70s prog rockers Absolute Elsewhere finally release second album Playground

Absolute Elsewhere
(Image credit: Press)

Absolute Elsewhere, a mid-70s UK prog rock band who at various points featured both former King Crimson drummers Bill Bruford and Andrew McCulloch, have finally had their second album, Playground, released on Jambco Records.

The band were originally signed to Warner Bros. by former Beatles publicist and manager of Apple Records, MD Derek Taylor, and recorded and released their 1976 debut album, the instrumental In Seach of Ancient Gods, which was inspired by the writings of Erich von Däniken, and featured Bruford on drums.

Musically the band were the brainchild of keyboardist and flautist Paul Fishman and also featured Jon Astrop on bass and Phil Saatchi and guitar and mixed progressive rock with a more electronic sound.

You may like

The same core trio recorded a follow-up, Playground, which this time featured McCulloch on drums, and in which Fishman, Astrop and Saatchi all added vocals into the mix. However with punk rock in the ascendency, the record label lost all interest and the album languished in the label's vaults.

Rediscovered earlier this year, the album has been remastered and is now available through streaming and download services. You can listen to the album in full with the embed player below.

Fishman would go on to form new wave/electronic band Re-Flex, who had a hit in 1983 with The Politics Of Dancing, and has continued to work in the field of electronic music. Astrop is still a musician, producer and writer who co-wrote Sam Fox's 1986 hit Touch Me (I Want To Feel Your Body) and Saatchi, the younger brother of the famous Charles and Maurice Saatchi was signed to A&M for a solo career.

Absolute Elsewhere

(Image credit: Jambo Records)

Absolute Elsewhere: Playground
1. Relax
2. Time to Change
3. Talk to Me
4. The 7 Year Itch
5. Elementary Fools
6. It Doesn't Take A Burglar Long To Fall In Love
7. The Nine Other Worst Dressed Men
8. Tides

Jerry Ewing

Writer and broadcaster Jerry Ewing is the Editor of Prog Magazine which he founded for Future Publishing in 2009. He grew up in Sydney and began his writing career in London for Metal Forces magazine in 1989. He has since written for Metal Hammer, Maxim, Vox, Stuff and Bizarre magazines, among others. He created and edited Classic Rock Magazine for Dennis Publishing in 1998 and is the author of a variety of books on both music and sport, including Wonderous Stories; A Journey Through The Landscape Of Progressive Rock.

Read more
Marillion group portrait
New book sheds further light on the rise of Marillion, Pallas, Twelfth Night, and the 80s prog revival
Godley & Creme – Parts of the Process
“A universe of strangeness and charm”: Parts Of The Process – The Complete Godley & Creme is a trip into a subversive, mischievous world of erratic genius
Captain Sensible
“Posh tossers singing about nothing because they had nothing to protest about… it was part of the job to destroy Genesis and Yes”: Punk pioneer Captain Sensible loved plenty of prog – but had to hide it
Andy Summers and Robert Fripp publicity photo
Andy Summers and Robert Fripp's Complete Works 1981-1984 to be released in March
Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe: An Evening Of Yes Music cover art
"The sound does not do the band justice": The Yes soap opera reruns on Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe's live An Evening Of Yes Music Plus
Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe – And Evening of Yes Music Plus
“Their own songs, freed from the dated sonics of their recorded counterparts, benefit most from the live treatment”: Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe’s An Evening Of Yes Music Plus returns in 4-disc set
Latest in
Queen posing for a photograph in 1978
"Freddie’s ideas were off the wall and cheeky and different, and we tended to encourage them, but sometimes they were not brilliant.” Queen's Brian May reveals one of Freddie Mercury's grand ideas that got vetoed by the rest of the band
Mogwai
“The concept of cool and uncool is completely gone, which is good and bad… people are unashamedly listening to Rick Astley. You’ve got to draw a line somewhere!” Mogwai and the making of prog-curious album The Bad Fire
Adrian Smith performing with Iron Maiden in 2024
Adrian Smith names his favourite Iron Maiden song, even though it’s “awkward” to play
Robert Smith, Lauren Mayberry, Bono
How your purchase of albums by The Cure, U2, Chvrches and more on Record Store Day can help benefit children living in war zones worldwide
Cradle Of Filth performing in 2021 and Ed Sheeran in 2024
Cradle Of Filth’s singer claims Ed Sheeran tried to turn a Toys R Us into a live music venue
The Beatles in 1962
"The quality is unreal. How is this even possible to have?" Record shop owner finds 1962 Beatles' audition tape that a British label famously decided wasn't good enough to earn Lennon and McCartney's band a record deal
Latest in News
Queen posing for a photograph in 1978
"Freddie’s ideas were off the wall and cheeky and different, and we tended to encourage them, but sometimes they were not brilliant.” Queen's Brian May reveals one of Freddie Mercury's grand ideas that got vetoed by the rest of the band
Adrian Smith performing with Iron Maiden in 2024
Adrian Smith names his favourite Iron Maiden song, even though it’s “awkward” to play
Robert Smith, Lauren Mayberry, Bono
How your purchase of albums by The Cure, U2, Chvrches and more on Record Store Day can help benefit children living in war zones worldwide
Cradle Of Filth performing in 2021 and Ed Sheeran in 2024
Cradle Of Filth’s singer claims Ed Sheeran tried to turn a Toys R Us into a live music venue
The Beatles in 1962
"The quality is unreal. How is this even possible to have?" Record shop owner finds 1962 Beatles' audition tape that a British label famously decided wasn't good enough to earn Lennon and McCartney's band a record deal
Lizzo and Sister Rosetta Tharpe onstage
"This is my baby, my passion – because Rosetta deserves": Lizzo to play rock'n'roll pioneer Sister Rosetta Tharpe in upcoming biopic