Pilot were a Scottish pop rock band who rose to prominence for a brief period in the 1970s and burned brightly for a short time before fading into obscurity. There was a depth of quality to the group's songs which made them stand out from the crowd in what was a busy and competitive period in the UK pop charts.
Unlike many of their contemporaries, Pilot managed to make an impact on the US market when their debut single 'Magic' went to number five in the Billboard Charts. 'Magic' was followed up by the single 'January' which didn't achieve the same level of impact in the US but went to number one in the UK. The band's success was built on excellent musicianship, solid songwriting by founder member and bass player David Paton topped off by outstanding production provided by the legendary Alan Parsons.
Later albums by the band were produced by Roy Thomas Baker but somehow, despite Baker's undoubted talent as a producer (amply demonstrated on contemporaneous albums by Queen and The Cars) the band never repeated the success of their early singles. Within four short years Pilot had faded away but Paton, along with fellow founding member Stuart Tosh and guitarist Ian Bairnson went on to form the acclaimed Alan Parsons Project.
In 2014 Paton, Bairnson and Tosh re-united and released the album 'A Pilot Project'.
