The Bliss Band

The American hard rock outfit Bliss took its name from the surname of keyboardist and lead vocalist Paul Bliss. Completing the lineup were guitarist Phil Palmer, keyboard player Alan Park, bassist Andy Brown and drummer Nigel Elliot. Emerging in the mid-1970s, the quintet concentrated on merging pomp and AOR styles, placing Paul Bliss’s theatrical delivery and understated songcraft at the center of its output. Columbia Records issued the band’s first album, Dinner With Raoul, in 1978. Greater acclaim arrived the following year with Neon Smiles, whose highlight was the track ‘Stagefright’. Limited commercial returns nevertheless led Columbia to terminate the contract at the decade’s end, consigning the group to an abrupt dissolution. Paul Bliss then turned to a modest solo career.