UK (band)

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UK
General information
Genre (s) Progressive rock , art rock , jazz rock
founding 1978
resolution 1979
Last occupation
John Wetton (ex- King Crimson , ex- Uriah Heep , ex- Roxy Music )
Eddie Jobson (ex- Curved Air , ex- Frank Zappa , ex- Roxy Music )
Terry Bozzio (ex-Frank Zappa)
former members
Allan Holdsworth (1978) (ex- Soft Machine , ex- Gong )
Bill Bruford (ex- Yes , ex-King Crimson)

UK was a progressive rock - Supergroup , which in the late 1970s was formed years various former members progressive-rock and related bands.

history

founding

In the late 1970s, rumors spread that bassist and vocalist John Wetton and drummer Bill Bruford , the former rhythm section of King Crimson , had formed a new band with ex- Yes keyboardist Rick Wakeman . In fact, there had been talks, but a collaboration failed due to contractual problems with Wakeman's record company. Some of the pieces written together ( Beelzebub, Back to the Beginning, Paper Talk ) were later found on solo albums by Bruford and Wetton. However, the two continued to work together and agreed that each should bring another musician into the band. Bruford brought in guitarist Allan Holdsworth , who was one of the most sought-after fusion musicians of the time, while Wetton brought on board keyboardist Eddie Jobson , whom he had met during his time at Roxy Music and who had already played with Frank Zappa . The new band was called UK

Career

In this line-up, the new supergroup recorded their debut album UK , released in 1978 . Holdsworth in particular gave the progressive rock band's virtuoso game a jazzy note. The album was followed by a world tour with a sometimes very large audience.

During the tour, Holdsworth's frustration increased, which led to tension with the other musicians, especially Wetton. The following year, the more commercially oriented Wetton threw the "jazz faction" Bruford / Holdsworth out of the band. Bruford was replaced by Terry Bozzio (ex-Frank Zappa) and UK continued to work as a trio. In 1979 the last studio album Danger Money was released . The jazz influence had disappeared, but »bombast prog« was still offered at a high level. The track Rendezvous 6:02 was a top 20 hit in the Netherlands .

UK subsequently appeared partly as headliner, partly as support act for Jethro Tull , their last concert took place in December 1979 in Nijmegen , the Netherlands . At the end of the tour, the band split up: Wetton wanted to write more commercial material, while Jobson wanted to move more in the direction of classic progressive rock . While Wetton subsequently worked on a solo album, Jobson went to Jethro Tull. In 1979 the UK live album Night After Night was released, which contained two new pieces.

Great commercial success was denied the outstanding musical quality. John Wetton made up for this with the band Asia in 1982 - but with a much more commercial and hardly progressive variant of rock music (see adult-oriented rock ).

Failed reunification

In the 1990s Eddie Jobson planned a new edition of the UK An album called Legacy with the line-up Jobson, Bruford, Wetton was recorded with guest musicians Tony Levin (electric bass), Francis Dunnery (guitar) and Steve Hackett (guitar) in 1999. Guest appearances by Allan Holdsworth and Robert Fripp were also planned. Jobson also built in the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra and the Bulgarian women's choir Angelite , with whom he was working at the time. The album should be about the decline of communism in Eastern Europe and Asia. Wetton soon left the project, however, and was replaced by Aaron Lippert. Later, Bruford had his posts deleted as a result. A new recording as Jobson's solo album was initially planned, but the album was never finished because of a dispute over the ownership rights to the recordings.

Three tracks by Legacy appeared on the Bulgarian Women's Choir's Voices of Life album in 2000 (on Jobson's Globe Music label, GLMMA-2000-2). The titles of these pieces are Nov Den (A New Day) , Utopia and Zavesata Pada (The Curtain Falls) , all of which were penned by Jobson. The Glory of Winning and Tears of Joy on the Wetton / Downes album Icon II: Rubicon were created in collaboration with Jobson and are probably also from 1999.

The disputes between Jobson, Wetton and Bruford continue, so the possibility of a reunion is now a long way off.

Instead of Legacy , a live album was released in 1999 with recordings of the original line-up Wetton, Bruford, Jobson and Holdsworth from 1978 under the title Concert Classics Vol. 4 .

In October 2007 the formation of a new progressive rock supergroup called UKZ was announced. Members are Eddie Jobson , the former King Crimson bassist Trey Gunn ( Warr Guitar ), Alex Machacek , Marco Minnemann and Aaron Lippert , who was already involved in the failed UK reunion in 1999. The name UKZ alludes to both UK and Jobson's Zinc project.

Discography

Chart positions
Explanation of the data
Albums
UK
  UK 43 May 27, 1978 (3 weeks)
  US 65 06/24/1978 (15 weeks)
Danger Money
  US 45 05/05/1979 (11 weeks)
Night after night
  US 109 11/10/1979 (6 weeks)
Singles
Nothing To Lose
  UK 67 06/30/1979 (2 weeks)

Studio albums

  • UK (1978) (Wetton, Bruford, Jobson, Holdsworth)
  • Danger Money (1979) (Wetton, Bozzio, Jobson)

Live albums

  • Night After Night (1979) (Wetton, Bozzio, Jobson)
  • Concert Classics Vol. 4 (1999, recordings from 1978) (Wetton, Bruford, Jobson, Holdsworth)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Chart sources: UK US