I Have Never Heard These Bands That Start With The Letter A

i haven't heard of any group.

http://freespace.virgin.net/jackie.askew/ligotage.JPG

Action Pact

http://freespace.virgin.net/jackie.askew/actionpact.JPG

Big difference, eh?

Afrika Corps (sort of Gizmons/Samoans-like!)
Jane Aire And The Belvederes (possibly from Cleveland!)
Alda Reserve (possibly on Ze Records!!)
Alley Cats (who later turned into the Zarkons!)
Any Trouble (pub rock, and better than Mental As Anything!)
Art & Language (on the Red Krayola album anyway!)

And I have always wondered about Art Zoyd myself!

Alley Cats - Did a song on Urgh! - "Nothing Means Nothing Anymore" Hot Asian bassist in tight leopard skin pants.

hmm, singles on clone, huh? i will look for those.

i'm tempted to start one more thread before i go for the day. maybe i will do 2 a day. unless ilm kills me first.

(Actually, consulting AMG (which may be wrong in this case), I'm not sure if they were released as singles or just on the Akron compliation (which is well worth picking up if you can find it.) The tracks were:
"When I Was Young" and
"I'm an Actress"

The A-Bones
American Death Ray

i think the avant gardeners are on a messthetics comp or something, that name sounds really familiar.

Avant Gardeners were Mike Flowers' band before he became Mike Flowers.

Any Trouble were ghastly Costello pub-rock wannabes who were heralded by Melody Maker as The Future Of Music circa 1980. This is why Simon Reynolds was necessary.

I'll do my best: quirky post-punk outfit from Sheffield - I first encountered them on Bouquet Of Steel (comp. of local Sheffield bands on the Aardvark label, which also featured Comsat Angels, I Am So Hollow and Negatives and for which, according to legend, a contribution by another young local band called Pulp was supposedly rejected).

I don't believe Artery ever gigged - I'm almost certain they never toured - and they may have been some sort of bedroom project rather than a "proper" band.

Released several singles: "The Clown"; the fantastic "Cars In Motion"; and "Unbalanced" (which came with a free live EP) an EP called "Oceans" and an album called One Afternoon In A Hot Air Baloon, all on the Aardvark label.

On other matters: Action Pact were from Heathrow, had a female lead singer called George, first release was a split 7" with Dead Mans Shadow.
Fwiw the first picture Alex posted was actually Vice Squad if I'm not very much mistaken - and if so may or may not include a bass player who plays / used to play with the lovely Dr. C.

Oh and I vaguely knew the lead singer of Afraid Of Mice (Tony something?) and one of my mates was their bass player for a while.

Never realized they were related to Muerte. So bound to be good. Another great Belgian band starting with an A: Arbeid Adelt (Labor Nobilizes) who covered PIL. One of the guys in Arbeid Adelt was one time MTV VJ Marcel Vanthilt and Luc Van Acker (Shriekback, Revolting Cocks, Ministry).

Mike Flowers? Really?

Yes, I still play in a band with him!

Jane Aire and The Belvederes were on Stiff IIRC. I have 'American Wheels' (was that them?) on the Stiff Box, I think.

A Popular History of Signs were sort of intense cold synth-pop sorta like The Passage, but not as great. (But who is?). I think they had a half-decent single called 'To The Finland Station'. I remember them cropping up on various compilations with the likes of Lowlife, Dif Juz and yes....Artery.

Artery did gig, I'm pretty sure. Mark Goldthorpe was their main man. They shared a manager with Pulp and had a lot of different people in their line-up in a short spoace of time. I have Oceans and One Afternoon... somewhere around. Must listen.

Jane Aire & The Belvederes were hyped up as part of the artsy-and-clever Akron Ohio "sound" - first single on Stiff was "Yankee Wheels" - think it was in 5/4 time - anyway, well worth a listen.

My (eponymous) Allez Allez single is lovely! Kinda Factory Benelux/Disques de Crepuscule mixed with Ze records. Ish.

I'll stick up for Any Trouble (led by Clive Gregson who later formed a duo with Christine McCollister) - saw them a couple of times in 1980, once at a free festival in Amsterdam where they played a terrific version of Abba's "The Name Of The Game" in Joe Jackson/Costello style - this was the first time I realised what a great song it was, so they have my gratitude for that. Debut single "Yesterday's Love" also good.

He posted two pictures that were supposed to be Action Pact - the first time he somehow managed to post a picture of Vice Squad by mistake.

The second one is defintely Action Pact.

I was at Leeds Futurama, but do not remember them. I think they bplayed at Stafford Futurama the next year - I think I remember them on the Saturday afternoon, sandwiched between The Sound and Felt.

Me too - well I never!

1980.... that was the year Echo & The Bunnymen headlined and completely covered the stage, their equipment and themselves with army camouflage netting etc., wasn't it?!?

Or The Attractions.

Or Joe Jackson.

Or The Jags.

Or Dave Edmunds.

Or Nick Lowe.

Or Graham Parker.

Or The Rumour.

Or Squeeze.

Probably.

I have never heard these "A" bands from Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Albums 1955-1996 book:

(At least I don't think I have. At least not much):

Ace Spectrum
ADC Band
Addrisi Brothers
The Adventures
Alcatrazz
Alias
Laurindo Almeida And the Bossa Nova All Stars
American Angel
American Flyer
Animal Logic
Aorta
Appaloosa
Aquarian Dream
Aquarians
Arbors
Arcade
Arcadia
Arc Angels
Area Code 615
Arena Brass
Armada Orchestra
Arpeggio
Artifacts
Art In America
Ashton Gardner & Dyke
Astronauts
Atlanta
Atlanta Disco Band
Audience
Audio Adrenaline
Autograph
Automatic Man
Axe
Azteca
Aztec Two-Step

Yngwie Malmsteen was in Alcatrazz early on and I thought Autograph had a "hit" with Turn up the Radio in the mid eighties. Animal Logic had Stewert Copeland and Stanley? Clarke.

you've heard area code 615. Stone Fox Chase. Check the perfect beats comp.

You've also heard Arpeggio - best known for their great video game disco number "Love and Desire"

Area Code 615:

Yeah, I know, I've heard that one song. Just nothing else by them, and I've never seen an actual album. (They're one of the reasons I stipulated "not much.")

And yeah, I just checked my shelf, and I still own the Arpeggio LP, wow! Their name didn't ring a bell.

Arc Angels was Double Trouble of "Stevie Ray Vaughan & __" fame, with Charlie Sexton. Released one album shortly after Stevie Ray died as a "cathartic exercise." Don't remember it well but I think it was decent TX blues-rock.

Some vaguely familiar names there. Very very vaguely familiar, like maybe I heard them announced on the radio a few times without knowing what they sounded like.

Animal Logic

stewart copeland's band! with stanley clarke! don't think i've ever heard 'em either.

Automatic Man: jazz rock fusion with Pat Thrall and Michael Shrieve before the former went into the Pat Travers band to play stadium rock. First album is pretty good and I still have it. Never listened to the second.

Axe: Third tier southern rock act. Did a decent version of Edgar Winter's "Keep Playing that Rock 'n' Roll." The kind of act designed for Wounded Bird reissue and was. After you hear them the first time you say, "That was pretty good." And then you can't remember one song five minutes later.

"ADC Band"

super-funky disco. like, p-funk funky. awesome.

"Addrisi Brothers"

awesome! and not be confused with my heroes the alessi brothers. the addrisi brothers had cool 70's records, but they go waaaaaaaaay back. they wrote never my love. one of my fave association songs.

the first aztec two step record is really good.

audience were cool. if you like the band family you might like audience. or maybe even 10 cc. i dunno. they were weird. the singer of audience made a solo album that i've been playing non-stop for the last couple of years. very quirky/prog/pop. it's on cd now too and you can get it on-line. HIGHLY recommended by yours truly.

http://cover6.cduniverse.com/CDUCoverArt/Music/32/superd_6836432.jpg

Oh yeah...I still haven't heard Audience but was reading about them because when Howard Werth was in LA, he cut a one-off single on Dangerhouse called "Obsolete" that totally rules. With Joe Nanini from Wall of Voodoo, Black Randy, Plugz, Bags etc

Addrisi Brothers

Agreed with Scott. They did the "Nanny and the Professor" theme, which is one of my favorite songs ever. Not just TV themes - songs.

Aztec Two-Step

I love "The Persecution and Resurrection of Dean Moriarty" but when I wrote a listing for one of their live shows for the Voice a few years ago they seemed to be more into Simon & Garfunkel covers/tributes and songs about golf.

Alias

A one-off. When the disbanded Sheriff unexpectedly went to #1 with "When I'm With You" and the singer was unable to reunite the band and thus unable to use its name, opted for this clever, um, alias. Had a big hit with the similar "More Than Words Can Say" and promptly disappeared. Probably not worth seeking out unless you're into that sort of pomp.

The Adventures - pop maximalists from Northern Ireland. Think U2 produced by Phil Spector then polished up by Trevor Horn. But even more bombastic than that.

Area Code 615

country funk super-session group from late 60s whose track "Stone fox Chase" was an oldschool breakbeat

American Flyer is a promising sounding but supposedly disappointing West Coast post-psych/pop/rock/folk-rock/country-rock etc vibe album with Doug Yule.

Area Code 615

country funk super-session group from late 60s whose track "Stone fox Chase" was an oldschool breakbeat

..and the theme for 70's BBC music show the Old Grey Whistle Test.

Arcadia
Isn't this the godawful Robert Palmer / Duran Duran collaboration?

Ashton Gardner & Dyke
Tony Ashton co-presented some ridiculous music show with Rick Wakeman in the 80's...Gastank? He'd always be hammered by the time they got to the final jam. Fuck knows who Gardner and Dyke were.

Autograph
Derek Oliver faves, often namechecked in his Wimphem column in Kerrang.

Axe
Mainman Bobby Barth now plays in Blackfoot! Otherwise, yes pretty 3rd division.

Arcadia - no the Robert Palmer one was the Power Station; this was Simon Le Pomp and Nick Rhodes acting like they owned the place.

Kim Gardner out of Ashton, Gardner and Dyke used to be in top mod-psych sixties band the Creation. Not sure about Dyke though.

On checking Wikipedia Roy Dyke was the drummer; no great previous musical form but he is married to Stacia out of Hawkwind the bastard!

Ashton Gardner and Dyke had an American top 40 hit in 1971 with "Resurrection Shuffle," faux-gospel with horns and a driving drumbeat that ought to be sampled, if it hasn't been.

American Flyer = sub-Firefall. Sold my album years ago.

Still own the first Area Code 615, which doesn't include "Stone Fox Chase," just some banjo-Beatles covers and "Classical Gas." Meh...

I love these, Chuck! Keep doing the rest of the alphabet!

Resurrection Shuffle went to #3 in the UK, too.

scott did you ever get around to x, y, and z? can't seem to find those on the search.