Matching Mole
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Matching Mole was a UK progressive rock band from the Canterbury scene best known for the song O Caroline. Robert Wyatt formed the band in 1971 after he left Soft Machine and recorded his first solo album The End of an Ear. He continued his role on vocals and drums and was joined by David Sinclair, also of Caravan, on keyboards, Phil Miller on guitar and Bill MacCormick, formerly of Quiet Sun, on bass. The name is a pun on Machine Molle, the French translation of the name of Wyatt's previous group Soft Machine.
Their first, eponymous album was released in 1972 and comprised a mixture of band jams and Wyatt's solo compositions, notably O Caroline. For their second album, released in the same year and produced by Robert Fripp, Sinclair was replaced by New Zealand-born keyboard player and composer Dave MacRae who had already played a guest role on the first album. This album was more of a team effort, with Wyatt taking a less involved role.
Matching Mole disbanded by the end of 1972, with Sinclair and Miller going on to form the more successful Hatfield and the North. A new lineup was due to record a third album in 1973, but this was cancelled when Wyatt fell from a window and was paralysed from the waist down and was therefore unable to continue drumming.
[edit] Discography
- Matching Mole (1972 - CBS 64850)
- Matching Mole's Little Red Record (1972 - CBS 65260)
- BBC Radio 1 Live in Concert (1995 - BBC Windsong)
- Smoke Signals (2001 - Cuneiform)
- March (2002 - Cuneiform)
- On the Radio (2007 - Hux/Msi)
[edit] External links
- Canterbury Music Family Tree
- A 1995 interview with bassist Bill MacCormick for Facelift Magazine.
