Brand X
Encyclopedia
Brand X was a jazz fusion
band active between 1975–1980 and 1992-1999. Noted members included Phil Collins
(drums), Percy Jones
(bass), John Goodsall
(guitar) and Robin Lumley
(keyboards).
In 1992, original members Goodsall and Jones formed a new trio version of Brand X, with drummer Frank Katz.
drummer Phil Collins took over on drums and in early 1976 Unorthodox Behaviour
was released to coincide with an extensive UK tour. Collins was replaced in following years by a formidable array of drummers, including Kenwood Dennard, Chuck Burgi and Mike Clark. Most recently the drum chair was filled by Frank Katz. Percussionist and composer Morris Pert
was added later for the follow-up Moroccan Roll
. (The band had previously employed other percussionists, including Gaspar Lawal, Bill Bruford
and Preston Heyman
).
In early 1977, Brand X decided to recruit a replacement drummer for Collins due to conflicting schedules with Genesis (although Collins rejoined for strategic dates throughout the year) and Kenwood Dennard of Pat Martino
's group was recruited in New York, making his debut on the band's US tour (a 32-date affair in May and June 1977) and appearing on part of the live album Livestock
. Collins came back to the fold for a series of dates in September 1977 including two appearances on the same day in London (Crystal Palace garden party) and Paris (Fete de l’Humanite) - the first time ever a band played two open-air shows in different countries on the same day. A second US tour followed late in the year, again with Dennard on drums.
In 1979, Collins re-joined Brand X for part of the series of recording sessions which would generate enough material for two albums, 1979's Product
and 1980's Do They Hurt?
. These took place at Startling Studios, located in Ringo Starr's countryside home (formerly owned by John Lennon), with two distinct line-ups operating in alternation (Mike Clark again providing drums on the other tracks), as Jones later explained. "Our record and management companies were both complaining about poor record sales and telling us we had to make the music more accessible. Some of the guys agreed to go along with this but I felt that to do this would not generate a new audience but would probably just alienate the one that we already had. The only solution was to have two bands, one being more accessible and the other being more experimental. For my stuff the lineup was Robinson, Clark, Goodsall and me; for the other direction it was Lumley, Collins and Goodsall with John Giblin on bass. We recorded in shifts, ours was 8pm to 4am and the others, 10am to 6pm".
A UK tour took place in April and May 1980 (co-headlining with Bruford), with Mike Clark again on drums.
After Brand X's 1979 world tour (the last with Collins), Goodsall moved to Los Angeles
and worked as a session musician
, and as a member of the band Zoo Drive (1980–1987), which included Doug Lunn, Paul Delph and Spinal Tap drummer Ric Parnell
.Goodsall & Ric Parnell
have created music together for many years.Parnell was instrumental in helping Goodsall get beyond the London/UK music scene. Some notable recordings from this time include Atomic Rooster
-'Nice'N'Greasy' and Sandoz-'Pay Attention' and Goodsall has also performed and/or recorded with Bill Bruford, Desmond Dekker
, Peter Gabriel
, Billy Idol
, Bryan Adams
, Toni Basil
and Mark Isham
. Goodsall released two albums with his band Fire Merchants, before reforming with Brand X and recording Xcommunication and Manifest Destiny.
the following year. To make up for the lack of a keyboard player, Goodsall used a Gibson Max midi guitar system to trigger synths, samples and keyboard sounds along with his guitars. This line-up went on to record X Communication,1996's Manifest Destiny, and tour Japan and Europe in 1997 with keyboard player Kris Sjobring and ex-Gong drummer Pierre Moerlen
replacing Katz.
In recent years, Goodsall has recorded with Franz Pusch and performed regular solo concerts with guest musicians. Jones and Katz formed Tunnels (1993–2006), releasing five albums. Goodsall played guitar on Tunnels:Progressivity (2002).
Jazz fusion
Jazz fusion is a musical fusion genre that developed from mixing funk and R&B rhythms and the amplification and electronic effects of rock, complex time signatures derived from non-Western music and extended, typically instrumental compositions with a jazz approach to lengthy group improvisations,...
band active between 1975–1980 and 1992-1999. Noted members included Phil Collins
Phil Collins
Philip David Charles "Phil" Collins, LVO is an English singer-songwriter, drummer, pianist and actor best known as a drummer and vocalist for British progressive rock group Genesis and as a solo artist....
(drums), Percy Jones
Percy Jones (musician)
Percy Jones is a Welsh bass guitarist, and was a member of jazz fusion band Brand X, from 1974 to 1980, and a reformed version which lasted from 1992 to 1997...
(bass), John Goodsall
John Goodsall
John Goodsall is a progressive rock & jazz fusion guitarist most noted for his work with Brand X, Atomic Rooster and Fire Merchants.Goodsall was born in Pennsylvania and has lived in Los Angeles, England, Milan and Minnesota. He began playing guitar at age 7...
(guitar) and Robin Lumley
Robin Lumley
Robin Lumley is a British jazz-fusion musician.He is a cousin of the actress Joanna Lumley. He started playing drums in a student band at college, and that band entered the finals of the Melody Maker band talent contest in the early 70s....
(keyboards).
In 1992, original members Goodsall and Jones formed a new trio version of Brand X, with drummer Frank Katz.
1975–1980
Brand X started in 1975 as a "jam" band funded by Island Records, whose A&R rep Danny Wilding wrote down the name "Brand X" to keep track of their activity in the studio calendar and the name stuck. Original drummer/vocalist Phil Spinelli and rhythm guitarist Pete Bonas quit the band after recording the 1st (disappeared/unreleased) Brand X album. GenesisGenesis (band)
Genesis are an English rock band that formed in 1967. The band currently comprises the longest-tenured members Tony Banks , Mike Rutherford and Phil Collins . Past members Peter Gabriel , Steve Hackett and Anthony Phillips , also played major roles in the band in its early years...
drummer Phil Collins took over on drums and in early 1976 Unorthodox Behaviour
Unorthodox Behaviour
Unorthodox Behaviour is the first album by jazz fusion group, Brand X. The duo of Phil Collins and Percy Jones would use several of these tracks as bases in their production of several Brian Eno discs, including Another Green World and Before and After Science...
was released to coincide with an extensive UK tour. Collins was replaced in following years by a formidable array of drummers, including Kenwood Dennard, Chuck Burgi and Mike Clark. Most recently the drum chair was filled by Frank Katz. Percussionist and composer Morris Pert
Morris Pert
Morris David Brough Pert was a Scottish composer, drummer/percussionist, and pianist who composed in the fields of both contemporary classical and jazz-rock music...
was added later for the follow-up Moroccan Roll
Moroccan Roll
Moroccan Roll is the second studio album by Brand X. The title is a pun referring to this being their second album: "more rock and roll"...
. (The band had previously employed other percussionists, including Gaspar Lawal, Bill Bruford
Bill Bruford
William Scott "Bill" Bruford is an English drummer, percussionist, composer, producer, and record label owner. He was the original drummer for the progressive rock group Yes, from 1968-1972. Bruford has performed for numerous popular acts since the early 1970s, including a stint as touring...
and Preston Heyman
Preston Heyman
Preston Heyman is a British session drummer. His credits include playing with the Tom Robinson Band on the album TRB Two. He is the co-founder of London based production company Flipside Productions and plays live with Zohar and Avivit on the London circuit....
).
In early 1977, Brand X decided to recruit a replacement drummer for Collins due to conflicting schedules with Genesis (although Collins rejoined for strategic dates throughout the year) and Kenwood Dennard of Pat Martino
Pat Martino
Pat Martino is an Italian-American jazz guitarist and composer within the post bop, fusion, mainstream jazz, soul jazz and hard bop idioms.-Biography:...
's group was recruited in New York, making his debut on the band's US tour (a 32-date affair in May and June 1977) and appearing on part of the live album Livestock
Livestock (Brand X album)
Livestock is a live album by Brand X released 1977. The album features five tracks. It is the first album where Kenwood Dennard appears as a replacement drummer for Phil Collins on two of the five tracks.-Side one:...
. Collins came back to the fold for a series of dates in September 1977 including two appearances on the same day in London (Crystal Palace garden party) and Paris (Fete de l’Humanite) - the first time ever a band played two open-air shows in different countries on the same day. A second US tour followed late in the year, again with Dennard on drums.
In 1979, Collins re-joined Brand X for part of the series of recording sessions which would generate enough material for two albums, 1979's Product
Product (Brand X album)
-Side one:# "Don't Make Waves" – 5:28# "Dance of the Illegal Aliens" – 7:50# "Soho" – 3:38# "...And So to F..." – 6:29-Side two:...
and 1980's Do They Hurt?
Do They Hurt?
Do They Hurt? is an album by Brand X. The tracks on this album are outtakes from the Product sessions. -Side one:#"Noddy Goes to Sweden" – 4:30#"Voidarama" – 4:21...
. These took place at Startling Studios, located in Ringo Starr's countryside home (formerly owned by John Lennon), with two distinct line-ups operating in alternation (Mike Clark again providing drums on the other tracks), as Jones later explained. "Our record and management companies were both complaining about poor record sales and telling us we had to make the music more accessible. Some of the guys agreed to go along with this but I felt that to do this would not generate a new audience but would probably just alienate the one that we already had. The only solution was to have two bands, one being more accessible and the other being more experimental. For my stuff the lineup was Robinson, Clark, Goodsall and me; for the other direction it was Lumley, Collins and Goodsall with John Giblin on bass. We recorded in shifts, ours was 8pm to 4am and the others, 10am to 6pm".
A UK tour took place in April and May 1980 (co-headlining with Bruford), with Mike Clark again on drums.
After Brand X's 1979 world tour (the last with Collins), Goodsall moved to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
and worked as a session musician
Session musician
Session musicians are instrumental and vocal performers, musicians, who are available to work with others at live performances or recording sessions. Usually such musicians are not permanent members of a musical ensemble and often do not achieve fame in their own right as soloists or bandleaders...
, and as a member of the band Zoo Drive (1980–1987), which included Doug Lunn, Paul Delph and Spinal Tap drummer Ric Parnell
Ric Parnell
Richard "Ric" J. Parnell is an English rock drummer. Although notable for his work in the band Atomic Rooster, he probably best known for his role as the ill-fated drummer Mick Shrimpton in the film This is Spinal Tap....
.Goodsall & Ric Parnell
Ric Parnell
Richard "Ric" J. Parnell is an English rock drummer. Although notable for his work in the band Atomic Rooster, he probably best known for his role as the ill-fated drummer Mick Shrimpton in the film This is Spinal Tap....
have created music together for many years.Parnell was instrumental in helping Goodsall get beyond the London/UK music scene. Some notable recordings from this time include Atomic Rooster
Atomic Rooster
Atomic Rooster were an English progressive rock band, composed of former members of the The Crazy World of Arthur Brown. Throughout their history, keyboardist Vincent Crane was the only constant member, and wrote the majority of their material. Their history is defined by two periods, in the early...
-'Nice'N'Greasy' and Sandoz-'Pay Attention' and Goodsall has also performed and/or recorded with Bill Bruford, Desmond Dekker
Desmond Dekker
Desmond Dekker was a Jamaican ska, rocksteady and reggae singer-songwriter and musician. Together with his backing group, The Aces , he had one of the first international Jamaican hits with "Israelites". Other hits include "007 " and "It Miek"...
, Peter Gabriel
Peter Gabriel
Peter Brian Gabriel is an English singer, musician, and songwriter who rose to fame as the lead vocalist and flautist of the progressive rock group Genesis. After leaving Genesis, Gabriel went on to a successful solo career...
, Billy Idol
Billy Idol
William Michael Albert Broad , better known by his stage name Billy Idol, is an English rock musician. A member of the Bromley Contingent of Sex Pistols fans, Idol first achieved fame in the punk rock era as a member of the band Generation X...
, Bryan Adams
Bryan Adams
Bryan Adams, is a Canadian rock singer-songwriter, guitarist, bassist, producer, actor and photographer. Adams has won dozens of awards and nominations, including 20 Juno Awards among 56 nominations. He has also received 15 Grammy Award nominations including a win for Best Song Written...
, Toni Basil
Toni Basil
Antonia Christina Basilotta , better known by her stage name Toni Basil, is an American singer-songwriter, actress, filmmaker, film director, choreographer, and dancer, best known for her multi-million-selling worldwide #1 hit "Mickey" from 1982.-Early life:Basil was born Antonia Christina...
and Mark Isham
Mark Isham
Mark Isham is an American trumpeter, synthesist, and film composer. He works in a variety of genres, including jazz, electronic, and film.-Life and career:...
. Goodsall released two albums with his band Fire Merchants, before reforming with Brand X and recording Xcommunication and Manifest Destiny.
1992–1999
Goodsall and Jones formed a 'power trio' version of Brand X with drummer Frank Katz in 1992, releasing XcommunicationXcommunication
Xcommunication is an album by jazz fusion band Brand X.-Track listing:All tracks written by John Goodsall, except where noted.#"Xanax Taxi" – 5:57#"Liquid Time" – 4:39#"Kluzinski Period" – 7:00#"Healing Dream" – 3:51...
the following year. To make up for the lack of a keyboard player, Goodsall used a Gibson Max midi guitar system to trigger synths, samples and keyboard sounds along with his guitars. This line-up went on to record X Communication,1996's Manifest Destiny, and tour Japan and Europe in 1997 with keyboard player Kris Sjobring and ex-Gong drummer Pierre Moerlen
Pierre Moerlen
Pierre Moerlen was a French drummer and percussionist, best known for his work with Gong and Mike Oldfield.-Biography:...
replacing Katz.
In recent years, Goodsall has recorded with Franz Pusch and performed regular solo concerts with guest musicians. Jones and Katz formed Tunnels (1993–2006), releasing five albums. Goodsall played guitar on Tunnels:Progressivity (2002).
Studio albums
- Unorthodox BehaviourUnorthodox BehaviourUnorthodox Behaviour is the first album by jazz fusion group, Brand X. The duo of Phil Collins and Percy Jones would use several of these tracks as bases in their production of several Brian Eno discs, including Another Green World and Before and After Science...
(1976) US #191 - Moroccan RollMoroccan RollMoroccan Roll is the second studio album by Brand X. The title is a pun referring to this being their second album: "more rock and roll"...
(1977) - UKUK Albums ChartThe UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...
#37 US #125 - MasquesMasques (Brand X album)Masques is the 1978 album by Brand X. This was the band's first studio recording without drummer Phil Collins. Ironically, the rear of the album cover has a photo of the crowd from the Knebworth Festival, 1978 — a bill that included both Brand X and Genesis, Collins' other band.- Track listing...
(1978) - ProductProduct (Brand X album)-Side one:# "Don't Make Waves" – 5:28# "Dance of the Illegal Aliens" – 7:50# "Soho" – 3:38# "...And So to F..." – 6:29-Side two:...
(1979) US #165 - Do They Hurt?Do They Hurt?Do They Hurt? is an album by Brand X. The tracks on this album are outtakes from the Product sessions. -Side one:#"Noddy Goes to Sweden" – 4:30#"Voidarama" – 4:21...
(1980) US #204 - Is There Anything About?Is There Anything About?Is There Anything About? is the seventh album by Brand X.-Side one:#"Ipanaemia" - 4:30#"A Longer April" - 7:00#"Modern, Noisy And Effective" – 3:56-Side two:...
(1982) - UK #93 - XcommunicationXcommunicationXcommunication is an album by jazz fusion band Brand X.-Track listing:All tracks written by John Goodsall, except where noted.#"Xanax Taxi" – 5:57#"Liquid Time" – 4:39#"Kluzinski Period" – 7:00#"Healing Dream" – 3:51...
(1992) - Manifest DestinyManifest Destiny (Brand X album)Manifest Destiny is a studio album by Brand X after an extended layoff.-Track listing:#"True to the Clik" – 5:31#"Stellerator" – 6:17#"Virus" – 7:56#"XXL" – 5:51#"The Worst Man" – 4:33...
(1997) - Missing Period (recorded 1975-1976, released 1997)
Live albums
- LivestockLivestock (Brand X album)Livestock is a live album by Brand X released 1977. The album features five tracks. It is the first album where Kenwood Dennard appears as a replacement drummer for Phil Collins on two of the five tracks.-Side one:...
(1977) US #204 - Live at the Roxy L.A. (1996)
- Timeline (2000)
Compilations
- X-Files: A 20 Year Retrospective (1999), compilation including side projects
- Trilogy (2003)
External links
- http://www.youtube.com/user/JohnGoodsall
- Brand X Performances
- http://www.facebook.com/johngoodsall
- http://www.youtube.com/clamideaa2z
- http://www.reverbnation.com/franz