IQ - JazzRockSoul.com

IQ are an English symphonic-rock band that released the 1983 album Tales From the Lush Attic on The Major Record Company, followed by 1985’s The Wake on Sahara Records. After their 1986 single “Intelligence Quotient,” IQ released the 1987–89 Mercury albums Nomzamo and Are You Sitting Comfortably? Their 1993 comeback album Ever sparked a thirty-year run on Giant Electric Pea.

Members: Mike Holmes (guitar), Peter Nicholls (vocals, 1981-86, 1991-present), Tim Esau (bass, 1981-89, 2011-present), Mark Ridout (drums, 1981-82), Paul Cook (drums, 1982-2005, 2009-present), Martin Orford (keyboards, 1981-2007), Paul Menel (vocals, 1986-89), Les Marshall (bass, 1989-91), John Jowitt (bass, 1991-2011), Andy Edwards (drums, 2005-09), Mark Westworth (keyboards, 2007-10), Neil Durant (keyboards, 2011-present)

Formation

IQ formed in Southampton from the remnants of a band called The Lens, which featured guitarist Mike Holmes and keyboardist Martin Orford. In 1979, The Lens cut an eight-song promo demo titled No TV Tonite.

In 1981, Holmes and Orford formed IQ as a trio with bassist Tim Esau. By 1982, singer Peter Nicholls and drummer Paul Cook entered the fold. They gigged the southeast club circuit and recorded their first set of demos.

Seven Stories Into Eight

In 1982, IQ self-released the cassette album Seven Stories Into Eight, a collection of eight demos.

The cassette collects eight demo recordings made between 1981 and 1982. Two drummers appear across the eight tracks: Mark Ridout on tracks 1, 3, and 4, and Paul Cook on the remaining five. Peter Nicholls sings lead on tracks 6 through 8; Martin Orford takes lead vocals on tracks 3 and 5. The lineup is completed by Mike Holmes on acoustic, electric, and twelve-string guitars; Tim Esau on bass; and Orford on keyboards. The cassette was sold at gigs and by mail order. A reworked version, Seven Stories Into ’98, was released as a studio album in 1998.

“Capital Letters (In Surgical Spirit Land)” opens the cassette at just under four minutes. “About Lake Five” extends to five minutes, with keyboard and guitar exchanging the melodic lead. “Intelligence Quotient” is the longest track on the first half at nearly seven minutes, with Orford on lead vocals and a shifting harmonic structure through its middle section. “For Christ’s Sake (Live)” is the only live recording on the cassette, running just over five minutes. “Barbell Is In” returns to the studio format with Orford again on lead vocals, running five-and-a-half minutes. “Fascination,””For the Taking,” and “It All Stops Here” make up the closing trio with Nicholls on lead vocals; “It All Stops Here” is the longest track at just under seven minutes and closes the cassette with a wide, sustained arrangement.

A1. “Capital Letters (In Surgical Spirit Land)” (3:46) — IQ
A2. “About Lake Five” (5:02) — IQ
A3. “Intelligence Quotient” (6:55) — IQ
A4. “For Christ’s Sake (Live)” (5:05) — IQ

B1. “Barbell Is In” (5:32) — IQ
B2. “Fascination” (5:56) — IQ
B3. “For the Taking” (4:17) — IQ
B4. “It All Stops Here” (6:58) — IQ

Seven Stories Into Eight was produced by IQ. Recording dates spanned 1981 to 1982.

Tales From the Lush Attic

IQ released their first proper album, Tales From the Lush Attic, on September 15, 1983, on The Major Record Company.

The album was recorded over four days in August 1983 and produced by the band. All five tracks are credited to IQ. The lineup is Peter Nicholls on vocals, Mike Holmes on acoustic, electric, and twelve-string guitars, Martin Orford on keyboards, Tim Esau on bass, and Paul Cook on drums and percussion. In the manner of some classic progressive rock albums, Tales From the Lush Attic places one long piece across nearly all of side one with shorter pieces making up side two. A 2006 Giant Electric Pea reissue added a bonus track, “Just Changing Hands,” listed at 5:12 but running 10:18, with a hidden instrumental at the end. A 2013 thirtieth-anniversary edition added previously unreleased demo material.

“The Last Human Gateway” opens the album and fills almost all of side one at just under twenty minutes. It opens on a keyboard figure before the full band enters, moves through a series of contrasting sections — including passages driven by guitar alongside quieter, more atmospheric stretches — and builds to a wide, sustained conclusion. “Through the Corridors” closes side one at just over two-and-a-half minutes, melodic and compact relative to the opener.

“Awake and Nervous” opens side two at nearly eight minutes, sustaining a forward-moving pace with prominent keyboard figures and shifting time signatures throughout. “My Baby Treats Me Right ‘Cos I’m A Hard Lovin’ Man All Night Long” is a solo piano piece running under two minutes. “The Enemy Smacks” closes the album at nearly fourteen minutes, moving through several contrasting sections including hard-driving instrumental passages and quieter, more atmospheric stretches, with guitar and keyboards exchanging the melodic lead in the longer instrumental sequences.

A1. “The Last Human Gateway” (19:57) — IQ
A2. “Through the Corridors” (2:35) — IQ

B1. “Awake and Nervous” (7:45) — IQ
B2. “My Baby Treats Me Right ‘Cos I’m A Hard Lovin’ Man All Night Long” (1:45) — IQ
B3. “The Enemy Smacks” (13:49) — IQ

Tales From the Lush Attic was recorded at Flame Studios, London, from August 2 to 5, 1983. The album was arranged and produced by IQ and engineered and mixed by Mel Simpson.

The Wake

IQ released their second album, The Wake, in June 1985 on Sahara Records.

The album is a concept record following a recently deceased protagonist through the stages of his passage from physical existence into an uncertain afterlife. All tracks are written by Mike Holmes, Martin Orford, Peter Nicholls, Tim Esau, and Paul Cook. The lineup is Nicholls on vocals and tambourine, Holmes on guitars, Orford on synthesizer, organ, Mellotron, and flute with backing vocals, Esau on bass with backing vocals, and Cook on drums and percussion. The cover art was designed by Nicholls; the central figure is based on Canadian actress Rae Dawn Chong in the film Quest for Fire (1981). The original cassette and CD editions included an additional track, “Dans le parc du chateau noir,” at 7:35. A 1994 Giant Electric Pea reissue added two demo tracks. The Wake is the only IQ album to reach the UK Albums Chart, peaking at number 72 for one week. Nicholls left the band following the autumn 1985 tour with Wishbone Ash.

“Outer Limits” opens the album at over eight minutes, establishing the protagonist’s disorientation on the threshold between life and death, with a prominent synthesizer solo in the middle section and a hard-driving close. “The Wake” follows at just over four minutes, compact and forceful, with a repeated central figure. “The Magic Roundabout” runs over eight minutes, with a clean guitar-and-fretless-bass passage in the middle section providing a quieter, more atmospheric contrast to the harder opening and closing. “Corners” sustains a slower, more meditative character at over six minutes, with sitar providing an unusual textural element; the track uses programmed drums.

“Widow’s Peak” opens side two at just over nine minutes and moves through the most varied structural range on the album — opening in a quiet, atmospheric frame before driving into harder, louder sections and then returning to a wide, sustained close with flute and guitar prominent. “The Thousand Days” runs just over five minutes with layered guitar and a more open, melodic character throughout. “Headlong” closes the album at seven-and-a-half minutes, building from a quieter opening through several sections to a wide, full-band conclusion.

A1. “Outer Limits” (8:14) — Holmes, Orford, Nicholls, Esau, Cook
A2. “The Wake” (4:12) — Holmes, Orford, Nicholls, Esau, Cook
A3. “The Magic Roundabout” (8:19) — Holmes, Orford, Nicholls, Esau, Cook
A4. “Corners” (6:21) — Holmes, Orford, Nicholls, Esau, Cook

B1. “Widow’s Peak” (9:13) — Holmes, Orford, Nicholls, Esau, Cook
B2. “The Thousand Days” (5:12) — Holmes, Orford, Nicholls, Esau, Cook
B3. “Headlong” (7:30) — Holmes, Orford, Nicholls, Esau, Cook

Original cassette/CD bonus track:
“Dans le parc du chateau noir” (7:35) — Holmes, Orford, Nicholls, Esau, Cook

The Wake was recorded at Falconer Studios, London, from March to April 1985. The album was produced by Mike Holmes and Tim Esau; Harun Coombes engineered the sessions.

Sahara Records issued “Corners” b/w “The Thousand Days” as a single in 1985.

After their autumn 1985 tour with Wishbone Ash, Nicholls left IQ.

Nine in a Pond Is Here (bootleg)

IQ released Nine in a Pond Is Here as an official bootleg double vinyl album in 1985, sold at gigs and by mail order.

The release was put out to give audiences a chance to hear new vocalist Paul Menel, who had replaced Peter Nicholls, and to raise funds for the band. Three of the four sides contain rehearsal recordings with Menel made in October 1985 in Kingston-on-Thames. The fourth side collects humorous and instrumental material, some of it predating all IQ releases including Seven Stories Into Eight, drawn partly from material originally on Mike Holmes’s Bake Me Beauty cassette. The lineup on the rehearsal sides is Menel on vocals, Holmes on guitar, Orford on keyboards, Esau on bass, and Cook on drums. In 1991 an unauthorised vinyl version appeared under the title Live Revelation; shortly after, MSI issued a CD that omitted side four and added a picture disc variant. The CD was not authorised by the band.

The rehearsal sides open with “It All Stops Here” and “Fascination” — both from Seven Stories Into Eight — before moving to “Intelligence Quotient” and then the full “The Last Human Gateway.” The The Wake material on side three opens with “Awake and Nervous” and “Outer Limits” before the title track “The Wake.””Glenn Miller Medley” closes the third side. Side four contains seven shorter pieces and instrumentals.

A1. “It All Stops Here” — IQ
A2. “Fascination” — IQ
A3. “Intelligence Quotient” — IQ

B1. “The Last Human Gateway” — IQ

C1. “Awake and Nervous” — IQ
C2. “Outer Limits” — IQ
C3. “The Wake” — IQ
C4. “Glenn Miller Medley”

D1. “Flak”
D2. “The Story of Cow and the Grocery Boys”

D3. “Lost Horizon”
D4. “Robo II”
D5. “Funk Is in My Brain”
D6. “Stomach of Animal”
D7. “Sno It Pe Crep (Truth)”

Recorded in October 1985 in Kingston-on-Thames during rehearsals for the autumn tour. The engineer is credited as Nigel on the release.

“Intelligence Quotient” / “It All Stops Here”

In 1986, IQ released the standalone single “Intelligence Quotient” backed with “It All Stops Here” on a shaped picture disc.

Both tracks are previously unreleased studio recordings. The single features Paul Menel on vocals, Holmes on guitar, Orford on keyboards, Esau on bass, and Cook on drums. The sleeve note reads: “These previously unreleased tracks were recorded at the request of our fans for our fans.””Intelligence Quotient” runs 7:34; “It All Stops Here” runs 7:42.

A. “Intelligence Quotient” (7:34) — IQ

B. “It All Stops Here” (7:42) — IQ

Both tracks were recorded at Rockfield Studios. The single was produced by IQ; the engineer is credited as Edit Ted.

Nomzamo

IQ released their third album, Nomzamo, in May 1987 on Vertigo (UK), Metronome (Germany), and Mercury–Squawk (US, Netherlands).

The first IQ album recorded without Peter Nicholls, Nomzamo features Paul Menel on lead and backing vocals; all lyrics are written by Menel, with all music composed by IQ. The remaining lineup is Holmes on electric and acoustic guitars and guitar synthesizer, Orford on keyboards with backing vocals, Esau on bass, bass pedals, and rhythm guitar on “Passing Strangers” with backing vocals, and Cook on drums and percussion. Additional musicians include Micky Groome on backing vocals, Ray Carless on saxophone, and Jules O’Kine on vocal duet on the bonus track “Colourflow.” The original cassette included “Colourflow” as a bonus track; the original CD added a piano and vocal version of “No Love Lost.” A 1994 Giant Electric Pea reissue added a live version of “Common Ground.” The album title takes its name from a township in the Western Cape of South Africa; the title track addresses apartheid.

“No Love Lost” opens the album at just over six minutes, the band sustaining a steady pace with synthesizer and guitar prominent in the verses. “Promises (As the Years Go By)” runs just under five minutes with a more open, melodic character. “Nomzamo” is the longest track on side one at just over seven minutes; it opens with percussion in a sparse texture before the full band enters, moving through quieter and harder passages in the second half. “Still Life” closes side one at just under six minutes, with fretless bass and saxophone prominent in the slower, more atmospheric sections.

“Passing Strangers” opens side two at just under four minutes, built around a lighter, more rhythmically direct arrangement with electronic drums and rhythm guitar from Esau. “Human Nature” is the album’s longest track at just under ten minutes, moving through a wide structural range — including extended keyboard and guitar passages and several shifts in tempo and intensity — before a forceful close. “Screaming” runs just over four minutes. “Common Ground” closes the album at seven minutes, opening quietly with acoustic guitar and building through several sections to a full-band conclusion with a sustained guitar solo.

A1. “No Love Lost” (6:03) — IQ / Menel
A2. “Promises (As the Years Go By)” (4:34) — IQ / Menel
A3. “Nomzamo” (7:01) — IQ / Menel
A4. “Still Life” (5:58) — IQ / Menel

B1. “Passing Strangers” (3:48) — IQ / Menel
B2. “Human Nature” (9:42) — IQ / Menel
B3. “Screaming” (4:07) — IQ / Menel
B4. “Common Ground” (7:00) — IQ / Menel

Cassette bonus track:
“Colourflow” (5:27) — IQ / Menel

CD bonus tracks:
“Colourflow” (5:27) — IQ / Menel
“No Love Lost” (piano/vocal version) (4:12) — IQ / Menel

Nomzamo was recorded at Chipping Norton Recording Studios, Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, from January to February 1987. It was produced by Ken Thomas. Barry Hammond engineered the sessions at Chipping Norton; Gerard Johnson engineered additional sessions at Music Works Recording Studio, Kingston, Jamaica.

Squawk Records issued “Passing Strangers” as a single in May 1987. Squawk Records issued “Promises (As the Years Go By)” as a single in August 1987.

Are You Sitting Comfortably?

IQ released their fourth album, Are You Sitting Comfortably?, in 1989 on Mercury.

The second and final IQ album with Paul Menel on lead vocals, Are You Sitting Comfortably? credits all music to Holmes, Orford, Cook, Menel, and Esau; lyrics on tracks A2 through B4 are by Menel, with “War Heroes” credited to Orford and Menel. The lineup is Menel on vocals, tambourine, and backing vocals; Holmes on guitars and guitar synthesizer; Orford on keyboards, saxophone, and flute with backing vocals; Esau on bass, bass pedals, and backing vocals; and Cook on drums and percussion. Noel McCalla contributes some backing vocals. The album was mixed at Roundhouse Studios and mastered at Masterdisk by Bob Ludwig. Following the album’s commercial failure, IQ lost their major label contract; Menel and Esau both departed.

“War Heroes” opens the album at just over six minutes, moving through a slow-building verse before a harder, more forceful central passage and a return to a wider, orchestrated close. “Drive On” runs just under five minutes with a direct, uptempo character and synthesizer prominent throughout. “Nostalgia” is a short instrumental at two-and-a-half minutes, drawing on keyboard textures and a steady pulse before fading. “Falling Apart at the Seams” extends to nearly eight minutes, the longest track on side one, moving through several structural shifts with extended keyboard passages and guitar solo sections in the second half.

“Sold on You” opens side two at just under five minutes, melodic and direct. “Through My Fingers” runs five-and-a-half minutes. “Wurensh” is the album’s longest track at just over nine-and-a-half minutes, moving through a wide range of sections — including quieter, atmospheric stretches and harder, louder passages with prominent guitar and keyboard solos — in the manner of the band’s earlier extended pieces. “Nothing at All” closes the album at just under five minutes.

A1. “War Heroes” (6:26) — Orford, Menel / Holmes, Orford, Cook, Menel, Esau
A2. “Drive On” (4:55) — Menel / Holmes, Orford, Cook, Menel, Esau
A3. “Nostalgia” (2:22) — Holmes, Orford, Cook, Menel, Esau
A4. “Falling Apart at the Seams” (7:47) — Menel / Holmes, Orford, Cook, Menel, Esau

B1. “Sold on You” (4:38) — Menel / Holmes, Orford, Cook, Menel, Esau
B2. “Through My Fingers” (5:33) — Menel / Holmes, Orford, Cook, Menel, Esau
B3. “Wurensh” (9:38) — Menel / Holmes, Orford, Cook, Menel, Esau
B4. “Nothing at All” (4:42) — Menel / Holmes, Orford, Cook, Menel, Esau

Are You Sitting Comfortably? was recorded at Jacobs Studios. It was produced by Terry Brown. Simon Osbourne was the recording engineer; Trevor Hallesy handled mixing at Roundhouse Studios.

Discography: