The Vibrators are a British punk rock band that formed in 1976.

Early career

The Vibrators were founded by Ian ' Knox' Carnochan, bassist Pat Collier, guitarist

John Ellis John Ellis may refer to: Academics *John Ellis (scrivener) (1698–1791), English political writer *John Ellis (naturalist) (1710–1776), English botanical illustrator *John Ellis (physicist, born 1946), British theoretical physicist at CERN * Jo ...

, and drummer John 'Eddie' Edwards. They first came to public notice at the

100 Club The 100 Club is a music venue located at 100 Oxford Street, London, England, where it has been hosting live music since 24 October 1942. It was originally called the Feldman Swing Club, but changed its name when the father of the current owner ...

when they backed

Chris Spedding Christopher John Spedding (born Peter Robinson, 17 June 1944) is an English musician, singer, guitarist, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, composer, and record producer. In a career spanning more than 50 years, Spedding is best known for his st ...

in 1976. On Spedding's recommendation,

Mickie Most Michael Peter Hayes (20 June 1938 – 30 May 2003), known as Mickie Most, was an English record producer behind scores of hit singles for acts such as the Animals, Herman's Hermits, the Nashville Teens, Donovan, Lulu, Suzi Quatro, Hot Chocolate ...

signed them to his label RAK Records. Most produced their first

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

, "We Vibrate". The band also backed Spedding on his single, "Pogo Dancing". The Vibrators recorded sessions for

John Peel 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 ...

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

in October 1976, June 1977, and February 1978. They were one of the pioneering punk bands that played at London's Roxy Club. They headlined in January 1977, supported by the Drones, and in February they played twice at the venue. In March 1977, the band supported

Iggy Pop James Newell Osterberg Jr. (born April 21, 1947), known professionally as Iggy Pop, is an American singer, musician, songwriter and actor. Called the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Godfather of Punk", he was the vocalist and lyricist of ...

on his British tour. Later that year, they backed ex-

Mott the Hoople Mott the Hoople were an English rock band formed in Herefordshire. Originally known as the Doc Thomas Group, the group changed their name after signing with Island Records in 1969. The band released albums throughout the early 1970s but fail ...

frontman Ian Hunter.

Epic Records

The band signed to

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America Sony Corporation of America (SONAM, also known as SCA), is the American arm of the Japanese conglomerate Sony Group ...

in early 1977. Their debut album, ''

Pure Mania ''Pure Mania'' is the debut album by the punk rock, punk band the Vibrators. It was released in 1977 on Epic Records and reached No. 49 in the UK Albums Chart. The song "Baby Baby (The Vibrators song), Baby Baby" was released as a single and pun ...

'' was co-produced with Robin Mayhew, the sound engineer for

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

's Ziggy Stardust live shows, and reached the top 50 of the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

. The album is well regarded by some music critics and, 17 years after its release, ''The

Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music ''The Encyclopedia of Popular Music'' is an encyclopedia created in 1989 by Colin Larkin. It is the "modern man's" equivalent of the '' Grove Dictionary of Music'', which Larkin describes in less than flattering terms.''The Times'', ''The Know ...

'' named ''Pure Mania'' one of the 50 best punk albums of all time. Their follow-up album, ''V2'', narrowly missed the UK top 30. The only single to be taken from that album, "Automatic Lover", was the only Vibrators’ single to reach the

UK top 40 The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

where it reached No. 35. It earned the band a TV appearance on the prime-time TV show ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British Record chart, music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show ...

''. The Vibrators’ final single on Epic, "Judy Says (Knock You in the Head)", was released in June 1978. It reached No. 70 on the UK Singles Chart. Years later it was included in ''

Mojo Mojo may refer to: *Mojo (African-American culture), a magical charm bag used in voodoo Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * MOJO HD, an American television network * ''Mojo'' (play), by Jez Butterworth, made into a 1997 film * '' ...

'' magazine's list of the best punk rock singles of all time.

Later years

A lack of further chart activity, and with only one UK top 40 single to their credit, saw the Vibrators join the list of

one-hit wonder A one-hit wonder or viral hit is any entity that achieves mainstream popularity, often for only one piece of work, and becomes known among the general public solely for that momentary success. The term is most commonly used in regard to music p ...

s; a list that includes other UK punk and new wave acts such as

the Banned ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

the Flying Lizards The Flying Lizards were an experimental English new wave band, formed in 1976. They are best known for their eccentric cover version of Barrett Strong's "Money", featuring Deborah Evans-Stickland on lead vocals, which reached the UK and US re ...

Jilted John ''Jilted'' is the past tense of jilt Jilt or may refer to: * Jilț, a tributary of the river Jiu in Romania * Jilț Coal Mine, an open-pit mine in Romania * ''The Jilt'', a 1922 American drama film directed by Irving Cummings * A B-girl (archa ...

999 999 or triple nine most often refers to: * 999 (emergency telephone number), a telephone number for the emergency services in several countries * 999 (number), an integer * AD 999, a year * 999 BC, a year Books * ''999'' (anthology) or ''999: ...

, the

Radio Stars Radio Stars were an English new wave group formed in early 1977. They released two albums and had one UK Top 40 single. Career Radio Stars were formed by Sparks exile Martin Gordon (bass, songwriter) and also included ex-John's Children voc ...

, and the

Rich Kids Rich Kids were a short-lived new wave band from London, founded in 1977 by Glen Matlock following his departure from the Sex Pistols. The band also included future Ultravox member Midge Ure and Rusty Egan, who both later founded Visage toge ...

. During the 1980s, John Ellis recorded with

Peter Gabriel Peter Brian Gabriel (born 13 February 1950) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and activist. He rose to fame as the original lead singer of the progressive rock band Genesis. After leaving Genesis in 1975, he launched ...

, as well as recording and touring frequently with

Peter Hammill Peter Joseph Andrew Hammill (born 5 November 1948) is an English musician and recording artist. He was a founder member of the progressive rock band Van der Graaf Generator. Best known as a singer/songwriter, he also plays guitar and piano and ...

, then subsequently

the Stranglers The Stranglers are an English rock band who emerged via the punk rock scene. Scoring 23 UK top 40 singles and 19 UK top 40 albums to date in a career spanning five decades, the Stranglers are one of the longest-surviving bands to have origina ...

, eventually joining the latter full-time in the 1990s. Pat Collier went on to work closely with

the Soft Boys The Soft Boys were an English rock band led by Robyn Hitchcock primarily during the 1970s, whose initially old-fashioned music style of psychedelic/folk-rock became part of the neo-psychedelia scene with the release of '' Underwater Moonlight''. ...

, producing their seminal album ''

Underwater Moonlight ''Underwater Moonlight'' is the second studio album by English rock band the Soft Boys, released on 28 June 1980 by record label Armageddon. Initially unsuccessful, the album has gone on to be viewed as a psychedelic classic, influential on th ...

'', and

Robyn Hitchcock Robyn Rowan Hitchcock (born 3 March 1953) is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist. While primarily a vocalist and guitarist, he also plays harmonica, piano, and bass guitar. After leading the Soft Boys in the late 1970s and releasing the ...

, producing and mixing some of his solo albums (to which Knox also sometimes contributed). Phil Ram went on to form Able Ram and brought out two singles, "Disco in Moscow" and "Hope We Make It", although without any chart success. Despite numerous line-up changes, the Vibrators continued to record and tour as a three-piece, with "Eddie" being the only original member. In 2020, the original lineup of Knox, Eddie, Ellis and Collier reunited to record and release the studio album ''Mars Casino'' with

providing production, additional guitar, and vocals. In January 2022, the Vibrators released a new single ''He's a Psycho''. In July that year, a line-up of Knox, Pete, Nigel Bennet and Eddie announced ''Fall into the Sky'', claimed to be the final Vibrators album.

Influence

The band

Stiff Little Fingers Stiff Little Fingers are a punk rock band from Belfast, Northern Ireland. They formed in 1977 at the height of the Troubles, which informed much of their songwriting. They started out as a schoolboy band called Highway Star (named after the De ...

took its name from the Vibrators' song of the same title. The song was penned by John Ellis, and appeared on the Vibrators' debut album ''

''. Second wave punk band

the Exploited The Exploited are a Scottish punk rock band from Edinburgh, formed in 1979 by Stevie Ross and Terry Buchan, with Buchan soon replaced by his brother Wattie Buchan. They signed to Secret Records in March 1981,1982 album. A cover of "Troops of Tomorrow" was also recorded by the Polish

death metal Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep growling vocals; aggressive, powerful drumming, feat ...

band Vader, and released as a bonus track on the band's 2011 album, '' Welcome to the Morbid Reich''.

Discography

Studio albums

* ''

'' (Epic, EPC 82097, June 1977) - UK No. 49 * '' V2'' (Epic, EPC 82495, April 1978) - UK No. 33 * ''Guilty'' (Anagram, GRAM 002, 1982) * ''Alaska 127'' - 1984 * ''Fifth Amendment'' - 1985 * ''Recharged'' - 1988 * ''Meltdown'' - 1988 * ''Vicious Circle'' - 1989 * ''Volume 10'' - 1990 * ''Hunting for You'' - 1994 * ''French Lessons with Correction'' - 1997 * ''Buzzin - 1999 * ''Noise Boys'' - 2000 * ''Energize'' - 2002 * ''Punk: The Early Years'' - 2006 (cover album) * ''Garage Punk'' - 2009 (cover album) * ''Pure Punk'' - 2009 (cover album) * ''Under the Radar'' - 2009 * ''On the Guest List'' - 2013 * ''Punk Mania: Return to the Roots'' - 2014 * ''Restless'' (Die Laughing Records) - 2017 * ''Past, Present and Into the Future'' - 2017 (containing members of the Pure Mania/V2 lineup, as well as the contemporary lineup) * ''Across the Pond'' (Die Laughing Records) split The Vibrators/Screaming Bloody Marys - 2018 * ''Mars Casino'' (Cleopatra Records) - 2020 * ''Fall into the Sky'' (Cleopatra Records) - 2022

Singles released up to 1980

*"We Vibrate" / "Whips and Furs" (RAK, RAK 245, November 1976) *"Pogo Dancing" / "The Pose" (RAK, RAK 246, November 1976) by

; the Vibrators performed the song in TV appearances *"Bad Time" / "No Heart" (RAK, RAK 253, March 1977) *" Baby Baby" / "Into the Future" (Epic Records, SEPC 5302, May 1977) *"London Girls" (Live) / "Stiff Little Fingers" (Live) (Epic Records, SEPC 5565, August 1977) *"Automatic Lover" / "Destroy" (Epic Records, SEPC 6137, March 1978) - UK No. 35 *"Judy Says (Knock You in the Head)" / "Pure Mania" (Epic Records, SEPC 6393, June 1978) - UK No. 70 *"Disco in Moscow" / "Take a Chance" (Rat Race Records, RAT 4, October 1980)