No. 3: Angus Mackinnon, Sounds
To buy this album click here
Sounds, 23.8.75
QUIET SUN evolved out a of a stream of Dulwich College, London bands, emerging between 1967 and 1970, and masquerading under the general cognomen of, er, 'Pooh And The Ostrich Feather'. Bill MacCormick (basses - but only after a period of aspiring vocalist and drummer), Charles Hayward (drums and percussion, various) and Phil Manzanera (guitars and devices, latterly of Roxy Music) formed the nucleus of these embryonic line-ups. However, attempts (premature) to take the South East of England by aggressively electronic strategy met with limited success. Later Dave Jarrett was added on keyboards and, formalising the band's instrumentation, MacCormick decided to take over the bass vacancy himself, after an interminable run of auditions.
Quiet Sun weren't exactly welcomed by the business with open arms. At one stage they were sent down to Dorset by Warner Brothers to record some demo tapes. Vocals had to be recorded in the hall, stone-walled and resonant, as there was no appropriate booth. Nonetheless, Warners were not overly enamoured of the venture's results, and neither were Harvest, another company expressing a modicum of vague interest. Gigs remained hard to come by and were mostly situated in, as MacCormick recalls, "church halls that were later pulled down." But, after two years or more spent mostly rehearsing and not performing, Manzanera and MacCormick decided that what the world really needed was a Mk. 2. Yes. Hayward and Jarrett thought otherwise. End of band in early 1972. Before their time.
Manzanera earned himself a place in Roxy, replacing Dave O'List, Jarrett lectured on quantum physics, whilst Hayward and MacCormick involved themselves in a bewildering number of alternative projects. MacCormick joined Robert Wyatt, David Sinclair and Phil Miller in Matching Mole Mk. I, and enjoyed the dubious privilege of being among the last musicians to record in CBS's old Bond Street studios, where the 16 track contrived to run at unpredictably varying speeds and there was an unhealthy amount of interference from pneumatic drills and hydraulic excavators working in the road outside. Still, Mole's Little Red Record' does sound surprisingly resilient, in spite of these various hindrances. A short spell in Gong followed, and then the formation of Mole Mk. 2, this time with Francis Monkman and Gary Windo, abruptly and very sadly halted by Wyatt's horrifying accident. MacCormick took time off to stand for his local council.
Meanwhile Hayward had also played in Gong, after a short spell with Mal Dean's Amazing Band . His stay in Gong itself was even shorter. It was apparent right from the start that Hayward's world-view and that of Daevid Allen's didn't entirely coincide. At this stage Gong were entering one of their periodic 'terminal' phases, with, in this instance, Christian Tritsch about to leave, and a certain amount of re-assessment going on. Both Hayward and MacCormick talk enthusiastically of the potentials they believed Gong could have realised, had there not been such a drastic discrepancy between what the band envisaged and achieved.
Anyway, Hayward had by now joined the remnants of High Tide: Peter Pavli (bass), Tony Hill (guitar) and Simon House (violin). This line-up endured for about three months before Hayward decided to form a band of his own. "It was the first time I'd actually organised anything like that, which is probably why it didn't do too well," he adds self-deprecatingly. He remembers one particularly strange date at Bishop's Stortford, where the stage was razor thin, players thrust into the audience's bellies, and the venue's back wall held up by a hydraulic arm. This venture operated under two names, either 'Short Back And Sides' or 'All Wet And Dripping', whichever you prefer. Next up, Hayward involved himself in a duet, 'Delphin Logic', just himself and a guitarist; "a kind of living room duet, totally improvised, not jazz, ethnic rather and very beautiful to listen to. I'm very proud of the tapes we made." Radar Favourites followed, along with Geoff Leigh and Logic's other member, guitarist Charles Bullock. Favourites have, it seems, recently folded.
All of which brings us up to late 1974, when Manzanera approached the rest of Quiet Sun with the idea of recording an album of their material, as he'd booked in himself to record his solo album, 'Diamond Head'. So, after only two proper rehearsals and a maelstrom of frantic sessions 'Mainstream' emerged, sounding something like an electric commentary on Armageddon and aftermath, startlingly tense.
'Mainstream' is an extraordinary record and should be procured without delay - the kind of offering that, at one stroke, justifies the existence of a popular music network. It's supremely accessible, uncompromising and adventurous. What more could you ask for indeed? There is, unfortunately, no possibility of Quiet Sun performing again, due to Manzanera commitment to Roxy, and other complications. MacCormick has since played on Wyatt's Ruth Is Stranger Than Richard' and is now pondering as to "how I can write my Average White Band single". He views the album as ''essentially something that's been very good to do. I mean, I can play it when I'm forty and remember..." Island are planning an American release, as one of the leaders of a new Stateside label, which is certainly a welcome move. When asked what expectations he had for Mainstream's' success in this country, Hayward replies. "Well, it might get bought or it might not I suppose it might even jump up and bite the listener." Try it then and see.
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