Ben Harding (born 1965) is an English guitarist, vocalist and songwriter from

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, 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 Wale ...

bands

Senseless Things Senseless Things were an England, English pop punk band, formed in 1986 in London. The band released four studio albums and achieved two UK Singles Chart, UK Top 20 hit singles before splitting up in 1995. Senseless Things reformed in 2017 to p ...

, 3 Colours Red 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". Thei ...

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 the English musician and journalist John R ...

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

Biography

Harding joined vocalist/guitarist Mark Keds, bassist

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

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 hi ...

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), better known as John Peel, was an English radio presenter and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original disc jockeys on BBC Radio 1, broadcasting regularly from ...

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 Sound recording and reproduction, recorded music according to certain criteria during a given period. Many different criteria are used in worldwide charts, ofte ...

singles, and toured internationally. Harding is credited as songwriter on tracks including the 1993 single "Homophobic Asshole", from album Empire of the Senseless. After Senseless Things split in 1995, Harding joined 'Britrock'/punk band 3 Colours Red with vocalist/bassist Pete Vuckovic, 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 The Sex Pistols are an English punk rock band formed in London in 1975. Although their initial career lasted just two and a half years, they became culturally influential in popular music. The band initiated the punk movement in the United Ki ...

Finsbury Park Finsbury Park is a public park in Harringay, north London, England. The park lies on the southern-most edge of the London Borough of Haringey. It is in the area formerly covered by the historic parish of Hornsey, succeeded by the Municipal ...

comeback gig in 1996; they also supported

KISS A kiss is the touching or pressing of one's lips against another person, animal or object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely; depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sex ...

and

Aerosmith Aerosmith is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Boston in 1970. The group consists of lead vocalist Steven Tyler, bassist Tom Hamilton (musician), Tom Hamilton, drummer Joey Kramer, and guitarists Joe Perry (musician), Joe Perry and B ...

. 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 W ...

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, Wales, Newport, Wales. The band formed in 1986 and were named after the H. E. Bates novel ''The Darling Buds of May (novel), The Darling Buds of May'' – a title taken in turn, from t ...

, 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 Cravats are an English punk rock band originally from Redditch, England, founded in 1977. The 'classic' line up of Robin Dallaway (vocals, guitar), The Shend (vocals, bass guitar), Svor Naan (saxophone) and Dave Bennett (drums) remained con ...

the Bellrays The Bellrays (also capitalized as The BellRays) is an American rock group that combines garage rock and punk with soul music, founded in Riverside, California in 1990 by vocalist Lisa Kekaula and guitarist Bob Vennum. They have been with sever ...

, Eight Rounds Rapid, Dealing With Damage, the Men of Gwent, Crazyhead and

Gaye Bykers on Acid Gaye Bykers on Acid (GBOA) are an English psychedelic rock band from Leicester, and one of the founder members of the grebo music scene. They later released both thrash punk and dance music albums under various aliases. Personnel * Mary Byk ...

. 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 original ...

. 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 host ...

in 2003.

Selected discography

with
Senseless Things Senseless Things were an England, English pop punk band, formed in 1986 in London. The band released four studio albums and achieved two UK Singles Chart, UK Top 20 hit singles before splitting up in 1995. Senseless Things reformed in 2017 to p ...

*1989: ''Postcard C.V.'' (album) *1991: ''The First of Too Many'' (album) *1993: '' Empire of the Senseless'' (album) *1994: ''Peel Sessions'' (compilation) *1995: ''Taking Care of Business'' (album) *1998: ''The Singles'' (compilation)

with 3 Colours Red

*1997: '' Pure'' (album) *1999: ''

Revolt Rebellion is an uprising that resists and is organized against one's government. A rebel is a person who engages in a rebellion. A rebel group is a consciously coordinated group that seeks to gain political control over an entire state or a ...

'' (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". Thei ...

*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 English male musicians 21st-century English male musicians Living people