Sunday, May 29, 2011

Artist: Aerial, Album: In The Middle Of The Night, Song: In The Middle Of The Night

Aerial were a progressive rock band that started out in the mid to late seventies as a Beatles' cover band.  They were called Liverpool and from the sounds of it, were one of the first to actually develop a live show dedicated to the Beatles' music and would even wear Sgt. Pepper costumes.  They toured the U.S. and Canada and before long, became interested in recording their own music.  Thus, the name changed to Aerial and a little known label started up by Rush, called Anthem Records, signed them.  They released their debut album in 1978, entitled, In The Middle Of The Night.  They were Laurie Currie, Malcolm Buchanan, Brian Miessner and Gary O'Connor.  O'Connor would leave the band after this release and go on to a successful career as a songwriter as well as a solo artist under the name Gary O' (see blog 1/7/11).  The band would find a replacement for O'Connor and release one more album in 1980 before calling it quits.  While not a single at the time of release, the title track, In The Middle Of The Night, shows off the two sides of the band.  One being their ability to craft perfect pop melodies as well as their progressive rock side.  You can hear the track on You Tube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NefDsaeMJQ&feature=channel_video_title).  The Aerial discography is a difficult find today.  Long out of print and likely only available on vinyl.  There were copies trading on Ebay and Amazon between $5 and $30 at the time of this blog.  Thanks for reading and enjoy!