Bodast - Bodast (1969)

"Nether Street" by Bodast


Steve Howe had several offers to play lead guitar in a couple established bands after the breakdown of Tomorrow.  Instead, he stuck with an upstart group of veteran musicians in a band they named after themselves (Bobby Clarke, Dave Curtiss, Steve Howe.... Clive Skinner).  Bodast had a record deal with Tetragrammaton Records but the company (and they) folded before their debut album's scheduled release.  They only held a handful of recording sessions and the products from those sessions finally saw the light of day in 1981 thanks to the guitar hero cult that surrounds Steve Howe.

The "1969 album Bodast" is a hypothetical album reconstructed from the extant recordings.  More than a what-might-have-been alternate history, this tour stop is a record of how a group of musicians were transitioning as they and the larger musical landscape moved from psychedelic rock to progressive and hard rock.

Here is Bodast's complete discography:

Bodast
The Bodast Tapes (1981 compilation album)
The Early Years (1990 compilation album)
Spectral Nether Street (2000 compilation album)
Towards Utopia (2017 compilation album)

"I Want You" by Bodast


Pass the Headphones!!

Tomorrow - Tomorrow (1968)

"My White Bicycle" by Tomorrow


Davy O'List quit The Nice in the middle of production on Ars Longa Vita Brevis.  The remaining three members of the band started a search for a replacement guitarist but decided against having one at all.  One of the guitarists they tried out was Steve Howe, a virtuoso and graduate of the UK underground rock scene.  His first album appearance was with the psychedelic rock band Tomorrow, a group most notable for its live act and underground cultural cache.  They released their only album Tomorrow in 1968 shortly before breaking up.

Here is Tomorrow's complete discography:

Maybellene (1964 single by The Syndicats)
Don't Think Twice, It's Alright (1964 single by The Fairies)
Howlin' for My Baby (1965 single by The Syndicats)
On the Horizon (1965 single by The Syndicats)
Leave My Kitty Alone (1965 single by The Syndicats)
Don't Mind (1965 single by The Fairies)
Get Yourself Home (1965 single by The Fairies)
Time Is on My Side (1965 single as Four + One)
Stop! Wait a Minute (1965 single as The In Crowd)
That's How Strong My Love Is (1965 single as The In Crowd)
Finger Poppin' (1965 song as The In Crowd)
Why Must They Criticise (1965 single as The In Crowd)
Sha-La-La-La-Lee (1966 single as The In Crowd)
Am I Glad to See You (1966 single as The In Crowd)
My White Bicycle (1967 single)
Revolution (1967 single)
Christmas on Earth Continued (1967 live album)
Tomorrow
10,000 Words in a Cardboard Box (1968 single as The Aquarian Age)
50 Minute Technicolour Dream (1998 compilation album)
Live & Unreleased 1967 (2001 compilation album)

"Now Your Time Has Come" by Tomorrow


Live Set on The Beat Club in 1964 by The Syndicats (a pre-Tomorrow Steve Howe band)


Pass the Headphones!!

The Nice - Ars Longa Vita Brevis (1968)

"Little Arabella" by The Nice


When Bryan Ferry was forming Roxy Music, he put out several adds in music magazines to recruit musicians.  In response to the advertisement for "Perfect Guitarist," approximately 20 such Perfect Guitarists applied including Davy O'List and Phil Manzanera.  The most Perfect Guitarist, however, was O'List who had previously been a member of the pioneering progressive rock band The Nice.  Manzanera was liked well enough in his rehearsal that he was offered a job as a roadie, which he took.

O'List, however, quit Roxy Music soon after joining (replaced by the ready Manzanera) in a bit of history that echoes his departure from The Nice.  When he left then, The Nice were in the middle of recording their second album Ars Longa Vita Brevis which saw release in 1968 on the Immediate label.

Here is the discography surrounding The Nice's second album:

Ars Longa Vita Brevis
Brandenburger (1968 single)

"Ars Longa Vita Brevis" by The Nice


Pass the Headphones!!