Elmer Gantry’s Velvet Opera was an English psych-rock band that released multiple singles and a 1968 self-titled album on Direction. After Gantry’s departure, singer/guitarist Paul Brett led them on the 1969 release Ride a Hustler’s Dream. The rhythm section joined the Strawbs and later recorded as Hudson–Ford. Gantry surfaced in funk-rockers Stretch. Members: Colin Forster […]
The Battered Ornaments were an English jazz-rock/psych band that released two albums on Harvest in 1969, the first with singer/poet Pete Brown, who later cut two albums with Piblokto! He also wrote lyrics for Jack Bruce during and after Cream. The Ornaments also included guitarist Chris Spedding, who fronted the band after Brown’s departure. Pete […]
The Surprise Sisters were an Australian vocal group that first recorded as The Cliffmores. After moving to the UK, they changed their name and issued multiple singles and a 1976 self-titled album, charting with the Andy Fairweather Low cover “La Booga Rooga.” Members: Ellen Sutcliffe, Linda Sutcliffe, Patricia Sutcliffe, Susan Sutcliffe The Surprise Sisters comprised […]
New Love Ltd was an American soul trio that sang on the 1978 album So Much to Talk About (Tudo Bem), recorded in São Paulo with funk sextet Interstate 95 and released on Brazilian small-press Giant Records. Two of the singers partook in the subsequent Ingram offshoot Philly Cream. Members: Robert Dunston (Jamil Ali Faraqan), […]
Blind Faith was an English rock band that released a self-titled album on Atco in 1969. The band are noted as one of rock’s first supergroups due to the high-profile backgrounds of its four members: vocalist–keyboardist Steve Winwood (Spencer Davis Group, Traffic), guitarist Eric Clapton (Yardbirds, John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, Cream), drummer Ginger Baker (Graham Bond […]
Emerson, Lake & Palmer — alternately known by the acronym ELP — were an English symphonic-rock trio that released three studio albums and a live classical recording on Island (UK) and Cotillion (US) between 1970 and 1972. In 1973, the band established Manticore Records for original releases and albums by like-minded artists. As one of […]
Argent was an English art-rock band that released six studio albums and a live double-LP on Epic between 1970 and 1975, followed by a seventh on RCA. They were the namesake of ex-Zombies keyboardist Rod Argent. On their first five albums, Argent was a four-piece with singer/guitarist Russ Ballard, who found success outside the band […]
Capability Brown was an English harmony-rock band that released two albums on Charisma in 1972 and 1973. Half the band continued in the funk-rock combo Krazy Kat. Members: Tony Ferguson (guitar, vocals), Dave Nevin (keyboards, guitar), Kenny Rowe (bass, vocals), Grahame White (guitar, vocals), Joe Williams (vocals), Roger Willis (drums, vocals) Background Capability Brown evolved […]
Babe Ruth was an English hard-rock/soul band that released three albums on Harvest between 1972 and 1975, followed by a further pair of titles on Capitol during the mid-1970s. Members: Jenne Haan (vocals, 1970-75), Alan Shacklock (guitar, keyboards, 1970-75), Dave Hewitt (bass, 1970-75), Jeff Allen (drums, 1970-71), Dave Punshon (keyboards, 1971-73), Dick Powell (drums, 1971-73), […]
Steely Dan was an American jazz-rock/pop band that released six studio albums on ABC between 1972 and 1977, followed by an eighth on MCA in 1980. After a 20-year break in recording, they issued two discs of new material during the early 2000s. Debuting as a six-piece, the lineup trimmed by 1975 to the duo […]
Goliath was an English jazz-rock/soul band from Manchester that released a self-titled album on CBS in 1970. Members: Linda Rothwell (vocals), Malcolm Grundy (guitar), Joseph Rosbotham (woodwinds), John Williamson (bass), Eric Eastman (drums, percussion) Background Goliath evolved from the unrecorded Mancunian act Petrus Booncamp, which featured guitarist/bassist John Williamson and singers Linda Rothwell and Roy […]
Energy was a Swedish jazz-rock band that released a self-titled album on Harvest in 1974. Members: Alvaro Is (piano, electric piano, organ), Amedeo Nicoletti (guitar), Björn Inge (drums), Bosse Norlén (bass), Luis Agudo (percussion) Energy fused when ex-November drummer Björn Inge teamed with three aspiring musicians: guitarist Amedeo Nicoletti, bassist Bosse Norlén, and Spanish-born keyboardist […]
Dice was a Swedish symphonic-rock band that released a self-titled album on Marilla in 1978. In 1992, the band’s lost 1977 album Four Riders of the Apocalypse was issued by Belle Antique. Members: Leif Larsson (keyboards), Fredrik Vildö (bass), Robert Holmin (vocals, saxophone), Örian Strandberg (guitar), Per Andersson (drums) Dice germinated from a friendship between […]
Atlas was a Swedish symphonic-rock band that issued the album Blå Vardag on Bellatrix in 1979. Four-fifths of the band released a second album as Mosaik. Members: Björn Ekborn (organ, piano, clavinet, synthesizer, Mellotron), Erik Björn Nielsen (organ, piano, synthesizer, Mellotron, electric piano), Janne Persson (guitar, percussion), Micke Pinotti (drums), Ulf Hedlund (bass, bass pedals) […]
Anna Själv Tredje were a Swedish electronic duo that released the popular album Tussilago Fanfara on the Silence label in 1977. Keyboardist Ingemar Ljungström subsequently headed the space-rock/coldwave combos Cosmic Overdose and Twice a Man. Members: Ingemar Ljungström [aka Karl Gasleben] (keyboards), Mikael Bojén (keyboards, guitar) Anna Själv Tredje centered on the musical partnership of […]
Ablution was a Swedish jazz-rock band that released a self-titled album in 1974 on CBS. Four of its members played in the earlier one-off Baltik. The band also included two-thirds of English hard-rockers Quatermass. Members: Barry de Souza (drums, trumpet), Björn J:son Lindh (flute, piano), Janne Schaffer (guitar), John Gustafson (bass), Malando Gassama (percussion), Ola […]
Nebulosa was a Swedish symphonic/hard-rock/folk band that issued a self-titled album on Park Studio in 1977. Members: Bengt Skarin (drums), Lennart Usterud (bass), Roger Pontare [aka Roger Johansson] (vocals), Thomas Fransén (guitar), Thomas Kacsó (keyboards) Nebulosa pooled the talents of Hungarian keyboardist Thomas Kacso and four Swedish musicians, including bassist Lennart Usterud, who played on […]
Epidermis was a German symphonic/art-rock band that released the album Genius of Original Force on Kerston in 1977. Two further albums appeared between 1982 and 1990. Members: Michael Kurz (keyboards, vocals), Rolf Lonz (guitar, vocals), Reiner Neeb (drums, vocals), Wolfgang Wünsche (bass, vocals) Epidermis hailed from Wiesbaden, Hessen, with members who’d played together as early […]
Cravinkel was a German blues-rock/pop band that released two albums and a standalone single on Philips in 1970 and 1971. Members: Gert Krawinkel (guitar, percussion), Rolf Kaiser (vocals, bass), George B. Haupt (drums), Klaus George Meier (guitar, vocals, percussion), Achim Brierley (drums) Cravinkel formed in 1969 Wilhelmshaven, their name spun from the surname of guitarist […]
Chameleon were a German jazz-rock band that released a self-titled album on Blubber Lips in 1979. Members: Knut Rössler (tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone, flute, lyricon), Joachim Essig (piano, synthesizer, ARP Solina string ensemble), Roland Herbe (bass, piccolo), Ralph Dietze (drums) Chameleon assembled near Mannheim in the late 1970s. Saxophonist Knut Rössler hailed from Night Sun. […]
