Yorkshire: God’s Own Country, the third best place to visit in the world according to travel guide types Lonely Planet. It gave the world the Bronte sisters, Kevin Keegan, Yorkshire Gold tea, the mighty Yorkshire pudding, Wensleydale cheese, Alan Bennett and some of the greatest bands that the world has ever known. Today (and every August 1) is, apparently, Yorkshire Day, and to celebrate we’ve decided to find out once and for all who the greatest ever Yorkshire band is – after we’ve finished our plate of pikelets, that is.

We here in the office have already whittled down a long, long list to the shortlist that you see below. So we had to bid a fond farewell to Throbbing Gristle, Sisters of Mercy, Soft Cell, The Long Blondes, Rolo Tomassi, Embrace and The Pigeon Detectives. We’re left with some utter smashers though, band’s who proudly wave the banner for Yorkshire everywhere they go, from Wakefield’s Cribs to Leeds’ Kaiser Chiefs and Sheffield’s Arctic Monkeys and Pulp. Metal is well and truly repped as well, with Def Leppard and Bring Me The Horizon, while ’80s icons The Human League are doing their bit for electro-pop and Gang of Four the same for post punk.

Cast your votes now. Do it for Yorkshire.

Advertisement