National Health

English progressive rock band

For other uses, see National Health Service and The National Health (disambiguation).

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National Health

Origin| Canterbury, England
Genres| Progressive rock, Canterbury scene, jazz fusion, psychedelic rock, experimental rock
Years active| 1975–1980, 1981, 1983
Past members| Dave Stewart
Alan Gowen
Amanda Parsons
Phil Miller
Phil Lee
Mont Campbell
Bill Bruford
Steve Hillage
John Mitchell
Neil Murray
Pip Pyle
John Greaves
Georgie Born
Lindsay Cooper

National Health were an English progressive rock band associated with the Canterbury scene.[1] Founded in 1975, the band featured members of keyboardist Dave Stewart's band Hatfield and the North and Alan Gowen's band Gilgamesh, including guitarists Phil Miller and Phil Lee and bassist Mont Campbell as original members.[1] The band was named after Stewart's National Health spectacles. Bill Bruford (previously of Yes and King Crimson) was the initial drummer, but was soon replaced by Pip Pyle.[1] Campbell was replaced by Neil Murray and then John Greaves.[1] Alan Gowen left the group before its first album (although he appeared on it as a guest musician), but returned for their final tours, replacing Dave Stewart, who resigned after their second album. Amanda Parsons sang with the group in its original lineup but also appeared on the first album only as a guest; the group never had another full-time vocalist, although Richard Sinclair appeared a few times as a guest vocalist, and Greaves sang on one track of the second album and occasionally in concerts. Guitarist Phil Miller was National Health's only constant member.

They toured extensively and released their first album, National Health, in 1978.[1] Although it was created during the rise of punk rock, the album is characterized by lengthy, mostly instrumental compositions. National Health continued performing live until winter 1980, but disbanded without recording another album.[2]

After the May 1981 death of Gowen, the Queues lineup of Stewart, Miller, Greaves and Pyle reunited to record the album D.S. Al Coda, a set of compositions by Gowen, most previously unrecorded. The original albums and additional archival material have subsequently been released on CD.

The intro of National Health's "Binoculars" was used as a sample on American rock band Deftones' "Black Moon".

## Line-ups

[edit]

July - September 1975  | October - December 1975  | December 1975 - January 1976  | January - March 1976

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* Dave Stewart \- keyboards
* Alan Gowen \- keyboards
* Phil Miller \- guitar
* Phil Lee \- guitar
* Mont Campbell \- bass
* Amanda Parsons \- vocals

* Dave Stewart - keyboards
* Alan Gowen - keyboards
* Phil Miller - guitar
* Phil Lee - guitar
* Mont Campbell - bass
* Amanda Parsons - vocals
* Bill Bruford \- drums, percussion

* Dave Stewart - keyboards
* Alan Gowen - keyboards
* Phil Miller - guitar
* Mont Campbell - bass
* Amanda Parsons - vocals
* Richard Burgess \- drums, percussion

* Dave Stewart - keyboards
* Alan Gowen - keyboards
* Phil Miller - guitar
* Mont Campbell - bass
* Amanda Parsons - vocals
* Steve Hillage \- guitar
* Bill Bruford \- drums, percussion

March - June 1976  | July 1976 - January 1977  | January - March 1977  | March 1977 - January 1978

* Dave Stewart - keyboards
* Alan Gowen - keyboards
* Phil Miller - guitar
* Mont Campbell - bass
* Amanda Parsons - vocals
* John Mitchell \- drums, percussion

* Dave Stewart - keyboards
* Alan Gowen - keyboards
* Phil Miller - guitar
* Amanda Parsons - vocals
* Bill Bruford \- drums percussion
* Neil Murray \- bass

* Dave Stewart - keyboards
* Alan Gowen - keyboards
* Phil Miller - guitar
* Amanda Parsons - vocals
* Neil Murray - bass
* Pip Pyle \- drums, percussion

* Dave Stewart - keyboards
* Phil Miller - guitar
* Neil Murray - bass
* Pip Pyle - drums, percussion

January - September 1978  | September - October 1978  | January 1979 - March 1980  | March 1980 - October 1981

* Dave Stewart - keyboards
* Phil Miller - guitar
* Pip Pyle - drums, percussion
* John Greaves \- bass

* Dave Stewart - keyboards
* Phil Miller - guitar
* Pip Pyle - drums, percussion
* John Greaves - bass
* Georgie Born \- cello
* Lindsay Cooper \- bassoon

* Phil Miller - guitar
* Pip Pyle - drums, percussion
* John Greaves - bass
* Alan Gowen \- keyboards

Dave Stewart took part in a performance of "The Collapso" on BBC's The Old Grey Whistle Test in January 1979, before being replaced by Alan Gowen.

Disbanded

October - November 1981  | November 1981 - August 1983  | August 1983

* Phil Miller - guitar
* Pip Pyle - drums
* John Greaves - bass
* Dave Stewart \- keyboards

Disbanded

* Phil Miller - guitar
* Pip Pyle - drums
* John Greaves - bass
* Dave Stewart - keyboards

Guests

* Elton Dean - saxophone
* Jimmy Hastings - flute
* Barbara Gaskin - vocals

## Discography

[edit]

### Studio albums

[edit]

* National Health (1978)
* Of Queues and Cures (1978)
* D.S. Al Coda (1982)

### Other releases

[edit]

* Complete (1990; all three studio albums plus bonus tracks)
* Missing Pieces (1996; archival material)[3]
* Playtime (2001; live recordings from 1979)
* Dreams Wide Awake (2005; all tracks from the first two studio albums)

## Filmography

[edit]

* 2015: Romantic Warriors III: Canterbury Tales (DVD)

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d e Colin Larkin, ed. (1992). The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. p. 1796\. ISBN 0-85112-939-0.
2. ^ Stump, Paul (1997). The Music's All that Matters: A History of Progressive Rock. Quartet Books Limited. p. 245\. ISBN 0-7043-8036-6.
3. ^ "Exposé Online » Reviews » National Health - Missing Pieces". Exposé Online.

## External links

[edit]

* Biography at Calyx
* Discography

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