The Only Ones

The Only Ones got together in London in 1976, right as punk was kicking down the door, but they never sounded like anybody's safety-pinned identikit. Peter Perrett sang and played guitar, John Perry played guitar beside him, Alan Mair held down the bass and Mike Kellie drummed, and together they worked the seam where punk's snarl meets power pop's sweetness, hard rock's muscle and a woozy streak of psychedelia.

"Lovers of Today" made the introductions in 1977, but the one everybody remembers is "Another Girl, Another Planet", a rush of chiming guitars and romantic delirium that sounds as giddy now as the day it was cut. It was their biggest hit, and it refused to fade. The band recorded for Columbia and Epic before falling apart in 1982.

That song's second life brought them back. Renewed interest in it led to a reunion in 2007, a UK tour that June and more roadwork through 2008 and 2009. They cut fresh songs in 2009 and played them live, though none were released, and in 2023 they returned once more for shows in London and Hebden Bridge.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.