Nektar

Nektar
Roye Albrighton with Nektar live in 2007
Background information
Origin	Hamburg, Germany
Genres	Progressive rock, space rock
Years active	1969–1978, 1979–1982, 2000–present
Labels	Current: Cleopatra Former: Bellaphon, United Artists, Passport, Decca, Polydor, Ariola, Bacillus
Website	www.nektarsmusic.com
Members	Ron Howden Klaus Henatsch Lux Vibratus
Past members	Roye Albrighton Mick Brockett Allan "Taff" Freeman Derek "Mo" Moore Keith Walters Dave Nelson Ryche Chlanda Dave Prater Carmine Rojas Ray Hardwick Larry Fast Randy Dembo Tom Hughes Steve Adams Desha Dunnahoe Steve Mattern Peter Pichl Billy Sherwood

Nektar (German for Nectar) is a 1970s English progressive rock band originally based in Germany.

The band formed in Hamburg, Germany in 1969. Founding members of the band included Englishmen Roye Albrighton on guitars and vocals, Allan "Taff" Freeman on keyboards, Derek "Mo" Moore on bass, Ron Howden on drums, and Mick Brockett and Keith Walters on lights and special effects. Throughout their early existence the band's songwriting was credited as a group effort; however post-reformation most of the band's songwriting has been credited to Albrighton.

The band's early albums Journey to the Centre of the Eye (1971), A Tab in the Ocean (1972) and ...Sounds Like This (1973) were obscure psychedelic rock albums that won the band a growing cult following, based largely on word of mouth.

Nektar's U.S. release, Remember the Future (1973), propelled the band briefly into mass popularity. A concept album about a blind boy who communicates with an extraterrestrial being, the music was a big leap forward for the band, with a much more melodic sound than on previous albums. It shot into the Top 20 album charts in the U.S. The follow-up album, Down to Earth (1974), was another concept album with a circus theme; it also sold well, breaking into the Top 40 album charts and included Nektar's only song to chart on the Billboard singles charts, "Astral Man". The next album, Recycled (1975), was stylistically close to bands like Gentle Giant and carried on the band's close connection with progressive rock.