A Gift from the Culture
"A Gift from the Culture", published in 1987, is a short work of space opera, by the Scottish science fiction author Iain M. Banks. The story is an early venture into the "complex and unusual and very distant" setting of the Culture, which Banks would further develop through various of full length novels, stories, and his essay "A Few Notes on the Culture".
Ian Astbury
In 1979, while living in Glasgow, Astbury was influenced by the Doors' song "The End", which he heard while watching the movie "Apocalypse Now", later describing this as "a religious experience". In 1980, he was in Liverpool, where he was active on the punk scene based around Eric's Club. He moved to Bradford in late 1980, where he was a founder member of the positive punk band Southern Death Cult in 1981. Southern Death Cult lasted until March 1983. Along with guitarist Billy Duffy, bassist Jamie Stewart and drummer Raymond Taylor Smith, Astbury formed a new band, Death Cult and released the Death Cult EP. To gain broader appeal, the band changed its name to "the Cult" in January 1984 before appearing on the Channel 4 television show, "The Tube".