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Rhyl, Wales (1978 – 1991, 2001 – present)

The Alarm is an band which formed in 1978 in Rhyl, Wales. For most of their career the band consisted of Mike Peters (vocals, guitar), Dave Sharp (guitar), Eddie Macdonald (bass) and Nigel Twist (drums). The band split in 1991, but reunited in 2001.

The band began in 1978 in the North-Wales town of Rhyl, under the name of ‘Seventeen’. Its 4 members were Mike Peters, Dave Sharp, Eddie Macdonald and Nigel Twist. They knocked around the music scene for a while with little success and reformed as ‘Alarm Alarm’ (taken from one of Seventeen’s songs) in 1981. Then revered BBC DJ John Peel compared them to Duran Duran and Talk Talk and they quickly changed their name to ‘The Alarm’. With the change of their name, came a change of location. The Alarm moved to London and shared a small flat in the city to save money for their first single, ‘Unsafe Building’ b/w ‘Up For Murder’. They came to the attention of U2 in ‘82 and toured with them as their support band (they frequently reprised that role). In 1983, ‘Sixty-eight Guns’ was released. It became their biggest hit, propelling them to #17 in the charts, and they appeared on Top of The Pops for the first and last time. Throughout the decade, the band made more albums, including ‘Strength’ and ‘Eye Of The Hurricane’; but by the late 80’s The Alarm had begun to drift apart, with Dave Sharp feeling isolated and left out of the song writing process. The relationships within the band were deteriorating. Their last album, ‘Raw’, was fragmented and the group were breaking apart. On June 30th 1991 at the Brixton Academy, Mike Peters announced on stage that he was leaving ‘The Alarm’ without telling the rest of the band. And thus The Alarm ended.
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Top Albums

  • Standards
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  • The Best Of...
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  • Declaration
    The Alarm Play
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  • Eye Of The Hurricane
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  • A-Orlando

    They could become a great band but failed to make the jump from the trampoline.I do not remember or did not understand what made them lose the success.

    March 2012

  • prominence_la

    U2? That's just silly. Reminds me more of the Skids or New Model Army. Solid band, with plenty of gusto.

    January 2012

  • Jpnylonmag

    Hate the U2 comparisons, these guys are sooo much better! (2)

    October 2011

  • BadKittyRocks

    <3 LIFE IZ CRUEL & SO UNKIND <3 OH OH <3 WHERE'S IT GONE <3 THE SPIRIT OF '76 <3

    July 2011

  • trad-goth

    The eye of the Hurricane is one hell of a fine album the best thing to come out of rhyl (wales) ever :P

    May 2011

  • KurtBell

    These lot were funking great last night in Whitehaven!

    May 2011

  • heres_mez

    Ironic that Mike Peters actually taught the edge some chords when The Alarm were supporting u2 !!

    May 2011

  • glsjawtomatica

    To think these guys are playing bars while U2 (who blow imo) are playing stadiums is a travesty.

    April 2011
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Happy Birthday James Stevenson and Willie Nile Tour

12 Oct 2011 | from blog.myspace.com/thealarm

On behalf of all at The Alarm and the MPO, A very Happy Birthday today to our own James Stevenson!! In addition to the upcoming Gene Loves Jezebel gigs supporting The Mission, James will …

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