National Health was an English avant-jazz/rock band from Canterbury that released a self-titled album on Affinity in 1978, followed that same year by Of Queues and Cures on parent-label Charly. The band featured three-fourths of Hatfield and the North — keyboardist Dave Stewart, guitarist Phil Miller, and drummer Pip Pyle — with a revolving line […]
D.S. Al Coda is the third and final album by English jazz-rock ensemble National Health, released in 1982 Europa. The album consists of material composed by early member Alan Gowan, who passed from leukemia the prior year. Tracklist: A1. “Portrait of a Shrinking Man” (5:35) A2. “TNTFX” (3:11) A3. “Black Hat” (4:52) A4. “I Feel […]
Of Queues and Cures is the second album by English jazz-rock ensemble National Health, released in 1978 on Charly. Tracklist: A1. “The Bryden 2-Step (For Amphibians) Part 1” (8:45) A2. “The Collapso” (6:09) A3. “Squarer for Maud” (11:30) B1. “Dreams Wide Awake” (8:36) B2. “Binoculars” (11:30 — 1:00-5:10-7:44-8:57-11:40) B3. “Phlâkatön” (0:08) B4. “The Bryden 2-Step […]
In Praise of Learning is a collaborative album between English avant-garde/jazz-rock quintet Henry Cow and multinational folk/pop trio Slapp Happy, released in May 1975 on Virgin Records. Musically, the album deviates from the chamber/free-jazz approach of prior Cow efforts with a rockier edge replete with vocals — something lacking from all earlier recordings apart from […]
Desperate Straights is one of two albums by the merged entities of multinational cabaret/pop trio Slapp Happy and English avant-garde/jazz-rockers Henry Cow, released in February 1975 on Virgin. Characterized primarily by the trio’s art-pop style, the album was recorded during the same sessions that produced the more Cow-dominated In Praise of Learning, released the following […]
Henry Cow was an English avant-jazz/rock band from Cambridge that was active under assorted iterations during a 10-year period, starting in 1968. Between 1973 and 1975, the band released four albums on Virgin, including two in partnership with the multinational art-pop trio Slapp Happy. In 1978, the band recorded their fifth and final studio album, […]
Kew. Rhone. is a collaboration LP between English bassist/composer John Greaves and American guitarist/songwriter Peter Blegvad, released in 1977 on Virgin. The duo — joined by upcoming American jazz vocalist Lisa Herman — came together through their mutual involvement in the mid-’70s Henry Cow/Slapp Happy merger. Tracklist: A1. “Good Evening” (0:31) A2. “Twenty-Two Proverbs” (3:56) […]
