Bodast (also known as Canto) were a late 1960s rock group from London, England. Its most notable member was
Steve Howe
Stephen James Howe (born 8 April 1947) is an English musician, best known as the guitarist in the progressive rock band Yes across three stints since 1970. Born in Holloway, North London, Howe developed an interest in the guitar and began to le ...
, later to join the progressive rock band
Yes. Members were Clive Skinner on guitar and vocals, Dave Curtiss on bass and
Bobbie Clarke on drums. The name of the group came from the first two letters of the members' first names: BObbie, DAve, STeve.
The group recorded an album for
Tetragrammaton Records
Tetragrammaton Records was an American record label founded in 1968 by music industry executives Roy Silver, Bruce Post Campbell, Marvin Deane, and comedian Bill Cosby. Silver, at the time, was also Cosby's manager. The term "Tetragrammaton" ref ...
in 1968. The label had success in the United States with
Deep Purple, but went out of business just before the scheduled release date for the Bodast album.
A portion of a song from the Bodast album titled "Nether Street" was renamed "Würm" and was re-used as part of the song "
Starship Trooper
"Starship Trooper" is a song written by British musicians Jon Anderson, Steve Howe and Chris Squire, which first appeared on Yes' 1971 album '' The Yes Album''. The song is in three parts, "Life Seeker", "Disillusion" and "Würm". "Life Seeke ...
" from ''
The Yes Album
''The Yes Album'' is the third studio album by English progressive rock band Yes, released on 19 February 1971 by Atlantic Records. It was the band's first album to feature guitarist Steve Howe, who replaced Peter Banks in 1970, as well as ...
'' in 1971. Howe says fragments of songs he was working on for Bodast also turned up later in Yes's "
South Side of the Sky
"South Side of the Sky" is a song by progressive rock band Yes from their album ''Fragile''.
Description
It opens with the sound of a howling wind, then the song starts after a thunder-strike, bursting into a heavy, riff-dominated rock song. ...
", "
Close to the Edge
''Close to the Edge'' is the fifth studio album by English progressive rock band Yes. It was released on 13 September 1972 by Atlantic Records, and is their last album of the 1970s to feature their original drummer Bill Bruford. After scoring ...
" and
Asia
Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...
's "One Step Closer", from
that band's debut album.
The 1968 Bodast recordings were eventually released in 1981, and most recently by RPM Records in 2000. Bassist Dave Curtiss later formed a folk duo with Clive Maldoon (born Clive Skinner) called Curtiss Maldoon in 1971. They have recorded two albums, the first simply called ''Curtiss Maldoon'' in October 1971 and Steve Howe played on two songs on that one, and the second ''Maldoon'' in November 1973.
Discography
*''The Bodast Tapes - Featuring Steve Howe'' (1981 Cherry Red – BRED 12)
*''The Early Years'' (Steve Howe with Bodast - printed in France, 1988 & 1990)
*''Spectral Nether Street: The Complete Collection'' (RPM Records, 2000)
*''Towards Utopia'' Esoteric Recordings – ECLEC 2593
References
External links
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AllMusic_review_of__''Spectral_Nether_Street:_The_Complete_Collection''.html" ;"title="AllMusic.html" ;"title="AllMusic">AllMusic review of ''Spectral Nether Street: The Complete Collection''">AllMusic.html" ;"title="AllMusic">AllMusic review of ''Spectral Nether Street: The Complete Collection''*
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{{Authority control
English psychedelic rock music groups
Musical groups established in 1968