The Tubes

The Tubes were an American rock band from San Francisco that gained notoriety for their edgy stage antics and role-play numbers. They released the 1975–79 A&M studio albums The Tubes, Young and Rich, Now, and Remote Control, then moved to Capitol for the 1981–83 albums The Completion Backward Principle and Outside Inside. Their popular songs […]

George Benson

George Benson (March 22, 1943) is an American jazz-funk guitarist and singer from Pittsburgh. He recorded small-group jazz and orchestrated CTI albums before a run of vocal-led Warner Bros. releases. Benson first recorded as a child and joined organist Jack McDuff, then debuted as a bandleader in 1964 on Prestige. Between 1976 and 1983, Benson […]

Yma Sumac

Yma Sumac (September 13, 1922 – November 1, 2008) was a Peruvian vocalist and performer who was popular with international audiences during the 1950s. Distinguished by her outlandish getups and expressionistic five-octave range, she recorded a string of albums in the mambo/exotica vein, most notably the Les Baxter-conducted Legend of the Sun Virgin (1952) and […]

Yusef Lateef

Yusef Lateef (October 9, 1920 — December 23, 2013) was an American reedist and composer with a six-decade jazz career. After early stints behind Dizzy Gillespie and Donald Byrd, Lateef launched his bandleader career with the 1957 Savoy Records release Jazz for the Thinker. He followed with albums such as Jazz Mood and Prayer to […]

Grover Washington Jr.

Grover Washington Jr. (Dec. 12, 1943 — Dec. 17, 1999) was an American jazz-funk and soul-jazz saxophonist who released 10 albums on Kudo between 1971 and 1977, followed by multiple titles on Motown, Elektra, and Columbia during the next two decades. Background Washington was born on December 12, 1943, to a musical family in Buffalo, […]

Allan Holdsworth

Allan Holdsworth (Aug. 6, 1946 — April 16, 2017) was an English guitarist from Bradford, West Yorkshire, who emerged in the jazz-psych band ‘Igginbottom in the late 1960s. During the 1970s, his profile rose with stints in Nucleus, Tempest, Gong, Soft Machine, UK, and Bruford. As a solo artist, he released the album Velvet Darkness […]

Hugh Masekela

Hugh Masekela (April 4, 1939 — Jan. 23, 2018) was a South African trumpeter, flugelhornist, cornetist, singer, composer, and bandleader from Witbank, Mpumalanga. His recordings joined South African song forms with jazz, soul, and electronic production across six decades. The Philemon Hou instrumental “Grazing in the Grass” became a U.S. No. 1 single. Background Hugh […]

Association P.C.

Association P.C. was a Dutch/German avant-garde jazz-rock ensemble that released five albums between 1970 and 1974 on the MPS, Munich, and Corona labels. Members: Pierre Courbois (drums, percussion), Toto Blanke (guitar, ring modulator, nagoya harp), Jasper van’t Hof (electric piano, 1969-73), Peter Krijnen (bass, 1969-70), Sigi Busch (bass, 1970-75), Heiner Wiberny (tenor saxophone, basset horn, […]

Woody Shaw

Woody Shaw (December 24, 1944 — May 10, 1989) was an American trumpeter and composer. He recorded as a leader from 1970 to 1987, issuing albums for Contemporary, Muse, and Columbia, including Blackstone Legacy, Rosewood, and Stepping Stones. His sideman work spanned sessions with Eric Dolphy, Horace Silver, Larry Young, McCoy Tyner, and Dexter Gordon. […]

Ekseption

Ekseption was a Dutch classical/jazz-rock band from Haarlem, Noord-Holland, originally formed in 1958 as The Jokers. Between 1969 and 1976, they released nine albums on Philips. Members: Hans Alta (bass, 1958-68), Rein van den Broek (flugelhorn, trumpet, 1958-78), Tim Griek (drums, 1958-68), Huib van Kampen (guitar, saxophone, 1958-69), Rob Kruisman (flute, guitar, saxophone, vocals, 1967-69), […]

Mike Batt

Mike Batt (Feb. 6, 1949) is an English composer and arranger from Southampton who conducted a string of instrumental/interpretive recordings with his namesake orchestra for DJM Silverline between 1970 and 1972. In 1973, he masterminded the first of six releases by the costumed studio act The Wombles, a musical vehicle for the namesake children’s television […]

Don Covay

Don Covay (March 24, 1938 — Jan. 31, 2015) was an American soul singer who recorded nine studio albums between Mercy! and Adlib. His catalog includes “Pony Time” and “Mercy, Mercy,” followed by “See Saw” and “I Was Checkin’ Out She Was Checkin’ In.” Solomon Burke and Wilson Pickett recorded Covay songs; Aretha Franklin and […]

Houston Person

Houston Person (born Nov. 10, 1934) is an American post-bop/jazz-funk tenor saxophonist and record producer from Florence, SC. His catalog runs from Prestige to HighNote, alongside work as Etta Jones’s accompanist and producer. Background Person grew up in Florence, where his mother played piano and started him on lessons. He took up tenor saxophone at […]

Peggy’s Leg

Peggy’s Leg was an Irish symphonic-folk band that was active for three years during the early 1970s. The band released one album, Grinilla, in 1973 on their self-ran Bunch label. A non-album single followed in 1974. The final lineup of the band included original Thin Lizzy guitarist Eric Bell. Members: Jimi Slevin (guitar, vocals, 1972-74), […]

Panthéon

Panthéon was a Dutch jazz-rock band that released a standalone single on Philips and the album Orion on Vertigo, both in 1972. Members: Ruud Wouterson (vocals, keyboards), Hans Boer (saxophone, harmonica, vocals), Rob Verhoeven (drums), Albert Veldkamp (bass), John Schut (guitar), Jan Slijkhuis (drums), Guus Swerissen (bass) Background Panthéon formed in Arnhem in 1971 as […]

YU Grupa

YU Grupa was a Yugoslav hard-rock band from Beograd, Serbia, that released five albums and ten singles between 1973 and 1979 on Jugoton. Further titles followed from 1987 onward. Members: Dragi Jelić (vocals, guitar), Žika Jelić (bass, vocals), Miodrag Okrugić [Mive] (organ, 1970-71), Velibor Bogdanović [Boka] (drums, 1970-72, 1987-89), Miodrag-Bata Kostić (guitar, 1971-72, 1973-75, 1978-92), […]

Hard Stuff

Hard Stuff was an English hard-rock trio that made the 1972/73 albums Bulletproof and Bolex Dementia on Purple Records. They cut a prior single as Bullet and gigged as Daemon; archival releases from both iterations surfaced in the 21st century. Members: John Du Cann (guitar, vocals), John Gustafson (bass, vocals), Paul Hammond (drums) Background Guitarist […]

The Quick

The Quick was the English synth-funk duo of vocalist Colin Campsie and bassist/keyboardist George McFarlane. The pair released assorted singles and two proper album on Epic between 1979 and 1984, plus a third on A&M in 1986. Their first album, On the Uptake, appeared Down Under in 1981 to capitalize on the Australian success of […]

Freeez

Freeez was an English electro-funk band that debuted with the 1980 Pink Rythm album Southern Freeez. They scored a Top 2 UK hit with “I.O.U.” from their 1983 release Gonna Get You, followed by the 1985 Beggars Banquet title Idle Vice. Members: John Rocca (vocals, percussion), Andy Stennett (keyboards), Peter Mass (bass), Paul Morgan (drums), Gordon […]

Trickster

Trickster was an English rock band that released the album Find the Lady on Jet in 1977, followed by Back to Zero in 1979. Members: Phil Bates (vocals, guitar), Colin Hewinson (piano, keyboards, vocals), Mike Sheppard (bass, guitar, vocals), Paul Elliot (drums, percussion), Mike Groth (vocals, bass), John Fincham (bass) Background Trickster appeared in 1976 […]

Skywhale

Skywhale was an English jazz-rock band from Bristol that released the 1977 album The World at Mind’s End on Firebrand Records. Members: Steve Robshaw (guitar, violin, synthesizer), Stan Thewils (flute, tenor saxophone), Paul Todd (soprano saxophone, flute, penny whistle), Dougall Airmole (bass), Mick Avery (drums, percussion), Gwyo Ze Pix (keyboards, synthesizer), John Schofield (percussion) Background […]

Drama

The Breaks and Drama were sequential American rock bands led by Memphis musicians Pat Taylor and Susanne Jerome Taylor. RCA issued the self-titled Breaks album in 1983, then the couple reorganized as Drama for the 1985 album Scene from a Distance, noted for its hi-tech lead track “Paralyze.” Members: Suzanne Jerome Taylor (vocals), Pat Taylor […]

Jack Ashford

Jack Ashford (born May 18, 1934) is an American jazz-funk percussionist, vibraphonist, songwriter, arranger, and producer from Philadelphia. He joined the Funk Brothers house band at Motown in 1963 and supplied tambourine, vibraphone, marimba, bells, and auxiliary percussion across recordings from the Detroit studio. Ashford also co-founded Pied Piper Productions, operated Just Productions, released the […]

Wazmo Nariz

Wazmo Nariz is an American new wave singer and bandleader from Chicago, noted for the I.R.S. compilation tracks “Lips” and “Checking Out the Checkout Girl.” He made two 1978/79 indie shortplayers, followed by the 1979–81 albums Things Aren’t Right and Tell Me How to Live. Members: Wazmo Nariz [Larry Grennan] (vocals), Jeff Hill (guitar), James […]

The Bonaparte’s

The Bonaparte’s were a French post-punk band that issued the 1985 mini-album Shiny Battles and the 1986 full-length Welcome to the Isle of Dogs. Guitarist–singer Ruben Azca formed the group with former Baroque Bordello rhythm partners Gilles Bourgues and Gilles Pradinas; saxophonist Laszlo Kovacks completed the quartet. Members: Ruben Azca (vocals, guitar), Gilles Bourgues aka […]

Begnagrad

Begnagrad was a Yugoslav avant-garde/trad band from Ljubljana, located in modern-day Slovenia. In 1982, the band released a self-titled album on ZKP RTVLJ that was reissued in 1990 as Konzert for a Broken Dance. Material for a proposed earlier album, recorded in 1977, was finally issued as Tastare (Theoldwones) in 1992. Members: Bratko Bibič (accordion, […]

Taka Boom

Taka Boom (born Oct. 8, 1954) is an American soul singer from Chicago and the younger sister of Chaka Khan. Boom emerged as a Parliament backing singer before her 1979 debut album, which landed R&B hits with “Night Dancin’” and “Red Hot.” She resurfaced with the 1983 Mercury album Boomerang and its 1985 followup Middle […]

Lou Bond

Lou Bond — aka Ronald Edward Lewis (1945 — Feb. 1, 2013) — was an American soul singer/songwriter from Chicago who released 1974 a self-titled album on We Produce Records, a division of Stax. Background Lou Bond was born Ronald Edward Lewis in 1945 in Chicago. He grew up in Memphis foster homes and met […]

Cargo

Cargo was a Dutch hard-rock/jam band that released a 1972 self-titled album on Harvest. The band previously recorded as September, issuing three singles under that name on Imperial circa 1970/71. Members: Jan de Hont (guitar), Ad de Hont (guitar), Dennis Witbraat (drums), Willem de Vries (bass, vocals) Background Cargo began as September, an Amsterdam band […]

Kwick

Kwick was an American soul-funk band from Memphis that released two albums on EMI America in 1980 and 1981, followed by a third on Capitol in 1983. Three-fourths of the band had been in the Stax/Volt singles act The Newcomers during the early 1970s. Members: William Summers, Bert Brown, Terry Bartlet, Vince Ricari Williams Background […]

Rose

Rose was a Canadian rock band from Barrie, Ont., that released the folk-pop/harmony album Hooked on a Rose on G.A.S. Records in 1973, followed with the children’s album Earth Air & Water on Young & Rubicam that same year. In 1977, the band released the Polydor hard-rock albums A Taste of Neptune and Judgement Day. […]

Ram

Ram was an American art-rock band from N.Y.C. that released the 1972 Polydor album Where? (In Conclusion). Members: Dennis Carbone (piano, vocals), John Demartino (saxophone, flute, clarinet), Ralph Demartino (guitar, vocals), Michael Rodriguez (bass, vocals), Steeler (drums) Background Ram had assembled a New York City lineup by 1971 with reedist John DeMartino, guitarist-singer Ralph DeMartino, […]

Tasha Thomas

Tasha Thomas (1945 — Nov. 8, 1984) was an American soul singer who released the 1979 album Midnight Rendezvous. Background Thomas was born circa 1945 into a family with a chemist father and a Pentecostal-minister mother. She sang and played organ in her mother’s church, then moved to New York City during the late sixties […]

Travelling

Travelling was a French jazz-rock trio that released the 1973 Futura album Voici la nuit Tombée. Members: Yves Hasselmann (piano, Hammond organ, vocals), Jacques Goure (bass), Roger Gremillot (drums) Background Travelling emerged in Besançon in 1970 from Le Point, a 1969 group with keyboardist and vocalist Yves Hasselmann, bassist Jacques-Edmond Gouré, drummer Daniel Tissot, an […]

Synthesis

Synthesis was a French jazz-rock ensemble that released a 1976 self-titled album on Arc. Members: André Cazalet, André Ceccarelli, Annie Wystraete, Chantal Alexandre, Chantal Curtis, Christian Lété, Didier Lockwood, Francis Cournet, François Jeanneau, Frédérique Gegembach, Guy Khalifa, Hamid Belhocine, Ivan Jullien, Jacques Bolognesi, Kako Bessot, Marc Chantereau, Marc Steckar, Marianne Mille, Paul-Jean Borowsky, Paula Moore, […]

West Coast Revival

The West Coast Revival was an American soul trio from California that cut three early Seventies singles for United Artists, compiled with additional cuts on their 1977 album. Members: Dean Robinson, Luther Rabb, Patrick Taylor Background West Coast Revival formed in Los Angeles by 1971 as a California vocal trio with singers Dean Robinson, Luther […]

The True Reflection

The True Reflection was an American soul group from Washington, DC, that released the 1973 Atco album Where I’m Coming From. Members: Glenn Leonard, Joe Blunt, Bobby Cox, Joey Coleman Background The True Reflection formed by 1972 in Washington, D.C., as a soul vocal quartet with Joe Blunt, Glenn Leonard, Joe Coleman, and Bobby Cox. […]

Susan Phillips

Susan Phillips (December 17, 1946 – September 21, 2022) was an American soul singer who recorded the 1971 All Platinum album Soft Sexy Soul, a limited-edition release excavated in 2017 by Soul Brother Records. Background Susan Fay Phillips was born on December 17, 1946, in Hartsville, South Carolina, to Lorene Phillips and Margaret Phillips. Phillips […]

Sweet Charles

Sweet Charles — aka Charles Emanuel Sherrell (born March 8, 1943) — is an American soul singer from Nashville who released the 1974 album For Sweet People From Sweet Charles. Background Sweet Charles was born Charles Emanuel Sherrell on March 8, 1943, in Nashville, Tennessee. Sherrell started music at school at age eight with trombone, […]

Stu Gardner

Stu Gardner is an American R&B singer, musician, and composer who led the First Cosins Jazz Ensemble. Between 1968 and 1974 he released three solo albums, including one under the psuedonym Big Mouth. Background Stu Gardner was born Stuart Lavert Leonard Gardner and grew up in Richmond, Virginia. At Maggie L. Walker High School, violinist […]

Crosswind

Crosswind was a Japanese symphonic/jazz-rock band that released two eponymous albums on Elbon at the close of the 1970s, followed by the album そして夢の国へ・・・ (Soshite Yume no Kuni e…) on Kitty Records in 1982. Members: Ogawa Ginji (guitar), Endo Keizo (bass), Sugimoto Kiyoshi (drums), Maruo Megumi (keyboards), Kobayashi Kazuo (bass), Soru Toru (drums), Furuki Yoshihiko […]

The Work

The Work was an English avant/art-punk band that issued the single “I Hate America” on self-press Woof Records in 1981, followed by the album Slow Crimes in 1982. A later round of activity yielded the discs Rubber Cage (1989) and See (1992), both again on Woof. Multi-instrumentalist Tim Hodgkinson hailed from 1970s avant/chamber-rockers Henry Cow. […]

Crane

Crane was an American hard-rock recording project built around singer and guitarist Chuck Kirkpatrick, a Criteria Studios engineer who used the Chuck Crane name for a Capitol contract. Capitol issued the 1977 advance single “Oh Dancer” and released the self-titled album Crane in January 1978 on Capitol Records. Members: Chuck Crane (guitar, lead vocals, backing […]

Steel

Steel was an American hard-rock/psych band that released a 1971 self-titled album on Epic. Members: Carl Sims (vocals), Duane Hitchings (organ, piano, keyboard), Roland Robinson (bass, vocals), Steve Busfield (guitar, vocals), Jerry Norris (drums, vocals) Background Steel formed circa 1970 with singer Carl Sims, keyboardist Duane Hitchings, bassist Roland Robinson, guitarist Steve Busfield, and drummer […]

The Leaves

The Leaves were an American garage-rock band that released the 1966 album Hey Joe on Mira, followed by the 1967 Capitol release All the Good That’s Happening. They made the first commercially available version of “Hey Joe,” a non-copyrighted blues and rock standard made famous by Jimi Hendrix. Members: Robert Lee Reiner (guitar), Jim Pons […]

Eric Clapton

Eric Clapton (born March 30, 1945) is an English guitarist, singer, and songwriter who emerged as the original soloist in the R&B/beat combo The Yardbirds. He played on their first two singles and 1964 Five Live Yardbirds LP, then cleared for fellow rising star Jeff Beck. In 1966, Clapton featured on the first album by […]

Godley & Creme

Godley & Creme were an English musical duo and video-production team comprised of multi-instrumentalists Kevin Godley and Lol Creme. They first charted in the comedy-rock act Hotlegs, which morphed into 10cc. After four albums and a string of hits with 10cc, Godley & Creme recorded as a duo, starting with the 1977 triple-album Consequences, a […]

Le Roux

Le Roux was an American southern/hard-rock band from Lafayette, formed in 1978 as Louisiana’s LeRoux. Two albums appeared under the elongated nameplate on Capitol circa 1978/79, followed by three titles under the truncated name between 1980 and 1983. Members: Jeff Pollard (guitar, 1978-81), Rod Roddy (piano), Tony Haselden (guitar), Leon Medica (bass), David Peters (drums), […]

Coalition

Coalition was an American jazz-rock band from upstate New York behind the self-released 1975 album Mindsweepers. Members: Don Goodness (trumpet, flugelhorn), Dennis “Monk” Rowe (saxophone, flute), Patrick Carmody (electric bass, tuba), Stan Gosek (piano), Tom McGrath (drums, percussion), Bill Nicholson (drums, marimba, percussion) Background Coalition formed in August 1974 in Oswego, New York, when pianist […]

Greg Phillinganes

Greg Phillinganes (born May 12, 1956) is an American R&B keyboardist from Detroit who served as a backup musician and occasional co-writer/arranger on albums by a range of TriMax jazz-funk/soul artists, including Harvey Mason, Stevie Wonder, Syreeta, Freda Payne, Lenny Williams, and the combos Sunbear, Arpeggio, and Tribe. As a solo artist, Phillinganes made the […]