Years active 1968-1976 Genres Folk rock, Sunshine pop | Origin London, United Kingdom | |
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Past members Barry Alexander
Gabrielle Field
Kathy Manuell
Jeff Matthews
John Mulcahy-Morgan
Geoff Ramseyer
Tony Smith Record labels Capitol Records, Epic Records, EMI Records, Regal Zonophone Records, RPM Records Similar Snoop Dogg, Buddy DeSylva, Johnny Mercer, Marvin Humes, LA Reid | ||
Design was a British vocal group of the early 1970s and its members were Barry Alexander, Gabrielle Field, Kathy Manuell, Jeff Matthews, John Mulcahy-Morgan and Geoff Ramseyer. Their musical style has been described as folk rock 'with intricate and appealing harmonies and an interesting psychedelic twist' and 'sunshine harmony pop with a light hippy vibe' and is now called sunshine pop. Design released 13 singles and 5 albums in the UK and appeared on more than 50 television shows before they split up in 1976.
Contents
Barry Alexander, Jeff Matthews and Geoff Ramseyer all played guitar in addition to singing, while Barry also played keyboards. Gabrielle Field occasionally played tenor recorder.
History
Design was formed as a six-piece vocal group by singer and songwriter Tony Smith while he was working at the BBC in London in December 1968. The group signed a recording contract with Adrian Kerridge at Lansdowne Studios and recorded their first album Design during 1969. This led to a two-album deal with Epic Records in the USA.
When Tony Smith left the group in November 1970, he was replaced by guitarist Jeff Matthews. After this line-up appeared on The Morecambe and Wise Show in 1971 Design became one of the most televised groups in the UK, making guest appearances on dozens of TV shows with The Two Ronnies, Benny Hill, Val Doonican, Rolf Harris, Cilla Black, Tommy Cooper, and many others. They recorded the albums Tomorrow Is So Far Away, Day Of The Fox and In Flight before Gabrielle Field and Geoff Ramseyer left the group in October 1974.
The remaining foursome recorded the album By Design before finally disbanding in October 1976.
Albums
On 20 June 2011, RPM Records released four of Design's albums (excluding By Design) for the first time on CD and on iTunes. On 22 October 2012, RPM released a third CD of singles, demos and unreleased recordings by Design called One Sunny Day: Singles and Rarities 1968-1978.