The Idle Race
| The Idle Race | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | The Nightriders (1959-1966) The Idyll Race (1966) |
| Origin | Birmingham, England, UK |
| Genres | Psychedelic rock, Psychedelic pop |
| Years active | 1959–1972 |
| Labels | Liberty, Sunset |
| Associated acts | The Move, Electric Light Orchestra, Steve Gibbons Band |
| Past members | Dave Pritchard Roger Spencer Al Johnson Brian Cope Billy King Mike Sheridan Greg Masters Roy Wood Johnny Mann Jeff Lynne Mike Hopkins Dave Walker Dave Carroll Bob Lamb Bob Wilson Steve Gibbons Bob Griffin Trevor Burton |
The Idle Race were a British rock group from Birmingham in the late 1960s and early 1970s who had a cult following but never enjoyed mass commercial success. In addition to being the springboard for Jeff Lynne, the band holds a place of significance in British Midlands' pop-rock history as a link between The Move, Electric Light Orchestra, the Steve Gibbons Band and Mike Sheridan & The Nightriders.
The band was initially formed in 1959 under the moniker of "Billy King and the Nightriders"; and consisted of core members rhythm guitarist Dave Pritchard and drummer Roger Spencer, along with vocalist Billy King, bass guitarist Brian Cope, and lead guitarist Al Johnson. In 1962 King departed the band and was replaced by Mike Tyler; who changed his surname to 'Sheridan' for performance purposes, and this change coincided with the band's rise to great success, culminating with gaining a record deal with EMI in 1964. By this time Cope had been replaced by Greg Masters, and Johnson by lead guitarist and composer Roy Wood, in 1963 and 1964, respectively. Wood, who would go on to find greater success in his subsequent bands', had his first commercially released composition with the Nightriders in 1965, in the form of "Make Them Understand", which appeared on a single B-side.
By December 1965, Wood had joined forces with other musicians to form The Move; ultimately leading to his departure from The Idle Race in January 1966 when The Move started touring [Please note: Roy Wood was never in the Idle Race]; his place in the Nightriders being filled by Johnny Mann, who had previously performed with Wood's new band mate in The Move Carl Wayne in Wayne's previous band The Vikings. Sheridan, feeling that the band had come full circle, ultimately decided to depart The Idle Race shortly thereafter (although Sheridan would later tour with various musicians using the Nightriders' moniker). The losses of Sheridan and Wood led the band to change direction; first changing shortened their name to 'The Nightriders' (reflecting the fact that the band was now going to lack a dedicated frontman and feature other members' performing lead vocals); and then signing a new recording contract with Polydor records. Mann departed shortly thereafter, and was replaced by Jeff Lynne (who at the time was an unknown guitar prodigy from the Birmingham district of Shard End). Their time at Polydor was short, and they only recorded one single; "It's Only The Dog/Your Friend", released in November 1966 with Lynne on lead guitar. Spencer sang lead on the former; the latter was written and sung by Pritchard.
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