Wavestar was an English new-age

instrumental An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to inst ...

music duo active in the 1980s. Formed in 1983, the band consisted of John Dyson and David Ward-Hunt, both of

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire a ...

. Dyson and Ward-Hunt shared

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

and arrangement of the band's music. Both musicians contributed synthesizers,

keyboards 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 ...

and sequencers, while Dyson also played

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 strin ...

. The duo formed after Dyson responded to an advertisement placed by Ward-Hunt. They toured throughout the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

as well as playing in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

and released three albums, ''Mind Journey'', ''Zenith'' and ''Moonwind.'' Allmusic in its review of 1987's ''Moonwind'', released on the now defunct US label Audion Recording Company, noted influence of

Tangerine Dream Tangerine Dream is a German electronic music band founded in 1967 by Edgar Froese. The group has seen many personnel changes over the years, with Froese having been the only constant member until his death in January 2015. The best-known lineup ...

, Kitaro and the

electronic rock Electronic rock is a music genre that involves a combination of rock music and electronic music, featuring instruments typically found within both genres. It originates from the late 1960s, when rock bands began incorporating electronic instrum ...

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

, describing the album as "excellent electronic music" and "a rather essential space music release." In its 1988 review of ''Moonwind'', ''

Stereo Review ''Sound & Vision'' is an American magazine, purchased by AVTech Media Ltd. (UK) in March 2018, covering home theater, audio, video and multimedia consumer products. Before 2000, it had been published for most of its history as ''Stereo Review''. ...

'' recommended its readers "keep an ear out" on the band, but the band dissolved shortly thereafter without issuing any more albums, stressed by the bankruptcy of Audion Recording Company's parent record label, Jem Records, which never issued funds to the pair for the ''Moonwind'' release. Dyson continued to work solo, releasing albums and contributing to various compilations. Ward-Hunt died in 1999. In 1997, Dyson released a fourth Wavestar album, ''Out of Time'', composed primarily of material the duo had recorded between 1986 and 1988, which was intended to have gone into the follow-up to ''Moonwind''.

References

External links

John Dyson Official website
* ttp://www.gepr.net/di.html#JOHNDYSON JD entry in the New`Gibraltar Encyclopaedia of Progressive Rock {{Authority control New-age music groups English electronic music duos Musical groups from Sheffield