IAN MOSLEY

Biography

Bands/Discography:

Solo albums (under the name Iris): Very technical drummer, he's now very famous for being Marillion's drummer, but he has a very solid career, belonging to some of the finest progressive bands. Ian 'Francesco' Mosley was born on June 16, 1953, in Paddington, London, England.

DARRYL WAY'S WOLF  

Darryl Way is a terrific violin player. Very skilled, he was a great attraction in the band Curved Air. But he left the band to form his own combo, in December 1972.

A superb lineup. Later, all of them were in great bands (Etheridge in Soft Machine; Messecar in my much loved Caravan).

They released three albums in 1973 and 1974. Their first effort, Canis lupus was produced by ex-King Crimson member (later a founder of Foreigner) Ian McDonald. Later, they get a lead singer, J.W. Hodgkinson (from the great band If).

But, unfortunately, they split soon later, in August 1974. Darryl Way returned to Curved Air.

In Ian's own words: "Wolf wasn't a permanent band, it was a band around Darryl Way, they didn't exist as a group, because we hardly toured. The same happened in the period I was in Renaissance".

TRACE  

This Dutch band evolved from another one, Ekseption. The great keyboardist Rick Van Der Linden was the leader. They released a first album, where Rick's brother (Pierre Van Der Linden) was the drummer. Later, Ian joins the band when Pierre leaves:

Mosley's former boss, Darryl Way, guests on violin in their second album, Birds. After this album, Ian and Jaap leave the band.

GORDON GILTRAP  

This fine guitarist (mostly acoustic, although he also uses electric guitar), has always had very good musicians in his bands. I don't know when Ian joined him. Any help?.

They released a studio album, The peacock party. This album is very good, and its cover is incredibly beautiful! The list of musicians is: Gordon Giltrap (guitar), Bimbo Acock (sax, flute, clarinet), Rod Edwards (keyboards), Richard Harvey (recorders, soprano crumhorn), Ian Mosley (drums), John G. Perry (bass), John Gustafson (bass on 2 tracks), Morris Pert (percussion), Ric Sanders (violin), Eddy Spence (keyboards). My favourite track is "Dodo's dream".

In Ian's own words: "I recorded a very beautiful album with Gordon".

There's also a live album, simply called Live.

STEVE HACKETT BAND  

Then, Ian switches from a great guitarist, Gordon Giltrap, to another superb one, Steve Hackett. He was one of Genesis guitar players, and his solo albums are really very beautiful. The lineup that played at Reading Festival in 1981 promoting the album Cured was:

Hackett always had great players in his band (for example, Chas Cronk came from the great band Strawbs). Around 1983, the band was: They released Highly strung with Nigel Warren-Green on cello. Their next album, Till we have faces, features Steve Hackett, Nick Magnus and Ian Mosley, plus some Brazilian players.

Around 1983, Ian left the band. It was later released a live album, Time lapse, with songs recorded from two different lineups and periods. Seven tracks were recorded on November 1981, with the S.Hackett/J.Hackett/Cronk/Magnus/Mosley lineup.

RENAISSANCE  

The lineup of this great band since 1981 was:

The album Time line features the band, plus some usual musicians from Steve Hackett band: Bimbo Acock (sax), Nick Magnus (keyboards), Ian Mosley (drums). Also with Eddie Hardin (keyboards), Rod Edwards (keyboards), Gavin Harrison (drums), Dave Dowle (drums) and former member John Tout. CHECK ABOUT "Song from renaissance days"!!!!!!!

I always had thought that Steve played here just a sessionman, but in an interview, Ian said he was part of the band, although in those days, the band didn't tour.

MARILLION  

His most succesful band. They are really great, no matter what people could say in the beginning about being Genesis clones. They are superb, very technical, great players, and their songs are very good. That is, I like them a lot! :)


(left: original album cover; right: remastered album cover)

Fugazi was the first Marillion album where Ian played. It was recorded from November 1983 to February 1984. It's a great album, I love all the songs in it. It was the first Marillion album I heard. Initially, Ian was hired as a sessionman to play in it, but the results were so great, that he was asked to join the band as a full member.

Real to reel was originally a live mini-LP, recorded in March & June 1984. Superb playing and singing. They played in Spain in July 1984, in a festival in Calpe with the great, much-missed Rory Gallagher and Dave Edmunds.

Misplaced childhood was the new album in 1985. Later, in 1986, it was released the mini-LP Brief encounter. Originally it was released only in the States. It contains 3 live tracks and 2 unreleased studio tracks.

Next album was Clutching at straws, with fantastic tracks, such as 'The last straw'. But, after this album, Fish announced he left the band. It was released a 2CD live album, The thieving magpie (La gazza ladra), recorded on different tours.

(Marillion as a quartet, when they were searching for a new vocalist)

His substitute was Steve Hogarth (from the band Europeans).

They remain that way till now, with many more albums released. In their 1994 album, Brave, we can find again Darryl Way guesting.

Marillion's Afraid of sunlight cover

Marillion's This strange engine cover

Finally, a new album by Marillion has seen the light of day in September 1998. It's called Radiation. A great album cover, by the way!

Most of Marillion albums have been reissued, remastered and with an additional CD with bonus tracks. A great idea for fans!

SOLO ALBUMS

Ian has released a solo album, but not under his name, but credited to Iris. They are really:

Trewavas and Mosley are current Marillion members, and Sylvain was a member of progressive band Arrakeen.

Sessions

Press here to read about Ian Mosley sessions

Links related

Family tree

Coming soon (I hope so!).

Thanks section:

Thanks to: Santi Prats for telling me about some errors and for great help; Isabel Reyes & Alfredo Vigon for support; Alex Gitlin, for info on Ian's Dutch sessions.


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Page created by Miguel Terol on: 06/March/1998. Last modified on: 09/February/2000.