The Best of Trapeze
Trapeze have their origins in two British midlands bands, Finders Keepers (which featured Mel Galley on guitar and vocals, Dave Holland on drums and Glenn Hughes on bass and vocals-yes, that Glenn Hughes…the Voice of Rock!), and The Montanbas (which featured John Jones on vocals and trumpet (!) and Terry Rowley on Keyboards, guitar and flute (!).
Signing to Threshold Records, Trapeze as they were now called, recorded their self-titled debut as a five-piece. While competent musically, it is very much of it’s time, a pop album with five-piece harmonies and shows only hints of what was to come. Stripped down to the classic three-piece line up of Hughes, Holland and Galley, Trapeze really shone on their next two albums. ‘Medusa’, for instance is up there with Deep Purple, Cram, Led Zeppelin, Free, Humble Pie, and so on…Because, and it only seems apparent in retrospect, Trapeze were magnificent, one of the all-time great rock bands. All the albums from the three-piece line-up deserve deluxe editions in their own right.
Alas, Glenn joined Deep Purple (and really, I wonder why Blackmore felt the need to recruit two singers, when Glenn would more than have sufficed).
Trapeze did continue for a while, both with and without Glenn, but they never achieved the success they deserved, but their music is a potent legacy and should be a part of any self-respecting rock fans collection.
(Purple Records/Cherry Red)
Trapeze: Leavin’ The Hard Times Behind – The Best of Trapeze, 2CDTrapeze
