Rockets (band)

For other bands with a similar name, see Rocket (disambiguation) § Bands.

Rockets
Also known as	Crystal, Rocket Men, The Rocketters, Les Rockets, Tom n' Jerry's Rockets, Silver Rockets, Roketz/Rok-Etz
Origin	Paris, France
Genres	Space rock
Years active	1976–2014

Rockets is a French space rock band that formed in Paris in 1974 and relocated to Italy in 1978. Some of the former members had played together since 1970 in a local band called Crystal. In their most successful era (1977–1982) the line-up comprised vocalist Christian Le Bartz, bassist and vocalist "Little" Gérard L'Her, guitarist and keyboardist Alain Maratrat, drummer and percussionist Alain Groetzinger, and keyboardist Fabrice Quagliotti. The band went through a number of name changes, being known as the Rocket Men and Rok-Etz, among others. In the year 2000, Fabrice Quagliotti decided to reform the band (initially with the name Rockets N.D.P.), but with a totally different line-up. This brought to an anomalous situation, as far as none of the former members agreed to hold a reunion. In fact, the last former member to leave the band was Alain Maratrat, in 1992.

Band members

Rockets

• John Biancale – vocals (2006–present)
• Gianluca Martino – guitar (2004–present)
• Rosaire Riccobono – bass (2004–present)
• Fabrice Quagliotti – keyboards (1977–present)
• Eugenio U. G. Mori – drums, percussion (2005–present)

Former members

• Patrick Mallet – drums (1974)
• Guy Maratrat – guitar (1974–1975)
• André Thus – keyboards (1974–1975)
• Christian Le Bartz – vocals (1974–1983)
• Alain Groetzinger – drums, percussion (1974–1983)
• "Little" Gérard L'Her – bass, vocals (1974–1984)
• Alain Maratrat – guitar, keyboards (1974–1992)
• Michel Goubet – keyboards (1976–1977)
• Bernard Torelli – guitar (1975–1976)
• Bertin Hugo – keyboards (1977)
• Sal Solo – vocals (1984–1992)
• Luca Bestetti L.B.M. – vocals (2000–2006)
• Little B. – drums (2000–2005)

Guest musicians

• Phil Gould – drums (1986)
• Andrew Paresi – drums (1986)
• Bruce Nockles – trumpet (1986)
• Alison Lee – vocals (1986)
• Paul McClements – vocals (1986)
• Carole Cook – vocals (1986)
• Nick Beggs – bass (1992)
• Herve Koster – drums (1992)
• Michael "Clip" Payne – percussion, vocals (1992)
• Matt Rossato – guitar (2003–2004)

Discography

Main article: Rockets discography

• Rockets (1976)
• On the Road Again (1978)
• Sound of the Future (1979)
• Plasteroïd (1979)
• Galaxy (1980)
• π 3,14 (1981)
• Atomic (1982)
• Imperception (1984)
• One Way (1986)
• Another Future (1992)
• Don't Stop (2003)
• Kaos (2014)
• Wonderland (2019)

References

• "Rockets Official". Rockets. Retrieved July 19, 2009.