Axis Point was an English

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band. The band signed to

RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...

and released two albums in a twelve-month period, with a line-up including an eclectic mix of well known musicians of that time. They disbanded in 1980, after releasing their second album.

History

The original line-up of ''Axis Point'' included, guitarist

John "Charlie" Whitney Richard John Whitney (born 24 June 1944), also known as John "Charlie" Whitney, John Whitney and Charlie Whitney, is an English rock guitarist and a founder member of the rock bands Family, Streetwalkers and Axis Point. Career Whitney was ...

, keyboardist

Eddie Hardin Eddie Hardin (19 February 1949 – 22 July 2015) was an English rock pianist and singer-songwriter. Born Edward Harding, he was best known for his associations with the Spencer Davis Group, Axis Point, and Hardin & York. Hardin, along with the ...

, bassist Charlie McCracken and drummer

Les Binks James Leslie Binks (born in Portadown, Northern Ireland), is a Northern Irish heavy metal drummer. He was the drummer for Judas Priest from 1977 to 1979. History Previously working for Eric Burdon, Binks was a drummer on Roger Glover's album ' ...

. They recorded ''Axis Point'' (1979). The songwriting on the album is split between Hardin and Whitney with McCraken co-writing ''"Woman of the world"'' and ''"Fire it up"''. After the recording of this album, Binks left and was replaced by

Rob Townsend Rob Townsend (born 7 July 1947) is an English rock and blues drummer. He was the drummer for progressive rock band Family and later The Blues Band. Biography Townsend was born in Frog Island, Leicester, England, where he spent his teenage y ...

, who had been the drummer for

Family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

. They recorded their second album ''Boast of the Town'' (1980). On this album Whitney and McCracken collaborate on most of the songs and added guitarist and vocalist

Bobby Tench Robert Tench (born 21 September 1944) is a British vocalist, guitarist, sideman, songwriter and arranger. Tench is best known for his work with Freddie King and Van Morrison, as well as being a member of The Jeff Beck Group, Humble Pie, Str ...

, who had previously been a member of

Streetwalkers Streetwalkers were an English rock band formed in late 1973 by two former members of rock band Family, vocalist Roger Chapman and guitarist John "Charlie" Whitney. They were a five piece band which evolved from the Chapman Whitney Band. The ba ...

Band members

;Axis Point #1 *Charlie Whitney (guitar) *Charlie McCracken (bass) *Eddie Hardin (keyboards, vocals) *Les Binks (drums) ;Axis Point #2 *Charlie Whitney (guitar) *Charlie McCracken (bass) *Eddie Hardin (keyboards, vocals) *Rob Townsend (drums)

Additional musicians

(on Boast of the Town) - Guitar, vocals * Colin Horton Jennings - backing vocals * Ron Asprey - sax * Tony Cox - String Arrangements

Discography

;Original releases * ''Axis Point''

30039 (1978) * ''Boast'' of the Town RCA 25277 (1980)

Re-issues

;Axis Point/Boast of the Town compilation * BGO 576 (2002) * BGO Records 576 (2003)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Axis Point (band) English rock music groups Musical groups established in 1974 RCA Records artists