The band ceased to exist in 1978; they renamed themselves Quasimodo and played note-for-note covers of The Who's Live at Leeds with guitarist Dave Sharp.

Seventeen began as a three-piece but were joined by guitarist David Kitchingman (who changed his name to Dave Sharp) and became a power pop mod band that released the single ("Don't Let Go"/"Bank Holiday Weekend") in March 1980[3] and toured with the Stray Cats later that year.

The band soon reformed under the new name of The Alarm (with Nigel Buckle changing his surname to 'Twist'), and played their first gig at The Victoria Hotel, Prestatyn, North Wales on 6 June 1981,[5] opening with "Shout to the Devil", which later appeared on the album Declaration.

Also at this show was a representative of Wasted Talent, who arranged a meeting between the band and Ian Wilson, U2's agent.

After the sessions, the band recorded a video for "Sixty Eight Guns" and flew back to America to begin their first headline American tour as well as played in support of The Pretenders.

This session saw the debut of three brand new songs: "Walk Forever by My Side", "One Step Closer to Home" and "Unbreak the Promise".

They returned to the UK on 17 December and appeared as part of an Anti-Nuclear Benefit Concert at the Apollo Theatre in London.

The band played a handful of gigs supporting The Police over Christmas, and by 5 January 1984, the album had been mixed and finalised.

They played their new material to the American producer Jimmy Iovine, who agreed to come to the UK in January 1985 to begin work on the follow-up to Declaration.

During this period, Peters appeared solo at a number of events, including the Greenbelt Festival in Northamptonshire, playing Alarm material as well as some unrecorded personal songs.

[7] After a series of appearances at European festivals and a new producer (Mike Howlett), the Alarm began work on their follow-up album Strength.

[6] Produced by Tony Visconti, Change spawned the group's biggest Modern Rock hit in America, "Sold Me Down the River", which also put them in the U.S.

[6] "Devolution Working Man Blues" and "Love Don't Come Easy" also earned radio airplay, and the track "A New South Wales" had an appearance by the Welsh Symphony Orchestra and the Morriston Orpheus Male Voice Choir.

[6] Although it was popular in Wales, it did not sell as well as the group's earlier works, and internal band dissension, exacerbated by deaths in both Peters' and Twist's families, made 1991's Raw the original Alarm's final effort.

[6] After the release of Raw in 1991, despite their success and relative longevity, Peters announced on stage at the Brixton Academy that he was leaving the band.

"We've shared some great moments in time over the last ten years and tonight I would like to thank all the people who have supported me from the beginning to the end.

The musicians Peters used were his backing band in the late 1990s; Steve Grantley from Stiff Little Fingers, Craig Adams from The Sisters of Mercy, The Mission and The Cult, and James Stevenson from Chelsea and Gene Loves Jezebel.

Over the past decade, Peters has replaced the band members as needed when Adams, Stevenson or Grantley have pursued other projects.

In February 2004, Peters' line-up of Alarm MM++ carried out a hoax on the British music industry by issuing "45 RPM" under the fictitious name The Poppy Fields.

Other musicians included Cy Curnin and Jamie West-Oram of The Fixx, Glenn Tilbrook of Squeeze, Slim Jim Phantom of The Stray Cats and Nick Harper.

Peters is the co-founder of The Love Hope and Strength Foundation with fellow leukemia survivor James Chippendale, CEO of Ascend Insurance Brokerage in Austin, Texas.

2013 saw the release of Vinyl, which featured tracks written for the soundtrack]album and performed by Mike Peters and The Alarm with guest vocals from the film's actors Phil Daniels and Keith Allen.

The film, written and directed by Sara Sugarman, is loosely based on the true events surrounding The Poppy Fields and release of the single "45 RPM."

The Alarm took the step of touring the soundtrack album with a showing of the film at selected venues in the UK during March and April 2013.

[citation needed] "The Red Wall of Cymru", as recorded by the Alarm, is Wales' official anthem for the Euro 2020.

[15] AllMusic journalist Steve Huey stated: "The British music press habitually savaged their records as derivative and pretentious, but this meant little to their zealous following, who supported the band to the tune of over 5 million sales worldwide and 16 Top 50 UK singles.