Curved Air got its name from the Terry Riley album Rainbow In Curved Air. Vocalist Sonja Kristina, violinist Darryl Way, bassist Robert Martin, drummer Florian Pilkington-Miksa, and keyboardist Francis Monkman formed the band in March 1970. In November 1970 Warner Bros. Records released Curved Air's debut LP, Airconditioning, which reached number eight on the U.K. charts. After touring the U.S. as a support band for Jethro Tull and Free, Curved Air released a new album in 1971 called Second Album, which reached number 11 on the U.K. charts. Robert Martin was replaced by Ian Eire, who was later replaced by Mike Wedgwood. In 1972 a third album, Phantasmagoria, reached number 20 on the U.K. charts. By that time most of the band members had gone their separate ways, and the remaining members-Kristina and Wedgwood-recruited violinist Eddie Johnson, drummer Jim Russell, and guitarist Kirby Gregory. Together they released Air Cut in 1973. A newly reformed "original" Curved Air line-up-consisting of Kristina, Pilkington-Miksa, Monkman, Way, and new bassist Phil Kohn-started playing together in 1974 and released Curved Air Live later that same year. Pilkington-Miksa and Monkman left again, and Way, Kristina, and Kohn brought in Stewart Copeland as drummer and Mick Jacques as guitar player. The band released Midnight Wire in 1975; by that time John Perry had replaced Kohn on bass, who was then replaced by Tony Reeves. After touring and working together for some time, this seventh incarnation of Curved Air released Airborne, followed by the release of a single in October 1976 ("Baby Please Don't Go"). Stewart then left to form the Police.