Sky were absolutely brilliant.
I can remember first hearing about them in the summer of 1978, when their formation was announced. It wasn't until 1980, however, that I eventually heard and saw them on Top of the Pops playing Toccata. I was absolutely blown away and became a fan there and then.
A few points of trivia:
Francis also plays on Brian Bennett's album Voyage - which really has to be in everyone's record collection. It was released commercially and as a library album with the titles changed.
Steve Gray, who replaced Francis in sky, also worked extensively with the Shadows and, in particular, Brian.
Hank guested on stage with sky in, I think, 1990, on their Australian tour. By now Hank had moved to Perth and was asked to get up and play Toccata with them as an encore. Apparently the crowd went wild. By the way, on that tour Steve was augmented on keyboards by none other than Rick Wakeman!
Sky released a live album in 1983, called sky five live, which was recorded in Australia in 1982. The album was a mixture of new material and their established classics, such as Hotta and Sahara. However, prior to this, they demo-ed the new tracks for the album in Abbey Road and the results really were (or are) worthy of being released on CD.
Francis is quite approachable and can be contacted via his website
http://www.afkm.comOh yes, and they were managed by Peter Lyster-Todd, who is currently, I believe, involved with the Cliff and the Shadows reunion tours.
And finally, if anyone has a video recording of
sky live at the Hammersmith Odeon, broadcast in the summer of 1980 on BBC2, then I will pay you virtually any amount of money for it. I have been trying to get hold of this for 30 years with no luck! There was a copy in the library in Perth, but living in the UK, I was never able to take advantage of this fact!!!!
I might also add that another member of this forum has asked me to write a piece on sky for his website, which I am very happy to do and flattered to be asked. Sorry it's not arrived yet, but I don't get much time on the computer these days!
All in all, sky were brilliant (individually and as a band) and I rate them almost as highly as I do the Shads...