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Plant on forgotten and rare footage


Cat

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Plant on forgotten and rare footage

Billboard June 14, 2003

NEW YORK -- Though Led Zeppelin disbanded in 1980 after the death of drummer John Bonham, the group is still breaking sales records--this time in the field of DVD.

So it is fitting that amid a boom in the DVD business, Led Zeppelin DVD prompted a rare public reunion of one of the world's biggest-selling rock bands.

Led Zeppelin's surviving members--lead singer Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, and bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones--attended the May 27 Led Zeppelin DVD screening event at the Loews 34th Street movie theater in New York.

Page, Plant, and Jones each gave a brief introduction before the screening and received a standing ovation.

In an exclusive interview with Billboard backstage at the event, Plant talked about Led Zeppelin's legacy in visual media as well as the music business.

"This collection of film and music is taken from stuff we knew existed and things we'd forgotten about," Plant reflects. "We'd forgotten about many of these things until we started looking through the vaults."

Led Zeppelin DVD contains several concert rarities, but Plant says there is more "lost" footage that may never see the light of day. "Sometimes we filmed gigs and split without the film. We were just in such a hurry to get to the next situation, or the crowds were so out of control."

Led Zeppelin made very few TV appearances as a group, so the TV extras featured on the DVD are among the compilation's highlights.

Plant says he has no regrets about Led Zeppelin not having much TV footage for the band's historical archives: "We were underexposed intentionally. We just played gigs and left. The band was what it was. We kept clear of media stuff because we thought it was all hype."

He revealed to Billboard that there is a track from the Led Zeppelin vaults that he would like to see released someday: "I was going through all my tapes, and I found some that were quite interesting. I found John Paul Jones singing on 'Out on the Tiles' from Led Zeppelin III. I said at the time [of the recording], 'I can't come up with a vocal idea.' And he said, 'Well, leave it to me, then.' I may put it on my next album, with John as a guest vocalist."

He adds with a laugh, "John's paid me a lot of money already not to do that."

As one of rock's most influential figures, Plant has seen a lot of changes in the music business through the years.

When asked what changes he would make in the business today, Plant says, "I'd give everyone a cerebral enema. We've degenerated into this mess. But I'm still learning, and as long as I can learn, then I have a reason to keep doing this. If I was doing it just for self-gratification and continued glory, it would be a waste of life."

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Plant on forgotten and rare footage

Billboard June 14, 2003

NEW YORK -- Though Led Zeppelin disbanded in 1980 after the death of drummer John Bonham, the group is still breaking sales records--this time in the field of DVD.

So it is fitting that amid a boom in the DVD business, Led Zeppelin DVD prompted a rare public reunion of one of the world's biggest-selling rock bands.

Led Zeppelin's surviving members--lead singer Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, and bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones--attended the May 27 Led Zeppelin DVD screening event at the Loews 34th Street movie theater in New York.

Page, Plant, and Jones each gave a brief introduction before the screening and received a standing ovation.

In an exclusive interview with Billboard backstage at the event, Plant talked about Led Zeppelin's legacy in visual media as well as the music business.

"This collection of film and music is taken from stuff we knew existed and things we'd forgotten about," Plant reflects. "We'd forgotten about many of these things until we started looking through the vaults."

Led Zeppelin DVD contains several concert rarities, but Plant says there is more "lost" footage that may never see the light of day. "Sometimes we filmed gigs and split without the film. We were just in such a hurry to get to the next situation, or the crowds were so out of control."

Led Zeppelin made very few TV appearances as a group, so the TV extras featured on the DVD are among the compilation's highlights.

Plant says he has no regrets about Led Zeppelin not having much TV footage for the band's historical archives: "We were underexposed intentionally. We just played gigs and left. The band was what it was. We kept clear of media stuff because we thought it was all hype."

He revealed to Billboard that there is a track from the Led Zeppelin vaults that he would like to see released someday: "I was going through all my tapes, and I found some that were quite interesting. I found John Paul Jones singing on 'Out on the Tiles' from Led Zeppelin III. I said at the time [of the recording], 'I can't come up with a vocal idea.' And he said, 'Well, leave it to me, then.' I may put it on my next album, with John as a guest vocalist."

He adds with a laugh, "John's paid me a lot of money already not to do that."

As one of rock's most influential figures, Plant has seen a lot of changes in the music business through the years.

When asked what changes he would make in the business today, Plant says, "I'd give everyone a cerebral enema. We've degenerated into this mess. But I'm still learning, and as long as I can learn, then I have a reason to keep doing this. If I was doing it just for self-gratification and continued glory, it would be a waste of life."

Thanks Cat! This is a great & timely article & thread It compliments the thread I posted on Todd Rundgrens statements about why Robert Plant would do more shows with Led Zeppelin.The bottom line of this article is just that.
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He revealed to Billboard that there is a track from the Led Zeppelin vaults that he would like to see released someday: "I was going through all my tapes, and I found some that were quite interesting. I found John Paul Jones singing on 'Out on the Tiles' from Led Zeppelin III. I said at the time [of the recording], 'I can't come up with a vocal idea.' And he said, 'Well, leave it to me, then.' I may put it on my next album, with John as a guest vocalist."

He adds with a laugh, "John's paid me a lot of money already not to do that."

What a prankster, that Robert.

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