According to Robert, he had tired of their "menopausic rumblings" and on October 14th 1985 he issued a press release stating all of the members of his band were out. It's interesting to note the Led Zeppelin rehearsals in Bath were held that January, so one could argue they were actually disbanded in the hopes of a Led Zeppelin reunion. When Bill Curbishley took over management of his solo career in August 1986 one of the first decisions they made was that it would be best to assemble a far younger lineup for Robert to perform and record with. Robert got in touch with Phil Johnstone through Virgin Records and through Johnstone, Plant met Dave Barrett. Within two days, he was writing new material with them. Plant contacted Chris Blackwell and Doug Boyle about a month later and Charlie Jones was brought in during the final stages of album recording to replace Phil Scragg.

St. Paul, MN Civic Center Arena April 23rd 1985 (Tue)

The Metro Center in Minneapolis on May 31st 1988. Onstage he said "today is May the 31st, a special day for me…my old mate Bonzo's birthday...(dedicates 'Black Country Woman' to John Bonham) " FYI, that morning Robert was flown into Holman Airport from Midway Airport in Chicago. He stayed the night at The Whitney hotel located at 150 Portland Avenue. Next day he was flown to General Mitchell Field in Milwaukee.

You are correct on both points, it's the June 1975 issue and a USA publication. The article is titled "Rock Magic". It is possible their interview was conducted in New York in Feb 1975 and I was thinking of the Crawdaddy concert venue, which is in London. I've been away from the site this week so I'm shaking the rust off my memory at the moment!

I think she was just trying to be funny but I tried to add some value to it. The Midwich Cuckoos has nothing whatsoever to do with cuckoo clocks. Also, It's an Anglo-Saxon tale, not Germanic.

I have been there many times, but there is no mysterious connection to Zeppelin aside from Robert expressing an eagerness to see a girl in Heidelberg around the time of their concert at the Festhalle in Frankfurt in December 1998.

So far as I know, they never met again. Their interview appears in the Jun 1975 issue of Crawdaddy, a monthly music magazine which was published in the UK. It does touch on a phenomenal range of shared interests and underground topics. Here's an excellent link to learn more about the life and death of William S. Burroughs: http://www.lawrence.com/news/burroughs/10yearsafter/ (Edit: Date correction)

John Paul Jones Fantasy Sequence in TSRTS Horselunges has conducted an extensive review of the film in contrast with photographs from the time, and specualtes the woman holding child in the hallway is none other than Jimmy's woman Charlotte Martin and their daughter Scarlet. Anyone care to speculate for or against? I'm still seeking confirmation of which cemetary was used for the filming of the horseride at night.

Robbie Blunt, who appeared on his first three solo albums (1981-1985). I also happen to believe he remains the best fit if you consider the Strange Sensation era too.

TURN THAT HEARTBEAT OVER AGAIN (Steely Dan) With stocking face I bought a gun The plan was set the plan was done Looked at my watch and started for the door Now the food here ain't so good no more And they closed the package store CHORUS: Love your mama, love your brother Love 'em till they run for cover Turn the light off, keep your shirt on Cry a jag on me Oh Michael Oh Jesus you know I'm not to blame You know my reputation for playing a good clean game Oh Michael Oh Jesus I'll keep my promise when You turn that heartbeat over again My poison's named you know my brand So please make mine a double, Sam Stir it up nice I'll eat it right here This highway runs from Paraguay And I've just come all the way CHORUS We warned the corpse of William Wright Not to cuss and drink all night Ticket in hand I saw him laid to rest But zombie see and zombie do He's here with me and you CHORUS

If you could post a scan of the picture it may help.

Magic Sam, that was a very nicely done "execution" (hardy har har). I had about a half-page of comments to add but my connection crapped out and the post didn't hit the site. Basically, I wanted to highlight the alleged "cease and desist order" has never been made public. I collaborated with Greg Russo on his book 'Yardbirds - The Ultimate Rave-Up! (3rd edition) and it was great experience to go into The Yardbirds world a devout Pageologist. I think I held up well under the withering fire between Camp Jimmy, Camp Jeff, and Camp Dreja/McCarty. If anyone asks them or it seems their fans for that matter about the Page- era Yardbirds you'll get multiple variations of what everyone calls the truth. People would fire back and forth about did Jeff cry, did Jimmy steal Tangerine for weeks. Jimmy offered to redo the Anderson Theater release back in '91 and was rebuffed. That tells me there's still a little bad blood from a business standpoint. There's no doubt all parties concerned remain friends after all these years.

Frank, That's news to me also.

My response to the inquiry was that a search of over 7,000 articles in my database has turned up no match to the article allegedly published.

Oh, no. Not just a car. For many, it's a status symbol and he parked it in the middle of a rough neighborhood.

Quite possibly so. He'd parked it in the street and the local yobs "took offense" and vandalised it.

That's a great "strange tale from the road"! Many thanks for taking the time to post it here. I'll have to search around and see if any press reviews can be located which may further substantiate these shenanigans.

Atlantic Records' 40th Annivesary Concert - "It's Only Rock n' Roll" Madison Square Garden New York, New York Saturday, May 14th 1988 This concert was arranged to promote Atlantic Records' 40th Anniversary. Atlantic was of course a New York-based record label. Several stars from the history of the label were booked to perform. The American press began reporting rumors of a possible Led Zeppelin reunion with Jason Bonham on drums the week prior. Jimmy, John Paul Jones & Jason rehearsed 15 to 20 songs at Nomis Studio in London during the last couple weeks leading up to the event. Robert was touring the USA. Jimmy arrived in NYC on May 11th. He immediately checked in to his hotel and never left his room with the exception of the rehearsals which were held later that day and the next. In the early morning hours of Thu, May 12th, Robert departed from Monroe County Airport in Rochester, NY and arrived at Teterboro Airport near New York City. Upon arrival he checked in to the Essex Hotel at 160 Central Park South. He joined the other three for rehearsals on that day and they rehearsed and held a soundcheck on Friday. A final rehearsal was held the day of the show. Everyone agreed they sounded simply magnificent. Even so, Jimmy's nerves were fragile, having not performed in front of a live audience for quite some time. Robert performed a set as a solo artist with his band early in the evening and told the HBO pay-per-view audience "...I'll be back" during his backstage interview with host Richard Townsend. Jimmy got to the venue later that evening, expecting to plug in and play. Unfortunately, the event had seriously overun it's scheduled timing, and Led Zeppelin waited for many hours before taking the stage. The tale of the tape: Watch JPJ's look of concern melt into a grin as Jimmy finds his fingers during the Heartbreaker solo. Watch Jimmy nervously shuffle his legs while waiting for Robert to introduce Misty Mountain Hop. See the smiles all around at the end, which seemed to come just as they'd shaken off the nerves and found a groove. The aftermath: As to be expected, emotion overruled reality for some time. The fans raved that it was triumphant and stunning. The critics loved it. Disappointment began to set in when Jimmy watched the playback of the video and heard how abominable the audio feed was. "He should be strung up by the balls" he said, concerning the man responsible. If time permits I'll try to post some photos from this event in the photo forum within the next couple days.

There's no particular significance to his wearing of the Jimmy Page Led Zeppelin t-shirt. He wore the same shirt on several of the other dates during that last leg of the USA tour. The Led Zeppelin Boxed Set had been released that Autumn and I believe that shirt was also recently released to coincide with it. I believe the shirt was licensed thru Winterland Productions. My point is it was not a bootleg or fan-made shirt. I've never heard anything concerning a food fight in Birmingham, Alabama. Please share your story with the board or email me privately thru my profile page. Thanks!

Thanks, Frank. That's one of the photos I intended to post. That was taken in Los Angeles, in 1969 if I remember right. The story about the Rolls Royce is essentially true. The reason for his aggressive stance was because the dealer was acting very condescending towards him as he looked it over. When he opened the door to sit behind the wheel the dealer said to him "Dear, Sir", meaning you can't possibly afford it. John did purchase the car after telling the dealer to have the paint resprayed and "don't talk like that to me again". Another great Bonzo car story goes back to when he lived in a modest home in West Hagley, before he purchased his farm. He was washing his Rolls in his drive. A neighbor walking past saw this and stood transfixed with bemusement. When John looked over at him the man snickered and said "Well, I've never seen a man wash his own Rolls before". John reared back and kicked the car, then shouted to the man something like "Bet you'd never seen a man kick his own Rolls either, now sod off!"

I'll see what can be posted over the weekend.

I knew you would appreciate the first one the most. Everything I post here comes from my private archive which was built one item, one contact, one opportunity at a time over the past three decades. If there is a specific Jimmy Page concert or era your interested in seeing here just let me know and I'll see what can be done.

Jimmy Page (The Firm) Kongresshalle Frankfurt, Germany December 3rd 1984 Photo Credit: Petra Pommerenke (Images 1 thru 4) Photo Credit: A. Shoemaker (Image 5) All Photos Courtesy of Steve A. Jones Archive

That's an early photo of the American actor Gene Wilder

The Costa Mesa concert was held at the Pacific Amphitheatre on Sat, Mar 16, 1985. I have several photographs from this concert so I can tell you with certainty he wore a dark blue Hawaiian shirt and plain white pants, which was typical for that tour. I've also got fan reviews indicating it was a lively, spirited show, but that is not to say your view is any less valid. One thing I did find interesting, and this is depicted in the photos, is that Jimmy lifted his right leg and "played" his shoe. This was quite possibly done in jest during band introductions. The St. Louis concert you attended was held on Tue, May 13th, 1986.