Jethro Tull are considered to be the only rock band that featured a flute, according to things I was reading last night. Now, we’ve already had Jeremy Steig on the Remnants, but I was put in mind of the Hello People, a band that never had a hit but caused a ruckus in 1970 with Anthem, a song about the lead singer’s time in jail for draft resistance.
Well, not about the time he spent in jail, but a call for others to stand up for what they believe.
Anthem is a sing songy pop song attempting to conscientious objectors, and showed some signs of breaking out when it was banned from the radio. I think their appearance on the Smothers Brothers show came about in defiance of that ban.
One other thing: They wore face paint and performed as mimes, though thankfully not the miming part in this or any of the clips.
Now sure, that’s not a rock song. But this one is.
Finally, the Hello people in the 70s hooked up with Todd Rundgren and served as his touring band. He produced an album for them in 1975, on which they covered this Rundgren tune.
1) Looks like a band full of Zal Cleminsons from Sensational Alex Harvey Band (gotta get some of them up on Remnants if I ever have time).
2) Flutes in rock suck ass for the most part. The only good song example I can think of:
http://youtu.be/p0PjECSyJ7w
Hey, it’s Kiss! There was flute in a few soul songs, “What Kinda Fool” for one and I’m pretty sure Marvin Gaye used it in some early tunes. The Blues Project featured flute before the Hello People for sure. This one is mid-70s, I believe considered a disco song in its day but funky LAMF, complete with the airy flute preferred by Ian Anderson…