Best perk me up rock songs A- Z –Round 2. Today’s letter S. Silent Star by Hudson-Ford from 1975. Funny song – not ha ha funny! Just different! These two guys Hudson and Ford came from Strawbs. An unpredictable band that had serious folk roots of very DEEP music and progressed eventually into a somewhat prog-rock band thanks to Dave Cousins but ESPECIALLY to the musical influence of Rick Wakeman and Hudson and Ford upon the group. Hudson and Ford were very versatile artists that could fit ANYWHERE but they settled for awhile in the Dave Cousins styled prog-rock thing and split from Strawbs eventually. Many years later both Hudson and Ford considered it a mistake ( a surprising admission to me when I read it) – that Strawbs was a better band with them in it and Cousins had a stronger vehicle for his vision with them there. But they were more prolific than Cousins allowed in the context of Strawbs albums at the time. It was a natural split. Hudson - Ford released three really good albums on their own before they decided to go new wave – punk with what probably is the best punk parodies EVER with their band The Monks! But this is 1975! They most definitely had a mellow approach prior to The Monks – but gifted songwriting in many styles within that era’s prog-rock ways! They, in 1975, are trying to prove themselves as the FM stations are still trying to play heavy classics in prog-rock but are leaning towards a mellower Firefall type playlist. The FM format would collapse in 1976 as Disco really started to take over the radio and all that survived in rock music from this point forward was Boston’s More Than A Feeling, Foreigner, The Cars and My Sharona by The Knack and Tom Petty’s Breakdown – Maybe a little Jackson Browne - all other new rock was getting massacred by The Bee Gees and Ring My Bell by Anita Ward. Hey who can argue with You Can Ring My Bell! NOT ME! LOL! Anyways I heard this song LOTS on both Montreal and Vancouver FM stations for about a year and then – NEVER again! It was the LAST BREATH of an era to me – never to EVER be seen again in popular music! Chris Parren’s work really kicks this song nicely - keyboard is great in this song – but the whole band really makes this song work. It’s a slow build but the song’s ending is brilliant work as it grooves and builds from about 5 minutes on. This type of song has never been heard since on FM. The end of a brilliant era of 1968 – 1975. It’s the final prog- rock mantra before commercial death – AND I LOVE THE SONG myself! youtube/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=K7-r-9Wyt6k
Posted on: Fri, 28 Nov 2014 12:13:07 +0000
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