The Look are an English pop band, who had a number six hit single on the UK Singles Chart with "I Am the Beat" in 1980.

Career

From Ely, Cambridgeshire and originally named the Kreed, the band changed their name to the Look when they moved to London. Their lead

singer Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define singi ...

and

frontman The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

was Jonny Whetstone (born c. 1955). The band's 1980 debut single, "I Am the Beat" was a top 10

hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from ''Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust or HIT, a fictional organization i ...

, peaking at No. 6 on the UK Singles Chart. After the less successful follow-up "Feeding Time" (No. 50, 1981), their third single "

Tonight Tonight may refer to: Television * ''Tonight'' (1957 TV programme), a 1957–1965 British current events television programme hosted by Cliff Michelmore that was broadcast on BBC * ''Tonight'' (1975 TV programme), a 1975–1979 British current ...

" failed to reach the

charts A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent t ...

. The singles, and self-titled album, were released on the MCA

label A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product. Labels are most often affixed to packaging and containers using an adhesive, or sewing when affix ...

. Further singles including "Three Steps Away" also missed the top 75. The group moved to Towerbell Records, an

indie Indie is a short form of "independence" or "independent"; it may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media *Independent media, media free of influence by government or corporate interests *Indie art, fine arts made by artists independent of commer ...

label. Allmusic.com – album overview/ref> The Look disbanded in 1983. They returned after a long absence in April 2005 with a new

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

, entitled ''Pop Yowlin, on

Angel Air Records Angel Air is an English independent record label established in February 1997, specialising in reissues of classic pop and rock albums originally issued in the 1960s and 1970s (and latterly new albums from known artists up to the 21st century ...

. It received a warm critical reception, including a rating of from

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 ...

. Gus Goad toured with Ian Hunter's Rant Band from 2000 to 2004 and also 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 2006 in the Identity Parade. A new album, ''Tunes and Stories'' was released in 2012, featuring Alex Baird from

the Jags The Jags were a British rock band formed in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, England, in 1978, composed of Nicole Watkinson (vocals), John Alder (guitar/backing vocals), Steve Prudence (bass), firstly Neil Whittaker and then Alex Baird (drums), M ...

on drums. They had their first live show in seven years at

The Water Rats The Water Rats is a live music venue at 328 Grays Inn Road, Kings Cross, London, England. Until 1992, it was known as The Pindar of Wakefield and was famous for its regular old time music hall entertainment. Bob Dylan played his first UK gig ...

in London on 26 March 2013, organised by GM Records Presents.

Band members

*Jonny Whetstone –

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

*Gus Goad –

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

, guitar,

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are us ...

*Mick Bass – guitar, keyboards, backing vocals *Trevor Walter –

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

Allmusic.com – overview/ref> *Eryl Price-Davies keyboards,

– for live tours 1982–3

Discography

Albums

*1981: ''The Look'' *2005: ''Pop Yowlin *2013: ''Tunes and Stories''

Singles

*1980: "I Am the Beat" – #6 UK #13 AUS *1981: "Feeding Time" – #50 UK *1981: "Tonight" *1981: "Three Steps Away" *1981: "Real Live Heaven" *1983: "Drumming Up Love"

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Look, The English new wave musical groups English pop music groups Musical groups established in 1979 Musical groups from Cambridgeshire MCA Records artists