Few cities can point to a single band and say they changed the course of popular music. Birmingham can. Black Sabbath formed in Aston in 1968, and the industrial weight of the city is audible in every riff they recorded. Judas Priest, also from the West Midlands, refined that sound further, and Birmingham's claim as the home of heavy metal is grounded in the actual geography of those origins. The city's scope runs well beyond metal. The Moody Blues formed here in 1964, ELO grew from members of The Move, and Duran Duran built their early career at the Rum Runner nightclub during the New Romantic movement of the 1980s. UB40 formed in Moseley in 1978, Steel Pulse came out of Handsworth, and between them they helped define the ska revival emerging from the West Midlands' multi-racial communities. Birmingham was also the birthplace of modern bhangra, fusing Punjabi music with Western and urban black music, and by the 1980s was recognised as a global centre for bhangra production. Historically, Mothers in Erdington was voted the top rock venue in the world by Billboard, hosted Pink Floyd recording half of Ummagumma, and saw Traffic make their live debut. Today, the O2 Academy and O2 Institute cover major touring acts, while The Sunflower Lounge has anchored underground and local talent since 2002. The Jam House, founded by Jools Holland in the Jewellery Quarter, seats 600 and remains one of the city's most distinctive rooms.
