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Home Grown Talent

The brothers Roger, Victor, Garry, Russell and Mark Christian started in the late 70s as an a cappella group called 'Equal Temperament'.
They released their debut single, "Forgotten Town" in Jan 1987 to critical acclaim. The release of two more singles ensured that the album went triple platinum with U.K. sales alone exceeding 1,000,000 and on the back of its success The Christians began to tour Europe. By 1988 they had established themselves as a major new British soul act.

Space's first single, 'Neighbourhood', was released in 1995. The single 'Female of the Species' released a year later went on to be their first major hit. The single captured the quirky, alternative indie sound that the band had been developing since they formed in 1993. Their first album 'Spiders', which was released in 1996, hit the charts at number 1.

After leaving the The La's in 1993 John Power was armed with a bagful of songs and set about forming Cast.
Their early sound was very similar to that of John's former band - retro-rock inspired by early 60s Britsh invasion groups like The Beatles. After a relentless number of U.K. tours Cast were eventually spotted by Polydor Records whilst supporting Oasis at one of their very first shows and began work on their first album, 'All Change' with the producer, John Leckie (Pink Floyd, The Stone Roses, XTC).

The La's (the Scouse expression 'la' is short for lad) were originally formed way back in 1984 by a singer and guitarist named Mike Badger. Lee Mavers, who was eventually to become the band's prominant figure, soon joined. A drummer, Tony Russell, and a bassist were recruited and the four of them began gigging around Liverpool as The La's. They released their first single 'Way Out' in October 1987 which set the scene for the La's sound.

In October '88 The La's released the classic single 'There She Goes' which is certainly their most successful song. They re-released a remixed version of the single in 1990 to much greater acclaim. It entered the U.K. top 20 and reached No. 49 in the U.S. The La's then spent three years finishing their first and only album which is believed to have taken so long to record due to Mavers' intense perfectionism.

In 1984 a tabloid paper described Frankie Goes To Hollywood as having 'the wit of The Beatles, the decadence of The Rolling Stones and the wildness of the Sex Pistols' which is probably one of the best descriptions of the band to date.
The five-piece band featured ex-Big in Japan vocalist Holly Johnson and took their name from a magazine headline about the acting career of Frank Sinatra. They were formed in Liverpool in 1980 and signed to the record label ZTT two years later after being noticed on the Channel 4 music show 'The Tube'. They released their first single, 'Relax' the following year. The single was a driving dance number with sexually explicit lyrics and a video featuring homoerotic material. It instantly provoked controversy, gaining the band publicity which shot them on their way to superstardom. In January 1984 'Relax' became the UK's Number 1, where it remained for 5 weeks, selling over a million copies.

Gerry and the Pacemakers are credited with being one of the first bands, along with The Beatles, to define Merseybeat. They produced music that was lightweight, catchy and driven by both rhythm guitar and their singer's (Gerry Marsden's) chipper vocals. Originally a skiffle band called 'The Mars Bars' they were formed in the late 1950s by Gerry Marsden. However, by the time they were signed by manager George Martin in 1962, becoming his second group after The Beatles, they had changed their name to Gerry and the Pacemakers. During their early years they toured the same Liverpool/Hamburg circuit as The Beatles and even matched them in terms of local popularity. The Pacemakers burst onto the Merseybeat scene with the release of their first single in 1963 and then went on to make history by becoming the first act to have number 1 hits with their first three singles: 'How Do You Do It', 'I Like It' and 'You'll Never Walk Alone'. They also got to star in their own film, 'Ferry across the Mersey'.

The Lightning Seeds were masterminded by the Scouse guitarist and producer Ian Broudie in 1989. Before creating the Lightning Seeds he had been a member of several bands including the semi-legendary late '70s punk outfit Big in Japan, whose line up also included Frankie Goes To Hollywood's Holly Johnson. Despite the fact that 'Lucky You', the first single released off the album flopped, not even reaching the top 40, The Seeds didn't lose faith and released a second single, 'Change'. The single has become a live favourite and gave the seeds a top 20 hit, going straight in at number 13. Due to good and quirky promotion as well as the release of two more singles, 'Perfect' and 'Marvellous' and the re-release of 'Lucky You', the Album quickly sold over 600,000 copies. Broudie's next major hit was the famous Euro '96 Anthem 'Three Lions' which he co-wrote with David Baddiel and Frank Skinner. It became a number 1 hit and turned into the nation's new national anthem.

Echo And The Bunnymen emerged from the late '70s new wave (post punk) scene which centred around the Liverpool club Eric's. Inspired by acts like David Bowie, The Velvet Underground and The Doors, their sound is one of neo-psychedelic, gloomy rock which has gained them a worldwide cult favourite status. Releasing nine studio albums over the last two decades-plus, they have become one of rock's most fiercely uncompromising and uniquely talented bands. The songwriting team of Ian 'Mac' McCulloch (the band's lead singer) and Will Sergeant has proven itself to be in the same league as the Jagger/Richards, Lennon/McCartney and Reed/Cale. The group began when singer Ian McCulloch met guitarist Will Sergeant in 1978 and began recording as an act called Echo!. Les Pattinson joined them on bass shortly after and the trio became known as Echo and the Bunnymen. They released their debut single, 'Pictures On My Wall' on Zoo Records in 1979 which earned them a record deal with Sire.
However, McCulloch decided to start a solo career and left the band in 1988 but they reformed in 1997 and hit the top ten with 'Nothing Lasts Forever'.

Lasting for just over a decade, Liverpool's The Farm briefly found success during the height of the 'Madchester' movement that dominated British pop music during the late '80s and early '90s. The Farm were very politically orientated, carrying a strong socialist message and were dubbed the 'Soul of Socialism'.
The Farm failed to attract any mainstream attention. However, their fortunes changed in 1990 when they were approached by the dance producer Terry Farley, whose previous work includes collaborations with The Happy Mondays and The Soup Dragons. They released a cover of the Monkees hit 'Stepping Stone' shortly afterwards which fell just short of the U.K. top 40. The single catapulted The Farm onto the same baggy-pants, indie-dance club culture, Manchester scene as the likes of The Happy Mondays, The Soup Dragons and The Stone Roses and their next two singles 'Groovy Train' and 'All Together Now' became U.K. top ten hits. 'Groovy Train' reached the top ten and 'All Together Now' reached the top five, selling over 500,000 copies. The Farm then finally issued their debut album, 'Spartacus' in 1991.

During the early '90s The Boo Radleys developed a dedicated cult following with a loud, psychedelic, trance pop sound. Martin Carr and Sice (originally Simon) Rowbottom, the band's founders, had been childhood friends since the age of twelve and had always wanted to form a band. They took the name from a character in 'To Kill a Mocking Bird' by Harper Lee, simply because they liked the sound of it.
Their album, 'Giant Steps' was a huge step forward. The album received many favourable reviews, such as Melody Maker's 'Album of the Year' award and the band began to build up a fan base in the U.K.
Their next album, 'Wake Up' was the band's commercial breakthrough, reaching number 1 in the U.K. charts. The album contains the single, 'Wake Up Boo' which is their most successful single to date. The three minute, catchy, horn-driven single entered the top ten in the spring of 1995 and stayed there until the summer. They released another album, 'Kingsize' in 1998. However, despite the album again receiving many excellent reviews from the likes of N.M.E. and Q, The Boo Radleys had dropped out of the mainstream and the album only managed to reach number 45 in the U.K. They officially split up a few months later.

Ian McNabb started his musical career with a Cabaret band called 'Young World' working men's clubs, weddings and other such events. Chris Sharrock joined the band at the age of nine. They found a third band member in Chris Layhe who had previously been playing with the band 'Eleanor' and, taking their name from a science fiction novel, formed The Icicle Works in 1980. They issued their debut single Ascending the following year.

They followed with Nirvana and Birds Fly (Whisper To A Scream) which secured them a contract with Beggars Banquet. Love Is A Wonderful Colour was their first U.K. hit, peaking at number 15.
In 1984 they released their first album, a self-titled effort that hit top 30 on both sides of the Atlantic. This was accomplished primarily on the strength of the song that was renamed in the U.S. Whisper To A Scream (Birds Fly). Chris Sharrock went on to drum for The Lightning Seeds while Layhe retired from the band scene.
in 1989 Ian McNabb and Roy Corkhill formed a new Icicle Works band with Dave Baldwin, Mark Revell and Paul Burgess. The so-called 'Second Generation' group moved from Beggars Banquet to Epic in 1990 with the dark and foreboding Permanent Damage. This was to be the final album for The Icicle Works although 1992 saw the release of BBC Live In Concert, and The Best Of The Icicle Works was issued in 1994.

Information taken from the bbc.co.uk site