The Onyx or OnyxPete Frame ''Pete Frame's Rockin' Around Britain: Rock'n'roll Landmarks'' 0711969736 1999 "WADEBRIDGE Home of psychedelic group Onyx, who recorded for Pye." were a

psychedelic rock Psychedelic rock is a rock music Music genre, genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelia, psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound ...

band formed in

Wadebridge Wadebridge (; ) is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in north Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The town straddles the River Camel upstream from Padstow.Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 200 ''Newquay & Bodmin'' The pe ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

, England in 1965. Descended from a band called Rick & The Hayseeds, the group came to be known as The Onyx Set, named after an Onyx ring owned by original band member Mike Black-Borow. After various changes in the line-up they shortened their name to The Onyx and the classic line-up was formed. The band members were guitarist

Al Hodge Albert E. Hodge (April 18, 1912 – March 19, 1979) was an American actor best known for playing space adventurer Captain Video and His Video Rangers, Captain Video on the DuMont Television Network from December 15, 1950, to April 1, 1955. He pla ...

, who had previously played with various local bands such as The Buccaneers and The Fabulous Jaguars, vocalist Tony Priest, bassist Dick Bland, keyboard player Steve Cotton and drummer Roger Dell. The band evolved from doing cover versions of popular contemporary

beat Beat, beats, or beating may refer to: Common uses * Assault, inflicting physical harm or unwanted physical contact * Battery (crime), a criminal offense involving unlawful physical contact * Battery (tort), a civil wrong in common law of inte ...

bands in their early days to

psychedelia Psychedelia usually refers to a Aesthetics, style or aesthetic that is resembled in the psychedelic subculture of the 1960s and the psychedelic experience produced by certain psychoactive substances. This includes psychedelic art, psychedelic ...

. They were known for their intricate five-part

harmonies In music, harmony is the concept of combining different sounds in order to create new, distinct musical ideas. Theories of harmony seek to describe or explain the effects created by distinct pitches or tones coinciding with one another; harm ...

. During the late 1960s they were a popular live attraction, focusing most of their gigging activity in

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

and

South Wales South Wales ( ) is a Regions of Wales, loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the Historic counties of Wales, historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire ( ...

, as well as touring throughout the UK and making trips to Germany. They also featured on numerous Radio One sessions, resulting in the band being one of the most played bands on BBC Radio at the time. They also featured heavily on radio stations in Europe. They released a total of seven singles, one of which was released under the pseudonym. Salamander. Oddly, it had been hoped that a change in the band's name would help distance them from their BBC Radio One work and increase record sales. Most of the A sides of the singles were written by

Guy Fletcher Guy Edward Fletcher (born 24 May 1960) is an English musician, best known for his position as one of the two keyboard players in the rock band Dire Straits from 1984 until the group's dissolution, and his subsequent work with Dire Straits fron ...

and Doug Flett with the B sides credited to the members of the band. They are also credited as the writers on the single. "Climb That Tree", which was recorded by

The She Trinity The She Trinity was a Canadian and British pop group of the 1960s. The band was assembled as an all-female group who played their own instruments, a rarity in the period. The original members, Robyn Yorke, Shelley Gillespie and Sue Kirby, were Ca ...

in 1970, in addition to writing "I'm Going Down" for Mike Raynor & Sky. Hodge left the band in late 1970 to get married and return to Cornwall, leaving just prior to the release of "Our House". The band continued as The Onyx with a new guitarist, Bernie Lee from Paper Blitz Tissue and Orange Bicycle, releasing one final single "The Next Stop Is Mine". Under the guidance of

Jerry Lordan Jeremiah Patrick Lordan (30 April 1934 – 24 July 1995) was an English songwriter, composer and singer. He had three hit singles on the UK Singles Chart before focusing purely on songwriting. Amongst his songwriting credits were the cha ...

, the band emerge shortly afterwards as Vineyard releasing two singles on Decca and Deram. Original drummer Dell left the band to be replaced by

Herman Rarebell Hermann Erbel (born 18 November 1949), known professionally as Herman Rarebell, is a German musician, best known as the drummer for the hard rock band Scorpions from 1977 to 1996, during which time he played on eight studio albums. Aside from pl ...

(later of

Scorpions Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the Order (biology), order Scorpiones. They have eight legs and are easily recognized by a pair of Chela (organ), grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward cur ...

). Vineyard recorded a number of tracks for a possible LP release, but with poor singles sales these tracks remained unreleased. The band finally called it a day in 1975. Bland went on to work with Joe Brown,

Shakin' Stevens Michael Barratt (born 4 March 1948), known professionally as Shakin' Stevens, is a Welsh singer and songwriter. He was the UK's biggest-selling singles artist of the 1980s. His recording and performing career began in the late 1960s, although ...

and

Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is a British singer and actor. He has total sales of over 21.5 million singles in the United Kingdom and, as of 2012, was the third-top-selling artist in UK Singles Chart histo ...

The band featured on the Bam Caruso's Rubble collection in the early 1980s, as well as numerous other compilations. In 2009, Wooden Hill released a collection of previously unreleased studio demos recorded in late 1967 titled ''Kaleidoscope of Colours - The Onyx Demo Sessions 1967''.

Discography

*"You've Gotta Be with Me" / "It's All Put On" (Pye 7N 17477) 1968 *"My Son John" / "Step by Step" (Pye 7N 17622) 1968 *"Tamaris Khan" / "So Sad Inside" (Pye 7N 17668) 1968 *"Time Off" / "Movin' In" (CBS 4635) 1969 *"Crystal Ball" / "Billy" (CBS 5102) 1970 (as Salamander) *"Our House" / "Air" (Parlophone R 5888) 1971 *"The Next Stop Is Mine" / "What's That You Say" (Parlophone R 5906) 1971 Previously unreleased demo sessions *''Kaleidoscope of Colours - The Onyx Demo Sessions 1967'' (Wooden Hill WH 027CD) 2009 As Vineyard *"Ghost Train (Here It Come Again)" / "Unicorns and Minotaurs" (Decca F 13518) 1974 *"Charlemaine" / "Myla" (Deram DM 420) 1974

References

External links

The official Onyx websiteThe official Al Hodge website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Onyx, The English psychedelic rock music groups Musical groups established in 1966 Musical groups disestablished in 1971 Pye Records artists Parlophone artists 1966 establishments in England Musicians from Cornwall