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INSIDE THE SLEEVE POP Manic Nirvana Robert Plant

Niester, Alan. The Globe and Mail [Toronto, Ont] 14 May 1990

Es Paranza 79 13364

If it were Robert Plant's intention to sum up his entire career with Led Zeppelin in a single album, then Manic Nirvana is undeniably a success.

Overtop a studied Led Zep instrumental stew (drummer Chris Blackwell is a John Bonham clone; guitarist Doug Boyle is no Jimmy Page, but does get off some nice riffs) Plant reprises every wail, grunt, thrust, groan, yelp, holler and yowl he ever recorded in the old band's heyday. And while no single cut here can truly be labelled a Led Zep cop (an amazing feat of songwriting in itself) old fans will probably feel more comfortable with Manic Nirvana than with any of Plant's previous solo works.

Edited June 7, 2013 by kenog

[kenog]

Toronto Star [Toronto, Ont] 27 Aug 1990

Ex-Led Zeppelin vocalist Robert Plant says his heavy metal band was wrongly accused of slipping Satanic messages in its albums long before the current Judas Priest flap.

"I mean, who on earth would have ever thought of doing that in the first place? You've got to have a lot of time on your hands to even consider that people would do that," Plant said in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine.

Plant said if his band had used the backward masking, where the lyrics can only be heard by playing an album backwards, it might have included a message more money-driven than malicious.

"I figure if backward masking really worked, every record in the store would have 'buy this album' hidden in it," said Plant.

In Reno, Nev., a judge ruled Friday that hidden words do exist on an album by the British rock band Judas Priest. But the judge ruled they were not placed there intentionally and the group was not responsible for a suicide pact formed by two young fans.

Judge Jerry Carr Whitehead said the alleged words "do it" were the result of a chance combination of sounds.

Edited June 7, 2013 by kenog

[kenog]

Seven Reasons Robert Plant might not want a Led Zeppelin reunion:

The Vancouver Sun [Vancouver, B.C] 20 Sep 1990

1. Young audiences confuse Stairway to Heaven with Highway to Hell.

2.Busy working on new book of hair care tips.

3.All his bellbottoms still at the cleaners.

4.Too much work teaching Jimmy Page the riff to Tall Cool One.

5.Is it Dazed and Confused or Confused and Dazed?

6.Newly developed allergy to mud sharks.

7.Groupies expect so much these days.

Robert Plant at the Coliseum, Friday 8 p.m.

[kenog]

Former Zeppelin performer able to mock himself

Potter, Greg. The Vancouver Sun [Vancouver, B.C] 22 Sep 1990

ROBERT PLANT The Coliseum September 21

Awright, thar, dude. It's official. Ex-Zep vocalist Robert Plant does, in fact, shop at those Granville Street rock-god emporiums. You know, the ones filled with Jagger flags, Elvis shrines and Jimbo momentums. I mean, where else could he get that groovin' Jimmy Page T-shirt?

That's right, sports fans, ol' Percy in the flesh was flexing those fairly formidable, 42-year-old pectorals beneath the silk-screened and cosmically meandering countenance of his former Led Zeppelin guitarist/partner/cohort J.P. at the Coliseum Friday night.

And if the self-proclaimed "Golden God" himself deems it permissible to own up to the humor and irony of his old bands' mock canonization in front of 11,500 hearty souls, then it's only natural that we lesser beings should laugh along with the joke.

So let's recap:

Top Three Reasons To Go See Robert Plant: (1) It's fun to watch a guy who used to be a dinosaur; (2) It's fun to watch a guy after you've heard the rumors, seen the movies and read the books; (3) It's fun to watch a guy for only half the time you used to have to watch Led Zeppelin.

Top Three Led Zeppelin Reference Points: (1) Teasing the audience with the first few lines of Stairway to Heaven; (2) The stage set with the "stairways" on it; (3) The Whole Lotta Love orgasmic caterwaul in the middle of Shaken 'n' Stirred.

Top Three "Golden God" Poses: (1) Head back, eyes shut, blond mane cascading earthwards; (2) Arms stretched heavenward, mike cord dangling to Purgatory, I-do-it-better-than-Lou-Gramm smirk on his face; (3) Quasi-macho, come-and-get-it strut.

Top Three Post-Led Zeppelin Highlights: (1) Hurting Kind; (2) Ship of Fools; (3) R.E.M.-ish video that accompanied Tie Dye on the Highway.

Top Three Robert Plant Imitators That Robert Does It Better Than: (1) David Coverdale; (2) Lou Gramm; (3) The dude from Great White.

Top Three Led Zeppelin Rehashes: (1) Going to California; (2) Immigrant Song; (3) Living Loving Maid.

Top Three Surprises: (1) The all-acoustic interlude; (2) Plant's ability to hit the high "Aaaaaahhhhh" notes in Immigrant Song; (3) His inability to hit the other high notes in Immigrant Song.

Top Three Reasons To Keep Guitarist Doug Boyle: (1) He looks like a young Jimmy Page; (2) He poses like a young Jeff Beck; (3) He actually makes a guitar sound like a guitar rather than making it sound like Eddie Van Halen.

Top Three Reasons to Admire Robert Plant: (1) At 42, his voice is better; (2) At 42, his hair is better; (3) At 42, wouldn't we all like to look that good?

Illustration

Black & White Photo; Robert Plant

Edited June 7, 2013 by kenog

[kenog]

Plant takes his time getting the Led out:

Mitch Potter Toronto Star. Toronto Star [Toronto, Ont] 04 Oct 1990

For a guy who has been all but swallowed whole by his mythic past, Robert Plant has a splendid sense of humor.

Led Zeppelin's former frontman, now 42 but playing last night to a crowd (and with a band) barely half that, gave a nearly-packed Maple Leaf Gardens the giggles even before he hit the stage.

The pre-show taped music featured giddy California satirists Dread Zeppelin, who've found marginal fame as a band that takes the mickey out of Zepp's best-known work with bizarre, reggae-meets- Elvis attitude. Good fun.

Then, when Plant at last made his entrance, the lean, blond- mopped singer played air-guitar clad in a sleeveless T-shirt bearing the face of Jimmy Page, the famed axeman/foil from aforementioned Zepp.

For Plant, those subtle gestures amount to effete, tongue-in- cheek surrender to a generation that wants Led Zeppelin so badly it can taste it.

And as unreasonable a facsimile as last night's wing-ding was, for this devoted crowd one-quarter of a legendary act was better than none. Bear in mind most of these fans wore diapers when the Plant-Page tandem first sang "Stairway To Heaven".

But 10 years since the band folded in the wake of drummer John Bonham's death, the rise of North American classic rock radio - in Toronto, it's Q One-O-Zeppelin - has soundly canonized the legend.

Now conspicuous as one of the few remaining super-rock acts yet to cash in for a reunion tour, it so happened that last night's biggest ovations - indeed, the only moments that felt even remotely electric - came when Plant and his neophyte quartet got the Led out.

After sitting attentively for 40 minutes of gray, effluvial melodies drawn from Plant's body of solo material (including a handful of pieces from the almost self-parodic Manic Nirvana), this audience leaped to its feet for the mandolin-and-guitar acoustics of Led Zeppelin's "Goin' To California". Later, the same over-the-top reaction was afforded the hammerbeat Zeppelin rocker "The Immigrant Song".

Despite an often porridgy sound mix, Plant appeared to feed off the energy of the talented pups on stage, nailing all but the highest-register vocals with ease. He returned for an encore of "Ship Of Fools", one of the most enduring pieces from his speckled solo career.

Georgia rockers the Black Crowes, proud papas to what may well be the best album the Rolling Stones (or, better still, Small Faces) never made, sauteed the Gardens with a pithy opening set of riff- happy guitar rock.

Driven by brawny, visceral electric blues and, in frontman Chris Robinson, a hyperactive howler worthy of such twin guitar backing, the Crowes capped their 40 minutes with "Jealous Again". That song is the best so far in a repertoire that distills dead obvious influences down to something that manages to sound remarkably fresh.

Illustration

Caption: Star color photo (Faught): Robert Plant performing

Edited June 7, 2013 by kenog

[kenog]

ROBERT PLANT: THEN AND NOW:

Kot, Greg. The Ottawa Citizen [Ottawa, Ont] 05 Oct 1990

The easiest $60 million of Robert Plant's life is his for the taking.

All Plant has to do is pick up the phone and call his old mates from Led Zeppelin -- guitarist Jimmy Page and bassist John Paul Jones -- and say, "Let's go, boys."

With Jason Bonham filling in for his late father, John, on drums, the thought of Plant, Page and Jones hammering away onstage together again ranks high on the wish list of many rock fans.

Many of the other British greybeards from the 1960s and '70s, including the Rolling Stones and the Who, have already cashed in on their legend. The Stones's Steel Wheels North American tour set a record for hype and gate receipts, with guarantees of more than $60 million U.S. along the way, which is enough incentive to unretire virtually any legendary band. Except Robert Plant's.

The Who didn't even bother to record new material before going on tour, merely playing the old hits and laughing all the way to the bank.

"I can't understand why the Who did what they did," Plant said. "At least the Stones made a record and wanted it to be heard. I guess after all these years they still need each other in the abyss."

Plant gladly accepts responsibility for being the major reason a full-fledged Led Zeppelin comeback tour hasn't happened.

"I could be Led Zeppelin anytime I want, for God's sakes," said the 42-year-old singer, who brings his Manic Nirvana solo tour to the Civic Centre Saturday. "But I see no point in doing a Led Zeppelin tour just to clean up financially."

Rather than use Led Zep's patented blues stomp as a crutch, Plant took pains to shake off every vestige of his legendary past on his first few solo albums during the early '80s, experimenting with atmospheric ballads and free-form rock.

It's only recently that he has come to terms with being an ex-member of the prototypical heavy metal band, even sprinkling electronically-sampled bits of old Led Zeppelin onto his 1988 album, Now and Zen. Page also played on that disc, then joined Plant on stage at Atlantic Records' 25th anniversary party in May, 1988, and again in June of this year at the Knebworth concert in England.

Though the 1988 date was a flop, the two clearly were charged up at Knebworth, and sparks flew. It was enough to perk up all those Zep reunion rumors, aided by a revved up Zeppelin nostalgia machine.

This month's release of the Led Zeppelin anthology, with 52 remastered Led Zep tracks and two previously unreleased live tracks has added fuel to the fire. Page and Plant were recently featured on the cover of Rolling Stone's tribute to the '70s.

"Sure, Jimmy and I get along fine," Plant said. "But for those thinking that we're going to reunite permanently sometime, I'll only say that you may take your ex-wife out to dinner, but you don't have sex with her afterward -- at least I don't.

"For us to re-form Led Zeppelin and have this last huge orgasm on the stage would be a disaster. It would finish me, Page, and everything else associated with the band."

It remains to be seen whether Plant can hold fast in the face of the money-hungry industry executives knocking on his door every week.

"You wouldn't believe what I've been offered to re-form Led Zeppelin: money, girls, drugs, cars, you name it," Plant said with a laugh. Certainly Plant is still making money off Led Zeppelin without reforming the band, through the continued strong sales of the old albums to new fans.

For now, the excitement generated by his current band -- guitarist Doug Boyle, keyboardist Phil Johnstone, bassist Charlie Jones and drummer Chris Blackwell -- is heard on the Manic Nirvana album and in his conversation.

"I need these guys," he said. "The stuff we're doing now is shooting off in all sorts of directions. When I debuted this band two years ago, people were frowning. A lot of them didn't get it. Even now, most of the country hears us and says, 'I think I'll try Motley Crue instead.'

"But we're playing for those willing to chew the mystic biscuit, as it were. I'm wandering on the edge, just like Led Zeppelin did."

Plant's reputation as the fair-haired father of heavy metal is a curious turn of events.

When Led Zeppelin disbanded after the death of drummer John "Bonzo" Bonham, many believed guitarist-songwriter-producer Jimmy Page would carry the band's legacy into the dawning decade and beyond. Plant, whose songwriting and production contributions to the band appeared minimal at best, faced the future with uncertainty.

But in one of the most remarkable examples of role reversal in pop music history, Plant fashioned himself into a musical experimentalist. Dismissing the cherished belief that synthesizers had no place in hard rock, Plant began incorporating keyboard sounds into his music, opening up new possibilities in the process.

Page, on the other hand, did not fare as well. The guitarist has released a handful of mediocre soundtrack and solo albums since Zeppelin's demise.

"This misconception that I contributed nothing to the band probably stems from the fact that I looked like such a weed out there, prancing around with my chest out," Plant explained. "The fact is, the majority of Zeppelin's songs were written by Jimmy and myself, with contributions from everybody else. I just didn't seem like one of the most prolific musicians in the world.

"But I've always been interested in pushing out on the edge. While I didn't write any riffs in Zeppelin, I was involved in some chord changes and things like that, the melodic content. But there was some kind of unspoken law in Zeppelin, something never quite specified -- a pecking order as to who was in control."

With files from Citizen staff and news services

Illustration

Cartoon; (Colour caricature of Robert Plant)

Edited June 7, 2013 by kenog

[kenog]

POP REVIEW"Robert Plant romped through a swirling, multi-hued set but should played a few more of the classics everybody wanted to hear Surviving Zeppelin

Niester, Alan. The Globe and Mail [Toronto, Ont] 06 Oct 1990

ROBERT Plant's voice - Oooh Yeh -is arguably the most familiar and distinctive of his generation. As lead singer for Led Zeppelin, Plant's sexy, histrionic yowling was one of the tools that elevated heavy metal rock to the status of an art form. Today, more than a decade after that band's dissolution, the cult that built up around it is nearly as strong as it ever was, with a whole new generation still anxious to worship at the Led Zep altar.

But Led Zeppelin hasn't, won't - and indeed can't - return (drummer John Bonham having drunk himself to death in 1980), and so the new fans, many of whom weren't even born when Zeppelin started in late 1968, have to satisfy themselves with what Zep they can get.

Hence, about 15,000 mostly high school and university aged-disciples crammed into Toronto's Maple Leaf Gardens Wednesday night as Plant himself, the most active and visible of the surviving Zep trio, brought his young revisionist quartet to revive some memories. Though in truth it seems the 42-year-old singer is more interested in creating new memories than in reviving old ones.

Certainly, there were a few salutes to the past. Plant paraded all night in a Jimmy Page T-shirt, and did toss his ecstatic followers a few old bones, among them refried versions of The Immigrant Song, Goin' To California and the lesser-known Nobody's Fault But Mine. And, naturally enough, it was during these numbers that Bic lighter stock rose 20 points on the TSE.

But consider, Plant has now had nearly as long a career as a solo artist as he had as a member of Led Zeppelin, and with a half-dozen solo projects to pull from, he had no trouble filling the 90-minute set.

Leading a tight and energetic band of musicians half his age (led by Page acolyte Doug Boyle on guitar), the old Squeezed Lemon romped through a swirling, multi-hued set that featured such recent FM rock staples as Tie Dye On The Highway (with the sampled Woodstock intro intact) Hurting Kind (I Got My Eye On You), Liar's Dance and Tall, Cool One.

And although Plant's material may have been new, there was still a heavy seventies aura. Many songs were accompanied by psychedelic images projected on a backing screen, and on the aforementioned Liar's Dance, Boyle performed a riffy acoustic guitar solo that would have done old Pagey proud.

But to some degree, Plant must have been feeling his age. The main body of his set was barely an hour in length, and even the half-hour added on by a pair of encores was partially taken up by the audience's demand for more, and Plant's waist-deep responses to same.

So while no one is suggesting that Plant should have finished his performance with Stairway To Heaven (although it is doubtful that even one audience member would have been unhappy with the choice), he should at least be mindful of the fact he is playing huge arenas, not clubs, and that his opening act was the hot new rock outfit The Black Crowes, not Flo and Eddie or Gary Lewis and the Playboys. And, therefore, perhaps he should have spiced his performance with a few more of the classics everyone really wanted to hear.

Steve Earle lives in and writes songs about a world inhabited by '65 Chevys, rattlesnakes, hustlers, tumbling dice, rebel yells, rot-gut hootch and any other props that might have been used on an old episode of The Dukes of Hazzard. It's a particularly dated and regionalist kind of artistic vision, in which poor white trash types get drunk, run wild, and butt heads with the local sheriff. It seems about as remote to modern-day Toronto as The Hatfields and The McCoys, but it undoubtedly boasts a certain outlaw appeal. Earle was able to spark enough interest here to justify two performances at Massey Hall this past week.

Earle's performance on Tuesday was rough hewn and ragged, much like the collection of musicians who accompanied him on stage (Earle's six-piece band looked like the place where old Lynyrd Skynyrds go to die). But despite Earle's reputation as a somewhat countrified rocker, this performance was equally inspired by the seventies Southern rock of The Allman Brothers and Marshall Tucker Band. At one point, for example, four of the band members were grinding away simultaneously on guitar, a virtual gee-tar army.

Then there were Earle's solo shots - simple country-folk ballads such as Billy Austin accompanied only by a scant bass or vocal line. Earle is not much of a guitarist (which probably explains why he needed so much help) but his earnest southern drawl, his honesty and his openness at least raised him above camp-fire status.

Earle has had few hits, so most of the material presented was familiar only to devoted fans. The breakthrough hit Copperhead Road was, not surprisingly, inserted at the end. The Other Kind, the Copperhead Road soundalike which opens his new The Hard Way was one of the few numbers capable of being hummed along with.

Perhaps the most interesting new number, though, was Justice In Ontario , an ironic comparison of The Black Donnelly saga with a more recent trial involving some Satan's Choice motorcycle gang members. The song is extremely critical of Ontario's judicial system, proving that, if Earle is indeed a reborn Duke of Hazzard, at least he's a thinking-man's version.

Edited June 7, 2013 by kenog

[kenog]

Zeppelin days play a supporting role in Plant's solo show:

Barr, Greg. The Ottawa Citizen [Ottawa, Ont] 07 Oct 1990

Robert Plant

Civic Centre, Saturday only

There was a time when Robert Plant and Jimmy Page were as close as a shirt is to skin.

So the fact that the sleeveless black T-shirt Plant wore on the Civic Centre stage just happened to bear Page's name and picture was no coincidence.

Though Plant and Page were -- and to many fans still are -- the demigods of hard rock, Plant has pledged over and over that the former Led Zeppelin mates will never instigate a LedZep reunion tour, despite the mountains of money it would generate.

Still, the 42-year-old singer has been able to do what Mick Jagger could never accomplish without a famous guitarist by his side -- perform as a solo artist with a bunch of young lads and still carry the spirit of the old day, without getting all syrupy about it.

Opening act The Black Crowes -- whose best song seemed lifted from Rod Stewart's Atlantic Crossing -- were more rooted in the past than Plant.

As Plant has finally realized, he wouldn't attract the fans unless he paid homage to the unstoppable LedZep heritage, which he truly felt comfortable with on his 1988 album Now And Zen and his new disc, Manic Nirvana.

After the reggae-clad strains of Dread Zeppelin -- the Zep clones that carry Plant's approval -- faded from the sound system, it was arena rock time for the more than 7,000 fans who screamed their approval.

After a rather inconspicuous start Plant picked up the pace with Tie Dye On The Highway from the new album. With a film clip of hippies, flowers and other mystic images projected on a multi-sectioned screen above his head, Plant took the Zeppelin sound and gave it a modern twist.

Then an acoustic break with guitarist Doug Boyle on another new song, Liar's Dance, filled with Plant's cosmic oohs and aaahs, blended nicely with an even older Zep chestnut, Going To California.

In the final analysis, it was the LedZep tunes that held the thing together. He couldn't quite hit some of those unearthly high notes in Immigrant Song, but he didn't sacrifice the feeling of the original, a song that will still be purchased by thrill-seeking teens 50 years from now.

Then it was on to a frenetic take of Hurting Kind, leading to a pair of encores, again highlighted by the Zep stuff. Living Loving Maid became a massive singalong, with Plant keeping a watchful eye ahead, without worrying about something from his past sneaking up and making him lose his identity.

Edited June 7, 2013 by kenog

[kenog]

Corporate sponsors will own music biz Rock 'n' roll is drowning in beer:

Mitch Potter Toronto Star. Toronto Star [Toronto, Ont] 20 Oct 1990

ON THE surface, it has the makings of black comedy, a vicious beer barrel polka for corporate control of Canadian rock 'n' roll.

But beneath that uncertain, heavily bankrolled surface, music industry analysts say a musical showdown between rival Canadian brewing giants Labatt and Molson has international implications that are chillingly emblematic of changes in Western pop culture.

Couched and complicated by the cold numbers and market shares of big brewery business, the arrival of Molson and Labatt into the concert field can be reduced to one glaring fact: In the 1980s, corporate America sponsored rock 'n' roll shows; in the 1990s, it owns them.

And, yes, unless common sense prevails within Toronto's beery boardrooms, the price of a possible bidding war will trickle down to the box office in the form of higher-priced tickets.

In esthetic terms, the sawoff is almost certain to hit hardest at mid-level artists - attractions lost in the ether between top-name arena draws and independent alternatives.

First, let's get to know the principal armies:

Molson/MCA Concerts, a joint venture gambit announced Aug. 8 that combines the deeply lined pockets and vainglorious ambitions of Molson Cos. (the parent company that controls the brewery, among other ventures) with the savvy concert division of U.S. media conglomerate MCA. For now, this is a nationwide company designed to gobble up a significant slice of Canada's concert pie.

BCL Group, the immensely successful corporate parent of Concert Productions International, arguably the sole proprietor of that concert pie, and Brockum Group, the world's largest pop merchandiser. Labatt bought itself 45 per cent of the company in 1988, just months before BCL landed the worldwide coup of the $70- million Rolling Stones' Steel Wheels roadshow. Longtime CPI partners Bill Ballard and Michael Cohl, the latter regarded as one of music's most cunning businessmen, share the balance.

Still tangled in legalities - Molson and CPI are bound until July, 1992, by an eight-year sponsorship agreement - the prickly music relations between the two brewers went public Aug. 21, when CPI obtained an injunction from Ontario Supreme Court to bar Molson from the concert business on the grounds that the gambit violated the existing agreement. The injunction was lifted one week later, clearing the way, for now at least, to open competition.

* Veteran San Francisco rock impresario Bill Graham - the Bill Haley of concert promoters - says Canadians should prepare themselves for a "beer-barrel belly-bucking contest.

"There is going to be a fight up there, and it's all about beer, not music. But that's typical of what's happening in the industry.

"We saw CBS Records sell its soul to Sony. We are entering a stage where almost every major component of the music industry is prepared to align with corporate interests."

Given that scenario, the question begs asking: What happens to Canadian pop music when its two principle promoters share the single- minded marketing mantra of brewers worldwide - to pursue the narrow demographic of males age 18 to 25 who drink 13 or more beers each week?

"I don't know about actually manipulating pop culture," says Bruce Allen, the flamboyant Vancouver rock manager whose career stable has included Bachman-Turner Overdrive, Loverboy, and includes Bryan Adams.

"But the breweries are going to determine what shows we're going to see. The emphasis is going to be on the ZZ Top bands, the ones that will sell beer. They want to make the tie-in to rock groups so close that you can't tell who's doing the endorsing, the band or the beer."

Allen, who flatly refused an offer to run Molson/MCA Concerts, suggests that, in the event of a bidding war, "I would have to suspect that Molson's pockets are the deepest.

"I'm not against corporate involvement, but when it started back in the '70s, the justification was that there would be a pass-down to the consumer. But there isn't. It's just a bunch of rich guys getting richer. The Rolling Stones just got richer because Labatt showed up. ZZ Top just got richer because Miller showed up.

"The fan doesn't benefit, and I think people are getting fed-up with high ticket prices. Concerts aren't down just because of the recession, it has a lot to do with the prices."

Just how aggressively Molson/MCA will play its new game during this low ebb in the concert business remains to be seen.

"This whole scenario tells me that in Canada, beer is king," says Carl Freed of the U.S.-based North American Concert Promoters Association (NACPA).

"Sponsorship and ownership are different things. And, by virtue of that ownership, these companies (Labatt and Molson) are making a statement that they're going to appeal to the demographic they're looking for.

"For that reason, they'll get more bullish on certain tours. They'll buy into a Robert Plant, because that's the demographic they're looking for . . ."

In the foreseeable future, industry observers wonder what damage the aggressive new kid on the concert block will exact on CPI's national axis.

For most of the 1980s, CPI has operated virtually without challenge across the country, staging events in partnership with Vancouver's Perryscope Productions (operating in B.C. and Alberta) Winnipeg's Nite Out Entertainment (Saskatchewan, Manitoba) and Montreal's Donald K. Donald.

But now the battle is on. Earlier this month, Molson/MCA bought itself an eight-date trek featuring Robert Plant with an offer sources say was nearly double Plant's regular performance fee.

"That was the one to let us know they'd arrived," says an independent promoter in Western Canada. "They paid so much that if every seat of every show was sold out, Molson/MCA would still lose as much as $1 million. But the tour didn't sell out, and they dropped more cash on it than I'll make in my lifetime."

Some insiders suggest Molson/MCA took the financial thrashing on Robert Plant with a hidden agenda in mind - to buy themselves goodwill in the event that Plant regroups his former band, Led Zeppelin.

As one of the last unplundered cashcows left on the lucrative harvest of rock nostalgia, analysts say a Led Zeppelin reunion could gross as much as $100 million in ticket and merchandising sales. Numbers like that could easily vault Molson/MCA onto the world stage as an international promoter.

Gary Bongiovanni, editor of the U.S.-based trade weekly Pollstar, suggests Molson/MCA may have been encouraged to launch in Canada because of lingering resentment within the industry.

Says Vancouver's Allen: "There is bad will out there against BCL, and that's why I think Molson/MCA is going take the West, and probably draw some victories in the East as well. They are not popular people, they've had a monopoly and a lot of people perceive it as arrogant and lazy."

Bongiovanni says the Canadian breweries' role introduces a dynamic in which "they own rock 'n' roll, but only to the extent that the individual artist will allow it. There will always be performers who refuse to take the money, on principle. They can't be forced."

Says Toronto independent promoter Rob Bennett: "Maybe I'm a dinosaur - maybe I'm stupid - but we still do this for other reasons besides money. Can you imagine telling Bruce Cockburn or Peter Garrett (Midnight Oil) that we can make a few dollars by putting a Labatt's logo up in the corner? I respect them, that they value their reputations beyond that.

Edited June 7, 2013 by kenog

[kenog]

Page turns in book of Zeppelin:

Mitch Potter and Chris Dafoe Toronto Star. Toronto Star [Toronto, Ont] 03 Nov 1990

The new four-disc Led Zeppelin anthology is already the hottest selling release in an otherwise stagnant retail market, but just how much of a bargain it is depends entirely on where you buy it. With a sticker tab ranging wildly from from $55 to $79 at various national chains, be aware that the value of this archetypal 1970s hard-rock quartet varies relative to point of purchase. And be advised, too, that, while the price might change, the songs remain essentially the same. With a few exceptions, any collector who gathered the vinyl originals or early CD reissues of the Zep catalogue already owns the largest part of these 54 songs (more than five hours). That's because Atlantic Records and the group tapped its limited vein of unreleased material and album outtakes way back in 1982 with the posthumous compilation Coda. In any event, singer Robert Plant, bassist John Paul Jones and the estate of late drummer John Bonham owe guitarist Jimmy Page a debt of thanks for the meticulous care he brought to the task of sequencing and digitally remastering these tracks. Page, who hasn't exactly blossomed artistically since the group folded a decade ago, has laboriously retooled and arranged the Zep evolution from molten blues through electric R&B and psychedelic/Eastern influences with ears tuned for dynamic range and chronological flow. Alongside the cornerstones of the classic rock radio format ("Black Dog", "Immigrant Song" and, naturally, that hoary Bic-flicking standby "Stairway To Heaven", etc.), room was found for two live BBC recordings from 1969 - a raggle-taggle go at legendary Delta bluesman Robert Johnson's "Traveling Riverside Blues", and "White Summer/Black Mountainside". The latter is a snapshot of Page in one of his purest blues moments, leading the song with inspired electric emotion. Page also manages to edit Bonham's "Moby Dick" and "Bonzo's Montreux" into a single, condensed drum workout. Second generation fans, meanwhile, stand to learn something from any of three essays offered on the Zeppelin theme, particularly that of bluesicologist Robert Palmer, who succinctly traces the sources of inspiration.

Edited June 7, 2013 by kenog

[kenog]

Zep joins Lennon in CD return: Boxed sets of their hits sometimes miss the mark:

Mackie, John. The Vancouver Sun [Vancouver, B.C] 05 Nov 1990

THEY'RE CRAFTY devils, those record companies. They've hyped the sound of compact discs so well, music fans are spending millions upon millions of dollars re-buying music they already own on record or tape. Hence, albums that were dead in the water saleswise and deleted from record company catalogues years ago are suddenly re-appearing on CD, often sporting spiffy new covers or as part of the increasingly popular boxed sets.

This has its good and its bad points. On the plus side, lots of great music is being unearthed from the vaults, and long-neglected artistes are being rediscovered by a new generation of fans. On the other hand, record companies often take the easy route to big bucks, simply re-packaging already available material instead of putting some effort into digging out some unreleased or hard-to-find nuggets.

This fall, a flurry of multi-CD retrospectives (from the likes of Kate Bush, Frank Sinatra, Robert Johnson, Elton John and the Byrds) is set to hit the racks, along with catalogue re-releases of an artist's entire output (Island Records just put out 13 remastered Bob Marley albums - more reggae than any sane person would want to listen to in a lifetime).

The first couple of multi-CD sets are already out: a four-CD, 54-track Led Zeppelin box, and a four-CD, 73-track John Lennon package. Both contain a surplus of great music, but casual fans might want to think twice about whether their hefty purchase price ($50 and up) is worth it.

The Zeppelin package looks great, and comes with sympathetic liner notes from three respected rock critics (Cameron Crowe, Kurt Loder and Robert Palmer). The recordings were re-mastered by Jimmy Page, who'd been unhappy with the sound on previous Zep CDs, and the results set your speakers a-sizzlin'.

As for the music . . . well, part of the Zep legacy still sounds surprisingly fresh and vital (mainly the stuff that hasn't been played to death on rock radio), but there are songs (chiefly Stairway To Heaven, Whole Lotta Love and Black Dog) that have been overplayed so much they've lost that certain je ne sais quoi.

THE MUSIC that has really worn well comes from Houses of the Holy and Physical Graffiti: Kashmir, No Quarter, The Ocean. There's an aura of mysteriousness, a moodiness to vintage Zep that made them truly distinctive, and in his prime, Jimmy Page surely was a riff monster. But Robert Plant's lyrics are more often than not gibberish, and listening to too much of old Percy ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ing at once can drive you round the twist.

For the completist, there is a rare track (Hey Hey What Can I Do, previously only available as the B-side to the Immigrant Song single) and a pair of unreleased songs culled from the BBC Archives (Travelling Riverside Blues and White Summer/Black Mountain Side). But three new tracks out of 54 hardly makes this an essential buy - especially when you can flip on the radio to the FOX or Chargex and hear a Zep tune every 20 minutes.

The Lennon set is culled from his solo work, and while it's extensive, it fails to unearth any new material whatsoever. This is ridiculous, considering that there are literally dozens of unreleased Lennon demos and alternate takes currently available on bootleg CDs - not to mention all the unreleased Beatles material featuring Lennon. (There are apparently six volumes of bootleg Lennon CDs, and the bootleg Beatles Ultra Rare Trax series contains some fabulous material.)

THERE IS no arguing about the quality of the music that is included, however. All the great Lennon solo material - Imagine, Jealous Guy, Instant Karma, Cold Turkey, Working Class Hero, Happy Xmas (War Is Over) - is included, and even his consciousness-raising political chants (Give Peace a Chance, Power To The People) have retained their power.

What's striking about the set is the constant pain Lennon exorcised in his music. He could deliver a lyric about being Crippled Inside to a jaunty vaudeville beat, but it's a recurring theme throughout. The naked pain he exhibits on Mother, the frightening intensity he displays when he's evoking the hell of heroin withdrawal on Cold Turkey, the resignation and depression with which he delivers Working Class Hero all make for riveting listening, and stand up to his best work in the Beatles. He was a brilliant lyricist and an incredible singer - too bad the definitive collection of his work is still to come.

NOT MUCH NEW: Robert Plant (left) with Led Zeppelin and John Lennon (above) see careers rehashed in boxed CD sets.

Edited June 7, 2013 by kenog

[kenog]

Mostyn, Clive. The Vancouver Sun [Vancouver, B.C] 22 Oct 1991

EX-ZEP IN TOWN

Former Led Zeppelin guitar god Jimmy Page is in town recording an album at Little Mountain Sound. The singer for the project is - believe it or not - Whitesnake warbler David Coverdale, who has come under fire in the past for sounding like a Robert Plant soundalike. Vancouver's Mike Fraser is manning the recording consol.

[kenog]

Is Stairway to Heaven the best song ever?:

The Gazette [Montreal, Que] 03 Nov 1991

Led Zeppelin's Stairway to Heaven is the most requested song of all time on FM rock stations.

The group's fourth album has sold 10 million copies since its release in November 1971.

"It continues to be a favorite among music listeners who are younger than the song itself, listeners who, in some cases, were no doubt conceived while the tune blasted from car speakers," Esquire magazine says of the song in a five-page feature in its current issue.

Nobody can explain the song's popularity, much less offer a meaningful interpretation of its lyrics.

But can 10 million be wrong? Maybe. That's why we want to hear from you.

Do you think Stairway to Heaven is the greatest song of all time?

Answer our Question of the Week by calling The Gazette's Info-Line at 521-8600. Select category 2010 and leave your response. A touch- tone phone is required to register your vote.

Please leave your name and phone number after giving your response.

If what you say grabs our attention, we might just call you back to hear more.

You have until Friday to answer by touch-tone phone. You can also fax or mail your reply to us. Our fax number is 987-2399. Our mailing address is the Sunday Gazette, 250 St. Antoine St. W., Montreal, H2Y 3R7.

We'll print the results of the poll in next Sunday's paper.

[kenog]

Led Zeppelin tour manager bares all in racy book:

Farber, Jim. The Ottawa Citizen [Ottawa, Ont] 06 Sep 1992

A job like "tour manager" sounds innocent enough.

But as Richard Cole writes in his memoir of Led Zeppelin (the band he road-managed for 12 years), his job description went far beyond scheduling airline flights and supervising security.

Also included was "escorting girls to the rooms of the band (after picking out choice ones from the crowd) and keeping Zeppelin nourished with drugs."

Which, if you know your Zeppelin lore, were full-time positions in themselves. No wonder Cole had no trouble packing the 400 pages of his book, Stairway to Heaven (HarperCollins, $20 U.S.) with tales of the band's fleshy excesses.

Chapter titles alone tell the tale: Handcuffs, Heroin, Great Dane, plus most sweepingly, Those Zeppelin Bastards.

"Quite a lot went on," says 46-year-old Cole with masterful understatement. "But I only put in the book things I actually saw and remembered."

Like the time the band, their manager Peter Grant and Cole downed 280 drinks in just four hours -- and lived. Or when Cole brought a bunch of non-groupie, teenage girls onto the band's private plane and kidnapped them, flying them across the country.

"A few weeks ago, one of those girls called in during a radio interview I was doing to promote the book," Cole says with a laugh. "She said that that was the best time of her life. Now she's married to Alex Van Halen."

But if this particular girl understandably remembers her kidnapping, Cole says Zep singer Robert Plant is less convinced about events in the book.

"I heard back from someone that Robert's comment was, `How is it he can remember all these things? I can't remember anything. I don't know whether these things are true or not.' The difference is, being the tour manager you have to be alert all the time."

True enough. After all, you never know when the band is suddenly going to demand you sober up and get rid of the groupies they have at the time in favor of some fresh ones. Once, the guys demanded just such a thing when in midair on their private jet. As luck would have it, the group landed at an airport where their friends in Bad Company were unloading some groupies they'd had their fill of. A quick swap solved the mutual dilemma.

But wait. The tender tales don't end there. Cole also sets the record straight about the famous "shark incident." Suffice it to say, this oft-rumored event involved a baby version of the finned creature, a willing young woman and a rather frazzled hotel chambermaid.

It's safe to say such tales will go over better with male readers than female. "Led Zeppelin always had more of a male audience anyway," shrugs Cole.

In the group's defence, the author says they were young, the women were eager, and the band was so successful it was never given limits. "Who was going to say no to them?" Cole asks. "They were a money factory."

Edited June 7, 2013 by kenog

[kenog]

ZEPPELIN rules - almost:

The Gazette [Montreal, Que] 20 Sep 1992

Led Zeppelin dominated the gold and platinum certifications in August in much the same way that it dominated rock'n'roll in the '70s, Billboard magazine reports.

The band's four-CD boxed set has sold 750,000 units.

The second album from 1969 has sold 6 million and the third album, from 1970, 3 million.

Led Zeppelin's 10 multiplatinum albums have sold more than 45 million copies in the United States alone.

Only the Beatles have sold more albums. Their multiplatinum total: 56 million.

[kenog]

Rockinghorse lays bare Alannah Myles's soul:

Peter Howell TORONTO STAR. Toronto Star [Toronto, Ont] 07 Oct 1992

If Alannah Myles had listened to her record company, she might have turned the smoldering rumors of her relationship with ex-Led Zeppelin singer Robert Plant into a roaring conflagration.

Then again, if she'd listened to all the voices screaming in her ear after the spectacular success - 5 million sales and a Grammy - of her 1989 debut album, Alannah Myles, she might well be dead now.

"I now see why people like Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix and Jim Morrison all did themselves in at a very youthful age," the leather and denim clad Myles said in an interview yesterday, commenting on the crazed existence that followed her rise from Toronto bar belter to international singing star.

"Because had I been younger, or had I been pushed just a little bit more, there is a chance perhaps that I wouldn't want to live either. . . . Maybe I would have driven my car off the edge of a cliff of a Malibu beach."

Her green eyes flashed as she offered the insight into the personal hell of exhaustion, physical illness and mental fatigue she fell into, after 18 months on the road promoting her first album.

Myles's new album Rockinghorse, on sale Tuesday, is about confessions and baring the soul - right down to the cover, where she's a very barenaked lady riding a black horse.

The biggest confession of all might have been if she'd allowed record weasels to persuade her and Plant to sing a duet on the album's first single, "Song Instead Of A Kiss," a ballad Myles wrote with her musical collaborators Nancy Simmonds and Chris Ward, using poetry written especially for her by poet-musician Robert Priest.

Inquiring minds have been wondering about Myles and Plant ever since he picked her to open his shows during a U.S. tour a couple of years back. And the weasels tried to send the wondering into warp drive, by sending a tape of Myles's song to Plant and requesting he add his famed vocals.

"He was embarrassed, because he didn't want to insult me," said Myles, who put the kibosh on the plan as soon as she heard about it.

"He wasn't going to do a duet with me, certainly not a love song that was meant for me. But he did give me some vocal suggestions which are incorporated into it.

"There are some Robert Plant-isms that come out of my mouth because he's one of the most influential and strongest rock singers of the century. So why wouldn't I be influenced by him? Here I am, a spoiled little wench, having an opportunity to be given direction from the source."

In fact, she said, "Plant-isms" can be heard on other songs on the album, such as the title tune "Rockinghorse." She got the idea for the naked-lady-and-pony cover shot not from celebrity breast- barer Madonna ("Sorry, Madonna, my idea first - I got the idea a year and a half ago") but from the album jacket for Led Zep's Houses Of The Holy.

She also joked that she had to slap down her guitarist, Kurt Schefter, whenever his rockin' blues licks strayed too close to Jimmy Page territory.

But a romance with Robert Plant? Aw, c'mon.

"We're friends. I like the man, I think he's a lovely man. But beyond that, I can't help you."

Rockinghorse is, however, very much an exploration into Myles's loves and personal experiences, not unlike Peter Gabriel's new soul- exposing record, Us.

Gabriel has freely told the world that Us was directly inspired by his divorce from wife Jill Moore, his break-up with his girlfriend, actress Rosanna Arquette, and the years he spent in therapy working it all out.

"If I'm referring to anybody in particular, I would never tell you," Myles said of songs such as "Lies And Rumours," which has the intriguing lines: "I fell in love with danger/Now I'm going through these changes by myself."

"Peter Gabriel may feel it's his need as a large star (to name names), but not me. I've given you a record and I've given you my confessions, and that's all you're getting.

"Because I'm private, and it's a very difficult thing for me because I'm so private, to both reveal myself and my feelings, and then to turn around and deny them to the press. It's my wanting to maintain that sense of mystery for myself."

She's not as shy about revealing her inspiration, however, and the confessional tone and sexual freedoms - check out "Make Me Happy" - of Rockinghorse flowed out of Myles's constant listening to fellow Canadian Joni Mitchell's classic 1971 album, Blue.

She credits Blue on the CD liner notes, and when she went to Mitchell's home in Santa Monica recently, she had a chance to give personal thanks to the source of her muse.

"I went up to her very sheepishly and told her: 'If I had an idol, it would be you. I don't have any idols, I never did and I never will, but you come as close as you possibly could to those requirements.'

"I thanked her for being who she was."

You can bet you'd never catch Peter Gabriel or Robert Plant being that honest.

Edited June 7, 2013 by kenog

[kenog]

BOOKS IN BRIEF STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN: Led Zeppelin Uncensored

Fillion, Kate. The Globe and Mail [Toronto, Ont] 31 Oct 1992

Anyone hankering for a particularly revolting serving of sex, drugs and rock and roll should pick up tour manager Richard Cole's memoirs of 12 years on the road with heavy metal band Led Zeppelin.

There's the obligatory thumbnail sketch of the band's origins, followed by hundreds of blow-by-blow pages recounting the debauchery of men who sold millions of records, made a pile of cash, and still thought the world owed them something. No need to read between the lines - Cole has a remarkable memory for sexual minutiae.

There are two types of females in his book, "girls" and "birds," and he and the boys in the band preferred the prepubescent variety. They chained them to beds, initiated them sexually with fish (and on one occasion, octopuses), and defecated in their shoes and purses. However, Cole dismisses the charge of sexual exploitation as "a bum rap . . . they made themselves available to us. We never forced them into doing anything they didn't want to."

Along the way, the band trashed hotel rooms and made a lot of liquor companies extremely wealthy. Cole tells little about the music except to assert that it's still the best in the world, and the light he sheds on the musicians is similarly murky. He has nothing to say about the rumours of guitarist Jimmy Page's occult obsessions, and tells us repeatedly of the late John Bonham's soft and gentle side but depicts him as a walking, talking cure for penis envy.

Still, Stairway to Heaven has a certain merit as a tell-all book that really does. In fact, it tells too much, at least about the dried-out, de- toxed but none-too-repentant Cole. He prattles on about himself at such tiresome length that Coat-tailing to the Betty Ford Clinic would have been a more fitting title.

Edited June 7, 2013 by kenog

[kenog]

The Ottawa Citizen [Ottawa, Ont] 07 Nov 1992

Stairway to Heaven: Led Zeppelin Uncensored, by Richard Cole with Richard Trubo; Harper Collins; $26.75: The 1970s supergroup's tour manager attempts to cash in on the Zeppelin legend. Like the Stones, this band lived up to the rumors of notorious excess. Despite his efforts, Richard Cole never gets to the heart of the band's eclectic musical scope in his often tawdry and very superficial history. Too bad. This ever popular band's music deserves better

[kenog]

ROCK OF AGES; IT HELPS TO BE MALE AND DEAD TO BECOME THE SUBJECT OF A ROCK'N'ROLL BIOGRAPHY:

Kelly, Brendan. The Gazette [Montreal, Que] 12 Dec 1992

Death also features prominently in Stairway to Heaven, a memoir written by former Led Zeppelin tour manager Richard Cole. In many ways, Stairway to Heaven is a tribute to John Bonzo Bonham, the Led Zep drummer whose legendary alcohol and drug intake finally cost him his life in 1980 and ended the Zeppelin era.

Heroin and booze seem to have been the stimulants of choice for Zeppelin and their entourage, but Cole never goes into any real depth about the drug abuse. You get the impression that Cole was doing more drugs than any of the band members, and he ends the book with a rather facile ode to the joys of his new, sober lifestyle.

He spends a lot more time writing about the sexual exploits of the Zeppelin boys, with endless tales of encounters mainly with underage groupies. Again, Cole was an enthusiastic participant here, and it quickly becomes clear that Cole and his good friend Bonzo were the leading party animals in the Zeppelin gang.

There are some amazing stories - not the least of which involves Bonzo nearly being sucked out of the band's private jet while sitting on a toilet - and Cole provides a bird's-eye view of the quintessential decadent, jet-set, rock superstar lifestyle of the '70s. It's a great portrait of a bygone era that is light years removed from the business-like, Perrier-and-push-ups rock world of the '90s.

But don't go looking for any great insight into the creative process behind the music. Cole describes every concert and album as classics, and he is much more interested in detailing the on-the- road debauchery than in explaining anything else.

Edited June 7, 2013 by kenog

[kenog]

Rolf's hit goes down like a Led balloon

Gaskell, John. The Sunday Telegraph [London (UK)] 03 Jan 1993

Just as the punk Sid Vicious offended Sinatra-lovers with his caterwauling version of My Way, so has Mr [Rolf Harris] now disgusted thousands of Led Zeppelin fans with his Australian folk rendition of Stairway to Heaven, a song central to the rock creed, hallowed by many awards and voted number four in a recent poll of the top 500 tracks of all time.

The jolly ersatz version by Mr Harris - a hit in Australia and receiving much airplay in Britain - is enlivened by wobble-board backing, didgeridoo and frequent exhortations to sing along. It has left Led Zeppelin disciples lock-jawed in incredulity.

Trevor Dann, former Sunday Telegraph rock columnist, now managing editor of Greater London Radio, thought Mr Harris's rendition was a classic oddball record to be considered among the all-time greats of the genre. It stands comparison with the disc jockey Pete Murray doing a talking version of Bob Dylan's Forever Young. That was a corker. Absolutely abysmal.

Edited June 7, 2013 by kenog

[kenog]

The way it isn't

Brown, Craig. The Times [London (UK)] 07 Jan 1993.

THE news that Rolf Harris has recorded his own version of the old Led Zeppelin hippy anthem "Stairway to Heaven" has been met with horror from old hippies the world over.

"The song is sacred to some people," a sound manager is reported as saying. "There could be a backlash of Zeppelin fans steamrolling old copies of Rolf Harris's `Two Little Boys'." It is said Led Zeppelin fans have been particularly upset by Rolf's addition of a didgeridoo and piano accordion accompaniment to lend a little cheer to the piece.

It is now commonplace to suggest that pop has run out of steam. Some date this to the recording of the `B' side of Napoleon XIV's 1966 hit, "They're Coming To Take Me Away, Ha-Haa!", which was called "Aaah-Ah, Yawa Em Ekat Ot Gnimoc Er'yeht" and was once rumoured to have cleared a restaurant of 40 diners in two minutes flat. But as far back as 1907, when Edward Madden and Theodore F Morse recorded "I'd Rather Be A Lobster Than A Wiseguy", something of a dearth of zippy new ideas has been in evidence.

In 1926, Hooley Ahola's Vikings recorded "Cock-A-Doodle I'm Off My Noodle"; in 1929, Leslie Sarony recorded "Don't Be Cruel to a Vegetabuel"; and in 1933, Dorothy Fields and Jimmy McHugh capped them all with "Hey Young Fella Close Your Old Umbrella".

Sixty years later, Rolf Harris's didgeridoo version of "Stairway to Heaven" might almost suggest that, against all received opinion, there really is such a thing as musical progress.

Edited June 7, 2013 by kenog

[kenog]

Toronto Star [Toronto, Ont] 02 Feb 1993

Casting Call: Bonham lead singer Daniel McMaster has split, so the group's looking for a replacement. The band is headed by drummer Jason Bonham, son of the late Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham. Interesteds should send tapes to Hard to Handle Management, 640 Lee Rd., Suite 106, Wayne, Pa. 19087.

[kenog]

The Guardian (pre-1997 Fulltext) [Manchester (UK)] 06 Feb 1993.

FANS of the deeply unfashionable rock band Led Zeppelin are up in arms that the even more deeply unfashionable Rolf Harris has recorded a version of the 1971 song Stairway to Heaven. Zeppelin fans treat Stairway to Heaven as untouchable.

Lest there be any confusion, it is important to realise that the Stairway to Heaven which Rolf Harris has recorded is not the same Stairway to Heaven that was made by Neil Sedaka in 1960 as a follow-up to Oh Carol. Sedaka's Stairway to Heaven stayed in the Top 50 for 15 weeks and got as high as number eight, the same place that was reached in 1985, in the kind of coincidence which would appeal to Led Zeppelin's occult-influenced founder Jimmy Page, by Stairway to Heaven by the Far Corporation, one of the few Anglo-German-Swiss bands ever to make the charts in this country.

Led Zeppelin's Stairway to Heaven is the long one that starts softly and ends very loud indeed, is best listened to in denim flares while drinking bitter in a bedsit. Of its creation, Robert Plant has recalled: "I was holding a pencil and paper and for some reason I was in a very bad mood. Then all of a sudden my hand was writing out the words 'There's a lady who's sure, all that glitters is gold and she's buying a Stairway to Heaven.' I just sat there and I looked at the words and I almost leapt out of my seat. Looking back I suppose I just sat down at the right moment."

[kenog]

Rolf's brush with pop Stairway To Heaven will never be the same again, now that Rolf Harris's didgeridoo version is bound for number one

Sweeting, Adam

The Guardian [Manchester (UK)]

IT'S Number 9! It's nearly Top Of The Pops! Even the normally stone-cold-sober Music Week forgot itself so far as to describe Rolf Harris's cover version of Stairway To Heaven as "bizarre". They also added the absorbing factoid that 62-year-old Rolf has now joined that tiny showbusiness elite who have scored a hit single recorded after their 60th birthday.

There was nothing to prepare us for Rolf's remarkable comeback. He hasn't been seen in the charts since the noisome Two Little Boys in 1970, a record which disappointed many who pined for the splendour of his earlier work, such as Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport and Sun Arise. Nor has Rolf's amiable TV manner and swift way with a paintbrush been in favour of late, though he'd be a natural for breakfast TV (except he'd be good at it, perhaps a fatal mistake nowadays).

Rolf's return is brought to us, obliquely, by an Australian TV show called The Money Or The Gun, ominously described as "zany" in a record company press release. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation's office in London was only slightly more helpful, managing to scrape together the information that The Money Or The Gun is "new-wave comedy" - it features bands and a live audience, and tends to send up its studio guests. They don't think it's still running.

In any event, the show had the bright idea of getting an act to do its own version of Stairway To Heaven each week. The results, veering between heavy metal, Wagnerian-operatic, lounge-jazz and reggae, have been compiled on an album, Stairways To Heaven (Vertigo), featuring the Sydney Philharmonia, Vegemite Reggae, the Australian Doors, Rock Lobsters, Kate Ceberano and many more equally little-known performers.

But it is Rolf's renaissance that concerns us here. The only blemish on the great man's return is that he will not be able to dislodge the Blessed Whitney's cover of the Dolly Parton lip-trembler, I Will Always Love You, from the top slot, since this has already been accomplished by 2 Unlimited. Otherwise, all credit must go to the versatile Antipodean for his brilliant exegesis of Led Zeppelin's venerable FM-radio stalwart.

Note, for example, how he signals the sheer breathtaking sweep of his reappraisal by boldly removing the despotic backbeat supplied to the original by the late John Bonham. Having removed the aggressive machismo of the drums, and having rejected the overbearing male boastfulness of Jimmy Page's electric guitar solo, Harris supplants them with instrumentation which is altogether less declamatory and gender-specific (a teasing paradox in itself, since, as we know, all Australian men are lager-swilling, 'roo-skinning oafs). Wobbling saw, reticent accordion and snuffling didgeridoo combine to create an elastic shuffle, the perfect vehicle for Harris's multiple ironies and pointed, yet open-ended, questions.

Marvel at how Harris's version is both reincarnation and critique of the original. In the same way that his no-nonsense brush technique can render the outline of a charging rhino with a few thick daubs of creosote, this veteran performer will have no truck with the woolly ambiguities of Robert Plant's lyric. Entire verses have been mercilessly excised in Harris's radical restructuring, since he has grasped - a crucial insight, this - that the song was arrant nonsense to begin with. Illuminating the line "you know sometimes words have two meanings" with the remorseless light of derision, Harris makes it clear that he can find no scintilla of evidence to support the supposition. Where Plant sought to sow seeds of metaphysical doubt, Harris finds only horse-shit. He scorns the word "misgiven" by pretending to hear it as "Miss Given", a frankly childish device which nonetheless effectively saws through the edifice of pretension erected by the seventies supergroup.

Indeed, it may not be stretching our thesis too far to see in Harris's recording a far broader commentary on the troubled state of popular music. As shrewd a performer as he must, of course, be fully aware of the plague of cover versions currently clogging our charts. No less an authority than the Daily Mirror's Rick Sky has drawn our attention to the crisis. Harris, then, has daringly seized the opportunity not only to remake a song which had become embalmed in its own received, unquestioned "legendariness" - rock's pompous self-regard and overwrought sense of its own historical importance being key inhibiting factors working against young artists - but simultaneously to turn it into a series of scalpel-sharp observations on the malaise in contemporary popular culture.

"Ooooh, and it makes me wonder," sings Harris, before turning to his companions and asking: "How does it affect you blokes?" The singer is making it clear that he cannot act alone; the deteriorating situation can only be tackled if enough people are persuaded to acknowledge the problem, to absorb its implications, and then to take concerted corrective action.

We can only pray that Rolf Harris's message has not arrived too late.

Vertigo releases Stairways To Heaven on March 1

Edited June 7, 2013 by kenog

[kenog]

Reliving Led Zep's greatest hits CRACKLE & POP

Parsons, Tony

The Daily Telegraph [London (UK)] 19 Feb 1993

Led Zeppelin have been offered #90 million to re-form for a North American tour. Loyal fans eagerly await the latest edition of the Led Zeppelin fanzine, Tight But Loose (available from Dave Lewis, 14 Totnes Close, Bedford MK40 3AX). Last year's Led Zeppelin convention in London brought together hordes of the faithful. And now comes the publication of two Led Zeppelin biographies in the same month - not bad for a band that broke up 12 years ago.

The Led Zeppelin guitarist and the former singer of Deep Purple and Whitesnake have come up with an album that recalls the apocalyptic blues of Page's old band. One track in particular, Shake My Tree, has exactly the same visceral impact as Rock And Roll, Black Dog, When the Levee Breaks, and all those other magic moments. [Jimmy Page] still sounds like the most exciting guitarist rock music ever produced. And [David Coverdale] sounds like Robert Plant. "I wanted to please him," says Coverdale. "Not in a servile way but because I adore him." Plant's own solo career continues in May, when he releases his next album.

Edited June 7, 2013 by kenog