Miguel Mateos, The Romantics, Inspector, Aterciopelados, General Public, French Police, La Union, When In Rome, Tijuana No, and The English Beat

Fittingly enough for people who would call their band The Romantics, Wally Palmar, Jimmy Marinos, Mike Skill and Rich Cole played their first gig together on Valentines Day 1977. It was this very concert that would inspire their name, and playing their brand of perky new wave that was a direct challenge to the nihilism of British punk rock, the band spent the next couple of years touring around their native Michigan and the surrounding states. By 1979 the band had signed a record deal with Nemperor Records and their self-titled debut album came out in the September of that year. The album was in danger of slipping under the radar until the release of the single “What I Like About You”, which became a sleeper hit all over the world, charting everywhere from the U.S to Australia, where it was a top ten hit single.

However, it wasn't until their fourth album “In Heat” that the band became bona-fide pop stars. Off the back of the top three hit single “Talking In Your Sleep”, the record would be certified Gold in both the U.S and Canada, and would enjoy top twenty placings all over the world. To this very day, the band continue to play live, and with over three and a half decades of experience to their name, their concerts have been better received than they've ever been. They might not still be clad in the trademark red leather suits of their heyday, but they've become a fundamentally better band since then. For continuing to develop where many would rest on their laurels, The Romantics come highly recommended.

Formed of vocalist and guitarist Andrea Escheverri and bassist and producer Héctor Buitrago, Aterciopelados, earliest incarnation drew on Buitrago’s hardcore punk influences, which led to their debut album “Con El Corazón en la Mano” (With my Heart in my Hand) in 1994. The album showcased Andrea Escheverri’s powerful voice, which was notably influenced by her mother’s singing of boleros, rancheras, and tangos when she was a child.

Aterciopelados’s sophomore album, 1995’s “El Dorado” (The Golden One), spawned the single “Bolero Falaz”, which proved to be the band’s breakthrough song thanks to considerable exposure on MTV across Latin America. After the release the band welcomed drummer Alejandro Duque and guitarist Alejandro Gómez Cáceras to the mix, who recorded on Aterciopelados’ third full-length “La Pipa de la Paz” in 1997. The album was notably less punk-rock and more electronic that its predecessors and took significant influence from traditional Colombian and Latin American themes. “La Pipa de la Paz” represented the band’s breakthrough into North America, and paved the way for their fourth full-length “Caribe Atómico” in 1988.

By this point Aterciopelados was essentially the musical excursions of Escheverri and Buitrago, and their 2000 album “Gozo Poderoso” became their most acclaimed album to date. The record debuted in the Top Ten of the Billboard Latin Albums sales chart and earned the band a Latin Grammy for Best Rock Duo/Group with Vocal.

During a five-year hiatus from releasing any original material both Escheverri and Buitrago released solo albums, the former of whom was awarded with a Grammy nomination. Following a move to the label Nacional, Aterciopelados returned in 2006 to release the album “Oye”, which won the Premio Lo Nuestro award for Album of the Year, and a Latin Grammy for Best Alternative Album. With the success of the acoustically-inclined “Oye” Aterciopelados released the similarly-sounding “Rio” in 2008. The album was produced by Héctor Castillo, known for his work with Brazilian Girls and David Bowie, and it noted and respected for its socially conscious approach to songwriting.

The original lineup of The Beat were together for just five years, splitting in 1984 after meeting with both critical and commercial success with their blend of ska, reggae and 2 tone. In that time, they toured with some of the biggest musical names on the planet, including R.E.M., The Specials, David Bowie, Talking Heads, The Clash and The Police. Since the breakup, they’ve performed together just once - in 2003 at London’s Royal Festival Hall. VH1’s Bands Reunited television show tried, unsuccessfully, to make the reunion a permanently going concern, but instead, the two singers from the original band - Dave Wakeling and Ranking Roger - have fronted their own versions of the group.

Wakeling is the singer in The English Beat, who have continued to tour and record. They contributed a couple of brand new songs to a Scooby-Doo cartoon in 2013, and announced plans in 2014 for a new album the following year, set to be titled For Crying Out Loud. It is set to be paid for via crowdfunding - in particular, PledgeMusic - and will be their first proper release since summer 2012, when they dropped a box set titled The Complete Beat. Rhythm Epkins, Matt Morrish, Kevin Lum and Larry Young round out the current lineup of The English Beat.