Twelfth Night - Skan (1979)

Twelfth Night are an English neo-progressive rock band of the 1980's, put together by guitarist Andy Revell and drummer Brian Devoil in 1978 to win a talent competition at Reading University, and their road crew included Geoff Mann as backdrop painter, and Rick Battersby as dry ice engineer. Devoil and Revell had both been in various bands around Reading, with Devoil playing in Trash, and Revell  appearing with Joe Soap And The Bubbles and Abraxas. Later in 1978, Clive Mitten wandered into a rehearsal asking for a job, and was given bass duties in the Andy Revell Band, as they were then known, and after a name change in 1979 to Twelfth Night, the band completed their first recording sessions, which resulted in the legendary 'Skan' demo. In the summer of 1979 they played a notable gig at Reading University, where friend Geoff Mann guested on vocals, and after a couple of open-air concerts in the summer, the band retired to Mann's parents' home in Manchester for rehearsals, taking Rick Battersby with them. When Battersby and Mann joined the band it was their first musical venture, although Battersby had previously been classically trained on the piano, but Mann decided to remain in Manchester to paint and work with a close friend, Peter Lawrence, in a two-piece "off the wall" band called the God Stars. Twelfth Night therefore decided to forge ahead as an instrumental band, gigging in earnest throughout 1980, but they wanted a singer, and so after a short period when they were fronted by Electra MacLeod, they persuaded Mann to re-join the band as vocalist, and with the release of 'Fact And Fiction' in 1982, they joined the ranks of Galahad, IQ, Pallas and Pendragon as one of the best bands of the neo-progressive resurgence. This post goes right back to the beginning of their career, with that 'legendary' 1979 cassette, and as a fan of the band I was intrigued when I first heard it, even at one point not believing that it really was Twelfth Night, as it sounds so different to the band that I know. It's certainly an interesting listen, and I think fans of the band need to hear it to get an idea of the direction the group could have taken if they hadn't decided to recruit a vocalist the following year. 

Track listing 

01 Scales - Fur Helene 1

02 Encore Une Foise

03 Fur Helene II

04 Sequences (Short Version)

05 Four And Three

06 (Hats Off To) Freddie Hepburn

07 Sequences