Nazareth are a Scottish hard-rock band from Dunfermline, formed in 1968 with Dan McCafferty, Manny Charlton, Pete Agnew, and Darrell Sweet. On their first two albums, Nazareth and Exercises, they established a four-piece attack built on blunt riffs, hard backbeats, and McCafferty’s rasp. Roger Glover produced the run from Razamanaz through Rampant and locked in […]
Iceberg was a Spanish symphonic/jazz-rock band that released the 1975 album Tutankhamon on Bocaccio Records. After the departure of singer Ángel Riba, the remaining quartet released the 1976–78 instrumental albums Coses Nostres, Sentiments, and Arc-en-ciel, plus the live disc En Directe. Guitarist Max Sunyer came from Tapiman and launched a solo career while still a member. […]
Captain Beefheart was the performance moniker of Don Van Vliet (Jan. 15, 1941 — Dec. 17, 2010), an American musician, singer, poet, songwriter, and painter from Glendale, California. Between 1967 and 1982, he released eleven albums with the Magic Band, a revolving-door avant-blues vehicle. Beefheart’s music fused Delta blues, free jazz, garage rock, and Dadaist […]
Deniece Williams is an American soul singer and songwriter with a musical career that dates back to the early 1970s. Between 1976 and 1984, she released seven albums on Columbia/CBS. Distinguished by her high-octave quiver, she scored international hits with “Free,” “It’s Gonna Take a Miracle,” and “Let’s Hear It for the Boy.” Background Williams […]
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 […]
Quiet Sun was an English jazz-rock band from London, initially active circa 1970/71 and briefly reactivated in 1975 by guitarist Phil Manzanera during a break from his main act, Roxy Music. Their singular album, Mainstream, appeared that year on Island/Antilles. Drummer/vocalist Charles Hayward subsequently formed the experimental trio This Heat and later headed Camberwell Now. […]
Roy Ayers (1940–2025) was an American vibraphonist, composer, and producer who debuted with the 1963 UA release West Coast Vibes. Amid backing credits with Herbie Mann, Ayers cut the 1967–69 Atlantic albums Virgo Vibes, Stoned Soul Picnic, and Daddy Bug. In 1969/70, the Roy Ayers Quartet (with Sonny Sharrock and Miroslav Vitous) cut two albums […]
La Máquina de Hacer Pájaros were an Argentine symphonic/jazz-rock band that released two albums in 1976 and 1977 on Microfón. They were the post-Sui Generis vehicle for musician Charly García, who simultaneously directed the one-off folk ensemble PorSuiGieco. Like contemporaries Invisible, La Máquina de Hacer Pájaros were a supergroup on the Buenos Aires scene. In addition […]
The Impressions were an American soul group from Chicago that launched the careers of Jerry Butler, Curtis Mayfield, and Leroy Hutson. Formed in 1958, the Impressions cut five local Butler-led singles. Mayfield emerged as a singer, songwriter, and arranger on their 1961–65 hits “Gypsy Woman,” “It’s All Right,” “Keep On Pushing,” and “People Get Ready.” […]
Syreeta Wright (1946–2004) was an American R&B singer who began as a backing vocalist at Motown, where she met and married Stevie Wonder. They co-wrote his 1970 hit “Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I’m Yours)” and his 1971 album Where I’m Coming From. He produced her 1972–74 Motown/MoWest albums Syreeta and Stevie Wonder Presents: Syreeta. Between 1977 […]
Mahogany Rush was a Québécois hard-rock trio led by guitarist–singer Frank Marino, a Hendrix-inspired virtuoso akin to Robin Trower. They released the 1973–75 albums Maxoom, Child of the Novelty, and Strange Universe on Kot’ai (20th Century stateside), followed by the 1976–80 Columbia albums IV, World Anthem, Tales of the Unexpected, and What’s Next. Members: Frank […]
Trapeze was an English hard-rock band that released three albums on Threshold between 1970 and 1972. After the departure of bassist/singer Glenn Hughes for Deep Purple, guitarist Mel Galley led Trapeze for two albums on Warner in 1974/75 and a final on Aura in 1978. Galley later worked with Cozy Powell and Whitesnake and re-teamed […]
Rainbow was an English hard-rock band formed by guitarist Ritchie Blackmore following his initial exit from Deep Purple in 1974. The band released two albums and a live double-LP on Polydor-subsidiary Oyster between 1975 and 1977, followed by five further studio albums on the parent label between 1978 and 1983. Blackmore was the one constant […]
Heldon was a French avant-garde/electronic band that released three albums in 1974/75 on Disjuncta, followed by four further titles (1976–79) on Urus, Cobra, and Egg. Concurrently, mastermind Richard Pinhas made synth-based solo albums. Heldon’s sound combined elements of free-psych Krautrock and the Berlin School with the looped minimalism of Brian Eno‘s work with Robert Fripp. […]
Ruphus was a Norwegian symphonic/jazz-rock band that released six albums between 1973 and 1979 on Polydor and Brain. Singer Gudny Aspaas led the original lineup on New Born Day, comprised of post-psych Nordic heavy rock. Her replacement, Rune Østdahl, traded leads with male vocalist Rune Sundby on their 1974 album Ranshart, a polished symphonic-rock effort. […]
Little Feat are an American rustic funk-rock band from Los Angeles that released seven studio albums and a live double-LP on Warner Bros. between 1971 and 1979. Guitarist–bandleader Lowell George hailed from the Mothers of Invention. After his death in 1979, a revised lineup of Little Feat issued sporadic albums and toured constantly during the […]
Hiroko Taniyama — 谷山浩子 (born Aug. 29, 1956) — is a Japanese singer/songwriter from Yokohama, Kanagawa, who debuted with an album on King Records in 1972, followed by 14 albums on the Aard-Vark and Canyon labels between 1977 and 1990. Background Hiroko Taniyama was born in Tokyo on August 29, 1956, and grew up in […]
U.K. was an English symphonic-rock supergroup that released a self-titled album on Polydor as a four-piece in 1978, followed by the album Danger Money under a revised trio lineup in 1979. The original quartet featured the established talents of bassist/vocalist John Wetton (Mogul Thrash, King Crimson, Uriah Heep), guitarist Allan Holdsworth (Tempest, Soft Machine), keyboardist/violist […]
Metro was an English symphonic/art-pop combo that was active through two iterations between 1976 and 1980. In its initial trio formation with veteran singer/songwriter Duncan Browne, the band released a classic self-titled album in late 1976. After his departure, two further albums appeared circa 1979/80 from a revised five-piece lineup. Musically, Metro wed the quasi-symphonic […]
Yumi Matsutoya — 松任谷由実 (born Jan. 19, 1954) — is a Japanese art-pop singer/songwriter who released thirty albums between 1973 and 2004 on Express. Her first two albums appeared under her birth name Yumi Arai (荒井由実), after which she adopted the moniker Yuming (ユーミン). On most of her post-1976 output, she bears her married surname […]
Secret Oyster was a Danish jazz-rock band that released four albums between 1973 and 1976 on CBS. Formed by alumni of Burnin Red Ivanhoe and Coronarias Dans, the group combined high-level composition with electric fusion instrumentation and toured extensively across Europe. Posthumous archival releases—Striptease and Mermaid—preserve their work for ballet and later live projects. Members: […]
Marlena Shaw (1939–2024) was an American soul singer who recorded two albums and assorted singles for Cadet during the late 1960s, culminating with the popular 1969 release The Spice of Life. Between 1972 and 1976, she released five albums on Blue Note, followed by three 1977–79 titles on Columbia. In the 1980s and ’90s, she […]
Robin Trower (born March 9, 1945) is an English rock/blues guitarist with a musical career that dates back to the early 1960s. He first rose to prominence as a member of Procol Harum, with whom he played from 1967 to 1971. He made his solo debut with the 1973 release Twice Removed from Yesterday and […]
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 […]
Bill Withers (1938–2020) was an American soul singer/songwriter, best known for the 1971/72 AM evergreens “Ain’t No Sunshine” and “Lean On Me” and the 1981 AC ballad “Just the Two of Us,” a duet with Grover Washington Jr. Background He was born William Harrison Withers, Jr. on July 4, 1938, in Slab Fork, West Virginia; […]
Le Orme are an Italian symphonic-rock band from Marghera, Veneto, formed in 1966. The band released a string of pop-psych singles during 1968 and 1969, culminating with a debut album on the Car Juke Box label. Between 1971 and 1980, the band released nine albums and a live disc on Philips, followed by an eleventh […]
Journey are an American rock band from San Francisco, formed around former Santana members Neal Schon and Gregg Rolie. They explored spacey hard-rock and jazz-fusion instrumentals on their first three Columbia albums, released between 1975 and 1977 before the arrival of Steve Perry. The Perry/Rolie lineup gained radio traction with the 1978–80 albums Infinity, Evolution, […]
Olivia Newton-John (Sept. 26, 1948 – Aug. 8, 2022) was an English-born Australian singer, actress, and entrepreneur whose multifaceted career spanned more than five decades. She began performing as a teenager in Melbourne and rose to international prominence in the early 1970s with a run of country-pop hits, including “If Not for You,” “Let Me […]
Billy Cobham (born May 16, 1944) is a Panamanian-American jazz-rock drummer who played in the bands Dreams, the Mahavishnu Orchestra, and Atmospheres during the early 1970s. Starting with his 1973 solo debut Spectrum, Cobham released eight albums on Atlantic and four on Columbia through 1979, including a live release in partnership with George Duke. He […]
Granada was a Spanish symphonic/flamenco-rock band that released the 1975–78 Movieplay albums Hablo de Una Tierra, España, año 75, and Valle del Pas. Members: Carlos Cárcamo (flute, violin, piano, Mellotron, harpsichord, acoustic guitar, vocals, percussion), Juan Bona (drums, percussion, backing vocals, ?-1976), Antonio García Oteyza (bass, ?-1976), Michael Vorteflich (guitar, ?-1975), Javier Monforte (guitar, 1975-76), […]
Chase was an American brass-rock band from Las Vegas that made the 1971–74 albums Chase, Ennea, and Pure Music on Epic Records. They ended in August 1974 when four members perished in the crash of their tour plane. Members: Bill Chase (trumpet), Ted Piercefield (trumpet, vocals, 1970-74), Alan Ware (trumpet, 1970-74), Jerry Van Blair (trumpet, […]
Montrose was an American hard-rock band that released the 1973–74 albums Montrose and Paper Money with original singer Sammy Hagar, a future solo star and Van Halen frontman. His replacement, Bob James, fronted the 1975–76 Montrose albums Warner Bros. Presents Montrose! and Jump on It. Their namesake guitarist, Ronnie Montrose, cut solo instrumentals and spearheaded […]
Heart are an American hard-rock band from Seattle that debuted with the popular album Dreamboat Annie on Canadian small-press Mushroom in 1975, followed by five studio albums on the CBS imprints Portrait and Epic between 1977 and 1983. In 1985, the band issued a self-titled album on Capitol that spawned a new round of success […]
Fireballet was an American symphonic/art-rock band from New Jersey that made the 1975/76 albums Night on Bald Mountain and Two, Too on Passport Records. Multi-instrumentalist and composer Jim Cuomo hailed from Spoils of War and Mormos and later played in the multi-national jazz-funk group Pacific Eardrum. Cuomo and guitarist Ryche Chlanda partook in the 1977 […]
The Sons of Champlin were an American brass-rock-soul band from San Francisco, formed in 1965 by namesake vocalist, guitarist, keyboardist, and songwriter Bill Champlin. Originally a teen R&B combo called the Opposite Six, the group took shape as the Sons of Champlin in the wake of the British Invasion, blending soul, jazz, and rock elements […]
Labelle was an American soul-funk trio best known for their 1974 hit “Lady Marmalade.” The three women — Patti LaBelle, Nona Hendryx, and Sarah Dash — first grouped in The Blue Belles, a 1960s Motown-style quartet. Labelle collaborated with Laura Nyro on the Columbia release Gonna Take a Miracle and made the 1971–72 Warner albums […]
Chaka Khan (born March 23, 1953) is an American soul singer who first emerged as the featured vocalist of Chicago funksters Rufus. She fronted the band on a string of 1970s hits, including “Tell Me Something Good,” “Sweet Thing,” and “Ain’t Nobody,” before launching a solo career in 1978 with Chaka and its crossover anthem […]
The Commodores were an American soul-funk band from Tuskegee that released eleven studio albums (1974–1985) on Motown. Musically, the Commodores evolved from the hard funk of their early R&B singles “Machine Gun,” “Slippery When Wet,” and “Brick House,” to the ballads of keyboardist/singer Lionel Richie, who wrote their Billboard Top 5 hits “Sweet Love,” “Easy,” […]
Arti & Mestieri was an Italian jazz-rock band that released the 1974/75 albums Tilt (Immagini per un Orecchio) and Giro di Valzer per Domani. After a four-year pause, they issued three further albums between 1979 and 1985. Along with Area and Perigeo, they were Italy’s most prominent jazz-rock band of the 1970s. Drummer Furio Chirico […]
Loleatta Holloway (1946–2011) was an American soul singer from Chicago who made the 1973–75 albums Loleatta and Cry to Me on the Atlanta-based Aware Records. She made four subsequent albums (1976–80) on Gold Mind/Salsoul and scored R&B/dance hits with “Hit and Run,” “Love Sensation,” “I May Not Be There When You Want Me (But I’m […]
Clearlight was a French space-rock ensemble that released the 1975 Virgin albums Clearlight Symphony and Forever Blowing Bubbles. Group mastermind Cyrille Verdeaux also co-led the soundtrack project Delired Cameleon Family and continued Clearlight with the 1976–78 albums Les Contes du Singe Fou and Visions. Members: Cyrille Verdeaux (piano, keyboards) Background Cyrille Verdeaux was born in […]
Magazine was an English rock band led by original Buzzcocks frontman Howard Devoto. They debuted with the 1978 Virgin single “Shot by Both Sides,” followed by the albums Real Life, Secondhand Daylight, and The Correct Use of Soap. The band’s instrumentalists — guitarist John McGeoch, bassist Barry Adamson, and keyboardist Dave Formula — were also […]
Gary Moore (April 4, 1952 — Feb. 6, 2011) was an Irish blues-rock/hard-rock/jazz-rock guitarist with a musical career that spanned more than 40 years. He first emerged as a member of the Limerick rock combo Granny’s Intention, which issued the album Honest Injun on Deram in 1969. This was followed by two albums with blues-rockers […]
Roy Harper (born June 12, 1941) is an English folk-rock singer/songwriter and guitarist from Rusholme, Greater Manchester, who released an album apiece on Strike, CBS, and Liberty, followed by a run of nine studio albums between 1970 and 1980 on Harvest. The subsequent decades yielded further albums on EMI, Science Fiction, and Awareness Records. His […]
Thelma Houston is an American soul singer who emerged with a pair of 1966/67 Capitol singles, followed by the 1969 ABC release Sunshower, produced by Jimmy Webb. In 1972, she cut a self-titled album on MoWest. After multiple stop-gap singles, she fronted the jazz-funk big band Pressure Cooker on the 1975 Sheffield Lab title I’ve […]
Landscape was an English electronic band that released the 1977–78 jazz-rock EPs U2XME1X2MUCH and Worker’s Playtime, followed by the 1979–82 RCA albums Landscape, From the Tea-rooms of Mars… to the Hell-holes of Uranus, and Manhattan Boogie Woogie. Between their first two albums, they evolved from instrumental fusion to comedic electro–pop. From the Tea-rooms of Mars… […]
UFO was an English hard-rock band from Enfield, Middlesex, that released two albums on Beacon in 1970 and 1971, followed by a live album on Decca. Between 1974 and 1985, the band released ten studio albums and a live double-LP on Chrysalis. The early lineup featured vocalist Phil Mogg, guitarist Mick Bolton, bassist Pete Way, […]
Ryuichi Sakamoto — 坂本龍一 (January 17, 1952 – March 28, 2023) — was a Japanese musician and composer who rose to international prominence in the electro-pop trio Yellow Magic Orchestra. YMO released nine albums between 1978 and 1984, of which four reached No. 1 in Japan. Their Japanese chart hits include “Technopolis” (No. 9, 1979) […]
Lenny White is an American jazz-rock drummer who emerged behind Miles Davis (Bitches Brew) and Freddie Hubbard (Red Clay). After guesting on Santana‘s Caravanserai, he cut two albums with Latin-rockers Azteca. White joined bassist Stanley Clarke in keyboardist Chick Corea‘s Return to Forever for the 1973 release Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy. With guitarist Al […]
The Doobie Brothers were an American rock band that released nine albums between 1971 and 1980 on Warner Bros. Their first five albums feature guitarist/singer Tom Johnston, who led a hard-rocking sequence of lineups, augmented from 1974-onward by Steely Dan guitarist Jeff “Skunk” Baxter. During this phase, they scored hits with “Listen to the Music,” […]
Mona Lisa was a French symphonic-rock band that released the 1974/75 Arcane albums L’escapade and Grimaces, followed by the 1976–79 Crypto titles Le petit violon de Mr. Grégoire, Avant qu’il ne soit trop tard, and Vers demain. Members: Christian Gallas (guitar, violin), Jean-Luc Martin (bass), Jean-Paul Pierson (keyboards, guitar, backing vocals), Francis Poulet (drums, percussion, […]
Sadao Watanabe — 渡辺貞夫 (born Feb. 1, 1933) — is a Japanese saxophonist and flutist who emerged as a bandleader in the early 1960s, releasing his first album in 1961 on King Records. During the 1970s, he released more than 25 albums in solo and collaborative form on CBS, East Wind, and other labels. Background […]
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 […]
Melba Moore (born Oct. 29, 1945) is an American R&B singer and actress who got her start in showbiz as part of the off-Broadway cast in the musical Hair in 1967. She released two albums and a live disc on Mercury between 1970 and 1972, followed by four albums on Buddah and three on Epic […]
The Doctors of Madness were an English post-psych, proto-punk band that released three albums on Polydor: Late Night Movies, All Night Brainstorms, Figments of Emancipation (both 1976), and Sons of Survival (1978). Historically, the Doctors are a missing link between the avant-garde fringe of symphonic/space-rock (Van der Graaf Generator, Curved Air, Hawkwind), the theatrical side […]
Morse Code was a Québécois symphonic/art-rock band that released two albums as Morse Code Transmission on RCA Victor circa 1971/72 before shortening the nameplate for a three-album run on Capitol between 1975 and 1977. A fourth album appeared on Aquarius in 1983. Members: Christian Simard (keyboards, vocals), Jocelyn Julien (guitar), Daniel Lemay (guitars, flute), Raymond […]
Hermann Szobel (born 1958) is an Austrian keyboardist, composer, and arranger who was briefly active on the New York jazz-rock scene during the mid-1970s. In 1976 at age 18, he released the album Szobel on Arista. He disappeared from the music world soon after, but his album has since gained cult status in the 21st […]
Michał Urbaniak (1943–2025) was a Polish violinist, saxophonist, and composer who first recorded with The Jazz Rockers, a Warsaw post-bop quintet. He debuted as a bandleader with two albums in 1971/72 on Spiegelei. In 1973, he moved stateside and made numerous jazz-funk albums, many with his then-wife, singer Urszula Dudziak. Early Career Urbaniak was born […]
Taeko Ohnuki — 大貫妙子 (Nov. 28, 1953) — is a Japanese art-pop vocalist and songwriter who fronted the band Sugar Babe during the mid 1970s. As a solo artist, she released two albums on Panama in 1976 and 1977, followed by four albums on RCA between 1978 and 1982. In 1983, she released her first […]
Cockney Rebel was an English rock band fronted by Steve Harley. They released the 1973/74 albums The Human Menagerie and The Psychomodo and scored UK/European hits with “Judy Teen” and “Mr. Soft.” Their sound combined music hall, folk, and lavish orchestral pop. After the original band’s breakup, Harley retained drummer Stuart Elliott for the second […]
Atoll was a French symphonic/space-rock band that released the 1974 Eurodisc album Musiciens-Magiciens. With the addition of ex-Komintern violinist Richard Aubert, they released L’araignée-mal in 1975. After further lineup changes, they issued the 1977–79 albums Tertio and Rock Puzzle. Their music is often compared to countrymen Ange and Mona Lisa. Members: Jean-Luc Thillot (bass, 12-string […]
Diana Ross (born March 26, 1944) is an American singer from Detroit who began her solo career in 1970 after serving as lead vocalist of The Supremes. Her self-titled debut album that year included the #1 hit “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough”. She followed with further #1 singles such as “Touch Me in the Morning” […]
City Boy was an English art-rock sextet from Birmingham that released seven albums on Vertigo between 1976 and 1981. The band was noted for its theatrical stage shows and harmonized, multisectional material. Their first five albums were produced by Robert John “Mutt” Lange, who developed his later-famous surround-sound techniques while working with the band. Members: […]
Slade was an English hard-rock and pop band from Wolverhampton that scored sixteen UK Top 10 hits between 1971 and 1984. They evolved from beatsters The N’ Betweens and signed with Fontana for one 1969 album as Ambrose Slade. In 1970, they met ex-Animal (and Hendrix manager) Chas Chandler, who refashioned them as skinheads under […]
Brand X was an English jazz-rock unit active between 1976 and 1980, driven by the fluid interplay of bassist Percy Jones and drummer Phil Collins. Their five studio albums—Unorthodox Behaviour, Moroccan Roll, Masques, Product, and Do They Hurt?—chart a progression from intricate instrumentals to tight ensemble work with occasional vocals. Guitarist John Goodsall anchored the […]
Ian Dury (May 12, 1942 — March 27, 2000) was an English singer, lyricist, and bandleader who emerged in the R&B band Kilburn and the High Roads, which released one album on Dawn/Pye in 1975. As a solo artist, he debuted with the 1977 single “Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll,” followed by the […]
The Eleventh House was an American jazz-funk-rock supergroup led by guitarist Larry Coryell. They issued a self-titled album in 1974 on Vanguard, followed by the 1975–1976 Arista albums Level One and Aspects. Noted participants included drummer Alphonse Mouzon, keyboardist Mike Mandel, and trumpeters Randy Brecker and Terumasa Hino. Members: Larry Coryell (guitar), Randy Brecker (trumpet, […]
America is a rustic folk–pop combo, formed in 1968 in Watford, England, by American musicians Dewey Bunnell, Gerry Beckley, and Dan Peek, the sons of U.S. Air Force personnel stationed in the UK. They rose to fame in the early 1970s with the transatlantic chart-topper “A Horse with No Name,” followed by a string of […]
Schicke Führs Fröhling (SFF) were a German symphonic-rock band that released three albums on Brain between 1976 and 1979. After the departure of drummer/percussionist Eduard Schicke, the remaining two continued as Führs & Fröhling. Members: Eduard Schicke (drums, percussion, Moog, metallophone, xylophone), Gerd Führs (grand piano, electric piano, Moog, clavinet, Mellotron, ARP Solina string ensemble, […]
Música Urbana was a Spanish jazz-rock band that released the 1976–78 albums Música Urbana and Iberia. Members: Joan Albert Amargós (keyboards, winds), Salvador Font (drums), Carles Benavent (bass), Lluís Cabanach (guitar, 1976-78), Enric Herrera (keyboards, 1976), Emili Baleriola (guitar, 1976), Lucky Guri (keyboards, 1976-78), Jordi Bonell (guitar, 1978-79), Matthew Simon (trumpet, flugelhorn, 1978-79), Jaume Cortadellas […]
Evelyn “Champagne” King is an American soul-funk singer who released eight albums between 1977 and 1985 on RCA Victor. She emerged with Smooth Talk (1977), which featured the gold-certified hit “Shame” produced by Theodore Life. She reached new heights in the early 1980s working with Kashif on I’m in Love (1981) and Get Loose (1982), […]
Utopia was an American maximalist-rock band that released six studio albums and a live disc on Bearsville between 1974 and 1982, followed by three further albums on Network and Passport. The band was formed by musician/producer Todd Rundgren and initially featured a six man lineup, as heard on Todd Rundgren’s Utopia (1974). By the time […]
Ambrosia is an American rock band that released the 1975–76 20th Century albums Ambrosia and Somewhere I’ve Never Travelled, followed by the 1978–82 Warner albums Life Beyond L.A., One Eighty, and Road Island. Their style evolved from symphonic art-rock to West Coast blue-eyed soul. Ambrosia’s chart hits include “Holdin’ on to Yesterday,” and the soft-rock […]
The Shirts were an American new wave band from New York that emerged on the mid-Seventies Bowery scene. They appeared in the NY punk film The Blank Generation and landed three songs on the 1976 scene document Live at CBGB’s. Between 1978 and 1980, they released three albums: The Shirts, Street Light Shine, and Inner […]
Al Di Meola is an American guitarist who emerged in the jazz-rock supergroup Return to Forever, playing on the 1974–76 albums Where Have I Known You Before, No Mystery, and Romantic Warrior. As a solo artist, he’s issued more than 40 albums, starting with the 1976/77 Columbia titles Land of the Midnight Sun and Elegant […]
Stanley Clarke is an American jazz-funk bassist who gained prominence in the supergroup Return to Forever. Amid numerous backing credits, Clarke made his solo debut with the 1973 Polydor release Children of Forever. On Nemperor, he cut the 1974–79 albums Stanley Clarke, Journey to Love, School Days, Modern Man, and I Wanna Play for You. […]
Happy the Man is an American symphonic-rock band that released the 1977–78 Arista albums Happy the Man and Craft Hands, both comprised of lavish, intricate pieces (mostly instrumental). Their near-completed 1979 third album appeared posthumously in 1983 as 3rd – “Better Late…” Keyboardist Ken Watkins joined Camel for their 1979 album I Can See Your […]
Phyllis Hyman (July 6, 1949 — June 30, 1995) was an American soul singer who released two albums on Buddah in 1977 and 1978, four albums on Arista between 1979 and 1983, and a trio of titles on Philadelphia International Records between 1986 and 1995. Background She was born Phyllis Linda Hyman on July 6, […]
Lonnie Liston Smith is an American jazz-funk keyboardist, composer, arranger, and band-leader who has been musically active since the early 1960s. His early career included stints with Max Roach, Roland Kirk, Pharoah Sanders, and Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. Following an early ’70s gig with Gato Barbieri, Smith formed the Cosmic Echoes, a spiritual jazz-funk-soul ensemble […]
Steve Hackett is an English classical/rock guitarist with a career in music that dates back to 1970. He rose to prominence as a member of Genesis between 1971 and 1977, during which time he played on six of the band’s studio albums: Nursery Cryme, Foxtrot, Selling England by the Pound, The Lamb Lies Down on […]
Goblin are an Italian symphonic and experimental rock group that evolved out of Cherry Five. They gained prominence in 1975 with their breakout score to Profondo Rosso, the first in a series of film collaborations with horror director Dario Argento. Between 1975 and 1983, they released three proper studio albums and scored more than ten […]
