The pub-rock band that handed a hit to a future star

Few bands owe their legacy to a single song as completely as Ace. They formed in Sheffield in December 1972, first calling themselves Ace Flash and the Dynamos before shortening the name, and they split in July 1977. In between, they made one record that people still know.

The members came from other working bands. Paul Carrack and Terry Comer had played with Warm Dust, while Alan King had been in Mighty Baby and, before that, the 1960s group The Action. Mixing pop and funk, Ace built a following on the pub rock circuit. Before their debut album Five-A-Side was recorded, Fran Byrne, the former drummer of Bees Make Honey, replaced Steve Witherington behind the kit.

“How Long” came from that album. In the UK it reached the top 20 in 1974, and in spring 1975 it went to number three on the Billboard Hot 100, while Five-A-Side itself reached number 11 on the Billboard 200. Carrack, the band's keyboardist and chief songwriter, sang lead on it, and follow-up singles were sung by other members.

Ace moved to the United States and changed guitarists in June 1976, and their third album No Strings appeared in January 1977. This time Carrack sang lead on the two singles, but neither charted, and the band disbanded that July when Carrack, Comer and Byrne joined Frankie Miller's backing band. Carrack's career then took him from Roxy Music's Manifesto tour to Squeeze, Eric Clapton, Roger Waters and, most famously, Mike + The Mechanics. His solo re-recording of “How Long” returned to the UK top 40 in 1996, a quiet proof that the song had outlasted the band.