After 35 Rocking Years, Album Sales in Marshallman and Uriah Heep
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What would you say the bands greatest distribution and promotion.” nothing to touch Marshall equipment for After 35rocking years , album sales in moments have been? And what has Over the years there have been sound, durability and look! You play hard been your proudest moment? numerous line-up changes, were there rock, you play Marshall, simple as that!” excess of 30 million , playing in over “There have been many! Here are a few any times that you felt that it would all that instantly spring to mind! The time I have to end? What have been some of your favourite 48countries and still continuing to fill heard our song ‘Gypsy’ on the radio in “We have had many changes, but the Marshall amps? 1970 for the first time was a proud quality of musicians that have come and “The 1959SLP heads and two 1960B arena’s over the , moment. I was driving along in my car and gone has always been very high. The only straight bottom cabinets is classic! The all world Uriah Heep nearly went off the road with excitement. I time I felt it might end was after we JCM800 heads, two 1960B straight bottom must be one of the underrated had to pull over and park. Our first recorded Conquest with John Sloman on cabinets I also love. I only ever use most rock Gold/Platinum discs were obviously a very vocals. John did not sing the classic songs one amp and one cabinet though.” that has produced. That proud moment. Playing the Albert Hall in how they were written and the fans didn’t acts Britain ever London. After that the rest of the family warm to this. At the end of a very long What amp are you using live and in the is according to the . Rock stopped telling my mother to tell me to get European tour I decided to end it. I stayed studio? Rock Press a real job! (laughs). Playing Wembley was in my apartment in London and drank “My favourites of course! The 1959SLP however, Uriah Heep also rather special and being the first copious amounts of vodka and woke up the head and JCM800 head through one fans embraced western rock band to play Russia in next morning with a raging hangover. I 1960B cabinet.” and have been by the December 1987.” telephoned Lee Kerslake to wish him all the never fooled best, as he was off to the USA with Ozzy, Do you use any pedals or FX? . catches up with Youve released a brilliant and varied and he said “I am not going, as Ozzy wants “Yes I do, a D*nlop Original Cry Baby critics Marshall Law collection of 20 albums, what have been an all American band.” Well I had a record Wah Wah, Marshall Guv’nor pedal man and your favourite albums or tracks? contract, a publishing deal, and I was (original), the new Marshall Echohead Marshall Uriah Heep “It is so hard to pick and choose as I am looking after the management side, so I pedal, B*ss Chorus pedal, M*rley Pro founder . Marshall Law defies so close to them all. However there have said to Lee come over and let’s talk. Lee Series Volume pedal.” Mick Box been some markers along the way. The left in the first place because of to knock the of this first album Very Eavy Very Umble was very management problems, so with me at the You were at the launch of the 40th anyone success important, as that set the template for what helm that was resolved. I found out that Anniversary stack. What were your after reading this interview . we are all about musically. We chose to Bob Daisley was left in the lurch too, so we thoughts? band play some really heavy guitar, organ invited him to join and we had the nucleus “Very impressed indeed. Bernie Marsden driven music like ‘Gypsy’ but also we were of another Heep. I remembered Pete showcased it and he did that to the not afraid to play something as beautiful Goalby from our auditions, where we took maximum. The sound was brilliant and the as ‘Come Away Melinda’ on acoustic John Sloman over him and I called him up. look fantastic. I was bowled over . it was guitar. He was off for a short tour of the USA with spot on!” Salisbury was an album that we a band called Trapeze. He said if the job experimented with a 27-piece brass was on offer when he returned he would Who are you main influences? section on a very long piece of music with love to come to London and try out for the “My favourite all time guitarist is Jeff Beck, quite long guitar solo parts. But it has stood band. We waited and when he returned he but when I first started it had to be the test of time and is a favourite of many came to London and that was that, we had Barney Kessal, Tal Farlowe, Les Paul and of our fans. a singer. For keyboards, Heep had worked Mary Ford, Django Reinhardt, Buddy Holly, Look At Yourself was where we really with a band called the Heavy Metal Kids Eddie Cochrane etc . .” found our direction and decided we wanted supporting us in Europe and I remembered to become a straight ahead rock band. John Sinclair for being a good keyboard How long will Uriah Heep keep going? ‘July Morning’ was on this album and is a player. I tracked him down in Los Angeles, “Well, we will hopefully complete another song with lots of dynamics in it and has called him and he came over, and the band album this year and then we will put in an been in our live set for many years as a was set. We recorded Abominog and 18 month touring schedule to promote it. To firm favourite. everything was on the up!” be honest this line up of Box, Bolder, Demons and Wizards with ‘The Wizard’ Kerslake, Shaw and Lanzon has been and ‘Easy Livin’’ is probably the album that The press was always quite hostile together for 20 years this year (2006). We took us onto the world stage. We found towards Uriah Heep in the early days — are the best of friends, we travel the world ways of writing lyrics in a very magical, why do you think this was? Would you together and enjoy playing shows in over mystical way that captured everybody’s say the press have had to eat their 48 countries. We have a great fan base on imagination. Plus, we had our first Roger words? the web, www.uriah-heep.com, and there is Dean cover that really made the album a “Well, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple and no better place to be than in Uriah Heep at complete package with music and artwork. Led Zeppelin were already established, and the moment. I think, to be honest, the Magicians Birthday followed on a similar then along come Uriah Heep in a blaze of business retires you and you do not retire theme to Demons and Wizards, but the title publicity. I think for the press it was one too from the business. If there is no audience track had an exciting guitar and drum duel many of the same ilk. Also, the music then it has to stop. Thankfully, we have a that received a lot of attention. scene in London was turning away from worldwide audience that still enjoys our Abominog was a good rock album of the heavy rock and it was the time Bob Dylan music and our shows.” ’80s. It had a very ’80s production, but we was playing the electric guitar and causing had a lot of success with it in the USA. mayhem with all the Dylan hardcore who Whats next for Uriah Heep? We had a song called ‘The Way That It Is’ saw this as sacrilege. Still, after selling in “Hopefully record a new album this year. that was Top 40 in the USA charts and we excess of 30 million albums and surviving On the touring front we have an RTL TV had a video which was on high rotation for 35 years, playing in over 48 countries, I show to do in Germany that goes out to five on MTV . am not complaining. I think the hostility, to million people, then we are off to India Raging Silence was the first studio album be perfectly honest, made us a people’s (two shows Mumbai, Bangalore) Indonesia recorded by this line up of Box, Bolder, band. If you finish a show and the audience (two shows Jakarta, Surabaya) Thailand Kerslake, Lanzon and Shaw, and it was the have demanded three encores and you get (one show Bangkok) then we headline the first album we actually got good reviews in some person write a damning review as if Heroes of Rock festival in St Petersburg, the British press all round, so that was nice he or she had not even been there, then Russia, then we go to Kiev and another for a change. Sea of Light was an album that is madness. Say that the show was not eight shows in the Ukraine, then on to Photo’s: Vincent Lagana. that the fans liked as we once again used your thing but the audience loved it, that is Israel (Tel Aviv, Haifa, Jerusalem), then Roger Dean for the cover and the music a balanced critic.