Argus was formed in the U.K. in 1972 by bass player Mick Pearl and drummer Dave Wagstaffe. They recruited guitarist Del Watkins who used to play in the band "Julian's Treatment" who had some success with an album, "A Time Before This." Del had also been in the ska band The Skatalites, as well as Polydor band Rare Amber and a back up musician for Ben E. King. A singer was eventually found in Bill McRae from Scotland and the band put together a set of original material, with influences from Deep Purple, Wishbone Ash (who's third album inspired the band's name) They developed a good reputation around and Appeared on The Old Grey Whistle Test to good reviews.
After about a year, they replaced their singer with Ken Lewis, who was a more experienced performer and had a much stronger voice. The band continued getting some good support slots for the likes of Thin Lizzy, Pink Fairies, Brinsley Schwartz (with Nick Lowe), and The Equals among others. A demo was recorded at the band's flat and the newly formed Rocket Records were slated to release the band, but Del's sudden departure brought things to a grinding halt. They got a few replacement guitar players, but the band ultimately timed out after the bass player left. The recordings were not released until 28 years later on the 'Audio Archives' label.
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