![]() Drummer Stuart Tosh completed this early line up of the band. Edinburgh outfit Pilot assembled as a trio, with two members David Paton and Billy Lyall who were briefly in an embryonic version of the Bay City Rollers. An impressive concoction skilfully assembled, which was what Pilot were all about.īut let’s go back to the start. The song starts with a glam rock stomp, handclaps and tough guitar and then veers nicely into their trademark happy/sad light pop sike imbued with a truly classy chorus. For example take Call Me Round, the minor hit from the Second Flight LP. This revealed that Pilot had another, rockier level, something beyond their talent for expertly realised love and loss songs.Īlso, they managed to take what they could from many musical styles like 1960s psychedelic pop, glam and bubblegum and work these ingredients naturally into catchy 3 to 4 minute songs, fresh for the mid-70s pop charts. Ian Bairnson, who joined the band as a full member after being a sessioner on debut LP From The Album Of The Same Name, was responsible for some meaty riffing. ![]() ![]() Listen to breakthrough hit Magic, that guitar smash just after the hook is mighty. One is that whilst people often describe them as soft rock/pop, at their best they added an enviable thwack to what they did. There’s a couple of things that I feel move Pilot away from other post glam pretenders and made them a touch more interesting. They also turned in four solid LPs into the bargain. In fact they managed to clock up four reasonably-sized hits, with Magic being other real biggie. But Pilot were far from the one hit wonder some people view them as. The song is as ingrained into the start of the year in Britain as treacherous pavements, cancelled trains and the third round of the FA Cup. ![]() Though Pilot didn’t have that, their number one January fulfils the criteria of being given regular airplay for a month each year, with the post-Yuletide period being signalled by the coming of Pilot’s reign of terror (nothing against the song, but it is usually a grim month). New 4CD boxset taking in the four albums January hitmakers Pilot made during the 1970s, with selected bonus tracks….LTW’s Ian Canty knows it’s magic, you know….Ī Christmas record, if successful, will create an annual source of revenue that can sustain a musician for the rest of their life.
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