Nikki Sudden was born in London on July 19, 1956. He began playing guitar after hearing T.Rex near the end of 1971. Together with his brother, Epic Soundtracks, he formed what was to become Swell Maps. The Maps released 4 singles and 2 albums between 1977 and their break up in 1980. All of these releases hit the top slot in the Independent Charts. Following the demise of the Maps, Sudden began his solo career. He made two albums —Waiting On Egypt and The Bible Belt— before joining up with Birmingham guitarist, Dave Kusworth. The pair formed the Jacobites in 1983, going on to make two albums, Jacobites and Robespierre’s Velvet Basement, the latter reaching No. 1 in the German Independent Charts. This tied in with their first German tour, and a semi-impermanent move to the country for Sudden. When the Jacobites broke up in early 1986, Sudden returned to his solo career by signing to Creation Records. The company released five of his albums over the next five years: “Texas”, Dead Men Tell No Tales, Kiss You Kidnapped Charabanc (with Rowland S. Howard), Groove and a compilation, Back To The Coast. 1990 found Nikki Sudden traveling round the World. He eventually ended up in Athens, Georgia, where Peter Buck, Mike Mills, and Bill Berry from R.E.M. coerced him into the studio. Together, they ended up making the album, The Jewel Thief— later reissued as Liquor, Guns & Ammo. 1993 saw Kusworth and Sudden reuniting the Jacobites, with a new backing group. Over the following years, they released three albums, Howling Good Times, Old Scarlett and God Save Us Poor Sinners. In addition, their two original albums were reissued, as was a further compilation of rare tracks, Hawks Get Religion. The band also released a limited edition, vinyl-only album, Kiss Of Life, in Germany, and a Spanish CD, Heart Of Hearts. - (Read more)

"It all started with a band called Boss" (Tony Groenewald talking to Chris Prior on radio, 1984.) 1980 Boss was born (in South Africa) in February 1980 when a group of kids who were tired of what was being played at the time decided to try and create some of their own music instead. The initial line-up consisted of: Garth Potterton (Guitars and voice), Tony 'O Dwyer (Guitars), Wayne Edgerton (Drums), Michael Potterton (Bass) A series of line-up changes took place and they were to plague the band from the outset, right up to the end. The first to leave was Tony 'O Dwyer. He never gave a reason for leaving but later he was seen to be playing with the "Band of Gypsies". I arrived in Johannesburg in March 1980, having been transferred from Cape Town. I had started work on 2nd April 1980. I was quite excited about coming to Johannesburg because I'd always heard that this was the place to play music. I'd left a band in Cape Town called "Wildeside" but was looking forward to meeting new musicians. The first three months were spent working in Johannesburg and playing with the odd "garage band". There were many of these bands at the time. I was eventually invited to audition with a rock band that had just lost their guitarist. I can't recall the details but I remember being quite excited. - (Read more)

OYSTERHEAD is - Trey Anastasio - Les Claypool - Stewart Copeland - (Read more)

played in Hungary, from 1974 to 1982, in various styles, from jazz to progressive rock. They also designed and built their own synthesizers. Later they continued recording as P.R.Computer. Panta Rhei were well known in Hungary for their classical adaptations (in particular from Bela Bartok and Edward Grieg) and their instrumental compositions. Their music was heavily influenced by ELP, Nice, King Crimson, etc. The band recorded 2 LPs, and about 6 singles, and numerous pieces for film and ballet. Their LPs sold over 100,000 copies in Hungary and Eastern Europe. A CD of some of the previously unpublished music was released in 1998. In 2002 a book about the band was published, accompanied by a CD with a collection of songs recorded between 1975-79. Their Bartok recordings were never released, due to objections by the Bartok family. - (Read more)

The group PEPPA MARRITI BAND was born in St. Sofia of Epirus, a small country of Albanian origin in the province of Cosenza. The basic idea of the band is to combine the roots of rock with the tradition and culture "Arbëresh" (Italo- Albanian). There are numerous investments in important national festival as Arezzo Wave, Sonica, Ampollino sound, etc. Celebration of Music. The songs on the CD "rockarbëresh" are transmitted, as well as by numerous local and national radio (demo / radiouno-rai), also from Radio Tirana in Albania, Radio West in Kosovo and Radio Iliria London (England). Guests of TV broadcasts: "We History" on Rai Tre / Rai Educational and "Levante" on Rai Tre. On a typical rock music, concerts of the band open to Balkan sounds (accentuated by violin), with reference to traditional songs (Vjersh) and continued in the world of popular music and contemporary. - (Read more)