Jim Johnson - keyboards

John MacPhee - drums

Joe Cairney - vocals

Mike Barnard - guitar (1985 - 87)

Steve Stewart - bass (1984 - 85)

Mark Spalding - bass (1985-87) (guitar 87)

Barry Henderson - bass (1987)

John Fitzgerald - bass (2011)

John Cowden - vocals (1989)

Comedy Of Errors were a Glasgow-based progressive rock band formed in January 1984. Their sound was primarily influenced by bands like Yes and Genesis, but also by more traditional rockers like Thin Lizzy and, Led Zeppelin. Most of their material was written primarily by keyboard player Jim Johnson, with lyrics dealing with a range of psychological and philosophical topics, particularly the fight against mediocrity, the unfulfilled dreams of the real world and the impacts of choice. Their first recording was a demo called ‘Ever be the Prize’, and was recorded at a studio in Blanefield (Scotland) in 1985. They recorded a number of songs with Rog Patterson (of ‘Twice Bitten’ fame) as producer one of which (‘Time There Was’) was included on the compilation album ‘Exposure’ along with tracks by Abel Ganz, Borag Thungg and Twice Bitten. The master tapes for this recording were lost and the tracks were were then re-recorded and further refined with the assistance of Mike Bentley and Niall Mathewson (Pallas). These were released as a mini album and in 1986. The band made regular appearances all round the Glasgow area and beyond, with the Cartha Bar, The Doune, The Heathery Bar and Shadows becoming firm favourites. They also played some local festivals, such as Calder Glen in 1984 and Kelvingrove in 1985, with the latter being broadcast on Radio Clyde. In 1987 Mike Barnard left the band, Mark Spalding switched over to play guitar and new recruit Barry Henderson joined the band on bass in time for a successful gig at the Amsterdam Paradiso. This line-up recorded the demo tape called ‘24 Hours’ in November 1987 at Evenload Studios in East Kilbride. This was later combined with the mini album to form the band's only CD release under the French MSI label. Unfortunately, the quality of this release was very poor, being a direct transfer from vinyl, rather than master tapes. This is compounded by the fact that ‘The Student Prince Part One’ has been omitted and replaced by an inferior version of a track from earlier on the disc. A change of direction was heralded in in 1989 with the arrival of new lead vocalist John Cowden, replacing Joe Cairney who went on to join the Fire Brigade. The demo tape ‘Hold On’ was recorded at Evenload Studios in May '89. The band were playing more standard rock songs, albeit with style and the occasional lapses back into prog instrumentals, which were more suited to the new vocalist. They played regularly around Scotland into the early 90's, and then quietly disappeared from view. A few years later the band had a couple of social (i.e. no music being played) reunions which came out of the Comedy Of Errors mailing list attached to their website, leading to the creation of a 3-disc CD set of archive material by Steve Moffitt (the '6th Error' - responsible for much of the bands' early recordings and artwork). Joe Cairnes went on to work on a project with Hew Montgomery of Abel Ganz and indeed appeared on their album, as well as appearing live with them as support to Pallas. During the bands’ hiatus which spanned over two decades, keyboard player and composer Jim Johnson kept writing and finally got around to recording those songs with old and new members of Comedy Of Errors returning in 2011 with the album ‘Disobey’, the line up now consisting of Joe Cairney (vocals), Jim Johnson (keyboards), Mark Spalding (guitar), Bruce Levick (drums) and John Fitzgerald (bass).  Here is a quote taken from an album review from the Progarchives website  “It really does seem quite remarkable that 23 years after the release of their previous album, Comedy Of Errors should reappear. What is even more remarkable though is that they should return with an album which by any standard is a magnificent achievement. If 'Disobey' and the launch gig where the band played live together for the first time in over 20 years are anything to go by, Comedy of Errors time has finally arrived”. The band have since released five more albums since ‘Disobey’ with the latest being ‘Threnody for a Dead Queen’ released in 2023 to five star reviews -  “This (album) is bold, taking on a difficult subject and handling it with care. It was almost transcendental. We are taken on a journey "through the veil" to an ending that is ethereal and yet somehow joyous. Well done Comedy Of Errors and especially Jim Johnson for the vision to put the lyrics and music together in such an innovative way. This band just gets better and better”. - David McGuire from Progarchives.com

Thanks to Billy Hepburn / MusicPro (UK) for the use of these photos