Masterswitch

Masterswitch was a British rock band active in the late 1970s.

Band members

The band consisted of four members:^[1]

• Jimmy Edwards (vocals, guitar)^[2]
• Stephen Wilkin (guitar)
• Mark Steed (bass guitar)
• Martin Lee (drums)

Formation (1976)

Lifelong friends Ray Simone and Martin Lee, together with Dave Sumeray (who was the bass player with Simone and Lee in a band called Woodfog) placed an advert in the well circulated music magazine Melody Maker in an attempt to recruit bandmates at an open audition. An astounding number of enthusiastic musicians queued patiently waiting their turn to prove their worth; ultimately Edwards' natural vocal flair, Wilkin's 'Wilkey Fingers' and, after Dave Sumeray decided to quit the band and the music business, Steed's conquering bass prevailed to form Masterswitch.

1976–1978

In 1977, the band signed to the Epic record company and in the following year released their only studio release Action Replay/Mass Media Meditation. Despite talent and the intelligent social commentary (notably That's Light Entertainment), Masterswitch only picked up a small cult following playing regularly at the famous Marquee Club in Soho. With legendary band The Clash grabbing all attention of Epic's marketing combined with poor management and "getting screwed over", Masterswitch split in 1978.^[3]

Jimmy Edwards and Mark Steed went to record as Jimmy and The Profiles and later Edwards and Ray Simone went on to form Time UK with former The Jam drummer Rick Buckler. After three singles they split, although Jimmy and Buckler formed the short-lived band Sharp with Buckler's ex-Jam bandmate Bruce Foxton.

2007–2008

Ray Simone, Martin Lee and Dave Sumeray reunited as Woodfog to see how it would go. They locked-in together very well considering they'd had a 34-year break. They met together a few times since to possibly work on some new songs. No longer called Woodfog, they now perform under the new name, Creatures of Habit.

Following a lengthy period of illness, Ray Simone died on 18 June 2012. There was a discussion with a view to continuing the band in honour of Simone's considerable talents as a musician and songwriter.

2013

In 2013, following Simone's death, Lee and Sumeray decided to resurrect Woodfog. They recruited Paul Squires on drums (a one-time Woodfog roadie and occasional deputy drummer).

Edwards died in January 2015.^[4]

2016

Dave Sumeray & Mart Lee as Creatures of Habit recorded and released an album titled Where Have All The Years Gone?

2018

Paul Squires has since left Creatures of Habit and they have recruited a new drummer Monzur Rahman

References

Further reading

• Jimmy Edwards interview with Stewart Home: Home, Stewart (2010). "It's an Uphill Climb to the Bottom" (blog). Retrieved 2015-07-12.