Atomic Rooster
Atomic Rooster was a British progressive-rock group formed in
1969 with an initial line-up of Vincent Crane (real name Vincent
Cheesman), Nick Graham and Carl Palmer. Their debut album, Atomic
Rooster, hit Number 49 in the UK in June 1970, after which
Graham and Palmer quit the group.
Crane maintained the name and recruited guitarist/singer John
Du Cann, and drummer Paul Hammond for the second album, Death
Walks Behind You, which hit Number 12 in the UK. This album
also featured the Number 11 single Tomorrow Night.
Pete French of Cactus assisted in the third album, In
Hearing Of, which featured the UK Number 4 single The
Devil's Answer, and reached Number 18 on the British album
charts. Then the group split up again. Again Crane assembled a new
version of the band, this time with singer Chris Farlowe,
guitarist Steve Bolton, bassist Bill Smith and drummer Ric
Parnell.
Made In England reached Number 149 in the US in 1972 but
by 1974 the group had split once again. Crane fronted line-ups of
Atomic Rooster into the 80s before taking up with Dexy's Midnight
Runners in 1983. In 1989 he committed suicide.
'Atomic Rooster' isn't a name that's travelled well over the
ages. Presumably on their inception it suggested untold mystery
and infinite possibility. Then again, maybe not. Considering that
Vincent Crane once led an outfit called The Vincent Cheesman Trio,
maybe he was just crap at the name thing . . .
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