Sky 2
Studio album by
Sky
Released18 April 1980[1]
StudioStudio 3, Abbey Road Studios
GenreProgressive rock
Length79:56
LabelArista/Ariola
ProducerSky, Haydn Bendall, Tony Clark
Sky chronology
Sky
(1979)		 Sky 2
(1980)		 Sky 3
(1981)

Sky 2 is the second album by English/Australian instrumental progressive rock band Sky, released in 1980. Despite being a double album it reached number one in the British Album charts, and at the time was the fastest double album to receive platinum status in the UK,[2] while the instrumental single "Toccata" peaked at 5 in the British Singles Chart.[3] The album was released in the United States and Canada as Sky (not to be confused with the band's debut album of that name), becoming the group's first and highest-charting entry on the Billboard 200.

Francis Monkman played guitar on the 20-minute rock suite "FIFO" because, in his words, "I felt it necessary to inject a grunge element".[4] "FIFO" stands for "First In, First Out", and is a piece about computer processing.[5]

The track "Tuba Smarties" is a light-hearted piece composed and played on tuba by bassist Herbie Flowers, and commonly played during the band's live show as a humorous encore. It is named after Smarties chocolate candies, by Rowntree's.

The track "Vivaldi" is Sky's own version of an earlier track by fellow progressive rock band Curved Air, of which Monkman was formerly a member. It originally appeared on their 1970 album "Air Conditioning".

Track listing

Original vinyl / 1980 Spanish cassette

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Hotta"Kevin Peek, Herbie Flowers7:46
2."Dance of the Little Fairies"Flowers3:31
3."Sahara"Peek6:56
Total length:18:13
Side two – FIFO
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Fifo"Francis Monkman6:44
2."Adagio"Monkman2:29
3."Scherzo"Monkman4:19
4."Watching the Aeroplanes"Monkman3:33
Total length:17:05
Side three
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Tuba Smarties" (live)Flowers3:18
2."Ballet-Volta"Praetorius, Arr. John Williams2:45
3."Gavotte & Variations"Rameau6:14
4."Andante"Vivaldi, Arr. Williams2:58
5."Tristan's Magic Garden"Tristan Fry4:09
6."El Cielo"Traditional, Arr. Williams4:20
Total length:23:44
Side four
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Vivaldi"Darryl Way4:03
2."Scipio"Flowers12:09
3."Toccata"Bach, Arr. Peek4:42
Total length:20:54

1980 UK cassette (ZC SKY2)

Side one
No.TitleLength
1."Hotta"7:46
2."Dance of the Little Fairies"3:31
3."Sahara"6:55
4."FIFO" (1st Movement Fifo / 2nd Movement Adagio / 3rd Movement Scherzo / 4th Movement Watching The Aeroplanes)17:05
5."Vivaldi"4:03
Total length:39:20
Side two
No.TitleLength
1."Tuba Smarties" (live)3:18
2."Ballet-Volta"2:45
3."Gavotte & Variations"6:14
4."Andante"2:58
5."Tristan's Magic Garden"4:09
6."El Cielo"4:20
7."Scipio" (Part I And Part II)12:09
8."Toccata"4:42
Total length:40:35

1992 Freestyle Records CD (SKY CD 2)

No.TitleLength
1."Hotta"7:46
2."Dance of the Little Fairies"3:31
3."Sahara"6:56
4."Fifo" (1st Movement)6:44
5."Adagio" (2nd Movement)2:29
6."Scherzo" (3rd Movement)4:19
7."Watching The Aeroplanes" (4th Movement)3:33
8."Tuba Smarties" (live)3:18
9."Ballet-Volta"2:45
10."Tristan's Magic Garden"4:09
11."El Cielo"4:20
12."Vivaldi"4:03
13."Scipio"12:09
14."Toccata"4:48
Total length:70:50

This version omits "Gavotte & Variations" and "Andante" from the original album.

1992 Music Club CD (MCCD 078) & 1994 Nota Blu CD (9403201)

No.TitleLength
1."Hotta"7:48
2."Dance of the Little Fairies"3:38
3."Sahara"6:55
4."FIFO" (1st Movement Fifo / 2nd Movement Adagio / 3rd Movement Scherzo / 4th Movement Watching The Aeroplanes)17:13
5."Tuba Smarties" (live)3:22
6."Ballet-Volta"2:46
7."Gavotte & Variations"6:13
8."Andante"2:59
9."Tristan's Magic Garden"4:11
10."El Cielo"4:25
11."Vivaldi"4:03
12."Scipio" (Parts I and II; early fade)11:07
13."Toccata"4:40
Total length:79:29

This version contains all tracks from the original album, although "Scipio" has been faded out early, omitting some repeats, in order to fit the album onto one CD.

1992 & 1993 Success CDs (22620CD / 16031CD)

No.TitleLength
1."Hotta"7:47
2."Dance of the Little Fairies"3:32
3."Sahara"6:56
4."FIFO" (1st Movement – Fifo / 2nd Movement – Adagio / 3rd Movement – Scherzo / 4th Movement – Watching The Aeroplanes)17:12
5."Tuba Smarties" (live)3:22
6."Ballet-Volta"2:46
7."Tristan's Magic Garden"4:11
8."El Cielo"4:25
9."Vivaldi"4:03
10."Scipio" (Part I and Part II)12:09
11."Toccata"4:42
Total length:71:26

Largely follows the track list of the 1992 Freestyle Records CD, except all movements of "FIFO" are combined into one track, and some track lengths are slightly different.

1994 Merlin Records CD

No.TitleLength
1."Hotta"7:48
2."Dance of the Little Fairies"3:35
3."Sahara"6:56
4."FIFO" (1st Movement Fifo / 2nd Movement Adagio / 3rd Movement Scherzo / 4th Movement Watching The Aeroplanes)17:15
5."Tuba Smarties" (live)3:22
6."Ballet-Volta"2:47
7."Tristan's Magic Garden"4:11
8."El Cielo"4:26
9."Vivaldi"4:04
10."Scipio" (Parts 1 And 2; early fade)11:07
11."Toccata"4:42
Total length:70:13

Almost the same as the Success pressings, except for some minor track length differences, and the fact that the early fade edit of "Scipio" from the Music Club issue has been used. The Merlin Records cassette, released at the same time as this CD, however, contains the full album in its original track order, albeit still with the edited version of "Scipio".

2005 Castle Music CD (CMRCD1087)

No.TitleLength
1."Hotta"7:47
2."Dance of the Little Fairies"3:32
3."Sahara"6:56
4."Medley" (Fifo / Adagio / Scherzo / Watching The Aeroplanes)17:13
5."Tuba Smarties" (live)3:22
6."Ballet Volta"2:46
7."Gavotte & Variations" (edited version)5:15
8."Andante"2:58
9."Tristan's Magic Garden"4:11
10."El Cielo"4:25
11."Vivaldi"4:03
12."Scipio" (Parts I and II)12:09
13."Toccata"4:40
Total length:79:17

This version contains all album tracks, including the full length version of "Scipio". However, "Gavotte & Variations" has been edited to omit the final variation instead.

2014 Esoteric Recordings CD & DVD

CD: original album (remaster)
No.TitleLength
1."Hotta" 
2."Dance of the Little Fairies" 
3."Sahara" 
4."FIFO" (Fifo / Adagio / Scherzo / Watching The Aeroplanes) 
5."Tuba Smarties" (live) 
6."Ballet Volta" 
7."Gavotte & Variations" (edited version) 
8."Andante" 
9."Tristan's Magic Garden" 
10."El Cielo" 
11."Vivaldi" 
12."Scipio" (Parts I & II) 
13."Toccata" 
DVD: video recordings (NTSC / Region free). Tracks 1–13 all recorded at Hammersmith Odeon; broadcast as "Rhythm on Two" – BBC TV 24 & 31 July 1980.
No.TitleLength
1."Toccata"4:38
2."Danza"3:07
3."Sahara"8:07
4."Dance of the Little Fairies"4:33
5."Ballet / Volta"4:35
6."Vivaldi"4:41
7."Hotta"10:27
8."Carillon"3:57
9."Dies Irae"7:48
10."Danza Paraguaya"2:21
11."Valse Creollo"3:22
12."Tuba Smarties"3:28
13."FIFO" (1st, 2nd & 4th movements)12:22
14."Toccata" ("Top of the Pops" – BBC TV 10 April 1980)2:12

The CD in this version is sourced from the masters of the 2005 Castle reissue and therefore contains the same edited version of "Gavotte & Variations".

Personnel

  • John Williams – classical & electric guitars
  • Francis Monkman – keyboards, synthesizers, harpsichord, piano, left-hand channel electric guitar on "FIFO"
  • Herbie Flowers – bass guitar, tuba on "Tuba Smarties"
  • Tristan Fry – drums, tuned percussion on "Tristan's Magic Garden" (drumkit, vibraphone, marimba, bass marimba, tympani & xylophones), trumpet on "Tuba Smarties"
  • Kevin Peek – electric and classical guitars

Charts

Certifications

Region CertificationCertified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[17] Platinum 300,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ↑ "BPI".
  2. ↑ "Sky - Instrumental Band of the 80s".
  3. ↑ Sky UK chart history, The Official Charts Company. Retrieved 10 February 2012.
  4. ↑ Wynne, Richard (2002). In Jam [sleeve notes].
  5. ↑ "Sky 2".
  6. ↑ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 277. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  7. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Sky – Sky 2" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
  8. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Sky – Sky 2" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
  9. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – Sky – Sky 2" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
  10. ↑ "Charts.nz – Sky – Sky 2". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
  11. ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – Sky – Sky 2". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
  12. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Sky – Sky 2". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
  13. ↑ "Sky Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
  14. ↑ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
  15. ↑ "Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. 1980. Archived from the original on 21 October 2021. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
  16. ↑ "Chart File – Top 100 Albums 1980" (PDF). Record Mirror. 4 April 1981. p. 38. ISSN 0144-5804 – via World Radio History.
  17. ↑ "British album certifications – Sky – Sky 2". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 2 April 2022.
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