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The Alarm are a Welsh rock band that formed in Rhyl, Wales in 1981. Initially formed as a punk band, the Toilets, in 1977 under lead vocalist Mike Peters, the group soon embraced
arena rock Arena rock (also known as stadium rock, pomp rock or corporate rock) is a style of rock music that became mainstream in the 1970s. It typically involves radio-friendly rock music that was designed to be played for large audiences. As hard rock ...
and included marked influences from
Welsh language Welsh ( or ) is a Celtic languages, Celtic language of the Brittonic languages, Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Welsh is spoken natively in Wales by about 18% of the population, by some in England, and in (the Welsh c ...
and
culture Culture ( ) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, Attitude (psychology), attitudes ...
. By opening for acts such as U2 and
Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...
, they became a popular new wave pop band of the 1980s. The Alarm's highest-charting single in Britain is 1983's " Sixty Eight Guns", which reached number 17 on the UK Singles Chart. Their 1984 album '' Declaration'', which contained "Sixty Eight Guns", peaked at number six on the UK Albums Chart.


History


Early years

In 1977, a punk band was formed in Rhyl, Wales, billed as The Toilets. It contained Mike Peters (alias Eddie Bop), Glyn Crossley (alias Steve Shock), Richard "O'Malley" Jones (alias Bo Larks) and Nigel Buckle (alias Des Troy). In 1978 the band renamed themselves Quasimodo and played note-for-note covers of
The Who The Who are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup (1964–1978) consisted of lead vocalist Roger Daltrey, guitarist Pete Townshend, bassist John Entwistle and drummer Keith Moon. Considered one of th ...
's ''
Live at Leeds ''Live at Leeds'' is the first live album by the English rock music, rock band the Who, recorded at the University of Leeds Refectory on 14 February 1970 and released on 11 May 1970, by Decca Records, Decca and MCA Records, MCA in the United St ...
'' with guitarist Dave Sharp. This group also included Karl Wallinger on keyboards. Later the group named themselves Seventeen, with both Mike Peters and Nigel Buckle alongside Eddie MacDonald (who had been Mike Peters' next-door-but-one neighbour in Edward Henry Street, Rhyl). Seventeen began as a three-piece but were joined by guitarist David Kitchingman (who changed his name to Dave Sharp) and became a
power pop Power pop (also typeset as powerpop) is a subgenre of rock music and form of pop rock based on the early music of bands such as the Who, the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and the Byrds. It typically incorporates melodic hooks, vocal harmonies, ...
mod band that released the single ("Don't Let Go"/"Bank Holiday Weekend") in March 1980 and toured with the Stray Cats later that year. They played their last concert under the name of Alarm Alarm in January 1981 at the Half Moon, Herne Hill, London. The band soon reformed under the new name of The Alarm (with Nigel Buckle changing his surname to 'Twist'), and played their first gig at The Victoria Hotel, Prestatyn, North Wales on 6 June 1981, opening with "Shout to the Devil", which later appeared on the album '' Declaration''. They moved from North Wales to London in September 1981, and the band recorded a one-off 7" single. 1,000 copies were pressed that month, featuring "Unsafe Building" on the "electric" side and "Up For Murder" on the "acoustic" side. The single was noticed by Mick Mercer, who featured it as his single of the month in his '' ZigZag'' magazine. The band played a show with The Fall in December 1981, where a journalist from '' Sounds'' noticed them. This journalist attended the band's next show at Upstairs at Ronnie's in London's West End. Also at this show was a representative of Wasted Talent, who arranged a meeting between the band and Ian Wilson, U2's agent. Wilson arranged another show in order to assess the band's quality, was impressed, and soon became their manager. To celebrate, The Alarm played with U2 at the Lyceum Ballroom on 22 December 1981. In 1982, the band began to record demos for various record labels, but had little success. At this point, they were playing with three acoustic guitarists. The band were eventually offered a deal by I.R.S. Records. This forced them to make a decision on who was to play which musical instrument, and it was decided that Peters would concentrate on singing, with Sharp on guitar and Macdonald playing bass. "Marching On" was released as a single in October 1982, and the band's sound started to become clear. On stage, they almost always began gigs acoustically, then finished with electric guitars. Constant gigging in London helped the band build a following, and in December 1982, they played four shows with U2. These shows were the first time that
Bono Paul David Hewson (born 10 May 1960), known by the nickname Bono ( ), is an Irish singer-songwriter and activist. He is a founding member, the lead vocalist, and primary lyricist of the rock band U2. Bono is known for his impassioned voca ...
joined the Alarm on stage. The song "The Stand" was recorded in Battersea in April 1983, and was released in the UK as a single. The song's lyrics were inspired by
Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author. Dubbed the "King of Horror", he is widely known for his horror novels and has also explored other genres, among them Thriller (genre), suspense, crime fiction, crime, scienc ...
's novel of the same name. Outside the UK, the song was released as part of a five-track EP titled ''The Alarm''. The EP was released to coincide with the Alarm's first tour of the U.S. in June 1983. Following the success of the sessions that produced "The Stand", I.R.S. picked up their recording option on the band, signalling the start of work on an album. Another session with producer Mick Glossop was arranged to produce the single "Blaze of Glory". In June 1983, the Alarm embarked on their first tour of the U.S., supporting U2 on the War Tour. The 18-date tour established the band in the U.S. "The Stand" was released by I.R.S. to capitalize on this development, supported by TV appearances on '' The Cutting Edge'' and ''
American Bandstand ''American Bandstand'' (AB) is an American Music television, music performance and dance television series that aired in various iterations from 1952 to 1989. It was hosted by Dick Clark who also served as the program's Television producer, pr ...
''. Following the tour, the band returned to the UK to begin working with producer Alan Shacklock. They focused on re-recording "Blaze of Glory" and " Sixty Eight Guns". After the sessions, the band recorded a video for "Sixty Eight Guns" and flew back to America to begin their first headlining American tour as well as to play in support of The Pretenders. "Sixty Eight Guns" was released as a single on 12 September 1983 and charted the following week at number 50. The same week, the band performed the song on the music show ''
Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British record chart television programme, made by the BBC and broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most of its histo ...
''. The song climbed into the Top 20, and it remains their highest-charting single, peaking at No. 17.


Mid-career

The band had been recording an album from July 1983, and by the time of the ''Top of the Pops'' appearance, they had recorded the backing tracks to most of the songs. After completing a U.S. tour and a headline tour of the UK in late 1983, the band returned to the studio to record the backing tracks for the rest of the songs. On 6 November 1983, the band recorded an acoustic radio session for the BBC. This session saw the debut of three brand new songs: "Walk Forever by My Side", "One Step Closer to Home" and "Unbreak the Promise". On 7 November, the band returned to the recording studio to finish recording the album, now titled '' Declaration''. In December, the Alarm returned to the U.S. for a third headline tour. The weather was atrocious, and on 6 December, the car in which the band was travelling crashed, but none of the four members was injured. They returned to the UK on 17 December and appeared as part of an Anti-Nuclear Benefit Concert at the Apollo Theatre in London. While the band had been in the U.S., Alan Shacklock and sound engineer Chris Porter finished mixing the album. The band played a handful of gigs supporting
The Police The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. Within a few months of their first gig, the line-up settled as Sting (lead vocals, bass guitar, primary songwriter), Andy Summers (guitar) and Stewart Copeland (drums, percussi ...
over Christmas, and by 5 January 1984, the album had been mixed and finalised. ''Declaration'' was released by I.R.S. Records on 14 February 1984. A week later, the album entered the
UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...
at Number 6. In November 1984, the Alarm recorded demos of nine new songs, including "Absolute Reality". They played their new material to the American producer
Jimmy Iovine James Iovine ( ; born March 11, 1953) is an American entrepreneur, former Music executive, record executive, and media proprietor. He is the co-founder of Interscope Records and became chairman and CEO of Interscope Geffen A&M Records, Interscop ...
, who agreed to come to the UK in January 1985 to begin work on the follow-up to ''Declaration''. During this period, Peters appeared solo at a number of events, including the Greenbelt Festival in Northamptonshire, playing Alarm material as well as some unrecorded personal songs. Studio sessions were booked for early 1985, and a UK headline tour was booked for May 1985 to coincide with the release of the new album. However, Iovine never came to the UK to work with the Alarm, eventually citing personal reasons. The band had to cancel the sessions and look for another producer. Alan Shacklock was unavailable, so Ian Wilson (the band's manager) convinced I.R.S. to release the Shacklock-produced "Absolute Reality" as a single to promote the UK dates in May. "Absolute Reality" was released on 18 February 1985, entering the top 40 of the UK Singles Chart a week later. After a series of appearances at European festivals and a new producer (Mike Howlett), the Alarm began work on their follow-up album '' Strength''. The band teamed with MTV, I.R.S. Records, and
UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...
's Campus Events to present one of the early live satellite broadcasts from UCLA on 12 April 1986. They played at
Queen Queen most commonly refers to: * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a kingdom * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen (band), a British rock band Queen or QUEEN may also refer to: Monarchy * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Q ...
's '' Live at Wembley '86'' concert on 12 July 1986. ''Strength'' was released on 1 October 1985 and was another UK success, and brought them into the top 40 of the US ''Billboard'' 200 album chart for the first time; additionally, the single "Spirit of '76" was a top 40 UK hit. The Alarm took a break after the supporting tour, but returned in 1987 with '' Eye of the Hurricane'' and landed a tour slot supporting
Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...
. The concert EP ''Electric Folklore Live'', followed in 1988. They also had a hit single in the UK in 1987 with "Rain in the Summertime" (from ''Eye of the Hurricane''), which gave them their second-best placing on the UK chart.


Later years

The band toured extensively through the United States and Europe through the 1980s into 1991. They gained much popularity in 1983 when they were the opening act for U2, a band to whom they often were compared musically. On 13 March 1988, the Alarm performed at The Fillmore in San Francisco with The 77s and
House of Freaks A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condit ...
. 1989's ''Change'' was an homage to the group's native Wales, and was accompanied by an alternate Welsh-language version ''Newid''. Produced by Tony Visconti, ''Change'' spawned the group's biggest
Modern Rock Modern rock is an umbrella term used to describe rock music that is found on college and commercial rock radio stations. Some radio stations use this term to distinguish themselves from classic rock, which is based in 1960s–1980s rock music. ...
hit in America, "Sold Me Down the River", which also put them in the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 Top 50 for the first and only time. "Devolution Working Man Blues" and "Love Don't Come Easy" also earned radio airplay, and the track "A New South Wales" had an appearance by the Welsh Symphony Orchestra and the Morriston Orpheus Male Voice Choir. Although it was popular in Wales, it did not sell as well as the group's earlier works, and internal band dissension, exacerbated by deaths in both Peters' and Twist's families, made 1991's ''Raw'' the original Alarm's final effort. After the release of ''Raw'' in 1991, despite their success and relative longevity, Peters announced on stage at the
Brixton Academy Brixton Academy (originally known as the Astoria Variety Cinema, previously known as Carling Academy Brixton, currently named O2 Academy Brixton as part of a sponsorship deal with the O2 brand) is a mid-sized concert venue located in South Lon ...
that he was leaving the band. "We've shared some great moments in time over the last ten years and tonight I would like to thank all the people who have supported me from the beginning to the end. Tonight this is my last moment with the Alarm, I'm going out in a Blaze of Glory – my hands are held up high". This came as much of a shock to his colleagues as to the audience. Following this show Peters signed his legal right to one quarter of the Alarm name and logo over to the other three. Peters and Sharp both embarked on solo careers.


Post-Brixton Academy

After the Alarm, Peters teamed with a band of unknown musicians to form The Poets of Justice (which included his wife Jules Peters on keyboards), and he embarked on a solo career which produced a number of singles and albums. In 2000, the Alarm released a complete collection covering all recorded material by the band. It also included sleeve notes to which all four members had contributed. This was the first project to which all four original members had contributed since Peters left the band in 1991. Following the box-set release, Peters used the Alarm name on the tour to promote the complete collection release. The musicians Peters used were his backing band in the late 1990s; Steve Grantley from
Stiff Little Fingers Stiff Little Fingers are a Northern Irish punk rock band from Belfast. 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 Deep P ...
, Craig Adams from The Sisters of Mercy, The Mission and
The Cult The Cult are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Bradford in 1983. Before settling on their current name in January 1984, the band had performed under the name Death Cult, which was an evolution of the name of lead vocalist Ian Astbury ...
, and James Stevenson from Chelsea and Gene Loves Jezebel. The Alarm name was followed by an MM++ that indicated in Roman numerals what year the record was released. Over the past decade, Peters has replaced the band members as needed when Adams, Stevenson or Grantley have pursued other projects. In February 2004, Peters' line-up of Alarm MM++ carried out a hoax on the British music industry by issuing "45 RPM" under the fictitious name The Poppy Fields. Peters, having garnered positive feedback for the song, decided to disassociate it from his veteran band to have it judged on its own merits, and recruited a young group called the Wayriders to lip-sync the song in the music video. The so-called Poppy Fields took "45 RPM" into the UK Top 30 before the hoax was revealed, setting the stage for the album ''In the Poppy Fields''. The Alarm appeared together for a one-off show on the VH1 television show '' Bands Reunited'' in 2005 and performed live in London with a subsequent expanded DVD/CD release of the episode. In 2005, Peters discovered that he was suffering from chronic lymphocytic leukaemia. At this time, he started a cancer foundation called
Love Hope Strength Love Hope Strength Foundation is a charitable foundation whose purpose is to raise funds and awareness in order to benefit people with cancer and leukaemia. The charity sponsors treks and climbs to the world's highest mountains, often performing ...
to help with the fight against cancer. In October 2007, Peters, along with 38 other musicians, cancer survivors and supporters, made a 14-day trek to the base camp at
Mount Everest Mount Everest (), known locally as Sagarmatha in Nepal and Qomolangma in Tibet, is Earth's highest mountain above sea level. It lies in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas and marks part of the China–Nepal border at it ...
to perform the highest concert on land to raise awareness and money to fight cancer. Other musicians included Cy Curnin and Jamie West-Oram of The Fixx, Glenn Tilbrook of Squeeze, Slim Jim Phantom of The Stray Cats and Nick Harper. Peters is the co-founder of The Love Hope and Strength Foundation with fellow leukemia survivor
James Chippendale James Chippendale (born circa 1969) is an American business executive and anti-leukemia campaigner and co-founder of the charitable organization, charity Love Hope Strength Foundation. He is also founder and CEO of an entertainment and sports ins ...
, CEO of Ascend Insurance Brokerage in Austin, Texas. In 2006, the new version of Alarm MM++ released the album ''Under Attack''. It spawned another UK Top 30 hit with "Superchannel". In 2008, a studio album titled ''Guerrilla Tactics'' was released. The Alarm's song "Sixty Eight Guns" has been featured in a television advertisement for Heineken in the U.S. In April 2008, Sharp launched AOR – Spirit of The Alarm, his own version of the band, to showcase the band's American set lists from the late 1980s. In 2009, the Alarm released ''21'', a "best of" collection of songs from their 2000's output. The collection included a remix of the single "45 RPM" as well as remixes and alternate takes of 20 other songs. This was followed by the studio album ''Direct Action'' in April 2010 and then by ''The Sound And Fury'' in 2011, an album of 12 re-imagined tracks from the catalog of the Alarm and of Mike Peters. 2013 saw the release of ''
Vinyl Vinyl may refer to: Chemistry * Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer * Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation * Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry * Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from vinyl ...
'', which featured tracks written for the soundtrack]album and performed by Mike Peters and The Alarm with guest vocals from the film's actors Phil Daniels and Keith Allen. The film, written and directed by Sara Sugarman, is loosely based on the true events surrounding The Poppy Fields and release of the single "45 RPM." It also features a cameo appearance of Mike Peters. ''Vinyl'' is a British comedy film that has aging rock star Johnny Jones (Phil Daniels) fool the media into believing his music is that of a fresh, young rock group from North Wales. The Alarm took the step of touring the soundtrack album with a showing of the film at selected venues in the UK during March and April 2013. In 2014, Peters started the process of "reimagining" the Alarm's full, original albums for the 21st century. He began with ''Declaration 0th Anniversary' in 2014, followed quickly by ''Peace Train ,'' a collection of b-sides reimagined''.'' Some of the songs have updated lyrics to match the passage of time, and others contain edited verses, or lyrics from demo versions of the songs before they were recorded for the albums and singles. Peters continued this process for ''Strength : 0th Anniversary/nowiki>'' and its companion album ''Majority'' in 2015. The band released the album ''Equals'' on In Grooves Records in July 2018. This was followed by the companion album ''Sigma'', released a year later. Peters' wife Jules currently plays keyboards in the band, and James Stevenson plays guitar, bass guitar, bass pedals and a bass/six string double-neck guitar made for him by Gordon-Smith Guitars. In 2021, the band wrote and recorded the album ''War'' in 50 days, reflecting on the pandemic and lockdown situation. "The Red Wall of Cymru", as recorded by the Alarm, is Wales' official anthem for the Euro 2020. It features fans recorded in football grounds all across Wales. Peters died on 29 April 2025 after a battle with cancer.


Influence

Historian Martin Johnes has argued that the band are part of the contemporary history of Wales. His case is based on how the Alarm reflected cultural trends within Wales, and the band are discussed in his book ''Wales Since 1939'' (2012).
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
journalist Steve Huey stated:
"The British music press habitually savaged their records as derivative and pretentious, but this meant little to their zealous following, who supported the band to the tune of over 5 million sales worldwide and 16 Top 50 UK singles."
Ray Wylie Hubbard referenced the Alarm in his song "Snake Farm", from the 2006 album of the same name.


Members


Current members

* James Stevenson – guitars, bass, backing vocals * Mark Taylor – keyboards, guitar * Jules Jones Peters – keyboards, backing vocals * Steve "Smiley" Barnard – drums, percussion, backing vocals


Founding members

* Mike Peters (died 2025) – lead vocals, guitars, harmonica * Dave Sharp (born David Kitchingman, 28 January 1959, Salford, England) – guitars, harmonica, backing and lead vocals * Eddie MacDonald (born 1 November 1959, St Asaph, Wales) – bass, guitar, keyboards, backing vocals * Nigel Twist (born Nigel Want, 18 July 1958, Manchester, England) – drums, percussion, backing vocals


Discography


Studio albums (as The Alarm)

*'' Declaration'' (1984) *'' Strength'' (1985) *'' Eye of the Hurricane'' (1987) *''
Change Change, Changed or Changing may refer to the below. Other forms are listed at Alteration * Impermanence, a difference in a state of affairs at different points in time * Menopause, also referred to as "the change", the permanent cessation of t ...
'' (1989) *'' Raw'' (1991)


Studio albums (as The Alarm MM++)

*''Close'' (2002) *''The Normal Rules Do Not Apply'' (2002) *''Trafficking'' (2002) *''Edward Henry Street'' (2002) *''Coming Home'' (2003) *''In the Poppyfields'' (2004) *''Under Attack'' (2006) *''Guerilla Tactics'' (2008) *''Direct Action'' (2010) *''Blood Red'' (2017) *''Viral Black'' (2017) *''Equals'' (2018) *''Sigma'' (2019) *''War'' (2021) *''Omega'' (2022) *''Forwards'' (2023)


Filmography


Videos


DVDs

1 – Released as The Alarm MM
2 – Released as The Alarm MMIV
3 – Released as The Alarm MMVII
4 – Released as The Alarm MMVIII


See also

* List of new wave artists * List of post-punk bands * List of artists featured on ''MTV Unplugged'' * List of Welsh musicians * List of performers on ''Top of the Pops''


References


External links


Mike Peters official website

AOR official website
*
The Gathering website

The Alarm biography on BBC Wales
* The Alarm biography at AllMusic*
Live concert recording of the Alarm at the Metro in MA on 29 May 1983

List of Worldwide 7 inch single releases by the Alarm
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alarm, The Welsh alternative rock groups Welsh new wave musical groups Welsh post-punk music groups Welsh rock music groups Welsh-language bands I.R.S. Records artists Musical groups established in 1981 1981 establishments in Wales Cool Cymru Second British Invasion artists