UK was a critical and commercial progressive rock success, former members of - Yes, King Crimson, Roxy Music, and Soft Machine, this was rock's first `supergroup,' with out 70's Prog 'supergroup' pretensiveness.
The band started out with ex- King Crimsonites- John Wetton (bass/vocals), Bill Bruford (percussion), with Rick Wakeman (keys), of Yes fame. Mercifully, A&M Records was unwilling to let its 'star,' Wakeman, walk off with a used, slightly soiled King Crimson rhythm section, and the idea failed-" said Bill Bruford. The trio worked on music for roughly 6 weeks. `Beelzebub,' and `Thirty Years,' came out of these sessions.
Wetton brought in multi-instrumentalist Eddie Jobson to supply keyboards and violin, and Bruford asked Allan Holsworth to join the band on guitars. The sound is a interesting mixture of Bill Bruford and Allan Holdswork jazz fusion work and the pop affinities of where Wetton and Jobson wanted to direct the band. The first three tracks on their first album (UK), show excellent composition, grand musicanship (check out Bruford's and Jobsons work on "Presto Vivace" (written in a Frank Zappa/Mothers of Invention-like style), and the perfect combination of pop and fusion. This is also one of the few times you can hear Holdsworth acoutic guitar work (which he rarely utilizes), The ideal lineup lasted only one album and a tour. Holdsworth didn't really feel happy in UK, especially when playing live, where tightly written composition proved few opportunities for improvisation and band interplay. Holdsworth and Bruford, wanting to explore the more progressive/jazzier side of their music, were told they were no longer wanted, and a more commercial viable UK with Terry Bozzio, a talented drummer in his own right who was part of the `new wave' scene came in to replace Bruford on two more releases- the second studio album and a live recording. With Eddie Jobson and John Wetton not seeing eye to eye with the direction of UK, the group disbanded, even though albums were selling well.
Bill Bruford has worked with countless prog and jazz bands including Yes, Genesis, Kazumi Watanabe, King Crimson, Gong, National Health, projects with Tony Levin and of course, presently in his band: Earthworks.
Allan Holdsworth has worked on several Bruford albums and has released over a dozen solo albums of predominately jazz. He worked with Gong, Jean-Luc Ponty and Tempest.
Eddie Jobson has worked with Jethro Tull, Jethro Tull and Yes, he is an award-winning keyboard player, classical composer and almost single-handedly established the violin as a legitimate rock instrument.
John Wetton formed the huge supergroup Asia, and has worked with Steve Hackett on his ReGenesis album and the Tokyo Tapes tour playing prog classics such as: `In the Court of the Crimson King' and `Los Endos.' With his solo albums, he has not totally forgotten his Prog roots.
Terry Bozzio formed the 80's new wave group Missing Persons and has worked with: Steve Vai, Duran, Duran and Lonely Bears with Hymas. He was also in the movie: Twins and Lunch Wagon.
In 1997, a new UK-album was announced featuring Wetton, Jobson, Bruford and Holdsworth. Guest musicians- Steve Hackett, Tony Levin and Francis Dunnery were also announced. Although recordings have been done, the status of the project is still foggy at best, Wetton withdraw his contribution to the project. Bill Bruford has added simply- "It's just a thing we did for Eddie." The album rumored to be named `The Legacy,' may be released, but probably not under the `UK' name.
n October 2007, Jobson announced a new band, UKZ, with Lippert and former King Crimson bassist/guitarist Trey Gunn among others, which released an EP called "Radiation" in March 2009. In late 2009, Jobson and Wetton both talked about a possible reunion of U.K. A U.K. reunion tour in February/March 2010 with Jobson, Wetton, Marco Minnemann on drums (from UKZ) and Greg Howe (Victor Wooten, Vitalij Kuprij, Michael Jackson) on guitar was described to promoters, but not confirmed by Wetton.
Wetton and Jobson performed three concerts in Poland in November 2009 as part of Jobson's Ultimate Zero (U-Z) project. The line-up also featured Minnemann, Howe, and Tony Levin (stick). They performed music from UK and King Crimson. A CD compiled from various U-Z performances from 2009, entitled Ultimate Zero Tour - Live, including multiple tracks from the Polish shows, was then released.
It was announced on 11 February 2011, and later confirmed by John Wetton on his website, that U.K. had reformed to play two shows in Japan on 15 and 16 April 2011. The line-up was Jobson and Wetton, with Minnemann and Alex Machacek performing drums and guitar respectively. US dates, including a show in San Francisco, were also announced and performed in April 2011. A DVD called "Reunion: Live in Tokyo" was culled from these shows and officially released in 2013.
Former drummer Bozzio then rejoined for an American tour in 2012. The line-up for the subsequent European tour included additional musicians Gary Husband (drums) and a returning Alex Machacek on guitar.
In 2013, U.K. did an "Azure Seas" tour with Machacek once again taking on guitar duties, and an East Coast tour with Virgil Donati performing drumming duties in place of Bozzio, who had once again departed the band. On 8 November of the same year, the band did also a special concert performance of their two studio albums in Kawasaki, in Japan. The drummer for that special concert was Marco Minnemann.
U.K. appeared in the 2014 edition of Cruise to the Edge progressive rock festival. The line-up once again included both Machacek and Donati. In 2015 the band announced their final world tour, with the band being joined by Machacek and Dream Theater drummer Mike Mangini for these final dates.
Discography:
UK (1978 CD US EG Records EGCD 35)
Lineup: Bill Bruford: Drums and Percussion
Allan Holdsworth: Acoustic & Electric Guitars
John Wetton: Bass and vocals
Eddie Jobson: Keyboards, electric violin and electronics
Tracks: 1) In the Dead of Night 5:38
2) By the Light of Day 4:32
3) Presto Vivace and Reprise 2:58
4) Thirty Years 8:09
5) Alaska 4:45
6) Time To Kill 4:55
7) Nevermore 8:09
8) Mental Medication 7:31
Danger Money (1979 CD US EG Records EGCD 39)
Lineup: Terry Bozzio: Drums and Percussion
John Wetton: Bass and vocals
Eddie Jobson: Keyboards and electric violin
Tracks: 1) Danger Money 8:15
2) Rendezvous 6:02 5:00
3) The Only Thing She Needs 7:55
4) Caesar's Palace Blues 4:44
5) Nothing to Lose 3:57
6) Carrying No Cross 12:21
Night After Night - Live! (1979 CD US EG Records EGCD 42): recorded live Sun Plaza and Seinen Kan, Tokyo in
June 1979.
Same Linup as Danger Money:
Tracks: 1) Night After Night 5:23
2) Rendezvous 6:02 5:15
3) Nothing To Lose 5:17
4) As Long As You Want Me Here 5:09
5) Alaska 2:26
6) Time To Kill 6:11
7) Presto Vivace 1:03
8) In The Dead Of Night 6:12
9) Caesar's Palace Blues 5:09
