Prelude

Folk / pop trio Prelude was formed in Gateshead, England in 1970 and are best known for their cover of Neil Young’s “After the Goldrush.” Founded by Brian Hume (guitar / vocals), his wife Irene Hume (vocals), and Ian Vardy (guitar / vocals), the trio originally recorded a single in 1967 under the name The Carnival. However, in 1970, they had combined elements of early-to-mid 1960s folk (Peter, Paul & Mary) and late ‘60s / early ‘70s hippie folk (Crosby, Stills & Nash) and added their own British stamp on the music. They spent their early years working on their own material, finally releasing their debut album, How Long is Forever?, on Dawn Records in 1973. The album featured the trio’s cover of Neil Young’s “After the Goldrush,” which was intended to be an album track only. Positive reaction to the recording prompted the label and band to release the song as a single. Reaching number 21 in the UK, number 22 in the US and number 5 in Canada, it remains the trio’s most popular recording. Their second album, Dutch Courage (1974), did well in the UK and, since the debut was not released in the US, their label added “After the Goldrush” to the track list and renamed the album after the song. After the release of their 1975 album Owlcreek Incident, the group moved over to Pye Records. They released the album Back into the Light (1976), which featured the single “For a Dancer” (number 63 on the Hot 100). They left Pye Records and eventually signed with EMI for two singles – “Platinum Blonde” (1980) and “Trick of the Light” (1980) – as well as one single for MCA (“When Two Worlds Collide”). Signing with After Hours, they re-recorded “After the Gold Rush” in 1982 and it climbed into the UK Top 30. That same year, they released their self-titled album, which included the last few singles as well as several more that they released that year. Ian Vardy left Prelude in 1985 and the Humes continued as a duo. Vardy eventually rejoined in 2008, and the group went on to perform and record together again.

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