Pilot (band)

Pilot were a Scottish rock band, formed during 1973 in Edinburgh by former Bay City Rollers members David Paton and Billy Lyall. They are best known for their 1974 hit song "Magic."

Career

Joined by drummer Stuart Tosh, the band recorded several demos during 1973 and 1974. They were signed to a management contract with Nick Heath and Tim Heath, sons of British bandleader Ted Heath, and John Cavanagh. In due course they signed to a worldwide recording deal with EMI Records. After the recording of their debut album, From the Album of the Same Name, guitarist Ian Bairnson (who had played on the album as a session musician) joined the band permanently.

The 1974 single "Magic" from their first album, produced by Alan Parsons and written by Paton and Lyall, was a No. 11 UK and No. 5 US success. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc by the R.I.A.A. in August 1975. The song "January" gave them their greatest success in the UK, securing the number one spot in the UK Singles Chart on 1 February 1975. It stayed at number one for three weeks. (It also went to number one in Australia where it stayed up top for eight weeks; in the United States, it reached the lower ends of the Hot 100.) However, the group failed to make the Top 30 again. The arranger of "January", Andrew Powell, went on to record Kate Bush, and both Paton and Bairnson played on her debut album, The Kick Inside, which included "Wuthering Heights".

Heath

A heath or heathland is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and is characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with — especially in the British Isles — a cooler and more damp climate.

Heaths are widespread worldwide, but are fast disappearing and considered a rare habitat in Europe. They form extensive and highly diverse communities across Australia in humid and sub-humid areas. Fire regimes with recurring burning are required for the maintenance of the heathlands. Even more diverse though less widespread heath communities occur in Southern Africa. Extensive heath communities can also be found in the California chaparral, New Caledonia, central Chile and along the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. In addition to these extensive heath areas, the vegetation type is also found in scattered locations across all continents, except Antarctica.

Characteristics

Heathland is favoured where climatic conditions are typically warm and dry, particularly in summer, and soils acidic, of low fertility, and often sandy and very free-draining; mires do occur where drainage is poor, but are usually only small in extent. Heaths are dominated by low shrubs, 20 centimetres (7.9 in) to 2 metres (7 feet) tall.

The Basics

The Basics (/ˈbæzɪtʃ/ BAZZ-ich) are an Australian band, formed by Wally De Backer (more commonly known as Gotye) and Kris Schroeder in 2002, later joined by Tim Heath. Their style has been described as anything from 'indie-pop' to 'rock'n'roll', though their records show they span a wide range of genres, including reggae, pop-rock, folk, country, and electro-pop. They are "recognised as one of Australia's hardest-working bands".

With well over 2500 shows under their belt, their live performances are well known for their energy, sense of humour and proto-punk sensibilities.

Formation

The Basics were formed after Kris met Wally at the March 2002 "going away party" in Melbourne of now LA-based engineer/producer Chris "Tek" O'Ryan. The event was to see off the young aspiring producer, who was about to depart for Los Angeles, and together with a number of musician friends, the two jammed on some blues-rock standards. Later that night, they bonded over a mutual love of The Beatles, 70s and 80s cartoon theme songs and old Sierra adventure games.