U.K. (band)

U.K.

UK, 1978. L-R: John Wetton, Allan Holdsworth, Bill Bruford, and Eddie Jobson.
Background information
Origin England
Genres Progressive rock, jazz fusion, art rock[1]
Years active 1977–1980, 2011–2015
Labels E.G., Polydor, Virgin
Associated acts Frank Zappa, King Crimson, UKZ, HoBoLeMa, Asia, Yes, Roxy Music
Website http://www.ukreunion.com
Past members Eddie Jobson
John Wetton
Allan Holdsworth
Bill Bruford
Terry Bozzio

U.K. are a British progressive rock supergroup originally active from 1977 until 1980. The band was composed of singer/bassist John Wetton (formerly of King Crimson, Roxy Music, Bryan Ferry's band and Uriah Heep), keyboardist/electric violinist Eddie Jobson (formerly of Curved Air, Roxy Music and Frank Zappa's band), guitarist Allan Holdsworth (formerly of Tempest, Soft Machine, The New Tony Williams Lifetime and Gong) and drummer Bill Bruford (formerly a full member of Yes and King Crimson, and also a tour drummer for Genesis), later replaced by drummer Terry Bozzio (formerly of Frank Zappa's band). UK reformed with John Wetton, Eddie Jobson and Terry Bozzio for a world tour in 2012.

History

Formation and first album

Singer/bassist John Wetton and drummer Bill Bruford had worked together in King Crimson from 1972-4, when guitarist Robert Fripp disbanded the group.[2] In July 1976, Bruford assisted Wetton on demos for a proposed solo album by the latter (a couple of these demos were later released on Monkey Business). In September 1976, they worked on forming a band with keyboardist Rick Wakeman, who had previously worked with Bruford in Yes. The project was stopped by Wakeman's label. According to Bruford, "A&M Records were unwilling to let their 'star,' Wakeman, walk off with a used, slightly soiled King Crimson rhythm section, and the idea failed."[3]

Bruford and Wetton next asked guitarist Robert Fripp to reform King Crimson.[4] When Fripp eventually declined, Bruford and Wetton decided that each would bring in a musician of his choice to form a new band. Wetton brought in keyboardist/violinist Eddie Jobson, whom Wetton knew from his work with Roxy Music in 1976 – "stealing" him from Frank Zappa.[5] Bruford recruited guitarist Allan Holdsworth (formerly of Soft Machine and Gong) who had played guitar on Bruford's 1978 (recorded 1977) debut solo album, Feels Good to Me.

U.K. released their self-titled debut album in 1978 and followed it with a supporting tour. Following two lengthy American tours (June–October 1978), Wetton and Jobson decided to fire Holdsworth over musical differences, and Bruford chose to depart as well, taking several instrumentals developed by him for the live U.K repertoire ("Forever Until Sunday", "Sahara of Snow Part I", "Sahara of Snow Part II", which originally were slated for the second U.K. album), to be used instead on One of a Kind (1979), the second album of his quartet Bruford.[3]

Trio line-up

After the departure of Bruford and Holdsworth, U.K. did not bring in another guitarist, instead becoming a trio with drummer Terry Bozzio (another one-time Frank Zappa band member). They recorded the studio album Danger Money, released in March 1979, and spent much of that year touring North America as opening act for Jethro Tull. The album spawned a minor hit single, "Nothing to Lose", which reached number 67 on the UK charts.[6] A live album, Night After Night, was recorded in Japan that spring and released in September 1979. Following a final European tour in December 1979, and in spite of plans to record a new studio album in America in March 1980, U.K. disbanded as Jobson and Wetton had different ideas on how the band should develop. Jobson wanted UK to go on with more long instrumental pieces, while Wetton thought that performing shorter songs was a better idea.[7] Jobson stated that one song in particular was the reason of the band to disband: "When Will You Realize",[8] a non-LP B-side (to date still unavailable on CD) featured on the "Night After Night" single, which Wetton would re-record (with slightly different lyrics) in 1980 on his solo album Caught in the Crossfire.

Aftermath

Jobson worked with Jethro Tull on the album A (1980) and went on to a solo career. Wetton, following the recording of his solo album Caught in the Crossfire (summer 1980) and a brief stint with Wishbone Ash (October–December 1980), eventually left E.G. Records to sign with Geffen Records and ex-Yes manager Brian Lane and started Asia with Steve Howe, Carl Palmer and Geoffrey Downes. Bozzio formed Missing Persons with his then-wife Dale Bozzio, guitarist Warren Cuccurullo and bassist Patrick O'Hearn – all four also from line-ups with Zappa. Holdsworth and Bozzio played together in HoBoLeMa almost three decades later.

Legacy project

From 1995 to 1998, Jobson and Wetton worked together on a proposed U.K. reunion album, also recording contributions by Bruford, Tony Levin, Steve Hackett and Francis Dunnery. When Wetton departed, "Legacy" became an Eddie Jobson solo project, with Wetton replaced on lead vocals by Aaron Lippert. However, Jobson eventually abandoned the project. Three tracks intended for it found their way onto Voices of Life, a compilation by Bulgarian Women's Choir organised by Jobson.[9]

UKZ and reunion

In October 2007, Jobson announced a new band, UKZ, with Lippert and former King Crimson bassist/guitarist Trey Gunn among others, which released an EP called "Radiation" in March 2009. In late 2009, Jobson and Wetton both talked about a possible reunion of U.K. A U.K. reunion tour in February/March 2010 with Jobson, Wetton, Marco Minnemann on drums (from UKZ) and Greg Howe (Victor Wooten, Vitalij Kuprij, Michael Jackson) on guitar was described to promoters, but not confirmed by Wetton.

Wetton and Jobson performed three concerts in Poland in November 2009 as part of Jobson's Ultimate Zero (U-Z) project. The line-up also featured Minnemann, Howe, and Tony Levin (stick). They performed music from UK and King Crimson. A CD compiled from various U-Z performances from 2009, entitled Ultimate Zero - The Best of the U-Z Project Live, including multiple tracks from the Polish shows, was then released.[10]

It was announced on 11 February 2011, and later confirmed by John Wetton on his website, that U.K. had reformed to play two shows in Japan on 15 and 16 April 2011. The line-up was Jobson and Wetton, with Minnemann and Alex Machacek performing drums and guitar respectively. US dates, including a show in San Francisco, were also announced and performed in April 2011. A DVD called "Reunion: Live in Tokyo" was culled from these shows and officially released in 2013.

Former drummer Bozzio then rejoined for an American tour in 2012. The line-up for the subsequent European tour included additional musicians Gary Husband (drums) and a returning Alex Machacek on guitar.

In 2013, U.K. did an "Azure Seas" tour with Machacek once again taking on guitar duties, and an East Coast tour with Virgil Donati performing drumming duties in place of Bozzio, who had once again departed the band. On 8 November of the same year, the band did also a special concert performance of their two studio albums in Kawasaki, in Japan. The drummer for that special concert was Marco Minnemann.

U.K. appeared in the 2014 edition of Cruise to the Edge progressive rock festival. The line-up once again included both Machacek and Donati. In 2015 the band announced their final world tour, with the band being joined by Machacek and Dream Theater drummer Mike Mangini for these final dates.

Musical style

Throughout their brief existence, U.K.'s music was characterised by skilled musicianship, jazzy harmonies, close harmony vocals, odd-numbered time signatures, mixed meters, electric violin solos, and unusually varied synthesiser (Yamaha CS-80)[3] sonorities.

Personnel

Members
Touring musicians

Timeline

Discography

Studio Albums

Year Album US UK
1978 U.K. 65 43
1979 Danger Money 45 -

Live Albums

Year Album US UK Notes
1979 Night After Night 109 - Live 1979 Nakano Sun Plaza and Seiken Kan, Tokyo, Japan
1999 Concert Classics, Vol. 4 - - Live 1978. Re-released as Live in America and Live in Boston.
2013 Reunion - Live in Tokyo - - Live 2011.
2015 Curtain Call - - Live 2013.

Compilations

Year Album
2016 Ultimate Collector's Edition

Singles

Year Single UK Album B-Side
1978 In the Dead of Night - U.K. Mental Medication
1979 Nothing to Lose 67 Danger Money In the Dead of Night
Rendezvous 6:02 -
1979 Night After Night - Night After Night When Will You Realize

Videos

Year Details
2013 Reunion: Live in Tokyo
2015 Curtain Call

Tours

Year Live&Tour Lineup Release
Apr-Nov 1978 U.K. Tour Eddie Jobson, John Wetton, Allan Holdsworth, Bill Bruford Concert Classics, Vol. 4
Mar-Dec 1979 Danger Money Tour Eddie Jobson, John Wetton, Terry Bozzio Night After Night
Nov 2009 (Poland) Eddie Jobson's U-Z Project Eddie Jobson, John Wetton, Tony Levin, Greg Howe, Marco Minnemann Ultimate Zero – The Best of the U-Z Project Live
Apr 2011 Reunion Tour Eddie Jobson, John Wetton, Alex Machacek, Marco Minnemann Reunion: Live in Tokyo
May-Jun 2012 Night After Night 2012 Tour Eddie Jobson, John Wetton, Terry Bozzio (American Tour)
Eddie Jobson, John Wetton, Alex Machacek, Gary Husband (European Tour)
March 28&29 2013 Cruise to the Edge Eddie Jobson, John Wetton, Terry Bozzio, Alex Machacek
Mar-Apr 2013 Azure Seas Tour Eddie Jobson, John Wetton, Alex Machacek, Virgil Donati
November 8 2013 (Japan) Club Citta' Presents U.K. Special Live Eddie Jobson, John Wetton, Alex Machacek, Marco Minnemann Curtain Call
April 8&11 2014 Cruise to the Edge Eddie Jobson, John Wetton, Alex Machacek, Virgil Donati
Feb-Apr 2015 Final World Tour Eddie Jobson, John Wetton, Alex Machacek, Mike Mangini

References

  1. ↑ Michael Ray, ed. (2012). Disco, punk, new wave, heavy metal, and more: Music in the 1970s and 1980s. Rosen Education Service. p. 106. ISBN 978-1615309085. ...the appearance of the influential British art rock bands U.K. and Marillion in the late 1970s and early 1980s, respectively
  2. ↑ King Crimson
  3. 1 2 3 DPRP : Counting Out Time : UK - UK
  4. ↑ Robert Fripp on 18 June 1979 in Chicago
  5. ↑ U.K. Humbled in U.S.A
  6. ↑ UK chart history, The Official Charts Company. Retrieved 23 July 2012.
  7. ↑ Interview with John Wetton in Big Bang Magazine
  8. ↑ New UK bootleg / New editions
  9. ↑ On The Edge With Eddie Jobson
  10. ↑ UKZ
  11. 1 2 "UK reunion 2012". Archived from the original on 2012-07-12. Retrieved 2012-07-12.
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