"The band was formed in April 1974 on the initiative of vocalist and songwriter Dennis Leigh, a then Royal College of Art student, and was originally known as Tiger Lily. An initial but incomplete line-up comprised Leigh plus Chris Allen who was then billed as Chris St. John (bass guitar) and Stevie Shears (guitar),[1] with Warren Cann (drums) and Billy Currie (violin) joining in May and October 1974 respectively.[2] The group released one single in 1975, "Ain't Misbehavin'", a cover of the Fats Waller song which featured in a soft porn film. Later, the band went through a series of name changes including The Zips, Fire of London, London Soundtrack, and The Damned, using this last name for a few weeks before discovering that another band had already taken it.[2] Experimental years: 1976–1979 Ultravox! On the strength of their live act, the band signed to Island Records in 1976. The group had still not finalised their band name, wanting to make a good and lasting choice. In October 1976, while working on the late stages of their debut album, the band conceived the name Ultravox! (the exclamation mark was a reference to krautrock band Neu!, produced by Conny Plank, who later produced three Ultravox albums). At the same time, Leigh chose John Foxx and Allen chose Chris Cross as their respective stage names.[2] In February 1977, Island released their eponymous debut album, Ultravox!. Like many other bands that formed Britain's punk and new wave movements, Ultravox! drew inspiration from the art-school side of glam rock. Musically, Ultravox were heavily influenced by Roxy Music, the New York Dolls, David Bowie and Kraftwerk.[3] Their debut was co-produced by Steve Lillywhite and Brian Eno (who next co-wrote and performed with Bowie on Low). Ultravox!'s sales were disappointing, and neither the album nor the associated single "Dangerous Rhythm" managed to enter the UK charts. Relations within the band were on an occasionally tenuous footing during this time as Foxx declared that he intended to live without emotions, a sentiment he wrote into the début album track "I Want to Be a Machine". Ultravox returned later in 1977 with the punkier Ha!-Ha!-Ha!. Sales of both the album and its lead single, "ROckWrok", were poor, both failing to register on the UK charts. "ROckWrok" had a punk-lyric chorus, with the words "Come on, let's tangle in the dark/Fuck like a dog, bite like a shark". (Despite this, it got airplay on BBC Radio 1.) Although Ha!-Ha!-Ha! was dominated by guitars and electric violin, the final track, "Hiroshima Mon Amour", was a prototypical synthpop song. One of the first tracks by a British band to feature a drum machine (a Roland Rhythm 77 with preset patterns) and a tenor saxophone solo played by "cc" of the band Gloria Mundi. Hiroshima Mon Amour signalled a new direction for Ultravox. The energy, anger and popular appeal of punk was fading in 1978,[4] and the more creative UK punk genre talent sought new directions—calling themselves British new wave instead of punk rock artists. "Hiroshima Mon Amour" remains a critics' and fans' favourite from the group's initial period. Ultravox! also performed it on The Old Grey Whistle Test later in 1978. Becoming Ultravox In early March 1978, Stevie Shears, whose style of guitar playing was considered a limiting factor, was sacked from the band after they toured England[5] and joined Cowboys International in 1980. He was replaced by Robert Simon (ex-member of Ian North's Neo), who during his first days with the band changed his performance-name to Robin Simon.[6] Some time in 1978, the group also dropped the exclamation mark, becoming simply "Ultravox". The new line-up performed live at the Reading Festival along with Radio Stars, Penetration, Sham 69, The Pirates and The Jam, playing early versions of "Slow Motion" and "Quiet Men" on 27 August 1978.[7] Their third album, 1978's Systems of Romance, was recorded with producer Conny Plank (the producer of German electronic outfit Kraftwerk) and engineer Dave Hutchins at Plank's Studio in rural Germany. Musically, the album was markedly different from Ultravox's earlier work, bringing synthesisers to the forefront of the group's sound. Despite praise from some critics, the album was a commercial failure. Since none of the albums to date had generated much income, tensions within the band—particularly between Currie and Foxx—threatened the band's viability. Island dropped the band on 31 December 1978 after an attempt to market the album in the United States failed to generate sales. That appeared to be the final nail in the band's coffin, but Ultravox self-financed a US tour in early 1979. They split after their final gig near San Francisco in March 1979 and Foxx declared his intention to pursue a solo career. Simon remained in the US and briefly joined The Futants, a punk band from New York. He later returned to England and teamed up with Howard Devoto to replace guitarist John McGeoch in the band Magazine..."

“When I first stuck my head above the parapet to say I didn’t believe what we were being told about global warming, I had no idea what the consequences would be. I am a scientist and I have to follow the directions of science, but when I see that the truth is being covered up I have to voice my opinions… “I’m still an environmentalist, I’m still a Green and I’m still campaigning to stop the destruction of the biodiversity of the world. But money will be wasted on trying to solve this global warming ‘problem’ that I would much rather was used for looking after the people of the world.” David Bellamy, Daily Express, 5 November 2008 A respected botanist and the author of 45 books, David has presented over 400 television shows across the years, and was much appreciated by audiences for his boundless enthusiasm. However, for the last ten years he has been axed from our screens, ignored by series commissioners at the BBC where he made his name, as well as by fellow scientists and environmentalists. His crimes? He began by expressing his criticism of wind farms on an episode of children’s television series Blue Peter in 1996. Since then, he has also described the belief that global warming is man-made as “poppycock”. Almost daily, we all see and hear the official dogma trotted out; “The debate is over. We are constantly told there is consensus amongst the scientific community that climate change is anthropomorphic.”… But is there? Filmed at The Alternative View 2 Event in London - May 2009"