This Celtic rock band were put together in Edinburgh, Scotland, in the 1970s and comprised Richard Cherns on keyboards, Les Cockburn on the fiddle and mandolin, Steve Moss on guitar with the vocals supplied by the singer Erne Parkin
They became very popular in their native Scotland and aside from the gigs they played across the country they also got their name known as a regular performer at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Although they did record songs like “Radio” and “Mellow Yellow” on the Spark label in the mid 1970s they were not a professional group until they were urged to become so as their time together went on. This brought on a split in the group as some of the band wanted to stay working on a part-time bases but the other half decided to forge ahead.
Within a couple of years they decided to all get back together though and with the addition of Billy Milne on drums and Roy Marin on bass, they started to tour again as The Medium Wave Band II.
Their style of rock and traditional Celtic music found them changing their name to Avalon and releasing the single “The Ballrooms of Romance” in 1984. This led to their debut album Rocky Roads in 1985, appearances at festivals and European tours.
In 1987 they released Heavy Hearts and aside from their touring schedule they also made several appearances on several European radio and TV shows. This also gave them the first opportunity to perform in England at the 1990 Cropredy Festival.
In 1992 John O Rourke replaced Richard Cherns on keyboards after he went off to join the very successful Celtic group Run Rig. That same year they released Higher Ground and headlined at a Danish music festival. It was then that Erne Parkin left the band and they took on the singers Stuart Borland and Sheila McWhirter. They changed their music style to allow different tempos and harmonies and released the 1998 album Second Sight and continue to keep a loyal fan base.
In the new millennium they performed at the 2000 Celtic music festival in Brittany, France, and then finally disbanded in 2002 after performing at the Lorient festival. Sheila McWhirter and Stuart Borland went on to form Orain with the occasional input from Roy Martin and John O’Rourke but they finally went their own ways after about a year.
The Medium Wave Band Recordings
Mellow Yellow (Donovan Leitch)
Spark SRL 1140
Disney Girls (1957) (Bruce Johnston)
Spark SRL 1140
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