Biography
Kris Ife earned his primary recognition through a recording of "Hush" that later prompted Deep Purple to issue their own chart-topping rendition. Across multiple identities he participated in the British pop world from the mid-1960s into the mid-1970s, yet genuine commercial breakthrough stayed out of reach.
Working as guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter, he first appeared on disc in the mid-1960s with the Quiet Five, an outfit that issued six singles fusing Merseybeat, pop/rock, folk, and blue-eyed soul. Their 1965 single "When the Morning Sun Dries the Dew," written by Ife, slipped into the Top 50, and the following year the group repeated the placement with a version of Simon & Garfunkel's "Homeward Bound," even though the original climbed to a U.K. Top Ten ranking.
After exiting the Quiet Five in 1967 to pursue solo work, he cut several little-noticed 45s, one of which was a driving soul-rock reading of Joe South's "Hush." Deep Purple first encountered the number when band members heard the single at a Manchester discotheque, and their harder-rock treatment propelled the song to a U.S. Top Five position in 1968.
By the late 1960s Ife had begun co-writing material with Vince Edwards and Michael Derrick under the shared pseudonym Miki Anthony, and he formed the Matchmakers, a band that recorded for British producer Mark Wirtz. Ife and Wirtz supplied most of the songs for the Judd album Snarling Mumma Lion, released in 1970 and fronted by Ife on vocals; he later observed that the set mixed finished masters with demo recordings. Judd's tracks leaned toward swamp pop while incorporating touches of British blue-eyed soul-pop, yet they lacked the impact of Joe South's comparable efforts and generated no commercial response.
Ife also teamed with Vince Edwards as the duo Jackson & Jones, releasing a pair of obscure early-1970s singles marked by heavier orchestration in the style of the Righteous Brothers. In addition he completed an unreleased concept album intended to present American history through popular song, and in the mid-1970s he moved into music publishing.
Most of his recordings were later gathered on the compilation Definitive Collection 1967-1973, which contains his late-1960s solo singles (including "Hush"), the full Judd LP plus one outtake and a non-LP single, the Jackson & Jones sides, and an unreleased track from the American-history project. His Quiet Five recordings appear on the compilation CD When the Morning Sun Dries the Dew, which unites every track from the group's singles with several previously unreleased items. ~ Richie Unterberger
Working as guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter, he first appeared on disc in the mid-1960s with the Quiet Five, an outfit that issued six singles fusing Merseybeat, pop/rock, folk, and blue-eyed soul. Their 1965 single "When the Morning Sun Dries the Dew," written by Ife, slipped into the Top 50, and the following year the group repeated the placement with a version of Simon & Garfunkel's "Homeward Bound," even though the original climbed to a U.K. Top Ten ranking.
After exiting the Quiet Five in 1967 to pursue solo work, he cut several little-noticed 45s, one of which was a driving soul-rock reading of Joe South's "Hush." Deep Purple first encountered the number when band members heard the single at a Manchester discotheque, and their harder-rock treatment propelled the song to a U.S. Top Five position in 1968.
By the late 1960s Ife had begun co-writing material with Vince Edwards and Michael Derrick under the shared pseudonym Miki Anthony, and he formed the Matchmakers, a band that recorded for British producer Mark Wirtz. Ife and Wirtz supplied most of the songs for the Judd album Snarling Mumma Lion, released in 1970 and fronted by Ife on vocals; he later observed that the set mixed finished masters with demo recordings. Judd's tracks leaned toward swamp pop while incorporating touches of British blue-eyed soul-pop, yet they lacked the impact of Joe South's comparable efforts and generated no commercial response.
Ife also teamed with Vince Edwards as the duo Jackson & Jones, releasing a pair of obscure early-1970s singles marked by heavier orchestration in the style of the Righteous Brothers. In addition he completed an unreleased concept album intended to present American history through popular song, and in the mid-1970s he moved into music publishing.
Most of his recordings were later gathered on the compilation Definitive Collection 1967-1973, which contains his late-1960s solo singles (including "Hush"), the full Judd LP plus one outtake and a non-LP single, the Jackson & Jones sides, and an unreleased track from the American-history project. His Quiet Five recordings appear on the compilation CD When the Morning Sun Dries the Dew, which unites every track from the group's singles with several previously unreleased items. ~ Richie Unterberger
Albums