The Alarm biography
The Alarm are an alternative rock band that emerged from North Wales in the late 1970s. They started as a mod band and stayed together for over ten years. As a rock band, they displayed marked influences from Welsh language and culture. By opening for acts such as U2 and Bob Dylan, they became a popular alternative rock band of the 1980s, retaining a small but loyal following to the present day.
Allmusic 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.
Band members
- Mike Peters: Vocals, guitars, harmonica - born Michael L Peters, 25 February 1959, Prestatyn, Wales.
- Dave Sharp: Guitars - Born 28 January 1959, Salford, England.
- Eddie Macdonald: Bass - born 1 November 1959, St Asaph, Wales.
- Nigel Twist: Drums - born Nigel Buckle, 18 July 1958, Manchester, England.
Early years
A punk band was formed in Rhyl, Wales in 1977, billed as The Toilets.
It contained Peters, Sharp, Macdonald and Twist, and in 1978 their name was changed to Seventeen. Seventeen were a mod band who released a single ("Don't Let Go" / "Bank Holiday Weekend") in March 1980 and toured with the Stray Cats that year. They played their last concert together under the new name of Alarm Alarm, but this would also be the last time this name was used.
The band soon reformed under the new name of The Alarm and played their first gig at The Victoria Hotel, Prestatyn, North Wales on 10 June 1981, opening with "Shout to the Devil", which would later appear on the Declaration LP.
They moved from North Wales to London in September 1981, and the band recorded a one-off 7" single. One thousand 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 became the band's manager soon after. 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.
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