The Times are a British indie band, the brainchild of Ed Ball, co-founder member of the Television Personalities, Teenage Filmstars and 'O' Level.

[1] After releasing a string of 7-inch singles variously as O'Level ("We Love Malcolm", 1978), The Television Personalities ("Part-Time Punks", 1978), Teenage Filmstars ("There's A Cloud Over Liverpool", 1979, "I Helped Patrick McGoohan Escape", 1980), that culminated with the debut Television Personalities album "And Don't The Kids Just Love It" (1980) on Rough Trade Records, Edward Ball and Daniel Treacy opted for even more artistic control by setting up their own label, WHAAM!

[2] At the same time, recorded as a proposed Teenage Filmstars' debut LP, Ball's 1980 collection of songs was completed as "Go!

[5] Songs like "Goodbye Piccadilly", "If Only", and the title track, match the bleakness and despair of Joy Division, the cutting sarcasm of The Jam.

After the experimental electronics of "Hello Europe" (1984), Ball fulfilled a long-time ambition to stage Joe Orton's screenplay for the Beatles "Up Against It" at a West London theatre with Tony Conway from Mood Six.