Roxy Music - Roxy Music (1972)

"Sea Breezes" by Roxy Music


Some members of Aswad attended Holland Park School.  The school has produced a good number of notable alumni as well as notable teachers.  One ceramics teacher (fired, I hear) was Bryan Ferry who would go from educator to rock and roll star with his band Roxy Music.  Roxy Music released their debut album Roxy Music in 1972 on Island Records.

Here is the discography surrounding Roxy Music's debut album:

Roll It Down the Hill (1970 single by Yellow)
Hart Rock '71 (1971 compilation song by Yellow)
Got a Bad Leg (1971 single by Smoke Stack Crumble)
Roxy Music
Virginia Plain (1972 single)

"Virginia Plain" by Roxy Music


"Ladytron" by Roxy Music


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Neu! - Neu! (1972)

"Hallogallo" by Neu!


Klaus Dinger was a very short-lived member of Kraftwerk only having played on one song "Megaherz" from their debut album.  Friend and bandmate Michael Rother didn't even record with the band but toured with them.  When it looked like Kraftwerk were going to break up with Hütter leaving the band, Dinger and Rother broke off to form their own experimental group Neu! in 1971.

After forming, the duo went immediately to record at Star Studios with (again) Conny Plank.  On what became their 1972 debut album Neu!, Michael Rother played guitar and bass.  Klaus Dinger played drums, guitar, and a heavily manipulated Japanese banjo that can be heard on one of their staple tracks "Negativland".  On this album, Dinger introduced the "motorik" drumming style, a driving and unadorned 4/4 beat that would be sonically associated with the krautrock scene for its prolific use.  The album released on Brain Records but sold poorly.  Despite the slow start, Neu's debut would stand out as a critical darling, one of krautrock's cornerstone recordings, and an incredibly influential recording on music scenes to follow from the UK punks to post-rock and modern EDM.

Here is the discography surrounding Neu!'s debut album:

Neu!
Neu! '72 Live in Düsseldorf (1972 rehearsal recording)

"Negativland" by Neu!


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Grobschnitt - Grobschnitt (1972)

"Symphony" by Grobschnitt


The Moody Blues's magnificent debut was recently remastered and rereleased not only by a remastering engineer but also by a huge fan and musician influenced by The Moodies's body of work.  The mastering fan was Joachim Ehrig, better known as Eroc, drummer for the progressive krautrock band Grobschnitt.

Eroc formed Grobschnitt in 1970 out of the refuse of his defunct psychedelic rock band The Crew.  The eight man group started stylistically where The Crew left off, but by the time they recorded their debut album Grobschnitt in 1972, the band had moved firmly into the realm of symphonic progressive rock.  Alongside Eroc, the band included as members Gerd Otto Kühn (aka Lupo: lead guitar), Stefan Danielak (aka Willi Wildschwein: rhythm guitar, vocals), Herrmann Quettling (aka Quecksilber: keyboards), Axel Harlos (aka Felix: percussion), and Bernhard Uhlemann (aka Bär: bass, flute).  They attracted a popular fan base through their exciting live shows that included pyrotechnics and comedy skits.  Grobschnitt signed with Brain Records, an iconic record label that fostered some of the best and most influential krautrock bands of the 70s and 80s.

Here is the discography surrounding Grobschnitt's debut album:

Grobschnitt

"Travelling" by Grobschnitt


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Major Wiley - Seventh Child (1972)

Karen Dalton did not write her own songs. Instead, she collected, arranged, and performed the songs of others that she felt a personal connection to. Many of her songs came from her contemporaries who performed in Greenwich Village with her. On her debut, she covered two songs by Fred Neil, one by Tim Hardin, and one by Major Wiley.

The information about Major Wiley, his recordings, and his career are sparse. He was an active singer/songwriter on the folk circuit for much of the sixties and early seventies. This led to one single recorded in 1969 ('Rockin' Chair') and one album in 1972 (Seventh Child). Major Wiley ceased touring some time in the early to mid-seventies and moved to London, England where he took up acting and was fairly active during the eighties. Since 1989, he has disappeared from the public eye, but it appears that he is still living in London as of 2008 where he performed in a BBC Radioplay about Marvin Gaye.

As soon as I can, I'm going to upload some of his music to share (as none of it can be found online) and edit in a few comments about his style. In the meantime, I don't want the tour to come to a halt, so I'm going to forge ahead with the next artist.

Here is the complete discography for Major Wiley:

Rockin' Chair (1969 single)
Seventh Child

If you have any ideas for where the tour should go next, please give a shout. I'm open to whatever as long as the artists are historically related in some way and go in an artist's chronological order.

Pass the Headphones!!