Spontaneous Combustion

The progressive rock trio Spontaneous Combustion assembled in 1971 around drummer Tony Brock, born 31 March 1954 in Bournemouth, Dorset, England, guitarist/vocalist Gary Margetts and bassist/vocalist Tristram Margetts. Greg Lake identified their promise and steered the musicians toward Harvest Records, which issued the debut single ‘Lonely Singer’ the same year. Lake also produced the self-titled album that followed in 1972, an effort whose extended keyboard and guitar codas typified the era’s progressive approach. A second album continued in the same vein and attracted scant notice upon release, although all of Spontaneous Combustion’s recordings later became sought-after items during the progressive-era nostalgia surge. The group’s last offering was the 1973 single ‘Sabre Dance Pts 1 & 2’. In the aftermath Gary Margetts collaborated regularly with Lake, while his brother Tristram withdrew from music altogether. Brock subsequently played with Strider and the Babys before joining Rod Stewart’s backing group in the 1980s.