Atomic Rooster are a British

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 originally formed by members of

The Crazy World of Arthur Brown The Crazy World of Arthur Brown are an English rock music, rock band formed by singer Arthur Brown (musician), Arthur Brown in 1967. The original band included Vincent Crane (Hammond organ and piano), Drachen Theaker (drums), and Nick Greenwoo ...

, organist

Vincent Crane Vincent Rodney Cheesman (21 May 194314 February 1989), known professionally as Vincent Crane, was an English keyboardist, best known as the organist for the Crazy World of Arthur Brown (he was a co-writer of that group's 1968 hit single "Fire") ...

and drummer

Carl Palmer Carl Frederick Kendall Palmer (born 20 March 1950) is an English drummer. He was a founding member of the supergroups Emerson, Lake & Palmer and Asia, a touring drummer for The Crazy World of Arthur Brown and a founding member of Atomic Roost ...

. Their history is defined by two periods: the early-mid-1970s and the early 1980s. The band went through radical style changes, but they are best known for the hard,

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...

sound of their hit singles, " Tomorrow Night" (UK No. 11) and "Devil's Answer" (UK No. 4), both in 1971. In 2016 Atomic Rooster reformed with permission from Crane's widow, with the new line-up featuring two members from the various 1970s incarnations of the band.

History

Original period (1969–1975)

In the summer of 1969,

the Crazy World of Arthur Brown The Crazy World of Arthur Brown are an English rock music, rock band formed by singer Arthur Brown (musician), Arthur Brown in 1967. The original band included Vincent Crane (Hammond organ and piano), Drachen Theaker (drums), and Nick Greenwoo ...

split in the middle of a second US tour. Keyboardist Vincent Crane and drummer

left, returning to England to discuss a collaboration with

Brian Jones Lewis Brian Hopkin Jones (28 February 1942 – 3 July 1969) was an English musician and founder of the Rolling Stones. Initially a slide guitarist, he went on to sing backing vocals and played a wide variety of instruments on Rolling Stones r ...

, who had just been let go from the

Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

. After Jones's death on 3 July 1969, they adopted the name Atomic Rooster (with influence from the US band

Rhinoceros A rhinoceros ( ; ; ; : rhinoceros or rhinoceroses), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant taxon, extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates (perissodactyls) in the family (biology), famil ...

) and soon recruited Nick Graham on bass and vocals. They followed with what had been the Crazy World of Arthur Brown arrangement of vocals, organ, bass and drums. They soon undertook live dates around London; at their first headlining gig at the

London Lyceum The Lyceum Theatre ( ) is a West End theatre located in the City of Westminster, on Wellington Street, just off the Strand in central London. It has a seating capacity of 2,100. The origins of the theatre date to 1765. Managed by Samuel Arnol ...

on 29 August 1969, the opening act was

Deep Purple Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in London in 1968. They are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal music, heavy metal and modern hard rock, although their musical style has varied throughout their career. Originally for ...

. They eventually struck a deal with B & C Records and began recording their debut album in December 1969. Their first LP, '' Atomic Roooster'', was released in February 1970, along with a single, "Friday the 13th". By March, Crane felt it was best that they add a guitarist and recruited

John Cann John Cann may refer to: * John Cann (politician) (1860–1940), New South Wales politician * John Cann (athlete) (born 1938), Australian athlete * John Du Cann John William Cann (2 June 1946 – 21 September 2011), later known by his stag ...

from acid/progressive rock band Andromeda. However, just as Cann joined, bassist-vocalist Graham left. Cann (who played guitar and sang for Andromeda) took over vocal duties, while the bass lines were overdubbed on Crane's

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert, first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding #Drawbars, drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, sound was created ...

with a combination of left hand and pedals, and the vocals were replaced with Cann's vocals and some guitar on four tracks. Atomic Rooster resumed gigging until the end of June 1970, when Carl Palmer announced his departure to join

Emerson, Lake & Palmer Emerson, Lake & Palmer (informally known as ELP) were an English progressive rock Supergroup (music), supergroup formed in London in 1970. The band consisted of Keith Emerson (keyboards) of The Nice, Greg Lake (vocals, bass, guitars, producer) ...

Ric Parnell Ric Parnell (14 August 1951 – 1 May 2022) was an English rock music, rock drummer. Notable for his work in the band Atomic Rooster, he is probably best known for his role as the ill-fated drummer Spinal Tap (band), Mick Shrimpton in the film ...

filled the drum spot until August, when Paul Hammond was recruited from Farm. They then recorded their second album, '' Death Walks Behind You'', released in September 1970. Originally it was not commercially successful, as with the first album, but by February 1971, the single "Tomorrow Night" reached No. 11 in the UK Singles Chart, with the album reaching No. 12 in the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...

. Atomic Rooster made an appearance on the ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British record chart television programme, made by the BBC and broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most of its histo ...

'', and toured to support the album. In June 1971, just before they began configuring their line-up once again, the single "Devil's Answer" hit No. 4 in the UK. Atomic Rooster began recording '' In Hearing of Atomic Rooster'' ( UK No. 18). Crane felt the band needed a singer who could "project" to an audience and asked

Leaf Hound Leaf Hound are an English hard rock band that formed in 1970 out of the heavy blues rock band Black Cat Bones. Their 1971 debut album '' Growers of Mushroom'' is cited as a mixture of heavy metal, hard rock, psychedelic rock and stoner rock ...

vocalist Pete French to audition for the band. Not long after French came into the studio, Cann began to feel increasingly marginalised, having been relieved of vocal duties and especially after hearing how much Crane had mixed out most of his guitar work on the album. He promptly left the band. Paul Hammond followed him to form Bullet, later renamed Hard Stuff. French recorded all the vocals on the album (save for "Black Snake", sung by Crane), and the album was released in August 1971. Atomic Rooster 1971

The Atomic Rooster line-up featuring Pete French on vocals,

Steve Bolton Steve Bolton (born 8 November 1949), also known as Boltz, is an English rock musician who, since the start of his career in the 1960s, has played guitar on video, film and television and recorded as well as toured with a number of well-known a ...

on guitar, a returning Ric Parnell on drums and Crane on keyboards toured Italy, then across America and Canada. This line-up played at a benefit gig in September 1971 at The Oval cricket ground, appearing in front of some 65,000 people, supporting

the Faces Faces are an English rock band formed in London in 1969. They were formed by members of Small Faces after lead singer and guitarist Steve Marriott left to form Humble Pie. The remaining Small Faces; Ian McLagan (keyboards), Ronnie Lane (bass, ...

and

the Who The Who are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup (1964–1978) consisted of lead vocalist Roger Daltrey, guitarist Pete Townshend, bassist John Entwistle and drummer Keith Moon. Considered one of th ...

. They continued touring into at least December of 1971, but French then moved on to sign with Atlantic Records and joined the American rock band

Cactus A cactus (: cacti, cactuses, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae (), a family of the order Caryophyllales comprising about 127 genera with some 1,750 known species. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, ...

and appeared on their 1972 album, '' 'Ot 'n' Sweaty''. In February 1972 Crane recruited vocalist

Chris Farlowe Chris Farlowe (born John Henry Deighton, 13 October 1940) is an English rock music, rock, blues and blue-eyed soul singer. He is best known for his hit single "Out of Time (Rolling Stones song), Out of Time" written by Mick Jagger and Keith Ric ...

, at that time with

Colosseum The Colosseum ( ; , ultimately from Ancient Greek word "kolossos" meaning a large statue or giant) is an Ellipse, elliptical amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy, just east of the Roman Forum. It is the largest ancient amphi ...

, to take the place of French. They went on tour and recorded their first album together in the spring of 1972. They then released the album '' Made in England'' along with the single " Stand by Me", on

Dawn Records Dawn Records was a subsidiary of Pye Records. Active from 1969 to 1975, it was established as Pye's 'underground and progressive' label rivalling the EMI and Phonogram equivalents, Harvest and Vertigo. The most successful act on the label ...

. They were more into

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

at this point, and the progressive and heavy rock leanings from the other releases had receded. The single did not chart and the album just barely caught any attention, even though touring followed through. Guitarist Steve Bolton left at the end of 1972 and was replaced by

John Goodsall John Goodsall (15 February 1953 – 10 November 2021As far as the exact date of death is concerned, numerous false statements are circulating on the internet. The only reliable reference is the photocopy of the death certificate provided by John ...

, appearing under the name Johnny

Mandala A mandala (, ) is a geometric configuration of symbols. In various spiritual traditions, mandalas may be employed for focusing attention of practitioners and adepts, as a spiritual guidance tool, for establishing a sacred space and as an aid ...

. They released the album '' Nice 'n' Greasy'' in 1973, along with the single "Save Me", a re-working of "Friday the 13th". This time, it was in a complete

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

style. After nearly two years without any hits, Dawn Records dropped the group and Atomic Rooster began to unravel. After a tour, Farlowe, Mandala and Parnell left. The single "Tell Your Story, Sing Your Song" was released in March 1974 by "Vincent Crane's Atomic Rooster" on

Decca Decca may refer to: Music * Decca Records or Decca Music Group, record label * Decca Gold, classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group * Decca Broadway, musical theater record label * Decca Studios, recording facility in West ...

. All subsequent gigs were played by Crane along with members of the blues band

Sam Apple Pie Sam Apple Pie were a British blues-rock band, of the late 1960s and 1970s, noted for having played at the first Glastonbury Festival in 1970, and for playing a role in the early careers of several musicians including Gary Fletcher, Dave Charles ...

. A final concert was played in February 1975, a benefit gig for the

RSPCA The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) is a charity operating in England and Wales which promotes animal welfare. The RSPCA is funded primarily by voluntary donations. Founded in 1824, it is the oldest and largest a ...

; Crane afterward disbanded Atomic Rooster.

During hiatus (1975–1979)

Vincent Crane went on to put together the music for a number of plays and musicals in England between 1976 and 1977, including two of Peter Green's radio broadcasts. Crane teamed up with

Arthur Brown Arthur Brown may refer to: Entertainment * Arthur William Brown (1881–1966), Canadian commercial artist * H. Arthur Brown (1906–1992), American orchestral conductor * Arthur Brown (musician) (born 1942), English rock singer * Arthur Brown, ...

again to play on his album ''Chisholm In My Bosom'', and in 1979 they released the album ''Faster Than the

Speed of Light The speed of light in vacuum, commonly denoted , is a universal physical constant exactly equal to ). It is exact because, by international agreement, a metre is defined as the length of the path travelled by light in vacuum during a time i ...

''. Crane and Brown would also perform a rendition of "

Green Door "The Green Door" (or "Green Door") is a 1956 popular music, popular song, with music composed by Hutch Davie, Bob "Hutch" Davie and lyrics by Marvin J. Moore. It was first recorded by Jim Lowe, which reached number one on the US chart in 1956 ...

", dressed in top hats and tails. Cann, Hammond and John Gustafson released two albums as Hard Stuff between 1972 and 1973. Hard Stuff ended when Cann and Hammond suffered injuries in a car accident. Afterward, Cann filled in the guitar spot in

Thin Lizzy Thin Lizzy are an Irish rock band formed in Dublin in 1969. The band initially consisted of bass guitarist, lead vocalist and principal songwriter Phil Lynott, drummer Brian Downey, guitarist Eric Bell and organist Eric Wrixon although Wr ...

for a tour in Germany during 1974 before going off the road to write music for ads and jingles in England. In 1977 he recorded a solo album ('' The World's Not Big Enough'') with members of

Status Quo is a Latin phrase meaning the existing state of affairs, particularly with regard to social, economic, legal, environmental, political, religious, scientific or military issues. In the sociological sense, the ''status quo'' refers to the curren ...

and Gillan, before learning his record company was not going to release it. In 1979, having changed his name to John Du Cann, he had a minor hit with his rendition of "Don't Be a Dummy", used in a

Lee Cooper Lee Cooper is an English-American clothing and footwear manufacturing company, based in Shoreditch, that specialises in denim products. As well as its own production, the company licences the sale of many Lee Cooper-branded items worldwide. ...

jeans ad. Also in 1977, Paul Hammond played drums with T.H.E., a three piece featuring Pete Newnham (

Cockney Rebel Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel were an English rock band who formed in the early 1970s in London. Their music covered a range of styles from pop to progressive rock. Over the years, they have had five albums on the UK Albums Chart and twelve s ...

/Window) on guitar and vocals, and Mike Marchant (

Third Ear Band Third Ear Band were a British musical group formed in London during the mid-1960s. Their line-up initially consisted of violin, cello, oboe and percussion. Most of their performances were instrumental and partly improvised. Their records for th ...

) on bass and vocals. A single called "Rudi" was released that year on B&C Records under the name Pete Newnham, which has become a collector's item. That song and two unreleased tracks, "Johnny the Snark" and "Play with Fire", now appear on ''Bored Teenagers No. 5'' from Detour Records.

Reformation period (1980–1983)

During 1980, Crane contacted Du Cann and after some discussion, got an Atomic Rooster reformation under way. They recruited session drummer Preston Heyman and recorded an album, along with one 7/12" single, on

EMI Records EMI Records (formerly EMI Records Ltd.) is a British multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was originally founded as a British flagship label by the music company EMI in 1972, and launched in January 1973 as the succes ...

. The album, ''

Atomic Rooster Atomic Rooster are a British rock band originally formed by members of The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, organist Vincent Crane and drummer Carl Palmer. Their history is defined by two periods: the early-mid-1970s and the early 1980s. The band ...

'' (1980), was followed by a tour, but Heyman left in October and Paul Hammond returned to play drums after

Ginger Baker Peter Edward "Ginger" Baker (19 August 1939 – 6 October 2019) was an English drummer. His work in the 1960s and 1970s earned him the reputation of "rock's first superstar drummer", for a style that melded jazz and Music of Africa, Africa ...

filled in for two weeks. They continued touring and released two singles in 1981 and 1982. However, Du Cann was unable to make their last-minute booking at the

Reading Festival The Reading and Leeds Festivals are a pair of annual music festivals that take place in Reading, Berkshire, Reading and Leeds in England. The events take place simultaneously on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend ...

, so Crane and Hammond used Mick Hawksworth (ex- Andromeda) as a stand-in. John McCoy later stepped in on bass at the insistence of Polydor Records, for whom they would release two further singles, "Play It Again" and "End of the Day", which saw some attention on the

Heavy metal music Heavy metal (or simply metal) is a Music genre, genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the United Kingdom and United States. With roots in blues rock, psychedelic rock and acid rock, heavy metal band ...

chart, but did little elsewhere, and Polydor shortly afterwards dropped the band. With Du Cann gone, Crane set about a new form of Atomic Rooster. Paul Hammond stayed on and played drums for the following album ''

Headline News HLN is an American basic cable network. Owned by CNN Worldwide, the network primarily carries true-crime programming, recently drifting away from limited live news programming. The channel was originally launched on January 1, 1982, by Tur ...

'' (1983), recorded in late 1982. Several guitarists played on the album, including

David Gilmour David Jon Gilmour ( ; born 6 March 1946) is an English guitarist, singer and songwriter who is a member of the rock band Pink Floyd. He joined in 1967, shortly before the departure of the founder member Syd Barrett. By the early 1980s, Pink F ...

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experiments ...

Bernie Torme Bernie may refer to: Places in the United States * Bernie, Missouri, a city * Griffithsville, West Virginia, also called Bernie People * Bernie (given name) ** Bernie Sanders, United States senator and 2016 and 2020 Democratic presidential candid ...

of Gillan and John Mizarolli. Crane added vocals to the album along with his wife on backing vocals. A tour of Germany and Italy included Bernie Torme on guitar. Mizarolli played guitar for several UK dates. ''

'' was released in June 1983 and featured a completely different sound from anything they had ever done, including electronics and synthesizers. The album was completely written by Vincent Crane, leading some to perceive it as a Crane solo album. Crane disbanded Atomic Rooster once again at the end of 1983. In 1984 he went on to the project Katmandu with Peter Green,

Ray Dorset Raymond Edward Dorset (born 21 March 1946) is a British guitarist, singer, songwriter, and founder of Mungo Jerry. He composed most of the songs for the band, including the hit record, hit single (music), singles "In the Summertime", "Baby Ju ...

and Jeff Whittaker and they recorded the album '' A Case for the Blues''. In 1985, Crane joined Dexy's Midnight Runners, playing piano for their album ''

Don't Stand Me Down ''Don't Stand Me Down'' is the third studio album by English pop band Dexys Midnight Runners, released in September 1985 by Mercury Records. The title of the album was inspired by a line in the album's song "The Waltz". The album was released th ...

'' and two singles, one becoming the theme song for the television series ''

Brush Strokes ''Brush Strokes'' is a British television sitcom broadcast on BBC1 from 1986 to 1991. Written by Esmonde and Larbey and set in South London, it depicted the (mostly) amorous adventures of a wisecracking house painter, Jacko (Karl Howman). Ther ...

''. Dexy's Midnight Runners disbanded in 1987 and Crane intended to reform Atomic Rooster with Du Cann once again. A German tour was planned for 1989, but Crane died from an overdose of painkillers on 14 February. Du Cann struck a deal with

Angel Air Records Angel Air is an English independent record label established in February 1997, specialising in reissues of classic pop and rock albums originally issued in the 1960s and 1970s (and latterly new albums from known artists up to the 21st century ...

and oversaw the release and re-release of much of his and Atomic Rooster's material, including live recordings, compilations, compilations of unreleased material and album reissues with extra material. Paul Hammond died in 1992 and Du Cann in 2011.

Revival and new line-up (2016–present)

In 2016, a new line-up of Atomic Rooster played together with permission to use the name offered initially to Pete French from Crane's widow. The first gig was a low-key warm-up in Clitheroe, Lancashire on 14 July 2016. The line-up was Pete French and Steve Bolton, keyboardist Christian Madden, bass guitarist Shug Millidge and drummer Bo Walsh. In 2017, Madden was replaced by Adrian Gautrey and in September 2019 French's departure due to musical differences was announced, but he then decided to continue with the band. In 2020, Bo Walsh left Atomic Rooster, and he was replaced by Paul Everett, a drummer originally from Liverpool. Pete French, after successfully reforming Atomic Rooster in 2016 and performing with them for seven years, decided once again to leave the band in January of 2024 to pursue his other musical interests. Bolton replaced French on vocals. Later that year, the band released the single "No More" b/w "Rebel Devil", which was the first new music under the Atomic Rooster name since 1983. This was sold only at the band's concerts.

Members

Current members *

–

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

(1971–1972, 2016–present),

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

(2024-present) *Adrian Gautrey –

keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Mus ...

s, vocals (2017–present) *Shug Millidge –

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

(2016–present) *Paul Everett –

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

(2020–present)

Discography (with UK release dates)

Albums

Live albums

* ''BBC Radio 1 Live in Concert'' 1972 (1993) * '' Devil's Answer'' 1970–81

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927. The service provides national radio stations cove ...

sessions (1998) * ''Live and Raw 70/71'' (2000) * ''Live in Germany 1983'' (2000) * '' Live at the Marquee 1980'' (2002)

Compilation albums

* ''Assortment'' (1973) * ''Home to Roost'' (1977) * '' The Devil Hits Back'' (1989) * '' Space Cowboy'' (1991) * '' The Best of Atomic Rooster Volumes 1 & 2'' (1992) * ''In Satan's Name: The Definitive Collection'' (1997) * '' The First 10 Explosive Years'' (1999) * '' Rarities'' (2000) * ''The First 10 Explosive Years Volume 2'' (2001) * '' Heavy Soul'' (2001) * '' Close Your Eyes: A Collection 1965-1986'' (2008; released under the name

) * ''Homework'' (2008) * '' Anthology 1969-81'' (2009)

Box sets

* ''

Resurrection Resurrection or anastasis is the concept of coming back to life after death. Reincarnation is a similar process hypothesized by other religions involving the same person or deity returning to another body. The disappearance of a body is anothe ...

'' (2001) – Akarma unlicensed CD reissues of first three albums, with 24-page illustrated booklet * ''Devil's Answer: The Singles Collection'' (2006) – reissue of first six UK singles on 7" or individual CDs

Singles

Notes:

DVDs

* ''Masters from the Vaults'' (2003)

References

Bibliography

External links

Official website

Atomic Rooster: Whatever Happened to the Band?
website by Vincent Crane's ex-wife, Jean * *

Atomic Rooster
at 45cat.com {{Authority control British soul musical groups English hard rock musical groups English musical quintets English progressive rock groups Musical groups established in 1969 Musical groups disestablished in 1975 Musical groups reestablished in 1980 Musical groups disestablished in 1983 Musical groups reestablished in 2016 Charisma Records artists Elektra Records artists Fontana Records artists Dawn Records artists Brain Records artists