CONSORTIUM: cult UK Rock band release vinyl 7-inch single following massive US skateboarding hit!
CONSORTIUM: cult UK band release vinyl 7-inch single following massive US skateboarding hit!
‘It’s Not Easy’ released 6th December (Label: The Great Unsung).
Limited & numbered vinyl editions (250)
Stream the track here: https://consortium2.bandcamp.com/
Available for pre-order on Spotify, Amazon etc, iTunes, Deezer etc from 22nd November
Formed in the early 1970s, around Edmonton, North London, Marquee club regulars Consortium sat proudly alongside many of their peers during that fertile time, including The Who, Zeppelin, Sabbath, UFO and Wishbone Ash - to name but a few. Their 1973 RCA label debut album remained unreleased for decades, but although the ‘second’ album ‘13th Hour’ recorded in 1975, Consortium simply then disappeared, seemingly without trace…
Actually, the band carried on touring and building their live fanbase after the RCA album was shelved at the time and nothing else was released until a shining light in Angel Air label boss Peter Purnell shows the faith in 2006 by releasing the acclaimed - and long overdue – debut album ‘Rebirth’.
On the back of the success of ‘Rebirth’, in 2010 Angel Air released ‘13th Hour’. Made up of original recordings and sessions from the 70's and some of the songs that were their most popular live, using some tapes that Consortium vocalist and guitarist Brian Parker had in storage
You wait, you wait and you wait, days become weeks, weeks become months, months become years - and what could easily just be a nostalgia trip, a nice nod to the past and a token chance to make up for falling victim to a failing economic climate in the 70’s has turned into so much more.
But after Angel Air came another exciting twist in the tale. Maverick director Chris Ray took ‘It’s Not Easy’ (the irony isn’t lost) to use on the ‘And Now’ Transworld Skate video. Cue thousands of plays and a new generation of teenagers rocking out to a song recorded in 1973 and this really has all proved to be just the beginning.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Jr5En01Ow8 (Skate version)
Sadly, Robbie Leggatt recently passed away, but today, the remaining members of Consortium – Mick Ware, Ken Brown and Brian Parker – can look forward to another re-awakening about the band and their music. Now released on new label ‘The Great Unsung’, there is perhaps the thought of the release of ‘Its Not Easy’ as not only as a fitting tribute to Robbie, but also a tribute to all those great songs and bands that have simply fallen under the radar over the years…
And maybe, a whole new generation of skateboarders and rock fans will now discover the music of Consortium.
Indeed, an earlier band featuring Consortium’s Mick Ware hit the news in the Summer of 2019, when US rapper Tyler, The Creator sampled Mick’s song ‘Today’ by Czar - with lyrics by Kanye West - with the album hitting the Billboard Top 200!
‘Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards’ – Soren Kierkegaard
