Hatfield and the North was formed in the autumn of 1972.But its roots were older than that. Guitarist Phil Miller and drummerPip Pyle had played together in Delivery as early as 1966. Phil hadlater played with organist David Sinclair in Robert Wyatt's MatchingMole. And his brother Steve Miller, after Delivery's split, hadreplaced David Sinclair in Caravan, meeting David's cousin[bassist/vocalist] Richard Sinclair there.

During 1972, Pip Pyle, back from his stint with Gong in France,began to work with the Miller brothers and Richard Sinclair. Thiseventually led to the formation of a new line-up of Delivery. SteveMiller and Richard Sinclair left Caravan in the summer, and asMatching Mole slowly ground to a halt after the sessions for"Matching Mole's Little Red Record", Delivery played a few gigs inAugust-September. But Steve Miller eventually left, and RichardSinclair's cousin David joined the band, who then changed their nameto Hatfield and the North. This was not the end of Delivery,though : in early 1973, Steve Miller formed yet another line-up, withLol Coxhill on sax, Roy Babbington on bass and Laurie Allan on drums.The only testament left of Hatfield's early days is a FrenchTV program, featuring Hatfield and Robert Wyatt. This isapparently lost in the vaults of good old INA (Institut National del'Audiovisuel), or possibly destroyed. Anyone who viewed these tapesis welcome to tell us what they look like!

David Sinclair left Hatfield (in January 1973) for the samereasons as a few months earlier, when he'd quit Matching Mole: toomuch improvisation! He eventually rejoined Caravan, and was replacedby Dave Stewart. With Stewart on board, Hatfield really tookoff to unprecedented musical heights. In addition to his trademarkheavily-treated organ, Stewart was asked to use the Fender Rhodeselectric piano, which proved an unmistakeable feature ofHatfield's sound.

Between mid-1973 and early 1974, Hatfield and the Northrecorded their first album at the Manor Studios, after signing acontract with the Virgin label, then home of severalCanterbury-related groups and artists (Henry Cow, Robert Wyatt, MikeOldfield...). It was made up of compositions from all members, andwas predominantly instrumental. Dave Stewart was the most prolificwriter, penning almost half of the material.Phil Miller proved a verytalented crafter of melodies ("Calyx" and "Aigrette"). Pip Pyleprovided the excellent "Shaving Is Boring", with highly complex timesignatures and riffs. And Richard Sinclair wrote a few songs filledwith his whimsical / nonsense, typically British lyrics. The corequartet was supplemented by a prestigious cast of guest participants:Robert Wyatt, the Northettes (three female backing vocalists, friendsof Dave Stewart), and Geoff Leigh (still in Henry Cow at that time -sax and flute).

In October 1974, Hatfield and the North entered SaturnStudios in Worthing and recorded three songs there: two sides of asingle (released on November 15) - "Let's Eat (Real Soon)" (music byRichard Sinclair, lyrics by Pip Pyle), and "Fitter Stoke Has A Bath"(music and lyrics by Pip Pyle) - and a medley of Dave Stewart's epic"Your Majesty Is Like A Cream Donut" and Richard's song "Oh What ALonely Lifetime" (which later appeared on the Virgin "V" sampler).Needless to say, it was a flop. During the same period, Dave Stewartreunited with his former colleagues of Egg to record a posthumousthird album, containing material dating from the trio's latter days.

In January 1975, the four musicians returned to the studio, thistime Saturn Studios, to record their second, and unfortunately final,album: "The Rotters' Club". More than twenty years later, theresults are still as amazing as they used to be, although the band'ssound, making extensive use of effects and instruments typical of the70's, may appear a little dated. Of course, Dave Stewart's 20-minutemagnum opus, "Mumps", is the high point of Hatfield's short musicalcareer. Seeing this suite performed on stage, with its constantharmonic and rhythmic changes (has anyone scored this?!?), must havebeen something! The piece is actually made up of two differentcompositions : "Your Majesty Is Like A Cream Donut", presented in twoversions (quiet, loud); and "The Alphabet Song" mentioned as such inthe Virgin lyric archives. Maybe the latter does not fit in perfectlyin the whole, as suggested by the fade out before the reprise of"Your Majesty...". But this really is a minor criticism : this pieceis so good, its imperfection is only marginal.

The rest of the album is full of gems : from Phil Miller'sbossa-flavoured "Underdub", featuring one of the greatest FenderRhodes solos ever recorded (let's also mention the fuzz organ solo in"Mumps" and Jimmy Hastings' flute solo in Richard Sinclair's "Didn'tMatter Anyway" - they're both incredible and sends a chill down yourspine every time you listen to them!), to Pip Pyle's superb "FitterStoke Has A Bath", the ultimate Hatfield song. A masterpiece!

Alas, Hatfield broke up soon after recording this album.But its members kept working together : by 1977, Phil Miller, DaveStewart and Pip Pyle were all members of National Health (and RichardSinclair took part in some of their concerts that year, as guestvocalist); in 1980, Stewart and Pyle were reunited in the short-livedRapid Eye Movement; in 1982-85, Miller, Sinclair and Pyle were allmembers of In Cahoots; and in 1988, a track on Phil Miller's "SplitSeconds" ("Dada Soul"), featured Miller, Stewart and Sinclair. Let'salso mention Pyle's guest appearances on several early Stewart-Gaskinsongs (Miller also guested on one).

In 1990, Hatfield were briefly reunited for a TV show onUK's private Central Television channel. Well, almost... Dave Stewartdeclined the invitation, and was replaced by Pip Pyle'sthen-girlfriend and Equip'Out colleague, Sophia Domancich. Althoughan excellent jazz pianist, Domancich proved totally alien to theHatfield style, and the performance was closer to a mix of InCahoots and Equip'Out with occasional vocals by Richard Sinclair,than a recreation of Hatfield's spirit. Judged on its ownmerits, the gig was good : a good half was made up of newcompositions (Pip Pyle's epic "Shipwrecked" and Sophia Domancich's"Blot" (a.k.a. "Blott On The Landscape"), with a few classics thrownin ("Share It", "Halfway Between Heaven And Earth" and "Underdub",the latter not broadcast), as well as Equip'Out's "Cauliflower Ears"and Richard Sinclair's "Going For A Song" (with lyrics by Pip Pyle).

All former members of Hatfield and the North were reunitedon Pip Pyle's solo album "7 Year Itch" (1998), thanks to the magic ofmultitrack recording. Phil Miller and Dave Stewart both play onseveral tracks, and are joined by Richard Sinclair on the openingtrack "Seven Sisters", a song originally composed for NationalHealth. More recently, Phil Miller and Richard Sinclair have appeared together at several concerts, most memorably on the first two edition of the Progman Cometh festival in Seattle.