Locomotive

Locomotive was a Birmingham-based band that went through some serious evolution in the final years of the 1960s, releasing consistently good music in several genres during their three-year history. Their early lineup included future <a href="spotify:artist:1CD77o9fbdyQFrHnUPUEsF">Traffic</a> flautist Chris Wood.

In contrast to Mike Sheridan & the Nightriders, <a href="spotify:artist:5BcZ22XONcRoLhTbZRuME1">the Moody Blues</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2BLpGstUHxDc6vHfBEiaXm">the Move</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:04eUV5Ml7cff2sEJEwll6G">the Idle Race</a>, all Birmingham bands that aimed for what is variously perceived as the mainstream, whether it was British beat, R&B, or mod-punk, Locomotive started out playing ska. With Norman Haines (late of a band called the Brumbeats) handling the songwriting, they picked up on Bluebeat as it developed in 1967, but rather than evolving along the next natural step to reggae, Locomotive hung a 90-degree turn into psychedelia.

After recording initially for the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Direction%22">Direction</a> label with the single "Broken Heart" b/w "Rudy a Message to You" in late 1967, they moved to EMI's Parlophone label in 1968 and charted in the Top 30 with their first single, the lyrical and low-key melodic "Rudi's in Love." In 1969, they released a single called "Mr. Armageddon," a piece of tight, big-band psychedelia that never managed to chart despite a unique sound for its time, doomsday rock with a heavy brass component.

The band cut one album, We Are Everything You See, for Parlophone in 1969, with <a href="spotify:artist:7ddT6bounWJRVKKuJ48Jmj">Dick Heckstall Smith</a> on sax and Chris Wood (by then a member of <a href="spotify:artist:1CD77o9fbdyQFrHnUPUEsF">Traffic</a>) on flute augmenting the core lineup. The album failed to ignite any fires with the public, although it was interesting, containing a pair of songs that had been written for and recorded by the band <a href="spotify:artist:5pq14S4AFVXGSyYbIGJC6Q">the United States of America</a>, as well as "Mr. Armageddon." The group also recorded a single incognito for the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Transatlantic%22">Transatlantic</a> label under the name Steam Shovel, which resurfaced in the '90s on the CD re-release of the Parlophone LP. They might've made the jump to the newly formed <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Harvest%22">Harvest</a> label easily enough, but Locomotive broke up just as EMI was getting serious and methodical about psychedelia and progressive rock. Norman Haines later led a band bearing his own name, and <a href="spotify:artist:08YvZ2qzFrDSITfHLbPKMP">Lamb</a> ended up playing drums with <a href="spotify:artist:6rdVnjHQOVrtvGtxUpIoN8">Steve Gibbons</a> during the mid-'70s. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi