In the 1960s and 1970s, a large number of albums were released by artists who never became known to the general public. As a result, these types of albums were doomed to end up in the so-called “sale bins”. Hoping that someone would come along who would be curious enough to try out the artist in question.
The British band Armageddon was labeled a “supergroup” in 1974. Not surprising when you know that the band consisted of musicians who in the past were in bands such as the Yardbirds, Steamhammer, Captian Beyond and Renaissance.
Expectations were high. Due to the fact that this band only performed live twice and that their debut album sold poorly, it is not surprising that the high expectations were not met.
The band consisted of former Yardbirds singer and harmonica player Keith Relf, guitarist Martin Pugh from the band Steamhammer, drummer Bobby Caldwell (Captain beyond) and bassist Louis Cennamo (Steamhammer and Renaissance).
Keith Relf had an association with the band Steamhammer when he produced their 1971 ‘Speech’ album. Because drummer Mick Bradley of this band died soon afterwards, Steamhammer fell apart. Keith Relf asked the remaining members to form a new band with him with Bobby Caldwell as the new drummer.
Peter Frampton helped them get a contract with the A&M label. In 1975 the ‘Armageddon’ album was released there. Due to a lack of promotion and the previous lack of live performances, this album flopped mercilessly. The heroin addiction of both Bobby Caldwell and Martin Pugh and the asthma of Keith Relf did not help either. And that’s a shame when you know that this album was a great hard rock album.
Keith Relf’s asthma slowly but relentlessly progressed to emphysema. He died in 1976 due to this disease, which of course meant the end of the band.
Louis Cennamo returned to his Renaissance buddies under the band name Illusion. He would later team up with Jim McCarty in the bands Stairway and Renaissance Illusion. Bobby Caldwell returned to Captain Beyond and was a member of Johnny Winter And. Martin Pugh has been a member of 7th Order since 2007.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8AalbfPv8I
