New Order embarked on a short US tour in early autumn 1980. In these shows, Sumner, Morris and Hook all sang lead vocals on different tracks. Sumner ultimately took the role of frontman even though he struggled to sing while playing guitar. During this tour, the band recorded two tracks…
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The Police’s fourth album, Ghost in the Machine , co-produced by Hugh Padgham , was recorded at AIR Studios on the Caribbean island of Montserrat , with the exception of “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic” which was recorded at Le Studio at Morin Heights, Quebec, Canada, and released…
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Again without a guitarist, Devoto called in his former college friend at Bolton , Ben Mandelson (a former Amazorblades member). This line-up completed the 1981 recording of the band’s fourth studio album, Magic, Murder and the Weather , but Devoto quit that May, months before its release, and the remaining…
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In 1981, Iron Maiden released their second studio album, Killers . Although many tracks were written prior to their debut release, it had two new songs: “Prodigal Son” and “Murders in the Rue Morgue” (the latter’s title was taken from the short story by Edgar Allan Poe ). Unsatisfied with…
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New Order visited New York City again in 1981, where the band were introduced to post-disco , freestyle , and electro . To cheer themselves up, the band started listening to Italian disco while Morris taught himself drum programming . The singles that followed, ” Everything’s Gone Green ” and…
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The first significant post-breakup musical project by Led Zeppelin members was the Honeydrippers , formed by Plant in 1981.
In 1981 the band released their third studio album Go for It which was to be Jim Reilly’s last involvement with the band. Go for It signified the change in Burns’ writing style, with much darker and taboo subjects, such as domestic abuse in the song “Hits and Misses” and…
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After a three-year hiatus – a record for the band at the time – Iron Maiden released their next studio album, The X Factor . The band had their lowest chart position since 1981 for an album in the UK, debuting at number 8; however, the album went on to…
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An early permutation of the band formed in 1981 under the name From Eden. Members included Clint Mansell , Adam Mole, Chris Fradgley, Malcolm Treece and Miles Hunt (Treece and Hunt later formed the Wonder Stuff ). From Eden recruited Graham Crabb from Kit-Form Colossus to replace Hunt on drums…
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Queen worked with David Bowie on the 1981 single ” Under Pressure “. The first-time collaboration with another artist was spontaneous, as Bowie happened to drop by the studio while Queen were recording. Mercury and Bowie recorded their vocals on the track separately to each other, each coming up with…
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