COTM #88 - Sebastian Hardie

[OverHillandDale(Admin)]

Greetings folks.

A wet and story day in Georgia today (Monday) so it's a great day to stay in and listen to Progressive Rock. But then, what day isn't a good day for prog.

On this week's CORNER OF THE MOONIVERSE, we explore Sebastian Hardie. Who is Sebastian Hardie, you might ask. Well, Sebastian Hardie is not a who but a what. The band was originally know as Sebastian Hardie Blues Band when it was form in 1967 by Graham Ford. Over the next 5 years the line-up of the band would change with regularity. By 1974 the final core of players emerged as the group we know. The members were Peter Plavsic on bass, his brother Alex Plavsic on drums, Mario Millo on Guitar and vocals, and Tovio Pilt on Keyboards. Both Peter and Alex Plavics had joined the group in 1968 along with Jon English on vocals. Jon would soon leave to take the role of Judas Iscariot in Jesus Christ Superstar, the Australian cast, actually.

And that is how Sebastian Hardie was born. Their first album is titled Four Moments. The album's title track is an epic, filling the 1st side of the LP. Two more songs balance out the album. The style of the album was decidedly more progressive rock oriented, taking on the stylings of the grandmasters (King Crimson, Genesis, Focus and, of course, Yes.

The album, Four Moments was relatively successful, hitting #13 on the Australian charts. The single from the album, Rosanna, peaked at #31. Not bad for Australia's first progressive rock band.

This success allowed them to go back in studio and in 1976 they released Windchase. This album was still successful, but it did not garner the higher numbers of Four Moments. But it was good enough to get the attention of SANTANA who asked them to guest on their Australian Tour that year. By the end of the tour, or perhaps shortly after, there arose conflicts and disagreements amongst the group and Alex and Peter Plavsic would leave to join a Rock 'n Roll revival. They had also been able to keep owner ship of the band's name. They did not, however, have playing rights to the music as Mario Millo had composed the bulk of the material.

Thus was born Windchase (band). Millo and Pilt joined with Doug Nethercote (bass guitar) and Doug Bligh (drums) and they began work on their one album, Simphinity. It was released in 1977. It didn't do very well and the band toured through the end of the year, but dissolved shortly after.

The original four members have reunited upon several occasions, including the 1994 ProgFest in Los Angles. That show was recorded and was released in 1997 as Sebastian Hardie – Live in L.A. They reunited in 2003 and again just recently. The latest reunion sparked their 4th album Blueprint. It was in this years Aural Moon Top 20 Poll and garnered 6th place.

Today's show will feature all 3 of their studio albums (Four Moments, Windchase, and Blueprint). I do hope you can join us and listen to one of the better undiscovered bands of Progressive Rock. They represent Australia very well.

I'll see you on the Moon, Aural Moon, that is.

Dale

Sebastian Hardie are a great band Dale and very worthy of your show. I remember recommending them to someone on the 'demise' of their favourite band Camel. Perhaps you can see the likeness in the guitar and keyboard styles.

[Free Hand]

Aww. Loved Sebastian Hardie and Windchase and used to play them all the time on my radio show in the eighties. Sorry I missed this!

[OverHillandDale(Admin)]

Originally Posted by Free Hand

Aww. Loved Sebastian Hardie and Windchase and used to play them all the time on my radio show in the eighties. Sorry I missed this!

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There's one more broadcast at 0500 Wednesday morning. Hopefully you're across the pond and it won't be too bloody early for you.

If you can't catch, just means you'll have to dig them out of the vinyl vault.