The story of Sky

In the autumn of 1978, three of the most accomplished and prolific musicians working within the UK music industry decided to get together and form a group. Getting any group off the ground is rarely an easy process and when the musicians in question are already in a position to earn a very good living as either composers, session players or in-demand solo artists, one has to wonder if it is a risk worth taking. For John Williams, Herbie Flowers and Francis Monkman, it most certainly was. All three had worked together several times during the preceding six or seven years and now the idea of working together in a proper group environment seemed like the logical next step.
By 1978, John Williams was, without doubt, one of the greatest classical guitarists in the world. With 40 albums to his name and a reputation that ensured sell-out shows in any part of the world, Williams was growing tired of undertaking lengthy solo tours and instead hankered after something more collaborative and communal. Having started out playing the tuba in the RAF band, Flowers had discovered the electric bass guitar in the mid 1960s and had soon established himself as one of the best session bassists in the world. It would be virtually impossible to list all the recordings on which Flowers had played, although sessions for David Bowie, Lou Reed and Jeff Wayne had produced some of his most recognisable work. He had also been a founder member of the group Blue Mink (who had achieved a huge hit with Melting Pot) and, until Marc Bolan’s tragic death the previous year, had been a member of T-Rex. Francis Monkman had studied the harpsichord at the Royal Academy of Music and had chosen to work mainly in the field of contemporary rock and pop music. His band, Curved Air, had been one of the premier Prog Rock outfits of the early/mid 1970s and he had carved out a very respectable career for himself as both a composer of jingles and library music and as a prolific session musician. Between them, Williams, Flowers and Monkman had achieved virtually everything that an ambitious musician could hope for, but now they sought a new challenge; that of forming a group that would fuse the different musical disciplines of pop, rock and baroque and take the result out to the widest possible audience.
As their plans began to fall into place, the group line-up was completed by the recruitment of percussionist Tristan Fry and guitarist Kevin Peek. Tristan Fry had been one of the country’s top percussionists since the mid 1960s and, as a member of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, had played everything from the classics to backing the likes of Danny Kaye, Duke Ellington and Jack Benny. He was also a gifted composer, having composed the music for the BBC series Shakespeare in Perspective. Like John Williams, Kevin Peek had been born in Australia and had been a UK resident since the late 1960s. A graduate of Adelaide Conservatorium of Music, Peek had been a member of the group Quartet and then, along with fellow band members Alan Tarney, Trevor Spencer and Terry Britten had backed Cliff Richard for many years on both record and live shows. An extraordinary classical and rock guitarist, Peek had played for artists such as Olivia Newton-John, Tom Jones and Manfred Mann and had performed many solo recitals and classical duets in such venues as the Purcell Rooms in London.

Sessions in the basement of Williams’ large house in Hampstead spawned a wealth of material and, in October of ’78, the band entered the CBS studios to record a demo. The recording consisted of two up-tempo group compositions (Westway by Flowers/Monkman and Cannonball by Monkman) and a gentle arrangement of Satie’s Gymnopedie No. 1. Strangely enough, bearing in mind that they included the world’s greatest classical guitarist within their ranks, the band (which still did not have a name) didn’t find it at all easy to land a record deal. Disco and punk still held sway in the music charts and the emergence of a new generation of heavy rock bands meant that few people believed in the viability of a classical/rock crossover band. The importance of the group concept was also of prime concern to the quintet, meaning that they were reluctant to try and sell themselves purely on the strength of Williams’ name. Eventually they were successful and signed on the dotted line for the relatively small German-based label Ariola. And then it was back to Abbey Road to record the remainder of the tracks that would comprise the band’s first album.

In the spring of 1979, the band, now christened sky, performed a showcase gig in Berlin at the studios of the famous Musikladen TV show. Before a small and slightly unsure audience, they played a set that consisted of their debut album in its entirety and a number of other tunes that would end up on their second album. For most people, this would have been the first time that they would have seen Williams playing in a group and playing an electric guitar (a Gibson RD77). With the release of their eponymously-titled first album and a short UK tour only weeks away, the showcase gave them the chance to play everything live and iron out any creases. It has been stated since that the band secured an agreement that would allow them to sound-mix the programme and to re-record any bits with which they were not entirely happy. Viewing the programme now, it certainly seems as though the band did both. A seven-date mini-tour kicked off on May 17 at the Usher Hall in Edinburgh and finished at the Royal Albert Hall in London on May 24^th. Generally these shows were received enthusiastically by both the audiences and the press, although, perhaps inevitably, the interviews and features that appeared to coincide with the band’s launch, tended to concentrate mostly on Williams.
Although its lead single, Cannonball, failed to make any impact on the charts, the sky album would rise to number 2, endorsing both the record company and the band members’ faith in the project. As with the preview show, the sky tour featured every track from the first album and highlights included the throbbing synth-driven intro of Westway and Monkman’s 20-minute conceptual piece, Where Opposites Meet. A tuba solo, with the amusing title of Tuba Smarties also found its way into the set, as did Fry’s tympani workout, Tristan’s Magic Garden. Interestingly enough, the band also chose to play a group arrangement of Williams’ hit single Cavatina and an early version of what would become their own (and only) massive hit a year later - a rocking version of J. S. Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D-minor.

With a smash-hit album on their hands and a successful short tour behind them, it looked certain that sky would go from strength to strength. And they did. After another period of writing, the band took to the road in September for a much longer 26-date UK tour; a tour that would culminate in five triumphant nights at London’s Dominion Theatre. With sky still riding high in the album charts, a second single was released to coincide with the tour. Sadly, Herbie Flowers’ beautiful Carillon would suffer the same fate as the first single and fail to chart. The B-side of this release, El Cielo, was John Williams’ arrangement of two of his favourite traditional Spanish folk tunes (El Cielo being, of course, Spanish, for sky!). In addition to the tracks from the first album, the tour featured a great many tunes that the band would shortly be recording for the follow-up. These included Hotta, a very danceable piece by Peek and Flowers that included solo parts for all band members and Peek’s incredibly descriptive Sahara - an Arabic influenced piece that captured perfectly the beauty and harshness of the desert. The final show of the tour was recorded by BBC radio and was most recently broadcast in the mid 1990s.

As 1979 had seen sky’s birth and subsequent rise, so 1980 would see the band reach even greater heights. With their second album now in the can, March saw sky heading off down under on what would be the first of many well-received Australian tours. By now everything had fallen into place and sky had settled upon a unique style and sound that was attracting ever-increasing audiences the world over. In April, and with the first album still in the charts, sky2 was released. This was preceded by the release, as a single, of the aforementioned Toccata, which had brought the house down every night when used as an encore on the previous tour. It was a case of third time lucky, as far as singles were concerned, and within weeks this dramatic and catchy arrangement had literally flown up the charts to reach a peak position of number 5. Television appearances on everything from Top of the Pops to Tiswas, Parkinson and Pebble Mill at One thrust the band ever more to the fore and it wasn’t long before sky2 was ensconced at number 1 on the album charts. Sky had well and truly arrived!

A double album, sky2 was, like its predecessor, an eclectic mix of styles, covering both group compositions and their arrangements of traditional and classical pieces. Flowers’ Dance of the Little Fairies (originally March of the Little Fairies) was simple and yet somehow magical and Monkman’s FIFO, which took up the whole of side 2, was an epic slice of Prog Rock, which saw the former Curved Air guitarist wielding his trusty ‘plastic axe’ in addition to playing keyboards. Speaking of Curved Air, Daryl Way’s Vivaldi had been played live to great effect since the first sky tour and here it kicked off side 4 in a suitably strident manner, as well as providing the flipside for Toccata. Williams’ use of the electric guitar is especially noticeable during the tune’s middle section, as are Fry’s pounding drum-fills and Peek’s power-chords. Quite why this wasn’t released as a single is anyone’s guess!
Unusually for a rock album, side 3 consisted mainly of classical solos and duets. Kicking off with Flowers’ Tuba Smarties, recorded live the previous year, other highlights include Williams and Peek duetting on Ballet Volta and Monkman’s quite breathtaking rendition of Rameau’s Gavotte and Variations; proving that, in the right hands, the harpsichord can be just as beautiful and expressive as the piano.
Sky hit the road again in May for a 16-date UK tour; culminating in two nights at the granddaddy of all rock venues, London’s Hammersmith Odeon! The final night was recorded by BBC2 and shown during the summer, over two weeks, as part of their series Rhythm on 2. And then, just when it looked like everything was going their way, a shock departure shook things up a little and signalled the end of sky - chapter one.

As preparations were being made for the third album, Francis Monkman found himself becoming increasingly unhappy about the direction the band was taking. During August, as his composition Dies Irae was released as a 12” single, Monkman left the band. Clocking in at almost eight minutes, it was, perhaps, not surprising that the single was not a hit. It was, never the less, a complex and powerful piece and has remained popular with fans that prefer the darker tone and harder edge of sky’s earlier output.

With the keyboard chair now vacant and a European tour looming, a replacement had to be found. Accepting that Monkman was a very difficult act to follow, his replacement would have to be an exceptional musician, composer and someone with whom the existing band members would feel comfortable. Enter Steve Gray.
Born in Middlesborough, Steve Gray was a largely self-taught pianist who had started out playing the bassoon in the local Municipal Junior Orchestra. Having then spent time as the pit-pianist at the Middlesborough Empire, Gray had moved to London in the 1960s and forged a successful career as a session man. As a pianist and arranger he had worked with everyone from Quincy Jones and Henry Mancini, to Peggy Lee and Sammy Davies jnr. He was also a founder of the group Wasp (comprising himself, Brian Bennett, Dave Richmond, Clive Hicks and Duncan Lamont), who provided music for the KPM music library - some of which could be heard on the TV series The Sweeney. At the time of joining sky, Gray had recently scored an episode of ITV’s Return of the Saint, as well as arranging and conducting the theme tune. Having worked with Steve several times between them, and knowing him to be an easy-going and affable man, the rest of the band were in no doubt that he was the right man for the job. And so, having learnt the existing numbers and presented the band with at least one of his own, Steve Gray became sky’s latest recruit as they set off on a tour that would take them around Europe during September and October and the UK during December.
One of the first changes that would have become apparent to concertgoers during these shows, was the inclusion of the Flowers-penned Scipio in the set. This jaunty 12-minute piece had been featured on sky2 but Monkman had been unwilling to play it live, feeling that Flowers had written a long piece just for the sake of it. Obviously Gray had no such qualms and the piece was duly inserted into their repertoire.
With the touring completed, sky returned to the studios to record their much-anticipated third album. Prior to its release, however, their new keyboard player was introduced to the masses via a very special concert. On February 24, 1981, sky became the first (and thus far, only) rock band to perform at Westminster Abbey. The concert was in aid of Amnesty International and celebrated the humanitarian charity’s 20^th anniversary. The Westminster Abbey concert showcased a handful of numbers from their forthcoming album, as well as featuring a selection of numbers from sky2. Highlights included Handel’s Sarabande (performed, appropriately, only a matter of feet from where the composer was buried); Recuerdos de la Alhambra, played as a duet by Williams and Peek and Gray’s first composition for the band, the emotionally charged Hello. The concert was again filmed by the BBC and shown on March 12^th in an edited form and then in its entirety at Christmas.

The story of SKY continued here

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