Description

Vinyl = MINT / near mint and shiny.
1976 LP with inner sheet, Charisma CAS 1117 UK ( original )

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Check the audio commentary (what this album is like):  

Genesis, Phil Collins, Weather Report, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Fusion, Jazz-Rock, Art Rock

Unorthodox Behaviour is the first album by jazz fusion group, Brand X. The duo of Phil Collins and Percy Jones would use several of these tracks as bases in their production of several Brian Eno discs, including Another Green World (Over Fire Island) and Before and After Science (Energy Fools The Musician). Many of these tracks themselves are based heavily upon the work of the Mahavishnu Orchestra and the first Billy Cobham record.

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Phil Collins’ seemingly endless well of energy afforded him two careers: one as the drummer/vocalist in Genesis, and a second as a prolific session musician. It was in this second scenario that Collins hooked up with Percy Jones, John Goodsall, and Robin Lumley during sessions for Brian Eno, Eddie Howell, and Jack Lancaster. The quartet soon formed Brand X, a fusion jazz band that matched the prodigious rhythms of Collins and fretless bassist Jones with the atmospheric melodies of Goodsall and Lumley. Unorthodox Behaviour sets the stage for what would follow: music that plies the same sonic territory as Weather Report, Mahavishnu Orchestra, and the like, punctuated by the distinctive styles of individual members. The songs, though credited to the band, reveal two factions at work, with Jones and Collins teaming for percussive sections and Goodsall and Lumley handling the lyrical passages. When Jones and Collins take the lead, as on the opening “Nuclear Burn” and sections of “Unorthodox Behaviour” and “Running on Three,” the music takes a frenetic, mathematical tack. Goodsall and Lumley generally provide the mood, the dominant trait on “Euthanasia Waltz” and “Touch Wood.” Middle ground is found on the funky “Born Ugly” and “Smacks of Euphoric Hysteria,” true fusions of rock and jazz. Unorthodox Behaviour samples a variety of styles: from melodic to energetic, ethereal to mathematical. Without a standout soloist like John McLaughlin or Wayne Shorter, Brand X does run the risk of sounding like a generic fusion jazz outfit, but their compositional skills pick up the slack nicely. Those interested in the band may do well to start with this album, although their next three records are just as good in terms of quality.

SAMPLES:    www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B001HZ151A/sr=1-1/qid=1289314865/ref=sr_1_1_…

or   www.allmusic.com/album/unorthodox-behaviour-mw0000649918

Side one
“Nuclear Burn” (Brand X) 6:23
“Euthanasia Waltz” (Lumley) 5:42
“Born Ugly” (Brand X) 8:18

Side two
“Smacks of Euphoric Hysteria” (Goodsall) 4:30
“Unorthodox Behaviour” (Brand X) 8:29
“Running on Three” (Jones) 4:38
“Touch Wood” (Brand X) 3:03

Personnel
John Goodsall guitar
Percy Jones bass, marimba, acoustic bass
Robin Lumley keyboards
Phil Collins drums, vibes
with
Jack Lancaster soprano saxophone

5.0 out of 5 stars Collins and crew,
This album (along with Led Zeppelin vol 1) made me buy a drum kit – not that I ever reached the dizzy heights of excellence that Phil Collins reaches on this great album. This is jazz-rock fusion drum and bass that eclipses all in its wake. The tightest most expressive illustration of the genre ever produced. The burbling basslines are mesmeric, and the guitar playing from the very top drawer – but its Collins, still ten years from becoming the housewives’ favourite who shows that he is primarily a top notch musician – buy it and marvel

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5.0 out of 5 stars Heavy duty jazz-rock at its best,
Recorded way back in 1975 this was the first Brand X release. It is certainly (with perhaps the exception of parts of Livestock) the loosest and most unstructured of their recordings. Highlights include the live favourite “Nuclear Burn” with its jagged raw beat, and my own favourite “Smacks Of Euphoric Hysteria” featuring Jones’ rubbery Fender fretless bass. This record certainly set the tone for that Brand X weirdness that infected all subsequent releases, but this showcases them at the peak of their humour and “innocence”.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Still great after over 30 years.,
… the ‘crisp drumming of Phil Collins’. This was, for me and a lot of others, the pinnacle of Collins’ career and I still tap the odd drum figure from this album with a teaspoon on the cocoa tin on a winter night. Chris Welch wrote of Percy Jones’ squirting basslines’ and its the mixture of those, Collins’ imaginative drums and Goodsall and Lumley’s inventive and non-egotistic playing that makes this album a landmark.
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Brand X was a jazz fusion band active between 19751980 and 1992-1999. Noted members included Phil Collins (drums), Mike Clark (drums),Percy Jones (bass), John Goodsall (guitar)] and Robin Lumley (keyboards).

Brand X started in 1975 as a “jam” band funded by Island Records, whose A&R rep Danny Wilding wrote down the name “Brand X” to keep track of their activity in the studio calendar and the name stuck. Genesis drummer Phil Collins took over on drums and in early 1976 Unorthodox Behaviour was released to coincide with an extensive UK tour.
Sometime in 1976, both John Goodsall and Phil Collins (along with Mike Rutherford and Anthony Phillips) assisted Peter Gabriel in the recording of demos towards his debut solo album after leaving Genesis. Goodsall also recorded experimental music with a band that included Bill Bruford, Bayete (Todd Cochran) and Doni Harvey on Bass, from Island label-mates Automatic Man, a San Francisco group led by Santana’s drummer Mike Shrieve.
In 1979, Collins re-joined Brand X for part of the series of recording sessions which would generate enough material for two albums, 1979s Product and 1980s Do They Hurt?. These took place at Startling Studios, located in Ringo Starrs countryside home (formerly owned by John Lennon), with two distinct line-ups operating in alternation (the amazing Mike Clark (mikeclarkmusic.com)provided drums on the other tracks), as Jones later explained. “Our record and management companies were both complaining about poor record sales and telling us we had to make the music more accessible. Some of the guys agreed to go along with this but I felt that to do this would not generate a new audience but would probably just alienate the one that we already had. The only solution was to have two bands, one being more accessible and the other being more experimental or whatever. For my stuff the line-up was Robinson, Clark, Goodsall and me; for the other direction it was Lumley, Collins and Goodsall with John Giblin on bass. We recorded in shifts, ours was 8pm to 4am and the others, 10am to 6pm”. Many fans consider the tracks with Jones and Clark to be the more fascinating and creative material.