Spirogyra (band)

Progressive folk band from Canterbury, England

Spirogyra were a British folk rock/prog band that released three albums between 1971 and 1973. The group's most well known members are co founder, songwriter, and guitarist Martin Cockerham and singer Barbara Gaskin. Their sound has been described as "whimsically English" This original incarnation of the band produced no recordings, and ended when Cockerham left to attend the University of Kent at Canterbury. The group played live frequently, opening for groups such as Traffic and completing two tours of the Netherlands. After nearly being signed to Apple Records, manager Max Hole arranged a three album recording contract with B&C Records in the U. K. Meanwhile, a deal for European and American distribution with Polydor was announced, but apparently fell through; the albums were instead released in Germany on Brain, and were not available in the United States. but have been reissued several times.

Their debut album, St Radigunds, was recorded at Sound Techniques studio, produced by Robert Kirby and engineered by Jerry Boys. Named after the Canterbury street on which the members lived, its lyrics express the anti capitalistic, anti materialistic orientation of the band and of the broader Canterbury scene. The album has been described as "effectively a document of Spirogyra's well honed live set". A retrospective review in Record Collector said of St Radigunds: "Highly original in terms of songwriting and delivery, and grounded by the beautiful voice of Barbara Gaskin, they forged, on the back of this debut, a large cult following on the underground circuit".

Its follow up, 1972's Old Boot Wine, was produced by Max Hole and released on B&C's subsidiary imprint, Pegasus Records. This album showcased the group "with their rough edges removed and a slicker almost commercial sound", yet it is generally less well regarded than their other releases. Part of the sound change owed to the reduced presence of violinist Julian Cusack, who had returned to university, and the return of original co founder Mark Francis. Although no studio recordings of this lineup exist, a number of live recordings were made. Several of these were collected on a limited run release called Swan Songs 69–74, self released by Cockerham in 2008.

The band dissolved in 1974, when Martin Cockerham moved to Ireland. Cockerham lived abroad for many years, with stints in Ireland, India, Bali, California, and Hawai'i. In 1981, Gaskin formed a duo with Dave Stewart, whom she had known from her time recording with Egg and Hatfield and the North in the early 1970s. The duo had a number one single that year in the UK with a cover version of the song "It's My Party". Subsequent singles "Busy Doing Nothing" (1983), and "The Locomotion" (1986) also entered the UK Singles Chart. Seven albums followed, released on the duo's own Broken Records label. Gaskin and Stewart continue to work together and occasionally play live concerts. In the decades after the band's breakup, each of their three albums was rereleased on CD. Cockerham recalled that they sold better in this format than they ever had on vinyl. 2005 saw the release of A Canterbury Tale, which included the band's three studio albums, their "I Hear You're Going Somewhere (Joe Really)" single, and several outtake recordings. In 2006, Cockerham returned to England. The duo of Cockerham and Francis, with several colleagues, combined for another Spirogyra album in 2011, calling it Spirogyra 5.

+Date of ReleaseTitleLabelAlbumsSep. 1971St. Radigund'sB&C Records2011Spirogyra 5Turning Round RecordsSinglesApril 1972Dangerous Dave / Captain's LogPegasusFebruary 1973I Hear You're Going Somewhere (Joe Really) / Old Boot WinePolydorCompilationsJune 1994Spirogyra Box SetSi Wan RecordsMarch 1999We Were a Happy CrewMooncrestSeptember 2000Burn the Bridges: The Demo Tapes 1970–1971RepertoireMay 2005A Canterbury TaleCastle Music