Dark were a band from Northampton, East Midlands, England, United Kingdom formed in 1968. Their sound is predominantly Psychedelic Rock with forays into Acid Rock and Prog. Their first album “Dark Round the Edges” was released in 1972 via S.I.S. Records and has always been one of the rarest and most expensive in music history. It was in fact pressed in its original version in only 64 copies, most of which were destined for friends and relatives of the band’s musicians. The band’s frontman and producer Steve Giles, a great lover of photography, made the first twelve copies into full-colour gatefold sleeves, complete with booklets of photographs stapled together, augmented with handwritten notes. Containing 6 tracks (3 per side) between 5 and over 8 minutes in length, in which the band develops its musical concept with a distinctly Psychedelic imprint. The tempo changes and some technical passages insert Progressive cues, while in others they explore a more Acid Rock sound. After the release of the album, the band broke up and the members of the band tried to pursue solo careers, some of them forming other projects, but never achieving success. Since the early 1990s, it has been reissued numerous times for various labels around the world, making this album a true “Holy Grail.” The original 1972 version fetched exorbitant sales prices, even exceeding £25,000, while the recent reissues are definitely affordable. Very important labels in the rediscovery of 60s/70s music such as Kissing Spell, Akarma, Machu Picchu Ltd, while the first reissue in 1991 was edited by Darkside. The posthumous success of the record made it possible to release unreleased material and other material from sessions between 1994 and 1996. The first is a mini-album shared with the original band also from their hometown named Tarsus. The title of this work is “Dark & Tarsus (Unreleased Sessions)” and was released in 1994 via Kissing Spell with three tracks by Tarsus (from A1 to A3) and two by Dark (A4 and B1). Tracks A1 to A3 recorded May 1971 (mono) and taken from a 0.25″ master obtained from Adam Bowley formerly of S.I.S. Studio. Tracks A4 and B1 are an extended instrumental jam recorded (stereo) in 1975. Kissing Spell in the same year, 1994, released the album “Teenage Angst (The Early Sessions).” A collection of rare youthful tracks from 1969-1971 (pre-Round the Edges), recorded with a diverse lineup. Kissing Spell in the same year, 1994, released the album ‘Teenage Angst (The Early Sessions)’. A collection of rare youthful tracks from 1969-1971 (pre-Round the Edges), recorded with a diverse line-up. In 1996, the Acme label released “Artefacts From The Black Museum,” available in a limited edition of 500 hand-numbered copies. This album also contains 3 tracks recorded at SIS Studios Northampton on 25 April 1970 and the remaining 5 recorded at SIS Studios Northampton on 10 October 1971. Ron Johnson and Martin Weaver do not appear on this album, although their names are printed on the cover. More than 23 years after the release of their debut album, Dark return with a second album entitled “Anonymous Days” on Darkedge Records. The lineup of the band remains the same: Steve Giles, Ron Johnson, Martin Weaver and Clive Thorneycroft. The album contains songs written between 1974 and 1995 and is the album Dark always wanted to make, combining the Dark Progressive Rock style with more modern recording techniques. Five years later, in 2001, the mini-album “The Jam” was released via Kissing Spell and containing a single epic track of over 24 minutes recorded in a basement in 1975. In the course of 2022, the English label Seelie Court released a series of 13 albums entitled “Catalogue Raisonne” containing all the tracks recorded by the band. Different versions, live recordings and all the band’s material, offered in this series of LPs in a limited run of 600 copies. In the same year, the label reissued the band’s historic debut “Dark Round The Edges” in its original 1972 version, available in 200 copies. Only a single 7″ was released, also in 2022 via Seelie Court, entitled “I’m Not Sad / All Through The Night” available in 500 copies. Completing the band’s discography is a compilation released in 2019 via Void Records, titled “Dark Cross The Ages” and available in 500 copies consisting of double LP gatefold albums with inserts. “Dark Round The Edges” and “Dark Round The Edges Live.” Compilation “Dark Round The Edges” and “Dark Live” tracks. On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the reunion at the Northampton Beer Festival, Beckets Park on May 30, 1997 the band recorded and released the VHS “Dark Live” via Darkedge Records. The first 10 tracks are recorded live, while the last 4 are studio tracks. For fans and collectors, a number of DVDs containing live recordings and remastered CD reissues of albums released over the years are available on the Darkedge Records label website. A band that comes into this editorial as the debut album “Dark Round The Edges” in its original version is a real ‘Holy Grail’ for all collectors. The value achieved by the album is not the only reason why we have proposed this band, but the quality of their music, which is very well developed through the long tracks that compose it. A good mixture of Psychedelia, Acid Rock and Progressive with that classic style of the bands of the late 60s and early 70s.
Discography
[1972] Dark Round The Edges (S.I.S. Records)
[1994] Dark & Tarsus (Unreleased Sessions) (Kissing Spell)
[1994] Teenage Angst (The Early Sessions) (Kissing Spell)
[1996] Artefacts From The Black Museum (Acme)
[1996] Anonymous Days (Darkedge Records)
[1997] Dark Live (Darkedge Records)
[2001] The Jam (Kissing Spell)
[2019] Dark Cross The Ages (Void Records)
[2022] Catalogue Raisonne (from I to XIII – 13 albums) (Seelie Court)
[2022] I’m Not Sad / All Through The Night 7″ (Seelie Court)
