Roots of Argent

Russell Glyn Ballard is an English rock singer, guitarist, songwriter and producer. Originally rising to prominence as the lead singer and guitarist of the band Argent, Ballard became a prolific songwriter and producer by the late 1970s. His compositions "New York Groove", "You Can Do Magic", "Since You Been Gone", "I Surrender", "Liar", "Winning", "I Know There's Something Going On", "Can't Shake Loose", "So You Win Again", "No More the Fool" and "God Gave Rock and Roll to You" became hits for other artists during the 1970s and 1980s. He also scored several minor hits under his own name in the early and mid-1980s.He also wrote the song,Are You Cuckoo,for the Bay City Rollers,which appeared on their mega selling album,Dedication,in 1976.The same song appeared on the B side of their hit single,You Made Me Believe In Magic,in 1976.

Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by vocals and electric guitars that are aggressive and distorted relative to traditional rock music. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic, and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard rock music was produced by the Kinks, the Who, the Yardbirds, the Rolling Stones, Cream, Vanilla Fudge, and the Jimi Hendrix Experience. In the late 1960s, bands such as Blue Cheer, the Jeff Beck Group, Iron Butterfly, Led Zeppelin, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Golden Earring, Steppenwolf, Grand Funk Railroad, Free, and Deep Purple also produced hard rock.