Atomic Rooster are a British

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 originally formed by members of

The Crazy World of Arthur Brown The Crazy World of Arthur Brown are an English rock band formed by singer Arthur Brown in 1967. The original band included Vincent Crane (Hammond organ and piano), Drachen Theaker (drums), and Nick Greenwood (bass). This early incarnation were ...

, organist

Vincent Crane Vincent Rodney Cheesman (21 May 194314 February 1989), known professionally as Vincent Crane, was an English keyboardist, best known as the organist for the Crazy World of Arthur Brown and Atomic Rooster. Crane co-wrote "Fire", the 1968 hit sing ...

and drummer

Carl Palmer Carl Frederick Kendall Palmer (born 20 March 1950) is an English drummer best known as founding member and the last surviving member of the progressive rock supergroup Emerson, Lake & Palmer. He was also a founding member of progressive rock s ...

. 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: the early-mid-1970s and the early 1980s. The band went through radical style changes, but they are best known for the hard, progressive rock sound of their hit singles, " Tomorrow Night" (UK No. 11) and "Devil's Answer" (UK No. 4), both in 1971. In 2016 Atomic Rooster reformed with permission from Crane's widow, with the new line-up featuring two members from the various 1970s incarnations of the band.

History

Original period (1969–1975)

In the summer of 1969,

the Crazy World of Arthur Brown The Crazy World of Arthur Brown are an English rock band formed by singer Arthur Brown in 1967. The original band included Vincent Crane (Hammond organ and piano), Drachen Theaker (drums), and Nick Greenwood (bass). This early incarnation were ...

split in the middle of a second US tour. Keyboardist Vincent Crane and drummer

decided to leave Arthur Brown and return to England — their date of travel being Friday 13 June 1969, which was the year of the rooster in the

Chinese calendar The traditional Chinese calendar (also known as the Agricultural Calendar ��曆; 农历; ''Nónglì''; 'farming calendar' Former Calendar ��曆; 旧历; ''Jiùlì'' Traditional Calendar ��曆; 老历; ''Lǎolì'', is a lunisolar calendar ...

— and arranged a meeting with

Brian Jones Lewis Brian Hopkin Jones (28 February 1942 – 3 July 1969) was an English multi-instrumentalist and singer best known as the founder, rhythm/lead guitarist, and original leader of the Rolling Stones. Initially a guitarist, he went on to prov ...

, who had just been let go from the

Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the g ...

, to discuss a collaboration. After Jones's death on 3 July 1969, they adopted the name Atomic Rooster (with influence from the US band

Rhinoceros A rhinoceros (; ; ), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. (It can also refer to a member of any of the extinct species o ...

) and soon recruited Nick Graham on bass and vocals. They followed with what had been the Crazy World of Arthur Brown arrangement of vocals, organ, bass and drums. They soon undertook live dates around London; at their first headlining gig at the

London Lyceum The Lyceum Theatre ( ) is a West End theatre located in the City of Westminster, on Wellington Street, just off the Strand in central London. It has a seating capacity of 2,100. The origins of the theatre date to 1765. Managed by Samuel Arnold, ...

on 29 August 1969, the opening act was

Deep Purple Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in London in 1968. They are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal music, heavy metal and modern hard rock music, but their musical style has changed over the course of its existence. Ori ...

. They eventually struck a deal with

B & C Records B&C Records (which stood for Beat & Commercial) was a British record label run by Trojan Records' owner, Lee Gopthal. It existed primarily between May 1969 and September 1972. In 1971, the progressive and folk artists that were still signed t ...

and began recording their debut album in December 1969. Their first LP, ''

Atomic Roooster , also spelled ''Atomic Ro-o-oster'' on some later CD reissues, is the first album by British rock band Atomic Rooster, with keyboardist Vincent Crane, bassist and vocalist Nick Graham and drummer Carl Palmer. A few weeks after its release, ...

'', was released in February 1970, along with a single, "Friday the 13th". By March, Crane felt it was best that they add a guitarist and recruited John Cann from acid/progressive rock band Andromeda. However, just as Cann joined, bassist-vocalist Graham left. Cann (who played guitar and sang for Andromeda) took over vocal duties, while the bass lines were overdubbed on Crane's

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated s ...

with a combination of left hand and pedals, and the vocals were replaced with Cann's vocals and some guitar on four tracks. Atomic Rooster resumed gigging until the end of June 1970, when Carl Palmer announced his departure to join

Emerson, Lake & Palmer Emerson, Lake & Palmer (informally known as ELP) were an English progressive rock supergroup formed in London in 1970. The band consisted of Keith Emerson (keyboards), Greg Lake (vocals, bass, guitar, producer) and Carl Palmer (drums, percus ...

Ric Parnell Ric Parnell (13 August 1951 – 1 May 2022) was an English rock drummer. Notable for his work in the band Atomic Rooster, he is probably best known for his role as the ill-fated drummer Mick Shrimpton in the film ''This Is Spinal Tap''. Caree ...

filled the drum spot until August, when Paul Hammond was recruited from Farm. They then recorded their second album, ''

Death Walks Behind You ''Death Walks Behind You'' is the second studio album by British rock band Atomic Rooster, released on September 1970. It was their first album to receive US release, albeit in a different sleeve. It is commonly thought of as the archetypal A ...

'', released in September 1970. Originally it was not commercially successful, as with the first album, but by February 1971, the single "Tomorrow Night" reached No. 11 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

, with the album reaching No. 12 in the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

. Atomic Rooster made an appearance on the ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British Record chart, music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show ...

'', and toured to support the album. In June 1971, just before they began configuring their line-up once again, the single "Devil's Answer" hit No. 4 in the UK. Atomic Rooster began recording ''

In Hearing of Atomic Rooster ''In Hearing of'' is the third album by British rock band Atomic Rooster. Although not included on the album, the " Devil's Answer" single was released just prior to it, becoming the band's highest chart success at number 4 in the UK. This he ...

'' ( UK No. 18). Crane felt the band needed a singer who could "project" to an audience and asked Leaf Hound vocalist Pete French to audition for the band. Not long after French came into the studio, Cann began to feel increasingly marginalised, having been relieved of vocal duties and especially after hearing how much Crane had mixed out most of his guitar work on the album. He promptly left the band. Paul Hammond followed him to form Bullet, later renamed

Hard Stuff Hard Stuff were an English hard rock group which included John Du Cann and Paul Hammond, formerly of Atomic Rooster. Also in the line-up were vocalist Harry 'Al' Shaw, formerly of Curiosity Shoppe and latterly Export, and John Gustafson, f ...

. French recorded all the vocals on the album (save for "Black Snake", sung by Crane), and the album was released in August 1971. The Atomic Rooster line-up featuring Pete French on vocals, Steve Bolton on guitar, a returning Ric Parnell on drums and Crane on keyboards toured Italy, then across America and Canada. This line-up played at a benefit gig in September 1971 at The Oval cricket ground, appearing in front of some 65,000 people, supporting

The Faces Faces are an English rock band formed in 1969 by members of Small Faces after lead singer and guitarist Steve Marriott left to form Humble Pie. The remaining Small Faces—Ian McLagan (keyboards), Ronnie Lane (electric bass, vocals), and Kenne ...

and

The Who The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist and singer John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. They are considered ...

. They continued touring into at least December of 1971, but French then moved on to sign with Atlantic Records and joined the American rock band

Cactus A cactus (, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae, a family comprising about 127 genera with some 1750 known species of the order Caryophyllales. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, from the Ancient Greek ...

and appeared on their 1972 album, '' 'Ot 'n' Sweaty''. In February 1972 Crane recruited vocalist

Chris Farlowe Chris Farlowe (born John Henry Deighton, 13 October 1940) is an English rock, blues and soul singer. He is best known for his hit single " Out of Time" written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, which rose to No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart in 19 ...

, at that time with

Colosseum The Colosseum ( ; it, Colosseo ) is an oval amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy, just east of the Roman Forum. It is the largest ancient amphitheatre ever built, and is still the largest standing amphitheatre in the world to ...

, to take the place of French. They went on tour and recorded their first album together in the spring of 1972. They then released the album '' Made in England'' along with the single " Stand by Me", on

Dawn Records Dawn Records was a subsidiary of Pye Records. Active from 1969 to 1975, it was established as Pye's 'underground and progressive' label rivalling the EMI and Phonogram equivalents, Harvest and Vertigo. The most successful act on the label wa ...

. They were more into

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

at this point, and the progressive and heavy rock leanings from the other releases had receded. The single did not chart and the album just barely caught any attention, even though touring followed through. Guitarist Steve Bolton left at the end of 1972 and was replaced by

John Goodsall John Goodsall (15 February 1953 – 10 November 2021) was a British-American progressive rock and jazz fusion guitarist most noted for his work with Brand X, Atomic Rooster, and The Fire Merchants. Life and career Goodsall was born in Middlese ...

, appearing under the name Johnny Mandala. They released the album ''

Nice 'n' Greasy ''Nice 'n' Greasy'' is the fifth studio album by British rock band Atomic Rooster. In the US, the record was issued on Elektra in a different sleeve (pictured) to most territories and retitled ''Atomic Rooster IV'', as their first album, '' ...

'' in 1973, along with the single "Save Me", a re-working of "Friday the 13th". This time, it was in a complete

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

style. After nearly two years without any hits, Dawn Records dropped the group and Atomic Rooster began to unravel. After a tour, Farlowe, Mandala and Parnell left. The single "Tell Your Story, Sing Your Song" was released in March 1974 by "Vincent Crane's Atomic Rooster" on

Decca Decca may refer to: Music * Decca Records or Decca Music Group, a record label * Decca Gold, a classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group * Decca Broadway, a musical theater record label * Decca Studios, a recording facility in W ...

. All subsequent gigs were played by Crane along with members of the blues band

Sam Apple Pie Sam Apple Pie were a British blues-rock band, of the late 1960s and 1970s, noted for having played at the first Glastonbury Festival in 1970, and for playing a role in the early careers of several musicians including Gary Fletcher, Dave Charles ...

. A final concert was played in February 1975, a benefit gig for the

RSPCA The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) is a charity operating in England and Wales that promotes animal welfare. The RSPCA is funded primarily by voluntary donations. Founded in 1824, it is the oldest and largest an ...

; Crane afterward disbanded Atomic Rooster.

During hiatus (1975–1979)

Vincent Crane went on to put together the music for a number of plays and musicals in England between 1976 and 1977, including two of Peter Green's radio broadcasts. Crane teamed up with Arthur Brown again to play on his album ''Chisholm In My Bosom'', and in 1979 they released the album ''Faster Than the Speed of Light''. Crane and Brown would also perform a rendition of "

Green Door "The Green Door" (or "Green Door") is a 1956 popular song, with music composed by Bob "Hutch" Davie and lyrics by Marvin J. Moore. It was first recorded by Jim Lowe which reached number one on the US chart in 1956. The song has been covered ...

", dressed in top hat and tails. Cann, Hammond and John Gustafson released two albums as

between 1972 and 1973. Hard Stuff ended when Cann and Hammond suffered injuries in a car accident. Afterward, Cann filled in the guitar spot in

Thin Lizzy Thin Lizzy are an Irish hard rock band formed in Dublin in 1969. Their music reflects a wide range of influences, including blues, soul music, psychedelic rock and traditional Irish folk music, but is generally classified as hard rock or some ...

for a tour in Germany during 1974 before going off the road to write music for ads and jingles in England. In 1977 he recorded a solo album (''

The World's Not Big Enough ''The World's Not Big Enough'' is the only solo album by John Du Cann, who was best known as guitarist and vocalist with Atomic Rooster and Hard Stuff in the 1970s. The album was recorded in 1977, but remained unreleased until 1992, and was re ...

'') with members of

Status Quo is a Latin phrase meaning the existing state of affairs, particularly with regard to social, political, religious or military issues. In the sociological sense, the ''status quo'' refers to the current state of social structure and/or values. W ...

and Gillan, before learning his record company was not going to release it. In 1979, having changed his name to John Du Cann, he had a minor hit with his rendition of "Don't Be a Dummy", used in a

Lee Cooper Lee Cooper is an English-American clothing and footwear manufacturing company, based in London, that specialises in denim products. As well as its own production, the company licences the sale of many Lee Cooper-branded items worldwide. Fou ...

jeans ad. Also in 1977, Paul Hammond played drums with T.H.E., a three piece featuring Pete Newnham (Cockney Rebel/Window) on guitar and vocals, and Mike Marchant (

Third Ear Band Third Ear Band were a British musical group formed in London during the mid-1960s. Their line-up initially consisted of violin, cello, oboe and percussion. Most of their performances were instrumental and partly improvised. Their records for th ...

) on bass and vocals. A single called "Rudi" was released that year on B&C Records under the name Pete Newnham, which has become a collector's item. That song and two unreleased tracks, "Johnny the Snark" and "Play with Fire", now appear on ''Bored Teenagers No. 5'' from Detour Records.

Reformation period (1980–1983)

During 1980, Crane contacted Du Cann and after some discussion, got an Atomic Rooster reformation under way. They recruited session drummer Preston Heyman and recorded an album, along with one 7/12" single, on

EMI Records EMI Records (formerly EMI Records Ltd.) is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British flagship label by the music company of the same name in 1972, and launched in January 1973 as the succ ...

. The album, '' Atomic Rooster'' (1980), was followed by a tour, but Heyman left in October and Paul Hammond returned to play drums after

Ginger Baker Peter Edward "Ginger" Baker (19 August 1939 – 6 October 2019) was an English drummer. His work in the 1960s and 1970s earned him the reputation of "rock's first superstar drummer", for a style that melded jazz and Music of Africa, Africa ...

filled in for two weeks. They continued touring and released two singles in 1981 and 1982. However, Du Cann was unable to make their last-minute booking at the Reading Festival, so Crane and Hammond used Mick Hawksworth (ex- Andromeda) as a stand-in. John McCoy later stepped in on bass at the insistence of Polydor Records, for whom they would release two further singles, "Play It Again" and "End of the Day", which saw some attention on the heavy metal chart, but did little elsewhere, and Polydor shortly afterwards dropped the band. With Du Cann gone, Crane set about a new form of Atomic Rooster. Paul Hammond stayed on and played drums for the following album ''

Headline News HLN is an American basic cable network. Owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, the network primarily carries true crime programming. The channel was originally launched on January 1, 1982 by Turner Broadcasting as CNN2 (later renamed Headline News ...

'' (1983), recorded in late 1982. Several guitarists played on the album, including

David Gilmour David Jon Gilmour ( ; born 6 March 1946) is an English guitarist, singer, songwriter, and member of the rock band Pink Floyd. He joined as guitarist and co-lead vocalist in 1967, shortly before the departure of founding member Syd Barrett. P ...

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philo ...

Bernie Torme Bernie may refer to: Places in the United States * Bernie, Missouri, a city * Griffithsville, West Virginia, also called Bernie People * Bernie (given name) ** Bernie Sanders, United States senator and 2016 and 2020 Democratic presidential candid ...

of Gillan and John Mizarolli. Crane added vocals to the album along with his wife on backing vocals. A tour of Germany and Italy included Bernie Torme on guitar. Mizarolli played guitar for several UK dates. ''

'' was released in June 1983 and featured a completely different sound from anything they had ever done, including electronics and synthesizers. The album was completely written by Vincent Crane, leading some to perceive it as a Crane solo album. Crane disbanded Atomic Rooster once again at the end of 1983. In 1984 he went on to the project Katmandu with Peter Green,

Ray Dorset Ray may refer to: Fish * Ray (fish), any cartilaginous fish of the superorder Batoidea * Ray (fish fin anatomy), a bony or horny spine on a fin Science and mathematics * Ray (geometry), half of a line proceeding from an initial point * Ray (g ...

and Jeff Whittaker and they recorded the album '' A Case for the Blues''. In 1985, Crane joined

Dexy's Midnight Runners Dexys Midnight Runners (currently officially Dexys, their former nickname, styled without an apostrophe) are an English pop rock band from Birmingham, with soul influences, who achieved major commercial success in the early to mid-1980s. They a ...

, playing piano for their album ''

Don't Stand Me Down ''Don't Stand Me Down'' is the third studio album by English pop band Dexys Midnight Runners, released in September 1985 by Mercury Records. The title of the album was inspired by a line in the album's song "The Waltz". The album was released th ...

'' and two singles, one becoming the theme song for the television series ''

Brush Strokes ''Brush Strokes'' is a British television sitcom, broadcast on BBC television from 1986 to 1991. Written by Esmonde and Larbey and set in south London, it depicted the (mostly) amorous adventures of a wisecracking house painter, Jacko (Karl H ...

''. Dexy's Midnight Runners disbanded in 1987 and Crane intended to reform Atomic Rooster with Du Cann once again. A German tour was planned for 1989, but Crane died from an overdose on painkillers on 14 February. Du Cann struck a deal with

Angel Air Records Angel Air is an English independent record label established in February 1997, specialising in reissues of classic pop and rock albums originally issued in the 1960s and 1970s (and latterly new albums from known artists up to the 21st century) ...

and oversaw the release and re-release of much of his and Atomic Rooster's material, including live recordings, compilations, compilations of unreleased material and album reissues with extra material. Paul Hammond died in 1992 and Du Cann in 2011.

Revival and new line-up (2016–present)

In 2016, a new line-up of Atomic Rooster played together with permission from Crane's widow. The first gig was a low-key warm-up in Clitheroe, Lancashire on 14 July 2016. The line-up was Pete French and Steve Bolton, keyboardist Christian Madden, bass guitarist Shug Millidge and drummer Bo Walsh. In 2017, Madden was replaced by Adrian Gautrey and in September 2019, Atomic Rooster's Facebook Page announced French's departure due to musical differences, but he has since announced that he will continue with the band.

Members

Current members *Pete French –

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

(1971, 2016–present) * Steve Bolton –

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

(1971–1972, 2016–present) *Adrian Gautrey –

keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

s (2017–present) *Shug Millidge –

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

(2016–present) *Paul Everett –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

(2020–present)

Discography (with UK release dates)

Albums

Live albums

* ''

BBC Radio 1 Live in Concert ''BBC Radio 1 Live in Concert'' is a series of recordings of the BBC Radio 1 concert series ''BBC Radio 1 Live''. The albums are licensed to Windsong International. Albums * '' BBC Radio 1 Live: Steve Hillage Live in Concert'' * ''BBC Radio 1 ...

'' 1972 (1993) * '' Devil's Answer'' 1970-81

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering th ...

sessions (1998) * '' Live and Raw 70/71'' (2000) * ''

Live in Germany 1983 ''Live in Germany 1983'' is a live album. It is a recording of British rock band Atomic Rooster on 1 February 1983, at the Zeche Club in Bochum, Germany. Former Atomic Rooster guitarist Bernie Tormé released the album, the contents of an ol ...

'' (2000) * '' Live at the Marquee 1980'' (2002)

Compilation albums

* '' Assortment'' (1973) * ''

Home to Roost ''Home to Roost'' is a British sitcom produced by Yorkshire Television between 19 April 1985 and 19 January 1990. Written by Eric Chappell, it stars John Thaw as Henry Willows and Reece Dinsdale as his teenaged son Matthew. The premise is th ...

'' (1977) * '' The Devil Hits Back'' (1989) * '' Space Cowboy'' (1991) * '' The Best of Atomic Rooster Volumes 1 & 2'' (1992) * '' In Satan's Name: The Definitive Collection'' (1997) * ''

The First 10 Explosive Years ''The First 10 Explosive Years'' is a 1999 compilation album by British rock band Atomic Rooster. It is on the Angel Air record label and, like all their Atomic Rooster and related-artists releases, is derived from original tapes owned and rema ...

'' (1999) * '' Rarities'' (2000) * '' The First 10 Explosive Years Volume 2'' (2001) * '' Heavy Soul'' (2001) * '' Close Your Eyes: A Collection 1965-1986'' (2008; released under the name

) * '' Anthology 1969-81'' (2009)

Box sets

* ''

Resurrection Resurrection or anastasis is the concept of coming back to life after death. In a number of religions, a dying-and-rising god is a deity which dies and is resurrected. Reincarnation is a similar process hypothesized by other religions, which ...

'' (2001) – Akarma unlicensed CD reissues of first three albums, with 24-page illustrated booklet * ''Devil's Answer: The Singles Collection'' (2006) – reissue of first six UK singles on 7" or individual CDs

Singles

Notes:

DVDs

* '' Masters from the Vaults'' (2003)

References

Bibliography

External links

Atomic Rooster: Whatever Happened to the Band?
website by Vincent Crane's ex-wife, Jean * *

{{Authority control British soul musical groups English hard rock musical groups English progressive rock groups Musical groups established in 1969 Musical groups disestablished in 1975 Musical groups reestablished in 1980 Musical groups disestablished in 1983 Musical groups reestablished in 2016 Charisma Records artists Elektra Records artists Fontana Records artists Dawn Records artists Brain Records artists