On This Day 23/03/1987 The Cult

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On this day, 23 March 1987, rock band The Cult played Cardiff’s St David’s Hall on their Electric tour.

Formed in Bradford in 1983. Before settling on their current name in January 1984, the band performed under the name Death Cult, which was an evolution of the name of lead vocalist Ian Astbury's previous band Southern Death Cult.

They gained a dedicated following in the United Kingdom in the mid-1980s as a post-punk and gothic rock band, with singles such as "She Sells Sanctuary", before breaking into the mainstream in the United States in the late 1980s establishing themselves as a hard rock band with singles such as "Love Removal Machine".

Since its initial formation in 1983, the band have had various line-ups; the longest-serving members are Astbury and guitarist Billy Duffy, who are also the band's two main songwriters.

The band's third studio album, Electric (1987), launched them to new heights of success, also peaking at No. 4 in the UK and charting highly in other territories, and spawned the hit singles "Love Removal Machine", "Lil' Devil" and "Wild Flower".

On that album, the Cult supplemented their post-punk sound with hard rock; the polish on this new sound was facilitated by producer Rick Rubin. After moving to Los Angeles, where the band has been based for the remainder of their career,

On This Day 07/03/1982 Theatre Of Hate

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On this day, 7 March 1982, Post-punk band Theatre Of Hate played Cardiff’s Top Rank with support provided by UK Decay.

Formed in London, England, in 1980 and led by singer-songwriter Kirk Brandon (formerly of the Pack), the original group also consisted of bassist Stan Stammers (formerly of the Straps and the Epileptics), saxophonist John "Boy" Lennard, guitarist Steve Guthrie and drummer Luke Rendle (formerly of Crisis and the Straps).

In August 1981, Mick Jones of The Clash produced Westworld, Theatre of Hate's first (and only) studio album to be released prior to the band's dissolution the following year.

Guitarist Billy Duffy (formerly of The Nosebleeds) joined the band soon after the album had been recorded, and drummer Rendle was replaced by Nigel Preston.

Heralded by the Top 40 single "Do You Believe in the West World" (which afforded the new line-up the band's one appearance on Top of the Pops), Westworld was released in February 1982 by Burning Rome Records, peaking at No. 17 the following month during its seven week run in the UK Albums Chart.

Recorded in September 1981 in Berlin, the live album He Who Dares Wins was also released in February in an attempt to curtail the sale of bootlegged recordings of Theatre of Hate concerts.

Brandon went on to front Spear of Destiny with bassist Stammers. Brandon also was a founding member of the punk supergroup Dead Men Walking, while Stammers formed Plastic Eaters in 1996.

Preston played with Sex Gang Children before joining former bandmate Duffy as drummer for the Cult on their 1984 album Dreamtime. Preston later played with the Baby Snakes and the Gun Club. He died in 1992.