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Tier 3 · vertical & regional

National Health

Group · United Kingdom · Canterbury · formed 1975

band

progressive rock jazz fusion

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Also known as ナショナル・ヘルス

Debut: 1978
Recording span: 45 years
Release groups: 9
Timeline events: 46
Wiki language versions: 15

Compare this artist Read the biography Jump to timeline

Timeline

46 events+ Member joins 19− Member leaves 19▣ Album 6◆ Formed 1★ Debut release 1

1970s
1. 1975 · Formed
  Formed in 1975
  source: wikidata
2. 1975 · Member joins
  Amanda Parsons joins the band
  source: musicbrainz
3. 1975 · Member joins
  Mont Campbell joins the band
  source: musicbrainz
4. July 1975 · Member joins
  Alan Gowen joins the band
  source: musicbrainz
5. July 1975 · Member joins
  Dave Stewart joins the band
  source: musicbrainz
6. July 1975 · Member joins
  Phil Lee joins the band
  source: musicbrainz
7. July 1975 · Member joins
  Phil Miller joins the band
  source: musicbrainz
8. October 1975 · Member joins
  Bill Bruford joins the band
  source: musicbrainz
9. December 1975 · Member leaves
  Phil Lee leaves the band
  source: musicbrainz
10. June 1976 · Member leaves
  Mont Campbell leaves the band
  source: musicbrainz
11. July 1976 · Member joins
  Neil Murray joins the band
  source: musicbrainz
12. December 1976 · Member leaves
  Bill Bruford leaves the band
  source: musicbrainz
13. 1977 · Member leaves
  Amanda Parsons leaves the band
  source: musicbrainz
14. January 1977 · Member joins
  Pip Pyle joins the band
  source: musicbrainz
15. March 1977 · Member leaves
  Alan Gowen leaves the band
  source: musicbrainz
16. December 1977 · Member leaves
  Neil Murray leaves the band
  source: musicbrainz
17. January 1978 · Member joins
  John Greaves joins the band
  source: musicbrainz
18. 14 February 1978 · Debut release
  Debut release: National Health
  First documented Album in the MusicBrainz discography.
  source: musicbrainz
19. 14 February 1978 · Album
  Album: National Health
  Album
  source: musicbrainz
20. October 1978 · Member leaves
  Dave Stewart leaves the band
  source: musicbrainz
21. November 1978 · Album
  Album: Of Queues and Cures
  Album
  source: musicbrainz
22. January 1979 · Member joins
  Alan Gowen joins the band
  source: musicbrainz
1980s
1. March 1980 · Member leaves
  Phil Miller leaves the band
  source: musicbrainz
2. March 1980 · Member leaves
  Pip Pyle leaves the band
  source: musicbrainz
3. March 1980 · Member leaves
  John Greaves leaves the band
  source: musicbrainz
4. March 1980 · Member leaves
  Alan Gowen leaves the band
  source: musicbrainz
5. June 1981 · Member joins
  Dave Stewart joins the band
  source: musicbrainz
6. June 1981 · Member joins
  John Greaves joins the band
  source: musicbrainz
7. June 1981 · Member joins
  Phil Miller joins the band
  source: musicbrainz
8. June 1981 · Member joins
  Pip Pyle joins the band
  source: musicbrainz
9. November 1981 · Member leaves
  Dave Stewart leaves the band
  source: musicbrainz
10. November 1981 · Member leaves
  John Greaves leaves the band
  source: musicbrainz
11. November 1981 · Member leaves
  Phil Miller leaves the band
  source: musicbrainz
12. November 1981 · Member leaves
  Pip Pyle leaves the band
  source: musicbrainz
13. 1982 · Album
  Album: D.S. al Coda
  Album
  source: musicbrainz
14. August 1983 · Member joins
  Dave Stewart joins the band
  source: musicbrainz
15. August 1983 · Member leaves
  Dave Stewart leaves the band
  source: musicbrainz
16. August 1983 · Member joins
  John Greaves joins the band
  source: musicbrainz
17. August 1983 · Member leaves
  John Greaves leaves the band
  source: musicbrainz
18. August 1983 · Member joins
  Phil Miller joins the band
  source: musicbrainz
19. August 1983 · Member leaves
  Phil Miller leaves the band
  source: musicbrainz
20. August 1983 · Member joins
  Pip Pyle joins the band
  source: musicbrainz
21. August 1983 · Member leaves
  Pip Pyle leaves the band
  source: musicbrainz
1990s
1. 1996 · Album
  Album: Missing Pieces
  Album
  source: musicbrainz
2. 1999 · Album
  Album: The Northern Lights - Polar Lights
  Album
  source: musicbrainz
2020s
1. 31 March 2023 · Album
  Album: The Roundhouse [unedited]
  Album
  source: musicbrainz

Biography

English biography330 words · 3 sectionssource: wikipedia-en · licence CC BY-SA 4.0 · revision 1365676042

Biography

National Health were an English progressive rock band associated with the Canterbury scene. Founded in 1975, the band featured members of keyboardist Dave Stewart's band Hatfield and the North and Alan Gowen's band Gilgamesh, including guitarists Phil Miller and Phil Lee and bassist Mont Campbell as original members. The band was named after Stewart's National Health spectacles. Bill Bruford (previously of Yes and King Crimson) was the initial drummer, soon replaced by Pip Pyle. Campbell was replaced by Neil Murray and then John Greaves. Alan Gowen left the group before its first album (although he appeared on it as a guest musician), but returned for their final tours, replacing Dave Stewart, who resigned after their second album. Amanda Parsons sang with the group in its original line-up but also appeared on the first album only as a guest; the group never had another full-time vocalist, although Richard Sinclair sang a few times, and Greaves sang on one track of the second album and occasionally in concerts. Guitarist Phil Miller was National Health's only constant member.
They toured extensively and released their first album, National Health, in 1978. Although it was created during the rise of punk rock, the album is characterized by lengthy, mostly instrumental compositions. National Health continued performing live until winter 1980, but disbanded after recording only two studio albums.
After the May 1981 death of Gowen, the Queues lineup of Stewart, Miller, Greaves and Pyle reunited to record the album D.S. Al CodaD.S. al Coda1982 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 9 tracksA1Portrait of a Shrinking Man5:35A2TNTFX3:11A3Black Hat4:52A4I Feel a Night Coming On6:38A5Arriving Twice2:20B1Shining Water8:50B2Tales of a Damson Knight1:55B3Flanagans People7:31B4Toad of Toad Hall5:35, a set of compositions by Gowen, most previously unrecorded. The original albums and additional archival material have subsequently been released on CD.
The intro of National Health's "Binoculars" was used as a sample on American rock band Deftones' "Black Moon".

Studio albums

National Health (1978)
Of Queues and Cures (1978)
D.S. Al Coda (1982)

Other releases

Complete (1990; all three studio albums plus bonus tracks)
Missing Pieces (1996; archival material)
Playtime (2001; live recordings from 1979)
Dreams Wide Awake (2005; all tracks from the first two studio albums)

Discography & profile

Normalised profile

Percentiles are computed over every artist in the database, so a tier-3 artist can still sit in the 95th percentile on a single axis.

Normalised profile metrics with percentile rank
Metric	Value	Percentile
Wikipedia language versions	15	72.5th
Spotify monthly listeners	—	no data
Release groups in DB	9	81.7th
Studio albums	6	86.1th
Awards recorded	0	0th
Timeline events	46	98.6th
Recording span (years)	45	85.8th
Genres	8	94.5th

Percentiles are computed at render time; missing values mean the artist has no data on that axis.

Discography (9 release groups · 6 studio albums)

Albums · 6

National Health
1978 · studio album
Search Spotify Search YouTube Music
Tracklist · 5 tracks · 50:32
A1Tenemos Roads14:43
A2Brujo10:19
B1Borogoves (Excerpt From Part Two)4:16
B2Borogoves (Part One)6:37
B3Elephants14:37
Of Queues and Cures
1978 · studio album
Search Spotify Search YouTube Music
Tracklist · 7 tracks · 53:22
A1The Bryden 2-Step (For Amphibians), Part 18:56
A2The Collapso6:19
A3Squarer for Maud11:52
B1Dreams Wide Awake8:51
B2Binoculars11:46
B3Phlâkatön0:09
B4The Bryden 2-Step (For Amphibians), Part 25:29
D.S. al Coda
1982 · studio album
Search Spotify Search YouTube Music
Tracklist · 9 tracks · 46:27
A1Portrait of a Shrinking Man5:35
A2TNTFX3:11
A3Black Hat4:52
A4I Feel a Night Coming On6:38
A5Arriving Twice2:20
B1Shining Water8:50
B2Tales of a Damson Knight1:55
B3Flanagans People7:31
B4Toad of Toad Hall5:35
Missing Pieces
1996 · studio album
Search Spotify Search YouTube Music
Tracklist · 12 tracks · 56:27
1Bourée0:54
2Paracelsus (inc. Bourée reprise)5:36
3Clocks and Clouds6:47
4Agrippa8:22
5The Lethargy Shuffle & The Mind-Your-Backs Tango9:20
6Zabaglione7:48
7Lethargy Shuffle, Part 24:36
8Croquette for Electronic Beating Group3:52
9Phlâkatön0:26
10The Towplane & The Glider5:13
11Starlight on Seaweed3:08
12Walking the Dog (extract)0:25
The Northern Lights - Polar Lights
1999 · studio album
Search Spotify Search YouTube Music
Tracklist · 15 tracks
Disc 15 tracks
1Tenemos Road
2Paracelsus
3Trident Asleep
4Agrippa
5The Lethargy Shuffle And The Mind Your Backs Tango
Disc 210 tracks
1Elephants
2Lethargy Shuffle (Part II)
3Borogroves (I)
4Borogroves (II)
5The Lethargy Shuffle And The Mind Your Backs Tango
6The Townplane & The Glider
7Clocks and Clouds
8Zabaglione
9Tenemos road
10Clocks and Clouds
The Roundhouse [unedited]
2023 · studio album
Search Spotify Search YouTube Music
Tracklist · 12 tracks · 1:35:51
1The Bryden 2-Step Into Borogroves11:25
2Introductions2:18
3A Legend in His Own Lunchtime (aka Binoculars)13:26
4Neil's Got Three Basses0:51
5The Lethargy Shuffle & Mind Your Backs Tango9:55
6Reincarnation0:26
7Underdub6:15
8The Collapso6:58
9Have Larynx Will Travel0:41
10Clocks and Clouds9:57
11Tenemos Roads16:53
12Encore: Elephants16:46

Album · 3

Album release groups, by first release date
Year	Title	Notes	First release
1990	CompleteSearch Spotify Search YouTube Music Tracklist · 23 tracks · 2:38:26 Disc 19 tracks · 1:19:02 1Paracelsus1:46 2Tenemos Roads14:35 3Brujo10:19 4Borogoves (Excerpt From Part Two)4:12 5Borogoves (Part One)6:35 6Elephants14:31 7The Bryden 2-Step (For Amphibians), Part 18:55 8The Collapso6:19 9Squarer for Maud11:50 Disc 214 tracks · 1:19:24 1Dreams Wide Awake8:50 2Binoculars11:46 3Phlâkatön0:09 4The Bryden 2-Step (For Amphibians), Part 25:33 5Apocalypso6:50 6Portrait of a Shrinking Man5:35 7T.N.T.F.X.3:12 8Black Hat4:53 9I Feel a Night Coming On6:38 10Arriving Twice2:23 11Shining Water8:53 12Tales of a Damson Knight1:56 13Flanagan’s People5:20 14Toad of Toad Hall7:26	Compilation	1990
2001	PlaytimeSearch Spotify Search YouTube Music Tracklist · 9 tracks · 1:06:59 1Flanagan’s People15:57 2Nowadays a Silhouette6:33 3Dreams Wide Awake8:19 4Pleaides10:26 5Rhubarb Jam1:17 6Rose Sob1:47 7Play Time9:39 8Squarer for Maude, Part 15:11 9Squarer for Maude, Part 27:50	Live	16 January 2001
2005	Dreams Wide AwakeSearch Spotify Search YouTube Music Tracklist · 12 tracks · 1:43:08 Disc 16 tracks · 52:34 1Dreams Wide Awake8:51 2Borogroves Part 16:31 3The Bryden 2 Step Part 18:54 4Brujo10:15 5Binoculars11:45 6The Collapso6:18 Disc 26 tracks · 50:34 1The Bryden 2Step (For Amphibians) Part 25:29 2Tenemos Roads14:31 3Borogroves Part 24:14 4Elephants14:19 5Squarer For Maud11:51 6Phlakhaton0:10	Compilation	19 September 2005

Stats & PK

Percentile within all 23,672 published artists.Put National Health head-to-head →

National Health metrics with percentile rank among published artists
Metric	Value	Percentile
Wikipedia language versions	15	72.5th
Spotify monthly listeners	—	no data
Release groups in DB	9	81.7th
Studio albums	6	86.1th
Awards recorded	0	0th
Timeline events	46	98.6th
Recording span (years)	45	85.8th
Genres	8	94.5th

Awards & honours

No awards recorded

No major awards are stored for this artist yet.

Browse the best-documented artists

Line-up

Band line-up and band memberships with dates
Name	From	To
Amanda Parsons	1975	1977
Mont Campbell	1975	June 1976
Alan Gowen	July 1975	March 1977
Dave Stewart	July 1975	October 1978
Phil Lee	July 1975	December 1975
Phil Miller	July 1975	March 1980
Bill Bruford	October 1975	December 1976
Neil Murray	July 1976	December 1977
Pip Pyle	January 1977	March 1980
John Greaves	January 1978	March 1980
Alan Gowen	January 1979	March 1980
Dave Stewart	June 1981	November 1981
John Greaves	June 1981	November 1981
Phil Miller	June 1981	November 1981
Pip Pyle	June 1981	November 1981
Dave Stewart	August 1983	August 1983
John Greaves	August 1983	August 1983
Phil Miller	August 1983	August 1983
Pip Pyle	August 1983	August 1983

Where this record comes from

aliases/urls—musicbrainz · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://musicbrainz.org/artist/8fab4688-d52e-4be5-a10f-3234014c43fc
discography—musicbrainz · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://musicbrainz.org/artist/8fab4688-d52e-4be5-a10f-3234014c43fc
core—wikidata · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1031228
genre—wikidata · CC0 · retrieved 11 October 2026
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1031228
seed-list—wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Health
biography—wikipedia-en · CC BY-SA 4.0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Health

Why this artist is in the database

List of progressive rock artists

Tier rule: curated genre/region list
Image: no portrait (not displayed: the licence credit is missing)
Wikidata: Q1031228 · MusicBrainz: 8fab4688-d52e-4be5-a10f-3234014c43fc

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