Simple Minds, Level 42, James Blunt, Blue, Cast, Deacon Blue, and Appleton

Finding influence from the likes of Roxy Music and U2, Simple Minds formed out of the remnants of Glaswegian punk group, Johnny and the Self-Abusers, with guitarist Charlie Burchill and singer Jim Kerr joining forces with bassist Derek Frobes, drummer Brian McGee and keyboardist Mick McNeil in 1978. The band's initial releases moved between dense art-pop ("Life in a Day") to the experimental-leaning "Reel to Real Cacophony," to Euro-disco influenced "Empires and Dance." With "Sons and Fascination" and "Sister Feelings Call," they streamlined their sound into more accessible pop, before finding significant chart success with "New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84)."

However, it was with the 1985 hit single, "Don't You (Forget About Me)" that Simple Minds found international success. Despite its success, topping the American charts, Simple Minds decided not to feature the single on their next album, "Once Upon a Time," due to Kerr's dislike of the song's lyrics. The album was still a success, breaking into the US Top Ten and becoming certified Gold.

Simple Minds failed to build on the momentum of their last album, with the overtly political "Street Fighting Years' failing to meet its success. Personnel changes after the more straightforward "Real Life" threw the band's future into question yet Kerr and Burchill managed to persevere and breathe new life into the act. 1995's "Good News From The Next World" gained moderate airplay support, with a short North American tour shortly after yet they were unable to restore their previous energies.

Into the new millennium, Simple Minds had found a new enthusiasm of sorts, releasing the cover album, "Neon Lights," which covered the likes of Patti Smith, Neil Young and David Bowie. New material appeared a year later with "Cry," followed by "Our Secrets Are the Same" in 2003, which helped to reignite interest in the band. Several reissues and two more albums of new material, "Black and White" (2005) and "Graffiti Soul" (2009) maintained the band's relevance, prompting a global tour and festival appearances. 2014's "Big Music" found critical acclaim with their well-crafted pop, debuting at number 12 on the UK Albums Chart.

Having served six years in the army, reaching the rank of captain and embarking on a tour of duty during the Kosovo conflict, James Blunt turned away from his military career in order to pursue his first love, music. A decision which would lead to tremendous success, selling over 20 million albums and 17 million singles worldwide.

His debut album, "Back to Bedlam" (2004) brought Blunt's music into worldwide acclaim, selling over 11 million copies and topping the UK Album charts and reaching the number two spot in the US. It was the third single from the album that proved to be Blunt's breakout hit, with "You're Beautiful" spending six weeks at number one in the UK. Following this success, the album rose to number one in the UK Albums Chart, as well as topping the charts in 16 territories worldwide, eventually becoming the best selling album of the 2000s in the UK.

His brand of pop-folk has found similarities with Damien Rice and David Gray, yet perhaps with greater, more accessible pop sensibilities prevalent in his songs. Following "Back to Bedlam," Blunt has released three further albums, with his second, "All the Lost Souls" (2007) topping the charts in over 20 countries and his latest two, "Some Kind of Trouble" (2010) and "Moon Landing" (2013) receiving positive critical acclaim. During his career he has received a host of accolades, including five Grammy Award nominations, two Ivor Novello Awards, as well as 'Best New Act' at the Q and MTV music awards.

Blunt has been heavily involved in charitable activity throughout his career, raising funds for the MSF (Doctors Across Borders) as well as being the patron for UK charity Help For Heroes.

In 1999, having met at an audition for a boy band managed by Simon Cowell, Lee Ryan and Antony Costa kept in touch and a year later invited Duncan James to start a band. It wasn’t long before the trio impressed Daniel Glatman, who later became their manager, and invited Ryan’s flatmate Simon Webbe to complete the line up. The band signed a contract with Innocent Records and Blue’s output was put in reliable hands of numerous songwriting/production teams. Penned by Norwegian pop team Stargate, Blue’s debut single “All Rise” took the UK by storm and rose to No. 4 in the UK Singles chart in May 2001. The band’s subsequent single “If You Come Back” became Blue’s first No. 1 single and paved the way for their debut album “All Rise” issued in December 2001. The album, aided by the Christmas season, topped the UK Albums chart and went on to sell over 1.8 million copies.

Like its predecessor Blue’s sophomore album “One Love” debuted the UK Albums chart at No. 1 spawning the singles “One Love”, “Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word” featuring Elton John, and “U Make Me Wanna”. The album cemented the group’s position in the sugary-pop world, however borrowed influences from rock, funk, R&B and soul. The band’s third full-length album “Guilty” appeared in 2003 and once again topped the UK Album Chart, however showed signs that the Blue bubble losing momentum. Led by the title track “Guilty” and subsequent “Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I’m Yours” featuring Stevie Wonder and Angie Stone, the album went on to sell over a million copies.

The greatest hits album “Best of Blue” hit the shelves towards the tail end of 2004, spawning the singles “Curtain Falls”, “Get Down on It”, and “Only Words I Know”. In 2005 the band announced a hiatus, allowing members to focus on their solo careers. Blue returned in 2009 with a performance at the Silverstone Classic festival in August and announced they would represent the UK at the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest with their single “I Can”. In 2012 the band embarked on a tour alongside A1 and Jeff Timmons entitled “Boybands: The Greatest Hits Tour.

With contributions from R&B singers Ne-Yo and Bruno Mars, Blue released their fourth studio album “Roulette” in April 2013. Led by their single “Hurt Loves”, the album charted at No. 13 in the UK Albums chart and No. 14 in Germany. In support of “Roulette” the band embarked on “The Roulette Tour”, Blue’s fourth headlining tour across the UK and Europe. Blue subsequently released the album “Colours” in March 2015, led by the single “King of the World”.

It might sound like I’m damning Cast with faint praise by saying they’re only the third most legendary rock band to come out of Liverpool, but that’s only because number one and two on that list are The Beatles and The La’s, respectively. I’m sure you’ll agree that it’s highly respectable to come second to them, and it’s still a feather in Cast frontman John Power’s cap all the same since he was the bass player in The La’s as well. In fact, if you listen to the last track on the only album that The La’s ever released, you’ll hear that the line that closes the album is “The change is Cast”. Power, a songwriter himself who was frustrated by Lee Mavers’ erratic nature and their lack of any new material since 1986, decided to leave the band in December 1991 and made that lyric a very prophetic statement indeed.

After leaving The La’s, Power shopped around looking for a band to play the songs that Mavers had vetoed while he was still in The La’s. He started playing some sundry acoustic shows, including one at a free festival in his home city of Liverpool, where he was spotted by another bass player who’d just split from a reasonably successful rock band, ex-Shack man Peter Wilkinson. Taken in by Power’s songs, the two of them met up and Wilkinson became the first addition to the newly formed Cast. They started gigging in the middle of 1992 with a multitude of different line ups, but it was going nowhere fast and he’d yet to extricate himself from the record contract he’d signed with Go! Disks while still in The La’s.

Power split up the first incarnation of the band in the summer of 1993 and managed to worm his way out of his contract. Newly free, he set up Cast again with Wilkinson still by his side, and by November 1993 he had recruited Keith O’Neil and Liam Tyson into the fold on the drums and guitar respectively. They started gigging together in January 1994 and it was clear to all who saw them that Power had finally gotten it right, Noel Gallagher himself would later describe the bands live show as a “religious experience”. In no time at all the band secured a tour support slot with Oasis, who were by then pretty much the hottest band in the country, and as a direct result of those shows they were approached by the head of A&R from Polydor Records, who couldn’t believe that they were unsigned.

Needless to say, they weren’t unsigned for long. They signed to Polydor on the 13th of December 1994, three years to the day that Power left The La’s. Cast spent the rest of the decade as one of the most acclaimed bands in Britpop, scoring three top ten albums in the forms of 1995’s debut album “All Change”, 1997’s “Mother Nature Calls” and 1999’s “Magic Hour”. They also scored ten top twenty singles between ’95 and ’99, their highest charting effort being 1996’s “Flying”, that peaked at number four on the charts. Unfortunately, they didn’t see in the new millennium so successfully, with 2001’s fourth album “Beetroot” tanking spectacularly and one month after its release, the band split.

Power spent the rest of the decade playing solo, O’Neill became a tour manager, Wilkinson played with his old band Shack and Tyson joined Robert Plant’s Strange Sensations. However, the band reformed in June 2010, initially only for a tour to mark the 15th anniversary of “All Change”. By the time the tour had finished Power had written an entire album of Cast songs, which became the bands fifth album, 2012’s “Troubled Times”. Any fan of rock and roll would agree that it’s a pleasure to have one of the best bands of the 1990’s back in the fold, and playing some of the best gigs of their career to boot. For that reason, Cast come highly recommended.

Normally, if one was to hear about a band fronted by an ex-school teacher and named after a Steely Dan song, the understandable reactions would be to instinctively write off that band as utterly insufferable before one has ever heard any of their music. However, to write off Deacon Blue would be a grave error indeed, no matter what the circumstances of their formation might be. Said ex-school teacher is the band's singer and Dundee, Scotland native Ricky Ross, who put the band together after moving from to Glasgow to pursue a solo career in music. After his debut album “So Long Ago” failed to make the earth move, he put the band together in 1985, and by 1987 the band had released their debut album “Raintown” on Columbia Records.

The next seven years of the band's career were incredibly kind to them, with several hit singles on both the UK and Ireland's singles charts, along with four critically and commercially successful albums to their name. Their second effort, 1989's “When The World Knows Your Name” was especially huge, topping the album charts and sending five of its singles into the top 30 of the singles chart, including a top ten hit in the form of its lead single “Real Gone Kid”. The band capped off the campaign for that album by headlining “The Big Day”, a free concert at Glasgow Green where the band played to an estimated quarter of a million people.

The band were on top of the world, and gaining momentum at an astonishing rate until 1994, when the band's drummer Dougie Vipond left the band to pursue a career in television. The band split amicably soon afterwards, but would reform five years later for a reunion concert in 1999, and then release a new album in the form of the same year's “Walking Back Home”. The band remain active to this day, releasing hugely acclaimed albums to a devoted following of fans both old and new. For staying relevant and exciting thirty years after forming, Deacon Blue come highly recommended.