Axis Point was an English

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band. The band signed to

RCA RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded in 1919 as the Radio Corporation of America. It was initially a patent pool, patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Westinghou ...

and released two albums in a twelve-month period, with a line-up including an eclectic mix of well known musicians of that time. They disbanded in 1980, after releasing their second album.

History

The original line-up of ''Axis Point'' included, guitarist

John "Charlie" Whitney Richard John Whitney (born 24 June 1944), also known as John "Charlie" Whitney, John Whitney and Charlie Whitney, is an English Rock music, rock musician and a founder member of the bands Family (band), Family, Streetwalkers and Axis Point. C ...

, keyboardist

Eddie Hardin Eddie Hardin (19 February 1949 – 22 July 2015) was an English rock pianist and singer-songwriter. Born Edward Harding, he was best known for his associations with the Spencer Davis Group, Axis Point, and Hardin & York. Hardin, along with the ...

, bassist Charlie McCracken and drummer

Les Binks James Leslie Binks (8 August 1951 – 15 March 2025) was a Northern Irish Heavy metal music, heavy metal drummer. He is best-known for being the drummer for Judas Priest, where he was a member from 1977 to 1979. Life and career Early years Pre ...

. They recorded ''Axis Point'' (1979). The songwriting on the album is split between Hardin and Whitney with McCraken co-writing ''"Woman of the world"'' and ''"Fire it up"''. After the recording of this album, Binks left and was replaced by

Rob Townsend Rob Townsend (born 7 July 1947) is an English rock and blues drummer. He was the drummer for progressive rock band Family and later The Blues Band. Biography Townsend was born near Frog Island, Leicester, England, where he spent his teenage ...

, who had been the drummer for

Family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

. They recorded their second album ''Boast of the Town'' (1980). On this album Hardin and Whitney collaborate on most of the songs and added guitarist and vocalist

Bobby Tench Robert Tench (21 September 1944 – 19 February 2024) was a British singer, guitarist, sideman, songwriter and arranger. Tench was best known for his work with Freddie King and Van Morrison, as well as being a member of The Jeff Beck Group, Hu ...

, who had previously been a member of

Streetwalkers Streetwalkers were an English rock band formed in late 1973 by two former members of rock band Family, vocalist Roger Chapman and guitarist John "Charlie" Whitney. They were a five piece band which evolved from the Chapman Whitney Band. The b ...

Band members

;Axis Point #1 *

Charlie Whitney Charlie may refer to: Film and television * Charlie (2015 Malayalam film), ''Charlie'' (2015 Malayalam film), an Indian Malayalam-language film * Charlie (2015 Kannada film), ''Charlie'' (2015 Kannada film), an Indian Kannada-language film * Cha ...

(guitar) * Charlie McCracken (bass) *

(keyboards, vocals) *

(drums) ;Axis Point #2 *Charlie Whitney (guitar) *Charlie McCracken (bass) *Eddie Hardin (keyboards, vocals) *

(drums)

Additional musicians

(on Boast of the Town) – Guitar, vocals * Colin Horton Jennings – backing vocals * Ron Asprey – sax * Tony Cox – String Arrangements

Discography

;Original releases * ''Axis Point''

30039 (1978) * ''Boast'' of the Town RCA 25277 (1980)

Re-issues

;Axis Point/Boast of the Town compilation * BGO 576 (2002) * BGO Records 576 (2003)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Axis Point (band) English rock music groups Musical groups established in 1974 RCA Records artists