Hatfield & The North

Emerging from the Canterbury, England musical community that also launched <a href="spotify:artist:47yvARr7dCOKqvjDVwfbf3">Gong</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:5k5yIvxtsqHqWrRBF3nhSY">Kevin Ayers</a>' the Whole World, the whimsical progressive rock unit Hatfield and the North formed in 1972. Named in honor of a motorway sign outside of London, the group's founding membership brought together a who's who of the Canterbury art rock scene -- vocalist/bassist <a href="spotify:artist:2hPlbSdQUzyuyVFxv43oRM">Richard Sinclair</a> was a former member of <a href="spotify:artist:5kwbFaRKf9HCFGrJPacZ7s">Caravan</a>, guitarist <a href="spotify:artist:7z6eQBjA3jPzU4Nth34VqH">Phil Miller</a> had tenured with <a href="spotify:artist:5iksmHDN2qZQcgFfXqIXtT">Robert Wyatt</a> in <a href="spotify:artist:5KBwIS9lSKjcpfjdOMvVz4">Matching Mole</a>, and drummer <a href="spotify:artist:48muH2l2K2LzM0iObG1iIw">Pip Pyle</a> had served with both <a href="spotify:artist:47yvARr7dCOKqvjDVwfbf3">Gong</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:7MTF55zsk1BdbNWGULUOa9">Delivery</a>. After a series of lineup shuffles, keyboardist <a href="spotify:artist:7gcCQIlkkfbul5Mt0jBQkg">Dave Stewart</a> (an alumnus of <a href="spotify:artist:2DbEZLoDKZIJlSLeOIc40U">Egg</a>) was brought in to complete the roster, and in tandem with the Northettes -- a trio of backing vocalists consisting of Barbara Gaskin, Amanda Parsons, and Ann Rosenthal -- the group began gigging regularly.

Upon signing to <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Virgin%22">Virgin</a>, Hatfield and the North recorded their 1974 self-titled debut LP, a jazzy work halfway between melodic pop and more avant-garde stylings. A single, "Let's Eat (Real Soon)," appeared at the end of the year, and in 1975 the group resurfaced with The Rotters' Club; although the record briefly landed in the U.K. charts, their commercial future looked dim, and so Hatfield and the North disbanded within months of the album's release. <a href="spotify:artist:2hPlbSdQUzyuyVFxv43oRM">Sinclair</a> soon joined <a href="spotify:artist:3Uz6jx81OY2J5K8Z4wmy2P">Camel</a>, while Stewart recorded with <a href="spotify:artist:1359ogdBoLfQGxKfUDfWaz">Bill Bruford</a> before finding pop success in 1981 with ex-<a href="spotify:artist:2jgPkn6LuUazBoBk6vvjh5">Zombie</a> <a href="spotify:artist:27DCwiPx5ocQsf4K43SlIL">Colin Blunstone</a> on a cover of the <a href="spotify:artist:0hF0PwB04hnXfYMiZWfJzy">Jimmy Ruffin</a> chestnut "What Becomes of the Broken Hearted?" Stewart then continued in a pop direction in a duo with former Northette Barbara Gaskin, releasing a cover version of "It's My Party," which became a number one pop single in the U.K. during September 1981. Stewart & Gaskin continued issuing singles and albums throughout the '80s, although none achieved the pop success of "It's My Party."

In 1989, Hatfield and the North reunited for a series of live dates featuring <a href="spotify:artist:7z6eQBjA3jPzU4Nth34VqH">Miller</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2hPlbSdQUzyuyVFxv43oRM">Sinclair</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:48muH2l2K2LzM0iObG1iIw">Pyle</a>, and -- in place of <a href="spotify:artist:7gcCQIlkkfbul5Mt0jBQkg">Dave Stewart</a> -- keyboardist <a href="spotify:artist:6P5CC7nBXdnFoA1MmzLRj4">Sophia Domancich</a> (<a href="spotify:artist:48muH2l2K2LzM0iObG1iIw">Pyle</a>'s girlfriend at the time and also a member of his band Equipe Out); a document of a March 1990 performance by this lineup in Nottingham, Live 1990, arrived in 1993, followed by the Classic Rock Legends DVD in 2002. This incarnation of the group was short-lived, although Hatfield and the North would return in the mid-2000s with keyboardist <a href="spotify:artist:6FDLRNVbmAJtMzVWhvptDS">Alex Maguire</a> replacing <a href="spotify:artist:6P5CC7nBXdnFoA1MmzLRj4">Domancich</a>. The band toured during 2005 and 2006, making festival appearances at such events as BajaProg in Mexico and NEARfest in the United States. On August 28, 2006, <a href="spotify:artist:48muH2l2K2LzM0iObG1iIw">Pip Pyle</a> died at age 56 in a Paris hotel room shortly after returning to his adopted home country of France following a Hatfield and the North show in Groningen, The Netherlands. ~ Jason Ankeny & Dave Lynch, Rovi