Pilot - The Singles Collection

Before they founded Pilot, David Paton and Billy Lyall were substitute members of the pre-success Bay City Rollers. In the early seventies they were joined by drummer Stuart Tosh and after recording some demos they got a contract and recorded their debut album (produced by Alan Parsons) with session guitarist Ian Bairnson, who then joined the band as a permanent member.  If you live in the States you might be confused as to how there could be a two-disc release devoted to the singles of that band that you only know for their 1974 hit “Magic”, which hit number five on the US charts and is known to a younger generation through a cover by Selena Gomez and its use in Ozempic commercials.  While nowhere near as well-known as “Magic,” they did have two more singles that charted in the US, "January" at number 87 and "Just A Smile" at 90, and had four UK singles that hit 34 or higher (“Call Me Round”, “Just A Smile” and “January,” which was number 1 in the UK, Ireland and Australia were the other three).  From 1974 to 1977 they also released four albums and a total of thirteen singles.  The Singles Collection contains 31 songs comprised of those singles and their b-sides, one track released on a promotional flexi-disc, a single released under the name Scotch Mist before they became Pilot, and bonus solo singles from vocalist Paton and keyboardist Lyall.  While “Magic” is a power pop gem that has had people singing along for over fifty years, the rest of this release shows they were more than just a one hit wonder.  Many of the songs are notable for their strong vocal harmonies and production (strings and horns pop up from time to time), and while most are catchy pop and rock full of hooks, often bringing to mind Badfinger, Todd Rundgren (and his band Nazz), Wings, 10CC and Alan Parsons (producer of three of their albums), they also dip their toes into glam (“Call Me Round” opens like a glam rock stomper), funk, jazz and more.  Some of the songs that find them expanding on their sound include “Just Let Me Be, which is loaded with hooks and also has hints of jazz and funk and strangely reminds me of early Billy Joel at times, “Evil Eye,” an interesting track that has a bit of Alan Parsons and The Beatles with lyrics about their management’s greed and how they only saw the band as a means of making money, and “Ten Feel Tall” (the last official Pilot single) that at times sounds more like Queen and Supertramp. Considering that they did have some hits, and therefore some name recognition, it’s a real mystery why more of these songs weren’t hits as well.  There’s the lazy pop of “Love Is” (an album track that was released on a flexi disc given away in the UK in the weekly music paper “Record Mirror”), “Running Water,” a big power ballad with a strong 10CC vibe and “Penny In My Pocket,” an extremely catchy pop rock tune with some great guitar work that has hit written all over it.  “Monday Tuesday” and the dreamy, laid-back acoustic “Steps” are a couple of great ballads.  Then there’s “Are You In Love,” a gorgeous, semi-acoustic ballad with some nice prog elements in the guitar work (not sure why this was a b-side) and “Big Screen Kill,” a Beatles flavored tune with a big sounding, orchestral string section and lyrics dealing with Hollywood churning out crappy, violent movies just for the money.  In all fairness, there are a few tracks that to me just don’t really work.  “Ra-Ta-Ta” was the a-side of that pre-Pilot single under the name Scotch Mist, and it’s a cover of a 1970 hit for the band Rotation that’s driven by a military style beat and is really annoying (ironically the meandering psychedelic “Pamela” is the flipside and is a strong, dreamy acoustic track). Then there’s “Lady Luck,” which is kind of cheesy and sounds like they threw everything but the kitchen sink in production wise but just doesn’t work.  The solo singles are a nice addition to close out the disc.  Taken from his only solo album released in 1976, the two tracks that comprise Lyell’s only solo single are “Us,” a lightweight seventies power pop tune with some hints of ELO, and the very impressive, orchestrated, art rock pop song “Maniac” (a reworking of a song from the third Pilot album).  Phil Collins played drums on both songs and Phil Chen (Rod Stewart and many more) played bass.  Following Pilot's demise, David Paton started doing session work with artists like Kate Bush, Alan Parsons and Chris DeBurgh.  His single was recorded at Abbey Road and released in 1980 (the lack of radio play for the single ended up resulting in a proposed album being shelved).  The influence of his work with Alan Parsons is very evident on both "No Ties No Strings" and "Stop And Let Go."  Sadly, Lyall passed away in 1989, but various incarnations of the remaining members have gotten back together off and on over the years and in 2014 Paton, Bairnson and Tosh all reunited and released the album A Pilot Project.  Bairnston has since passed away as well in 2023.

(7T's)