Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Skyband - Skyband (1975)

Skyband were a multinational act based out of Los Angeles. Consisting of Peter Beckett (Paladin, Tin Tin) from the UK, Steve Kipner (Tin Tin) from Australia and Lane Caudell from the US, Skyband evolved from the ashes of Friends, a band Steve and Peter had worked in after relocating to the states in early 1974. With the addition of Caudell, the band's lineup was solidified. Quickly snapped up by RCA Records, the band flew to London and self-produced their debut which landed in stores in early 1975.

Though the band had stellar road jaunts with acts like Peter Noone, Jackson 5 and the Alex Harvey Band, their bubbly brand of pop had become obsolete in the face of changing tides within the music industry. RCA dropped the band the following year. Refusing to go down so quickly, the band renamed themselves Zed and began shopping new material to labels but no one was interested. In a few short months, Zed were gone too. Beckett went on to form Player and work in the industry as a songwriter. Kipner also continued working as a writer while recording his own solo material. Caudell performed as a solo artist for a short time before moving into acting. He later moved into the country business as a solo artist, where he resides confortably now.

Ok, so aside from the hilarious cover photo...what else is worth mentioning about Skyband? To be honest, this is actually a great record. With a tasteful balance of glam, Beatlesque pop, bubblegum and west coast rock, their self-titled debut is worthy of praise for its solid writing and production. Tracks like "Bang! Ooh! Ya Got Me", "Pie in the Sky", "Cold Light of Day", "Hollywood" and "Easier Than Saying Goodbye" are all over the place stylistically, but at the core are well written nuggets. Granted, some of this has not aged well, but there's absolutely nothing terrible about this mid 70's effort. I recommend everyone check this one out and find something they like. It won't be hard, I promise :)

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

Bravo Ronnie! Paladin was an awesome band and it's a real shame they never made it to the States...they would have rocked this country!!! I am Peter Beckett's Webmistress and i thank you for this. Peter will be putting out his new Player cd in 2008

Patti
www.peterbeckett-player.com

flameofnj said...

Thank you Ronnie for recognizing this amazing band SKYBAND. I am Peter Beckett's friend and Webmistress and he will be glad to know that people haven't forgotten SKYBAND. Peter and Steve also recorded two other great LPs together under the name 'Think Out Loud'. Peter is now working on the 6th Player cd to be released in 2008. The man is a gift to the music undustry.

Patti/Webmistress
www.peterbeckett-player.com

Anonymous said...

Do you also have the Player albums featuring Peter Beckett? Thanks Mark

Anonymous said...

I have everything Player. I even have their gold record for Baby Come Back. Peter and Ronn are good friends of mine. I created their websites fro them and run them. I have all of their solo stuff too. I've been a huge fan of Peter's for 30 years. They played this May in Rhode Island and I met them up there and took a lot of pics on stage. peter's voice is better than ever!!
Patti

sorry I can't remember my password so i will post as anonymous. LOL!

www.player-theband.com

Anonymous said...

I was looking for a Blogspot with all there albums to downnload? Thanks Mark

Anonymous said...

Paladin is excellent, but Skyband? No thanks.
It's sometimes a question of taste. Thank you anyway for posting this one!

Anonymous said...

any chance of uploading this again

Micko said...

Despite having an Aussie in the band (Steve Kipner) & being Aussie meself, I wasn't even aware of Skyband but I'm glad I found this. Thanks Ronnie

Any chance of you uploading a back cover scan also please mate. If not, does anyone else have it at all

Thanks again

Micko

Anonymous said...

all the rapidshare links are dead. i just discovered your blog and would love to have these albums. please repost!

Anonymous said...

what happened who is the asshole responsible for killing all the links??

Anonymous said...

please, please, please, Ronnie,

can you re-upload this album. I'm looking for this piece since very longtime. It will be very great to you...
Thank you in advance!!!!!!

akashaman said...

hey ; have both the tin tin lp`s , & was looking forward to checking this out , alas the link is dead. can u re upload it maybe ?

great blog ~

thanks !

Micko said...

Hi Akashaman, If you go to this link here

http://tinyurl.com/ya2mumg

You'll find that the Skyband album is also now available on the Midoztouch forum

Hope that helps

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the tip. Midoztouch has some great downloads. Another cool forum

Anonymous said...

I've never heard this band but looking at the album cover I know I MUST!! Pretty pleeease can you repost this? The Midoz link was for Megaupload (RIP) - thanks! xxx

Anonymous said...

Check out Peter Beckett's website, which I run for him. You can find out more of SKYBAND.

www.peterbeckett-player.com