The Alarm are a Welsh rock band that formed in Rhyl in 1981. Initially formed as a punk band, the Toilets, in 1977 under lead vocalist Mike Peters, the group soon embraced arena rock and included marked influences from Welsh language and culture. By opening for acts such as U2 and Bob Dylan, they became a popular new wave pop band of the 1980s.
The Alarm's highest-charting single in Britain is 1983's "Sixty Eight Guns", which reached number 17 on the UK Singles Chart. Their 1984 album Declaration, which contained "Sixty Eight Guns", peaked at number six on the UK Albums Chart.
Contents
History
Early years
In 1977, a punk band was formed in Rhyl, Wales, billed as the Toilets. It consisted of Mike Peters (alias Eddie Bop), Glyn Crossley (alias Steve Shock), Richard "O'Malley" Jones (alias Bo Larks) and Nigel Buckle (alias Des Troy). In 1978 the band renamed themselves Quasimodo and played note-for-note covers of the Who's Live at Leeds with guitarist Dave Sharp. This group also included Karl Wallinger (later of Waterboys and World Party fame) on keyboards. Later the group named themselves Seventeen, with both Mike Peters and Nigel Buckle alongside Eddie MacDonald (who had been Mike Peters' next-door-but-one neighbour in Edward Henry Street, Rhyl). Seventeen began as a three-piece but were joined by guitarist David Kitchingman (who changed his name to Dave Sharp) and became a power pop mod band that released the single ("Don't Let Go"/"Bank Holiday Weekend") in March 1980 and toured with the Stray Cats later that year. They played their last concert under the name of Seventeen in January 1981 at the Half Moon, Herne Hill, London.
The band soon reformed under the new name of the Alarm (with Nigel Buckle changing his surname to 'Twist'), and played their first gig at The Victoria Hotel, Prestatyn, North Wales on 6 June 1981, opening with "Shout to the Devil", which later appeared on the album Declaration.
They moved from North Wales to London in September 1981, and the band recorded a one-off 7" single. 1,000 copies were pressed that month, featuring "Unsafe Building" on the "electric" side and "Up For Murder" on the "acoustic" side. The single was noticed by Mick Mercer, who featured it as his single of the month in his ZigZag magazine. The band played a show with the Fall in December 1981, where a journalist from Sounds noticed them. This journalist attended the band's next show at Upstairs at Ronnie's in London's West End. Also at this show was a representative of Wasted Talent, who arranged a meeting between the band and Ian Wilson, U2's agent. Wilson arranged another show in order to assess the band's quality, was impressed, and soon became their manager. To celebrate, the Alarm played with U2 at the Lyceum Ballroom on 22 December 1981.
In 1982, the band began to record demos for various record labels, but had little success. At this point, they were playing with three acoustic guitarists. The band were eventually offered a deal by I.R.S. Records. This forced them to make a decision on who was to play which musical instrument, and it was decided that Peters would concentrate on singing, with Sharp on guitar and Macdonald playing bass.
Mid-career
The band had been recording an album from July 1983, and by the time of the Top of the Pops appearance, they had recorded the backing tracks to most of the songs. After completing a U.S. tour and a headline tour of the UK in late 1983, the band returned to the studio to record the backing tracks for the rest of the songs.
On 6 November 1983, the band recorded an acoustic radio session for the BBC. This session saw the debut of three brand new songs: "Walk Forever by My Side", "One Step Closer to Home" and "Unbreak the Promise".
On 7 November, the band returned to the recording studio to finish recording the album, now titled Declaration. In December, the Alarm returned to the U.S. for a third headline tour. The weather was atrocious, and on 6 December, the car in which the band was travelling crashed, but none of the four members was injured. They returned to the UK on 17 December and appeared as part of an Anti-Nuclear Benefit Concert at the Apollo Theatre in London.
While the band had been in the U.S., Alan Shacklock and sound engineer Chris Porter finished mixing the album. The band played a handful of gigs supporting The Police over Christmas, and by 5 January 1984, the album had been mixed and finalised. Declaration was released by I.R.S. Records on 14 February 1984. A week later, the album entered the UK Albums Chart at Number 6.
In November 1984, the Alarm recorded demos of nine new songs, including "Absolute Reality". They played their new material to the American producer Jimmy Iovine, who agreed to come to the UK in January 1985 to begin work on the follow-up to Declaration. During this period, Peters appeared solo at a number of events, including the Greenbelt Festival in Northamptonshire, playing Alarm material as well as some unrecorded personal songs. Studio sessions were booked for early 1985, and a UK headline tour was booked for May 1985 to coincide with the release of the new album. However, Iovine never came to the UK to work with the Alarm, eventually citing personal reasons. The band had to cancel the sessions and look for another producer. Alan Shacklock was unavailable, so Ian Wilson (the band's manager) convinced I.R.S. to release the Shacklock-produced "Absolute Reality" as a single to promote the UK dates in May. "Absolute Reality" was released on 18 February 1985, entering the top 40 of the UK Singles Chart a week later. After a series of appearances at European festivals and a new producer (Mike Howlett), the Alarm began work on their follow-up album Strength. The band teamed with MTV, I.R.S. Records, and UCLA's Campus Events to present one of the early live satellite broadcasts from UCLA on 12 April 1986. They played at Queen's Live at Wembley '86 concert on 12 July 1986.
Later years
The band toured extensively through the United States and Europe through the 1980s into 1991. They gained much popularity in 1983 when they were the opening act for U2, a band to whom they often were compared musically. On 13 March 1988, the Alarm performed at The Fillmore in San Francisco with The 77s and House of Freaks.
1989's Change was an homage to the group's native Wales, and was accompanied by an alternate Welsh-language version Newid. Produced by Tony Visconti, Change spawned the group's biggest Modern Rock hit in America, "Sold Me Down the River", which also put them in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Top 50 for the first and only time. "Devolution Working Man Blues" and "Love Don't Come Easy" also earned radio airplay, and the track "A New South Wales" had an appearance by the Welsh Symphony Orchestra and the Morriston Orpheus Male Voice Choir. Although it was popular in Wales, it did not sell as well as the group's earlier works, and internal band dissension, exacerbated by deaths in both Peters' and Twist's families, made 1991's Raw the original Alarm's final effort.
After the release of Raw in 1991, despite their success and relative longevity, Peters announced on stage at the Brixton Academy that he was leaving the band.
"We've shared some great moments in time over the last ten years and tonight I would like to thank all the people who have supported me from the beginning to the end. Tonight this is my last moment with the Alarm, I'm going out in a Blaze of Glory – my hands are held up high". This came as much of a shock to his colleagues as to the audience. Following this show Peters signed his legal right to one quarter of the Alarm name and logo over to the other three. Peters and Sharp both embarked on solo careers.
Post-Brixton Academy
After the Alarm, Peters teamed with a band of unknown musicians to form The Poets of Justice (which included his wife Jules Peters on keyboards), and he embarked on a solo career which produced a number of singles and albums. In 2000, the Alarm released a complete collection covering all recorded material by the band. It also included sleeve notes to which all four members had contributed. This was the first project to which all four original members had contributed since Peters left the band in 1991.
Following the box-set release, Peters used the Alarm name on the tour to promote the complete collection release. The musicians Peters used were his backing band in the late 1990s; Steve Grantley from Stiff Little Fingers; Craig Adams from The Sisters of Mercy, The Mission, and The Cult; and James Stevenson from Chelsea and Gene Loves Jezebel. The Alarm name was followed by an MM++ that indicated in Roman numerals what year the record was released. Over the past decade, Peters has replaced the band members as needed when Adams, Stevenson or Grantley have pursued other projects.
In February 2004, Peters' lineup of Alarm MM++ carried out a hoax on the British music industry by issuing "45 RPM" under the fictitious name The Poppy Fields. Peters, having garnered positive feedback for the song, decided to disassociate it from his veteran band to have it judged on its own merits, and recruited a young group called the Wayriders to lip-sync the song in the music video. The so-called Poppy Fields took "45 RPM" into the UK Top 30 before the hoax was revealed, setting the stage for the album In the Poppy Fields.
The Alarm appeared together for a one-off show on the VH1 television show Bands Reunited in 2005 and performed live in London with a subsequent expanded DVD/CD release of the episode.
In 2005, Peters discovered that he was suffering from chronic lymphocytic leukaemia. At this time, he started a cancer foundation called Love Hope Strength to help with the fight against cancer. In October 2007, Peters, along with 38 other musicians, cancer survivors and supporters, made a 14-day trek to the base camp at Mount Everest to perform the highest concert on land to raise awareness and money to fight cancer. Other musicians included Cy Curnin and Jamie West-Oram of The Fixx, Glenn Tilbrook of Squeeze, Slim Jim Phantom of The Stray Cats and Nick Harper. Peters is the co-founder of The Love Hope and Strength Foundation with fellow leukemia survivor James Chippendale, CEO of Ascend Insurance Brokerage in Austin, Texas.
45th anniversary reunion
The founding members of The Alarm are set to reunite for two live shows billed as Reunion, at London's The Garage, in late August 2026, to celebrate the 45th anniversary of the band and to honour the life and legacy of Mike Peters. Robert Latimer of the indie rock band Candid will take on lead vocals duties for both dates. The shows will mark more than two decades since Eddie MacDonald and Nigel Twist have played together on stage.
Influence
Historian Martin Johnes has argued that the band are part of the contemporary history of Wales. His case is based on how the Alarm reflected cultural trends within Wales, and the band are discussed in his book Wales Since 1939 (2012).
AllMusic journalist Steve Huey stated:
"The British music press habitually savaged their records as derivative and pretentious, but this meant little to their zealous following, who supported the band to the tune of over 5 million sales worldwide and 16 Top 50 UK singles."
Ray Wylie Hubbard referenced the Alarm in his song "Snake Farm", from the 2006 album of the same name.
Members
Current members
James Stevenson – guitars, bass, backing vocals
Mark Taylor – keyboards, guitar
Jules Jones Peters – keyboards, backing vocals
Steve "Smiley" Barnard – drums, percussion, backing vocals
Eddie MacDonald – bass, guitar, keyboards, backing vocals
Nigel Twist – drums, percussion, backing vocals
Founding members
Mike Peters (died 2025) – lead vocals, guitars, harmonica
Dave Sharp (born David Kitchingman, 28 January 1959, Salford, England) – guitars, harmonica, backing and lead vocals
Discography
Studio albums (as The Alarm)
Declaration (1984)
Strength (1985)
Eye of the Hurricane (1987)
Change (1989)
Raw (1991)
Studio albums (as The Alarm MM++)
Close (2002)
The Normal Rules Do Not Apply (2002)
Trafficking (2002)
Edward Henry Street (2002)
Coming Home (2003)
In the Poppyfields (2004)
Under Attack (2006)
Guerilla Tactics (2008)
Direct Action (2010)
Blood Red (2017)
Viral Black (2017)
Equals (2018)
Sigma (2019)
War (2021)
Omega (2022)
Forwards (2023)
Music Television (2024)
Transformation (2026)
Filmography
DVDs
1 – Released as The Alarm MM
2 – Released as The Alarm MMIV
3 – Released as The Alarm MMVII
4 – Released as The Alarm MMVIII