Uriah Heep have released a new video from Chaos And Colour. The track is “Golden Light”, a favorite, penned by Mick Box & Phil Lanzon.
“Golden Light” is a smorgasbord of soaring melodies, robust rhythm, luscious guitar lines, and brims with spiritual optimism. “We’ve always had positive energy in everything we do,” beams Mick Box, Uriah Heep’s venerable and effervescent founding member. “It’s always good over evil no matter where we look at it. That’s what we’re like as people, which is why it’s always been a big part of Heep to have that positivity.” “‘Golden Light’ is a typical melodic Heep rock song” continues Box, “it explains that in this troubled world, there is a guardian angel shining down a light, to guide us through these difficult times. ‘Appy days!”
Produced by Jay Ruston, and engineered by Pieter Rietkerk, Chaos & Colour is a superb album of quality hard rock from the pioneers of the genre who continue to create top class material. Old fans will be reinvigorated whilst new fans will surely find Chaos & Colour an exceptional discovery. In this, their 53rd pioneering year as a band, Chaos & Colour sees Uriah Heep throwing down more life, light and energy than peers 40 years their juniors.
Chaos & Colour is available to order now on Black and Coloured Vinyl configurations, as a standard CD Digipak, and digital formats. Orders can be place here: https://lnk.to/ChaosandColour
This interview was done in June of 1996. Through a friend (and associate of Neal’s – Billy James) I was able to send Neal plenty of questions, and he gladly answered them on a cassette and sent them back. (Note that this interview was done well before the death of Glenn Buxton. )
I did another interview with Neal in 2014 (which I’ll re-post here in the future). Neal has a new album coming out ‘Killsmith Goes West‘ – check out my review and news of it elsewhere at this site.
What are your memories of the earliest gigs the band ever played under the names prior to the Alice Cooper Group [i.e.: What sort of venues? Responses? Set-lists?].
Some of the first memories I have are of The Nazz – that was when I’d joined the group in the fall of 1967. We were playing a lot of clubs, and once in a while we were on Arizona local television. It was basically the biggest clubs in the South-West that we were playing at the time, as well as Los Angeles. The responses were always positive. One of the main things we always tried to do was have people walk away with a reaction. The set list at that time included all of the songs from the Pretties For You , which we recorded on Frank Zappa’s Straight Records. There were some songs we also did which were songs that were later re-written and recorded for later Warner Brothers albums.
Who were some of your own musical influences and ‘heroes’ starting out [any favorite drummers back then]?
Some of my own musical influences at the time were from when I was growing up in the ’50s and ’60s like Gene Krupa and Sandy Nelsen — a lot of the big band sound and pop together. Of course, when the British Invasion happened I was influenced to an extent by the likes of Ringo Starr and Charlie Watts because I liked what they did with what they were playing musically on records with The Beatles and Rolling Stones. From a theatrical stand-point I really liked Keith Moon and Mitch Mitchell (from Jimi Hendrix’ band). I also liked Ginger Baker, but probably more from a playing stand-point. He is, I think, probably the best drummer of the rock era.
How did the whole ALICE COOPER concept evolve [i.e.: from the time you chose that name]?
The concept for Alice Cooper really came from when we all went to art school together. Alice, Glen, and myself were all art majors. We liked to employ the mixture of art and theatre into the music. That was simply the concept, just something that nobody had done before. Even before the name Alice Cooper came along, when we played we tried to have people walk away, and the one thing we wanted them to do – was never forget the band!
No matter what we had to do to make that happen!
The first 2 AC albums were so strange (in retrospect), what influenced a lot of the sounds and production ?
Yes, they were a little different for the time. Any influence that we had, again being art majors and wanting to do something completely different – that was our approach. We had a few other influences like early Syd Barrett with the original Pink Floyd. I liked a lot of the things with sounds that they played around with at the time. Also, Stockhausen – electronic music that was coming out of Germany and Europe at that time. There was just a lot of experimentation with instruments, instruments that every group had – 2 guitars, bass, drums, and a singer.
How did the band hook up with Shep Gordon and Warners?
Shep Gordon and Joey Greenburg were partners and we signed with them. They were just out to Los Angeles from Buffalo, New York. They’d graduated from Business College at the University Of Buffalo. My sister – Cindy Dunaway, who’s married to Dennis, worked at a boutique store in LA, and at the time had a lot to do with our clothing and image. So, Shep and Joe came into the boutique and I guess they were talking, and she asked them what they did, and they said that they manage bands. She said “my brother’s in a band, and they need a manager!” We hooked up from that point on. Of course, Warner Brothers bought out Straight Records, which was Frank Zappa’s label and there was 10 bands – which I still think was one of the most amazing business deals ever done at the time. Warner Brothers bought out 10 bands from Straight Records for about $50 000 at that time – 1969-70. This was already after we’d recorded Easy Action. Linda Ronstadt was with a band called “Stone Ponies” and also James Taylor was in one of the groups that Frank Zappa had at the time, so they kinda got Alice Cooper as a bonus because they’d (Warners) really wanted Linda Ronstadt and James Taylor.
What influence, advice, and ideas did Bob Ezrin bring with him when you began to record with him for Love It To Death?
Well again, it was our first album for Warner Brothers, we were now with a major label, we had incredible management, we were making a presence with the underground – very strongly with Pretties For You and Easy Action and the affiliation with Frank Zappa at the time. We wanted to break-out, not really into the mainstream, but hit more people with our impact, so we needed someone who’d take our music to the level of what our show was and where we really wanted to be. Bob Ezrin, at the time, was with Nimbus 9 Studios in Toronto. He was just starting out, the same as Shep and the band; we were all starting from the same place. Bob’s influence was very substantial in really taking the songs and working with us on arrangements. Lyrically, Alice – I still think is one of the best rock lyricist that’s ever been around. So, to take those lyrics and to take the ideas of our music, which the majority of was written by Mike, although Dennis and myself also influenced the music as well. Bob really took it and put it all together, and worked quite closely with the band. He was really, in my opinion, like the 6th member of the band! One other thing – Bob not only was an incredible influence on the music, but keeping in mind the “theatre” of the band, and keeping in mind what we did on stage and implementing that in a musical expression on our records, as well as what we did live. That was a lot of the “magic” of what Bob and the band did together.
What was the songwriting process in the original AC band?
That’s an interesting question. I think we probably utilized every possible aspect of songwriting. A song like “School’s Out” – everybody wrote together. Some of the riffs from that song were done a long time ago in the early days before we even recorded. A better example is “Elected” which was originally on Pretties For You and was called “Reflected”; we’d re-wrote it. Anything from that period of time (Pretties For You and Easy Action), we basically wrote together. We would come up with songs either from a group jam where everybody is together working out a concept or idea and Alice would work on lyrics. We would also brainstorm on the lyrics. The other way was that Mike would write a song, bring it to Alice and then there was lyrical changes on it. A great example of this is “No More Mister Nice Guy”. Another example of co-writing was Dennis and Mike writing “Under My Wheels”, and from the standpoint of the lyrics they were very involved and then Alice came in and worked on the lyrics as well. And to this day it’s one of my favorite all-time Alice Cooper songs! There was also songs in the band that members wrote by themselves like “Black Ju-Ju” – Dennis basically wrote that song and “Hallowed Be My Name”, from the Love It To Death album is a song I wrote in it’s entirety. It was always fun and it was always a very creative process. One of the last songs we ever wrote together was from Billion Dollar Babies. We needed 1 more song, it was “Generation Landslide”, again one of my favorite songs. We had needed 1 more song for the album and we were in London recording at the time, and we just had to get out of town – go rehearse and write a song. We went down to the Canary Islands and there was a brand new hotel that was being built. We rented the whole top of the hotel, moved in, took our equipment – just enough to set up a little studio and write a song. I started playing the drum beat to “Generation Landslide”, Mike joined in, and in a couple of days we’d developed the song. We wrote the song as a group and everyone participated in it’s creation. Usually last songs can be filler, but I think that was an incredible song!
What influenced the words to some of the bands’ biggest hits, such as ‘Eighteen’ & ‘Be My Lover’?
With “Eighteen” we wanted to have a hit song as we’d never had one, and this was our third album (Love It To Death). We wanted something that was going to be timely, and the subject of being 18 years of age at that time was a very hot subject! We wanted something like an anthem, and I certainly think “Eighteen” succeeded. “Be My Lover” was from the standpoint of a “cabaret” kind of thing. Alice used “Katchina” – the snake, on stage, and even throughout the ’80s he used the snake during “Be My Lover”. It was a fun song; I always liked playing that one.
What is the story behind the sessions for the Billion Dollar Babies album [i.e.: who were guest on it that is not written in the credits]?
We recorded it at our mansion in Greenwich Connecticut, in London England at Morgan Studios, and at The Record Plant in New York. All the songs were recorded by the band. There was a jam session in London that Keith Moon, Harry Nilson and Mark Bolan from T-TEX attended. Flo and Eddie were there too as were a couple of other friends that had played with us on albums – Mick Mashbir, who later played some guitar on Muscle Of Love. They were in the session, but it was nothing that was ever on the record. It was a fun jam session and a great party!!
How did you and the rest of the band deal with the fame and success?
We’d played for about 10 years, and it was almost like a non-stop party. We had worked very, very hard to achieve what we had achieved at that time, and we were all enjoying it. It wasn’t a situation where it was a bad thing – it never was! We got along great together, and to this day we still get along great.
With Alice, himself, being more in the public eye than the rest of the band as a whole, create any bitterness or animosity amongst band members?
To tell you the truth when the band first was together and went on the road in the late ’60s, there was a lot of time where we could all go to the radio stations and do the interviews. We could all do the interviews with the magazines. It was a little hectic with 5 people, but we all had the time to do it. As things changed there was times when Mike, Dennis and I or Alice and I would do the interviews. If Alice couldn’t make it I did the interview – it just depended. It was a situation that was orchestrated by the band. As the pressure became greater later on and the band had to do sound checks at big concerts, and we’d traveled so much that by the time we got to the venue our thing was the music and Alice would go to the radio stations and do his things. Everybody had their job. There was never any bitterness. It was a lot of work and everyone had their job to do at that particular time. We all shared equally in the band. Everyone had their own weight to pull and we did it to the best of our ability in always trying to put on a great show – no matter what the bottom line was!
Why did the band decide to record Muscle of Love so soon after B$B’s, instead of taking a needed break?
I don’t know if there was a needed break. We actually took the break after Muscle Of Love. First of all. we recorded albums, and we played concerts – that’s what we did for many years. After Billion Dollar Babies we wanted to get in to the studio. We’d been playing those songs for a year now and we had a whole new group of songs that we wanted to put down; we had a new concept. There was actually even songs for an album after that! And that’s why Muscle Of Love was recorded, and then the Greatest Hits came after that.
Why were two guest guitar-players used on that album? Was it due to Glen’s ‘health’? [Stories that Glen was so ill on the last few tours that in fact someone else played his parts from behind the stage – True?]
Dick Wagner, who was a very good friend of Bob Ezrin came in and did some guest spots on some albums for a little bit different texture or flavor. Mick Mashbir, who was a long time friend of mine from high school – even before I was ever involved with the guys in the group, he played lead guitar on some of the live shows. What was happening was when we got into Billion Dollar Babies on stage the show was becoming bigger, we needed more music, more musicians. With what we were doing on the albums – we wanted to portray that more live. So, we needed a keyboard player, Bob Dolin, and we needed another guitar player – so Mick played for us in the back-ground on the Billion Dollar Babies Tour, as well as some lead work on Muscle Of Love.
Glen always played “School’s Out” and “18” – those were his songs. All the hits he would do. He contributed immensely to those songs. Those songs were never the same without him. Yes there was people who played with us live on stage, and they actually had their own section in that they were in the spotlight as well. There wasn’t anything hidden about it or anything like that. Yes there was a period of time, unfortunately, with the Billion Dollar Babies tour, that Glen wasn’t feeling too well, but he’s a trooper. He went on the road with us and it was one of the highest grossing tours at the time. It wouldn’t have been the same without him, that’s for sure !
Do you feel that Muscle Of Love is an overlooked album? It is my personal favorite ACG album.
I don’t think it’s that overlooked. I think it was an interesting turn for us to do the Muscle Of Love album. It’s one of my favorite albums too. It was fun recording it. Bob Ezrin unfortunately, didn’t help us out on the production – it was Jack Douglas. That was one of Jack Douglas’ first albums before working with Aerosmith, and then Jack Richardson also helped. He’d originally started with us on Love It To Death. He produced The Guess Who, some of their biggest hits. Bob Ezrin was Jack Richardson’s protégé. Prior to albums to that, the 2 or 3 before, we’d shipped over 1 million copies the first week. Muscle Of Love came out and it sold 800 000 copies the first month, so it was a little bit off the mark. It wasn’t followed up with a major stage show worldwide, and I think that may have been a part of it.
During your time with AC you recorded a much publicized solo album (The Platinum God). What is the story behind it [i.e. : Who played on it ? Who wrote? Sang? Why has it never been released?]
I guess it got a lot of publicity (!?) It was a concept that I’d been working on. I wrote all the songs, and sang all the songs on the tape. The guitar player was Mike Marconi. He was a musician I had met while we were on the road in the Rochester area. I went to see him play live in a club one night and liked his work, so we ended up working together. Jack Douglas produced the tapes, Dennis played bass, Mike Marconi played the lead guitar, and there was another guitar player – Stu Day. Stu had a band out of New York called “The Mix” in the mid to late ’70s. Then there was some orchestrations where I had brass sections and string sections – which was actually the New York Philharmonic at the time on the tapes. We had taken them (the tapes) to a lot of record companies, and I guess being the “shock-rock” band, or whatever we were at that particular time; this tape was actually pretty shocking to them in a lot of respects. And to this day I think that’s a great aspect to these tapes. On the song “Platinum God” itself, I just had no clue as to what was going on. It’s an interesting mixture between contemporary drumming and primitive drumming, and mixed with the concept. Who knows – maybe someday it’ll still be released , I don’t know !
Did the band intend on getting back together following the “Greatest Hits” release?
The band still might get together! Who knows? Of course we planned on getting together. That’s kind of a crazy question !
What did you do in the first few years following the break-up of the band?
We took the year off. We had worked very hard, as I mentioned previously. It was a lot of fun but a lot of work too. We’d travelled all around the world. We’d gone from obscurity to fulfilling our dream of bringing what we did that was so different and exciting to the music world and bringing in theatre – an element that had never really been brought into play before that period of time. And still to this day, I think that of all the great stage shows you see – that did not exist before we were on stage. There’s no doubt in my mind that what we did has influenced music for the past 2 decades – especially from a live presentation standpoint. But there comes a point in time where you have to take a break from it all. We’d all lived together under the same roof for all that time and when we took that year off everybody got their own places, and got a chance to relax and get into who they were. And like I said, you just can never know what’s going to happen!?
Were you ever bitter that Alice, himself, carried on without you guys making a living out of the songs and ideas that you all contributed to?
If anything, I’m proud of what Alice has done on his own. I’m always extremely impressed with him and any of his lyrics I hear. Some of his songs from Welcome To My Nightmare, and even to his newest album – The Last Temptation, there’s some songs that I’d have loved to have played the drums on. When he’s out on the road he’s playing a lot of the Greatest Hits – songs that we all wrote on, played on, and made famous. So, the word wouldn’t be “bitter”, but “proud”! I’m extremely happy that he does so well. We’re still good friends; he’s even helped me get bitten by the “Golf-bug” here. He’s an incredible golfer!! We get together and play once in a while. At any rate, basically what I think of his albums is that they’ve been great.
In 1977 yourself, Dennis Dunaway, and Michael Bruce formed a band ‘BILLION DOLLAR BABIES’. How did that all come about? Bob Dolin had previously guested on Muscle Of Love, who was he and who was Mike Marconi?
After Muscle Of Love there was a pile of songs written, this was past out solo projects. We got together and we wanted to record an album. We put all the music together. We had Bob Dolin on keyboards from the Muscle Of Love album, and Mike Marconi – from my Platinum God project.
Did B$B’s record anything past the Battle Axe album? Did you tour? And why did it fall apart?
We recorded a demo song past that. We did do a tour; we played around the country. Again, it was a great concept. It would’ve been fun if the whole band could’ve done it, but it worked on it’s own. I guess the main thing was the 3 points in the “triple crown” for the success of the Alice Cooper Band was certainly the band – it’s creativity and writing. The second was Shep Gordon – our management and the leadership that he had in the field. And then (third) Bob Ezrin in producing the records. Bob worked closely with making the music and records happen, and then Shep took it and put it over with the record company and made everything else work, like the publicity and all that. We were spoiled by that sort of a formula and the B$B’s did not have that formula.
Who have you kept in touch with over the years? Ref. to Michael, Dennis, Alice, and Glenn.
Of course with Dennis – he’s my brother-in-law, and he lives very close to where I do in Connecticut. Michael Bruce and I talk, I’ve seen him in Arizona several times. I’ve probably seen Alice more than Glen and Mike. Glen, I haven’t seen in quite a long time, but I do talk to Glen a lot as well. Yes, I get along with everybody in the band, and I always wish them all the best – all the time.
You and Dennis played on Buck Dharma’s 1981 solo album Flat Out. How did all that come about? Do you keep in contact with Buck?
Donald “Buck” Dharma was a very good friend of ours. As a matter of fact the Alice Cooper Band had played some shows in the 70s where Blue Oyster Cult had opened for us. We got along pretty well. So, when Buck did the solo album he had asked Dennis and I to play on some of the tracks for him. I co-wrote the song “Born To Rock”, and it became the single from the album, and the video that was on MTV. He (Buck) and his family are very good friends of ours. Even though they don’t live in the State anymore we still keep in touch.
What sort of recording and playing did you do throughout the ’80s? Much session work?
In 1981 I played drums on a complete album by The Plasmatics called Beyond The Valley Of 1984. That was a pretty cool project. I enjoyed working with them. I did co-write a song with Joe Bouchard of BOC for the Revolution By Night album. The song was called “Shadows Of California”, that was recorded in 1983. Then I did some solo recordings during the mid-80s. Then I got into the profession I’m in now.
What’s the story behind ‘DEADRINGER’?
DEADRINGER was Joe Bouchard from BOC, Dennis Dunaway, and the singer was Charlie Huhn from Ted Nugent’s band, “Intensities In 10 Cities” – those days. I think Charlie’s an incredible singer, and we were lucky to have him work together with us in 1989 for an album called “Electrocution Of The Heart”. It was released on Grudge Records in 89. The guitar player was a guy who I’d been working with and writing songs with in Connecticut for the last 10 years; his name was J. Jesse Johnson. He was really the focal point of the band as far as the music goes; he’d written a lot of the songs, and helped to co-write some of the others with me that were on the record. It was a great record, and we had a lot of fun recording it. I do wish we had had more time in the studio. It may be re-released on another label soon, because it was a great record.
How did you get involved with ANT BEE?
Billy James (ANT BEE) was a friend of Mike Bruce’s and through Mike is how I met Billy. There was a portion of The Platinum God tape that Billy sampled and was on his new album. It sounds really cool, and I’m pretty pleased with that. He’s a very talented guy, and a good man !
Do you have any plans for future recording and/or session projects in the future?
You never know what this business can bring! I have a studio in my own home. I’ve always maintained the studio, and every year I try to make it a little bigger and better. I’m always writing. Over the years, with the help of Mike Bruce, I taught myself how to play guitar and piano, so I know enough that it helps me write. And then I work with somebody that’s incredibly talented like J. Jessie Johnson or Mike Bruce! I am always looking to write; I love to write and collaborate with people. Do I have a dying urge to get back on the road? I’ve really already done that! I love drums, that’s my biggest thing in life, naturally! I still have almost every drum kit I’ve ever had. I have over 100 of them at home! I noticed a new book called “The Stars’ Sets”, and it covers the 1930s to 1995. They have a great picture of one of my first Slingerland kits in there that Slingerland gave us. The Love It To Death and Killer albums were recorded on that set of drums. I’m pretty happy with what I’m doing right now, (real estate). I write in the studio, send Alice songs once in a while. Mike Bruce has heard my songs; I’ve heard some of Mikes’. He still writes incredible songs. A great songwriter!! That’s a natural combination with Mike, Dennis and I together – we play any song, like “My Stars”, or any song that the original Alice Cooper band did and it will sound exactly like the record.
Do you ever fore-see yourself working with any of the original AC band guys again? Is there ever a possibility of a reunion?
I’m friends with everybody, I work with everybody. Dennis and I play a lot, Mike and I played last year when I went out to Arizona, and we did some jamming on some of his songs. I got together with Alice, gave him some songs, and we kicked around some ideas. I don’t have a crystal ball to know what’s going to happen in the future, but I’d be the first one to bring my drums to a session if we ever did decide to do anything! But, it’d have to be just for fun – that would be the bottom line to ever doing anything.
What do you do outside of music? How did you get into real estate?
I really do music as a hobby now. Real Estate is my main profession. It’s a very serious and professional business, but I have a lot of fun with it in the Connecticut area. I got into it when the band was together. We made investments in real estate, individually and as a group. I found it fascinating, and it was another way that I could make an income. I enjoy it a lot, and love this part of the country. People do say “from rock ‘n’ roll to real estate – what the heck is that all about?”. But we did have the opportunity to invest and learn a lot about it in the early ’70s, so it was a natural progression – a natural step. Is it as much fun as going on the road? Maybe not, but, it’s not as tiring either.
Do you follow current music? Thoughts on today’s scene as opposed to the early 70’s?
Not as much, I really just don’t have the time. I never really followed current music in the old days. Once we’d started as a group I was so concentrated on what we were doing, and not paying too much attention to other bands. But when I hear a band like The Counting Crows – I think that’s a great band. The Smashing Pumpkins are another good band. The one thing that I really like about a band like Smashing Pumpkins is that that drummer who was in the band, actually plays drums, and is a significant part of their sound. There was so much music in the ’80s where the drums were just a particular sound – they were just there! But now, the drummers that I’ve heard sound like they’re musicians again, and actually contributing to the sound of their groups! It just seemed like in the late 60s – early 70s that there was a lot more excitement in music. There was a lot going on then, and I think it was socially and politically as well. With Vietnam and the Civil Rights Movement, there was a lot of things changing in the States. Music has always been sort of a barometer of what’s going on with social event. That is why I still like to listen to the old music. The country scene, of course these days, has changed immensely from what it used to be many years ago. I like music whether it’s a Broadway play, Big Band, Jazz, Blues, Rock, Punk. If it’s a great song – it’s a great song and it holds no matter what the style of music.
Have you ever thought of writing a book ? (As Michael Bruce recently has.) And, can you give us a favorite story from the road?
Well, if there was ever an Alice Cooper story – there’d be 5 different versions of that story! Every guy in the group would have his own version. So if everybody wrote their own book, believe me – they would all be completely different! They’d be parallel to a certain extent, but a lot of different stories would come about. It’s interesting every time we sit down, either with Mike or Alice, one of the guys will remember something that the other guys just totally forgot. It’d be more fun, I think, if all sat down and just started talking into tape recorders and let somebody else write the book. A story? When we were in Paris we played in The Pierre Cardin Theatre. I think it was the “Killer” or “School’s Out” show (I’m not quite sure!). After the show Bianca Jagger and Natalie Delone were there and Alice and I were kind of hanging out with them for the evening. Pierre Cardin was a big fan of ours, and in France Alice Cooper was a very very “hip” thing. Every time we went over there we were treated incredibly well. All in all I think most French people seem to not to like Americans, but for some reason (ha) we weren’t average Americans. Anyway, in the evening after the performance they had a big area for entertaining and what have you. They didn’t have any Smirnoff Vodka there; they had some other vodkas, but that’s what I was interested in drinking that evening. So Pierre Cardin said that he didn’t have any there, but he did at home in his apartment. So he went out, took a taxi, got the vodka and came back!! It made no sense to me, but he was more than cordial and happy to help out. Everybody in Paris was just incredible to us, and all over Europe too! One other story is from when we were over in London. Alice and I used to like to play a lot of pool together, billiards. As a matter of fact we had an on-going game, and I think Alice still owes me $65! We had our rehearsals in Greenwich (Connecticut). We had a very large solarium with a pool table in it. So Alice and I would play for the period of time that the band was tuning up. It was a fun game. Anyway, we went over to London on one of our first tours through Europe, and they of course – play “snooker” over there! One evening we went out and there was Elton John, Bernie Taupin, Ronnie Lane and Ronnie Wood, and we were at one of their houses (I forget who’s). Alice and I figured we could learn this game, you know – you had a cue stick and balls, and a velvet table. And actually we got our butt’s kicked — a couple of times! Later on we finally ended up beating them though. So, we had to adapt to the European form of the pool game. That was a cool night, we’d never played it before. I could go on and on and talk about different stories all night,… and most of them we probably couldn’t print anyway!!
British heavy metal band WYTCH HAZEL will release their 4th album June 2nd. Wytch Hazel, who also include elements of folk and prog, along with Christian based lyrics, also have a brand new video out for “Angel Of Light”. Citing the likes of Blue Oyster Cult, Iron Maiden, Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin (among others) Wytch Hazel’s music has a wide appeal to 70s classic rock fans. Two tracks from their forthcoming album IV: Sacrament can be heard and purchased at the band’s Bandcamp site – the above mentioned “Angel Of Light” (nice Thin Lizzy vibe), and the excellent “Digging Deeper”, which has an early Wishbone Ash feel. The new album features cool artwork from Nathaniel Winter Herbert, and will be out on Bad Omen Records (see SPELL, BIRTH, SATAN’S SATYRS) in multiple formats, including colored vinyl. *for album & merch orders – https://wytchhazel.bandcamp.com/album/iv-sacrament?from=fanpub_fnb
*Check out more info on the band below (from band’s site Bio) and links.
For many all-time-great rock bands in the ascendant, the fourth album is often the point where youthful years of febrile creativity and progressive momentum culminate in a masterwork for the ages, setting the seal on an early signature sound while opening it up to future possibilities. From enchanting 2016 debut Prelude, through 2018’s assured II: Sojourn, to 2020’s wizardly III: Pentecost, each Wytch Hazel album has embodied that old-fashioned notion of unstoppable progress, and the glittering treasure chest that is IV: Sacrament proves eminently worthy of rising to the toughest challenge. Not just the Lancashire quartet’s most classically beautiful production, but their strongest yet front-to-back collection of affecting hooks and ageless melodies.
A very tough challenge it was, too; records this good don’t get banged out willy-nilly, and Jimmy Page, Ian Anderson and Freddie Mercury didn’t have to fit recordings in between day jobs and school runs. “This album has been a trial,” sighs founding singer/guitarist Colin Hendra with his head in his hands, his voice full of cold. “It’s been a tough few years for everyone, which plays into it, but it was exhausting. Working full time, trying to be a dad and husband, running the band, writing the albums – and being a complete control freak about every aspect of the process…” Colin breaks off and chuckles at his Eeyorish approach to album promotion. “But there’s no gain without pain!”
The triumphs and tragedies are written all over IV: Sacrament. Working closely again with regular producer Ed Turner, Colin’s God-given gift for diamond songwriting has been enhanced to majestic proportions with Ed’s Roy Thomas Baker doozy of a production job, his expressive sonic trickery sublimely underscoring the varied musical moods. “Me and Ed like the same albums, so we’re singing from the same hymn sheet every time,” enthuses Colin. “We love the Sabbath production, obviously Martin Birch, and the Queen albums; we want it to sound like Wytch Hazel, which it kind of always does, but we want it to also have that classic sort of quality.”
Colin describes his working relationship with Ed as “perfectionism amplified. We’re a good match but bad at the same time! It takes ages to get an album done, but if it’s going to be done we want to do it right.” The new studio looked promising: a converted Baptist chapel in rural Wales, chock full of vintage gear. However, with personal reasons forcing drummer Jack Spencer to step back from the band (subsequently departing in September 2022), Colin took on the additional laborious task of completing all the drums himself. As well as all the vocals, lyrics, lead guitar and drums to fret over, there were so many mysteriously blown cabs, amps and vocal cords you might suspect the Devil was trying to stop anyone else getting the best tunes. “I don’t know why we have such bad luck,” groans Colin. “Engineers were scratching their heads, like ‘how have you done this?!’”
photo- Sam Scott Hunter
Now Sacrament is finally offered – and sounds as fantastic as it does after all the blood, toil, tears and sweat – you might think Colin could finally bask in the glory of this resounding achievement, but he’s not even fully comfortable taking credit for his own songs. “When I listen back there are multiple times when I’m like, I don’t even know how this happened,” he ponders. “I know I wrote it, but I don’t feel complete ownership over them. It has that sense in which… there’s something else, and I’m a part of it.” On previous albums, specific influences were readily discernible, and although Angel Of Light tips a nod to Angel Witch and Endless Battle nails the sweet spot between Steeleye Span and Judas Priest, Sacrament’s ten songs zero in on a sound and style that’s all their own. With assertive, explosive earworms like The Fire’s Control, Strong Heart and A Thousand Years and the profound emotive magnetism of Time And Doubt, Deliver Us and Digging Deeper, Wytch Hazel revel in their distinctive Wytch Hazelness. Colin’s Christian faith continues to inform much of his lyrical outlook, but there’s a disarming openness and emotional force that might have you reaching for the Kleenex.
“It’s some of the most honest songwriting I’ve ever done,” Colin reflects, “and they come from a darker place, I think. I’m getting older, that comes through in some lyrics: ‘see my body breaking’, ‘I’m digging deeper’, ‘time’s running out…’ I struggle to see the positive a lot of the time, so the songs end up being negative, the subject matter coming from constant striving.” Among all the doomsayer tendencies, gorgeous sylvan acoustic strum Future Is Gold proclaims a radiant optimism, but it’s more hope in the eternal than an expectation of earthly improvement. “It’s rooted in scripture,” Colin explains, referencing the Book of Haggai: ‘the glories of this latter house will be greater than the former’. “I struggle to believe that half the time, with the state of the world, but who knows what level that is? Will the afterlife be better, when all suffering has ended, or is what we see as better not actually better? If things are always going comfortably, it isn’t always the best thing for us. An element of suffering is necessary.”
Suffering has clearly been necessary for the creation of the fourth Wytch Hazel album; let’s hope for Colin’s sake the next one requires a bit less. “I’ve blown my own mind a bit,” he concludes. “And even after all this painstaking work, I still feel like I’ve only scratched the surface of what we could be doing musically. I wish I could have a month to work on one song, and go on a tangent a bit. I will in the future, it’s going in the right direction. I’ll get to the stage when I can commit more time and do an odyssey or something!”
Credits:
Drums, Guitars, Vocals, Piano & Organ – Colin Hendra Guitars – Alex Haslam Bass Guitar – Andrew Shackleton
Mandolin & Mellotron – Ed Turner
Recorded at StudiOwz, Pembrokeshire, Wales Produced and mixed by Ed Turner Engineered by Owain Fleetwood Jenkins Mastered By Terry Waker at Tonalex
Legendary guitarist Steve Hackett is pleased to announce that two of his ’90’s solo records will be released on vinyl for the first time ever in 2023, marking the beginning of a series of vinyl reissues of his solo catalogue. On June 2nd, 2023, the 1993 album ‘Guitar Noir’ & the 1999 album ‘Darktown’ will be made available as Gatefold 180g 2LP’s, each newly remastered especially for the vinyl format.
‘Guitar Noir’ (1993) saw Steve taking a darker approach to his guitar sound, and he was joined by Julian Colbeck (keys), Dave Ball (bass), Hugo Degenhardt (drums), Aron Friedman (keys), Nick Magnus (keys) & more for this record.
‘Darktown’ (1999) also saw Steve joined by Julian Colbeck (keys) & Hugo Degenhardt (drums), as well as Roger King (Keys, Bass, Drums), Jim Diamond (Vocals), John Hackett (Flute, Pan Pipes), Ian McDonald (Sax) & John Wetton (Bass Samples). This edition of the album also includes the 3 bonus tracks included on the 2013 CD reissue.
Steve comments: “I’m thrilled that my two albums Guitar Noir and Darktown are being release on vinyl for the first time! My music took on a darker edge for both those albums, and I explored additional sounds and genres I hadn’t touched before.”
Following the Wuppertal show with full orchestra, Steve Hackett and band will continue their Foxtrot at Fifty plus Hackett Highlights tour in Europe in April and North America in the autumn.
Steve Hackett Steve Hackett joined Genesis at the beginning of 1971 and gained an international reputation as the guitarist in the band’s classic line-up alongside Peter Gabriel, Tony Banks, Mike Rutherford and Phil Collins. Hackett’s intricate guitar work was a key element of Genesis’ albums from Nursery Cryme (1971) to Wind And Wuthering (1977) including the classic Selling England By The Pound. After leaving Genesis at the end of 1977, Hackett’s solo career, which now spans more than 30 albums, has demonstrated his extraordinary versatility with both electric and acoustic guitar. Hackett is renowned as both an immensely talented and innovative rock musician and a virtuoso classical guitarist and composer and this was recognized in 2010 when he was inducted into the Rock Hall Of Fame. He has also worked alongside Steve Howe of YES in the supergroup GTR. Hackett’s compositions take influences from many genres, including jazz, classical and blues. For his later studio works The Night Siren (2017) and At The Edge Of Light (2019) Hackett has explored the influences of world music. Recent tours have seen Hackett celebrate his time with Genesis including a spectacular 2018 tour in which he realised a long-held ambition to perform the works of Genesis live with his band and an orchestra. The lockdown enforced by the 2020 global pandemic has proven to be a particularly creative period for Hackett. He began by releasing Selling England by the Pound & Spectral Mornings: Live at Hammersmith, a live recording of 2019’s hugely successful tour celebrating that Genesis classic together with the 40th anniversary of one of his most-loved solo albums. Lockdown also gave Hackett the opportunity to write and record two new studio albums, the UK Classical Chart hit Under A Mediterranean Sky and Surrender of Silence.
SAXON recently released a sequel to their 2021 covers’ album Inspirations. So, More Inspirations is 10 classic rock songs that have been been given the Saxon treatment. I do Not normally like or buy covers’ albums, but the 2 Saxon have made I am happy with. The band tends to choose plenty less-then obvious gems to include. They also keep the production simple, without adding things that are not part of the song or not part of the Saxon sound, hence there’ s no keyboards on the likes of “Gypsy” (Uriah Heep), or “Man On The Silver Mountain” (Rainbow), which is fine, both still sound great!.
Favorites here include the band’s takes on “Tales Of Brave Ulysses” (Cream), “Substitute” (The Who), “From The Inside” (Alice Cooper), and Nazareth’s “Razamanaz”, which suits Saxon & Biff’s voice perfectly! Love the band’s performances here, and Biff has one of the most recognizable voices in British rock. Well worth checking out!
Italy’s RAINBOW BRIDGE have a new album out, Drive being their fifth full-lengthy album. Eight tracks, with blues, psych, southern, and heavy rock elements. Lots of great guitar, including a few cool instrumentals. Drive starts off with the slower paced “Until My Wings Wills Be Stronger”, which a few of these tracks are. Standout cuts for me would be the instrumentals “Black Monday” and “Still Drives” – which starts and ends acoustically, but in there it builds into a nice driving rocker. The 14 minute+ epic “Tears Never Here” is also great, another driving tune, with plenty of changes, an acoustic intro reminiscent of Zeppelin; includes an excellent vocal as well, making for a dreamy summertime tune. *For more info check out the press info and links below.
‘Drive’, the new album by Apulian Rainbow Bridge,comes almost three years after the latest, ‘Unlock’, released in the summer of 2020.
‘Drive’ is ideally divided into three parts. A first part is dedicated to the songs, a second part to the instrumental pieces and finally a long ‘concept’ suite that contains all the souls of the band.
«Our most ambitious project so far – says the band -, a kind of double album, like all our favorite bands have done.»
The band’s references start from classic rock – The Who and Jimi Hendrix Experience – a good influence of Irish hard blues – Rory Gallagher and the early Thin Lizzy – mixed with the more current sound of Brant Bjork (ex-Kyuss)’s stoner/desert rock and Color Haze.
Rainbow Bridge will release ‘Drive’ on CD and digital platforms on March 24th. Find digital preorders at Bandcamp HERE.
Giuseppe JimiRay Piazzolla – vocals, acoustic & electric guitars, lyrics Fabio Chiarazzo – bass guitar, lyrics, background vocals Paolo Ormas – drums, cymbals, background vocals, lyrics
Arranged & Produced by Rainbow Bridge. Recorded, mixed and mastered by Cosimo Cirillo at New Born Records studio. Pic by JimRay – Artwork by Nesia_Earth
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TRACKLISTING:
1. Until My Wings Will Be Stronger 2. Years of Beer 3. Black Monday 4. I Saw My Dad Play Air Guitar 5. Make Peace 6. Stills Drives 7. Tears Never Here 8. Coming Out
BIOGRAPHY:
Rainbow Bridge was born in 2006 inspired by the sounds of the Jimi Hendrix Experience and heavy psychedelic blues. Right from the start the band tried to give a personal touch even if they were cover songs or standards. The band played in many rock and blues festivals over the years – Blues in Town, WoodInstock, Jimi Hendrix Live, Campania Blues, Bitonto Blues, South Italy Blues Connection, Blues a Balues, Dogana Blues, Freakout Stoned Fest ecc. – and opened for bands like Oh Sees, Putan Club and more. Over time, several bassists have come and gone in the band but when Fabio in late 2015 joining trio, the band started producing new music. Since 2017, three self-produced albums have been released on Bandcamp – plus a live album and a cover album – with very positive feedback from the press and critics even outside Italy. The band is featured on the first volume of the ‘Stoner Freak Anthology’ with second album ‘Lama’.
Billion Dollar Babies was Alice Cooper’s peak, as a band, massively huge at the time, and still (arguably) the most important in the AC catalogue (band or solo!). Released in March of 1973, it would be a #1 album in the US, the UK, and Finland, as well as #2 in Canada, and top 10 in a few others. The band’s previous album, School’s Out had given the #1 hit and most famous AC track ever – “School’s Out”, and the album was a big seller, but there were no further singles. The band reworked the song “Reflected”, from their 1968 debut Pretties For You in time for the 1972 presidential election, even making a promotional film out of it, though that featured more of the chimp than bandmembers (aside from Alice). “Elected” would be the first of 4 hit singles from Billion Dollar Babies, released September 13 of 1972., months ahead of the album. Credited to the entire band, “Elected” gave Alice Cooper their 2nd Top 10 hit in the UK, as well as being Top 10 in a number of European countries, And reaching #26 in the US the week of the election! The song would remain in Alice’s live set, post-original band, often being used as an encore. The song also picks up radio play every election year.
Record World, Sept 23, ’72 – Amidst a continually broadening sphere of activities, Alice Cooper has not neglected this election year, and has just released a new single, “Elected.” The music and lyrics of the song were written by all five members of the group. “Elect-ed” took ten days to record, with basic tracks recorded at the Cooper Estate in Greenwich, Connecticut. To add authenticity to the sound of “Elected,” Alice makes use of Will Jordan’s impersonation of Walter Winchell, as well as recorded portions of the Democratic Convention in Miami. Also, the record ends with Alice giving a campaign speech. In keeping with the laws pertaining to full disclosure of campaign funds and expenses, Alice wishes to note that the recording costs of “Elected” were $10,000, inclusive. Warner Brothers has initiated a national campaign for “Warner Bros. Elected Alice Cooper Days” September 18th and 19th, which will consist of promo men dressed as Uncle Sam along with two models in red, white, and blue outfits to present the record to program directors at each station. (Robert Feiden)
Alice S -elected With Alice Cooper’s latest record “Elected,” racing through the country, Louis Araiza, a student at the University of Houston took the lyric seriously. It seems he found a loophole in the bylaws governing the Student Union at the university and had Alice Cooper elected homecoming “queen.” It was never specified in the bylaws as to what sex a homecoming queen has to be Araiza explained. Alice Cooper, the male, lead -singer of the rock group bearing the same name may be cancelling a portion of his upcoming European tour to fly to Houston on November 11 to accept a loving cup during the half-time, coronation festivities in Dome Stadium, the 49,000 capacity home of the University of Houston Cougars.
So, tracks for Billion Dollar Babies were recorded over a 5 month period. A second single was released prior to the album – “Hello Hooray” , in January of ’73. The song was picked for use as the album’s and the live show’s opener. “Hello Hooray” was written by Canadian Rolf Kempf (thus qualifying AC’s single as CanCon), and originally recorded by folk singer Judy Collins for her 1968 album Who Knows Where The Time Goes (featuring Stephen Stills on guitar throughout the album). The AC single would reach top 10 in the UK and the Netherlands, top 20 in other countries, and #35 in the US. Further versions of the song included American folk singer Meg Christian (1974), UK industrial/alternative act PIG (1992), and Rolf Kempf, himself, released a version of his song on his 1993 CD Woodstock Album. “Hello Hooray” was also used for years as the opener to Toronto’s Q107 Radio’s Psychedelic Sunday program.
“That song was presented to us. I still have the reel to reel tape with the original song on it; I guess Judy Collins did a version of it just before we did, so. We didn’t normally do someone else’s material because we were such avid writers, ourselves, but for the beginning of the album, Billion Dollar Babies, and for the beginning of the Billion Dollar Babies show it seemed to be perfect!” – Neal Smith (2014)
Side one of Billion Dollar Babies could be seen more as the ‘singles’ side, while Side 2 would be more of the ghoulish side. Aside from the first 2 singles, the first side also featured the album’s 4th single, the title track. The song, “Billion Dollar Babies” was based around that classic drum intro from Neal Smith, while the song is co-credited to Alice, himself, Michael Bruce, and Rockin’ Reggie Vincent (Vinson). It is another that has remained in Alice’s live show ever since. As a single, was released in July, charting in Germany (#30) and the US (#57).
“Rockin Reggie was a friend of our’s, used to hang out with the band; he was from Detroit originally. We would party with him a lot, and when we moved to Connecticut he would come and hang out with us. He was a good friend of Glen’s, and he was a guitar player and a singer, with kind of a Nashville influence. And he had a song, and it eventually evolved in to the song Billion Dollar Babies. So that is why he (Reginald Vincent) has a writing credit on Billion Dollar Babies. So, we worked on it at our mansion house, in Greenwich, and I had always loved the Rolling Stones intro from Charlie Watts to the song ‘[Hey You] Get Off Of My Cloud’. I thought that was very cool, and as a drummer I always used to like to write songs for drummers, because people listen to songs and think ‘that’s cool’, but if I was a drummer listening to an Alice Cooper song – what would be cool about it? And I always tried to have something special in there that would get someone’s interest. ” – NS (2014)
“Raped And Freezin”, a tale co-written by Alice and Michael Bruce was the second track on side one, and is straight up memorable rocker, with a title/subject matter that may not fly today. An interesting twist though. This is one of my favorites here.
Side one closes out with “Unfinished Sweet”, credited to Bruce, Cooper, and Neal Smith. It tells the horror of going to the dentist for some painful gum work, complete with sounds of a drill and Alice moaning in pain.
Of the many outside players and guests on the album were guitarists Steve Hunter and Dick Wagner, who’d appeared on previous AC recordings, as well as fellow Phoenix player Mick Mashbir. Mashbir would eventually go on to play live on the band’s next couple of tours. Bob Dolin would play keyboards (as well as live), and numerous other guests appeared, notably Donovan Leitch swapping vocals on the title track. That Donovan vocal was recorded during sessions at Morgan Studios in London, England, which rumored to have included numerous others via a jam session. The press did report that a Marc Bolan guitar solo made it on to “Hello Hooray”, but most involved only confirm that the Donovan vocal was the Only guest appearance used from those sessions. Billion Dollar Babies also would be the last ‘band’ album produced by Bob Ezrin.
Mick Mashbir on recording on Billion Dollar Babies – “It was actually Mike Bruce that made that happen. GB was basically on strike. He didn’t want to be in the same room as Michael or Bob Ezrin and they were rehearsing for the next record, B$B. …. I played on every track except “Elected” “Sick Things” and “Generation Landslide”. My favourite song was “No Mister Nice Guy”. I was happy with all my parts, GB was around as little as possible. We were recording in the band’s mansion and he didn’t bother to come downstairs.”
The album’s third single – “No More Mr Nice Guy” opens side 2. Credited to Cooper & Bruce. In his book No More Mr Nice Guy, Michael Bruce recalls that the song had been started back around the time of making the Killer album, and that most of the song had been written by him. But lyrically it’s been fixed up to suit Alice. The track was chosen to be rush-released as a single in time for the beginning of the band’s massive tour. It would , a top 10 hit in the UK, #1 in Holland, a top 20 in a few European countries, as well as hitting #25 in the US. The song would be covered by a number of acts, notably Megadeth and Pat Boone, as well as used in a few tv shows, such as Family Guy and The Simpsons, and in the movie Dazed & Confused. I love the production on this track, the backing harmony vocals are a classic touch. From The Best Of Alice Cooper CD notes, Alice stated – “I wrote the lyrics out of anger because of how my parents were treated by some of the press. It was particularly hard because of my dad being a minister. Fact is, my parents were the only ones who knew I was a nice guy.”
“All Alice Cooper singles should be up tempo and should break fast, if they are going to break at all. Therefore, we advised their management to rush out ‘No More Mr. Nice Guy'” from the album, which they are doing. – Kal Rudman, Record World.
“Sick Things” and “I Love The Dead” were the darker side of the album, with producer Bob Ezrin getting a co-writing credit on both, Both songs being slower, darker, and spookier, would be a major feature in Alice’s live show, with “I Love The Dead” being used at the show’s climax with Alice’s execution. Both tracks feature great guitar solos, and I think “I Love The Dead” is a superb ending to the album, though I am less enthused about “Sick Things”. The album’s finale was written about necrophilia, and though credited to Cooper & Ezrin, Dick Wagner would also co-write on this, without credit – “The first song we wrote together was ‘I Love The Dead’ for the Billion Dollar Babies album, but I got no credit on that either because I was told they were going to have only Alice’s name on the album and that was it, so I sold out my share of that song to them. That’s what you do when you need money, right?” -Dick Wagner (Brave Words, 2006)
“Sick Things was just such a great song for us to lead in to I Love The Dead, where of course we’d cut Alice’s head off with the guillotine. And I still have the same guillotine to this day. Sick Things was just talking about necrophilia, tearing people apart and having sex with dead people.” – NS (2014)
The latter 2 tracks were connected via the piano ballad “Mary-Ann”. I think the inclusion of “Mary-Ann” wasn’t a favorable one by the entire band, with most preferring something heavier, as well as something that would be a ‘band’ song, as “Mary-Ann” was simply Alice with piano accompaniment (from someone outside the band). It would be the lone song from the album not to be featured on the ensuring tour.
“Four of us did not want “Mary Ann” on our album. We had some killer rock songs and the best one of them should have been where ‘Mary Ann’ was. Betraying our long proven rule was a major problem, and damaging.” – Dennis Dunaway (2012 Interview)
The last song recorded for Billion Dollar Babies was “Generation Landslide”. Needing one more song for the album, the band flew to the Canary Island’s and stayed at an unfinished hotel where they worked on this song as The band. It would be credited to the entire band, and featured Glen Buxton, who’s participation elsewhere on Billion Dollar Babies was said to be minimal. Alice would re-record the song for his 1981 album Special Forces, and American metal band Lizzy Borden would record an excellent version of this song on their Deal With The Devil album in 2000.
“The Alice Cooper group wrote “Generation Landslide” together from scratch. It proved that Alice Cooper was still at our best when we were left alone.” – DD
Billion Dollar Babies came in a green snake-skin wallet looking cover, a gatefold, with an inner sleeve with lyrics and band photo, as well as tear away cards of the bandmembers, which many felt the urge to tear off as the credits were on the inner gatefold behind them! Designed by Pacific Eye & Ear ( Ernie Cefalu). The package also contained a large folded ‘Billion dollar bill’ featuring the band in the middle. It was the inner sleeve photo (other side of lyrics) which would cause controversy for the band, as would be illegal to include photos of US currency –
FEDS NIX ALICE SPREAD: The Treasury Department and -the Secret Service have told Alice Cooper that it is illegal to use pictures of currency, thereby holding up plans to use a picture of Alice amid $1 million in cash on the new album `Billion Dollar Babies.” Shep Gordon, meanwhile, winged into Washington (D.C.) with a phalanx of lawyers to appeal, vowing the picture would be used. Alice’s canceled Palace Theater show, by the way, will be going on the road shortly. It’s titled after the new album. – By JOHN GIBSON
The band would go on to the biggest rock tour at the time (see below). The tour would eventually give fans the movie Good To See You Again Alice Cooper, which made a brief theatre appearance, as well as the Billion Dollar Babies Live recording, from Houston, which was included on the 2001 2CD deluxe version, as well as the 2019 Record Store Day vinyl issue.
“The biggest tour in the history of rock and roll with “The Alice Cooper Show” playing to an audience of over 820,000 people in 56 cities.” – Cash Box
Alice Cooper’s “Billion Dollar Babies.” This brand new release has exploded in cites such as Chicago, Philadelphia, etc. because it is a fantastic album. They opened their record -breaking national tour last Thursday and Friday at the Spectrum in Philadelphia before 20,000 people each night. We introduced them from the stage, and I am now known as the Sixth Alice Cooper. This tour will gross 4.6 million dollars, and the second biggest tour in the history of show business, the last Rolling Stones tour, grossed 3.2 million dollars. Because of the unprecedented public demand, more shows and more cities are being added according to Ashley, and their manager, Shep Gordon (astute industry observers tell us that Shep Gordon now has to be rated as the best manager in the business, and he is spoken of in the same breath as the legendary Col. Tom Parker of Elvis Presley fame). As of now, they are booked into 60 sold -out shows in 56 cities and they will play before 820,000 people.… Obviously, a tour of this magnitude deserves media attention of unprecedented magnitude and a train load of 60 press people came to Philadelphia from New York City to cover the events. Warner Brothers’ Ray Milanese and Joe Fiorentino rented a Delaware River showboat for an incredible party after the show . . – Kal Rudman, Record World
-New Alice Cooper album, “Billion Dollar Babies” is going to make believers of all who think the group is all gimmick and little talent. It’s their finest album to date, and it’s very solid, too. This is the one we’ve all been waiting for . . . – CashBox, March 17, 1973
BILLION DOLLAR BABIES – Alice Cooper – Warner Bros. BS 2685 Every time an Alice Cooper LP comes out, we claim in these pages that it’s the best they’ve done yet. And so must we still declare. Lyrically, the set is as strong as ever … “You tell me where to bite, you whet my appetite” being only one choice line. Musically, the package is clearly superior-both in melodic impact (yes, we said melodic) and arrangements. In addition to their current “Hello Hurray” and their recent “Elected,” the album contains a strong single in “No More Mr. Nice Guy.” Worth every penny of it, baby!
The last Badfinger album released while the original band were all still alive. Wish You Were Here was the band’s 7th album, and their best, IMO. A Vast improvement to the band’s 1973 self-titled album, both in songs and production. With money from the band’s label (Warner Bros) unaccounted for (courtesy of their manager), the album was quickly pulled from the shelves and taken out of print. A shame as Wish You Were Here could’ve been huge! Sadly that missing money and the album being pulled, lead to the band’s eventual break-up and the tragic death of Pete Ham. But, it remains a classic from 1974, still sounding fresh and energetic, with favorite tracks like “Dennis”, “No One Knows”, “Just A Chance”, and “In The Meantime / Some Other Time”.
*A 2019 compilation titled So Fine (The Warner Bros Rarities) was issued on 2 LP red vinyl, which included alternate mixes of Wish You Were Here tracks on 1 LP, with (previously unreleased “Queen Of Darkness” subbed in for “King Of The Load”
WISH YOU WERE HERE – Badfinger – Producer: Chris Thomas – Warner Bros. BS 2827 One of the most demonstrative British groups to take the country by storm, Badfinger continues its string of unique and challenging LP’s with this dynamic collection of tunes guaranteed to bring a smile to your face and raise your spirits. Impeccable harmonies, crisp arrangements and excellent selection of material earmark this LP as a sure-fire winner. We like “Just a Chance,” “Meanwhile Back At The Ranch,” “Got To Get Out Of Here” and “Should I Smoke.” CashBox, 10/26/74
British Heavy Metal legends SAXON unleash the high-octane second single, “Razamanaz”, from More Inspirations – out this Friday, March 24th via Silver Lining Music.
Following the release of Inspirations in 2021, More Inspirations is the second ‘deep dish’ serving of the influences which have fed the mighty Saxon’s immensely successful 40+ year career. The second single is a striking take on Nazareth’s “Razamanaz”.
FrontmanBiff Byford comments “In the seventies we’d go and see Nazareth they were one of the premier touring hard rock bands. We were lucky to tour with them in 1980, they used to open the show with this song, it’s about the audience performed to an audience… brilliant stuff!”
Watch/Listen to the recently released “The Faith Healer”, the “making of” video directed by Jay Shredder, at this location
Whether unveiling a sensational take on The Sensational Alex Harvey Band’s “The Faith Healer” (in the process showing the direct lineage from teenage turntables to international glory), getting feral with The Animal’s “We’ve Gotta Get Out Of This Place”, letting loose a high-octane take on Alice Cooper’s “From The Inside”, or laying down a ferocious tribute to KISS’ “Detroit Rock City”, More Inspirations is a joyous trip into the sounds which galvanized the Barnsley boys and continue to get spun on home stereos and tour buses.
Produced by vocalist/co-founder Biff Byford, with Seb Byford helping record the music alongside mixing engineer Jacky Lehmann, More Inspirations also includes enthusiastic takes on Alice Cooper, Rainbow, ZZ Top and Cream, as well as a thunderous “Razamanaz” by Nazareth, a tasty take on The Who’s “Substitute”, and a thick groove take on Uriah Heep’s “Gypsy”.
Whether this is your first dance with such classic songs, or you’ve come to see where Saxon were born, More Inspirations delivers the goods and then some.
URIAH HEEP”s Chaos & Colour has been out for some time now, and has been received enthusiastically and with great reviews from fans. Phil Lanzon, has been a major part of the Heep songwriting team since he joined the band as keyboard player. On Chaos & Colour Phil, along with founder/guitarist Mick Box, have delivered 6 awesome new Heep tracks. In this exchange Phil answers my questions pertaining to the band’s latest album, as well as what else he is up to. *Check out the links below!
With the pandemic and time away from each other and stage, was there more songwriting going on prior to recording Chaos & Colour? Was there an abundance of songs & ideas to choose from this time around?
Yes there was plenty of that. Mick and I wrote songs remotely during the pandemic. It was unusual but worked really well. There are songs and ideas left over, maybe for the next album, who knows.
You worked again with Jay Ruston. Was that an easy decision?
Yes it was easy. Our working relationship worked really well with Living the Dream so we wanted that to continue with Chaos.
Russell & Simon Pinto contributed 4 songs to Chaos & Colour. Was there some tough decisions in cutting down the number of songs?
Well there is always tough decisions when choosing the final songs. Especially as others band members are contributing; which we all feel has made for a great combination of material.
Chaos & Colour is a great follow up to Living The Dream, but I think a bit of a step up with more varied tracks trhoughout. Was there any deliberate move to try and include more progressive moments or ballads?
I personally always feel that there should be a prog section within a Heep album, specifically to keep variety in the material and also take the listener on a journey. It is a Heep feature that makes an appearance on many Heep albums from the early days to today.
Can you give me a bit of insight into some of the tracks- lyrically or recall on how it all came together…
I’ll keep it short. We always keep a strict eye on our lyrics that they don’t stray into the ‘norm,’ which is a pitfall of many artists, so we use the basic premise of positivity and the knowledge that there is good everywhere. You just gotta find it!
You seem to have a few new keyboard sounds on this album, such as on “Fly Like An Eagle”. I get a bit of Dream Theatre feel in there. Can you touch on any new sounds, approaches or equipment?
Not a great deal of new sounds, I was just messing around with a mini-moog style sound and decided it worked for the track.
“Age of Changes” is a fantastic track (my early favorite). Can you touch on this song?
I wrote this lyric based on my first childhood sweetheart. A story I’m sure will resonate with so many. We go through so many changes in our lives but the first real awakening to that fact hits most of us in the school yard.
You guys recently completed the 50th anniversary tour. How did You enjoy the shows? Any highlights or favorite moments in the set for you?
We all enjoyed the tour, it was a huge success as far as we are concerned and made a whole lot of Heepies very happy. The acoustic show was well received and was a joy to perform.
Phil, in your time awaiting the next Heep tour – might you be working on another solo project, book, or any guest appearances anywhere?
I am at the moment trying to sell my Musical, I mean, musical theatre. It is a full length musical about Ellis Island New York in 1917. The script is with an American producer as I write.
What are you listening to these days? Any current (new) favorites?
Nothing new at the moment. I am immersed in my artwork right now. Check out my Instagram.
Outsider Rock 