I love the two Skid Row albums (Phil and Gary's early 70s band pre-Thin Lizzy). The albums are harder to find but man, they rock and demand serious volume. You can also hear the roots of what would later become TL.
They are brilliant. I found copies when I lived in London. But, these days, I rarely see them in the bins or on the wall. If I do, it's usually the first, 'Skid' (the other I have is '34 Hours'). Well worth seeking out!
That's as good as it gets right there Dan! Hermosa Beach has a parade every year and on the narrow, alley-like street I lived on for 13 years (Loma Drive) a retired LAPD officer who lived a few doors down would throw a post-parade street party complete w/pipers. A tradition developed that those of us that liked to smoke would go over to my garage studio and I would crank up these same TL Irish songs through my 1200 watt PA, always leading up to the crescendo of "Black Rose" - many unknowing folks were taken with all this beautiful Irishy rock as so many think they were one or two hit wonders kind of a band - so fun to relive those days going down your list.
Took me a while to get the scope of the band too, I had (& still have) the "Boys" & "Jailbreak" single I bought as a kid (and later the album) but then my cousin was closing down his bar/restaurant in the early 90's while I was visiting and told me to go thru the bar CD's if I wanted any of them, nothing interesting except the great single disc TL comp, "Dedication." Hearing "Whiskey" and "She Knows" for the first time on there made me realize I had to get into the rest and I sure did, I was so sad when I finally got all their records, I want more!
In the midde of all that the four-disc box set came out, "Vagabonds, Kings, Warriors, Angels" which had a lot of the stuff not on albums and some of Phil's solo stuff - that was another treasure trove. I've been cruising in the Lizzy Mobile ever since!
I can't believe I didn't turn on the car stereo when we drove for lunch, I had "UK Tour '75" in there - that and 77's "Still Dangerous" were the last two albums I didn't have and finally got hem a few months ago, the 77 one is on my home stereo - I'm bummed I didn't just turn it on for ya - I'm not used to having a co-pilot to talk to! Love them both and it's especially enlightening how fully formed they were in '75 before "Jailbreak" even hit.
I did finally listen to the 'new' acoustic one - it's an uneven collection and the pro-toolsy aspects of today's Eric Bell's overdubs is sometimes distracting. However, overall there are more than a few tracks where it just feels damn good to hear Phil sing some songs I'd never heard before, that's the charm, and while there's too much evidence of the rescue 'surgery' on these leftover vocal tracks, some of it is very nice. I like it better than what I hear of the Beatles doing it with Lennon.
Yeah, I figured the results of that "new" Thin Lizzy record would be similar to the "new" Beatles tracks. And I'm also sorry you didn't crank up one of those Lizzy live discs while we were rolling — that would have made a fantastic afternoon even better!
Happy St. Patty's day and thanks for this post, I'm long overdue for a Thin Lizzy re-assessment. I've always liked them but never delved deeply into their music - though I did see them play a *killer* opening set for Queen in 1976.
Slight digression here, but Dan Hawkins of The Darkness (a band I love) is a huge fan and *always* wears a Thin Lizzy t-shirt on stage. Their music is petty different from Lizzy's, but Dan & brother Justin's double-lead guitar playing certainly derives inspiration from TL.
Oh man, I am so jealous that you got to catch that legendary Queen/Lizzy tour! And yeah, I love The Darkness, too — and I wasn't at all surprised to see Dan sporting a Lizzy T the first time I saw them, as I'd (happily) noticed a few blatant Lizzy lifts on Permission to Land, especially at the end of "I Believe in a Thing Called Love".
I had a 2-hour drive to make today and started with "Night Life," because I'd never heard it, then "Jailbreak" because I had but didn't know it well except for the three big hits. I really enjoyed both LPs, and was surprised by how well I actually did know "Jailbreak" - I never owned it but it got played so much in the record store it must have really sunk in. I look forward to the rest of their catalog - from here I'll use your list as a guide!
Ah, very cool! Yeah, I think a fair amount of that Jailbreak LP got played on FM radio, as well. Let me know what you think of the other albums as you dig into 'em.
P.S. I love how you pointed out the "goddamns!" in "Thunder and Lightning" - I too am still amazed at how Phil can elevate a moment with a simple vocal ad lib that gives me goosebumps! - like his "Oh my god, Oh my GODDDD" in the middle of "King's Vengeance" and "hit me with that drum brian, hit me haard as you CAAAAN" on "Having a Good Time" that shit is pure magic, almost unreal how good he is.
The song is divided into two parts, which are the first and last tracks of the album.[1] Both are in stark contrast to the album's middle three songs. Without the inclusion of this track on Animals, Waters thought the album "would have just been a kind of scream of rage."[2]
According to Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason, and confirmed by Waters, it is a love song directed towards Waters' new wife at the time, Carolyne. She was really the only one of Waters' friends Mason had ever met who could hold her own in an argument with Waters. According to Mason, someone had to be very good with semantics to win an argument against Waters. Waters wrote the song because that is what he had been looking for all along: someone who could stand up to him, an equal.[3]
The songs are constructed simply and feature no instrumentation besides a strummed acoustic guitar played by Waters.[1]
A special version of the song was made for the 8-track cartridge release. The 8-track format featured a loop-play function where the end of the recording looped back to the beginning, allowing an album to play continuously without having to turn over the cartridge. To exploit this feature, the special 8-track version of the song linked part 2 and part 1 with a guitar solo,[4] performed by Snowy White, who would later play the guitar solo in live performances on the 1977 In the Flesh Tour.[1] The complete version of the song, including the instrumental bridge, was re-released on White's Goldtop compilation album in 1995.[1]
I heard “Dancing in the Moonlight” for the first time in years this past weekend. I wasn’t exactly in love with it either, but hearing it with fresh ears unlocked something. I’ve played it a ton over the last few days.
I love the two Skid Row albums (Phil and Gary's early 70s band pre-Thin Lizzy). The albums are harder to find but man, they rock and demand serious volume. You can also hear the roots of what would later become TL.
I’ve actually never heard those LPs- all I know is the one single that Phil cut with them before they fired him. I’ll have to check ‘em out!
They are brilliant. I found copies when I lived in London. But, these days, I rarely see them in the bins or on the wall. If I do, it's usually the first, 'Skid' (the other I have is '34 Hours'). Well worth seeking out!
Thanks Dan. Happy Saint Patty’s day with a touch of Phil.
And to you as well, Steven!
I will return to this later this afternoon nd make a playlist of these songs! 🍀
That's as good as it gets right there Dan! Hermosa Beach has a parade every year and on the narrow, alley-like street I lived on for 13 years (Loma Drive) a retired LAPD officer who lived a few doors down would throw a post-parade street party complete w/pipers. A tradition developed that those of us that liked to smoke would go over to my garage studio and I would crank up these same TL Irish songs through my 1200 watt PA, always leading up to the crescendo of "Black Rose" - many unknowing folks were taken with all this beautiful Irishy rock as so many think they were one or two hit wonders kind of a band - so fun to relive those days going down your list.
Took me a while to get the scope of the band too, I had (& still have) the "Boys" & "Jailbreak" single I bought as a kid (and later the album) but then my cousin was closing down his bar/restaurant in the early 90's while I was visiting and told me to go thru the bar CD's if I wanted any of them, nothing interesting except the great single disc TL comp, "Dedication." Hearing "Whiskey" and "She Knows" for the first time on there made me realize I had to get into the rest and I sure did, I was so sad when I finally got all their records, I want more!
In the midde of all that the four-disc box set came out, "Vagabonds, Kings, Warriors, Angels" which had a lot of the stuff not on albums and some of Phil's solo stuff - that was another treasure trove. I've been cruising in the Lizzy Mobile ever since!
I can't believe I didn't turn on the car stereo when we drove for lunch, I had "UK Tour '75" in there - that and 77's "Still Dangerous" were the last two albums I didn't have and finally got hem a few months ago, the 77 one is on my home stereo - I'm bummed I didn't just turn it on for ya - I'm not used to having a co-pilot to talk to! Love them both and it's especially enlightening how fully formed they were in '75 before "Jailbreak" even hit.
I did finally listen to the 'new' acoustic one - it's an uneven collection and the pro-toolsy aspects of today's Eric Bell's overdubs is sometimes distracting. However, overall there are more than a few tracks where it just feels damn good to hear Phil sing some songs I'd never heard before, that's the charm, and while there's too much evidence of the rescue 'surgery' on these leftover vocal tracks, some of it is very nice. I like it better than what I hear of the Beatles doing it with Lennon.
Yeah, I figured the results of that "new" Thin Lizzy record would be similar to the "new" Beatles tracks. And I'm also sorry you didn't crank up one of those Lizzy live discs while we were rolling — that would have made a fantastic afternoon even better!
Happy St. Patty's day and thanks for this post, I'm long overdue for a Thin Lizzy re-assessment. I've always liked them but never delved deeply into their music - though I did see them play a *killer* opening set for Queen in 1976.
Slight digression here, but Dan Hawkins of The Darkness (a band I love) is a huge fan and *always* wears a Thin Lizzy t-shirt on stage. Their music is petty different from Lizzy's, but Dan & brother Justin's double-lead guitar playing certainly derives inspiration from TL.
Oh man, I am so jealous that you got to catch that legendary Queen/Lizzy tour! And yeah, I love The Darkness, too — and I wasn't at all surprised to see Dan sporting a Lizzy T the first time I saw them, as I'd (happily) noticed a few blatant Lizzy lifts on Permission to Land, especially at the end of "I Believe in a Thing Called Love".
I had a 2-hour drive to make today and started with "Night Life," because I'd never heard it, then "Jailbreak" because I had but didn't know it well except for the three big hits. I really enjoyed both LPs, and was surprised by how well I actually did know "Jailbreak" - I never owned it but it got played so much in the record store it must have really sunk in. I look forward to the rest of their catalog - from here I'll use your list as a guide!
Ah, very cool! Yeah, I think a fair amount of that Jailbreak LP got played on FM radio, as well. Let me know what you think of the other albums as you dig into 'em.
P.S. I love how you pointed out the "goddamns!" in "Thunder and Lightning" - I too am still amazed at how Phil can elevate a moment with a simple vocal ad lib that gives me goosebumps! - like his "Oh my god, Oh my GODDDD" in the middle of "King's Vengeance" and "hit me with that drum brian, hit me haard as you CAAAAN" on "Having a Good Time" that shit is pure magic, almost unreal how good he is.
Snowy! - I wasn't aware of this until recently https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnbO7jjoDIs
Composition
The song is divided into two parts, which are the first and last tracks of the album.[1] Both are in stark contrast to the album's middle three songs. Without the inclusion of this track on Animals, Waters thought the album "would have just been a kind of scream of rage."[2]
According to Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason, and confirmed by Waters, it is a love song directed towards Waters' new wife at the time, Carolyne. She was really the only one of Waters' friends Mason had ever met who could hold her own in an argument with Waters. According to Mason, someone had to be very good with semantics to win an argument against Waters. Waters wrote the song because that is what he had been looking for all along: someone who could stand up to him, an equal.[3]
The songs are constructed simply and feature no instrumentation besides a strummed acoustic guitar played by Waters.[1]
A special version of the song was made for the 8-track cartridge release. The 8-track format featured a loop-play function where the end of the recording looped back to the beginning, allowing an album to play continuously without having to turn over the cartridge. To exploit this feature, the special 8-track version of the song linked part 2 and part 1 with a guitar solo,[4] performed by Snowy White, who would later play the guitar solo in live performances on the 1977 In the Flesh Tour.[1] The complete version of the song, including the instrumental bridge, was re-released on White's Goldtop compilation album in 1995.[1]
Wow, I didn't know about the 8-track version at all! Thank you for this!
I heard “Dancing in the Moonlight” for the first time in years this past weekend. I wasn’t exactly in love with it either, but hearing it with fresh ears unlocked something. I’ve played it a ton over the last few days.
Nice choices!