The Movies

At least five different bands by this name.

1. The longest-established band with this name were a quintet from Cambridge, England, formed in 1975 from the ashes of the bands Public Foot The Roman and Thunderbox. Fronted by the bluesy vocals and slide guitar of Jon Cole, they made five albums between 1975 and 1980. They never really found much of an audience; their sound was more straightforward (songwise) than PFTR's prog-rock, but it was still too steeped in jazz fusion hyperkineticism to interest punk fans. Their highest profile gig was as Joan Armatrading's backing band on her Back To The Night tour. Percussionist/multi-instrumentalist Julian Diggle and drummer Jamie Lane have since made guest appearances on her albums.

2. Seattle-based pop trio that made a handful of singles and one (self-titled) full-length album for Arista in 1977 produced by Vini Poncia, ex-Innocence and The Tradewinds (his Tradewinds-mate Peter Anders wrote their "If I Can Just Get Through Tonight"). Their style was somewhere between The Beach Boys and Harry Nilsson.

3. Los Angeles based band (formed in Boston) featuring former singer/songwriter of the Crank Records band The Vehicle Birth. The band released "In One Era Out The Other" first in Europe (Houston Party Records) in 2002, then in the U.S. (Gern Blandsten Records) in 2003. The album features the song "Creation Lake", covered by L.A./Silver Lake cohorts The Silversun Pickups on their "Pikul" EP. The Movies released "American Oil" on Houston Party Records in Europe in early 2005, recorded by Trans Am member Phil Manly just after a tour together. The band are currently (as of March 2007) recording an EP with former Mighty Lemon Drops Dave Newton at their studio in Burbank, CA. myspace.com/themovies

The band have a sort of retro-"post-punk" style, influenced by the likes of Joy Division on one hand, Talking Heads or The Cars on the other. See 2000's In One Era And Out The Other.

4. Instrumental rock trio. Made one, self-titled album, released in 2000.

5. New shoegazer band from Latvia. Their first (and, to date, only) album is entitled Running To The Sun (2004). The style is influenced by My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive, Ride, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Cocteau Twins, Sonic Youth. On 2006 they changed their name to Tribes of the City. Their new album called "For the Sleepy People" (Oct, 2006) is created in close co-operation with British sound producer Greg Haver.