U.K.
U.K., 1978. L-R: John Wetton, Allan Holdsworth, Bill Bruford, and Eddie Jobson.
Background information
Origin	England
Genres	Progressive rock art rock[1]
Years active	1977–1980, 2011–2015
Labels	E.G. Polydor Virgin
Spinoffs	UKZ HoBoLeMa
Spinoff of	King Crimson Roxy Music
Past members	Eddie Jobson John Wetton Allan Holdsworth Bill Bruford Terry Bozzio

U.K. were a Britishprogressive rocksupergroup originally active from 1977 to 1980. The band was founded by bass guitaristJohn Wetton and drummerBill Bruford, formerly the rhythm section ofKing Crimson. The band was rounded out by violinist/keyboardistEddie Jobson, and guitaristAllan Holdsworth. Bruford and Holdsworth left in 1978, and Bruford was replaced by drummerTerry Bozzio. Jobson, Wetton and Bozzio reformed U.K. for a world tour in 2012.

In 1972, John Wetton (formerly of Family) and Bill Bruford (formerly of Yes) both joinedKing Crimson, recording three albums before guitaristRobert Fripp disbanded the group at the end of 1974.^[2] Wetton then spent a brief time withRoxy Music, who also includedEddie Jobson, before joiningUriah Heep for two albums. In July 1976, after leaving Uriah Heep, Wetton reconnected with Bruford, recording demos originally proposed for a Wetton solo album (two of these demos were later released on the compilationMonkey Business in 1998). In September 1976, they formed a band with keyboardistRick Wakeman, who had previously worked with Bruford in Yes. The project was stopped after rehearsals, by Wakeman's label. According to Bruford, "A&M Records were unwilling to let their 'star', Wakeman, walk off with a used, slightly soiled King Crimson rhythm section, and the idea failed".^{[citation needed]}

Bruford and Wetton next approached Robert Fripp to reform King Crimson.^[3] When Fripp eventually declined, Bruford and Wetton decided that each would choose a musician in order to form a new band. Wetton brought in Eddie Jobson, who since leaving Roxy Music in 1976 had joinedFrank Zappa's band, thus "stealing" him from Zappa. Bruford recruitedAllan Holdsworth (formerly ofSoft Machine,Nucleus,Gong, Tempest andThe Tony Williams Lifetime) who had played on Bruford's debut solo album,Feels Good to Me (1978).^{[citation needed]}

The band's formation coincided with the introduction of theYamaha CS-80 synthesizer, and this instrument became an integral part of their developing sound.^[4]

U.K. released theirself-titled debut album in 1978 and followed it with a supporting tour. Following two lengthy American tours (June to October 1978), Wetton and Jobson decided to fire Holdsworth over musical differences, and since Bruford had indicated to Wetton that he would favour Holdsworth’s more improvisational approach in the event of a disagreement on the direction of the band, they lined upTerry Bozzio (another former Zappa band member) to replace Bruford.^[5] Bruford took several instrumentals with him that he had developed for the live U.K. repertoire ("Forever Until Sunday", "Sahara of Snow”), that he instead recorded with his solo band Bruford on his second albumOne of a Kind (1979).

U.K. attempted unsuccessfully to find another guitarist, notably auditioning a then-unknownSteve Vai,^[6] before resolving to continue as a trio.^[7] They recorded the studio albumDanger Money, released in March 1979, and spent much of that year touring North America as opening act forJethro Tull. The album spawned a minor hit single, "Nothing to Lose", which reached number 67 on the UK charts.^[8] A live album,Night After Night, was recorded in Japan that spring and released in September 1979. Following a final European tour in December 1979, and in spite of plans to record a new studio album in America in March 1980, U.K. disbanded as Jobson and Wetton had different ideas on how the band should develop. Jobson wanted UK to go on with more long instrumental pieces, while Wetton thought that performing shorter, more commercial songs was a better idea.^[9] Jobson stated that one particularly pop-oriented song contributed to the band dissolving: "When Will You Realize",^[10] a non-LP B-side featured on the "Night After Night" single, which Wetton would re-record (with slightly different lyrics) in 1980 on his solo albumCaught in the Crossfire.

Jobson worked withJethro Tull on the albumA (1980) and went on to a solo career. Wetton, following the recording of his solo albumCaught in the Crossfire (summer 1980) and a brief stint withWishbone Ash (October–December 1980), eventually left E.G. Records to sign withGeffen Records and ex-Yes manager Brian Lane and startedAsia withSteve Howe,Carl Palmer andGeoffrey Downes. Bozzio formedMissing Persons with his then-wifeDale Bozzio, guitaristWarren Cuccurullo, bassistPatrick O'Hearn andChuck Wild on keyboards– the first four also from line-ups with Zappa. Holdsworth and Bozzio played together inHoBoLeMa almost three decades later. John Wetton and Allan Holdsworth both died in 2017.

From 1995 to 1998, Jobson and Wetton worked together on a proposed U.K. reunion album, also recording contributions by Bruford,Tony Levin,Steve Hackett andFrancis Dunnery. When Wetton departed, "Legacy" became an Eddie Jobson solo project, with Wetton replaced on vocals by Aaron Lippert. However, Jobson eventually abandoned this project. Three tracks intended for it were included onVoices of Life, a compilation by Bulgarian Women's Choir organised by Jobson.^[11]

In October 2007, Jobson announced a new band,UKZ, with Lippert and former King Crimson bassist/guitaristTrey Gunn among others, which released an EP called "Radiation" in March 2009. In late 2009, Jobson and Wetton both talked about a possible reunion of U.K. A reunion tour in February/March 2010 with Jobson, Wetton,Marco Minnemann on drums (from UKZ) andGreg Howe (Victor Wooten, Vitalij Kuprij,Michael Jackson) on guitar was described to promoters, but would not happen until 2011.

Wetton and Jobson performed three concerts in Poland in November 2009 as part of Jobson's Ultimate Zero (U-Z) project. The line-up also featured Minnemann, Howe, andTony Levin (stick). They performed music from UK andKing Crimson. A CD compiled from various U-Z performances from 2009, entitledUltimate Zero Tour - Live, including multiple tracks from the Polish shows, was then released.^[12]

It was announced on 11 February 2011, and later confirmed by John Wetton on his website, that U.K. had reformed to play two shows in Japan on 15 and 16 April 2011. The line-up was Jobson and Wetton, with Minnemann andAlex Machacek performing drums and guitar respectively. US dates, including a show in San Francisco, were also announced and performed in April 2011. A DVD called "Reunion: Live in Tokyo" was culled from these shows and officially released in 2013.

Bozzio then rejoined for an American tour in 2012. The line-up for the subsequent European tour included additional musiciansGary Husband (drums) and a returning Alex Machacek on guitar.

In 2013, U.K. did an "Azure Seas" tour with Machacek once again taking on guitar duties, and an East Coast tour withVirgil Donati performing drumming duties in place of Bozzio, who had once again departed the band. On 8 November of the same year, the band did also a special concert performance of their two studio albums inKawasaki, in Japan. The drummer for that special concert was Marco Minnemann.

U.K. appeared in the 2014 edition ofCruise to the Edge progressive rock festival. The line-up once again included both Machacek and Donati. In 2015 the band announced their final world tour, with the band being joined by Donati and Machacek. Donati was then replaced by thenDream Theater drummerMike Mangini for the final dates in the USA and Japan.

Throughout their brief existence, U.K.'s music was characterised by skilled musicianship, jazzy harmonies, close harmony vocals, mixed meters, electric violin solos, and unusually variedsynthesiser (Yamaha CS-80) sonorities. Relative to specific styles, the band spans various genres ranging from progressive rock to jazz fusion.

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• English progressive rock groups
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• E.G. Records artists
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• British rock music supergroups
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• 1977 establishments in England
• 2015 disestablishments in England

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