Francis Monkman
born on 9/6/1949 in Hampstead, London, England, United Kingdom
Francis Monkman
Francis Monkman |
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Francis Monkman (born 9 June 1949, in Hampstead, North London, England) is an English rock, classical and film score composer, and a founding member of both the progressive rock band Curved Air and the classical/rock fusion band Sky.
Career
He was a pupil at Westminster School where he studied organ and harpsichord, later studying at the Royal College of Music, winning the Raymond Russell prize for virtuosity on the harpsichord and becoming a member of the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields.
In the late 1960s he founded the rock band Sisyphus, which evolved into the pioneering band Curved Air. He played on their first three albums, leaving after the release of Phantasmagoria (1972) and returning briefly for the tour which resulted in the release of the album Live (1975).
He played Minimoog and harpsichord on Elton John's second album Elton John in 1970; he also contributed to the Renaissance album Prologue (1972), worked with Al Stewart including contributing to the album Past, Present and Future (1973) and toured with The Shadows on their 20 Golden Greats Tour (1977). Also in 1977, he collaborated with Phil Manzanera and Brian Eno on the project 801. In 1978 he played all keyboards on Brian Bennett's solo album Voyage.
In the late 1970s he recorded music for television.
In 1978, together with guitarist and composer John Williams he founded the classical/rock music fusion band called Sky with whom he stayed until 1980.
In 1980 he resumed classical performances and recordings including the soundtrack to the British film, The Long Good Friday. The album Energism included the electronic "Achievements of Man", from which extracts were used as the theme to the BBC programme Think Again.[1] He also composed the piece "Current Affairs", used by Channel 4 as the introduction to their "Engineering Announcements" segment, provided by the IBA.[2]
Instruments (career)
Francis Monkman played guitar as well as keyboards in Curved Air, switching between them when playing live. According to the sleeve notes for the second Sky album, Sky 2 he also played additional guitar parts (referred to as "the old axe") on his composition "FIFO", alongside John Williams and Kevin Peek.
- Keyboards
- 1977-1978: (tour with The Shadows)
- Piano
External links
- Francis Monkman's website
- 2006 Interview
- Francis Monkman on the Curved Air website
- Biographical information on the Sky website
References
- Think Again clip. Retrieved on 17 April 2012.
- Private Parts - Meldrum Home Page (MHP). Retrieved on 5 June 2011.
Curved Air | |
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Sonja Kristina Linwood Francis Monkman Darryl Way Florian Pilkington-Miksa Rob Martin Ian Eyre Mike Wedgwood Eddie Jobson Kirby Gregory Jim Russell Phil Kohn Mick Jacques Stewart Copeland Tony Reeves Alex Richman Guest musicians: Annie Stewart Crispian Steele-Perkins Paul Cosh Jim Watson George Parnaby Chris Pyne Alan Gout David Purser Steve Saunders Frank Ricotti Mal Linwood-Ross Colin Caldwell Jean Akers John G. Perry Peter Wood Derek Damain Robin Lumley Alan Skidmore Henry Lowther Jack Emblow Bob Sargeant | |
Studio albums | Airconditioning Second Album Phantasmagoria Air Cut Midnight Wire Airborne Lovechild |
Live albums | Live Live At The BBC Alive, 1990 Reborn |
Compilations | The Best of Curved Air |
Singles | It Happened Today Vivaldi What Happens When You Blow Yourself Up Back Street Luv" Everdance Sarah's Concern Phantasmagoria Desiree Kids to Blame Baby Please Don't Go Broken Lady Renegade We're Only Human |
801 | |
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* Phil Manzanera
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Studio albums | * Listen Now |
Live albums | * 801 Live
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Singles | * "Flight 19" |
Related Articles | * Quiet Sun
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This article uses material from the article Francis Monkman from the free encyclopedia Wikipedia and it is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.