Nevada were a British

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...

band and a spin-off from

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

, featuring

Annie Haslam Annie Haslam (born 8 June 1947) is an English vocalist, songwriter and painter. She is best known as the lead singer of progressive rock band Renaissance since 1971, and for her long and diverse solo singing career. She has a five-octave vocal r ...

on vocals and Mick Dunford on guitar. Their Christmas single, "

In the Bleak Midwinter "In the Bleak Midwinter" is a poem by the English poet Christina Rossetti, commonly performed as a Christmas carol. The poem was published, under the title "A Christmas Carol", in the January 1872 issue of ''Scribner's Monthly,'' and was first c ...

", reached the lower edges of 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 ...

in 1983.

Background

had been moderately successful during the 1970s, having a top ten UK singles chart hit in 1978 with " Northern Lights", but were better known as an album band, and for their live performances, particularly at

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...

. In 1979, the band had taken a less symphonic/orchestral and more electronically based turn with the album '' Azure d'Or'', which resulted in disappointing sales and resultant dropping by their label,

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...

. Meanwhile, the lineup of Renaissance was in flux, as John Tout and Terry Sullivan left for varying reasons.

Nevada

The reduced version of

then took stock; according to the sleeve notes to their CD, "It was time to stand back, take a breather, experiment, and to embark on a new working relationship with their fellow countryman Peter Gosling". Gosling had been in the 1960s band "Moon's Train" which had been managed and produced by

Bill Wyman William George Wyman (né Perks; born 24 October 1936) is an English musician who achieved international fame as the bassist for the Rolling Stones from 1962 until 1993. In 1989, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member ...

, played keyboards on the

album '' Camera Camera'' and later on ''

Time-Line ''Time-Line'' the eleventh studio album by the English progressive rock band Renaissance (band), Renaissance, released in April 1983. It was the last album released by Renaissance before they disbanded in 1987. With this album, Renaissance depa ...

''. The single "

", a version of the

Christmas carol A Christmas carol is a carol (a song or hymn) on the theme of Christmas, traditionally sung at Christmas itself or during the surrounding Christmas holiday season. The term noel has sometimes been used, especially for carols of French ori ...

Gustav Holst Gustav Theodore Holst (born Gustavus Theodore von Holst; 21 September 1874 – 25 May 1934) was an English composer, arranger and teacher. Best known for his orchestral suite ''The Planets'', he composed many other works across a range ...

and

Christina Rossetti Christina Georgina Rossetti (5 December 1830 – 29 December 1894) was an English writer of romantic, devotional and children's poems, including "Goblin Market" and "Remember". She also wrote the words of two Christmas carols well known in Brit ...

was released for the 1982 Christmas market, but did not enter the UK singles chart until 8 January 1983. It spent one week on the chart at number 71. Their second single, "You Know I Like It" did not trouble the charts and the project went no further. Renaissance finally folded in 1987; Haslam and Dunford embarked on solo careers, and Gosling wrote music for television and film.

''Pictures in the Fire''

This was a compilation CD of Nevada's material, released in 2000 by

Mooncrest Records Mooncrest Records is a British record label that was formed in 1973 as a subsidiary of Charisma Records. They issued albums by Shirley Collins (''No Roses'') (1971), Iain Matthews (''Journeys from Gospel Oak'') (1972), Nazareth (band), Nazareth ...

; as well as the four single tracks, it included six other songs, and five bonus tracks recorded by Renaissance. The versions of the tracks released as singles are different on this compilation, possibly due to licensing issues, and the recording quality varies greatly.

Track listing

All tracks credited to "Dunford/Gosling" except where noted # "Pictures in the Fire" - 3:19 # "You Know I Like It" - 4:46 # "Once In a Lifetime" - 3:44 # "Star of the Show" - 4:03 # "Fairies" - 4:44 (a precursor to "Faeries (Living At The Bottom Of The Garden)" which appeared on '' Camera Camera'' in 1981) # "Lady of the Sea" - 3:06 # "Mr Spaceman" (

Jim McGuinn Jim McGuinn, born James Slusarek, is an American radio personality. He served as program director of the now defunct Y100 100.3FM (1997–2005) and its predecessor, WDRE in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (1995–97), both of which changed formats ...

) - 4:32 # "Tokyo" - 3:01 (written as a candidate for the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...

) # "

" - 3:44 # "Motorway Madness" - 4:16 ;Renaissance bonus tracks All tracks credited to "Dunford/Newsinger" except where noted; Newsinger is the birth name of Renaissance lyricist Betty Thatcher # "Love Is a State of Mind" - 3:30 # "I Am a Stranger" - 4:16 # "On and On" - 4:15 # "No Beginning No End" - 4:15 # "Mother Russia"credited to Dunford/Thatcher - 10:21

Discography

;Singles *1980: "In The Bleak Midwinter"/"Pictures In The Fire"-

Polydor Polydor Records Ltd. is a German-British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in the United States. ...

POSP 203 *1981: "You Know I Like It"/"Once In A Lifetime"- Polydor POSP 229 ;Album *2000: ''Pictures In The Fire''

CREST CD 054

Personnel

- vocals *Mick Dunford - guitar * Peter Gosling - keyboards, vocals * Raphael Rudd - keyboardsRenaissance tracks only * Mark Lambert - guitars

References

{{Authority control British folk rock groups