In The Beginning From 1965 until 1970
Britain, in 1965, was a tough place for beginning rock musicians. Groups like the
Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Dave Clark Five, Herman's Hermits and Wayne Fontana
and the Mindbenders had sewn up English and American markets, making it difficult
for anyone new to enter the tightly circumscribed circle.
Frustrated in their native land, many British Rockers, among them Deep Purple and
Pink Floyd, migrated to Germany in search of superstardom and fortune. Part of that
mass exodus were Derek "Mo" Moore(bass, vocals), Roye Albrighton(guitar,
vocals), Alan "Taff" Freeman(keyboards, vocals), and Ron Howden(drums),
then members of various English bands that would eventually disintegrate while on
the road in Deutschland.
Mo was born in Dearns, England. As all other Nektar musicians he is a virtuoso on
his instrument. At the age of seven he already was taking classic piano lessons
and at the age of 16 he formed his first group, one of many, all of which he managed.
Mo's ambition is to work on a stable basis as musician and manager, which holds
a breakdown and splitting of the group. Also, Mo teaches once in a while music at
a school. Whereby the Nektar–compositions are discusses on music and English.
By the time Ron Howden(drums) became 18 he had firmly grasped musical instruments.
He used to play (with skiffle groups) tea–chest–bass, washboards etc.,
and learned on his own how to get into the magic of drums. He joined different groups
with various influences and so it went that he played with The Upsetters, Prophets,
and Prophecy with Mo and Taff. Ron Mo and Ron had met in 1964 in Tours France while
playing in different bands. Ron joined Mo's group the "Upsetters" and
the pair soon formed the Prophets. While in Germany in 1965 they picked up Taff
from the band MI5 and changed their name to "Prophecy."
Allan "Taffy" Freeman(keyboards, vocal) When Taff was 8 years old, he
started taking private lessons in piano and vocal. His first "free concert"
took place in at one of England's hospitals for the joy and entertainment of the
patients. For two years Taff played in his father's orchestra and later, with Mo
and Ron, with "Prophecy," which became Nektar.
While doing some gigs in Germany with
The Rainbows, Roye Albrighton jammed with Mo, Ron,
and Taff at the famous Star Club in 1968. Shortly after the jam sessions with
Prophecy, Roye joined up with the band The Outsiders
and left for Sweden. One year later Roye received a telegram from Mo to immediately
come to Germany. In November of 1969 Roye teamed up with Prophecy
and together they formed the band Nektar. For an in–depth
article on Roye's adventures please read the Roye Albrighton's
Chronicles.
This biography is a rough translation of the with the following lineage. The original
version was written in English then translated and written into German then translated
back into English.