1973 Albums

Born in Los Angeles, California, David Clark Allen and sister Angela were raised on Spanish music, as their parents operated a club on the Sunset Strip. In the early 70s, the pair met another kindred spirit: dancer Roberto Amaral. With a vision of combining flamenco music with rock, they formed Carmen with former The Gods and Toe Fat drummer Brian Glascock. However, it took moving to London and catching the attention of the glam world for the band to take flight.

Le Orme's third album, Felona & Sorona, was a concept album: a sci-fi saga concerning two planets and their eventual destruction. An English-language version of the album, recorded at Charisma boss Tony Stratton-Smith's request, sports a translation by none other than Van der Graaf Generator's Peter Hammill, but still features the same production of Gian Piero Reverberi's original mix. The record combines gentle progressive music with Le Orme's highly original and Italian feel, and it's certainly one of the finest examples of rock progressivo Italiano.

Violist Geoffrey Richardson jumped aboard Caravan in late 1972, while bassist John G. Perry joined after the Australian tour. They were two significant additions to the band, as both musicians would impart a significant influence on Pye Hastings and Richard Coughlan. The band hired Dave Sinclair for a tour in the spring; but by the time they entered the studio to record their fifth record, For Girls Who Grow Plump In The Night, Sinclair had returned as fulltime keyboardist.

Hailing from Japan, Tsutomu Yamashita, better known as Stomu Yamash'ta, was a classically-trained percussionist whose earliest recording featured the works of 20th century composers Hans Werner Henze, Peter Maxwell Davies and Toru Takemitsu. After releasing his first original percussion composition, Red Buddha, Yamash'ta toured Europe with his Red Buddha Theatre Company, which eventually led him to London and Island Records.