Maybe Music

The Birthday Party were an Australian post-punk band, active from 1977 to 1983. The group's "bleak and noisy soundscapes," which drew irreverently on blues, free jazz, and rockabilly, provided the setting for vocalist Nick Cave's disturbing tales of violence and perversion. Their 1981 single "Release the Bats" was particularly influential on the emerging gothic scene. Despite limited commercial success, The Birthday Party's influence has been far-reaching, and they have been called "one of the darkest and most challenging post-punk groups to emerge in the early '80s."

The March Violets are an English post-punk/gothic rock band formed in 1981 in Leeds, incorporating singers of both sexes, drum machine rhythms and echo-laden electric guitar, much in the style of fellow Leeds band the Sisters of Mercy. Seven March Violets singles reached the UK Indie Chart; the Natural History collection also was an indie hit.

Public Image Ltd (abbreviated and stylized as PiL) are an English post-punk band (and incorporated limited company) formed by singer John Lydon (previously known as the singer of Sex Pistols), guitarist Keith Levene, bassist Jah Wobble, and drummer Jim Walker in May 1978. The group's personnel has changed frequently over the years; Lydon has been the sole constant member.

Following Lydon's departure from the Sex Pistols in January 1978, he sought a more experimental "anti-rock" project and formed PiL. That year PiL released their debut First Issue (1978), creating an abrasive, bass-heavy sound that drew on dub, noise, progressive rock and disco. PiL's second album Metal Box (1979) pushed their sound further into the avant-garde, and is often regarded as one of the most important albums of the post-punk era.

Gene Loves Jezebel are a British rock band formed in the early 1980s by identical twin brothers Jay and Michael Aston. Gene Loves Jezebel's best-known songs include "Heartache", "Desire " (1986), "The Motion of Love" (1987), "Jealous" (1990), and "Break the Chain" (1993), as well as alternative club hits "Bruises" (1983), "Influenza (Relapse)" (1984), and "The Cow" (1985). "The Motion of Love" was the band's most successful UK single.

Siouxsie and the Banshees were a British rock band formed in London in 1976 by vocalist Siouxsie Sioux and bass guitarist Steven Severin. They have been widely influential, both over their contemporaries and with later acts. Q magazine included John McKay's guitar playing on "Hong Kong Garden" in their list of "100 Greatest Guitar Tracks Ever", while Mojo rated guitarist John McGeoch in their list of "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" for his work on "Spellbound". The Times called the group "one of the most audacious and uncompromising musical adventurers of the post-punk era".

Daniel Ash is an English musician, songwriter and singer. He became prominent in the late 1970s as the guitarist for the iconic goth rock band Bauhaus, which spawned two related bands led by Ash: Tones on Tail and Love and Rockets. Recently, he reunited with bandmate Kevin Haskins to form Poptone, a retrospective of their respective careers, featuring Kevin's daughter Diva Dompe on bass. He has also recorded several solo albums. Several guitarists have listed Ash as an influence, including Dave Navarro of Jane's Addiction, Kim Thayil of Soundgarden, Hide of X Japan and John Frusciante of the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Siouxsie and the Banshees were a British rock band formed in London in 1976 by vocalist Siouxsie Sioux and bass guitarist Steven Severin. They have been widely influential, both over their contemporaries and with later acts. Q magazine included John McKay's guitar playing on "Hong Kong Garden" in their list of "100 Greatest Guitar Tracks Ever", while Mojo rated guitarist John McGeoch in their list of "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" for his work on "Spellbound". The Times called the group "one of the most audacious and uncompromising musical adventurers of the post-punk era".

Christian Death is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles County, California, in 1979 by Rozz Williams. With major line-up changes over the years, Christian Death has retained "a relentlessly confrontational stand against organized religion and conventional morality".

Southern Death Cult were a British post-punk/gothic rock band in the early 1980s. They are now primarily known for having given their lead singer and parts of the name to the multi-platinum hard rock band the Cult. Despite the similarities in the names, "Southern Death Cult" were distinct from "Death Cult"/"the Cult".

Southern Death Cult formed in 1981 in Bradford, Yorkshire, with a lineup of vocalist Ian Astbury, bassist Barry Jepson, guitarist David "Buzz" Burrows and drummer Haq Nawaz "Aky" Qureshi.

The group's name derived from an old term for the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex, a mound-building Native American culture (and the band were also known for their use of Native American imagery), but it also served as a critique of the imbalance of power in the English North-South divide.

Xmal Deutschland, often written as X-Mal Deutschland, was a musical group from Hamburg, West Germany, which existed from 1980 to 1990. Founded in 1980 with a completely female line-up, they became chart hit makers both within, and outside, their native country. The lead singer of the band was vocalist Anja Huwe. Xmal Deutschland's last album was released in 1989.

Virgin Prunes were an Irish rock band formed in 1977 in Dublin, Ireland. They disbanded in 1986 after the departure of singer Gavin Friday. The other members continued under the name The Prunes until they split up in 1991.

Danielle Dax (born 23 September 1958) is an English experimental musician and producer most active from the late-1970s to the mid-1990s.

She was born Danielle Gardner, in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. Dax's first performance on stage in London was when she was a pre-teen. She sang in Benjamin Britten's opera, Noye's Fludde (Noah's Flood), at the Royal Albert Hall. Preceding this, the first time Dax appeared on stage was at the age of three as an orange Jelly Baby on the Southend bandstand.

After a short modelling career (she won the "Miss Evening Echo" competition in 1976), Dax made her 'pop' musical debut in 1979, within three weeks of joining the group Amii Toytal and the Croixroads - this was a pseudonym for the Lemon Kittens - as keyboardist, flautist and saxophonist. It was their first gig and took place at Reading University's Student Union 'Airport' Bar. Karl Blake from the Lemon Kittens had met her some three weeks earlier after he read an article about her in a local newspaper. Blake was in urgent need of an artist, so he attended the next meeting of Dax's arts group and was introduced to her. Upon learning that she could also play saxophone and flute, he immediately recruited her for the band; in addition, he also got her to agree to do the cover artwork for the planned release. She ended up doing the cover artwork for all of Lemon Kittens releases.

1919 are an English rock band formed in Bradford, England in early 1980.

Peter John Joseph Murphy is an English singer, songwriter, and musician. He is the vocalist for the post-punk goth rock band Bauhaus. After Bauhaus initially disbanded, Murphy formed Dali's Car with Japan's bassist Mick Karn and released one album, The Waking Hour (1984). He later went on to release a number of solo albums, including Should the World Fail to Fall Apart (1986) and Love Hysteria (1988). In 1990, he achieved mainstream success with his hit single "Cuts You Up", which topped the American Modern Rock Tracks for 7 weeks. His album Deep also reached No. 44 on the Billboard 200. In 1992, Murphy released Holy Smoke, which reached No. 108 on the Billboard 200 chart along with lead single "The Sweetest Drop", which peaked at No. 2 on the American Modern Rock Tracks chart. In 2002, Murphy released Dust with Turkish-Canadian composer and producer Mercan Dede, which utilizes traditional Turkish instrumentation and songwriting, abandoning Murphy's previous pop and rock incarnations, and juxtaposing elements from progressive rock, trance, classical music, and Middle Eastern music, coupled with Dede's trademark atmospheric electronics. In 2014, he released Lion, produced by Killing Joke's Youth, which reached No. 173 on the Billboard 200.

Tones on Tail was a British post-punk band formed in 1982, originally as a musical side project of Daniel Ash of the gothic rock group Bauhaus. Their music was described by one critic as "doom-and-dance-pop."

While still a member of Bauhaus, Ash formed Tones on Tail early in 1982, originally as a duo with Glenn Campling, an art school friend and flatmate who had also been a roadie for Bauhaus. The band's name was a reference to the way calibration tones were recorded on the "tail" of reel-to-reel tape.

The pair issued their debut eponymous EP on 4AD in March 1982, followed by the single "There's Only One!", released by Beggars Banquet Records on 24 September. Ash sang and played guitar, Campling played bass, and both played percussion and keyboards.

The Lords of the New Church were an English/American rock band. A supergroup, the line-up originally consisted of four musicians from 1970s punk bands. This line-up comprised vocalist Stiv Bators, guitarist Brian James, bassist Dave Tregunna and drummer Nick Turner. Launched in 1981, the band released three studio albums prior to their dissolution in 1989. During this time, they underwent several line-up changes.

The Glove was a 1983 English musical collaboration and recording project by the Cure's Robert Smith and Siouxsie and the Banshees' Steven Severin. They released one studio album, Blue Sunshine, in 1983 as part of Severin's solo deal with Polydor. The latter came up with the band name, the album title and the blue/yellow sleeve concept, as Smith had to leave the project before completion due to prior commitments with the Cure.

Theatre of Hate are a British post-punk band formed in London, England, in 1980.

Led by singer-songwriter Kirk Brandon (formerly of the Pack), the original group also consisted of bassist Stan Stammers (formerly of the Straps and the Epileptics), saxophonist John "Boy" Lennard, guitarist Steve Guthrie and drummer Luke Rendle (formerly of Crisis and the Straps).

The Pack were a British punk rock band formed in 1978, comprising Kirk Brandon on guitars and vocals, Simon Werner (died 26 November 2010) on guitars, Jonathan Werner on bass, and Rab Fae Beith (later of UK Subs) on drums. Beith was eventually replaced by Jim Walker. The band released two singles in 1979, ""Heathen" and "King of Kings", and the Kirk Brandon & The Pack of Lies EP in 1980, before splitting. Their posthumous releases were the Long Live the Past EP (1982), The Pack Live 1982 live album, recorded in 1979 and released on cassette only on Walker's Donut Records label, and the collection Dead Ronin (2001).