The Colour And The Shape by Foo Fighters released on Roswell Records, distributed by Capitol, 1997, value £60

A FASCINATING name for a rock band. Named after a strange phenomena that occurred around 1943/44 when allied aircraft pilots reported glowing objects following their aircraft, similar to spheres of ball lightning. They were first thought to be a secret weapon employed by either German or Japanese pilots, which was later denied by both countries. Some claimed they were UFOs because they eventually swerved away and disappeared into the skies.

The band Foo Fighters was formed by Dave Grohl, drummer of the American grunge rock band Nirvana. After two successful albums Bleach and Nevermind, founder member Kurt Cobain, who had been struggling with alcohol and drug related problems, committed suicide. The band decided not to continue. A year or so later Grohl, who was also an accomplished guitarist and songwriter, put together an album of songs that he had mostly written himself. Instead of using his own name, he released it under the name Foo Fighters. Music critics soon spotted the similarity of the music to being very similar to Nirvana which was not really surprising as some of them were originally only half completed. Others were left over demo recordings that were intended for a future Nirvana album, though he completed all the songs and produced the album, he had to eventually admit the connection.

The Colour And The Shape was released on Roswell Records in 1997 to critical acclaim. Grohl recruited several members to appear with him as a proper touring band and kept the name Foo Fighters. He always played down the original theory of the name, but he did have an interest in UFOs, including unexplained mysteries; as many know, Roswell, in the state of New Mexico is reported to be the site of a UFO crash landing that allegedly took place in 1947.

In 1997 music acts usually had to rely on CD sales to boost their income, but a lot did issue recordings on vinyl as limited editions. These were nearly always found at concerts where fans could buy them as not many music shops stocked vinyl anymore. Fast forward 20 years and some bands have found that their earlier music is still in demand, especially on an original vinyl album. Foo Fighters have remained a successful rock band since their formation and have completed a sell out number of arena tours in the UK.