Joy Unlimited

*2026 stock* "A new step in the artistic development of Joy Unlimited was the composition and recording of the ballet music Butterflies for the Bonn City Theater . The ballet - played live at every performance for weeks - was a huge success, not just because of the sophisticated music, but also because of the imaginative modern choreography by Lothar Höfgen, a student of Maurice Béjart. Many parts of Butterflies were used in a television program filmed by SWF about Joy Unlimited and the singer and choreographer Lester Wilson (from the original line-up of Hair ).

When the recording contract with Polydor expired, Joy Unlimited signed with the newly founded BASF label. The first LP with the new contract partners, Butterflies , was not released in 1971 on the BASF label itself, but on their sub-label Pilz , headed by Rolf-Ulrich Kaiser. The music is a bold mixture of ballet music, progressive sounds, blues , jazz , etc. It is about the transformation from caterpillar to butterfly in three stages, which is seen as a symbol of human development. At about the same time - during an SDR radio recording on June 29, 1971 - the original version of the well-known Neckarbrücken Blues was created .

In the same year, 1971, singer and guitarist Ken Traylor, who had been living in Germany since 1967, joined the group as a new member, as Joy wanted to pursue a solo career. The short-lived line-up with both singers played at a few concerts and festivals and complemented each other well. A little later, Joy left the group and called herself Joy Fleming from then on. When she left, it was agreed to continue using the name Joy Unlimited unchanged, also because it had become established and stood for a certain style of music."