From Beef Till Ever — A History Of IQ

Maurice Dam

The Beginning

The history of IQ can be traced back as far as 1976 when a certain Mike Holmes met Peter Nicholls and Niall Hayden (at a Genesis concert, as rumour has it) and decided to form a band together. A name was easily found and so The Giln was born. Mike was a self-taught guitar player causing his family lots of ear-aches. Peter being an art student (and part-time actor) always wanted to be in the spotlight and took the part of vocalist, while Niall made all the noise behind the drum kit.

After some time they still weren't satisfied with their name and therefore changed it to the better sounding The Lens. This band lasted from its formation in September 1976 till the end of 1981 and went through a variety of personnel changes. Including the addition of keyboard wizard and semi-classically (one finger) trained Martin Orford and Les (Ledge) Marshall on bass. Until the summer of 1977, Kev Sharpe (keyboards) and Rob Thomson (bass) also participated in The Lens.

The Lens was put on ice for a little while as Mike, Niall, Peter and keyboard player Kev Sharpe had one brief escapade as punk band The Hawaii Spacers, though this never led to anything sensible. So The Lens was called back to life in a whole new line-up consisting of Mike, Peter, brothers Les and Brian Marshall on bass and drums, and keyboard player Pete Blackler, although Martin Orford took over his duties not long after.

The music mainly consisted of instrumental songs with the odd vocal contribution from Peter. In fact, at one gig in 1978 Peter only introduced the songs and didn't sing on a single one! This in the end also led to his departure from The Lens.

One addition was made to the line-up over the years as a friend of Mike's (who worked at a record store in the time), Carmine Brudenell, asked if she could come along to the gigs The Lens gave to add some visuals to the show by form of dancing.

The Lens went on giving several gigs playing lots of covers like Pink Floyd's Childhood's End or Master of the Universe by Hawkwind, but also several self-composed songs were played, including material that would later appear in some form on IQ albums, like Through the Corridors or Dans le Parc du Chateau Noir.

In 1979, Peter, Niall and Kev decided it was time to move on and formed their own band called Delfin, which lasted from May 1979 till June 1981. The music played was highly improvisational, and apart from singing, Peter also played keyboard (though badly, as he admits himself), flute (!), and a bit of drums. At one point there was even talk af releasing an independent 7" single with two songs penned by Peter called Eyes Look in and Stark. This, however, never came to be.

Meanwhile back at Lens headquarters, Mike had written lots of material through the years, from which he compiled a demo tape for his own use, giving it the title Bake Me Beauty consisting of oddities like The Story of Cow and the Grocery Boys and other extraordinary tunes we can only expect from Mr. Holmes. Several of these songs would later appear on the wacky fourth side of Nine in a Pond is Here.

At this stage, The Lens itself had also written sufficient material of their own and decided to release a demo tape, entitled No TV Tonite. On this tape you can clearly hear the direction of the band and how well Mike and Martin co-operate as a writers team. The cassette consists of only instrumental songs, including several passages that can be heard in later IQ songs. Also, the classic Dans Le Parc Du Chateau Noir has its first appearance here.

Meanwhile, Delfin ceased to exist, and Peter started to work with Dave Bennett (guitar, bass, keyboards) in a band called Atmo and the Spheres. Here, Peter even took a shot at playing the drums and guitar. Although no concerts were given, they did make demos of several self-penned songs, such as The Drift or When The Dark Falls. In March 1982., the two felt they didn't get anywhere and teamed up with Mark Riley on guitar, Andy Wright-Williams on bass, and Phil Marsh on drums who were working together as Formation.

Again, a new band was formed, now under the name of The same Curtain. Everything began nicely, lots of own material was written, and all looked very promising. A concert was planned for the 21 of May at the Manchester U.M.I.S.T. and T.S.C. started rehearsing for it. As Phil had to miss a lot of these rehearsals, Peter stood in for him on drums. So when the final song was written, the instrumental Hunger in Red, Peter insisted on also playing that live. The concert went down very well, and for their own use, T.S.C. put together a tape of five songs they played there. The tape was called Mamendown and also included the Peter Nicholls penned For the Taking, later to re-apear on IQ's first (tape) album. As it appeared, nothing stood in the way of a promising future, had not a certain Mike Holmes been present at the gig.

Start of IQ

Despite all musical progressions, The Lens had made over the years all came to an end when the band split up in the end of 1981. Mike and Martin, however, decided to continue their musical partnership and the first embryonic IQ came to life. To complete the line-up a rhythm-section was needed, and Mark Ridout was recruited for the vacancy of drummer, and Tim Esau as bass player. In this early line-up, Carmine was also still present at some point. Not really certain what direction they want to go in, a lot of material was written, ranging from disco (Beef in Box) to complex prog (It All Stops Here).

After playing a few concerts, where Martin again did the odd vocal duties, they felt the omission of a "real" vocalist. And Mike suggested asking a certain Peter Nicholls, who he saw performing with The Same Curtain. For Peter, this was a difficult decision but decided to go for IQ in the end, which promised a better future for him.

The first concerts Peter played with IQ were at the London Moonlight Club and The Wellington in Shepherd's Bush, in the first half of 1982. After this, Mark decided to call it a day, leaving Paul Cook to take over. This line-up played their first gig at the Southampton Park Hotel on the 24th of July.

The first proof of IQ's existence is when they are asked to donate a track for the Melody Maker compilation album Playback, promoting Britain's up-and-coming bands who have yet to make that big breakthrough. In their wisdom, IQ chose a song that would put everybody not familiar with the band on the wrong track. The extremely dance-able Beef in Box is the third track on the album and has Mike and Martin on vocals! (Mike on the verse and Martin on the chorus.) Carmine even appears rapping! Fortunately, IQ decided to do their name credit and opted for the "Intelligent" approach to music. Melody Maker also included a free flexi-disc with one of their issues, that unfortunately also had an edited version of Beef In Box on it (so more people could witness this sad venture... 😉).

At this stage, IQ had also recorded many other tracks over the years and found the time ripe to present themselves properly. They did this by releasing their first album Seven Stories Into Eight on cassette. The tape features songs recorded from June 81 to October 82, containing several tracks from the Lens period, like About Lake Five. But also For The Taking from The Same Curtain appeared. The cassette was sold at concerts and is now one of the most sought-after items.

In 1982, IQ gave more concerts, among which also their first at the famous Marquee club in London, then the venue for up-and-coming new-progressive bands at that time. Around that time, their epic The Enemy Smacks also came to life and was performed at various gigs as it was written. There are quite a few different versions of it played at that point.

1983

1983 was to be a busy year for the band. By touring a lot, of which many supporting The Enid, the band slowly built up a name for themselves. Also due to Peter's extravagant stage personality. With the aid of make-up and masks (and a lot of humour), he created a breathtaking show. Musically, the band also knew how to capture the audience with songs like Intelligence Quotient and Fascination, but also the epic The Enemy Smacks and The Last Human Gateway were already performed at that stage. The latter two grew out as the showstoppers at every gig.

Slowly, but steadily, IQ became a trademark in the small but ever-growing (neo) progressive world, and plans were made to record a debut album. These recordings took place from 2 till 5 August, and the album was mixed on the 8th. With the sinister title Tales From The Lush Attic, IQ's first album reached the shelves of record stores (well, some) on the 15th of September. In true IQ style, it was again a home-made product with the band taking credit for production. The cover art work was, again, done by Peter Nicholls, showing many facets of the songs featured on Tales. His style is very abstract using lots of faces and emotions. Peter would be responsible for all the cover designs while he was in IQ. Musically, Tales contains some of IQ's strongest material, and is certainly one of the milestones of progressive music. Despite the short time in which Tales was recorded, it has a fresh sound to it and gives it an atmosphere that gives The Last Human Gateway and The Enemy Smacks their brilliance.

Simultaneously with the release of the album, IQ kicked off their first major UK tour with their first headline date at the London Marquee Club. For a sold-out venue, IQ played almost all tracks from Tales. The rest of the year was spent with lots of concerts throughout the UK. More and more people were getting familiar with the wonderful world of IQ, building up a steady following.

1984

1984 began much the same as 1983 ended, with lots of concerts, of which the first was played at the Red Lion in Gravesend on January 7th. In between gigs, the band also managed to write some new songs of which the first (Widow's Peak) was played first around 13th January at the Marquee.

Another highlight in the band's career happened when they were invited to record a session for the Friday Rock Show. An honour for all up-and-coming bands in the British Rock scene. IQ decided to record two old tracks, Just Changing Hands (the first studio version) and Awake and Nervous, and a new track Widow's Peak. The session was broadcast on Friday the 11th of May and got many good responses. After this there was talk of IQ doing a US tour supporting a "Major Act". This however was not to be, so IQ went on conquering Great Britain.

In August, a second vinyl release saw the light of day in the form of a 7" and 12" single with the odd and funky Barbell Is In recorded as an A-side (both formats have a different mix). The 7" is graced with Just Changing Hands on the flipside, while the 12" has the majestic Dans Le Parc Du Chateau Noir, an oldie from 1980 with minimal lyrics added by Peter, on the B-side. The discs appeared on the Sahara label. For a change, the single was promoted by another British tour.

The Highlight of the year for IQ was when they were asked to play the annual New Years Eve show at the Marquee. Especially for this occasion, a single was pressed containing the very appropriate Hollow Afternoon (also played at this gig for the first and last time). The single was given away for free at this concert to the ones present and only some 500 copies were pressed. Apart from IQ favourites, a lot of covers were played ranging from Genesis to Motorhead songs.

1985

After this concert the band decided to take some time off from touring to write more songs for a follow-up for Tales, only to come out for 2 gigs, one in Bristol and one in London to try out some of the new material.

In April and May the band returned to the studio (Falconer Studio's in London) to start recordings for their next album, entitled The Wake. This time, Mike and Tim sign for production duties. Musically, IQ had grown a lot since Tales. Just listen to songs like The Magic Roundabout or the majestic Headlong. It is a really dark and depressive album with death as the main theme.

The album was highly acclaimed by fans and press alike, and many find this IQ's strongest album. From the album, Corners was the most logical choice as a single release, the 7" version being a completely different re-mixed version compared to the album. The band undertook a major UK tour, first as support act to Wishbone Ash in the larger halls, and later as headline in smaller clubs. On May 13th, the band did a special show which was filmed for the Live from London television series. This show was later dubiously released on vinyl, CD and Video as Living Proof by their ex-manager. In 1993, this was finally re-released because of great demand for it, with a brand-new booklet featuring photos of the gig itself.

Unfortunately, at this point, a lot of problems started to occur during this tour. The atmosphere in the band grew worse and worse by the day, there was an incredible moment of tension at that time. Hardly anybody in the band was speaking to each other. This caused Peter to quit the band, although he did not even want that at all. He really saw it as the only solution. His last concert with IQ was on the 13th of July at the London Marquee Club where the band performed a special show-case in support of the Live-Aid action.

Due to Peter's,departure probably the most creative period of IQ came to an end. The rest of the band, however, continued with a lot of energy in search of a replacement for Peter... and a major record deal.

Paul Menel

A new vocalist was found rather quickly in Paul Menel, who, as rumour has it, was only hired because he was the only one who auditioned. To keep IQ tradition, his first performance with the band was at the Marquee, though he was received with mixed feelings. The band headed out on tour again as a support act to British rockers Magnum, and on this tour, several new songs get their first hearing. IQ is clearly moving on to a more commercial direction. Meanwhile, The Wake is doing pretty well, and even reaches the No. 1 spot in the independent charts.

The first release with Paul is a fanclub (double) album titled Nine In A Pond Is Here, which contains the first rehearsal sessions with Paul. Although the quality is not perfect, the music makes up for it with songs like IQ, Fascination, and The Last Human Gateway. This record is mainly known for the wacky 4th side, though with several humorous pieces of "music".

Paul's singing ability was always a point of discussion. One might think he's a vast improvement to Peter, the other might think him a disaster. One thing remains to be said, though, and that was that his actions on vinyl/cd are more than perfect. It was live where it went wrong. Where Peter put emotion, humour or character in his voice, Paul tends to sing off-key. Just listen to the Oldies Medley on J'ai Pollette D'arnu. The more commercial songs suit him better, though.

In 1985, IQ finally got the long-awaited major deal they were looking for, and it seems the band was heading for better times (financially). It was Squawk, a subdivision of Polygram, who thought they could break IQ to a wider audience.

1986

The first part of 1986 was spent writing lots of new songs. The results of this can be heard during the first headline tour IQ with Paul undertake in April. It is clear that the band was looking for fame and fortune, songs like Promises and Screaming are thus very commercially flavoured. To let the fans have a listen to what the band was up to, a demo version of Nomzamo was released as one-sided single for fanclub members only. Nomzamo is a beautiful song that builds up with a bursting tension.

1986 was also the year that IQ want international, when they played their first concert on the mainland. This being Amsterdam on, the first SI double concert sharing the bill with Pallas. It appeared that IQ have a lot of fans in Europe, and plans were made for a complete European tour.

Because of contractual reasons, two oldies were recorded for Sahara records to be released as a shaped picture disc. These re-recorded versions of classics It All Stops Here and Intelligence Quotient grace an enormous IQ, shaped in vinyl.

This year also saw the release of the notorious Living Proof album, with "special thanks" to ex-manager Jim White.

1987

The rest of 86 and the first part of 87 was spent with writing and recording the first album with Paul on the vocalist spot. Just before summer, Squawk launched a promotion campaign for Passing Strangers, the first single to be taken from the forthcoming album. This, however, does nothing at all.

When Nomzamo, IQ's third album, is released, all the attention was focused on its promotion.

Nomzamo is a diverse album with several commercial tracks like Promises, Passing Strangers and No Love Lost. But it also has several progressive masterpieces like Nomzamo, Human Nature and the mind-blowing Common Ground. This album also contains IQ's first ballad in Still Life. But it's not only the music that has changed. Paul's style of writing lyrics is very different to Peter's. Where Peter has a dark and doomy style and sometimes does not seem to make a lot of sense, Paul tends to write easier. Many of his lyrics deal with relationships or have a social ring to them.

At another attempt at chart success, Squawk decided to release Promises as IQ's next single. It's almost unbelievable, but it appeared that the song would become a summer hit. It got a lot of airplay in Germany and could even be seen on Dutch television. But as usual, the most important thing was forgotten, to get the single pressed in time. When this was finally done, it sadly was already too late, and everybody had forgotten about this strange English band called IQ, a golden opportunity lost. Despite this major disappointment, Nomzamo did get a lot of acclaim and was one of IQ's best-selling albums.

So the band undertook a major European tour to promote it and played in countries like Holland, Germany and France to a very receptive audience. Highlight of this year was when IQ was asked to play as one of the few bands at the prestigious Montreux Festival opening for Genesis, and the three shows the band played at the London Olympia for the British Music Fair.

Of course, IQ also continued with their fanclub singles, and in June 1987, a re-recorded version of Fascination was given to the fans with the traditional The Bold Grenadier on the flip-side.

By the end of the year IQ started to think of a follow-up to Nomzamo, and some new songs were written. In November 1987, IQ returned to the mainland for their second tour. Some newies like Through My Fingers and Wurensch got their first hearing here. One of the songs also played on this tour is Over The Moon, that appeared in a re-written version on the second SI Compilation Disc under the title N.T.O.C. Resistance.

1988

The first part of 1988 was spent mainly writing a new album. For inspiration, the band retired to a quiet little farm in Dorset. To break their exile only for some festivals with bands like Jethro Tull and Foreigner, mainly in Germany. After this, the band could be found in the Jacob's Studios in Surrey for quite some time. IQ planned on releasing a new album by the end of 1988, though through several setbacks this was postponed.

1989

When IQ played two shows in Holland on 13 and 14 January of 1989, the album still wasn't out on the shelves of record shops. The new material played did sound promising, however, and to keep the fans happy a third fanclub single was pressed with a compilation of all the songs from the next album, bearing the suggestive title The Big Balls Of Bert Christ. The A-side has a beautiful semi-acoustic rendition of The Magic Roundabout, re-titled A Different Magic Roundabout for the occasion.

The next IQ album didn't see the light of day till February 1989, and bears the title Are You Sitting Comfortably?. It contains again several stunning pieces of writing like Wurensch or Nostalgia / Falling Apart At The Seams, and also songs like War Heroes and Nothing at All are of good standard. As with Nomzamo, this album also contains several commercial songs like Drive On and Sold on You. The latter was chosen to be the one and only single release taken from this album, and as usual this did nothing again. The album did show good sales, and all was still looked bright when IQ were asked as a support act to Mike And The Mechanix, of course blowing them away every night.

As usual, it seemed IQ was jinxed. Whenever it looks positive, something tends to go wrong big time. This time, however, they wouldn't come out in one piece. Squawk seemed to have financial problems which in the end led to IQ being droped. This while plans for a follow-up single, Drive On, were made (even several test pressings appeared, and a video had been shot). It appears IQ were back to square one. Paul and Tim felt they couldn't cope with it any more and decided to leave IQ to try their own luck in a more commercial direction. Has anyone ever heard from them again?

The rest of the band tried to cope with the disappointment and decide to put IQ on ice. To close off this era, a few concerts were given in the UK. The last in this line-up was at the London Marquee on the 1st of September.

1990

At first, it looked like no-one could see a future for IQ. Martin soon took on a new job behind the keyboard arsenal of fellow proggers Jadis. IQ got together once more for a one-off concert at the Marquee on the 6th of January 1990. Bass duties were taken over by old-time member Les Marshall, and Martin took the bigger part of the vocal duties. Only during the encores it seemed like the impossible had become possible when Peter returned to the microphone, once more for a breathtaking rendition of The Enemy Smacks and Awake And Nervous.

Especially The Enemy Smacks gave a good feeling. This was to be the end of IQ, was it not for a French fan who managed to get the band play a one-off show in Paris with Peter fronting. This event took place on the 23rd of February. IQ played a set of 70 mins with old time favourites like The Last Human Gateway, The Enemy Smacks, and Headlong. It was a magical evening to end one of the most innovative British acts from the neo-progressive scene.

1991

When in 1991 Les Marshall unexpectedly passed away, the remaining members were shocked, and in his memory decided to keep IQ going. When John Jowitt, formerly of Ark fame, gave Martin a ring about the vacant spot of bass player, he was asked to audition and got the job. He was very excited to work with the rest of the band and had been an IQ fan for years. He claims that at the first practice sessions with the band during The Last Human Gateway and The Enemy Smacks he was deeply moved.

To get IQ back in business, an independent record label was founded called Giant Electric Pea (G.E.P.) for and by IQ. The first release was a compilation CD with so-called rare studio outtakes and several live tracks from the last concerts with Paul. Though this release is not the (wet) dream release of every IQ fan, it is a nice addition to the collection. Especially Sera Sera and the two songs from the shape disc are worth this CD alone. The main reason behind this disc, though, was to raise money to record a new studio album.

Once more, the new line-up of IQ gave their first concert at the Marquee and proved they still had a loyal following. Next, IQ headed for Germany where a concert was planned at the Stadthalle in Kleve. This proved to be a memorable evening. For a lot of people present, this was the first time they saw the band with Peter, and everybody was moved by the performance. Especially The Enemy Smacks was overwhelming when seen for the first time. It seems this hall was made for IQ. Holland got the honour to the first hearing of two new songs at the end of 1991. A pre-version of the new epic Further Away could be heard here and sounded promising. The band played two sell-out shows, and proved to have a big following in Holland.

1992

1992 was mainly spent by writing several new songs, and an occasional concert in the UK. Although the progressive scene was not really alive there any more, IQ's concerts were still fairly well attended. The first release of the "new" IQ was a fanclub single, this time in CD format. A re-recorded version of the middle segment of The Last Human Gateway was the first track, as a bonus a dose of IQ humour was added in the form of a hip-hop version of No Love Lost (A Bit of Love Lost).

When IQ (with Peter) played in Holland for the third time, the major part of the new tracks are finished, and after this, IQ went in the studio for recording. Every prog rock fan held his breath for the release, and there were high expectations. When the recordings were finished, IQ had the honour to play as headliner at the first progressive rock festival in Los Angeles' Royce Hall at UCLA. Of course, this was combined with a week's holiday in the US.

1993

On the 12th of June 1993, two dreams of IQ come true. First, the release of the 5th IQ album called Ever. Second, the band have chosen this date to film the entire concert in front of a European audience, with one of the main reasons being to lay down a good version of The Enemy Smacks on video. Although the band were nervous, the concert went down a storm, and afterwards the band and crowd agreed that this was IQ's best performance ever to that date. Material of this concert is planned for release as a video/cd pack.

The first cd of IQ in the nineties is also their most complete one, musically and production-wise it is a mixture of the first two and the third and fourth album, Peter's lyrics fit the music perfectly, and it was clear that IQ were more of a unit now than they had ever been. From the first track The Darkest Hour to the closing song Came Down, you are taken on a trip full of emotions. This time the main theme of the album is clearer than ever, dealing with the loss of loved ones. Time will surely see if Ever will grow out as the prog album of the decade.

So with just a new album released, IQ set out on a European tour, but only covering Holland and Germany this time. Not all shows were as successful, but there were some memorable moments. IQ close off the year with three gigs in the UK.

1994

1994 started off quietly. The first show they did this year was in the USA. This time it was San Jose, at the Cabaret. Two more shows were played in Germany and one in the UK. This also has the first performance of the Geoff Mann song Apathetic and Here, I..., which they covered for the Geoff Mann tribute cd Mannerisms. Then summer had a real treat for the band, when they were asked to co-headline the Planet Pul festival in Uden, Holland, with Steve Hackett. Despite the heavy rainfall that day, it proved to be another mindblowing show topping even last year's Kleve show.

The rest of the year. IQ kept a pretty low profile, only to come out for a small, one-week tour in November.

1995

1995 was the quietest year in IQ history, with only three concerts and no new releases. Hopefully, IQ will start recordings on a new album soon and let us enjoy their creativity for many years to come. But that, only the future can tell.