Sky (band)
| Sky | |
|---|---|
| Origin | London |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 1978–95 |
| Past members |
Herbie Flowers Tristan Fry Kevin Peek John Williams Francis Monkman Steve Gray Paul Hart Richard Durrant |
Sky were an English/Australian instrumental symphonic rock group that specialised in combining a variety of musical styles, most prominently rock and classical. The group's best known members were classical guitarist John Williams, bass player Herbie Flowers (a former member of Blue Mink and T. Rex) and Francis Monkman, a founder member of progressive rock band Curved Air.
In 1971, Australian classical guitarist John Williams released Changes, his first recording of non-classical music (and the first on which he played electric guitar). Among the musicians working on the album were Herbie Flowers and Tristan Fry, an established session drummer who was also the timpanist for the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields. The three musicians became friends, kept in touch and continued working together on various projects. Fry, Flowers, and Francis Monkman were performers on Williams' 1978 album Travelling, another cross-genre recording which was a substantial commercial success.
The success of Travelling inspired Williams and Flowers to set up their own long-term cross-genre band. Fry and Monkman were swiftly recruited, and the first Sky lineup was completed with the addition of Australian session guitarist Kevin Peek. Peek was equally adept at classical guitar and pop/rock styles, having built up a reputation both as a chamber musician and as a long-standing member of Cliff Richard's band (as well as for Manfred Mann, Lulu, Tom Jones, Jeff Wayne, Shirley Bassey and Gary Glitter). In addition, Peek and Monkman had both played on Louis Clark's album (per-spek-tiv) n. The band began writing and recording instrumental music drawing on their collective experience of classical, light pop, progressive rock, light entertainment and jazz. After a protracted search for a record company, Sky signed with the small European label Ariola Records.
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