The Pop Group

The Pop Group were an English rock band formed in Bristol in 1977 by vocalist Mark Stewart, guitarist John Waddington, bassist Simon Underwood, guitarist/saxophonist Gareth Sager, and drummer Bruce Smith. Their work in the late 1970s crossed diverse musical influences including punk, dub, funk, and free jazz with radical politics, helping to pioneer post-punk music. The group released two albums, Y (1979) and For How Much Longer Do We Tolerate Mass Murder? (1980), and singles such as "She Is Beyond Good and Evil" and "We Are All Prostitutes" (both 1979), then split in 1981. Its members worked on a variety of subsequent projects, including New Age Steppers and Rip Rig + Panic. In 2010, the band reunited, touring and releasing new material as well as reissuing their back catalogue on Freaks R Us. Stewart and Waddington both died in 2023.