Skin Alley

Skin Alley were a British progressive rock band founded by Thomas Crimble and Alvin Pope in the autumn of 1968. The original lineup consisted of Crimble on bass guitar and vocals, Pope on drums, Max Taylor on guitar, and Jeremy Sagar on lead vocals. Taylor and Sagar left early in 1969, and were replaced by Krzysztof Henryk Juszkiewicz on Hammond organ and Bob James on saxophone, flute, guitar and vocals.

Skin Alley
OriginLondon, England
GenresProgressive rock, jazz rock, jazz fusion
Years active1968 (1968)–1974 (1974)
LabelsCBS, Transatlantic, Columbia, Stax

Career

The band, comprising Thomas Crimble, Alvin Pope, Krzysztof Henryk Juszkiewicz and Bob James, were signed to CBS Records for their eponymous 1970 debut, and its 1970 follow-up, To Pagham and Beyond.[1] Crimble moved on that year to play bass with Hawkwind and organise the Glastonbury Festival,[2] and was replaced by Nick Graham (formerly of Atomic Rooster, not to be confused with Nicky Graham from The End and Tucky Buzzard) before the album was completed,[1] Graham singing on two of the tracks. Pope was later replaced by Tony Knight.[1]

In May 1972, Skin Alley appeared at Lincoln Festival's NME-sponsored Giants of Tomorrow marquee.[3] A switch to the Transatlantic Records label in 1972 heralded the release of the band's third LP, Two Quid Deal. By the time their fourth album, Skintight, was released in 1973, they were playing more commercial, mainstream rock with orchestration and brass arrangements.[4] The band split shortly afterwards, with Graham having the most successful post-Skin career with his groups Alibi and the Humans in the early 1980s.[5]

US-based Columbia Records had no interest in the band and declined to release either CBS album in the US. The third and fourth albums were issued in the US by Stax Records.[1] Although Stax was keen on expanding its repertoire into rock, the label was not successful in promoting its rock acts, and both Skin Alley albums were largely ignored in the US.

Band members

Albums
  • Skin Alley (CBS 63847) March 1970
  • To Pagham and Beyond (CBS 64140) December 1970
  • Two Quid Deal? (Transatlantic Big T TRA 260) October 1972
  • Skintight (Transatlantic Big T TRA 273) November 1973[1]

Singles
  • "Tell Me" / "Better Be Blind" (CBS 5045) 1970
  • "You Got Me Danglin'" / "Skin Valley Serenade" (Big T BIG 506) 1972
  • "In The Midnight Hour" / "Broken Eggs" (Big T BIG 511) 1972

References
  1. Colin Larkin, ed. (1992). The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. p. 2287/8. ISBN 0-85112-939-0.
  2. "Glastonbury - 40 Years On". www.nickturner.com. Archived from the original on 18 May 2011.
  3. Tobler, John (1992). NME Rock 'N' Roll Years (1st ed.). London: Reed International Books Ltd. p. 238. ISBN 978-0-600-57602-0.
  4. "Skin Alley". Alexgitlin.com. 3 November 2002. Retrieved 8 June 2016.
  5. McClintock, J. Scott. "Skin Alley | Biography & History". AllMusic. Retrieved 8 June 2019.
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