Formed in Runcorn in 1988 by Steve Paine and after the usual teething troubles and growing pains Legend coalesced into a six piece outfit consisting of Kerry Parker and Debbie Chapman on vocals, Steve Paine, on keyboards, Paul Thomson on guitars, Shaun Gallagher on Bass and Chris Haskayne on Drums. After the usual struggle for gigs and the tooth and claw fight for a place in the local music scene the band settled into a stable line up, though at this point personal issues caused the departure of Kerry Parker and the band decided to carry on as a five piece outfit. Plans were drawn up to record their first CD for Pagan Records. However further disaster struck when bassist Shaun had to leave due to personal commitments, and so began the ongoing subplot of Legend’s career – who’s the bass player this week?
Eventually a suitable candidate was discovered in the form of Ian Lees (of Silas Lang) who stepped into the breach enabling the Band to enter the studio and record Light in Extension in 1990. Technical issues meant that the recording process was slow and in places less than ideal, but nonetheless Legend soldiered on and at last in 1991 their debut album ‘Light in Extension’ was released to mixed reviews, but some critical acclaim.
Of course the band then embarked on a 22 date tour of the UK to promote the album. The tour had a very mixed result, it gained the band some staunch long term supporters, but was largely met with indifference. After the tour, Drummer Chris Haskayne and Bassist Ian Lees decided to go their own separate ways, leaving Legend sans a rhythm section. The personnel hunt was on again.
By a stroke of good fortune John Macklin applied to audition as drummer, despite nearly leaving the audition before he even put stick to skin, due to nerves, John proved himself an able and talented drummer and the hardcore that was to take Legend on to the present was formed. At the same time the drummer of a band that rehearsed regularly at Pagan Studios applied for the job, but was told that the band only needed a bassist, at which point he told Steve Paine that bass was his first instrument and Martyn Rouski completed Legend’s new line up.
In late 1991 a breakthrough came in the shape of an unexpected phone call from Japan (that was nearly dismissed as a wind up – due to one of Legend’s long time crew member’s penchant for such things). But fortunately it turned out to be genuine. ‘Light in Extension’ was receiving a lot of airplay on Japanese rock radio stations and Apollon Records sought to license the CD. To which end ‘Light in Extension’ was released in Japan in early 1992.
Sales of Light in Extension in Japan were very good and there was some discussion of live dates in Tokyo, however these didn’t materialise, but at the suggestion of their Japanese label Legend decided to film one of their hometown gigs for both promotional purposes and release as a live video in both the UK and Japan. So in October 1992 Legend performed to an enthusiastic home crowd at the Castlefields Centre in Runcorn and a few months later ‘Playing with Fire’ was released. Also as 1992 drew to a close the band began recording ‘Second Sight’ and at that point their true potential began to be revealed. This time there were no technical restraints and the band were able to develop their sonically ambitious ideas to the full.
Late 1993 saw the completion of ‘Second Sight’ and in early 1994 the band supported label mates Inkubus Sukkubus on their ‘Wytches’ tour in the UK. (Steve Paine produced and played keys on the ‘Wytches’ CD).
As 1994 drew to a close Martyn Rouski departed the band for pastures new and Legend
was once again hunting a bassist. After several candidates who were either substandard
or otherwise unsuited to the commitments of Legend the band decided to abandon having
a full time bassist instead relying on friends in other bands taking the role of
session bassist for live performances and Paul Thomson doing the honours in the studio.
Among the most notable stand ins were Shaun McGowan and Dave Foster, both from Mr
So & So – also Legend label mates, Paul Lamb -
So, on a diet of steady if irregular gigs, Legend set to work on their most epic recording to date. ‘Triple Aspect’ was recorded throughout 1995 and its title track weighing in at nearly thirty minutes really flew in the face of fashion – even for Prog Rock Bands at the time. However when it was released in 1996 it met much critical acclaim both amongst the prog rock and the pagan community, even the folk rock community were quietly fascinated.
Whilst the Band did not tour with Triple Aspect as such, there were plenty of gigs to keep them occupied. As well as other projects and artists the members were collaborating with at the time. Legend had planned to start work on their forth epic ‘Cardinal Points’ in 1998 however delays with other Pagan Media projects meant that this was postponed. In 1999 Pagan Media ceased to trade and the future of Legend hung in the balance.
Rather than split up as such the band became dormant, always with the intent of getting back together when circumstances allowed. Strangely and unbeknownst to the band, in 2002 Legend had a resurgence of popularity this time in the USA where somehow ‘Triple Aspect’ enjoyed a brief degree of acclaim, the US fans erroneously believing the CD had only been released in 2001.
Which brings us to the present, at the request of several fans and a rekindling of interest from Japan, the sleeping dragon that is Legend has stirred and has opened one sleepy eye and things once more are afoot. A best of anthology entitled ‘Ritual Echo’ was released in December 2009 closely followed by the release of ‘Playing with Fire’ on CD in June 2010. During the second half of 2010 a rejuvenated line up consisting of John Macklin on Drums, Steve Paine on Keys, long time friend Dave Foster (Mr So & So, The Wishing Tree) on Guitar. And orignal vocalist Kerry Parker began work on the first new recording for 15 years.
Cardinal Points was released in April 2011 and has so far attracted critical acclaim for Legend and it is hoped that the band will have opportunity to take the album out live in the near future and plans are already afoot for a new album to be recorded in 2012.
