Using the pseudonym William Mysterious, Alastair Donaldson played saxophone and bass guitar with the Scottish punk band the Rezillos. Combining a sci-fi, day-glo aesthetic, references to Thunderbirds and The Flintstones, and a fast, fun take on 1960s beat music, the group burst on to the Edinburgh scene in January 1977 and later that year signed to Seymour Stein's Sire Records, the home of New York punk-pioneers the Ramones and Richard Hell. Credited as Mysterious on their exuberant debut Can't Stand the Rezillos, which made the Top 20 in August 1978, Donaldson left before the band appeared on Top of the Pops to promote their paean to the very same television show but returned to contribute to their swansong release, Mission Accomplished... But the Beat Goes On, recorded live at the Glasgow Apollo on 23 December 1978.

i Newspaper
 
TheIPaper
The Independent around the web
E-break Time
Independent Crossword

Album review: James Brown and the Famous Flames, Best of Live at the Apollo: 50th Anniversary (Polydor)

This is not, as you might imagine, a reissue of the classic 1962 Live at the Apollo, but instead a selection of tracks from that release alongside later performances from James Brown's 600-plus appearances at the Harlem venue, culled from shows in 1962, '67, '71 and '72.

Logic Pro X is the latest update to Apple's professional grade DAW software suite

Review round-up: Logic Pro X keeps the professionals happy

The long-awaited update to Apple's professional audio suite allays fears of dumbing down

Jon Hopkins' album 'Immunity' is out now

Fantasy band: Jon Hopkins

'Daniel Lanois brings magic to any song he touches'

Josh Groban: 'I’ll manage them. But I’m taking 30 per cent'

Fantasy band: Josh Groban, singer

'I’ll manage them. But I’m taking 30 per cent'

Album: Black Sabbath, 13 (Mercury)

Like track one of Black Sabbath's debut, this starts with big, sludgy Tony Iommi doom-chords and Ozzy Osbourne mournfully wailing a rhetorical question ("Is this the end of the beginning?").

Not so messianic now: Ian Brown in 'The Stone Roses: Made of Stone'
Firefighters tackle the blaze at the Somali Bravanese Welfare Association and the Al-Rahma Islamic Centre

Police make fresh appeal over English Defence League graffiti on destroyed Islamic centre

The letters EDL were spotted on the wall of the community centre

Michael Adebowale pictured shortly after last Wednesday's attack

Woolwich attack: Police to begin questioning Michael Adebowale on suspicion of murdering soldier Lee Rigby

22-year-old was moved into police custody yesterday after being discharged from hospital

Woolwich killing: Transcript of interview with family of Drummer Lee Rigby

The family of murdered Drummer Lee Rigby fought back tears as they paid tribute to him today.

Full Statement from Ministry of Defence in response to death of Drummer Lee Rigby

It is with great sadness that the Ministry of Defence must announce that the soldier killed in yesterday's incident in Woolwich, South East London, is believed to be Drummer Lee Rigby, of 2nd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers (attached to the Regimental Recruiting Team in London).

Simon Green of Bonobo

Music review: Bonobo, The Roundhouse, London

Let’s face it, live electronica can often leave the audience rather nonplussed. The ability to be able to transfer perfectly produced masterpieces crafted in the studio to the stage can be something of a holy grail. But Bonobo’s gig at the Roundhouse tonight is an ideal blueprint for any other artists daring to make the leap to a live show.

The National, Trouble Will Find Me (4AD)

Album review: The National, Trouble Will Find Me (4AD)

Album of the Week: Alt-rock's lurkers cement a stealthy rise to success

Ginger Baker in ‘Beware of Mr Baker’

Film review: Beware of Mr Baker (15)

Drummers are axiomatically the madmen of rock, but there's never been a mad drummer quite like Ginger Baker, subject of this hugely enjoyable documentary profile. It gets off to a magnificent start, with a scene of the 73-year-old Baker attacking the film's director, Jay Bulger, with his walking stick – and just gets better.

Dame Helen Mirren sought forgiveness for her dramatic outburst at a samba band performing outside London’s Gielgud Theatre on Saturday by sporting a homemade T-shirt promoting their cause

'They were very sweet once they knew I wasn't just a batty old woman haranguing them' - Helen Mirren seeks forgiveness for telling LGBT festival drummers to f*** off

Dame Helen Mirren “effed and blinded” at a group of drummers playing outside the West End’s Gielgud Theatre.

Career Services

Day In a Page

Independent Travel Shop See all offers »
Berlin - East meets West
Three nights from only £399pp Find out more
Europe’s finest river cruises
Four nights from £669pp, seven nights from £999pp or 13 nights from £2,199pp Find out more
Historic Sicily
Seven nights half-board from only £799pp Find out more
Lake Como and the Bernina Express
Seven nights half-board from only £749pp Find out more
Pompeii, Capri and the Bay of Naples
Seven nights half-board from only £719pp Find out more
Special report: How my father's face turned up in Robert Capa's lost suitcase

Special report: How my father's face turned up in Robert Capa's lost suitcase

The great war photographer was not one person but two. Their pictures of Spain's civil war, lost for decades, tell a heroic tale
The unmade speech: An alternative draft of history

The unmade speech: An alternative draft of history

Someone, somewhere has to write speeches for world leaders to deliver in the event of disaster. They offer a chilling hint at what could have been
Funny business: Meet the women running comedy

Funny business: Meet the women running comedy

Think comedy’s a man's world? You must be stuck in the 1980s, says Holly Williams
Wilko Johnson: 'You have to live for the minute you're in'

Wilko Johnson: 'You have to live for the minute you're in'

The Dr Feelgood guitarist talks frankly about his terminal illness
Lure of the jingle: Entrepreneurs are giving vintage ice-cream vans a new lease of life

Lure of the jingle

Entrepreneurs are giving vintage ice-cream vans a new lease of life
Who stole the people's own culture?

DJ Taylor: Who stole the people's own culture?

True popular art drives up from the streets, but the commercial world wastes no time in cashing in
Guest List: The IoS Literary Editor suggests some books for your summer holiday

Guest List: IoS Literary Editor suggests some books for your summer holiday

Before you stuff your luggage with this year's Man Booker longlist titles, the case for some varied poolside reading alternatives
What if Edward Snowden had stayed to fight his corner?

Rupert Cornwell: What if Edward Snowden had stayed to fight his corner?

The CIA whistleblower struck a blow for us all, but his 1970s predecessor showed how to win
'A man walks into a bar': Comedian Seann Walsh on the dangers of mixing alcohol and stand-up

Comedian Seann Walsh on alcohol and stand-up

Comedy and booze go together, says Walsh. The trouble is stopping at just the one. So when do the hangovers stop being funny?
From Edinburgh to Hollywood (via the Home Counties): 10 comedic talents blowing up big

Edinburgh to Hollywood: 10 comedic talents blowing up big

Hugh Montgomery profiles the faces to watch, from the sitcom star to the surrealist
'Hello. I have cancer': When comedian Tig Notaro discovered she had a tumour she decided the show must go on

Comedian Tig Notaro: 'Hello. I have cancer'

When Notaro discovered she had a tumour she decided the show must go on
They think it's all ova: Bill Granger's Asia-influenced egg recipes

Bill Granger's Asia-influenced egg recipes

Our chef made his name cooking eggs, but he’s never stopped looking for new ways to serve them
The world wakes up to golf's female big hitters

The world wakes up to golf's female big hitters

With its own Tiger Woods - South Korea's Inbee Park - the women's game has a growing audience
10 athletes ready to take the world by storm in Moscow next week

10 athletes ready to take the world by storm in Moscow next week

Here are the potential stars of the World Championships which begin on Saturday
The Last Word: Luis Suarez and Gareth Bale's art of manipulation

The Last Word: Luis Suarez and Gareth Bale's art of manipulation

Briefings are off the record leading to transfer speculation which is merely a means to an end