Fuchsia is a British
progressive folk rock
Folk rock is a fusion genre of rock music with heavy influences from pop, English and American folk music. It arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music re ...
band formed in 1970. Named after
Fuchsia Groan they released one album before disbanding. Their album, ''Fuchsia'', was listed as one of ''
Mojo
Mojo may refer to:
* Mojo (African-American culture), a magical charm bag used in Hoodoo
Arts, entertainment and media Film and television
* ''Mojo'' (2017 film), a 2017 Indian Kannada drama film written and directed by Sreesha Belakvaadi
* '' ...
'' magazine's "Forgotten Classics". Their style was similar to their contemporaries
Jade
Jade is an umbrella term for two different types of decorative rocks used for jewelry or Ornament (art), ornaments. Jade is often referred to by either of two different silicate mineral names: nephrite (a silicate of calcium and magnesium in t ...
and
Comus.
Formation
The band was formed by Tony Durant (acoustic guitar, electric guitar, lead vocals) while a student at
Exeter University
The University of Exeter is a research university in the West Country of England, with its main campus in Exeter, Devon. Its predecessor institutions, St Luke's College, Exeter School of Science, Exeter School of Art, and the Camborne School o ...
with 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, their album was recorded at
Sound Techniques Studios by Vic Gamm. It was released by Pegasus (PEG 8) in the UK and by Kingdom (KV 6002) in France. A single advertisement in the ''
Melody Maker
''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. In January 2001, it was merged into "long-standing rival" (and IPC Media sister publicatio ...
'' 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
A remaster is a change in the sound or image quality of previously created forms of media, whether audiophonic, cinematic, or videographic. The resulting product is said to be remastered. The terms digital remastering and digitally remastere ...
the album at Sound Practices Studios in Sydney which was released on CD (Night Wing NWRCD 02).
Recent activity
In 2005, the CD ''Fuchsia, Mahagonny & other gems'' (Night Wing NWRCD 04) was released. This contained three further Fuchsia tracks, two recorded while looking for a new record company after the first album, and the third an original demonstration acetate recording.
[CD booklet with album ''Fuchsia, Mahagonny and other gems''] Another eight tracks from other projects including Mahagonny, a theatre show based on the works of
Bertoldt Brecht and
Kurt Weill
Kurt Julian Weill (; ; March 2, 1900April 3, 1950) was a German-born American composer active from the 1920s in his native country, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for hi ...
, completed the album.
In 2013, the CD album ''From Psychedelia... To a Distant Place'' (Sound Practices 001) was released under the name Fuchsia II with 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 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.
Also in 2013, the single "The Band" was released. This song was written for a second album that was never recorded before Fuchsia disbanded in the 1970s. In the 2013 release, "The Band" is performed by the Swedish band Me and My Kites (named after a song on Fuchsia's first album) with Durant on vocals.
"Me and My Kites with Tony Durant of Fuchsia"
Exposé Online
Fruits de Mer Records
In February 2017 Fuchsia finally got to play/perform Mahagonny-Behind Innocent Eyes, the music from the Fuchsia Mahagonny and Other Gems CD release from 2005. With a group of young actors the show, 40 years in the making, finally got to be played to a very enthusiastic audience at the Perth Fringe festival, Perth Western Australia
In August 2017, a Fuchsia line-up including Durant and Day began a short British tour in Cardigan, Wales, to coincide with the release of the ''Song'' double EP, and it was announced that a ''Fuchsia III'' album was in preparation.
In 2020 as a tribute to Syd Barrett, the Fuchsia-Barretts Allsorts vinyl was released through Fruits de Mer Records. The band continue to play live, Covid permitting.
Discography
* ''Fuchsia'' (1971)
* ''Fuchsia, Mahogonny & other gems'' (2005)
* ''Fuchsia II: From Psychedelia...To a Distant Place'' (2013)
* ''Song'' (2017)
References
External links
Fuchsia Rough Cut - Tony Durant interview
Fuchsia Facebook page
* https://traffic.libsyn.com/c2b64c26-6dbb-4674-b3e3-5b7439a74589/Epysode_08_-_Fuchsia.mp3 Interview with band leader Tony Durant on the Psychedelic Relics podcast.
{{Authority control
British folk rock groups
English progressive rock groups
Musical groups established in 1970
Fruits de Mer Records artists