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National Health were an English progressive rock band associated with the Canterbury scene.[1] Founded in 1975, the band featured members of keyboardist Dave Stewart's band Hatfield and the North and Alan Gowen's band Gilgamesh, including guitarists Phil Miller and Phil Lee and bassist Mont Campbell as original members.[1] The band was named after Stewart's National Health spectacles. Bill Bruford (previously of Yes and King Crimson) was the initial drummer, but was soon replaced by Pip Pyle.[1] Campbell was replaced by Neil Murray and then John Greaves.[1] Alan Gowen left the group before its first album (although he appeared on it as a guest musician), but returned for their final tours, replacing Dave Stewart, who resigned after their second album. Amanda Parsons sang with the group in its original lineup but also appeared on the first album only as a guest; the group never had another full-time vocalist, although Richard Sinclair appeared a few times as a guest vocalist, and Greaves sang on one track of the second album and occasionally in concerts. Guitarist Phil Miller was National Health's only constant member.
National Health | |
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| Origin | Canterbury, England |
| Genres | Progressive rock, Canterbury scene, jazz fusion, psychedelic rock, experimental rock |
| Years active | 1975–1980, 1981, 1983 |
| Past members | Dave Stewart Alan Gowen Amanda Parsons Phil Miller Phil Lee Mont Campbell Bill Bruford Steve Hillage John Mitchell Neil Murray Pip Pyle John Greaves Georgie Born Lindsay Cooper |
They toured extensively and released their first album, National Health, in 1978.[1] Although it was created during the rise of punk rock, the album is characterized by lengthy, mostly instrumental compositions. Their second record, Of Queues and Cures, which included Henry Cow associates Peter Blegvad (recitation on "Squarer For Maud") and Georgie Born (cello), is held as one of the "best records ever" on the Gnosis website.[2] National Health continued performing live until winter 1980, but disbanded without recording another album.[3]
After the May 1981 death of Gowen, the Queues lineup of Stewart, Miller, Greaves and Pyle reunited to record the album D.S. Al Coda, a set of compositions by Gowen, most previously unrecorded. The original albums and additional archival material have subsequently been released on CD.
The intro of National Health's "Binoculars" was used as a sample on American rock band Deftones' "Black Moon".
Line-ups
edit| July - September 1975 | October - December 1975 | December 1975 - January 1976 | January - March 1976 |
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| March - June 1976 | July 1976 - January 1977 | January - March 1977 | March 1977 - January 1978 |
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| January - September 1978 | September - October 1978 | January 1979 - March 1980 | March 1980 - October 1981 |
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Dave Stewart took part in a performance of "The Collapso" on BBC's The Old Grey Whistle Test in January 1979, before being replaced by Alan Gowen. |
Disbanded |
| October - November 1981 | November 1981 - August 1983 | August 1983 | |
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Disbanded |
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Discography
editStudio albums
edit- National Health (1978)
- Of Queues and Cures (1978)
- D.S. Al Coda (1982)
Other releases
edit- Complete (1990; all three studio albums plus bonus tracks)
- Missing Pieces (1996; archival material)[4]
- Playtime (2001; live recordings from 1979)
- Dreams Wide Awake (2005; selected tracks from the first two studio albums)
Filmography
edit- 2015: Romantic Warriors III: Canterbury Tales (DVD)
References
edit- ^ a b c d e Colin Larkin, ed. (1992). The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. p. 1796. ISBN 0-85112-939-0.
- ^ ranked #10 as of 2012/09/13, the Gnosis search facility
- ^ Stump, Paul (1997). The Music's All that Matters: A History of Progressive Rock. Quartet Books Limited. p. 245. ISBN 0-7043-8036-6.
- ^ "Exposé Online » Reviews » National Health - Missing Pieces". Exposé Online.