The History

How It All Began
KICK UP THE 80'S has been in existence as a working band since 1995!! Dean and Rob had been in a band since school days culminating in the formation of Patriot in the late 80's, recruiting Justin on vocals in the early 90's they changed the name to The Innocence and the final piece of the jigsaw was added in, you guessed it,1995 when Mart joined on drums. but at this time things were, musically anyway, very different..... The band,The Innocence, were actively writing and recording their own brand of hard rock music, releasing 2 demos, 'Rigmarole' and 'From A Great Height' before changing the name to h.y.p.a and releasing a further 2 recordings, 'Message From The Grey Room' and the eponymous 'h.y.p.a.' in 1999 Whilst gigging around the country, the band found themselves occasionally supporting various 'tribute' bands, seeing the reaction that these groups recieved they decided to try their luck in the market as a means to fund further recording projects. Ruling out the idea of a 'tribute' to one particular artist due to the restrictions this creates in song choice, the four hit on the idea of a tribute to a decade! But which decade? well as they were all of a 'certain age' and remembering the era with fondess, the 80's was the obvious choice, so in late 1999 h.y.p.a. becomes Kick Up The 80's!! Starting off learning the more obscure artists with a cooler edge, the band soon realised, through playing live, that the audience demanded the full spectrum the 80's had to offer,so in came the big hitters of the time, Duran Duran, Frankie, Human League,Culture Club and peppered throughout the set are the hidden gems, artists you might not be familiar with by name, but tunes that live on in those who were there at the time! Teardrop Explodes, The Vapours, King to name but a few. Starting off playing their first gig at Justin's brother's 21st birthday party (he turned 31 this year!) over their 10 years together so far they have played with the likes of ABC, GO WEST and LIMAHL, regularly selling out venues across the Midlands and beyond. With the 80's providing such a wealth of diversity in music and fashion the set list, stage clothes and audiences continue to grow year on year, so tell your friends and catch them live for a great party night out. The rest, as they say, is HISTORY!

How It All Began

KICK UP THE 80'S has been in existence as a working band since 1995!!

Dean and Rob had been in a band since school days culminating in the formation of Patriot in the late 80's, recruiting Justin on vocals in the early 90's they changed the name to The Innocence and the final piece of the jigsaw was added in, you guessed it,1995 when Mart joined on drums.

but at this time things were, musically anyway, very different.....

The band,The Innocence, were actively writing and recording their own brand of hard rock music, releasing 2 demos, 'Rigmarole' and 'From A Great Height' before changing the name to h.y.p.a and releasing a further 2 recordings, 'Message From The Grey Room' and the eponymous 'h.y.p.a.' in 1999

Whilst gigging around the country, the band found themselves occasionally supporting various 'tribute' bands, seeing the reaction that these groups recieved they decided to try their luck in the market as a means to fund further recording projects.

Ruling out the idea of a 'tribute' to one particular artist due to the restrictions this creates in song choice, the four hit on the idea of a tribute to a decade! But which decade? well as they were all of a 'certain age' and remembering the era with fondess, the 80's was the obvious choice, so in late 1999 h.y.p.a. becomes Kick Up The 80's!!

Starting off learning the more obscure artists with a cooler edge, the band soon realised, through playing live, that the audience demanded the full spectrum the 80's had to offer,so in came the big hitters of the time, Duran Duran, Frankie, Human League,Culture Club and peppered throughout the set are the hidden gems, artists you might not be familiar with by name, but tunes that live on in those who were there at the time! Teardrop Explodes, The Vapours, King to name but a few.

Starting off playing their first gig at Justin's brother's 21st birthday party (he turned 31 this year!) over their 10 years together so far they have played with the likes of ABC, GO WEST and LIMAHL, regularly selling out venues across the Midlands and beyond.

With the 80's providing such a wealth of diversity in music and fashion the set list, stage clothes and audiences continue to grow year on year, so tell your friends and catch them live for a great party night out.

The rest, as they say, is HISTORY!