I remember a thread on the old PE where these guys were discussed a bit, and one of the band members even commented. Mention was made of 2 singles that were issued by the band at the time. One of them is https://rateyourmusic.com/release/si...our_pleasure_/. Does anyone know the titles on the other single or have any more detailed information about the band?
Thanks for the links, but I'm not on Facebook, and the band's pages are still very much under construction apparently. Can I infer from your Souncloud links that the other single might be "Sideshow/George?"
I'm not sure but I think that this George Track might be the second single. Sideshow might have been the other side but the track above is live.Originally Posted by moecurlythanu
Never really saw the second single anywhere.
I remember seeing them once or twice(1975/76)...only recall A Who medley and Musical Box...not bad from what I recall. LI had four working Prog(atleast mostly prog) cover bands during that period: Harpy, Harlequin, Rat Race Choir and Cathedral(although they really didn't work as often as the other three)- there was also Essence who did Yes and Kansas along with PF...
Death of a Child
www.soundcloud.com/darklounge
There was also a band called Spectrum that exclusively did prog covers.
Also a band called FAT MAX....... I know they covered Yes, Genesis, Gentle Giant, King Crimson, Jethro Tull. They got a call one night after playing a gig on Long Island.. to open and do a short eastern US tour with Jethro Tull in 1973. Apparently one of the road managers was on the phone in this bar.... while he got a call from the agency representing the band that was supposed to open for JT... Needless to say... when they asked him what he was going to do apparently he turned around while FAT MAX was playing a JT song... and thought it might be interesting to have these guy's do the job... and so they did.
Of course, not being of the daily persuasion in this opinion laden public prog bathhouse, my diatribe of recent lucubration is perhaps as welcome as a rats teat. One often is forced to weigh the desire to flash judgment within against the effort required as well as the value this knowledge will be to the greater good of all mankind or whatever inhabits the current spa. At best, its a slippery slope.
I don't recall ever hearing about another single but it may be in existence. I bought one of the 45's with Trees and Whats your pleasure on it as they would sell them at their shows for like a dollar or two. It's probably mixed in somewhere with my old vinyl collection.
I think the band members name may have been Henry in that old thread and he did mention something about some old tapes or recorded material he was going to dig up.
I saw them quite a few times in 76'/77' a few of the songs that really stand out were:
The Musical Box ...complete with the old man mask
In The Cage.... Lead singer would perform a theatrical skit while wearing white gloves enhanced by a black light
Jethro Tull...Crossed eyed Mary
A couple of Gentle Giant songs
Solsbury Hill
They also had some great pyrotechnics they added to various songs.
I'm sure there are few others classics they did that are lost in my memory banks but always enjoyed seeing these guys perform.
Harpy's vocalist went on to join SPYS, the early 80's AOR band that included two members of Foreigner...
Not to derail your thread, but there was another Harlequin in the 70s based in San Diego. Our very own Sdavmor was the lead vocalist. Not sure if they recorded or not.
Canada had a well-known rock band from the mid-1970s to mid-1980s called Harlequin. They were in the same mold as Streetheart, and even originated from the same city, Winnipeg.
In fact, the Wikipedia page for "Harlequin (band)" is about them.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harlequin_%28band%29
Last edited by WeatherWiseCDC; 06-14-2014 at 02:29 AM.
Those were great times to be a prog fan on LI. I saw Harpy do "Sound Chaser" a few weeks after Relayer was released, mind-blowing! Rat Race Choir did some excellent Tull covers including TAAB if I recall.
You say Mega Ultra Deluxe Special Limited Edition Extended Autographed 5-LP, 3-CD, 4-DVD, 2-BlueRay, 4-Cassette, five 8-Track, MP4 Download plus Demos, Outtakes, Booklet, T-Shirt and Guitar Pick Gold-Leafed Box Set Version like it's a bad thing...
Following up on Calabasas Trafalgar's post, the San Diego Harlequin did record some very high-quality (8 track studio) demos. 5 or 6 tunes IIRC. Certainly enough that were the tapes ever to show up, a 35-40 min album could be released. Equal parts Yes and Genesis with a dollop of early King Crimson would be a good way of describng the sound. Those recordings were made with David (last name eludes me) on lead vox. He was a classic prog-rock tenor, maybe more like Trevor Horn than Jon Anderson. He was leaving the band for personal reasons rather than because he wasn't good enough as a singer. I auditioned for Harlequin as his replacement in summer/fall 1976 but in the end did not join the band. We worked on material for a few weeks, but then amicably parted ways. I did not get to gig with them. My voice was more of a solid baritone like Wetton and Gilmour. I'd have been hard-pushed to reach the notes of the tunes Harlequin had recorded with David. And they were not interested in rearranging them down in key to accomodate me. Fair enough. Later I reconnected with their drummer in another SD prog-group (Silent Watcher, 1977). And after that (with several bands in between, Usurper, Cerberus, Adjustaboy) I was in yet another short-lived SD prog-group with the Silent Watcher guitarist (band name escapes me but Cyborg seems to ring a bell). That was in 1979 and my getting married for the first time (young and dumb, what can I say) ended my association with the band. It mutated into a tricker version of The Cars but never amounted to anything. AFAICR no recordings were ever made beyond rehearsal demos of any of the bands I was in. At least not while I was involved. On a related note, the San Diego Harlequin opened for the big-drawer local proggers in 1976, with David the ex-vocalist guesting that night. That was a band called Horsefeathers who drew a lot from Gentle Giant and old-school vaudeville, much like The Kinks, Queen and Split Enz did. TV and movie director Mick Garris was their lead singer. They were *very* good. The MC that night was a famous porn star, Georgina Spelvin.
Last edited by sdavmor; 12-11-2014 at 11:19 PM.
I can only hope all these Harlequin bands dressed in motley when on stage.
Around 1982 I saw a cover band in Syracuse at the club Lost Horizon - I remember they played Wind Him Up and On the Loose by Saga, and also something from Breakfast in America and I think something from Abacab. Anyone know what the name of this band might have been?
A friend remembered that this band was called Animation.
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