The Book of pop & rock vocality
Muirsical Conversation with Graham Bonnet
Muirsical Conversation with Graham Bonnet
Graham Bonnet may well be unique in that he has carved out a highly successful, nigh on fifty year multi-discipline career as a pop singer & pop crooner (The Marbles, early solo career), melodic hard rock singer (most famously with Rainbow, MSG, Alcatrazz and later solo catalogue) and a heavier, more metal themed vocality with acts such as Impellitteri, Blackthorne and the Japanese band Anthem.
And where many singers "of an age" or extended career length tend to vocally pace themselves or reduce workload, Graham Bonnet seems to be busier than ever.
Since taking part in the Voices of Rock shows in Eastern Europe in 2015, Bonnet has formed, and toured extensively with, the Graham Bonnet Band (releasing the 2CD debut album The Book in 2016), performed on classic MSG Michael Schenker Fest shows (with a clutch of European tour dates scheduled for this October-November) and performed a number of shows as Alcatrazz (with fellow founding members Gary Shea and Jimmy Waldo).
He was also involved in the comprehensive Graham Bonnet Anthology 2CD+DVD set from Cherry Red Records (liner note commentaries and new introductions for the DVD videos).
Beyond that, the Graham Bonnet Band will be back on tour in the UK in July, with a live CD&DVD, Here Comes the Night, scheduled for release on the 7th of July.
Graham Bonnet chatted to FabricationsHQ to discuss those last three years in detail, including his surprise and delight in finding so many young orchestra fans in Russia, the difficulties in re-recording songs you are all too familiar with, the fun of being on stage with MSG alumni and a little reminisce or two via the Anthology set, including a particular Impellitteri song that may have lyrically confused the band, but delighted Myths & Legends fans in Scotland.
But the conversation started some two thousand and more miles east of Alba, beyond the Black Sea...
Ross Muir: I’d like to take you back to 2015 and the start of what has gone on to become an interesting and very busy, multi-project two and a half years for you.
That year saw a number of Voices of Rock shows, featuring your good self, John Lawton and Dan McCafferty, taking place in Russia and the Ukraine…
Graham Bonnet: Yeah, basically we just went over there to do our thing and sing the classic songs that we’re most known for. John would sing three of four songs, then I would sing three of four – Alcatrazz, Rainbow and whatever else – and then Dan would do a couple.
We would also join in together or support each other; John and I did some backing vocals for Dan, for example, but as you know Dan’s health hasn’t been the best and I was actually wondering why he would even do it – but then you watch him and realise it’s because he loves it!
At the end of the shows all three of us would do a song together, and this was with a thirty piece orchestra, which usually consisted of student players.
The orchestra players were pretty much doing this for free, or at least not being paid too much; as I said they were mostly students, kids in their late teens and early twenties – but it was pretty cool that they would play all this rock stuff, and then you later find out they are fans of what we've done and want your autograph!
I would have thought we were the wrong kind of people for that [laughs]; I mean they weren’t even born when we first sang those songs!
RM: Great to hear and see that from a young orchestra though – and it must have been interesting to put an orchestrated spin on some of the classic rock numbers…
GB: It really was good to do those songs with strings; it was so different.
It was also quite beautiful sometimes, but sometimes not so beautiful; it depended on the orchestra, or what venue we were playing in. I’m not saying they were awful or even that it was bad, but sometimes it was obvious it needed a lot more rehearsal.
RM: Yes, a great opportunity, interesting arrangements, enthusiastic players, but an unfamiliarity with some of the songs being performed, coupled with limited rehearsal opportunities, can lead to what I describe as greatest hits and miss…
GB: Well, what they had was a rhythm section, plus electric guitar, within the orchestra; that gave us the classic rock sound but yeah, some of the orchestra players might not have been as familiar with the songs.
Actually I should say with rehearsing the songs, because as I said earlier they were also fans.
I really was surprised when, after one of the first shows we did, some of the kids – kids! [laughs] – were asking for our autographs; that’s when we found out they also had Rainbow albums, Nazareth albums, Uriah Heep albums, some of our solo albums, and whatever else.
That was really strange, finding out that some of those kids were actually fans because they don’t say a damn word all day! [laughs] – mainly because we don’t speak the same language and some of them were very shy.
But as soon as the show was over and they saw what idiots we actually were [laughter], once we had all chilled out, that’s when they would come forward and say "can I have my photograph taken with you please
Mr Lawton" or "can I have your autograph please, Mr Bonnet?"
"Really? Why?" "Well, because I have all your albums here!" [laughs] That was great.
RM: You mentioned language barrier problems but it’s also a great example of the universal language of music crossing borders – in this case, the language of classic rock.
GB: Yeah, absolutely, and it was great for us to play in new or pretty much unknown territories like Russia, but sometimes it was a little strange and even a little depressing.
But the thing about the Russian people is they love rock and roll; it seems to be something that gives them a release from some of the hardships – I found that the way some of the people live over there, in some of the areas we visited, not all, isn’t the best.
RM: All the better then that you can now bring that rock and roll over to them – something you couldn’t have considered back in the day, certainly not in the early and mid-eighties…
GB: No, that’s right. It was actually a bit like the way it used to be with Japan, way back, until somebody went to Japan and then everybody played Japan! [laughs].
Now with Russia, and other Eastern Europe territories, they want you to come and play.
Actually it’s pretty much everywhere now – Turkey, Iceland, wherever – all over the world people are crying out for 1980s rock, or classic rock or whatever you want to call it.
That’s very cool – and it keeps us all in a job! [laughs]
And where many singers "of an age" or extended career length tend to vocally pace themselves or reduce workload, Graham Bonnet seems to be busier than ever.
Since taking part in the Voices of Rock shows in Eastern Europe in 2015, Bonnet has formed, and toured extensively with, the Graham Bonnet Band (releasing the 2CD debut album The Book in 2016), performed on classic MSG Michael Schenker Fest shows (with a clutch of European tour dates scheduled for this October-November) and performed a number of shows as Alcatrazz (with fellow founding members Gary Shea and Jimmy Waldo).
He was also involved in the comprehensive Graham Bonnet Anthology 2CD+DVD set from Cherry Red Records (liner note commentaries and new introductions for the DVD videos).
Beyond that, the Graham Bonnet Band will be back on tour in the UK in July, with a live CD&DVD, Here Comes the Night, scheduled for release on the 7th of July.
Graham Bonnet chatted to FabricationsHQ to discuss those last three years in detail, including his surprise and delight in finding so many young orchestra fans in Russia, the difficulties in re-recording songs you are all too familiar with, the fun of being on stage with MSG alumni and a little reminisce or two via the Anthology set, including a particular Impellitteri song that may have lyrically confused the band, but delighted Myths & Legends fans in Scotland.
But the conversation started some two thousand and more miles east of Alba, beyond the Black Sea...
Ross Muir: I’d like to take you back to 2015 and the start of what has gone on to become an interesting and very busy, multi-project two and a half years for you.
That year saw a number of Voices of Rock shows, featuring your good self, John Lawton and Dan McCafferty, taking place in Russia and the Ukraine…
Graham Bonnet: Yeah, basically we just went over there to do our thing and sing the classic songs that we’re most known for. John would sing three of four songs, then I would sing three of four – Alcatrazz, Rainbow and whatever else – and then Dan would do a couple.
We would also join in together or support each other; John and I did some backing vocals for Dan, for example, but as you know Dan’s health hasn’t been the best and I was actually wondering why he would even do it – but then you watch him and realise it’s because he loves it!
At the end of the shows all three of us would do a song together, and this was with a thirty piece orchestra, which usually consisted of student players.
The orchestra players were pretty much doing this for free, or at least not being paid too much; as I said they were mostly students, kids in their late teens and early twenties – but it was pretty cool that they would play all this rock stuff, and then you later find out they are fans of what we've done and want your autograph!
I would have thought we were the wrong kind of people for that [laughs]; I mean they weren’t even born when we first sang those songs!
RM: Great to hear and see that from a young orchestra though – and it must have been interesting to put an orchestrated spin on some of the classic rock numbers…
GB: It really was good to do those songs with strings; it was so different.
It was also quite beautiful sometimes, but sometimes not so beautiful; it depended on the orchestra, or what venue we were playing in. I’m not saying they were awful or even that it was bad, but sometimes it was obvious it needed a lot more rehearsal.
RM: Yes, a great opportunity, interesting arrangements, enthusiastic players, but an unfamiliarity with some of the songs being performed, coupled with limited rehearsal opportunities, can lead to what I describe as greatest hits and miss…
GB: Well, what they had was a rhythm section, plus electric guitar, within the orchestra; that gave us the classic rock sound but yeah, some of the orchestra players might not have been as familiar with the songs.
Actually I should say with rehearsing the songs, because as I said earlier they were also fans.
I really was surprised when, after one of the first shows we did, some of the kids – kids! [laughs] – were asking for our autographs; that’s when we found out they also had Rainbow albums, Nazareth albums, Uriah Heep albums, some of our solo albums, and whatever else.
That was really strange, finding out that some of those kids were actually fans because they don’t say a damn word all day! [laughs] – mainly because we don’t speak the same language and some of them were very shy.
But as soon as the show was over and they saw what idiots we actually were [laughter], once we had all chilled out, that’s when they would come forward and say "can I have my photograph taken with you please
Mr Lawton" or "can I have your autograph please, Mr Bonnet?"
"Really? Why?" "Well, because I have all your albums here!" [laughs] That was great.
RM: You mentioned language barrier problems but it’s also a great example of the universal language of music crossing borders – in this case, the language of classic rock.
GB: Yeah, absolutely, and it was great for us to play in new or pretty much unknown territories like Russia, but sometimes it was a little strange and even a little depressing.
But the thing about the Russian people is they love rock and roll; it seems to be something that gives them a release from some of the hardships – I found that the way some of the people live over there, in some of the areas we visited, not all, isn’t the best.
RM: All the better then that you can now bring that rock and roll over to them – something you couldn’t have considered back in the day, certainly not in the early and mid-eighties…
GB: No, that’s right. It was actually a bit like the way it used to be with Japan, way back, until somebody went to Japan and then everybody played Japan! [laughs].
Now with Russia, and other Eastern Europe territories, they want you to come and play.
Actually it’s pretty much everywhere now – Turkey, Iceland, wherever – all over the world people are crying out for 1980s rock, or classic rock or whatever you want to call it.
That’s very cool – and it keeps us all in a job! [laughs]
RM: Around the same time-frame as those orchestrated shows you were putting together the Graham Bonnet Band and later recorded The Book. Both band and album feature your old mate Jimmy Waldo from Alcatrazz.
GB: That’s right, but the funny thing was we had recorded the album and then decided "we should probably put some keyboards on there!"
Our manager, Giles Lavery, got in touch with Jimmy, who I hadn’t seen for nearly thirty years!
Giles said "we really need some keyboards on these new tracks, listen to them and tell me what you think."
Jimmy heard them and said "I’ve got to do this!"
And of course he did! He played some great parts and added a great deal to the album, I think.
RM: I didn’t know that’s how it had panned out, with Jimmy being the final piece of the jigsaw.
Isn’t it funny how sometimes the stars just align, and things are clearly meant to be, albeit in this case some thirty years later [laughs]
GB: And what’s great is Jimmy is not one of those guys who says "Look at me! Listen to this!" and throw keyboards all over the place or looks for the keyboard solo; he complements the songs and always has done. It was the same when we were together in Alcatrazz for those three years and more recently when we did some Alcatrazz shows together, with Gary Shea.
So Jimmy has always added to the song but never killed it as a guitar player may tend to do – and here comes the guitar solo! [mimics a high pitched guitar shred] [laughter] – what’s that got to do with the song?
It’s got to be a bit more subtle than that. Jimmy is a great addition to the band and he aims to stay.
RM: Glad to hear it. As regards the album, it’s clearly, as I made mention in review, referencing that classic late 70s to late 80s decade of British based rock but more it’s simply a great collection of songs.
For example there’s plenty of melody to be had on Earth’s Child, you have the big chorused AOR rock of Rider, the lighter side of the band is displayed on The Dance and you certainly put the drum pedal down for album opener Into the Night…
GB: That’s right, but the funny thing was we had recorded the album and then decided "we should probably put some keyboards on there!"
Our manager, Giles Lavery, got in touch with Jimmy, who I hadn’t seen for nearly thirty years!
Giles said "we really need some keyboards on these new tracks, listen to them and tell me what you think."
Jimmy heard them and said "I’ve got to do this!"
And of course he did! He played some great parts and added a great deal to the album, I think.
RM: I didn’t know that’s how it had panned out, with Jimmy being the final piece of the jigsaw.
Isn’t it funny how sometimes the stars just align, and things are clearly meant to be, albeit in this case some thirty years later [laughs]
GB: And what’s great is Jimmy is not one of those guys who says "Look at me! Listen to this!" and throw keyboards all over the place or looks for the keyboard solo; he complements the songs and always has done. It was the same when we were together in Alcatrazz for those three years and more recently when we did some Alcatrazz shows together, with Gary Shea.
So Jimmy has always added to the song but never killed it as a guitar player may tend to do – and here comes the guitar solo! [mimics a high pitched guitar shred] [laughter] – what’s that got to do with the song?
It’s got to be a bit more subtle than that. Jimmy is a great addition to the band and he aims to stay.
RM: Glad to hear it. As regards the album, it’s clearly, as I made mention in review, referencing that classic late 70s to late 80s decade of British based rock but more it’s simply a great collection of songs.
For example there’s plenty of melody to be had on Earth’s Child, you have the big chorused AOR rock of Rider, the lighter side of the band is displayed on The Dance and you certainly put the drum pedal down for album opener Into the Night…
GB: I am proud of The Book. I hadn't made a Graham Bonnet album for sixteen years – and that’s a very long time [laughs] – but even when it was done I didn’t listen back to it until much later, when the reviews stared to come out. That’s when I realised "Oh my God, people really like this!"
It also did really well in Burrn! magazine, in Japan, where it was their number one album, and now we have people at the shows singing along to the lyrics of the new songs. That's just amazing and very cool.
I was actually worried that the album was all going to sound dated but I’ve been told it has a very modern sound, even although it’s done in that Graham Bonnet rock songwriting tradition, if I can put it like that.
But I wanted it to sound modern and, with the band I have now featuring some younger players, I do think it has brought it into this day instead of yesterday.
RM: I made that very point in my review; I summarised it as "the Graham Bonnet Band having rewritten The Book of eighties rock for the 21st century."
GB: I hope so, because I really am overwhelmed at just how people have accepted it and how happy the record company are with it – I’m not quite sure what they were looking for but I think they were expecting some watered down version of Rainbow, or something like that.
But we shocked them – "my God, this is really good!" [laughs] – and it really did shock me, because I didn’t expect it to be doing just so well. But I’m very happy it is!
RM: It’s also a win-win, or best of both old and new worlds, because for those who love or prefer the back in the day songs you have that second CD of re-recorded classics…
GB: That was the hardest thing to do, actually, because I’m not one who likes to re-record things.
I don’t mind singing them live but to recapture that energy, that enthusiasm, as they were done originally all those years ago? That’s hard.
It’s very difficult to put your heart into recording songs you have been singing on stage for these past thirty, thirty-five years, nearly every night, whether that be Since You’ve Been Gone, All Night Long, Hiroshima Mon Amour, or any of the others. So it became a case of "how do I make these sound as if I mean it?"
Those songs also took the longest time because I was critical of my vocals, critical of the band, critical of everything actually [laughs] because it had to be at least as good as it did back then, if we could achieve that. And I think we did achieve that, on some of the tracks. A couple of the tracks are definitely better than the original versions and a lot of the tracks match the older versions but there might be a couple that are lesser renditions; but I think we did pretty well even although it really was hard for me to do them.
As I said earlier I was always thinking "right, I how do I make this sound like I mean it?" So I hope I did!
RM: I’d say it was a success, yes, because those recordings perfectly encapsulate the Then, but in the Now.
Also, you weren’t re-recording back catalogue for the usual reasons, where a band will redo their hits to either gain some re-recorded royalty control or to establish ownership for a newer line-up, who may have since lost part of their signature sound.
But, being that your voice is, obviously, part of those songs signature sound, you had to ensure your voice was as good as it could for the re-records.
GB: Yeah, exactly. I was pleased with the way it turned out, but, I can’t listen to the whole re-recorded album. When you first go in to the studio to record new songs it’s exciting and you want to perform them as best as you can. Then, live, you want to perform them even better.
But now, having performed them what seems to be about a million times [laughs] you kind of go through the motions or go into auto-pilot; that’s why I had to really think about it this time – "let me do that part again, but this time with a bit more enthusiasm!" [laughs]
RM: Not long after you recorded The Book, which includes three Michael Schenker Group tracks on the second CD, musical fate would have you back out with Michael, singing those very songs as part of his classic era MSG Fest shows.
It’s obvious from the Live in Japan DVD, released earlier this year, that, much like the shows we talked about with Dan and John, you were all having a lot of fun.
There was a clear and genuine camaraderie…
GB: There was, yes, and it was incredible to see Michael again, and Chris Glenn and Ted McKenna, after all these years; the four of us together from the Assault Attack album, the only one I did with MSG.
To actually see those guys again, and realise we were all on stage together, was amazing, because I only ever did one show and left under what were not very good terms.
Basically they wanted to kill me! [laughs]
But that was a very long time ago and’s all blood under the bridge now; I know it’s supposed to be water under the bridge but with bands it’s usually blood [laughter].
But my God, to look across the stage and see Michael smiling, Chris Glenn really enjoying his parts and everybody else doing their thing, it was really nice to be part of that.
RM: Had you met Gary Barden and Robin McAuley, your co-singers on those shows, before?
GB: Gary I knew, yeah, although I didn’t know him all that well until those shows; Robin I had only met fleetingly somewhere or other, years ago.
But Robin, Gary and I all got on very well; it was all fantastic fun. I’ve never been one of those singers who says "well, I’m better than you so I should be on last" or "I’m the headliner" all that sort of stuff.
I’m not a headliner, I’m one of the band, and those two guys were exactly the same; it was nice to be on that level with them.
RM: Funny you should say that because when I first saw the Live in Japan DVD, and the interaction between everybody, not just the singers, I was thinking "egoless performance."
It was about the music and the performance, not the musicians on stage.
GB: Absolutely. Those guys were the most non-egotistical people you could ever meet and to work with other singers who are like that was a delight.
We were all trying to make the songs sound as good as we could, whether they were my songs, or Gary’s songs, or Robin’s songs. We would sing along with each other or trade harmony parts; they also sang backing vocals on one of my songs.
RM: You’re alluding to Dancer, and that leads perfectly to something I’ve wanted to ask you for years...
Dancer is a great little melodic pop-rock number but I’ve always been intrigued, and somewhat flummoxed [laughs], by the very specific and clearly intentional wording used to scan across the chorus – "not ideally built for ballet." Hearing that line always makes me smile.
GB: [laughs] Well, first of all, that song was written about the dancer and choreographer Toni Basil; I’m sure you know who she is.
RM: I do indeed, yes.
GB: Toni also had a hit in the early eighties with the song Mickey [both simultaneously chant] "Hey Micky you’re so fine..." [laughter] but I first met her back in in 1975, in Los Angeles, where my now ex-wife was doing a TV show; Toni was the choreographer.
Then, years later, she suddenly had this huge following in Britain when she brought out that record and I just couldn’t believe it – "bloody hell, how did that happen!" [laughter]
But, because I knew Toni, and a little bit about her, I felt I should write something about her in a song – we had been around her for those two weeks in Los Angeles, when she was doing all this choreographing, including for her dance group The Lockers, and then all these years later she has this huge hit record!
Around the time of Mickey I read an article in a paper that was reviewing her; there was one line that read "she’s a great dancer, but her body isn’t strictly in the shape of a ballet dancer’s…"
And I could see what they meant – she was a tiny little thing and while she wasn’t really a ballet dancer she clearly had something and whatever it was it was unique, and quite brilliant.
So I messed around with that line – I didn’t think it would be right to use it word for word – took the writer’s observation and changed it to "she’s a great dancer, not [phrases as the song] i-dee-lee built for ballet!"
RM: I honestly did not know that story or the inspiration for that line. Now it all makes sense.
You, sir, have just made my interview day [laughter]…
It also did really well in Burrn! magazine, in Japan, where it was their number one album, and now we have people at the shows singing along to the lyrics of the new songs. That's just amazing and very cool.
I was actually worried that the album was all going to sound dated but I’ve been told it has a very modern sound, even although it’s done in that Graham Bonnet rock songwriting tradition, if I can put it like that.
But I wanted it to sound modern and, with the band I have now featuring some younger players, I do think it has brought it into this day instead of yesterday.
RM: I made that very point in my review; I summarised it as "the Graham Bonnet Band having rewritten The Book of eighties rock for the 21st century."
GB: I hope so, because I really am overwhelmed at just how people have accepted it and how happy the record company are with it – I’m not quite sure what they were looking for but I think they were expecting some watered down version of Rainbow, or something like that.
But we shocked them – "my God, this is really good!" [laughs] – and it really did shock me, because I didn’t expect it to be doing just so well. But I’m very happy it is!
RM: It’s also a win-win, or best of both old and new worlds, because for those who love or prefer the back in the day songs you have that second CD of re-recorded classics…
GB: That was the hardest thing to do, actually, because I’m not one who likes to re-record things.
I don’t mind singing them live but to recapture that energy, that enthusiasm, as they were done originally all those years ago? That’s hard.
It’s very difficult to put your heart into recording songs you have been singing on stage for these past thirty, thirty-five years, nearly every night, whether that be Since You’ve Been Gone, All Night Long, Hiroshima Mon Amour, or any of the others. So it became a case of "how do I make these sound as if I mean it?"
Those songs also took the longest time because I was critical of my vocals, critical of the band, critical of everything actually [laughs] because it had to be at least as good as it did back then, if we could achieve that. And I think we did achieve that, on some of the tracks. A couple of the tracks are definitely better than the original versions and a lot of the tracks match the older versions but there might be a couple that are lesser renditions; but I think we did pretty well even although it really was hard for me to do them.
As I said earlier I was always thinking "right, I how do I make this sound like I mean it?" So I hope I did!
RM: I’d say it was a success, yes, because those recordings perfectly encapsulate the Then, but in the Now.
Also, you weren’t re-recording back catalogue for the usual reasons, where a band will redo their hits to either gain some re-recorded royalty control or to establish ownership for a newer line-up, who may have since lost part of their signature sound.
But, being that your voice is, obviously, part of those songs signature sound, you had to ensure your voice was as good as it could for the re-records.
GB: Yeah, exactly. I was pleased with the way it turned out, but, I can’t listen to the whole re-recorded album. When you first go in to the studio to record new songs it’s exciting and you want to perform them as best as you can. Then, live, you want to perform them even better.
But now, having performed them what seems to be about a million times [laughs] you kind of go through the motions or go into auto-pilot; that’s why I had to really think about it this time – "let me do that part again, but this time with a bit more enthusiasm!" [laughs]
RM: Not long after you recorded The Book, which includes three Michael Schenker Group tracks on the second CD, musical fate would have you back out with Michael, singing those very songs as part of his classic era MSG Fest shows.
It’s obvious from the Live in Japan DVD, released earlier this year, that, much like the shows we talked about with Dan and John, you were all having a lot of fun.
There was a clear and genuine camaraderie…
GB: There was, yes, and it was incredible to see Michael again, and Chris Glenn and Ted McKenna, after all these years; the four of us together from the Assault Attack album, the only one I did with MSG.
To actually see those guys again, and realise we were all on stage together, was amazing, because I only ever did one show and left under what were not very good terms.
Basically they wanted to kill me! [laughs]
But that was a very long time ago and’s all blood under the bridge now; I know it’s supposed to be water under the bridge but with bands it’s usually blood [laughter].
But my God, to look across the stage and see Michael smiling, Chris Glenn really enjoying his parts and everybody else doing their thing, it was really nice to be part of that.
RM: Had you met Gary Barden and Robin McAuley, your co-singers on those shows, before?
GB: Gary I knew, yeah, although I didn’t know him all that well until those shows; Robin I had only met fleetingly somewhere or other, years ago.
But Robin, Gary and I all got on very well; it was all fantastic fun. I’ve never been one of those singers who says "well, I’m better than you so I should be on last" or "I’m the headliner" all that sort of stuff.
I’m not a headliner, I’m one of the band, and those two guys were exactly the same; it was nice to be on that level with them.
RM: Funny you should say that because when I first saw the Live in Japan DVD, and the interaction between everybody, not just the singers, I was thinking "egoless performance."
It was about the music and the performance, not the musicians on stage.
GB: Absolutely. Those guys were the most non-egotistical people you could ever meet and to work with other singers who are like that was a delight.
We were all trying to make the songs sound as good as we could, whether they were my songs, or Gary’s songs, or Robin’s songs. We would sing along with each other or trade harmony parts; they also sang backing vocals on one of my songs.
RM: You’re alluding to Dancer, and that leads perfectly to something I’ve wanted to ask you for years...
Dancer is a great little melodic pop-rock number but I’ve always been intrigued, and somewhat flummoxed [laughs], by the very specific and clearly intentional wording used to scan across the chorus – "not ideally built for ballet." Hearing that line always makes me smile.
GB: [laughs] Well, first of all, that song was written about the dancer and choreographer Toni Basil; I’m sure you know who she is.
RM: I do indeed, yes.
GB: Toni also had a hit in the early eighties with the song Mickey [both simultaneously chant] "Hey Micky you’re so fine..." [laughter] but I first met her back in in 1975, in Los Angeles, where my now ex-wife was doing a TV show; Toni was the choreographer.
Then, years later, she suddenly had this huge following in Britain when she brought out that record and I just couldn’t believe it – "bloody hell, how did that happen!" [laughter]
But, because I knew Toni, and a little bit about her, I felt I should write something about her in a song – we had been around her for those two weeks in Los Angeles, when she was doing all this choreographing, including for her dance group The Lockers, and then all these years later she has this huge hit record!
Around the time of Mickey I read an article in a paper that was reviewing her; there was one line that read "she’s a great dancer, but her body isn’t strictly in the shape of a ballet dancer’s…"
And I could see what they meant – she was a tiny little thing and while she wasn’t really a ballet dancer she clearly had something and whatever it was it was unique, and quite brilliant.
So I messed around with that line – I didn’t think it would be right to use it word for word – took the writer’s observation and changed it to "she’s a great dancer, not [phrases as the song] i-dee-lee built for ballet!"
RM: I honestly did not know that story or the inspiration for that line. Now it all makes sense.
You, sir, have just made my interview day [laughter]…
RM: I note the Michael Schenker Fest has a few European dates in October and November including four shows in England – but no dates in Scotland, sadly.
GB: I know, and that’s a shame because I love playing in Scotland. My own band has some more shows coming up in the UK in July although I don’t think we are in Scotland then, either.
But Scotland really is great to play; every time I’ve come up with the band it’s been fantastic.
The crowds just go berserk – I guess we must just be very Scottish in our attitude, or our musicality [laughs]. I honestly don’t know what it is but they really are one of the best audiences ever.
RM: I think that has a lot to do with what we spoke about earlier – having fun and making it about the music and the performance, not the musicians; that egoless attitude.
That’s especially true of Glasgow audiences – even way before the now long gone Glasgow Apollo, in the days of Greens Playhouse, Glasgow audiences have appreciated, and positively embraced, hard working acts who deliver the goods, in all forms of entertainment.
But, if you turn up just to be applauded, or are dialling it in? You’ll get a very different reaction.
GB: Right [laughs]. But it really is great playing there and seeing everybody singing away to all the songs, then somebody will shout out what they want to hear and we’ll shout back "we’re not playing that one!" [laughs] all that sort of stuff.
I remember one night in Glasgow I just picked up my guitar and started [sings] "I belong to Glasgow…" and they all started to sing along with me – then sang the rest of the song back!
I mean it was corny, it was obvious, but they all got the joke and just joined in – that sort of thing is just so much fun.
RM: You may not be here in July but you are here after the shows with Michael when you and the band head for the WinterStorm festival in Troon.
That’s a new, annual event, only on its second outing, but I guarantee you’ll have that fun you talked about. It’s a great event that pulls in some of the youngest classic rock fans you’re ever likely to meet right through to the back in the day faithful.
GB: I honestly can’t wait; we really are looking forward to it.
Scottish audiences’ always make it so much fun for the band and WinterStorm sounds fantastic.
RM: From future gigging plans to everything that has gone before – and I do mean everything – courtesy of the Graham Bonnet Anthology, recently released by Cherry Red Records.
That’s a fabulous, all-encompassing 2CD and DVD set that goes all the way back to The Marbles, brings us to the present with the Graham Bonnet Band and covers all points in between.
I would presume you were happy with the results?
GB: Oh I am. The songs chosen from the yesteryears, they are like my babies. I love so many of those tracks because they bring back very happy memories; some of my best friends played on those tracks or were on the albums we recorded those songs for.
And I look at those vocals as being some of my best performances, to be honest with you – they’re not all screaming and yelling, it’s not all [screams] "yeah-eah!" hard rock, it was about trying to use my voice properly and not just balls to the wall singing.
So I’m very proud of all those songs, going right back to Only One Woman in 1968.
RM: Touching on those songs and your comment about using your voice properly is also a reflection of your cross-genre appeal and cross-genre vocality.
You are most associated with hard rock and melodic rock but I define you as Graham Bonnet, singer – you just happens to predominately sing in the rock genres.
GB: Yeah, that’s how I see it too; thank you.
RM: As regards that voice now, which is still in pretty good shape, you’re looking after it?
GB: I try to, yes, but obviously you get sick once in a while and it doesn’t work properly for a couple of days or whatever, but I definitely try to do the best I can with it.
I’m looking after it right now, actually, because we have almost two months off, having come off the road not too long ago – that’s when I try to keep away from singing but one of the things we’re doing in the down time is the new Graham Bonnet Band live DVD.
We’re looking at it right now to see where everybody has a bit of patching to do, but what’s great about it is it’s pretty dead-on, there really isn’t too much to work on.
Everybody makes mistakes on stage – you might get carried away with the audience, play a wrong note here or there, something might have gone out of tune, the sound isn’t great, or I’ll croak on a note, or miss a note, whatever it may be, but I’m amazed at how on we were, it’s surprisingly good.
So we’re finishing all that off over the next four or five days.
RM: We spoke earlier about voice and singing properly but I was always – I guess the word would be disconcerted – by your vocals on the Blackthorne rock-metal project put together by guitarist Bob Kulick.
I found it interesting to read in your liner notes for Anthology that was all down to Bob insisting you worked in a much lower register and sang like Brian Johnson…
GB: …which is why I left the band immediately after recording the album! [laughs]
RM: Indeed, because vocally it was clearly outside of your natural comfort zone; but good on you for having a bloody good go at it.
GB: [laughs] No, you’re right, it wasn’t me and I protested about that every damn day.
I would say "listen Bob, do you want me to sing like me, or do you want me to sing like the guy from AC/DC? If it’s me, then OK, but if it has to be like the other guy then I am not for this band."
I left as soon as that album was finished because it was constantly "don’t sing that part so high!" or "you’ve got to sing it with more edge!"
Actually, no, just because I’m singing like the other guy doesn’t make the song heavier, it just makes it sound like I’m impersonating somebody else! [laughs]
It was a real pain in the arse to sing for that album, although there were a couple of songs on there that used my real voice and not that joke voice; but it wasn’t a happy time.
RM: Another interesting track among many on Anthology – in this case a song that forms part of the live concert footage of Impellitteri – is Leviathan.
The reason I mention it, and why I’ve always been intrigued by it, is the Scottish Mist and Myth styled lyric you wrote for it – from your own imagination or something you had read?
GB: I’ve always been one of those people who would buy books about UFOs, legends, monsters and myths and all that sort of stuff. I’d read all about the Loch Ness Monster and how many people claim to have seen it and that all fascinated me – in fact the Loch Ness Monster stories fascinate me to this day, even although there’s probably nothing there at all.
But the dream of something being there is kind of magical; we all need or want that monster to exist, don’t we? We can’t touch it, we can’t see it, but we still ask "is it really there?"
It’s like Bigfoot, or flying saucers – we really want to see them but we probably never will.
So I wrote Leviathan based on the story of the Loch Ness Monster but set in the Hebrides… I haven’t listened to it in years, but was it "in the dark water and the Hebridean winds" or something like that?
RM: The first line is "Hebridean winds blow" with a later chorus tag of "Somewhere in the dark water."
GB: Yes, I remember it now… "Hebridean winds blow, across the water of your homeland…"
I’m proud of those lines, but when I first took it to the guys – this was an American band – they all said "what’s this word Heb-ry-deen? Is that even a real word?"
"It’s Heb-ri-dee-an and yes, it’s a real word!" but they still didn’t know what or where it was! [laughs]
I actually said to them "look, I can that ‘Hebridean’ line out if you want" but they replied "oh no, don’t, that draws people in!"
And that was my point exactly; that’s what an opening line should do, pull you in to the song.
RM: Great story and another "always meant to ask you" question answered. Thank you for indulging.
To wrap up, I’d like you to pick a song from Anthology to play us out on – a personal favourite, or a track that’s particularly poignant, perhaps.
GB: Well I love so many of them, as I said earlier, but I think it has to be Only One Woman.
That song created my career and I am forever thankful to Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb for writing it.
RM: Can’t argue with that and finishing a conversation about your career with the song that started it is the perfect play-out. Graham, thanks so much for chatting at length to FabricationsHQ.
GB: Thanks Ross, I’ve really enjoyed it. See you at WinterStorm!
GB: I know, and that’s a shame because I love playing in Scotland. My own band has some more shows coming up in the UK in July although I don’t think we are in Scotland then, either.
But Scotland really is great to play; every time I’ve come up with the band it’s been fantastic.
The crowds just go berserk – I guess we must just be very Scottish in our attitude, or our musicality [laughs]. I honestly don’t know what it is but they really are one of the best audiences ever.
RM: I think that has a lot to do with what we spoke about earlier – having fun and making it about the music and the performance, not the musicians; that egoless attitude.
That’s especially true of Glasgow audiences – even way before the now long gone Glasgow Apollo, in the days of Greens Playhouse, Glasgow audiences have appreciated, and positively embraced, hard working acts who deliver the goods, in all forms of entertainment.
But, if you turn up just to be applauded, or are dialling it in? You’ll get a very different reaction.
GB: Right [laughs]. But it really is great playing there and seeing everybody singing away to all the songs, then somebody will shout out what they want to hear and we’ll shout back "we’re not playing that one!" [laughs] all that sort of stuff.
I remember one night in Glasgow I just picked up my guitar and started [sings] "I belong to Glasgow…" and they all started to sing along with me – then sang the rest of the song back!
I mean it was corny, it was obvious, but they all got the joke and just joined in – that sort of thing is just so much fun.
RM: You may not be here in July but you are here after the shows with Michael when you and the band head for the WinterStorm festival in Troon.
That’s a new, annual event, only on its second outing, but I guarantee you’ll have that fun you talked about. It’s a great event that pulls in some of the youngest classic rock fans you’re ever likely to meet right through to the back in the day faithful.
GB: I honestly can’t wait; we really are looking forward to it.
Scottish audiences’ always make it so much fun for the band and WinterStorm sounds fantastic.
RM: From future gigging plans to everything that has gone before – and I do mean everything – courtesy of the Graham Bonnet Anthology, recently released by Cherry Red Records.
That’s a fabulous, all-encompassing 2CD and DVD set that goes all the way back to The Marbles, brings us to the present with the Graham Bonnet Band and covers all points in between.
I would presume you were happy with the results?
GB: Oh I am. The songs chosen from the yesteryears, they are like my babies. I love so many of those tracks because they bring back very happy memories; some of my best friends played on those tracks or were on the albums we recorded those songs for.
And I look at those vocals as being some of my best performances, to be honest with you – they’re not all screaming and yelling, it’s not all [screams] "yeah-eah!" hard rock, it was about trying to use my voice properly and not just balls to the wall singing.
So I’m very proud of all those songs, going right back to Only One Woman in 1968.
RM: Touching on those songs and your comment about using your voice properly is also a reflection of your cross-genre appeal and cross-genre vocality.
You are most associated with hard rock and melodic rock but I define you as Graham Bonnet, singer – you just happens to predominately sing in the rock genres.
GB: Yeah, that’s how I see it too; thank you.
RM: As regards that voice now, which is still in pretty good shape, you’re looking after it?
GB: I try to, yes, but obviously you get sick once in a while and it doesn’t work properly for a couple of days or whatever, but I definitely try to do the best I can with it.
I’m looking after it right now, actually, because we have almost two months off, having come off the road not too long ago – that’s when I try to keep away from singing but one of the things we’re doing in the down time is the new Graham Bonnet Band live DVD.
We’re looking at it right now to see where everybody has a bit of patching to do, but what’s great about it is it’s pretty dead-on, there really isn’t too much to work on.
Everybody makes mistakes on stage – you might get carried away with the audience, play a wrong note here or there, something might have gone out of tune, the sound isn’t great, or I’ll croak on a note, or miss a note, whatever it may be, but I’m amazed at how on we were, it’s surprisingly good.
So we’re finishing all that off over the next four or five days.
RM: We spoke earlier about voice and singing properly but I was always – I guess the word would be disconcerted – by your vocals on the Blackthorne rock-metal project put together by guitarist Bob Kulick.
I found it interesting to read in your liner notes for Anthology that was all down to Bob insisting you worked in a much lower register and sang like Brian Johnson…
GB: …which is why I left the band immediately after recording the album! [laughs]
RM: Indeed, because vocally it was clearly outside of your natural comfort zone; but good on you for having a bloody good go at it.
GB: [laughs] No, you’re right, it wasn’t me and I protested about that every damn day.
I would say "listen Bob, do you want me to sing like me, or do you want me to sing like the guy from AC/DC? If it’s me, then OK, but if it has to be like the other guy then I am not for this band."
I left as soon as that album was finished because it was constantly "don’t sing that part so high!" or "you’ve got to sing it with more edge!"
Actually, no, just because I’m singing like the other guy doesn’t make the song heavier, it just makes it sound like I’m impersonating somebody else! [laughs]
It was a real pain in the arse to sing for that album, although there were a couple of songs on there that used my real voice and not that joke voice; but it wasn’t a happy time.
RM: Another interesting track among many on Anthology – in this case a song that forms part of the live concert footage of Impellitteri – is Leviathan.
The reason I mention it, and why I’ve always been intrigued by it, is the Scottish Mist and Myth styled lyric you wrote for it – from your own imagination or something you had read?
GB: I’ve always been one of those people who would buy books about UFOs, legends, monsters and myths and all that sort of stuff. I’d read all about the Loch Ness Monster and how many people claim to have seen it and that all fascinated me – in fact the Loch Ness Monster stories fascinate me to this day, even although there’s probably nothing there at all.
But the dream of something being there is kind of magical; we all need or want that monster to exist, don’t we? We can’t touch it, we can’t see it, but we still ask "is it really there?"
It’s like Bigfoot, or flying saucers – we really want to see them but we probably never will.
So I wrote Leviathan based on the story of the Loch Ness Monster but set in the Hebrides… I haven’t listened to it in years, but was it "in the dark water and the Hebridean winds" or something like that?
RM: The first line is "Hebridean winds blow" with a later chorus tag of "Somewhere in the dark water."
GB: Yes, I remember it now… "Hebridean winds blow, across the water of your homeland…"
I’m proud of those lines, but when I first took it to the guys – this was an American band – they all said "what’s this word Heb-ry-deen? Is that even a real word?"
"It’s Heb-ri-dee-an and yes, it’s a real word!" but they still didn’t know what or where it was! [laughs]
I actually said to them "look, I can that ‘Hebridean’ line out if you want" but they replied "oh no, don’t, that draws people in!"
And that was my point exactly; that’s what an opening line should do, pull you in to the song.
RM: Great story and another "always meant to ask you" question answered. Thank you for indulging.
To wrap up, I’d like you to pick a song from Anthology to play us out on – a personal favourite, or a track that’s particularly poignant, perhaps.
GB: Well I love so many of them, as I said earlier, but I think it has to be Only One Woman.
That song created my career and I am forever thankful to Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb for writing it.
RM: Can’t argue with that and finishing a conversation about your career with the song that started it is the perfect play-out. Graham, thanks so much for chatting at length to FabricationsHQ.
GB: Thanks Ross, I’ve really enjoyed it. See you at WinterStorm!
Ross Muir
Muirsical Conversation with Graham Bonnet
May 2017
Graham Bonnet and GB/ Michael Schenker images from Photos section of the Graham Bonnet Band website: http://www.grahambonnetband.com/
Audio tracks presented to accompany the above article and to promote the work of the artists.
No infringement of copyright is intended.
Muirsical Conversation with Graham Bonnet
May 2017
Graham Bonnet and GB/ Michael Schenker images from Photos section of the Graham Bonnet Band website: http://www.grahambonnetband.com/
Audio tracks presented to accompany the above article and to promote the work of the artists.
No infringement of copyright is intended.