London is an English four-piece punk band formed in London in 1976, best known for their wild stage act.Napier-Bell, Simon (2001) ''Black Vinyl White Powder'', Ebury Press, , p. 163 The original line-up was

Riff Regan Miles Tredinnick, also known as Riff Regan, (born Warrington 18 February 1955) is a rock musician, songwriter and a stage and screenwriter. In the 1970s, he was the lead singer with the British rock band London.Spicer, Al, (2006) ''The Rough Gui ...

(vocals), Steve Voice (bass guitar),

Jon Moss Jonathan Aubrey Moss (born 11 September 1957) is an English drummer, best known as a member of the 1980s new wave group Culture Club. He has also played with other bands, including London, the Nips, the Damned and Adam and the Ants. Early li ...

(drums) and Dave Wight (guitar). They were managed by

Simon Napier-Bell Simon Robert Napier-Bell (born 22 April 1939) is an English record producer, music manager, author and journalist. At different times, he has managed artists as diverse as the Yardbirds, John's Children, Marc Bolan, Japan, London, Ultravox, Bon ...

and recorded two singles, a four-track EP and an album for

MCA Records MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc., which later became part of Universal Music Group. Pre-history MCA Inc., a powerful talent agency and a television production company, entered the recorded music business in 1962 wit ...

in 1977. Most of their songs were written by Riff Regan (including the first two singles "Everyone's a Winner" and "Summer of Love") or by Regan and Steve Voice. All their records were produced by Napier-Bell at the

IBC Studios The IBC Recording Studios were independent recording studios located at 35 Portland Place in London, England. In the 1960s and 1970s, the studios become internationally famous after being used by recording artists like the Kinks, the Who, Bee Gee ...

in London. After an absence of more than 30 years the band returned to live performance, and subsequently released the album ''

Reboot In computing, rebooting is the process by which a running computer system is restarted, either intentionally or unintentionally. Reboots can be either a cold reboot (alternatively known as a hard reboot) in which the power to the system is physi ...

'' in 2012. The 2020 line-up is Riff Regan (vocals), Steve Voice (bass/guitar/vocals) and Hugh O'Donnell (guitar/vocals).

History

Henry Padovani Henry (or Henri) Padovani (born 13 October 1952) is a French musician (from the Mediterranean French isle of Corsica), noted for being the original guitarist of English rock band The Police. He was a member of the band from January 1977 to Augus ...

auditioned for London in December 1976 and was offered a position in the band, but changed his mind when

Stewart Copeland Stewart Armstrong Copeland (born July 16, 1952) is a Scottish-American musician and composer. He is best known for his work as the drummer of the English rock band the Police from 1977 to 1986, and again from 2007 to 2008. Before playing with th ...

invited him to join

The Police The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. For most of their history the line-up consisted of primary songwriter Sting (lead vocals, bass guitar), Andy Summers (guitar) and Stewart Copeland (drums, percussion). The Police ...

instead.

joined the band after being tried as a drummer with

The Clash The Clash were an English rock band formed in London in 1976 who were key players in the original wave of British punk rock. Billed as "The Only Band That Matters", they also contributed to the and new wave movements that emerged in the wa ...

. He later said, "The mix of personalities didn't work; their attitudes were too different to mine."Kasper de Graaf & Malcolm Garrett (1983) ''When Cameras Go Crazy – Culture Club'', Virgin Books, , p. 62 They toured extensively throughout 1977, first supporting

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 ...

and then as headliners in their own right. Their third release, the single "Animal Games", was featured on the notorious Sex Pistols edition of the British TV rock show '' So It Goes''. Their final gig was at the

Marquee Club The Marquee Club was a music venue first located at 165 Oxford Street in London, when it opened in 1958 with a range of jazz and skiffle acts. Its most famous period was from 1964 to 1988 at 90 Wardour Street in Soho, and it finally closed whe ...

in Wardour Street on 8 December 1977. The band broke up shortly afterwards. On leaving, Moss joined The Damned and then formed

Culture Club Culture Club are an English pop band formed in London in 1981. The band comprises Boy George (lead vocals), Roy Hay (guitar and keyboards), Mikey Craig (bass guitar) and formerly included Jon Moss (drums and percussion). Emerging in the New ...

with

Boy George George Alan O'Dowd (born 14 June 1961), known professionally as Boy George, is an English singer, songwriter, DJ, author and mixed media artist. Best known for his soulful voice and his androgynous appearance, Boy George has been the lead singe ...

.Kasper de Graaf & Malcolm Garrett (1983) ''When Cameras Go Crazy – Culture Club'', Virgin Books, , p. 66 Riff Regan released solo records before reverting to his real name of

Miles Tredinnick Miles Tredinnick, also known as Riff Regan, (born Warrington 18 February 1955) is a rock musician, songwriter and a stage and screenwriter. In the 1970s, he was the lead singer with the British rock band London.Spicer, Al, (2006) ''The Rough Gui ...

and becoming a comedy writer. He wrote scripts for

Frankie Howerd Francis Alick Howard (6 March 1917 – 19 April 1992), better known by his stage-name Frankie Howerd, was an English actor and comedian. Early life Howerd was born the son of soldier Francis Alfred William (1887–1934)England & Wales, Deat ...

and was a writer on the BBC TV series '' Birds of a Feather''. Steve Voice formed a new band, The Original Vampires, and Dave Wight, following spells in

Metro Metro, short for metropolitan, may refer to: Geography * Metro (city), a city in Indonesia * A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center Public transport * Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urba ...

and

Holly and the Italians Holly Beth Vincent (born Holly Beth Cernuto in 1956) is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer. In her youth Vincent sang and played drums and guitar in several bands and took part in the Los Angeles punk scen ...

, reverted to his real name of Colin Wight and became an academic. MCA Records released the original band's one and only album, ''

Animal Games ''Animal Games'' is the only album recorded by the original line-up of the British punk band London.Rimmer, Dave (1985) ''Like Punk Never Happened'', Faber and Faber, , p. 40-42 Recorded throughout 1977 at the IBC Studios in London,Napier-Bell, ...

'', in February 1978. ''

London The Punk Rock Collection London is the capital and 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 down to the North Sea, and has been a major se ...

,'' a CD containing all their recorded work, was released on the Captain Oi! label in 1997 and in 2010 the band released an official live bootleg CD ''

Get Out Of London London is an English four-piece punk band formed in London in 1976, best known for their wild stage act.Napier-Bell, Simon (2001) ''Black Vinyl White Powder'', Ebury Press, , p. 163 The original line-up was Riff Regan (vocals), Steve Voice ( ...

''. ''

'', their first studio album in 34 years, was released on CD and digital formats in February 2012. An LP version on 180 gram heavyweight vinyl was released in March 2018. ''The Hell for Leather Mob'', a 15 song rocktale studio album was released on CD and digital formats by Beach Café Records in July 2020.

Discography

* "Everyone's a Winner" b/w "Handcuffed" (1977 MCA Records) * "Summer of Love", "No Time", "

Friday on my Mind "Friday on My Mind" is a 1966 song by Australian rock group the Easybeats. Written by band members George Young and Harry Vanda, the track became a worldwide hit, reaching no. 16 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart in May 1967 in the US, no. ...

", "Siouxsie Sue" (7 inch & 12 inch EP, 1977 MCA Records) * ''Punk Rock'' – Various Artists (1977 Philips/Phonogram Records Brazil) * "Animal Games" b/w "Us Kids Cold" (1977 MCA Records) * ''

'' (1978 MCA Records) * ''Meet the New Punk Wave'' – Various Artists (1978 EMI Records Holland) * ''

'' (1997 CD Captain Oi! Records) * ''Get Out Of London'' (Official bootleg live CD 2010 Pun77K Records) * ''

'' (2012 Bin Liner Records) * ''The Hell for Leather Mob'' (2020 Beach Café Records)

Videography

* ''Everyone's A Winner'' – Director Mike Mansfield (1977 MCA Records) * ''Animal Games'' – So It Goes. (1977 Granada Television) * ''London Live at the Marquee'' – (1977 Italy) * ''A Collection of 'London' Videos'' – (1977–2011)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:London English punk rock groups Musical groups from London Musical groups established in 1976