Rejecting the abrasive guitars of their punk-era contemporaries in favor of lushly romantic synthesizers, Ultravox emerged as one of the primary influences on the British electro-pop movement of the early '80s.

Formed in London in 1974, the group - originally dubbed Ultravox! - was led by vocalist and keyboardist John Foxx (born Dennis Leigh), whose interest in synths and cutting-edge technology began during his school years. With an initial line-up consisting of bassist Chris Cross, keyboardist/violinist Billy Currie, guitarist Steve Shears, and drummer Warren Cann, their obvious affection for the glam rock sound of David Bowie and Roxy Music brought them little respect from audiences caught up in the growing fervour of punk, but in 1977 Island Records signed the quintet anyway, with Brian Eno agreeing to produce the band's self-titled debut LP.

After scoring a minor U.K. hit with the single "My Sex," Ultravox returned later that year with Ha! Ha! Ha!; sales were minimal, however, and Shears soon exited, replaced by guitarist Robin Simon. A third LP, 1978's Systems of Romance, was recorded in Germany with renowned producer Conrad Plank, but no merchandise or t-shirt maker could generate enough excitement for the album, and it too failed commercially. Island soon dropped the band, at which time both Foxx and Simon quit, the former mounting a solo career and the latter joining Magazine.

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At that point the remaining members of Ultravox tapped singer/guitarist Midge Ure, an alumnus of Silk as well as Glen Matlock's Rich Kids; upon signing to Chrysalis, the new line-up recorded Vienna, scoring a surprise smash hit with the single "Sleepwalk," which reached the number two spot on the U.K. pop charts in 1981 and pushed the LP into the Top Five. The album's title track also fared well, peaking at number two on the charts and remaining there for several weeks.

After 1981's Rage in Eden, Ultravox teamed with legendary producer George Martin for 1983's Quartet; their most successful LP in the otherwise impenetrable American market, it launched the minor hit "Reap the Wild Wind." Upon completing 1984's Lament, Warren Cann left Ultravox to forge a solo career.

The remaining members, after adding Big Country's Mark Brzeicki, resurfaced with U-Vox in 1986 before going their separate ways. Currie and Simon re-formed the band in 1993, adding vocalist Marcus O’Higgins; three years later, they released the lack-luster Ingenuity with Sam Blue on lead vocals. The album marked the group's final studio release. 

This information is provided as a brief overview and not as a definitive guide, there are other sources on the net for that. If however you have a story or information that is not generally known we would love to hear from you. Content@rokpool.com

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The band came together from the remnants of R & B bands, The Farinas and The Roaring Sixties. Formed originally by Charlie Whitney, Jim King, Tim Kirchin and Harry Ovenall in the early sixties. By 1967, Ric Grech had replaced Kirchin on bass and Roger Chapman was now the vocalist. The band moved to London from their Leicestershire base and were renamed Family following a meeting with famous record producer Kim Fowley. It is rumoured that Fowley suggested the name due to the bands on- stage appearances in double-breasted suits that made them look like members of the Mafia!!

Now willing to throw off the straitjacket of R & B and ready to embrace the freedom and influences that the exploding underground scene offered, their reputation as a live act grew due in no short measure to the wild man antics of Chapman. They recorded their debut single “Scene Through An Eye Of A Lens” in late 1967. Produced by the influential Jimmy Miller, it is a fine example of British psychedelia and the first time Chapman’s unique vocals were heard on record. Not that too many did hear as the record sold poorly and flopped.

The band signed to the Reprise label and they set about recording their first album during early 1968. By this time, drummer Ovenall had left and Rob Townsend was drafted in as replacement. “Music In A Dolls House” was released in July 1968 and received wide critical acclaim. Mostly produced by Dave Mason of Traffic, the album accurately captured their live show, and contains a number of tracks destined to become firm Family favourites such as “See Through Windows” “Me My Friend” “Old Songs New Songs” and “Peace Of Mind”. With Chapman’s odd vocals, ranging from gentle and almost whispered words, though to rasping strained exclamations, and with a most un- rock like line up of instruments, the album perfectly reflected their position as one of the more original bands of the Progressive Underground. The rich and varied sound helped by the inclusion of saxophones, cello, sitar, impressive violin and freaky effects is now acknowledged as a forgotten classic of British Psychedelic Rock.

The band did receive some unwanted publicity around this time as they featured in the novel “Groupie” by Jenny Fabian and Johnny Byrne with the thinly disguised pseudonym “Relation”

Continuing on an upward path that saw them now in the same league as Pink Floyd and Soft Machine, the band were anxious to return to the studio to record their next album, 1969’s “Family Entertainment” This album was a more straight forward affair with less experimentation and with the psychedelics reigned in. More of an out and out rock album than the predecessor, the musicianship is still there and the songs are tight but you cannot help but be a tad disappointed after the originality of the debut. Chapman’s voice still ensures that “Family” sound and strong tracks such as “Observations From A Hill”, the gentle “Face In The Cloud” with its haunting sitar, the rocky Beatles-like “Second Generation Woman” and the timeless “Weavers Answer” all help to deliver a fine album that made its mark on the UK chart with a number 6 placing.

With their success in the UK now established, the next step was the American market and in April 1969 the group embarked on what was to be a problematical tour. Shortly after the tour started. Ric Grech left the band to join Blind Faith and John Weider was recruited. With previous experience playing with the likes of Steve Marriott, The Pirates and latterly with Eric Burdon’s Animals, Weider proved to be a more than suitable replacement. While this on its own would have been enough to throw the band off its stride, more problems followed. As support to Ten Years After, they received little attention or applause and confrontations with the audience were common. They also had an incident with influential promoter Bill Graham who accused Chapman of hurling a mic stand at him. Although not the case, they were removed from the support slot for a while and, coincidently, were never to become more than a cult band in the States.

Following their return home, Jim King was forced from the band and talented multi- instrumentalist John “Poli” Palmer joined.

The next album, “A Song For Me” was released in January 1970. As this album was the first to feature the new influential band members, it was obvious that the sound of the band would change. With this album, Family served up a much heavier version of the “Family sound" but still used an interesting array of instruments to keep listeners on their toes. The opening track, “Drowned In Wine” contained some of the most agonised, bluesy vocals from Chapman, while the title song, clocking in at around ten minutes, had all band members trying to out do each other as they rocked out. The new sounds appealed to the fans as the album speed up to number 4 in the charts.

Now on a commercial and critical high, the band wanted to capture their astonishing live show on record. The next release was “Anyway” which had one side live and one studio. (You could do that in those days!). A decent enough record, it does give the feeling of a bit of a stopgap before the next “proper” release. Perhaps this is a bit unfair as the live side is good if a bit unfocused and the recording quality is, at best, average. The studio side works better and shows the band once again not afraid to use an imaginative selection of instruments. The stand out tracks are the live “Strange Band” and the impressive “Part Of The Load” For the third release running, the album charted, reaching number 7.

The band had a break from recording, continuing with their heavy touring schedule and a compilation album was put out. “Old Songs New Songs” was just that-previously recorded tracks with some remixed.

 In June 1971, John Weider left and was replaced by John Wetton. Two albums were recorded with Wetton. “Fearless” in 1971 and “Bandstand” in 1972. “Fearless” was an outstanding release. Varied and expertly played throughout. New man Wetton’s debut was a success with his vocals on the track “Save Some For Thee” particularly impressive.1972’s “Bandstand” saw the band at its most mainstream yet. As always the musicianship was high, but the tracks were more conventional and commercial. The album contained the hit single “Burlesque” and the single that should have been a hit “My Friend The Sun” Chapman is at his most restrained throughout and the album has more than its share of ballads. Both the albums had respectable showings in the chart, reaching 10 & 15 respectively and even creeping into the US Top 200. During Wetton’s time with the band, they also released their best selling single “In My Own Time”

That was the last of Wetton’s involvement with Family. He left to join King Crimson in July 1972 and Jim Cregan was drafted in and by the end of that year, Poli Palmer had also left to be replaced by Tony Ashton.

“Its Only A Movie” was the last Family release in 1973. It was a dull affair showing the band to be just passed its prime. No longer innovative, the band seems to be going through the motions and it is a sad final document for the band to end on.

Following a farewell tour, they played their final show in their hometown of Leicester in October 1973.

Chapman and Whitney formed “Streetwalkers” in 1974 releasing a number of albums.

Chapman has since enjoyed a successful solo career, most notably in Europe, with 24 solo albums to his name.

Whitney now lives in Greece and concentrates on Bluegrass and Folk music.

Jim King is still involved in music but no longer performs.

Ric Grech played in Blind Faith, Ginger Baker’s Airforce and with Traffic. In 1974 he formed another “Supergroup” called KGB with Mike Bloomfield and Carmine Appice. He died in 1990.

Rob Townsend joined Medicine Head after Family and is a long time member of The Blues Band.

John Weider joined Stud upon leaving and continues to record and release music, most recently in a New Age style.

Poli Palmer has played on many albums as a session player, including releases by Pete Townsend, Peter Frampton and Linda Lewis.

John Wetton seems to have played in most UK rock bands. In addition to King Crimson, he has played with Asia, Wishbone Ash, Uriah Heep, UK, Roxy Music etc

Jim Cregan was in Cockney Rebel and a long time member of the Rod Stewart Band. He recently teamed up again with Roger Chapman to appear live and produce Chapman’s album “One More Time For Peace”

Tony Ashton enjoyed huge success with the single “Resurrection Shuffle” with Gardner and Dyke. Always in demand as a session player he recorded many albums. He died in 2001 from cancer.

Despite a number of chart albums and singles, Family were never big players in the Progressive rock scene. Their unforgettable live shows were sensational and the early albums showed remarkable creativity as they exploited the musical freedom the times allowed. The lack of success in the States however, ultimately hurt their reputation.

Never given the acclaim of their contemporaries like Traffic, The Moody Blues or Jethro Tull, their first three albums helped define the music of the time as much as any band. 

The track here is the rare first single "Scene Through The Eye Of A Lens" from 1969

Roger Gibbens

This information is provided as a brief overview and not as a definitive guide, there are other sources on the net for that. If however you have a story or information that is not generally known we would love to hear from you. Content@rokpool.com

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Roxy Music

King Crimson By Roger Gibbens

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Founded in 1970-71, they could be considered an Oldies band. Roxy Music has always been made up by bits of the past mixed with bits of the future. Their edgy, well crafted music has influenced Progressive, Glam, Art Rock and even Punk.

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Art School grad Bryan Ferry ( vocals, and lyrics ) placed the original advert to find musicians. Graham Simpson, the bassist from Ferry's Art School band was already on board. The ad was answered by Andy Mackay, sax and oboe player, and Brian Eno, painter, and non musician / sound sculptor, Phil Manzanara on guitar, and in 1971 ( The Great ) Paul Thompson joined on Drums.

Roxy were always a mix of high art and low brow culture. They reveled in dynamic time shifts, clever wordplay, and unconventional orchestration.Crooner vocals, with Doo Wop back up singers,muscular bass, and minimal guitar lines melted into to searing, distorted and spaced out leads. Processing and undefinable noises by Eno on synthesizer.

The first two albums, Roxy Music, and For Your Pleasure, are the classics.The debut album became a Top 10 hit. Eno would leave after the second album, replaced by Edie Jobson on synth and electric violin.

Between 1974 and 1977 Roxy Music produced 3 more albums-Stranded, Country Life, and Siren. These continued the eclectic mix of styles, adding Gospel, funk elements, and early Disco. Country life was the first of their albums to enter the US top 40, and Siren contained the big US hit " Love is the Drug". Ferry cultivated his semi-ironic, Lounge Lizard persona, which started to make Roxy Music seem more like a backing band for Ferry's Cabaret act than a rock band. This may be part of what lead to their break up in 1976.

Reforming in 1978, they made Manifesto, and in 1980 Flesh + Blood. Manifesto showed a radical change in the Roxy sound. These albums stripped away the creative mix of styles, and left soft jazz and standard pop cliches. 3 core members remained, and the albums were overloaded with session musicians. The former anarchic power of the debut album was gone. Flesh + Blood is considered by many to be Roxy's weakest effort.

1982 produced the final Roxy album, Avalon. Mostly synthetic, it has a shimmering, mystical appeal, and it became a major success. Avalon also contains their final hit, More Than This.

This information is provided as a brief overview and not as a definitive guide, there are other sources on the net for that. If however you have a story or information that is not generally known we would love to hear from you. Content@rokpool.com

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Kevin Rowland was born in 1953 in Wolverhampton and is best known as front man of Dexys Midnight Runners. The first group of Rowland's was Lucy & The Lovers but that failed to survive for more than a short period. His next project the punk rock act The Killjoys were able to attain some recognition with the release of the single "Johnny Won’t Go To Heaven" in 1977. He separated from the band because of disillusionment with the punk scene and formed a new soul influenced band named Dexys Midnight Runners in 1978 with the guitarist, Al Archer.

Dexys disbanded in 1987. In the same year Rowland recorded a solo album named "The Wanderer" but the album was a commercial failure along with its three singles. His next album appeared in 1999, interpretations of classic songs named "My Beauty".

Dexys Midnight Runners was reformed by Rowland in 2003 with only one original member in the line-up of the band other than him, this was bassist Pete Williams.

The reformed band had a successful tour supporting their greatest hits album along with two newly recorded songs "Manhood" and "My Life in England". Even though these songs were boasted as new singles, they only appeared as airplay on national radio and were never released commercially.

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Click here for an extremely rare interview with Kevin Rowland. This interview is totally raw and uncut. What that means is as it was recorded at the time without edits, so it contains everything from screw-ups, intro’s to tracks with no subsequent music, strange background noises, pregnant pauses and idle chatter but that is what makes it so unique. This interview has not seen the light of day in this format since it was recorded nearly 30 years ago.

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This information is provided as a brief overview and not as a definitive guide, there are other sources on the net for that. If however you have a story or information that is not generally known we would love to hear from you. Content@rokpool.com.

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