Ben Harding (born 1965) is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

lead and rhythm guitarist, vocalist and songwriter from

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, best known for performing in the

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

bands

Senseless Things Senseless Things were an English pop punk band, formed in 1986 in London. The band released four studio albums and achieved two UK Top 20 hit singles before splitting up in 1995. Senseless Things reformed in 2017 to play several gigs including S ...

3 Colours Red 3 Colours Red were an English rock band, formed in 1994 in London. They achieved their biggest chart success at the end of the 1990s, along with other British rock bands such as Ash and Feeder. The band was named by sticking a pin in a Lond ...

and

Thee Faction Thee Faction are a British garage rock/garage punk band from Surrey, England, noted for their explicit socialist agenda. They refer to their music, which incorporates elements of garage rock, pop and rhythm and blues as "Socialist RnB". Th ...

Louder Than War ''Louder Than War'' is a music and culture website and magazine focusing on mainly alternative arts news, reviews, and features. The site is an editorially independent publication that was started by journalist John Robb in 2010 and is now ru ...

called him "one of the UK's finest rock guitarists."

Biography

Harding joined vocalist/guitarist

Mark Keds Mark Myers (28 October 1970 – 11 January 2021), better known as Mark Keds, was an English singer, songwriter and guitarist, from Twickenham, London, best known for leading the bands Senseless Things and Deadcuts. ''Kerrang!'' hailed him as a " ...

, bassist

Morgan Nicholls Morgan Daniel Nicholls (born 18 March 1971) is an English musician, member of English pop band Senseless Things and best known for performing with Muse, Gorillaz, The Streets and Lily Allen. He has released one solo album under the mononym Morg ...

and drummer

Cass Browne Cass Browne (born 27 September 1971 in Wimbledon, Surrey) is an English musician and writer. He was a member of the band The Psychotics who became Senseless Things in 1986. Senseless Things made four studio albums, achieved two UK Top 20 ...

in pop punk/alternative rock group

in 1987, completing the line-up of the band. Senseless Things released four studio albums and a

Peel Sessions John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey (DJ) and radio presenter. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly fr ...

album between 1989 and 1995, had two

Top 20 A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of recorded music according to certain criteria during a given period. Many different criteria are used in worldwide charts, often in combination. These include rec ...

singles, and toured internationally. Harding is credited as songwriter on tracks including the 1993 single "Homophobic Asshole", from album

Empire of the Senseless ''Empire of the Senseless'' is an album by the English rock band Senseless Things. It was released in 1993, and was produced by Senseless Things and Ralph Jezzard. It was not released in the United States. The album peaked at #37 on the Official ...

. After Senseless Things split in 1995, Harding joined 'Britrock'/punk band

with vocalist/bassist

Pete Vuckovic Peter Bryan Vuckovic (born February, 1971 in Devon, England) is an English singer-songwriter and bass player. Biography Of half Serbian descent, Vuckovic grew up in Tiverton, Devon listening to hard rock and metal, singing and playing bass in b ...

, guitarist Chris McCormack and drummer Keith Baxter. Three Colours Red released two LPs and a series of singles/EPs between 1996 and 1999, achieving two UK Top 20 albums, and six Top 40 singles, including the Top 20 hit "

Beautiful Day "Beautiful Day" is a song by Irish rock band U2. It is the first track on their tenth studio album, ''All That You Can't Leave Behind'' (2000), and was released as the album's lead single on 9 October 2000. The song was a commercial success, ...

" before dissolution in 1999. The band played Sex Pistols'

Finsbury Park Finsbury Park is a public park in the London neighbourhood of Harringay. It is in the area formerly covered by the historic parish of Hornsey, succeeded by the Municipal Borough of Hornsey. It was one of the first of the great London parks ...

comeback gig in 1996; they also supported

KISS A kiss is the touch or pressing of one's lips against another person or an object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely. Depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sexual attraction, ...

and Aerosmith. After a hiatus from the London music scene, Harding returned in 2009 joining

as lead guitarist, a self-styled 'Socialist RnB' band in which members performed under pseudonyms. Thee Faction released four studio albums between 2010 and 2015 and played gigs on the post-punk circuit with artists such as

the Membranes The Membranes are an English post-punk band formed in Blackpool, Lancashire in 1977, the initial line-up being John Robb (bass guitar), Mark Tilton (guitar), Martyn Critchley (vocals) and Martin Kelly (drums).Larkin, Colin: ''The Guinness Wh ...

Jon Langford Jonathan Denis Langford (born 11 October 1957) is a Welsh musician and artist based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Langford is a founder member of the punk band The Mekons, the post-punk group The Three Johns, and the alternative count ...

, TV Smith, and

the Darling Buds The Darling Buds are an alternative rock band from Newport, South Wales. The band formed in 1986 and were named after the H. E. Bates novel '' The Darling Buds of May'' – a title taken in turn, from the third line of Shakespeare's Sonnet 18 ...

, as well as for political events and campaigns. With Thee Faction no longer active, Harding joined garage band the Charlemagnes as lead guitarist in 2016; their first album ''Three Chords and a Half-Truth'' was released in 2018. The band have performed with groups such as Moving Targets, the Cravats, the Bellrays,

Eight Rounds Rapid Eight Rounds Rapid are a British four-piece punk/ R&B band from Southend, Essex, England. The band was formed in 2010 by drummer Lee Watkins and vocalist David Alexander (David Burke), with guitarist Simon Johnson; they were joined in 2012 by bas ...

Dealing With Damage Dealing With Damage are a British four-piece punk/melodic hardcore band from London, England.Glasper, Ian ''The Scene That Would Not Die: Twenty Years Of Post-Millennial Punk In The UK,'' Earth Island Books, 2021, ISBN 9781999758158 The band wa ...

, the Men of Gwent, Crazyhead and Gaye Bykers on Acid. Harding joined Senseless Things for three reunion concerts in 2017, culminating in a farewell gig at

Shepherd's Bush Empire Shepherd's Bush Empire (currently known as O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire for sponsorship reasons, and formerly known as the BBC Television Theatre) is a music venue in Shepherd's Bush, West London, run by the Academy Music Group. It was originally ...

. Ben Harding appeared on

Never Mind the Buzzcocks ''Never Mind the Buzzcocks'' is a British comedy panel game show with a pop music theme. It has aired on Sky Max since September 2021, having originally aired between November 1996 and January 2015 on BBC Two. The original series was first hos ...

in 2003.

Selected discography

with
Senseless Things Senseless Things were an English pop punk band, formed in 1986 in London. The band released four studio albums and achieved two UK Top 20 hit singles before splitting up in 1995. Senseless Things reformed in 2017 to play several gigs including S ...

*1989: ''Postcard C.V.'' (album) *1991: ''The First of Too Many'' (album) *1993: ''

'' (album) *1994: ''Peel Sessions'' (compilation) *1995: ''Taking Care of Business'' (album) *1998: ''The Singles'' (compilation)

with
3 Colours Red 3 Colours Red were an English rock band, formed in 1994 in London. They achieved their biggest chart success at the end of the 1990s, along with other British rock bands such as Ash and Feeder. The band was named by sticking a pin in a Lond ...

*1997: ''

Pure Pure may refer to: Computing * A pure function * A pure virtual function * PureSystems, a family of computer systems introduced by IBM in 2012 * Pure Software, a company founded in 1991 by Reed Hastings to support the Purify tool * Pure-FTPd, F ...

'' (album) *1999: '' Revolt'' (album) *2005: '' If You Ain't Got a Weapon...'' (compilation)

with
Thee Faction Thee Faction are a British garage rock/garage punk band from Surrey, England, noted for their explicit socialist agenda. They refer to their music, which incorporates elements of garage rock, pop and rhythm and blues as "Socialist RnB". Th ...

*2011: ''Up the Workers! or, Capitalism Is Good for Corporations That's Why You've Been Told Socialism Is Bad All Your Life'' (album) *2012: ''Singing Down the Government, or, The War of Position and How We're Winning It'' (album) *2013: ''Good Politics: Your Role as an Active Citizen in Civil Society'' (album) *2015: '' Reading Writing Revolution: The Tendency of the Rate of Profit to Fall'' (album)

with The Charlemagnes

*2018: ''Three Chords and a Half-Truth'' (album)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harding, Ben English male guitarists Musicians from London 1965 births 20th-century British male musicians 21st-century British male musicians Living people