Eclipse

Line-up included

• Tony Walker - vocals
• Ken Shelmerdine - lead/vocals
• Steve Ridgeway - Syth/Moog and Keys
• Steve Henshaw - drums
• Marshall Archer - bass/vocals
• Rick Henshaw - drums (replaced brother Steve)

The music was original, quite superb and still unrecorded.

The band was formed in 1975 by myself Ken Shelmerdine and drummer Steve Henshaw.

Steve and I were former members of the now disbanded Pyawacket, Steve joining Pyawacket from Shane Fenton and the Fentones. Keyboard player Steve Ridgway joined and bassist Marshall Archer formerly ''Grisby Dyke'' and Tony Walker formerly Tony Lane and the Deltones on Vocals.

The musical direction of the band was very much in the prog rock field, oringinal and definately NO COVERS! I remember we converted Steve's mums stable at the back of her garden into a rehearsal studio which always used to leak in winter and became very cold and damp. However we soldiered on and finally after 2 years, yes 2 years! of writing and rehearsing we came up with an original set.

Gigs though were few and far between about one a month. By now except for Steve Ridgeway we all had family commitments making it difficult to gig on a regular basis. Although we thought of ourselves as serious musicians we didn't hold any aspirations of stardom. The band was just musical outlet for us except I think Tony thought of it as more than that as later after the band split he did some self penned demos at Andy McPherson's 'Revolution' Studio. I don't think he ever got signed up for them. Maybe the songs weren't well promoted, pity as I thought they were pretty good.

Going back to the band. Unfortunately after a time even the occasoinal gigs were drying up as by now the Punk era was becoming well established and no-one wanted to book an unknown unsigned prog rock band. It was fun though while it lasted and I still have 3 studio recorded songs by the band now in digital format. One of them was played on Radio Manchester or whatever it was called in those days in which the presenter (can't remember his name now) sung our praises after the song was boadcast and then immediatally after went into a scathing rant about the punk revolution as ''so called music played by bottom of the bin musicians who are not fit to lace the boots of these guys 'Eclipse'.

Eclipse finally split in November 1979.

Ken Shelmerdine - 28/10/11

It is with deep regret I inform friends of Ken Shelmerdine that he passed away in St Anne's Hospice on Saturday 15th June 2013 suffering from cancer. Ken was a mate I knew for nearly fifty years of playing in bands. He was a accomplished musician and guitarist and will be sorely missed by his wife and all who knew him.
RIP Ken.

Jeff Bickerton - 27/6/13