Walter O'Brien - The Metal Music Man

Backstage Auctions’ consignor Walter O’Brien opens up about managing the careers of some of the biggest acts in heavy metal history.

By Peter Lindblad

Walter O'Brien

All the stars aligned for Walter O’Brien and Concrete Management during one amazing two-week period in 1989, even though the music-industry veteran almost didn’t answer when opportunity knocked. Signing a little ol’ band from Texas called Pantera, this fearsome tornado of sh*t-kicking, brutally intense groove metal and canyon-deep, guttural vocals that would destroy everything in its path, came first, and soon after, White Zombie was brought aboard.

Concrete was fast on its way to becoming heavy metal kingmakers. And it all started with an impromptu trip to Texas that O’Brien had been dreading, one that friends like Derek Shulman, formerly of the U.K. progressive-rock favorites Gentle Giant and later a music industry big shot at PolyGram Records and other labels, urged him to take.

At the time, O’Brien was representing Metal Church and trying to extricate the band from Elektra Records, who wasn’t doing much for Metal Church but refused to let them out of their contract. After much legal wrangling, Concrete managed to free Metal Church, so O’Brien went shopping for another label. He didn’t find much interest in the ill-fated metal band, but Shulman, who was running the Atco label, had another act he was high on.

“I went to him and I said I need a deal for Metal Church,” said O’Brien, “and he thought about it for a couple of weeks, and he said, ‘You know what? I just don’t want to take on anything that’s already been through the ringer a couple of times. But I’ve got this new band called Pantera that I’m signing and I’d love you to be their manager.’ And I went, ‘Oh God. You mean that glam band from Dallas?’”

True, Pantera did start out as glam-metal dandies, and they had the shiny stage clothes and teased hair to prove it. But when singer Phil Anselmo joined Pantera, a sea change occurred. Ditching the glam look, Pantera also transformed their sound into a swirling vortex of thick, aggressive, adrenaline-fueled riffs, driving bass and pummeling drums, made all the more evil by the trademark Anselmo growl. O’Brien wasn’t aware of just how much Pantera had changed.

Steer Horns Given to Walter from Pantera
Only Texas boys would think of this and yes they wanted
him to put it on the hood of his car. He didn't, but it
is featured in the auction

“[Derek] said, ‘Talk to Mark Ross, the A&R guy here,’ and tried to talk me into it,” remembered O’Brien. “And I said, ‘You know what? I’ve seen their pictures, I’ve heard their records and [they’re] just, well they're just not interesting. And they’d always send me their stuff, and I just wasn’t interested. Mark said, ‘Oh no, they’re different now. You’ve got to see them live.’ I said, ‘I don’t want to go all the way to Texas just to [do this]. So he tried to get me to do it for about two weeks, and I just didn’t want to do it. Finally, about 5 o’clock one afternoon, he calls me up. He goes, ‘It’s your last chance. I’m leaving for Dallas now. I’m going to the airport. I’ll send a limo to go get you.’ I literally looked at my watch and I went, ‘Well, I could be there in an hour. Oh hell, I’ve got nothing else to do tonight.’”

So O’Brien went, but only on the condition that Ross had to provide that limo and a hotel room. “And he was all excited,” said O’Brien. “I said, ‘I’m not going to like them, but for you I’ll come. And, of course, I went there and they were the most unbelievable live band I’d ever seen.”

Soon thereafter, Michael Alago, the man who signed Metallica to Elektra, knocked on O’Brien’s door with another proposition. “He was at Geffen, and he felt bad for what Elektra had done to [Metal Church], and he said, ‘I just signed this great new New York band at Geffen called White Zombie. Why don’t you manage them?’” recalled O’Brien.

Though he was too wrapped up in trying to break Pantera to take over White Zombie himself, O’Brien, who recognized the band’s potential, passed them off to a man who worked for him named Andy Gould.

“He had a bunch of bands that were just going nowhere fast like Princess Pang and … two or three others, and I went, ‘Andy, listen. Geffen really wants us to manage this band, White Zombie, and the record is unbelievable, but I just don’t have time,’” explained O’Brien. “And he listened to it, and he says, ‘This is a great record. Sure I’ll do it. And that was how we picked up Pantera and White Zombie in a couple of weeks or so. It changed everything.”

And in the end, O’Brien got the last laugh after everybody, it seemed, thought he’d lost his mind in signing the two bands.

“Funny thing, everybody we knew in the business thought we were nuts,” he said. “Everybody uniformly thought these two bands are going nowhere. And they turned out to be the biggest bands we worked with ever.”

One of the biggest consignors in Backstage Auctions’ upcoming “Rock Gods ‘N Metal Monsters Auction,” scheduled for Oct. 31-Nov. 7, with a special preview slated for Sunday, Oct. 24, O’Brien has long history in heavy metal and hard rock. In his 30-plus years in the music business, O’Brien did it all, from promotion and publicity to marketing and artist management. Working at the grass-roots level and exhausting all avenues of promotion, O’Brien helped propel acts such as Anthrax, Ministry and Winger, in addition to Pantera and White Zombie, to the top of the heap.

As one might expect, O’Brien has accumulated a vast collection of music memorabilia over the years, and he’s put most of it in Backstage Auctions’ hands to sell. Cleaning house wasn’t so easy for him, though his reasons for doing it are understandable.

“When I closed the company down, I turned 50,” said O’Brien. “I retired. I figured 32 years was enough in the business. And Pantera had broken up, and then I went back to finish my journalism degree, which is what I do for a living now. And of course what happened was about three days before my final exam, Dimebag [Darrell of Pantera] got murdered. And that was a whole other … for me that was it. I always in the back of my head said, someday, Phil will get better [he’d been fighting a drug problem] and they’ll bury the hatchet. Wouldn’t it be great to go out and see those guys play live again? And of course now that’ll never happen. And I’ve just been carrying all this stuff around and collecting it since I was a kid. You just get to a point where it’s just too much. I’m moving to a different house, and I just couldn’t pack it up one more time. So it was time to downsize and go a little Zen.”

O’Brien’s loss could be your gain. A previous auction sold all of O’Brien’s Beatles items and material he’d gathered while working with Peter Gabriel and Genesis. Talking about what he consigned for the metal auction, O’Brien said, “Of course there’s a lot of Pantera stuff – special items and things the band gave me, or things the promoters gave. There’s a jacket that’s a beautiful leather jacket that was custom made. There are maybe 16 of them in the world – a beautiful embroidered leather jacket from a tour, that kind of stuff. There’s laminates and tour passes, just backstage stuff.”

Fully Signed by Pantera Members - Dimebag Designed Guitar
This super rare and unique rock relic is featured in the auction.

The highlight, according to O’Brien, is something he is very fond of – a Washburn Dimeslime guitar, autographed by all four members of Pantera, with a Dimebag Darrell crybaby and a special Dimebag guitar strap and picks. “I think it was [from] '98, the peak of everybody being happy,” said O’Brien. “They autographed it with a big, thick Sharpie, so it still looks great and of course it’s been protected ever since.”

Parting with it is tough, but it had to be done. “I just got to the point where I thought, I’ve had the pleasure of owning it for a long time,” said O’Brien. “Somebody out there would love to have it.”

There is more … lots more, including a Cheap Trick tour program signed by Robin Zander and Rick Nielsen. “Cheap Trick is one of my all-time favorite bands, and I got to meet them in Japan with Pantera,” said O’Brien. “I kind of feel bad giving that one up, but again, once I decided to do this, I just went, ‘I can’t pick and choose.’”

White Zombie RIAA Astro-Creep 2x Platinum
featured in auction along with other RIAA Awards

But that’s exactly what collectors will be doing in this auction, which includes loads of vinyl from O’Brien’s collection, including test pressings, and more autographed items, plus many Pantera and White Zombie gold and platinum records from around the world – all trophies of a highly successful career that began way back in the early 1970s.

From 1973 to 1975, O’Brien worked in radio promotion and publicity for Jem Records, Inc. He then moved on to ATV/Pye Records before becoming label manager at Passport Records. In March 1978, O’Brien helped run the artist management company Hit and Run Music, aka Run It Music, where he worked with Genesis, Peter Gabriel, Phil Collins and Rod Argent. After a short stint as label manager at Hannibal Records, O’Brien founded Relativity/Important Records as a domestic label for a music importer.

While with Relativity/Important, O’Brien greased the wheels to get The Cure’s classic single “Let’s Go to Bed” released while the gloomy, darkly pop Romantics were between labels. He also founded Combat Records and helped get Megaforce Records – the label that served as the first home of Anthrax and Metallica – up and running. But bigger and better things were soon to come, and they arrived via Concrete Marketing and Concrete Management.

It all started with a long-shot by the name of Grim Reaper, an ominous U.K. progressive-metal that needed representation in the U.S. O’Brien figured he was the man for the job. “I founded Relativity Records and Combat Records,” said O’Brien, whose familiarity with import records led him to Grim Reaper, “and I was trying to sign Grim Reaper for America. Their then-manager in England wouldn’t sign with me because he wanted to hold out for a major label. We laughed because what major label was going to pick up Grim Reaper in 1984? RCA came out of the corner and said, ‘We do.’ But [the woman who expressed interest] was a friend of mine and she said, ‘I’m going to sign them, but I know you wanted them first. They need a manager. Well, I know. We’ll sign them and hire you to be their tour manager, and after about a week or two on the road, they’ll probably beg you to be their manager and you’ll have a management company.’ And I went, ‘Deal (laughs).’”

A special project, Grim Reaper didn’t come ready made for stardom. Instead of rock god looks, they had complex musicianship and Grim Reaper, though melodic, could sometimes be a challenging, but ultimately rewarding, listen. Knowing MTV wasn’t in the cards for Grim Reaper, O’Brien didn’t have pie-in-the-sky dreams for the group. So he had to think outside the box to do what he could for them.

“We knew we weren’t going to get radio play,” said O’Brien. “So we did every possible grassroots thing we could think of, because I had a past in independent record companies. So I knew how to promote at a grassroots level, and that involves doing everything you can – every show you can get your hands on, every in-store appearance in any store that’ll have you, every interview on a radio station you can get, all the signed posters, the signed record jackets … just everything.”

Walter's Grim Reaper Passes featured
in auction.

It worked. At a time when bands were lucky if they could sell 50,000 copies of their debut album, the first Grim Reaper release O’Brien pushed sold 250,000. “Everybody asked, ‘How did you do that?’” said O’Brien. “At first we started saying, well, we did this, we did that. And then after about three months of realizing we were going to be broke soon – we had just started the company about three months ago – we said, ‘No. How did we do that? Pay us and we’ll show you.’ And that’s how Concrete Marketing got started.”

One man who shouldn’t be forgotten in all this is Bob Chiappardi, O’Brien’s partner in Concrete Marketing and Concrete Management. When he and O’Brien first met, Chiappardi wasn’t exactly on the fast track to upper management at Arista Records.

“I had already been in the music business for like 16 or 17 years, and I was hanging out with a friend of mine who did publicity at Arista Records, and Bob was some kid working in the mailroom in Arista’s publicity department,” recalled O’Brien. “I would sit down and wait for my friend to leave work, and we’d end up sitting around talking. And I liked him, and he liked me, and he just kept pressuring me to start a management company together. In my head I was saying, to be totally honest – not that he doesn’t know already – ‘I don’t want to do that,’ because I knew that I had almost 20 years of experience on this guy.”

But Chiappardi was persistent. All the while, O’Brien was in the process of leaving Relativity/Important Records and doing computer training work. “I was training and installing electronic mail systems, if you can believe it, in 1983 and 1984 for the music industry, the international departments,” said O’Brien.

But then along came Grim Reaper, and all the drama that can play on tour. Out on the road, one of the crew for the band overdosed on heroin. “I fired him,” said O’Brien. “He didn’t overdose and die. But that’s when we found out what he was doing, and I said, ‘I don’t work with junkies.’”

A painful personal experience earlier in life had taught him that it was impossible to trust drug addicts, but his crew of three people was now down to two. “And then Bob jumped and said, ‘I’ll come out on the road with you for a week,’” said O’Brien. “I’ll cover until you get somebody out here. I got somebody out there, and then all of a sudden, the band asked me to manage them. And Bob said, ‘Well, who’s going to be in New York handling meetings and the record label and all that while you’re out on the road?’ And I said, ‘Okay, you know what? Let’s start a management company.’”

Concrete Management...in the beginning. 

Innovative, creative and known for beating the bushes to promote their clients any way they could, Concrete built a sterling reputation in the business. Early on, they picked up Cities, a New York City band Chiappardi knew that included past and future Twisted Sister drummer A.J. Pero.

Steadily, Concrete built its client roster, with O’Brien taking on Metal Church at the behest of Alago, who was working for Elektra, the label that had planned to put out Metal Church’s second record around this time. Interestingly, Concrete also took on Winger, helping shepherd them to the top with their million-plus selling self-titled debut.

“We worked on all the preparation for Winger’s debut record,” said O’Brien. “What we used to say at the time was we took ‘em from nothing to like two million.”

Winger’s partnership with Concrete only lasted through the band’s first record, but that didn’t stop Concrete from steaming ahead. Going strong for years, Concrete really took off when Pantera and White Zombie came along. By the late ‘80s, Concrete was a well-oiled marketing and management machine. Word of mouth had gotten around, and in good time, some of the biggest bands in hard rock and heavy metal came knocking on Concrete’s door.

“Yeah, it was just ridiculous,” said O’Brien. “First, we did all the marketing, and the marketing company went through the roof. Then we started Foundations Forum, the big heavy-metal convention down in L.A. We drew 2,000-4,000 people for a week in a big hotel. We had like Judas Priest and Ozzy [Osbourne] playing in the hotel ballroom, people buying vendor stands at a heavy-metal convention for $2,000 a week. And we just sat there and looked at each other and said, ‘What the hell is going on?’”

It wasn’t just O’Brien who thought the idea of a heavy-metal convention was strange. “The funniest thing was, one day I was having lunch with an old friend of mine out in L.A. the weekend of the Foundations Forum. I think it was like the second or third one,” recalled O’Brien. “It was Don Bernstine, who had actually just become the head of acquisitions for Hard Rock Café for about six years, and unfortunately about two years ago, he passed away … so I’m going to lunch with Don Bernstine out in L.A., and he said, ‘Hey, would you mind? I just found out that Robin Quivers and Howard Stern are in L.A. this week. They’re going to bring the show into L.A. for a week live,’ because they’d just gotten picked up. At the time, they were just starting to get syndicated. And he said, ‘I was going to have lunch with Robin Quivers, but today is the only day she can do it. Would you mind if she joined us?’ And I said, ‘As long as she doesn’t mind me joining you, I don’t care. I’ve never met her. I’ll meet her.’

“So we sit down. It’s me, Don and Robin Quivers, and she’s very nice and very sweet, and she says, ‘Before we start, you know how we always think that L.A. is this weird, out-of-this-world, crazy place where anything can happen …’ and she doesn’t really know who I am, right? She says, ‘Can you believe in this town, right now as we speak, there’s a convention about nothing but heavy metal?’ And Bernstein cracked up and pointed to me and said, ‘That’s his company. That’s why he’s here.’ And she said, ‘You’re kidding me. Tell me all about it.’ And in fact, she talked about it on the air with Howard Stern that day, which probably didn’t hurt us any. But she was like flabbergasted, and I said, ‘Nobody’s as surprised as me.’ And it went for seven or eight years or something like that.”

Foundations, first heavy metal trade publication to be
featured in the auction.

Foundations Forum was just one piece of the Concrete pie. There was Foundations, the first heavy-metal trade publication, which also featured the Concrete/Soundscan Hard Music chart. The chart was featured in a number of national and worldwide publications, including Metal Hammer and Guitar World.

Perhaps the most ingenious marking tool Concrete came up with was Concrete Corner. Started in 1992, Concrete Corner was a unique retail program for heavy metal and alternative/hard rock promotion and distribution that set up its own section in independent record stores and a few chains. It made use of special point-of-purchase displays, in-store play, pricing strategies and a monthly sampler CD, plus a free magazine titled “Concrete Corner” – all designed to showcase new releases so they didn’t become lost in the crowd, so to speak.

“We were getting paid by people – record labels, managers, whatever – to promote their records in the retail environment,” said O’Brien. “And anything we could do to have those records stand out, we wanted to do. So we came up with this plan to put a whole separate display case in the corner, which also gave Concrete a name to the kids, because the kids didn’t know who Concrete was. But then they got to know us because of the Concrete Corner, so that helped our own credibility in the marketplace, but it also gave us another product to sell to stay in business because a lot of people, especially with independent records … you know, just like in the supermarket business, the little tiny products, and little tiny companies, vendors, whatever you want to call them, can’t get shelf space. Well, in the record store, it was the same thing. We have all the superstars and the Top 100, and the Columbia Records and Capitol Records … we don’t have room for Shrapnel and Metal Blade, and all the other little tiny things. Well, this gave those labels and bands and groups another way to get seen without being buried in the M section or the Q section, or the Metal section of the rack.”

In return, stores got stuff like free records and tickets to concerts. “They were encouraged to give up that placement, which took up a little piece of their real estate,” said O’Brien. “It worked for them too, because those things started to sell. At the beginning at least, when people saw something on the Concrete Corner rack, they said, ‘That’s probably a good record’ – as opposed to the 40 metal records that came out that month that were sitting in the bins. These, they figured, they wouldn’t put it up there if it wasn’t better than most.”

And there was more associated with Concrete Corner, including listening parties and midnight sales for newly released product, the first being a Metallica box set, that were promoted through mailings to Concrete fans. Discounts were offered, raffles were held, free stuff was given away and there were bonus disc giveaways in which a disc of extra tracks was shrink wrapped to a new record from the Concrete stable. The first of these was a compilation disc attached to Korn’s Follow the Leader, which featured tracks from other Korn-approved artists like Kid Rock, Orgy, Limp Bizkit and Powerman 5000. Add to that a program called RetailVision, which offered videos of the latest hits in Alternative, Rap, Hard Rock and Pop.

Walter O'Brien's collection of passes which
will all be featured in the auction.

All of which contributed to Concrete’s rise as a major player in the music world. Eventually, as O’Brien recalled, bands began writing Concrete Marketing into their deals, and these were heavy hitters like Faith No More, Soundgarden and Blind Melon. At one point, said O’Brien, Concrete had 17 acts, including Winger, Ministry and Anthrax.

O’Brien stayed with Concrete Marketing until 1991, when he and Chiappardi amicably split, which left O’Brien staying with Concrete Management, Inc. The list of acts O’Brien has worked with over the years through Concrete boggles the mind. There’s Limp Bizkit, Aerosmith, Korn, Marilyn Manson, Alice in Chains and Ozzy, among the many others already mentioned in this story.

Now, O’Brien works as a staff writer and photographer for the Courier News newspaper in New Jersey and with the consignments he’s issued to Backstage Auctions, by buying one of his pieces, you can feel a connection to one of the most creative and inventive business people heavy metal has ever seen.

The Rock Gods 'n Metal Monsters Auction
October 31 - November 7th
Registration is Now Open: VIP ACCESS (There is no registration fee)

Backstage Auctions Announces All Star Line Up for the Rock Gods and Metal Monsters Auction

The auction will showcase over 400 exceptionally  rare  pieces of rock memorabilia, featuring members of such legendary groups as Pantera, Ministry, Quiet Riot, Dio, White Zombie, Whitesnake, Alcatrazz, Queensryche, Ozzy and more, direct from the private collections of notable rock and metal icons from the past 3 decades.

Houston, TX - October 5, 2010 – Backstage Auctions is proud to present the "Rock Gods and Metal Monsters Auction", an unprecedented hard rock and heavy metal online auction event. "Almost every item being offered in the auction is "iconic memorabilia" and is easily identifiable to a specific artist or band," explains Backstage Auctions founder Jacques van Gool.

Fully Signed by Pantera Members
Dimebag Darrell Washburn

The auction, which is scheduled to go live on Halloween, features amazing pieces direct from the private collections of Al Jourgensen, Rudy Sarzo, Graham Bonnet, Scott Rockenfield, Kip Winger and John 5, just to name a few. "When we designed the hard rock and heavy metal themed auction, we really tried to build an event that was not only unique but give fans and collectors access to pieces of rock history that were equally rare and one of kind and we have definitely achieved that goal," says Jacques. The auction catalog features over 50 Gold and Platinum records awards, guitars, stage props, artist stage worn apparel, master recordings, rare concert posters, original artwork, photos and the list goes on and on.

"It's not an every day event that you can stand behind and grab on to Al Jourgensen's infamous "skull and bones" microphone stand which he used extensively on many Ministry shows and rehearsals. The historical relevance of that one piece in the rock community is well documented," says Jacques.

Equally impressive is the private collection of Concrete Management co-founder, Walter O'Brien which features a jaw dropping collection of RIAA record awards presented to him while managing Pantera and White Zombie. On a more personal level, Sarzo and Bonnet have both offered up vintage "rocker apparel" that they wore on stage, during photo shoots and really cool music videos.

Ministry's Marshall Amp & Case
C-U-LATOUR 2008

The auction wouldn't be complete without a few guitars, drum kits, stage props and handwritten lyrics. Amazing pieces that Scott Rockenfield of Queensryche, John 5 of Rob Zombie and Kip Winger have pulled out of their personal collections are sure to get quite a bit of activity during the auction.

"While this is a stellar line-up of artists, we are still adding headliners to the event, which is exciting.  It will be interesting to see who makes the final cut," says van Gool.  

The event, aptly titled the “Rock Gods and Metal Monsters Auction”, is a not-to-miss opportunity for fans and collectors around the world to own an authentic piece of one of the most significant genres of music history. 

The auction, which will be held on-line at www.backstageauctions.com starts on October 31, 2010 and will run through November 7, 2010. A special preview of the entire auction catalog will be available to view beginning Sunday, October 24. 

Auction Registration: VIP All Access

Additional Photos: 

Walter O'Brien: Pantera Records Awards

Rudy Sarzo: Concert worn Shirt,  Dio

Scott Rockenfield / Queensryche: Drum Kit

John 5 / Rob Zombie: Broken Guitar and Personal Ankle/Foot Cast 

Graham Bonnet: Jail Shirt for the Alcatrazz "Island in the Sun Video"

Grey Daisy Original Watercolor by Marilyn Manson

For additional information: Backstage Press & Media

METAL IS ALIVE AND WELL (AND LOUD!!!)

The American Carnage Tour - Anthrax, Megadeth and Slayer

September 26, 2010 - Houston, Texas

All Access Concert Review: A

Each generation has their festivals and some eventually morph into the stuff of legends. The sixties provided the Trips Festival, the 14-hour Technicolor Dream, Monterey and Woodstock. The seventies offered the Isle of Wight, Glastonbury, Knebworth and the Texxas Jam. Live Aid was arguably the biggest festival of the eighties and the next decade saw memorable events such as Lollapalooza and (a muddy version of) Woodstock.

And then there are the genre specific festivals. Jazz has been thriving for decades in Newport, Montreux and The Hague. Punk festivals have been challenged the establishments in England since 1976 and Texas’ own Austin has become an annual global Mecca for alternative and unsigned bands. Whatever your fancy, your crumbled stub to one of these events is a true badge of honor and includes subsequent bragging right.

Such holds just as true in the leather and studded world of Heavy-Metal. The early days of N.W.O.B.H.M. and trash-metal gave birth to the legendary “Aardschok” festivals in the Netherlands (attended by yours truly), Castle Donnington and the annual ‘Monsters of Rock”. Better yet, if there is a genre that has kept the phenomena of day (or weekend) long music events alive; than it is without question the vast legions of headbangers. Thumb through an issue of Metal Hammer, Classic Rock or the before mentioned Aardschok and you’ll find a dazzling array of mostly summer festivals in just about every European country. South-America, Japan, Australia and yes, even the US with its “Rocklahoma” and “Rock at the Bayou” has continued the trend of these marathon eardrum onslaughts.

1990/ 1991 became significant in the history of metal by means of the legendary ‘Clash of the Titans’ tour. The first leg (September/ October 1990) consisted of 17 shows in Europe, featuring Slayer, Megadeth, Testament and Suicidal Tendencies. The second leg (May through July of 1991) featured three of the four biggest trash-metal bands – Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax. This all-American event contained an impressive 50 shows and after all was said and done, the “Clash of the Titans” tour went down as one of the most memorable metal events in history. Original tour memorabilia such as posters and shirts demand top-dollar among collectors and if your attendance to one of the original ‘Titan’ shows will draw instant respect from your fellow ‘bangers. Metallica, obviously the other ‘Big Four’ was already in a whole different league and was just months away from releasing the ‘Black’ album, which would eventually sell a staggering 15 million copies.

Anthrax

Now two decades later, Slayer, Megadeth, Testament and Anthrax still carry the trash-torch with the same pride, energy, piss and vinegar. And much like 20 years ago, a two-phased ‘Titans’ tour is tearing through the US. Dubbed the ‘American Carnage’ tour, there was initially only one leg planned, featuring Slayer, Megadeth and Testament. Chronic back problems of Slayer bassist/ vocalist of Tom Araya (caused by his decade’s long aggressive style of headbanging) prompted a last minute cancellation and Slayer was replaced by other Bay-Area legend Exodus. Six months later, a second leg was announced, this time with the exact same line-up as the 1991 formation and consisting of Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax. Confident of drawing sell-out crowds and a new generation of metal heads, Kerry King (Slayer) correctly said prior to the start of this tour “If you’ve got into this kind of music after ’92, you never saw us play together”.

Megadeth

I already saw the first ‘Carnage’ event here in Houston on March 25 and was really happy with my safe seat in the balcony…..and my earplugs. Yeah, yeah, save me the “boos”. I did the mosh pit thing as far back as the 70s. Now, I just enjoy watching it from a distance. By the way, even though Exodus was the opening act, they stole the price for most incredible pit ever by separating the floor in two halves like the red sea during (what else?) “Toxic Waltz”, followed by a massive stampede of body blows by over a thousand crazy kids on the word “go”…..now that was a sight!

Going in my "box"

Scott Ian of Anthrax graciously invited me last Sunday for the ‘real’ titanic clash, which too became a most memorable event. Pulling exclusively from their “vintage” catalog, Anthrax dished out classics such as ‘Caught in a Mosh’, ‘Indians’, ‘Antisocial’ and ‘I am the Law’. With Joey Belladonna back, Anthrax remains one of the most entertaining, energetic and engaging metal acts around. Megadeth served up a ‘front-to-back’ of their 1990 epic ‘Rust in Peace’ album, with staple songs such as ‘Hanger 18’ and ‘Lucretia’.  Fittingly, they ended their set with their masterpieces ‘Peace Sells’ and ‘Symphony of Destruction’. Slayer is Slayer. Raucous, fast, intimidating. They too offered a full version of their 1990 ‘Seasons in the Abyss’ mixed up with cult classics such as ‘Angel of Death’, ‘South of Heaven’ and ‘Raining Blood’.

No Caption Needed

This time, I didn’t have the safety of a balcony seat and in my rush to get out the door, I forget my plugs. Admittedly, I had several scenes of “No Country for Old Men” flashing through my mind. The sell-out crowd was in a 4-hour frenzy, lead by a seemingly never-ending array of stage divers and mosh pit pushers and shovers. But truth to be told, a show like this has to be experienced from the floor. The highly addictive intensity made me stand my ground (for as much that’s possible) and you know what, it felt damn good! OK, I didn’t make an attempt to loose my front teeth on stage (although I did see plenty of “war veterans” who obviously have a lousy dental plan), but it was great to be in the middle of it all. The best part however was to see that next generation Kerry King talked about. At some point, the balcony seat will become my only option but as long as these fresh metal heads keep the pit alive and the floor unsafe, metal will be “Alive and Well”.

This second leg of the tour runs through October 21. If possible, go earn your metal badge of honor…….I can highly recommend a General Admission ticket!

-  Jacques van Gool

Backstage Auctions

Be sure and check out The Rock Gods 'n Metal Monsters Auction - Live on Halloween at Backstage Auctions! The auction will feature the private collections of Al Jourgensen, Rudy Sarzo, Graham Bonnet, John 5, Scott Rockenfield and more! 

Artist Links: 

Anthrax

Megadeth

Slayer

Metal the next big thing in rock auctions

Goldmine Magazine

By Susan Sliwicki

Al Jourgensen's Buck Satan

Backstage Auctions is betting on the universal appeal of metal music and memorabilia among fans worldwide for its next auction. The Rock Gods and Metal Monsters Auction preview runs Oct. 24-30; the auction runs Oct. 31 to Nov. 6. 

“Heavy metal is a lifestyle, and it shows in everything; it shows in the clothes you wear, the car you drive, the haircut you have, the concerts you go to, the music you listen to, the friends that you have,” Jacques van Gool of Backstage Auctions said. 

When it comes to business, make no mistake. Van Gool has done his homework. Just because metal music has never really seen the light of day in the mainstream media doesn’t mean it lacks a following. Van Gool cited the massive number of Web sites and magazines dedicated to heavy metal worldwide, as well as a plethora of heavy-metal festivals and legions of incredibly loyal fans who follow their favorite acts on social media platforms such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter. 

“You have to go a little bit underground for this. I don’t see Fox News or CNN wasting their time saying Al Jourgensen of Ministry is going to put 100 items in a heavy metal auction, because they wouldn’t know what to do with that kind of news. But at the same time, the official Ministry database has 250,000 registered users, so, I’m going to forget about the Foxes and CNNs of the world. All that matters is that 250,000 Ministry fans know about it.” 

The market for heavy metal memorabilia is probably healthier than that of any other musical genre, he added. 

“Metal just doesn’t go away. It doesn’t die. Fans won’t allow it,” van Gool said. “The market for memorabilia from bands that are considered part of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, such as Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Def Leppard and Motorhead, remains strong worldwide, van Gool said. 

In the past five years, van Gool has noticed younger metal fans expressing interest in the second- and third-tier bands of the NWOBHM that may sound obscure to non-metal fans. 
“From a collectible point of view, the original vinyl of these bands demands incredible, incredible amounts of dollars,” van Gool said. 

He cited original 7-inch records from Neat Records as being particularly hot with collectors. Records issued on Shrapnel or the original Metal Blade label also are popular in the U.S. 

“The very first Shrapnel album was called Metal Massacre, and Metallica is on that album, which was their first vinyl appearance before they got a record deal,” van Gool said. “In the early years, the Metal Massacre albums featured bands that were on their way to the next big thing, and everybody wants to have that.” 

The uniquely American hair metal phenomenon, which included acts like Cinderella, Poison, Motley Crue, Winger and Ratt, dominated mainstream music in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and those acts still have a strong fanbase here. However, overseas, hair metal isn’t as big of a draw as speed or thrash metal, which boasts bands like Metallica, Slayer, Testament, Exodus and Megadeth, van Gool said. 

One of the biggest “holy grail” items that collectors seek is Iron Maiden’s first 7-inch record a three-song EP called “The Soundhouse Tapes.” 

“That little 7-inch single can sell for $600, $700, which is an amazing amount of money for a single for a band that made it 30 years ago,” van Gool said. 

Autographs are another great collectible, although they are not always extremely valuable, van Gool said. 

“The great thing about most heavy metal bands is that they are, in my opinion, more approachable than most other artists you can think of,” van Gool said. “The moment you start to act like a superstar, you’re gonna lose fans. Your fans need to feel like they can associate themselves with you.” 

That means the desire to bootleg signatures isn’t as high in the metal realm as in other genres of music, he said. 

When it comes to stage-worn clothing, pristine isn’t always the most desirable state, he added. 

“The more an item shows wear and tear, the better, because the more use a piece of attire has, the more it will tell you that the artist really enjoyed wearing that piece,” van Gool said. “When you get something that has makeup on it or smudges on it or hairspray on it, or, even better, bloodstains on it, that, in my opinion, definitely adds value.” 


The focus of The Rock Gods and Metal Monsters Auction is near and dear to van Gool, who grew up listening to and collecting memorabilia from bands like Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and Saxon. 

The sense of history associated with the memorabilia featured in this auction is staggering, Van Gool said. 

“You have to look at an individual piece, and you’ve gotta think about on how many stages this microphone stand has been, or what songs were recorded through this particular guitar, or how many photos have been made of this individual wearing this shirt or boots or whatever,” van Gool said. “It’s not just a shirt that’s on a mannequin that you photograph. There’s a little bit of history in front of you.” 

The auction lots are continuing to evolve, as many of the bands are first getting off the road from the hectic summer touring season. Confirmed headliners including the Al Jourgensen collection, which features everything from amps and road cases for guitars to microphone stands, pins, jackets, rings, sunglasses, gloves, hats and boots from the early 1980s until 2008. 

“You name it, it’s in there. He even included original master recordings from the early Ministry days,” van Gool said. 

When Ministry officially retired in 2008, it played its final farewell show in Ireland. A concert poster from that last show, signed by Jourgensen, also is in the auction. 

Whether you dig autographed records, signed posters or stage-worn attire from your favorite artists, the one thing that really matters at the end of the day is a piece’s provenance, van Gool said. 

Pantera, White Zombie, Metal Church, Exodus, Mercyful Fate/King Diamond, Whitesnake, Dio, Quiet Riot, Mr. Big, Winger, Nelson, Queensryche, Alice Cooper and Rainbow also are represented, he said. 

The final auction lineup will boast about 400 lots that range from concert photos sold with negatives and full rights, to vinyl, stage-worn clothing, backstage passes, concert posters and instruments.




For more details on The Rock Gods and Metal Monsters auction visit Backstage Auctions. The auction goes live on Halloween.

CONCERT Review: ALICE IN CHAINS – Back on all Cylinders

ALICE IN CHAINS – Back on all Cylinders

Patriot Center, Fairfax, VA.

All Access FAN Review:  A

Having seen Alice In Chains over a dozen times, and seeing every tour since William DuVall assumed the microphone, I can say that this performance was the culmination of the band working their way back up the ladder to achieve greatness once again.

The event began with myself and a friend showing up at 4:15PM to get our VIP laminates and having the meet and greet in a small conference room at the venue. It was very coordinated and orderly. The assembly line of fans first walked along the table getting items signed and saying their hellos. I spoke with William about the various DC shows over the last year and we agreed that the show this past spring at DAR Constitution was odd on many levels (that is just not a good venue for a proper rock show). After shuffling through the line and having a polite chat with each of the guys, we made the second lap to get our pictures taken with the band. The fans were either stiff, or amusingly animated for their photo snaps, which is a fun thing to watch. After all of the fans had their pictures taken, we were let go to kill some time before the show started.

The show began a little after 7:00PM. As far as the support performances, Mastodon was a lot of fun to watch, but as with most support acts, their mix was very muddy. Deftones were also on their game and I was beginning to get excited for the main event.

AIC hit the stage with an almost perfect sound mix and light setup. They blazed through most of their popular repertoire and pulled out a few old school favorites like “We Die Young”. As is their new standard, they always take a minute to praise their fallen brother, Layne Staley. They said their peace, and went into a beautiful performance of “Nutshell”.

The rest of the set was peppered with tracks from the new record, and they absolutely shredded what is my favorite AIC song, “Dam That River”. The encore included “Got Me Wrong” and “Rooster” which had the audience singing along as loud as their throat muscles would allow.

Seeing the slow build since the 2007 acoustic tour, and watching William and the band gel over the last few years, I can say that the band has never sounded better and that they are clearly enjoying performing and interacting with the fans.

The only downside to the experience was that the company handling the VIP packages (Artist Arena) needs to work on logistics of the package. We were to receive a limited edition vinyl release and a t-shirt as part of the deal, however, about two weeks before the show, a stock email revealing instruction on the meet and greet indicated that those items may not be received prior to the show date. Given that tickets were purchased in June and the show was in September, I feel they should have better expedited these items…it would have been nice to get the vinyl signed by the band.

-Doug S.

Artist Links: 

Alice in Chains

Mastodon

Deftones

This review was submitted by a Backstage Auctions VIP. If you have a great story to tell about a recent concert experience, let us know. 

DVD Review: Electric Light Orchestra Live: The Early Years

DVD Review: Electric Light Orchestra Live: The Early Years 
Eagle Vision
All Access Review:  A-

No retina-frying, rainbow-colored lasers, no massive orchestras, no “Independence Day”-like space ships or fog machines … this is the Electric Light Orchestra in the raw, stripped down to the essentials. All of that other stuff was simply window-dressing, as this new DVD, packed with a trio of electrifying, if low tech, live performances from ELO’s good old days, proves.

From the start, in the late 1960s, ELO set out to be different, vowing to pick up where The Beatles of “I Am the Walrus”-style experimentation left off. That is flying pretty close to the sun, but this hairy, bearded Icarus didn’t burn to a crisp. And it’s a testament to the incredibly sophisticated, dynamic pop sensibilities of Jeff Lynne and company – much of the cast changing from year to year in typical revolving-door fashion for the bnd - that the crazy idea ELO started with, that classically influenced strings and wind arrangements could envelope rock and roll in mystery and magic without cutting its amplified power, actually kept them flying high on the charts throughout the ’70s.   

Beginning in 1973, with a blazing four-song segment of an ELO show at Brunel University in the U.K., “Electric Light Orchestra Live: The Early Years” traces the band’s development as a wonderfully bombastic concert act. Full of bravado, a rambunctious and rowdy ELO, its string section energetically sawing away against Lynne’s bedrock guitar riffs, stomp through “Ma-Ma-Ma Belle” and a cover of Jerry Lee Lewis’s “Great Balls of Fire” with vim and vigor, while “King of the Universe” and the classical masterpiece “In the Hall of the Mountain King” boldly surge and whirl about in a dizzying displays of adventurous virtuosity.

Then it’s on to German TV’s “Rockpalast” show for a six-song set from 1974 that features ELO joyously covering “Orange Blossom Special” in an unexpectedly countrified hoedown and showcasing one of their most recent hits, the sweeping wide-screen panorama of sonic delights that is “Showdown.” The pristine camera work is far more professional, with a good variety of shots, than the gritty, oddly colored and somewhat amateurish filming of that Brunel University performance a year earlier, and ELO hams it up, especially electric cellist Hugh McDowell, who is all over the stage and at the end, he’s seen wildly playing his instrument above and behind his head during another, even hotter version of “Great Balls of Fire.” Filmed before the release of ELO’s Eldorado: A Symphony, ELO performs no songs off that album, preferring instead to plumb On The Third Day for half of this short set list.

And seen in this context, the “Rockpalast” performance nicely bridges the wooly, almost unhinged glory of the Brunel University gig and the DVD’s grand finale, a blissful, mesmerizing performance at London’s New Victoria Theatre that the “Fusion” TV series captured. A little back history: 1975 would find ELO blowing up in the U.S., with its Face the Music LP blitzing the American Top 10 for the first time. “Evil Woman” and “Strange Magic” were big hits in the U.K. and the U.S., and in 1976, ELO made a triumphant return to London - the New Victoria Theatre providing the setting.

Here is the ELO we know and love, still missing all the big stage production bells and whistles that would come later, but playing in a such a way as to allow the gorgeous pop craftsmanship of such classics as “Can’t Get It Out Of My Head,” “Strange Magic” and “Evil Woman” to positively glow, as does “Eldorado Overture.” The performance is more subdued than Brunel or “Rockapalast,” but there’s a sense that ELO is more aware of its own artistry at the New Victoria and that there’s a time for wheeling around the stage while vigorously jamming away the violin, as Mik Kaminski does so brilliantly elsewhere on this DVD, and playing cellos over your head and there’s also a time for letting touch and feel and beautiful tonality of voices and instruments come shining through without all the blustery madness getting in the way.

All the performances are great in their own way on “Live: The Early Years,” and this is an amazing document of the different stages of ELO’s career, the growth and maturity of New Victoria clashing with the youthful frenzy and gleeful rock of Brunel. If this isn’t essential, it’s pretty damn close.

Peter Lindblad

Start a revolution: The Scorpions help bring down Communism

Herman Rarebell talks about his life in heavy metal


By Peter Lindblad


The Iron Curtain lifted ever so slightly in the late ‘80s to allow The Scorpions access to a Soviet Union empire that was in the death throes, only it didn’t know it yet.

Herman Rarebell

With a wary eye, the Kremlin coldly and dispassionately watched as the hard-rocking, hard-partying Germans from the other side of the Berlin Wall performed to massive, rabid crowds across the vast Communist empire.

Something about The Scorpions’ wolfish mix of searing power chords, piercing guitar solos,  polished pop-metal hooks, and liberating, often animalistic lyrical philosophy – not to mention their sexually provocative album covers – tapped into a growing desire among Soviet bloc youth trapped under the thumb of repression to experience the freedom of the West. Herman Rarebell, the Scorpions drummer at the time, could feel that a revolution was coming.

“When we came to the Soviet Union for the first time in 1988 [their concert in Leningrad marked only the second time a band from the West had played there, Uriah Heep being the first], it was communistic,” remembered Rarebell. “And a year later, we played the 1989 Moscow Music Peace Festival together with Jon Bon Jovi, Ozzy Osbourne, Motley Crue … it was a big thing. And we got invited that night to the first hard-rock concert in Moscow, and you could feel the wind of change actually in the air and on a night in November of the same year, the wall fell down. And we had an invitation six weeks later to go and see the most powerful man in the Soviet Union, [the last General Secretary of the Communist Party] Mikhail Gorbachev. A few months later, after that, the complete East could come into West Germany. They could live like us; the days of Communism were finally done.”

History will credit Ronald Reagan and perhaps other political figures with exerting so much international pressure on the crumbling Soviet Union that it had to “tear down that wall.” But you could make the argument that it was The Scorpions, in particular, and other monsters of heavy-metal that had more to do with fomenting the wave of dissent that overwhelmed authoritarian Communism and knocked down that damnable Wall than Reagan ever did, as Rarebell was to find out later.

“Nowadays, yes, we felt that we were responsible for it, especially the song ‘Wind of Change’ was on all the news at the time, and also you know, Gorbachev, President Gorbachev, called us,” related Rarebell. “He made a joke about it. He said, ‘What was the biggest mistake the United States did?’ Well, we said, we don’t know. He said, ‘Well, they let The Beatles in in 1964. That was when rock and roll took over.’ And he said, ‘My biggest mistake was when I let you guys in.’” (laughs) Gorbachev was, perhaps, only half-joking. The Soviet government actually took The Scorpions very seriously.

“I mean, I don’t want to compare us with the Beatles, but with the Soviet Union, probably we did a lot of things, because when we played the year before [1988], in Leningrad, we sold out 10 shows with 20,000 people each night,” said Rarebell. “So they came from all over, because [it was] first planned [we would play] five shows in Leningrad and five shows in Moscow. But it was so close to the First of May, so they thought there would be revolution in Moscow. They said you couldn’t play there. And they said, oh, now you have to play 10 shows in Leningrad, which you know is now St. Petersburg.”

Paranoia was running rampant within the Kremlin, and like many Soviet citizens, the Scorpions had the feeling that the walls had ears and eyes. “It really was strange then,” said Rarebell. “All that you knew was you had the feeling they were watching you. Maybe there were hidden mics in the room. It felt like being in one of those [spy] films, you know, like an old James Bond [movie]. I’m sure until this day that they went through my clothes and looked at stuff.”

The government had good reason to worry as it turned out. Rarebell witnessed firsthand how hungry young Russians were for freedom and what impact the Scorpions’ performances were having, even though, as Rarebell admitted, they were not a political band.

“I remember when we played the stadium in ’89 at the Moscow Music Peace Festival, they put in the middle of the stadium about a few hundred soldiers there to take care and control of the people there so they didn’t riot,” said Rarebell. “But the soldiers themselves were throwing up their hats and singing along with the songs in Russian. Then I knew something was going to happen. They were singing along to ‘Blackout,’ they were singing along to ‘Rock You Like a Hurricane.’”

And it wasn’t like state-sponsored media was blasting Scorpions tunes across the platforms it controlled. Kids discovered Scorpions hits like “Loving You” and “Rock You Like a Hurricane” in other ways.

“When we came there in 1988, we were aware that there must have been a huge underground population playing the music, from one tape recorder to the next tape recorder,” said Rarebell. “All of the radio stations played it. I know that ‘Loving You’ became a big hit before. This is probably how they became aware of the band – ‘Loving You’ and ‘Rock You Like a Hurricane.’ Those were the songs that were played there, and then somebody underground spread more. And more people heard the music. Suddenly, we were very popular in the underground, which is huge there. And suddenly all of our concerts were sold out. And yet, we were going to the #1 position in Moscow and I remember [going] to the record companies and [asking], ‘How many records did we sell?’ And they said, ‘Oh, we don’t know yet. We have to see.’” (laughs) There’s no control, no nothing, and there was nothing you could do about it. It was just on the radio you hear ‘Loving You,’ and the record company tells you we haven’t sold any records.”

Information about record sales in the Soviet Union was sketchy, but it didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out the Scorpions were more popular than Lenin there. When Rarebell, born in November 1949 in Saarbrucken, Germany, was banging on his mother’s pots and pans as a young boy, such a situation would have been unthinkable. By the age of 12 or 13, Rarebell had graduated to drums.

“Well, basically, I was attracted by physical fitness, you know,” said Rarebell. “And banging on the drums and going around the house and doing all this, this was like the perfect instrument in order to get out all my aggression and my youthful power. It was just … I tell you, it felt immediately right. And I always had a good rhythm feel. This is basic to have as a drummer, you must feel the rhythm. If you don’t have that, the whole instrument is pointless.”

There was nothing “pointless” about Rarebell’s early training. His first band was the Mastermen, “ … which was a school band, which was when I was around 14. And we played basically on the weekends, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, being in pubs, you know, playing in gasthauses, as we say in Germany, where we played like four sets a night, 45 minutes, 50 minutes, that kind of thing.”

At age 17, Rarebell joined his first professional band, Fuggs Blues. “We played in Germany the American airbases for the American soldiers,” said Rarebell. “And basically, what we did there was also four sets a night of Top 40 material. In those days – this was ’68, ’69 – we played songs like ‘Wipeout,’ for example, you know, Sam & Dave’s ‘Hold On, I’m Coming.’ We played Jimi Hendrix’s ‘Hey Joe,’ stuff like this. So for us, this was perfect training to get the necessary routine for me as a drummer; playing every night, four sets, it gives you a perfect routine.”

Now well-drilled in keeping time, as any drummer should, Rarebell set out to make his mark on the world. At about age 18 or 19, Rarebell told his parents he wanted to study music, and then, he went to England to try to catch on with a heavy-metal band. Opportunity didn’t knock right away. “Of course, reality came and after my money was gone, I was a gardener, a taxi driver, a barman, until finally I became a studio musician and got into this thing,” said Rarebell.

Meeting Michael Schenker, then in UFO, changed everything. “One day he said to me, ‘My brother is coming over here looking for a drummer,’” said Rarebell. “It was in the spring of ’77. So I went to an audition. They had probably 40 or 50 other drummers. And we each had to play three songs. Then the famous ‘don’t call us, we’ll call you’ came. I thought I’d never hear from them. The next day, they called me and said, ‘You got the job. We want to take your drums to Hanover, from London to Hanover. I said, ‘Well, hang on. I have to talk to my girlfriend first.’”

Ironically, Rarebell had gone to England only to find himself in a German band, and now, he was heading back home. It’s funny how things work out. Still, even though this wasn’t exactly how Rarebell planned it, he had stumbled upon the group of individuals who were going to make all his dreams come true.

“Well, we had the same tastes,” said Rarebell. “I remember when I met Rudolf the first time, in the speakeasy together with his brother, we talked about music. So we were on the same wavelength. We both grew up with bands like the Kinks, Yardbirds, later on Led Zeppelin – the kind of music we wanted to do. We could feel it, you know?”

There were lingering apprehensions, though. Living in England, Rarebell was a regular in the London club scene from the end of 1971 to the spring of 1977. One of those establishments was the famed Marquee Club.

“It was a club, but the atmosphere there was unbelievable,” said Rarebell. “I mean, I saw Hendrix there, I saw Taste there, I saw The Who there … imagine, a small pub like this, you standing directly in front of them.”

With room for about 300 customers, the Marquee was not the biggest of venues, but what it lacked in size, it made up for in star power. Even the Scorpions played there … lots of times, even before Rarebell joined up. He saw them when guitar wizard Uli Jon Roth was in the band and Rudy Lenners was The Scorpions’ drummer. Rarebell cops to not being very impressed.

When asked what he thought of them, Rarebell responded, “Terrible. I said to myself, ‘Half of them are playing like Uriah Heep, and the other half plays songs like Jimi Hendrix.’ I said that to Rudy. He looked at me like I was coming from the moon. I said, ‘You guys have no direction. One guy plays like Hendrix, the others play like Uriah Heep. You don’t have in mind what you want to do.’ And as you know, a year later, Uli left to make Electric Sun and go this Hendrix direction, and the Scorpions took Michael Schenker and went on to do melodic hard rock.”

And the rest is history. It wasn’t long before Rarebell found himself assuming a key role in the band. For one thing, he spoke the best English of them all. So, understandably, he was tapped to provide some lyrics on the first album he recorded with the band, 1978’s Taken by Force.

“Rudolf asked on the first album when we did the song ‘He’s A Woman, She’s A Man,’ do you have an idea for the lyrics?” said Rarebell. “And at the same time, we made a visit to Paris for promotion, and I remember we drove around Paris, of course, at night, as a young man driving a car, we ended up in the red light district. And we looked at all those beautiful girls, as we were passing by, Rudolf said, ‘Oh, look at this beautiful girl there.’ So, I said, ‘Come on, drive over.’ So he drove over, put the window down, and this girl came nearer to the car and she put her head into the car and she said (in a deep, manly voice), ‘Hi, guys. Just wanted to tell you I’m a guy.’ So, we were all like shocked. But I went back to the hotel room and wrote my first lyrics then, ‘He’s A Woman – She’s a Man.’ I remember that.”

Following a tour in support of Taken by Force, Roth left the band, the classic live album Tokyo Tapes serving as his farewell. Free to pursue a new, and more commercially viable, path, the Scorpions, with new guitarist Matthias Jabs in tow, the Scorpions created their landmark LP Lovedrive. Michael Schenker returned to the band briefly during the recording of the album, contributing to three songs.

While tracks like “Always Somewhere,” “Holiday” and “Loving You Sunday Morning” cemented a formula of charged-up rock and tender ballads that the Scorpions would utilize to reach great heights in the world of heavy metal, Lovedrive was also remarkable for its suggestive album cover. It wouldn’t be the first or the last time the Scorpions would stir up controversy with their album art.

“This was a very famous album cover [the creation of Storm Thorgerson of the design firm Hipgnosis],” said Rarebell. “It showed a woman sitting in the back of a car with a man, and on her breast was chewing gum. Of course, this is ’79 now. This cover was banned immediately … it became gold immediately, because everybody went out and bought it. I mean, Playboy made it cover of the year, and that [resulted in] even more copies [being bought], and then the music and the cover together, you know, did the rest. This was basically the first gold album we had in America and a breakthrough, the Lovedrive album. But the next one was just as provocative; it was the Animal Magnetism art, which everybody said, ‘Oh, this girl is kneeling down giving the guy a blow job.’ And we always answered, ‘Well, this is your dirty mind.’ You know, we see a girl looking as a dog.”

1981 saw the release of Blackout, which continued the Scorpions’ string of hit albums as the band overcame the throat problems, which eventually required surgery, of singer Klaus Meine. Featuring the title track, “Dynamite” and “No One Like You,” Blackout expanded the Scorpions’ mass appeal. They played Day 2 of the US Festival, performing in front of 375,000 fans. But the Scorpions were only getting started.

In 1984, the band unleashed Love at First Sting, the LP that made the Scorpions international superstars, thanks to the behemoth hit “Rock You Like a Hurricane.” Once again, the Scorpions courted controversy with the Helmut Newton photograph of a man kissing a woman while stroking her tattooed thigh that graced the cover. But nothing could derail the Scorpions after “Rock You Like a Hurricane” slammed into the shores of America, the post-coitus afterglow of its lyrics crafted by none other than Rarebell.

“I wrote the lyrics for that, and I’m very happy about that, obviously, you know, because when I get my publishing, I can see how many times the song has been played,” said Rarebell. “It’s ridiculous. I can tell you it’s played all over the world, as we speak right now, it’s probably on somewhere – at least 100 or 150 times every day.

As for the inspiration for the lyrics, it’s pretty obvious where they came from.

“Well, this is where the timing hits, because the music and the lyrics [came together],” said Rarebell. “As you can imagine, ‘ … it’s early morning and the sun comes out. Last night was shaking and bloody loud.’ What would that be, huh? ‘My cat is purring and scratches my skin. What is wrong with a night of sin?’ Of course it was about sex, where you get up in the morning, her room is smelling of love and sex, and you open up the curtains and the sun comes out. We’re sitting down, immediately, and I wrote those lines. And this is basically a song, you know, about the wild ‘80s, because you know, in those days there was no AIDs. It was party time every night, and this is what happened. That’s how the song was created, the lyrics at least.”

Hits flowed from the double-platinum Love at First Sting, with “Bad Boys Running Wild,” “Big City Nights” and the ballad “Still Loving You” all finding chart success, thanks to the series of MTV videos that accompanied them. In the aftermath, the Scorpions released the too-slick pop-metal disappoinment Savage Amusement in 1988. Though some fans were turned off by the record, the Scorpions’ juggernaut rolled on, as the band made that fateful Soviet Union tour that may have helped changed the Eastern European bloc forever.

They rebounded with Crazy World in 1990, as the Scorpions changed producers for the first time in years, losing “sixth Scorpion” Dieter Dierks and welcoming Keith Olson. Thanks to “Wind of Change,” Crazy World put the Scorpions back on top of charts around the world, the song’s hopeful socio-political message striking a chord with music fans everywhere. The sting of the Scorpions was being felt everywhere, and the band helped Roger Waters perform The Wall in its entirety in Berlin. Within the Scorpions’ ranks, however, things were about to change.

Veteran bassist Francis Buchholz left after touring for Crazy World, and after a series of lukewarm records, Rarebell departed in 1996 to start a record label. Interestingly, it was Rarebell who became the first Scorpion to venture out on his own and do a solo record while still with the band, 1982’s Nip in the Bud.

In 2010, Rarebell, recording as Herman Ze German, his longtime nickname, offered up another solo LP, Take it as it Comes, along with an engaging audio book, “My Life As A Scorpion.” Since leaving the Scorpions, Rarebell has involved himself in various interests, including art and humanitarian efforts in addition to music ventures. Now in his early 60s, he shows no signs of slowing down.

Herman Rarebell Official Site:http://www.hermanrarebell.com/
Herman Rarebell on Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/hermanrarebell

The Rock Gods & Metal Monsters Auction: Click Here for Info