Soft Heap was a Canterbury scene

Canterbury Scene

The Canterbury scene is a term used to loosely describe the group of progressive rock, avant-garde and jazz musicians, many of whom were based around the city of Canterbury, Kent, England during the late 1960s and early 1970s...

 supergroup

Supergroup (music)

In the late 1960s, the term supergroup was coined to describe "a rock music group whose performers are already famous from having performed individually or in other groups"....

 founded in January 1978. The name references Soft Machine

Soft Machine

Soft Machine were an English rock band from Canterbury, named after the book The Soft Machine by William S. Burroughs. They were one of the central bands in the Canterbury scene, and helped pioneer the progressive rock genre...

 while "Heap" comes from the first letters of the band's founders: Hugh Hopper

Hugh Hopper

Hugh Colin Hopper was a progressive rock and jazz fusion bass guitarist. He was a prominent member of the Canterbury scene, as a member of Soft Machine and various other related bands.-Early career:...

 (bass), Elton Dean

Elton Dean

Elton Dean was an English jazz musician who performed on alto saxophone, saxello and occasionally keyboard....

 (saxophone), Alan Gowen

Alan Gowen

Alan Gowen was a fusion/progressive rock keyboardist, best known for his work in Gilgamesh and National Health.-History:...

 (keyboards) and Pip Pyle

Pip Pyle

Phillip "Pip" Pyle was an English-born drummer from Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire, who later resided in France...

 (drums). Hopper and Dean had worked together in Soft Machine, while Gowen and Pyle had worked together in National Health

National Health

National Health were a progressive rock band associated with the Canterbury scene. Founded in 1975, the band included members of keyboardist Dave Stewart's band Hatfield and the North and Alan Gowen's band Gilgamesh, the band also included guitarists Phil Miller and Phil Lee and bassist Mont...

. The band went on tour in 1978, but with Pyle busy with National Health, Dave Sheen replaced him and the name was changed to Soft Head.

Rogue Element, a live album

Live album

A live album is a recording consisting of material recorded during stage performances using remote recording techniques, commonly contrasted with a studio album...

 from the Soft Head tour, was released in 1978, but the original Soft Heap line-up reconvened in October 1978 to record Soft Heap (released 1979). John Greaves

John Greaves (musician)

John Greaves is a British bass guitarist and composer, best known as a member of Henry Cow and his collaborative albums with Peter Blegvad...

 (also from National Health) replaced Hopper in 1979-80, while 1981 saw a new line-up of Dean, Pyle, Greaves and Mark Hewins

Mark Hewins

Mark Hewins is a British jazz guitarist known particularly for his connections to the Canterbury scene.Hewins' professional career as a guitarist began in 1970 with the London band Mother Sun...

 on guitar following Gowen's death that year.

The new line-up toured intermittently through the 1980s, sometimes with guests. A Veritable Centaur (released 1996) is a live album largely taken from a 1982 French show, with one track from a 1983 BBC Radio 3

BBC Radio 3

BBC Radio 3 is a national radio station operated by the BBC within the United Kingdom. Its output centres on classical music and opera, but jazz, world music, drama, culture and the arts also feature. The station is the world’s most significant commissioner of new music, and its New Generation...

performance. Al Dente is a 2008 archival release of a 1978 show. The three other founding members all died in the 2000s.

Discography

• SOFT HEAD / Rogue Element -1978 (Alan Gowen Hugh Hopper Elton Dean Dave Sheen)
• SOFT HEAP / Al Dente -1978/2008 (Alan Gowen Hugh Hopper Elton Dean Pip Pyle)
• SOFT HEAP / Soft Heap -1979 (Alan Gowen Hugh Hopper Elton Dean Pip Pyle)
• SOFT HEAP / A Veritable Centaur -1981/1996 (Elton Dean Pip Pyle John Greaves Mark Hewins)

External links

• Family tree