Pilot – in concert at Superpop – August 28, 1976 – Gordon Skene Sound Collection –
Pilot, a band you may not know aside from their signature hit, now an anthem for a Diabetes medication.
Shouldn’t come as a surprise – the aisles of supermarkets are awash with echoes of The Byrds and Mott The Hoople; songs we considered milestones of our youth and young adult years, relegated to what we used to call Muzak – elevator music – music for the Dentist’s office, music while you’re on hold.
Pilot were one of those bands, one of the many bands of the mid-70s, who just came down with an acute case of bad timing, who shone brightly for what seemed a nanosecond before being shuffled off to a bargain bin, quietly waiting to be rediscovered years and decades later. And so their major hit “It’s Magic” has been resurrected as “Ozempic”, becoming an earwhig to millions of people who probably never heard them the first time, poignant sacrilege to those of us who still know the words to the original.
But I suppose the silver lining has most likely come in the form of a resurgence in popularity of sorts – rediscovering a band that got short shrift the first time, making up for lost time with a new set of fans or a slap on the proverbial back to the old ones who don’t mind the song being reworked to hawk pharmaceuticals just as long as they get a royalty check for their troubles.
At any rate, this gig – done during their peak for a Dutch program, showcases a band that had a lot going for them – were perfect, and had all the points and prerequisites to be household names. Maybe it was the label’s fault – EMI (their label) were in the midst of getting flack for “Anarchy In The UK” – and well crafted pop tunes were getting covered in exhaust from the deluge of Punks. It was a time of upheaval and bands like Pilot were left to flounder – even though they were far from being considered one-hit wonders, America (the country where, if you were going to make it, you had to make it here), didn’t look too much further past “It’s Magic” to lay a big fat pronunciamento on their future.
When will we learn? Probably never – that’s why you have to go exploring and carve your own niche – in the meantime, get acquainted with Pilot and give a listen to what you might have missed.
Never too late to catch up.
