Quiet Sun

Quiet Sun originally formed around Dulwich College in 1970 as a four-piece progressive rock band featuring <a href="spotify:artist:48NRGRV9MmSBScnKTLztSt">Phil Manzanera</a> (guitar), Bill MacCormick (bass), <a href="spotify:artist:2wDSxU4XnEOY4qS4qpC7Nq">Charles Hayward</a> (drums), and Dave Jarrett (keyboards). The band name came from an article on sunspots and solar flares that MacCormick's brother <a href="spotify:artist:6NeSLvSvSDdcPAFOrZXt5N">Ian</a> had been reading, called "The Year of the Quiet Sun." The group managed to score a rehearsal space from <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Warner+Bros.%22">Warner Bros.</a> and toured around the south of England gaining a small following, but were never signed. In 1971, <a href="spotify:artist:48NRGRV9MmSBScnKTLztSt">Manzanera</a> left to join <a href="spotify:artist:3fhOTtm0LBJ3Ojn4hIljLo">Roxy Music</a>, MacCormick joined <a href="spotify:artist:5KBwIS9lSKjcpfjdOMvVz4">Matching Mole</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0F3Aew9DSd6fb6192K1K0Y">Jarrett</a> went into teaching, and <a href="spotify:artist:2wDSxU4XnEOY4qS4qpC7Nq">Hayward</a> joined <a href="spotify:artist:47yvARr7dCOKqvjDVwfbf3">Gong</a>. Three years later, <a href="spotify:artist:48NRGRV9MmSBScnKTLztSt">Manzanera</a> was riding high on <a href="spotify:artist:3fhOTtm0LBJ3Ojn4hIljLo">Roxy Music</a> and decided to re-form Quiet Sun while spending the latter part of 1974 working on a solo album to be known as Diamond Head. <a href="spotify:artist:48NRGRV9MmSBScnKTLztSt">Manzanera</a> booked 12-hour studio days, recording his solo album for eight and Quiet Sun for four, resulting in Mainstream. The group mostly re-recorded the songs they had rehearsed back in 1970, though several songs from that time instead found their way onto Diamond Head, including "Frontera" (later re-recorded by <a href="spotify:artist:5iksmHDN2qZQcgFfXqIXtT">Robert Wyatt</a> as "Team Spirit" on Ruth Is Stranger Than Richard) and "Alma." Both albums formed the basis of much of <a href="spotify:artist:5qdmQleqtaArFgVRRUPAFJ">801</a>'s live shows, which featured <a href="spotify:artist:48NRGRV9MmSBScnKTLztSt">Manzanera</a> and MacCormick. <a href="spotify:artist:2wDSxU4XnEOY4qS4qpC7Nq">Hayward</a> left to form <a href="spotify:artist:2wXUKlYvdBHn2MNeRKgG6W">This Heat</a>. For a while, after initial pressings of Mainstream went out of print, the CD of the album was only obtainable through an expensive Japanese import. In 1999 Mainstream was re-released on <a href="spotify:artist:48NRGRV9MmSBScnKTLztSt">Manzanera</a>'s own label, while a number of the early, pre-<a href="spotify:artist:3fhOTtm0LBJ3Ojn4hIljLo">Roxy</a> Quiet Sun demos were released in 2000 on <a href="spotify:artist:48NRGRV9MmSBScnKTLztSt">Manzanera</a>'s Rare One. ~ Ted Mills, Rovi