(Vocal/instrumental group, 1976–present) This London band – Graham ‘Suggs’ McPherson and Chas Smash (both vocals), Dan Woodgate (drums), Mark Bedford (bass), Mike Barson (keyboards), Chris Foreman (guitar) and Lee Thompson (saxophone) – only managed one US hit, 1983’s ‘Our House’, but inspired the American ska-punkers of the 1990s. 1979’s One Step Beyond was a cornerstone of the ska revival, but Madness soon developed a broader pop-oriented sensibility. An influence on the ...
(Vocal/instrumental group, 1978–81, 2009) As frontrunners of the ska revival, this superb Coventry band released the genre’s finest single, ‘Ghost Town’ (1981), on their own 2Tone label. Terry Hall and Neville Staples (both vocals), Lynval Golding and Roddy Radiation (both guitar), Jerry Dammers (keyboards), Horace ‘Gentleman’ Panter (bass) and John Bradbury (drums) also had hits with ‘Rat Race’ and ‘Do Nothing’, and released two excellent albums. Hall, Staples and Golding became ...
Only two record labels in pop history have lent their name to an entire musical genre. The first is Detroit’s Tamla Motown. The other is England’s 2-Tone, a late-1970s/early 1980s imprint that still stands as the UK’s most politically significant pop phenomenon. 2-Tone was set up in 1979 by The Special A.K.A., a multiracial ska- and reggae-inspired band from Coventry in England’s Midlands. Comprising Jerry Dammers, Terry Hall, Neville Staples, Lynval ...
After the seismic shifts of the previous decade, the 1970s reflected faster-moving, less permanent crazes, beginning with glam rock and ending with the new wave. Glam rock saw the likes of Alice Cooper and Kiss taking make-up to extremes, while the comparatively anonymous Eagles and Bruce Springsteen respectively updated the blueprints established the previous decade by country rocker Gram Parsons and singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. As Motown moved from Detroit to the West ...
AUTHORITATIVE
An extensive music information resource, bringing together the talents and expertise of a wide range of editors and musicologists, including Stanley Sadie, Charles Wilson, Paul Du Noyer, Tony Byworth, Bob Allen, Howard Mandel, Cliff Douse, William Schafer, John Wilson...
CURATED
Classical, Rock, Blues, Jazz, Country and more. Flame Tree has been making encyclopaedias and guides about music for over 20 years. Now Flame Tree Pro brings together a huge canon of carefully curated information on genres, styles, artists and instruments. It's a perfect tool for study, and entertaining too, a great companion to our music books.
David Bowie
Fantastic new, unofficial biography covers
his life, music, art and movies, with a
sweep of incredible photographs.
