0
Martin Hannett
Martin Hannett
English musician and record producer
1
Joy Division
Joy Division
English rock band
2
Skip Bifferty
Skip Bifferty
3
The Sonics
The Sonics
band
4
The Body
The Body
American sludge metal band
5
Section 25
Section 25
band
6
Matumbi
Matumbi
7
The Blockheads
The Blockheads
Britsh Band
8
The Smithereens
The Smithereens
American musical group; rock band from Carteret, New Jersey
9
Ian Dury
Ian Dury
English musician (1942-2000)
10
Steve Walsh
Steve Walsh
American musician, singer and songwriter
11
New Order
New Order
English rock band
12
The Durutti Column
The Durutti Column
British band
13
The Freeze
The Freeze
musical group
14
The Slickee Boys
The Slickee Boys
Washington, D.C. area punk-psychedelic-garage rock band
15
The Dils
The Dils
American band
16
Angel
Angel
American glam rock and heavy metal band
17
Aswad
Aswad
British band
18
New Kingston
New Kingston
U.S. reggae group
19
Leftfield
Leftfield
British musical group
20
David Reece
David Reece
American singer
21
Commodores
Commodores
American funk/soul band
22
Iron Man
Iron Man
American band
23
Glenn Hughes
Glenn Hughes
British bassist and singer
24
Ashley Hutchings
Ashley Hutchings
English bassist, vocalist, songwriter, arranger, band leader, writer and record producer
25
Dr. Feelgood
Dr. Feelgood
British rock band
26
Big D and the Kids Table
Big D and the Kids Table
Band from the USA
27
Dixie Dregs
Dixie Dregs
American band
28
Joe English
Joe English
American musician
29
Liquid Liquid
Liquid Liquid
American no wave and dance-punk group
30
Kahvas Jute
Kahvas Jute
31
The Albion Band
The Albion Band
English electric folk band
32
Bankrupt
Bankrupt
band
33
Acoustic Alchemy
Acoustic Alchemy
English jazz band
34
Buddy Rich
Buddy Rich
American jazz drummer and bandleader
35
Public Image Ltd.
Public Image Ltd.
English rock band
36
Circle Jerks
Circle Jerks
American punk band
37
Blackfoot
Blackfoot
American Southern rock musical ensemble from Jacksonville, Florida
38
Stiff Little Fingers
Stiff Little Fingers
punk rock band from Belfast, Northern Ireland
39
The Meters
The Meters
American funk band
40
Helen Merrill
Helen Merrill
American recording artist; jazz vocalist
41
The Jaggerz
The Jaggerz
42
Colin Newman
Colin Newman
English musician and record producer
43
Uziah Thompson
Uziah Thompson
Jamaican musician
44
Vanna
Vanna
American melodic hardcore band
45
The Primitives
The Primitives
British indie pop band
46
The Undead
The Undead
american horror punk band
47
Ernest Ranglin
Ernest Ranglin
Jamaican guitarist and composer
48
Czerwone Gitary
Czerwone Gitary
Polish music band
49
The Chesterfield Kings
The Chesterfield Kings
American punk rock band
50
The Doobie Brothers
The Doobie Brothers
American rock band
51
Tsunami Bomb
Tsunami Bomb
band
52
The Feelies
The Feelies
American post-punk rock band based in New Jersey
53
Boyz II Men
Boyz II Men
American rhythm & blues vocal group
54
U.S. Bombs
U.S. Bombs
band
Intro
band
Record Labels

Basement 5 were a reggae punk fusion band from London founded in 1978. Their first vocalist was Winston Fergus, then Don Letts. One of their early performances was a support for Public Image Ltd.'s London debut at the Rainbow on Christmas Day 1978. Finally in 1979 Dennis Morris - photographer of Bob Marley and the Sex Pistols, took over as creative force, lead vocalist and lyricist. He also designed the Basement 5 logo and created their image. The drums were played by Richard Dudanski, who had played in the bands 101ers, The Raincoats and Public Image Ltd. Their songs reflected the political situation of the time in Great Britain in the era of Margaret Thatcher: youth unemployment, strikes, racism and the poverty of the working class.

In 1980 they got signed to Island Records with vocalist Dennis Morris. The new line up played its debut gig at Clarendon Hotel in London (19 March 1980), followed by a set at Camden's Music Machine (now called KOKO) at an all night gig hosted by ZigZag magazines editor Kris Needs on 31 March 1980 along with numerous other artists such as John Cooper Clarke, Killing Joke and The Only Ones also recording a Peel Session on 21 April 1980, aired on 28 April and their debut, self-produced single, "Silicon Chip," on 26 May. Following this, they recorded their début album, 1965-1980, with record producer Martin Hannett, releasing it on 11 August. On the first day of recording the album, the existing drummer known as Anthony "Bigga" Thompson walked out of the session. The band was in shock. Having just finished touring with Ian Dury and The Blockheads who they became very friendly with, they then used their drummer "Gentleman" Charles Charles of the Blockheads for the album.

Hannett, in an interview with Dutch music magazine Oor in 1981, said, "You have to play it very loud to enjoy it fully. It was the most difficult production, I must say, the heaviest. It was eighteen degrees in the shade, the end of August. As I recall it has been the most physical album that I've ever done. Made me feel like I'd been carrying bricks around. Heavy work. Putting the bass lines in the right place. But it was good."

The sessions also yielded dub versions of several of the main tracks, released on 31 October as In Dub. "Last White Christmas" was released in time for Christmas (1 December), as a 12" and 7" (the latter in Christmas wrapping paper with a silver sticker of the band logo). The band broke up shortly thereafter, with several members forming Urban Shakedown.

In October 2017, the label Play It Again Sam (PIAS) re released the two Basement 5 albums: 1965-1980 and In Dub.