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Argent were an English rock band founded in 1969 by keyboardist Rod Argent, formerly of the Zombies. They had three UK top 40 singles: "Hold Your Head Up", which reached number five and spent 12 weeks on the chart, "Tragedy" (number 34), and "God Gave Rock and Roll to You" (number 18). Two of their albums charted in the UK: All Together Now, which peaked at number 13 in 1972, and In Deep, which spent one week at number 49 in 1973.[2]

Argent
Argent in 1973
Background information
Origin	London, England
Genres	Progressive rock[1] hard rock[1] pop rock[1]
Years active	1969–1976, 2010, 2012, 2013
Past members	Rod Argent Bob Henrit Jim Rodford Russ Ballard John Verity John Grimaldi

History

This section needs additional citations for verification. (November 2022)

Rod Argent put together Argent just as his former band The Zombies's posthumous single "Time of the Season" was becoming a worldwide hit in 1969. Argent had enjoyed considerable success with The Zombies but wanted his new outfit to become part of the burgeoning progressive rock scene.^{[citation needed]} Indeed, his new band employed much heavier rhythms and a generally weightier sound, but also continued the minor keys and complex lyrics of The Zombies, often by Argent's writing with former Zombie bassist Chris White. Guitarist and vocalist Russ Ballard also developed strong melodies and hit singles, writing a string of FM staples. The band was completed by bassist Jim Rodford and drummer Bob Henrit.[3] Lead vocal duties were shared between Ballard, Rodford, and Argent.[4]

Their first album, Argent, was critically acclaimed, if not a massive seller. It was a solid start and contained the song "Liar", which was subsequently covered by Three Dog Night. 1971's Ring of Hands was their second album and feaured the minor hit "Sweet Mary". All Together Now was their third album released in 1973. It featured the song that they are best remembered for: "Hold Your Head Up" which was a top 5 hit in both UK and the US charts.[2][5]

Their next album In Deep contained two more hits in "God Gave Rock and Roll to You" and "It's Only Money". 1974's Nexus did not have any songs the band considered to be a potential hit;^{[citation needed]} Rod Argent's writing dominated the album, with Ballard only contributing 3 of the album's 9 songs. The album's centerpiece "The Coming of Kohoutek" was inspired by that year's appearance of the comet of the same name. Uninspired by this change and seeking a vehicle for his prodigious songwriting, Ballard left after the album's release to pursue a successful career as a solo artist. Ballard's departure was followed by the release of the live album Encore, whose sound quality is considered to be poor.^{[citation needed]}

The band regrouped as a quintet with the addition of a young virtuoso guitarist John Grimaldi and guitar/vocalist John Verity. Both of their final albums Circus and 1975's Counterpoints were poorly received and failed to sell, though their final concert tours were well attended. In 1975, John Grimaldi decided to leave the band. While Rod Argent considered whether to continue Argent, the remaining members (Henrit, Rodford and Verity) became Phoenix.

The original Argent lineup reunited at the High Voltage Festival in Victoria Park, London on 25 July 2010, and undertook a short five-date concert tour in December 2010, with gigs in Frome, Southampton, Wolverhampton, Leamington Spa, and London.^{[citation needed]}

Argent also reunited for a five-show tour from January to February 2012, before performing one last show at the Waterside Theatre in Aylesbury as part of a benefit concert, on 2 June 2013, supporting the Zombies, on a bill that also included Marillion members Steve Hogarth and Steve Rothery.[6]

Rodford died after a fall on 20 January 2018, at age 76.[7][8]

Band members

• Rod Argent – keyboards, backing and lead vocals (1969–1976, 2010, 2012, 2013)
• Bob Henrit – drums (1969–1976, 2010, 2012, 2013)
• Russ Ballard – guitar, lead vocals (1969–1974, 2010, 2012, 2013)
• Jim Rodford – bass guitar, backing vocals (1969–1976, 2010, 2012, 2013; died 2018)
• John Verity – guitar, lead vocals (1974–1976)
• John Grimaldi – guitar (1974–1976; died 1983)

	1969-1974	1974-1976		2010, 2012, 2013
Rod Argent	keyboards, backing and lead vocals, producer, songwriter	keyboards, backing and lead vocals, producer, songwriter	keyboards, backing and lead vocals, producer, songwriter	keyboards, backing and lead vocals
Bob Henrit	drums	drums	drums	drums
Russ Ballard	guitar, lead vocals, songwriter			guitar, lead vocals
Jim Rodford	bass guitar, backing vocals	bass guitar, backing vocals, songwriter	bass guitar, backing vocals, songwriter	bass guitar, backing vocals
John Verity		guitar, lead vocals	guitar, lead vocals
John Grimaldi		guitar	guitar, songwriter
Chris White	producer, songwriter	producer	producer
Tony Visconti			producer

Timeline

Songs

Argent's biggest hit was the Rod Argent and Chris White composition "Hold Your Head Up", featuring lead vocals by Russ Ballard, from the All Together Now album, which, in a heavily edited single form, reached No. 5 in the US. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc.[9] By 2005, all albums, including compilations, have been re-released on CD, except Counterpoints.

Classified as progressive rock, hard rock and pop rock,[1] Argent's music incorporated elements of classical music, jazz and art rock.[3]

Legacy

Argent recorded the original version of "God Gave Rock and Roll to You", written by Russ Ballard, which was covered by Kiss in 1991 under the name "God Gave Rock 'n' Roll to You II", and featured prominently at the end of the film Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey. The song also became a Contemporary Christian rock anthem and was twice covered by the Christian Rock band Petra, in 1977 (on the album Come and Join Us) and again in 1984 (on the album Beat the System), with new verses.[10]

Some of Ballard's compositions became hits when they were covered by other artists, including Rainbow ("Since You Been Gone", from the album Down to Earth, and "I Surrender", from the album Difficult to Cure), Kiss, Petra, Hello, Santana, and more recently the Brazilian metal band Oficina G3. The Russ Ballard song "Liar", on Argent's first album, became a hit for Three Dog Night in 1971[11] and was also released as a single, ten years later, by Graham Bonnet (former Rainbow vocalist, who sang the vocal on "Since You Been Gone"), taken from his debut album Line-Up.

Fish (former lead singer of Marillion) recorded a version of "Hold Your Head Up" for his 1993 album Songs from the Mirror, a selection of his favourite songs.[12][13] The American band Phish play an instrumental version of "Hold Your Head Up", usually as a transition into a "joke song" by drummer Jon Fishman.[14] "Hold Your Head Up" was covered in 1987 by the band 20/Twenty and (in the same year) by Australian group the Partyboys.^{[citation needed]} Mother Love Bone recorded a cover of "Hold Your Head Up" in 1989. Their version was released on a promotional only 7" vinyl in 1989. It was reissued on 7" vinyl in 2014 as a limited edition Black Friday Record Store Day release on Stardog/Republic Records.^{[citation needed]} The band Jellyfish opened most of their shows with an abbreviated version of "Hold Your Head Up".^{[citation needed]}

Discography

Studio albums

Year	Album	Label	Peak chart positions
			US [5]	UK [2]
1970	Argent	Epic	–	–
1971	Ring of Hands		–	–
1972	All Together Now		23	13
1973	In Deep		90	49
1974	Nexus		149	–
1975	Circus		171	–
	Counterpoints	RCA	–	–
"–" denotes releases that did not chart.

Live albums

Year	Album	Peak chart positions
		US [5]	UK [2]
1974	Encore: Live in Concert	151	–
1995	In Concert	–	–
1997	The Complete BBC Sessions	–	–
2010	High Voltage Festival	–	–
"–" denotes releases that did not chart.

Compilation albums

• The Best of Argent - An Anthology (Epic, 1976)
• Hold Your Head Up (1978)
• Music from the Spheres (1991)
• Greatest: The Singles Collection (2008)
• Argent: Original Album Classics [A collection of the band's first five albums in miniature album sleeves] (2009)
• God Gave Rock and Roll to You: The Greatest Hits (2010)
• Hold Your Head Up: The Best of Argent (2022)

Singles

Year	Song	Peak chart positions		Album
		US [15]	UK [2]
1970	"Liar"	–	–	Argent
	"Schoolgirl"	–	–
1971	"Sweet Mary"	102	–	Ring of Hands
	"Celebration"	–	–
1972	"Hold Your Head Up"	5	5	All Together Now
	"Tragedy"	106	34
1973	"God Gave Rock and Roll to You"	114	18	In Deep
	"It's Only Money, Part 2"	–	53[upper-alpha 1]
1974	"Man for All Reasons"	–	–	Nexus
	"Thunder & Lightning"	–	–
	"Time of the Season"	–	–	Encore: Live in Concert
1975	"The Jester"	–	–	Circus
	"Highwire"	–	–
	"Rock 'n' Roll Show"	–	–	Counterpoints
"–" denotes releases that did not chart.

See also

•  1960s portal

References

External links

• Media related to Argent (band) at Wikimedia Commons

На других языках

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[de] Argent (Band)

Argent waren eine britische Rockband, die 1969 von Rod Argent gegründet wurde, nachdem sich seine vorherige Band The Zombies aufgelöst hatte.[1]

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- [en] Argent (band)

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[es] Argent (banda)

Argent fue una banda británica de hard rock y rock progresivo, formada en Saint Albans en 1969, y activa hasta 1976.

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[it] Argent

Gli Argent sono un gruppo musicale inglese progressive rock fondato nel 1969 dal tastierista Rod Argent, ex componente dei The Zombies.[2]

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[ru] Argent

Argent — британская рок-группа, исполнявшая смесь рока, поп-музыки и прогрессивного рока.

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