Alternative TV

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Alternative TV , abbreviated to ATV , was a punk band from London , which originally existed from 1976 to 1979, but was later re-formed twice. The founder of all three formations was Mark Perry ( Sniffin 'Glue - Fanzine ). Another protagonist of the band in their first period in the 1970s was guitarist Alex Fergusson , who also helped found the band in 1981. The group's music was generally more adventurous than the bulk of the bands in the genre and is therefore now classified as art punk . Fergusson and Perry named reggae and the German band Can as influences .

The band's first release was a Flexidisc , which was included in the twelfth and final issue of Perry's Fanzine in 1977. The single contained on it was Love Lies Limp . Shortly thereafter, the single How Much Longer / You Bastard was released, the first regular record on Deptford Fun City Records. 1978 appeared other singles as well as the first album The Image has Cracked . At this point Fergusson had already left, he later became a member of Psychic TV . The music that Perry recorded with the new line-up was based more and more on dub and took an experimental direction. With the split LP with the English psychedelic band Here and Now , which was also released in 1978, Alternative TV moved away from its punk roots and finally took the form of an avant-garde project. In 1979 the group was renamed The Good Missionaries .

In the following years, records appeared under the name Perrys as well as under the band name The Door and the Window . In 1981, Perry, Fergusson, members of Fergusson's band Cash Pussies and Dennis Burns from the last lineup of Alternative TV got together again and re-founded the group. The new formation broke up in the same year, and Perry concentrated on a new music project and the activity as a music producer. Since 1985 he brought out other publications under the name Alternative TV with changing musicians.

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