Muzical Mystery Tour

Not their first single but their first and biggest hit, Love Affair's ' Everlasting Love ' is a great track to hear pretty much any time of the day. Their lead singer was Steve Ellis, who had a Motown twang to his voice, I remember hearing this regularly at the Hurst Road Boys Club in the early 70s. The band had a couple of follow-up hits, including ' Rainbow Valley' , which was released later in 1968, which to my mind is the only one the stood out from from the crowd.

The Rezillos were a punk/new wave band formed in Edinburgh, Scotland, in th emid 1970s. Although they emerged at the same time as other bands in the punk rock movement, the Rezillos  took a more light-hearted approach to their songs. Their songs were heavily influenced by 1950s rock and roll, 1960s English beat music and garage rock, early 1970s glam rock, and recurring lyrical themes of science fiction and B movies; their influences mirrored those of US bands the Cramps and the B-52s, who were starting out at the same time.  The Rezillos' biggest hit in their home country was the UK Top 20 single " Top of the Pops " in 1978, but they are best known outside the UK for their cover version of " Somebody's Gonna Get Their Head Kicked In Tonight ". Released in July 1978, the Rezillos' first studio album " Can't Stand the Rezillos " (and one of my favourite albums) is considered a classic of the first wave of British punk, but the group split up...

The Lightning Seeds are an English rock band that formed in Liverpool in 1989, with Ian Broudie (vocals, guitar, producer), formerly of the bands Big in Japan and Original Mirrors. Originally a studio-based solo project for Broudie, the Lightning Seeds expanded into a touring band following their successful album " Jollification ", released in 1994. The group experienced commercial success throughout the 1990s and are well known for their single " Three Lions ", a collaboration with David Baddiel and Frank Skinner which reached No. 1, three times in the UK in 1996, 1998 and 2018. In 1989, Broudie began recording alone under the name Lightning Seeds. The name derives from a misheard lyric from Prince's 1985 hit single " Raspberry Beret ", in which Prince sings the line "thunder drowns out what the lightning sees". Broudie performed all vocals and instruments on the band's first album, 1989's " Cloudcuckooland ", which he also...

In 1978, Liverpudlian Juian Cope formed The Teardrop Explodes with drummer Gary Dwyer, organist Paul Simpson and guitarist Mick Finkler, with himself as singer, bass player and principal songwriter.  Drawing on a post-punk version of West Coast pop music, the band became part of a wave of such Liverpool bands. Cope and Dwyer (and later their manager-turned-keyboard player David Balfe) were the only band constants, although seven other members passed in and out of the line-up during the band's fractious four-year existence.  Several well-received early singles (including " Treason ") culminated in the band's biggest hit, " Reward ", which hit number 6 in the UK singles chart and took their " Kilimanjaro " album to number 24 in the album charts. Cope's photogenic charm and wild, garrulous interview style helped keep the band in the media eye, and made him a short-lived teen idol during the band's peak. " Reward " , I remember having...

Paul King was born in Ireland but moved to Coventry, England, with his parents at a young age. After graduating from Coventry Drama School he joined rock-ska band the Reluctant Stereotypes. King's line up of the band – which also contained record producer Paul Sampson – released an album and three singles before the band disintegrated. After the demise of the Reluctant Stereotypes, King formed the Raw Screens who in 1983 were relaunched as the self-named band King. As lead singer, King was famed for his BIG haircut and spray painted Doc Marten's Boots – whilst Richard James Burgess produced and drummed on most of the band's songs. The band lasted just a couple of years, though both of their albums, "Steps in Time" and "Bitter Sweet" , went Gold, and they had two Top 10 singles with "Love & Pride"  and  "Alone Without You" . 

The Alarm are a Welsh rock band that formed in Rhyl, Wales, in 1981. Initially formed as a punk band, The Toilets, in 1977, under lead vocalist Mike Peters, the band soon migrated to a more standard rock format and included marked influences from Welsh language and culture. By opening for acts such as U2 and Bob Dylan, they became a popular new wave pop band of the 1980s. The Alarm's highest charting single in Britain was 1983's "Sixty Eight Guns" , and is what they are most remembered for. Their 1984 album, Declaration, which contained "Sixty Eight Guns", peaked at number six in the UK Chart.

Strawberry Switchblade were a Scottish new wave duo formed in Glasgow in 1981 by Jill Bryson and Rose McDowall, best known for their song " Since Yesterday " from 1985, and their flamboyant clothing with bows and polka-dots. They also did a cover of the Country classic 'Jolene', which I particularly liked. Never a 'big' band in the UK but an archetypal Big in Japan band....