anyone remember a band called ISOTOPE?

Hootsmon

just askin' is all ....I used to like 'em when I be a boy....Gary Boyle played a mean guitar LPC

steamabacus

I have an old cassette (copied off a mate year s ago) somewhere. I don't know anything about the band but I liked that cassette - sounds like the guitarist took some inspiration from John McLaughlin and Al DiMiola. They were British, weren't they?

Hootsmon

yes Brits....bang on with your assessment BTW

Gassage

Yeah, they had a half-life as a band deffo but popularity decayed.

heard them on the wireless often....they were quite radio active at one point

JezWynd

Yeah, I remember Isotope, kind of guitar oriented Jazz rock?

 

Roland

Yes, saw them in Durham in about 1974.  I've got the album upstairs.

Fretwired

Yes - saw them live and have an album called Illusion. Not sure how many they made.

equalsql

Wow, Gary Boyle.. that's a blast from the past. He was considered a bit of guitar god at the time. Thanks for the clip @JezWynd have a Wow on me

Phil_aka_Pip

I saw them in 197n (4 <= n <= 6) in St Albans, supporting Ian Carr's Nucleus. Good gig

EDIT found this https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isotope_(band)

I must have seen them after the line up changed in 1974 because Hugh Hopper was playing bass

steamabacus

I've just bought the 'Golden Section' CD - a reissue containing performances from '74 - '75  specifically because Hugh Hopper is on all of it. I had no idea he was in this band for a while.

I had the pleasure of working on some gigs (not playing) that included Hugh's band in the 90s - 'Going Going' if I remember right - great player, great band (inc Andy Ward and Richard Sinclair - really nice guys, the whole band).

JezWynd

equalsql said:

Wow, Gary Boyle.. that's a blast from the past. He was considered a bit of guitar god at the time. Thanks for the clip @JezWynd have a Wow on me

Thanks! It wasn't that great a choice of clip actually, Boyle does a bit of fractious guitar noodling and it's the keys that pull it together. I thought the best bit of the clip was the over-run where Bob introduces Nico, who proceeds to stare at him out of a junk haze.

boogieman

I've got a couple of their albums on vinyl. Haven't listened to them for years though.

steamabacus

Just listening to the 'Golden Section' CD now - it's just as I remember that old cassette (just with less hiss). Great playing, less memeroble for the tunes.

drwiddly

I had a couple of albums and saw them live back in the day. Good band and GB certainly knew his way around the fretboard. They were probably a bit too jazz fusion for the rock audience and didn't seem to settle into their own niche like e.g. Soft Machine.