Wednesday, March 10, 2021

Tea - 1971-1978 "Tea" '74, "The Ship" '75, "Tax Exile" '76

 


Tea was born out of a jam session in 1971, when founding members Turu Pashayan (ex-Sauterelles) o bass and vocals, Roli Eggli (ex-Fact, Alaska Range) on drums, and Armand Volker (ex-New Hue, Tusk) on guitar first got together. 

Taking the first initial of their names and calling the band TEA they made a name for themselves touring Switzerland, Germany, and Netherlands. In 1972 Maltese born Marc Storace who had previously fronted  St. Gallen Swiss band Deaf joined the trio. 

In 1973 it was rare for a swiss band to get exposure on television, however Tea got a chance to showcase their talents on the Swiss show "Hits-A-Gogo" and the band spent the summer touring Italy extensively with the high light being Headlining a 8,000 capacity


festival in Naples. Later that year, keyboardist Phillipe Kienholz joined the group. In 1974 the released their first single:"Good Times" b/w "Judy" (both non-album tracks) as well as their debut album. The spent the rest of the year touring with Queen. 

In 1975 their 2nd album "The Ship"  was released as well as the single "Summer in the City" a cover of the Lovin' Spoonfull song. The band signed a distribution deal with the United States, only to have their label go under. They went on tour with Status Quo, Nazareth, & the Baker /Gurvitz Army. (23 dates in front of a audience of 45,000)

In 1977, the band played their last concert in Switzerland. Volker became  successful producer, who owed a studio near Munich. Rolli started his own company, and Storace wet on to front Krokus (the support band for TEA on their final tour.)







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