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Crucial Three
Crucial Three
1
Julian Cope
Julian Cope
Welsh musician, author, antiquarian, musicologist, poet and cultural commentator
2
Dalek I Love You
Dalek I Love You
3
Echo & the Bunnymen
Echo & the Bunnymen
British band
4
Ian McCulloch
Ian McCulloch
English singer-songwriter and musician, best known as the frontman of the rock group Echo & the Bunnymen
5
Pete Wylie
Pete Wylie
English singer-songwriter
6
Big in Japan
Big in Japan
British band
7
The Wild Swans
The Wild Swans
post-punk band from Liverpool, England
8
Les Pattinson
Les Pattinson
English musician, bassist, songwriter
9
Frankie Goes to Hollywood
Frankie Goes to Hollywood
British band
10
Bill Drummond
Bill Drummond
Scottish musician, music industry figure, writer and artist
11
The Lightning Seeds
The Lightning Seeds
English rock band
12
Guy Chambers
Guy Chambers
English songwriter, musician and record producer
13
Dead or Alive
Dead or Alive
British band
14
China Crisis
China Crisis
English pop and rock band
15
Wet Wet Wet
Wet Wet Wet
Scottish band
16
Small Faces
Small Faces
English band
17
Wings
Wings
British–American rock band led by Paul McCartney
18
JLS
JLS
English pop/R&B group
19
Rebecca Ferguson
Rebecca Ferguson
British singer-songwriter
20
The Zutons
The Zutons
English indie rock band
21
Smokie
Smokie
English rock band
22
The Searchers
The Searchers
English band
23
Atomic Kitten
Atomic Kitten
British pop girl group
24
The Coral
The Coral
British band
25
Holly Johnson
Holly Johnson
British artist, musician and writer
26
Cast
Cast
English rock band, Liverpool
27
Inspiral Carpets
Inspiral Carpets
British alternative rock band
28
The Yardbirds
The Yardbirds
English band
29
David Gates
David Gates
American musician and singer-songwriter
30
Newton Faulkner
Newton Faulkner
English singer-songwriter
31
Milburn
Milburn
band
32
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
British new wave group
33
Gary Barlow
Gary Barlow
English musician
34
Westlife
Westlife
Irish boy band
35
Space
Space
English band
36
The Rumble Strips
The Rumble Strips
37
Busted
Busted
band
38
The Wanted
The Wanted
English-Irish boy band
39
Strawberry Switchblade
Strawberry Switchblade
Scottish pop duo
40
Manic Street Preachers
Manic Street Preachers
Welsh alternative rock band
The Teardrop Explodes
English post-punk band

The Teardrop Explodes

Intro
English post-punk band
Record Labels
News
Members, past and present

The Teardrop Explodes were an English post-punk/neo-psychedelic band formed in Liverpool in 1978. Best known for their Top Ten UK single "Reward" (which is still a staple of 1980s alternative pop compilations), the group originated as a key band in the emerging Liverpool post-punk scene of the late 1970s. The group also launched the career of group frontman Julian Cope as well as that of keyboard player and co-manager David Balfe (later a record producer, A&R man and founder of Food Records). Other members included early Smiths producer Troy Tate.

Along with other contemporary Liverpudlian groups, The Teardrop Explodes played a role in returning psychedelic elements to mainstream British rock and pop, initially favouring a modernised version of lightly psychedelic late '60s-influenced beat-group sound (sometimes described as "bubblegum trance") and later exploring more experimental areas. In addition to their musical reputation, the band (and Cope in particular) had a reputation for eccentric pronouncements and behaviour, sometimes verging on the self-destructive. These featured strongly in contemporary press accounts and were later expanded on in Cope's 1993 memoir Head On.