Retro Album 27 - Mind Wave

One of the more obscure albums in my collection is Mind Wave the second and ultimate solo album by the Dutchman Cyril Havermans. On first listen it can sound a little jerky and disjointed but once you get to know it, it is a fine rock album well worth trying to track down. I knew of Cyril from his stint as bassist and vocalist with Focus. Originally using the stage name Carel Hagemans he was with obscure Dutch groups Peter and the Beats (1965–66), The Heralds (1966–67), Spacial Concept (1967–68), and Big Wheel (1968–1969) before some solo work and the Focus period, 1970-1971. He actually only appears on Moving Waves and apparently not that much. He left the band to pursue a solo career playing melodic, acoustic guitar music with English lyrics, dropping the 'e' from his first name. The eponymous Cyril came out in 1973 with support from his old Focus bandmates Jan Akkerman, Thijs van Leer and Pierre van der Linden. This album followed in 1974. The group sometimes performed as openers for Focus on the continent in 1975. Cyril surfaced again in 1977 and then 1983 and 2007 chiefly in versions of Brainbox and appears still to be going.

(I thought I'd drop the of the week as we're way out of sync)