Missing in action: acts who went AWOL

Mid-90s trip hop act Portishead are back after a lengthy hiatus, playing live at the Wolverhampton Civic on April 13. They are not the first band to go missing. Their debut album Dummy won the 1995 Mercury Music Prize and was followed by a second album in 1997.nextpage

Portishead singer Beth Gibbons released a spin-off album in 2002 but little was heard from the group until earlier this year. A new album is scheduled for later in the year and the band are playing live again.nextpage

Pink Floyd were the darlings of the London alternative rock scene of the late 1960s. Singer Syd Barrett, second right here, left the band after battling mental illness. Despite the acclaim of critics and fans for his work with the band and as a solo artist, he went into seclusion in the mid-1970s and died in 2006.nextpage

Manchester's Stone Roses struck gold with their debut album in 1989, which is now recognised as one of the great British rock albums. But it was five years before they released the follow-up. In 1990, they appeared at Wolverhampton Crown Court charged with vandalising their former record company's office in the city.nextpage

The four were fined for the attack but a mix of lethargy, in-fighting and management issues meant they did not release their ironically titled album The Second Coming until 1994. By then, Oasis and Blur were the biggest bands in Britain. They split two years later.nextpage

An honourable mention must go to Nottingham rap band Stereo MCs. Their 1992 album Connected was a major cross over hit but a long silence followed. "They are very keen not to repeat themselves," a spokesman said in 1997. By the time Deep Down and Dirty arrived in 2001, any chance of repeating the success had gone.nextpage

Wolverhampton-born Kevin Rowland enjoyed major chart success both home and abroad as the frontman with Dexys Midnight Runners in the early 1980s. After releasing a solo album in 1987, little was heard of him until he reappeared with a covers album in 1999. By this time, he had decided to do part of his live act in a dress.nextpage

Dexys Midnight Runners reformed for some live dates in 2003. Rowland is reported to be preparing new material for the band's recording return.nextpage

Not all comebacks end in disappointment or apathy, as Tony Christie showed in 2005. A star in the 1970s, he did not trouble the charts again until a Jarvis Cocker song took him to the top 10 in 1999. Then he was back at the top in 2005, after pairing up with Peter Kay for a Comic Relief re-release of Is This The Way To Amarillo, which became the biggest-selling single of the year.