Tuesday, 13 January 2026

Namesakes #172: Pilot


Can you fly this plane, and land it?

Surely you can't be serious.

I am serious... and don't call me Shirley.


Here are some songs sung by Pilots... but which ones would you fly with?


PILOT #1

A collage of men playing guitar

AI-generated content may be incorrect.

We kick off today in the glorious year of 1972 with a Proggy Pilot, formed in London, though the guitarist and lead singer were American and the bassist was a Kiwi. The other two members were also in Rod Stewart’s backing band.

Pilot - Rider

 

PILOT #2

A group of men posing for a photo

AI-generated content may be incorrect.

When former Bay City Rollers “substitutes” David Paton & Billy Lyall got sick of sitting on the bench in 1973, they formed Pilot… flying high for a couple of years before their plane encountered engine difficulties. Lyall went solo, with Phil Collins on drums… and I guess he missed again.

Because it’s January, I’m going to have to choose the tune below – sorry, George. I know it'll be the wrong one.

Pilot - Magic


PILOT #3

A group of men standing in a forest

AI-generated content may be incorrect.

Took me a while to track this one down. The songwriter here is one J. Michael Nuccio, later known as Michael James, who also appeared to have led the bands Omaha Pilot, Pilot and Pilot III. This, from 1971, is the one that concerns us today…

Pilot - For Your Children to See


PILOT #4

A group of men posing for a photo

AI-generated content may be incorrect.

Dutch Pilot from 1974, rather obsessed with Buddy Holly. An unfortunate choice of band name given what happened to Buddy.

Pilot – Oh Buddy Holly

 

PILOT #5

A yellow record with black text

AI-generated content may be incorrect.

LA hard rock Pilot from 1980 – I couldn’t find a picture, but I love the typewritten record sleeve. Reminds me of some of my first zines back in the mid-80s.

Pilot – Star Like Me


PILOT #6

A collage of a person holding a microphone

AI-generated content may be incorrect.

A one trip only collaboration from 1984, featuring co-pilots Will Downing and soon-to-be-in-demand producer Shep Pettibone.

Pilot - You Are The One

 

PILOT #7

A book with a group of people on it

AI-generated content may be incorrect.

Portland Oregon Pilot, struggling to take off in 1993…

Pilot - Another Day Has Begun


PILOT #8

A group of men wearing goggles

AI-generated content may be incorrect.

A Russian PilOt – with a Big O - founded by Ilya Knabengof in 1997.

PilOt - Сердце машины


PILOT #9

A group of people standing together

AI-generated content may be incorrect.

Swedish electronic Euro-house pop band who switched on the autopilot in 1998 and appear to have been racking up the air miles ever since.

Pilot - You Better Get Used to It


PILOT #10

A group of men in shiny clothes

AI-generated content may be incorrect.

Although the tube of you confuses these guys with the Russian Pilot above (not the Russian Pilot below), the Og of Discs informs me that they’re actually from Kazakhstan in 2003. They look and sound very different to the Russkies.

Pilot - Белый снег

 

PILOT #11

A person wearing headphones and a black shirt

AI-generated content may be incorrect.

Another Russian Pilot – presumably of a MiG-23 – DJ Сергей Ткачев (Sergey Tkachev) was piloting the decks with this one in 2006…

Pilot – Crash My Heart


PILOTE #12

A person in a coat holding a guitar

AI-generated content may be incorrect.

Next we have a Pilot who takes an E… probably the last thing you want from your Jet 2 Holiday. Stuart Cullen is from Somerset and spent most of the 90s and 00s releasing “intelligent dance music” before shifting focus to folk and bluegrass in the mid 2010s. Obviously I chose one of his latter efforts.

 Pilote – Shapeshifter Blues

 

PILOT #13

A Boston punk Pilot, touching down briefly in 2013…

Pilot - Vision

 

PILOT #14


And we blow out the pilot light today with this “progressive psychedelic trance project” from Denmark’s Peter Pagh, aka PiLot.

PiLOt – Dancing Elephants


Which is your Top Gun... and which one do you want to drop?


6 comments:

  1. I wouldn't vote for #2 regardless of the song. #1 is the one to beat

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. as if #6 wasn't bad enough along comes the total bobbins of #7

      Delete
  2. Sorry to agree with George but #1 for me. I think are doing Martin Quittendon a disservice to describe him just as "a member of Rod Stewart's backing band". He co-wrote "Maggie May" and "You Wear It Well", and Rod had previously tried unsuccessfully to get him to join The Faces (he turned it down because he didn't like all that rock and roll lifestyle stuff).

    I like #8's picture of the robot girl with a chainsaw.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I live to disservice to pop stars.

      Robot girl with a chainsaw???

      Delete
    2. That's what shows on the video you linked to

      Delete
  3. January, sick & tired you’ve been hanging on me…

    www.johnmedd.com/2019/01/january-sick-and-tired-youve-been.html?m=1

    ReplyDelete

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