The Gothic drone of Bournemouth band Bram Stoker is singularly England’s most ignored Prog entity. The fundamental core of Bram Stoker was organist Tony Bronsdon who started out with Renaissance Fare in 1968 later fusing with ex Feel guitarist Pete Ballam and ex Feel drummer Rob Haines freshly defected from Freedom Village. A remarkable bassist […] Continue reading →

The elusive Jimmie Spheeris, a Greek poet started out in a traveling carnival called the Majick Empire that would strongly influence songsmith poems like “Lost in the Midway” and “Decatur Street”. Spheeris later moved to New York in the late 1960’s to further his songwriting career. Discovered by Richie Havens, Spheeris was introduced to ‘Columbia’ […] Continue reading →

Michael Chapman was an eclectic English singer songwriter in the same mould as Roy Harper and Wizz Jones. A former art & photography teacher, Chapman emerged from the folk scene in Yorkshire, gaining a reputation as one of England’s finest original singer-songwriters.He first appeared on the London and Cornwall folk music circuits in 1967, alongside […] Continue reading →

Bill Fay a UK based singer, songwriter and pianist, in hindsight an overlooked apocalyptic sage with a vision to the future. Ex-Them drummer Terry Noon helped Bill to sign a recording contract with ‘Decca’ putting out the oddly “Some Good Advice”/”Screams In The Ears” backed by Southend band The Fingers. This was followed by the […] Continue reading →

Blackburn & Snow were a hip duet that appeared in the early mid sixties on the San Francisco music scene in the USA. The group consisted of ex Bakersfield Rebels guitarist-singer Jeff Blackburn & ex Sherry Snow & Geronimo vocalist Sherry Snow who became romantically involved in 1965, living together in Berkeley, California and performing […] Continue reading →

Wading through the countless Prog Rivers and endless streams of England’s Progressive tide however magical cannot be described as a wondrous Tolkienistic endurance of Dr Robert Moog’s resurrection and eventual demise. The causeway has valleys of unreachable dimension and between those undulating plains, hidden crevices and jagged cliffs you will have your senses jarred and […] Continue reading →

This is part of Shiloh Noone’s weekly write up of rare groups. Group write-ups you never hear of or little is known about. The Gothic Bram Stoker Cressida’s keyboard dominated style was not unlike the Gothic drone of Bournemouth band Bram Stoker, singularly England’s most ignored Prog entity. Bram Stoker who rose out of the […] Continue reading →

The blues came screaming down from the misty highlands in 1969 under the savage execution of Maggie Bell’s Stone the Crows.Finally Janis Joplin had a rival that could whisper, convulse, and climax as she raped the soul guitar of ex Silhouette’s Les Harvey. The high energy of their earthy blues first took root in 1967 […] Continue reading →

If ever England was to impose knighthood upon a beat ensemble then undoubtedly the choice would be The Zombies, namely ex-grammar schoolboys, Colin Blunstone & Rod Argent. Strongly dominated by Rod’s keyboard the Zombies powered homed into the charts with countless hit singles displaying a minor key coupled with an understated jazz scale. Blunstone’s voice […] Continue reading →

Roy Harper was a law unto himself -establishing himself as a flower warrior who took the responsibility of gauging the rising tide of the revolution with his fingerstyle poetry. Roy bled the system and washed the streets with shades of red that changed colour with every season. A leader in philosophy and a brilliant songwriter […] Continue reading →