The Alarm

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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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Popular tags: 80s, rock, new wave, alternative, welsh  See more

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  • prominence_la

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

    last month
  • 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
  • Mod7Psyche

    they are't german.from wales,metal,punk.

    December 2010
  • wildflowersmr

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

    July 2010
  • diezeitgeist

    It still eludes me how few plays this band has...

    June 2010
  • jfon605

    "Guilty pleasures"? It really is unbelievable how nearly every 80s pop/rock band winds up with this tag. I have to wonder what these pretentious morons listen to that they consider more so much more "legitimate" in comparison.

    June 2010
  • MajorTomNbg

    Very british, sorry very goody welsh. Great Band.

    January 2010
  • IonaEnglish

    my mum dated David for god ages lol, didn't think i'd find them on here

    November 2009
  • ashdinosaur

    Mike Peters is a really lovely guy :)

    October 2009
  • inmate1571

    Saw them in '84' when i was 15 travelled to Rhyl from Birmingham and they put on a great show, always puzzles me how many great tunes they've had but how underrated they still are.

    June 2009
  • niall2910

    Best Alarm song ' Absolute Reality ' & maybe The Rock .

    May 2009
  • queenie_sweet

    iiii met mike peters in november <3 it was a week before my birthday and i was loving it! what a nice guy. love the alarm, best band to ever come out of wales lol.

    April 2009
  • briantravis

    Great effing group here!

    April 2009
  • Richey_James

    Post-Punk Society

    January 2009
  • shaunneary

    Seeing as i couldn't find an event listing for Gathering 17, i created this, so if you're going, add it to your calender. Enjoy. http://www.last.fm/event/890666

    January 2009
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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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