Def Leppard’s debut album, On Through the Night , was released on 14 March 1980. Although the album hit the Top 15 in the UK, many early fans were turned off by the perception that the band was trying too hard to appeal to American audiences by recording songs such…
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In August 1979, U2 recorded demos at Windmill Lane Studios with CBS talent scout Chas de Whalley as producer, marking the first of the band’s many recordings at the studio during their career. The following month, three songs from the session were released by CBS in Ireland as the EP…
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The band made their recording debut in late 1980 for the Some Bizzare Album
The band’s name derives from the cartoon character Yosemite Sam who often used the expression “I’m-a-gonna blow ya to smithereens!” In 1980 they released the single “Girls About Town” followed by a mini-LP Beauty and Sadness in 1983. In the same period they toured as Otis Blackwell ‘s backing band…
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Vocalist Harriet Wheeler and guitarist David Gavurin had met as students at Bristol University in the mid-1980s. Wheeler was from Reading , the daughter of an architect and a teacher, and studied English literature. Gavurin was from Wembley and actively pursued a degree in the Romance languages , particularly French…
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After playing mostly around the New York area, the band signed with Enigma . The single ” Blood and Roses ” from their first album was included on the soundtrack for Dangerously Close , and the music video got moderate rotation on MTV. “Blood and Roses” was also featured on…
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During the 1980s, each of the future members of Tool moved to Los Angeles. Both Paul D’Amour and Adam Jones wanted to enter the film industry, while Maynard James Keenan, who had studied visual arts in Michigan, worked as a pet store remodeler. Danny Carey and Keenan performed for Green…
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After a flexi-disc debut, the Flexible Membrane EP in 1980, they released the debut single proper “Muscles” in 1982, which was raved over by both the music press and John Peel . That record’s success saw the band sign a deal with Rondelet Records who issued a follow-up, the Pin…
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They first gained attention for their song “Bloodstains”, originally appearing on their self-released debut 7-inch EP in 1980. A demo version of the song was given to Rodney Bingenheimer , a DJ at Pasadena radio station KROQ-FM , who placed it on his seminal 1980 compilation album, Rodney on the…
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The Wipers first album, Is This Real? , was issued in January 1980 on Park Avenue Records, a label that the band hoped would gain them wider distribution. It was originally recorded on a 4-track in the band’s rehearsal studio, but the label insisted that the band use a professional…
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