List of Brand X members

Brand X are an English jazz fusion band from London. Formed in late 1974, the group originally featured vocalist and percussionist Phil Spinelli, guitarists John Goodsall and Peter Bonas, bassist Percy Jones, keyboardist Robin Lumley and drummer John Dillon. After Spinelli, Bonas and Dillon left, the remaining members and new drummer Phil Collins became a largely instrumental outfit. The current lineup of Brand X includes Goodsall and Jones, alongside keyboardist Chris Clark, percussionist Scott Weinberger (both since 2016) and drummer Kenny Grohowski (since 2017).

History

1974–1980

Brand X were formed in 1974 by Phil Spinelli, John Goodsall, Peter Bonas, Percy Jones, Robin Lumley and John Dillon.[1] Before the end of the year, Dillon had left,[2] and was replaced on a part-time basis by Genesis drummer Phil Collins.[3] After recording an album for Island Records in February 1975 which is shelved, creative differences lead to the departure of both Bonas and Spinelli, leaving Brand X an instrumental four-piece.[4][3] The group's debut album Unorthodox Behaviour was recorded between September and October 1975 and released the following year.[5]

At the end of 1975, Brand X made their live concert debuts at several shows in and around London. For the performances, they added former Yes and King Crimson drummer Bill Bruford on additional percussion.[4] Shows at the beginning of the following year saw Isotope's Jeff Seopardie in place on Bruford for a couple of shows, followed by Andy Ward of Camel for one, and finally Preston Heyman from late-February.[4] This lineup recorded one album, which was released as Missing Period in 1997.[6] After a final appearance at Reading Festival, Heyman was replaced by Morris Pert.[4]

After recording the band's second album Moroccan Roll, Collins took a break from Brand X for the Genesis Wind & Wuthering Tour. He was initially replaced by Karma drummer Joe Blocker for a string of rehearsals,[7] before Kenwood Dennard took over for shows starting in June.[8] By April 1978, Lumley had followed Collins as the second core member of Brand X to step back from the band, opting instead to focus more on his work as a record producer. He was replaced by J. Peter Robinson in June, at the same time as Chuck Burgi was brought in to take over from Dennard.[9]

In July 1978, during the tour in promotion of the forthcoming Masques, Goodsall was forced to leave temporarily after suffering tendinitis, with Mike Miller taking his place for the rest of the year.[1] For the North American leg of the tour starting in October, the unavailable Burgi was replaced by Mike Clark.[10] In April 1979, Brand X recorded with two lineups – the first with Goodsall, Jones, Robinson and Clark; the second with Goodsall, bassist John Giblin, Lumley and Collins.[1] The material was released as Product in 1979, Do They Hurt? in 1980 and Is There Anything About? in 1982.[10]

Following the recording of the three albums, Brand X toured with a lineup featuring Goodsall, Jones, Lumley, Robinson and Collins.[11] For a month-long tour the following month, Collins was replaced by Clark.[10] Following these dates, the group stopped working together and began to focus on other projects, although they never officially disbanded.[12]

Since 1992

In 1992, Goodsall and Jones reformed Brand X with new drummer Frank Katz, releasing X-Communication and returning to live performances in December.[13] They remained a trio until February 1996, when they recorded Manifest Destiny with new keyboardist Marc Wagnon and other contributors.[14] For the subsequent tour, Katz was replaced by Pierre Moerlen due to problems with his passport, while Kris Sjobring took over from Wagnon.[13] After a final tour in 1999 with Mick Stevens in place of Jones and John Holmes in place of Moerlen, the band broke up for a second time.[13]

17 years later, in the summer of 2016, Goodsall and Jones reformed Brand X for a third time, adding former drummer Kenwood Dennard and new members Chris Clark on keyboards and Scott Weinberger on percussion.[15] The following year, Dennard was replaced by Kenny Grohowski.[16]

Members

Current

Image	Name	Years active	Instruments	Release contributions
	John Goodsall	1974–1980 1992–1999 2016–present	guitar keyboards (1992–99) vocals (lead 1979, backing 1977)	all Brand X releases, except Live from Chicago (2015) and Live from Stockholm (2016)
	Chris Clark	2016–present	keyboards synthesisers	But Wait... There's More! (2017) Locked & Loaded (2018) Live from the Rites of Spring Festival 2018 (2018)
	Scott Weinberger		percussion
	Kenny Grohowski	2017–present	drums percussion	Locked & Loaded (2018) Live from the Rites of Spring Festival 2018 (2018)

Former

Image	Name	Years active	Instruments	Release contributions
	Percy Jones	1974–1980 1992–1997 2016–2020[17]	bass keyboards (1992–99)	all Brand X releases
	Robin Lumley	1974–1978 1979–1980	keyboards synthesisers piano backing vocals	Unorthodox Behaviour (1976) Moroccan Roll (1977) Livestock (1977) Product (1979) Do They Hurt? (1980) Is There Anything About? (1982) Live at the Roxy LA (1995) all Brand X releases from Missing Period (1997) to Live from Ronnie Scotts (2015) Live from New York (2016)
	Peter Bonas	1974–1975	guitar	none
	Phil Spinelli		percussion lead vocals
	John Dillon	1974	drums percussion
	Phil Collins	1974–1976 1977 1979	drums percussion vocals	Unorthodox Behaviour (1976) Moroccan Roll (1977) Livestock (1977) Product (1979) Do They Hurt? (1980) Is There Anything About? (1982) Live at the Roxy LA (1995) Missing Period (1997) Live from Ronnie Scotts (2015)
	Bill Bruford	1975	percussion	none
	Jeff Seopardie	1976
	Andy Ward
	Preston Heyman			Missing Period (1997)
	Morris Pert	1976–1979 (died 2010)		all Brand X releases from Moroccan Roll (1977) to Do They Hurt? (1980), and from Timeline (1999) to Live from New York (2016)
	Joe Blocker	1977	drums percussion	none
	Kenwood Dennard	1977–1978 2016–2017		Livestock (1977) Timeline (1999) Live from San Francisco (2015) But Wait... There's More! (2017)
	J. Peter Robinson	1978–1980	keyboards synthesisers piano backing vocals	all Brand X releases from Masques (1978) to Is There Anything About? (1982) Live at the Roxy LA (1995) Live from Chicago (2015) Live from Stockholm (2016)
	Chuck Burgi	1978	drums percussion	Masques (1978) Live from Stockholm (2016)
	Mike Miller	1978 (temporary substitute)	guitar	Live from Chicago (2015) Live from Stockholm (2016)
	Mike Clark	1978–1979 1980	drums percussion	Product (1979) Do They Hurt? (1980) Live from Chicago (2015)
	John Giblin	1979 (studio)	bass backing vocals	Product (1979) Do They Hurt? (1980) Is There Anything About? (1982)
	Frank Katz	1992–1997	drums percussion vocals	X-Communication (1992) Manifest Destiny (1997) Timeline (1999)
	Marc Wagnon	1996–1997	synthesisers percussion	Manifest Destiny (1997)
	Kris Sjobring	1997–1999	keyboards synthesisers	none
	Pierre Moerlen	1997 (died 2005)	drums percussion
	Mick Stevens	1999	bass
	John Holmes		drums percussion

Timeline

Lineups

Period	Members	Releases
Mid – late 1974	Phil Spinelli – percussion, lead vocals John Goodsall – guitar, backing vocals Peter Bonas – guitar Percy Jones – bass Robin Lumley – keyboards, backing vocals John Dillon – drums, percussion	none
Late 1974 – early 1975	Phil Spinelli – percussion, lead vocals John Goodsall – guitar, backing vocals Peter Bonas – guitar Percy Jones – bass Robin Lumley – keyboards, backing vocals Phil Collins – drums, percussion
Early – late 1975	John Goodsall – guitar Percy Jones – bass Robin Lumley – keyboards, synthesisers Phil Collins – drums, percussion	Unorthodox Behaviour (1976)
November – December 1975	John Goodsall – guitar Percy Jones – bass Robin Lumley – keyboards, synthesisers Phil Collins – drums, percussion Bill Bruford – percussion	none
January – February 1976	John Goodsall – guitar Percy Jones – bass Robin Lumley – keyboards, synthesisers Phil Collins – drums, percussion Jeff Seopardie – percussion
February 1976	John Goodsall – guitar Percy Jones – bass Robin Lumley – keyboards, synthesisers Phil Collins – drums, percussion Andy Ward – percussion
February – August 1976	John Goodsall – guitar Percy Jones – bass Robin Lumley – keyboards, synthesisers Phil Collins – drums, percussion Preston Heyman – percussion	Missing Period (1997)
August – December 1976	John Goodsall – guitar Percy Jones – bass Robin Lumley – keyboards, synthesisers Phil Collins – drums, percussion Morris Pert – percussion	Moroccan Roll (1977) Livestock (1977) – two tracks Live from Ronnie Scotts (2015)
Early 1977	John Goodsall – guitar Percy Jones – bass Robin Lumley – keyboards, synthesisers Joe Blocker – drums, percussion Morris Pert – percussion	none
April 1977	John Goodsall – guitar Percy Jones – bass Robin Lumley – keyboards, synthesisers Phil Collins – drums, percussion Morris Pert – percussion	Livestock (1977) – one track
Spring 1977 – April 1978	John Goodsall – guitar Percy Jones – bass Robin Lumley – keyboards, synthesisers Kenwood Dennard – drums, percussion Morris Pert – percussion	Livestock (1977) – two tracks (features Collins as guest percussionist) Timeline (1999) Live in San Francisco (2015) Live from New York (2016)
May – July 1978	John Goodsall – guitar Percy Jones – bass J. Peter Robinson – keyboards, synthesisers Chuck Burgi – drums, percussion Morris Pert – percussion	Masques (1978)
July – August 1978	Percy Jones – bass J. Peter Robinson – keyboards, synthesisers Chuck Burgi – drums, percussion Morris Pert – percussion	none
August – October 1978	Mike Miller – guitar (temporary substitute) Percy Jones – bass J. Peter Robinson – keyboards, synthesisers Chuck Burgi – drums, percussion Morris Pert – percussion	Live from Stockholm (2016)
October – December 1978	Mike Miller – guitar (temporary substitute) Percy Jones – bass J. Peter Robinson – keyboards, synthesisers Mike Clark – drums, percussion Morris Pert – percussion	Live from Chicago (2015)
April 1979 (recording lineup #1)	John Goodsall – guitar John Giblin – bass Robin Lumley – keyboards, synthesisers Phil Collins – drums, percussion	Product (1979) Do They Hurt? (1980) Is There Anything About? (1982)
April 1979 (recording lineup #2)	John Goodsall – guitar Percy Jones – bass J. Peter Robinson – keyboards, synthesisers Mike Clark – drums, percussion
Summer – late 1979	John Goodsall – guitar Percy Jones – bass J. Peter Robinson – keyboards, synthesisers Robin Lumley – keyboards, synthesisers Phil Collins – drums, percussion	Live at the Roxy LA (1995)
Early – mid-1980	John Goodsall – guitar Percy Jones – bass J. Peter Robinson – keyboards, synthesisers Robin Lumley – keyboards, synthesisers Mike Clark – drums, percussion	none
Band inactive mid-1980 – mid-1992
Mid-1992 – February 1996	John Goodsall – guitar, keyboards Percy Jones – bass, keyboards Frank Katz – drums, percussion	X-Communication (1992) Timeline (1999)
February 1996 – early 1997	John Goodsall – guitar, keyboards Percy Jones – bass, keyboards Marc Wagnon – vibraphone, percussion Frank Katz – drums, percussion	Manifest Destiny (1997)
Early – summer 1997	John Goodsall – guitar, keyboards Percy Jones – bass, keyboards Kris Sjobring – keyboards, synthesisers Pierre Moerlen – drums, percussion	none
Spring – summer 1999	John Goodsall – guitar, keyboards Mick Stevens – bass Kris Sjobring – keyboards, synthesisers John Holmes – drums, percussion
Band inactive summer 1999 – summer 2016
Summer 2016 – spring 2017	John Goodsall – guitar Percy Jones – bass Chris Clark – keyboards, synthesisers Kenwood Dennard – drums Scott Weinberger – percussion	But Wait... There's More! (2017)
Spring 2017 – October 2020	John Goodsall – guitar Percy Jones – bass Chris Clark – keyboards, synthesisers Kenny Grohowski – drums Scott Weinberger – percussion	Locked & Loaded (2018) Live from the Rites of Spring Festival (2018)
October 2020 – present	John Goodsall – guitar Chris Clark – keyboards, synthesisers Kenny Grohowski – drums Scott Weinberger – percussion	none

References

1. Kelman, John (26 May 2018). "Brand X: Locked & Loaded". All About Jazz. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
2. "Brand X". Wolfgangs. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
3. Collins, Phil (20 October 2016). Not Dead Yet: The Autobiography. New York City, New York: Random House. p. 156. ISBN 978-1473536142. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
4. Gerlach, Steffen. "Brand X: An Unorthodox History (Part 1)". Genesis-News.com. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
5. Connolly, Dave. "Unorthodox Behaviour - Brand X: Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
6. Budofsky, Adam. "Brand X Missing Period". Modern Drummer. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
7. "'X' rated drummer" (PDF). Record Mirror. London, England: Spotlight Publications. 23 April 1977. p. 4. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
8. McGee, David; Taylor, Barry (18 June 1977). "New York, N.Y." (PDF). Record World. Vol. 34 no. 1564. New York City, New York: Record World Publishing. p. 16. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
9. McGee, David; Taylor, Barry (3 June 1978). "New York, N.Y." (PDF). Record World. Vol. 35 no. 1614. New York City, New York: Record World Publishing. p. 79. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
10. Gerlach, Steffen. "Brand X: An Unorthodox History (Part 2)". Genesis-News.com. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
11. Bogucki, Bruce (16 October 1979). "Brand X: Roxy, Los Angeles" (PDF). Billboard. New York City, New York: Billboard Publications. p. 46. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
12. Prasad, Anil (2017). "John Goodsall: Blazing new trails". Innerviews. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
13. Gerlach, Steffen. "Brand X: An Unorthodox History (Part 3)". Genesis-News.com. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
14. "Brand X "Manifest Destiny"". Guitar Nine. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
15. Smith, Sid (30 October 2017). "Brand X: We never took ourselves too seriously". Prog. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
16. Mettler, Mike (7 June 2017). "Brand X Let Us Know 'But Wait... There's More! Live 2017' Is Coming on July 20". Hi Res Audio Central. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
17. https://www.loudersound.com/news/percy-jones-quits-brand-x