THIN LIZZY

SHORT CUTS –  Lynott v Chandler

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The music world has always had its fair share of myths, legends and hell raising antics. The time Ozzy bit the head off a dove or was it a bat? Well both actually. According to reports one was in record company offices the other was live on stage. He also snorted a line of ants. The list is endless for the Oz.

I came across a gaffer tape incident involving a music journalist and Killing Joke, as I was trying to find out who where and when it happened – if it did! I read a few other short stories with North East connections.

Chas Chandler, (bass) The Animals

Following on from the last post which featured Lemmy and Jimi Hendrix is a short story about Phil Lynott and Chas Chandler. Sadly, both deceased now, Phil and Chas were two of music’s huge characters. A snapshot of their achievements featured in earlier posts on this site. (links at the bottom)

I never saw Thin Lizzy in concert the only time I caught them live was in the studio of live music show The Tube broadcast on Channel Four in 1983. Other bands booked that night were JoBoxers, Thompson Twins and Pat Benatar reflecting the shows policy of booking a diverse range of music.

Guitarist John Sykes led the charge for Lizzy’s blistering performance of Cold Sweat, they played a few more songs including The Boys are Back in Town and if my memory is not too fuzzy a track not broadcast which I think was Whiskey in the Jar?

‘The Rocker – Phil Lynott’ by writer Mark Putterford is packed with stories of Thin Lizzy’s leader and talisman. One that stood out was about the time Lynott came up against a very angry Chas Chandler.

At the time Newcastle born former Animals bassist Chandler was managing a very successful Slade. In 1972 Lizzy supported Slade on their UK tour. A contributor to the book was booking agent Chris O’Donnell who recalls that tour.

‘That Slade tour was a really important one in the development of Lizzy as a live band, and particularly in the overall development of Phil as a performer. It made Phil realise what was expected of him. Slade were huge at the time and they would go on stage and absolutely slaughter the audience night after night with incredibly powerful performances. It was far removed from what Lizzy were doing at the time’ recalls Chris.

On the 22nd November the tour landed at the Top Rank in Sunderland, tickets were £1.00, however the opening night was at Newcastle City Hall on 3rd.

Chris added ‘On the opening night at Newcastle Phil was standing there mumbling as usual, looking at the floor and being all introverted, and someone threw a bottle at him. This shocked Phil because he thought he’d done a perfectly adequate set. But then Chas Chandler came in the dressing room afterwards and really ripped into the band’.

“Either you wake your ideas up or you’re off the tour. You’re here to warm the kids up not send them to sleep! What the hell do you think you’re doing standing there looking at the floor? You haven’t even got your act together. Sort yourselves out”.

‘Phil was devastated. He’d never been criticised so directly before, and to hear it from someone as well respected as Chas – the man who discovered his hero Hendrix! – was the worst aspect of all’ added Chris. ‘At the next show the band made a big effort to improve their presentation, and performance wise I don’t think they ever looked back’.

More short stories with a NE connection will be added soon including Jimi Hendrix, The Jam and The Specials.

Alikivi   March 2025

Research >>>

The Rocker – Phil Lynott by Mark Putterford.

Links to Chas Chandler & Phil Lynott >>>

HOME NEWCASTLE – snapshot from the life of musician, manager and record producer Chas Chandler 1938-96. | ALIKIVI : NORTH EAST UK CULTURE

LOVER, FIGHTER, HELLRAISER – The Rise & Fall of Phil Lynott 1949-1986 | ALIKIVI : NORTH EAST UK CULTURE

LOOKING FOR LIZZY – Search on for Guardian demo tapes info.

/ Alikivi

An interesting message has been sent in by Douglas Sharp from Hanover in the north of Germany…

“I have a demo tape with the song ‘Doot Doot’ recorded by the band Freur at Guardian studios in 1983 for Tyne Tees TV. Producer and Engineer T. Gav. 15ips master with the note RESTRICTED”.

“Do you know anything about the session? It would be interesting to find out more about the demo tape”.

Douglas Sharp was born in 1952 in Leeds, Yorkshire, and started out as a trainee geophysicist for a German company in London in 1972 when the North Sea oil boom was in full swing. He moved back with them to their German headquarters in Hanover in July 1974.


“The firm closed down in 2004, after that I decided to start up my own translation business here, which is still going strong”.

Guardian Studio was based in the Durham village Pity Me, and features heavily on this site. In the 80s cult NWOBHM compilation album Roksnax was recorded there along with a host of North East bands including Spartan Warrior, Mythra, Hollow Ground, Saracen, Battleaxe, Toy Dolls and Satan.

Tygers of Pan Tang recorded demo tapes for their record company MCA, plus ‘The Audition Tapes’ with guitarist John Sykes and vocalist Jon Deverill.

Where did you come across the Guardian tape?
“It was sometime around the late 90s when I found it in a skip just down the road from Tyne Tees TV – along with a Thin Lizzy demo – while I was on holiday in Cullercoats where my sister used to live. I hope no one accuses me of nicking them!” explained Douglas.

Have you found any info on the Lizzy tape?
“The tape was recorded at Wessex Sound Studios in London, and is now in the hands of the Thin Lizzy fan club in Oswestry. They are trying to find someone with a reel-to-reel tape deck to play it on and discover whether it’s a “legendary lost recording!”

Douglas added “My sister worked as a researcher at Tyne Tees TV, her boyfriend was a film maker, Derek Smith, I helped him out with the German end of researching and translating bits and pieces for one of his films about artists interned on the Isle of Man 1940. It won RTS best documentary award 1990”.

The research sounds interesting…

“To be honest – I love it! Derek asked me to see what I could find out about the exiled Germans, so I started trawling all the sources I could find here. He said he was going to mention me by name in the credits, but maybe he forgot!

Any other projects that you are working on?
“Together with a retired miner and dowser from Huddersfield, I worked for a couple of years on finding locations of all the former fireclay and coal mines, pits and shafts in the West Riding of Yorkshire and turned the data into a map, which has since been shown during presentations at places like the National Coal Mining Museum”.

“In the same vein I’m currently helping a YouTuber in the Leeds area who’s working on the history of a no longer existent late 19th early 20th century mineral railway in the village of New Farnley, near Leeds, where I was born. Digging out old photos, maps – including my own and family histories”.

“But yeah It would be interesting to find out about the Tyne Tees demo tapes. I’ll get back to you if I hear anything new”.

If you have any info on the tapes leave a message on here or drop a line to garyalikivi@yahoo.com and I’ll pass it on to Douglas.

Alikivi   February 2024

LOVER, FIGHTER, HELLRAISER The Rise & Fall of Phil Lynott 1949-1986

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Phil Lynott, Thin Lizzy, Black Rose tour 1979 Newcastle City Hall. pic Paul White.

Phil Lynott played the cool, sexy, rock star. The hot shot gunslinger with studded wrist band and clenched fist. The Rocker. But he was dead by 36. What happened in the last few years of his life?  

Thin Lizzy had been around since the early seventies releasing a number of successful singles including Whisky in the Jar, Rosalie and Waiting for an Alibi, and top 30 chart albums including Black Rose, Renegade and the imperious, Live and Dangerous.

The double album produced by Tony Visconti (Bolan/Bowie/Morrissey) in 1978 reached number 2, staying in the UK charts for over a year. Many critics label the record as one of the greatest live albums.

Although I never saw them in concert, I was in the Newcastle audience when they appeared live on Channel Four’s music show The Tube on 28th January 1983.

I remember watching a blistering version of Cold Sweat from the Thunder and Lightning album. The boys were back in town and at the top of their game. Or so I thought.

In comparison, I later watched a videotape of the show and thought the dressing room interview with Lynott was awkward and dull, he looked fragile. Was this the beginning of the slow decline for the Irish rock legend?

The TV show was only the second appearance of new guitarist John Sykes, formerly of Whitley Bay heavy metal band, Tygers of Pan Tang. His first gig was a few days earlier on BBC’s Sight & Sound concert – talk about being hoyed in at the deep end!

Lynott was more than happy with Sykes. He could see a new future for Lizzy. Cold Sweat entered the UK charts and another TV slot was scheduled for Top of the Pops.

But the band were dropped from the running order after a drunken Lynott was reported to have told the producer to ‘fuck off’ – twice.

Morale was low and cracks appeared amongst the team. Lizzy found themselves slowly falling apart through health and personal reasons. Eventually a split was announced.

1983 UK tour dates

So what was left ? The Thunder and Lightning UK tour included two dates at Newcastle City Hall, with a night at London’s Hammersmith Odeon and a reunion of past Lizzy guitarists, Brian Robertson, Gary Moore and Eric Bell.

“It was chaos” said Bell. “A mess if you listened to what was being played. It was a turning point in my life, after that I never wanted to hear those songs again. I suppose it was a good way of burying Thin Lizzy forever”.

Roadie for the band Peter Eustace explained “On the crew we all thought Phil was scared of success. Once you’ve arrived where do you go? And all you know is that these young guns are breathing down your neck”.

The future, well the ‘80s, belonged to the new chart soundz ! from the likes of Depeche Mode and Duran Duran. While a rejuvenated Queen, and soon to be Irish legends, U2, both benefited from Live Aid. Meanwhile, Lizzy struggled to play a few more dates in Ireland and Japan.

Their last UK show was headlining the Reading festival in August ‘83. The curtain came down on their final live performance in Nuremburg, Germany on 4th September, sharing a bill with Saxon, Motorhead and Whitesnake.

Fellow Irishman and Boomtown Rat songwriter Bob Geldof said “Phil couldn’t imagine a life not in leather trousers, with a limousine taking him to work every day”.

In 1984 a zoned out Lynott appeared on ITV’s Breakfast Show talking about his new band, Grand Slam, but also about his problems as a heroin addict.

He resolved to work hard, in rehearsals he drilled the band for eight hours a day earning him the nickname ‘Sergeant Rock’. Had the thunder returned?  

The band toured extensively throughout the UK and what seemed like victory soon turned into disaster as no major label offered them a recording contract. The industry was backing off.

In 1985 old friend Huey Lewis – from the News – spent time with Lynott recording in a San Francisco studio, but the old swagger wasn’t there. A delicate and tired Lynott only managed a couple of vocal tracks.

Although he did manage a UK chart hit in June ‘85 with Out in the Fields when he paired up with another old friend and former Lizzy guitarist Gary Moore. Cutting out management, Lynott made a direct deal with the label and received £5,000 in cash for being on the record.

But his darkest days were ahead with long days and weeks spent at his London home in dressing gown and slippers not answering calls or seeing friends.

Then out of the blue a charity concert was arranged to be played in front of a world-wide TV audience, it was made for the return of Thin Lizzy.

Live Aid saw The Who, Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin reforming for a one off gig. But Lynott wasn’t asked. Did fellow Irishman and organiser Bob Geldof stay away knowing of his problems?

Co-organiser, songwriter & former Lizzy touring guitarist, Midge Ure said…

”To our dying shame neither Bob nor I even thought about asking Phil to put Lizzy together for Live Aid. If he had been in a healthy state that could have been the Queen moment for them – ‘The Boys are Back in Town’ – at Wembley? Jesus, can you imagine?“

“Why didn’t we do it? Was it that psychologically we had already given Phil up as gone? It’s something that will stay with me for the rest of my life’.

There were rumours that Lynott was to play Jimi Hendrix in a biopic of the guitarists life, but nothing came of it. In the studio he was working on recording solo material.

Phil Lynott’s final public appearance was in December 1985 when he travelled to Tyne Tees TV studio in Newcastle to record a Christmas special for pop programme Razzmatazz, he performed his solo single Nineteen.

Ironically the presenter was David ‘Kid’ Jensen, the DJ who had championed the band in the early seventies. Also on the programme were Slade, who Lizzy had opened for back in the early days. Back when the fight was being won.

At home Lynott was visited by hangers on, pushers and gofers. He ended up surrounded by people, but very alone. In court on a drugs charge he was called ‘a drugs victim and a trajedy’ by his own solicitor. His close friends wondered where did he go? The musician, the poet, the man they loved.

Sadly, on 4th January 1986, Phil Lynott died of kidney, liver and heart failure. One of his close friends said “Phil didn’t die of a heart attack, he died of a lifestyle”.

Alikivi   July 2023

Research:

Phil Lynott: The Rocker by Mark Putterford.

Cowboy Song: The authorised biography of Philip Lynott by Graeme Thomson.

Thin Lizzy official website.

LONDON CALLING: Nights at the Marquee Club

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The heart of London’s music industry was the legendary live music club the Marquee, along with CBGB’S in New York, the club has been defined as one of the most important music venues in the world.

It provided the catalyst to launch the career of many bands – The Rolling Stones, The Who, Led Zeppelin – the list is endless.

A&R men used to regularly visit the club to watch out for the next big thing and with plenty of bands looking to make it, the best way was to be seen on stage of the Marquee.

Graeme Thomson wrote in his biog about Phil Lynott –

‘It was do or die. Thin Lizzy were £30,000 in debt. Money was borrowed for their showcase gig for Phonogram at the Marquee on 9th July 1974. It was so hot that night that all the guitars went out of tune, but they played well enough to confirm the deal, even if the advance for a two album contract only cleared what they owed’.

Mick Wall’s biog of Lemmy featured the time Motorhead stormed the capital, guitarist Fast Eddie Clark remembers…

‘The Marquee gig was one of the best we ever did. Lemmy said the sweat was climbing up the walls trying to get out’.

Bands from the North East of England – White Heat, Angelic Upstarts, Fist, The Showbiz Kids, Punishment of Luxury, Raven and Tygers of Pan Tang all travelled south down the M1.

Was playing London the catalyst for a life in music, or just a road too far for some ?

John Gallagher from Chief Headbangers, Raven  ‘The running joke was – c-mon lets git in a van and gaan doon t’London ! We did quite a few one off support gigs. It was in the back of the truck, drive down to London, play the Marquee with Iron Maiden and drive back straight after the gig’.

Harry Hill, drummer with Fist remembers…’We played the Marquee for two nights supporting Iron Maiden. We were going down an absolute storm, the place was packed. I’m not sure what the band thought about it but their manager was kicking off “You’re just the support band, you’re not supposed to go down like that” 

We won him over in the end and he came into the dressing room with a crate of beer. Yep we gave them a run for their money’.

Residencies were part of the scene and a few North East bands got on the list including Dire Straits. This advert from March ’78 with admission fee only 70p.

Select dates for North East bands listed as playing the Marquee:

1976:   Halfbreed 15 & 29th January & 3rd March.  Arbre 4th April.

Back Street Crawler 11 & 12th May with AC/DC as support. Cirkus 15th May.

1977:  Penetration 29th June opening for Heron also 30th July & 1st August opening for The Vibrators.

1978:  Penetration 21st June. Punishment of Luxury 3rd October.

1979:  Showbiz Kids 3rd February. Punishment of Luxury 13th February.

Showbiz Kidz 21st April. Punishment of Luxury 7th May.

Showbiz Kids 19th May & 14th June & 14th July.

Punishment of Luxury 23rd August & 31st October.

1980:  Raven 5th, 6th, or 7th November with Taurus or Diamond Head opening for Gary Moore.

1981:  White Heat 29th April.

1982:  Angelic Upstarts 18th February & 12th August.

The Marquee at Charing Cross Road finally closed it’s doors in 1996 after first establishing the club in Oxford Street, then it’s heyday in Wardour Street.

Alikivi  May 2020.

ART OF NOISE from the Tygers of Pan Tang new album ‘Ritual’.

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Just when you thought it was safe the aptly titled ‘Art of Noise’ comes at you head on, and returns for another bite. Opening with thick treacly rock sound ‘Worlds Apart’ to ‘Spoils of War’ and the single ‘White Lines’ with plenty of room for ‘Words Cut Like Knives’.

Then the MONSTER thunder of ‘Let’s turn up the sound and gather around, To hear…the art of noise’. Deafining indeed. Album closer ‘Sail On’ is a breeze after that.

The Tygers of Pan Tang, engineer Fred Purser and additional production from Soren Andersen are the creative team behind the new album ‘Ritual’ which can be added to any hard rock playlist in 2020.

For further info contact the official website:

http://www.tygersofpantang.com/official/

Alikivi   March 2020.

ALL FOR THE RECORD – with Jack Meille, vocalist with Tygers of Pan Tang

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Music is life. It showed me I could follow my passion and make it my job. I’m a lucky guy.

Is there a country you haven’t played that you would like to ? Australia! That would be a dream come true.

How did you get the job with the Tygers ?

In the past I have been lucky not to have had to audition for a band. Firstly, I was contacted by a Swiss management company who said a British band are looking for a new singer. Without knowing the name of who it was, I sent my CV and recordings from the album released by my band Mantra.

So, when I got the confirmation it was the Tygers and they wanted to audition me, I said to myself ‘Why not? Let’s do the first and hopefully, only audition of your life’. I went to Darlington on November 4th 2004 ….and got the job!

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Is there a good balance of characters in the band ?

It’s a five-piece band and we all have different characters, more important, very different musical tastes. This is a bonus but sometimes it’s not easy to combine everyone’s point of view on a song, if you know what I mean.

We are all very passionate when it comes to Tygers songs.

You just recorded the new album, how did that go ?

It was tough but rewarding. We were forced to delay the recording twice because we didn’t feel we were ready to record. It wasn’t an easy decision to take but the best.

The eleven tracks on the new album are the best we could ever record. I know it sounds like a cliche, but after all the hard work, we’re all very proud of the result.

How did you get on with the producer and former Tyger, Fred Purser ?

I personally enjoyed every moment spent in the studio with Fred. He is such a talented guy and made me feel at home. I only had six days to record and believe me it’s not very much when you have to record eleven songs plus a couple of bonus tracks.

But I made it and have to thank him for that. Also, we discovered we have a passion for craft beers. So, after recording we managed to ‘indulge’ drinking some really good ones.

Who were your early influences in music ?

I love rock ‘n’ roll from Chuck Berry to Slayer but the first record that really blew me away was Dark Side of the Moon. I have memories of me, about 4 or 5 years old, listening constantly to On the Run.

The first record I bought, or should I say I asked my father to buy was the Queen album A Night at the Opera. Still one of my favourite albums of all time.

I’m a record collector – the boys in the band can confirm that – so you can find me at festivals looking at record stalls. When it comes down to singing, the choice would go to Robert Plant, early David Coverdale, Phil Mogg, Paul Rodgers…the list may go on and on.

What has been your best gig with the Tygers so far ?

There has been a few. I always enjoy playing the Bang Your Head Festival in Germany. A memorable day was at a festival in Northern Spain where we played a great set and then had the pleasure to hang around with Cheap Trick, then saw the set by John Fogerty with Ty Tabor from King’s X.

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Have you got any gigs lined up for the new album release ?

During November we are going to play the UK and Europe. Before that we play Dusseldorf with Diamond Head, Doro and Saxon on 26th October 2019.

Since this interview Saxon have been forced to postpone all upcoming gigs in 2019 due to frontman Biff Byford undergoing heart surgery. Get well soon Biff.

‘White Lines’ will be the first single, released on 27th September on all platforms, and a 12″ vinyl limited release of 500 copies for all you collectors will be available from:

http://targetshop.dk/…/tygers-of-pan-tang-white-lines-12vin…

For further information contact the official website:

 http://www.tygersofpantang.com/official/

Interview by Gary Alikivi   August 2019.

SLAVE TO THE RHYTHM – in conversation with Gav Gray bassist with Tygers of Pan Tang

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After their last album in 2016 and touring throughout Europe, the Tygers are back and about to release their new record ‘Ritual’. The second with the line-up of Jacko Meille, Robb Weir, Micky Crystal, Craig Ellis and Gav Gray…..

Yes, it was a lot of hard work, three months of prep, writing and arranging. So when we got into the studio we were ready for it. We knew we were gonna make a great album – and we have.

The band used Trinity Heights Studio in Newcastle, former guitarist with the Tygers, Fred Purser is owner and producer…..

Yeah, lovely bloke, we got on really well, he loved my tea and morning hugs (laughs) ! He would say to me during a take,

‘Try and play less hard’, so I tried, and then he`d say, ‘Nah, just play the way you do’. He had a plug in to pull it back in (laughs).

Some of the lines I’d written and rehearsed with the lads sounded fine until the guitars were layered. Being in a two-guitar band sometimes requires that ‘less is more’ and most times that’s true, the bass doesn’t need to be too busy, just a really solid rhythm is all that is needed on a lot of hard rock songs.

My thing has always been for the rhythm and timing over busy, it’s all about the one. I was never a practising musician, just a frustrated drummer!

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How did it go in the studio ?

On day one we just set up, got some drum sounds, got comfortable and worked towards day two to have some drum and bass takes with guide guitars. This is how we do it. We will play the songs that have an easier approach, leaving the harder ones for later.

Craig is in the live room. Me and Mick would be in the control room with Fred. We had worked on the songs for months so when it came time to record the song’s it didn’t take long.

We were well prepared. Me and Craig (drummer) did a couple of the songs in one take as a drum n bass jam, which are on the album.

Robb added his guitar and Jackie flew in from his home in Italy on the last week of recording to do the vocals. It all worked well, everyone’s playing on the record is fantastic and because we were tight, the songs just came together as we expected.

The whole session and working with Fred was, for me, one of my best yet. It`s a great place to make a record.

How did the songs come together for the new album ?

We each work on ideas at home doing demos and then take them into rehearsal’s and work out how it`s all going to fit together. ‘This is the bridge, That’s good for a chorus’, Big riff intro`sort of thing and dissect the structures for each song until we have a rough arrangement. Then all the bit’s that make a song special, you fine tune them.

When they get into the studio, we play them through and maybe somebody makes a mistake but sometimes that’ll work within the song – a nuanced piece, a happy accident really.

When that happens, it’s a great feeling. That’s a great part of making music – just by playing, those accidents can become your favourite part of the song.

Do you write some songs just to be recorded in the studio ?

No, all songs are written to play live. Whether or not we play all of them live is another thing. I don’t know any band who plays just for the studio and to be honest you should be able to play all your songs live.

How did you join the Tygers ?

This latest run has been since 2011. But back in the ‘90s I originally met Jess Cox at a gig I was playing at the Riverside, Newcastle. He approached me after the gig, told me about owning Neat Records and having a few bands on his roster.

He was looking for a bass player for future touring and recording. This was a big deal for me cos I was just playing around local bars on Tyneside.

We met up and he mentioned Blitzkreig who I had heard of, and I said yeah sounds good, so I done that for a short while, doing a handful of shows and a festival in America.

Then Jess wanted to get the Tygers back together, this was 1999. Robb Weir was already in and me and Chris Percy the drummer came as a rhythm section cos we had bounced together from band to band.

I said to Jess he (Chris) was really solid and will kill it. And he did. Then a guy you interviewed not long ago, Glenn Howes was brought in on guitar.

We rehearsed for a couple of months in the Off Quay buildings near The Cluny in Newcastle then went off to Germany to play the Wacken Festival in front of 10,000 people. The biggest gig of my life at the time.

But when we got back to the UK there was some bitterness within the band and it ended, it’s the way it goes sometimes. But Jess had always been good to me and got me a lot of gigs. I think around that time I must have been in about three bands on his roster.

Then out of the blue I got a call from The Almighty. They were a big name so what ya gonna do eh ! I turned them down haha! I was fed up with the music scene and wanted out.

It wasn’t till a few months later I came home from a night out and my girlfriend told me that the Almighty management had been on the phone again. I thought, hell, why not, it’s what I wanted to do so jumped on a bus down to Oxford after learning five songs, talked to the band, played a bit and got the job.

Loved my time there but unfortunately only lasted about 18 months cos the band were dropped from the label.

A couple of years later Ricky ends up in Thin Lizzy, he’s a great bloke and I still keep in touch with him. In fact, he just got the Tygers the gig of supporting Saxon in the Dusseldorf Arena.

He called me up and said ‘Can the Tygers do it ? I talked with the rest of the band and our manager and agreed it would be great for us to play in front of 7,000 people just before we release our new album.

Since this interview Saxon have been forced to postpone all upcoming gigs in 2019 due to frontman Biff Byford undergoing heart surgery. Get well soon Biff.

In the Tygers live set the band play a few songs from their first album Wildcat…..

Love playing those songs from the first album, it’s my favourite, there was just something about it. It’s got a great, dirty sound – it’s got attitude, and Robb wrote song’s from the heart.

When it was released in ’79 they were just out of the punk explosion and Insanity was one of my favourite songs. Around that time I went to see local bands Fist, Hellanbach and Angelic Upstarts in South Shields.

The first single I bought was Hanging on the Telephone by Blondie, still one of my favourite ever songs. Then I saw Lemmy on Top of the Pops and thought ‘That’s what I wanna do’.

It wasn’t until I was 21 when I started playing bass in bands. Everyone wanted to be a guitar hero so I thought that if I buy a bass I might get a gig haha.

I played along to my favourite records for a year and just wanted to join some band’s, have a laugh, have a beer and just have some fun playing.

Being from South Shields I started looking around the Tyneside, Sunderland and Washington areas to get a few gigs. That’s where I joined a band called The Junkies around ‘89/90. That was my first band and first gig.

Are you looking forward to the new album release in November ?

Yeah, the record company will set the exact date. The mix is now finished by Soren Anderson he worked on our last album. Harry Hess will be mastering it again, making it as fat and big a sound as you possibly can – basically sprinkling fairy dust on it (laughs).

Finally, it goes to print so yeah, the record company will have a date soon. I’m just really looking forward to hearing the final tracks cos we worked so hard on that album. I know it’s a bit of a cliché, but we really feel it is one of the Tygers best albums.

‘White Lines’ will be the first single, released on 27th September on all platforms, and a 12″ vinyl limited release of 500 copies for all you collectors will be available from:

http://targetshop.dk/…/tygers-of-pan-tang-white-lines-12vin…

For further information contact the official website:

 http://www.tygersofpantang.com/official/

Interview by Gary Alikivi    August 2019.

ROKSNAPS #5 with Paul White

/ Alikivi

Motorhead1979

Lemmy, Motorhead 1979.

Roksnaps are fan photographs which captured the atmosphere of concerts on Tyneside during the late 70’s and early 80’s.

It was a time when rock and metal bands ruled the city halls up and down the country. On Tyneside we had the main venues of Mecca in Sunderland, The Mayfair and City Hall in Newcastle.

The gigs were packed with tribes of mostly young lads from towns across the North East. T-shirts, programmes and autographs were hunted down to collect as a souvenir – and some people took photographs on the night.

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Thin Lizzy, 1980.

One fan who kept his photos and shared them on this blog was Paul White…

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‘The pics I’ve managed to dig out here are scanned from my original prints as the negatives went walkabout many moons ago. Here’s what you’ve got. Whitesnake – Trouble and the Lovehunter tour. Thin Lizzy – Black Rose tour, Motorhead – Overkill and Bomber tour (I think). Enjoy.’

David Coverdale, Whitesnake.
Gary Moore & Scott Gorham, Thin Lizzy 1980.
Motorhead.

‘I went to my first gig in 1975. Status Quo’s On The Level tour. What a night. Back then when a band like that played, the first few rows of seats would be ripped up immediately the band came on.

Along with Glasgow Apollo the City Hall and Mayfair were the best gigs in the country for touring bands.

If there was a band like AC/DC on at the Mayfair, you could be lifted off your feet by the crowd and pushed from side to side. You certainly had to know how to use your elbows.

The exhilaration when the lights suddenly went down, and a massive cheer would go up. Nothing like it.

At some point I realised we had an old Minolta SLR lying round the house that nobody was using. With only a rudimentary understanding of how to use it, I bought some film and took it to a gig. The Scorpions first Newcastle gig I think it was.

I remember, because the gig tickets were white and loads of people had photocopied a mates and applied a perf with a needle, including me. The staff on the doors never had time to properly check tickets back then, it was easy peasy. That happened more than once I have to say.

The photos were crap though. I had no flash and was wary of the staff taking the camera. Worse, I was on the balcony and didn’t have a great view. No idea what happened to those shots. Just as well. I was luckier from then on’. 

Gary Moore, Thin Lizzy.
Scott Gorham, Thin Lizzy.

‘Next time it was the Whitesnake first tour to promote Trouble which had just been released. Better seats meant better pics. A few times I queued overnight for tickets and got great seats.

One time in a blizzard for Rush’s Hemispheres tour. The weather was so bad it made the local TV news. I just remember waking up under a foot of snow.

Queuing overnight wasn’t always a good idea though. One time me and a mate got the last bus from Blyth to Newcastle to queue for Rainbow tickets only to find a sign on the doors saying ‘Rainbow tickets will not be on sale’.

Unfortunately, the last bus home had gone, and we couldn’t afford a taxi. We kipped in a doorway of the Civic Centre and got the first bus in the morning. Wouldn’t swap those days for anything though. Happy days indeed.

The list of great bands we saw is hard to believe these days. Tell some young kid that you saw AC/DC or UFO at the Mayfair and their mouths drop open. We were blessed for sure’.

Phil Lynott, Thin Lizzy.
Lemmy, Motorhead.
Mick Moody, Whitesnake.

Interview Alikivi   June 2018.

Recommended:

Steve Thompson (Songwriter & NEAT records producer) Godfather of NWOBHM, 27th June 2017.

1980 The Year Metal was Forged on Tyneside 11th February 2018.

GUARDIAN RECORDING STUDIO #1 Tygers of Pan Tang

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Gaurdian Sound Studios were based in a small village called Pity Me in County Durham, North East UK.

There are various theories on the origin of the unusual name of the village – a desolate area, exposed and difficult to cultivate or a place where monks sang ‘Pity me o God’ as they were chased by the Vikings.

Whatever’s behind the name, it was what happened in two terraced houses over 30 years ago that is the focus of this blog.

From 1978 some of the bands who recorded in Guardian were: Neon, Deep Freeze and Mike Mason & the Little People. A year later The Pirahna Brothers recorded a 7” and there was also an EP released by Mythra.

1980 saw E.P’s from Hollow Ground, Hellanbach and a compilation album, Roksnax.

From 1982-85 bands including Red Alert, Toy Dolls, Prefab Sprout, Satan, Battleaxe and Spartan Warrior had made singles or albums. I caught up with a number of musicians who have memories of recording in Guardian… 

TYGERS

TYGERS OF PAN TANG – Demo’s & B sides.

ROBB WEIR: ‘When we arrived at the address for the studio, I thought we had got it totally wrong! It was a small street full of pit colliery houses. Nothing wrong in that of course, just we couldn’t see a recording studio anywhere.

We pulled up to number 32 or whatever the house number was and knocked on the door expecting to be told we were in the wrong area. The door opened and a young man with a ‘bush’ on his head greeted us. ‘Hi, I’m Terry Gavaghan, welcome to Guardian!’

As we walked in his front room it had been converted into a makeshift studio with sound proofing on the walls. Terry had also knocked a huge hole in the wall dividing the lounge to the dining room which was now the control room and fitted a large plate glass window.

I remember asking him where he lived, ‘upstairs’ he said as if I should have known.

Anyway we recorded the entire Spellbound album there as a demo for MCA our record company and Chris Tsangarides our record producer.

We also recorded the ‘Audition Tapes’ there, John Sykes and Jon Deverill’s first Tygers recordings. Which was to be a free 7 inch single to be packaged with Hellbound when it was released.

I think we were there for a few days recording and during one of the sessions I was in the studio by myself laying down a solo.

When I had finished, I put my guitar on its stand and as I made my way into the control room my foot caught the stand that John’s guitar was on, and I knocked his Gibson SG on the floor!

He was watching through the control room window and ran into the studio going ape! I of course apologised but he couldn’t forget it. In the end I told him to shut the f**k up as no damage had been done and if he didn’t some damage WOULD be done!

What did come out of Guardian were some fantastic recordings. Terry did us proud I have to say. His studio and his warmth were fantastic! The moral of the story is, ‘Don’t judge a recording studio by its colliery house appearance!’

RICHARD LAWS ‘Tygers of Pan Tang recorded at Guardian twice. Although we were usually associated with Impulse Studios home of Neat Records.

We had sort of fallen out with Impulse and Neat, so we recorded the demos for our second album Spellbound at Guardian.

We recorded about five tracks, I think. These demos were later released on various compilations. The demos for Spellbound were the first time we recorded with Jon Deveril and John Sykes in the band.

Later we recorded two B sides for singles off our fourth album, The Cage. Whilst we were there doing the B sides our record company came up and did a play through of the fully mixed album which was the first time we had heard the finished product’. 

If anyone has information or recorded in Guardian studios, it will be much appreciated if you get in touch.

Interviews Alikivi.

Recommended:

Richard Laws TYGERS OF PAN TANG: Tyger Bay 24th August 2017.

Robb Weir TYGERS OF PAN TANG: Doctor Rock  2017

1980: The Year Metal was Forged on Tyneside, 11th February 2018.

ROKSNAX: Metal on the Menu, 9th March 2018.

LOST IN MUSIC – with North East musician Bernadette Mooney.

/ Alikivi

‘War Machine went on to play many gigs after the album was released in 1986 and I was asked to do a photo shoot in Kerrang called ladykillers. I really enjoyed the day as Bon Jovi was getting his photos taken the same day and for that month’s issue we both appeared in the Kerrang magazine.

We also appeared in Viz as the meanest band in the North East but I think Venom should of got that one!

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How did you get started in music ?

‘Bought my first guitar when I was 15 and had lots of song ideas but wasn’t sure how to write. There was lots of lyrics in my head so I wrote them down, taught myself to play guitar from a book and started to write my own songs.

A friend heard them and played them to a guy who was in a band. He liked my voice, so I ended up doing a few gigs with him.

Then I joined a band called Chapter 24. I played a while with them as a guitarist and vocalist but then moved on to a local band called She with Lee Robertson. I played a few gigs with them before forming War Machine with Steve White on guitar.

We were both from Wallsend and Les Fry was living in Jesmond he was on bass. We had a drummer called Steve Smith who still gigs in the North East.

My influences then were Pat Benatar, Steve was into Black Sabbath and Venom. I first met Steve White at college and we dated. Before he formed a band with me he was in Atomkraft with Tony Dolan who is now with Venom Inc.

Steve and myself would write the songs together just by jamming. I had lyrics and give them to Steve who would write the guitar bits and Les added bass. I think Les wrote some songs too’.

Where did War Machine rehearse and gig?

‘We used to rehearse in an old building. I think it was in Felling near Gateshead. It was horrible. The guys used to pee in Brown ale bottles as there were no toilets.

I used to stand in a cardboard box with newspaper in to keep my feet warm. But we were skint and it was cheap.

We did a few gigs around the North East and in Scotland. When we did a gig we went all out with the show. Pyrotechnics and explosions which always seemed to be going off near me!

One night at Chrystal’s Arena in Scotland we set a ceiling on fire and got sent a £300 bill. We never paid of course. Couldn’t do that now with health and safety I don’t know how we got away with it.

We even got offered a gig in what was then Yugoslavia. But they wouldn’t let us in because of our name. I remember we entered a Battle of the Bands held in Gateshead Brewery. We came second, or was it third ?

War Machine would rehearse a lot before a gig, getting really tight and after playing many venues in the North East we ended up with a good fan base’.

What was your experience of recording ?

‘We recorded a demo at Neat records and on it was a song I wrote called Storm Warning. Dave Woods who owned Neat records, liked it so much he offered to record our album.

The line up of the band that recorded was me, Steve and Les and we had Brian Waugh on drums. We didn’t get much time in the studio and we felt it was a bit rushed.

Our album did pretty well abroad, but we never received any royalties or from any other songs that were used on compilation albums. Dave Wood said all the money from the album paid for the distribution.

Nerd alert: War Machine released Unknown Soldier in 1986 on the Neat record label. An eight-track album including the tracks Power, On the Edge and No Place to Hide.

The same year the album was also released by Roadrunner records in the Netherlands. Tracks by War Machine appeared on at least four compilation albums released in the ’90s.

‘We were young and naive so never questioned it. We were like many bands in that respect. We were played on a lot of radio shows across the world even the USA.

I hosted the Alan Robson North East radio rock shows as he was a fan and played our music on his broadcasts’.

What happened next with the band ?

‘After a couple of years gigging, I decided to leave the band as I got offered a job as a costume designer in London. It felt like the band was just doing the same round of gigs and I needed a change.

Steve White the guitarist went on to play for Venom and Les went on to open Voodoo cafe. I worked in London for a few years where I did a lot of gigs with different bands’.

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What are you up to now, are you still in music ?

‘Being back home in the North East I have always played music and mainly my own. I write, record and produce my own songs. My style is very mellow now, a bit like me. Not like my wild days with War Machine which I really enjoyed’.

Listen: bernea on Reverbnation

Interview by Gary Alikivi March 2018.
Recommended:
SATAN/BLIND FURY: Lou Taylor Rock the Knight, 26th Feb & 5th March 2017.
WARRIOR: The Hunger 12th April 2017.
FIST: Turn the Hell On, 29th April 2017.
TYSONDOG: Back for Another Bite, 5th August 2017.
ATOMKRAFT: Running with the Pack, 14th August 2017.
VIIXEN: Fox on the Run, 19th March 2018.