KEVIN PEEK

Kevin Peek was born in Adelaide in 1946 and initially played classical percussion at the Adelaide Conservatorium of Music, before teaching himself the guitar. In 1965 he joined Johnny Broome and The Handels which performed at The Octagon and the Salisbury Youth Centre weekly in Elizabeth. The band released one single on the W&G label ''Dos and Don'ts / Didn't Know Her Name'' in 1965 which reached #41 on 5DN's Big 60 for four weeks. They impressed Ken Pitt who was the manager for both Manfred Mann and the Animals in 1965, and they were summoned to London to play a season at the famous Marquee Club. In 1967 Peek formed the psychedelic pop, progressive rock group, James Taylor Move with his old band mates Alan Tarney and Trevor Spencer from the Handels. The band recorded a couple of singles on the Festival label but he left by May 1968, moving to London.

He joined newly formed rock band Quartet which, despite a contract from England's Decca Records, proved artistically unsuccessful. They released a couple of singles that went nowhere. He and his fellow bandmates—guitarist Terry Britten, bassist Alan Tarney, and drummer Trevor Spencer—made their livings as session musicians together, playing with everyone from the New Seekers and Mary Hopkin to Cliff Richard, whose regular backing band they became on stage and on record during the 1970s. Peek also worked with Manfred Mann, Lulu, Tom Jones, Jeff Wayne (War of the Worlds), and Shirley Bassey, among others. He wrote the music for the internationally broadcast "Singapore Girl" television advertisements for Singapore Airlines.

In 1979, he joined the classical/progressive rock quintet Sky. In association with fellow Australian classical guitarist John Williams, keyboardist Francis Monkman, bassist Herbie Flowers, and drummer Tristan Fry, Peek played on seven studio albums with the band, before departing in 1985. Peek recorded three albums—'Guitar Junction', 'Awakening', and 'Life & Other Games'— but achieved greater prominence through his work with Sky and his session work with Olivia Newton-John, Kiki Dee, Sally Oldfield, the Alan Parsons Project, and the London Symphony Orchestra (in association with Francis Monkman on their Symphonic Rock: British Invasion releases). He also played on various soundtracks, including Monkman's music for The Long Good Friday. Peek only had a tiny number of releases in Australia compared to a large output in Europe.

Peek was jailed for three years in 1994 for 28 counts of fraud over a scheme in which he admitted faking information provided to factoring financier Scottish Pacific. Following a failed business venture and bankruptcy, in 2010 he was again prosecuted in Perth, Western Australia on two counts of making a false statement to deceive or defraud. A full trial was originally scheduled for 2011, later adjourned until 2012 and ultimately never took place. Peek died of melanoma in a Perth hospice on 11 February 2013, aged 66 years.

SINGLES
''Sail Plane / Sidewinder'' 1981 Ariola

ALBUMS

'Awakening' 1981 Ariola

'Life And Other Games' 1982 Ariola

References

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Peek