In May 1982, Johnny Marr and his friend Steve Pomfret went to the home of Steven Morrissey in Stretford to invite him to form a band. Marr and Morrissey had met at a Patti Smith gig at Manchester’s Apollo Theatre on 31 August 1978, when Marr was 14 and Morrissey…
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The band broke up after a last gig at Eric’s on 26 August 1978. During their time, Big in Japan recorded four songs which were included on the From Y to Z and Never Again EP, released after their split to pay off their debts. The unintentional consequence of the…
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In June 1978 they entered the Alberts Studio in Sydney with producer Keith Walker, from local radio station 2JJ , to record their debut eponymous album, Midnight Oil
Upon returning to England, Lydon searched for musicians but it was difficult. He stated in the press: “I’m thinking about going up north for someone. They’ve got bands up there who are trying to be different”. He approached Jah Wobble ( né John Wardle) about forming a band together. The…
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The band began rehearsing together in mid-May 1978, although they were still unnamed. In July 1978, Lydon officially named the band “Public Image” (the “Ltd” was added when the company was incorporated in July 1978), after the Muriel Spark novel The Public Image (1968). PiL debuted in October 1978 with…
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The members of Hüsker Dü first met in the fall of 1978. At the time, Mould was a freshman at Macalester College in Saint Paul and frequented nearby Cheapo Records, a Saint Paul record store where Hart was a sales clerk. Hart and Norton had originally met while applying for…
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Mark Arm and Steve Turner met through their association with Mr. Epp and the Calculations. This band formed in 1978 in Bellevue, Washington , a suburb of Seattle. While at Bellevue Christian High School, Mark McLaughlin (later known as Mark Arm) and some friends started Mr. Epp and the Calculations,…
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Bobby Gillespie moved to Mount Florida in southeastern Glasgow, where he attended King’s Park Secondary School , where he first met Robert Young. Another schoolfriend was Alan McGee , who took Gillespie to see his first concert, Thin Lizzy . McGee and Gillespie were heavily influenced by punk rock ,…
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Following the Sex Pistols’ break-up in 1978, photographer Dennis Morris suggested that Lydon travel to Jamaica with him and Virgin Records head Richard Branson , where Branson would be scouting for emerging reggae musicians. Branson also flew American new wave band Devo to Jamaica, aiming to install Lydon as lead…
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The band sold-out venues in London in early 1978, but still had problems getting the right recording contract that could give them “complete artistic control”. Polydor offered this guarantee and signed them in June. Their first single, ” Hong Kong Garden “, featuring a xylophone motif, reached the top 10…
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