Audience (band)
Encyclopedia
Audience is a cult British
art rock
band which existed between 1969 and 1972, and reformed in 2004.
The original band consisted of Howard Werth (born Howard Alexander Werth, in 1947, The Mother's Hospital, Clapton
, East London) on nylon-strung electric acoustic guitar and vocals, Keith Gemmell
(born Keith William Gemmell, 15 February 1948, Hackney Hospital, Hackney
, East London) on tenor sax, flute and clarinet, bass guitarist and vocalist Trevor Williams
(born Trevor Leslie Williams, 19 January 1945, Hereford
, Herefordshire
, and drummer/vocalist Tony Connor (born Anthony John Connor, 6 April 1947, Romford
, Havering).
. However, when Werth, Williams, and Gemmell decided to form their new band, it was Connor who came to mind as the right man to complete the line-up. The 'Lloyd Alexander Real Estate' issued one 45rpm single on President PT157 in 1967 "Gonna Live Again"/"Watcha' Gonna Do (When Your Baby Leaves You)" which is now a highly sought after Sixties Mod R&B record. It was also issued in some European countries.
Within weeks of starting rehearsals, Audience had acquired management, a publishing contract, a residency at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club
, and a recording contract with Polydor, with whom they recorded their first album Audience, a tuneful, but progressive album with acoustic guitar and Gemmell's saxophone often electrically altered to soundalike an electric lead guitar! The band, however, was less than pleased with the record company's promotional approach (a single, "Too Late I'm Gone" from the album had been planned and was cancelled), and went into hiding in Switzerland to avoid getting involved with banal publicity stunts.
By the end of the year, the band was drawing public and journalistic acclaim for their songs, arrangements, and stage act. They had also been commissioned to write the score for Bronco Bullfrog
, an East End skinhead film directed by Barney Platts-Mills
, which established a genre subsequently taken up by Mike Leigh
.
, Director of Charisma Records
, who spotted the band supporting Led Zeppelin
and signed them up to his label immediately. Audience recorded three albums with Charisma, the members producing and designing the first Friends Friends Friend themselves before bringing in legendary producer Gus Dudgeon
, arranger Robert Kirby
and top record sleeve designers Hipgnosis
to get the best from their follow-up albums House on the Hill and Lunch.
Their first two albums were not issued in the U.S. Elektra
signed them (around the time Elektra signed Lindisfarne
, another Charisma group), and their final two albums were issued in the U.S.
Dudgeon's first 45rpm production for the band, "Indian Summer", took the band into the lower reaches of the U.S. charts, but by this time they were exhausted and fractious, having worked virtually non-stop for three years. A U.S. tour with Rod Stewart
and The Faces, although successful, brought things to a head, resulting in Gemmell leaving the band.
The unfinished Lunch album was completed with the help of The Rolling Stones
and Mad Dogs and Englishmen
brass section, Jim Price
and Bobby Keys
, following which they went straight back on the road with new members Pat Charles Neuberg, from Joyce Bond Revue, on alto and soprano sax and ex-B B Blunder Nick Judd on electric piano.
, the band folded. Judd later went on to join Alan Bown
, The Andy Fraser
Band, Brian Eno
, Frankie Miller
and Sharks, most recently emerging in a Madness
spin-off band.
By this time, Keith Gemmell had joined Stackridge
, later to join Sammy
, whose sole album was produced by Ian Gillan
of Deep Purple
, then on to The Roy Young Band. During this time he was simultaneously carving out a healthy career in session work and arranging, often in association with film soundtrack writer John Altman
, before joining the Pasadena Roof Orchestra
for fourteen years.
Trevor Williams joined 1960s hitmakers The Nashville Teens
, a version driven by Len Tuckey, who left shortly after to help his girlfriend, Suzi Quatro
launch a career with Mickie Most
. Tony Connor also ended up with Most. After a stint with Jackson Heights
, a spin-off from The Nice
, he joined one of Most's stable, Hot Chocolate, with whom he has remained.
Williams moved on to Jonathan Kelly's Outside
, recording one single, Outside, and an album Waiting On You
with a band fronted by the twin guitars of Snowy White
and Chas Jankel
plus ex-Graham Bond
drummer Dave Sheen and percussionist Jeff Whittaker, formerly with Peter Green
and Crosby, Stills and Nash. But growing increasingly disenchanted with the music business, he drifted back to The Nashville Teens, this time in the company of friend Rob Hendry – ex-Renaissance
guitarist, and later with The Motors
– in a misconceived project to revitalise the band's image and fortunes. When this foundered, Williams left the business entirely.
Howard Werth was in the throes of his first solo album at this time, still with Charisma and produced by Dudgeon. Called King Brilliant, his band, containing members of Hookfoot
and with Mike Moran on keyboards, was dubbed Howard Werth and The Moonbeams, and came close to having a major hit with Lucinda. However, it wasn't to be, and when he was headhunted by The Doors
(Audience stable-mates on the U.S. Elektra
record label) to replace Jim Morrison
, Werth left for the USA. In any event, The Doors did not reform, and Werth found himself engaged in numerous short term projects with Doors' keyboard man Ray Manzarek
and musicians from Captain Beefheart and The Magic Band before returning to the UK in the early 1980s. Although appearing live only occasionally, Werth subsequently recorded two more solo albums, 6 of 1 and Half a Dozen of the Other on Demon Records and The Evolution Myth Explodes for his own Luminous Music label.
, Derbyshire
) and recording a live album alive&kickin'&screamin'&shoutin for Eclectic Records. During this period, Gemmell released two solo albums, The Windhover, inspired by a poem by Gerard Manley Hopkins
, and Unsafe Sax.
Following the death of John Fisher from pancreatic cancer
on 27 September 2008, Audience recruited drummer Simon Jeffrey.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
art rock
Art rock
Art rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom in the 1960s, with influences from art, avant-garde, and classical music. The first usage of the term, according to Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, was in 1968. Influenced by the work of The Beatles, most notably their Sgt...
band which existed between 1969 and 1972, and reformed in 2004.
The original band consisted of Howard Werth (born Howard Alexander Werth, in 1947, The Mother's Hospital, Clapton
London Borough of Hackney
The London Borough of Hackney is a London borough of North/North East London, and forms part of inner London. The local authority is Hackney London Borough Council....
, East London) on nylon-strung electric acoustic guitar and vocals, Keith Gemmell
Keith Gemmell
Keith Gemmell is a rock musician and saxophone player best known for being a member of British art rock band Audience from 1969 to 1972. He is now a music educator, author and journalist.-Early life and career:...
(born Keith William Gemmell, 15 February 1948, Hackney Hospital, Hackney
London Borough of Hackney
The London Borough of Hackney is a London borough of North/North East London, and forms part of inner London. The local authority is Hackney London Borough Council....
, East London) on tenor sax, flute and clarinet, bass guitarist and vocalist Trevor Williams
Trevor Williams (musician)
Trevor Williams is bass guitarist, vocalist and lyricist for Audience, cult British Art rock band which ran from 1969–1972, reforming in 2004....
(born Trevor Leslie Williams, 19 January 1945, Hereford
Hereford
Hereford is a cathedral city, civil parish and county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, southwest of Worcester, and northwest of Gloucester...
, Herefordshire
Herefordshire
Herefordshire is a historic and ceremonial county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three counties that comprise the "Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire" NUTS 2 region. It also forms a unitary district known as the...
, and drummer/vocalist Tony Connor (born Anthony John Connor, 6 April 1947, Romford
Romford
Romford is a large suburban town in north east London, England and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Havering. It is located northeast of Charing Cross and is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan...
, Havering).
Formation
Audience rose from the ashes of a semi-professional soul band named 'Lloyd Alexander Real Estate', which had included all the Audience members with the exception of Connor, who had unsuccessfully auditioned for the earlier band when John Richardson left to form The RubettesThe Rubettes
The Rubettes were an English pop band assembled in 1973 by the songwriting team of Wayne Bickerton, then the head of A&R at Polydor Records, and his co-songwriter, Tony Waddington, after their doo-wop and 1950s American pop-influenced songs had been rejected by a number of existing acts...
. However, when Werth, Williams, and Gemmell decided to form their new band, it was Connor who came to mind as the right man to complete the line-up. The 'Lloyd Alexander Real Estate' issued one 45rpm single on President PT157 in 1967 "Gonna Live Again"/"Watcha' Gonna Do (When Your Baby Leaves You)" which is now a highly sought after Sixties Mod R&B record. It was also issued in some European countries.
Within weeks of starting rehearsals, Audience had acquired management, a publishing contract, a residency at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club
Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club
Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club is a jazz club which has operated in London since 1959.The club opened on 30 October 1959 in a basement at 39 Gerrard Street in London's Soho district. It was managed by musicians Ronnie Scott and Pete King. In 1965 it moved to a larger venue nearby at 47 Frith Street...
, and a recording contract with Polydor, with whom they recorded their first album Audience, a tuneful, but progressive album with acoustic guitar and Gemmell's saxophone often electrically altered to soundalike an electric lead guitar! The band, however, was less than pleased with the record company's promotional approach (a single, "Too Late I'm Gone" from the album had been planned and was cancelled), and went into hiding in Switzerland to avoid getting involved with banal publicity stunts.
By the end of the year, the band was drawing public and journalistic acclaim for their songs, arrangements, and stage act. They had also been commissioned to write the score for Bronco Bullfrog
Bronco Bullfrog
Bronco Bullfrog is a 1969 British black-and-white film directed by Barney Platts-Mills and stars Del Walker and Anne Gooding. It is set in London's East End and features the suedehead subculture...
, an East End skinhead film directed by Barney Platts-Mills
Barney Platts-Mills
Barney Platts-Mills is a British film director, best known for his award-winning films, Bronco Bullfrog and Private Road.-Biography:1944 Born in Colchester England...
, which established a genre subsequently taken up by Mike Leigh
Mike Leigh
Michael "Mike" Leigh, OBE is a British writer and director of film and theatre. He studied theatre at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and studied further at the Camberwell School of Art and the Central School of Art and Design. He began as a theatre director and playwright in the mid 1960s...
.
Recordings
None of this was wasted on Tony Stratton-SmithTony Stratton-Smith
Tony Stratton-Smith was an English rock music manager, and entrepreneur. He was best known as founder of London based independent record label Charisma Records which he began in 1969. Groups he managed included The Nice , Bonzo Dog Band and Van der Graaf Generator...
, Director of Charisma Records
Charisma Records
Charisma was a record label founded by former journalist Tony Stratton-Smith in 1969. Manager for The Nice, the Bonzo Dog Band and Van der Graaf Generator at the time, Stratton-Smith was unable to find a record company willing to release an album by one of his favourite groups so he founded his own...
, who spotted the band supporting Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...
and signed them up to his label immediately. Audience recorded three albums with Charisma, the members producing and designing the first Friends Friends Friend themselves before bringing in legendary producer Gus Dudgeon
Gus Dudgeon
Angus Boyd Dudgeon , most commonly known as Gus Dudgeon was an English record producer, most notable for production of many of Elton John's recordings.-Early career:...
, arranger Robert Kirby
Robert Kirby
Robert Kirby was a British born arranger of string sections for rock and folk music. He is best known for his work on the Nick Drake albums, Five Leaves Left and Bryter Layter, but has also worked with Elton John, Ralph McTell, Strawbs, Paul Weller and Elvis Costello.-At Cambridge:Patrick...
and top record sleeve designers Hipgnosis
Hipgnosis
Hipgnosis was a British art design group that specialized in creating cover art for the albums of rock musicians and bands, most notably Pink Floyd, T.Rex, The Pretty Things, UFO, 10cc, Bad Company, Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, Scorpions, Yes, The Alan Parsons Project, Genesis, Peter Gabriel, ELO and XTC...
to get the best from their follow-up albums House on the Hill and Lunch.
Their first two albums were not issued in the U.S. Elektra
Elektra Records
Elektra Records is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group. In 2004, it was consolidated into WMG's Atlantic Records Group. After five years of dormancy, the label was revived by Atlantic in 2009....
signed them (around the time Elektra signed Lindisfarne
Lindisfarne
Lindisfarne is a tidal island off the north-east coast of England. It is also known as Holy Island and constitutes a civil parish in Northumberland...
, another Charisma group), and their final two albums were issued in the U.S.
Dudgeon's first 45rpm production for the band, "Indian Summer", took the band into the lower reaches of the U.S. charts, but by this time they were exhausted and fractious, having worked virtually non-stop for three years. A U.S. tour with Rod Stewart
Rod Stewart
Roderick David "Rod" Stewart, CBE is a British singer-songwriter and musician, born and raised in North London, England and currently residing in Epping. He is of Scottish and English ancestry....
and The Faces, although successful, brought things to a head, resulting in Gemmell leaving the band.
The unfinished Lunch album was completed with the help of The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
and Mad Dogs and Englishmen
Mad Dogs and Englishmen (album)
Mad Dogs and Englishmen is Joe Cocker's 1970 live album, featuring a fusion of rock and soul. The album title is drawn from the 1931 Noël Coward song of the same name. Mostly Cocker's album is made up of covers, drawing equally from rock and soul...
brass section, Jim Price
Jim Price (musician)
Jim Price was, together with Bobby Keys and Jim Horn, one of the most in demand horn session players of the 1970s. He toured extensively with The Rolling Stones from 1970 until 1973, including their 1972 American Tour, and appears on the albums, Sticky Fingers, Exile on Main St. and Goats Head Soup...
and Bobby Keys
Bobby Keys
Bobby Keys is an American saxophone player, and has performed with other musicians as a member of one of the notable horn sections of the 1970s. He appears on albums by The Rolling Stones, The Who, Harry Nilsson, Delaney Bramlett, George Harrison's All Things Must Pass, Eric Clapton and Joe...
, following which they went straight back on the road with new members Pat Charles Neuberg, from Joyce Bond Revue, on alto and soprano sax and ex-B B Blunder Nick Judd on electric piano.
Break-up
The new line-up never worked well together, and Williams, the band's main lyricist, resigned eight months later. When Judd received an offer to join Juicy LucyJuicy Lucy (band)
Juicy Lucy is a blues-rock band formed on April 1, 1969. After the demise of The Misunderstood, vocalist Ray Owen, steel guitarist Glenn Ross Campbell, and saxophone player Chris Mercer formed Juicy Lucy...
, the band folded. Judd later went on to join Alan Bown
The Alan Bown Set
The Alan Bown Set later known as The Alan Bown! or just Alan Bown, were a British band of the 1960s and 1970s whose music evolved from jazz and blues through soul and rhythm and blues and ended up as psychedelia and progressive rock...
, The Andy Fraser
Andy Fraser
Andy Fraser is an English songwriter and bass guitarist whose career has lasted over forty years and includes a notable period as one of the founding members, in 1968, at age 15, of the rock band Free.-Peak years :...
Band, Brian Eno
Brian Eno
Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno , commonly known as Brian Eno or simply as Eno , is an English musician, composer, record producer, singer and visual artist, known as one of the principal innovators of ambient music.Eno studied at Colchester Institute art school in Essex,...
, Frankie Miller
Frankie Miller
Frankie Miller is a Scottish rock singer-songwriter, who had his biggest success in the 1970s. Miller was raised at Colvend Street, Glasgow with his parents, Cathy and Frank, and elder sisters Letty and Anne. Miller attended Sacred Heart Primary school. He was an altar boy in Sacred Heart Chapel...
and Sharks, most recently emerging in a Madness
Madness (band)
In 1979, the band recorded the Lee Thompson composition "The Prince". The song, like the band's name, paid homage to their idol, Prince Buster. The song was released through 2 Tone Records, the label of The Specials founder Jerry Dammers. The song was a surprise hit, peaking in the UK music charts...
spin-off band.
By this time, Keith Gemmell had joined Stackridge
Stackridge
Stackridge are a British folk, pop and progressive rock group who were at the height of their success during the early 1970s. The band's output is characterized by quirky humour and rhythmic catchy sing-along tunes....
, later to join Sammy
Sammy
-People:*DJ Sammy, a musician*Sammy Davis, Jr.*Sammy Ijaz*Sammy Sosa*Sammy Hagar*Sammy Cahn*Sammy Gravano*Sammy Fain*CeCe Sammy*Sammy Baugh*Sammy Kaye* Sammy Luftspring, Canadian champion welterweight boxer*Sammy McIlroy*Sammy Kershaw*Sammy Lee...
, whose sole album was produced by Ian Gillan
Ian Gillan
Ian Gillan is an English rock music vocalist and songwriter, best known as the lead singer and lyricist for Deep Purple. During his career Gillan also fronted his own band, had a year-long stint as the vocalist for Black Sabbath, and sang the role of Jesus in the original recording of Andrew Lloyd...
of Deep Purple
Deep Purple
Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in Hertford in 1968. Along with Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, they are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal and modern hard rock, although some band members believe that their music cannot be categorised as belonging to any one genre...
, then on to The Roy Young Band. During this time he was simultaneously carving out a healthy career in session work and arranging, often in association with film soundtrack writer John Altman
John Altman (composer)
John Altman is a British film composer, music arranger, orchestrator and conductor.-Biography:Altman was introduced to the music of the 1930s and 1940s at an early age by an uncle who arranged and composed music for big bands and conducted for Judy Garland, the Marx Brothers, and Laurel and Hardy,...
, before joining the Pasadena Roof Orchestra
Pasadena Roof Orchestra
The Pasadena Roof Orchestra is a contemporary band from England that specialises in the jazz and swing genres of music of the 1920s and 1930s, although their full repertoire is considerably wider. The orchestra has existed since 1969, although the line-up has frequently changed...
for fourteen years.
Trevor Williams joined 1960s hitmakers The Nashville Teens
The Nashville Teens
The Nashville Teens are a British pop band formed in Weybridge, Surrey in Summer 1962.-History:Arthur Sharp began his career in music as the manager of Aerco Records in Woking, Surrey...
, a version driven by Len Tuckey, who left shortly after to help his girlfriend, Suzi Quatro
Suzi Quatro
Susan Kay "Suzi" Quatro is an American singer-songwriter, bass player, and actor.She scored a string of hit singles in the 1970s that found greater success in Europe and Australia than in her homeland, and had a recurring role on the popular American sitcom Happy Days.-Music:Quatro began her...
launch a career with Mickie Most
Mickie Most
Mickie Most was an English record producer, with a string of hit singles with acts such as The Animals, Arrows, Herman's Hermits, Donovan, Suzi Quatro and the Jeff Beck Group often issued on his own RAK Records label....
. Tony Connor also ended up with Most. After a stint with Jackson Heights
Jackson Heights
Jackson Heights may refer to:*Jackson Heights, Queens, an area within the Queens section of New York City*Jackson Heights , a residential neighborhood within the East Tampa district of the City of Tampa, Florida, United States...
, a spin-off from The Nice
The Nice
The Nice were an English progressive rock band from the 1960s, known for their blend of rock, jazz and classical music. Their debut album, The Thoughts of Emerlist Davjack was released in 1967 to immediate acclaim. It is often considered the first progressive rock album...
, he joined one of Most's stable, Hot Chocolate, with whom he has remained.
Williams moved on to Jonathan Kelly's Outside
Jonathan Kelly's Outside
Jonathan Kelly is an Irish folk rock singer-songwriter, who has enjoyed a varied career in music, playing with many musicians and groups, including Eric Clapton and Tim Staffell...
, recording one single, Outside, and an album Waiting On You
Waiting On You
...Waiting On You was the first and only album released by the British folk rock band, Jonathan Kelly's Outside, which was released in 1974.-Track listing:All songs by Jonathan Kelly.# "Misery" – 6:25# "Making It Lonely" – 4:55...
with a band fronted by the twin guitars of Snowy White
Snowy White
Snowy White is an English guitarist, known for having played with Thin Lizzy and with Pink Floyd and, more recently, for Roger Waters'...
and Chas Jankel
Chas Jankel
Charles Jeremy Jankel professionally known as Chaz Jankel, is a musician best known as the keyboard player and guitarist with Ian Dury and the Blockheads...
plus ex-Graham Bond
Graham Bond
Graham John Clifton Bond was an English musician, considered a founding father of the English rhythm and blues boom of the 1960s....
drummer Dave Sheen and percussionist Jeff Whittaker, formerly with Peter Green
Peter Green (musician)
Peter Green is a British blues-rock guitarist and the founder of the band Fleetwood Mac...
and Crosby, Stills and Nash. But growing increasingly disenchanted with the music business, he drifted back to The Nashville Teens, this time in the company of friend Rob Hendry – ex-Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
guitarist, and later with The Motors
The Motors
The Motors were a British pub rock/punk band, formed in London in 1977 by former Ducks Deluxe members Nick Garvey and Andy McMaster together with guitarist Rob Hendry and drummer Ricky Slaughter...
– in a misconceived project to revitalise the band's image and fortunes. When this foundered, Williams left the business entirely.
Howard Werth was in the throes of his first solo album at this time, still with Charisma and produced by Dudgeon. Called King Brilliant, his band, containing members of Hookfoot
Hookfoot
Hookfoot was a British rock band, active from 1970 to 1974.Formed by Caleb Quaye and three fellow DJM session musicians, Ian Duck , Roger Pope and David Glover , the band were also backing musicians for Elton John, appearing together on most of his early recordings for DJM...
and with Mike Moran on keyboards, was dubbed Howard Werth and The Moonbeams, and came close to having a major hit with Lucinda. However, it wasn't to be, and when he was headhunted by The Doors
The Doors
The Doors were an American rock band formed in 1965 in Los Angeles, California, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, drummer John Densmore, and guitarist Robby Krieger...
(Audience stable-mates on the U.S. Elektra
Elektra Records
Elektra Records is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group. In 2004, it was consolidated into WMG's Atlantic Records Group. After five years of dormancy, the label was revived by Atlantic in 2009....
record label) to replace Jim Morrison
Jim Morrison
James Douglas "Jim" Morrison was an American musician, singer, and poet, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of the rock band The Doors...
, Werth left for the USA. In any event, The Doors did not reform, and Werth found himself engaged in numerous short term projects with Doors' keyboard man Ray Manzarek
Ray Manzarek
Raymond Daniel Manzarek, Jr., better known as Ray Manzarek , is an American musician, singer, producer, film director, writer, co-founder and keyboardist of The Doors from 1965 to 1973, Nite City from 1977–1978 and Manzarek-Krieger since 2001.Manzarek is listed #4 on Digital Dreamdoor's "100...
and musicians from Captain Beefheart and The Magic Band before returning to the UK in the early 1980s. Although appearing live only occasionally, Werth subsequently recorded two more solo albums, 6 of 1 and Half a Dozen of the Other on Demon Records and The Evolution Myth Explodes for his own Luminous Music label.
Reunion
Despite a few minor projects together, the original Audience band members were not to re-emerge as a working entity until 33 years after their first incarnation. In 2004, Howard Werth, Keith Gemmell and Trevor Williams went back on the road, gigging in Germany, Italy, Canada and the UK, replacing Tony Connor with drummer/vocalist John Fisher (born 8 December 1960, BuxtonBuxton
Buxton is a spa town in Derbyshire, England. It has the highest elevation of any market town in England. Located close to the county boundary with Cheshire to the west and Staffordshire to the south, Buxton is described as "the gateway to the Peak District National Park"...
, Derbyshire
Derbyshire
Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains. The county contains within its boundary of approx...
) and recording a live album alive&kickin'&screamin'&shoutin for Eclectic Records. During this period, Gemmell released two solo albums, The Windhover, inspired by a poem by Gerard Manley Hopkins
Gerard Manley Hopkins
Gerard Manley Hopkins, S.J. was an English poet, Roman Catholic convert, and Jesuit priest, whose posthumous 20th-century fame established him among the leading Victorian poets...
, and Unsafe Sax.
Following the death of John Fisher from pancreatic cancer
Pancreatic cancer
Pancreatic cancer refers to a malignant neoplasm of the pancreas. The most common type of pancreatic cancer, accounting for 95% of these tumors is adenocarcinoma, which arises within the exocrine component of the pancreas. A minority arises from the islet cells and is classified as a...
on 27 September 2008, Audience recruited drummer Simon Jeffrey.
Studio albums
- 1969 AudienceAudience (album)Audience is the 1969 debut album by British art rock band Audience. It was deleted shortly after its release and is now collectable in its original vinyl version, however the band were soon afterwards signed by Tony Stratton-Smith to Charisma Records....
- 1970 Friend's Friend's FriendFriend's Friend's FriendFriend's Friend's Friend is the second album by British art rock band Audience, released in 1970. It was originally intended to be produced by Shel Talmy but he dropped out and the band produced it themselves.-Side one:# "Nothing You Do" - 4:38...
- 1971 The House on the HillThe House on the Hill (album)The House on the Hill is the third album by British art rock band Audience and was released in 1971. At about the same time, a single "Indian Summer" reached number 74 on the Billboard Hot 100;...
- 1972 LunchLunch (album)Lunch is the fourth album by British art rock band Audience and was released in 1972. It was their last original release before the departure of Keith Gemmell and the band's breaking up for several years...
Compilations
- You Can't Beat Them (CharismaCharisma RecordsCharisma was a record label founded by former journalist Tony Stratton-Smith in 1969. Manager for The Nice, the Bonzo Dog Band and Van der Graaf Generator at the time, Stratton-Smith was unable to find a record company willing to release an album by one of his favourite groups so he founded his own...
), 1973) - Unchained (Charisma/Virgin, 1992)
Singles
- 1971 : "Belladonna Moonshine"/"The Big Spell"
- 1971 : "Indian Summer"/"It Brings a Tear"/"Priestess" (#74 on the Billboard Hot 100Billboard Hot 100The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
) - 1971 : "You're Not Smiling"/"Eye to Eye"
- 1972 : "Stand by the Door"/"Thunder and Lightnin'"
External links
- Official Site
- http://www.audiencefansite.co.uk/ Audience Fansite