In August 1977, Warsaw placed an advertisement in a music shop window seeking a replacement drummer. Stephen Morris , who had attended the same school as Curtis, was the sole respondent. Deborah Curtis, Ian’s wife, stated that Morris “fitted perfectly” with the band, and that with his addition Warsaw became…
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Adam and the Ants made their radio debut on John Peel ‘s BBC Radio 1 show when they recorded a session on 23 January 1978 that included the songs ” Deutscher Girls “, “It Doesn’t Matter”, “Puerto Rican” and “Lou” – the latter of which featured the group’s manager Jordan…
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The band’s follow-up single, “Safety in Numbers”, was released on 28 October but did not chart . A fourth single, “No Time to Be 21”, issued on CBS subsidiary Bright Records on 20 January 1978, scraped into the UK Top 40.
Live footage of SLF performing “Suspect Device” at Belfast’s Pound Club on 17 January 1978 – the first time the group played the song live – appeared as part of an Ulster TV Revue programme ‘It Makes You Want to Spit’ about punk in Belfast. The programme was broadcast on…
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On 8 January 1978, Walker made his only live performance with Black Sabbath, on vocals, when they played an excerpt of ” War Pigs ” and an early version of “Junior’s Eyes” on the BBC West Midlands Television programme Look! Hear!
In 1978/79, the Members continued to play the London pub and club circuit, became a feature in the music press and were championed by John Peel. They signed to Virgin Records in 1978, for which label they recorded “The Sound of the Suburbs”, again produced by Steve Lillywhite. This became…
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Venom were formed in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1978. The original personnel came from three different bands: Guillotine, Oberon and Dwarfstar. The original Guillotine featured Jeff “Mantas” Dunn and Dave Rutherford on guitars, Dean Hewitt on bass guitar, Dave Blackman on vocals, and Chris Mercater on drums who replaced Paul…
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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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During one of his studio visits, Miles heard ” Roxanne ” for the first time at the end of a session. He had been less enthusiastic about the band’s other songs, but the elder Copeland was struck by the track, and got the Police a record deal with A&M Records…
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The Specials began at the same time as Rock Against Racism , which was first organised in 1978. According to Dammers, anti-racism was intrinsic to the formation of the Specials, in that the band was formed with the goal of integrating black and white people. Many years later Dammers stated…
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