Representative Albums: "The Argent Anthology: A Collection of Greatest Hits," "All Together Now," "Argent/Ring of Hands"
Representative Songs: "Hold Your Head Up," "God Gave Rock and Roll to You," "It's Only Money, Pt. 1"
Biography
After the Zombies broke up, keyboardist/songwriter Rod Argent formed his own band in 1969, which incorporated more classical, jazz, and art rock influences in accordance with Argent's musical training. The group's other members were guitarist/songwriter Russ Ballard, bassist Jim Rodford, and drummer Bob Henrit. Argent's first two albums, Argent and Ring of Hands, received a fair amount of critical acclaim, but their real breakthrough came with 1972's All Together Now, which contained the Top Five smash "Hold Your Head Up"; In Deep produced a minor hit in "God Gave Rock 'N' Roll to You," which was covered by Kiss in 1992. By 1974, Ballard had developed his songwriting talents enough to leave for a solo career (Three Dog Night had a Top Ten single in 1971 with his "Liar," from Argent), and was replaced by guitarist John Verity and string player John Grimaldi. Without Ballard, the group lost its focus and indulged its tendencies toward extended art rock passages and improvisational solos to somewhat excessive levels. Argent broke up in 1976; Rodford joined the Kinks, while Argent himself recorded several solo albums and became a record producer, working with Tanita Tikaram, among others. ~ Steve Huey, All Music Guide
Rod Argent, Chris White (former Zombies bassist) and Russ Ballard were the group's songwriters. Some of Ballard's compositions became hits when they were covered by other artists, including Kiss, Rainbow, Hello and Santana.
When Ballard left in 1974, he was replaced by guitarist/vocalist John Verity and guitarist John Grimaldi and there followed a period of intense recording and touring until the band decided to come off the road late in 1976. Rodford, Henrit and Verity briefly continued together under the name Phoenix before going their separate ways, with first Rodford and then Henrit becoming members of The Kinks.
The sound of the band was a mix of rock and pop, but also covered more progressive rock territory in songs like "The Coming of Kohoutek," an instrumental from their Nexus album. When Ballard left the band after Encore, they took an even more progressive/fusion turn with their final Epic album Circus and then signed to a new record label (United Artists) for the final 1975 albumCounterpoints. By 2005, all albums, including compilations, have been re-released on CD, except Counterpoints.
