Brothers Larry Cassidy (bass, vocals) and Vincent Cassidy (drums) formed Section 25 in Poulton-le-Fylde near Blackpool, Lancashire, in November 1977. Guitarist Phil Denton joined the band in 1978 but was replaced within a few months by Paul Wiggin. The Cassidy brothers promoted a charity gig at Blackpool Imperial Hotel in June 1979. Section 25 headlined the gig with other local bands, including Tunnelvision, in support. Factory Records acts Joy Division and Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark were also on the bill. Joy Division’s manager Rob Gretton invited Section 25 to play the Factory night at the Russell Club, Manchester. Shortly afterwards, Section 25 began releasing material through Factory Records. Their debut single Girls Don’t Count was released on Factory Records in July 1980, and their debut album Always Now appeared the following year. The sleeve design for the album, by Peter Saville in response to a brief from Larry Cassidy, was among the most expensive and elaborate in the label's history. The band toured extensively in the UK and Europe between 1979 and 1981. As well as their own headline gigs, Section 25 also appeared with other Factory Records artists, including Joy Division, A Certain Ratio, Blurt, The Durutti Column, Crispy Ambulance and New Order. Wiggin left the band in September 1981, thanks to his fear of flying preventing him from joining the band’s planned North American tour. Factory Records parner Tony Wilson attempted to recruit a then-unknown guitarist called Johnny Marr as a replacement, without success. The band continued as a duo, with John Grice on percussion for live performances. They trialled the use of backing tapes on a European tour with Factory labelmates Crispy Ambulance in January 1982, before undertaking their first North American tour. Percussionist Lee Shallcross, and vocalists and keyboard players Angela Flowers (sister of Larry and Vincent Cassidy) and Jenny Ross (Larry Cassidy’s wife) joined the band, and Section 25 developed an electronic-dance sound. The five-piece toured North America in January 1985 in support of their album From the Hip. Later the same year Shallcross, Flowers and Vincent Cassidy left the band, leaving husband-and-wife team Larry Cassidy and Jenny Ross to complete a fourth album, Love & Hate. This was eventually released by Factory in 1988. Between 1988 and 2001, Section 25 ceased to be active, although record label LTM reissued their entire back catalogue on CD. In 2001 the band regrouped and started composing new material. Sadly Jenny Ross died in 2004, after a long fight with cancer. Former Tunnelvision guitarist Ian Butterworth and bass player Roger Wikeley joined the Cassidy brothers in around 2005. Section 25 performed its first live show in nearly two decades at their hometown Poulton-Le-Fylde in May 2006. A new studio album followed in April 2007 and the band toured with former New Order bass player Peter Hook in 2008. Stephen Stringer replaced Wikeley in 2008. Butterworth left at the end of the same year, prompting Stringer to move from bass to guitar, with Section 25’s sound engineer Stuart Hill joining on bass. Bethany Cassidy, daughter of Larry Cassidy and Jenny Ross, joined the band on vocals and keyboards. Another album followed in 2009 and work began on the band’s 7th album, Retrofit. When founder member Larry Cassidy died in 2010, the album was released posthumously. The band, made up of Vincent Cassidy, Bethany Cassidy, Stringer and Hill, decided to continue to perform after Larry Cassidy’s death and released two more albums, in 2013 and 2018.