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'It was a golden age of studio musicians,' reflects Mike Moran of the 70s. And he should know: he was the in-demand keyboard player of the time. Because, as he says, 'there was really only me, Nicky Hopkins and Rick Wakeman, and Rick went and joined The Strawbs and Nicky went off with the Stones and left all the work for me.' As is typical of the busiest session-men, the whole period has become something of a blur, in which only producers and not artists are clearly remembered. Mike worked with all the usual suspects - Biddu, Jonathan King, Cook & Greenaway - but he had a couple of other achievements in the 70s that weren't so normal. One was being Musical Director of the Muriel Young afternoon TV show Get It Together, on which he led a band of the best London session-players including Chris Rae, Barry D'Souza and Kevin Peake. Then there was the association with Ian Gillan, which falls somewhat outside the scope of our current concerns. And, of course, there was the fact of him dueting with Lynsey de Paul on Britain's 1977 Eurovision entry 'Rock Bottom'. A curious but impressive c.v. In the 80s Mike got more involved in TV work - he was the musical director of Kenny Everett's shows - and he continues to operate in the field. |
Eddie Amoo | ||