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Grand Slam | |
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Background information | |
Also known as | Phil Lynott's Grand Slam (1984–1985) |
Origin | Ireland (1984) London, England (2018) |
Genres | Hard rock |
Years active | 1984–1985, 2016, 2018–present |
Labels | Marshall (2019) Silver Lining Music (2023–present) |
Members | Laurence Archer Mike Dyer Rocky Newton Benjy Reid |
Past members | Mark Stanway Phil Lynott Robbie Brennan Doish Nagle Brian Downey Neil Murray Micky Barker Stefan Berggren David Boyce |
Grand Slam (or Phil Lynott's Grand Slam) are a British (originally Irish) rock band originally formed in 1984 by Phil Lynott (lead vocals and bass guitar), after the breakup of his earlier ensemble Thin Lizzy. Grand Slam was active for a year, and Lynott died in 1986, but the band was revived in 2016 by original members Mark Stanway and Laurence Archer.
The birth of Grand Slam can be traced back to the solo band Lynott formed during July/August 1983 for a tour of Scandinavia. This line-up featured keyboardist Mark Stanway (Magnum); Thin Lizzy members Brian Downey (drums) and John Sykes (lead guitar); plus rhythm guitarist Doish Nagle (ex-The Bogey Boys). When Thin Lizzy completed its farewell tour in September 1983, Lynott continued working with this configuration as a band project that eventually became known as Grand Slam. Sykes departed the project following an offer to join Whitesnake and was replaced with guitarist Laurence Archer (ex Stampede), who had previously been approached by Lynott. Prior to the band's first shows, Downey left to be replaced by Robbie Brennan.
The name Grand Slam was chosen after a plethora of other band names had been considered, including Reactor Factor, Catastrophe, Hell Bent On Havoc, Slam Anthem and Slam, the name of a song Lynott had in mind. Lynott earned the nickname Sergeant Rock at the rehearsals at the E'EE studios in London, due to his almost overbearing strictness and dedication to the rehearsal drill.
With the line-up of Lynott, Stanway, Archer, Nagle and Brennan, Grand Slam played its first show in Waterford, Ireland on 26 April 1984. The band's live set contained a mixture of new songs, written by various combinations of Lynott, Stanway and Archer, as well as songs from Lynott's solo career plus selected Thin Lizzy songs. Lynott was keen to avoid any 'second-rate Thin Lizzy' tag, and was adamant that they should only ever perform three Lizzy songs live ("Cold Sweat", from their 1983 album Thunder and Lightning , "Sarah", from Lizzy's 1979 album Black Rose: A Rock Legend , and the crowd favourite, "Whiskey In the Jar", which can be found on Grand Slam: Live 1984 ).
Grand Slam toured extensively in the UK and Eire throughout 1984, with shows favourably received by both audiences and media. The band also appeared at high-profile festivals such as Crystal Palace (as special guests of Status Quo), Nostell Priory (as special guests of Marillion) and the Kerrang Weekender festival in Great Yarmouth, the latter show broadcast by BBC Radio One.
Despite shows being well received by audiences and the band having built up a large cult following, Grand Slam failed to secure a record deal (largely due to Lynott's reputation as a drug user during his later Thin Lizzy days). The original Grand Slam played its final show at Walthamstow Standard, London on 7 December 1984 and folded shortly after.
Phil Lynott died on 4 January 1986 from liver, heart and kidney failure, due to years of drug abuse and alcohol excess.
Several original songs from Grand Slam's catalogue resurfaced on Thin Lizzy releases including "Nineteen" (also released as a Phil Lynott's final single in 1985), "Sisters of Mercy" and "Dedication". The latter became the subject of controversy upon its inclusion as the title track of the Dedication: The Very Best of Thin Lizzy compilation in 1991. Originally recorded as a Grand Slam demo by its authors, Laurence Archer and Phil Lynott, Thin Lizzy's management had former members Scott Gorham and Brian Downey overdub guitar and drum tracks, respectively, and in an attempt to pass the song off as a Lynott solo composition. Archer was uncredited as a songwriter, but later settled out-of-court for a share of the publishing. The Grand Slam song "Military Man" was also recorded by Lynott and Gary Moore on Moore's 1985 album Run For Cover
In 2002 and 2003, keyboardist Mark Stanway produced several releases of previously unreleased live, studio and demo material of Grand Slam compiled from his personal archive.
Guitarist Laurence Archer recorded a solo album, titled LA, in 1986, and went on to record and tour with a number of acts, including Brian Spence, Rhode Island Red (with drummer Manolo Antonana), UFO, and Medicine Head.
In 2016, Mark Stanway reformed Grand Slam together with Laurence Archer, drummer Micky Barker (ex Magnum), bassist Neil Murray (ex Whitesnake, Black Sabbath etc.) and vocalist Stefan Berggren (ex M3 Classic Whitesnake). This line-up made appearances at the Sweden Rock Festival and the Robin 2, Bilston.
In 2018, Laurence Archer with Mike Dyer, Dave Boyce and Benjy Reid recorded a new Grand Slam studio album at VADA Recording studios with producer Matt Terry, reworking 3 of the original Grand slam material written by Phil Lynott, Laurence Archer and Mark Stanway. along with new material written by Laurence Archer in collaboration with Mike Dyer, David Boyce and Benjy Reid. The album was released as Hit the Ground in November 2019. Mark Stanway did not feature in the line-up but contributed keyboards to three of the ten tracks.
Thin Lizzy are an Irish hard rock band formed in Dublin in 1969. Thin Lizzy initially consisted of bass guitarist, lead vocalist and principal songwriter Phil Lynott, drummer Brian Downey, guitarist Eric Bell and organist Eric Wrixon, although Wrixon left after a few months. Bell left at the end of 1973 and was briefly replaced by Gary Moore, who himself was replaced in mid-1974 by twin lead guitarists: Scott Gorham, who remained with the band until their break-up in 1983, and Brian Robertson, who remained with the band until 1978 when Moore re-joined. Moore left a second time and was replaced by Snowy White in 1980, who was himself replaced by John Sykes in 1982. The line-up was augmented by keyboardist Darren Wharton in 1980. The singles "Whiskey in the Jar" (1972), "The Boys Are Back in Town" (1976) and "Waiting for an Alibi" (1979) were international hits, and several Thin Lizzy albums reached the top ten in the UK. The band's music reflects a wide range of influences, including blues, soul music, psychedelic rock and traditional Irish folk music, but is generally classified as hard rock or sometimes heavy metal.
Philip Parris Lynott was an Irish musician, songwriter, and poet. He was the co-founder, lead vocalist, bassist, and primary songwriter for the hard rock band Thin Lizzy. He was known for his distinctive pick-based style on the bass and for his imaginative lyrical contributions, including working class tales and numerous characters drawn from personal influences and Celtic culture.
Johnny the Fox is the seventh studio album by Irish hard rock band Thin Lizzy, released in 1976. This album was written and recorded while bassist/vocalist Phil Lynott was recovering from a bout of hepatitis that put him off the road halfway through the previous Jailbreak tour. "Don't Believe a Word" was a British hit single. Johnny the Fox was the last Thin Lizzy studio album on which guitarist Brian Robertson featured as a full member of the band, as the personality clashes between him and Lynott resulted in Robertson being sacked, reinstated, and later sacked again.
Chinatown is the tenth studio album by Irish band Thin Lizzy, released in 1980. It introduced guitarist Snowy White who would also perform on the next album as well as tour with Thin Lizzy between 1980 and 1982; he replaced Gary Moore as permanent guitarist. White had previously worked with Cliff Richard, Peter Green and Pink Floyd. Chinatown also featured eighteen-year-old Darren Wharton on keyboards, and he joined Thin Lizzy as a permanent member later that year.
One Night Only is a live album by rock band Thin Lizzy, released in 2000. Thin Lizzy had reformed in 1994 for a series of gigs marking ten years since the band split in 1984. Latter-day Lizzy guitarist John Sykes now took the lead vocal while Marco Mendoza was recruited on bass. The venture was popular enough to be repeated but by the time this album came out, original drummer Brian Downey had decided the affair was too disorganised and retired from the group leaving none of the original trio remaining. Keyboardist Darren Wharton also quit around the time of this album's release. The band, led by Sykes and Scott Gorham, subsequently continued performing with various lineups. This album features ex-Ozzy, Whitesnake, and Black Oak Arkansas drummer Tommy Aldridge.
Greatest Hits is a double-CD compilation of Thin Lizzy songs released in 2004.
John James Sykes is an English guitarist, best known as a member of Whitesnake, Thin Lizzy and Tygers of Pan Tang. He has also fronted the hard rock group Blue Murder and released several solo albums.
Dedication: The Very Best of Thin Lizzy is a compilation album released by rock group Thin Lizzy in 1991. The only previously unreleased track was "Dedication", which was reconstructed after band leader Phil Lynott's death, using an old 8 track demo recording of a Grand Slam song originally recorded around 1985 and written by guitarist Laurence Archer. This track was the subject of a High Court case, as following Lynott's death Thin Lizzy released this track as a lost Thin Lizzy track, removing Archer's guitar and the writing credit from the track. Archer is now credited for writing this track.
Wild One: The Very Best of Thin Lizzy is a 1996 compilation album by Irish rock band Thin Lizzy. It was released ten years after the death of frontman Phil Lynott in 1986 as a tribute to him.
BBC Radio One Live in Concert is a live recording from 1983 by Irish rock band Thin Lizzy, released in 1992. This show at the Reading Festival in 1983 came at the end of their farewell tour, and was originally intended to be the band's last concert.
Vagabonds Kings Warriors Angels is a 2001 4-disc set by Irish rock group Thin Lizzy, which also contains a book chronicling the life of the band and music in some detail, with rare photos and a discography. The set was packaged in a longbox format with the booklet fixed inside like a book.
"Sarah" is a pop song released in 1979 by Irish rock group Thin Lizzy, included on their album, Black Rose: A Rock Legend. The song was written by the band's frontman Phil Lynott and guitarist Gary Moore about Lynott's newborn daughter. The song was also issued as a single, and appeared on several compilation albums including Wild One: The Very Best of Thin Lizzy. The song was never performed live by Thin Lizzy, but it was adopted as a live favourite by Lynott's post-Thin Lizzy project, Grand Slam, and featured on Live in Sweden 1983, a recording of Lynott's solo band.
Grand Slam: Live 1984 is a live album by Irish rock band Grand Slam, released in 2003 but recorded in 1984.
Mark Stanway is an English musician. He was the keyboard player for the hard rock band Magnum from 1980 until the end of 2016.
Laurence Archer is a British guitarist and songwriter notable for his work with British rock bands UFO and Phil Lynott's Grand Slam. He wrote many of Grand Slam's songs together with Phil Lynott and Mark Stanway, some of which were released as Thin Lizzy songs. Archer was also a member of British band Wild Horses, Stampede, Lautrec, Medicine Head and Rhode Island Red with Gary Leiderman on bass, Manolo Antonana on drums and frontman/actor/writer Mike Dyer.
"Please Don't Leave Me" is a song by English hard rock musician John Sykes. It was released in 1982 by MCA Records as his first solo single. It also features members of the Irish hard rock group Thin Lizzy, including frontman Phil Lynott, who co-wrote the track with Sykes.
Thin Lizzy Live at Sydney Harbour '78 was a live concert performance by Thin Lizzy on 29 October 1978, subsequently produced in VHS and DVD format and available from Warner Vision. It was originally a made for television special produced by local radio station 2SM and Australia's Seven Network.
Live in Sweden 1983 is a live album, released almost 20 years after it was recorded, of Phil Lynott's solo band after the breakup of the band Thin Lizzy. It was recorded from the soundboard and was released by Mark Stanway.
"Hollywood (Down on Your Luck)" is a song by the Irish rock band Thin Lizzy, written by guitarist Scott Gorham and bassist/vocalist Phil Lynott, and released as a single in 1982. It was the only single to be released from their 1981 album Renegade.
"Cowboy Song" is a song by hard rock band Thin Lizzy that originally appeared on their 1976 album Jailbreak.