DANGERFIELD – 1969 -1970
The Elastik Band became Dangerfield in 1969, when Universal (UNI) decided the band needed a refresh to reflect their change in music style of the time. Dangerfield was essentially the same players as EB with the addition of one new member, Gary Duckworth (vocals on Rockpile)…. but the music changed quite a bit.
Dangerfield started experimenting with underground rock and embellishing more – doing variations on melodies, opening up the songs and letting each other ad-lib at will. Gigs were changing and the audiences were expecting more than a 3-minute tune with a hook. Dangerfield departed from the genre of Top-40 and pop, doing more experimental music and harder rock. It was a different approach, feel, and sound than what The Elastik Band previously had done.
Though the band music remained unique, there were very subtle hints of vocal influence from popular bands in some of their songs like The Association in “Wouldn’t You Dare” –or- “Taste Of Love”, and musical interludes or soundscape impressions similar to Iron Butterfly as in “Iconoclast” or “Frizzle Frazzle Gal”.
The band continued to click but eventually when UNI defaulted on the recording contract by not releasing songs as agreed, Dangerfield asked to be released from their agreement. For a year or so UNI procrastinated and at one point threatened to take the band's equipment away from them, but eventually relented and released them from their contract in 1970.
After so many years of effort with not much to show for it, several members decided to give up the idea of being a professional musician completely and the band broke up. Cortopassi and Williams went on to create a new band called MAX.
Other members who left fell into an eternal musical abyss, hitch-hiked to the Antarctic and joined a monastery to become monks endlessly singing Gregorian Chants while dedicating their lives to making ice sculptures with chainsaws. (Joke)
Admittedly there is a hazy line between The Elastik Band and Dangerfield years. During the transition, some acetates and tapes were marked by engineers as The Elastik Band while some others were marked Dangerfield. But there is a definitive point when what was recorded became Dangerfield rather than The Elastik Band.
UNI recorded an album worth of Dangerfield material but again, as with The Elastik Band material, most was never published. One 45 entitled “Zig Zag Man” backed by “Rockpile” was released on KAPP Records in 1969. The Elastik Band CD released in 2007 by Cortopassi on the Digital Cellars label is considered to be music associated with that name and most of the material is prior to UNI. A CD of Dangerfield material is currently under consideration by Cortopassi.