That seemed as good an excuse as any for a rummage through the archives for pictures of the brilliant bands who came out of Sheffield’s thriving 1970s and 80s electronic music scene.
Bands like The Human League, Heaven 17 and Cabaret Voltaire really put the city on the music map. A look back at the time also shows how members moved from one band to the other, either firmly embracing the experimental or aiming for the pop charts.
The Human League packed dancefloors with songs such as Don’t You Want Me, Baby? and Love Action. Heaven 17 hit the ground running with debut single (We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang, following up with greats like Temptation.
ABC’s big songs include The Look of Love, Poison Arrow and All of My Heart.
Other notable city bands from the time include Clock DVA and Vice Versa – Stephen Singleton and Mark White from the latter also went on to form ABC with sharp-suited lead singer Martin Fry.
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1. ABC's stylish vision
Always stylish: ABC, with lead singer Martin Fry, left, at the height of their fame in the early 1980s. The band, formed in Sheffield in 1980, released debut album The Lexicon of Love in June 2022. The band are playing the album at Sheffield City Hall on June 21, the anniversary date Photo: Other
2. Arena show
ABC playing at Sheffield Arena on December 12, 1998 with lead singer Martin Fry in action Photo: Andrew Partridge
3. Nostalgia night
ABC's Martin Fry performs at a Back to the Eighties concert at the Embankment, Peterborough in July 2010. They appeared with Bananarama, Go West and fellow Sheffield band Heaven 17 Photo: Alan Storer
4. In League together
Sheffield band The Human League are probably the band everyone thinks of first when they look back at the city's synth-pop history from the 1980s. Leader and singer Phil Oakey is pictured with singers Joanne Catherall, left, and Susan Ann Sulley. Oakey famously discovered them as teenage friends on the dancefloor of the Crazy Daizy nightclub in High Street, Sheffield Photo: submitted