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Prelude (band)

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Prelude
OriginUnited Kingdom
GenresFolk, pop, MOR
Years active1970–present
LabelsDawn, EMI, After Hours
MembersBrian Hume
Irene Hume
Ian Vardy
Past membersChris Ringer
Jim Hornsby
WebsiteOfficial website

Prelude are an English-based vocal harmony group, who in their most famous line-up consisted of Brian Hume (vocals, guitar), his wife Irene Hume (vocals) and Ian Vardy (guitars, vocals).[1] They formed in their native Gateshead in 1970, having initially released a single in 1967 as The Carnival.

Career

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Prelude 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.[2][3] From it came their best known recording, an a cappella version of the Neil Young song "After the Gold Rush", on Dawn. In the UK, it entered the Top 50 on 26 January 1974, had a nine-week stay, peaking at Number 21. In America, it entered the Billboard Hot 100 on 5 October 1974, and had a 13-week stay, peaking at No. 22.

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?[This quote needs a citation]

The group subsequently toured the United States, but only scored one more hit "For a Dancer", which peaked at No.63.[3] They then toured the UK, supporting Ralph McTell and Joan Armatrading. In 1981, they toured the UK with Don McLean. Also in 1974, they recorded backing vocals for the Ralph McTell's hit single, "Streets of London".

The group signed with EMI, and in 1980 scored their second UK hit with "Platinum Blonde".[4] The group appeared on Top of the Pops to promote the single. The follow-up "Trick of the Light" failed to chart. Further success was achieved in 1982 when a re-recorded version of "After the Gold Rush" made the UK top 30.[4] The group released three further singles in the same year, namely, "Only the Lonely" (a cover of the Roy Orbison song), "City Tonight" and "Silent Night". An album, called simply Prelude, was also released at this time.[5]

Vardy left the band in 1985. Irene and Brian Hume continued as a duo until 1987, when they were joined by Jim Hornsby (guitar, dobro and vocals), Tony Hornsby (bass and vocals) and Ian Tait (drums and percussion). By 1993, Hornsby had left and Prelude continued as a duo once more. They still wrote and performed on the circuit, along with Chris Ringer (bass/vocals).[6] In 2008, they were rejoined by original member Ian Vardy, and performed as a four-piece. In 2010, Chris Ringer departed and Prelude were joined by Paul Hooper on drums and percussion, (who had recently left The Fortunes), and Steve Cunningham, ex Lindisfarne, on bass guitar. A CD was recorded with the new line-up entitled The Belle Vue Sessions, comprising mainly new Hume / Vardy compositions, was released in February 2011.

In 2012, Steve Cunningham was replaced by Keith Tulip on bass. The current line-up continues to tour.

Discography

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Albums

[edit]
Year Album US
[7] 		Record label
1973 How Long Is Forever? — Dawn
1974 Dutch Courage
(titled After the Gold Rush in the US) 		94
1975 Owlcreek Incident 111
1976 Back into the Light — Pye
1982 Prelude — After Hours
1997 Archive
(compilation of 1980s material) 		— Realtone
1999 Good for You — EnMASSE
2000 Floating on the Breeze: The Dawn Anthology
(compilation of 1970s material) 		— Castle
2006 After the Goldrush (The Dawn/Pye Anthology 1973-77)
(2CD compilation of 1970s material) 		—
2012 The Belle Vue Sessions —
"—" denotes releases that did not chart.

Singles

[edit]
Year Single Peak chart positions Record label
UK
[4] 		CAN
 AUS
[8] 		US
[7]
1967 "The Big Bright Green Pleasure Machine"
(credited as the Carnival) 		― ― ― ― Columbia
1972 "Edge of the Sea" ― ― ― ― Decca
1973 "Out There" ― ― ― ― Dawn
1974 "After the Gold Rush" 21 5 51 22
"Dear Jesus" ― ― ― ―
"Here Comes the Sun" ― ― ― ―
1975 "Fly" ― ― ― ―
"A Love Song" ― ― ― ―
"For a Dancer" ― 70 — 63 Pye
1976 "Feel Like Loving You Again" ― ― ― ―
"Never Be Anyone Else but You" ― ― ― ―
1977 "Oh My Soul" ― ― ― ―
"That's Why I Love You" ― ― ― ―
1980 "Platinum Blonde" 45 ― ― ― EMI
"Trick of the Light" ― ― ― ―
1981 "When Two Worlds Collide" ― ― ― ― MCA
1982 "After the Gold Rush"
(new recording) 		28 ― 98 — After Hours
"Only the Lonely" 55 ― ― ―
"City Tonight" ― ― ― ―
"Silent Night" ― ― ― ―
1983 "Freedom" ― ― ― ― Black Crow
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory.

References

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  1. ^ Eder, Bruce. "Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 19 March 2022.
  2. ^ "Dawn Discography". Vinylnet.co.uk. Archived from the original on 10 February 2013. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
  3. ^ a b "Prelude – Chart history". Billboard. Archived from the original on 13 April 2015. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
  4. ^ a b c Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 434. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  5. ^ "Official Charts Company – Prelude". Retrieved 31 May 2015.
  6. ^ "Prelude – Biography". Billboard. Archived from the original on 16 April 2016. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
  7. ^ a b "Prelude - Awards". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 12 June 2015. Retrieved 19 March 2022.
  8. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 238. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
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