Siouxsie and the Banshees

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 need of replacements to fulfill tour dates, the Banshees' manager called drummer Budgie, formerly with the Slits, and asked him to audition.

Robert Smith of The Cure offered his services in case they could not find a guitarist (his group were already the support band on the tour), so the band held him to it, Smith returned to the Cure after th etour.

By 1980, the new line-up had changed the band's musical direction and members with the album 'Kaleidoscope', which peaked at number 5 in the UK Albums Chart.

From this album came the tracks 'Christine' and 'Happy House'

With the album Juju, released in 1981, (which also reached the top 10), they became an influence on the emerging gothic scene. A standout track of this period was 'Spellbound'.

Other favourite tracks for me are 'This Wheels on Fire' a cover of the The Bird and Julie Driscal's hit from 1968, plus 'The Passenger' another cover, this time of 's hit.

The band experienced several line-up changes, with Siouxsie and Severin being the only constant members. They disbanded in 1996, with Siouxsie and drummer Budgie continuing to record music as the Creatures, a second band they had formed in the early 1980s.

In 2004, Siouxsie began a solo career.

Patti Smith

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.

The Psychedelic Furs

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.

Puff Daddy

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 '.

JoBoxers

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

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...

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