Easy Street

In 1974, the duo of Ken Nicol and Peter Marsh released the album Nicol and Marsh's Easy Street on U.K. Epic. A fine release, it showcased a sampling of the roots rock, ragtime and ballads that they would become masters of, and it featured the single "Midnight Cat". Next, they were joined by New Zealander Richard Burgess and the trio renamed themselves after the LP. What followed were two excellent albums of tightly performed songs encompassing skiffle, ragtime, Southern boogie, West Coast harmony, symphonic pop and a whole lot more. The band wrapped it all up in immaculate compositions with a youthful spirit, and in Ken Nicol they had one of the era's greatest potential sex symbols. However, the band was roundly ignored by the music media, which makes the top 80 placing for "I've Been Lovin' You" in the Cash Box Top 100 in the late Summer of 1976 a minor miracle.



When Burgess departed to join fusion (and later synth pop) band Landscape, Nicol and Marsh turned out an eponymous album together before splitting. Burgess had considerable success with Landscape in their New Romantic (a term he's infact credited for having coined) phase, and went on to do production work for Spandau Ballet, among others. Marsh briefly appeared in a New Wave band called Twist, and then did some recordings with Vangelis. Nicol appeared on Al Stewart's 24 Carrots in 1980 before laying low for many years. In the '90s he joined England's acclaimed Albion Band and resumed a solo career.