Sky (band)

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Chart positions
Explanation of the data
Albums
Sky
  UK 9 
platinum
platinum
06/02/1979 (56 weeks)
  US 125 11/01/1980 (15 weeks)
Sky 2
  DE 7th 06/30/1980 (23 weeks)
  AT 5 08/15/1980 (8 weeks)
  UK 1Template: Infobox chart placements / maintenance / NR1 link 
platinum
platinum
04/26/1980 (53 weeks)
Sky 3
  DE 39 04/27/1981 (9 weeks)
  AT 4th 04/15/1981 (14 weeks)
  UK 3 
gold
gold
03/28/1981 (23 weeks)
  US 181 05/02/1981 (3 weeks)
Sky 4 - Forthcoming
  UK 7th 
gold
gold
04/03/1982 (22 weeks)
Sky Five Live
  UK 14th 
silver
silver
01/22/1983 (14 weeks)
cadmium
  UK 44 
silver
silver
December 3rd, 1983 (10 weeks)
Masterpieces - The Very Best of Sky
  UK 15th 
gold
gold
05/12/1984 (18 weeks)
The Great Balloon Race
  UK 63 05/12/1984 (18 weeks)
Singles
Toccata
  DE 13 06/23/1980 (19 weeks)
  UK 5 04/05/1980 (11 weeks)
  US 83 01/10/1981 (2 weeks)

Sky (dt. Sky ) is a British progressive rock band.

Band history

John Williams was one of the best known classical guitarists in the 1960s and 1970s . His teammates were Francis Monkman ( keyboard ) - previously with Curved Air -, Herbie Flowers ( electric bass ) and Tristan Fry ( drums ). These musicians had worked together over and over for several years. Fry was a member of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields . Together with guitarist Kevin Peek , they decided in 1978 to form a rock band. In 1979 the first album Sky was released, produced by Tony Clark .

Sky only played instrumental rock music. The pieces were mostly based on classical themes or were adaptations of well-known classical pieces. The group's biggest hit in 1980 was Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor BWV 565 ; the accompanying album Sky 2 was one of the best-selling albums in Great Britain that year.

The following year, Monkman was replaced by Steve Gray . After the LP Cadmium Williams got out in 1984. But the group continued. 1987 there was a collaboration on the album Mozart with Fry's old ensemble, the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields under Sir Neville Marriner . This record became a huge hit in the US . This production actually marks the end of Sky, although the group occasionally toured until 1994. Players during this time were Paul Hart (keyboards, guitar), Marc Borroughs (guitar), Richard Durrant (guitar). Clare Torry sings on the 1985 record . In the early 1990s, the original Sky albums were released on CD.

As early as the early 1970s, there was a band called Sky in the USA. Her singer Doug Fieger was later a member of The Knack .

Discography

Studio albums

  • Sky (1979)
  • Sky 2 (1980)
  • Sky 3 (1981)
  • Sky 4 - Forthcoming (1982)
  • Cadmium (1983)
  • The Great Balloon Race (1985)
  • Mozart (1987)

Live albums / compilations

  • Sky Five Live (1983)
  • Masterpieces - The Very Best of Sky (1984)
  • Squared (1998)
  • Live in Nottingham (2002)

Singles

  • Cannonball (1979)
  • Dies Irae (maxi single) (1980)
  • Toccata (1980)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b British Hit Singles & Albums , 18th Edition, Guinness World Records Limited 2005, ISBN 978-1-904994-00-8 .
  2. ↑ Music Sales Awards: UK
  3. ↑ Chart data: Germany / Austria / Toccata (single) / Sky 2 + Sky 3 (albums)
  4. ↑ US singles: Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-2006. Billboard Books, New York 2007, ISBN 0-89820-172-1 . / US albums: The Billboard Albums by Joel Whitburn , 6th Edition, Record Research 2006, ISBN 0-89820-166-7 .
  5. ^ Walter Lindenberg: Sky - good weather or cloudburst? In: Guitar & Laute 2, 1980, 1, p. 2 and 54 f.