Beat Instrumental summed it up in 1971: 'In a few short months, Curved Air have emerged from the unknown depths to become one of the most talked-about bands around. By a combination of record company promotion and a word-of-mouth reputation gained from their gigs, the group became a name before they had really done that much. Such a situation can be worrying for a band, but Curved Air have the confidence to carry on unaffected.'
Propelled into stardom at an exhilarating speed due to clever marketing and the virtuosity of their musicianship, particularly violinist Darryl Way, the story of Curved Air in the 1970s is of a band that burned brightly before collapsing well ahead of their time. Fronted by the exotic Sonja Kristina, they supported Jethro Tull, Deep Purple and B.B. King in huge stadiums, while several famous names passed through their ranks. These included Stewart Copeland who went on to form the Police. Every line up of Curved Air presented a stellar range of talent which accumulated into a fascinating body of work in the decade.
This book documents it all, from ground-breaking albums like Air Conditioning and Phantasmagoria to the line-up changes and traumas which caused the band to disband for the first time in 1976.
Laura Shenton MA LLCM DipRSL has a masters degree in music. She is the author of Tommy Bolin: In and Out of Deep Purple, published by Sonicbond in 2020. Her hobbies and interests include writing, playing the piano, staying up into the small hours wondering about life whilst eating crisps and obsessing about music, hamsters and dogs. Her writing buddy is the best dog in the world — a black Labrador. She lives in Northamptonshire, UK.