The Warriors

The Warriors were one of hundreds of British beat groups founded in England in the mid-'60s, distinguished at the time for their close brushes with success and the achievements of two of their members, Jon Anderson and Ian Wallace, in the years after their breakup. Anthony Anderson, the older of the two brothers, had joined the Accrington group first, and brought his younger brother Jon Anderson (then known as John Anderson) in as vocalist with him when another member quit. The two Anderson brothers… Show more handled the singing, Michael Brereton played lead guitar, Rodney Hill the rhythm guitar, David Foster the bass, and Ian Wallace was the drummer. The group specialized in covers of American R&B by Wilson Pickett, among others, with the occasional Beatles song, such as "I'm Down," thrown in. The group was very polished and well rehearsed, enough to attract the attention of England's Decca Records label, which allowed them to record one single, "You Came Along" b/w "Don't Make Me Blue," with Ivor Raymonde producing. Neither song charted, but "You Came Along" was later featured on Hard Up Heroes, and "Don't Make Me Blue" ended up being used in a movie called Just for You. The group earned a living, and was reportedly even considered for a featured spot in the movie Blow-Up, but never quite made it. In 1967, after three years of playing local clubs in northern England and making the trek to Germany as one of the latter-day British imports, they broke up when Jon Anderson decided to quit. His next stop, after an attempt at a solo career, was Mabel Greer's Toyshop, a group whose lineup included Chris Squire and Peter Banks, which would lead to the formation of Yes. Drummer Ian Wallace became a member of the group the World before becoming a member of King Crimson for the Islands album and the accompanying tour (which yielded some extraordinary live documents three decades later), and moving on to play with everyone from Alexis Korner to Bob Dylan. David Foster remained Anderson's songwriting collaborator for several years and managed uncredited appearances on guitar and vocals on two songs that he co-wrote on Yes' Time and a Word album, before forming Badger, a progressive rock act that became ex-Yes keyboard man Tony Kaye's haven for a time. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi

Show less