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Rare Bird | |
---|---|
Origin | England |
Genres | Progressive rock |
Years active | 1969–1975 |
Labels | Charisma, Polydor |
Past members | Steve Gould David Kaffinetti Graham Stansfield a.k.a. Graham Field Mark Ashton |
Rare Bird were an English progressive rock band, formed in 1969. They released five studio albums between 1969 and 1974. In the UK, the organ-based single "Sympathy" reached number 27 in February 1970, selling an estimated one million globally. [1]
The band was formed in December 1969. It featured lead singer and bassist Steve Gould, organist Graham Stansfield, electric pianist David Kaffinetti and drummer Mark Ashton. [1] The first album, released in 1969, was called Rare Bird. Along with Van der Graaf Generator and the Nice, they were one of the first bands signed to Charisma Records, the record label that Tony Stratton Smith had founded. [2]
Rare Bird began when organist Graham Stansfield (a.k.a. Graham Field) placed an advertisement for a pianist in a musical periodical. He received thirty replies and subsequently formed a group called Lunch. He met David Kaffinetti in November 1968, and together they formulated the basic ideas for Rare Bird. In August 1969, they found the ideal rhythm section in Steve Gould, Chris Randall and Mark Ashton. Field and Kaffinetti had originally envisaged that the band would be a four-piece and were looking for a singer/bass player. Gould and Randall, who had both previously been members of the pop-psych band Fruit Machine, applied to the ad as vocals/guitar and bass respectively, and both were taken on. Lunch played a few gigs. It later emerged that the founders of the band were more interested in Gould and convinced him to play bass. Randall was asked to leave the band. Two weeks later, they had signed management and agency contracts, and three weeks later, were in the studio recording their debut album. Before joining Lunch, Randall and Gould had previously written a song called "To the Memory of Two Brave Dogs". Rare Bird included this song in their debut album, renaming it "Iceberg", but Randall received no credit.[ citation needed ]
Their late-1969 non-album single release "Sympathy" reached No. 1 in Italy and in France, sold 500,000 copies in France and is estimated to have sold one million globally. [1] It became their only UK hit single, reaching No. 27 and staying on the chart for 8 weeks. [3]
A cover version of "Sympathy" by the Family Dogg reached No. 1 for two weeks in the Netherlands in May 1970. [4] In 1992, the song returned to the UK chart with a version by Marillion that reached No. 17. [5]
In early 1971, Graham Stansfield left Rare Bird to form a short-lived solo project, the Fields. Later members included Fred Kelly (Nic Potter), Ced Curtis, Paul Holland, and Paul Karas on the Epic Forest album with Andy Curtis and Fred Kelly appearing on the album Somebody's Watching.[ citation needed ]
The band finally split up in 1975. Dave Kaffinetti (credited as David Kaff) played the part of Viv Savage in This Is Spinal Tap (1984). Chris Randall went on to play with Martin Murray and the Honeycombs.[ citation needed ]
Paul Holland had previously been a recording engineer at Southern Music's studio in Denmark Street, London during the time that Fruit Machine recorded songs for release on the Spark Label under the direction of Barry Kingston. He died of cancer in 2010.[ citation needed ]
Bo Hansson was a Swedish musician best known for his four instrumental progressive rock studio albums released throughout the 1970s.
Level 42 are an English jazz-funk band formed on the Isle of Wight in 1979. They had a number of UK and worldwide hits during the 1980s and 1990s.
The Hollies are an English rock and pop band formed in 1962. One of the leading British groups of the 1960s and into the mid-1970s, they are known for their distinctive three-part vocal harmony style. Singer Allan Clarke and rhythm guitarist/singer Graham Nash founded the band as a Merseybeat-type group in Manchester, although some of the band members came from towns further north, in east Lancashire. Nash left the group in 1968 to co-form Crosby, Stills & Nash, though he has reunited with the Hollies on occasion. As well as Clarke and Nash other members have included lead guitarist Tony Hicks, rhythm guitarist Terry Sylvester, bassists Eric Haydock and Bernie Calvert, and drummers Don Rathbone and Bobby Elliott.
Lisa Jane Stansfield is an English singer, songwriter, and actress. Her career began in 1980 when she won the singing competition Search for a Star. After appearances in various television shows and releasing her first singles, Stansfield, along with Ian Devaney and Andy Morris, formed Blue Zone in 1983. The band released several singles and one album, but after the success of Coldcut's "People Hold On" in 1989, on which Stansfield was featured, the focus was placed on her solo career.
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Steve Gould is a British singer and musician who was the lead singer and bassist of the late 1960s to mid 1970s London-based progressive rock band, Rare Bird. They had one hit single titled "Sympathy" which peaked at No. 27 in the UK Singles Chart.
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Van der Graaf Generator are an English progressive rock band, formed in 1967 in Manchester by singer-songwriters Peter Hammill and Chris Judge Smith and the first act signed by Charisma Records. They did not experience much commercial success in the UK, but became popular in Italy during the 1970s. In 2005 the band reformed, and are still musically active with a line-up of Hammill, organist Hugh Banton and drummer Guy Evans.
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David Kaff is a British musician and actor. He was a member of Rare Bird in the 1970s, credited as David Kaffinetti. He played keyboardist Viv Savage in the film This Is Spinal Tap (1984).
Mark Ashton is a British musician, best known as the drummer of the band Rare Bird, known for their single "Sympathy".