Here are five videos of the 1975 before they were the band you know today

June 28, 2016

The 1975’s stardom over the past three years or so didn’t happen overnight. Members Matty Healy, George Daniel, Adam Hann and Ross MacDonald have been in bands together for over ten years, switching through different monikers, including Drive Like I Do, Bigsleep, Talkhouse and—yes—Forever Enjoying Sex.

To celebrate the success of I Like It When You Sleep, For You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware Of It, we've gathered up five videos of the 1975 before they were the band taking over the music world you know today.

1. “Sex” (acoustic as Drive Like I Do)

Watch as Healy and Daniel perform a stripped down of their breakout single “Sex” under the name Drive Like I Do, filmed sometime in late 2009. If you listen closely, there’s an extra line in the verses at the end—“You could have fucked me any day”—that’s not in the album version. (Hm, wonder why…)

2. “Robbers” (original music video)

Now, let’s get to the really good stuff. Everyone knows the 1975’s stunning music video for their track “Robbers.” Before that, there was another music video for “Robbers,” which cuts through shots of the band when they were very young, complete with grungy plaid shirts and oversized jeans, highlighting Healy’s vocals in their rawest form.

3. “Chocolate” (live as Drive Like I Do from 2010)

The track that won regular spins on the radio, “Chocolate” is probably the band's most recognizable song. However, “Chocolate” wasn’t new when it won a spot on the 1975’s debut album and Music For Cars EP. Case in point: Watch this performance of “Chocolate” from 2010 when the band was under Drive Like I Do. If you scroll down to comments from five years ago, you’ll find people saying, “It's a shame the band have split up now,” while others reassure that they have simply changed their name to Big Sleep.

4. “Ghosts” (as B I G S L E E P)

While it’s hard to define what name the band was using for many of the 1975’s old videos, “Ghosts” makes it easy for us by stamping a large B I G S L E E P at the end of the clip. A song that unfortunately didn’t carry over to the 1975 era, “Ghosts” is a rhythmic, catchy tune that frequently finds its way onto fans' playlists. Does the setting of the video look familiar? It should—it’s the same backdrop for the band’s EP version of “Sex,” in their old practice space.

5. “Milk” (live as the 1975 from early 2013)

The 1975 released their debut album (which would eventually top the U.K.’s charts) in September 2013. Prior, they released three EPs, Facedown, Sex and Music For Cars. You can listen to those songs at the end of their debut album on Spotify, after “Is There Somebody Who Can Watch You.” One of those tracks, “Milk,” is hidden at the end of “You.” While it’s not incredibly hard to find the band performing the hidden track live recently, here’s a video from early 2013. (Could you imagine seeing them perform to a crowd that small today?)