The Passage were a post-punk band from Manchester, England, who appeared on several record labels including Object Music, Cherry Red Records, and their own label Night & Day, a subsidiary label to Virgin Records.
The band was formed as a quartet by songwriter and former Hallé Orchestra percussionist Richard Witts in 1978, but later became a trio. Witts produced the band's recordings and sang on most of their releases, the occasional lead vocal being taken by Tony Friel or Andy Wilson. Although they never truly broke into the mainstream, their most successful song was "XOYO" which came 41st in John Peel's Festive Fifty for 1982 (the top 50 songs of the year voted for by the listeners). The song was an experiment to see whether John Cage's method of aleatoric composition could be successfully applied to popular music composition. "XOYO" also appeared on the Cherry Red compilation album Pillows & Prayers. The band broke up in 1983.
Richard Witts is now a lecturer and has taught at the University of Edinburgh, Goldsmiths University in London and currently teaches at Edge Hill University in Lancashire. Andy Wilson is a club and radio DJ based mainly in Ibiza. Joe Mckechnie is a producer, remixer, and DJ based in Liverpool. He has released records on Acacia (Detroit), Ochre (UK), Blood (UK) and Aspro (Holland) amongst others. Recent remixes include Ladytron/ROC and Echo & the Bunnymen.
In 2003, the entire Passage back catalogue was reissued and remastered across 5 CDs by the LTM label.
Subhumans are an English punk rock band formed in the Warminster and Melksham areas of Wiltshire in 1980. Singer Dick Lucas had formerly been in another local band, the Mental, and other members had been in The Stupid Humans. The band's musical style is typically classified as hardcore punk or anarcho-punk.
A Certain Ratio are an English post-punk band formed in Greater Manchester, Lancashire in 1977 by Peter Terrell and Simon Topping, Jez Kerr, Martin Moscrop, Donald Johnson (drums), and Martha Tilson (vocals) joining soon after.
Angelic Upstarts are an English punk rock / Oi! band formed in South Shields in 1977. AllMusic calls them "one of the period's most politically charged and thought-provoking groups". The band espouse an anti-fascist and socialist working class philosophy, and have been associated with the punk and skinhead subcultures.
The Wake are a British post-punk, synth-pop and later indie pop band, formed in Glasgow in 1981 by Gerard "Caesar" McInulty, Steven Allen (drums) and Joe Donnelly (bass), the latter replaced by Bobby Gillespie. Steven's sister Carolyn Allen also joined on keyboards, and remained in the band thereafter. Gillespie left the band in 1983, replaced by Martin Cunning and then by Alexander 'Mac' Macpherson.
Section 25 are an English post-punk and electronic band, best known for the 1984 single "Looking from a Hilltop", associated with Manchester record label Factory Records.
Blue Orchids are an English post-punk band formed in Manchester in 1979, when Martin Bramah left the Fall, after playing on the band's debut album Live at the Witch Trials. Christened by Salford-based punk poet John Cooper Clarke the band recorded for Rough Trade and acted as backing band for the Velvet Underground's Nico before a 25-year period of intermittent activity and fluctuating line-ups.
Kevin Hewick is an English singer-songwriter who was an early member of the Factory Records roster. Today he is known for his recordings on Sorted, Pink Box and his own Botheration label, and his work with Venetian collective Unfolk.
Benjamin Brian Thomas Watt is a British musician, singer, songwriter, author, DJ and radio presenter, best known as a member of the duo Everything but the Girl.
Crispy Ambulance are an English post-punk band, formed in Manchester in late-1977 by Keith Darbyshire (bass), Robert Davenport (guitar), Alan Hempsall (vocals), and Gary Madeley (drums). They had been inspired by the Sex Pistols' second gig in the Lesser Free Trade Hall, in addition to the bands Magazine and Hawkwind.
The Names are a Belgian post-punk band from Brussels, Belgium, formed in 1978 around bassist, vocalist and songwriter Michel Sordinia.
The Passions were a British post-punk/new wave band which formed in 1978 and disbanded in 1983. The Passions' music was grounded mainly in Barbara Gogan's voice and Clive Timperley's delicate Echoplex guitar work. They were considered one of the one-hit wonders due to their early 1981 single "I'm in Love with a German Film Star".
Artery are a British post-punk band from Sheffield, that was founded in 1978. They were commonly known and often confused as 'The'. In 1985, they split up after several changes in the line-up and the release of a total of four albums. They reformed in 2007 after being invited by Jarvis Cocker to perform at the Meltdown Festival.
Spherical Objects were a band in the Manchester, UK-based experimental independent post-punk scene of the late 70s. All these bands were hosted under the Object Music record label. Many of them shared musicians, thus the movement looked more like a musical collective.
The Room were a new wave band from Liverpool formed in late 1979. They released three albums and several singles before breaking up in 1985. Two of the band members went on to form Benny Profane, Dust and Dead Cowboys.
Dislocation Dance are an English post-punk band from Manchester, England. The group's original line-up is obscure; their first EP, a self-titled 7" as a co-release between two labels, Delicate Issues and New Hormones recorded in May 1980, lists its line-up as 'B' on vocals and keyboard; 'Don' on drums; 'Ian' on vocals and guitar, and 'Paul' on bass, but also mentions 'Past members of the band' as Rod Bloor, Kathryn Way, Tim Glasser, Ian Rogers and Julie Gask.
The Diagram Brothers were an English post-punk band from Manchester active between 1979 and 1982. The band comprised Andy Diagram, Fraser Diagram, Lawrence Diagram (guitar), Jason Diagram (bass), and Simon Diagram (drums). Andy Diagram was also a member of Dislocation Dance from 1978 to 1982, and in 1985, and was a member of The Pale Fountains and James.
Ultra is a Dutch post-punk movement that originated in Amsterdam in the early 1980s. The name "ultra" is a shortening of "ultramodernen". The movement had an avantgarde, experimental, and artistic aesthetic. Many of its participants were students in art schools. In contrast to other countries' post-punk movements, the Dutch experimented with, among other things, toy instruments, chainsaws and de-tuned guitars.
Stockholm Monsters were an English post-punk band, formed in Burnage a suburb of the city of Manchester in 1980. They recorded for Factory Records between 1981 and 1987.
Minny Pops is a Dutch, Amsterdam-based new wave/electronic/art punk band, associated with the Ultra post-punk movement in the Netherlands and the Factory Records label in the UK.
Kalima was a Manchester-based Factory Records band who were active from 1980 to 1991 and in 2001 after a reformation, playing in a funk, Latin and jazz style.
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