c86

A Witness were an alternative rock band formed in 1982 in Stockport, Cheshire, England, by Rick Aitken, Vince Hunt and a drum machine, in 1986 replaced by Alan Brown (ex Big Flame). Keith Curtis and Noel Kilbride joined the group in 1983. Initially signing to the Ron Johnson label, debut EP Loudhailer Songs put them at the forefront of a wave of Beefheart-influenced bands that emerged in the mid-1980's. They gained further attention due to the inclusion of the track "Sharpened Sticks" on the NME's C86 cassette in the following year.

Read more about A Witness on Last.fm.

Up and coming avant-garde and melodic London-based 3-piece. Regularly playing in London They have had recent airplay on BBC6 music (Tom Robinson) and XFM (Jon Hillcock) including a recent live session for the latter. Bob Constant sings, Samuel Wicker plays acoustic guitar and Gabriel Bash plays drums and percussion. Diverse influences include Tom Waits, Animal Collective, Captain Beefheart, Why? and Nina Simone.

The Jaywalkers were a Greek c86-era band formed by Paschalis Plissis and Giorgos Mouchtarides. The two were previously in a punk band called Migraine. Their only ever release was their “mini LP” a four-track 12” on Virgin Hellas in 1987. Although the 12” was a commercial failure then, it has now become highly sought after, due to the relative success of the track (You Can’t Be) Happy All the Time which featured on Pop Art’s Try A Little Sunshine compilation.

The June Brides were an English pop music group, formed in London in 1983, by Phil Wilson and Simon Beesley of International Rescue. Influenced by Postcard-label bands such as Josef K and punk-era bands such as The Desperate Bicycles and The Television Personalities, their mix of guitar pop with viola and trumpet formed a blueprint for many of the c86 bands that would follow. First playing live as a band in August 1983...