“This week, our featured album is the new live disc from Rush, called ‘Snakes and Arrows Live’. It was recorded on their much lauded European tour last year. Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson talk about their 35 year career and the new release and we’ll have copies to give away, plus there’s new music on the show from Foo Fighters, Opeth and Def Leppard and an exclusive new track from Judas Priest plus the usual rock history and rock news from the web.“
——
email DJ Andy Fox via rockshow@gtfm.co.uk
Listen live in the Pontypridd, South Wales area on 107.9 FM
or on the Internet by pointing your media player at
I’ve had a lot of fun listening to this release recently, not because its a classic album unearthed or anything ground-shaking but more down to a handful of enjoyable songs and realising again the often stark difference in style of Brian Johnson in his earlier years pre-AC/DC fame. Recently reissued on Cherry Red’s “7T’s” label “Don’t Be Fooled By The Name” marked Geordie’s second full length release and is certainly worth tracking down if you think that Johnson only ever had that ‘rasp’ of a voice in his armoury.
The most obvious achievement on here is the superb cover of the traditional song “House Of The Rising Sun“. Something of a “Geordie” anthem, and a big hit for fellow Newcastle band The Animals a decade earlier, its given a full blooded seeing to here with Johnson in particularly fine form and the band rendering it in dramatic, way over the top style perfectly in tune with the Glam Rock era.
Début album “Hope You Like It” had produced a couple of Top 40 UK hits and brought comparisons to the Glam Rock greats but this follow-up found Geordie branching out a little, although with less commercial success. Glam Rock is still represented of course; opener “Goin’ Down” is perhaps the closest to The Sweet in sound and “Ten Feet Tall” is a fine rocker sounding similar to Slade, but the excellent “So What” for example is definitely in the driving blues-rock arena hinting at The Doors’ “Roadhouse Blues” and full of tasty guitar licks and pulsing harmonica. “Got To Know” too reminded me a lot of the rip through of “Baby Please Don’t Go” that marked AC/DC’s early live shows.
The ambitious “Mercenary Man“, the out of place ballad “Little Boy” and the almost prog/pomp pretensions of “Look At Me” are evidence of the band trying to evolve though and are just less exciting than the more rock oriented material. Often awkward sounding they are all some way from what Geordie was best at. Indeed the latter two would both have tested me if greatly if they’d have cropped up in a name the singer competition such is the difference in delivery to that which I’d now expect from Johnson.
Guitarist Vic Malcolm once again seems to have been the creative driving force here writing most of the tracks, but Johnson definitely showed signs of what would lead him to fame and fortune. That distinctive voice is present on occasion, and whilst its not an old album that will have you screaming out “lost treasure” Geordie aren’t as bad as you may have been lead to believe and there is quite a bit to enjoy here.
Highlight: So What
Score: 2.5/5
—–
In stark contrast to John Otway’s pastiche of “House Of The Rising Sun” here’s Geordie superbly overblown version….
Broadcast on Wednesday (23rd April 08) night’s GTFM Rock Show, Andy Fox finds the legendary Whitesnake figure head David Coverdale on sterling form upon the release of “Good To Be Bad”.
A fascinating chat that clocks in around the half hour mark finds Coverdale waxing lyrical not just on the merits of the new album, but his career overall. Reminiscences about his audition with Deep Purple, memories of early Whitesnake and the “video band” years along with everything else make for superb listening.
Download David Coverdale in conversation with Andy Fox here.
Personally, after a week that’s brought the first “proper” Whitesnake album in years as well as some excellent Coverdale interviews around the place I can’t wait for the forthcoming tour….
Tuesday 17th June - Glasgow SECC
Wednesday 18th June - Birmingham NEC
Friday 20th June - Manchester MEN Arena
Monday 23rd June - Sheffield Hallam FM Arena
Tuesday 24th June - Newcastle Metro Radio Arena
Thursday 26th June - Wembley Arena
Monday 14th July - Cardiff International Arena (ROCK OF AGES will be at this one!!!)
Tuesday 15th July - Liverpool Echo Arena
Thursday 17th July - Nottingham Arena
… and reports too are that the sales of the album have been extremely good so far with a Top 10 mainstream chart placing looking likely when the UK charts are published on Sunday evening.
—–
Download instructions….
Click the link in the text above
Enter the three letter code in the box where requested
Even though Bill and myself are often present at the same gigs and festivals we sometimes choose to watch different acts to each other as our tastes, whilst in the main are similar, do differ. Such was the case with John Otway at last years Cambridge Festival, I can’t remember who it was that I preferred to check out but for the next couple of days I felt pangs of regret every time I heard him sing Otway’s praises. Now I too can bear witness that this man is probably the most hilarious ‘rock ‘n’ roll artist’ on the planet!
Right from the outset, tall, skinny and balding he had this audience, myself included, in absolute fits of laughter with his onstage antics, everyone afraid to turn away, afraid of missing something, his facial expressions, asides to band mates and a general feeling of organised chaos holding each of the audience rapt and in tears of laughter. Coming across as a hybrid of comedian Rik Mayall and disgraced TV presenter Michael Barrymore, zany wouldn’t even come close to describing his eccentricity. That Otway had once appeared on the UK TV series, “The Young Ones” featuring Mayall, probably goes someway to explaining where the basis for his off-the-wall sense of humour lie.
Props were minimal but effective, like the oversized spoon used during Delilah. Boasting pre-song that during the 1979 ad campaign for Weetabix, in which they used a version of Otway’s Delilah cover, raised their sales by 2%, he then proceeded to murder the Tom Jones classic and quite possibly do long term damage to his microphone with the battering he dished up with the spoon. A humble wire coat hanger fashioned ‘Blue Peter’ style into a mic holder, enabled him to prance around the stage “like Madonna.” Mocking his own speech impediment, real or manufactured, in his inability to pronounce the letter ‘R’ he declared We Rock was “easy for the Japanese to say.” He humorously introduced the excellent Eddie & The Hot Rods hit Do Anything You Want To Do as the song guitarist Richard Holgarth “stole from them when they stole him for their band and taught him to play it - but they can’t play his hit, Bunsen Burner”, which along with a cover of Bachman Turner Overdrives’ You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet, included because “the guitarist likes a bit of metal” were actually musical highlights of the set for me, even allowing for the onstage distractions during the latter. Richard Holgarth climbing onto of a pair of handy step-ladders for the guitar solo during the BTO classic was enough of an eye-opener but once Otway scaled them, dived off and into a forward roll, eyes were certainly popping at the sprightly 55 year olds antics. A side-splitting performance of his favourite Osmond’s song, Crazy Horses provided the opportunity to exhibit his proficiency on the theramin, an instrument learned in 2 minutes instead of the years it takes other musicians to learn their trade. Like a manic Dr Phibes, he stroked, teased and caressed an almost note perfect sound from it, well a noise at least. Their take on the traditional call and response with the audience during House Of The Rising Sun, which was originally recorded as a B-side using 1000 fans as backing singers, is something special, Otway himself as ever the butt of the joke, the majority of those present in on the joke and more than happy to participate. Don’t get me wrong, there was plenty of his own songs on offer, it’s just the element of fun was more often used more spectacularly on the covers, set closer a storming rendition of Rolf Harris’s Two Little Boys was no exception.
The music is actually secondary in the context of his show, perhaps fortunately so, because if it were primary, I don’t think it would be anywhere near as enjoyable. That’s not to say there is anything wrong with the musicianship on offer, the band were all top notch. It’s the self-effacing nature of Otway, the deliberate mistakes and of course being told from the stage, “it’s not very good” which is continually causing hilarity, keeping your mind off it. As it is, I honestly think this was the most entertaining couple of hours I have spent at a gig, ever! Bill, I hold my hands up, you were right.
—–
An example of the John Otway live “experience”…. “House Of The Rising Sun“…
“This week, Andy Fox talks to the rock legend that is David Coverdale. Encompassing thirty years of Whitesnake, an imminent British tour and the new album ‘Good To Be Bad’, and of course the beginnings of his career in the early 70’s with Deep Purple, we dedicate the second hour of the programme to this rock icon. We also have Whitesnake CDs to give away, there’s a featured album plus the usual rock history and rock news from the web.“
——
email DJ Andy Fox via rockshow@gtfm.co.uk
Listen live in the Pontypridd, South Wales area on 107.9 FM
or on the Internet by pointing your media player at
When it comes to naming my favourite singers then it’s David Coverdale at number one and the rest form an orderly queue. Whitesnake’s “1987″ was a huge album for me. As a 16 year old it dominated my stereo for ages and directly lead me into investigating the blues-rock legacy of Coverdale both with Whitesnake and the three superb albums he did while with Deep Purple. Hell, I still love those “lost” solo albums he did in the mid-70s.
1989’s “Slip Of The Tongue” was an eagerly awaited release but very much a disappointment. A few tracks including “Judgement Day” and “Sailing Ships” aside there was just too much Americanised “hair-metal” for my liking and the blues-rock basis that provided the foundations of the earlier albums had all but subsided. Vai’s over twiddly guitar was a turn off too often and the horribly reworked “Fool For Your Loving” a pale imitation of the original. Even sales of over a million couldn’t cover the cracks and Whitesnake were put on hold shortly after.
The “Coverdale Page” project marked a return to form for both the main stars and a marked return to blues rock based melodic metal too. The need to scream had apparently passed and the album has grown in stature over time. The label hijacked solo album “Restless Heart” also had its moments in my opinion. Again some fine bluesy numbers as well as some deep-voiced ballads there was little really commercial enough to warrant EMI demanding it be released as a Whitesnake album. Coverdale’s later solo album also seemed to indicate that Coverdale had moved on from Whitesnake again so the subsequent rethink and formation of a new line-up was something of a surprise. Nevertheless live reviews were positive and the subsequent product released on the back of the concerts well received too so an all new studio album became the next logical step.
After 20 years of waiting for a new proper Whitesnake album I’ve therefore been looking forward to this one a hell of a lot. Coverdale’s media claims that he “can hear moments that me back to the bluesy, early years of the band all the way through the band’s musical history to fully embrace the more electric aspects of where we are now” were positive although possibly the product of his media savvy mind (remember Vai’s “sonic tapestries”?), so I guessed I was always going to enjoy this album. It was just a question of how much!
Writing about Whitesnake for Rock Of Ages, especially a new release, requires a balance though and excited as I am about this release I wanted to include another, very different view. To provide that balance then step forward “Bob Vinyl” from the excellent “Rock ‘n’ Roll and Meandering Nonsense” blog. A man with some very different demands of his music than me and arguably the web’s number one late 80s rock music critic (he’s not wrong about some of those bands either to be fair!). What I thought we’d do here then is offer my own track by track point of view but intersperse it with Bob’s own thoughts and see if there was any common ground - Bob’s comments are in italics…
1) Best Years
A surprisingly heavy guitar riff launches the album although its pretty soon clear that “1987″ is the template. Similar big production, big chorus’ and in Doug Aldrich a man to deliver similar guitar heroics to Sykes 20 odd years ago. You’re never going to get Dylan-esq lyrics from Coverdale. He’s rarely strayed from wine, women and song for inspiration but it works and “Best Years” makes for a fine opener.
Considering what I expected, “Best Years” starts off promisingly enough. It doesn’t have the gloss of their 80s heyday which is nice, but it also doesn’t have much substance under the covers.
2) Can You Hear The Wind Blow?
Another slice of commercial heavy rock with a riff reminicent of the “Slide It In” era. The bridge sounds a bit ropey and the solo brings Sykes’ histrionics on the reworking of “Crying In The Rain” to mind but it works for what it is; post Moody/Marsden era Whitesnake doing Whitesnake.
“Can You Hear The Wind Blow?” almost takes off a few times, but never quite gets there. Everything is soild, but the song is pretty much uneventful.
3) Call On Me
So many of the melodic metal albums that followed “1987″ seem to dump a ballad at song three so I’m pleased this is another up tempo track, and one that really turns the clock back again too. Comparisons to “Slow And Easy” as well as “Still Of The Night” abound especially in the guitar work, but it’s different enough, and I’m delighted Coverdale has stuck to his assertion that the Tarzan days are over. Its a better song for it.
“Call On Me” takes a step backward. The guitar parts are overindulgent at times and I don’t know why anyone stands for that kind of nonsense.
4) All I Want All I Need
The big production ballad was always going to be there and it’s predictably very similar to “Is This Love” although does enter the AOR territory of “Now Your Gone” at times. My preferred style of Coverdale ballad is the likes of “Soldier Of Fortune”, “Blindman” and “Only My Soul” but a song like this was always going to be included and it fits the bill as the power ballad I guess.
The sheen is back! “All I Want All I Need” is a ballad right out of the 80s. It pretends to be emotional, but the fact is that it’s cold and heartless. Surprisingly, Coverdale sounds terrible.
5) Good To Be Bad
Now here is a track I could very easily imagine the early Whitesnake doing. The versus remind me a lot of “Ready And Willing” and getting the words “hootchie-coo” on the clichéd lyric sheet smacks of those old days too. It just wouldn’t be a Whitesnake album without the phrase “bad to the bone” making it somewhere either would it? Solid enough song if pretty unspectacular - a phrase levelled at early incarnations of Whitesnake too funnily enough!
The title tracks is AOR garbage. I keep expecting it to turn into “Eye of the Tiger” or something. It includes everything that’s wrong with the preceeding songs and none of the little bit that’s right. This is thin, processed, planned and entirely unemotional.
6) All For Love
Coverdale’s more gravelly voice these days really stands out on this tracks and works well too. Again cut from the “1987″ cloth with guitar work similar to “Children Of The Night” this time. Once again it’s typical Whitesnake and that’ll do nicely for me.
A little bit of the warmth comes back on “All For Love.” It has a some fun and looseness, at least in comparison to the rest of this stiff album, but it also reminds me the most of the hair metal days and that’s not exactly glowing praise.
7) Summer Rain
The albums second ballad and longest track at just over six minutes. Superior to “All I Want All I Need” the mix of acoustic guitar, clean electric tones and Coverdale’s voice work well even if once again its clear that the voice of velvet has a touch of sandpaper about it these days. Nothing heavy about the lyrics of course, just a good ol’ love song.
“Summer Rain” is another ballad, but it seems to rise to about the level of mediocrity…at least until the chorus sends the whole thing down the tubes.
8) Lay Down Your Love
The “a capella” introduction seems superfluous but otherwise this is a fine rock song with a touch of Zeppelin worship about it with the old stop/start rhythm in evidence again. A surprising hint of “Love Hunter” creeps in too on another track that has all hallmarks of mid to late 80’s Whitesnake all over it.
What happens when Whitesnake doesn’t try to hide their love of Zeppelin? “Lay Down Your Love” shows us that they fail miserably.
9) A Fool In Love
Superb bluesy song complete with a vinyl effect scratchy start. Think “Love Man” and then imagine it building in the way “Crying In The Rain” does and your not a million miles away. Add in a few typically suggestive Coverdale lyrics alongside a loser in love scenario and you’ve got the ingredients for a cracking old school Whitesnake song and I love it!
“A Fool In Love” is just a mid-tempo blues rock number. The only thing I can say is that it’s so dull it fits right in on the album.
10) Got What You Need
By some way the albums low point for me. A throwaway rocker along the lines of “Feeling Hot” or “Kittens Got Claws” for instance, it borrows an AC/DC riff and doesn’t really go anywhere. I’d actually rate it a few grades higher than both of those comparisons but suffice to say if the album had more songs like this I’d be very disappointed. The closest thing on the album to MTV metal.
They get a little heavy on the hairspray with “Got What You Need,” but at least it has energy (which makes it stand out from much of this lifeless mess).
11) ‘Til The End Of Time
Very much the best kept until last in my opinion. An excellent acoustic stomper perfectly suited to Coverdale voice and up there alongside those classic ballads mentioned earlier. There’s generally at least one track on every Whitesnake album that would make a personal “Best Of” cdr and on “Good To Be Bad” this is far and away the one. If this really is to be the final ‘Snake opus then this is a fine way to bow out.
When “‘Till the End of Time” came on, I thought, “Not another ballad,” but this one is decent. The bluesy acoustic piece has just enough pop to make it work without really seeming like a pop song.
My Summary: Just about the Whitesnake album I hoped for, never really expecting a return to the “Ready An’ Willing” days, and certainly better than I honestly expected. Not too much hair-metal fluff, but plenty of big sounding melodic rockers along the lines of “1987″ it’s transported me back to my teens. Overall hugely enjoyable and the bonus is that there is one really great song that will live longer than the album, and in “A Fool In Love” a welcome nod to the old days. Worth the wait? …I’ll say so!
Highlight:‘Til The End Of Time
Score:3.5/5
—–
Bob’s Summary: “Good to Be Bad” makes it quite clear why Whitesnake is still around: they must really believe that it’s good to be bad. Perhaps someone will give them a clue and then they’ll hang it up. To be fair, I don’t know Whitesnake very well before “Slide It In”, but I can say that nothing they did from that point on is worthy of their success. Their music is dull and their cornerstone, Coverdale himself, proves that he’s outstanding only at being a generic rock singer. At times, the record gets some help from the production which gives it a thick, rich tone, but that’s far from enough to save it. The bad photoshop on the cover is a pretty good indicator of the bad music inside. This album lives as much in the past as Whitesnake’s commercial success. As far as I’m concerned, it can stay there.
Highlight:not stated!
Score:1.5/5
—–
Well there you go! Two very different opinions on the new Whitesnake album and I’m sure there will be plenty more around the web . For me this is an album that will live on my playlist for a while, the 2LP set and the European Bonus edition CD set on order for some time now. For a start its a new release from my favourite singer, secondly it’s mostly very much to my taste. I can’t see it lasting in Bob’s playlist past the end of the week!
Thanks Bob for your contribution. It was certainly enjoyable to read a non-fans opinion and hopefully gives the overall piece some kind of balance. I was actually surprised we agreed on a couple of things!
—–
And here is a nice Coverdale/Whitesnake slideshow collated to the magnificent “‘Til The End Of Time”…
Another in the occasional series looking at what the Classic Rock magazine were recommending in ye olden days of rock… this time from March 2000.
A slightly strange issue review wise as there were not many big name acts releasing stuff at this time it appears. The “Album of the Month” accolade went to none other than Neal Casal for “Anytime Tomorrow” although it only got 4 out of 5 stars. Similar magnitude awards went also to Steely Dan for “Two Against Nature”, Kevin Ayres for “Turn The Lights Down!” and Brute for “Nine High A Pallet”. None of which have gone on to be thought of as “classics”. In fact, nothing reviewed got the full quota of stars this month. The Who’s “BBC Sessions”, Gillan “Live At The BBC 79/80″, 38 Special “Live At Sturgis” and Jaded Heart’s “IV” all also achieved a 4/5 but then so did the Simon and Garfunkel best of “Tales From New York”.
More interest perhaps is found in the albums scoring lower. ZZ Top failed to hit previous heights with “XXX” (2/5), Dave Ling was “pleasantly surprised” by the John Corabi/Bruce Kulick project “Union” and their self titled début awarding it a 3/5 whilst Quireboy “Spike” was struggling for recognition outside the band only getting 2/5 for the “Live In London” album.
Meanwhile the excellent “Every Home Should Have One” series added the It Bites album “Eat Me In St. Louis” to the roster. A 1989 release resplendent in a Roger Dean cover it marked what should have been the “cornerstone to a glorious career” but alas wasn’t to be, Francis Dunnery to hit the solo trail just a few years later.
The magazine’s cover though features the great Jimi Hendrix fronting an article on “10 Songs That Changed The Face Of Rock” penned by Mick Wall. The full song list…
“Sunshine Of Your Love” - Cream
“Purple Haze” - Jimi Hendrix
“Helter Skelter” - The Beatles
“Stairway To Heaven” - Led Zeppelin
“Supper’s Ready” - Genesis
“Hotel California” - Eagles
“Walk This Way” - Run DMC (with Steven Tyler and Joe Perry)
“Sweet Child O’ Mine” - Guns N’ Roses
“One” - Metallica
“Smells Like Teen Spirit” - Nirvana
… you’ll have to pick up a back issue to find out the reasons for these selections although the list being immediately followed by Michael Heatley’s “Story Behind The Album” article on Van Halen’s début album probably points to one glaring omission!
Elsewhere in the issue you’ve got Thin Lizzy (or at least Gorham, Sykes, Wharton and co.) out on the road in Germany with MSG and Glenn Hughes whilst Motley Crue admit what we all knew anyway by stating “We Are Ludicrous” in a feature about another comeback. On that subject there’s also a live report of Kiss in Vancouver to peruse. The “two names to look out for” tipped for success in this issue were “Backsliders” and “Merrymakers“. Where are they now?
The news section makes for good memories though. “Stiff Upper Lip” rumoured to be the name of the forthcoming AC/DC album, the reformed Iron Maiden announce Earls Court date on the back of “to be named” new album featuring Bruce back in the fold, and how about this one…. Eddie Van Halen and David Coverdale to collaborate on a one-off project similar to the Coverdale-Page thing in ‘93! Remember those Coverdale to join Van Halen rumours all over the internet at one point?
Sunshine Radio Rock Show - Tonight 6pm to 9pm
And talking of David Coverdale, he’s Jeff Collins guest tonight on the Sunshine FM Rock Show. Discussing his leaving Deep Purple way back in the 70s, the creation of Whitesnake and of course, the making of new album “Good To Be Bad”.
It took a while but finally here is the Glyder interview Andy Fox broadcast on the GTFM Rock Show a couple of weeks ago, shortly after catching up once again with the Irish rock band currently touring in support of second album “Playground For Life”.
As listeners to the show will know, there were some significant problems with the mp3 feed that night meaning that I was unable to “rip the stream” in the usual way. Fortunately the revolutionary method of “sending a mindisc copy in the post” (thanks Andy!) prevailed and after a bit of editing and tweaking, the whole damn thing can be downloaded here.
The download features just the interview segments as usual, although it’s worth pointing out that the interview will be broadcast again in full, with three selected tracks from the album augmenting the words and a chance to win signed copies of the CD on a forthcoming show as well. Look out for details of when on a forthcoming “GTFM Rock Show Preview” post…
One of the more positive aspects of the current cover album epidemic is that just occasionally it can lead you to want to investigate a band you haven’t heard before. A case in point here is Tesla’s copy of “Walk Away” on their recent “Real To Reel” set which lead me to look out for anything by James Gang on future record buying jaunts… and I found this early live album.
Most famous perhaps for harbouring a pre-Eagles Joe Walsh in its ranks, or latterly a pre-Deep Purple bound Tommy Bolin, this live album showcases the band early in their career, with Walsh still a member, and is definitely a catalyst for seeking out more. From the moment the needle drops on the vinyl, the sound emerging from the speakers is huge, putting the listener right in the middle of the audience. “Stop” makes for a thunderous introduction to the band, real uncompromising early 70s rock, and “You’re Gonna Need Me” another demonstration of power from a band it seems I’ve overlooked too long. Possessing some of the power that comes across in say, The Who’s “Live At Leeds” and proving almost as adept as Led Zeppelin in taking a basic track and stretching it through blues jams these couple of tracks ensure attention is captured for what will follow.
Strangely then, the first solo Walsh credit “Take A Look Around” proves to be less impressive and whilst “Tend My Garden” is an improvement it takes the hypnotising acoustic guitar in “Ashes, The Rain & I” to fully redress the balance. “Walk Away” opens side two, gets a big cheer from the assembled masses, and live proves every bit as impressive as I’d hoped it would, the captured in-concert sound once again appearing particularly full and powerful. Some editing has occurred before unleashing this album though as the crowd fade out and then back in for the albums long finale, hopefully this was just the calls for an encore rather than lost songs!
As a taster for the James Gang overall their cover of the Yardbirds track “Lost Woman” perhaps isn’t the best showcase for their studio albums, not that I’ve found any at a price I want to pay yet. What it is though is eighteen and a half minutes that largely proves why Joe Walsh was destined for bigger things. Elongated beyond necessary, disjointed more than required and with more individual guitar sections than a crowded music shop in lunch hour, whilst still sparing time for the other band members to have their moment in the spotlight too, it still proves fascinating listening, even if the quite bizarre vocal instrumentations near the end do distract somewhat!
Overall a fine, if all too brief, live album from the decade of must-have live albums. Enough good quality material on show to warrant further James Gang albums to go on the wants list and early recorded proof that for Joe Walsh life would become good. Very good.
Highlight:Stop
Score :3/5
—–
Early footage of the James Gang, including Joe Walsh, performing “Walk Away“, with some “of the time” visual effects too!…
“ This week our featured album is the comeback album from prog supergroup Asia, back with the original line-up to release ‘Phoenix’ an album we previewed with Geoff Downes back in February. We’ll have copies to give away, plus there’s new music on the show from Kings X, Disturbed, Robin Trower with Jack Bruce and Whitesnake too plus the usual rock history and rock news from the web. “
——
email DJ Andy Fox via rockshow@gtfm.co.uk
Listen live in the Pontypridd, South Wales area on 107.9 FM
or on the Internet by pointing your media player at
Details: 1974 (2008 reissue), CD, 7T’s
Broadcast on Wednesday (23rd April 08) night’s GTFM Rock Show, Andy Fox finds the legendary Whitesnake figure head David Coverdale on sterling form upon the release of “Good To Be Bad”.
Even though Bill and myself are often present at the same gigs and festivals we sometimes choose to watch different acts to each other as our tastes, whilst in the main are similar, do differ. Such was the case with John Otway at last years Cambridge Festival, I can’t remember who it was that I preferred to check out but for the next couple of days I felt pangs of regret every time I heard him sing Otway’s praises. Now I too can bear witness that this man is probably the most hilarious ‘rock ‘n’ roll artist’ on the planet!
Props were minimal but effective, like the oversized spoon used during Delilah. Boasting pre-song that during the 1979 ad campaign for Weetabix, in which they used a version of Otway’s Delilah cover, raised their sales by 2%, he then proceeded to murder the Tom Jones classic and quite possibly do long term damage to his microphone with the battering he dished up with the spoon. A humble wire coat hanger fashioned ‘Blue Peter’ style into a mic holder, enabled him to prance around the stage “like Madonna.” Mocking his own speech impediment, real or manufactured, in his inability to pronounce the letter ‘R’ he declared We Rock was “easy for the Japanese to say.” He humorously introduced the excellent Eddie & The Hot Rods hit Do Anything You Want To Do as the song guitarist Richard Holgarth “stole from them when they stole him for their band and taught him to play it - but they can’t play his hit, Bunsen Burner”, which along with a cover of Bachman Turner Overdrives’ You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet, included because “the guitarist likes a bit of metal” were actually musical highlights of the set for me, even allowing for the onstage distractions during the latter. Richard
Holgarth climbing onto of a pair of handy step-ladders for the guitar solo during the BTO classic was enough of an eye-opener but once Otway scaled them, dived off and into a forward roll, eyes were certainly popping at the sprightly 55 year olds antics. A side-splitting performance of his favourite Osmond’s song, Crazy Horses provided the opportunity to exhibit his proficiency on the theramin, an instrument learned in 2 minutes instead of the years it takes other musicians to learn their trade. Like a manic Dr Phibes, he stroked, teased and caressed an almost note perfect sound from it, well a noise at least. Their take on the traditional call and response with the audience during House Of The Rising Sun, which was originally recorded as a B-side using 1000 fans as backing singers, is something special, Otway himself as ever the butt of the joke, the majority of those present in on the joke and more than happy to participate. Don’t get me wrong, there was plenty of his own songs on offer, it’s just the element of fun was more often used more spectacularly on the covers, set closer a storming rendition of Rolf Harris’s Two Little Boys was no exception.
Details: 2008, SPV, CD
Well there you go! Two very different opinions on the new Whitesnake album and I’m sure there will be plenty more around the web . For me this is an album that will live on my playlist for a while, the 2LP set and the European Bonus edition CD set on order for some time now. For a start its a new release from my favourite singer, secondly it’s mostly very much to my taste. I can’t see it lasting in Bob’s playlist past the end of the week!
Another in the occasional series looking at what the Classic Rock magazine were recommending in ye olden days of rock… this time from March 2000.
It took a while but finally here is the Glyder interview Andy Fox broadcast on the GTFM Rock Show a couple of weeks ago, shortly after catching up once again with the Irish rock band currently touring in support of second album “Playground For Life”.
Details: 1971, ABC Records, LP
