The Canterbury scene is a subgenre of, or sibling to, progressive rock. The term describes a loosely defined style of music created by a number of improvisational musicians, some of whom were based in the city of Canterbury, Kent, England during the late 1960s and early 1970s.
June 1, 1974 is a live album of songs performed at the Rainbow Theatre in London on the titular date. The album is officially attributed to Kevin Ayers, John Cale, Brian Eno and Nico, although other well-known musicians, including Mike Oldfield, Robert Wyatt and Ollie Halsall, also contributed to the concert.
Ommadawn is the third studio album by English musician, songwriter, and producer Mike Oldfield, released on 28 October 1975 on Virgin Records. It peaked at No. 4 on the UK Albums Chart. The album was reissued by Mercury Records in June 2010 with additional content. A sequel album, titled Return to Ommadawn, was released on 20 January 2017.
Platinum is the fifth record album by Mike Oldfield, released in 1979 on Virgin Records. It was Oldfield's first album to include shorter songs and music written by others. A modified version of the album was released in the United States and Canada and titled Airborn.
QE2 is the sixth record album by Mike Oldfield, released in 1980 on Virgin Records. The album was named after the ocean liner Queen Elizabeth 2.
Islands is the 11th album by Mike Oldfield, released in 1987 by Virgin. Guest singers on the album are Bonnie Tyler, Kevin Ayers, Anita Hegerland, and Jim Price. A different track list and cover was used for the American edition.
The Orchestral Tubular Bells is an orchestral version of Mike Oldfield's album Tubular Bells, arranged by David Bedford and recorded in 1974 by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, featuring Oldfield himself playing the guitar. Excerpts from the album were featured in the 1979 NASA film, The Space Movie. It peaked at #17 on the UK Albums Chart in 1975.
Joy of a Toy is the debut solo album of Kevin Ayers, a founding member of Soft Machine. Its whimsical and singular vision provides hints of how Soft Machine might have progressed had Ayers remained in the band. He is accompanied on the LP by pianist and arranger David Bedford as well as his erstwhile Soft Machine colleagues Robert Wyatt and Mike Ratledge, and his eventual replacement Hugh Hopper, who had previously worked with him in the semi-pro band Wilde Flowers. Among the session musicians are cellist and arranger Paul Buckmaster, jazz bassist Jeff Clyne, oboist Paul Minns and drummer Rob Tait.
"Don Alfonso" is the second UK single by musician Mike Oldfield, released in 1975. Side 1 has an additional credit: "featuring David Bedford on vocals". This is a comic novelty song from the early 20th century, sung by a boasting, bogus toreador, who seems to know very little about bullfighting.
Shooting at the Moon is the second solo album of Kevin Ayers, on Harvest Records. David Ross Smith of AllMusic writes:
A snapshot of the era, the album is saturated with original ideas, experimentation, and lunacy, all powered by the bottled grape.
Whatevershebringswesing is the third solo album by Kevin Ayers, on Harvest Records.
Bananamour is the fourth studio album by Kevin Ayers and it featured some of his most accessible recordings, including "Shouting in a Bucket Blues" and his whimsical tribute to Syd Barrett, "Oh! Wot A Dream". After Whatevershebringswesing, Ayers assembled a new band anchored by drummer Eddie Sparrow and bassist Archie Legget and employed a more direct lyricism. The centrepiece of the album is 'Decadence', his withering portrait of Nico: "Watch her out there on display / Dancing in her sleepy way / While all her visions start to play / On the icicles of our decay / And all along the desert shore / She wanders further evermore / The only thing that's left to try / She says to live I have to die." The song was later covered by the Australian psychedelic rock band The Church on their 1999 album A Box of Birds.
Yes We Have No Mañanas is the seventh studio album by Kevin Ayers, released in June 1976. This LP marked Kevin Ayers' return to the leftfield Harvest label. Producer Muff Winwood employed a straightforward pop production that clipped some of Ayers’ usual eccentricities from the tapes.
Falling Up is the thirteenth studio album by Kevin Ayers, released on Virgin Records in 1988.
"Butterfly Dance" was the second Kevin Ayers single. It was an exclusive release that did not appear on the contemporaneous album Shooting at the Moon. The flip side was a French-language version of the Ayers’ classic ‘May I?’.
"Stranger in Blue Suede Shoes" was a Kevin Ayers single release. The song taken from his classic 1971 album Whatevershebringswesing. It would be re-released as a single in 1976 when Ayers re-signed to Harvest Records. The B-side, 'Stars' was a non album track that would be later included on the 1976 compilation Odd Ditties.
