Fuchsia (band)

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Fuchsia was a British progressive folk rock band formed in 1970.[1] Named after Fuchsia Groan [2] they released one album before disbanding. Their self titled album was featured as one of Mojo's Forgotten Classics.[3] Their style was similar to their contemporaries Jade and Comus.

The band was formed by Tony Durant (acoustic guitar, electric guitar, lead vocals), while a student at Exeter University, and comprised Michael Day (bass guitar), Michael Gregory (drums, percussion). The trio was soon augmented by Janet Rogers (violin, backing vocals), Madeleine Bland (cello, piano, harmonium, backing vocals) and Vanessa Hall-Smith (violin, backing vocals) so that Durant could explore his musical ideas.

Produced by David Hitchcock the album was recorded at Sound Techniques Studios by Vic Gamm. It was released by Pegasus (PEG 8) in the UK and Kingdom (KV 6002) in France. A single advertisement in the Melody Maker and their manager's failure to arrange an often promised tour resulted in minimal sales and the demise of the band. Durant went to work in Australia with Dave Warner and later learned of the popularity of the album amongst collectors and the unlicensed re-pressings. Using his original master tapes he digitally remastered the album at Sound Practices Studios in Sydney which was released on CD (Night Wing NWRCD 02).

2005 saw the release of the CD Fuchsia, Mahogonny & other gems (Night Wing NWRCD 04). This contained three further Fuchsia tracks, two done while looking for a new record company after the first album, and the third an original demonstration acetate recording. [4] Another eight tracks from other projects including Mahogonny, a theatre show based on the works of Bertoldt Brecht and Kurt Weill, completed the album.

In 2013 came the release of the CD album From Psychedelia to a Distant Place (Sound Practices 001) under the name Fuchsia II featuring a new band assembled by Durant in Australia and comprising Durant himself (guitars and vocals), Lloyd Gyi (drums, percussion), Emily Duffill (cello), Tracy Wan (violin), Lidia Bara (violin) and Jo Bara (cello), with Suzy Toomey (accordion) and Isabel Durant (backing vocals). The album gained favourable reviews in the British music press [5] The album contained mostly new material, although the track The Rainbow Song included a re-working of Shoes and Ships from the first album recorded forty-two years previously.

References

  1. ↑ All Music - Fuchsia biography
  2. ↑ Fuchsia according to Tony Durant article
  3. ↑ Forgotten Classics, Mojo, Issue 136, March 2005
  4. ↑ CD booklet with album Fuchsia, Mahogonny and other gems
  5. ↑ Record Collector magazine, June 2013 and Uncut magazine, July 2013.

External links

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