Look Back in Anger

Look Back in Anger are a goth rock band from Hampshire, UK. The initial line-up consisted of Mich Ebeling (vocals), Jim Newby (guitar), Steve Butler (bass and keyboards) and Rick Butler (drums), who got together while A level students at Havant College to create a musical version of the eponymous John Osbourne play. Their first public performance was at the Merchistoun Hall in Horndean in 1980, performing a subdued synth-based set that included a cover version of Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid”. In the early days, rehearsals took place in the Butlers’ record shop, Focus Sounds in Waterlooville. LBA soon become established on the local gig circuit, playing such hallowed venues as the Leopard in Purbrook and the Waterlooville Community Centre. In 1981 they headlined at the “Rock Against the Bomb” festival in Waterlooville.

Ebeling and Newby were to remain the backbone of the outfit throughout its life, but the Butler brothers were soon replaced by more adventurous musicians in the form of Simon Tufnell on bass and Chris Pickford on drums. The band’s combination of venomous heartfelt vocals, echoing guitar sounds and thumping bass and drums began to attract attention from further afield and in 1982 they secured the support slot to Death Cult on their national tour. They also supported the likes of Sex Gang Children and Danse Society and headlined at the Brixton Ace. Despite inevitably being likened to Siouxsie and the Banshees, the LBA sound was truly original and distinctive. LBA split in 1984 and Newby joined The Fifteenth. Chris Pickford plays and records with Blisskreig a Basingstoke band playing festivals and london venues in 2007.