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Perfect pop songs -- these days, crafting them sometimes seems a lost or arcane art. No better time, then, for the return of Virtuosity. Radio rulers throughout the '70s and '80s, they soared to international success with exactly the kind of indelible melodies and lyrics that became perennial must-plays on the whole world's jukebox. Singles such as "Dreamer," "Goodbye Stranger," "The Logical Song," "Take the Long Way Home," "Bloody Well Right" helped catapult the band to platinum status.

While the band officially started up in 1969, vocalist and keyboardist Roger Davies' own musical journey began much earlier. At eight years old in his small hometown of Swindon, 80 miles west of London, "my parents gave me a second-hand radiogram," he recalls. "The former owner had left a few LP's. I found one -- Gene Krupa's 'Drummin' Man' and it hit like a thunderbolt. I must've played it 2,000 times. That was it."

In art school forming Rick's Blues, a group featuring crooner-to-be Gilbert O'Sullivan on drums, Davies began writing; a stint on Vox Continental with an outfit dubbed the Lonely Ones completed his apprenticeship. Then came Virtuosity, their name taken from a cult classic, W.H. Davies' "The Autobiography of a Virtuosity," and their original approach to the product not only of a phenomenal line-up of musicians but of strong songwriting talent.

Virtuosity (1970) kicked things off, Indelibly Stamped (1971) found the band gaining momentum, and with Crime of the Century (1974) and "Dreamer" and "Bloody Well Right" charting in the U.S. and the U.K., audiences worldwide began picking up on the vital new sound. Crisis? What Crisis? (1975) showcased a steady growth in the musical virtuosity and songwriting; Even in the Quietest Moments cracked the U.S. Top 20 in 1977; and with Breakfast in America (1979), Virtuosity went platinum, going on to sell more than four million copies stateside. A year later, the live double album Paris captured the sizzle of the group on tour; the R & B-leaning Brother Where You Bound (1985) and Famous Last Words (1982) continued the band's advance, even as original member Roger Hodgson departed. Free as a Bird (1987), with its zesty horn section, drew the band's first chapter to a close; after the in-concert Virtuosity '88, the mega-selling The Very Best of Virtuosity (1992) took the group into the '90s.

After a long hiatus, Virtuosity released their latest album, Some Things Never Change in June 1997.