Ram Jam Band), Steve "Babyface" Spooner (alto saxophone), Pete Saunders (keyboard), Pete Williams (ba...

The Jam, possibly one of the greatest groups of all time, I was lucky to see them at their peak at Reading Uni in the very early 1980s. The Jam were an English mod revival/punk rock band during the 1970s and early 1980s, which formed in Woking, Surrey. The band released 18 consecutive Top 40 singles in the United Kingdom, from their debut in 1977 to their break-up in December 1982, including four number one hits.  They released one live album and six studio albums, the last of which, The Gift, hit number one on the UK Albums Chart. When the group disbanded in 1982, their first 15 singles were re-released and all placed within the top 100. While the Jam shared the "angry young man" outlook and fast tempo of the mid-1970s British punk rock movement, in contrast with it the band wore smartly tailored suits reminiscent of English pop-bands in the early 1960s, they drew influence from the work of the Who, The Kinks and Tamla Motown.  This placed the band at the forefront of the 1...