Pilot (band)
Encyclopedia
Pilot was a pop rock
musical group
, formed during 1973 in Edinburgh
, Scotland
by the former Bay City Rollers
members, David Paton
and Billy Lyall
.
and Ian Bairnson
, the band recorded several demo
s during 1973 and 1974. They were signed to a management contract with Nick Heath
and Tim Heath, sons of British bandleader Ted Heath
, and John Cavanagh. In due course they signed to a worldwide recording deal with EMI Records.
The 1974 single "Magic
" from their first album, produced
by Alan Parsons
and written by Paton, was a #11 UK
and #5 U.S. success. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc
by the R.I.A.A. in August 1975. The song "January
" gave them their greatest success in the UK, securing the number one spot in the UK Singles Chart
in January 1975. However, the group failed to make the Top 30 again. The arranger of "January", Andrew Powell
went on to record Kate Bush
, and both Paton and Bairnson played on her debut album, The Kick Inside
, which included "Wuthering Heights
".
The band's other singles chart successes were "Call Me Round" and "Just a Smile" (both 1975). By the time 1977 came around only Paton and Bairnson were left from the original foursome, and they recorded Pilot's final album (entitled Two's a Crowd) alone.
By 1978, all of Pilot's members had begun other projects, notably Tosh, Paton and Bairnson becoming members of the Alan Parsons Project
, and Tosh also working with 10cc
.
Lyall died of AIDS
-related causes in 1989.
Paton and Bairnson reconvened in 2002, to re-record the original Pilot album Two's a Crowd. The subsequent issue was entitled, Blue Yonder (see below).
Pop rock
Pop rock is a music genre which mixes a catchy pop style and light lyrics in its guitar-based rock songs. There are varying definitions of the term, ranging from a slower and mellower form of rock music to a subgenre of pop music...
musical group
Musical ensemble
A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...
, formed during 1973 in Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
by the former Bay City Rollers
Bay City Rollers
The Bay City Rollers were a Scottish pop band who were most popular in the 1970s. The British Hit Singles & Albums noted that they were "tartan teen sensations from Edinburgh", and were "the first of many acts heralded as the 'Biggest Group since The Beatles' and one of the most screamed-at...
members, David Paton
David Paton
David Paton is a Scottish bass and guitar player, most notably with three different bands: Pilot, The Alan Parsons Project, and Camel. He has also worked as a solo artist, session musician, and sometime vocalist...
and Billy Lyall
Billy Lyall
Billy Lyall was a Scottish musician.Born William Lyall in Edinburgh, Scotland, Lyall was a keyboard player and vocalist with Pilot, and an early member of the Bay City Rollers. He also contributed to The Alan Parsons Project with fellow Pilot members, and released a solo album, Solo Casting in 1976...
.
Career
Joined by Stuart ToshStuart Tosh
Stuart MacIntosh is a drummer, songwriter and vocalist.Also known as Stuart Tosh, MacIntosh recorded and toured with a succession of well-known and respected bands during the 1970s and 1980s, including Pilot, The Alan Parsons Project, 10cc and Camel. Stuart now lives in the Bridge of Don area of...
and Ian Bairnson
Ian Bairnson
Ian Bairnson is a Scottish musician, famous for being one of the core members of The Alan Parsons Project. He is a multi-instrumentalist, who has played saxophone and keyboards, although he is best known as a guitarist...
, the band recorded several demo
Demo (music)
A demo version or demo of a song is one recorded for reference rather than for release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas on tape or disc, and provide an example of those ideas to record labels, producers or other artists...
s during 1973 and 1974. They were signed to a management contract with Nick Heath
Nick Heath
Nick Heath is an English music, television and film producer, publisher, designer and founder of Birdland Film, Nick Heath Design Group and Heath Media....
and Tim Heath, sons of British bandleader Ted Heath
Ted Heath (bandleader)
Ted Heath, musician and big band leader, led Britain's greatest post-war big band recording more than 100 albums and selling over 20 million records...
, and John Cavanagh. In due course they signed to a worldwide recording deal with EMI Records.
The 1974 single "Magic
Magic (Pilot song)
"Magic" is a popular song from 1974, and was the first hit single for the Scottish band Pilot. It was written by Pilot's Dave Paton.It charted most successfully in Canada, where it reached #1, topping the RPM national singles chart on July 19, 1975, and received a gold certification...
" from their first album, produced
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
by Alan Parsons
Alan Parsons
Alan Parsons is a British audio engineer, musician, and record producer. He was involved with the production of several significant albums, including The Beatles' Abbey Road and Let It Be, as well as Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon for which Pink Floyd credit him as an important contributor...
and written by Paton, was a #11 UK
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...
and #5 U.S. success. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
by the R.I.A.A. in August 1975. The song "January
January (Pilot song)
"January" is a pop rock song recorded by the Scottish rock band Pilot. Written by David Paton and produced by Alan Parsons, "January" was the sole number one single in the UK for Pilot, ironically spending all of its three week chart run at the top in February 1975. It also charted in the United...
" gave them their greatest success in the UK, securing the number one spot in the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
in January 1975. However, the group failed to make the Top 30 again. The arranger of "January", Andrew Powell
Andrew Powell
Andrew Powell - musical composer, arranger and performer - was born 18 April 1949 in London, England of Welsh parents.- Early life :He began taking piano lessons at the age of four and later attended Kings College School, Wimbledon by which time he was also learning the viola, violin and orchestral...
went on to record Kate Bush
Kate Bush
Kate Bush is an English singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. Her eclectic musical style and idiosyncratic vocal style have made her one of the United Kingdom's most successful solo female performers of the past 30 years.In 1978, at the age of 19, Bush topped the UK Singles Chart...
, and both Paton and Bairnson played on her debut album, The Kick Inside
The Kick Inside
-Personnel:*Kate Bush: Piano, Composer, Keyboards, Vocals, Background Vocals*Ian Bairnson: Guitar, Vocals, Background Vocals, Bottle*Paddy Bush: Harmonica, Mandolin, Vocals*Barry DeSouza: drums*Stuart Elliott: Drums...
, which included "Wuthering Heights
Wuthering Heights (song)
"Wuthering Heights" is a song by Kate Bush released as her debut single in January 1978. It became a No.1 hit in the UK singles chart and remains her biggest-selling single. The song appears on her 1978 debut album, The Kick Inside. The B-side of the single was another song by Bush named "Kite" -...
".
The band's other singles chart successes were "Call Me Round" and "Just a Smile" (both 1975). By the time 1977 came around only Paton and Bairnson were left from the original foursome, and they recorded Pilot's final album (entitled Two's a Crowd) alone.
By 1978, all of Pilot's members had begun other projects, notably Tosh, Paton and Bairnson becoming members of the Alan Parsons Project
The Alan Parsons Project
The Alan Parsons Project was a British progressive rock band, active between 1975 and 1990, consisting of singer Eric Woolfson and keyboardist Alan Parsons surrounded by a varying number of session musicians....
, and Tosh also working with 10cc
10cc
10cc are an English art rock band who achieved their greatest commercial success in the 1970s. The band initially consisted of four musicians -- Graham Gouldman, Eric Stewart, Kevin Godley, and Lol Creme -- who had written and recorded together for some three years, before assuming the "10cc" name...
.
Lyall died of AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
-related causes in 1989.
Paton and Bairnson reconvened in 2002, to re-record the original Pilot album Two's a Crowd. The subsequent issue was entitled, Blue Yonder (see below).
Singles
- "Just a Smile" (1974)- Co-written by Le-Vahn
- 1. "Just a Smile"
- 2. "Don't Speak Loudly"
- "MagicMagic (Pilot song)"Magic" is a popular song from 1974, and was the first hit single for the Scottish band Pilot. It was written by Pilot's Dave Paton.It charted most successfully in Canada, where it reached #1, topping the RPM national singles chart on July 19, 1975, and received a gold certification...
" (1974) - UKUK Singles ChartThe UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
Number 11; USA Singles Chart #5; Australia Singles Chart # 3; Canada Singles Chart #5- 1. "Magic"
- 2. "Just Let Me Be"
- "Ra-Ta-Ta" (1974) (as Scotch Mist)
- 1. "Ra-Ta-Ta"
- 2. "Pamela"
- "JanuaryJanuary (Pilot song)"January" is a pop rock song recorded by the Scottish rock band Pilot. Written by David Paton and produced by Alan Parsons, "January" was the sole number one single in the UK for Pilot, ironically spending all of its three week chart run at the top in February 1975. It also charted in the United...
" (1975) - UK Singles Chart #1; Germany Singles Chart #1; Australia Singles Chart #1- 1. "January"
- 2. "Never Give Up"
- "Call Me Round" (1975) - UK Number 34
- 1. "Call Me Round"
- 2. "Do Me Good"
- "Just a Smile" (1975 - reissue) - UK Number 31
- 1. "Just a Smile"
- 2. "Are You In Love?"
- "Lady Luck" (1975)
- 1. "Lady Luck"
- 2. "Dear Artist"
- "Running Water" (1976)
- 1. "Running Water"
- 2. "First After Me"
- "Canada" (1976)
- 1. "Canada"
- 2. "The Mover"
- "Penny in My Pocket" (1976)
- 1. "Penny in My Pocket"
- 2. "Steps"
- "Get Up And Go" (1977)
- 1. "Get Up And Go"
- 2. "Big Screen Kill"
- "Monday Tuesday" (1977)
- 1. "Monday Tuesday"
- 2. "Evil Eye"
Albums
- Pilot (From the Album of the Same Name)Pilot (From the Album of the Same Name)Pilot is the 1974 debut album by Pilot, containing the international hit "Magic". The album was initially released in 1974 by EMI, and later re-released on CD by EMI Japan in 1990 and by C-Five Records, in 1991.Ian Bairnson plays guitar on this album but, at the time, was not a group member...
— (1974) - Second Flight — (1975) — UKUK Albums ChartThe UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...
Number 48- 1. "You're My Nr. 1"
- 2. "Love Is"
- 3. "Call Me Round"
- 4. "55° North, 3° West"
- 5. "To You Alone"
- 6. "Do Me Good"
- 7. "Heard It All Before"
- 8. "Bad to Me"
- 9. "You're Devotion"
- 10. "January"
- 11. "Passion Piece"
- 12. "Dear Artist"
- Morin Heights — (1976)
- 1. "Hold on"
- 2. "Canada"
- 3. "First After Me"
- 4. "Steps"
- 5. "The Mover"
- 6. "Penny in My Pocket"
- 7. "Lies and Lies"
- 8. "Running Water"
- 9. "Trembling"
- 10. "Maniac"
- 11. "Too Many Hopes"
- Two's a Crowd — (1977)
- 1. "Get Up and Go"
- 2. "Library Door"
- 3. "Creeping Round Midnight"
- 4. "One Good Reason Why"
- 5. "There's a Place"
- 6. "The Other Side"
- 7. "Monday Tuesday"
- 8. "Ten Feet Tall"
- 9. "Evil Eye"
- 10. "Mr. Do Or Die"
- 11. "Big Screen Kill"
- Blue Yonder — (2002)
- 1. "Get Up and Go"
- 2. "Library Door"
- 3. "Creeping Round Midnight"
- 4. "One Good Reason Why"
- 5. "There's a Place"
- 6. "I Wonder"
- 7. "Monday Tuesday"
- 8. "Ten Feet Tall"
- 9. "Evil Eye"
- 10. "When the Sun Comes"
- 11. "Hold Me (live in 1975)"
Compilations and film soundtracks
- Best Of Pilot (1980)
- Happy GilmoreHappy GilmoreHappy Gilmore is a 1996 sports comedy film directed by Dennis Dugan and produced by Robert Simonds for Universal Studios. It stars Adam Sandler as the title character, an unsuccessful ice hockey player who discovers a talent for golf. The screenplay was written by Sandler and Tim Herlihy...
(included in the soundtrackSoundtrackA soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
) (1996) - Herbie: Fully LoadedHerbie: Fully LoadedHerbie: Fully Loaded is a 2005 American comedy film directed by Angela Robinson and produced by Robert Simonds for Walt Disney Pictures. It stars Lindsay Lohan as the youngest member of an automobile-racing family, Michael Keaton as her father, Matt Dillon as a competing racer, Breckin Meyer as...
(included in the soundtrack) (2005) - The Magic RoundaboutThe Magic Roundabout (film)The Magic Roundabout, , is a 2005 British computer-animated film based on the television series of the same name...
(included in the soundtrack) (2005) - Eve And The Firehorse ("Magic" included in the soundtrack) (2005)
- A's B's & Rarities (2005)
- 1. "Magic"
- 2. "Just Let Me Be"
- 3. "January"
- 4. "Never Give Up"
- 5. "Call Me Round"
- 6. "Do Me Good"
- 7. "Just A Smile"
- 8. "Don't Speak Loudly"
- 9. "Are You In Love?"
- 10. "You Are My Nr. 1"
- 11. "High Into The Sky"
- 12. "Sooner Or Later"
- 13. "Lady Luck"
- 14. "Dear Artist"
- 15. "Running Water"
- 16. "First After Me"
- 17. "Canada"
- 18. "Mover"
- 19. "Penny In My Pocket"
- 20. "Steps"
- 21. "No Ties, No Strings (David Paton solo)"
- 22. "Stop And Let Go (David Paton solo)"
- Anthology (2007)
- Magicians (2007)
- Mr. Magorium's Wonder EmporiumMr. Magorium's Wonder EmporiumMr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium is a 2007 film written and directed by Zach Helm. The film stars Dustin Hoffman as the owner of a magical toy store, and Natalie Portman as his store employee.-Plot:...
(2007)