Jazz-rock band Quantum Soar had no real interest in writing hit singles once they fashioned in 1973. Led by keyboardist and vocalist Rupert Hine – finest identified for producing Rush, Saga, Kevin Ayers and others – their musical pursuits lay elsewhere.
Nonetheless, they wound up at Quantity 5 in 1979 with their irreverent track The Lone Ranger, which is most memorable for that includes the longest phrase within the English dictionary: Taumata-whaka-tangi-hanga-kuayuwo-tamate-aturi-pukaku-piki-maungahoronuku-pokaiawhen-uaka-tana-tahu-mataku-atanganu-akawa-miki-tora.
It’s the identify of a hill in New Zealand and turns into a catchy tongue-twister below Hine’s command. And whereas The Lone Ranger was certainly not the longest prog single of all time – it lasts below three minutes – it endured a proggily tough path to the highest 10.
“We truly recorded it in 1974, as a part of our self-titled debut album,” Hine informed Prog in 2009. “However due to a whole lot of authorized issues, it wasn’t launched till 1976.”
Radio One DJ Tony Blackburn made it his single of the week, which boded nicely, till the BBC banned it simply because it reached the highest 30. “The Beeb objected to each gay and drug references.”
“Medication? The ‘offending’ line in query was, ‘He smoke pipe of peace with Tonto / Put his masks on again to fronto.’ As for the homosexual references… let’s face it, The Lone Ranger may need been the primary superstar homosexual icon! You by no means noticed him with girls. So once we stated, ‘Perhaps masked man he a poofter’ it was justified!”
It took a real-life homosexual icon to rescue the track. Kenny Everett was one of many largest names in British leisure, and when he bought his personal TV present in 1978, he used The Lone Ranger as its theme tune. Naturally sufficient, it was re-released the next yr, however in a closely modified kind.
“I utterly reconstructed a lot of it, truly,” stated Hine, who died in 2020. “I took the guitar half at the beginning and put it on the top, however in a backwards kind. I additionally added on Spaghetti Western results. Second time round, it reached Quantity 5 and we bought over half 1,000,000 copies.”
Roger Glover urged I produce myself. I had no clue what to do. However different acts began to ask me to supply them
That doesn’t imply anybody ought to regard Quantum Soar as one-hit wonders, he argued. “We by no means ever wished a success, so to us it was all irrelevant.”
And if anybody doubts Hine’s credibility as a prog artist, his expertise as a producer speaks volumes for him. However as he informed Prog in 2011, he’d by no means deliberate to land such a job.
“I signed to Purple Data, and I had Deep Purple bassist Roger Glover produce my first album, Choose Up A Bone [1971]. As he wasn’t out there to do the subsequent one, [Unfinished Picture, two years later], Roger urged I produce myself. To be sincere, I had no clue what to do. However different acts began to ask me to supply them.”
He recalled the optimistic expertise of Kevin Ayers’ 1974 LP The Confessions Of Dr Dream And Different Tales: “I used to be a giant fan of Kevin’s – I particularly beloved the unique Comfortable Machine line-up. He was a radical delight. However I by no means bought the prospect of collaborating with him once more, as a result of he went off in one other musical path.”
Hine additionally loved working with Genesis co-founder Anthony Phillips on 1977’s Clever After The Occasion and 1978’s Sides. “We had the identical administration, which is how I bought concerned. I attempted to get Anthony a sound that would supply a wider viewers. I’m unsure I succeeded; however he was great to work with.”
Rush had been an absolute pleasure – a lot expertise
Whereas he struggled to search out widespread floor with Dave Greenslade for 1976’s Cactus Choir, Hine discovered musical soulmates in Saga. “What they wished was the depth and strangeness I bought on my 1981 album, Immunity, which they beloved. We hit the jackpot with Worlds Aside, their largest promoting album in America, after which I did Heads Or Tales two years later.”
One other fan of Immunity – which included visitor appearances by Phil Collins, Marianne Faithfull and others – was Rush drummer Neil Peart, who focused Hine for a manufacturing function with the Canadian giants. “Nevertheless it took till Presto [1989] for it to occur, after which I did Roll The Bones [1991],” Hine remembered. “They had been an absolute pleasure – a lot expertise.”
