National Health Biography & Awards

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Artist Info

Formed

1975

Disbanded

1982

Members

Bill Bruford, John Greaves, Dave Stewart, Phil Miller, Alan Gowen, Mort Campbell, Pip Pyle, Neil Murray

Biography

National Health is one of those rare English progressive bands whose classic mid-'70s output still sounds fresh today. Their sound prospered on imaginative linear musicality, often in a jazzy format that emphasized extended instrumental solos. In keeping with the collaborative spirit of the times, National Health had an ever-changing lineup, sharing members with other influential groups like Hatfield and the North, Henry Cow, Matching Mole, and others. After a pair of 1978 releases, National Health and Of Queues and Cures, the group issued 1982's D.S. Al Coda and then fell silent. The overview Complete appeared in 1990; Missing Pieces, a collection of outtakes, followed in 1996. in 2000, Cuneiform issued a live album, Playtime which was recorded at two different shows in 1979 and sequenced and mastered in 2000 by Phil Miller and Pip Pyle as a tribute to their late bandmate, Alan Gowen, who had died of leukemia in May 1981. ~ Myles Boisen, All Music Guide