Next by The Sensational Alex Harvey Band
Alex Harvey Band: "In 1972, Harvey formed the Sensational Alex Harvey Band
(often shortened to SAHB) with guitarist Zal Cleminson, bassist Chris Glen, and cousins Hugh and Ted McKenna on keyboards and drums respectively, all previous members of progressive rock act Tear Gas.SAHB produced a succession of highly regarded albums and tours throughout the 1970s. The band never achieved acclaim in the United States the way it did in Great Britain, but it had a cult following in certain US cities, especially Cleveland, where the group first played at the Agora Ballroom in December 1974.
Thanks to airplay from WMMS, songs like "Next" and "The Faith Healer" became very popular. Cleveland music critics observed that the Sensational Alex Harvey Band could headline in that city, while in other cities few people came to see them"
Most of the songs were cemented in the 70's progressive rock vibe. But this one holds it's own unique sound with a string section. And for some reason the guitarist was a mime?
He was a devoted family man but in front of an audience he became an unforgettable entertainer charismatic, provocative and intense. The Sensational Alex Harvey Band eventually became one of the most exciting live acts of the 1970s taking in Jacques Brel, rock and vaudeville.
In the biography The Sensational Alex Harvey it talks about the many different things that lead up to his death.
Harvey's life offstage was beset by tragedy and his own alcoholism: his younger brother, Les, was electrocuted on stage; his manager and friend Billy Fehilly was killed in a plane crash. Eventually with his band in tatters, Alex sank into a sea of alcohol, finally succumbing to a fatal heart attack whilst waiting for a ferry home from a gig in Belgium in 1982, the day before his 47th birthday.
