Oldish Psych and Prog

A group of good musicians who specialised in tuneful songs very much in the style of Nirvana or US bands like Phluph or Aorta and deserved more success than they achieved. Their recordings are now very rare and sought-after, but Butterfly, which typified their style with some exquisite guitar and sitar work. Not all the tracks on the album work well, though. Some, like Secondhand Love or Mr. Blank have intriguing melodies and nice organ/guitar interplay, while there also are mistakes such as Goodtime Music, which sounds like a parody of Them, but certainly is not. The most psychedelic track is Madame Magical (9’38") with metre-changes and funny organ.

(Vernon Joynson / Marcel Koopman).

This outfit's main claim to fame was that it included Peter Banks who was once in Yes and also recorded a solo album in 1973 for Sovereign.

Their albums were progressive rock in style comprising compositions with symphonic overtones, not unlike Yes. Tony Kaye had also been in Yes. He left to join Badger after the first album and they continued as a four-piece. Their music never sold in significant quantities here but in the US their first 45, Small Beginnings, got to No 29.

Upon their demise, Banks recorded an album with Focus guitarist Jan Akkerman prior to his solo efforts. Hough resurfaced in the short-lived Fast Bucks.

... Read more »

Formed 1969, in Düsseldorf, with the line-up of: Hans Wende (guitar), Horst Wagner (bass), Rolf Selbach (drums) and Peter Figge (keyboards), Flaming Bess went through many changes in the 10 years before they released an album. Only after a lengthy hiatus in the mid-1970's did they really attempt to get it together and break-out beyond occasional rehearsals and local gigs.

They got their first break when featured on the music programme "Rockstudio" on WDR, and the interest generated led to them recording and self-producing their debut LP. TANZ DER GÖTTER is the elaborate and sophisticated progressive it was reputed to be, but not exactly the mixture of Eloy and Camel of some reports, but closer to Iskander and other indie prog bands of the era. A unique aspect (also used on some later records) is the narration in German, which occasionally punctuates the music, seemingly telling the legend of Flaming Bess. Their second album VERLORENE WELT, is quite different, as it presented a unique style that involved heavy rock numbers, with dramatic and operatic elements, a wealth of keyboards, and strongly featured guest female vocalist Marlene Krükel. Instrumentally they were superb, if a bit heavy in the song/lyric department.

Peter Figge and Achim Wierschem continued with the band Key after this, eventually reforming Flaming Bess in the 1990's, releasing two different versions of the FATA MORGANA album, and a new album project in 2002. Peter Wahle also has his own projects Amigo News and Digitalis.