Into some familiar obscure territory for a Friday night with Audience, a band who were almost totally unknown in the U.S. (with the exception of a few underground FM stations at the time), despite some great singles, some really nice albums and good press.
Tonights track was their first single when they were signed in the U.S. by Elektra (they were on The Famous Charisma Label in the UK). Indian Summer got moderate amounts of airplay and did reasonably well (#74 on Billboard) on the charts. They did one or two tours of the U.S. to promote this album (their 3rd) and their final album "Lunch", but they both failed to click. They were however, big in Europe and their home base in the UK and enjoyed a moderate amount of success until their breakup in the mid-1970's.
A distinctive sounding band at the time, with vocals by Howard Werth who sounded remarkably like Van Morrison, they had all the earmarks of a band destined for success. But musical tastes are fickle and they got lost in the shuffle over here.
After their breakup, the band members went off into other groups and Audience was pretty much forgotten about for the next 30 years. But according to their website, Audience have since re-formed and are touring and recording with a new lease on life, via a growing following of the band from earlier recordings - a re-discovery, if you will.
Which just goes to show you that bands never die, they just go off and hide for awhile and let the rest of the world catch up.
