Prelude (band)

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Prelude are an English based folk trio consisting of Brian Hume (vocals, guitar), his wife Irene Hume (vocals) and Ian Vardy (guitars, vocals), who formed in their native Gateshead in 1970.

1 Career
2 UK discography
- 2.1 Singles
- 2.2 Albums
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Career

They began to write their own material and built a following on the folk circuit and in 1973 they recorded their first album How Long Is Forever? on Dawn Records at Rockfield recording studios in Wales. From it came their best known recording, an a cappella version of the Neil Young song "After The Goldrush", on Pye. In the UK, it entered the top 50 on 26 January 1974, had a 9 week stay, peaking at Number 21. In America, it entered the Billboard Hot 100 on 11 February 1974 and had a five week stay, peaking at #22.

Brian Hume explained (in 1974) how the song came about: “We were standing at a bus stop in Stocksfield and we just started singing it. There was no particular reason, it was just a nice song. The way we do it now is really no different from the way we did it at the bus stop. We included it in our act and it went down really well – even the rowdier clubs listened to it. We certainly never thought of it as a possible single. In any case we always thought of ourselves as an album group rather than making singles and included the song on the album How Long Is Forever as an afterthought”.

The group subsequently toured the U.S., but "After the Goldrush" proved their only U.S. chart success. They then toured the UK supporting artists such as Ralph McTell and Joan Armatrading. In 1981 they toured the UK with Don McLean.

The group signed with EMI and in 1980 scored their second UK hit with "Platinum Blonde", (a song about a girl killed by her father). The group appeared on Top Of The Pops to promote the single. The follow-up "Trick Of The Light" failed to chart, but was noted in one review of its similarity to Fleetwood Mac. Further success was achieved in 1982 when a re-recorded version of "After The Goldrush" made the UK top 30. The group released three further singles in the same year, namely, "Only The Lonely" (a cover of the Roy Orbison song), "City Nights" and "Silent Night". All singles made the UK top 100, but surprisingly no album was released around this time.

Vardy left the band in 1985. Irene and Brian continued as a duo until 1987, when they were joined by Jim Hornsby (guitar/dobro). By 1993, Hornsby had left and Prelude continued as a duo once more. They still write and perform on the folk circuit, along with Chris Ringer (bass/vocals).

Irene and Brian are now also a successful (in the UK) Country duo.