Described by U2’s Bono as “The second greatest rock and roll band in the world”, The Alarm was formed in Wales and with the release of 1981’s debut single ‘Unsafe Building’, featured a daring mix of amped-up acoustic guitars, harmonica and passionate Mike Peters’ vocals likened by early reviewers as “Bob Dylan meets The Clash”. This is the sound of The Alarm that has been heard around the world ever since, with 17 Top 50 UK singles, a host of successful albums and over 6 million album sales worldwide.
Following an initial breakthrough in the USA with 1983’s ‘The Stand’ (that recently triggered over 3 million Spotify hits after featuring in the Netflix’ TV series ‘13 Reasons Why’), alongside the evergreen ‘Sixty Eight Guns’ that entered into the UK chart soon after, The Alarm headlined their own ‘Spirit of ’86 Concert’ before 26,000 fans in Los Angeles, that was beamed around the world via MTV’s first ever live global satellite broadcast.
In the summer of 1991, the demands of the road were at the heart of a very public swan song for the original members at London’s Brixton Academy, before the current line up re-emerged causing worldwide controversy in 2004 through The Poppy Fields ‘fake band’ subterfuge.
Released to conceal their true identity, the Alarm’s first single of the millennium – ’45 RPM’ would ultimately take their signature electro-acoustic sound back into the UK top 40 and even further into the mainstream rock culture of North America via a Headline News TV appearance with Dan Rather.
The Alarm’s return was halted almost immediately when, in late 2005, Mike Peters was diagnosed with an incurable cancer (A rare B-cell form of Leukaemia), forcing the band into playing select shows, dictated by the chemotherapy / treatment regime that has kept Mike Peters alive ever since.
In January 2006, Mike Peters was given the go ahead to resume normal duties and the group continued with the release of ‘Under Attack’ and another Top 30 single – ‘Superchannel’. A year later, Mike Peters founded the Love Hope Strength charity – which is dedicated to ‘Saving Lives One Concert At A Time’ and can lay claim to registering over 250,000 individuals to the International Bone Marrow Donor Registry in the UK / USA.
Despite travelling from relapse to remission and back (as documented by 2017’s award winning US Movie – ‘Man In the Camo Jacket’), The Alarm family suffered another cruel blow, when Jules Peters (Keyboards), was diagnosed with Breast Cancer during filming of a BBC Documentary about the ban.
- Broadcast nationally, the raw footage touched many people’s lives and featured a moving tribute from the aforementioned Bono of U2
Undeterred, The Alarm continued with the release of Equals (2018) and Sigma (2019), entering the UK Rock charts at Number One. Their 1987 hit song ‘Rain In the Summertime’ was covered by The Killers and Smashing Pumpkins’ Billy Corgan, and Mike Peters was awarded the MBE for services to cancer.
During lockdown in 2020, The Alarm broadcast their own weekly music and chat show ‘The Big Night In’, attracting over 500,000 viewers across the internet. In 2021, the band wrote, recorded and released ‘OMEGA’, their most critically acclaimed album to date. which was conceived in just 50 lockdown days, capturing the attention of global news broadcaster CNN and debuting in the Top 10 of the UK Rock Music chart,
In 2022, The Alarm celebrated their 40th Anniversary with the release of the History Repeating Anthology and World Tour which was cut short when Mike Peters was stricken by Pneumonia and a life threatening Leukaemia relapse. Mike Peters continued to write new music throughout and once strong enough, lead The Alarm back into the studio to record the brand new album Forwards.
In 2023, The Alarm will perform for the first time since Mike Peters’ return to health at The Gathering 30th Anniversary, Venue Cymru, Llandudno, Wales (Sold Out), and at another an already sold out Anniversary concert at St. David’s Hall, Cardiff, Wales on April 15th 2023.
Mike Peters will present The Alarm [Acoustic] Forwards Tour starting in May 2023 and continue throughout the year in support of FORWARDS which will be released on LP / CD / DIGITAL by The Twenty First Century Recording Company (InGrooves / Universal), on June 2nd 2023.
The story continues at www.thealarm.com
