With the release of the ‘Angry Machines’ album I had the opportunity to do a phone interview with the legendary Ronnie James Dio. Angry Machines was a very heavy album, with Dio sounding up to date in the metal scene; unfortunately in retrospect, I don’t think it was one of the better ones [in retrospect I had/have a hard time getting into any Dio albums beyond the original Dio band!]
Dio was a great conversation. a few months later he performed at a club in Buffalo. I did get in line [outside – in the winter] to try and meet him and get a few things signed. He was very polite and accommodating to all those waiting. when I asked if Vinny was signing anything – he stepped back and called him to come sign my stuff. Class act. RIP.

An edited version of this interview originally appeared in Extreme magazine [our local free music mag] at the time. some time later some religious wacko opted to use parts of this interview to support his usual crap railing Satanism in heavy metal. I think he ended up on the run for some kid crime! https://www.jesus-is-savior.com/Evils%20in%20America/Rock-n-Roll/ronnie_james_dio.htm

*I also got to see Last In Line last year [with Vivian Campbell and Vinnie Appice] – a great show, and it was nice to attend the meet n greet — a shame Vivian and Ronnie hadn’t patched things up years back – neither was ever as good without the other IMO!

I also have NO interest in the Dio hologram show! I could ramble on about this [I did in a previous blog post], nor the numerous cash-in releases that have been put out since Ronnie’s passing.  I will highly recommend the Jorn Lande Dio tribute album that he did – far superior to the This Is Your Life release!

from ’96 : Dio came to fame as original frontman for Ritchie Blackmore’s RAINBOW in the mid-70s, singing on 3 classic studio LPs, and 1 excellent double live set, before leaving and replacing Ozzy Osbourne in BLACK SABBATH in 1980. With SABBATH, Dio sang and wrote on one my favorite SABBATH albums – “Heaven And Hell”, as well as the excellent follow-up “Mob Rules”, and then departing amongst feuds and controversy following the double live set “Live Evil” in ’82. Following SABBATH, Dio went on to front his own band DIO, which originally included guitarist Vivian Campbell (ex of SWEET SAVAGE and now of glam wanna-be’s – DEF LEPPARD), drummer Vinny Appice (also from SABBATH, and still with DIO !), bassist Jimmy Bain (from RAINBOW; the guy who looks like Mr. Bean!)), and keyboardist Claude Schnell.  DIO’s first 3 studio albums were huge spanning the years 1983 to ’85, far surpassing any success of his former bands that were still going. After the live “Intermission” set, Campbell left DIO to be replaced with guitarist Craig Goldie for the “Dream Evil” album. 1990’s “Lock Up The Wolves” saw Dio change his whole band by bringing in 18 year old guitarist Rowan Robertson, bassist Teddy Cole, drummer Simon Wright (ex AC/DC), and keyboardist Jens Johansson. Following that DIO gave up his own band for a much publicized reunion with BLACK SABBATH. Following the release of the album “Dehumanizer” and a subsequent tour Dio left SABBATH again under nasty circumstances. He immediately put together a new DIO band with Appice, guitarist Tracy G. (ex of WORLD WAR 3), and bassist Jeff Pilson (of DOKKEN). 1993’s “Strange Highways” went by with little publicity in North America, and a poor push from the record company. Now DIO is back with one of his heaviest and best sounding albums to date — “Angry Machines.”

Q : I wanted to ask a few things about you personally because Ronnie James Dio is not seen in the public eye as much. I don’t think there’s a lot known about you compared to some people who’s every antic is in the paper. Can you tell me about you as a person, and family, and some of your thoughts?
RJD : I’m from a small town in up-state New York called Cortland. I moved to LA about 20 years ago; I wanted to get out of the cold weather — as everybody does, I’m sure ! My wife is my manager. We don’t have any children. I’ve spent my whole life doing this, I think. Maybe that’s why it’s not so interesting. I started playing the trumpet when I was 5 years old, which was great training for me as a singer. It taught me the correct way to do it because I’ve not taken singing lessons from anyone. I went to the University of Buffalo; I was a pharmacy major. After I finished my University education I did what I always wanted to do — which was to become a musician ! From that time I decided to be a musician it was a matter of traveling all the time and loving every minute of it. And then to be lucky enough to form a band with Ritchie Blackmore from DEEP PURPLE , and then to be in SABBATH after that, and to have the great success with DIO that we did after that! Most of it’s been working; it’s been a pretty normal life other than the musical part of it.

Q : Do you have many thoughts on politics and religion?
RJD : I don’t dote on religion. Religion, I think, is something that you can never argue, and you can certainly never convince the other person because even though there’s a bible — how concrete is it ? It depends on the point of view. So religion is not something I’m involved in, other than the fact that having been in BLACK SABBATH it seems like there’s a connection. I just think there’s a lot of similes and metaphors and things that have gotten me to that point. Religion, much like fantasy, much like the tales of King Arthur is, again, something that is so difficult to put a hand on and say “this actually happened.” It’s such a matter of belief that you’re really dealing in the same kind of properties. My fantasy writing is coupled with some religious overtones as well because they are part and partial to, again — they’re not the same thing, but you see what I mean. As for politics, I’ve not gotten involved because my time is taken doing what I do as a performer. I do deal with charities though. There are some that are very close to my heart, but politically I just feel that we’re in a mess. Bureaucracy has continually eaten itself by the tail, and it’s a problem that never ends. It’s gotten too big and it’s a horrible place we live in ! A lot of that has to go down to the government. It’s our government and it’s up to us to change it. We can throw all the barbs we want at the people we elect, but we’re the ones who elected them so it’s our choice. But again, the 2 subjects are pretty unarguable, so I stay away from them.

Q : In reference to the track “Dying In America,” from the new album, is that partially where that sprang from?
RJD : It is. That one, of course, from the dissatisfaction that I see within myself from the people who appear never to be able to have anything. We want education for our children — of course we should have education for our children, but to what end ? We try to prepare them to be the viable citizens, who are going to be able to get a job, and that’s impossible right off the start — so that’s a problem. From drive-by shootings to serial murders, all of the things we experience — cataclysmic extremes with the weather, what we’ve done to the ecology, AIDS, the list goes on and on — it’s a pretty miserable place ! And I just needed to make a statement, as an American, that this is not the rosy little garden path that everyone thinks it is in the rest of the world. We have as many problems with homeless and the under-educated, etc, etc — then anyone does ! In fact we’re a first rate nation with a lot of third world attitudes inside of it. So yeah, that track’s about that ! “Big Sister” is another politically motivated track. It’s kind of a take-off of the “Big Brother” situation from Orwell’s “1984,” but in this case I substituted the feminine attitude for government. But hey, if you change it and put politics inside of it it’s the same thing.

Q : You did the “Stars” thing many years ago, and you mentioned charities. What sort of things do you still do?
RJD : I’ve been involved with a charity here in Los Angeles called “Children Of The Night.” It’s a charity founded by a woman named Dr. Lois Lee, who is now a psychiatrist or psychologist. And she went out on the streets all by herself and would find young kids who had traveled here to LA, and who were about to be pressed into prostitution or drug use or drug sales — whatever the case may be. She went out and took these people in to her own home. The reason being that — when we talk about government, what the government does in that situation is they’ll find a runaway and send that runaway back to probably the exact same dysfunctional attitude he or she came from . What she did, because it’s a private charity, was keep these kids until they were 18 years old and prepared for a life on the streets without drugs, and without prostitution. Unfortunately a lot them have AIDS, so it’s to help them ease the remaining part of their lives. I’ve been involved in this charity for 11 years now, and we’ve been able to build a shelter for them in Los Angeles, a wonderful facility, with a lot of wonderful people contributing too ! Among them are Ozzy Osbourne, Richard Marx — just a lot of people who care.

Q : That’s great ! You used to play bass in ELF. Do you still play at all ?
RJD : Actually this year and the last time we did an album (“Strange Highways”), I played for about 2 or 3 months as we were writing the project because at different points Jeff Pilson, our bass player, was not available. So I kept my hand in it a little bit, but it makes me realize, as I did when I chose singing instead of bass playing (because I did both), was you have to be pretty damned good at one or the other. You just can’t kind of coast through being good at one and not the other. I decided my joy was in singing, so that’s why I stopped playing bass. But every time I do play it brings me back to the realization of why I did that. Boy — the old wrist hurts, I’ll tell you!!

Q : I was reading an interview with your cousin Dave Feinstein (ex THE RODS) in a fanzine and he talked about your early days with ELF. What was your first recording, and what can you remember of those days?
RJD : The first ELF album was just called “Elf.” We did that in Atlanta, Georgia, produced by Ian Paice and Roger Glover of DEEP PURPLE. It was great — two of our heroes were producing the album. It was just great to be around them. It was real quick. I played bass on that album, and we did almost everything live. We went in and I played and sang at the same time. We just did it and away it went ! It wasn’t like where each instrument was done separately in a different studio, you know — with that craziness. We were very well prepared; it was a good band. We played together for a long time, grew up together. So we just went in and “bang” — did it ! It was so much fun to do and it was a really good album as well.

Q : What were your favorite bands and musicians back then?
RJD : Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, King Crimson. I liked King Crimson a lot, and The Beatles, of course!

Q : You were involved in “The Butterfly Ball” project. You did the tracks on the album, but you weren’t part of the live show!?
RJD : I didn’t do the live show. At that time we’d just put RAINBOW together, Ritchie and I, and he felt it was not something that I should do, that we should be concentrating on the RAINBOW thing and not me side-tracked by that. It was his band, and he was another one of my heroes, so I figured he knew what he was doing . In retrospect I’m quite glad I didn’t do the show.

Q : Do you still have contact with Roger (Glover) and Ritchie? Any of those guys?
RJD : Ritchie lives on the other side of the continent in New York, so I only get to speak to him through people that we both know. Roger, the same — I haven’t seen him in a long while, but we’ve all remained friends. It’s nothing like it’s been blown up to be in the press, you know — “Ritchie’s the most difficult man on earth to work with!”. He probably is for everybody else, but he never was for me. I have nothing but the best to say about Ritchie. He’s the one who gave me my first great opportunity and I learned a hell of a lot from him

Q : What were the circumstances that you left BLACK SABBATH the first time, and then the second?
RJD : Well, the first time I left it was just over some stupidity about the live album we were doing — “Live Evil.” The engineer was drinking a bottle of Jack Daniels a day and told Tony and Geezer he thought Vinny and I were sneaking in to the studio and turning the vocals and drums up. As their want — they believed it, and that lead to the break-up of that one. It was all completely untrue and absolutely stupid ! When we did reform in ’92 the apologies went all the way around. The second time was because of the shows I was told we were going to do. We had all our shows booked in LA and now we were going to change that to become the opening act for Ozzy — which I refused to do ! I didn’t do it out of a personal thing with Ozzy – I couldn’t care less about him. But it was — here we were trying to get this band back on the road together, trying to reform this band and make it special again — and now, suddenly, we were going to be the opening act for the Ex lead singer ! AND I also knew that when that show came that they were going to announce the reunion between the 4 of them — which did happen ! So what was the sense of my doing the show to bolster their careers, they obviously didn’t care less about mine. So that was the end of that!

Q : Do you think you were misunderstood in the press at the time?
RJD : Well, I said exactly as I’ve said to you. “Misunderstood” — I don’t think is the word. The thing is that everybody continually believes the things that they hear about me — that I’m some kind of “Hitler” figure. People who know me will tell you absolutely different. You know, I don’t need to defend myself. Was I misunderstood ? Yes, I think so, because of the perception people have that of course it’s my fault, that 2 unassuming gentlemen — Geezer and Tony, couldn’t possibly make any kind of wrong decision. In that matter that it had to be Dio who was wrong. Those are my beliefs. My beliefs were that I gave up the DIO band and they gave up nothing ! They had BLACK SABBATH and were lucky enough to get Vinny and I to come back and do it ! And at the end of the day our preferences weren’t given any credibility. When that happens you have no communication, which is what we didn’t have and spelled the break-up. I can only tell my version of the truth and I believe what I know is correct. Others will hear other things. I think a lot of it was the Ronnie versus Ozzy thing that cropped up for some reason or another. I don’t know why, because it’s never really bothered me what Ozzy does — I’m happy for his success. But it was that more than anything else, you know — “oh that I disrespected Ozzy” or something — like I really care!

Q : About the recording of the “Dehumanizer” album — how genuine was the reunion ? How tense was it from the beginning?
RJD : I think it was always going to be tense. It had been 10 years since we’d done anything, and we hadn’t talked to each other or anything. When you get thrown back in the situation it was a lot of success and a lot of failure had gone down the road in that time. They hadn’t exactly been knocking the socks off anybody, and we had great success with the first 3 DIO albums. We both kind of reached a medium ground, and we were presented with each other as equals as opposed to the first time when they were BLACK SABBATH and I had just come out of RAINBOW, and Vinny was an unknown. So, the footing was very different. But yeah, there was some tension there. We made the best of it. We had intended for it to not be anything but a lot of albums to come, a lot of touring, and perhaps end our careers that way. But once again, circumstances and personalities dictated other things, so that was that ! The tension was good; it was a great album, and the reason it’s a great album is because there was tension. If we had fallen into each others’ arms with love and adulation it probably would have been the biggest, sappiest piece of crap on Earth.

Q : Do you still have contact with any of those guys?
RJD : I do with Geezer, again through other people, and Tony through other people. You know, I love those guys, I always have, I always will. It was never a personal thing with me — NEVER ! It just turns out that way more in the press than anything else. I still care for them very much, and we do speak, but again through other people.

Q : A few years ago I read that there was to be a Retrospect video on you that would feature some early RAINBOW and ELF footage — has that ever been released?
RJD : I don’t know anything about it, really — wish I did, it sounds interesting ! ELF footage (?) — I think there is some from when we toured with DEEP PURPLE. The unfortunate thing to me was that we, DIO, never made a live album. I think that was an opportunity well missed — not missed by us, but missed by the record company.

Q : The “Intermission” release was close!?
RJD : Yes, but it’s still not the same. That was a compromise. It was “OK we know you really want to do a live album, well we’ll let you do half of it live, and the other half…”. That’s not representative of the live show. So I don’t consider “Intermission” to be an ultimate live album.

Q : Your voice is in incredibly good shape. Do you practice a lot?
RJD : I’ve never really had much problem with my voice, and I think a lot of that has to do with technique — you know how to do it. It’s like having good tools, and with good tools you build a good house, if you’ve got a bad saw — you’re going to cut crooked. I’ve never had a problem; I’ve never had to cancel a show. I hope that continues. It’s just a real tough vocal performance for me every year, and every year I say I’m going to write songs in a lower key so I don’t have to kill myself. But every time I write them higher and higher. The show is very bruising for a singer; not a lot of rest, continuous music. So again, touch wood, I’ve been pretty lucky with that.

Q : On the back of the new album there is 3 of you (pictured) — you, Vinny, and Tracy. Jeff’s not there — is he an actual member of the band or …?
RJD : Well, we always considered Jeff a member of the band, but Jeff’s been doing the DOKKEN project for a while. They did one album a couple of years ago and now they’re doing another. That was a commitment that he had that we knew about, so we didn’t have any other choice but to wait around for Jeff until he was able to write and record with us — which he did. When it came time to do a photo for the album management said that they thought it would be confusing if Jeff was included on the album picture. So it was nothing to do with us. We wanted Jeff’s picture there, and I still think it’s stupid that he wasn’t there; after all, he contributed — so why should that have anything to do with DOKKEN. But, that’s the reason there’s only 3 of us, because management wanted it that way.

Q : The last track on the album — “This Is Your Life” is quite a nice ballad and you don’t do a lot of them.
RJD : No. I’ve always tried to stay away from anything that smacks of being a love song, and this is not a love song ! Of all 10 tracks on this album — 9 of them are pretty vicious as far as their content goes. Lyrically by that I mean they’re reality based — like “Dying In America.” And then on the last song, “This Is Your Life,” I wanted to show that I had some optimism left for humanity and this world. So, if there is any message — it’s that an individual can make a great change for not only themselves — but for humanity ; you know “this is your chance, it’s your life — make something of it!” That’s the reason I wanted to include that one and tie it down. I did it with a piano, and I’ve never done a song with just a piano, but because it was a bit more personal…I tried it with a guitar but it didn’t have the personal-ness that the piano version had.

Q : You once said you never liked doing ballads, and that’s what the tracks are that you did on “The Butterfly Ball” album.
RJD : But that wasn’t a DIO project, that was Roger’s — for a purpose.

Q : But it does show a lot for your voice!?
RJD : Sure it does. The vehicle which you have is what makes the difference you know !!? Obviously if you have a good vehicle to sing, and you can sing — that’s going to show you off in that light. I’ve always been pretty single-minded to the kind of music I want to make. I like things that are very very hard and hard-edged. And I thought that, in this case (“This Is Your Life”), by putting something so gentle against all that came before it also had some credibility. I think I’ve done enough ballads throughout my career so that I’ve kept “respect” from other people. Because when they think it’s all going to be a matter of shouting this and shouting that, and suddenly they get something nice. So, I think I’ve done enough.

Q : You usually stay current, sound-wise, especially with this new album — it’s very up to date; and now that a lot of heavier bands have gone soft now seems like a really great time for you.
RJD : Well, I think it is. I think it should be. We’ve taken steps to understand what’s out there. I mean, if you don’t listen to what you’re competing with, you’re a fool. And if you don’t listen to what the people who are making music like you do, you’re a fool as well. I’ve produced all the records, with the exception of the last one (“Strange Highways”), and that many of the songs on it were very dated sounding. It was almost a “back to the ’80s” kind of sound and that was very disturbing to me, so I decided I would then again step in as producer on this album. Not only I, but everyone in this band knew exactly what we wanted to sound like. We knew that it needed to be more up front; that the guitars shouldn’t be doubled; that there shouldn’t be a lot of effects on the voice; that the vocals should be straight up, and that the drums alive. It’s really more of a harkening back to what we did on “Holy Diver” and “Last In Line”; especially “Holy Diver” — which is a very “live” sounding album. It’s a very hard-edged, in front of your face album. We wanted to recapture that. To move on to what I hear today, I hear a lot of alternative bands doing things that are interesting; not just from a sound perspective — but also from a musical perspective. In the old days if you wanted to do something that was a little off kilt or time-wise — if you wanted to do something in 7:4 you wouldn’t do it because you were afraid people would break their legs trying to move around to it. In this case you just listen to the way the younger bands go where they want to go and I go “that’s great ! that makes so much sense.” You should be able to go where you want to instead of having to go around the corner first and come back again. From listening to all these things and being smart enough to know where modernes lays we just did it this way.

Q : “Strange Highways” was very difficult to find around here.
RJD : When we did that album the record company just went “whoa — we don’t know what to do with this one so we’ll throw it against the wall and if it does something — we’ll support it, if not — the hell with it !” They really did nothing. We were at the back-end of getting ready to leave that label anyway, it just wasn’t the place for us. And making a move now has made a great difference for us. But I must say I can’t lay the blame on everybody else, that album perhaps sounded too dated — that might have been one of its problems too. The sad part is that you have to make it available for the people to make that judgment, as opposed to having to mail away for it. But that’s water under the bridge, and that lead us to this point, which is important. We started writing in a different manner on the “Strange Highways” album and it’s carried on in that writing style to this one. We’ve just taken it a few steps closer to the year 2000 rather than looking back and trying to be a reunion band and thinking — “gee, I think they’re going to like this one — it sounds like Holy Diver!” That’s something I never wanted to do.

Q : What do you think of all the reunions going on?
RJD : The only one that makes any sense to me is KISS because so many young people have heard from their parents, brothers or sisters of what a great show it was and now they’ll get a chance to see it. The rest of them — there’s so many bands reuniting because they failed after the break-up of the band that they were successful with. Well, what’s the easy way to do it ? “Let’s not go out and find other musicians to create something new — let’s go back and do what we did before!” I think it’s being done because it can be done. I think if you’re going to do a reunion you have to make a good album and step into the future. With SABBATH we did exactly that! I think that the album we made was certainly a lot more timely than a lot of the product I’m sure I’m going to hear these days. But one never knows, I guess they deserve a chance. My feeling is that you reunite because you couldn’t make it in another direction.

Q : You once said that “Heaven And Hell” was your favorite album from your past. Is it still?
RJD : Yes ! And it’s not just the music, it’s all the things that went together with it. You know — the reason it was made, how difficult it was to make it, the time it took, the people involved, the changes while we were doing it — that’s what made the difference, I think. It was an album, again, that started a cycle for hard-rock music, and I’m very proud of that.

Q : You’re going on the road, what sort of venues are you going to play?
RJD : Well, once you’ve had a dragon and all those kind of things around you, it’s very difficult to do anything on a lesser manner. So we’ll bring nothing that moves around and shouts at you, but we’ll bring somebody to dress up on stage, obviously to make it look a little more usual, and a back-drop. These days I don’t think people are as concerned about that as they used to be. I think it’s a matter of they prefer to see you in a small place then they can get a feel for it instead of getting lost in an arena situation. And let’s face it — arenas don’t sell out anymore anyway, so economically that’s not going to happen. What we bring will be perfect for the size venues we play.

Q : What do you have planned for the future?
RJD : Another album after this one — about a year down the road. I want to finish the book ; that’s really it for me. I’m just so happy with this band that I just know that the next album is really going be a landmark for us, and I can’t wait for that one ! So until my musical career goes away, or it’s time for me to go away, I’ll just stay fully directed in that motion.

Q : Do you still got a lot in you?
RJD : Yeah. That’s what I do; that’s what keeps me sane, keeps me happy, and keeps me wanting to work. So I plan on doing it until people tell me I shouldn’t do it anymore, or until I get to the point that my bones start creaking so much — I just fall over!

Q : You’ve always come across to me, through everything I’ve read and seen, as one of the most intelligent guys in the rock world. (RJD: Thank-you!) I was wondering — do you read a lot?
RJD : I used to read an awful lot. I still do, but not as voraciously like I used to. I read as much as I possibly can. I read a lot of science-fiction. I find science-fiction writers are normally the prognosticators of what’s to come. They tend to do it 5 or 6 years before it ever happens. I also like to read a lot of sports biography books — I love sports ! I like to read about people who have succeeded because I can get a glimpse into the attitude of what made them successful and perhaps adapt it to myself.

Q : That’s about it. Do you have anything to add about the new album? Any last thoughts?
RJD : No. Just that we’re more than happy to be going on the road, and getting a chance to learn how to do it right. Because what you do in the studio — to me — that’s the means to the end. The end is to go out and play live. That’s what we all love to do in this band ! All I can say is — come out and see us ! We’re going to do a lot of interesting songs. It won’t be all the ones we’ve done before, but some of the things that people have asked us for that we haven’t done in a while. It should be a good show!

Q : Do you still include some RAINBOW and SABBATH stuff?
RJD : Yes. We probably do more SABBATH things than we do RAINBOW things. I think we’re only going to do one RAINBOW thing, and that’s from such a long time ago. We’re going to do something we didn’t do before. I won’t tell you what it is.

Q : I hope to see you and wish you guys the best of luck.
RJD : Thanks for all the compliments. Thanks especially for liking the album — that’s the most important thing. Because you don’t know yourself unless you hear it from others. You know, you’re too close to it most of the time. But it’s great when other people give you those kinds of compliments!

KJJ , 1996

It was just over a year ago that fans of British band Magnum woke to the post that longtime keyboard player Mark Stanway had officially left the band, while on tour in the UK. Just after a month later it was announced that Rick Benton had joined the band, and had played on the band’s last few shows. He would play live with Magnum throughout 2016 and recorded with the band the brand new album “Lost On The Road To Eternity” – which is being released early in the new year.  Thanks to Al Barrow [Magnum’s bass player], I connected with Rick and sent him my questions for this interview – some insight in to Rick’s musical styles, influences, and his experiences thus far with Magnum!

Check out more about Rick at >

http://www.rickbenton.co.uk/

and > http://magnumonline.co.uk/

https://www.facebook.com/magnumbandpage/

What bands and artists did you grow up on – ones that had a major influence on you?

I grew up in a very musical household. Both parents played piano, (my dad played in a dance band and also played organ at the local church). My brother, sister and I all started piano lessons at a very early age and so music was always around us. We listened to a wide variety of genres, anything from Bach to the Beatles, Beethoven to Black Sabbath, Rachmaninoff to Rush! I was also very lucky at school to have a music teacher who was passionate about all styles of music, I remember we had a school orchestra, choir, jazz band and pop bands so we had the chance to ‘dip in’ to everything musical. I started ‘gigging’ when I was around 12 years old, meeting and playing with some great local musicians who helped me along my way. I also went to watch as many gigs as I could. I’m not sure I could accurately point to any individual influences – more a combination of all of the above to be honest.

Can you give me a ‘top 10’ of favorite albums from your early years?

Wow – very difficult question! I’ve always had a very diverse taste in music so this isn’t going to be an easy one to answer. For me, so many of my all-time favourite tracks are tucked away on albums that wouldn’t necessarily make this list – I’m much more of a ‘playlist’ listener than a whole album aficionado! Thinking back though, in no particular order, these are probably the albums that I listened to in their entirety most regularly (and in some cases still do!):

Peter Gabriel: So, Us Pearl Jam: 10 Rush: Moving Pictures Magnum: On a Storyteller’s Night Genesis: Genesis, Invisible Touch Toto: IV Bruce Hornsby and The Range: The Way It Is Steeley Dan: Aja Donald Fagan: The Nighfly Stevie Wonder: Inner Visions

You’ve also done theatre and teach. what music is your first love and favorite – rock, blues, theatrical?

I listen to such a wide variety of music depending on the mood I’m in – it could be jazz, classical, latin, blues…..but at the end of the day I’ve always been a bit of a rocker at heart!

Prior to joining Magnum, how familiar with the band were you? and / or any of their songs?

I remember getting ‘On a Storyteller’s Night’ when I was in my teens and loving the album – great song writing, performances and arrangements. I’ve followed the band since then so I was pretty familiar with many of their songs. I’d also met Tony on a number of occasions at Mark Stuart’s studio when he was based in Walsall. How exactly did you wind up joining Magnum? [details]

Last December I had a phone call from Mark (Magnum’s TM and Sound Engineer). We’ve known each other since the 90’s (Mark produced a number of recordings I did with The Lilac Groove and I’ve done keyboard sessions for him at his studio for a raft of artists over the years). He asked me if I was available over the following few days to join the tour for the final shows, explaining that Mark Stanway had decided the time was right for him to concentrate on other projects and had left the band. It took me about 1 second to say yes! I spent the next day scoring out the set from live video clips and recordings then joined up with the guys at the Wolverhampton gig and then travelled with them to do the last show in Edinburgh.

You would’ve had to learn a number of tracks in a hurry !? What are some of your favorite Magnum songs to perform as a keyboard player and as a listener?

They’re all fantastic to play for different reasons – that’s one of the greatest things about Magnum – you know instantly who you are listening to, but no two songs are the same. From a keyboard players perspective, some are about fitting in to the ‘groove’ backing up the guitar rhythms, some creating a ‘mood’ or ‘scene’ through sound and others are more ‘virtuoso’ with intricate piano lines and string arrangements.
Picking favourites is tricky because it can depend on your own mood at the time of playing but I would have to say that, from the current live set, Les Morts Dansant, Twelve Men Wise and Just, All England’s Eyes and When The World Comes Down encapsulate much of what’s great about playing keys for Magnum.

Magnum has some grand keyboard intros and solos throughout the catalogue. do you approach your playing to sticking true to what’s on record or are there any alterations in the way you perform certain tracks?

That’s an interesting question as many of the songs have developed from their original recording through decades of live performances. I’ll give you one example – Les Morts Dansant. On the album version, the intro is played on a pipes sound. On live performances this has become a very recognised piano intro. From a sound and notation perspective I learnt the set from live video footage and live recordings with the aim of remaining true to what audiences have become accustomed to. Obviously there will be subtle differences in my dynamics and feel as we all play slightly differently, but for me, staying true to these well-known intros and solos is very important as they are an integral part of incredibly crafted and well loved songs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ada-4aJFQ1U

You’ve had the chance to do some major festivals and tour with Magnum prior to the new album. what have been some of the highlights and any moments that stick out for you as a new member to the band and their audience?

The first thing that struck me and has been a constant highlight of every gig has been the obvious bond between the band and the fans. I know it’s a well used (sometimes over used!) comparison but it really does seem like one giant family. Talking to folk before and after the gigs has been great – I’ve certainly felt very ‘welcomed’. Tony, Bob, Al and Lee are all great guys to be around on and off stage and the crew are amazing – we’re certainly enjoying life on the road! Touring gigs and festivals? Take your pick – they’ve all been highlights!

How was the pre-production and recording experience for the new Magnum album? [detail your input and viewpoint of this whole process]. As Tony Clarkin writes the Magnum material, can you tell me how much freedom you had to expand on intros, solos, etc. – in the studio?

What a great experience! For me the process began with sitting with Tony and listening to the song demos he had recorded, talking through sound selections and arrangements and then starting to lay down my keyboard parts. There was plenty of encouragement and opportunity to put forward ideas as the recordings progressed (intros / solos / sound selection / arrangements etc.). Often we’d lay down several takes of a song, starting with a very basic rhythmic version and finishing with a full-on keyboard ‘notefest’. Tony would then decide which worked best for the song – on some of the tracks less was definitely more, on others the keyboards took a more prominent roll. Tony is not only an incredible musician and song writer but he is also a quite extraordinary producer – I learned so much from working under his guidance in terms of developing ideas and playing for the song – absolutely priceless!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2dGUQvHNEE

Having not heard the album, aside from the single [Without Love – which isn’t a keyboard heavy track]. what can you tell me about some of the other songs — any favorites? any big keyboard intros and solos?

From my perspective as a fan, I would say that this is very much an unmistakable Magnum album – Tony’s incredible songwriting and selection of subject matter re-counted through Bobs dramatic vocal story-telling runs right through the heart of it. Musically there are powerful guitar riffs, sweeping melodic solo’s, incredible drum grooves, all underpinned by Al’s signature rock solid bass lines and a title track which features a symphony orchestra playing an arrangement which I defy anyone to say doesn’t send shivers down the spine! Can I choose favourites? No – they all sound amazing to me and move me emotionally in very different ways! There’s definitely a couple of times where the keyboards take a ‘nod’ and a few that they start – I’ll let the listeners decide whether these are ‘big’!

Are there any of your own performances on the new album that you are looking forward to fans hearing?

To be honest I’m really looking forward to everyone being able to hear the album in its entirety – I’m beyond proud and honoured to have been involved in its creation – I just hope that my input has been faithful to the rich musical history of Magnum.

You must be looking forward to the upcoming tour, and performing new material that you are a part of!? Has it been decided on how many and which of the new tracks will feature in the Magnum live show? [if so, how was this process achieved?]

Naturally I’m very excited about the tour – we go in to rehearsals in the new year and then we’ll be off, hoping that our bus driver doesn’t get us “Lost On The Road To Eternity’ (I should say that he’s a great driver and we’ve all got satnav apps on our phones so I’m pretty sure we’ll find all the venues!). Regarding the set, Bob is the one who generally puts the show together. It’ll undoubtedly be a mix of classics and new material….I’m afraid I’m not at liberty to say any more than that (under a threat of limb removal!!).

You’re also a part of Rebecca Downes’ band. How different is that musically and in performance?

Musically it’s quite different – in Magnum I use a wide variety of sounds between the songs ranging from orchestral strings to lead synths, brass, vintage pads, acoustic piano, electric pianos, motion synths, organs etc. For Rebecca, I predominantly use three sounds – acoustic piano, Hammond and Rhodes. Playing wise they are very different genres and therefore my actual playing style changes somewhat – for example there’s much more improvisation required in Rebecca’s set with blues solos on piano and Hammond featuring in a number of her songs. From a performance perspective, any time on any stage should be treated in the same way – get on and give it 110%!

She has signed a North American deal[!?] – might we see you with her over here in North America in the near future?

I’m not sure about the near future as touring North America is a very expensive business, but you never know – I’d love to come back at some point!

What are you listening to these days, as a music fan? [any current albums or reissues you’ve picked up?]

I try to listen to anything and everything! Although I might not personally like all that’s out there, I’m very conscious of the fact that with so much music available to listen to, there’s always a surprise to enjoy and a lesson to learn! If pushed, I’d have to admit that right now, while I’m typing this response, I’m listening to a Christmas compilation that the kids have popped on…..thank goodness it’ll be over in a week or so (musically!).

*further links:

https://www.expressandstar.com/entertainment/2017/10/06/wolverhampton-blues-rocker-rebecca-downes-talks-ahead-of-midlands-shows/

http://workhardpr.com/magnum/magnum.php

KJJ, 12/17

via IOANNIS – GET THE LED OUT

Doogie White became a name to classic / hard rock fans years back when the Scottish singer was chosen for the re-incarnated “Ritchie Blackmore’s RAINBOW”. With Rainbow, White sang on the album “Stranger In Us All”, which was well received by long time Rainbow / Blackmore fans. He also toured the globe with Blackmore’s Rainbow, before Blackmore decided to move on to other projects and split up his latest version of Rainbow, leaving Doogie White to look for a new gig. Prior to Rainbow, White had sang in the UK band Midnight Blue, and appeared on 2 English Steel albums [produced by Lea Hart], which featured a number of other British rock veterans.  I swapped notes with Dougie about a few things, and he answered my questions here. The man reveals some interesting info about his past, his time with Rainbow, and his current happenings!

*Since this interview, originally posted in October of ’99,  Doogie White has become one of the best and hardest working singers out there. White has recorded numerous albums with numerous acts. I am way behind, loved the Praying Mantis album he did way back, but after more recently getting the 2 Demon’s Eye albums he did in 2011 & 2015, and lately picking up the Michael Schenker Group albums he’s on, I am keen to get caught up [currently watching a live show on youtube with Tank!] .

anyway, for more info check out http://www.doogiewhite.com [this site needs updating], or look Doogie up on facebook!
Q) First album you ever bought?
D) Warner Bros. Music Show, with the Doobies, Little Feat, Montrose
Q) Favorite bands, musos, singers in your early days?
D) David Bowie, Roy Wood, Tom Jones, The Monkees, The Beatles
Q) What was-your first pro band? [when did you get into it full-time?]
D) Strangely it was Midnight Blue in ’88. Although I was in La Paz for 4 years but it was semi pro. We released 2 cassette albums.
Q) Did any of these bands feature anyone else of significance in later years?
D) MB’s guitarist went on to play with GUN, Bruce Dickinson and currently guitarist with pop sensation Robbie Williams. MB’s keyboard player Jem Davis – played with UFO and FM. The La Paz Boys took the other road and made millions in computers property and mining.
Q) What kind of music was Midnight Blue? any album releases?
D) 80`s AOR but a bit heavier than most.
Q) Any band comparisons?
D) We released “Take The Money And Run ” on Zero in Japan. Not really I didn’t listen to AOR so I couldn’t say. Alex liked Jake E Lee, so maybe it was like that.

Q) Midnight Blue did some gigs with Uriah Heep back in 89 or 90, what do you recall of these? any good stories??
D) I had a question that I’d always wanted to ask and when the opportunity to do so arose I did. It went something like this…….. “Trevor can I ask you a question?” He sighed as he thought he knew what was coming , another BOWIE question perhaps. “How come you’re credited for singing the last song on Conquest when it is clearly JS. He brightened up at that and told me why.  [RIP TB]
Q) You were also involved in the English Steel projects — what was this all about?
D) It was British Steel and was an album released by Metal Hammer in 89/90 to promote British bands to a wider audience. Magazines have done this for years.
Q) [I attached a section from my Sloman discography about the English Steel albums]. If it ain’t the same thing, what did you do on this?
D) AHHH so this is where they went… Gotcha’ya, Lea Hart! Well I did some stuff for Lea and he does have a reputation for making up compilation albums so this is probably one of those. I don’t have it, I only had a crackly demo of the songs I sang.
Q) Familiar with the “Metal Christmas” project which includes many of the same names as on English Steel albums?
D) Yes, my Mate Andy Barnett plays guitar on this
Q) What else had you been involved with during the 90s prior to Rainbow?
D) After MB imploded, for whatever reason – I did a lot of session singing for various Publishing houses, singing songs written for artists like Cher, Tom Jones, Paul Carrick to name a few. Also I got involved with several writers whose demos I sang. I did an album with some friends under the name of Chain. Heavier rock than usual.
Q) Any releases? [any info, label….]
D) The Chain album is on JVC Victor in Japan and is called “Eros of Love and Destruction”. I liked it though it was just demos.

Q) You auditioned for Iron Maiden when Bruce left!?
D) Yes, 2 times
Q) What happened with that?
D) I was first in and last in. I sang 20 songs over an afternoon with them. I got a better appreciation for them and Bruce after that; it was hard work. I would have really loved to be in Maiden but then I couldn’t have been in Rainbow and that was where I had wanted to be since I was 15. Obviously they gave the gig to Blaze.

Q) How did you come to work with Rainbow?
D) I had given a tape to Colin Hart Purple’s tour manager when JLT was singing for them, when Ritchie left he called me and asked if I’d come to NY and sing for him.
Q) Audition?
D) 5 days worth
Q) Who else auditioned when you did?
D) No one, I was the only choice

http://deep-purple.family-tree.org/Rainbow/discography/official.htm http://deep-purple.family-tree.org/Rainbow/discography/official.htm

Q) Did you feel any pressure following in the footsteps as such great singers as RJ Dio, Graham Bonnet, and Joe Lynn Turner??
D) Not pressure as such but, I knew as a fan what I’d have wanted in the new Rainbow singer and strived to deliver that.
Q) How do you feel your vocals and contributions to Rainbow compared to theirs?
D) That’s not for me to say, others will judge me. I was pleased with my input as was Ritchie and I have to say the fans were very generous in their reviews and appraisals.
Q) How were songs written between yourself and Ritchie?
D) He jammed the music I jammed the melodies and lyrics and wallah… a song.

Q) How much input did the various members have in Rainbow compared to how much it Ritchie controlled / lead ?
D) It was Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow – he made the decisions. At times he was open to suggestions, and if I felt strongly about something I’d speak up. But he has been at the top of the tree for a long time so he does have a fairly good idea of what is what even if sometimes his decisions seem off the wall
Q) How was Ritchie [in your view] working with?
D) *I loved the man and his music, it was not difficult for me until outside forces wanted a career and influenced him, then he would pull me up on the most trivial things. It got irritating to be scolded like a naughty boy

Q) What were some of your fave tracks from the “Strangers…” album?
D) I have good feeling about them all.
Q) Any stand out? Any stories?
D) We wrote “Hunting Humans” in 45 minutes, it was just so fast where “Silence” was like pulling teeth we had so many ideas for that one. “Black Mask” was another that went through changes I was happy with the way it came out. “Ariel” was great although I had only input into how the vocals should be as it was a folk song Candy and Ritchie had written for their own thang. Personally I’d would have liked a more free reign lyric – wise but Ritchie wanted lyrics that “girls would like”, I felt intimidated and gave in. When Ritchie was awake we all had to be awake and he chucked A meat cleaver at my door to waken me…. and then a tin of cat food, then corn flakes. It was a splendid time and I took it all with good humor.

Q) How well was the band received live?
D) Very well, I had a blast every night We picked up lots of fan voted awards in Japan , Germany, South America.
Q) What stuff did you enjoy doing the most?
D) Easier to say what I didn’t enjoy. I didn’t see the point in “smoke on the water” its been done to death that’s why I gave the mic. To the crowd to sing it.
Q) Did you guys get any flack from ‘Purple nuts?
D) No flack at all that I heard except in Brazil when a Dio nut was giving me grief from the front of the stage, I demanded his DIO shirt and wore it for the rest of the show, sang a bit of ELF and gave him a beer.

Q) Why did the band ‘break up’?
D) It a long story, let’s just say Ritchie wanted to do other things
Q) Do you still have contact with Ritchie?
D) Not directly.
Q) What do you think of his current stuff
D) I enjoyed the first record a lot.
Q) and would you / could you foresee another Rainbow project in the future with yourself involved?
D) Lovely thought but unlikely, he has to dominate people and make them bow to his will. I stopped that in Denmark in 96, it was never the same again :-))
Q) I’m curious……………
D) Violence is never an option…..
Q) What have you been doing since the Rainbow gig?
D) I start recording my first solo record in January. I’ve done few different things Brazen Abbot “Nostradamous”, and Tributes to.. Maiden, ZZ Top, Whitesnake. Plus Steen Mogenson from Royal Hunt. Backing vocals on 2 country records, A Rover car commercial. Other stuff I can’t recall.
Q) Any tracks you’ve done yet on the tributes?
D) Maiden > “Hallowed Be Thy Name”, “The Evil That Men Do”. ZZ Top > “Tush”, “Planet Of Women”; ‘Snake > “Slow And Easy”, “Judgment Day”, and “Crying In The Rain”.

Q) Favorite rock albums of all time?
D) Made in Japan [DP], Aladdinsane [Bowie].
Q) Do anything outside of music?
D) I drink beer and drive mini coopers – not at the same time you understand.
Q) You have cited John Sloman as a favorite singer / influence. What is it about his voice / style that you appreciate as a singer yourself?
D) He is unique and has edges to his voice that you either love or hate, I have enjoyed him since his Lone Star days. He can do things, runs vocally no one before or since has managed to do. I nicked loads from this man.
Q) What do you think of Heep’s other singers > David Byron, John Lawton, Peter Goalby, and Bernie Shaw?
D) As with all things the original is considered the best and so it is with Byron. I’ve never heard John Lawton but I recently met him and his lovely wife and he was charming. Goalby sang on my favorite Heep album – Abominog, and I saw him twice. Bernie is the complete pro and taught me quite a bit I’ll always be grateful to him for taking this off the wall Scottish maniac and calming him down on that Heep tour.

*added reading :

http://bravewords.com/news/doogie-white-celebrates-20th-anniversary-of-rainbows-stranger-in-us-all-album-audio

https://myglobalmind.com/2011/10/21/exclusive-interview-with-doogie-white-rainbow-yngwie-malmsteen-cornerstonetank-doogie-white-vocals/

http://www.metaltalk.net/columns2015/20157515.php

http://www.whatson-north.co.uk/Whats-On/Music/White-still-shines-bright-after-Rainbow-22012016.htm

Interview, KJJ, Oct ’99.

*Uriah Heep – Tickets – The Rock Box – San Antonio, TX, April 06, 2018 | Ticketfly
Get tickets to Uriah Heep at The Rock Box, San Antonio, TX on 04/06/18
ticketfly.com

*Dates have since been added to western Canada.  Please check > http://www.uriah-heep.com  for newest dates.

https://www.songkick.com/search?page=1&per_page=10&query=uriah+heep&type=upcoming

Founding Blue Oyster Cult member Joe Bouchard has a brand new solo album out. Playin Time is Joe’s fifth album, and his best since his debut in 2009. Check out the album, and order it at his website > http://www.joeboouchard.com

In this interview Joe talks about Playin Time, as well as updates on his shows with brother Albert , and their band Blue Coupe!

Playin History comes just over a year after The Power of Music. How do you manage to get so much quality rock recorded and put out over the last 10 years, and still maintain a number of live performances?

Lots of strong coffee…we brew the high test all day. Actually I retired from my private teaching business in May 2016. I was teaching about 4 days a week. It was an easy job, no classrooms, just private guitar lessons mainly. I wasn’t getting any younger so when I retired from my “part time job”, it opened up lots of time for songwriting and recording. I felt good about what I was creating and the proof is in the album. My songwriting skills have sharpened over the years. I’m much more critical with my songs than I used to be.
That being said, I didn’t record too many extra songs. There are some good riffs, and jamming tracks, but they fell by the wayside pretty quick, and the songs I chose for Playin’ History are the most consistent, creative and balanced recordings I’ve ever done.

Oh yeah, I know…”You’re just saying that…just look at those early Blue Öyster Cult songs you wrote!” To be honest from my perspective most of those songs were lucky accidents. I think the only song I thought was really well crafted from the early days was Light Years of Love. That song is way less popular than Astronomy, Hot Rails and Morning Final and maybe one or two more. You never know what the public will latch onto.

The last album dealt with ‘music’ subjects in lyrics and titles. Was this one geared towards ‘history’ subjects? and would you say they’re sorta ‘loose’ concept albums or themed albums?

Very loose concepts certainly. I really start out just trying to write one good song. Walk with the Devil was the first song I wrote for Power of Music. Once I got that first good song, the others just followed after it.

With Playin’ History, Renaissance Man set the pace for the songs to follow. Almost all of the music was written in 2016 and early 2017. One track called Now What is This came from a rough demo from the late 80s that I wrote on synthesizers. Everything else is relatively brand new.

Renaissance Man is a great opener, and a tribute to Sandy Pearlman? Can you elaborate on how this one came about and how much of an impact Sandy made on you and your writing, playing, career ?

Yeah, Renaissance is a classic. Sandy was a brilliant genius who invented the concept of Blue Öyster Cult, gave us our name, convinced this wide range of fairly intelligent personalities that we needed to go in that direction, that is hard rock and proto-metal. As a manager he kept us moving forward when we could have easily slipped of the rails on the way to our heights of popularity. If he had a flaw it seemed he lacked the drive to keep us on top when we got there. But overall if it weren’t for Sandy Blue Öyster Cult would never have existed.

Sandy came up with the lyrics to Astronomy, my most popular song, and gave me the title for Hot Rails to Hell. He was a pretty smart fellow. He stopped managing the band after I left in 1986 and worked as a college professor in Montreal. He passed away from a brain aneurism at the age of 72.

In reference to other tracks you wrote, how much are based on your own experiences and places you’ve been?

All of it comes from personal experiences is some respect. Some more than others.

Tracks that stand out for me include – Night Owl Nocturne, Diamonds in Blue, and Now What Is This – can you give me some insight in to those.

Night Owl is really personal. I am an insomniac and I do most of my writing and recording in the late night hours. I live out in the woods of Connecticut and the neighbors are not anywhere close. The only company I have in the warm spring evenings are owls in the woods. They would hoot and do their owl things while I was working on this song.

Diamonds in Blue came from an idea about space travel. I love studying what NASA, telescopes and other space exploration things are doing. I got an email from a connection in NYC that a movie company needed a song about asteroids. I had two days to put it together from scratch. It’s just three simple chords but I love the feeling I get from it.

Now What is This is about Bob Dylan and specifically the tour that Patti Smith was the opening act for him. I think it was back in the 80s. They would do a duet every night and the crowd would go nuts, get hysterical really…it’s about that style of hero worship.

Who are the 52 Agents of Fortune?

The 52 Agents of Fortune are simply a deck of playing cards. One of our producers Murray Krugman played poker and he referred to a deck of cards as the “52 agents of fortune”. We were finishing the 5th Blue Öyster Cult album for Columbia and we didn’t have a name. I wanted something with a really positive vibe to it so I suggested we name the album Agents of Fortune. It worked out tremendously well and became our biggest seller.

There was a group called The Title Trackers from about 3-4 years ago that posted “made-up” songs around the theme of lost “title tracks”. Checking into the Morrison Hotel was one of their songs. It was pretty funny but somewhat silly.

I took that idea and said 52 Agents of Fortune could be one of those lost title tracks. My song is really nothing like those undernourished attempts at parody. This song is the story of my “incredible luck” with my music career. The Hammond organ intro could be Deep Purple or Vanilla Fudge. It works for my story and was real fun to record.

You have 2 John Elwood Cook songs on this album. The Written History Of Misery is classic . Can you tell me a bit about how this evolved from the song John gave you and the production it became on the final album?

John writes in a Johnny Cash style. But often that’s not where I’m going with my recordings. I love his songs tremendously. Bad Decisions started as a demo in a like a slow Zeppelin-like blues. It was pretty bad, but I still loved the song. When I decided to speed up the song, add some funky blues guitar, add an eerie background vocal part, the song started to really work for me. The crowning touch was when I added a Banjolin, a hybrid mandolin with a banjo head. It was lying around the house for decades and needed new strings. It’s over 100 years old and was played in some old time dixieland band. Once I restrung it, it sounded amazing. I added it through the whole song and I love the way it came out.

The Written History of Misery is a classic as you say. It was written as a companion to one of John Cook’s artworks. John likes to think about what life was like years ago, and expound on those quirky personalities. His artwork has quotes from somebody’s tombstone and other artifacts. It’s a strange piece and a strange song for sure. Musically it just needed a good riff. I got a new Fender Esquire reproduction that sounds amazing. I wrote the riff for the song on that new guitar. But the song is all John and I’m glad you like it.

You play everything on this album!? Does that kinda speed up the process and make things easier or would you ever like adding in some guest players?

I like playing all the parts and I can work fairly fast and get the exact results I need. But I miss the give and take with other musicians. I wanted to hire musicians for this project but many were on tour and not available during my time frame. Maybe on my next solo album I’ll get a real band together and see what happens. I worry about losing my control of the production. Doing all myself keeps things tight and I can’t blame anybody but myself if it doesn’t work.

You’ve been out doing song & story shows with Albert[!?] How many of these have you done and may there be a recording from these shows or a collaboration album in the future?

Yes, Albert and I do a show called Bouchard Bros: Songs & Stories. It’s great! We have video projections for all the songs and it is fun to do deep tracks from Blue Öyster Cult and our solo albums. We play acoustic versions of the songs in really nice theaters and the response is amazing.

Whats the status of Blue Coupe? Any plans for a new album or bigger tour [up this way]?

Blue Coupe is doing well, but Dennis has commitments to Alice this fall. He’s in the UK with Alice right now. Whether he plays with Alice in 2018 remains to be seen. We plan to record a new studio album as soon as he’s free. Dennis is part of Albert’s Christmas album that he produced last year. There will be an expanded version of the album this holiday that features various musicians and friends.

There’s plenty of great live stuff on youtube, particularly of Blue Coupe — Wonder if we could ever see a live album from the band!?

A live album would be nice but it is hard since it is expensive and there’s so much available online for free. The next thing we do will be a new studio album. The song Fireball that Dennis wrote for Alice Cooper’s latest album is doing great and I hope that Blue Coupe will add that song to their set.

What else do you have on the go? Are you playing tracks from Playin History live?

We play Bad Decisions with Albert and it’s great. I played Renaissance Man, Diamonds in Blue, 52 Agents of Fortune and Mountain House at open mics. I will probably play more of those songs. It depends on the demand. The album is just getting out to the fans. Many people have expressed interest in the songs. It’s hard to fit them into a set list since I have to play so many from the Blue Öyster Cult catalog.

Might you consider doing a full band tour [or shows] that mainly focus on this album and some of your previous solo material?

I’d love to have a band like Brian Wilson. He has nine musicians on stage that play exact recreations of all his famous songs. It’s stunning and I’ve seen him over 15 times. Maybe someday it will happen.

KJJ, Nov 2017