Martin Newell (born in Wivenhoe, Essex, on 4 March 1953) is an English singer–songwriter, poet, columnist and author who leads the Cleaners from Venus, a guitar pop band with jangly, upbeat arrangements, and The Brotherhood of Lizards. He is regarded as a significant figure in the history of cassette culture and DIY music. In the summer of 1973, a 20-year-old Newell joined Colchester glam rock cover band Plod as their lead singer, replacing founder member Steve Greenfield.
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Martin Newell (born in Wivenhoe, Essex, on 4 March 1953) is an English singer–songwriter, poet, columnist and author who leads the Cleaners from Venus, a guitar pop band with jangly, upbeat arrangements, and The Brotherhood of Lizards. He is regarded as a significant figure in the history of cassette culture and DIY music. In the summer of 1973, a 20-year-old Newell joined Colchester glam rock cover band Plod as their lead singer, replacing founder member Steve Greenfield. When Plod split, Newell joined Gypp, a pop-oriented progressive rock band, as lead singer. In the late seventies, Newell led a four-piece rock combo called The Stray Trolleys. They recorded material in 1979 and 1980, but it was not released until after the band had broken up. In the meantime, Newell issued his first solo single ("Young Jobless" b/w "Sylvie in Toytown") on vinyl in 1980. By the end of 1980, he was collaborating with Lawrence "Lol" Elliot as the Cleaners from Venus, a band that mostly released their work on cassettes outside the traditional music distribution channels. In spring 1988 Newell and Nelson (Peter Nice) formed the duo The Brotherhood of Lizards. His 1993 album The Greatest Living Englishman was produced by Andy Partridge of XTC fame and recorded in Partridge's "shed" home recording studio. In 2004 Newell released an album of light jazz songs, The Light Programme. Since 2010, Newell has returned to making lo-fi, self-released music under the name Cleaners from Venus. www.martinnewell.co.uk
