Pilot

Pilot was a rock group formed in 1973 in Edinburgh, Scotland by former Bay City Rollers members David Paton and Billy Lyall. Joined by Stuart Tosh and Ian Bairnson, the band recorded several demos over the course of 1973 and 1974, eventually catching the attention of EMI Records.



The 1974 single "Magic" from their debut album was a #11 UK and #5 U.S. hit and remains a pop classic. The simple but catchy pop ditty "January" gave them their biggest hit, securing the number one spot in the UK Singles Chart in January 1975.



The band's other single chart hits were "Call Me Round" and "Just A Smile" (both 1975). By the time 1977 came around only Paton and Bairnson were left from the original foursome, and they recorded Pilot's final album (the aptly entitled Two's a Crowd) alone.



By 1978, all of Pilot's members had moved on to other projects, notably Tosh, Paton and Bairnson becoming core members of the Alan Parsons Project, and Tosh also working with 10cc.