Day Of The Dreamer
On their 1978 album, A Song For All Seasons, Renaissance ditched the big concepts and teamed up with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra to give their symphonic sound a bolder and brighter edge. The stunning results yielded their only UK Top 10 single, Northern Lights, which takes centre stage on a new vinyl reissue. Vocalist Annie Haslam revisits the audition, stage invasions and Top Of The Pops appearances that led to the album becoming one of their best-loved releases.
Words: Chris Wheatley
Renaissance, L-R: Terry Sullivan, Michael Dunford, Annie Haslam, Jon Camp, John Tout.
PRESS/RENAISSANCE ARCHIVES/ESOTERIC
The late 1970s were a challenging time for prog in the UK, but Renaissance tackled the punk tsunami that was engulfing the country by releasing what’s since become their most successful work.
A Song For All Seasons spawned their only UK Top 10 single, and, for many fans, marked the end of their classic era. Moving away from 1975’s full-blown concept album, Scheherazade And Other Stories, and the folk vibe of their original line-up, the band’s eighth studio album was packed with symphonic drama and driven by Annie Haslam’s stunning vocals.
Forty-five years after its release, Haslam remains the only active member from that into progressive music began by accident. “I wanted to be a dress designer,” she explains on a call from her home in Pennsylvania, USA.
“I was an apprentice at a Savile Row tailor and the recession came and they had to let me go. Then I went to this other place. They gave me a book to do some drawings in and come up with ideas, they had me there for a week and I did loads of designs.