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 WEL COME
RUNNING MY EYES OVER the stunning double cover of this latest issue of Rock Candy Mag made me think about the first
time I ever saw our two cover stars, Kiss and UFO. I’d only just been introduced to the music of Kiss when the band paid
their first visit to the UK back in May of 1976. They played a couple of nights at London’s prestigious Hammersmith Odeon,
and despite the fact that neither show was sold out there was a great sense of expectation for the two gigs.
I remember sitting in my seat close to the stage and watching the road crew setting up the microphones. At the time I
thought it strange that they were standing on tip toe extending the range of the mic stands to the max. I couldn’t fathom it
at first, but when the band hit the stage, it dawned on me why. Given that the three band members out front were wearing
enormous platform boots, they were all standing about seven feet tall! But that wasn’t the only thing that grabbed my
pre-gig attention. The enormous netting covering the stage contained enough confetti and balloons to fill a swimming pool!
To be honest, during the gig itself Ace Frehley’s rocket-firing guitar was more like an indoor sparkler, given that it fizzed out
almost immediately. And I wasn’t close enough to the stage to catch any of Gene’s fake blood. Though if I had been I’d have
probably sent him the cleaning bill! I wasn’t wholly convinced by Kiss that night, but later that year I got my hands on their
‘Destroyer’ album and everything suddenly made sense. Nowadays, of course, I appreciate Kiss more than ever, not only for
their tongue-in-cheek approach, but also for their ability to pen riveting riffs and put on a show fit for a king.
I first saw UFO even earlier than Kiss, at London’s Roundhouse around Christmas time of 1975. Given that this particular
gig also had Stray, Judas Priest, and Strife on the bill and claimed to be ‘The Heaviest Night Of The Year’, I definitely wasn’t
going to miss out. All three bands rung my bell in a big way, but it was UFO who won my heart on the night. I loved Pete
Way and his elastic bass playing, drummer Andy Parker’s rock-solid delivery, Danny Peyronel’s sensational ivory tinkling,
Phil Mogg’s crypto-caustic frontman presence, and Man Of The Match Michael Schenker’s blistering guitar playing. UFO
were forever setting standards with their live shows and world class recordings, and I became a fervent devotee, going on
to see them many more times in the ’70s and ’80s.
UFO were playing farewell European dates over the last couple of years but had to stop when singer Mogg suffered a heart
attack. We wish him all the best and salute every past and present UFO member for their contribution to our world.
On a personal note, I’d also like to pay tribute to my friend Bob Nalbandian, who recently passed away after a long illness.
Bob was the creator of an early metal fanzine, The Headbanger, and wrote for several well-known rock magazines in the
States. He was also responsible for producing fine documentaries on the LA metal scene and for hosting respected rock
podcast Shockwaves. Bob was a true metal devotee and it’s very sad that he’s now departed our orbit. God bless you Bob…

Derek Oliver – Master Of Mayhem

derekoliver@[Link]

THIS ISSUE’S BIG QUESTION – THE DEMON OR THE STARCHILD?

THE TEAM CONTRIBUTORS
Owner and Publisher: Derek Oliver Jason Arnopp
The Starchild The Demon
Editor: Howard Johnson Andrew Daly
The Starchild The Starchild
Editor At Large: Malcolm Dome Rob Evans
E-mail: editorial@[Link] Art Director: Andy Hunns The Starchild
Website: [Link] The Starchild Giles Hamilton
Production Editor: Louise Johnson The Starchild
Rock Candy Mag subscriptions The Starchild Neil Jeffries
Go to [Link]/subscriptions Creative Direction: Julia Melanie The Demon
Goode Dave Ling
[Link] created and The God Of Thunder The Starchild
maintained by Ross Sampson Solutions Web Guy: Ross Sampson Dave Reynolds
The Starchild The Demon
Printed by Sterling Press Limited, Kettering Facebook Captain: John Nicholson Xavier Russell
Venture Park, Kettering, Northamptonshire The Demon The Demon
Photo: Jack Lue

NN15 6SU, England. Social Media Guru: Michael Brandvold

The Starchild
Distributed by Distributed by Marketforce (UK) Copyright: Rock Candy Magazine Ltd, 2023
Limited, 121-141 Westbourne Terrace, London, PHOTOGRAPHY No part of this magazine may be reproduced
W2 6JR, England IconicPix & Rich Galbraith without the express consent of the owner.
ROCK CANDY MAG ISSUE 36 CONTENTS

48 KISS
UPFRONT Exclusive interview

6 FROZEN IN TIME – SLAYER Albums available on

Let’s go on a visual journey to 1986 when this emerging West Coast thrash band were Rock Candy Records
really pushing the boundaries of extreme music.
Want to comment on anything
in Rock Candy Mag?
8 STEP BACK IN TIME – MARCH-APRIL 1984 Email us:
We’re heading back almost 40 years where we find Jon Bon Jovi taking his first steps Editorial@[Link]

towards superstardom, Kate Bush making the pages of Kerrang! – which was not to everybody’s taste, and Rick
Springfield showing us how to mix pop and rock just perfectly.

14 MY FIRST GIG – BLAZE BAYLEY

The former Iron Maiden vocalist explains how local metal band Scarab lit a fire in his belly!

16 PERSON OF INTEREST – MARK CHATFIELD OF THE GODZ

Coming straight out of Columbus, Ohio, these bad boys of rock’n’roll first burned bright, then burned out in the late
’70s. Now they’re back – and their original guitarist can’t wait to bring the noise once more.

18 INTRODUCING – RIVERSIDE
We’re excited to open your eyes and ears to this highly original Polish prog band.

FEATURES

20 DARK DAYS – BLACKFOOT

The Native American rockers from Jacksonville, Florida seemed set for superstardom when their 1979 ‘Strikes’
album shot up the charts. So why did it never quite happen for them? Rock Candy Mag gets the full sorry story
from bassist Greg T. Walker…

26 EYEWITNESS – THE MAKING OF UFO’S ‘NO HEAVY PETTING’

Editor HoJo checks in with drummer Andy Parker, keyboardist Danny Peyronel, and producer Leo Lyons for a
fascinating insight into how this classic 1976 album came together.

34 OVERLOOKED – STARZ
Given that they were managed by Kiss supremo Bill Aucoin, and their songs were so memorable, everyone thought
New York rockers Starz were going to be massive. So what happened? Dave Reynolds checks in with drummer Joe
X. Dube and guitarist Richie Ranno to find out.

4
 42 THE ROCK CANDY Q&A – KIM MCAULIFFE
OF GIRLSCHOOL
The NWOBHM guitarist and vocalist believed COVID might bring
about the end of her band. So how come the all-female group are
busier than ever now?

44 RON ‘BUMBLEFOOT’ THAL

The much-admired New York guitarist can shred for sure, but there’s
so much more to him than that!

48 KISS – GENE SIMMONS EXCLUSIVE

You lucky people! We’ve got fully 20 pages of Kiss-hem for you in this
issue, and we kick things off with a 10-page bumper interview with
Gene where he talks with admirable candour about his band’s 44 RON ‘BUMBLEFOOT’
amazing journey. THAL
58 KISS – GENE SIMMONS’S 10 GREATEST SONGS
Andrew Daly selects what he considers to be The God Of Thunder’s
greatest musical achievements.

60 KISS – PAUL STANLEY EXCLUSIVE

In a truly unique interview, The Starchild goes deep into his world of
guitars and how important they are to the Kiss sound.

66 KISS – PAUL STANLEY’S 10 GREATEST SONGS

Do you agree with our writer’s selection of Paul’s finest moments
in Starchild mode?

68 INSIDE STORY – LOVERBOY

Guitarist and band leader Paul Dean offers up a fascinating insight
into why being in Loverboy really is a great way to live!

76 RAPID FIRE RECALL – RICKY WARWICK

Cover page and back page Kiss photos: Brian Babineau. Contents page photos: IconicPix/Zane Lewis; Gunner Kal; Lee Wilkinson

The Black Star Riders frontman on his long, hard road to the top and
why he’s never been happier…

80 UNCOVERED – RICK WAKEMAN

80 UNCOVERED –
Prog’s much-loved keyboard giant explains why he’s happy never RICK WAKEMAN
knowing what music’s coming next in his illustrious career

PRODUCT

86 CLASSIC ALBUMS REVISITED – ‘MIDNIGHT MADNESS’

BY NIGHT RANGER
Was the San Francisco band’s second album from 1983 all about
massive hit ‘Sister Christian’? Or was there way more to it than that?

88 STRIKTLY FOR KONNOISSEURS – HEAVY METAL KIDS

AND LEGS DIAMOND
Once more our dedicated explorers unearth some top-notch
buried treasure.

90 ROCK CANDY REISSUE – WORLD TRADE

Our superb sister label is at it again, bringing you a fully remastered 88 LEGS DIAMOND
version of the US prog outfit’s 1989 debut, ‘World Trade’. And yes,
it’s another belter!

91 REVIEWS
Our crack team of reviewers gives you considered opinions on a whole host of new releases from artists
including The Alan Parsons Project, Motörhead, Thin Lizzy, and Steve Vai.

98 CROSSWORD
Make sure your musical brain is in good working order by taking on the famous Rock Candy Mag crossword.

99 SUBSCRIBE TO ROCK CANDY MAGAZINE

Make sure you never miss an issue of the best rock mag on the planet!

55
 UPFRONT FROZEN IN TIME

DATELINE: 14 NOVEMBER 1986, CHICAGO

6
‘Blood’ Brothers!
IN THESE DAYS OF endless bands classifying themselves as
extreme metal, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to remember
just how radical Slayer were when they first emerged. Formed in
Huntington Park, a city in Los Angeles County, way back in 1981,
the group comprised guitarists Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman,
bassist and vocalist Tom Araya, and drummer Dave Lombardo.
Right from the off the band members deliberately positioned
themselves as outsiders. Visually, Lombardo designed their
logo to look as if it had been carved in blood at the scene of
a murder. Musically, ‘Aggressive Perfector’ – the band’s first
recording that appeared on fan-turned-record-label-owner Brian
Slagel’s 1983 ‘Metal Massacre III’ compilation album – was fully
committed proto-thrash metal. It sounded like Judas Priest at
their most unhinged, only faster and more deranged. Slagel was
so impressed by Slayer’s complete disinterest in commercial metal
that he immediately signed them to Metal Blade.

RELEASED IN December of 1983, debut album ‘Show No Mercy’

featured 10 tracks of unrelenting thrash proudly influenced by
Maiden, Priest, Venom, and Mercyful Fate. Despite being recorded
on a shoestring budget provided by Araya along with King’s dad,
the album quickly became recognised as an underground classic,
shifting somewhere between 30 and 40,000 copies worldwide.
Not everyone loved it. Kerrang! writer Dave Dickson called it
“pure, unadulterated junk.” Not everyone liked the overtly satanic
imagery either. But many disenfranchised metal fans quickly found
their spiritual home in Slayer’s ‘all in’ extreme attitude.
A second studio album, ‘Hell Awaits’, appeared on Metal Blade
in March of 1985. But the band’s big break came when Rick Rubin,
a New York producer known for his work with hip-hop acts,
decided he wanted to sign Slayer to his Def Jam label. It wasn’t as
crazy as it sounded. Rubin also loved metal and had immediately
responded to the band’s uncompromising attitude. He also
reasoned that he could clean up the band’s recorded sound and
professionalise it without losing any of the band’s innate power
and attitude. Rubin wasn’t wrong. Slayer’s third album, ‘Reign In
Blood’, appeared on Def Jam on 7 October 1986 and immediately
elevated the group to a new creative level thanks to shorter,
more intense songs and a sympathetic production that somehow
managed to sound both intimate and insane.

THIS PHOTO was taken backstage at Chicago’s Aragon Ballroom

on 14 November 1986 during Slayer’s ‘Reign In Pain’ tour with
fellow thrashers Overkill. It was just over a month after the release
of ‘Reign In Blood’ and shows a band as fully committed to their
work as it’s possible to be. Metallica had already shown that it
was possible to make metal music that gave zero f*cks about the
traditional markers of success such as radio and MTV play. Now
Slayer were taking the thrash artform to even greater extremes,
visually as much as sonically – and people were responding.
Kerrang! now said that ‘Reign In Blood’ was “the heaviest album of
all time” and the album would eventually go gold.

SLAYER WOULD go on to become one of thrash metal’s Big

Four alongside Metallica, Megadeth, and Anthrax, and would
enjoy a storied career before calling a halt to proceedings in 2019
amidst rumours that Araya had simply had enough. Guitarist Jeff
Hanneman had died of liver failure in 2013 and been replaced by
former Exodus man Gary Holt. Dave Lombardo left twice and
Photo: IconicPix/Gene Ambo

returned before finally bailing for good in 2013 to be replaced

by Paul Bostaph. In 2021 Kerry King suggested that Slayer had
disbanded too soon, but with Araya showing no signs of wanting
to return, it’s hard to see the band ever reforming. Maybe it’s
for the best. That way we will always remember Slayer as the
unbending outsiders in this memorable image.

HOWARD JOHNSON

7
 STEP BACK IN TIME

4
UPFRONT

MARCH–APRIL 198
DY ’S DA V E LING LEAFS TH
RO U G H T H E B A CK PAGES OF
H E
THE
DAY BACK TO
R O C K CA N S IT E M S O F T
R IN G THE BIG NEW
UK ROCK PRE
S S T O B
S R E A L LY P L AYED OUT…
ORIE
A N A LY S E H OW THOSE ST
LIFE AND
Kate Bush photographed in London, 18 January 1984

KATE MAKES KERRANG!

DATELINE: 23 FEBRUARY–7 MARCH 1984
MAGAZINE: KERRANG!
KATE BUSH WAS FOUR albums into her career, with a fact that she’d been discovered and mentored by Pink
fifth – ‘Hounds Of Love’ – six months away from release, Floyd’s David Gilmour. Indeed, save for unearthing her
when she perhaps unexpectedly granted Kerrang! an love of classical or “old or traditional folk songs. What
interview. The media-shy singer and songwriter was my mother, who’s Irish, would have listened to and
known for a run of smash-hit singles that included danced to,” it revealed little of what made Bush tick in a
‘Wuthering Heights’, ‘The Man With The Child In His musical sense.
Eyes’, ‘Babooshka’, and ‘Army Dreamers’. But while
Photo: IconicPix/Ray Palmer Archive

Kate’s music was artistic and creative it certainly wasn’t DANCING WAS such an overriding passion for Kate that
hard rock, so selling her to the magazine’s readership she admitted: “There was a time when I was never really
was an ambitious move. sure whether an album was going to manifest itself.”
Despite admitting that he’d originally reviewed Bush’s Luckily it did, and Bush signed to EMI Records in 1976
1978 debut single ‘Wuthering Heights’ “with an almighty when she was just 18 years old. “I’d left school and was
sneer, pronouncing it dead from the neck up,” writer beginning to find myself as an individual,” she recalled
Mick Wall nevertheless went on to become a fan. A very fondly. “[The success of ‘Wuthering Heights’] was very
big fan. Beginning his piece with a lengthy and slightly exciting, but I wanted more than anything else in the
risible ‘dream sequence’, Wall’s story didn’t try to paint world to make an album, just to see that piece of plastic.
Bush as anything resembling a rock artist, ignoring the And then when it happened it was instant, like a round-

8
the-world-in-80-days sort of to write every day, but
thing, it’s frightening. I don’t know as soon as ‘Wuthering
how I did it. I couldn’t do it now.” Heights’ became a hit my
Kate was 25 at the time. whole routine was just
blown apart.”
AFTER PLAYING shows in 1979,
Bush would subsequently resist WE DISCOVERED that Oscar
all offers to perform live until an Wilde was her favourite
extraordinary 22-show residency author and that she had
at London’s Hammersmith taken vocal lessons, though
Apollo in 2014. In this Kerrang! nobody had tried to make her
story, though, she spoke warmly sing in a lower key. She hadn’t
of her experiences onstage. felt the need to work with a
“I get so incredibly nervous choreographer until she went
before I go on. But I loved out on tour. “Then you need a
those shows. Once I was teacher.” Bush did occasionally
onstage I had so much fun. crimp her hair and was still
I’d like to do more of it,” writing for ‘Hounds Of Love’,
Bush said. though any speculation over
Although Wall spoke of what kind of material might be
sitting with Kate and talking included was avoided.
to her until the sun went The story ended with Bush
down, the piece was light and Wall discussing their
on insight. favourite seasons. “I like all the
We did learn that Kate seasons,” Kate announced. “They
wasn’t a prolific composer. each have something to bring.”
“No,” she confessed, “I have “God, this is getting wistful,”
to write for an album. I used Mick admitted…

ROCK CANDY SAYS… “These artists are covered everywhere else. Why are they
invading a precious space that’s ours and ours alone?!”
BACK AT A TIME when most hard rock fans would have Almost four decades later it would be interesting to
lived and died in defence of their chosen genre, with know how many of those same angry readers now own
precious little interest in anything that existed outside Kate’s ‘Hounds Of Love’ and Prince’s ‘Purple Rain’?
of those parameters, the decision to cover Kate Bush
WITH OUTPUT slowing to a
trickle – her 10th and most
recent studio album ‘50 Words
For Snow’ is now more than
a decade old – Kate Bush has
almost given up entirely on
the interview process, but
she continues to thrill us in
completely unexpected ways,
the 2014 run of Hammersmith
shows being a good example of
that. Will Kate ever do anything
like those concerts again? It
doesn’t seem likely, but then
again on Planet Bush just about
anything is possible.

WHEN ONE of the singles from

‘Hounds Of Love’, ‘Running Up
That Hill’, found a new lease of
life in 2022 after it was featured
in the Netflix series Stranger
Things, Kate was moved to
break her silence. Speaking on
Kate performs in the video for ‘The Dreaming’
Radio 4’s Women’s Hour, with
her song back at the top of the
charts and being bought by a
in Kerrang! caused palpitations among much of the whole new generation of fans, she called the situation
magazine’s readership. Not as many as when the mag “extraordinary,” adding: “It’s quite shocking really, isn’t it?
put Prince on the cover of Issue 82 later that same year, I mean, the whole world’s gone mad.”
but nevertheless there was a definite sense of fury. Mad, maybe, but in this case surely in a good way!

9
UPFRONT
STEP BACK IN TIME
Bon Jovi photographed in Paris, 3 November 1984. L-R David Bryan (keyboards),
Tico Torres (drums), Jon Bon Jovi (vocals), Richie Sambora (guitar), Alec John Such (bass)

BON JOVI: NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK

DATELINE: 8-21 MARCH 1984
MAGAZINE: KERRANG!
THE ALBUM REVIEWS SECTION in Issue 63 of Kerrang! a commerciality that should ensure plentiful sales and
drew the attention of its readers to an unheralded group success,” he wrote.
from New Jersey. Writer Paul Suter was full of praise
for the “magnificent” eponymous debut from Bon Jovi, ONE INTERESTING point to come out of the interview
hailing the quintet as an outfit of “classic finesse and with Jon, conducted by writer Shelly Harris, was that
brutal strength.” The Kerrang! man considered Richie prior to becoming a “best friend” of Canadian rocker
Sambora a “shattering guitarist” and was so enamoured Aldo Nova, the singer’s early songs had been influenced
of frontman Jon Bon Jovi that he felt the singer was by “R&B and old Motown kind of things.” The music only
“surely destined to be one of the heroes of the modern started “getting heavier” when Jon put the rest of the
age.” Good use of the crystal ball, there, Mr Suter. Bon Jovi line-up in place in early 1983.
Suter claimed that the numbers on ‘Bon Jovi’ were
IN TRUTH this was a fairly modest introduction to a band “significantly more stimulating than ‘Subject’,” referring
that would become so successful. The ‘Bon Jovi’ album to Aldo Nova’s second album released the previous
review received less column space than David Gilmour’s year. Of course, Jon was the first to acknowledge that
‘About Face’ that appeared on the same page, with the Canadian Nova, credited with “additional guitar and
Photo: IconicPix/Bertrand Alary

group’s promo photo printed in black and white. Two keyboards” had “worked on the Bon Jovi record quite a
issues later, Kerrang! interviewed Jon Bon Jovi for the bit.” But as the singer told Shelly Harris, even at 22 years
first time, but the group only received a single page old, having already recorded demos produced by Billy
of text together with a colour line-up shot featuring a Squier and opened live shows for Southside Johnny, he
frighteningly young-looking singer. was “always [used to] being around these people.”
Nevertheless, Suter felt Bon Jovi – the band –
had everything required to take on the world. “The THE FIRST song on the ‘Bon Jovi’ album was ‘Runaway’.
material is dramatic and energetic, and blessed with It had been recorded before Jon put his band together,

10
featuring session guitar supremo Tim Pierce, Springsteen’s
keyboard player Roy Bittan, Scandal drummer Frankie LaRocka,
and bassist Hugh McDonald. The local popularity of ‘Runaway’
via airplay on radio stations led to Jon putting a full-time band
together that included Sambora, keyboardist David Rashbaum
(later known as David Bryan), bassist Alec John Such, and former
Franke & The Knockouts drummer Tico ‘The Hit Man’ Torres.
PolyGram signed the group, though the label was clearly still
focusing on Jon as the frontman. The sepia-tinted front cover of
‘Bon Jovi’ featured Jon, together with a femme fatale lurking in
the background. The rest of the band only made the back cover.
The debut record had been produced by Lance Quinn, who’d
previously worked with Lita Ford, together with Jon’s cousin Tony
Bongiovi. Paul Suter liked the way the album sounded. “Imagine
Night Ranger playing LA metal, or Journey getting really vicious,”
he explained.

‘BON JOVI’ had apparently already sold a healthy 80,000 copies

at that point and with small US headline gigs being set up, Jon
and his team were dying to get out onto the road. “I think we’re
going to be in the UK in late summer… August,” said Jon in
the interview. Describing ‘Bon Jovi’ as an “excellent package,”
Suter finished his review by claiming that this debut release was
“already in the running for album of the year.”

Bon Jovi get all hair metal in the promo video for ‘Runaway’

ROCK CANDY SAYS…

“If you believe from the beginning, you know it’s going
to happen, there’s no doubt in your mind,” he continued.
“I could never think of the idea of us not getting signed,
YOU MIGHT SAY THAT the success of Bon Jovi was not making records. I always believed in it too much.
inevitable. Jon was a driven and supremely self-confident You’ve just got to have guts. If you want anything, you
individual who’d put in all the necessary groundwork, can do it.”
including sweeping the floor and making coffees at Tony
Bongiovi’s Power Station studio, the New York facility ALMOST FOUR decades after the release of ‘Bon Jovi’,
where he cut ‘Runaway’. With a career guided by Mötley the album sounds a touch naïve, but it’s also undeniably
Crüe manager Doc McGhee and the corporate muscle of endearing. ‘Runaway’ remains its undisputed highlight,
record label PolyGram behind him, not to mention the though ‘She Don’t Know Me’, ‘Shot Through The Heart’,
singer’s marketability as a pin-up, it was hardly a surprise and ‘Breakout’ can all be regarded as unmissable
that Bon Jovi became such a big noise. In many ways signposts towards future greatness.
JBJ was the full package just waiting to be unwrapped. Over the coming decades Bon Jovi would make
“By the time I was 18 I was used to playing 10,000 better records. Some might call them more calculated,
seaters with Southside Johnny and Hall & Oates,” Bon but no one should forget that there would have been
Jovi told Shelly Harris in his Kerrang! interview. “I opened no ‘Slippery When Wet’ or ‘New Jersey’ without the
for ZZ Top at [New York’s] Madison Square Garden existence of ‘Bon Jovi’ and its equally endearing follow-
without a record deal. up, 1985’s ‘7800° Fahrenheit’.

11
 UPFRONT
STEP BACK IN TIME

RICK SPRINGFIELD. HE ROCKS! HE ACTS!

DATELINE: 8-21 MARCH 1984
MAGAZINE: KERRANG!
GIVEN THAT HIS PREVIOUS album, 1983’s ‘Living In “I wasn’t sure whether to take it because the music side
Oz’, was almost a year old and that its follow-up, ‘Hard was picking up,” he explained. “I sure was broke, though,
To Hold’, was still four months away from release, so that settled the matter!”
Kerrang! picked an odd time to turn the spotlight on To Springfield’s amazement and relief, both General
Rick Springfield. But then again, the Hospital and ‘Working Class Dog’, his debut album
then-34-year-old Australian was for RCA, were smash hits.
hot Hollywood property, both as a “Programmers remembered
musician and as an actor. me because they liked [1976 solo
Back home, the youthful Springfield album] ‘Wait For Night’, but I
had been a member of a group called wasn’t a star,” he told Johnson with
Zoot whose line-up also included a grin. “I needed something more to
bassist Beeb Birtles, later of the Little attract attention, so I put my dog on
River Band. The act split in 1971 and the cover – in a shirt a tie.”
Springfield relocated to the US a year
later. There he enjoyed a modestly 1982’S FOLLOW-UP album ‘Success
successful solo career while also Hasn’t Spoiled Me Yet’ featured
starting to develop a career as a cover with Rick’s dog, Ronnie,
an actor. His big musical break playing a ‘rock star’ in a limo with
finally came when he notched a two lady dogs for company. His
number one single in the US and his master is ‘serving’ him champagne.
homeland with ‘Jessie’s Girl’, a song That album consolidated Springfield’s
taken from Springfield’s fifth solo profile and then ‘Living In Oz’ chalked
album, 1981’s ‘Working Class Dog’. up over a million sales in the US alone.
Johnson was very much a fan
“I WAS only filling in until my of ‘…Oz’, which he felt “developed
music picked up again, but I got the rock/pop phenomenon to an
some pretty decent roles in things unprecedented degree,” and was just
like The Incredible Hulk, [telly what the genre needed. “It’s been
detective series] The Rockford Files, bobbing around quite a while already
and even the first Battlestar Galactica movie,” Springfield with Angel and Starz, yet with these
told Kerrang! writer Howard Johnson. “I was blown up in acts it was always metal champing at the bit ahead of the
the first three minutes in that one, though!” pop tendencies,” he continued. “Springfield, however, has
When he was offered the part of Dr Noah Drake in given mass acceptance to a medium dabbled in by Kiss
US daytime soap opera General Hospital in 1981, Rick during their ‘Unmasked’ period and the brilliant Babys
admitted to being conflicted. circa ‘Union Jacks’.”

12
ROCK CANDY
SAYS…
SPRINGFIELD MAY ALREADY HAVE
enjoyed the biggest hit of his career with
‘Jessie’s Girl’, but later in the summer of
1984 the ‘Hard To Hold’ album continued
what was starting to feel like a bit of a
golden era for the Australian. ‘Hard To
Hold’ was actually a soundtrack to a movie
that starred Springfield as a rock star who
falls for a prim child psychologist. The film
also included tunes from Peter Gabriel, Rick together with Patti Hansen, the wife of Rolling Stone Keith Richards,
Graham Parker, Nona Hendryx, and Randy in a scene from the film Hard To Hold where they co-starred.
Crawford, who duetted with Rick on ‘Taxi
Dancing’. But it was Springfield’s own
songs that provided the main focus. ‘Love music and toured when it pleases him to do so, while
Somebody’ reached number five in the US, with ‘Bop also writing books including a 2010 memoir, Late, Late
’Til You Drop’ and ‘Don’t Walk Away’ both denting the At Night, that revealed a battle with mental health issues,
Top 40. and the 2014 novel Magnificent Vibration, which he once
Springfield’s formula of pulsating rhythms, super- told me touched upon such vital issues as “Why are we
memorable choruses, emotive vocals, and dazzling here? What is love? Is there a Loch Less monster? And
production was still a long way off losing momentum, does God send text messages?”
and future albums – 1985’s ‘Tao’ and ‘Rock Of Life’ from Rick also acted again, in 2015 taking on the role of
1988 – continued the conveyor belt of hits thanks to creepy psychiatrist Dr Irving Pitlor in the HBO drama
songs such as ‘Celebrate Youth’, ‘State Of The Heart’, True Detective. In 2016, when I asked Springfield whether
and ‘Rock Of Life’ itself. he fancied playing James Bond he replied, “Back in the
1980s they actually looked at me as a possibility after
AFTER THE ‘Rock Of Life’ release though, fully 11 years Roger Moore. Could I still do it? Yeah, absolutely, I really
would pass before Springfield returned to making think so. I’ve grown to love acting almost as much as I
albums with 1999’s ‘Karma’. Since then, Rick has made love music.”

SNIPPETS – SHORT, SHARP SHOCKS FROM MARCH-APRIL 1984

STATUS QUO “RETIRE FROM THE ROAD”
DATELINE: 23 FEBRUARY-7 MARCH 1984
MAGAZINE: KERRANG!
Status Quo announced that their days as live act were coming to an end, though the group – Francis Rossi, Rick
Parfitt, Alan Lancaster, Andrew Bown, and Pete Kircher – would “continue to record together.” Commenting on the
decision, lead guitarist and frontman Rossi said: “We feel that everything has to come to an end, and this feels like
the right time for us. We’ve all become involved in various projects outside the band, so this gives us time for those.”

WENDY O. WILLIAMS: “ROCK ’N’ ROLL IS DEPRESSING”

DATELINE: 23 FEBRUARY-7 MARCH 1984
MAGAZINE: KERRANG!
With singer Wendy O. Williams’s band The Plasmatics on hold due to legal issues with their label Capitol Records,
Gene Simmons of Kiss stepped in to produce her debut solo album ‘WOW’. The former sex show star-turned-
frontwoman, who sadly took her own life 14 years later, promised a “swift kick up the ass” to a scene she considered
“depressing,” adding with a sigh: “The whole industry seems to have lost the will to shock and go crazy in a larger-
than-life manner.”

BARCLAY JAMES HARVEST: “WE’RE NOT BORING!”

DATELINE: 19 APRIL-2 MAY 1984
MAGAZINE: KERRANG!
In conversation with Malcolm Dome, an irate Barclay James Harvest guitarist and vocalist John Lees railed against
the public perception of his band. “I’ve never owned an Afghan coat or a home-knitted jumper,” he objected.
“Our song ‘Child Of The Universe’ isn’t a hippy-dippy love tune, but a serious attack on a world where violence is
a commonplace occurrence, especially in Northern Ireland. It’s as relevant today in 1984 as it was when we first
released it a decade ago.”

13
 UPFRONT
MY FIRST GIG DATELINE: 1984, TAMWORTH,
ENGLAND

WOLFSBANE AND FORMER IRON MAIDEN VOCALIST BLAZE BAYLEY GETS

EXCITED AS HE REMEMBERS FIRST SEEING LOCAL LEGENDS SCARAB!

“I CAME TO METAL quite late – when I was around 19 because the band clearly believed in themselves, the 20
years old. There used to be a music page in the local of us watching started to believe in them too. There I was
Tamworth newspaper where I lived. They called it Music thinking to myself, ‘These guys are going to be huge and
Box, and while it talked about national acts, it also had I’m here right at the beginning!’
info on the local bands that were
playing. The scene in Tamworth was “SCARAB HAD a two-track single on
really vibrant in the early ’80s. It sale that they’d recorded and pressed
wasn’t a big town, but there were 20 up with their own money. The songs
or so local bands all playing original were ‘Hell On Wheels’ and ‘Poltergeist’
material – and people would go and and the single cost 50p. After the gig
watch all of them. Magical times! the band came out to chat with the
“One Friday night I saw a photo of punters who’d been watching them,
this local band called Scarab in the and of course I bought a copy of their
paper. I read that they were playing record. I went on to see the band a
the Tamworth Arts Centre, a little few times after that and I can still sing
Interview by Howard Johnson. Blaze photo: Kate Ross

theatre that held maybe 100 people. those songs now! ‘Hell On Wheels’
I had nothing else to do that Friday became a bit of an anthem… well at
night, so I went down to see them. least it did in Tamworth!

“I WAS one of maybe only 20 young “I DIDN’T even have any desire to
guys who’d turned up, but as soon become a singer the first time I saw
as the curtains opened and Scarab started playing, I Scarab, but to see a band that was so committed and
was totally with them. They looked like Iron Maiden, all enthusiastic made me start thinking about it. Then
stripey pants and Spandex, and from the first minute a few years later, when we started with Wolfsbane, I
you could see that they really believed in what they remembered Scarab’s attitude. They made me feel that
were doing. Even though they weren’t playing Wembley trying to make it in a rock band wasn’t just a stupid
Stadium, they totally went for it. They had Marshall dream! And here I am, all these years later, still living
cabs stacked on top of each other, and the amps were the dream that started all those years ago. So thank you
turned up full. They ignited some magic in the room. And Scarab for making me believe!”

14
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 UPFRONT PERSON OF INTEREST
ROCK CANDY SALUTES THE MOVERS AND SHAKERS WHO DO THINGS DIFFERENTLY…

The line-up that recorded ‘The Godz’ album. L-R: Mark Chatfield (guitar and vocals), Glen
Cataline (drums and vocals), Eric Moore (bass and vocals), Bob Hill (guitar, keyboards, and vocals)

MARK CHATFIELD
“THE GODZ ARE ROCK near the Ohio State
and roll machines,” University campus,
sang vocalist and with our soundman,
bassist Eric Moore various other
on ‘Gotta Keep crew members,
A Runnin’’, the and anywhere
seven-and-a- between 10
half-minute and 20 other
standout people at any
track from one time!”
the Ohio
band’s THE
1978 ROOTS
debut album. And believe you me, he wasn’t kidding. The of The Godz went back to 1975 when Chatfield was
four-piece group’s seven-track statement of intent was working at a local Ohio music store called Whitey Lunzar.
one of the greatest albums of the ’70s, hewn from the He spent most of his spare time at a club called the
same rock as Ted Nugent and Foghat, and every bit as Sugar Shack where he saw a band called Sky King play.
uncompromising and confrontational. That group included Moore, drummer Glen Cataline, and
“It was mayhem,” admits guitarist and vocalist Mark guitarist Bob Hill. Moore and Cataline happened to be in
Chatfield. “We acted like Guns N’ Roses 10 years before the music store one day and heard Chatfield “noodling
those guys even existed, playing simple, two-chord around.” Moore told Chatfield he was dissolving Sky King
rock’n’roll under the influence of various alcohol and and starting a new band called The Godz and invited the
chemicals. Eric and I lived in a band house in Columbus, 19-year-old to join. The original line-up comprised Moore,

16
 Cataline, Chatfield, guitarist and keyboardist Mike Adams, full of limp ’50s rock’n’roll-influenced nonsense. Mark,
and a second drummer called Hayward Law. The latter what the hell happened?
two had been recruited from a band called Kingsley Fink “Oh man,” he sighs. “We weren’t prepared for that
based in Parkersburg, West Virginia. At first, they had second record. We went to Bearsville Studios in
the idea of presenting the band in all white gear, but The Woodstock, New York State, with Don Brewer in the
Godz soon opted for an image that was much grittier, and summer of 1978, and Don quit after a week. There were
more biker based. tensions in the band and a lot of politics, and Don got
“We started out doing covers,” chuckles Chatfield. “The sick of it. I almost quit with him! We couldn’t find another
Stones, Aerosmith, some goofy stuff like Neil Sedaka’s producer at short notice, so Eric ended up doing the
‘Bad Blood’. That was the only way to get hired to play.” album having never produced before. His concept was to
Tragically, about five months into the band’s existence, try to make us sound like Sha Na Na of all people – and
Adams and Law were killed in car crash, but The Godz that’s why the album sounds like it does. Some of the
quickly dusted themselves down and recruited their old songs are OK, but ‘Nothing Is Sacred’ totally lacks power.
Sky King guitarist buddy Bob Hill, dumping the double I’ve got to live with that for the rest of my life.”
drummer idea at the same time. Things went swiftly downhill from there. The Godz went
out on tour in November of 1979, but Cataline and Hill
THE BAND soon found a soon quit the band. “We’d
spiritual home at the Agora gotten to a point where
ballroom in Columbus. we were more concerned
“Most of the other places with the drugs and
we played got mad at us alcohol than the music,”
and wouldn’t have us back,” admits Chatfield.
says Chatfield. “Eric could Moore and Chatfield
be a little risqué onstage. recorded demos for a
He was pretty demeaning prospective third album
to girls and a lot of people with a couple of other
didn’t like that.” musicians, but Casablanca
Modest crowds turned passed. Moore broke
into big crowds once some his leg in a motorbike
of the local radio stations accident and The Godz
started talking about The fizzled out.
Godz’ wild man reputation.
“We’d never been in a MOORE RETURNED to
studio, never recorded a the fray with The Godz in
demo tape,” says Mark. “But 1985 with the ‘I’ll Get You
word got out, we got an Rockin’’ album, recorded
article in Creem magazine, with former Outlaws
and pretty soon we were guitarist Freddie Salem.
selling the Agora out.” Mark Chatfield returned
Labels came sniffing for ‘Mongolians’ two
around, including Jimmy years later but didn’t stick
Ienner, owner of Millennium around too long.
Records. Ienner brought When Eric Moore sadly
Grand Funk Railroad singer and drummer Don Brewer died of bladder cancer in 2019 at the age of 67, Chatfield
down to see The Godz and that very night he offered the hadn’t spoken to him since 2004. “He wasn’t in good
band a deal. Don Brewer would produce a debut album health,” says Mark. “Eric tended to self-medicate on a
“without us ever being in a studio before.” regular basis. It’s just the way he was.”
Glen Cataline passed the same year, after tripping over
RECORDED AT Grand Funk’s Michigan studio, The Swamp, his cat of all things. “He hit his head but didn’t do anything
‘The Godz’ appeared in 1978 and shook foundations with about it at first. A couple of weeks later he went for a
its high-octane, straight-for-the-throat approach. Short scan, and they found a bleed on the brain. They couldn’t
songs like ‘Go Away’, ‘Under The Table’, and ‘Baby I Love do anything for him.”
You’ hit hard and heavy, while more expansive numbers The other remaining member of the line-up that
like ‘Cross Country’ and a storming cover of Golden recorded the first Godz album, Bob Hill, now lives in Texas.
Earring’s ‘Candy’s Going Bad’ showed that the band could “He has no interest in doing The Godz anymore,” explains
create earworm epics just as easily. The killer ‘Gotta Keep Mark. Chatfield, however, has decided that bringing The
A Runnin’’ featured a brilliantly unhinged rap from bassist Godz to life one more time is a worthwhile undertaking.
and vocalist Moore that aggrandised The Godz’ rock’n’roll “I still think the band had a lot of great songs and there
credentials with unswerving self-confidence. are a lot of fans who still love The Godz.”
“A lot of that rap was ad-libbed in the studio,” laughs With a line-up of Chatfield, drummer Keith Pickens,
Chatfield. “When we played the song live, Eric would bassist Sav Ramey, and guitarist Erik Mauk, the band
sometimes do three minutes, sometimes 10!” has already recorded a new song, ‘Ass, Gas, Or Grass’,
Words: Howard Johnson

As a statement of intent ‘Gotta Keep A Runnin’’ was and is playing live dates and looking at releasing music
right up there and suggested that the band had stadium- sometime next year.
filling potential. “The plan is simple,” concludes Mark. “To have fun and
make some good music.”
SADLY THE follow-up album for the Casablanca label, Sounds like a great idea to us. After all, The Godz are –
1979’s ‘Nothing Is Sacred’, was a massive disappointment, and always were – rock’n’roll machines!

17
00
 UPFRONT INTRODUCING...
GREAT ACTS YOU MIGHT NOT HAVE HEARD

Riverside L-R: Michal Lapaj (keyboards), Mariusz Duda (vocals

and bass), Maciej Meller (guitar), Piotr Kozieradzki (drums)

THERE’S A FABULOUS STREAM of 21st century delivered with pinpoint accuracy and explode with belief
artists that we at Rock Candy Mag think deserve to be and emotion.
highlighted in our pages – everything from hard-nosed
blues rockers to gentle singer songwriters. But up to now RIVERSIDE’S EARLY work could be categorised as
we haven’t highlighted any new progressive rock bands. ‘meat and potatoes’ prog metal; music that combined
However, there’s an enormous quantity of quality acts heavy riffage with serious instrumental prowess. But
residing in the ‘new the sad death of
prog’ niche – most of original guitarist Piotr
them fans of Dream Grudzinski in 2016
Theater and Porcupine enforced a process
Tree. And let’s face it, of change, and led to
once you’ve soaked the remaining band
up the wonders of members re-focusing
those two groups, it’s their musical direction.
no surprise that you’re Reuniting as a
influenced by them. three-piece consisting
Formed in 2001, Polish of guitarist, bassist,
act Riverside is one of and vocalist Mariusz
these ‘new prog’ acts Duda; drummer Piotr
and the band offers Kozieradzki; and
positive proof that keyboardist Michal
there are über-talented Lapaj, Riverside
yet under-appreciated released 2018’s
proggers making great ‘Wasteland’ to
music today. impressive reviews.
With eight albums Duda then issued
now under their collective belts – debut effort ‘Out a bunch of solo releases that seemed to further open
Of Myself’ was released in 2003 – you can’t describe Riverside up to a new spectrum of influences from synth
the band from Warsaw as a new act. But they’ve really pop to expansive prog.
Words: Derek Oliver

come of age with their latest release ‘[Link]’. On this When I first played ‘Wasteland’ it struck me as the
album Riverside display real class and style. Their music sort of thing A-ha, Ultravox, OMD and other stylish ’80s
is easy on the ear and highly accessible with a broad synth pop acts might have formulated had they swerved
stylistic base that most rock fans will relate to. The vocals off into rockier territory. Normally I’d make a concerted
meanwhile – always a crucial component in rock – are effort to avoid bands with those influences. But there’s

18
no denying how effective Riverside are at juxtaposing
this type of music with genuine prog. Maybe think
later-era Genesis and solo Peter Gabriel for some kind
of a worthwhile reference point.

NOW ‘[Link]’ finds Riverside ploughing this

fertile terrain with real confidence, producing any
number of solid hooks along the way. Even though
there’s over 53 minutes of music to absorb on the
album, there’s no repetition, despite the majority of
songs deal with somewhat linked themes. Opening
track ‘Friend Or Foe?’ is a perfect scene-setter, full of
forceful power that harnesses a sprinkling of melody
and some decidedly trippy lyrics over the course of
seven minutes. ‘Post-Truth’ and ‘I’m Done With You’
are two sprightly-yet-heavy tracks that underscore
Riverside’s hard rock origins and their love of techno
metal. The strident ‘Self-Aware’ is also worthy of your
attention with its Rush-like ‘Spirit Of Radio’ cod-reggae
Gabrielle De Val
passage and atmospheric keyboards. But the album’s
Kiss In A Dragon Night
AN AOR ALBUM WITH
PERSONALITY!!!
“A gloriously varied journey through a
majestic melodic landscape”
Fireworks Rock & Metal Magazine

“A truly big sounding melodic hard rock record

with a lot of attention to detail in the production
and some powerhouse vocals from Gabrielle.”
Andrew McNeice, [Link]

11 ORIGINAL SONGS/3 COVERS

Includes wonderful duets with:

Steve Overland (FM)
Robin McAuley (MSG)
centrepiece is undoubtedly ‘The Place Where I Belong’,
Mark Boals
a 13-minute romp through the full spectrum of prog,
with riveting Hammond organ and gorgeous vocals
(Yngwie Malmsteen)
– sometimes whispered – all submerged in a pool of Terry Brock
melody. And check out a guitar solo from new boy (Strangeways)
Maciej Meller that wouldn’t be out of place on a Steve
Mick Devine (Seven)
Hackett album, a measure of excellence for sure.

‘[Link]’ IS so good that in my view it’s already Covers of songs by:

a leading contender for ‘Album Of The Year’ status, Magnum
because Riverside have produced something that has ABBA
no need to re-tread old turf or heavily plagiarise other Mike Oldfield
acts. It’s great to see the band’s progress in recent
years as they’ve refined their style, proving that true
Featuring Boston’s Gary Pihl on
artist development is still alive and well – even in an
guitar and arrangement
environment that demands constant dedication and
self-sacrifice. Riverside’s trajectory takes me back to Mixed by Fredrik Folkare (Nordic Union)
those ’70s and ’80s days when new acts were given the Produced by Khalil Turk
breathing space to experiment and evolve without the
need to produce instant hits. Released by Escape Music on Feb 20th 2023.
RIVERSIDE ARE keeping very busy in the early part of Direct sales copies from [Link]
2023, performing live in North America and Europe all come with a personally signed 5 x 7 full colour
the way through to June. I’ll definitely be there lending photo. Standard CDs available from Amazon
my support at one or two of their live shows to see if
and HMV.
this band impresses as much on stage as on record.
 FEATURE DARK DAYS
The original Blackfoot line-up in happier times at the Reading Festival, 28 August 1982. L-R: Jakson Spires
(drums), Charlie Hargrett (guitar), Rickey Medlocke (vocals and guitar), Greg T. Walker (bass)

CLOSE TO THE FLORIDA-Georgia state line, the city on things with wooden brushes and were always singing
of Jacksonville has always concocted a melting pot of old-time bluegrass music with Rickey’s granddaddy,
musical styles incorporating all of bluegrass, country, Shorty. And [Blackfoot drummer] Jakson [Spires] was
and rock’n’roll. Two sons of the city – childhood friends always around, and we hung with him, too. From the
Rickey Medlocke and Greg T. Walker – reached down into minute we formed our first band around age 10, there
Jacksonville’s rich musical heritage and came back up was never a moment when at least two of the three of
with Blackfoot, a band that would eventually become a us weren’t in that band. The group we formed as kids
rock connoisseur’s choice. But the price Medlocke and eventually became Blackfoot.”
Walker would pay to get there was huge, and would lead Early line-ups shuffled constantly, but the aspiring
to disappointment, anger, and the eventual rupturing of rockers’ intention was pretty simple: to take the music
those childhood bonds. they grew up adoring and spin it in new directions.
“Rickey and I both grew up in Florida together,” Medlocke and Walker always had dreams of staking a
recalls Walker. “We met in kindergarten and were claim for rock stardom.
inseparable from a young age. We’d take turns banging “We became an official band around 1969 after we

20
 Blackfoot did something unique,
blending Southern rock with metal,
but their days in the sun were short.
Despite making some killer music,
their career was dogged by fan
apathy, record company interference,
and inter-band betrayal. Andrew Daly
talks to bassist Greg T. Walker about
some seriously dark days…

met [guitarist] Charlie [Hargrett],” Walker says. “We “People have this idea that it was a hot spot, but in 1970
called ourselves Fresh Garbage, which was kind of stupid things hadn’t kicked off yet. No one cared about three
sounding looking back. Then we decided on Hammer, but guys from Jacksonville, and they certainly weren’t into
I can’t remember why. After kicking around Florida with what we were trying to do. This was all before the Allman
Rickey on drums, me on bass, and Charlie on guitar, we Brothers and Lynyrd Skynyrd had gotten huge.”
went up to New Jersey and New York City to see if we’d Despite the challenges, the members of Hammer
Photo: IconicPix/George Chin

have more luck.” soldiered on, believing that their childhood ambition
Struggling to find their place in the world, the would eventually “amount to something worth hanging
newly christened Hammer felt alien in their unfamiliar a hat on.” Despite the scene’s indifference towards them,
surroundings. Life moved fast in the tri-state area, and the band clung tightly to the music, sound, and image
Medlocke, Walker, and Hargrett fought to keep their they held dear.
heads above water, let alone gain any traction. “We had an idea of what we wanted to do,” insists
“We found out very quickly that New Jersey and New Walker. “We knew what we wanted to sound like,
York weren’t great places to be at that time,” says Walker. but we had to tweak things. We called Jakson back

21
 FEATURE DARK DAYS
up, got him to New Jersey, and he settled in on drums. we want to do it.’ We didn’t want to play second fiddle
Rickey played guitar. Then we found out that another to anyone, and Rickey didn’t want to play drums. I often
band called themselves Hammer, so we put our heads think that if we’d stayed in Skynyrd we’d probably have
together and settled on Blackfoot, which spoke to our died in that plane crash. There’d be no Blackfoot; none of
Native American heritage. But still record companies this would have happened.”
wouldn’t touch us. We played great shows, and our
songs and sound were there, but what we did wasn’t BY 1973, Blackfoot’s core of Rickey Medlocke, Greg T.
viable to them. It’s hard not to think that me, Rickey, and Walker, Charlie Hargett, and Jakson Spires had reunited,
Jakson being Native American didn’t have something and they were pounding the pavement once again,
to do with it. We were looking for a record deal.
playing so-called Southern They started putting
rock, but we weren’t white. together a cache of songs
It didn’t help.” inspired by what they
knew and where they
BLACKFOOT APPEARED grew up. The things they’d
to have reached an seen and the people
impasse when in 1971 who’d affected them
Medlocke received a call would be their inspiration.
from Lynyrd Skynyrd Moreover, during
to join the band as its their time with Skynyrd,
drummer. Soon after that, Medlocke and Walker
Walker followed on bass had learned that they
when that position also didn’t want to “strictly be
fell vacant. For a moment a Southern rock band.”
at least, Blackfoot was The likes of The Allman
no more. Brothers Band and Lynyrd
“The Skynyrd thing was Skynyrd were already
a trip,” Walker recalls. “We saturating the market.
were upset when Rickey There had to be another
left, but we understood. way to fuse their roots
We were playing frat with the rumblings of
houses and colleges, heavy rock that were
so why would he stick creeping in from the UK
around? We kept in touch, and that both Rickey and
but I had no idea what to Greg had been attracted
do with myself. I thought to. Soon they’d find the
my music career was over “RECORD COMPANIES WOULDN’T TOUCH US. secret sauce.
before it had even begun. “After we went back
WE PLAYED GREAT SHOWS, AND OUR SONGS
But a few months later up north to New York
I got a call from Rickey, AND SOUND WERE THERE, BUT WHAT WE DID and New Jersey, things
and he said Skynyrd WASN’T VIABLE TO THEM. IT’S HARD NOT TO started to pop off,” Walker
were having issues with reminisces. “The shift had
[bassist] Larry [Junstrom]
THINK THAT ME, RICKEY, AND JAKSON BEING finally arrived, and rock
and asked if I’d be open to NATIVE AMERICAN DIDN’T HAVE SOMETHING music was happening,
coming down to Florida TO DO WITH IT.” which was great for
and joining the band. Of Blackfoot. Once Skynyrd
course I said yes, but it had opened the door
didn’t last long.” commercially, people saw us differently. But then we ran
Medlocke and Walker’s detour to Skynyrd proved into people who wanted us to be just like Skynyrd. We
pivotal to their narrative. It was a fork-in-the-road weren’t; we were a lot harder than them. So we stuck
moment. The duo gigged around Florida with the band it out and waited our turn. Rock venues were opening
and recorded an album’s worth of songs – one of which like crazy, and we played shows almost every night to
eventually appeared as ‘One More Time’ on Skynyrd’s packed houses that loved what we were doing.”
1977 album ‘Street Survivors’. But fate had other plans A cult following was forming, but obstacles still lay
for Medlocke and Walker. in Blackfoot’s way. Record executives demanded that
“Rickey was in Skynyrd a bit longer than me, but I the band alter its sound to be “more radio-friendly,”
wasn’t even in that band for a year,” says Walker. “It just and the never-ending comparisons to fellow Southern
wasn’t a good fit. I loved the guys, and we got along well, bands were always there. Blackfoot were facing another
but when it comes to music, there’s something to be roadblock, until fate lent a hand.
said about right place, right time. Skynyrd got [bassist] “We had no deal, but we’d made friends with a guy
Leon Wilkeson and [drummer] Bob Burns and did what named Jimmy Johnson, who was a producer down in
they did. Rickey and I missed Charlie and Jakson, and Muscle Shoals. Long story short, he loved our music
we looked at each other one night while we were still in and said he’d help us make a record and do his best to
Skynyrd and said, ‘Look, we need to reform Blackfoot. get us a deal. He said, ‘Listen, come down here; you’ll
We miss the guys. If we’re going to make it, that’s how be better off. We’ll help you with rent and get you

22
 groceries for 30 days.’ So we packed up, went down, rock music was more popular than ever by this point,
and all stayed in a trailer while we cut ‘No Reservations’. which meant most people figured that if Blackfoot hadn’t
We recorded, mixed, and mastered that record in less hit by now, then they never would. With the sand running
than 30 days. And Jimmy was true to his word. He got out of Blackfoot’s hourglass, in late 1978 the band were
‘No Reservations’ in front of Chris Blackwell from Island offered one last chance to grasp at success.
Records, who liked it enough to sign us.” “Just like Island, Epic dropped us without a care and
barely a word,” Walker laments. “We saw bands like
THE 1975 release of ‘No Reservations’ was met with Aerosmith and Boston soaring up the charts. We were
relative silence, much to the surprise of those involved. young and envious, and I was furious and jealous. I hated
In an age where hard rock was on the rise, the members Boston and Aerosmith for years while I watched them do
of Blackfoot found themselves “stuck in the mud, with what I wanted to do. We had no label, but we’d written
no one to hear us cry.” And Island Records chose not to all this great music. We had songs like ‘Train, Train’ and
stand by the band. ‘Highway Song’ – some of our best stuff – but we needed

Greg T. Walker: “We saw Aerosmith and Boston

soaring up the charts, and I was furious and jealous.”

“We were so happy to get ‘No Reservations’ out there,” a label. Luckily for us, Atco took a chance and gave us
Walker says. “We thought our ship had finally come in, a small budget to record an album. I remember them
and we’d get to show the world what we were all about. telling us it was a one-shot deal and that if it didn’t work
But as soon as the album came out, it took a nosedive. that we should probably go home and find something
Chris Blackwell didn’t stand by the band. He didn’t even else to do. We didn’t have to.”
give us a second look; he just cut us loose. Amazingly,
though, Epic Records picked us up. They believed in TO SAY that 1979’s ‘Strikes’ changed Blackfoot’s fortunes
Photo: IconicPix/George Bodnar Archive

us, and we went right in and recorded ‘Flyin’ High’ in would be the greatest understatement. After years of
1976. Once again, though, the same thing happened – rejection and persistent failure, Blackfoot’s unique blend
radio silence. We couldn’t figure out why no one cared of ‘Southern heavy metal’ suddenly struck a chord.
about what we were doing. We knew that Blackfoot was ‘Strikes’ certainly showed the band’s mettle, but arguably
different, and we also knew we had what it took to raise not any more than their previous records. So why did it
hell on the radio just like we did on stage.” take so long for the public to catch up?
After the back-to-back failures of ‘No Reservations’ “Right place, right time,” says Walker. “That’s all I can
and ‘Flyin’ High’, it felt like time was nearly up for say. The album went platinum, we had several hits on
Blackfoot. Two major labels had given up on them, and the charts, and I loved every minute of it. They say that
afterwards the band suffered two years in no man’s land commercial success isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, but
with no deal and – so they feared – no prospects. Hard for us, it really was. We’d spent years being ignored

23
 FEATURE DARK DAYS

Rickey and Greg in 1985, the hair metal years. “I didn’t want to do it.”

and hating all these other successful bands, and now we Records presented Blackfoot with an unappealing idea.
finally had our moment. We toured constantly, worked “Atco came to us with an ultimatum,” Walker continues.
like dogs, and enjoyed every second.” “They said, ‘Listen, the times are changing. You need to
By 1980, Blackfoot’s change what you’re doing
fortunes had done a 360 “ATCO CAME TO US WITH AN ULTIMATUM. and drop the Southern
and the group had finally rock thing, or we can’t
made it. After struggling THEY SAID, ‘LISTEN, THE TIMES ARE CHANGING. move forward.’ I didn’t
for a decade, the success YOU NEED TO CHANGE WHAT YOU’RE DOING want to do it, but Rickey
of ‘Strikes’ had seemingly AND DROP THE SOUTHERN ROCK THING, OR WE was all for it. It became a
positioned the band huge bone of contention.”
perfectly to move forward. CAN’T MOVE FORWARD.’”
Blackfoot stuck to their AT THEIR label’s insistence
musical formula for their next record, 1980’s ‘Tomcattin’’, and with Medlocke’s acceptance, Blackfoot moved to
but much to their surprise the band’s commercial lustre shed its Southern metal image for a more commercial
had worn off very quickly. vibe. Former Uriah Heep multi-instrumentalist and
“By the time we’d finished recording ‘Tomcattin’’ we songwriter Ken Hensley was added to the mix on
were sure that we had another hit on our hands,” Walker keyboards and slide guitar. In one fell swoop, the
says. “But it didn’t do nearly as well as ‘Strikes’, and Blackfoot sound and image completely changed.
neither did the next album, [1981’s] ‘Marauder’. That left With Hensley in the band, Blackfoot recorded two
us scratching our heads. The records weren’t exactly albums, 1983’s ‘Siogo’ and 1984’s ‘Vertical Smiles’.
failures, but they certainly weren’t as popular as ‘Strikes’. “I think both of those records suck,” says Walker.
That really p*ssed Atco off. Us too!” “Neither of them is a real Blackfoot record. They’re
Having had the carpet ripped out from underneath garbage devised by the record company, Ken, and
them one more time, it seemed that Blackfoot was Rickey. Ken was a nice guy and a great musician, but
Photo: IconicPix/Bertrand Alary

always going to be the butt of fate’s ongoing joke. Even he was cut from a different cloth, didn’t belong with us,
though the band was at the pinnacle of its creative and his keyboards watered us down no end. By the time
powers and making “the best music of its career, once ‘Vertical Smiles’ happened we’d lost Charlie Hargrett, and
again the world wasn’t listening.” Shifting trends in music with that Blackfoot felt all but dead.”
and the emergence of a more commercial arena rock Walker felt the band had sold their souls to the gods
suddenly meant that Blackfoot’s blend of Southern- of AOR and Blackfoot was nothing but a shell of what
tinged hard rock was yesterday’s news. In an attempt to it once was. Chart-chasing covers of Nazareth’s ‘Heart’s
set the band back on a sound commercial footing, Atco Grown Cold’ and a Bonnie Dobson song called ‘Morning

24
Dew’ that had been popularised by the Grateful Dead and was hard to replace, but we rallied again. We carried
had both fallen flat. And Walker truly hated the neutering on playing Blackfoot songs all over the world [with
of the band. Austrian drummer Christophe Ullmann replacing Spires]
“When we were recording ‘Vertical Smiles’ I felt we and showed people the meaning of our music. We
were in real trouble,” he says. “I didn’t want it to end, but continued for six or seven years, but once Bobby began
the way we were going I saw no real way to continue. to have health issues in 2011, we decided to lay the band
The record label had us re-record the album after we’d to rest once and for all.”
finished it, and it was nothing like it was at first. It just Rickey Medlocke had other ideas, though, and moved
kept getting worse and worse, and more and more hair to recreate the band with an entirely new cast of players
metal. We planned a tour, but Ken suddenly quit on the while continuing with Lynyrd Skynyrd himself. An album,
eve of the shows. We scrambled around and brought in ‘Southern Native’ appeared in 2016.
[guitarist] Bobby Barth from Axe. We finished the tour, “I don’t understand Rickey anymore,” says Walker. “And
and the gigs with Bobby were excellent, but it didn’t I haven’t understood him for a very long time. The Rickey
make much difference. I of today is not the same
thought that was it.” man I knew. He didn’t call
Walker planned to me after Jakson died, so
spend some time licking I didn’t expect anything
his wounds before better from him when it
deciding on next steps, came to Blackfoot. He
and thought his former first put this new group of
bandmates would do people together in 2012,
the same. So it came as a year after we ended
a big surprise when he things. And that album
discovered that Rickey from 2016 isn’t worth the
Medlocke next struck a paper the CD pamphlet is
deal with Atlantic Records printed on. It was all new
to record an album, guys, and Rickey had them
1987’s ‘Rick Medlocke running around calling
and Blackfoot’. Medlocke themselves Blackfoot.
brought in bassist Wizzard For me, those people are
and drummer Harold Seay young, inexperienced,
from Mother’s Finest for and incapable of
the record, and tracks carrying on the Blackfoot
such as ‘Closest Thing To name. I call them ‘Fake
Heaven’ and ‘Saturday Blackfoot’. They’re a
Night’ highlighted an even bar band pretending to
more AOR sound than the be Blackfoot.”
previous album.
“When I found out what SO HOW do we frame the
Rickey had done, that was Blackfoot legacy? Were
the end of our friendship,” “I STILL THINK ABOUT JAKSON, CHARLIE, AND they a group of good
Walker says. “I was so old boys who beat the
shocked. Here he was, RICKEY EVERY DAY. I THINK ABOUT WHAT WE odds – at least for a short
putting his name in front WENT THROUGH, AND I FEEL THE DEEP HURT time? Are they sell-outs
of something that we had OF BETRAYAL. BUT BLACKFOOT – THE REAL who didn’t have enough
created together, and that moxie to stick to their
we had fought for so long BLACKFOOT – HAS A PROUD LEGACY.” guns in the ’80s? Or were
to keep alive. It was so they a group of talented
disappointing to see things go down that way.” musicians who could never catch a break? Greg T. Walker
reckons it’s all of the above.
IN THE ensuing years Medlocke continued to tour and “When I look back, it was a hell of a ride,” Walker says
record as Blackfoot, releasing two more records, 1990’s wistfully. “I’d known Rickey since I was three, and he did
‘Medicine Man’ and 1994’s ‘After The Reign’, with a what he did. I don’t know him anymore. You never quite
rotating cast of characters. But he never tried to reunite recover from something like that. But I still think about
the original line up. Medlocke eventually re-joined Lynyrd Jakson, Charlie, and Rickey every day. I think about what
Skynyrd in 1996, where he’s remained ever since. we went through, and I feel the deep hurt of betrayal.
Blackfoot remained dormant until 2004 when Greg T. But Blackfoot – the real Blackfoot – has a proud legacy,
Walker, Charlie Hargrett, Jakson Spires, and Bobby Barth and I look back on what we did with fondness. I try to
moved to resurrect the band. According to Walker, it think most about having been a part of that.
was only after a court battle with Medlocke that he was “All we ever wanted to do was show the world that
allowed to bring Blackfoot back to life. we were meant to be up there with the rest of those
“It was bittersweet,” admits Walker. “I would have bands,” Walker continues. “I think we did that. So I look
loved to bury the hatchet with Rickey, but he wasn’t past what Rickey’s done and choose to remember who
interested. I didn’t hear from my ‘old friend’ once in all he was – and what Blackfoot was – instead of focusing
those years. But it was truly amazing to be up on stage on the bad. I do that knowing I resurrected something
with Blackfoot again, and I loved it. The sad thing was I loved for seven more years and did it with my friends.
that Jakson died about six months in [on 16 March 2005, We laid Blackfoot to rest in 2011; that’s where it ended. I
aged just 53]. He was the driving force behind the band have no regrets… The rest of it? I do my best to forget.”

25
 FEATURE EYEWITNESS DATELINE: JANUARY 1976

UFO’s
THE MAKING OF

NO HEAVY PETTING

26
00
 The UFO line-up that recorded ‘No Heavy Petting’ in 1976. L-R: Danny Peyronel (keyboards),
Phil Mogg (vocals), Andy Parker (drums), Pete Way (bass), Michael Schenker (guitar)

Everyone believed UFO’s fifth studio recording, ‘No Heavy Petting’, was going to be their
breakthrough release. Things didn’t work out that way, but the album has since gone on to
be acknowledged as a genuine masterpiece. Howard Johnson asks drummer Andy Parker,
keyboardist Danny Peyronel, and producer Leo Lyons how they made it happen…

EVER SINCE THEY’D RECRUITED 18-year-old German Kids keyboardist Danny Peyronel to the line-up of Mogg,
wunderkind guitarist Michael Schenker from Scorpions Schenker, drummer Andy Parker, and bassist Pete Way,
in June of 1973, British rock band UFO had been on and the view of those in the know was that the group
a permanent upward trajectory. The group’s two formed in London in 1968 was now set fair to become the
subsequent albums for Chrysalis Records – 1974’s next big thing in rock. Hopes were high that UFO’s third
‘Phenomenon’ and ‘Force It’ that appeared the album for Chrysalis, and the band’s fifth studio recording
following year – revealed a four-piece with a harder, in total, would be the one to open the floodgates…
more defined sound and a greater sense of focus than
had been witnessed on their first two releases, 1970’s LEO LYONS: “I’d already been doing production work
‘UFO 1’ and 1971’s ‘UFO 2: Flying’. With songs such as for Chrysalis when UFO first came across my radar
‘Doctor Doctor’, ‘Rock Bottom’, ‘Let It Roll’, and sometime in 1973. The word was that they’d sold a
‘Shoot Shoot’ highlighting both Schenker’s incendiary few albums in Germany, so Chrysalis started showing
playing and singer Phil Mogg’s warm, almost intimate some interest. The label wanted me to record a couple of
vocal style, fans who knew their rock were turning on songs with the band so they could hear what they were
to the band’s addictive mix of punch and poise in ever up to, and I think UFO wanted to test me out at the same
greater numbers. time. I was living in Oxfordshire back then, so Chrysalis
‘Force It’ – produced like its predecessor by Ten Years said, ‘We’ll give you a day in a studio in Chipping Norton.’
After bassist Leo Lyons – had performed more than It turned out to be half a day in the end because the
respectably in the major market of the United States. band turned up late. I got to find out that was fairly
The album reached number 71 on the Billboard album typical of them!
charts at a time when such a placing yielded significant “I seem to remember recording two tracks. One
record sales. The band had added former Heavy Metal was called ‘Give Her The Gun’ and the other title I

27
 FEATURE EYEWITNESS DATELINE: JANUARY 1976

can’t recall. The Skid Row man]

band had to get Paul Chapman
a ferry to play a as another guitar
gig in Europe, so player, but that
they didn’t hang didn’t work out
around very long, because Paul
but I ended up not didn’t want to be
being very happy a rhythm player.
with the mix. So So we figured that
the next day I maybe keyboards
went back to the were the way to
studio to remix. I go. We’d used
actually paid for [Ten Years After
that studio time man] Chick
myself! I sent Churchill to play
the tapes off to guest keyboards
Chrysalis and on ‘Force It’, but
they liked what I’m not really
I’d done. Then the Michael Schenker, Phil Mogg, Pete Way, and Andy Parker performing at sure where
band called me London’s Marquee club in 1974. “We were looking to expand the sound.” Danny Peyronel
from a phone box came from…”
somewhere saying
they wanted to “SOMETHING THAT REALLY ASTOUNDED ME WAS THE DETAIL DANNY: “I left
work with me, and SCHENKER PAID TO OVERDUBBING HIS GUITAR PARTS. IT WAS the Heavy Metal
that was the start Kids in 1975 when
SO PRECISE! I’VE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE IT.”
of a three-album things got a bit
partnership.” DANNY PEYRONEL out of hand on
tour and I asked
DANNY PEYRONEL: “When I first got to England my girlfriend, who’s now my wife, to phone this girl she
from my native Argentina in 1973, one of my best mates knew at Chrysalis Records to see if maybe UFO needed
in London was a guy called Paul Varley. Paul was the a keyboard player, primarily because I knew Pete. She
drummer in a pop rock band called Streak, but the got in touch with the band, and they were on tour in
band split up after he’d recorded just one single. He was Germany – as they always seemed to be at that time.
working with a bass player, and they were looking for a They said they had this song they’d recorded for ‘Force
guitarist. Paul asked me to come down to a rehearsal one It’ called ‘Out In The Street’ that they couldn’t do live
day and there happened to be a keyboard in the room. without keyboards, but they said they had a keyboard
One thing led to another, and I played in that band for in the truck. They told me to get over to Cologne and
a short while. Things didn’t work out, though, and Paul we could give it a try. So I managed to make my way
ended up in [1970s pop rock act] Arrows and I joined to Germany, and we went through the song at the
Heavy Metal Kids. soundcheck before a gig. I’m not the greatest keyboard
“Now Paul was really good mates with Pete Way, and player, but I’m really quick at picking things up, so it
he knew Phil Mogg too. Paul told me all about their band went well. The band played the gig, and I jumped up for
UFO, and then when I was on tour in the States with ‘Out In The Street’ and the encore of [the Eddie Cochran
Heavy Metal Kids I was watching [American TV show] song] ‘C’mon Everybody’. We all enjoyed ourselves
Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert and UFO were on it. Two and afterwards the band said, ‘When we get back to
days after I got back to London from America at the end London, if you want the gig it’s yours. Back in England I
of the tour the doorbell rang, and it was Paul Varley – went to Chrysalis, got hold of both the UFO albums on
and he was with Pete. I really hit it off with Pete. We got the label, and learned every song. I honoured some live
Photos: IconicPix/MM-Media; IconicPix/George Bodnar Archive

along great from the start. I’d invite him to Heavy Metal commitments I had with Heavy Metal Kids in Scotland
Kids gigs and he’d invite me to UFO shows. and then went to rehearse with UFO. I remember they
“I didn’t dislike UFO, but it’s true that their music didn’t were really impressed that I knew all their stuff.”
kill me when I first heard it. There was a lot of variety in
the Heavy Metal Kids music, but with UFO everything ANDY: “I liked Danny because he was also a writer. He
sounded more or less the same. But they were much was the first guy I’d ever known in the band who came
bigger than us, which made me realise that groups in with fully formed songs. That was new to me, because
whose songs sound kind of similar are more commercial before it was all about jamming and coming up with
than groups whose songs don’t!” stuff, adding to it and working on it. Traditionally with
Chrysalis we did one album a year. We’d come off the
ANDY PARKER: “We were on a roll at that time. road towards the end of the year and get into a rehearsal
We’d been to the States with ‘Force It’ and things had room. Michael might have a riff, Pete might have a riff,
gone well, and we had a happening record company and when we found something that was good, we’d work
behind us in Chrysalis. But we were looking to expand on it and add some drums. Basically we’d thrash out a
the sound from just bass, drums, guitar, and vocals, backing track and Phil would be in there with his little
because it was a bit limiting. When Michael was soloing tape recorder getting vocal ideas together. When we
it just left me and Pete to hold the fort. We tried [former jammed together, I really liked Danny’s piano playing too.

28
He had that kind of Jerry Lee Lewis thing going and it earlier what was going on top of the music, but that’s
was really good, especially when Michael was playing a just the way it was.”
solo. It added a whole other dimension and filled out the
sound dramatically.” DANNY: “I brought in a fully formed song called
‘Highway Lady’ that I’d written for the band, and they
DANNY: “I spent a lot of 1975 on the road with UFO were keen to use it. There was another one called
and it was great, because Michael was very keen for ‘Martian Landscape’, which was actually about my home
me to contribute. I had this thing called a miniKORG, country of Argentina. I wrote some of ‘On With The
which was like a poor man’s Minimoog synthesizer. It Action’ but I didn’t get a writing credit for it and it took
was really good because it was a fraction of the price of ages to sort that out. Plus I also had the keyboard line
the Minimoog and it didn’t go out of tune. Schenker was for ‘Can You Roll Her’. I worked closely with Andy on
really keen for me to learn his guitar melodies so I could this double bass drum thing he came up with that really
do harmony work on songs like ‘Let It Roll’. And when added to the song. It worked out really well.”
the time came to start coming up with new material for
the next album, I was encouraged to write.” ANDY: “I was young back then, I had energy, and I
didn’t ache in
LEO: “I did go the morning
down to the when I woke up,
band’s rehearsal so drumming
rooms when they was easier!
were getting the It was pretty
material together straightforward
for what would for me to come
become ‘No up with the drums
Heavy Petting’. on a couple of
In some ways it’s the songs Danny
easier when you brought in like
get to the fourth ‘Highway Lady’
or fifth album, and ‘Martian
because you know Landscape’,
much more what because he
you’re doing. But brought them in
it’s harder in other as finished songs,
ways because so I knew exactly
more often than The UFO rhythm section of Parker (left) what to do with
not it gets trickier and Way enjoying a friendly arm-wrestle them right from
to come up with the start. I wasn’t
new material. That’s why there was a Frankie Miller song used to that. I’d got into using the double kick drum
called ‘A Fool In Love’ on the album and why we also before we added Danny to the band to try to help fill
ended up preparing another Frankie song called ‘Have things out a bit when the solos were happening. It works
You Seen Me Lately Joan’ and the Small Faces number a treat on ‘Can You Roll Her’, but double pedals hadn’t
‘All Or Nothing’. We did a few days of pre-production, been invented back then. You had to have two drums
and I had a notebook where I’d write down what had with a pedal on each one. One drum would have been
happened during the day. Then I’d go home and think a lot better, because that way you would have had the
of suggestions – add a chorus here, a bridge there, a sound coming off the same drum. Leo wasn’t particularly
solo there, and so on and so forth. That way I had a clear keen on ‘Can You Roll Her’ for that reason, I think. He was
picture of where I was going to go production-wise.” worried about the extra mic that we’d have to put on
the second bass drum and how that might affect things
DANNY: “I seem to remember going to Leo’s place sonically. But it was a really important part of that song
out in the English countryside in an E-Type Jaguar that and Leo came round in the end.”
Phil had borrowed from somebody. It was certainly me
and Phil, maybe Pete was there too. We went through DANNY: “In Heavy Metal Kids we always had lots of
the songs with Leo, but we didn’t spend ages on pre- harmony vocals, but in UFO I think I was the only guy
production at all.” ever to sing harmonies with Phil, which was not an
easy thing. So I didn’t write anything that required big
ANDY: “We weren’t a band that did many demos. We harmonies on the choruses. Michael would often suggest
might make a recording of a cover version that we were doing harmonies for keyboard and guitar. Sometimes
thinking of doing, but generally we couldn’t do demos he’d even have the harmony already prepared and would
because the songs weren’t ever fully formed before we show me the notes. No offence to Michael, but I could
started the recording proper. Phil always liked to be work out the harmony myself.”
inspired by the music rather than coming in with lyrics
for us to put music to. He worked the other way around. LEO: “We recorded ‘No Heavy Petting’ at Morgan
If he liked what we were doing, then he’d be moved to Studios in London. I’d already recorded there myself with
write. I’ve heard that Mick Jagger works the same way. Ten Years After, so that’s why I’d originally gone there for
So we never really knew what we were getting vocally ‘Phenomenon’ with UFO in 1974. Things had gone well,
until all the backing tracks were down in the studio, and the band felt comfortable there, so we did most of
which was kind of a hard way to work. There would have ‘Force It’ at Morgan and the band were happy to go
been things I would’ve played differently if I’d known back again for ‘No Heavy Petting’. Ironically, by this

29
 FEATURE EYEWITNESS DATELINE: JANUARY 1976

time I was working as studio manager at Wessex Studios I knew you couldn’t go into the studio and mess around
in London, and so obviously I was tempted to put the for days and days. I had a schedule I liked to work to,
band straight into my own studio. I got quite a lot of flak which was to get four backing tracks done per day. I
from the studio staff there for not bringing the band to think I budgeted for maybe 12 days in the studio for ‘No
Wessex, but in the end we did everything at Morgan.” Heavy Petting’, four for backing tracks, four for overdubs,
and four for mixing.
ANDY: “I liked Morgan, but it was a long way from “I liked to get the backing tracks – guitar, bass, and
where I was living at the time. I have lots of memories drums – down live off the floor. I was from a time where
of driving round the North Circular [ring road around that was what we did, and I believe that music’s about
London] on my motorbike at two in the morning communication between musicians. If you recorded the
freezing cold! But it was a great studio. We were rubbing rhythm tracks off the floor you’d get spillage from the
shoulders with Yes and Jethro Tull who were also various mics, and you have to be careful with that. But
recording there. Plus they had a bar! We’d do a little bit spillage can add to the atmosphere. The important thing
of work, then head off to the bar. That’s just the way it is to isolate the drums as much as possible.”
was. But we got
the work done!” ANDY: “There
were a couple of
DANNY: “We difficult tunes,
partied all right, drum-wise. ‘Can
but it wasn’t You Roll Her’ was
mental like it tricky because
supposedly of the double
became later. UFO bass drum thing.
was a really pro ‘Reasons Love’
outfit at that time was a bit of a
and the partying sticky one too. It
really wasn’t was a bit ‘in your
too excessive.” face’ and didn’t
give you any
LEO: “Ozzy time to think. But
Osbourne was overall I believe I
often down there, handled the tunes
John Bonham pretty well. I’ve
Phil Mogg would write his lyrics and melodies in the studio,
too, so getting never really used
often when the rhythm track to a song had already been recorded
the band to work a click track. My
wasn’t always argument has
easy! Pete was always been that
always there on the tracking days, but when he had to if you were supposed to keep to an exact beat, then
come in to do overdubs, he’d always turn up late – and orchestras would have a metronome to follow rather
he’d have these marvellous excuses. ‘I fell off a bus’ or ‘I than a conductor. Certain passages need to slow down
was standing at the bus stop, and somebody beat up an slightly or speed up. Not to the point where you go, ‘Oh
old lady and I had to wait for the police.’” my God, he’s not keeping time.’ But I always felt that was
part of the UFO sound, that instinctive feel you get for
DANNY: “Leo was so sweet and so polite, but I think certain changes in the song. The hardest thing is to stay
that might have helped him given the way the band was. on a beat and still have feel. But no one ever said to me,
Nobody wanted to upset him, really. I don’t remember ‘You need to have a click track mate, your timing’s all
him cracking the whip, but he was certainly getting the over the place.’”
job done.”
Photos: IconicPix/MM-Media; IconicPix/George Bodnar Archive

LEO: “I don’t even think we did a guide rhythm guitar

ANDY: “Leo was a lovely guy, and I was a huge that was then replaced. I think the rhythm stuff was all
Ten Years After fan, so to get to work with him was from the original takes. Pete, Andy, and Michael were
wonderful. But I think we were maybe getting to the good at that. I would listen to the track, and it had to
stage where we needed a bit of a firmer hand. Maybe we move me, I had to feel like it was rocking. And if it wasn’t
weren’t always pulling our weight all the time.” rocking, I’d say ‘Do it again.’ And I had no problems from
them. They did it again and again.”
LEO: “I liked all the guys; I think we had mutual respect
and we got along pretty well. Some people say I’m easy ANDY: “Pete and I were really good together and
going, but I’m only easy going if things are heading that’s part of how we got to be successful. When we
where I want them to go. If I thought something wasn’t recorded off the floor, Pete would go back and drop in a
good enough and needed to be done again, and then couple of notes he’d missed. Mistakes can happen when
someone challenged me about that, I’d say, ‘I’ve made you’re working into the night and you’re getting tired.
half a million out of rock’n’roll. How much money have But we didn’t do hundreds and hundreds of takes. Leo
you made?’ But I never wanted to have confrontations didn’t fuss too much. If the thing’s decent that’s it, move
with people. on. That’s what gave it all that kind of rawness. I loved
“We had very little budget for albums in those days, so Pete’s bass playing. I’d kind of forgotten how f*cking

30
 Pete playing his famous Gibson Thunderbird live.
He didn’t use it to record ‘No Heavy Petting’, though

good he was. He guitarists go into

wasn’t your Bill “I LOVED PETE’S BASS PLAYING. I’D KIND OF FORGOTTEN the studio and
Wyman type, just HOW F*CKING GOOD HE WAS. HE WASN’T YOUR BILL WYMAN expect to hear
standing there the same sound
playing. He’d TYPE, JUST STANDING THERE PLAYING. HE’D THROW coming out of the
throw shapes SHAPES EVEN WHEN HE WAS IN THE STUDIO.” speakers there
even when he ANDY PARKER as when they’re
was in the studio. standing on stage
No wonder other with the Marshalls
bassists like Steve Harris and Nikki Sixx worship him.” up to 10. It doesn’t work like that, and Michael had to get
used to that.”
LEO: “Pete was known for playing a Gibson
Thunderbird, but it never recorded very well. He played ANDY: “Michael is just a f*cking perfectionist. It would
my 1962 Fender Jazz on all the UFO albums I did with take time for him to get the sound exactly as he wanted
him. Danny contributed quite a lot melodically, but I think it. It was quite a long process. Most of the time in the
everyone accepted that the band should stay a guitar- studio was spent on Michael’s guitar solos and Phil’s
oriented act. Danny just added a bit of depth. I got on vocals. There was a lot of work going on between Phil
well with Michael. Fortunately, I’d learned German at and Leo, because Phil was writing lyrics and melodies
school and at the age of 18 I was in Germany working as in the studio as the songs were being recorded. And
a musician. So my German was pretty OK and Michael then he’d be rewriting stuff if things weren’t working.
and I could communicate. I think I brought out the best The tape would be constantly getting chopped up and
in him. I spent a lot of time working with Michael on rearranged. We’d move one bit here and take another bit
guitar solos. He always liked to do eight or nine of them out there, but there was a downside to that. The tapes
for each song and then pick the bits he liked, which we went through the machine so many times before it was
then comped together.” all finished, what with Michael’s guitar solos being done
over and over again and Phil constantly changing things
DANNY: “Something that really astounded me was the around vocally, that by the time things got finished and
detail Schenker paid to overdubbing his guitar parts. It mixed, the drums that had gone down first had suffered
was so precise! I’ve never seen anything like it. He’d layer a bit sonically.”
six or seven guitars on a song like ‘Belladonna’ and the
vibratos had to be exactly the same each time, precise to LEO: “If you asked me now whether I would have done
the nanosecond. That’s real dedication to your craft.” anything differently, I probably would have made the
drum sound a little bigger. That was the main difference
LEO: “Michael would do a take of a solo and I’d say, between ‘No Heavy Petting’ and the albums the band
‘That was great, Michael.’ And he’d reply, ‘For you, recorded later with [American producer] Ron Nevison.
maybe’ and then he’d do it again. He liked to have But that bigger drum sound started the whole heavy
that trouser-flapping level sound for recording. Most metal thing where everything became a wall of

31
 FEATURE EYEWITNESS DATELINE: JANUARY 1976

sound, and I’m not sure that that suited UFO entirely. DANNY: “After the album came out, we started working
I guess I could have compressed the drums more and our asses off gigging pretty much every day, and we
made them bigger, but then you’d start going into what were going down a storm. The reaction was terrific.
became Iron Maiden territory, and I don’t think that’s It was just very unfortunate that the album didn’t get
what UFO were. And within the budget constraints we the push it deserved. And, of course, people have to
were working to on ‘No Heavy Petting’, I think the songs have somebody to blame. It’s not every day you hear
still sound great.” somebody admitting they’re wrong. What they prefer to
do is find somebody else to blame for any problems.”
DANNY: “When the album was finished, I was very
confident in the material. I thought ‘No Heavy Petting’ LEO: “I’m not making excuses, but one thing you learn
was going to be the big breakthrough album. But that as a record producer is that if a record doesn’t happen,
wasn’t how it worked out.” people don’t blame the band, they don’t blame the A&R
man who signed them, and they don’t blame the record
ANDY: “I think Chrysalis were changing distribution company. They blame the producer because he’s really
partners just as the album came out and that definitely the only guy who can be changed. I was upset at the
affected how well it did. When we toured, the album time, but because I was working in the record company
wasn’t in the shops, so it didn’t get any airplay. It was just myself, I understood how things worked. I certainly didn’t
unfortunate timing.” blame the band that our working relationship ended, and
we remained friends.”
LEO: “‘No Heavy Petting’ didn’t do all that well, and
I was disappointed. We all were. But there wasn’t any ANDY: “We hit a bit of a plateau with ‘No Heavy
stock in the stores in the States, and if the record’s not Petting’, but fortunately it wasn’t fatal. We did our next
in the stores, then radio stations stop playing the album. album, [1977’s] ‘Lights Out’, with Ron Nevison, and
I actually spoke with one of the Chrysalis execs and things really picked up again. Then came ‘Obsession’ [in
he admitted to me that they’d f*cked up. And because 1978], which again did well, and after that we had the
I was also working for Chrysalis as a staff producer, I ‘Strangers In The Night’ album [from 1979] that went
was party to what was going on behind the scenes. It crazy. Every band has a hiccup now and again, and it was
wasn’t a problem with the record itself, so much as the just unfortunate for ‘No Heavy Petting’ that that was the
fact that the label didn’t put enough budgetary oomph album where it happened. It was unfortunate for Leo,
into keeping the ball bouncing. After that happened, too, because he lived and breathed that album, and he
Chrysalis decided they couldn’t make the same mistake did such a good job on it.”
again. One thing they did decide was that they needed
an American producer who’d had some success over DANNY: “I was only in the band for a couple of months
there for the next album. I think they sold that idea to the after ‘No Heavy Petting’ came out. When I was sacked,
band and so ‘No Heavy Petting’ was the last album I did I didn’t even receive the courtesy of a face-to-face
with UFO.” meeting with the lads. I already had ideas for songs for

32
the next album and I’d just got off the phone discussing a good album it is, and looking at the new artwork with
them with Pete. He said we’d get together soon and start the original tape boxes and comments scribbled on them
jamming out the ideas, but I thought he’d been a little bit takes me right back.”
funny on the phone. Then a few minutes later I got a call
from someone at Chrysalis who told me that it had been DANNY: “I’ve loved listening to the live show [recorded
decided the band wanted to go in another direction. at The Roundhouse in London in 1976] that’s also part of
Without wishing to blow my own trumpet I’m sure this new ‘No Heavy Petting’ package. I think the quality
people would agree that going in a different direction is of the recording is really good, and what I particularly
absolutely not what they did afterwards. They carried on like about it is the fact that it’s a real live album. It wasn’t
going in exactly the same direction we’d established on heavily repaired. We didn’t go into the studio to fiddle
‘No Heavy Petting’. The new guy [former Savoy Brown with it at all.”
man Paul Raymond, who joined in July of 1976] played
guitar and I didn’t, and that was probably handy for LEO: “I thought the songs on ‘No Heavy Petting’ were
the band. But I don’t think I was replaced because they really good, and the playing was great. One thing that I
definitely had to have a guy who played keyboards and really miss nowadays is hearing every instrument and, on
guitar. I think I was replaced for political reasons. Once that album, you can hear everything. I’m still pleased with
a decision is made to blame somebody for something, the work I did on the record and a lot of people still seem
people tend to come to like it. What can I say?
up with other reasons “I THOUGHT THE SONGS ON ‘NO HEAVY PETTING’ I had fun doing it and I
to justify that decision. think I’d work with the
WERE REALLY GOOD, AND THE PLAYING WAS
‘Well, it would really band again. If UFO were
help if the keyboardist GREAT. ONE THING THAT I REALLY MISS NOWADAYS to ask me, ‘Would you like
played guitar.’ But I IS HEARING EVERY INSTRUMENT AND, ON THAT to produce a record?’ I’d
don’t honestly think it probably say yes.”
was the reason.” ALBUM, YOU CAN HEAR EVERYTHING.”
LEO LYONS DANNY: “I think ‘No
ANDY: “We did at least Heavy Petting’ has aged
one US tour with Danny, maybe two, but he wasn’t in the really well and the songs definitely stand up. What’s
band very long. It was unfortunate, but we had this idea really amazing to me is the fact that for a long time after
that if we found a guy who could play keyboards and it was released it was pretty much forgotten as a UFO
guitar that would be fabulous. Leo, meanwhile, was so album. People hardly ever talked about it. But over the
easy to get along with, whereas with Nevison it was his last 10 years or so, its reputation has been growing and
way or the highway. But we had success with Nevison. growing and growing. Now I keep seeing things where
We were looking to grow as a band and Nevison would people are saying it’s one of the very best UFO albums
really put you on the rack to get what he wanted. That of the band’s entire catalogue. That’s very satisfying and
doesn’t mean I don’t have a real love for ‘No Heavy it proves one thing to me – that if you live long enough
Petting’. Listening to the new reissue reminds me what then everything comes around again!”

UFO – ‘NO HEAVY PETTING’

Recorded: January 1976

Released: May 1976

LINE UP:
Phil Mogg – vocals
Andy Parker – drums
Pete Way – bass
Michael Schenker – guitar
Danny Peyronel – keyboards

Produced by Leo Lyons

Recorded at Morgan Studios, London

ORIGINAL TRACK LISTING

NATURAL THING (Michael Schenker,

Phil Mogg, Pete Way)
I’M A LOSER (Michael Schenker,
Phil Mogg)
CAN YOU ROLL HER (Danny Peyronel,
Phil Mogg, Andy Parker)
BELLADONNA (Michael Schenker,
Phil Mogg)
REASONS LOVE (Michael Schenker,
Phil Mogg)
HIGHWAY LADY (Danny Peyronel)
ON WITH THE ACTION (Michael
Schenker, Phil Mogg)
A FOOL IN LOVE (Frankie Miller,
Andy Fraser)
MARTIAN LANDSCAPE (Danny Peyronel,
Phil Mogg, Andy Parker)

33
 FEATURE OVERLOOKED

34
 New York rockers Starz were part of the famous Aucoin management stable that turned
Kiss into superstars. Sadly, though, Aucoin couldn’t perform the same trick twice. Despite
four great studio albums – and a killer logo – Starz never quite made it to the top. Dave
Reynolds talks to guitarist Richie Ranno and drummer Joe X. Dube to get the full story of a
band that came close, but never got the cigar!
STARZ’S EPONYMOUS DEBUT ALBUM, released in 1976, of 1972 and achieved further Top 40 success with ‘Jimmy
is one of the greatest hard rock records of all-time. That Loves Mary-Anne’ the following year.
might sound like a big statement to those Rock Candy After Brenden Harkin joined the band on guitar in 1974,
Mag readers who may not know the New York five Elliot Lurie departed for a solo career. Looking Glass
piece’s work. But vocalist Michael Lee Smith, guitarists then recruited Alabama-born singer Michael Lee Smith
Richie Ranno and Brenden Harkin, bassist Pieter after placing an ad in New York culture and listings
‘Pete’ Sweval, and drummer Joe X. Dube really were a paper The Village Voice. Michael’s brother Rex Smith,
formidable hard rock outfit. incidentally, would go on to become a popular teen pin-
Starz released a further three albums over the next up, solo artist and actor after starting his career fronting
two years, with sophomore LP ‘Violation’ creatively good his own hard rock band, Rex.
enough to suggest the band could achieve the same “Brenden had been recruited on guitar just before
levels of success as contemporaries Kiss and Aerosmith. Elliot Lurie left because we were looking for a harder
Sadly, though, fate determined a different outcome. sound,” notes Dube. “Elliot was transforming himself into
High school friends Sweval and Dube had played more of a lead vocalist, so Brenden was added for the
together in several groups early in their musical careers crunch we were looking for. But when Elliot left, we had
and had enjoyed brief but not insignificant success with a lot of gigs booked, so we had to get another singer.”
the pop rock band Looking Glass. The band had been Harkin had previously worked with bands including
formed in New Brunswick, New Jersey back in 1969 Bamboo, Papa Nebo, and The Screaming Gypsy Bandits
by vocalist/guitarist Elliot Lurie and keyboard player and had produced a 1975 album by Free Beer, where
Larry Gonsky. Sweval and Dube – who went by his real Dube had contributed drums. Meanwhile, Smith had
Photo: Rich Galbraith

name of Jeffrey Grob prior to Starz – were ultimately been treading the boards as an actor in the New York
added to a line-up that would release two albums on Shakespeare Festival.
Epic Records, 1972’s ‘Looking Glass’ and 1973’s ‘Subway “After we recruited Michael, we went out as Looking
Serenade’. Looking Glass scored a US number one hit Glass for another eight months,” recalls Dube. “We’d
single with ‘Brandy (You’re A Fine Girl)’ in the summer still play ‘Brandy’ and ‘Jimmy Loves Mary-Anne’,

35
 FEATURE OVERLOOKED
but we began to incorporate a lot of new stuff we were Stories, but after the group split in late ’74 the guitarist
writing that was much harder than the songs we were had been working with his former bandmate Ian Lloyd
known for. Eventually you couldn’t pay us enough money on the singer’s subsequent solo group. Ranno soon left
to play the older songs. After we’d recorded a couple of and was replaced by soon-to-be Foreigner leader Mick
singles for Epic as Looking Glass with Michael singing, Jones. He almost toured the UK with folk rock singer
we decided to move on.” songwriter Al Stewart, but then saw an ad placed by

The Starz line-up that recorded the first three albums. L-R: Richie Ranno (guitar), Michael Lee
Smith (vocals), Joe X. Dube (drums), Pieter ‘Pete’ Sweval (bass), Brenden Harkin (guitar)

ONCE THEY’D left Epic, the band adopted a new name, Fallen Angels in The Village Voice in September 1975.
Fallen Angels, and signed with Arista Records. The “I thought the New York rock scene at the time was
group travelled to Toronto to record an album’s worth pretty crappy,” admits Richie. “I’d lived in Wisconsin for
of material with respected Canadian rock producer Jack three years playing with a band called Bungi, and the
Richardson at Sound Stage Studios. Although the album Midwest scene was rocking. There were loads of great
was shelved in early ’75 when the two single releases – groups. REO Speedwagon was more of a rock band back
‘The Kid Gets Hot’ and ‘Romeo And Juliet’ – failed to get then, Styx were really cool. Then you had The Amboy
anywhere near the charts, some of the material was used Dukes with Ted Nugent, Brownsville Station, Bob Seger,
as the soundtrack for a mid-’70s porn movie called The Cheap Trick, and before them Fuse. It was great, a whole
Divine Obsession. Fallen Angels’ songs were eventually lot better than in New York. That’s why Fallen Angels
released in 2003 by the Drastic CD Company. were having a hard time finding a rock guitar player
Fallen Angels’ manager at the time, Alan Miller, before I showed up.
informed the band that he was relinquishing his “The band was so jaded at that point that they treated
responsibilities after being lured away to work for a me like crap,” Ranno continues. “If Bill Aucoin hadn’t
New York management company called Aucoin. Headed been behind the project I wouldn’t have even gone to the
by Bill Aucoin, the company was on the cusp of huge audition after the way Sean Delaney talked to me when
success handling Kiss. Around about the same time, I first called them. I think we played together for a few
Pieter Sweval ran into a guy called Sean Delaney at a gay minutes. They didn’t even tell me what key the song was
bar in Manhattan’s West Village. Delaney was a musician, in. But then they talked amongst themselves and asked
producer, and road manager who not only worked at me if I wanted to join the band. It was a strange audition,
Aucoin but was also Bill Aucoin’s boyfriend. Delaney but I guess it ended well.”
quickly became a fan of Fallen Angels and his enthusiasm
led to the band signing with Aucoin for management. NOT SO for Larry Gonsky, who was soon out of the group.
“Kiss wasn’t big at that point,” Richie Ranno tells me. There was no place for keyboards in this tougher band.
“It would have been around the time their ‘Dressed To “We rehearsed for a while as a six-piece, cut an
Kill’ album came out. Fallen Angels were looking to push eight-song demo and played two gigs with Larry in
the rock envelope a little further and that’s why I ended the line-up,” says Dube. “The first was a club show with
up in the band.” [quirky Long Island rockers] Good Rats at My Father’s
Guitarist Ranno had been a member of New York act Place on Long Island. We then opened for Kiss at the

36
 Tower Theater in Philadelphia. After that second gig we “To get a Starz album all you had to do was lock us in
realised that the keyboards fitted less and less, so we a room together, throw away the key and come back two
parted company with Larry. That was when we really weeks later. Then we’d have an album’s worth of stuff
began putting both the musical direction and the live act for you,” laughs Dube. “The way we wrote together was
together with Sean.” intense. Michael Lee Smith is a poetic genius when it
How integral was Delaney to the group at that point? comes to lyrics. That came from his acting background.
“He was the one who talked the others into going He’s really great with words and he has an imagination
towards a harder edged sound and felt the band needed like nobody else. Plus, he can sing his ass off.”
a second guitarist to get there,” states Richie. “Sean was The songs could be controversial at times, with ‘Pull
very hands on, and the best way to describe him is to The Plug’ from the ‘Starz’ album and the live favourite
compare him to the character Jack Black played in the ‘P*ss Party’ being just two examples.
School Of Rock “Michael lived on
movie. Sean had the Upper West
the same energy Side, so he’d take
and craziness and the subway down
would keep going to Chinatown
until he dropped!” where Pieter’s loft
Delaney had was and where we
insisted on Fallen practised, reading
Angels changing the New York
their name to tabloid papers on
Starz, had created the way,” explains
their highly Dube. “The whole
recognisable logo, Karen Ann Quinlan
and was keen to controversy was
reprise the role going on at the
he’d fulfilled in the time and Michael
formative years used one of
of Kiss. He was the newspaper
known to be a headlines as
hard taskmaster. inspiration for a
“Oh, he was song that became
pretty tough, but ‘Pull The Plug’.”
he whipped us into “TO GET A STARZ ALBUM ALL YOU HAD TO DO WAS LOCK Sadly, Quinlan
shape,” responds had collapsed
Dube. “He was US IN A ROOM TOGETHER, THROW AWAY THE KEY, AND at a party on 14
there every day. COME BACK TWO WEEKS LATER. THEN WE’D HAVE AN April 1975 after
Sean acted as a ALBUM’S WORTH OF STUFF FOR YOU.” drinking alcohol
musical sounding and then taking
board, but he also JOE X. DUBE the drug Valium,
helped us with the while also being on
show we needed to get across in coliseums and baseball a crash diet with little to eat for days. She was admitted
stadiums. Sean really became the sixth member of Starz to hospital in a coma, had suffered irreversible brain
in the same way he was the fifth member of Kiss. He had damage, and was in a persistent vegetative state. Her
the energy and the ideas. He didn’t want to turn us into a family engaged in a legal battle for the right to remove
second version of Kiss, but he learned a lot from working her ventilator and let her die.
with them in big venues. By the time we went out on our “We had this musical piece with a working title of ‘Rise
first tour we could hold our own on a big stage.” Stephen Rise’ based on a real-life story of a cult that
chanted over a dead body in the hope that the body
IN FEBRUARY of ’76, Starz recorded a new three-song would rise from the dead. When Michael came in with
demo with producer Jack Douglas, who’d just scored the newspaper that had the ‘Pull The Plug’ headline
big success with Aerosmith. Then Starz played what was we kind of combined the two ideas. If you listen to the
effectively a showcase at the Calderone Concert Hall, a words of the song, it’s actually a love story. This guy
2,500-seat venue in Hempstead, Long Island in March. The loves his girlfriend so much that he doesn’t want to see
band opened for the Outlaws in front of a host of A&R her in pain anymore. The whole meaning of that song
men from major labels and soon afterwards Bill Aucoin was misconstrued by the press.”
secured the band a deal with Capitol. That was the cue “Michael was a great lyricist who could put words to
for Starz to set up camp with Douglas at the Record Plant stuff as we played it,” adds Richie. “I had the idea for
studio in New York to record their first, eponymous album. the song ‘Subway Terror’ [from ‘Violation’] after seeing
Released in the summer of ’76, the 10-track album’s a newspaper headline with that title. We’d recorded the
many highlights include opener ‘Detroit Girls’, ‘Boys music for the song first and it sounded like we were on a
In Action’, ‘Live Wire’, ‘Tear It Down’, ‘Night Crawler’, subway train. Michael loved it and quickly came up with
‘Monkey Business’, and ‘(She’s Just A) Fallen Angel’. the lyrics. He can’t be beat as a lyricist. We wrote some
Photo: Rich Galbraith

The latter is like poetry written with dirty fingernails; pretty cool stuff together.”
beautiful, but with a distinct element of small-town
sleaze about it. Interestingly, though, Starz music HOW IMPORTANT was Jack Douglas, who produced the
generally eschewed the subject of partying every day in first two Starz albums?
favour of much deeper and darker themes. “Jack’s production and engineering skills were the

37
 FEATURE OVERLOOKED
best bar none,” enthuses Dube. “The musician in him ask me to play on demos they were putting together at
was so important to the arrangement of songs when he Electric Lady Studios for songs they were working on
needed to hear something a little more. Some of the ideas for the ‘Rock And Roll Over’ and ‘Love Gun’ albums. I did
he had for creating sounds, especially percussive stuff like that a bunch.”
the intro to ‘(She’s Just A) Fallen Angel’, were amazing.” “We had a great relationship with Kiss,” confirms
“I was a big fan of Jack’s because of his production Richie. “I’d first met them in LA when I was with Stories,
on Aerosmith’s ‘Get Your Wings’, which is still to this so we were friends already. We had some fun times
day one of my all-time favourite albums,” adds Richie. with those guys. We would have parties together and
“I suggested to Aucoin that we get Jack to produce us. Brenden and I played on Peter and Gene’s 1978 solo
His production style was always to bring out the sound albums respectively. We barely saw the other bands
of the band as opposed to going with his own template. managed by Aucoin. We’d say hello to each other, but it
He did a great job with us. Jack taught us a lot about wasn’t like we hung out with them. We were always out
recording techniques, and we also had Jay Messina on the road anyway.”
working with us, who was one of the greatest recording
engineers in history.” WITH JACK Douglas at the helm once more, 1977’s
While Douglas ‘Violation’ was
ensured sonic semi-conceptual.
quality in the Its storyline of a
studio, the dystopian future
band’s material where rock’n’roll
always translated was outlawed
well in the live was like Rush’s
environment… thematic
“With five guys approach on
and a loud PA, ‘2112’. How
things worked the album
quite well,” was originally
laughs Dube. “We conceived,
went out with though, was
Aerosmith, Rush, remarkably
Ted Nugent, different to how
Angel, J. Geils it ended up…
Band, ZZ Top…” “We weren’t
“The first tour really looking to
we did was do anything in
spent mostly particular with
with Aerosmith,” that album,”
recalls Richie. “But then we went out for dates with Blue confesses Richie. “We wrote a bunch of new songs and
Öyster Cult and Rush, Ted Nugent, a one-off show in went in to record them. There was a sci-fi feel to it,
Detroit with Manfred Mann’s Earth Band, one with Kiss though, and I get an eerie feeling when listening to it now.
and a lot of headline dates of our own in theatres.” But I prefer the first album for its rawness. We’d written
While Starz acquired a decent following on the West all the music specifically for ‘Violation’, except for ‘Cool
Coast and in the Southern states, as well as thriving in One’ which was an older song, and then Michael wrote
the traditionally hard-rock-loving Midwest, for some the lyrics all at once. Because of that we had this kind of
reason the band wasn’t as popular on their native East storyline, although ‘Cherry Baby’ and ‘Sing It, Shout It’
Coast, especially at home in New York. were more their own thing. The album originally had a
“The East Coast was our biggest problem,” confirms specific running order, but this is where drug taking and
Ranno. “Being from New York, I’m going to tell you that a manager enjoying too much success can interfere with
we’re the worst fans in the country. We New York fans your creativity. Bill killed the whole storyline.”
don’t express ourselves, we just listen, so if you’re a band “We’ve spent many hours since trying to remember
onstage it feels like you’re not going down well. I wouldn’t what the original sequencing to that album was,” adds
say New York has ever been a hotbed for hard rock.” Dube. “The story was a mini-rock opera, but in Aucoin’s
What was the band’s dynamic at Starz’s 1976/1977 peak? mind it didn’t run in a sequence that was commercially
“We’d become like a family by that point,” reflects viable. So he re-arranged the songs into his own order,
Richie. “But I think the lack of success when everyone with what he thought were the strongest numbers on
thought our second album ‘Violation’ was going to be side one and messed it up completely. When we played
huge really ruined us. It affected how we got along with the Starzfest event a few years ago and performed
each other after that.” each of our four studio albums in their entirety, we had
How were relations with the other bands in the Aucoin an argument as to whether we should play the songs
Management stable? on ‘Violation’ as they appear on record, or in their
“We’d been with Aucoin for a while before he took on original form. We wound up playing the album the way
other acts like Piper, Toby Beau, and – later on – New people expected it, but that wasn’t how it was originally
England and Spider,” comments Dube. “It was just us intended to appear on record.”
and Kiss at first. I was pretty close with Gene Simmons ‘Violation’ pushed the band’s musical boundaries, with
and Paul Stanley to the point where they’d call me and Jack Douglas experimenting with tricks and effects

38
 he’d already that Kiss weren’t
been bringing happy with Bill
to Aerosmith’s managing other
albums. But bands and I
there was know that’s true,
also an added because people
commercial who worked
sheen on the with Kiss at the
uplifting pop time told me so.
rock of first But it was what
single ‘Cherry it was, and we
Baby’ and its got lost a bit.
follow-up ‘Sing To succeed you
It, Shout It’. need a manager
‘Cherry Baby’ who’s hungry
reached number and focused. We
33 on the US didn’t have that.
Billboard singles We had someone
chart and looked who had become
bound for the very successful
Top 20 before but had spread
Bill Aucoin and himself too thin.
Capitol Records We would’ve
inexplicably been much
pulled further luckier if Kiss had
promotion of made it a year
the song to later rather than
concentrate on when they did.”
‘Sing It, Shout It’. So was it both
Richie believes a blessing and
the reason for a curse to be
that was payback part of the
for a fight with “THE LACK OF SUCCESS WHEN EVERYONE THOUGHT Aucoin stable?
Aucoin over the “Bill did a
OUR SECOND ALBUM, ‘VIOLATION’, WAS GOING TO BE HUGE
follow-up single. lot for us,”
When Starz REALLY RUINED US. IT AFFECTED HOW WE GOT ALONG acknowledges
were filming WITH EACH OTHER AFTER THAT.” Dube. “We got
a promotional the Capitol deal
RICHIE RANNO
video for ‘Sing and we got to
it, Shout It’ in play some big
Los Angeles in May of 1977, the band discovered that venues. But to this day we don’t know exactly how many
they were working to an edited version of the song that records we sold because technically we were signed
they’d known nothing about. to Aucoin’s production company, Rock Steady, and not
“When I realised what was going on I jumped off the directly to Capitol. I think we sold a lot more product
drum riser and went right at Bill,” says Dube. “Then he than the records show, but I can’t prove it.”
and Capitol made a fatal strategic error by putting out “Bill was a really great, charismatic, intelligent guy,”
the song before ‘Cherry Baby’ had run its course. We adds Ranno. “I don’t want to make it sound like I’m bitter,
never got an explanation for that.” but I do think Bill ruined our career. I don’t believe he did
“Why didn’t Bill tell us about the edited version of the it intentionally, I just think we got caught in a bad spot.”
song before we heard it for the first time on stage at the Unfortunately the band were also the victims of some
video shoot?” questions Richie. “We didn’t like the edit. bizarre decisions elsewhere. Capitol in the UK chose
It all got heated and then the promotion dropped off on to spend promotional money earmarked for Starz on
‘Cherry Baby’.” sponsoring a racing car driven by a driver called Brett
Riley in the unimportant 1977 British Formula Three
RICHIE AND Dube both agree that that day changed Championship. The car had the band’s logo plastered all
the band’s relationship with Bill. But they also had other over it and when Michael Lee Smith alone was flown over
concerns. to London to do press for ‘Violation’ he was pictured
“I loved Sean and Bill,” clarifies Richie. “They were sitting in the car. But the decision to sponsor the vehicle
very creative guys and had a lot of positive energy, but was questionable: rather than promote the band it
drugs really dragged them down. I didn’t do that stuff seemed more an exercise in giving someone money to
but it seems it didn’t make them think clearly. The more run the car that year. It offered Starz almost nothing.
successful they got, the crazier they got, and they weren’t “That’s totally true,” sighs Richie. “They should have
Photos: Rich Galbraith

taking care of business. Once Kiss hit big, which was only brought us over there for a gig or two instead. Capitol
a few months after we signed with Aucoin, things got Records were stupid on a worldwide level!”
crazy. Bill had a small office to begin with, but suddenly
he had two floors in a building on Madison Avenue. It THE GROWING distrust of both Aucoin and Capitol
didn’t help us, because we were now in the shadow of didn’t make for a happy camp as Starz prepared to
Kiss and Bill’s time for us was limited. There were stories start work on their third album, ‘Attention Shoppers!’.

39
 FEATURE OVERLOOKED
Rather than continue with Jack Douglas in the familiar minutes before showtime. Then when he’d start warming
surroundings of the Record Plant in New York, a decision up in the dressing room things weren’t really happening,
was made to have Starz produce the record themselves so there were concerns about whether Pieter could
at the less salubrious Secret Sound Studios in Manhattan. perform on stage in front of 20,000 people. Brenden’s
Douglas has apparently since stated that he wasn’t even musical taste was heading in a different direction to us
approached about working on the third album… by then, so at the end of the tour we asked Pieter to
“Brenden was all for us producing ourselves, but the leave, while Brenden just wanted to go.”
rest of us weren’t,” states Richie. “I told Bill it was a crazy “Brenden just wasn’t happy doing loud, hard rock,”
idea. I went home from the studio every night feeling adds Richie. “He wanted to be a recording engineer.”
like I wanted to quit the band. I look back at it now and I Sweval took his firing very personally, but Dube stresses
don’t think ‘Attention Shoppers!’ is a terrible album, but it was about music. “His songwriting was still up to par,
it wasn’t what we should’ve been doing at the time.” but his ability to perform was compromised. I’d known
“If Bill had been a good manager, he wouldn’t have Pete for years, so it was difficult to come to that decision.”
insisted we record ‘Attention Shoppers!’ the way we did Following his departure Sweval would team up with
because he would have seen the sound of Starz as a Sean Delaney, assisting on Delaney’s 1979 solo album
combination of us, Jack Douglas, and the Record Plant,” ‘Highway’, before playing with a Delaney-conceived
says Dube. “He disco-rock group
insisted we called Skatt
push on that Bros. Managed
way instead of by Aucoin
waiting for Jack and signed to
to finish working Casablanca,
with Aerosmith. they recorded
He also thought two albums,
that going more 1979’s ‘Strange
commercial was Spirits’ and the
the way to go. lesser known,
Bill insisted we new wave tinged
needed to start ‘Rico & The
recording right Ravens’ in 1981.
away and get Starz, meanwhile,
another album quickly moved
delivered. I think on with a revised
that might have line-up.
been mainly “We brought
about getting in Orville Davis
an advance out [previously with
of Capitol. He Pete Sweval and Brenden Harkin onstage. Attention rockers! Hydra and Rex]
convinced us on bass, because
that it was a Michael knew
good idea, but in retrospect we should have waited for him, and [former Stanky Brown man] Bobby Messano
Jack. The material on ‘Attention Shoppers!’ is great, but came in on guitar,” explains Dube. “Orville was no Pieter
the sound of the album is so different that it’s tough to Sweval playing-wise, but he was still good. Bobby was a
listen to. That’s why it’s my least favourite of our records.” great player too, but we did realise that the essence of
“We were being pressured by management and the Starz was now me, Michael, and Richie, and these guys
label not to do a hard rock album, I can tell you that,” were simply coming in to fill in the parts.”
adds Ranno. “Bobby lived in the next town to me and was on the
local scene,” adds Ranno. “We’d jam together at clubs
STARZ WENT straight out on tour to support ‘Attention when I was off the road. He was an excellent guitar
Shoppers!’ after its release in January of 1978, with two player, sat in with us at a rehearsal, we sounded great
of the band’s finest live recordings made at shows at together and that was that.”
the Agora in Cleveland and in Louisville, Kentucky. The
latter was used for the legendary ‘Live In Louisville’ STARZ HEADED north to Toronto to work with old
promo album. On these recordings songs from ‘Attention friend Jack Richardson. The band’s fourth studio album,
Shoppers!’, such as ‘Hold On To The Night’, ‘X-Ray Spex’, ‘Coliseum Rock’, came close to the intensity of the debut.
and ‘Johnny All Alone’, really come into their own. But at “We had the right songs,” notes Ranno. “That might
the same time tensions within the group had got to the sound weird, though, given that some of them had
point where within weeks of coming off the road Sweval been vetoed from inclusion on ‘Attention Shoppers!’ I
and Harkin had departed. Harkin opted to leave the remember that we took a break while we were recording
band, but that wasn’t the case with Sweval… ‘Coliseum Rock’ to do a couple of gigs in August of ’78 at
Photo: Rich Galbraith

“The last show we performed with the original line-up the El Mocambo club in Toronto. That was a lot of fun.”
was at the Agora in Cleveland,” recalls Dube. “Shortly Released in October of 1978, ‘Coliseum Rock’ was a
afterwards we asked Pieter to leave because he seemed great album, but it didn’t do well commercially.
to have lost focus. It had got to the point where we “We got out of our deal with Capitol because we didn’t
would get to a town on tour, and he’d vanish until 45 want to be on the label any longer,” explains Ranno. “We

40
asked Bill to get us off the label while we were out in on 28 June 2010 and 13 April 2003 respectively, both
LA writing a new album. He told us they wanted to do Dube and Ranno stress that they had long since re-
the record with us, but we said no. We asked him to get established good relationships with both men. Sadly, that
another label for us and Bill said no. He told us that hard wasn’t the case with Pieter Sweval, who passed away
rock groups weren’t being signed anymore. We all came from AIDS on 23 January 1990.
back to the East Coast apart from Michael and ended “I was pretty devastated when I learnt Pieter had
the group, though we should’ve continued. We originally died,” recalls Dube. “I only found out about it six months
decided to split up to get out of our management deal afterwards. He and I had been close friends for many
with Bill. Eventually we did get back together, albeit years, but he’d taken off to LA and I never heard from
briefly, about a year and a half later [with Brenden Harkin him again. I’m still in touch with his brother John, but
playing bass and Doug I had little contact with
Madick on drums]. It wasn’t Pieter after he left the
pre-meditated, but that’s band. He really cut us off.
when the whole thing I heard he was a bouncer
morphed into Hellcats – for a while. Pieter was a
and then more black clouds huge part of the Starz
came over us.” sound and was so talented
“I’d come back from LA in so many ways. He was
and within two weeks I an accomplished artist too;
had no manager, no label, his paintings and drawings
and no band. Plus my wife were of real quality. I wish I
left me. My entire world had one of his pieces.”
as I knew it had gone,” “I only ever saw Pieter
recalls Dube sombrely. one more time after he left
“A friend of mine got the band, and that was up
me a job in construction at Aucoin’s office,” states
and I ended up building Richie. “He was very upset
houses. After a couple of about having to leave and
years I needed to look for we all felt very bad about
something else, which led it. We considered him a
to me taking night classes. great friend, but it wasn’t
I then attended Rutgers working out by then.”
University and graduated
in 1985 to become a WITH ALL surviving
landscape architect, an members of Starz having
exterior spatial designer participated in the
in other words. I got a job “A LOT OF PEOPLE OUT THERE WHO BECAME aforementioned Starzfest
with a company in New MUCH MORE SUCCESSFUL THAN US SAY THAT event back in 2005, only
York City, with whom I still Smith, Ranno, and Dube
work to this day. I design WE WERE A PRIMARY INFLUENCE ON THEM, AND have continued to appear
extremely large projects, I CAN SEE WHY. WE COULD PLAY, WE COULD on their subsequent
including bridges. I like reunions. Indeed, when
WRITE, AND WE HAD TUNES THAT WERE KIND
getting involved in the the trio made their long-
bigger projects in the same OF SOPHISTICATED AND COMPLICATED.” awaited live debut in
way that I always preferred JOE X. DUBE the UK at the Garage in
playing coliseums to clubs.” London in 2013, they were
joined onstage by long-
DUBE DIDN’T think about music for around 15 years. time fans Alex Kane from Life Sex & Death and Ginger
“I walked away from it. It was the devil to me, but I from The Wildhearts.
got into it again when I began to play guitar at Sunday “People still seem to be interested,” comments Richie
school for five-year-olds. Richie and I got talking about on the Starz legacy. “We got back together in 2003 and
playing together again and that led to the various Starz have been fortunate enough to do gigs every year since.
gigs we’ve done over the years.” Thankfully some people remember our contribution to
Post-Starz, Ranno and Smith would continue with music and that’s all you can ask for – other than royalties!”
Hellcats, releasing an impressive mini album in 1982 on “From what I understand, a lot of people out there who
the short-lived Radio Records label. As well as issuing a became much more successful than us say that we were
solo record, Ranno would revive the Hellcats name for a primary influence on them, and I can see why,” reckons
a further release towards the end of the decade with a Dube, referring to the likes of Nikki Sixx, Tommy Thayer,
different singer. But needing to earn a living he wound Rikki Rockett, and Jon Bon Jovi, who’ve all cited Starz
up in the memorabilia business. as an influence over the years. “We could play, we could
“I’d always been a big collector of rock memorabilia write, and we had tunes that were kind of sophisticated
and had multiples of stuff to the point where in 1987 I and complicated just like Looking Glass. We weren’t
went into full-time selling and travelling the country. I simply about sludging it out, so we had musical
also got involved in organising a Kiss Expo in New Jersey, sophistication that attracted a lot of people. The subject
which became an annual event for 22 years. I still played matter was attractive to a lot of people too. So if any one
guitar and did things here and there, but I left the music of those bands who say we were important to them – like
business behind and never gave it another thought.” Bon Jovi – wants to cover one of our songs and put it on
Although Bill Aucoin and Sean Delaney passed away one of their records, then go right ahead!”

41
 FEATURE THE ROCK CANDY Q&A

KIM McAULIFFE
THE GIRLSCHOOL GUITARIST AND VOCALIST ON GETTING HELP FROM
LEMMY, WORKING WITH SLADE, AND ELECTROCUTION LESSONS…

42
 WAS IT ALWAYS THE PLAN TO BE AN ALL-GIRL BAND? IT WASN’T MUCH FUN GETTING ELECTROCUTED
“Not really. [Girlschool bassist] Enid [Williams] and I lived ON STAGE IN 1982 THOUGH, WAS IT?
on the same street in London. Her brother played guitar “It really wasn’t. We were touring the ‘Hit And Run’
and my cousin, who lived next door to me, played guitar. album and were playing in Denmark. In the afternoon
My cousin got into a band and that made me think I our sound man told us he was having some trouble with
could do it too. Needless to say, though, my cousin didn’t the electrics at the venue, but he said he’d get it sorted.
want females in his band, so I decided the only way to do Then when I went onstage that night in front of a packed
it was to find like-minded girls.” house and we started playing the first song I put my
hand on the mic and boom! There was this massive bang
WAS HARD ROCK ALWAYS YOUR THING? and I ended up flying through the air and hitting my
“Well I started out loving glam rock, Marc Bolan, David head on the drum riser! I honestly thought I was dying!
Bowie, and Sweet. But once I started playing it was hard A roadie came and kicked the mic out of my hand, and I
rock, yes. In my first band, Painted Lady, we did covers of ended up in hospital overnight. The following day it took
‘Shoot Shoot’ by UFO and ‘Live Wire’ by AC/DC. So that ages before anyone came to pick me up, because they
was hard rock, but once we started gigging as Girlschool were all too hungover to come and get me. When they
we played with punk bands like Sham 69 and the U.K. finally got to the hospital, I was really angry, and they
Subs, who we were great mates with. At first the punks said they had to have a party because they were all so
hated us because we were too metal, and the metallers shocked by what had happened. They were shocked!”
hated us because we were too punk. We didn’t care. We
were just doing what we wanted to do.” WHAT WAS IT LIKE MAKING THE ‘PLAY DIRTY’
ALBUM IN 1983 WITH NODDY HOLDER AND JIM
WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST BIG BREAK? LEA FROM SLADE PRODUCING?
“Opening for Motörhead on their ‘Overkill’ tour back in “We had the chance to go to the States to record with
1979. We’d managed to get Spencer Proffer, who was
a single out called ‘Take It “AT FIRST THE PUNKS HATED US BECAUSE a really hot American
All Away’ and it got played producer at the time
on a late-night radio show. WE WERE TOO METAL, AND THE METALLERS [after a big success with
Lemmy heard it and liked HATED US BECAUSE WE WERE TOO PUNK. Quiet Riot]. But no, no,
it. He came down to meet we wanted to record with
WE DIDN’T CARE. WE WERE JUST DOING
us and told us he was Nod and Jim! That was
looking for a support band WHAT WE WANTED TO DO.” probably a wrong career
for Motörhead’s first major move, but we just did what
UK tour and offered the slot to us just like that! Amazing we wanted to do and hang the consequences. We had
really. We got catapulted into all this madness from day such a laugh with those guys. After work we used to
one. It was so much fun.” go out for drinks together and I’ve never seen anybody
literally drink themselves under the table like Noddy did.
MOTÖRHEAD’S MANAGER DOUG SMITH TOOK One night were in the pub and he just sort of slid off his
YOU ON AND THEN YOU SIGNED TO MOTÖRHEAD’S chair onto the floor – and then this hand came back up
RECORD LABEL, BRONZE. THINGS WERE looking for the glass to drink some more! Those guys
HAPPENING FAST, WEREN’T THEY? were lovely and brilliant, and of course Noddy sang on
“They were. We recorded a single called ‘Emergency’ a couple of songs. We’d never heard such a voice. We
with Vic Maile producing and we didn’t like him very used to have to put him at the end of the studio and
much at first because he kept telling us what to do! But facing a wall when he was singing, otherwise he’d drown
we eventually realised that we probably should listen everything else out!”
to someone who knew what they were doing, and we
ended up really loving Vic. Of course Motörhead ended YOUR GUITARIST, KELLY JOHNSON, LEFT TO LIVE
up nicking him off us to produce them!” IN LOS ANGELES AFTER ‘PLAY DIRTY’, DIDN’T SHE?
“She’d had enough by then, probably because she had
HOW DID YOU END UP JOINING UP WITH terrible stage fright. She used to throw up and be in
MOTÖRHEAD IN THE HEADGIRL PROJECT? a right state. It took everything out of her to perform
Interview by Howard Johnson. Photo: IconicPix/Ray Palmer Archive

“That was Vic’s idea. He got on really well with Lemmy because she put her soul out there. Kelly fell in love with
and they often talked about their love of old rock’n’roll LA, and she could have done something really good
songs. Vic suggested we should do a cover of ‘Please out there, but she found it so stressful being a rock star
Don’t Touch’ [by Johnny Kidd & The Pirates] together – because that’s what she was – that she didn’t really
and it was a big success, selling a quarter of a million follow it through. She came back to Girlschool eventually
copies. That whole thing was such a laugh. We dressed and died [of spinal cancer] when she was just 49 years
up as gangsters for the photo session to accompany the old. It was so sad. She was like a sister to me.”
single and ended up in a little pub in London dressed in
full gangster get-up. We stayed there all night and the DO YOU STILL HAVE THE SAME ENTHUSIASM FOR
old boys in there couldn’t believe their eyes.” GIRLSCHOOL AS WHEN YOU FIRST STARTED?
“To be honest, during the pandemic I did wonder
DID YOU SEE ANY MONEY FROM RECORD SALES? whether we would ever come back, but now we seem
“Of course not. We never saw any real money. The to be playing more than ever and we’re recording a
management would give you £100 a week and pat you new album, so that shows what I know! I think we’ve
on the head. But that was good money in those days, so got some good songs for it and I’m looking forward to
we were happy. Maybe we should have kept more of an people hearing it. But when I first started in Girlschool,
eye in the finances, but we were young and having fun – never in a million years did I think I’d still be doing it in
and we were drunk most of the time!” my 60s!”

43
 FEATURE RON ‘BUMBLEFOOT’ THAL

44
 Ron ‘Bumblefoot’ Thal’s music doesn’t get played on mainstream radio, yet he’s enjoyed a
30-year-plus career both as a revered solo artist and as a member of both Guns N’ Roses and
Asia. He explains to Howard Johnson his philosophy that all talent and success is just loaned…

“MY MUSIC WAS NEVER made to be played on the

radio,” Ron ‘Bumblefoot’ Thal tells me, stroking his long
beard thoughtfully. “I honestly don’t think I’ve ever heard
anything I’ve ever written on the radio.”
On the surface, this doesn’t sound like good news for
THAL
that truly speaks to an audience and says something
genuine to them. People know when something’s
bullsh*t. So a band like that might get 15 minutes of
fame, but after that they’re going to be forgotten. The
things that last are the things that have more depth,
the 53-year-old. So why is he grinning from ear to ear things that really come from someone’s insides, things
while he says this? that touch someone else’s insides in the same way.
“But that’s always been OK,” he continues. “You just “And the thing is, the music industry was always
have to be realistic about what your path is, who your f*cked. I knew a band from back in the day that had
audience is, what your music is, what its purpose is, and huge hits on the radio and a number one selling album
where it will best – and all the money
serve humanity. And “I KNEW I WASN’T GOING TO BE A MAJOR LABEL SIGNING. that was made had
you can’t keep trying I KNEW I WASN’T GOING TO BE PLAYING STADIUMS. to be paid back to
to force it somewhere their record label
where it doesn’t MY MUSIC’S VERY SPECIFIC. BUT I’D RATHER BE MYSELF at a 900% interest
belong. It’s not going THAN BE FRAUDULENT WITH WHAT I’M PUTTING OUT rate! So other than
to work. the advance they
AND END UP HATING MYSELF.”
“I understood received, those guys
all this, so over 20 didn’t see a dime.
years ago I started working closely with publishing They were more like travelling T-shirt salesman, playing
companies, because even then I’d realised that the music shows so that they could sell merchandise to make
industry was changing. Record labels were becoming money. The way I see it, nothing has really changed
less important because of streaming, and publishing as far as bands are concerned. The only thing that’s
companies were becoming more important because their changed is that the record labels aren’t making big
job was to get people’s music to interesting places. But money from physical sales anymore. They’ve really been
that idea wasn’t on anyone’s radar. I knew I wasn’t going reduced in the equation. Now, most artists don’t even
to be a major label signing. I knew I wasn’t going to be need a label. And what’s so great today is that now more
playing stadiums. My music’s very… how can I put it? … than ever there’s a demand for things that are different.
specific. But I’d rather be myself than be fraudulent with When you put on Netflix or Hulu and you watch all these
what I’m putting out and end up hating myself. drama series, the music that they choose is so atypical.
“If you feel like you’re not doing anything that feeds It’s not the common stuff, and that really makes it a
your soul, then you’re going to die inside. So I’d rather great time to be an individual.”
live a life where my music means something to me, that
it’s genuine, authentic, and expresses something that’s THAL IS certainly an individual. Always has been.
real; that it’s something I want to give to the world, as Right from the age of six when his oh-so-normal love
weird as it may be. And that’s OK, because you don’t of the cartoon image of Kiss acted as his gateway
decide who the audience is. The universe decides. The rock’n’roll drug. The band didn’t motivate Ronald Jay
only thing that’s in your power is to give your best and Blumenthal of Brooklyn, New York to dress up like his
be as authentic as possible. And then whatever happens, heroes like most little kids, though. Hearing Kiss’s music
happens. As long as you do that, you can sleep at night.” immediately made him want to understand how you
Photo: Diego Iost Do Amaral

Ron’s on a roll here… could record music. This idea strikes me as more than a
“I’ve seen so many bands that keep chasing a trend, little weird, but Ron looks as if that thought has never
and by the time they get to the point where they’ve occurred to him before.
developed something, the trend has already changed. So “You’d be surprised what kids can come up with,” he
nobody’s interested, and they never even did anything says by way of explanation, before opting to expand…
authentic. They never found an audience that’s going to “My friends and I had a little acoustic guitar. I got
stick with them, because they never delivered something hold of multiple little cassette recorders and started

45
 FEATURE RON ‘BUMBLEFOOT’ THAL

Ron performing with Guns N’ Roses in Los Angeles, 23 April 2014

working out how to record. We’d be a foot away from because, for a musician, one avenue isn’t going to be
the one recorder playing guitar; we’d be banging on enough. Look at the pandemic. People who lived off
something we were using for drums 10 feet back from touring were f*cked. They were basically out of work for
another; we’d put our faces next to another one and two years. So if they weren’t teaching, if they didn’t have
sing. Then we’d record everything we had onto another studio stuff going on, if they weren’t doing everything
recorder. We’d make demos like that. In fact, I think I’ve else, they had no other ways of being musical… and they
got some of them still.” also had no way of paying the bills.”
Ron tells me he’s digitised pretty much everything he’s
ever done, and, in a few seconds, I hear that he’s not IT WAS this polyvalent approach to music that kept Thal
kidding. He plays me some little kids making a barely solvent in his formative days, but it was his extraordinary
discernible racket, as if having recordings of stuff you did guitar playing skills that first got him noticed.
when you were six years old is the most natural thing in “When I was 16, 17, 18, I’d record these silly strange
the world. I tell him it songs at home just for
really isn’t! my own amusement.
“I OWNED MY RECORDINGS, AND I OWNED THE
“Was I a weird kid? I At that time there
guess so. I’m just me, PUBLISHING, SO WHEN SOMEONE CAME TO ME AND were all these guitar
and doing that just SAID, ‘HEY, CAN WE USE THIS IN A VIDEO GAME?’ magazines that had
made sense.” columns showcasing
Eventually Ron got I COULD SAY YES WITHOUT ASKING ANYONE’S new players. [Guru of
a rudimentary mixing PERMISSION. MY STUFF ENDED UP EVERYWHERE! guitar heroes] Mike
board and a reel-to-real EVERY TIME I TURNED ON THE TV, I HEARD MY MUSIC.” Varney wrote one for
recorder and moved Guitar Player magazine
outwards, making and all my friends said,
recordings for other local bands as a teenager. ‘Oh, you should send something in.’ So I thought, ‘What
“Music’s like a tree growing branches,” he explains. the hell?’ and posted something off – and Varney gave
“You start off with one goal – the trunk, which in my me this stellar write-up in the August 1989 issue of Guitar
case was recording – and then suddenly this other Player. Jeff Healey was on the cover. I can’t remember
thing takes off, maybe songwriting. So I wrote songs what I had for breakfast, but I can remember all this crap!
for myself, and then started writing for other people. And then Mike proposed putting a band together for
Then that new thing ties in with your engineering and me and having it on his record label, but I just wanted
producing, and now you’re co-writing with people you’re to do my own thing. So we stayed in touch, and I would
co-producing. Then, as you get better as a guitar player, do songs for his compilation CDs from time to time, but
you start teaching. Then when you’re in your 20s a friend eventually he said he was forming a subsidiary label
opens a music store, and you teach there. Then there’s for vocal music and would love me to be one of the
a school that doesn’t have a music department and you first releases on that label. I agreed, but then Mike said,
become head of their music department. Then you teach ‘So we can introduce you to the label’s audience, why
at a music institute and then you become an adjunct don’t we do a guitar instrumental album first?’ In the
professor at a college teaching music production. So end I agreed, and the label put out ‘The Adventures Of
each branch grows, and each branch gets bigger and Bumblefoot’ [in 1995]. I was happy with it. It was very
bigger, and then when you get to my age you start quirky and very different to the rest of the stuff they
trimming the branches a little bit, doing a bit less of this were releasing. So then I started writing for what was
and a bit less of that. But you need all of those branches going to be the vocal album. I recorded an entire album

46
 and played it for Mike – and he thought it was too dark “I suffered permanent nerve damage,” he tells me. “I
and too gloomy. He asked me if I could write something couldn’t close my hands and I couldn’t raise my arms. I
different, so I made another album, and then Mike took really thought the guitar-playing chapter of my life was
songs from both sets of recordings, put them together closed, and that ongoing I’d just focus on producing,
and put out the ‘Hermit’ album [in 1997]. teaching, and writing music. But I ended up touring with
“I wasn’t happy with that experience. I wanted more Guns again just months after the accident, long before I
creative control. I didn’t want to be told my music was was ready, and it was a trip to hell that I will never forget.
too dark. I didn’t want someone to take two different I learned what the word pain really means, and sacrificed
albums I’d created that had different personalities and my wellbeing. I was doped up on meds, resorting to
put them together when I whatever I could to get
felt they didn’t really match. through each show. But I
So Mike and I ended our put myself through that. I
relationship, and I started could have said no, and I
my own record label. didn’t. So now if someone
“I got distributors around comes to me asking for
the globe and put out my something and I’m not
own albums under the cool with it, then I should
name Bumblefoot, which and will say no. The world
eventually became sort of won’t end.”
my nickname. And because
I’d understood that whole HAVING SUBSEQUENTLY
publishing thing, I was decided to truly take
doing music for TV shows control of his own destiny,
and video games, and I Ron knows that these days
was also producing bands. he’s both a happier man
I got a little house where and a happier musician.
I could make noise at the His career as Bumblefoot
north end of Princeton, New continues apace, and he
Jersey, and I loved it! New believes his latest release,
technology was emerging, an eighth studio album
and I jumped right on it, from 2015 titled ‘Little
realising that you didn’t Brother Is Watching’ “is the
need to go through all the one where I’m most happy
big gatekeepers anymore with the lyrics, the singing,
and you could get your stuff the production, and the
direct to the public, often online. It was wonderful and guitar work.” He’s also found the fulfilment he was
for the first time I was actually making money. looking for in a collaborative group scenario by hooking
“I was working non-stop, constantly in the studio up with drummer Mike Portnoy, bassist Billy Sheehan,
and doing a little bit of touring, and I loved it, because keyboardist Derek Sherinian, and vocalist Jeff Scott Soto
I had 100 per cent creative control, plus I owned the in Sons Of Apollo. And in 2019 he even found time to
recordings, and I owned the publishing. So when play with pop prog superstars Asia.
someone came to me and said, ‘Hey, can we use this in “That was such fun,” he laughs. “I was originally only
a video game?’ I could say yes without asking anyone’s going to play guitar, but then the guy who was lined up
permission. I was able to take the music and have it go to sing fell through, and by default I ended up with the
Photos: IconicPix/Kevin Estrada; Katarina Benzova, with additional artwork by SavanasArt

everywhere with nothing in my way, and that’s exactly job! So I spent two months teaching myself how to sing
what happened. My stuff ended up on Oprah Winfrey, So the way [original and sadly diseased Asia frontman]
You Think You Can Dance, the WWE, everywhere! Every John Wetton did, figuring out what he did, where he
day I turned on the TV I heard my music, even though I squeezed, where he relaxed, where he resonated from. I
wasn’t famous – and that was fine with me.” did it for eight hours a f*cking day for two months until it
became the default thing that my brain would go to. And
LIVING IN these highly enjoyable musical shadows ended when we eventually played live it was nerve-wracking,
abruptly in 2006, however, when Ron was recommended but the one thing that really put me at ease about it was
by fellow guitar obsessive Joe Satriani for the guitarist’s the reception from the fans when we performed. I was
slot in Guns N’ Roses. Thal’s relationship with the biggest bracing myself for getting all this hate, but that wasn’t
rock band in the world officially ended in 2014 and the case at all. I’m so grateful for their support.”
it’s been well documented that the experience wasn’t With a new Bumblefoot album due for release in 2023,
everything he’d hoped it would be. He looks pained when Thal isn’t letting the grass grow under his feet.
asked to revisit those times. “That’s because I can never get bored of being
“What I will say is this,” he sighs. “From the day I creative,” he says. “Every single thing around you is
picked up a guitar I saw my path as being a founding inspiration that’s just waiting for you to notice it. It’s
member of a band, a creative member. If I’m not a always there. Always. I think everything I’ve been through
creative member of something, then a big part of me makes me want to do more, because at the end of the
withers and dies, the thing that makes me love what I do day what I know is that everything we have is just a
isn’t there. So in the end I had to get back on that path. loan. It’s a gift, but it’s only ever loaned and eventually it
But I’m grateful to have been on that Guns journey with gets taken away. All talent, all fortune, all health, it’s all
such incredible musicians.” temporary. And when it’s time for fate to take it back, all
All the same, all of this was put into perspective by a you can really say is ‘Thank you. I really enjoyed it for the
June 2011 car crash that left Thal with severe injuries. time that you lent it to me.’”

47
 FEATURE KISS – GENE SIMMONS EXCLUSIVE

48
 Kiss have decided they’re leaving the stage for good when their current ‘End
Of The Road World Tour’ wraps up, bringing the curtain down on an incredible
50-year live career. So what better time for Andrew Daly to sit down with
vocalist, bassist, and part-time demon Gene Simmons for a wide-ranging
in-depth interview about one of the most iconic rock bands of all time?

AFTER AN HOUR OF fascinating chat with Kiss bassist guitarist Ace Frehley and drummer Peter Criss. “Just a
and singer Gene Simmons, the man known as ‘The couple of years after our first album [‘Kiss’] came out in
Demon’ wraps things up with a sly admission. “I’m the 1974 we were headlining Anaheim Stadium in California
luckiest b*stard on two legs,” he tells me. It’s easy to see above bands that had been around for 15 years. We
why he thinks that. went from living in roach-infested conditions to being on
“As a child growing up, the idea of playing music for the cover of magazines – and in some ways we weren’t
a living didn’t exist,” says the 73-year-old rocker, who prepared for it. But at the same time, it was everything
started his life journey in Haifa, Israel as Chaim Witz. we’d ever wanted.”
“That wasn’t even on my radar,
and I could never have imagined “YOU SHOULD QUIT WHILE YOU’RE HAVING DECIDED that the band
something like that. My early will quit touring for good in
THE CHAMPION. DON’T WAIT UNTIL
childhood was more geared 2023, Simmons and 70-year-old
towards simple survival. I had no SOME CHUMP KNOCKS YOU OUT.” Stanley – who’ve been flanked
idea about things that existed by drummer Eric Singer and
beyond Haifa. The world was enormous, and I’d go on to guitarist Tommy Thayer for over 20 years – seem fully
have these big dreams. But I didn’t know it then.” wedded to the decision to go out on their own terms.
Kiss was the band that would make Gene Simmons And while the band’s current and longest-lasting line-up
Photo: IconicPix/Rich Galbraith

world famous, a group built on hard work and a refusal has its detractors, Simmons doesn’t seem to care.
to give in to established norms. Formed in New York City “We’re having a great time,” he says. “Tommy Thayer
in 1973 and guided by Simmons and his musical partner, and Eric Singer have infused the band with new blood.
the guitarist and vocalist Paul Stanley, Kiss always strived They’ve made Paul and me realise that we’re the luckiest
to be exceptional. guys on planet earth. They show up on time, they’re
“We were way ahead of our time with our music, stage professional, and they don’t complain about anything.
show, and personas, although at the time we didn’t know But the best thing is that we like hanging out
it,” says Simmons of the band that was completed by together. There’s no drama. Nobody smokes, nobody

49
 FEATURE KISS – GENE SIMMONS EXCLUSIVE
drinks, nobody gets high. the guy who couldn’t
“We never sat down fly, and I couldn’t figure
and said, ‘OK, here are the out what the kid had to
rules.’ We didn’t need to do with it. I decided that
because of the nature of didn’t matter, though,
those guys’ personalities. because one of them was
Plus Eric and Tommy are flying through the air!
super musicians who have “I started to have these
great stagecraft. It’s tough larger-than-life dreams,
to find talented people and that was a shift
who belong on stage. But for me in and of itself,
to find talented people because when you’re a
who belong on stage and kid you dream without
who fit with what you do… reservations and let
That’s a blessing.” your mind wander to
It’s clear that Kiss is places in the name of
still very much Gene discovery. When I started
Simmons’s baby, so you reading Marvel comics
can’t help but wonder and watching Godzilla
how hard it must be for and King Kong movies I
him to let it go. was hooked, hooked on
“Even though I admire anything with a sense
people like Keith Richards of wonder. It all became
and Paul McCartney, instantly imprinted in my
they’re not doing the mind and it was so deeply
same thing as us,” ingrained that it became
Simmons insists. “If you’re a part of my DNA. So now
in an iconic band and I wasn’t just dreaming.
you’re not Kiss, then all This was now a part of
you’ve got to do is stand who I was.”
by your mic, sing, and
play your songs. We don’t Ace Frehley and his smoking guitar in 1977 WHEN DID MUSIC
have that option, so we’re ENTER THE PICTURE?
making the right decision “I had this grand vision
to quit while we’re ahead. of doing something
I’m not here to throw “EVEN WHEN ACE AND PETER WERE COMPLETELY larger-than-life, but when
stones at anybody, but OUT OF IT, WE HELD ONTO THE IDEA THAT IT you’re young you can’t
you should quit while possibly know how that
you’re the champion.
WOULD BE THE FOUR OF US. BUT HISTORY HAS will manifest. A few years
Don’t wait until some SHOWN THAT ACE AND PETER BLEW IT.” later, though, when I saw
chump knocks you out.” The Beatles on TV, I said,
‘Oh, that’s kind of cool. I
WHAT SORT OF DREAMS DID YOU HAVE AS A YOUNG could do that.’ And it didn’t hurt that girls seemed to like
CHILD IN ISRAEL? what you’re doing when you play music. I thought, ‘Well,
“Before coming to America I never had any big dreams, girls don’t care about comic books at all. But music,
because where I came from there was hardly any that’s a way to get girls. That’s a good job for me.’”
infrastructure. There were no roads in Haifa. In fact,
there were none of the things you’d expect if you were WAS YOUR PERSONAL CHEMISTRY WITH PAUL
a little boy in America. I never saw a television set until STANLEY IMMEDIATE?
I came here. The very idea blew my mind. But once I “Like many other people, I played in local bands doing
arrived in the States when I was eight, I watched TV hits by Otis Redding, Cream, The Who, or whatever was
and I saw people flying. I saw apes the size of cranes, I popular. My first band was called Lynx, and then I had
saw dinosaurs, I saw cowboys on horseback. My world another group called The Long Island Sounds. But then
changed instantly. I could never have imagined any of I met Paul, and we formed Wicked Lester [in the early
that existed, but when I got to America there it was. It ’70s]. And while that group had potential, we knew
was really eye-opening.” something was missing. It wasn’t daring enough, and
it didn’t have the sense of something special that I’d
Photos: IconicPix/Rich Galbraith

HOW DID THAT ALTER YOUR PERCEPTION OF WHO wanted since I first came to America. But I knew that
YOU MIGHT BECOME? what Paul and I were doing together was special. So we
“Television was the beginning of everything because threw caution to the wind, chased our dreams, and that’s
television showed me an entire world that I had no idea how the idea of Kiss came to be.”
even existed. But when I was about nine, I discovered
comic books. The first one I remember was World’s CAN YOU PAINT A PICTURE OF YOUR JOINT VISION
Finest with Superman, Batman, and Robin. But I couldn’t FOR KISS AT THE TIME?
figure out why the superhero guy was hanging out with “Once Paul and I had decided to end Wicked Lester and

50
 The eternal axis of Kiss, Gene Simmons (left) and Paul Stanley, photographed in Tulsa, 6 January 1977

take a chance at doing something daring, we knew we going to write my own song and call it ‘Black Diamond’.’
had to set ourselves apart. The biggest issue was that I was likening this person to a diamond in the rough. So,
we were too generic. The music was good – a lot of it I mentioned the idea to Paul, and he said, ‘Wow, that’s
became early Kiss music – but the image wasn’t right. So, a cool title,’ and he didn’t say anything else. But when
the thought was, ‘Gee, I wonder what would happen if we came in for rehearsal the next day, Paul had written
we tried to put together the band that we never saw on the song before me. That’s the way it was with all those
stage.’ But that was just a mindset. We never needed to songs. We had no real rhyme or reason. We were doing
verbalise it. Paul and I somehow knew what we needed what we thought sounded cool and we were feeding off
to do. We had an unspoken, shared vision. Looking back each other.”
on it we weren’t really qualified, we had no experience
and no résumé to speak of. We might as well have been DID THE SAME PROCESS HOLD TRUE AS YOU WENT
kids playing in a mud puddle splashing around and ALONG, OR WAS THERE AN EVOLUTION?
making a bunch of noise. We were that kid in the puddle, “We would often write alone, but we’d also bounce ideas
but we had dreams, and we took that mud and started off each other. We didn’t subscribe to the theory that
making designs all over the floor depicting what we we each had to play a specific role. Here’s an example.
wanted to do.” While we were recording the ‘Love Gun’ album, I ended
up playing guitar on ‘Almost Human’. And that happened
WHAT WAS YOUR APPROACH TO SONGWRITING again with ‘War Machine’, which is on ‘Creatures Of The
EARLY ON? Night’. Of course, I was nowhere near as good a guitar
“It’s crazy to think about now, but we started writing player as Paul or Ace, but the other guys couldn’t find
those songs very quickly. You might even say they were the feel. It was just a matter of sometimes being stupid
rushed, but that worked in our favour. It worked because is cooler. My stone age approach to the guitar was what
we didn’t know anything beyond what we liked. We had we needed in that instance, and it worked. Clearly, I
no idea what would work and didn’t know what we were don’t have the same skill set as Paul, and I couldn’t have
looking for. So if we felt something was good, we ran written the songs Paul wrote. But that’s what made the
with it. dynamic beautiful, and it’s why we have those early
“How could we have possibly known what was going songs that are still in our setlist today.
to work? We could turn the radio on and listen, but we “I remember Paul’s habit of always writing about love.
wanted more than that. We wanted to create music that I said, ‘Would you stop using the word love all the time?
would define who we wanted to become. Take ‘Deuce’, Try to come up with something more original. No one
for example. We wrote it and the first time we played it, wants to hear you saying ‘I love you’ all the time. It’s not
it just sounded right. We looked at each other and said, cool.’ Then I said, ‘Why don’t you try ‘Christine Sixteen’
‘Man, that’s cool. Let’s write another.’ So we did that, but as a title?’ And Paul said, ‘Well, hey, that’s a cool title.’
we didn’t understand why. It was visceral. I thought, ‘It is?’ So I went home and wrote ‘Christine
“I was going to write a song called ‘Black Diamond’ Sixteen’ before Paul could. But it goes both ways. I
because I really loved the Stones’ ‘Brown Sugar’. I remember when we were doing the ‘Destroyer’ album,
thought, ‘That’s clever. It’s about a black prostitute. I’m Paul said, ‘All you do is write monster songs like

51
 FEATURE KISS – GENE SIMMONS EXCLUSIVE
Drummer Peter Criss: “We were all close in the early years of Kiss.”

you’re the God of Thunder.’ And while he wasn’t wrong, early on, while Ace would write songs, the same can’t
I said, ‘Hey, you know what? That’s cool sounding.’ And be said for Peter. From the beginning Peter didn’t write
Paul turned around and went, ‘It is?’ So he hurried home songs, which is why he sang songs like ‘Black Diamond’,
and wrote ‘God Of Thunder’ before I could do it.” ‘Strange Ways’, and ‘Getaway’. Peter wrote ‘Beth’, which
was originally called ‘Beck’, but it was with help from
HISTORY HAS SHOWN THOSE EARLY SONGS TO [‘Destroyer’ producer] Bob Ezrin. He didn’t do it on his
BE MEANINGFUL. HAS HINDSIGHT GIVEN ANY own. The fact was that Peter couldn’t write a song alone,
INSIGHT AS TO WHY? and he didn’t play a real musical instrument, because
“To this day, everybody has the same gut reaction the the drums aren’t a real musical instrument. They’re a
first time they hear those songs. I truly believe that percussive instrument and you can’t copyright a drum
the music of Kiss has always been about a special pattern. You can copyright a melody, a riff, or lyrics, but
something that elicits a feeling that can’t be described. not a drum pattern. But still, there was a brotherhood,
I feel it during our live shows, too. But the funny thing and everybody contributed their piece of the puzzle to
is that many people who don’t know the history have make it whole.”
these preconceived notions where they think this was
all planned out. It’s a nice thought, but we weren’t AT WHAT POINT DID YOU START TO FEEL THE TIDE
masterminds of marketing back then. In fact, the SHIFT IN KISS’S FAVOUR?
opposite is true. We were just these four knuckleheads “Well it was a shift both inside and outside of the band.
off the street with no qualifications, no nothing. And Initially all four of us were committed to waking up in
even though we were dumb kids chasing girls and a the morning and saying, ‘We’ve got to get out there and
dream, we dared to put together a band that defied all make something happen.’ And that paid off because
expectations and certainly defied the critics who didn’t – and this happened quickly – we’d wake up in the
get it. Who knows how those songs would come out if I morning, walk outside, head to rehearsal and say, ‘Wow.
tried to write them today? We didn’t know what we were I was walking down the street and saw this guy wearing
doing then, and I’m glad we didn’t because that was part a homemade Kiss shirt.’ And you have to remember that
of the magic.” back in the ’70s it wasn’t like it is now. You didn’t have
Photos: IconicPix/Rich Galbraith; Peter Mazel

everybody wearing band shirts. That was unheard of. Kiss

ARE THE EARLY CONTRIBUTIONS OF ACE FREHLEY started to become ingrained in the scene without the
AND PETER CRISS OVERSTATED? push of a media campaign. Nobody said a word about
“There’s no question – and I’ve said it before, but the fans media or marketing. It just wasn’t talked about because
skip over it – that we were all close in the early years of nobody around us – including us – knew what they were
Kiss. We were very different people with different habits, doing. We just made the records and then Casablanca
but there was a brotherhood. The older fans skip over put them out there and hoped for the best.”
that, and the younger fans don’t care because they have
no stake in that era of the band. But yes, to say that Ace THE BAND’S ORIGINAL MANAGER, BILL
and Peter were equally important to the formation of AUCOIN, HAS BEEN LIONISED, BUT THERE’S AN
Kiss as Paul and me, well that’s fair. And I will say that ARGUMENT TO BE MADE THAT KISS’S SUCCESS WAS
Ace and Peter each contributed their own personas. But INEVITABLE, WITH OR WITHOUT HIS HELP. WOULD

52
YOU AGREE all of that takes
TO THAT? money. So when
“That’s a tough the money started
question to to come in, that’s
answer. I will say when we lost Ace
that there’s no and Peter.
question Bill was “In the early
very important days – even
at the beginning when we were
of Kiss. When we headlining
were struggling, Anaheim Stadium
he said, ‘Look, you – I was on an
guys wear make- $85-a-week salary.
up and everything. And the funny
Let’s run with it thing was, I didn’t
and not be too care about that,
quick to take it which is crazy to
off.’ And once we think about now.
began to have It was more, ‘So I
success, Bill said, don’t have to go
‘Don’t let people work a nine to five
see what you look job? So I get to
like off stage.’ hang with chicks
And we thought and have fun?
that was peculiar, Wow!’ It’s strange
but Bill felt it for Gene Simmons
would add to the to say, but I
mysticism of the didn’t think about
band if people money initially.
didn’t know It’s only when you
what we looked realise what it’s
like. And he was all about and how
right; it did add everybody else
something to is making money
the equation. that you say, ‘Hey,
“Bill was also what about me?’”
the one who said,
‘We’re going to DO YOU REGRET
trademark the STICKING WITH
characters,’ which The line-up that recorded ‘Music From The Elder’. L-R: Gene ACE AND PETER
had never been Simmons (bass and vocals), Paul Stanley (guitar and vocals), AS LONG AS
done before. But Eric Carr (drums), Ace Frehley (guitar and vocals) YOU DID?
the funny thing “The way that
about that was Paul and I saw
– and this shows “TO ACE’S CREDIT, THE ENTIRE TIME HE SAID THAT it was that we
just how little we MAKING A RECORD LIKE ‘MUSIC FROM THE ELDER’ were keeping
knew – we didn’t Kiss intact. But
understand what WAS NOT A GOOD IDEA.” it didn’t take
that even meant. long for things
So through Bill the four of us learned something beyond to unravel with Ace and Peter, and it became harder
music. All we knew at the time was that no matter who and harder for us to have them around. Because while
we were opening for, we needed to blow them off the it was tough to grasp at the time, looking back we
stage – and we f*cking did. We were thrown off tours became successful very fast. And after the ‘Alive!’ album
with Argent and Manfred Mann because we were better became a hit [in 1975], things escalated quicker than
than them. And with the help of Bill, in a very short time we ever could have imagined. When we were recording
we started headlining, because we couldn’t find other ‘Destroyer’ in ’75 we’d only started two years before that.
bands to take us out as openers.” Ace in particular began to succumb to drugs. He fell
down that hole almost as quickly as the cheques started
DESCRIBE YOUR FRUSTRATIONS AS THINGS BEGAN coming in.
TO BREAK DOWN WITH ACE AND PETER TOWARDS “It got to the point where Ace wasn’t showing up for
THE END OF THE ’70S. recording sessions and the result was that he doesn’t
“Paul and I did what we thought was best, but we did appear on the recordings of ‘Sweet Pain’, ‘Beth’, and a
hold out for a long time. Even when Ace and Peter were few other songs on ‘Destroyer’. And that’s sad because
completely out of it, we held onto the idea that it would it’s an important record in our history. We should have
be the four of us. But history has shown that Ace and been flying high, but instead we were coming apart. So
Peter blew it. Success came fast, which meant money although we didn’t want to do it, we got other guitar
and all the other stuff. When you’re poor it’s tough to get players like Dick Wagner to come in and save the day.
high, or so I’m told. If you want to get high or drink, then “We’d talk to Ace and show patience, and to Ace’s

53
 FEATURE KISS – GENE SIMMONS EXCLUSIVE

The band photographed without make-up in London in 1987. L-R: Eric Carr (drums),
Bruce Kulick (guitar), Paul Stanley (guitar and vocals), Gene Simmons (bass and vocals)

credit, he was present for ‘Love Gun’. But again, Ace rock stars and all kinds of other successful people who
didn’t appear on any of the new material we recorded surround themselves with these kind of people who
for the fourth side of [1977’s double live album] ‘Alive really don’t give a f*ck about them.”
II’, except for his song
‘Rocket Ride’. Bob Kulick ONCE PETER WAS
did most of that stuff. “ONCE WE TOOK THE MAKE-UP OFF AT THE END OF OUT OF THE BAND IN
Why did that have to THE ‘CREATURES OF THE NIGHT’ ERA THINGS WERE 1980, HOW WOULD
happen? Well on one YOU DESCRIBE THE
occasion – and this is a VERY DIFFERENT. THESE HAIR METAL BANDS CAME STATE OF KISS?
quote – Ace said, ‘I can’t IN AND WERE LED BY GUYS WHO WERE CUTER THAN “We held out as long as
come down today guys. we could with Peter, but
THEIR GIRLFRIENDS. AND PAUL FIT IN VERY WELL
I’ve got a card game.’ it got to the point where
What were we supposed WITH THAT, BUT IT WAS HARDER FOR ME.” he was sabotaging the
to do? The answer was band. The three of us
we had to get other – me, Paul, and Ace –
people. So, do I regret any of it? Yes and no. Yes, because voted to remove Peter from Kiss. We got Eric Carr in the
we wasted time on people who at the time didn’t seem band, and he was wonderful. But we got off track and
to care. No, because we were holding onto what we held started making records that didn’t sound like Kiss. To
very dear.” Ace’s credit, the entire time he said that making a record
Photos: IconicPix/George Bodnar Archive; Brian Babineau

like [1981’s] ‘Music From The Elder’ was not a good

HOW DID THE DIFFICULTIES WITH PETER DIFFER idea. In retrospect Ace was exactly right. I’ll be the first
FROM THE DIFFICULTIES WITH ACE? to admit that ‘The Elder’ was my concept. I’d written it
“Like Ace, Peter had his demons. And sure, we all originally as an idea for a movie and I didn’t think it was
understand or at least suspect what drugs and alcohol going to be a concept record for Kiss. It was [producer]
can do to you. But you’d like to think that the people Bob Ezrin who said, ‘I like this movie treatment. Let’s
around you will prevent you from going down that route. take what you wrote in Beverly Hills and do a concept
Or at least will prevent you from doing a lot of it. That record like [The Who’s] ‘Tommy’.
just didn’t happen with Peter. Unfortunately for Peter, “So we went along with the idea, even though Ace
once you become rich and famous hardly any people fought it, and it was Ezrin who mapped it out to the
around you have the guts to say, ‘You’re a f*ck up.’ He point where it was like, ‘OK, we need this kind of a song
didn’t care what we had to say, and no one around Peter and that kind of a song.’ By that point we were diluted as
would say to him, ‘Hey, you’re going to lose your living or a band. Ace said, ‘I don’t want to do this. I’m not leaving
maybe even your life. Don’t do it.’ That was the problem. my house. You can send me 24-track tapes and I’ll put
But it’s exactly the same today. You have rich and famous my parts on. But I’m not coming to the studio in Toronto

54
for this.’ In retrospect Ace was right. He kept saying, lost 14 times. So how important was Vinnie Vincent in
‘Look, I don’t want to do this other stuff. We should stay the grand scheme of things? Not very important at
being a rock band.’ But where Ace got it wrong was in all. Vinnie Vincent was a talented guitarist, but his ego
not being willing to stick with it and ride the mistakes destroyed him.”
out. In a band, not every decision winds up being good,
that’s just the way it goes. But Ace wasn’t willing to ARE THE STORIES THAT CIRCULATE ABOUT HIS
ride it out. So when we let Peter go, we thought we TIME IN KISS OVERBLOWN?
were solving the problem, and having Eric in the band “Well it depends on the story. But I will say that Vinnie’s
did make all the difference. But there were other issues behaviour in the studio and while we were on tour didn’t
beyond just Peter.” sit well with us. During the ‘Creatures…’ tour we had this
big tank on stage. Each night when it came time for
WAS IT TOUGH REPLACING ACE? Vinnie to take his solo he would climb up on the tank
“It was difficult, and if you’ve seen the KISStory as if to say, ‘Look at me! Look at me!’ Anyway, the rest
documentary we did in 2021 you’ll know that we didn’t of us would jump off stage and take a pee, and the fans
want Ace to leave. Paul even went up to his home in would go and buy popcorn. But Vinnie would keep going
Connecticut. He tried to reconnect with Ace, tried to get with these self-serving guitar solos composed of wild
him to stay, but by that point Ace was gone. There were noodling and incoherent ramblings. So at one show we’re
too many drugs and there was too much alcohol, and it all standing stageside waiting for it to be over, and Paul
drove Ace to the point of no return. The idea that Ace goes, ‘This is f*cking ridiculous. I’m going to jump out
left Kiss purely because of ‘The Elder’ isn’t true.” there and stop this.’ And Paul went to the mic during the
solo, cut him off by yelling out, ‘Alright! Vinnie Vincent
WHAT WAS THE FINAL on guitar…’ and we moved
NAIL IN THE COFFIN on with the show. After the
FOR ACE? concert, Vinnie confronted
“Ace’s biggest problem Paul backstage and said,
was the monkey on ‘Don’t ever do that to me
his back of drugs and again. What the f*ck?!’
alcohol. Look, Ace is Paul was going to knock
a real rocker, but he’s him out on the spot, but
also an addict. Over the he stopped himself from
years – and on multiple doing it and just said, ‘Who
occasions – Ace has faced the f*ck do you think you
the consequences of that. are?’ That’s how it was
But I’ve tried to help him with Vinnie.”
out many times. When
my Gene Simmons Band DO YOU FEEL THAT
went out on tour a few VINNIE VINCENT USED
years back I called Ace KISS FOR HIS OWN
and said, ‘Hey, you want to PERSONAL GAIN?
have a good time? Leave “Kiss gave Vinnie the
your band behind and notoriety he was seeking.
come on the road with He had no interest in being
me. Here’s my back-up a part of a band, not if it
band. Put all the money meant he couldn’t steal the
in your pocket and have show. But Kiss isn’t about
a great time. They’ll learn Simmons with guitarist Vinnie Vincent in happier times that, so it didn’t work.
every song you ask.’ Well And it’s worth noting with
Ace did come on the road respect that, after leaving
with me, and we had a great time. So here’s the thing Kiss, Vinnie was signed to Chrysalis Records with his
about Ace: when he’s surrounded by people who care Vinnie Vincent Invasion. And Vinnie had a singer called
about him and don’t let him go off the deep end, then Mark Slaughter and a guy named Dana Strum, along
he’s manageable. In my view, the problem is – and always with some others. Vinnie wanted to be the next guitar
has been – that when Ace is left to his own devices, he hero, but his band was Vinnie Vincent, with Slaughter
surrounds himself with enablers.” as a back-up band. And after two records the record
company fired Vinnie and kept his back-up band, which
AFTER ACE LEFT AT THE END OF 1982, VINNIE became Slaughter. And they were more successful
VINCENT CAME ON BOARD. HIS SUPPORTERS SAY without him.”
THAT HE SAVED KISS. WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS?
“Number one: Vinnie Vincent was never an official WHAT MADE YOU DECIDE TO MOVE KISS TOWARDS
member of Kiss. Number two: he never signed a contract GLAM AND HAIR METAL IN THE ’80S?
with Kiss. We offered him a contract and he never signed “Once we took the make-up off at the end of the
it. Number three: he was never officially employed by ‘Creatures Of The Night’ era things were very different.
Kiss as its lead guitarist. Yes, Vinnie played some shows We had to find a new identity in a new era that included
with us. Yes, Vinnie played on parts of ‘Creatures Of bands younger than us. These hair metal bands came
The Night’ and most of ‘Lick It Up’. But Vinnie Vincent in and were led by guys who were cuter than their
– whom I named, incidentally – was a hired hand. He girlfriends, groups like Bon Jovi and Warrant who had
was never a member of Kiss. And I’ll remind people that big hair and huge choruses. And Paul fit in very well
Vinnie Vincent has unjustly sued Kiss 14 times and has with that, but it was harder for me. We made albums

55
 FEATURE KISS – GENE SIMMONS EXCLUSIVE

like ‘Asylum’ and ‘Crazy Nights’ that fit into that mould. SOME WOULD ASSERT THAT THE REUNION MADE
The songs were more sing-songy with fewer riffs. It was WHAT YOU’RE DOING TODAY POSSIBLE. COULD
very different, but we survived and succeeded when YOU HAVE DONE IT WITHOUT ACE AND PETER?
people had “To be honest,
left us for I don’t know.
dead a few On the one
years earlier. hand you’ve
Most of the got new fans
hard rock just because
bands from Kiss has been
the ’70s died around for
after the hair so long. And
metal thing for those new
happened, fans, the past
but not Kiss. doesn’t mean
It got to a that much.
point where I think that
you either Ace and Peter
stuck to your – especially
guns like Ace – were so
AC/DC did important to
and rode it the formation
out, or you of Kiss. But as
changed to far as where
fit in like the we sit today
rest of the Kiss performing in 2019 with current members guitarist goes, I don’t
bands. We Tommy Thayer and drummer Eric Singer think it really
went with the matters.
latter option, Why is that?
and I’d venture to say that some of what we recorded Because no matter where we go in the world playing
then doesn’t sound like classic Kiss music. When we took sold-out stadiums and arenas, when I peer out into
the make-up off and did Kiss records, we were unsure the audience from the stage, I never see a sign saying
about what we were doing, but we soldiered on anyway. ‘Where’s Ace?’ It’s just not part of the conversation.
It was a matter of survival.” Having said that, if you talk to different generations of
fans, maybe the past does mean something to them. But
WHAT WAS THE BAND DYNAMIC LIKE DURING THE our younger fans don’t know anything different. And
NON-MAKE-UP ERA? they certainly don’t care about who was in the band 40
There was much less turmoil and much less drama years ago.”
without Ace, Peter, and Vinnie in the band. We had new
guys like Eric Carr and Bruce Kulick – wonderful people IT’S BEEN IMPLIED THAT THE 1996 REUNION
and musicians – who wanted it to work. And because KILLED KISS AS A CREATIVE ENTITY. WOULD YOU
we had four people in the band again who truly wanted AGREE TO THAT?
it to work, things worked immediately. Life is about the “No, and I’ll tell you why. With Tommy and Eric in the
decisions you make, and not everybody makes good band we made two great records, ‘Sonic Boom’ [in
decisions, and that’s the story of Vinnie Vincent in a 2009] and [2012’s] ‘Monster’. We’re still creative, but
nutshell. Once we were free of all that and had Bruce in the issue is that no one cares. With streaming and short
the band it was like a breath of fresh air.” attention spans, people aren’t prepared to consume
Photos: IconicPix/PG Brunelli; IconicPix/John Harrell/Cache/Dalle

new music like they used to be. I have an opinion on

SO WHAT MOVED THE NEEDLE TOWARDS THE this – and no one wants to admit they agree – but young
REUNION WITH ACE AND PETER IN 1996? rock bands can’t succeed as things are. We don’t make
“The records we did without make-up all went gold music because we can’t sell records, and we don’t add
or platinum. Even without the make-up we headlined too many new songs into the set because most fans
stadiums and arenas worldwide and sold them out don’t want to hear new music. So what’s the point? If an
constantly. But eventually it became apparent that established band can’t succeed in making a new album,
while we were successful, we’d also become somewhat then how do new bands think they’re going to do it?
generic. So we started looking at maybe putting the That’s why there’s been no new Kiss music. It costs a lot
make-up back on. We got the idea of checking in on to make an album, and so if there’s no way to market it
Ace and Peter and seeing how they were holding up. and sell it, then we don’t see the need to do it.”
But we didn’t know where they were at, and there were
questions like, ‘Did they give up the stupid stuff? Are WHAT WOULD YOUR MESSAGE BE TO THE FANS
they still making excuses?’ In retrospect, it’s fair to say WHO DISLIKE TOMMY THAYER AND ERIC SINGER?
that they hadn’t given up the stupid stuff. How many “Well, not everybody likes Jesus either, right? Sure,
chances does life give you? And how many times do Paul some people take issue with Tommy and Eric, but the
and I need to get burned before we stop sticking our numbers aren’t large enough for us to pay attention. I
hands in the fire?” say to anybody who doesn’t get it or wishes Ace and

56
Peter were still in something that
Kiss, ‘Hey, you have Paul doesn’t have.
a right not to go And I know for a
to the shows.’ But fact that what Paul
if you’re paying brings to the table
attention to what is something I don’t
Kiss is doing, then have. We can both
you’ll see that no write songs and
matter where we sing, but we do so
go, we’re playing differently. There
to some of the are others like that
largest audiences in other bands,
we’ve ever played and I’m not saying
for. So I’d say that we’re Jagger and
the fans have Richards or Lennon
spoken. There’s and McCartney by
always going to be any stretch. But it’s
somebody saying, worth noting that –
‘Man, I don’t like with all due respect
cars. I want horse- to McCartney and
drawn carriages.’ Lennon, and Jagger
OK, that’s one and Richards –
opinion. But the their solo efforts
rest of us like cars; weren’t as good as
things evolve. Get their band’s efforts.
over it. If you love And I believe what
AC/DC, you can makes me and Paul
complain that the strong is that we
original line-up recognised early on
isn’t here. But after that we’re better
Bon Scott died together than on
the band did get our own. There’s
much bigger. Is something to be
that a problem? said for that.”
And by the way, “I BELIEVE WHAT MAKES ME AND PAUL STRONG IS
The Beatles wasn’t IN YOUR HEART
an original band. THAT WE RECOGNISED EARLY ON THAT WE’RE BETTER OF HEARTS, DO
Pete Best wasn’t TOGETHER THAN ON OUR OWN. THERE’S SOMETHING YOU HOPE THAT
in the band. Ringo ACE AND PETER
TO BE SAID FOR THAT.”
Starr replaced him. CLIMB UP ON
So you can have a STAGE WITH YOU
point of view, but if people show up at the concerts, then AND PAUL FOR KISS’S FINAL SHOW?
an opinion is all it is.” “Of course. I have personally called and asked both Ace
and Peter several times for years now. I’ve called them
HAVE YOU EVER DOUBTED YOUR DECISION TO both and said, ‘Hey, the fans would love it if you came
WALK AWAY IN 2023? out for some encores.’ Can you imagine that? Imagine if
“No, because it’s the right thing to do. I’m 73 years old, Paul could call out to the crowd and say, ‘All right, Space
and I still have hair on my head. I have lots more on Ace and The Catman are here.’ They would go bonkers,
my back, but that’s fine. I can’t do what Mick Jagger especially the older ones. As for the newer ones, they
is doing, because if we look at Kiss compared to other wouldn’t get it emotionally. But the meaning of these
bands, we’re the hardest-working band on stage today. things isn’t lost on me, and we’ve got so many fans
We’re walking around on seven-inch platform heels. who’ve been with Kiss since the beginning, and I’d like to
Nobody does that. Each of my boots weighs close to a think that Ace and Peter would do it for them.
bowling ball. I’ve got two bowling balls dangling from “So I’ve asked, as has Paul, but Ace and Peter have
my legs – and nobody does that! I’m wearing armour both said no. And when we were putting together the
with a 15-pound bass guitar strapped across my chest. KISStory documentary, we knew it would tell our whole
All told, it’s about 40 pounds from head to toe. Nobody story. And once again we asked both Ace and Peter
does that. I spit fire during every single show. Nobody to be a part of it. We said, ‘Hey, it’s your chance to say
does that. I fly up in the air. Nobody does that. What whatever it is that you want to say. There won’t be
I’m saying is everybody else who’s still going at our age anyone editing you. Say what you will.’ And still, Ace and
wears sneakers and strums their guitar. We’re not waiting Peter both said, ‘No, it’s not for me.’ So it’s not on Paul
for someone to tell us to get off the stage. We’re going and me, and it’s got nothing to do with Tommy and Eric.
out on top while we’re still capable of being Kiss.” Ace and Peter have had their chances in Kiss, and they’re
welcome to participate in this tour. But it’s entirely up to
YOU AND PAUL HAVE BEEN TOGETHER SINCE THE Ace and Peter if that happens. It’s been said before, but
VERY BEGINNING. WHAT’S THE SECRET TO YOUR the old saying applies. ‘You can lead a horse to water, but
MUSICAL MARRIAGE? you can’t make it drink.’ So if Ace and Peter stay thirsty,
“I’d like to think that what I bring to the table is well that’s on them.”

57
 FEATURE KISS – GENE’S 10 GREATEST TUNES

Andrew Daly makes a highly personal choice of his 10 favourite Kiss songs
written by Gene Simmons…

10) ‘ALMOST HUMAN’ FROM ‘LOVE GUN’ (1977)

One of four Simmons-penned tracks on the band’s sixth studio album, ‘Almost Human’ opens
with a suitably demonic-sounding gong crash before slithering into a hypnotic mid-paced riff
that acts as a perfect backdrop to Gene’s in-song lyrical transformation into a werewolf. “The
moon is out, I think I’m gonna change,” he howls before the deliberately atonal chorus ratchets
up the spooky vibe even more. Watch out for a suitably unhinged solo from Ace Frehley that
only adds to the claustrophobic feel. At just 2 minutes and 52 seconds this is Gene at his
shortest, sharpest, to-the-pointest best.

9) ‘CALLING DR. LOVE’ FROM ‘ROCK AND ROLL OVER’ (1976)

The song that perhaps cemented Simmons’s reputation as a man with an over-sized ego to
match his over-sized codpiece. “You need my love baby, oh so bad/You’re not the only one
I’ve ever had,” he growls once the simplistic cowbell intro fades into an equally simplistic yet
undeniably insistent riff. As a statement of intent this is as direct as it gets. Simmons revels in
the role of self-appointed medic in charge of lurrvv, letting it be known that he’s “got the cure
you’re thinkin’ of,” while the rest of the band add the kind of hip-twitching groove that set Kiss
apart from much of the 1970s hard rock competition.

8) ‘DOMINO’ FROM ‘REVENGE’ (1992)

“I got a man-sized predicament/And it’s a big one,” says Simmons in the spoken word intro to
‘Domino’. Yes, it’s Gene double-entendring his way through a song about the time-honoured
theme of the irresistible temptress. Some could argue that The Demon’s obsession with
women and sex is as much an addiction as the alcohol and drugs he so despises, but no doubt
Gene wouldn’t care. The song owes much to AC/DC in its format and is delivered in what for
Gene is a rather intimate, almost confessional manner. It’s also an undoubted metal earworm of
gigantic proportions.

7) ‘MR. BLACKWELL’ FROM ‘MUSIC

FROM THE ELDER’ (1981)
When it was first released, concept
album ‘Music From The Elder’ was seen
as an unmitigated disaster as Kiss tried
to find a way back from the hyper-
Photos: Hans Hatwig courtesy of Premium Rockshot; Jack Lue

polished pop rock of their previous

release ‘Unmasked’. More than 40 years
on, the LP now has a pretty sizeable cult
fanbase, yet Simmons maintains to this
day that the record was a mistake. That
may be true, but ‘The Elder’ is loaded
with deep cuts and the best of the
bunch may well be ‘Mr. Blackwell’.
Co-written with another New York
legend, Lou Reed, the song is spacey,
eerie, and full of bass throb, the closest
Kiss ever came to proto sludge. It’s
not instant, nor is it melodic, but ‘Mr.
The Kiss line-up that recorded ‘Mr. Blackwell’ L-R: Paul Blackwell’ is a sensational mix of almost
Stanley, Gene Simmons, Ace Frehley, Eric Carr proggy construction meeting Black
Sabbath doom rock.

58
 6) ‘I LOVE IT LOUD’ FROM ‘CREATURES OF THE NIGHT’ (1982)
Having failed to resurrect a flagging career with the concept piece ‘Music From The Elder’,
Kiss came back in ’82 with Peter Criss and Ace Frehley out of the picture – though Ace’s face
did appear on the new album sleeve – and what was probably their heaviest record to date.
It didn’t immediately restore the band to prominence, but after four decades it’s now often
regarded as Kiss’s finest moment. Written by Gene with guitarist Vinnie Vincent, ‘I Love It
Loud’ is one of the big hitters on ‘Creatures’, a defiant call to rock’n’roll arms built around a
thumping drumbeat, a warrior chant, and a super sing-along chorus!

5) ‘ROCK AND ROLL ALL NITE’ FROM ‘DRESSED TO KILL’ (1975)

This self-styled ‘rock’n’roll national anthem’ was written by Simmons and Stanley, with Gene
singing the verses and Paul singing the chorus. Despite a pretty tame studio production
that feels rather more R&B than heavy metal, ‘Rock And Roll All Nite’ nevertheless perfectly
highlighted Kiss’s ability to write the catchiest of catchy melodies. It quickly became the
band’s signature song, and the version taken from 1975’s ‘Alive!’ album became one of the few
Kiss tracks that was considered worthy of FM radio. This song has closed out almost every
Kiss performance since 1976, which says everything you need to say about this simple and
addictive singalong.

4) ‘DEUCE’ FROM ‘KISS’ (1974)

One of the tracks that first drew a rock audience to the New York band when it appeared
on their 1974 debut album, ‘Deuce’ is a weird song on any number of levels. The main riff has
a strange, almost tremolo feel to it, while the lyrics must surely be the only place where
you’ll hear the word “grandma” in a rock song. Simmons claims that he “doesn’t know the
meaning of the lyrics,” but his fat bass work here, not to mention his fully committed vocal
attack, contribute to a song that sounds like no other – and in my humble opinion is all the
better for it.

3) ‘UNHOLY’ FROM ‘REVENGE’ (1992)

Simmons seemed to be disinterested in Kiss through much of the ’80s and ceded the spotlight
to Paul Stanley. But 1992’s ‘Revenge’ marked his return as a creative force within the band,
and this album opener – written by Simmons and former guitarist Vinnie Vincent – was a
real statement of intent. Grunge had happened by then, which clearly encouraged Simmons
to unleash a tougher, more uncompromising rock style than the pop metal the band had
produced through much of the previous decade. Lyrically, this is a tough song dealing with
sending “your children to war to serve b*stards and whores,” and Simmons comes across as
fully comfortable delivering such lines, like an actor playing his role with absolute relish.

2) ‘WAR MACHINE’ FROM ‘CREATURES OF THE

NIGHT’ (1982)
The ‘grungey before grunge’ album closer from ‘Creatures…’
didn’t make much impact when it first appeared. But now it
regularly features in the Kiss setlist to accompany Simmons’s
fire-breathing antics. “Set the demons free and watch them
fly,” growls Simmons, and it certainly feels like he’s setting his
own inner demons loose on this doomy stomper, one of Kiss’s
toughest ever tracks. Was this really written by the same man
who’d penned the ultra poppy ‘Naked City’ less than three years
earlier? And even more weirdly, is that really Canadian pop
Kiss performing ‘War Machine’ in 1982
rockers Bryan Adams and Jim Vallance getting co-writing credits?

1) ‘A WORLD WITHOUT HEROES’ FROM ‘MUSIC FROM THE ELDER’ (1981)

Who would have thought the God of Thunder had it in him? ‘A World Without Heroes’ is
Gene Simmons’s most plaintive work, a subdued song driven by a mid-tempo bassline and
embellished with innocent little keyboard splashes, understated horns, gentle acoustic
touches, and heart-tugging strings. Yet despite all this instrumentation, the song retains a
beautifully simple feel, with Simmons showing his worth as an able vocalist and Paul Stanley
contributing a truly moving guitar solo. ‘A World Without Heroes’ is short but extremely
poignant and when, at the song’s dénouement, Simmons unloads his pain – “In a world without
heroes there’s nothing to be, it’s no place for me” – we finally get a glimpse of a vulnerable
man beneath the ego and the greasepaint. Written by Simmons together with Stanley,
producer Bob Ezrin, and Lou Reed, the nakedly confessional nature of ‘A World Without
Heroes’ makes it Gene Simmons’s finest composition.

59
 FEATURE KISS – PAUL STANLEY EXCLUSIVE

60
 Paul Stanley’s vital contributions to Kiss’s
success have been many and varied. But it
feels like his guitar playing has always been
somewhat overlooked. Andrew Daly goes deep
with The Starchild to unpack his axe theories…

PAUL STANLEY’S LARGER-THAN-LIFE Starchild I’ve always been meat and potatoes in terms of what I
persona, his memorable onstage raps, and his distinctive wanted to project with the guitar. And because of that,
vocal style have all been hailed as fundamental to Kiss’s I feel that I’ve been very consistent in both my guitar
vibe and enduring popularity. What fans and critics alike sound and playing. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
talk about a whole lot less is his guitar playing. It’s true During a rare break from Kiss’s End Of The Road Tour,
that the likes of Ace Frehley, The Starchild checked in
Vinnie Vincent, Bruce Kulick, with Rock Candy Mag to
and Tommy Thayer have “I’VE ALWAYS FELT THAT IF YOU CAN’T GET discuss the history of his
hogged the limelight as WHAT YOU’RE LOOKING FOR OUT OF YOUR many classic guitars and how
recognised lead players. But GUITAR AND YOUR AMP, YOU EITHER NEED A they’ve contributed to the
Stanley’s rhythm playing, aesthetics and sonics of his
his ability to pull memorable NEW GUITAR OR A NEW AMP!” band’s quintessential sound.
tune after memorable tune
from his work tool box, and his MOST PEOPLE WOULD AGREE THAT KISS’S GUITAR
overall sound really shouldn’t SOUND IS DISTINCT. WHY DO YOU THINK THAT IS?
be underestimated. “When Gene and I first got together, he took me to
“To this day we’ll be on meet a friend of his who had a workshop on 47th Street
tour, and there will be between 6th and 7th Avenue in New York City. And
some great guitar player in the this guy was winding pickups, and I couldn’t figure out
support band watching what I’m for the life of me why the hell anybody needed wound
doing,” says Stanley. “And like clockwork, pickups when your guitar already had them. That shows
they’ll come up to me and say, ‘Wow. Your how young and inexperienced I was! Well, the guy that
guitars sound great. How do you do it?’ And they’ll Gene took me to see was Larry DiMarzio, and Steve
be using all these pedal boards and effects, trying to Blucher was there, too. And I remember it clear as day,
achieve Kiss’s sound. And a lot of them are amazed when there were these machines that were working away,
I go, ‘Oh, it’s just a guitar plugged into an amp.’ I don’t winding the bobbins.
know if that sounds crazy, but that’s all it is.” “But like I said, I was so young and didn’t really know
The ‘sloppy by choice’ habits of Ace Frehley, the ‘I just what I was looking at, so I just scratched my head and
can’t help it’ self-aggrandising of Vinnie Vincent, the went, ‘That’s nice, but why do we need that?’ Then again,
‘sheepishly cool’ vibes of Bruce Kulick, and the ‘give the when people started paying for water, I was the guy who
guy a break’ bravado of Tommy Thayer have brought went, ‘Who’s going to pay for water in a bottle when
much to the Kiss sound over the course of the last 50 you can open your tap?’ So sometimes I’m a little short-
years. But always holding down the fort in the ‘without sighted. As you know, Larry ended up doing quite well for
whom’ department is Paul Stanley. With his rooted-in- himself thanks to the extraordinary quality of his pickups.
Photo: IconicPix/Pete Cronin

the-basics approach and emphasis on consistency, in But at the time we never could have known how vital
many ways it is he who holds the key to Kiss’s sound. they’d be to the sound of Kiss and many other bands.”
“The idea of using a lot of gear to recreate something
that’s already there seems redundant to me,” Stanley WHAT GUITAR SOUND WERE YOU LOOKING FOR
tells me. “Granted, you can put the same guitar in five IN KISS?
different people’s hands, and it will always sound entirely “My goal with Kiss was always to have one big sound
different. So it has a lot to do with who’s playing. But made by two guitars. Aside from the solos, Kiss

61
 FEATURE KISS – PAUL STANLEY EXCLUSIVE

basically sounds like one it’s always been a bone

giant guitar. I remember of contention for me
going to the Fillmore East when people talk about
and seeing Humble Pie, an Iceman because I’ve
and that was eye-opening seen those guitars, and
for me. In many ways it that’s certainly not what
became the template for I play! The whole reason
what we started doing the PS10 came about
in Kiss. The way Steve was that I was looking to
Marriott played guitar and have a signature guitar. I
sang at the same time was was impressed with what
huge in terms of the idea I’d seen in Japan in the
I had for Kiss. I wanted ’70s, and quite honestly,
to be the guy who wove I felt that what they were
the musicality and voicing making was better than
of the chords alongside the American companies
another guitar player, who at that point.”
was Ace.
“That was my template TELL ME MORE ABOUT
for Kiss and it’s important THE DEVELOPMENT
to understand that I OF THE PS10…
approached it that way “I wanted something that
from day one. I was never was better than, or could
a guy who was about at least compete with,
pedals and distortion the Gibson Les Pauls
boxes, nothing like that. that were available. So, I
I’ve always felt that if you met with Ibanez during
can’t get what you’re Kiss’s first tour of Japan
looking for out of your and told them what I
guitar and your amp, you wanted, and they were
either need a new guitar terrific. We sat around in
or a new amp! I’ve always Paul with his Ibanez in 2019. “I’m not up a boardroom and talked
wanted a classic, there playing 40-year-old guitars on stage.” about guitars and how
un-doctored guitar sound, we could come together
and that’s how I’ve always to make a competitive
approached Kiss’s music.”
“A KISS SHOW HAS ALWAYS BEEN LIKE RUNNING Paul Stanley signature
A MARATHON EACH NIGHT. IT’S HARD TO model. But you have
ONE OF YOUR MOST MAKE THINGS LOOK EFFORTLESS WHEN to remember that at
DISTINCT GUITARS IS that point, Ibanez was
OFTEN REFERRED TO YOU’RE LUGGING AROUND SOMETHING THAT’S basically known for great
AS ‘THE ICEMAN’, BUT PARTIALLY MADE OF GLASS AND WEIGHS copies. They hadn’t yet
THAT’S A MISNOMER, AS MUCH AS A CHANDELIER.” broken through on the
ISN’T IT? strength of their own
“That’s right. People tend guitars. I said, ‘Look,
to misuse the name. The guitars I’ve played have never you make great copies, but you don’t know why they’re
been Iceman guitars. The guitar I’ve always played is the great. And you definitely aren’t maximising what you
Ibanez PS10, which I designed with Ibanez after a trip can do with your capabilities. What you’re doing can be
to Japan. It’s important for people to know that when applied to new guitars, new shapes, and new designs.
the PS10 came out there was no Iceman in existence. I’d Let’s start with my guitar.’
initially seen a particular shape of a single pickup guitar “There were three or four prototypes based on the
Photos: IconicPix/PG Brunelli; IconicPix/Rich Galbraith

while Kiss was touring Japan in 1977. And when I met original shape I’d seen in Japan, and all the prototypes
with Ibanez to talk about doing a guitar, I referenced that had completely different constructions. Some had a
shape. That’s basically what I used in the design of the neck-through-body like a Gibson Firebird, others were
PS10. As far as construction is concerned, I went with the modelled after a Flying V. So we worked together to see
old tried and true: a mahogany body with a maple top what made the most sense. Ibanez worked quickly and
that was specced off my favourite classic Gibsons.” efficiently to make the PS10 and the result was a guitar
that, to this day, is as competitive as anything out there.
THE ICEMAN BEARS A STRIKING RESEMBLANCE History has shown that the PS10 is easily on the level of
TO YOUR PS10 SIGNATURE MODEL. SO HOW DID any classic guitar by Gibson or Fender.”
THAT COME TO BE?
“The Iceman was pretty much Ibanez’s strategy to put EARLY IN YOUR CAREER YOU MAINLY USED
out a similar guitar to the PS10 and not pay me a royalty! GIBSONS. HOW DID THOSE GUITARS INFLUENCE
Comparing an Iceman to a PS10 and calling them the THE CONSTRUCTION AND SOUND OF THE PS10?
same – as many people do – is like calling a Chevy Impala “Well let’s be honest, every guitar that’s been successful
a Corvette because they’re both made by Chevrolet. So for a long period is either Gibson-based or Fender-

62
 Paul photographed performing live with a Flying V in 1977

based. Those are guitar with the front

the two templates. covered in a cracked
I’ve always believed mirror?’ My idea
in Gibson, and in was that the mirror
the early days that’s would be glued at
what I gravitated different angles so
to. I remember my the light would shoot
first Flying V. It had out in all directions.
one short wing and So I went back to
one long wing and Ibanez with this
was a great guitar. I idea, and I think they
played that a ton in were amused and
Kiss’s early days. I confused but also
got that guitar when challenged by it, so
you could get a they decided to run
guitar cheap from a with it. And the first
shop on 48th Street. ones they made had
They built guitars, real pieces of broken
repaired guitars, mirrors glued onto
and had new ones. them, which seems
You could get a ’59 so primitive now, but
Les Paul Sunburst that’s how they did
for something like it! The jagged edges
900 bucks. That were ground down
seems cheap now, so that I wouldn’t slit
but I didn’t have that my hands open as
kind of money at I played – or so we
the time, so I went thought! Because
for the Flying V, occasionally there
which was cheaper was a little piece
but still sounded they must have
great. So I’ve always missed, and I’d slice
been a Gibson fan. my hand open while
When I decided to I was playing. So
do something with some of my DNA is
Ibanez, I decided under some of those
to incorporate all my favourite details of my favourite pieces of glass on the original guitars! I remember I even
Gibson guitars. So much so that if you play a PS10 guitar smashed one at the end of a show once on the Dynasty
and close your eyes, it feels like those classic Gibson tour and I looked down and saw all this broken glass on
guitars. And that was the point. I wanted it to feel like the stage. I remember thinking, ‘I’d better not throw this
you were holding and playing a Gibson. But of course the one out into the crowd!’ But I still have most of those
PS10 had that cool shape and was more affordable.” original guitars that I sliced my hands on. They served
me well and they’re battle worn, but they’re historic.”
ONCE YOU HAD THE PS10 IN YOUR HAND, HOW DID
IT ALTER THE SOUND OF KISS, IF AT ALL? HOW DID THE PLAYABILITY AND FEEL OF THE
“As far as how I attacked the songs goes, the PS10 didn’t CRACKED MIRROR GUITAR DIFFER FROM THE
change things at all. Sure, it’s a very different-looking ORIGINAL PS10?
guitar to a Gibson Explorer or Flying V, but you have “Believe it or not there was no difference in sound. You
to remember that I based my PS10 on those guitars. I’d would’ve thought the glass would alter things, but it
established a sound with Kiss and didn’t want to alter didn’t. Honestly, the big difference for me was that the
that. But I wanted to create a guitar that was truly mine Cracked Mirror guitar weighed a ton. A Kiss show has
and could be distinguished from the others out there.” always been like running a marathon each night – even
when I was in my 20s and 30s – and I have to say, it’s
LET’S TALK ABOUT YOUR PS10 CRACKED MIRROR hard to make things look effortless when you’re lugging
GUITAR, NOW CALLED THE PS1CM I BELIEVE… around something that’s partially made of glass and
“Again, we’ve got to go back to my early concert-going. weighs as much as a chandelier.”
I saw Slade and loved them and, like Humble Pie, they
significantly influenced me and Kiss. Noddy Holder, who WHAT LED YOU TO SHIFT FROM IBANEZ TO THE
again was a lead singer playing guitar, had a top hat on LEOPARD PRINT B.C. RICH EAGLE THAT YOU
with mirrors glued to it. And when the spotlight hit that OFTEN USED IN THE ’80S?
hat these beams of light shot out from the hat. I thought “I knew that a lot of people were using B.C. Rich guitars,
that was brilliant. And I don’t know if Noddy realised but I never really understood why. When I played them, I
what was going on with it, but for me in the audience, I thought they were solid guitars, but I never understood
was mystified to the point that I never forgot the effect. I all the switches. I remember going to meet the founder
didn’t know what to do with it or how I’d apply it myself, of B.C. Rich Guitars, Bernie Rico, to talk about making
so I stuck it in my back pocket and waited. a Paul Stanley signature guitar with them. Bernie was a
“So fast forward a couple of years, and now I’ve got great guy, and he designed the guitars, and they were
the PS10. I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be great to have a terrific instruments. But when I went there to meet

63
 FEATURE KISS – PAUL STANLEY EXCLUSIVE

him, the guitars he the side pieces

had were covered of the body to be
in switches. I said, from the Amazon
‘Hey, which switch Rainforest and
will make me a the middle piece
cappuccino?’ I had to come from the
to laugh because I bottom of the
was like, ‘Wow, how Atlantic Ocean if you
many switches do get my meaning. I
you need on a guitar, just wanted a classic
for God’s sake?’ guitar, and so mine
“So with the B.C. were all mahogany,
Rich Paul Stanley which is what I did
Special, Bernie went with the Ibanez.
back to basics. He Anytime I’ve strayed
asked me, ‘What from there has really
sound do you want? affected the sound.
What type of amp Anytime I use a
are you going to guitar with a maple
use? What are you body or a maple
looking to achieve? side piece, they’re
How can we tailor too bright and lack
this to your style that warmth of
and make it work for mahogany. So going
you?’ Because to me, straight mahogany
the idea of putting with the B.C. Rich
your rhythm pickup was more in the
out of phase with realm of a PS10.
the lunar surface, And that’s my bread
or the lead pickup and butter.”
pointing towards the
North Pole, none of WHAT LED YOU
that made any sense. BACK TO IBANEZ
For me, all that crap AS YOU MOVED
only got in the way Paul together with original Kiss lead guitarist Ace Frehley in 1977. “My INTO THE ’90S
of the direct signal. goal with Kiss was always to have one big sound made by two guitars.” AND AGAIN IN THE
“With all that in PRESENT DAY?
mind, Bernie made “All roads lead
my guitars with a classic set-up: volume, tone, and a home. I’ve been with various companies, and most did
toggle switch. That was all I needed, and they were fantastic jobs. But for one reason or another there were
terrific guitars and as solid as anything. And once again, issues. The problem with some was that they had poor
the guitar Bernie made gave me the classic sound I distribution or poor access to retail. I stand by the idea
needed to keep that consistency in my playing that I of developing and making a great guitar that I can play,
felt was the bedrock of Kiss. Around that same time I’d and that people can play. I’m unflinching in that. But it
played some of my friends’ B.C. Rich guitars and my first takes the right materials and a craftsman committed to
question was always, ‘How do you turn all this crap off?’ the same thing. So I’ve had some really terrific guitars,
Once it was all off, I felt like I could breathe and play the but I was frustrated when people couldn’t market them
guitar the way it was meant to be played.” right, and the sales suffered because people couldn’t get
them. And I’d always stayed friendly with Ibanez, which
WHAT WAS IT EXACTLY ABOUT THE SWITCHES AND led me back to them in the ’90s and again a few years
EXTRAS THAT TURNED YOU OFF? ago. After some experiences I didn’t love, it felt right to
Photos: IconicPix/Rich Galbraith; IconicPix/Zane Lewis

“Maybe it’s just me, but there’s something about having go back to Ibanez and revisit things. Those guitars felt
so many switches that made me think, ‘This thing is like old friends.”
going to be unreliable and have a ton of gremlins.’
Give me one toggle switch and leave it at that. I’m so WHAT WERE SOME OF THE ISSUES THAT NEEDED
minimalistic that at times I’ve even had arguments with TO BE IRONED OUT?
people about whether you even need two pickups. “There was a time when I had an issue with quality. They
People would be surprised how big a sound you can became erratic in terms of guitars being made at the
achieve by plugging a good guitar into a good amp. Kiss same time, where one was a great guitar, and one was
is living proof of that.” questionable. But we found a way to fix those issues,
and it hasn’t happened since I signed back on with them.
WHAT NUANCES DIFFERENTIATED THE B.C. RICH Ibanez has always been a very conscientious company
FROM THE IBANEZ? that’s wanted to be great and has worked to improve.
“The B.C. Rich had a bit less top end but, believe it or “To this day the PS10 has remained a classic guitar
not, it wasn’t too different. Because again, I didn’t want and the ones being built now are right up there with the

64
originals I played into a guitar. I love
in the ’70s. A lot of my vintage guitars,
people wonder if but I want them
I’m up there playing to look good, and
my original guitars for my money, no
from the ’70s and one can touch the
the answer is no. people at Historic
I’m not up there Makeovers. I don’t
playing 40-year-old like being up on
guitars on stage. stage with my guitar
I’m playing the new beaten into a pulp.
ones, and I’m proud So I play new guitars
of that. They’re such on the road, and if
terrific guitars and I’m at home I play my
they embody all ’59 or my ’94, and
the qualities that I’ve made sure that
my favourite classic they look beautiful.
guitars embodied. “Going back to
When I first designed my ’94 Les Paul,
Paul rocks out with current Kiss lead guitarist Tommy Thayer
the PS10, I wanted a on the Sonic Boom tour, Wembley Arena, London, 13 May 2010
there was something
guitar that felt like a magical that year,
Gibson when I closed and the two guitars
my eyes. And to this I have back that up.
“A LOT OF PEOPLE PROBABLY ASSUMED THAT I PLAYED
day, when I close Granted, I had them
my eyes on stage THE IBANEZ OR THE B.C. RICH IN THE STUDIO, BUT I’VE refinished by Historic
the fretboard and MOST OFTEN USED MY LES PAULS ON KISS ALBUMS Makeovers, but that’s
everything else still because I’m crazy
feel like that.”
DATING BACK TO THE ’70S.” about aesthetics. To
me, the look is as
YOU’VE MADE NO SECRET OF YOUR LOVE FOR important as the feel. When a guitar speaks to you, not
LATE-’50S LES PAULS. BUT YOU’VE ALSO BEEN A only sound-wise but also visually, you’re going to play
CHAMPION OF THEIR 1994 GUITARS. WHY IS THAT? differently. It doesn’t matter if it’s new or vintage. I was
“It’s not so commonly known, but the wood available in part of the whole buying vintage guitars thing in the ’70s,
1994 lent itself to some great guitars. And I remember but I quickly learned that the idea of vintage equating to
that the people at Gibson knew it, and everybody – the greatness is nonsense. I’ve had beautiful vintage guitars
Gibson Custom Shop in particular – was extremely that played like crap and new ones that play amazingly.
excited about it. That year they were churning out these “Also, when people talk about vintage guitars and
amazing guitars and, in many ways, it felt like a rebirth classic guitars played by guys like Jeff Beck, Jimmy
for the Les Paul. The ’80s wasn’t the best era for Les Page, and Eric Clapton, there’s an out-of-focus vision
Paul guitars, which was challenging for them. They there. Because when those guys were playing ’59
really wanted to return to where they’d been. So, to tell Sunbursts in the late ’60s or early ’70s, those guitars
the story of why they were so good in ’94 we have to were 10 years old, not 50 or 60 years old. So, that magic
understand that the wood that they were using – which just happened to fall into their hands from an era where
is a volatile thing – was terrific. Gibson happened to be churning out great guitars. And
“It’s also undeniable that the guitars they made then I believe that ’94, for example, is a damn good year. So
were beautiful. They seemed to dial it back and strip great guitars being in the hands of great artists often
away some of what I’ll call extravagant thinking. A lot of comes down to just circumstance and sheer luck.”
those crazy-looking finishes don’t have the warmth and
authenticity of the classic ’58s or ’59s. But in ’94 Gibson WE CAN TALK ABOUT GENE’S MAKE-UP OR ACE’S
harked back to the things that made them great. I got LES PAUL, BUT I’D WAGER THAT YOUR GUITARS
two ’94 Les Pauls and I loved them immediately to the ARE AS BIG A PART OF KISS’S VISUAL HISTORY AS
point that they rivalled my ’59. One of them has been ANYTHING. HOW DO YOU VIEW YOUR GUITARS
my number one guitar in the studio for the last couple WITHIN THE ENDURING LEGACY OF KISS?
of Kiss albums, which is a funny titbit. A lot of people “You’re right about that. It’s not discussed as often, but
probably assumed that I played the Ibanez or the B.C. it’s intrinsically tied to the band’s imagery. You can look
Rich in the studio, but I’ve most often used my Les Pauls at countless shots of Kiss throughout history and there I
on Kiss albums dating back to the ’70s. Ace often used am holding a smashed PS10 at the end of ‘Rock And Roll
Fenders in the studio and wired his Les Paul into Fender All Nite’. I think it’s become inseparable and is forever
amps under the stage, so go figure… intertwined with the visual legacy of Kiss. There really
were only two real schools and styles of guitar when the
DO YOU PREFER VINTAGE OR NEW GUITARS? first PS10 came out: Gibson and Fender. But since Ibanez
“A lot of people have these ideas about what a vintage and I got together I think the PS10 has earned its place
guitar can bring vs a new guitar. And then a lot of people in history as a classic. Sure, there have been mutations
like to have guitars that have a reclaimed look, which under other names like The Iceman, but the PS10 will
basically means they’re new, but they look old. All that always be indelibly intertwined with me and Kiss. It’s in
really amounts to is people dragging their guitars behind my DNA – and my DNA is also all over a ton of them!
their cars! But to understand it, you have to understand Regardless of what you call it, when you see that guitar,
the soul of a guitar and what it means to embed a vibe you immediately think of Paul Stanley and Kiss!”

65
 FEATURE KISS – PAUL’S 10 GREATEST TUNES

The 10 finest Kiss

songs written by Paul
Stanley… As chosen by
Andrew Daly

10) ‘DANGER US’ FROM ‘SONIC BOOM’ (2009)

After years of working with songwriters from outside Kiss,
The Starchild went back to basics for ‘Sonic Boom’, opting
to keep construction strictly in-house. Stanley was so prolific
during this period that he logged nine songwriting credits out
of the 11 tracks on ‘Sonic Boom’. And while the record features
a multitude of throwback efforts from Stanley, it’s ‘Danger
Us’ that showcases his writing flair best. “People don’t always
know what they need/Passion play can make a lonely heart
bleed,” Stanley proclaims over the track’s cavernous, guitar-
forward bombast. In classic Kiss fashion, Tommy Thayer glides
like a tail gunner on a heat-seeking mission, unleashing a
Tommy Thayer and Paul Stanley onstage in 2010.
frenetic solo. It’s a pity the band don’t perform this cut live. It’s
The two men laid down the guitar work on ‘Danger Us’.
tailor-made for arena audiences.

9) ‘ANYTHING FOR MY BABY’ FROM ‘DRESSED TO KILL’ (1975)

Up-tempo and sounding almost like power pop, ‘Anything For My Baby’ is a simplistic yet
perfect example of Kiss’s earliest hours. Penned before fame and fortune were thrust on the
band, the track finds Stanley proclaiming his love like an overexcited teenager in heat. The
rest of the group play their part, too, with Gene Simmons and Peter Criss providing almost-
tribal rhythms, and Ace Frehley doubling up on Stanley’s high-energy riffs. If you can get
past its rather primitive nature, you’ll surely find joy in this little beauty that runs to just two
minutes and 35 seconds.

8) ‘DREAMIN’’ FROM ‘PSYCHO CIRCUS’ (1998)

Co-written with guitarist Bruce Kulick, ‘Dreamin’’ feels like an outtake from Kiss’s decidedly
grungey 1997 ‘Carnival Of Souls’ album. Stanley is known for writing rousing anthems about
love, positivity, and grabbing life by the throat. ‘Dreamin’’, though, oozes regret and the bitter
taste of broken dreams, which makes sense given the fractured state of Kiss at a time when
Peter Criss and Ace Frehley were back but only involved in some songs on the record. “It’s not
Photos: IconicPix/Rich Galbraith; IconicPix/Zaine Lewis

a good memory,” said Stanley later. An in-studio line-up of Stanley on vocals, Tommy Thayer
performing lead guitar, Kevin Valentine playing drums, and Bruce Kulick contributing bass and
rhythm guitars made this song a reality. And ‘Dreamin’’ is the strongest tune from a difficult
era for the band.

7) ‘TURN ON THE NIGHT’ FROM ‘CRAZY NIGHTS’ (1987)

The sound of Kiss willingly surrendering to the hair metal tropes of the ’80s, “Take me in
your arms, I’ll take you into my heart/Let’s bring this love to life,” yelps Stanley blissfully after
the track’s first chorus. Here you can’t help but picture Paul in all his grandiloquent glory,
shamelessly posturing, sweat-drenched hair draped over his eyes. The song is unashamedly
commercial hair metal, but that’s not surprising given that it was co-written with ’80s hit
machine Diane Warren. It features some great guitar heroics from Bruce Kulick, with producer
Ron Nevison positioning him right up front in the mix despite the synth-drenched textures that
envelop the tune.

66
6) ‘KEEP ME COMIN’’ FROM ‘CREATURES OF THE NIGHT’ (1982)
Seemingly upbeat on the surface, ‘Keep Me Comin’’ is in fact seething with malignant intent
thanks to a heavy serpentine riff. “Something you’re feeling tonight tells you what’s wrong
and what’s right,” Stanley bellows just before the song’s cataclysmic chorus piles in. Featuring
thunderous cannon fire drums from Eric Carr, and Vinnie Vincent’s histrionic wailing leads,
‘Keep Me Comin’’ feels much more akin to a Gene Simmons track. The Demon had nothing to
do with it, though. Stanley worked with professional songwriter Adam Mitchell on this one.
Again, here’s a song that could easily have become a live staple, but for some reason that
never happened.

5) ‘THE OATH’ FROM ‘MUSIC FROM THE ELDER’ (1981)

Originally track one, side one of Kiss’s concept album ‘Music From The Elder’, ‘The Oath’ made
it abundantly clear to listeners that they were in for something unexpected. Stanley had dipped
into disco and pop waters with previous albums ‘Dynasty’ and ‘Unmasked’. But Kiss veered
way off the road with ‘The Elder’, alienating the band’s previously adoring fanbase. Written by
Stanley with producer Bob Ezrin and US musician Tony Powers, ‘The Oath’ bewildered plenty of
people, but taken in isolation it’s an ingenious piece of work. Presumably due to Ace Frehley’s
disinterest in Kiss’s direction at the time, Stanley shows his mettle as a guitarist here, delivering
both chugging riffs and a howling solo. This song was totally misunderstood in 1981 but has aged
exceptionally well. Turns out ‘The Oath’ is a tour de force of progressive metal. Who knew?

4) ‘YOU LOVE ME TO HATE YOU’ FROM ‘HOT IN THE SHADE’ (1989)

Coated in Aqua Net hairspray and clad in Spandex, Kiss continued their ascent to hair metal
heaven with 1989’s ‘Hot In The Shade’, an album that’s packed to the gills with overlooked
gems. ‘You Love Me To Hate You’ is one of the album’s strongest tracks as Stanley reveals
himself to be a glutton for his lover’s punishment. “You’re like a cat on a hot tin roof/I love it
when you scratch and bite,” hisses Stanley in a hushed falsetto. Hit songwriter extraordinaire
Desmond Child works alongside The Starchild here, with stand-in sticksman Kevin Valentine’s
drums doused in period-correct gated reverb. Bruce Kulick gets in on the act too, with a
searing interlude of guitar wizardry. If you loved this era, you’ll love this song.

3) ‘RAIN’ FROM ‘CARNIVAL OF SOULS’ (1997)

He might have been an unwilling participant in Kiss’s ‘grunge’ period, but Stanley nevertheless
delivered the goods on 1997’s ‘Carnival Of Souls’. The album was a ‘love it or hate it’ project
that polarised fans for sure. But I’m a big fan of that period and ‘Rain’, written by Stanley,
Bruce Kulick, and Curt Cuomo, is one of the record’s most galvanising cuts. “Tell me what you
want me to be/I can’t stand myself anymore,” says Stanley, which is a major about-face for
this self-lionising rocker as he tries to show those Seattle natives that he can self-loath with
the best of them. The supporting cast of Gene Simmons, Bruce Kulick, and Eric Singer works a
treat here. There’s thundering four-string fury, fuzzbox guitars, and tight-sounding drums filling
out this late-stage grunge epic.

2) ‘EASY AS IT SEEMS’ FROM ‘UNMASKED’ (1980)

In many ways, the ultra-poppy ‘Unmasked’ album was an aberration for many Kiss fans. But it’s
not without merit and certainly has its supporters. ‘Easy As It Seems’ shows why. Written by
Stanley and producer Vini Poncia, the song finds Stanley defiantly strutting his stuff in the face
of an unfaithful lover. Many Kiss fans cringe at the idea of pop and disco being injected into
their glam rock heroes’ music, but this is simply a great song. Paul plays a funky-as-hell bassline,
while drummer Anton Fig’s fusion skin thrashing is a welcome friend. As if to whisper “who
needs you?” in the direction of a missing-in-action Ace Frehley, Stanley injects flourishes of
angular, almost new wave-inspired guitars throughout, delivering a short but memorable solo.
This is a perfect piece of Paul Stanley pop delivered – perhaps cheekily – under the Kiss name.

1) ‘NOWHERE TO RUN’ FROM ‘KILLERS’ (1982)

In the wake of the critical and commercial disaster that was 1981’s ‘Music From The Elder’, Kiss
felt the need to reclaim lost ground. Stanley came up with four songs that would flesh out the
‘Killers’ compilation and ‘Nowhere To Run’ is the best of a very good bunch. Its exhilarating
chorus features the most impressive and operatic vocal performance of Stanley’s entire career
in Kiss. It’s true that the lyrics don’t pull up any trees, but Stanley performs the song with such
absolute conviction that it matters not a jot. Bob Kulick steps in for Ace Frehley here and
launches into a raging solo laden with emotion that suggests this is much, much more than a
throwaway number. With his back against the wall Stanley bared his teeth, pounded his chest,
and shepherded the band forward with a true Kiss klassik!

67
 FEATURE INSIDE STORY

LOVERBOY
IS ALL
YOU NEED!
It took a mighty long time for guitarist Paul Dean to finally find success. But when his band
Loverboy took off in the ’80s, the group went supernova. Howard Johnson talks to Dean
about the many highs, the occasional lows, and his enduring love for playing the guitar…

PAUL DEAN WAS ALREADY 34 years old when the “I played in R&B bands in Vancouver all through the
debut album from Loverboy was first released in ’60s and ’70s,” he tells me, as if an apprenticeship that
Canada back in August of 1980. Not exactly ‘one foot long was really nothing at all. “James Brown stuff, all that
in the grave’ time for the guitarist from Vancouver, but ‘chikka chikka’ guitar thing. But I never got discouraged,
nevertheless pretty old still to be out there looking for a never really entertained the idea that I was going to give
first musical success. it up, retire, put away my guitar. I went into every band
“I really don’t know if what was driving me was an ‘I’ll I ever played in thinking we were going to be the next
show them’ mentality,” Dean tells me today. “Because Beatles, while knowing that most bands only last three
that’s a horrible mentality to have. But whatever it was, years. And if after three years the band hadn’t made it,
something drove me. Loverboy was my 13th or 14th band, then I simply knew I had to try something else.”
and I think a lot of my impetus for it came from being Dean just about had time to release an album with
fired from Streetheart after falling out with the singer Streetheart titled ‘Meanwhile Back In Paris’ in 1978,
and manager.” but before he could blink, he was out of the band. At
Streetheart was a group based out of Saskatchewan least the guitarist had one thing on his side, though, a
that Dean had joined three years earlier in 1977, but it manager who believed in him, and that manager’s name
very much wasn’t his first rodeo. He’d been slogging it was Lou Blair.
out for years in bands including Cannonball, The Great
Canadian River Race, Canada, and Scrubbaloe Caine. BLAIR AND Dean had known each other since after
Dean had even released an album with the latter outfit, meeting at a Vancouver club called Oil Can Harry’s back
titled ‘Round One’, back in 1973, but he’d never made the in the late ’60s. Dean played in the house band; Blair
grade. It would have been easy to get disheartened, to worked the door. When Dean started a band called The
think rock’n’roll was never going to be good to him. But Fox in 1969, Blair agreed to manage the act. The pair
one thing Dean had was unlimited resilience. spent two and a half years on the road together and

68
 Loverboy main man Paul Dean photographed
in Long Island, New York, 12 February 1986

got pretty tight before Blair lost interest in the band’s “And Doug volunteered to play on my early demos,”
musical direction and bailed to manage a nightclub. The explains Paul. “I had a lot of songs, some decent ones,
two men stayed in touch, though, as Blair first enjoyed and no doubt some horrible ones. It took me forever to
a stint working in record companies, then opened a figure out how to write songs, but that period was the
successful club in Calgary called the Refinery. When beginning of it.”
Streetheart went sour for Dean, Blair looked out for him Dean had had a bellyful of egotistical singers at that
and agreed to help him with his next musical project. time, and had zero intention of drafting a vocalist for
“Bless his heart, Lou’s not here anymore,” says Dean his new project. But Lou Blair knew a guy called Mike
[Blair passed away in 2015]. “But back then he put me in Rynoski who’d been a singer on the Calgary scene for a
a rehearsal room in a warehouse behind the Refinery and while. Rynoski had recorded a 1978 album titled ‘Under
I started writing songs and making demos. I was going to The Lights’ with Toronto band Moxy. But when that didn’t
be a solo artist.” work out, Rynoski came back to Calgary.
Thinking about artist management again, Blair could “It took a while for me and Mike to commit to each
see potential in Dean, but thought the guitarist needed other,” laughs Dean. “He was pretty disillusioned with
to change his style. “Paul was more into cranking guitars things that had happened in his career, as indeed was I,
Photo: IconicPix/Ebet Roberts

and feedback then,” Lou explained much later. “He did so we were both pretty tentative.”
everything he could to squelch anything pop – popular – Dean, Johnson, and Rynoski started working together.
about his writing.” “And all of a sudden I started writing better songs,” says
“I was a heavy metal guy who loved to play Hendrix,” Dean. “It was like a light came on.”
Dean shrugs by way of explanation. The tunes were starting to come, then, but there was
Blair was also working with another band called also a ‘f*ck you’ attitude that was beginning to develop.
Fosterchild, whose keyboard player was a fella called “We were writing ‘Turn Me Loose’,” Paul remembers.
Doug Johnson. “And the key line in that song is, ‘I’ve got to do it

69
 FEATURE INSIDE STORY

Loverboy photographed in 1983 L-R: Paul Dean (guitar), Scott Smith (bass),
Matt Frenette (drums), Doug Johnson (keyboards), Mike Reno (vocals)

my way or no way at all.’ It was pretty early days, and now had exactly the right blend for his new outfit.
we were playing the number for Lou Blair. Mike was “Matt was the lead snare player in his high school
playing the drums – he’s a great drummer by the way marching band, and he really had that thing down. A
– and I think I might have even been playing bass. But I lot of our tunes had that drumming strictness to them.
remember singing that line right at Lou, not with malice Mike’s a blues singer, I was a heavy metal guy who loved
or venom, but with real determination. I looked Lou right to play Hendrix, Scott was strictly from an R&B field, and
Doug was… Doug was just quirky. Somehow it felt right.”
in the eye as if to say, ‘This is it. We’re going to do this!’”
Not everybody agreed with that assessment, though.
DEAN PULLED a full band together by adding drummer “We approached all the US labels, because the States
Matt Frenette, who’d was a bigger market
played with him in “WE APPROACHED ALL THE U.S. LABELS AND EVERY than Canada and
Streetheart, and record companies
ONE OF THEM TURNED US DOWN. WE PLAYED THE
bassist Jim Clench, there had more money
who’d performed TAPE FOR THIS GUY, AND HE DIDN’T GET IT. HE TOLD US to spend on bands,”
with both April Wine THERE WAS NO ATTITUDE. TO THIS DAY I STILL DON’T says Paul. “And every
and Bachman Turner one of them turned
Overdrive. Blair,
KNOW WHAT HE MEANT.” us down. I remember
meanwhile, hooked Mike, Lou, and I going
another manager called Bruce Allen into the project. to Capitol Records in the US. We had some demos that
Allen had greater experience of the industry after were pretty rough, done on a ghetto blaster kind of deal,
working with both Bachman Turner Overdrive and Prism, just Mike and I singing with guitar accompaniment. We
and Blair knew he had complementary skills. played the tape for this guy, and he didn’t get it. He told
“We rehearsed for maybe a year and a half, and us there was no attitude. To this day I still don’t know
Lou and Bruce kept the band alive during that time,” what he meant. We had a guy from Epic come up to our
acknowledges Dean. “They paid for rent, food, and a rehearsal room with his big fur coat and his entourage.
rehearsal space. What an opportunity. And every week We proceeded to deafen him, but he didn’t get it either.
I’d go to Lou and Bruce and go, ‘OK, we’re ready. Give us Everybody passed on the band. But around about the
some gigs.’ And they’d go, ‘You’re not ready. You don’t same time, Mike and I went to a show in LA – a massive
have the songs yet.” Bless them for pushing us to keep outdoor thing with Van Halen, Eddie Money, Cheap Trick,
writing, for having that insight.” and a bunch of other bands on the bill. We looked at
When something like 30 numbers were in the can, Blair ourselves and went, ‘You know, who gives a crap what
and Allen finally thought the band was ready to play the record companies say? What we’re doing works.
and swung the fledgling act – now named Loverboy – a Listen to all these other bands. If the record companies
gig opening for Kiss at Vancouver’s Pacific Coliseum don’t think we fit in, then they’re insane.’”
on 19 November 1979. Not long afterwards, Clench was Fortunately for Loverboy the reception they received
replaced on bass by Scott Smith and Dean felt that he from labels in their native Canada was better.

70
 “Capitol Records in Canada wanted to sign us,” that turned out to be real commercial monsters.
remembers Paul. “But they wouldn’t give us the “To be honest, I knew that ‘The Kid Is Hot Tonite’ was
recording budget we thought we deserved. They told us going to do well,” admits Paul. “It was one of the first
that we’d probably figure it out after three albums and so things I came up with that made me feel I was on to
wanted to treat the first and second albums as more like something. Back then if I could record a song roughly on
demos. We turned them down.” my ghetto blaster and then couldn’t wait to play it back
again and again, then I knew I had something. It didn’t
DEAN WAS convinced that Loverboy fit in with the radio matter that it sounded like crap. If I did that, then I knew
rockers who were starting to dominate the airwaves in it was a decent song even if it didn’t have any of the
the States as the ’70s gave way to the ’80s. But he’d also flowers and rainbows on it yet.
felt the impact of “‘Turn Me Loose’
the new wave music was the other big
that originated out number and it
of the UK and had tapped into both
subsequently been R&B and disco. I
appropriated by thought it had a
successful bands groove, and I was
in North America. very lucky that Matt
He was sure that Frenette understood
the guys in The what I was trying to
Knack and The Cars do. He wasn’t averse
had grown up with to playing four on
traditional rock just the floor all the way
like him, and that through a song.
you could mix And Mike [who by
the two styles for now had changed
the North his surname to
American market. from Rynoski to
“There’s no Reno] had an
question that I’d understanding of
recognised the the mix of R&B and
impact of that pop sensibility that
new wave sound,” was perfect for
nods Dean. “The ‘Turn Me Loose’. By
Cars were a huge the time the first
influence on us. I’d album came out I
fixate on getting felt we had all the
the same drum elements. We were
sound they had, truly a band whose
drive everybody members were on
crazy. But also the same page. We
Doug Johnson’s had a decent image,
“BY THE TIME THE FIRST ALBUM CAME OUT I FELT WE
keyboards gave us we had a great
that same flavour in HAD ALL THE ELEMENTS. WE HAD A DECENT IMAGE, manager, a great
Loverboy. Doug was WE HAD A GREAT MANAGER, A GREAT RECORD record company and
the new wave king. decent songs.”
COMPANY, AND DECENT SONGS.”
He was as quirky as
The Cars.” DEAN’S HUNCH that
Loverboy were recording material with producer Bruce he’d finally cracked the notion of how to be commercially
Fairbairn and engineer Bob Rock and were finally playing successful was proved right when ‘Loverboy’ was
live when the Columbia label in Canada eventually released in Canada. The album was an out-of-the-box
came through with what Paul and Lou Blair felt was a smash, selling over 100,000 copies and going platinum
respectable offer, enough money to at least finish off a almost immediately.
selection of songs for a debut album. “That album certainly got us off the ground,” laughs
“Our mindset was probably that it wasn’t ideal being Paul. “The funny thing is that ‘Loverboy’ went platinum
signed to a Canadian label, but at least we got the in Canada before any US A&R department thought we
budget,” explains Paul. “The most important thing were worthy of coming up to see. But when they finally
about Columbia in Canada was the fact that there’d be did come and take a look, we blew them away. We’d
no hanging around for three years. It was very much been playing the bars for quite a while by that point, and
‘Let’s do this.’ They were very, very supportive. We were we were really tight. The A&R guy at Columbia in the
confident that the songs were really good, and I was States was called Paul Atkinson and he’d originally been
convinced that Doug Johnson’s keyboards made the a guitarist in [British invasion band] The Zombies. Well
music sufficiently different. If you listen to songs like he came up and signed us, but he wasn’t taking that big
‘Lady Of The ’80s’, ‘Teenage Overdose’, and ‘D.O.A.’ from a chance really because we’d already gone platinum in
our first album you’ll see what I mean. Doug made our Canada and that was down to the songs we had. ‘The
stuff that bit odder.” Kid Is Hot Tonite’ and ‘Turn Me Loose’ were so big. We’re
Odd maybe, but what the album, ‘Loverboy’, released still playing those songs 40 plus years later. Plus the
in Canada in August of 1980, also had was two songs record sounded great. I’m a real stickler for sound.

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 FEATURE INSIDE STORY

I probably drive everybody crazy with that. But it was I’m not sure why. I remember going to New York with
really important. Bruce Fairbairn got great performances maybe nine songs to play to Paul Atkinson potentially
out of everybody and the engineer Bob Rock was no for the second album. I played him a song I was very
slouch either, as you can see from the production career confident about called ‘Piece Of My Heart’, and he
he went on to have. We worked hard every day on that loved it. But he heard a line in it about working for the
album for weeks at a time, worked until we dropped. weekend and immediately said, ‘That should be the title
“The musical chemistry was perfect,” Dean continues. of the song.’ That was no issue for me. ‘Whatever, fine,
“Matt was so solid and so interested in being part of the we can do that.’ But then he told me that apart from that
band. A lot of drummers don’t care about that at all. I didn’t have the songs yet and that I had to go back and
Scott was super cooperative as well. I’d work with him on write and record some more.”
the bass sound constantly and he was totally receptive, Were you better prepared to take that level of
very much ‘Whatever it takes. You think I should use intervention in your art because by this time you were a
a different amp? Not a problem. I know the perfect mature guy?
amp you’re looking for.’ Mike and I were on the same “I’ve always picked my battles and to my mind things
page lead vocal and melody wise. We are to this day. like that aren’t real battles. I’ve always been able to
And Doug? Well I didn’t have to say anything to Doug let stuff wash over me and I let a lot of things go. I
because he came up with all his own stuff. I had no idea think that’s served me well over the years, because
what the keyboards should be doing, but Doug’s ideas the question I always ask myself when I’m in a difficult
were always perfect.” situation is, ‘Is this worth breaking the band up for?
Probably not, so let it go.’”
THE SUCCESS of ‘Loverboy’ was soon replicated in the Paul Atkinson was right, of course. ‘Working For The
States when the album was released there in October Weekend’ spoke to millions of people in regular jobs and
of 1980. On the back of prodigious amounts of airplay proved to be the hottest number on Loverboy’s second
for ‘The Kid…’ and ‘Turn Me Loose’, the album made it album, ‘Get Lucky’, co-produced by Bruce Fairbairn with
to number 13 on the Billboard album charts and was Paul Dean. When it was released in October of 1981 the
eventually confirmed double platinum in the States album went Top 10 on the Billboard charts in the US and
with sales in excess of two million. After not far shy of ended up shifting more than four million copies there.
20 years of struggle, Paul Dean was finally a successful “‘Working For The Weekend’ was pretty undeniable,”
recording artist. says Paul. “Once again, it always comes down to the
“But I didn’t feel any pressure to maintain once we’d songs. I remember that we were still playing clubs before
had such a big success,” he explains. “No pressure at all. we recorded ‘Get Lucky’. We played a bar in this little

72
town on Vancouver Island, and we were doing three sets. Of The Broken Hearts’ and it seemed like this band
So we play the first two sets, and nothing is happening could do no commercial wrong with the formula they’d
for us. People are in the seats chatting and drinking. developed. So it came as something of a surprise when
We open the third set with ‘Working For The Weekend’ Paul decided to hook up with Judas Priest producer Tom
and immediately the dancefloor is packed. I remember Allom for 1985’s ‘Lovin’ Every Minute Of It’.
thinking, ‘Oh, we might have something here.’ That was “I just wanted more guitars on a Loverboy record,” he
the first indication that it was going to be a big song.” sighs. “I wanted to make a heavier, more riff-oriented
album as opposed to that new wave/rock guitar hybrid
THE SOPHOMORE success of ‘Get Lucky’ confirmed thing that the band had become known for. I really
Loverboy’s status as one of the biggest acts of the early enjoyed working with Tom and his assistant Mark
’80s, and for the first time in his life Paul Dean had money. Dodson, and it wasn’t as if the album was all riffs. We
“The financial side of things was the biggest single had a song called ‘Bullet In The Chamber’ that was from
change that success brought to my life,” he admits the ‘…Weekend’, ‘Queen Of The Broken Hearts’ school
honestly. “And that was a pretty big change. But I had – very poppy, super lightweight, embarrassingly poppy
a good manager who’d always drilled into me the idea actually. To my mind it was cringe pop. But I liked the
that ‘The first thing you do when you get any money title and I liked some of the lyrics, so we restructured the
is you buy a tune and came
house.’ Given up with a new
that I was a arrangement
guy who’d based on a
never had a guitar riff.”
pot to p*ss in, ‘Lovin’ Every
I simply had Minute Of
no concept of It’ featured
ever having more outside
enough writers
money to buy contributing
a house, so it to the cause
was important than on any of
to have Lou the previous
telling me three releases,
that. Mind you, but Paul
I did cheat a insists that
bit. With the there was
first check I no pressure
got I bought exerted on
myself a “THE TOUR WE DID IN SUPPORT OF ‘GET LUCKY’ WAS FANTASTIC, the band to
Harley! BUT IT WAS PHYSICALLY BRUTAL. WE DID WELL OVER 100 SHOWS get that help.
“The tour we IN 1982 ALONE AND BY THE END OF IT WE WERE SO FATIGUED “Honestly,
did in support we never
of ‘Get Lucky’ THAT WE COULD BARELY WALK.” heard that
was fantastic, from the
but it was physically brutal. We did well over 100 shows record company. It’s true that they were jazzed when we
in 1982 alone and by the end of it we were so fatigued recorded ‘Heaven In Your Eyes’ [a big radio ballad that
that we could barely walk. Mike and I both had our featured on the soundtrack to blockbuster 1986 movie
knees gaffer taped under our leather pants so we could Top Gun] just after the ‘Lovin’ Every Minute Of It’ album.
actually stand up on stage and not have our legs buckle But we’d already done a song called ‘Almost Paradise’ [a
under us! Between gigs, in-stores, and radio station ballad duet between Mike Reno and Heart’s Ann Wilson]
drop-ins we probably worked 200 days straight with for the Footloose movie [in 1984] and after that I was
no day off. It was insane, but at the same time what an pretty much done with ballads. I wanted Loverboy to
opportunity it was to have that level of demand for the be heavier, I wanted to rock more and be as metal as
band and to have the record company set all that up for Loverboy could ever get. The label loved ballads because
you. Nobody in their right mind would go, ‘No, I’d like to radio loved ballads, but they never forced us to write
take a week off.’” with anyone. And I have written a couple of pretty nice
Surely tempers must have got frayed sometimes when ballads! We still play ‘This Could Be The Night’ [written
everyone was working so hard, getting so tired… with Journey keyboardist Jonathan Cain] from ‘Lovin’
“Oh, when people get tired there’s no question that Every Minute Of It’ and I love it, but enough was enough.”
patience with each other runs out. Of course there were
some, ‘F*ck you man!’ ‘No, f*ck you!’ moments. But we WITH THE title track making it to number nine on the
were lucky to have Scott in the band because he was the US Billboard singles charts and ‘This Could Be The
ultimate peacemaker. He was the one calming Mike and Night’ hitting number 10, Loverboy were still on a roll
me down when the egos got a little out of control. We commercially. Having had so much success over a truly
were so lucky to have the right blend of personalities in golden five-year period, Paul Dean could have been
the band.” forgiven for thinking it was going to go on forever. The
band’s fifth studio, 1987’s ‘Wildside’, saw Bruce Fairbairn
LOVERBOY’S HOT streak continued with 1983’s ‘Keep It back in the producer’s chair, but for the first time a
Up’, again co-produced by Fairbairn and Dean. This third Loverboy album stuttered.
album yielded two hits in ‘Hot Girls In Love’ and ‘Queen “Notorious [written with Jon Bon Jovi and his guitar

73
 FEATURE INSIDE STORY

Loverboy’s current line-up. L-R: Paul Dean (guitar), Matt Frenette (drums),
Mike Reno (vocals), Ken ‘Spider’ Sinnaeve (bass), Doug Johnson (keyboards)

player Richie Sambora] was the lead single from that For his part Paul insists that he wasn’t bitter about this.
album and straight out of the gate it did really well,” “Look, if things didn’t change then we’d still be
remembers Paul. “It went up so fast to number two at spinning Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra records, or Al
MTV in something like three weeks. It was amazing! But Jolson if you want to go even further back. Everything
then two or three weeks later it was gone. To be honest changes, and maybe it’s only with the benefit of
it wasn’t that great a song. It just didn’t have the magic. hindsight that I’m totally OK with that, because Loverboy
None of the songs on ‘Wildside’ were strong enough to can still tour today, and we can still play our songs.
have any real holding power, so I’m not complaining. Maybe at the time I wasn’t quite so sanguine.”
And what had happened to us up to that point was
pretty amazing.” BETWEEN 1988 and 1993 Loverboy did very little. Paul
‘Wildside’ was the first Loverboy album not to make US made a solo album, ‘Hardcore’, that appeared in 1989,
platinum status, but “it didn’t slow us down too much. but in 1991 the band reunited for a one-off show for a
The most important thing for me had always been the good cause. Respected Canadian rock musician Brian
touring. Getting up, getting back on the bus, and getting MacLeod had been diagnosed with cancer and was
to play my guitar was what drove me. Truthfully, it wasn’t receiving expensive treatment at a clinic in Houston,
so much the performance of the ‘Wildside’ album that Texas. A benefit show was organised in Vancouver in
led to the band breaking up. It was much more that the October of 1991 and Loverboy came back together to
touring went away.” help. It was the most fun the band members had had in
Why did that happen? Because when grunge first a long while, and it stoked the fires once more. Loverboy
started to make waves towards the end of the ’80s, eventually returned to the fray with a long run of smaller
Loverboy found themselves right in the crosshairs. US dates in 1993. Paul Dean says it was “a big move
“We were swept away along with so many other for us and it was a big pill to swallow, though not really
hair bands or whatever you call us. Actually, hair metal because we were so happy just to be doing it again at
wasn’t so bad, but suddenly we started getting called whatever level.” The band released a sixth studio album
‘corporate rock’, which is just the filthiest term I’ve ever in 1997, suitably titled ‘Six’, with Dean at the production
heard! Things started to change, and our mindset at the helm, and all seemed to be well in this new, reduced
time was very much that if we couldn’t do live shows at Loverboy world.
the same high level we’d managed to reach in the ’80s, Tragedy struck in the year 2000, though, when bassist
then screw it! Why bother? It was definitely a shock to Scott Smith was pronounced missing presumed dead
us and every other band that was caught up in it. Pop after being swept off a boat while sailing in the San
metal, hair bands… It all went away.” Francisco bay. He was 45 years old.

74
 “Much as I love our current bassist [Ken] ‘Spider’ plane and go play a show across the country somewhere.
[Sinnaeve, previously a member of Streetheart], if I could I can’t wait because I love what I do. Well, not so much
change one thing about my career it would be to have the getting on a plane, but getting to play my guitar in
been able to talk Scott out of going on that boat trip front of people with my band, well you can’t beat it. It’s
where he lost his life,” says Paul. “And that has nothing so great!
to do with business or being in a band, even though “I take great pride in playing every song differently
Scott was a great musician. It’s because he was such a from the previous time we did it. There are so many
cherished friend.” places I can go to musically because I’m the only guitar
In the last 23 years Loverboy have released just two player in Loverboy. I don’t have to worry about making
albums of new material, 2007’s ‘Just Getting Started’ and sure my parts fit with the other guitar player. I have free
2014’s ‘Unfinished Business’. That’s not a lot of output, rein. I saw an interview with [legendary singer] Tony
but in a world Bennett where he
where streaming said he’s never sung
means physical ‘I Left My Heart In
sales are worth San Francisco’ the
virtually nothing, it’s same way twice.
not surprising that Well, I subscribe to
Loverboy relies on that vibe a hundred
its reputation as a per cent. I don’t
live act to keep know if it drives
their name on everybody else in
people’s lips. the band crazy, but
“I totally get it I sure have a lot of
that fans want fun doing it.”
to hear the old
Loverboy classics,” EVEN AT the age
says Dean. “Look, of 76 Paul Dean
I went to see the genuinely appears
Eagles with my wife to be having the
not so long ago time of his life
and they didn’t play making music with
any new stuff at all. his old buddies.
They played all the “We played dates
hits, and I thought last summer with
it was great. I’d Styx and REO
been to an Eagles Speedwagon in
show a few years front of 20,000
before and when people and they
they played a new were very much
song everybody ‘wow’ moments,” he
got up and went smiles. “And then
to the washroom. we’ll go play a club
That taught me “I’VE NEVER ONCE HARBOURED THE THOUGHT THAT for 400 people and
something right honestly, sometimes
WHAT I DO FOR A LIVING SUCKS. I’VE NEVER ONCE
there. There’s no I like that better,
question that we’ve THOUGHT, ‘I DON’T WANT TO DO THIS. I DON’T WANT TO the intimacy of the
got seven or eight WORK WITH THESE GUYS ANYMORE.’ THE TRUTH IS BEING whole thing. I don’t
songs that people know… I guess I
IN LOVERBOY DOESN’T SUCK. BEING IN LOVERBOY IS A
really want to hear just love to play
so they can feel REALLY COOL THING TO DO WITH YOUR LIFE.” my guitar, and that
how they felt in sounds so corny,
the ’80s when they but it’s true.”
first heard those tunes. I’m fine with that, because to tell Paul’s on a roll now as our conversation draws to a
you the truth it takes a lot more concentration for me to close, and he more than deserves the last word.
put a song together than it used to. I don’t know why. “Y’know, I’ve never once harboured the thought that
Maybe it’s an energy thing, but 40 years ago it came what I do for a living sucks,” he tells me passionately. “I’ve
more naturally to me. I still play my guitar, of course. never once thought, ‘I don’t want to do this. I don’t want
I’ll still come up with a riff and think it’s pretty cool. I’ll to work with these guys anymore.’ The truth is, being in
make a recording of it and put it on my iPhone, see if it Loverboy doesn’t suck. Being in Loverboy is a really cool
goes anywhere. I’ve got hundreds of snippets of things thing to do with your life. The musicians are great, and
that could be the start of something. But as I said, my we play together so well. The way we blend together, the
big motivation is playing live. It’s unreal that we’re still way we feel things the same way, is incredible. And what
all relatively sane and that we’ve always got through I think I’ve learned is that it’s because it’s really not a
whatever bullsh*t comes from having been like brothers matter of understanding, it’s a matter of feeling.”
for more than 40 years. It’s amazing that we still have
the same line-up – apart from Scott – that we did on our Paul Dean plays Godin guitars ([Link])
first album. and Loverboy will be releasing a new Blu-ray live disc
“I’m still so appreciative of the fact that I can get on a in 2023.

75
 FEATURE RAPID FIRE RECALL

THE BLACK STAR RIDERS AND THIN LIZZY FRONTMAN EXPLAINS HOW HE
NEARLY PACKED IT ALL IN, WHY A NEW LIZZY ALBUM IS A BAD IDEA, AND WHY
THE LAST 20 YEARS HAVE BEEN THE HAPPIEST OF HIS CAREER….

INTERVIEW BY HOWARD JOHNSON

76
 ,
GROWING UP IN NORTHERN IRELAND IN THE 70S with New Model Army’s manager, a guy called Nigel
“I have wonderful memories of my childhood. We lived Morton. So I went back home, put a package together
about eight miles outside of Belfast in Newtownards and and mailed it to Nigel, thinking nothing more of it. About
in many ways we were quite shielded from The Troubles. two weeks later, I was working on the farm when my
During that time Newtownards actually thrived, because mom called me, saying there was a guy called Nigel on
people would come from Belfast to do their shopping, as the phone. I thought it was one of my mates winding
they felt safe there. But if you jumped in your car, after me up so grabbed the receiver, said ‘F*ck off Robbie, I’m
10 minutes you were back in the land of barricades and busy’ and put the phone down. Luckily Nigel called back,
armoured cars, tanks and guns, walls and divisions. You at which point I thought maybe this was for real. Nigel
could hear the bombs going off in the city from where said he really liked the demos, flew up to see us play a
we were, and one day when I was about eight, I got up show in Edinburgh, and signed us for management.”
for school in the morning and there was a dead guy lying
on the pavement on my way there. I had to walk around JOINING NEW MODEL ARMY
him to get to the bus. There wasn’t any psychological “Nigel paid for Rough Charm to do some demos and
help for that kind of stuff. You just had to deal with it. But
then put the band on a six-date UK tour with New Model
the good memories far outweigh the bad.” Army, which was amazing. At the very first show [NMA
frontman] Justin [Sullivan] walked into our dressing
STIFF LITTLE FINGERS room being friendly and super cool as he always is. He
“I owe those boys a lot. Stiff Little Fingers was the first told me that he’d heard I was a big fan of his band and
band I ever saw live when I was 13, and it absolutely said, ‘We could use an extra guitar on a couple of tracks.
changed my life. I was blown away by the windmill Would you jump up on stage?’ I couldn’t believe it was
guitar playing, by the jumping around, and by the 1500 happening, but of course I did it and was on cloud nine.
punks losing their sh*t. The guys were singing about I went home to the farm after the tour and a week or
stuff I could relate to, and it completely absorbed me. so later Justin phoned up and asked if I had a passport.
I came out of that Of course I didn’t, but
show a different kid he said he wanted me
“DEF LEPPARD TOOK ME OUT ON TOUR WITH THEM
to the one who went to get one because
in. I was inspired IN THE STATES. I SPENT THE BEST PART OF A YEAR New Model Army had
and immediately OPENING FOR MY MATES PLAYING IN FRONT OF a world tour lined up
brainwashed into and he wanted me to
wanting to be up on
15,000 PEOPLE A NIGHT WITH JUST MY ACOUSTIC play guitar. So I went
stage and making a GUITAR. I HAD THE BEST TIME EVER.” off touring the world
racket just like them. for a year with New
At the time I had a paper round delivering the Belfast Model Army in 1987 and it was incredible. Touring was
Telegraph newspaper and had saved up some money. I everything I hoped it would be, and I learned so much
wanted to buy a guitar, but I didn’t have enough, so my from that band. They were so good to me.”
dad very kindly gave me the difference and I went out
and bought my first electric guitar the very next week.” THE ALMIGHTY
“That band was a dream come true for me. What an
MOVING TO SCOTLAND honour to be part of that legacy. The Almighty started
“I was the only son of a farmer, and it was kind of written at Leeds railway station on Christmas Eve 1987. I was
in stone that I’d leave school at 16 and work on the farm, with Tommy Tee, who was part of the New Model Army
and the farm would eventually be handed down to me management team, and we were both waiting to get
the way it’d been handed down to my father. And I wasn’t trains back home after the NMA tour. We were getting
OK with that because farming was a lot of work! But I drunk watching videos in the pub on the station platform.
think The Troubles made my parents think about getting I saw Zodiac Mindwarp and The Cult and thought, ‘I can
away from Northern Ireland, because they thought we do that.’ I’d been sitting on the name The Almighty for a
could have a better life elsewhere. I ended up in the while and thought it was killer. So I told Tommy that I was
west of Scotland in a place called Strathaven in a pretty going to put this new band together called The Almighty,
tough school at the age of 14, and that was definitely an and straight away Tommy said he’d manage us. Within
eye opener. It was a bad time for me to move. I had a a month we had the band up and running. It was fast.
girlfriend back in Belfast, I was getting into music, I was We put a lot of effort into making sure we looked the
playing for the local football team. I was happy. I grew to part, had the attitude, and had the songs to back it up.
love Scotland, but at the time it was tough.” We wanted it to be Motörhead meets Sham 69, turning
the guitars up really loud and having huge choruses.
FIRST BREAK The whole idea was not to go and play a ton of gigs, but
“I was playing in a little punk band in Scotland in the to be like Vikings coming down to London to play the
mid-’80s with [drummer] Stumpy [Munroe] and [bassist] Marquee. We’d blow the doors off the place, get drunk,
Floyd [London], who would go on to be in The Almighty get in a fight, and go back home. We wanted people to
with me. The band was called Rough Charm – terrible go, ‘what the f*ck was that?’ And it worked like a dream.
f*cking name – and we were making demos and going Within a year we were signed to Polydor.”
down to London on the bus where record companies
would tell us to f*ck off and then we’d go back home. On (SIC)
Photo: Ross Halfin

one of these trips I ended up going to Abstract Records, “In 1996 The Almighty was falling apart, and I was very
which was the label New Model Army were signed to at angry about the way everything had gone. The business
the time. I was a huge fan of their ‘Vengeance’ EP, I was had worn me down and I’d started to take everything
just consumed by it. The girl I met at Abstract thought very personally, blaming a lot of other people for
our demo had something, and suggested we get in touch things that had happened. I was doing way too many

77
 FEATURE RAPID FIRE RECALL
drugs, getting wasted all the time, and focusing on all of it was terrifying. But my good friend [Def Leppard
the wrong things in the mid-’90s. In the end [Therapy? singer] Joe Elliott encouraged me to go down that route
guitarist] Andy Cairns suggest I move to Dublin to get and it really gave me my confidence back. I got really
out of London, and once I got there, I decided I wanted excited about playing again, and discovered all these
to form a really angry, anti-everything band. I put (SIC) artists I would never have listened to before, people like
together with [drummer] Gary Sullivan and [bassist] Woody Guthrie and Hank Williams. Joe was great. He
Ciaran McGoldrick and I really loved being in that band. said, ‘You’ve got the money. We’re going to make a solo
We rehearsed every day for a year solid and got really record together. We’re going to do it in my studio, and
tight. We got to go to Japan and had tons of label I’m going to produce it. We’re going to get you back out
interest. Then we were going to sign to MCA and literally there.’ That was amazing to hear, and in 2003 we made
the morning when my first solo
we were due to record together,
sign in London, I which was ‘Tattoos
got a phone call & Alibis’. It was a
telling me that total reawakening
the guy who was of my interest
going to sign us in music.”
had just been
fired, and that all MOVING TO
deals were off. AMERICA
At that moment “I released ‘Tattoos
I decided I was & Alibis’, and
done. Music was in what was an
breaking my heart amazing gesture,
continuously and I Def Leppard took
couldn’t take any me out on tour
more. But (SIC) with them in the
was a great band States. I spent
and was a lot of the best part of
fun for the short Ricky together with guitarist Scott Gorham in Thin Lizzy, 2011 a year opening
time that it lasted.” for my mates
playing in front of
BECOMING “I SEE MY CONTRIBUTION TO THIN LIZZY AS KEEPING THE 15,000 people a
A GYM SPIRIT OF THOSE AMAZING SONGS ALIVE. I ALWAYS KNEW night with just my
INSTRUCTOR acoustic guitar. I
“After (SIC) I went THERE’D BE A ‘NO PHIL, NO LIZZY’ BRIGADE OUT THERE. I had the best time
through a period GET IT. I UNDERSTAND IT. BUT IF IT WERE ME, I’D WANT THE ever. When I was
of licking my in LA I met a girl
MUSIC TO BE PLAYED.”
wounds and trying called Tina, who
to get myself was working for
together. I started training in a gym in Dublin owned by a music management company, and I fell in love. We did
a guy called Pat Henry. Pat loved his rock and he let me the long-distance relationship thing for about six months,
train there for free, which was brilliant as I was really but it became obvious that something was going to have
broke at the time. Then he told me there was a job for me to give. I decided I’d be the one to make the move. The
there and offered to put me through my fitness exams. funny thing is that I’d just bought a house in Dublin and
I was all for it, so I went and passed all my personal had spent all this money on it. I literally lived in the place
training exams and started at the gym one Monday. for three months! That was back into 2004, so Tina and I
Then on the Tuesday a guy from a publishing company are looking at close to 20 years together now.”
happened to come into the gym. He recognised me and
asked what I was up to. It turned out this guy used to CIRCUS DIABLO
work at Polydor and knew The Almighty, so I told him “That was the first band thing I did when I got to LA.
I was done with music, but that I had this one song, an I knew [Billy Idol guitarist] Billy Morrison and [Cult
acoustic thing that was very different, Johnny Cash-like. I guitarist] Billy Duffy from back in London, and when I
gave him the song the next day, and the day after that he arrived in LA Billy Morrison phoned me and invited me
came back to the gym with a piece of paper with an offer over to his place for a jam with Billy Duffy. The three
on it. The offer was for more money than I was going to of us got the Les Pauls out and made a racket and that
make from a year of working in the gym, so by Friday of became a thing. Next thing you know we had an album
that first week I was back in the music business!” of material and we released ‘Circus Diablo’ in 2007. The
band was restricted by the fact that we all had so many
GOING SOLO other things going on, so we could never really give it the
“The guy who’d saved me from the gym thought I should commitment and the touring that it needed. But it was a
explore more acoustic stuff. It was very different to what lot of fun and I think we made a pretty decent album.”
I’d done before and he thought it would be good for me.
Up to that point I’d never really thought about going on THIN LIZZY
stage without the banks of Marshalls. Just the thought “I was promoting my third solo album ‘Belfast Confetti’

78
 when I got the Lizzy call. It was January of 2010. I’d playing songs that Phil wrote. But taking that step into
known [original Lizzy guitarist] Scott [Gorham] since writing and recording new material was a huge leap of
1989 when my first wife Vanessa and his wife Christine faith. At first I thought, ‘This is amazing. We’re going to
both worked at MTV in London. Scott played on my first make a new Thin Lizzy record and my name’s going to
solo record and when he called me up that day, I thought be on it!’ But my heart started saying to me, ‘What the
it was just to see how I was doing. We’d do that from f*ck are you doing? You can’t do this. It’s sacrilege. It’s
time to time. Well, Scott did ask me how I was doing, going too far.’ So we all sat down, and everybody was
but then he dropped the news into the conversation that kind of feeling the same thing. The sense of relief when
he was putting Lizzy back together. And then he said, ‘I we decided that we weren’t going to do it was huge for
think you’re the guy to sing in the group. What do you me. I think it would have been too much of a weight to
say?’ Well I talked to Scott for a while and of course bear. The Nuclear Blast label offered us a lot of money
I said yes. But when I put the phone down it was like, to put the Lizzy album out, but when we decided not to
‘What the f*ck have I just agreed to do?’ There was no do it, we still felt we had 13 or 14 killer new songs that
audition. I wasn’t up against anybody. Scott said, ‘We’ll we wanted people to hear. We all agreed we should
have a rehearsal and if you do OK, then you’re in. The put them out under a different name, just so we could
gig is yours to lose.’ So we rehearsed and I got the job. get the songs out there. So we went back to a bunch
But then I started thinking, ‘How do I do this?’ I was a of labels and a lot of them said ‘Nope, not interested. If
massive Lizzy fan and I wanted to make sure I did justice it’s not Thin Lizzy we don’t want to know.’ But Nuclear
both to the name and to Blast loved the songs
Phil Lynott’s legacy. and thought a new
“I only talked to two band with a different
people about it – Tina name was a great idea.
and my really good Obviously, they weren’t
buddy Del James, who’s going to pay the same
Guns N’ Roses’ road advance as they would
manager. Del’s a massive have done for Lizzy, but
Lizzy fan and I think if they still made it worth
those two people had our while. And they did
told me not to do it, then a great job marketing
I would have respected ‘All Hell Breaks Loose’
their opinions. But both as Black Star Riders [in
said, ‘You absolutely 2013]. It did really well
have to do this.’ Tina said and here we still are 10
something really great. years later.”
Black Star Riders L-R: Sam Wood (guitar) Ricky Warwick
She said, ‘Just do it until (guitar and vocals), Zak St Jon (drums), Robbie Crane (bass) ,
it doesn’t feel right. And WRONG SIDE , OF
when it doesn’t feel PARADISE
right, then stop.’ And “Album number five for
thankfully it’s never not felt right. I certainly didn’t think Black Star Riders. Just getting to a fifth album in this
about money, and I still don’t. Of course when we do day and age is an achievement in itself. Two songs were
Thin Lizzy shows we get well paid. But it’s not about that written right before we went in and recorded the album
for me. Stiff Little Fingers and Lizzy are my two favourite in October of 2021, but everything else was written pre-
bands, the two groups I grew up on that shaped my pandemic. So there are no songs about being locked up,
youth and featured my two favourite frontmen. What which is fine because I suspect there’s a lot of that going
true musician doesn’t want their music to be played on. It’s our first album without Scott, which was strange
or heard after they’re gone? Our generation is the first of course. But I felt we had great songs and at the end
where our musicians are getting old and dying, and of the day it’s always about the songs. I still feel we have
that’s never happened before. So I see my contribution something to say, I still feel we’re relevant, and I still feel
to Thin Lizzy as keeping the spirit of those amazing we’re forging ahead, which is very important to me. I’m
songs alive. I always knew there’d be a ‘No Phil, no Lizzy’ damn proud of ‘Wrong Side Of Paradise’ and I hope
brigade out there. I get it. I understand it. But if it were people love the album as much as I do.”
me, I’d want the music to be played and to be carried on
by somebody else. I wouldn’t want it to die. THE FUTURE
“The thing that legitimised it all for me was when I met “Who knows? I just want to keep doing what I’m doing
[Phil’s mum] Philomena at a show in Dublin. She pulled and keep making music in all the forms I’ve followed
me aside after the gig, gave me a big hug and said, ‘My throughout my life. I’ll continue to do that for as long as
Photos: IconicPix/George Chin; Robert John

Phil would have loved every minute of that, hearing those it feels right, but I’ve also been writing for some other
songs sung with such intensity and passion. It would people and doing a bit of presenting work in television.
have made him very happy.’ Well I walked out of that I made a documentary called Rock And Roll Highway
building 120 feet tall and went, ‘F*ck it. That’s his mother.’ about the influence of Scottish and Irish music on the
That was all the justification I needed right there. And roots of rock’n’roll. You can see it on YouTube. Doing that
what an opportunity it’s been, like winning the musical programme was really educational and fun, so I’d like to
lottery. Absolutely unbelievable.” do more of that in the future. I just like to keep busy doing
things that I love – and I was taught never to give up.
BLACK STAR RIDERS Everything turned around for me in 2002 when I thought I
“We were about to make a Thin Lizzy album when at was done with music, and the last 20 years have been the
the eleventh hour the penny dropped that it wasn’t best 20 years of my career, the most successful, the most
the right thing to do. Playing live is OK, because we’re fulfilling, and the happiest. So long may it continue!”

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 FEATURE UNCOVERED

THE
KING
OF
KEYS Photo: Lee Wilkinson

80
Rick Wakeman is possibly the most famous and most respected rock keyboardist in
the world, and after more than 50 years of music-making the creative fire still burns as
bright as ever. Howard Johnson asks him why…

RICK WAKEMAN SOUNDS REMARKABLY cheery for with some of the greatest names in popular music as an
a man who’s being interviewed at nine o’clock on a in-demand session keyboardist, then go on to become a
Sunday morning the night after playing a late gig. When progressive rock superstar in the ’70s, first as a member
I apologise for disturbing him at this distinctly un-rock- of Yes, then with a highly successful solo career. His
star hour, he simply laughs and says it’s not me who’s voracious appetite for making music means that here
to blame, but rather the Wakeman dogs that need to we are in 2023, and once again he has a new album
be let out for their early morning piddle. He needs to available. This one’s called ‘A Gallery Of The Imagination’
be careful. Any more of this chirpiness and Rick will be and is a deliberately scattergun affair touching on many
putting his reputation as rock’s grumpiest of grumpy old of the different musical styles that have spoken to Rick
men in danger. over the years.
As it turns out, the 73-year-old veteran of a thousand “I was always keen on all different kinds of music,” he
prog wars is in top form. He occasionally apologises tells me. “And over the last couple of years the ideas
for a slightly scary sounding cough that rattles down that have come to me haven’t been of one genre. When
the phone line, but apart from that he’s not letting his I started collecting together all the bits and pieces that
advancing years darken his mood. had come from sitting at the piano and recording or
“I was brought up in the classical world,” he tells me, writing stuff down, I realised that they were all quite
“which was terribly earnest. So I think that’s what made diverse. My previous album, [2020’s] ‘The Red Planet’,
me never want to take myself too seriously. I’ve always was very much based around the one prog rock genre –
taken my music deadly seriously, but I remember what and deliberately so. So I thought it might be interesting
my dad told me. He said, ‘Always remember that there to next do something that was completely varied.
are two yous. There’s the one who goes on stage, and And then I came across something that I’d written in
there’s the one who lives offstage. Don’t muddle them a programme donkey’s years ago about my wonderful
up.’ I think it was good advice.” music teacher Mrs Symes who taught me when I was
It looks like that advice has served Rick well over the young. I remembered that she’d told me making
course of a stellar career that saw him start out working music was like painting pictures, and that your

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 FEATURE UNCOVERED
instrument was That, more than
your palette of anything else, is
colours. She told what I find exciting
me to close my about making
eyes and see music; the not
pictures when knowing where
I was playing. those moments
And so I thought come from.”
it could be Has Rick
interesting for become better
people to listen to over the years
an album and be at recognising
able to paint their inspirational
own pictures to moments and
the music.” capturing them?
After all, isn’t it
HAVING BEEN in easy for those
the business of ideas to arrive
making music for and then
five decades now, disappear before
I wonder what you’ve been able
still inspires Rick to grasp them?
to keep at it “Oh, I’ve got
instead of putting much better at
his feet up. it,” he confirms.
“I’m as surprised “And I’ve also set
as anybody that myself up better
I still do it,” he to capture them
laughs. “But music when they arrive.
is still a driving In the past there
force for me, so were so many
it’s important for times when I had
me to associate an idea, and by
with people who the time I’d got to
care about music. a piano I couldn’t
A couple of days remember exactly
ago I was sitting what the idea
in a hotel lobby with [1960s music icons] Alan Price and was. Or I’d knock something up, then go away to make a
Marty Wilde and we were talking about why we all still cup of tea, come back and I couldn’t remember exactly
do this. We decided it was simply because we love it. It’s what I’d been doing. I heard that [classical composer]
what we do.” Benjamin Britten had three pianos dotted about his
But is the inspiration still as easy to come by when house for precisely that reason, so I decided I’d steal the
you’ve already made so much music over such a long idea from him. I’ve now got three pianos in my house,
period of time? so unless I’m on the loo upstairs I’m never more than 20
“Well there are two main ways of writing,” Rick seconds from a piano. I’ve also got manuscript paper
explains. “There’s one way where you write from the and pencils, and little portable cassette recorders with
experience and the knowledge you have of how to put built-in speakers that, somewhat incredibly, Sony still
music together. And then there’s another way that’s make. So if something starts happening, I’ll record it
Photos: Courtesy of Rick Wakeman; IconicPix/MM-Media Archive

purely inspirational, which is when something simply and write it down. I play every day, maybe working on
comes to you, and you’ve got no idea where it came an arrangement of a piece I’ve got or just playing for a
from. You can always sit down and knock up a piece bit of fun, and then something will occur. Not every day,
of music. I mean, I could do it for you right now. But of course. But when you get that ‘Oh, that’s interesting’
it wouldn’t be inspirational. It would be based on the moment and the musical mind takes over, that’s a
knowledge that I have of how to put notes together. But moment I can capture.”
when something inspirational comes to you, that’s when
it’s exciting because you look back and go, ‘I have no GIVEN THAT those inspirational moments are currently
idea where that came from.’ And that, I suppose, is the so varied, is it fair to assume that Rick makes music
thing that’s always kept me going and that makes me these days to please himself and doesn’t give much of a
excited about creating music. That feeling is so brilliant damn what the expectations of his fans are?
that it’s hard to put into words. “It’s true that I’m very self-indulgent,” he says
“What I’ve learned over the years is that you have to without a hint of shame. “But I do to some extent – and
keep your mind alive to receiving these inspirational especially these days – work on the principle that if I like
moments. Sometimes you can go six months, eight something, then I guess I can expect other people to like
months, even a year, and it doesn’t happen. And then it too. I do get thousands of emails a week, and of course
suddenly four ideas will all come at once, a bit like buses! I can only speak for those people who actually take the

82
trouble to write to me. But it does seem as though the freedom – and it happened quite a lot back then.
majority of them quite like the idea that they’ve got no “I learnt so much so quickly because I also met lots
idea what’s coming next. It’s not a deliberate policy to do of great producers and great engineers – and a lot of
that, but I am what I am.” crap ones as well! But I learned from the bad ones too,
Does this deep-rooted appreciation of a broad palette because I learned what not to do. Producers would
of musical styles stem from your earliest days as a always invite me up to the control room, even though the
session player working with all kinds of different artists, musicians mostly stayed down in their designated area at
such as David Bowie? the time. But I always used to get called in because the
“Absolutely. That was the most wonderful producers and engineers all knew that I was interested in
apprenticeship, and that kind of musical education isn’t the process.
around anymore. Back then I’d be doing two or three “I did a session with [legendary Elton John producer]

sessions a day. I could Gus Dudgeon and

be working on a film “THE 10 YEARS FROM 1968 TO 1978 GAVE US SUCH afterwards he taught
session in the morning DIVERSITY OF MUSIC, SUCH FREEDOM BOTH FOR THE me how to edit two-
and then three different inch tape, which was
LISTENER AND THE PLAYER. AND I DON’T THINK IT
pop records in the fantastic. He gave me
afternoon. You just WILL EVER HAPPEN AGAIN, BECAUSE THAT WAS THE a quick lesson and
never knew. People LAST PERIOD IN TIME WHEN THE MUSICIAN WAS then handed me some
shoved the music up tape and said, ‘OK, you
and you played it. I also AHEAD OF THE TECHNOLOGY.” do it.’ So I had a go,
did a lot of sessions demagnetised a razor
where you simply rolled up and there was no music, and blade, did a couple of edits, spliced it all together and
whoever the artist was would just run through the piece. played the intro to the song the way I’d edited it. Gus
Then you’d give your input if someone asked for it, and was really pleased and told me that I’d done a great job.
if they didn’t, then you just played what they wanted. I I said, ‘It’s fantastic that you have all these bits of tape
always remember recording a song in 1971 with [folk rock lying around that I can practise on.’ And he said, ‘That’s
singer-songwriter] Al Stewart called ‘The News From not tape to practise on. That’s the master tape for the
Spain’ from his ‘Orange’ album. Al told me that the end new Marc Bolan album!’ I nearly fell on the floor!
was a fade out and that it would be great if I could do “So I learned all kinds of things from all these people
some Rachmaninoff-style piano for the fade. I said, ‘Yeah, in different studios. I played with hundreds of the best
OK. Anything in particular?’ And he answered ‘No, just musicians and worked with hundreds of the best
do whatever you want.’ It was great when you got that sound people. It was wonderful.”

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 FEATURE UNCOVERED
SO WHAT was it that drove you to want to be part of a 70-plus years to find that compromise, but at least now
band – first The Strawbs and secondly Yes – with all that I’m very comfortable with it.”
entails, when you could do interesting work and satisfy
your musical wanderlust with as many sessions as you OF COURSE Rick’s freewheeling improvisational style,
could handle? albeit correctly tethered by the discipline of doing
“Well to put it crudely, when you’re in the studio the session work, appeared to be perfectly suited to that
aim is to get it right. It’s a one-off. When you’re playing late-’60s, early-’70s period when rock music became
live it’s instantaneous, and that’s very satisfying if you’re extraordinarily experimental.
a curious musician. “Musically
I’ve just done 17 speaking, the
or 18 shows on period from the
the trot, and not late ’60s to the mid
one of them has ’70s was genuinely
been the same. unique,” says Rick.
So the live arena “The 10 years
is really where from, say, 1968 to
you learn about 1978 gave us such
improvisation, diversity of music,
particularly in terms such freedom both
of solos. I was for the listener and
great friends with the player. And I
[The Who bassist] don’t think it will
John Entwistle ever happen again,
and he told me because that was
about his famous the last period
bass solo that’s on in time when the
‘My Generation’. musician was ahead
[Who guitarist] of the technology.
Pete [Townshend] You didn’t have
had the idea to computers with
do a bass solo in pre-set sounds, so
the song because you had to work
something like out how to make
that really hadn’t things. You had
been done before. to create sounds.
So John just did a You had to create
first take thing in everything. And
the studio and it don’t forget that
ended up on the studios were very
record, which of expensive back
course became a then, so the studio
massive hit. Then was the end of the
he went out on assembly line. Back
tour and played the then the studio was
song improvising very exciting for
the bass solo each many reasons, not
night the same least of which was
way he had in the the fact that you
studio – and people were going to make
kept coming up to a record. When I
Photos: IconicPix/George Bodnar Archive; Lee Wilkinson

him and telling him Rick photographed in 1991 was young, every
he was playing it musician’s dream
wrong! He wasn’t, was simply to make
he was improvising, but in the end, he got so fed up a record, and when you finally got to do it, it showed that
with people telling him he’d got it wrong that he sat in somebody believed in what you were doing enough to
a hotel and learned the bloody solo from the record! pay for you to record it. To actually hold your own piece
It had ceased to be a solo and had become a musical of vinyl was magical. When I had my first solo success
part. So I recognise that a solo can become a part if a with [1973’s] ‘The Six Wives Of Henry VIII’, I felt, ‘Wow,
song does well, but I’ve found ways to work with that on somebody believed in me enough to let me do that.’
stage. I take the solos people know and find stepping It was a serious commitment. Now people can throw
stones within them, parts that people will recognise, anything online, but I don’t know anybody who listens.
and I will reach these stepping stones throughout what “I’d rehearse like mad with The Strawbs or with Yes
I’m playing, what you might call the day’s inspirational or preparing my own stuff, and then at a certain point
solo. So I’ve found what I think is a good compromise somebody would say, ‘Right, you’re going in the studio.’
between studio and stage. Mind you, it’s taken me And that was tingle time, because even though you

84
“When you’re playing live it’s instantaneous, and that’s very satisfying.”

thought you were going in 100 per cent ready, in actual people go, ‘Well, you know, I don’t really get this. This
fact you were maybe 75 per cent ready. Things would isn’t where I think it should be going,’ then that’s where
change in the studio, which was great, because that was break-ups happen. Playing music, particularly in a band,
where the little sparkle dust on top of everything would is all about give and take, and I’ve always felt that you’ve
happen. That’s not how it works anymore, because people got to be able to take back as much as you give. If the
can knock up cheap stuff in their bedroom. They’re balance goes too much the wrong way, then it becomes
missing what I call the final stage. And it’s not their fault. uncomfortable and often unworkable.”
It’s just the way that things have developed. You know,
digital recording is great, but sometimes it’s just too pure. RICK’S PASSION for music in all its infinite variety is still
Some of the greatest rock’n’roll was recorded with all perfectly clear to see well into his eighth decade. Of
its human imperfections. all the many hours he’s
Honestly, if I could play you recorded over so many
the master tape of [the “THE MAJORITY OF MY FANS QUITE LIKE THE years, which are the pieces
classic 1972 Yes album] IDEA THAT THEY’VE GOT NO IDEA WHAT’S he’s most proud of?
‘Close To The Edge’, you’d COMING NEXT. IT’S NOT A DELIBERATE POLICY “I suppose you have
be amazed at the amount to go back to the early
of amplifier noise on the TO DO THAT, BUT I AM WHAT I AM.” albums I made, things like
tape. It was deafening, but ‘Fragile’ and ‘Close To The
it added to the sound.” Edge’ with Yes, and solo
Did the unknown element that was part of studio projects such as ‘The Six Wives…’ and ‘Journey To The
work, that missing 25 per cent, lead to pressure between Centre Of The Earth’, because that was when making
musicians pushing and pulling to get their own creative music was really exciting. It’s not that making music isn’t
way, especially as you say with the clock ticking and the exciting now. It is. But as I said, that period was when the
meter running? musician was ahead of the technology. That was when
“Well in Yes, for example, it was well known that the musicians really talked to each other and listened to
[drummer] Bill [Bruford] often had words with [bassist] each other, and it was great.
Chris [Squire] in particular, so we quickly knew if “But the last couple of albums I’ve made – [2020’s]
something wasn’t quite working. It might have been ‘The Red Planet’ and ‘A Gallery Of The Imagination’
working in rehearsals, but for whatever reason it might – have meant a lot to me. At any time in my life I’d
not be working in the studio. So of course then we’d have been proud to make these albums, but it means
discuss it, sometimes pretty heatedly. It was almost as if even more because we’ve gone through so much with
all the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle were thrown on the floor, lockdown. Plus I’ve now got very bad arthritis in my
and then you’d have to try to piece them all together hands, so it’s purely a matter of time…” Rick doesn’t
again. Occasionally you’d find a piece that didn’t fit, finish the sentence, but we all know the meaning behind
so you’d have to make a new piece. But that was what it. “That means I’m particularly aware that at the moment
made it exciting and creative. It was how it worked – and everything’s a bonus. The fact that I’m still even able to
it did work. You find a way when you’re working with make music makes what I’m doing now really special.”
musicians that you know, understand and trust, and Knowing that the day will eventually come when Rick
provided you’re all on the same page musically, then it Wakeman no longer makes music is so poignant for
works. Well, it works until it doesn’t, and that’s the point those of us whose lives have been punctuated by his
at which people leave bands. If you get to a stage where work. Let’s cherish his endeavours while we still can.

85
 PRODUCT CLASSIC ALBUMS REVISITED
Night Ranger rocking out on the ‘Midnight Madness’ tour at Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale,
New York, 20 July 1984. L-R: Jack Blades (bass and vocals), Jeff Watson (guitar), Brad Gillis (guitar)

NIGHT RANGER
‘MIDNIGHT MADNESS’
DATELINE: 26 OCTOBER 1983
THE SAN FRANCISCO ROCKERS’ SECOND ALBUM WAS A PLATINUM SELLER,
BUT HAS IT STOOD THE TEST OF TIME?
NIGHT RANGER TRACK LISTING
‘MIDNIGHT MADNESS’ (You Can Still) Rock In America (Jack
(MCA) Blades, Brad Gillis)
Released: 1983 Rumours In The Air (Jack Blades)
Why Does Love Have To Change
LINE UP (Jack Blades)
JACK BLADES – bass, lead vocals Sister Christian (Kelly Keagy)
KELLY KEAGY – drums, lead vocals Touch Of Madness (Jack Blades)
BRAD GILLIS – guitars, vocals Passion Play (Jack Blades)
JEFF WATSON – guitars When You Close Your Eyes (Jack
ALAN ‘FITZ’ GERALD – keyboards, Blades, Alan Fitzgerald, Brad Gillis)
vocals Chippin’ Away (Jack Blades,
Brad Gillis)
PRODUCED BY Let Him Run (Jeff Watson, Jack
Pat Glasser Blades, Kelly Keagy)
RECORDED AT
Image Recording Studios, Los
Angeles, California

BRAD GILLIS ON ‘MIDNIGHT MADNESS’: “When we first got the band together, Kelly brought in ‘Sister Christian’. It got a lot of interest from
labels. MCA knew it’d be a hit, but wanted us to keep it for our sophomore release. It ended up being our biggest record.”
86
 HAS THERE EVER BEEN a greater use of rock music in a But that’s not the only triumph on ‘Midnight Madness’.
film soundtrack than the appearance of Night Ranger’s Second song ‘Rumours In The Air’ gives keyboardist
‘Sister Christian’ in director Paul Thomas Anderson’s 1997 Alan Fitzgerald the chance to shine, but only within the
film Boogie Nights? A crazed drug dealer, his dressing context of another irresistible melody and more flash
gown wide open revealing the skimpiest of underpants, guitar playing. The clever way in which Night Ranger
plays Night embellish their
Ranger’s hit songs allows
song at ear- the band to
splitting volume expand out of
as he looks to the traditional
buy half a kilo formulas of
of cocaine that rock and
is in fact baking develop into
powder from something
three chancers. more attractive
Another man, and satisfying.
equally wired, Most of the
keeps throwing numbers have
firecrackers, something
and given that really good
it’s obvious that going for them
there are guns here. ‘Why
aplenty in the Does Love Have
dealer’s house, To Change’
this makes may lack a
everyone – question mark,
especially Drummer and vocalist Kelly Keagy wrote
but it does have
anyone the album’s mega hit ‘Sister Christian’ an eminently
watching the singable
film – super chorus. ‘When
nervous about You Close
how badly this is about to NIGHT RANGER HAD A HAPPY KNACK OF Your Eyes’ starts out like
go. I won’t spoil things if PRODUCING HIGHLY MELODIC MATERIAL a typical AOR ballad, but
you haven’t seen the film,
THAT NESTLED INTO THE BRAIN AND STAYED soon revs up into something
but suffice to say that once much more potent. ‘Let
you’ve seen it, you’ll forever THERE, WHILE SOMEHOW NEVER FALLING Him Run’, meanwhile, takes
think of ‘Sister Christian’ in INTO EXCESSIVE SCHMALTZ off the afterburners for an
that moment. acoustically driven album
It’s weird that Night Ranger closer that gives old-school
should be associated with something so dark when in concert lighter-waving a good name.
fact the band’s sound is possibly one of the most joyous
of the many ’80s bands that graced US radio in that THE SONGWRITING is of a consistently high standard
boom time for melodic rock. The five-piece group that here. Only ‘Touch Of Madness’ falls short as a bit of a
had first formed in San Francisco as Stereo in 1979 had basic thumper that lacks the band’s usual way with a
broached the US Billboard Top 40 with their 1982 debut melody. But just the one properly poor number out of
album ‘Dawn Patrol’. But it was with their second release, nine songs is a very high batting average.
1983’s ‘Midnight Madness’, that Night Ranger hit paydirt. Of course the album’s absolute highpoint is ‘Sister
The album made it to number 15 in the US charts and Christian’, quite possibly the perfect power ballad. It
sold over a million copies on the back of two big hit starts with plaintive piano and vocal interplay before
singles, ‘When You Close Your Eyes’ and ‘Sister Christian’. revving up into a true giant of a chorus that has swagger
and sass running right through its heart. The song builds
IT WASN’T hard to see why both songs had struck a with a brilliant, carefully constructed guitar solo before
chord with those all-important US radio listeners. Night coming back down to earth with Keagy’s haunting vocals
Ranger had a happy knack of producing highly melodic at the death.
material that nestled into the brain and stayed there, As the saying goes, they don’t really make them like this
while somehow never falling into excessive schmaltz. anymore. More’s the pity. ‘Midnight Madness’ is an album
This was in no small part down to the twin guitars of Jeff you’d do well to reacquaint yourself with post haste!
Watson and Brad Gillis, both of whom were technically
gifted players with a happy knack of not only working HOWARD JOHNSON
Photos: IconicPix/David Plastik

together in close harmony, but also playing hard and

tough without overwhelming the song structures. One ORIGINAL REVIEW
listen to opening cut ‘(You Can Still) Rock In America’
shows you how good the end product could be. It’s a “‘Rock In America’ is a powerful statement of intent at
banging rock anthem that pulls together all of melody, the off, with Night Ranger’s trademark of soaring lead
harmony, vocal hooks, cool keyboard lines, and fly-by- and an endearingly mindless chant of ‘You can still rock
the-seat-of-your-pants solos. What a way to kick off in America’ to put a smile on your face.
an album! – Howard Johnson, Kerrang!, 29 December 1983

‘MIDNIGHT MADNESS’ FACT: The high harmony parts in opening anthem ‘(You Can Still) Rock In America’ were sung by Deep Purple
legend Glenn Hughes. “We wanted someone to come in and sing in full voice and he knocked it out of the park,” says Brad Gillis.
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 PRODUCT STRIKTLY FOR KONNOISSEURS
MONSTER ROCK ALBUMS FOR THOSE WHO NEED TO GO DEEPER

HEAVY METAL KIDS – ‘Heavy Metal Kids’

(ATLANTIC)

ORIGINAL RELEASE DATE – 1974

LINE UP
RONNIE THOMAS – BASS, VOCALS MICKEY WALLER – GUITARS
KEITH BOYCE – DRUMS, PERCUSSION GARY HOLTON – LEAD VOCALS
DANNY PEYRONEL – KEYBOARDS,
VOCALS

WHEN SHAKESPEARE WROTE ‘WHAT’S in a name? But Heavy Metal Kids really showed their mettle on
That which we call a rose by any other name would their slow material, in my view the ultimate test of a heavy
smell as sweet’ he clearly wasn’t thinking of Heavy Metal band. ‘It’s The Same’ is a genuinely beautiful number,
Kids. Has any other band in the pantheon of rock been while ‘Kind Woman’ would have been a total monster if it
so misserved by their moniker? Sweat-soaked R&B, had appeared in the mid-’80s power ballad era.
ragamuffin rock, glam, punk… all these descriptions
would have fit the group that formed in London in 1972. SADLY, HEAVY Metal Kids didn’t take over the world.
But despite the fact that back then the term wasn’t as Guitarist Mickey Waller left after the first album and was
associated with a certain style of music as it is today, the replaced by Cosmo Verrico for 1975’s ‘Anvil Chorus’.
Kids most definitely were not heavy metal. Waller would relocate to Paris and become an in-
The band came together out of the merger of two demand session player before his death in 2013. By the
hard-gigging London bands named Biggles and Heaven, time 1976’s ‘Kitsch’ appeared, Peyronel had also jumped
and Heavy Metal Kids took their name from characters in ship to join UFO and had been replaced by John Sinclair,
US author William S. Burroughs’ novels. They became the with Barry Paul now performing guitar duties in place
first signing of Atlantic Records’ fledgling London office of Cosmo. Neither release moved the dial to deliver
under the direction of 1960s musician-turned-A&R-man success. The band broke up in 1978 and vocalist Gary
Dave Dee, who also produced this 1974 debut album. Holton went on to become a household name as an
The Heavy Metal Kids seemed to have everything they actor, most notably in popular UK comedy drama Auf
needed for success: first class management, a great Wiedersehen Pet. Holton sadly died in 1985 at the age of
label, a swaggering rock gypsy image that was already just 33 due to an overdose of alcohol and morphine, but
serving The Faces well, and a rip-roaring first release. the Heavy Metal Kids returned in 2003 with an album
titled ‘Hit The Right Button’. They’ve since been fronted
THE RECORD starts with ‘Hangin’ On’, a filthy, grooving at various times by actor John Altman (known to many
rocker that should have been a massive hit, especially as Nick Cotton in UK soap opera EastEnders) and L.A.
after the band delivered a ferocious performance on Guns singer Phil Lewis. Heavy Metal Kids are currently
British TV’s cult music show The Old Grey Whistle Test. active, touring with singer Simon Gordon. Cosmo has
The rest of the album runs the gamut of ’70s rock styles been back on guitar since 2010, while drummer Keith
with aplomb. Hook-laden rockers such as ‘Ain’t It Hard’, Boyce rejoined in 2002. Honestly, the songs on this
‘Always Plenty Of Women’, ‘Nature Of My Game’, and album deserved much more. So why didn’t Heavy Metal
‘Rock ’N’ Roll Man’ would all have taken The Faces’ best Kids make it big? It must have been the name!
material to a penalty shootout. You should also look out
for a catchy slice of reggae in ‘Run Around Eyes’. Giles Hamilton

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LEGS DIAMOND – ‘Legs Diamond’
(MERCURY)

ORIGINAL RELEASE DATE – 1977

LINE UP
ROGER ROMEO – LEAD GUITAR, JEFF POOLE – DRUMS, PERCUSSION
VOCALS MICHAEL DIAMOND – BASS GUITAR
RICK SANFORD – LEAD VOCALS, MICHAEL PRINCE – KEYBOARDS,
FLUTE, PERCUSSION GUITAR, VOCALS

IN THE PANTHEON OF great underachieving North sets the tone as a rich pageant of hard rock is unfurled.
American 1970s hard rock acts, the name Legs Diamond Roger Romeo’s guitar work takes the spotlight on
will always sit proudly alongside groups like Starz, Angel, second song, ‘Stage Fright’, before next number ‘Satin
and Teaze. The LA band formed in the early ’70s and Peacock’ delivers the album’s best line with ‘Kiss me if
their eponymous debut is not only the five-piece’s finest you missed me, but don’t mess up my hair’!
hour but is also one of the greatest hard rock debuts of The taut muscular punch of original vinyl side one
all time. closer ‘Rock And Roll Man’ is a musical tour de force that
The album’s iconic front cover painting, created by Ed the band arguably never bettered. Featuring vocalist
Scarisbrick, features a hybrid guitar/machine gun leaning Rick Sanford’s impressive flute work, the song witnesses
against a bullet-riddled car with the band’s classic logo each musician battling for supremacy, with Roger
nestling elegantly at the top of the sleeve. Such great Romeo’s impeccable guitar perhaps shading it over two
imagery deserved great music accompanying it – and stunning contributions from Prince and Sanford on a song
Legs Diamond certainly delivered that. After creating a that ebbs and flows magnificently before coming to a
buzz on the West Coast the band had been courted by soothing conclusion. ‘Deadly Dancer’ features lyrics about
both Mercury and Casablanca, and LD opted to sign with 1920s gangster Jack ‘Legs’ Diamond, a man who was
Mercury after a successful 1976 support slot opening supposedly a deadly dancer and a midnight prancer, but
for Ted Nugent at the Bakersfield Civic Auditorium two ultimately somebody you wouldn’t want to waltz with.
hours north of Los Angeles. Then, once more, Prince’s striking organ work stands out
on ‘Rat Race’, another top-quality musical gumbo.
DEREK LAWRENCE, whose previous credits included The band wait until final number ‘Can’t Find Love’ to
Deep Purple, Wishbone Ash, and Angel, was chosen stretch out and deliver the album’s longest cut, clocking
to produce the debut Legs Diamond album at Wally in at over eight minutes. The song’s leisurely, heavy
Heider Studios in LA. Released in 1977 ‘Legs Diamond’ pomp vibe acts as a backdrop to Rick Sanford searching
showcased a band that was brimming with confidence for ways to deal with lost love. Does he succeed? You’ll
and exciting ideas. Even though the group was unfairly have to listen to find out.
dubbed the American Deep Purple, primarily because of
Michael Prince’s Hammond organ work, Legs Diamond LEGS DIAMOND still play live today and have released
were much more than mere plagiarists. a fine body of work throughout their long career. But
The band felt that Lawrence’s production on ‘Legs it’s fair to say that they’ve never bettered this fantastic
Diamond’ was a little lacklustre. But be that as it may, no debut album.
one can deny that the featured songs are exemplary. The
ominous slow build of album opener ‘It’s Not The Music’ Rob Evans

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 PRODUCT ROCK CANDY REISSUES
THE VERY LATEST HOT RE-RELEASE FROM THE LABEL

WORLD TRADE – ‘World Trade’ ORIGINAL RELEASE DATE – 1989

LINE UP from the likes of Whitesnake, Scorpions, World Trade had been sidelined by the
BILLY SHERWOOD – lead and backing and Heart, ‘World Trade’ contains catchy label and wasn’t going to recover. Despite
vocals, bass songs with a polished sonic sheen. It all we had to offer, the band was drifting
BRUCE GOWDY – guitars, vocals felt like the album was tailor-made for and heading nowhere. In the end I gave in
GUY ALLISON – keyboards, vocals success, but sadly that wasn’t to be. The and agreed to work with Yes.”
MARK T. WILLIAMS – drums, band’s record label, Polydor, was facing
percussion, vocals a difficult reorganisation at the time, TRACKS TO CHECK OUT
which meant that ‘World Trade’ received ‘World Trade’ features a great selection
BACKGROUND little in the way of corporate support. of tracks that certainly conjure up
Despite many people being obsessed comparisons to Yes’s ‘90125’ and ‘Big
with prog rock in the ’70s, by the early Generator’ records. Songs such as ‘The
’80s rock music had begun to focus Moment Is Here’, ‘Life-Time’, ‘Fight To
heavily on guitar-driven hard rock. Win’, and ‘Can’t Let You Go’ lay down
Marillion may have bucked the trend in a bedrock of faultless, hard hitting,
the UK, but in the US, prog was largely progressive rock and they still ring with
considered passé. Yes changed all that, breathtaking clarity.
though, when they re-emerged with
1983’s hugely successful ‘90125’ album MORE BANG FOR YOUR BUCK
and then scored big again with its 1987 The Rock Candy CD is fully remastered,
follow-up ‘Big Generator’. World Trade’s and includes a 16-page full-colour
1989 debut album gave prog a further booklet, band interviews, enhanced
chance to shine, with many predicting artwork, and detailed liner notes written
big things for this exciting quartet. Their by Malcolm Dome.
style was carved out of old-school sounds
but was also injected with a smooth THE WORD FROM RC BOSS
pop-rock buff that invited comparisons Unable to deal with a lack of momentum, DEREK OLIVER
to Mr. Mister, Toto, and Asia. The band World Trade eventually ground to a halt “The ‘World Trade’ album is a classic
was polished enough to offer the kind of and Sherwood went on to work with Yes case of bad luck and even worse timing.
hook-laden melodic rock that US radio before resurrecting his band in 1995 with Immaculately produced by Keith Olsen,
was primed to support. an altered line-up and a second album, the music really is top notch. No stone
World Trade coalesced around guitarist titled ‘Euphoria’. was left unturned to extract every ounce
Bruce Gowdy and bassist/vocalist Billy of melody from the tunes, and the
Sherwood. Gowdy had already carved WHAT VOCALIST AND BASSIST BILLY musicianship was simply scorching.
out a reputation as a hot-shot player SHERWOOD SAYS ABOUT LEAVING This made it even more disappointing
with West Coast hard rockers Stone Fury, WORLD TRADE TO WORK WITH YES when the album failed to set the charts
but his new band sounded more like a “At one point Yes thought they’d need on fire. Thankfully, though, over the
souped-up version of prog. Certainly a new vocalist to take over from Jon years the value of certain bands that
World Trade’s sound was modelled on Anderson. They called and told me that were originally swept aside has come
’80s Yes, but their songs clearly had their I was the perfect person. But I told [Yes to be recognised. World Trade gave us
own vibe and sounded both fresh and bassist] Chris Squire that I was totally a carefully crafted debut that has since
right for the time. Perfectly produced by committed to World Trade. It was my been lauded for its ambition to deliver
veteran studio wizard Keith Olsen, who band, and I had no intention of leaving. complex rock at a time when simpler
oversaw many top rock albums of the era Eventually, though, it dawned on me that styles were overwhelming the scene.”

Buy this album and tons of other great releases at [Link]

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 ROCK CANDY PICKS
THE STUFF THAT’S GRABBED OUR ATTENTION

THE ALAN PARSONS PROJECT

‘The Turn Of A Friendly Card’
(ESOTERIC)
WHAT’S THE to sell two million copies worldwide. book including photos, memorabilia, and
STORY? recollections from Alan Parsons and Eric
First released WHAT ALAN PARSONS SAYS Woolfson’s widow Hazel among others.
in November “We were certainly hopeful about ‘The
1980, this Turn Of A Friendly Card’. ‘Games People THE VERDICT
is the fifth Play’ and ‘Time’ were both big hits, The APP’s distinctive brand of ‘soft
album by The particularly in America. It really put us on prog’ was never flashy enough for the
Alan Parsons the map over there for the first time.” true progressive rock believer, but their
Project, the greatest quality is their way with both
brainchild ANY EXTRAS? melody and atmospherics. ‘The Turn Of A
of producer and engineer Parsons and This is a lavish package, comprising three Friendly Card’ is very easy on the ear and
composer, musician, and manager Eric CDs and a Blu-Ray disc featuring the is lusher than a warm velvet balaclava.
Woolfson. The album features guitarist original album remixed and remastered The extras are interesting enough, but the
Ian Bairnson, bassist David Paton, and by Parsons, plus an additional 42 tracks original album is still where you’ll find the
drummer Stuart Elliott as the basis of drawn from Eric Woolfson’s songwriting real gold. The songs totally transport you
the band, with Woolfson and Parsons ‘diaries’, studio session outtakes, and a and are also enjoyably memorable at one
providing keyboards. Woolfson also new 5.1 surround sound mix, again by and the same time. This is an album that
contributed lead vocals alongside Elmer Parsons. There are also three promo truly has its own unmistakable sound.
Gantry, Chris Rainbow, and Lenny Zakatek. videos, and to round things out there’s
‘The Turn Of A Friendly Card’ would go on also a poster and a lavishly illustrated John Nicholson

GABRIELLE DE VAL ‘Kiss In A Dragon Night’

(ESCAPE MUSIC)
WHAT’S THE High’, former Rising Force frontman Mark both excellent numbers, as is the strutting
STORY? Boals on ‘When Midnight Comes’, and AOR of ‘Pay For The Lonely Nights’, as
This is the Seven vocalist Mick Devine on two songs, well as the noticeably urgent ‘Let’s Get
debut solo ‘Fight For Love’ and the ballad ‘Hold Something Started’.
album from On’. Gabrielle was heard most recently
Gabrielle contributing ‘When He’s Gone’ to Escape THE VERDICT
De Val, Music’s ‘Circle Of Friends’ album. Fans of The Val’s three albums to date will
frontwoman be all over this record, but it should also
of Spanish WHAT DOES IT SOUND LIKE? score highly with fans of female-fronted
melodic rock This album could be viewed as a melodic hard rock in general. ‘Kiss In A
outfit The Val. ‘Kiss In A Dragon Night’ is continuation of the ‘Circle Of Friends’ Dragon Night’ has much to delight, but I’m
actually the opening track from The Val’s project, but the big difference is that it’s not convinced that an unremarkable duet
2011 release ‘Back’, but this album features very much Gabrielle’s melodic baby with with ex-Strangeways man Terry Brock of
a new version of the song, together with her personality stamped all over it. She ‘Stayin’ Alive’ – the Magnum song from
reworkings of other tunes from ‘Back’. has an agreeable voice that’s comfortable their ‘Magnum II’ album rather than the old
Gabrielle performs plenty of duets here out in front of this rhythmic hard rock. Bee Gees hit – is something that will help
with singers including Robin McAuley of Gabrielle’s cause very much.
Grand Prix/MSG/Black Swan fame on the BEST BITS
title track, FM’s Steve Overland on ‘Natural ‘Fuel To The Fire’ and ‘Natural High’ are Dave Reynolds

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 PRODUCT ROCK CANDY PICKS
THE STUFF THAT’S GRABBED OUR ATTENTION

GIRLSCHOOL ‘The School Report 1978-2008’

(HNE)
WHAT’S THE 1979, and even ‘1-2-3-4 Rock ’N’ Roll’, THE VERDICT
STORY? an experiment that Girlschool’s label at It’s really enjoyable to follow the arc
Spread over the time, Bronze, forced them into. The of Girlschool’s chequered career, from
five discs, a gals were astute enough to realise it early musical tomboy days when the
mammoth 103 was a bad idea and refused to finish the ladies were perceived as Motörhead’s
tracks chart recording. The song came out anyway, kid sisters, to an attempt to pursue a
the first three refashioned by another producer. more melodic style via ‘Play Dirty’, then
decades in on to the ill-fated ‘Running Wild’, before
the history WHAT DRUMMER DENISE DUFORT SAYS finally returning to their musical roots.
of the all- “I like the heavier stuff. I always have The 1978 live show as Painted Lady is
female London band. And with Girlschool done. I just can’t remember the titles an audience recording complete with
plotting a new album – their 13th, these days!” background chatter and chinking glasses,
excluding a re-recorded version of ‘Hit but it’s absolutely charming. Hearing
And Run’ – the story is far from over. What ANY EXTRAS? these determined young ladies roaring
you get here is three discs of defining You may already own many of these through standards by Ten Years After,
tracks, both singles and deep cuts, plus tracks, but the fourth and fifth discs are Alice Cooper, Wishbone Ash, Quo, UFO,
a further pair of CDs that exhume demos full of previously unheard material. John Hendrix, Free, and Deep Purple opens
and even a covers set from the group’s Tucker’s detailed sleeve essay, meanwhile, a fascinating window into the group’s
pre-Girlschool days as Painted Lady. is illustrated with plenty of album reviews, formative days.
You can hear debut single ‘Take It interviews, adverts, record sleeves, and
All Away’, released on City Records in general memorabilia. Dave Ling

HEROES AND MONSTERS ‘Heroes And Monsters’

(FRONTIERS)

WHAT’S THE WHAT DOES IT SOUND LIKE? Never Sleep’, the anthemic ‘Don’t Tell
STORY? The self-produced trio overlay crunching Me I’m Wrong’, and the hell-for-leather
Heroes And riffs with Eddie Van Halen-style guitar workout of ‘Set Me Free’, which conjures
Monsters is a solos and gang vocals to create a very big up something Rainbow or the Scorpions
three-piece noise. The music is all of hooky, melodic, might have delivered in the 1980s.
outfit formed and heavy, and in places they sound like
by Canadian a more robust Cheap Trick. They don’t THE VERDICT
bassist Todd break any new ground, but nevertheless Heroes And Monsters deliver pop
Kerns, who ‘Heroes And Monsters’ is a cannily sensibilities within a hard rock framework.
made his blended cocktail. Hear how they mesh the soaring chorus
mark in his homeland fronting 1990s of ‘Break Me (I’m Yours)’ to an AC/DC riff.
band The Age Of Electric. Kerns has also BEST BITS But they can be clever, too, as on closer
worked with Bruce Kulick and Slash & The band are right to rate their two ‘And You’ll Remain’, which builds from a
Myles Kennedy’s Conspirators, and is a openers, ‘Locked And Loaded’ and ‘Raw folky acoustic start into a sweeping epic.
multi-instrumentalist who also writes Power’, highly. The former boasts a And possibly best of all, with 10 songs
and produces. Here he teams up with stampeding riff and a great bridge, while totalling just 40 minutes, this debut
guitarist Stef Burns – who’s been involved the latter has a distorted guitar sound album has the good manners not to
with Sheila E, Alice Cooper, Huey Lewis supporting a Starz-like melody. Heroes outstay its welcome.
& The News, and Y&T – and Evanescence And Monsters are also clever enough to
drummer Will Hunt. mix things up with the slower ‘Angels Neil Jeffries

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MEMORIAM ‘Rise To Power’
(REAPER ENTERTAINMENT)
WHAT’S THE second work in a supposed trilogy started beings generally behaving appallingly.
STORY? by 2021’s ‘To The End’.
Memoriam’s BEST BITS
roots go back WHAT DOES IT SOUND LIKE? Opener ‘Never Forget, Never Again (6
to Birmingham Not a million miles away from Bolt Million Dead)’, an impassioned attack on
band Bolt Thrower to be honest. Guitarist Scott the Nazi Holocaust, takes some beating
Thrower, who Fairfax – who also plays with death metal with the band going at full throttle.
started out in veterans Massacre – doesn’t have as ‘Annihilation’s Dawn’ and the title track
the ’80s as a unique a style as Thomson and Ward, but also stand out for their punchy and
speedy death Memoriam plough a similarly mid-paced driving riffs.
metal band. Over time, guitarists Barry furrow as Bolt Thrower and share some
Thomson and Gavin Ward developed of that band’s doom metal elements. THE VERDICT
their own vibe and the group’s style The group’s style can often sound a little ‘Rise To Power’ won’t change the world
became more distinct, based around generic, but Memoriam’s energy carries a great deal, but it certainly adds to the
mid-paced, heavy riffing. Bolt Thrower things along. It definitely helps that the pool of high-quality death and doom
disbanded in 2016, 12 months after the group now have Spike T Smith behind metal. It’s also great to see everyone
sad death of drummer Martin Kearns. the kit. He’s an excellent drummer who’s involved still committed to the cause and
That same year, frontman Karl Willetts played with The Damned, Morrissey, Killing still making heavy, intense music after all
formed Memoriam with Benediction Joke, and the New York Dolls! Singer these years.
bassist Frank Healy. ‘Rise To Power’ is Willetts continues to explore his long-held
the band’s fifth studio album and is the obsession with war, battles, and human Jason Arnopp

MÖTLEY CRÜE ‘Crücial Crüe: The Studio Albums

1981 – 1989’
(BMG)
WHAT’S THE WHAT BASSIST NIKKI SIXX SAYS ABOUT purchase if you’re not feeling particularly
STORY? DEBUT ALBUM ‘TOO FAST FOR LOVE’. flush right now.
After a highly “If you look at the front of the album
successful cover, you’ll see that Vince Neil is making THE VERDICT
stadium tour a Satanic symbol with his fingers, and The likelihood is that if you’re a fan of
with Def nobody ever picked that up. The whole glam metal, then you’re going to love this
Leppard last thing about ‘Too Fast For Love’ is that collection. From the raw and angry early
summer that none of us planned to live past 40, so it’s days of ‘Too Fast For Love’ – originally
was witnessed just fast lane rock’n’roll.” released in 1981 and featuring the classics
by over a ‘Live Wire’ and ‘Take Me To The Top’ – all
million fans, LA’s baddest bad boys ANY EXTRAS? the way through to 1989’s multi-platinum
Mötley Crüe return to the fray with this The vinyl box set features the albums ‘Dr. Feelgood’ and its adrenaline rush
deluxe box set of the band’s first five ‘Too Fast For Love’, ‘Shout At The Devil’, classic ‘Kickstart My Heart’, there are
studio albums. There’s no denying that ‘Theatre Of Pain’, ‘Girls, Girls, Girls’, and plenty of Mötley gems to crank your
this was the group’s vintage period when ‘Dr. Feelgood’ all on coloured vinyl. These speakers up for. You’ll no doubt have
they broke numerous box office records collectors’ pressings are housed in a solid your own personal favourites, but for me
as one of the top US hard rock draws. The black slipcase with foil imprint and are ‘Looks That Kill’ and ‘Girls, Girls, Girls’ are
Crüe plan to return to the UK this summer only available in this box set for rather a the band’s best anthems.
for their first shows in the country since lot of money. But fear not. At least there’s
November 2015! a much cheaper CD version you can Xavier Russell

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 PRODUCT ROCK CANDY PICKS
THE STUFF THAT’S GRABBED OUR ATTENTION

MOTÖRHEAD ‘Bad Magic: Seriously Bad Magic’

(SILVER LINING MUSIC)

WHAT’S THE WHAT DID LEMMY SAY ABOUT THE THE VERDICT
STORY? ORIGINAL RELEASE? So many veteran metal bands go out with
When “Go and buy ‘Bad Magic’ because all a whimper, but ‘Bad Magic’ was a stormer.
Motörhead’s your girlfriends will take all their clothes Lemmy denied reports that the album
23rd studio off and rub themselves all over you. You had been played live in the studio. He said
album ‘Bad know it makes sense.” the band only recorded around five of
Magic’ the songs together, but the whole thing
appeared back ANY EXTRAS? certainly sounds like Lemmy, guitarist
in August All formats come with three extra tracks. Phil Campbell, and drummer Mikkey Dee
of 2015, few There’s a so-so cover of David Bowie’s bringing the noise in one room. Distorted
suspected that this would not only be ‘Heroes’, reportedly pulled from the and gnarly, this album grabs you right
the band’s final record, but also the last original album at the last minute, and two from the start with opener ‘Victory Or
one Lemmy Kilmister would record. previously unreleased studio cuts – the Die’. ‘Till The End’ aside, it’s a relentlessly
The singer and bassist died exactly four fast and furious ‘Bullet In Your Brain’ and obnoxious affair with ‘Evil Eye’ seeing
months after the album’s release, but only the slower, anti-politician rant of ‘Greedy Lemmy verge on death metal vocal
‘Till The End’, the most vulnerable and Bastards’. The CD version throws in a live- territory. We always knew there would be
autobiographical track, hinted that he’d set disc, ‘Sayonara Folks!’, from the 2015 a final Motörhead record. We just didn’t
seen the writing on the wall. Now we get Mt Fuji Rock Festival, while the box set know it would be this good.
a reissue of ‘Bad Magic’ complete with also adds an audio interview with Lemmy,
bonus material. and a Ouija board of all things. Jason Arnopp

THIN LIZZY ‘Live And Dangerous 45th Anniversary

Super Deluxe Edition’ (UME)
WHAT’S THE WHAT GUITARIST SCOTT GORHAM SAYS that didn’t make the original cut – ‘Soldier
STORY? “Would I change anything about this Of Fortune’, ‘It’s Only Money’, and
2023 marks album? No way! History is history. It was ‘Johnny’ – are included for the first time
the 45th our greatest hits up to that point and it is now. There are 63 previously unreleased
anniversary Thin Lizzy,” recordings, together with sleeve notes
of one of featuring brand-new interviews and a
the best live ANY EXTRAS? booklet of rare photos and memorabilia.
albums of all Seven out of the eight CDs – three nights
time, recorded at Hammersmith, two at the Philadelphia THE VERDICT
in London Tower Theater, one at Toronto’s Seneca It’s great to hear the remastered
in 1976, and Philadelphia and Toronto College Fieldhouse, and one at the original, but the real delight for Lizzy
in 1977. The album is now released as Rainbow Theatre in London – are all fans is in listening to the other shows!
a definitive eight-CD super-deluxe set, extras, really, and the track listing and Hammersmith’s second night is a corker
featuring a newly remastered version of running order aren’t the same at every throughout, while versions of ‘Soldier of
the original album alongside all of the show. There are five tracks that weren’t Fortune’ that open three of the live shows
Photo: Robert John

gig recordings that were made for the included on the original 1978 release are knockout. Overall, these performances
original release. These shows have been amongst the live concert CDs. ‘Bad showcase a band at its peak and remind
newly mixed by Ben Findlay, mastered by Reputation’ and ‘Opium Trail’ had first us what a tragic loss Phil Lynott was.
Andy Pearce and overseen by legendary been added to a 2011 remastered and
Lizzy guitarist Scott Gorham. expanded version, but three other songs Ross Sampson

94
TRAPEZE ‘Don’t Stop The Music: Complete Recordings
Vol 1 1970-1992’ (PURPLE BOX)

WHAT’S THE Deep Purple in 1973. The group continued THE VERDICT
STORY? with new members and recorded three By the time Hughes left, Trapeze had
Hailing from more albums before splitting in 1982 developed into a genuinely groove-
Cannock in when Galley left for Whitesnake. This oriented rock band. ‘You Are The Music…’
England’s compilation features the first three is a superb collection, while the first two
Midlands, albums and assorted live recordings. albums still have plenty of moments to
Trapeze recommend for a group finding its feet.
started out WHAT FRONTMAN GLENN HUGHES SAYS The 1973 Dallas show has a truly visceral
as a five- “I cannot tell you how much I loved this quality to it, with Hughes sounding like
piece with band. It meant everything to me, more he’s singing straight down your ear, and
keyboardist Terry Rowley and vocalist/ than anything else I’ve been fortunate is an absolute tour de force. The sixth CD
trumpeter John Jones and recorded 1970’s enough to achieve.” features a show from a relatively short-
progressive and psychedelic ‘Trapeze’. lived 1992 reunion that also included Asia
When Rowley and Jones left that same ANY EXTRAS man Geoff Downes on keyboards. While it
year, the core of the band – Hughes on CDs four and five feature a previously doesn’t pack quite the same punch as the
bass and vocals, guitarist Mel Galley, and unreleased nine-song live recording from 1973 recording, it still has its merits, not
drummer Dave Holland – continued as a the Majestic Theatre in Dallas made on 27 least Hughes’s incredible vocals. Overall,
three piece, recording 1970’s ‘Medusa’ and April 1973, where the band give a red-hot this is a very worthwhile package.
1972’s ‘You Are The Music… We’re Just the performance in the US state that really
Band’ before Hughes’s departure to join took Trapeze to their hearts. Howard Johnson

UFO ‘No Heavy Petting’

(CHRYSALIS)

WHAT’S THE WHAT FRONTMAN PHIL MOGG SAYS THE VERDICT

STORY? “The thing with Michael is that 90 per This is stone-cold 100 per cent
Originally cent of the time he’d come up with magnificent from first to last. If, like
released in some stunning solos. Most of his solos me, you could never turn down the
1976, ‘No contained melody – not just a load of opportunity of a good hard Schenkering,
Heavy Petting’ notes for the sake of it. All the rest of it you will bloody love this remaster, which
was UFO’s didn’t really matter because his playing has added beef and muscle to the sound.
fifth studio was so great.” I’m not afraid to say that the whole
album and thing brought me to tears on more than
the only ANY EXTRAS one occasion. Listening to ‘No Heavy
one to feature former Heavy Metal Kids To start with you get six bonus tracks, Petting’ once again makes me even
keyboardist Danny Peyronel alongside including a cover of the Small Faces ‘All more certain that Phil Mogg is the finest
vocalist Phil Mogg, guitarist Michael Or Nothing’ and an unreleased acoustic rock singer the UK has ever produced.
Schenker, bassist Pete Way, and drummer version of a Frankie Miller number His power, spirit, and belief in the songs
Andy Parker. The album made it to a ‘Have You Seen Me Lately Joan?’ Along shines through every moment. Of
lowly number 169 in the United States, with that comes a 12-song disc of the course, Schenker is simply otherworldly.
and didn’t chart at all in the UK. This new band’s 1976 Roundhouse set, which was His talent is right off the scale and his
remaster comes with a poster booklet originally released on CD in 1996 on delivery of these songs is utterly unique.
and is available both in a double-CD set Zoom Club Records but is available here
and as a triple-clear-vinyl package. on vinyl for the very first time. John Nicholson

95
 PRODUCT ROCK CANDY PICKS
THE STUFF THAT’S GRABBED OUR ATTENTION

URIAH HEEP ‘Chaos & Colour’

(SILVER LINING MUSIC)

WHAT’S THE WHAT DOES IT SOUND LIKE? opener, while the lighter-waving ‘Hail The
STORY? All of the signature Uriah Heep elements Sunrise’ could have been written back in
The biggest are present; wah-wah-enhanced guitar the ’70s. Elsewhere, the poignant ballad
challenge from veteran Mick Box, fruity Hammond ‘One Nation, One Sun’ offers light and
facing a so- organ supplied by Phil Lanzon, vocal shade, while the shuffle of ‘Closer To Your
called heritage acrobatics from Bernie Shaw, and one Dreams’ brings back memories of the
act – a group of the tightest rhythm sections in rock band’s 1972 classic ‘Easy Livin’’.
with a storied music, with bassist Dave Rimmer holding
history and a down the low notes alongside drummer THE VERDICT
well-defined Russell Gilbrook. Heep have made this Ever since 2008’s ‘Wake The Sleeper’,
sound – is operating within familiar- noise for more than half a century, and their first album in a decade, Uriah Heep
sounding parameters while avoiding although Bernie Shaw isn’t the same as have been enjoying a purple patch. It’s
stagnation. Uriah Heep navigated this original vocalist David Byron, he’s by far tempting to say that Box and Co. could
successfully with their last studio album, the band’s longest serving frontman and make an album like ‘Chaos & Colour’
2018’s ‘Living The Dream’. For ‘Chaos & has an extremely recognisable voice. in their sleep, but that would be lazy
Colour’, a title inspired by the importance journalism. What this new album proves
of music during lockdown, Heep have re- BEST BITS yet again is that Uriah Heep are simply
engaged ‘Living The Dream’ producer Jay If Heep’s muscular mix of power and very good at what they do.
Ruston (Anthrax, Black Star Riders) and melody is your thing, then you’re in for
used the same English studio, Chapel. a treat. ‘Save Me Tonight’ is an explosive Dave Ling

STEVE VAI ‘Vai/Gash’

(FAVOURED NATIONS/MASCOT)

WHAT’S THE that it finally gets to see the light of day. a blistering solo from Vai. The standout
STORY? track, however, is an evocative power
As Vai himself WHAT DOES IT SOUND LIKE? ballad titled ‘Flowers Of Fire’ that closes
explains, “This For an album recorded so long ago it’s the album with a true swaying, lighter-in-
record was absolutely belting! The songs are the the-air moment. Might have been tricky
written and perfect accompaniment for cruising on a Harley, though!
recorded in down endless US highways and are
a stream of certainly different to the kind of songs we THE VERDICT
consciousness normally associate with Vai, in no small This is a totally unexpected album, but
in 1991 within part because they feature vocals. And it’s no less welcome for that! While it’s
perhaps a two-week period as an answer what vocals! He might not have been a no surprise that Vai’s guitar work is
Photos: Richard Stow; Lee Wilkinson

to my desire to have a particular kind pro singer, but Sombrotto’s singing is as impressive as ever, perhaps more
of music to listen to when I was riding engaged, passionate, and genuinely suits revelatory is how accomplished his knack
my Harley Davison motorcycle with my the songs. with a tune is, and how he seems more
friends. It’s reminiscent of a certain type than happy to let the songs shine as
of rock music I enjoyed as a teenager in BEST BITS much as the solos here. This album works
the 1970s.” Vocals are provided by Johnny There are only eight tracks here, but as Vai intended, as a fitting tribute to a
‘Gash’ Sombrotto, a fellow biker whom they’re all fine slabs of melodic rock. lost friend and a singing career that might
Vai met through a mutual friend. Gash Album opener ‘In The Wind’ is a great have been.
sadly died in a motorbike accident before rolling rocker, while ‘Danger Zone’
the album could be released. It’s only now features an instantly singable chorus and Ross Sampson

96
RICK WAKEMAN ‘A Gallery Of The Imagination’
(MADFISH MUSIC)

WHAT’S THE incidentally, contains a surround sound tender, yet effective and moving classical
STORY? version of the album. piano piece, while ‘The Visitation’ brings
The loveable to mind Kate Bush at her most ethereal.
super- WHAT DOES IT SOUND LIKE?
keyboardist This is a highly varied set of tunes THE VERDICT
and self-styled highlighting both Wakeman’s versatility Prog fans should be aware that this is
grumpy old and his broad palette. Equally definitely not a prog album full of Rick
man returns unsurprisingly, Rick’s keyboard playing showing off his dazzling dexterity at every
with an album takes centre stage, but he also gives twist and turn, though it’s always clear
inspired by Sanderson – one of the musical team what a talented player he is. Rather, it’s
his first piano teacher, Mrs Symes, who from hit UK TV dance show Strictly Come a set of tunes that deliberately moves
drilled it into young Rick that when you Dancing – plenty of chance to shine. across a number of different styles.
play, you’re painting pictures through Wakeman is clearly long enough in the Honestly, I’m not much of a fan of Hayley
music. Just as there are many different tooth not to let his ego get in the way. Sanderson’s super-clean vocals, and could
types of paintings in a gallery, here there have done with some heavier material
are many different types of music. Joining BEST BITS here. But who am I to criticise this musical
Rick for the project is The English Rock Opener ‘Hidden Depths’ will please Rick’s giant? Rick Wakeman has earned the right
Ensemble – bassist Lee Pomeroy, guitarist longstanding prog rock following, as it to do whatever he pleases.
Dave Colquhoun, drummer Ash Soan, features some lovely keyboard runs and
and vocalist Hayley Sanderson. The DVD, prog sounds. ‘The Creek’ is a simple and Howard Johnson

THE WINERY DOGS ‘III’

(THREE DOG MUSIC)

WHAT’S mix of hard rock, prog rock, and blues. ‘Stars’ with some serious shredding. Billy
THE STORY? Sheehan’s moment arrives on ‘Pharaoh’
Occasional WHAT DOES IT SOUND LIKE? where he pulls off some eerie basslines.
supergroup ‘III” features some highly creative hard But for me the album’s standout track is
The Winery rock where the influences come mainly ‘The Red Wine’, a straight-ahead rocker
Dogs return from the 1970s, with obvious nods to that has more than a hint of Canadian
with their first Led Zep, Grand Funk, The Who, Rush, legends Rush in its grooves.
studio outing Jeff Beck, and Bad Company. But there’s
in seven years. an interesting added experimental edge THE VERDICT
The band here that makes demands of the listeners, As you would rightly expect, The Winery
originally formed in 2012 when former asking them to go with the flow as one Dogs are a class act, and the oodles of
Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy track drifts into another. experience all three band members have
hooked up with bassist Billy Sheehan of acquired over many years are brought
Mr. Big and David Lee Roth. Renowned BEST BITS to bear on ‘III’. If your bag is 1970s hard
shredder Richie Kotzen, who’d also There isn’t a duff track on the album. rock delivered with an updated and
played in Mr. Big and Poison, provided ‘Xanadu’ flies out of the gate as Kotzen, unmistakeable 2020s feel, then look no
the final piece of the jigsaw. The band’s Portnoy, and Sheehan disappear into further than ‘III’ for your kicks. You won’t
2013 debut ‘The Winery Dogs’ was well their individual musical worlds, yet still be disappointed by an album that sounds
received, but it was an experimental manage to gel perfectly together. ‘Rise’ this refreshingly honest.
second album, 2015’s ‘Hot Streak’, that has a stop-start groove that veers off into
really set tongues wagging with its heady Jeff Beck territory, while Kotzen shines on Xavier Russell

97
 ENDGAME CROSSWORD
Can you deliver?

2 DOWN: THUNDER

For answers go to our website

[Link]

ACROSS DOWN
1 Dokken came ‘---- --- --- Attack’ in 1987. (4,3,3) 1 Heart were looking out for ‘--- Animals’ in 1987. (3)
5 Mr Big’s 2014 album ‘…The Stories We Could ----’. (4) 2 Thunder felt ‘The Thrill -- It ---’ in 1996. (2,3)
7 Last part of the stage name of Blue Öyster Cult’s 3 “----- not the blade,” screams Rob Halford in Judas
Donald Roeser. (6) Priest’s 1984 song ‘The Sentinel’. (5)
9 Malice guitarist who sadly passed away in 2016. (4,4) 4 Journey’s 1981 mega-album. (6)
10 Faith No More’s 1985 debut album was called, ‘We 5 The band from 27 across conducted a ‘Countdown
---- - ---’. (4,1,3) -- ----’ on their 1985 album ‘Astra’. (2,4)
13 1986 Meat Loaf song from the ‘Blind Before I Stop’ 6 Sadly departed Uriah Heap drummer known as The
album, ‘One More Kiss (Night Of The Soft ------)’. (6) Bear. (3,8)
16 New York rockers Riot covered the Eric Burdon And 8 Pioneering British AOR band that formed in
The Animals song ‘When I --- Young’, on their 1982 Cambridge in 1982. (7)
album ‘Restless Breed’. (3) 10 Classic Dio-era Black Sabbath song ‘-------- Of The
17 Are you sitting for this first word in the title of a ---’. (8,3)
famous 1979 Pink Floyd song? (11) 11 Manowar frontman Eric -----. (5)
18 The first name of Twisted Sister’s unforgettable 12 Starry song featured on Metallica’s ‘Master Of
frontman. (3) Puppets’. (5)
21 Tokyo Blade’s 1989 ‘No Remorse’ album took us to 14 Hard first name of a guitarist in Mother Love Bone,
‘The --- Of --- Storm’. (3,3) Green River, Temple Of The Dog and Pearl Jam. (5)
22 Spheeris, director of three The Decline Of Western 15 In 1979, Sweet were a ‘Cut ----- The Rest’. (5)
Civilization documentaries. (8) 16 Surname of Monster Magnet’s main man. (7)
24 The first track from Ministry’s 1988 album ‘The Land 19 Vinnie ------, guitarist with hardcore veterans
Of Rape And Honey’. (8) Agnostic Front. (6)
25 ‘------ Words (Big ’Orra)’, an Iron Maiden 20 ------ Beach, rockers who were active on Metal
instrumental from 1984’s ‘Powerslave’ album. (6) Blade Records back in 1990. (6)
27 British supergroup comprising members of King 22 REO Speedwagon’s 1978 opus, ‘You Can Tune A
Crimson, Yes, and Emerson, Lake & Palmer. (4) -----, But You Can’t Tuna Fish’. (5)
28 1970 saw Creedence Clearwater Revival heading ‘Up 23 Pendragon keyboard player Clive -----. (5)
------ The ----’. (6,4) 26 It Bites found themselves ‘All In ---’ in 1986. (3)
Photo: Jason Joyce

The Rock Candy Mag crossword is compiled by former Kerrang! writer Jason Arnopp, who recently launched Possessed By Metal,
a brand new YouTube channel dedicated to the loud stuff, with a strong 1980s skew. Set to feature interviews, rankings, reviews, and
lots of vinyl, the channel recently presented a Top 20 list of The Best Dio Songs Ever. Check it out here: [Link]/arnopptube

98
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