I suppose Hawkwind and Wishbone Ash count here, but I’ve already mentioned them. Here’s another few groups worth checking out by anyone who considers themselves a “rock fan”.
Be Bop Deluxe. The main character is Bill Nelson, and their most famous album is Sunburst Finish. This was a British pop band from the 70s, from 1972-79. The music is standard issue rock from that era, not particularly special or original, but certainly competent and well-made. Nelson’s guitar work is excellent, and salvages what might otherwise be standard issue 70s pop into something more substantial and worthwhile. “Ships in the Night” has a reggae feel very similar to the Scorpions’ “Is There Anybody There” from Lovedrive.
Max Webster. A Canadian pop band. The main character: Kim Mitchell. They used to open up for Rush in the late 70s, but have since broken up; they were active from 1973-81. Kim Mitchell is still on the radio in Canada. I have their first two albums, the self-titled debut and High Class in Borrowed Shoes. MW are somewhat more commercial, a bit like Blue Oyster Cult, even with some quirkiness thrown into the mix (e.g. “Toronto Tontos”). Mitchell, as with so many commercial guitarists, knows exactly how much bad-ass guitar to throw into the mix to keep it from being just “banal and insipid” garbage.
The Sensational Alex Harvey Band. My buddy Dave described them as “AC/DC with keyboards”, but to me the sound is like a heavier, rock-oriented vaudeville show. Their top song is “The Faith Healer”. Alex Harvey himself had a kind of Beano look to him, with striped t-shirts, and his voice is practically identical to early Bon Scott (e.g. “Big Balls”); it’s hard not to suspect that Scott was ripping off Harvey for his vocal style, at least early on. Guitarist Zal Cleminson dressed in clown makeup, but aside from looking incredibly gay (in both senses of the word) is actually damn good.
Argent. Aside from this band, keyboardist Rod Argent is best known for the band the Zombies, whose hit “Time of the Season” was actually released after the band had already broken up. They’ve since reformed, with Argent, and of course play that song on their reunion tour. Argent himself teamed up with guitarist Russ Ballard to make several albums of pop-prog-rock. Argent’s material reminds me of that bizarre candy Willy Wonka invented, the one which changes to completely different flavors. At one point I’m hearing King Crimson, then Uriah Heep, then Jethro Tull, and some Deep Purple (actually Uriah Heep in more recent years have been accused of sounding more like classic Deep Purple than Purple themselves do these days – Heep Purple?). They are all over the place. KISS covered “God Gave Rock’n’Roll To You”, but their original hit was “Hold Your Head Up”. I purchased a 5-pack of their albums Argent, Ring of Hands, All Together Now, In Deep, and Nexus. All of them have atrocious album covers.
Budgie. I separate this Welsh 70’s-80’s band in to three phases. First they were very close to being Black Sabbath clones on the first four albums: Budgie, Squawk, Never Turn Your Back On A Friend, and In For The Kill. By the fifth album, they had loosened up a bit with some more jazzy, even bossa nova feel: Bandolier, If I Were Britannia I’d Waive the Rules, and Impeckable. Unfortunately, Bourge quit, and was replaced by John Thomas, right in time (1980) for Budgie to emulate Saxon and Y&T for their NWOBHM eras; these three albums are Power Supply, Night Flight, and Deliver Us From Evil. They broke up, and eventually reformed around original bassist/singer Burke Shelley. No mention of Budgie is complete without a reference to Metallica, who covered “Breadfan” as a single (the b-side to “Eye of the Beholder”) and “Crash Course in Brain Surgery” on the Garage Days Re-Revisited EP. While both songs are good, “Zoom Club” (from In For The Kill) is probably their best song. Budgie share the tendency of Frank Zappa and Blue Oyster Cult of having extremely odd song titles: “Nude Disintegrating Parachutist Woman”, “Napoleon Bona Part I & II”, “Hot As A Docker’s Armpit”, “Panzer Division Destroyed”, “If I Were Britannia I’d Waive the Rules”, etc.
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