Line #13 Music/UK - TV Tropes


1	[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/uk_polydor_1978.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:320:The original quartet.[[labelnote:note]] From Left to Right: [[{{Music/KingCrimson}} John Wetton]], Music/AllanHoldsworth, Music/BillBruford, and [[{{Music/RoxyMusic}} Eddie]] [[{{Music/FrankZappa}} Jobson]] [[/labelnote]]]]
3
4	-->"Are you one of mine
5	-->who can sleep with one eye
6	-->open wide?"
7	---> "In the Dead of Night" (1978)
8
9	U.K. were a {{progressive rock}} {{supergroup}} formed in 1977.
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11	Former Music/KingCrimson bassist/vocalist John Wetton [[labelnote:note]] Among others, he played with {{Music/Renaissance}}, Roger Chapman's [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_(band) Family]], and Music/BrianEno throughout the 70s. [[/labelnote]] , fresh off touring with Music/RoxyMusic and Music/UriahHeep, tapped former Crimson drummer Music/BillBruford [[labelnote:note]] himself done touring with {{Music/Yes}}, {{Music/Genesis}}, and {{Music/Gong}}. [[/labelnote]] to form a new band towards the end of 1977. The two [[https://www.dprp.net/reviews/1999/counting-out-time-1978-uk wrote in separate books how]] they started out playing as a trio with Music/RickWakeman[[labelnote:note]] before he rejoined {{Music/Yes}} for ''Going For The One'' and ''Tormato'' [[/labelnote]] before the suits at Wakeman's label, [[{{Creator/AAndMRecords}} A&M Records]], [[ExecutiveMeddling quashed the idea.]]
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13	After Wakeman dropped out, Bruford and Wetton decided to form a new group bringing in one past associate apiece. Wetton brought Roxy keyboardist/violinist Eddie Jobson aboard. Bruford, meanwhile, tapped Music/AllanHoldsworth[[labelnote:note]] who toured with Music/SoftMachine, and [[{{Music/Emergency}} Tony Williams]], among others. [[/labelnote]] who contributed guitar to his first solo record, ''Feels Good to Me''.
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15	The quartet's [[SelfTitledAlbum self-titled 1978 debut]] features a melding of Wetton's songwriting centered around ideas of a musician's life on the road with Jobson's classically-influenced violins and synths[[labelnote:note]] ''U.K.'' is an album that saw early use of the classic [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yamaha_CS-80 Yamaha CS-80]] synthesizer, most famous for its association with {{Music/Vangelis}} and his soundtracks like ''Film/BladeRunner''. [[/labelnote]], Bruford's [[UncommonTime polyrhythms]], and Holdsworth's ad-hoc leads.
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17	After disagreements arose while touring, Bruford and Holdsworth would leave U.K. in early 1979. They wanted to continue in an improv-centric direction while Jobson and Wetton called for performances more closely matching their studio recordings. Both Bruford and Holdsworth would go on to prolific solo careers, with Bruford being part of several reformed King Crimson lineups.
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19	U.K. continued as a trio after Jobson brought on former Music/FrankZappa drummer Terry Bozzio to record their second album: ''Danger Money.'' The trio disbanded in 1980. Wetton recorded a few solo albums before being recruited for Wishbone Ash and {{Music/Asia}}. Jobson would join Music/JethroTull for their 1980 album ''A'' before embarking on his own solo career in electronic music and scoring for TV and film including ''Series/NashBridges''. Bozzio went on to form Music/MissingPersons with his then-wife Dale and former Zappa associates Patrick O'Hearn and Warren Cuccurullo.
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21	Jobson would keep several U.K. songs in his rotation over the decades. After one failed reunion attempt with Wetton, Jobson spearheaded the short-lived group UKZ featuring ex-Crimson Warr Guitarist Trey Gunn, Planet X guitarist Alex Machacek, drummer Marco Minneman, and singer Aaron Lippert. They only released one EP, ''Radiation'', in 2009.
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23	Jobson and Wetton finally reunited that same year for the former's "Ultimate Zero Tour." The tour also featured Gunn, Minneman, and ex-Crimson bassist Tony Levin[[labelnote:note]] who coincidentally worked with Bozzio, Holdsworth, and ex-Crimson drummer Pat Mastelotto in the improv band [=HoBoLeMa=] [[/labelnote]]. The ''Danger Money'' lineup reunited in 2011 joined by Machacek and other drummers including Minneman, [[{{Music/Annihilator}} Mike]] [[{{Music/DreamTheater}} Mangini]], and Holdsworth collaborators Virgil Donati and Gary Husband.
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25	The band dissolved for good after their 2015 farewell tour following Wetton's terminal cancer diagnosis. Wetton and Holdsworth both died in 2017. Jobson paid tribute to his bandmates, as well as [[{{Music/EmersonLakeAndPalmer}} Keith Emerson and Greg Lake]] who died in 2016, in the "Fallen Angels" duet tour with Marc Bonilla.
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27	!!Discography:
28	* ''U.K.'' (1978)
29	* ''Danger Money'' (1979)
30	* ''[[LiveAlbum Night After Night]]'' (1980)
31	** ''Night After Night Extended Edition'' (2016)
32	* ''Radiation'' (2009, UKZ EP)
33	* ''Ultimate Zero Tour-Live'' (2010)
34	* ''Reunion: Live in Tokyo'' (2013)
35	* ''Curtain Call'' (2015, release of 2013 concert)
36	* ''Ultimate Collector's Edition'' (2016, Box Set)
37
38	!!U.K. and their music contain examples of:
39	* EpicInstrumentalOpener: The instrumental "Alaska" leads into "Time to Kill".
40	* FadingIntoTheNextSong: "In The Dead of Night" fades into "By The Light of Day", which in turn fades into "Presto Vivace".
41	* {{Instrumentals}}: "Alaska" is the only track without vocals on their studio albums.
42	* LeadBassist: As with other groups with him as a member, John Wetton is on both bass and vocals in U.K.
43	* LimitedSpecialCollectorsUltimateEdition: The 2016 ''Ultimate Collector's Edition'' box set, [[KeepCirculatingTheTapes only available through Jobson's Zealot's Club,]] contains 16 hours of music across 14 [=CDs=] and 4 Blu-Rays with the two studio albums, outtakes, demos, and lots of live shows. The set also included a 66-page book detailing the band's history.
44	* LiveAlbum: Their entire discography, bar the two studio albums and a few Wetton-penned singles.
45	* {{Medley}}: The "In The Dead of Night" suite, consisting of "In the Dead of Night", "By The Light of Day" and "Presto Vivace and Reprise".
46	* PayingTheirDues: "Nevermore", off the first album, recalls the grind of constantly gigging in Soho bars if the abstract lyrics can be parsed that way.
47	* RockTrio: Eventually became one, with Jobson on keyboards and violin, Wetton on vocals and bass guitar and Bozzio on drums and percussion.
48	* RevolvingDoorBand: True to their lineage, U.K. centered around Jobson and Wetton with a whole bunch of virtuosic players from Music/KingCrimson, {{Music/Yes}}, and countless prog/jazz bands over the decades in their orbit.
49	* SelfTitledAlbum: Their debut.
50	* SiameseTwinSongs:
51	** "Alaska", an instrumental whose final chord is the scream that begins "Time To Kill".
52	** "Presto Vivace and Reprise", the first part a fast and complicated instrumental and the second [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin a reprise]] of "In the Dead of Night".
53	* SomethingBlues: "Caesar's Palace Blues". Unusually, this is also a song with a TitleOnlyChorus.
54	* SpyFiction: ''Danger Money'' is, in essence, John Wetton's crack at making a Dirty Martini-flavored concept album.
55	** The title track establishes the unnamed protagonist as a "soldier of fortune" constantly on the run
56	** "Rendezvous 6:02" has the protagonist run into a old soldier friend at the London Waterloo station who recalls fighting overseas in an unspecified war, most likely UsefulNotes/WorldWarII.
57	** "The Only Thing She Needs" has the protagonist recon a Main/BondGirl.
58	** "Caesar's Palace Blues" has [[TheCasino casinos]] with [[HiddenWire bugs everywhere]] hiding a [[TheSyndicate criminal front]] for drug and [[HumanTrafficking child trafficking]] rings.
59	---> "Don't worry if you're underage, they've special schemes for minors."
60	** "Nothing to Lose" has the protagonist make a run for the border and shooting out searchlights in an unspecified area.
61	** "Carrying No Cross" is a lamentation over the protagonist's wartime past and possible grips with PTSD.
62	---> [[PuttingOnTheReich Uniforms were an allergy]]/they never felt quite right to me
63	---> they conjured [[{{UsefulNotes/NaziGermany}} wartime Germany]]/and God knows we need that.
64	* TitleOnlyChorus: "In The Dead of Night", "By The Light of Day", "Danger Money", "Rendezvous 6:02" and "Caesar's Palace Blues" all just repeat their respective titles in their choruses. Most of the rest of the songs in their discography come close by repeating their titles in their chorus, but also having other lyrics.

Context Music / UK