One of
Steve Howe's several obscure pre-
Yes projects,
Bodast filled the gap between his stint in Tomorrow and his recruitment for
Yes. Apart from
Howe, the lineup consisted of
Clive Skinner (vocals, guitar),
Dave Curtis (vocals, bass), and Bobby Clarke (aka Woodman) (drums).
Curtis and Clarke had previously played together in ex-
Searcher Chris Curtis' short-lived group Roundabout, comprising the portion of the band that didn't end up in
Deep Purple, and Clarke went back to playing in the house band (playing skiffle) at the legendary 2 I's coffee bar in Soho during the late '50s, and subsequent gigs with
Screaming Lord Sutch and
Vince Taylor's band.
Curtis' previous work had included recording backed by his own band, the Tremors. As a psychedelic-cum-progressive rock outfit,
Bodast was a strange link between those skiffle and early rock & roll roots and early-'70s art rock.
Bodast slogged around the underground circuit in 1968 and 1969, never releasing any official product; some interest on the part of
Deep Purple's label (Tetragrammaton) came to naught, and they seldom played live, although they spent lots of time writing and rehearsing original material.
Howe actually turned down offers from the
Nice and
Jethro Tull out of loyalty to the group, but finally gave up after the Tetragrammaton deal failed to come through. They did record some unreleased material in 1969 with ex-Tomorrow vocalist
Keith West producing. These tapes, eventually released in the '80s, showed them to be an average band reflecting the transition of British underground rock from psychedelia to progressive rock; it's of interest mostly to
Howe fans, but even then, it isn't among his more notable work. ~ Ritchie Unterberger & Bruce Eder