Spike

Spike is the name used by several different artists and groups. It refers to a Romanian hip hop artist born in 1985, an English singer-songwriter and founder of The Quireboys, several electronic and experimental projects, a US heavy metal band, and other acts from the Netherlands and the UK.

Romanian hip hop artist

Spike is a Romanian hip hop artist. He releases five studio albums: Proiectul Mata (2003), Relatii cu Publicul (2006), Ramanem Prieteni (2009), Lumea lui Paul (2015) and Propaganda (2018). He rises to wider attention in 2004 after recording “Probleme Personale” with Ombladon on Ombladon’s album Condoleanțe, and he then tours Romania with Ombladon’s band Parazitii.

Jonathan Gray

Jonathan Gray, known professionally as Spike, is a singer-songwriter and the founder of the English rock band The Quireboys. He co-writes every track on the band’s UK chart-topping debut album, A Bit of What You Fancy (1990). As a solo artist, he releases albums including Blue Eyed Soul (1998), It’s a Treat to Be Alive (2006), So Called Friends (2008), 100% Pure Frankie Miller (2014), and Spike’s Late Night Song Book Volume 1 and Volume 2. He also releases two albums with British singer-songwriter Tyla under the name Spike and Tyla’s Hot Knives.

Other uses of the name

Spike is also an alias of IDM, experimental and glitch artist Elliott Perkins, who records as Phonem; under this name he issues the single release Operation Binary 24. It is also the name of a US heavy metal band formed in 1973 by David T. Chastain, Les Sharp, Mike Skimmerhorn and Denny Kuller. That band releases The Price of Pleasure in 1983 and a live album the following year, tours the United States with acts including Black Sabbath, and later breaks up to form CJSS in 1984.

Another Spike is a down-tempo electronic dance duo founded by producer Darrin Friedman and featuring Pamela Mitchell on vocals and Barrelhouse J. M. on raps. The duo has one album, The Album (1998), and its first single, “Respect”, brings it international attention. Spike is also used as a pseudonym by Keith LeBlanc, including the alias DJ Spike.

Further artists using the name include a project from Leiden in the Netherlands with the LP Orange Cloud Nine, Frans “Spike” van Zoest from The Hague, guitarist and founding member of Di-rect and lead vocalist/guitarist of The Deaf, and a London-based synth-pop project by musician and film composer Hannah McLoughlin.