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Liar were a UK band formed in 1975. They released two albums, Straight from the Hip and Set the World on Fire and two singles, [1] and toured internationally. A third album was recorded in Los Angeles but never released.
Liar was formed in 1975 in Maidenhead in Berkshire by Dave Taylor formerly of Edison Lighthouse. [2] In 1976, the band came to the attention of Chris Demetriou, a freelance producer and A&R man for Decca Records. Demetriou took the band into Decca's West Hampstead studios, inviting singer/guitarist Paul Travis, with whom he had worked before, to sit in with them to help with song arrangements and also to provide a channel of communication between studio and control room. Following various personnel changes, the line-up for the first album, Straight from the Hip, comprised David Burton (lead vocals and guitar), Dave Taylor (formerly of Catapilla; bass and vocals), Paul Travis (guitar and vocals) and Clive Brooks (previously of Egg and The Groundhogs; drums). Lead guitar was provided on a session basis by Geoff Whitehorn, then working with Crawler, although at the time of the album's release this role had been filled by Steve Mann, subsequently with Lionheart, MSG and Sweet, who completed the final line-up. Keyboards on two tracks were by John (Rabbit) Bundrick.
Following the debut album's release in 1977, the band undertook an initial tour of the UK with Slade, followed by two European tours, covering the Netherlands and Germany. A three-week tour of Hungary, sharing the stage with top Hungarian band Piramis, followed, and the final show of this tour in Budapest had an audience of 35,000. A second album was proposed, with production being handed over to John Alcock, who had previously worked with Thin Lizzy among others. Management was taken up by Del Taylor of Delta Artist Management, who also managed Alexis Korner and Jim Diamond. The new album was recorded at The Who's Ramport Studios in Battersea, London.
Feeling that the band would benefit from signing to a more progressive label, manager Taylor arranged a gig at Hatfield University, to which significant figures from the record industry were invited. As a result, the band left Decca and signed to Albert Grossman's Bearsville Records. [3]
The second album was released in 1978, with a single "Set the World on Fire", and following a promotional visit to the US by Burton and Taylor, the band undertook a tour of Yugoslavia in preparation for a nationwide tour of the United States with American band Styx. The album was initially well received in the US; at one point, it was the third most played album in the Billboard airplay charts behind Bob Dylan's Street Legal and The Who's Who Are You.[ citation needed ] Following heavy airplay, the album entered the album charts, but due to the recording of Styx new album overrunning, Styx cancelled their planned US tour and airplay for Liar's album soon tailed off and the album left the charts.
A decision was then made by Delta and Bearsville for the band to record another album in California. Thus, in late 1978, the band took up temporary residence in Hollywood and recorded a third album at Stevie Wonder's Crystal Studios in Los Angeles, again produced by John Alcock.
Unfortunately Paul Fishkin, (President of Bearsville Records), who had signed Liar, fell out with Bearsville owner Albert Grossman. Liar's contract with Bearsville guaranteed financial touring support but Grossman refused to support a US tour to promote the new album and talks between Liar's management and Bearsville broke down and a release from their contract with Bearsville was agreed.
The band returned to the UK and undertook a successful sell out tour with UFO, culminating in two nights at the then Hammersmith Odeon. There were negotiations for a new record deal with A&M Records and Chrysalis Records but nothing was signed and Liar folded; the Hammersmith Odeon gig on 16 February 1979 becoming their last.
Styx is an American rock band from Chicago that formed in 1972 and is best known for melding hard rock guitar balanced with acoustic guitar, synthesizers mixed with acoustic piano, upbeat tracks with power ballads, and incorporating elements of international musical theatre. The band established itself with a progressive rock sound in the 1970s, and began to incorporate pop rock and soft rock elements in the 1980s.
Bearsville Records was founded in 1970 by Albert Grossman. Artists included Todd Rundgren, Elizabeth Barraclough, Foghat, Halfnelson/Sparks, Bobby Charles, Randy VanWarmer, Paul Butterfield's Better Days, Lazarus, Jesse Winchester, and NRBQ. The label closed in 1984, two years before Grossman's death. Sally Grossman, Albert Grossman’s widow, was running Bearsville Records from 2010 until her death in March 2021, at the age of 81.
Johnny the Fox is the seventh studio album by Irish hard rock band Thin Lizzy, released in 1976. This album was written and recorded while bassist/vocalist Phil Lynott was recovering from a bout of hepatitis that put him off the road halfway through the previous Jailbreak tour. "Don't Believe a Word" was a British hit single. Johnny the Fox was the last Thin Lizzy studio album on which guitarist Brian Robertson featured as a full member of the band, as the personality clashes between him and Lynott resulted in Robertson being sacked, reinstated, and later sacked again.
The Hammersmith Apollo, currently called the Eventim Apollo for sponsorship reasons, and formerly known as the Hammersmith Odeon, is a live entertainment performance venue, originally built as a cinema called the Gaumont Palace. Located in Hammersmith, London, it is an art deco Grade II* listed building.
Lawrence Henry Gowan is a Scottish-Canadian musician, born in Glasgow and raised in Scarborough, Ontario. Gowan has been both a solo artist and lead vocalist and keyboardist of the band Styx since May 1999. His musical style is usually classified in the categories of pop and progressive rock.
Edison Lighthouse are an English pop band, formed in London in 1969. The band was best known for their 1970 hit single "Love Grows " recorded in late 1969.
Utopia was an American rock band formed in 1973 by Todd Rundgren. During its first three years, the group was a progressive rock band with a somewhat fluid membership known as Todd Rundgren's Utopia. Most of the members in this early incarnation also played on Rundgren's solo albums of the period up to 1975. By 1976, the group was known simply as Utopia and featured a stable quartet of Rundgren, Kasim Sulton, Roger Powell and John "Willie" Wilcox. This version of the group gradually abandoned progressive rock for more straightforward rock and pop.
Greatest Hits is a compilation album and primary Greatest Hits album by the American rock band Styx. It was released by A&M Records on August 22, 1995. It contains 16 tracks, 8 of which were Billboard Top 10 Pop Singles, another 4 that were Billboard Top 40 Pop Singles, and 4 that received heavy airplay on FM album oriented rock stations.
Destiny is the ninth studio album by the heavy metal band Saxon released in 1988. It is also the only studio album to feature the rhythm section of drummer Nigel Durham and bassist Paul Johnson on it.
"Liar" is a song by the British rock band Queen, written by the lead singer Freddie Mercury in 1970. The song featured on the band's 1973 debut album Queen. A heavily truncated version of "Liar" was released as a single – backed with "Doing All Right" – in the United States and New Zealand by Elektra Records in February 1974.
Headswim are an English alternative rock band active during the 1990s, best known for their 1997 single "Tourniquet". Band members subsequently went on to projects including BlackCar, Tenebrous Liar and Mew.
Hammersmith Odeon, London '75 is a concert video and the fourth live album by Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band, released in 2006. It is a full-length recording of their performance on November 18, 1975 at the Hammersmith Odeon in London, during their Born to Run tours. It was first released as a DVD on November 14, 2005 as part of the Born to Run 30th Anniversary Edition package, and then several months later on February 28, 2006 released as an audio CD. The album was reissued on vinyl for the first time for Record Store Day on April 22, 2017.
The Chronicle of the Black Sword is the fourteenth studio album by the English space rock group Hawkwind, released in 1985. It spent two weeks on the UK albums chart peaking at #65. The album is based upon the adventures of Elric of Melniboné, a recurring character in the novels of science fiction author Michael Moorcock, a long-standing associate of the group, who contributes lyrics to one track on the album.
The Xenon Codex is the fifteenth studio album by the English space rock group Hawkwind, released in 1988. It spent two weeks on the UK albums chart peaking at #79.
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Another Live is a live album by the progressive rock band Utopia. It was recorded in August 1975 and released in 1975 on Bearsville.
Hawklords were an English music group active between 1978 and 1979. Members were from Hawkwind, who were inactive during that period, and a local Devon group named Ark with the addition of former Pilot keyboardist Steve Swindells.
Clive Colin Brooks was a drummer, best known for his work in the English progressive rock band Egg.
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A Night at the Odeon is a live album by the British rock band Queen. The album is the first official release of the band's Christmas Eve performance at the Hammersmith Odeon in 1975, filmed by the BBC. The show was broadcast on BBC2 and BBC Radio 1, and included one of the first live performances of "Bohemian Rhapsody". It is the band's most popular bootleg.
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