Here's some live recordings from the great but short-lived progressive rock 'supergroup' U.K. Recently, the current progressive rock band The Tangent included a great cover version of U.K.'s 'In The Dead of the Night' Suite as a bonus track on their new Songs From the Hard Shoulder album, and it reminded how good U.K. was, and that they seem to have been largely forgotten these days. So, U.K. was considered a Prog 'Supergroup' because it was formed around 1977 by bassist-vocalist John Wetton (Family, Uriah Heep, Roxy Music, King Crimson), and drummer Bill Bruford (Yes, King Crimson, Genesis), with keyboard-violinist Eddie Jobson (Curved Air, Roxy Music, Frank Zappa) and guitarist Allan Holdsworth (Soft Machine, Gong, Tempest). Based on this combination of talent, their music was highly anticipated by prog fans, and they did not disappoint. Their first album, U.K. (1978) is considered a classic of the genre (Ranked #30 - Greatest Progressive Rock Albums of All-Time by Rolling Stone magazine), and features a dynamic combination of hard progressive rock with a jazz fusion approach. The newly introduced Yamaha CS-30 synthesizer was extensively used and featured in their music. They toured extensively in 1978 (often as opening act for Jethro Tull). Unfortunately, Bruford and Holdsworth left the band by the end of 1978, citing different musical directions, with Bruford and Holdsworth wanting to explore more jazzy improvisational music, but Wetton wanting more structured prog with commercial appeal. So, Terry Bozzio (Frank Zappa band) was brought in on drums, and when a suitable guitarist was not found, they continued as a trio. Their 2nd album, Danger Money (1979) was also quite good, but featured less jazz and a more AOR-friendly sound and song structure. On the 1979 tour, they played a few additional songs, but that was it for the band, as Jobson wanted to continue exploring longer instrumental-focused songs, while Wetton was interested in pursuing shorter songs and a more commercial style. Wetton went on to do just that with Asia in the early eighties. Jobson went on to play on Jethro Tull's A album and on to a solo career after that. So, here's a selection from both of their tours (1978 and 1979), featuring a great radio broadcast recording (1978) as well as a recently made available recording from the legendary Mike Millard tape series (1979 partial show). Check out U.K.
Tracklist:
Cleveland 1978
01. Introduction
02. Alaska
03. Time To Kill
04. The Only Thing She Needs
05. Carrying No Cross
06. Forever Until Sunday
07. Thirty Years
08. By The Light Of Day
09. Presto Vivace
10. In The Dead Of Night
11. Caesar's Palace Blues
Long Beach 1979
12. Nostalgia
13. Rendezvous 6:02
14. Night After Night
15. The Only Thing She Needs
16. Waiting For You
1978 lineup:
John Wetton: Bass, Vocals
Eddie Jobson: Keyboards, Violin
Allan Holdsworth: Guitar
Bill Bruford: Drums, Percussions
1979 lineup:
John Wetton - bass, vocals
Terry Bozzio - drums
Eddie Jobson - violin, keyboards
mp3 - UK_1978-11-9_Cleveland_Plus1979_mp3.rar
FLAC 1978 - UK_1978-11-9_Cleveland(FM)_FLAC.rar
FLAC 1979 - UK_1979-11-14_Long BeachCA(Millard)_FLAC.rarard
