By 1975, a lustrum’s musical magic had merged into a grand meta-compound, as displayed by the eclectic wizardry of everyone from Be-Bop Deluxe, Jeff Beck and Queen to Armageddon, Black Sabbath and Rainbow.
The English template hued pastoral (Deep Fix, Druid, Kestrel, Mandalaband, Strange Days), stroked thunderous (Boxer, Dog Soldier, Mr. Big, Strife, Time), reveled rusty (Decameron, Green Man, Hedgehog Pie, Moonrider, Gay & Terry Woods), plowed raunchy (Ace, Broken Glass, Kursaal Flyers, Stretch, The Winkies), etched whimsical (Casino, Fox, Jet, Kilburn & the High Roads, Nasty Pop) and sliced abstract (Henry Cow, Gilgamesh, Philip Catherine, Quiet Sun, Wavemaker), whilst unitary might decamped for namesake sojourns (Andy Fraser, Chris Squire, Clive John, Danny Kirwan, Howard Werth, Justin Hayward & John Lodge, Phil Manzanera, Steve Hackett, Steve Hillage).
The Yanks were grand (Ambrosia, Angel, Bronin Hogman, Crack the Sky, Fireballet, Head East, Pavlov’s Dog, Strongbow, The Tubes, Zazu) and the brothers groovy (Exit 9, Lonnie Liston Smith, Pleasure, The 3 Pieces), whilst the Antipodes stirred with audacious Aussies (Chetarca, Greg Sneddon, Little River Band, Madden & Harris, Pantha, Sebastian Hardie) and cunning Kiwis (Dragon, Ragnarok, Rockinghorse, Space Waltz, Split Enz, Waves).
Ambition brimmed east of the Andes (Azymuth, Casa das Maquinas, Ney Matogrosso, O Terco, Terreno Baldio, Veludo), oddities sprung from the Orient (Cosmos Factory, Jun Fukamachi, Magical Power Mako, Murasaki, Sadistic Mika Band, Yoshiko Sai) and sensuality stroke the globe (Asha Puthli, Donna Summer, Gwen McCrae, Jane Birkin, Luiza Maria, Maxine Nightingale, Olivia Newton-John, Susan Cadogan, Urszula Dudziak, Vicky Leandros).
Europe reeled a mix of heavy prog and zesty fusion, from Holland (Bonfire, Crypto, Finch, Galaxy-Lin, Scope), France (Atoll, Carpe Diem, Catharsis, Cortex, Transit Express), Germany (Aera, Curt Cress Clan, Hölderlin, Novalis, Release Music Orchestra), Finland (Fantasia, Finnforest, Jupo Group, Tabula Rasa, Uni Sono), Sweden (Avgrunden, Blåkulla, Kaipa, Råg I Ryggen, Soffgruppen) and Belgium (Alain Buro, Banzai, Marc Moulin, Solis Lacus, Womega), while folksters sprouted from each respective land (Fungus, Malicorne, Ougenweide, Piirpauke, Spjärnsvallet, Dullemajik).
Italy balanced woven dynamics (Apoteosi, Citta Frontale, Etna, Maxophone, Nova) with splendid compositions (Angelo Branduardi, Antonello Venditti, Francesco de Gregori, Lucio Dalla, Nada), whilst the boot nudged back at the Balkan Peninsula (Bijelo Dugme, Buldožer, Drugi Nacin, F.F.N., Progresiv TM, Smak).
Spain, meanwhile, freed itself with the glimmering promises of Barcelona Traction, Companyia Elèctrica Dharma, Granada, Goma, Gualberto, Ia Batiste, Iceberg, Jordi Sabates, Lluis Llach and Triana.
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