Rogue were a British
soft rock
Soft rock is a form of rock music that originated in the late 1960s in Southern California and the United Kingdom which smoothed over the edges of singer-songwriter and pop rock, relying on simple, melodic songs with big, lush productions. S ...
band who were active between 1975 and 1979, comprising
Guy Fletcher
Guy Edward Fletcher (born 24 May 1960) is an English multi-instrumentalist, best known for his position as one of the two Keyboard instrument, keyboard players in the rock band Dire Straits from 1984 until the group's dissolution, and his subs ...
,
Al Hodge
Albert E. Hodge (April 18, 1912 – March 19, 1979) was an American actor best known for playing space adventurer Captain Video on the DuMont Television Network from December 15, 1950, to April 1, 1955. He played the Green Hornet on radio f ...
and
John Hodkinson. The group's original material was all written by Fletcher and his songwriting partner
Doug Flett
Douglas Jackson Flett (13 October 1935 – 15 July 2019) was an Australian songwriter based in the UK, best known for his collaborations with longtime songwriting partner, Guy Fletcher. Collectively, the duo have also been known as Fletcher & Fl ...
, though Flett was never a member of the band.
Band formation
In 1975, Fletcher, former
Onyx
Onyx primarily refers to the parallel banded variety of chalcedony, a silicate mineral. Agate and onyx are both varieties of layered chalcedony that differ only in the form of the bands: agate has curved bands and onyx has parallel bands. The c ...
guitarist Hodge, and former
If-vocalist Hodkinson formed the soft-rock trio Rogue which released several singles, including "Dedication", "Cool Clear Air", "Lay Me Down", "
Lady Put the Light Out", "Too Much Too Soon", "One to One", and "Borderline", as well as three albums. Their song "
Fallen Angel
In the Abrahamic religions, fallen angels are angels who were expelled from heaven. The literal term "fallen angel" never appears in any Abrahamic religious texts, but is used to describe angels cast out of heaven"Mehdi Azaiez, Gabriel Said R ...
" was a No. 12 hit in the Netherlands in January 1976.
The group disbanded in 1979.
Rogue album discography
* ''Fallen Angels'' (Epic 69235, 1975)
* ''Let It Go'' (Epic 81987, 1977)
* ''Would You Let Your Daughter'' (Ariola 5028, 1979)
Rogue covers
The band also produced a version of "Dedication" for London's
Capital Radio
Capital London is a radio station owned and operated by the Global media company as part of its national Capital FM Network. As Capital Radio it was launched in the London area in 1973 as one of Britain's first two commercial radio stations. I ...
, with the first line: "Capital's our local station."
Their song "Dedication" was covered by the
Bay City Rollers
The Bay City Rollers are a Scottish pop rock band known for their worldwide teen idol popularity in the 1970s. They have been called the "tartan teen sensations from Edinburgh" and one of many acts heralded as the "biggest group since the Beat ...
on their 1976 album ''Dedication''. Released as a single in the US, it made #60 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100.
Frankie Valli
Francesco Stephen Castelluccio (born May 3, 1934), better known by his stage name Frankie Valli, is an American singer, known as the frontman of the Four Seasons beginning in 1960. He is known for his unusually powerful lead falsetto voice.
...
's recording of their song "Fallen Angel" went to 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 ...
in May 1976,
before being featured in the Broadway show ''
Jersey Boys
''Jersey Boys'' is a jukebox musical with music by Bob Gaudio, lyrics by Bob Crewe, and book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice. It is presented in a documentary-style format that dramatizes the formation, success and eventual break-up of th ...
''.
References
{{Reflist
English pop music groups
British soft rock music groups
British musical trios
1975 establishments in England
Musical groups established in 1975
1979 disestablishments in England
Musical groups disestablished in 1979
Epic Records artists
Ariola Records artists