The Alan Parson ProjectThe Alan Parsons Project were a British United Kingdom progressive rock band musical ensemble , active between 1975 and 1990, founded by Eric Woolfson and Alan Parsons. Parsons asked Woolfson to become his manager and Woolfson managed Parsons' career as a producer and engineer through a string of successes including Pilot Pilot (band) , Steve Harley, Cockney Rebel, John Miles, Al Stewart, Ambrosia Ambrosia (band) and The Hollies. Parsons, Woolfson and their record label Arista, were stalled in contract renegotiations when on 5 March the two submitted an all-instrumental atonal album tentatively titled 'The Sicilian Defence' (the name of an aggressive opening move in chess), arguably to get out of their recording contract. Arista's refusal to release the album had two known effects: the negotiations led to a renewed contract and the album was never released. In interviews made before his 2009 death, Woolfson said he planned to release one track from the "Sicilian" album, which in 2008 appeared as a bonus track on a CD re-issue of the Eve Eve (album) album. Parsons released titles under his name (Try Anything Once, On Air, The Time Machine The Time Machine (Alan Parsons album) , and A Valid Path), while Woolfson made concept albums named Freudiana (about Sigmund Freud's work on psychology) and Poe: More Tales of Mystery and Imagination (continuing from the Alan Parsons Project's first album about Edgar Allan Poe's literature). Tales of Mystery and Imagination was first remixed in 1987 for release on CD Compact disc , and included narration by Orson Welles which had been recorded in 1975, but arrived too late to be included on the original album. On the 2007 deluxe edition release, it is revealed that parts of this tape were used for the 1976 Griffith Park Planetarium launch of the original album, the 1987 remix, and various radio spots, all of which were included as bonus material.Most of the Project's titles, especially the early work, share common traits (likely influenced by Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon, on which Parsons was the audio engineer in 1973). They were concept albums, and typically began with an instrumental introduction which faded into the first song, often had an instrumental piece in the middle of the second LP gramophone record side, and concluded with a quiet, melancholic, or powerful song. The opening instrumental was largely done away with by 1980; no later Project album except Eye in the Sky Eye in the Sky (album) featured one (although every album includes at least one instrumental somewhere in the running order). The instrumental on that album, "Sirius", eventually became the best-known (or at least most frequently heard) Parsons instrumental. It was used as entrance music by various American United States sports teams, most notably by the Chicago Bulls during their 1990s NBA National Basketball Association dynasty dynasty (sports) , as well as during broadcasts of Pittsburgh Steelers games on their flagship station WDVE, just before the start of the game itself or the second half. It was also used as the entrance theme for Ricky Steamboat in pro wrestling of the mid 1980s. The group was notable for using several vocal performers instead of having a single lead vocalist. Lead vocal duties were shared by guest vocalists chosen by their vocal style to complement each song. Woolfson sang lead on many of the group's hits (including "Time" and "Eye in the Sky") and the record company pressured Parsons to use him more, but Parsons preferred "real" singers, which Woolfson admitted he was not. In addition to Woolfson, Chris Rainbow, Lenny Zakatek, John Miles John Miles (musician) , David Paton and The Zombies' Colin Blunstone made regular appearances. Other singers, such as Arthur Brown Arthur Brown (musician) , Procol Harum's Gary Brooker, Dave Terry aka Elmer Gantry Elmer Gantry’s Velvet Opera , Vitamin Z's Geoff Barradale and Marmalade Marmalade (band) 's Dean Ford, have recorded only once or twice with the Project. Parsons himself only sang lead on one song ("The Raven") through a vocoder, and can be heard singing backing vocals backing vocalist on a few others, including "To One in Paradise". Both of those songs appeared on Tales of Mystery and Imagination. Although the vocalists varied, a small number of musicians worked with the Alan Parsons Project regularly. These core musicians contributed to the recognizable style of a Project song in spite of the varied singer lineup. Together with Parsons and Woolfson, the Project originally consisted of the group Pilot, with Ian Bairnson (guitar), David Paton (bass) and Stuart Tosh (drums). Pilot's keyboardist Billy Lyall also contributed. From Pyramid onwards, Tosh was replaced by Stuart Elliott Stuart Elliott (drummer) of Cockney Rebel. Bairnson played on all albums and Paton stayed almost until the end. Andrew Powell appeared as arranger of orchestra (and often choirs) on all albums except Vulture Culture, when he was composing the score film score of Richard Donner's film Ladyhawke. This score was partly in the Project style, recorded by most of the Project regulars, and produced and engineered by Parsons. Powell also composed some material for the first two Project albums. From Vulture Culture onwards, Richard Cottle played as a regular member on synthesizers and saxophone. The Project never played live during its career. This was because Woolfson and Parsons saw themselves mainly in the roles of writing and production, and also because of the technical difficulties of reproducing on stage the complex instrumentation used in the studio. In the 1990s things changed with the technology of digital samplers. The only live performance where the band was introduced as "The Alan Parsons Project" was at Night of the Proms 1990 (at the time of the group's break-up), featuring all Project regulars except Woolfson who was present but behind the scenes, while Parsons stayed at the mixer except during the last song, where he played acoustic guitar. Since 1994 Parsons performed live acoustic guitar, keyboards and vocals, with various lineups called "Alan Parsons Live Project", distinct from "The Alan Parsons Project", due to his break-up with Woolfson. Behind the revolving lineup and the regular sidemen, the true core of the Project was the duo of Parsons and Woolfson. Woolfson was a lawyer by profession, but also a composer and pianist. Parsons was a successful producer and accomplished engineer. Almost all songs on Project albums are credited to 'Woolfson/Parsons'. According to SonyBMG, there are no plans to release 'The Sicilian Defence'.* Eric Woolfson - keyboards, vocals, executive production * Alan Parsons - keyboards, acoustic guitar, flute, bass, vocoder, vocals, productionNote that these are not official members of The Alan Parsons Project, but musicians who have made significant studio contributions * Andrew Powell - keyboards Keyboard instrument , orchestral arrangements * Philharmonia Orchestra * The English Chorale * Ian Bairnson - guitar * David Paton - bass bass guitar , vocals singer * Stuart Elliott Stuart Elliott (drummer) - drums, percussion * Stuart Tosh - drums drum kit , percussion percussion instrument * Richard Cottle - keyboards, saxophone * Laurence Cottle - bass * Duncan Mackay Duncan Mackay (musician) - keyboards * Mel Collins - saxophone * Lenny Zakatek - vocals * Chris Rainbow - vocals * John Miles John Miles (musician) - vocals * Colin Blunstone - vocals * Dave Terry ("Elmer Gantry") Elmer Gantry’s Velvet Opera - vocals * Jack Harris Jack Harris (musician) - vocals * Arthur Brown Arthur Brown (musician) - vocals * Graham Dye - vocals * Steven Dye - vocals * Steve Harley - vocals * P. J. Olsson- Vocals * Allan Clarke - vocals * Dean Ford - vocals * Gary Brooker - vocals * Kip Winger - vocals * Lesley Duncan - vocals * David Pack - guitar, vocals * Shpongle - Out of Order soundtrack, "Antarctica" (track 11) * Shpongle - A Valid Path (track one) Studio albums * Tales of Mystery and Imagination (1976) * I Robot I Robot (album) (1977) * Pyramid Pyramid (album) (1978) * Eve Eve (album) (1979) * The Turn of a Friendly Card (1980) * Eye in the Sky Eye in the Sky (album) (1982) * Ammonia Avenue (1984) * Vulture Culture (1984) * Stereotomy (1985) * Gaudi Gaudi (album) (1987) * Freudiana (Released under Eric Woolfson name with full Alan Parsons line up) (1990) * On Air (1996) * The Time Machine The Time Machine (Alan Parsons album) (1999) * A Valid Path (2004)* Ladyhawke (1985)
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