Cabaret Voltaire

Few acts in electronic music are as often called innovative and influential as Cabaret Voltaire, the Sheffield group whose name borrows from the Zürich nightclub that fostered early Dada. Working with homemade electronics, tape recorders and Dada-tinged performance art, they helped pioneer industrial music in the mid-1970s. Over time they gradually absorbed synthpop, techno, house and funk, finding an audience during the post-punk era.

Signed to Rough Trade in 1978 after weighing offers from Factory and Industrial Records, the band saw "Nag Nag Nag" sell 10,000 copies despite poor reviews. Their debut album Mix-Up reached number 12 on the UK Indie chart, with The Voice of America and Red Mecca climbing to three and one. When Watson left in 1981, the remaining pair toured Europe, Japan and the United States without major label backing, issuing the live album Hai! in 1982. That year they chose a more commercial direction, enlisting John Robie to remix "Yashar", a track that found favour in dance clubs.