Kevin Ayers


 * Kevin Ayers (b. 1944) is a singer-songwriter who featured regularly in Peel's programmes during the first half of the 1970s. He spent his childhood in Malaysia but returned to Britain for his education and was involved with the Canterbury music scene of the 1960s, becoming a founder member of the band Soft Machine. He performed with them between 1966 and 1968, including appearances at London's UFO Club and a tour of the US as support band to Jimi Hendrix, before leaving to record a solo album, Joy of a Toy, for EMI's "underground" label, Harvest. It was released in late 1969 to critical acclaim, displaying Ayers' distinctive baritone voice and his talent for witty and whimsical songs which combined simple melodies with avant-garde touches. This formula was developed by the band he formed, the Whole World, whose members included jazz saxophonist Lol Coxhill, classical composer David Bedford and future best-selling rock composer/guitarist Mike Oldfield. Thie band was sometimes chaotic in live gigs and only lasted for a couple of years, but a series of albums by Ayers for Harvest and Island established him as an underground favourite.
 * He never really made the breakthrough to large-scale commercial success, however, despite Island Records' attempt to boost his profile when he signed for them in 1974. After the break-up of the Whole World, his backing groups tended to be more conventionally rock-based (guitarist Ollie Halsall was a long-term collaborator) and he seemed to run ut of fresh ideas (as illustrated by the release of a weak cover of "Falling In Love Again" as a single in 1976). With the arrival of punk he was bracketed with the older generation whose time had passed and eventually he moved to Majorca, performing and recording infrequently during the 1980s. He later lived reclusively to the south of France. As with other artists of his era, there was a revival of interest in his work in the 1990s and 2000s, which led to reissues of his previous work and to the release of a new album in 2007.

Links to Peel

 * Peel expressed on air his approval of the humour and unpredictability of the 1970 Kevin Ayers sessions for Top Gear. Two members of Ayers' backing band, The Whole World, Lol Coxhill and David Bedford, went on to record albums for Dandelion Records.

Sessions

 * Kevin Ayers did five sessions for Peel's programmes, between 1970 and 1976.

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