Week of April 3, 2005
While the name Midnight Flyer may not be
instantly recognizable to most casual students of rock music, one only has to
take a cursory glance at the pedigree of the players concerned to reveal that,
prior to the formation of the band, the musicians had already been involved with
such well known artists as Stone The Crows,
Streetwalkers,
Whitesnake,
Savoy
Brown, Foghat, Hudson Ford,
Jim Capaldi and
Leo Sayer among many others. The
fact that Midnight Flyer did not become a household name and go on to sell
truckloads of albums cannot in any way be attributed to a lack of talent within
the band. Far from it! Fronted by one of the finest female vocalists Britain has
ever produced, Midnight Flyer was made up of vastly experienced musicians who,
in the years since Midnight Flyer, have continued to work with the cream of
British rock.
Formed in 1980, Midnight Flyer was composed of Maggie Bell (lead vocals), Dave
Dowle (drums), Anthony Glynne (guitars), Tony Stevens (bass guitar) and John
Cook (keyboards), who left soon after the recording of the band's only album to
be replaced by Chris Parren. Before we tell the Midnight Flyer story, it might
be worth looking at the CVs of the individual members prior to the formation of
the band.
Maggie Bell
At the time of Midnight Flyer's formation, Maggie Bell was one of Britain's
best-loved and most highly regarded singers, regularly voted Best Female
Vocalist by the readers of Melody Maker and the New Musical Express in the early
and mid-seventies. Maggie's career began in Glasgow in the early 1960s where as
a young teenager she would occasionally join
Alex Harvey (later to find fame as
the leader of the
Sensational Alex Harvey Band) onstage to sing. Alex introduced
Maggie to his younger brother Leslie, then playing guitar in his own group, the
Kinning Park Ramblers, and Maggie joined them for a spell performing the latest
American soul hits. By the time she was 17, Maggie was singing professionally
with a 15-piece big band at Sauchiehall Street's Locarno Ballroom, before moving
over to the rival Dennistoun Palais Band. In 1966, she made her vinyl debut,
recording two singles with Bobby Kerr ('I'm Never Gonna Leave You' and 'Climb
Every Mountain') under the name Frankie And Johnny.
In 1967, Maggie was working on the Continent playing clubs and touring American
air force bases in Germany, playing five hours a night, seven nights a week, a
grueling experience, but one that helped her gain valuable experience and learn
her craft. During this period, Maggie again hooked up with Leslie Harvey and,
upon their return to Glasgow in 1968, the pair began to look for musicians to
form a new band. "We heard about a couple of guys who were really good
musicians," remembers Maggie. "John McGinnis was the keyboard player and
Jimmy
Dewar was bass player and singer." Maggie and Leslie went down to see McGinnis
and Dewar rehearsing at a club called the Burns Howff and, after a jam, a
decision was made to join forces and form a new band - Power.
Power quickly became one of Glasgow's most popular attractions, gaining a strong
local following, and, in 1969, Peter Grant,
Led Zeppelin's manager, came up to
Glasgow to see the band. Legend has it, when Grant first saw them in action, he
shouted, "Cor! Stone The Crows!" His exclamation was swiftly adopted as the
group's brand new name, and, within a few months, with the addition of ex-John
Mayall drummer Colin Allen, they had management and recording deal with Polydor
Records. The band's first two albums, 'Stone the Crows' and 'Ode to John Law'
were notable for their earthy, soul-based sound, Maggie's passionate, heart-felt
vocals and Harvey's fluid, imaginative guitar playing. However, Dewar and
McGinnis eventually became unhappy with the group's lack of success, and that,
combined with what they perceived as their own diminished role in the group, led
them both to quit in February 1971. A talented singer in his own right, Dewar
went on to work with
Frankie Miller and
Robin Trower in the short-lived Jude,
before enjoying international success as the bass player and singer with
Robin Trower.
With replacements Steve Thompson (bass) and Ronnie Leahy (keyboards) now on
board, the group's next album, 'Teenage Licks' (1971) ironically proved to be
their most successful. Stone The Crows had become a popular touring band and
appeared on the bills at all the major UK rock festivals. A live album featuring
Stone The Crows from this period was released back in 2002 on the Angel Air
label. 'Live In Montreux 1972' (Cat No SJPCD116) shows just what a great band
Stone The Crows were.
As the band's profile improved, so did Maggie's. In 1971, she guested on 'It
Ain't Easy', an album by
Long John Baldry, and famously added "vocal abrasives"
on the title track of Rod Stewart's breakthrough album, 'Every Picture Tells A
Story', credited as "Mateus Rose Maggie Bell." Maggie even won the Best Female
Vocalist award in that year's annual Melody Maker Readers Poll. Maggie also sang
on two albums by Ellis, the group fronted by ex-Love Affair vocalist
Steve
Ellis, 'Riding On The Crest Of A Slump' (1972) and 'Why Not?'(1973).
Confirmation of Maggie Bell's standing among the rock fraternity was her
inclusion among the cast for the 1972 recording of Lou Reizner's orchestral
version of The Who's rock opera Tommy, where she earned critical acclaim for
her portrayal of Tommy's mother. Maggie was asked to reprise that role in
December that year when members of The Who were joined by an all-star cast
(which included Rod Stewart, Steve Winwood and
Ringo Starr) for a live
performance of 'Tommy' at London's Rainbow Theatre.
Tragically, just when Stone The Crows were on the verge of becoming a major
international attraction, Leslie Harvey died on stage during the sound check for
a gig at Swansea's Top Rank Ballroom on the 3rd May, 1972. "I remember Leslie
saying, 'There's something wrong here, recalls Maggie. "He put his hand on the
mike, and he was gone. It was just as quick as that." After Leslie's death, the
heart went out of the group, but they bravely decided to carry on and recruited
fellow Scots guitarist Jimmy McCulloch from
Thunderclap Newman. This enabled
them to complete their fourth album, 'Ontinuous Performance', which was released
later that same year to critical acclaim, reaching number 33 in the UK album
charts. Despite Peter Grant's continued encouragement and the public's support,
by June 1973 the band had broken up. "When Leslie died, it was never the same,"
explains Maggie. "The band continued for a while, then we agreed it was the end
of an era. Colin Allen, our drummer, was offered a job with
Focus and Jimmy
joined Wings. Meanwhile, Peter Grant and co-manager Mark London said they would
help me to make a solo album."
Unfortunately, Maggie's solo career did not have the easiest of starts. She
recorded two albums for the Atlantic label in New York, one produced by Felix
Pappalardi of Mountain fame and the other with Felix Cavaliere of the Young
Rascals. Sadly, neither album was granted a release as, according to Maggie,
"The record company said they weren't good enough!" Maggie was upset by
Atlantic's stance, but was convinced that it was record company politics and not
the quality of the recordings that were to blame. Just when Maggie seemed to be
lost up a blind alley, Atlantic exec and veteran producer Jerry Wexler (Aretha
Franklin, Ray Charles,
Lulu, Dusty Springfield) stepped in and offered to
produce an album for her. Maggie and Jerry Wexler spent hours wading through
tapes and listened to over two hundred songs in order to select the right
material for the album. Backed by the cream of New York City's session
musicians, Maggie recorded a superb solo album which certainly proved her
doubters at Atlantic wrong. 'Queen Of The Night' received rave reviews upon its
release, earning Maggie notices in the American press and even an article in
Time magazine.
Maggie spent much of the following year on the road before recording her next
solo album, 'Suicide Sal', again with Jerry Wexler in the producer's chair and
recorded at Ringo Starr's studio at Tittenhurst Park in England. The album was
her first for Led Zeppelin and Peter Grant's Swan Song label and even featured
an appearance on guitar from
Zeppelin's Jimmy Page. On its release, 'Suicide
Sal' sold reasonably well but it did much better in the US and Germany than in
Britain. Again Maggie and her band hit the road playing a number of tours in
Europe and America, even supporting Peter Grant's newest supergroup,
Bad
Company, which featured
Paul Rodgers and Simon Kirke from
Free,
Mick Ralphs from
Mott The Hoople and Boz Burrell from
King Crimson. Two live albums from this
period have recently been released on the Angel Air label, 'Live At The Rainbow
1974' (SJPCD100) and Live Boston USA 1975' (SJPCD128). Both feature great
performances and are well worth checking out.
Unfortunately, with the best will in the world, Peter Grant could not devote as
much of his time to Maggie's career as she would have liked him to. "I'd phone
Peter and go down to his office. He kept saying he had to find the right
producer for me, and time went by without much happening, and he kind of lost
the plot with me. He spent most of his time with
Bad Company and
Led Zeppelin.
But then I never had a contract with him, only with Atlantic. I was on Swan Song
too, and we tried a couple of recordings with Dave Edmunds, but the material
wasn't right."
In 1977, Maggie appeared on Eric Burdon's 'Survivor' LP alongside
Zoot Money,
Geoff Whitehorn and
Alexis Korner. Guitarist Whitehorn had been a member of
Maggie's band in 1975 and he was also part of an all-star band that appeared
with Maggie at London's Royal Festival Hall on 16th July, 1978. The other
musicians were
Tony Ashton,
Jon Lord, Andy Mackay, Paul Martinez and
Ian Paice.
1978 also saw Maggie have a one-off hit single with the theme tune from the
popular TV series 'Hazell', which reached number 37 in the UK singles chart. Maggie's only other hit single was 'Hold Me', a tongue-in-cheek duet with
B.A.
Robertson which reached number 11 on the UK single chart in October 1981. 'Hold
Me' had originally reached number three for PJ Proby in 1964.
Tony Stevens
Tony (Tone) Stevens was born in London on 12th September, 1949, and by the age
of eight he had developed an interest in playing the guitar. Aged 11, he formed
a band with two school pals called The Invaders, which, two years later, with
the addition of a singer and another guitarist, became The Down And Outs, who
played at weddings, birthdays and working men's clubs around the Willesden area.
By the time he was 16, Tony was playing bass in a four-piece band called
Zebedee, who wrote most of their own material.
In October 1967, Tony saw an ad in Melody Maker for
Savoy
Brown who were looking
for a bassist. He got the job and spent the next couple of years either
recording or on the road in the US where the band had some success. Tone is
featured on four
Savoy
Brown albums, 'Blue Matter' (April 69), 'A Step Further'
(September 69), 'Raw Sienna' (June 70) and 'Looking In' (October 70). At the end
of 1970, Tone, together with Roger Earl (drums), and Dave Peverett
(guitar/vocals) walked out of
Savoy
Brown and with guitarist/vocalist Rod Price
they formed Foghat. Through sheer hard graft the band and their boogie style
became very successful in the States, although they remained virtually unknown
at home in the UK. Again, Tone recorded four albums with the band, 'Foghat'
(June 72), 'Foghat II' (March 73), 'Energized' (January 74) and 'Rock and Roll
Outlaws' (October 74).
Tony left Foghat in 1975 to concentrate on a career as an actor. He got a part
in 'Rock Follies', an English TV show about the adventures of three girls in the
rock business, which surprisingly became a hit.
Roxy Music's Andy Mackay
composed the music for the series, and, in addition to playing the role of the
fictional group's bass player, Tone also appeared on the two soundtrack albums
released to tie in with the programme, 'Rock Follies' and 'Rock Follies of 77'.
The rest of the band was
Ray Russell (guitar), Peter Van Hooke (drums) Andy
Mackay (sax) and Brian Chatton (keyboards). For the second Rock Follies album,
Chatton was replaced by Chris Parren, who we shall be seeing more of later.
Tone also appeared on two other recordings during this time. In 1975, he
appeared on the film soundtrack to The Who's 'Tommy' along with musicians such
as Roger Daltrey, Pete Townshend,
John Entwistle,
Nicky Hopkins,
Eric Clapton
and, interestingly, Mick Ralphs. In 1978, Tone contributed to the cast
soundtrack to 'Evita' playing with Chris Mercer, Neil Hubbard,
Henry McCullough,
Ray Russell, Mo Foster, Mike Moran and Simon Phillips. Also in 1978, Tone
appeared on Andy Mackay's solo album, 'Resolving Contradictions' with
Ray Russell, Mo Foster and Chris Parren.
After two years on Rock Follies, Tone formed a band called Nobody's Business
with the great guitarist Joe Jammer and vocalist Bobby Harrison, and they
recorded a powerful LP ('Nobody's Business') in France in 1978. The album was
only released in Japan, and the band split in 1979. Tone had already recorded
with Jammer before, appearing on his 1973 album, 'Bad News'. Jammer had also
worked with Maggie Bell on a US Tour in 1974 following the release of the 'Queen
Of The Night' album.
Dave Dowle
Drummer Dave Dowle was born in North London and, aged just 13, he joined his
first band, Canterbury Glass, playing alongside future Genesis guitarist Steve
Hackett. According to Dave, the band recorded a Radio One session after meeting
the late John Peel DJ-ing at a gig. Following Canterbury Glass, Dave worked with
a variety of artists including Doris Troy and PP Arnold before forming a band
called Curly who also recorded a John Peel session in November 1973. Steve Farr
and Stewart Blandameer from Curly both ended up in the Q-Tips with
Paul Young,
with Blandameer also working with
Status Quo. Dave next worked with
Brian
Auger's Oblivion Express, touring the US and appearing on the 'Reinforcements'
album in 1975.
In September 1976, Dave joined the
Streetwalkers replacing Nicko McBrain, and
this line-up of Dowle, Brian Johnstone,
Roger Chapman, Charlie Whitney, Bobby
Tench and Micky Feat released a studio album, 'Vicious But Fair' in January
1977. By the end of '77, however, the band had run out of steam, and a live
album, released in December 1977, proved to be their final release.
January 1978 saw David working with ex-Deep Purple singer
David Coverdale in his
new band Whitesnake. After two solo albums recorded with session musicians,
Coverdale had decided to put a band together to play live. Joining David Dowle
in the band was another ex-member of the
Streetwalkers, keyboard player, Brian
Johnstone, although he would be replaced within a couple of months by Pete
Solley. The rest of the band was
Coverdale on vocals, Micky Moody and
Bernie
Marsden on guitars and Neil Murray on bass. This line-up recorded the
'Snakebite' EP, which was released in June 1978. By August 1978, another change
of keyboard player was announced with
Coverdale's old
Purple buddy
Jon Lord
adding his considerable experience to the band. This line-up undertook a major
UK tour in October and November 1978 and released an album Trouble' in December
of that year. Whitesnake then undertook a world tour, which served notice of a
major new band on the scene. Another album, 'Lovehunter', was recorded, but in
July 1979, even before the album was released, Dave Dowle was replaced by Ian
Paice, yet another ex-member of
Deep Purple. Dave finally played on two sides of
"Live
In The Heart Of The City" in 1980.
Irrespective of whether he happened to be working with a band or not, Dave Dowle
would continue to play on sessions. "I was really a session player. With any
band I was working with I'd always carry on doing sessions." In 1978, he
appeared on an album called 'Sailing Down The Years' by Kevin Lamb, which also
featured musicians such as Andy Summers, Chris Thompson, B.J. Cole, Ray Cooper
and Mickey Feat. Dave also recorded an album in 1978 as a member of Runner along
with Mickey Feat, Steve Gould and Alan Merrill, formerly a member of
The Arrows
and writer of 'I Love Rock'n'Roll', as recorded by Joan Jett. Their eponymous
debut album did quite well in at the US, but Dave does not appear on the
follow-up. Also in '78, Dave played on the soundtrack for the
Bee Gees' film
version of 'Sgt. Pepper'.
Anthony Glynne
The lead guitarist in Midnight Flyer was a brilliant young musician called
Anthony Glynne. Anthony, or Ant, as he is more commonly known, started his
career at just 16 playing in
Leo Sayer's backing band. In 1978, Ant was a member
of punk band Razar, who released a single, 'Idle Rich'/'One Room Doom', on the
Charisma label. The single was produced by Kit Lambert. Razar also featured
former Third World War/The Attack/Thunderclap Newman member Jim Avery on bass
and vocals. In 1979, Ant was to join Avery in another venture, this time as a
member of the Darryl Read Band.
John Cook
Keyboard player John Cook had been a member of
Octopus, who were discovered by
Troggs bassist Tony Murray. John joined the band during the recording of their
debut album, 'Restless Night', in 1969, an album that unfortunately, was not a
success. The band supported Yes,
Status Quo and
Humble Pie and played at the
Marquee, but never quite made it. They continued for another couple of years,
regularly touring Europe, but finally ground to a halt in 1972. John was next
sighted as a member of the
Love Affair, but at this time, they contained none of
the original members and were appearing on the cabaret circuit, trading on past
glories.
During 1973, John joined
Mungo Jerry along with bassist Bob Daisley (Chicken
Shack, Widowmaker,
Ozzy Osbourne, etc.) and played on the 'Long Legged Woman
Dressed In Black' album and single, which reached number 9 in the singles chart
in April 1974. Later that same year, John became a member of the rock band
Slack
Alice, who released a self-titled album for Phillips. In 1975, John worked with
the band Stretch playing on their 'Elastique' album and their hit single, 'Why
Did You Do It?', which reached number 16 in the UK singles chart in November of
that year. In 1979, John appeared on the Bernie Marsden album, 'And About Time
Too', along with guests such as
Jack Bruce, Neil Murray,
Jon Lord,
Don Airey,
Ian Paice, Simon Phillips and
Cozy Powell. The following year, John worked with
Bernie again on 'Look At Me Now' (1980), which featured a similar line-up.
Chris Parren
By 1980, when he joined Midnight Flyer as a replacement for John Cook, Chris
Parren was already a veteran of a number of bands, and his keyboard skills
ensured he was much in demand as a session musician. One of Chris Parren's first
bands was Forever Amber, who released an album The Love Cycle' back in 1969.
Chris was also a session musician on an album by J.J. Jackson, 'J.J. Jackson's
Dilemma' (1970) as well as on Jack McDuff's To Seek A New Home' (1970).
In 1973, he appeared as a session musician on 'Nickelodeon', an album by
Hudson-Ford, after which he was asked to join the band: Chris remained with them
until 1977, playing on 'Free Spirit' (1974), 'Worlds Collide' (1975) and
'Daylight' (1977). In 1978, Chris Parren first played with
Jim Capaldi in his
backing band, The Contenders. Chris stayed with Jim for around a year and, as
well as touring Europe, he played on
Capaldi's 1978 LP, The Contender', along
musicians such as Paul Kossoff, Barry Beckett, Roger Hawkins, David Hood, Jimmy
Johnson and Dean Parks. Chris also played keyboards on a number of subsequent
Jim Capaldi albums such as 'Electric Nights' album from 1979, The Sweet Smell
Of Success' (1980), 'Let the Thunder Cry' (1981), 'Fierce Heart' (May 83), 'One
Man Mission' (1984) and 'Some Come Running' (December 88). Other musicians appearing
on these albums were Steve Winwood, Van Morrison, Steve Marriott,
Carlos
Santana, Snowy White,
Eric Clapton, George Harrison,
Mick Ralphs and
Simon Kirke
among many others.
In 1977, Chris Parren appeared in the second series of 'Rock Follies', alongside
bassist Tony Stevens and played on the 'Rock Follies of '77' LP. Through his
connection with the show, Chris also appeared with Stevens on Andy Mackay's 1978
solo album 'Resolving Contradictions'.
Midnight Flyer
"At the time I joined, Maggie and Tony Stevens were just putting the band
together," remembers Dave Dowle. "Maggie had been a solo artist and she was
ready to do something different. It did feel like a band though, as opposed to
Maggie's backing band. But you always felt that Maggie was the bee's knees. She
was marvellous. Peter Grant loved her. He'd known her for years. They just
phoned me up. Funnily enough I'd been called by
Ozzy Osbourne, who was getting
together with Randy Rhodes and I went up and played with them for a little
while, but I didn't really like it.
Judas Priest phoned me up too. In those
days, because I'd been in
Whitesnake, I had a bit of a name, and there weren't
that many drummers around. Ant Glynne had been recommended to Tony Stevens by a
friend of his. The band lasted a couple of years. We had a marvellous time, and
Maggie and I are still in contact."
Once the line-up of Midnight Flyer was complete, the band entered into a lengthy
period of rehearsal and song writing in preparation for the recording of their
debut album. Dave Dowle: "We rehearsed for quite a long time before recording
the album and we were quite relieved when we got signed to Swan Song. Because
you never really knew how it was; Swan Song was all about Peter Grant and
Led
Zep, so it took quite a while to come about. Maggie was signed to them as a solo
artist. But in a way that delay was good. By the time we went into the studio we
were really well-rehearsed."
'Midnight Flyer' was recorded at Startling Studios, a.k.a. Tittenhurst Park,
Ascot. Startling had been built by
Ringo Starr in the house previously owned by
John Lennon. The fine twenty-six room Georgian house and 72-acre estate was
purchased by Lennon on 4th May, 1969, and after moving in on the 11th August,
John and Yoko lived here for just over two years. The gardens, named Tittenhurst
Park, date back to 1763 and had been open to the public until the Lennons moved
in. Tittenhurst Park was also the location for the final
Beatles photo session
on 22nd August, 1969, to promote their forthcoming 'Abbey Road album.
Throughout 1970,
John Lennon had gradually installed an eight-track recording
studio at Tittenhurst Park as well as film editing equipment. The recording of
John Lennon's 'Imagine' album took place at the studio, now named Ascot Sound,
between 23rd June, 1971 and 2nd July, 1971. The house, its spacious grounds,
and, most especially, the large, empty white living room, had featured in
Lennon's 'Imagine' promotional film.
Ringo Starr bought Tittenhurst Park from
Lennon in 1973 and moved his family in, renamed the recording studio Startling
Studio and opened it for hire.
Ringo eventually sold the property in 1988.
Maggie Bell had recorded her 'Suicide Sal' album at Starling Studio and had
happy memories of working there in 1974. "It was a beautiful house with
incredible gardens. It had a great atmosphere. We all stayed there in these
little cottages, and of course
Ringo and his wife Maureen made us feel part of
the family. They were wonderful people. It was also a great studio to work in,
and you could go in at anytime of the day or night and there were no
restrictions about noise or parking."
Dave Dowle agrees with Maggie's assessment of Starling Studio. The recording of
the 'Midnight Flyer' LP was a wonderful experience. The house was exactly the
same as it was when they made the promotional film for 'Imagine' with the white
piano. It was an interesting place, cause
Ringo's wife Maureen was still living
there and running the studio, and Zak Starkey,
Ringo's son, was about 14, I
suppose, and he had this massive drum kit set up which he used to always be
playing. Typical teenager, he never used to say much, but he used to come in and
watch what we were doing."
The album features all original material with songs written by each band member.
Tone Stevens and Dave Dowle contributed three songs apiece. There was a John
Cook composition plus a song John had written with Maggie, 'Rough Trade', one of
the highlights of the album. Ant Glynne also wrote a song with Maggie and two
others with Dave Dowle. It was a real group affair and one that Dave Dowle
particularly enjoyed. "One of the reasons I joined was that Maggie allowed me to
write. I wanted to be able to write. She gave me a chance. In
Whitesnake,
everybody was writing. I didn't have a chance. There were lots of egos. So this
was much more free. It was very enjoyable."
Production duties on 'Midnight Flyer' were handled by
Mick Ralphs,
Bad Company's
guitarist and writer of some of their most enduring classics such as 'Can't Get
Enough', 'Ready For Love', 'Movin' On' and 'Good Lovin' Gone Bad', among many
others. Mick was assisted by engineer Martin Adams. Dave Dowle remembers the
recording of the album as a relatively painless affair: "Mick Ralphs was great!
You used to think you were doing your own thing, but he was totally in control.
There was a great engineer as well. Mick put it together really well. The way he
did the guitars, it sounded terrific. I think Mick did actually contribute some
guitar. I can't tell you exactly where, but I hear bits that sound like Mick. My
big regret was that we didn't ask
Mick Ralphs if he had a couple of songs 'cos
he's such a great writer."
After the album was completed, John Cook moved on and returned to playing
sessions. He was replaced by Chris Parren. "I don't think John really liked what
we were doing," explains Dave Dowle. "He was a nice enough chap, but Chris
Parren was better for what we were doing. I'd known Chris through the session
work that I'd been doing."
Towards the end of 1980, Midnight Flyer were invited to be the support act on
Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band's 'Against the Wind' European Tour. The
tour started with two dates at the Wembley Arena on the 20th and 21st November,
1980, before moving on to shows in Paris, Munich, Frankfurt, Brussels,
Rotterdam, Hamburg and finishing in Dussledorf on 6th December. Dave Dowle
remembers the experience to be a happy one. "When we toured with Bob Seger, we
went down really well. We weren't really a hard rock band and had a slightly
softer blues-rock sound, which went down well with Bob Seger's audience. The
Bob
Seger tour was right up our street. He was a lovely bloke."
January 1981 saw the band supporting
AC/DC on a number of dates on the European
leg of their 'Back In Black' Tour. Taking over from
Whitesnake, who supported
the Aussie rockers during the early part of the tour, Midnight Flyer played
shows in Spain, Belgium and France. Dave Dowle believes a chance encounter at a
London rehearsal studio was the reason Midnight Flyer ended up on the tour. "The
only reason we got the AC/DC tour was that I was working on my own on some songs
down at John Henry's. It was only a little rehearsal studio. I used to go in
there and record on my own and
AC/DC's Malcolm Young used to go in when I wasn't
around. And he heard our stuff and really liked it."
'Midnight Flyer' was released on the Swan Song label in February 1981, followed
in March by a single, 'Rough Trade' b/w 'Midnight Love'. Midnight Flyer played a
number of European dates of their own over the next few months including an
appearance at the Montreux Jazz Festival on the 8th July, 1981, on a bill with
Albert Collins, John Lee Hooker, Magic Slim and Taj Mahal. Their set that night
included a number of songs that had not appeared on the album such as 'Danger
Money', 'Don't Tease Me', 'Too Much To Loose' and the old
Stone The Crows
favourite, 'Penicillin Blues'.
Midnight Flyer were asked to be the support band for
AC/DC on a massive North
American tour, which ran from 14th November, 1981 to 25th February, 1982. The
'For Those About To Rock' Tour, as it was known, played at mostly big arenas
including New York's Madison Square Garden, the Spectrum in Philadelphia and the
Cow Palace in San Francisco. At the time of the tour Maggie Bell told the
American press that opening for
AC/DC on the first night of the tour at
Detroit's Cobo Hall had been a pretty frightening experience before going on
stage, but Maggie stressed how helpful the
AC/DC guys had been. "They've been
very kind, letting us use their P.A. system and their lights. They're a modest
bunch of guys off stage; they've been around for ten years now and they deserve
their success." According to the article, Maggie had known the Young family back
in Scotland before they moved to Australia. "That US tour was an incredible tour
and a lot of fun," recalls Dave Dowle. "Those
AC/DC guys were great. I expected
them to be these wild men, hard drinking, whatever, bul after what happened to
Bon Scott they did everything to keep that stuff away. I knew Cliff Williams
back in the days when he was in a band called
Home with Laurie Wisefield."
While the relationship between headliners and support act was one of warmth and
respect, the same cannot be said for the interaction between Midnight Flyer and
AC/DC's fans. At the time, Tone Stevens described the audience reception during
the tour to have been everything from impatient and unfriendly, in New Jersey
and Florida, to mostly receptive audiences as in Salt Lake. "AC/DC were a hard
act to open for, but Midnight Flyer held their own for many of the shows. But I
still have the bruises and lumps from where bottles and stuff hit me at the rest
of the shows!" "The
AC/DC gigs weren't all bad," Dave Dowle is keen to stress.
"We did pretty well in a lot of places."
Live Midnight Flyer played most of the tracks off their album plus an encore
version of the Spencer Davis Group hit, 'Gimme Some Lovin'. At the time,
Maggie
described the band's sound as "Good, healthy rock'n'roll. We put a hell of a lot
of energy into our show!" A review of the Midnight Flyer show in Salt Lake City
described Maggie Bell's performance thus: "Her style and voice is not typical or
other females performing these days. Bell can traverse in a throaty soul,
heartful blues, and she shows especially fine spirit when singing the Midnight
Flyer ballad, 'Rough Trade'. In the same article the reviewer described how
"Midnight Flyer kept building momentum with solid rock and roll, chunky and
sliding guitar bridges, a melodic bass line and soulful vocals from Bell. They
persisted through a set of songs from their debut album to an exceptional cover
of 'Gimme Some Lovin'."
An American newspaper article stated at the time that, following the
AC/DC tour,
Midnight Flyer would take a month-long holiday, before recording a new album
back at Startling Studio. Once the tour was over, however, it was decided to
release another single. 'Waiting For You' and 'Rock'n'Roll Party' were two
unfinished tracks from the 'Midnight Flyer' sessions that were dusted off and
completed. Records of just when the tracks were released are confusing. It
appears that a 'Rock'n'Roll Party' EP was released in January 1982, with a
regular single of 'Waiting For You' b/w 'Rock'n'Roll Party' apparently coming
out in April 1982. I cannot confirm whether both of these records were actually
released. Unfortunately, events elsewhere were to have a bearing on the career
of Midnight Flyer, and these releases were to be the band's last.
Following the death of Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham in September 1980 and
the resultant demise of Led Zeppelin, Peter Grant had suffered depression and
became a virtual recluse.
Zeppelin's Swan Song label mates,
Bad Company,
suffered from Grant's absence; unable to contact him for months on end, they
missed his direction and advice. Virtually left to their own devices, they
finally ground to a halt after the disappointing 'Rough Diamonds' album in 1982.
Although Midnight Flyer had never been as high on Grant's list of priorities as
Zeppelin or
Bad Co, they, too, felt as if they were cast adrift and fell apart
around mid-1982. "After John Bonham died, I didn't think it would continue,"
Dave Dowle remembers. "It just sort of fizzled out." Swan Song finally ceased
operations in October 1983. Peter Grant died of a heart attack on 21st November
1995. Ironically, after years of ill health, the nineties had found him
recovered from his demons and appearing at music business functions.
In the immediate aftermath of the Midnight Flyer split, Tone Stevens, Dave Dowle
and Ant Gynne worked briefly with Cheetah, a hard rock duo consisting of
Australian-bred sisters Chrissie and Lyndsay Hammond. Cheetah were looked after
by AC/DC's management and had enjoyed some success in Australia before deciding
to try their luck in Europe. Cheetah played a major UK tour with
Saxon in the
autumn of 1982 as well as a number of European Festivals including the 1982
Reading Festival, but after a year or so the sisters returned to Australia where
they vanished without trace.
The talented musicians who made up Midnight Flyer all continue to work in the
music business to this day. In fact, you will see that since the Midnight Flyer
period, former members of the band have gone on to work on an amazing variety of
projects with some of the biggest names in rock.
Chris Parren
Around 1983, through his Hudson-Ford connection, Chris was drafted into the
Strawbs as a replacement for Blue Weaver, who was unavailable for a reunion
tour. He contributed to both the 'Don't Say Goodbye' (1987) and 'Ringing Down
The Years' (1991) albums plus 'Greatest Hits Live' (1993). Parren, together with
the
Strawbs members Rod Demick and Richard Hudson also formed another band,
Turkey Leg Johnson, which used to gig when the
Strawbs were not active. In
August 1989, Chris Parren played with the ex-Frankie Miller guitarist Ray
Minhinnett in his band UK Busters. Coincidently, the line-up featured the same
Stuart Blandameer who had worked with Dave Dowle in Curly back in the early
seventies!
During 1990, Chris Parren was involved in a re-recording of The Rocky Horror
Show, which resulted in a 2LP set, 'The Rocky Horror Show (The Whole Gory
Story)', featuring performances from such performers as Tim Mclnnerny, Gina
Bellman, Adrian Edmonson and Eddie Tudor-Pole. Six years later, Chris took The
Rocky Horror Show on the road, which was recorded for prosperity on the live
album, 'The Rocky Horror Show 1996/1997 European Tour'. In May 1997, Chris also
joined Roger Chapman & The Shortlist for a few gigs, as a stand-in for their
usual keyboardist, Ian Gibbons, who was unavailable.
For the past thirty years or so, Chris has been a much in-demand session player
and apart from the artists already mentioned he has also worked with George
Michael, The Eurythmics, Bobby Womack,
Lulu, Judie Tzuke,
Albert Hammond,
Mike
Batt, Dave Davies, Jim Diamond,
Chris Farlowe, Labi Siffre and The Three
Degrees.
John Cook
After 'Midnight Flyer', John played keyboards on
Cozy Powell's 1981 album 'Tilt'
which featured Jack Bruce,
Jeff Beck and
Gary Moore. John also played on
Graham
Bonnet's 'Line Up' album from 1981 with Russ Ballard, Micky Moody, Francis
Rossi, Rick Parfitt, Jon Lord and
Cozy Powell. John hooked up again with
Mick Ralphs when he played keyboards on the original
Bad Company's final album,
'Rough Diamonds', which was released in 1982. John continued to work into the
nineties, recording sessions with
Jackie Lynton in 1997 and appearing with
Rory
Gallagher on 'Leaving Town Blues' and 'Showbiz Blues', two tracks from the
Peter
Green tribute album, 'Rattlesnake Guitar - The Music of Peter Green', from 1997.
Ant Glynne
In more recent years, Ant has worked with Mike Oldfield,
Asia, Roger Chapman, Albert Collins, Taj Mahal, Nina Simone,
Judy Tzuke, Simon
Phillips, Nicko McBrain, Mick Abrahams and, most recently, Rick Wakeman's
English Rock Ensemble. Ant has also worked as a demonstrator for Marshall guitar
amplifiers, including playing a Marshall concert with Slash (of Guns'n'Roses
fame). In addition, Ant has played in several theatre productions in London's
West End including 'Rent', 'Fosse', 'Stop In The Name Of Love' and 'Winter's
Tale'.
Dave Dowle
Since working with Cheetah, Dave has continued with his session work, recording
adverts and jingles for film and television as well as recording with artists
such as Renaissance, Kiki Dee,
David Essex and
Chris Rea and playing live with
acts like the Moody-Marsden Band.
Tony Stevens
In 1984, Tony was asked to join former
Family singer
Roger Chapman, who was
enjoying considerable success in Europe. Tone played for nearly four years with
Roger recording 'The Shadow Knows' (1984), 'Zipper' (1985) and 'Live in Berlin'
(1989). With Chapman, Tone toured Europe, playing major festivals in Western
Europe, but also in Eastern bloc countries. Incidentally, the guitarist in
Roger's band at this time was Geoff Whitehorn, who had toured with Maggie Bell
back in 1975. Isn't it amazing how many times
Roger Chapman's name has come up
in this story?
After Roger
Chapman, Tone returned to his acting, enrolling in a drama school
and signing up with an agency, which led to small parts in major soaps in the
UK, 'The Bill' and 'East Enders', as well as other work. In December 1998, Tone
Stevens released a solo album, 'Don't Blame Me... I Just Play Bass' together
with his old Roger Chapman buddies Geoff Whitehorn and Nick Pentelow.
In 1993, Tone answered the call from
Foghat's former manager Tony Outeda, who
was putting the original band back together. They released an album, 'Return Of
The Boogie Men' (September 94) and returned to the road, as documented in a live
album released in May 1998, 'Road Cases'. Despite Rod Price's retirement from
touring and the sad and untimely loss of 'Lonesome' Dave Peverett, who died in
February 2000, Foghat are still out there playing. [Rod Price has sadly died
earlier this month - Ed.]
Maggie Bell
Although the frantic pace that Maggie set in the seventies and early eighties
eventually slowed a little, enabling her to spend precious time with her family,
she has remained active, spending her time recording and playing live as well as
acting and writing music for films and TV.
In 1982, Maggie appeared in a musical adaptation of Kenneth Grahame's children's
story, 'Wind In The Willows', along with
Tony Ashton, Donovan,
John Entwistle,
Joe Fagin, Ray Fenwick, Steve Hackett,
Eddie Hardin, Chris Thompson,
Don Airey,
Graham
Bonnet and Jon Lord. The recording was eventually released in 1985. In
June 1991, 'Wind In The Willows' was performed live at the Zeltfestival in
Freiburg with many of the same musicians, including Maggie. This was released as
'Wind In The Willows: A Rock Concert' in 1992 on the German Akustik label and
re-released in the UK by Angel Air in 1998, credited to
Eddie Hardin. (A DVD was
released of the concert credited to
Hardin & York, 'Wind In The Willows Rock
Concert', NJPDVD601 on the Angel Air label.)
Maggie released a number of singles during 1982/83, all on the Swan Song label,
but unfortunately neither 'Goosebumps' b/w 'Key To Your Heart' (September 1982)
nor 'Crazy' b/w 'All I Have To Do Is Dream' (January 1983) managed to make the
charts. Nor the did the US-only duet with Bobby Whitlock, 'Put Angels Around
You' b/w 'Here There And Everywhere' (1983). In 1984, Maggie appeared on the
soundtrack to the film 'Crimes Of Passion' with Rick Wakeman, singing 'It's A
Lovely Life' and 'Dangerous Woman'. Another soundtrack that Maggie contributed
to is for 'The Raggedy Rawney' from 1988 which features Maggie singing her own
brilliant composition, 'The Funeral Lamentation'. Another appearance by
Maggie
in the eighties was on 'Hometown Girls', a 1985 album by Denny Laine.
Since 1983, Maggie's name has also become forever linked with the TV police
series, Taggart, which is set in Glasgow. Maggie's great rendition of the show's
suitably gritty theme tune, 'No Mean City', became a firm favourite with fans
and also led to her making a guest appearance on the show as a character called
Euphemia Lambie on the episode called 'Evil Eye', which was first broadcast on
4th September, 1990. Maggie also released another solo album in 1987, but
unfortunately 'Crimes Of The Heart' received little in the way of promotion and
many fans were even unaware of its existence!
In 1997, Maggie appeared on a Japanese-only release of
Eddie Hardin's 'Wizards
Convention 3' alongside other artists such as Denny Laine, Zak Starkey,
Roger
Glover, Ray Fenwick,
David Coverdale,
Glenn Hughes, Mo Foster and
Ronnie James
Dio. Maggie sings 'Maggie's Theme' and duets with Billy Ocean on the track, 'I'm
Looking Forward To Tomorrow'. Also in 1997, Maggie appears on an album entitled,
'Knights Of The Blues Table', which was a tribute to Cyril Davies, who fathered
British blues with Alexis Korner. Maggie appears with Big Jim Sullivan on the
track 'Blind Man'. Other artists involved on the album were Chris and Mick
Jagger, Mick Taylor, Jack Bruce, Georgie Fame,
Miller Anderson,
Peter Green,
Tony McPhee, Nine Below Zero,
The Pretty Things and Paul Jones.
Maggie also
appeared in the Hardin & York 'Wind In The Willows Rock Concert' recently
released on Angel Air.
Maggie now lives in Rotterdam, Holland, and continues to perform live and
record, one of her most recent appearances being on 'A Tribute To Frankie
Miller' (2003), where she contributed a marvellous rendition of
Frankie's
'Jealousy'.
Keith Smith November 2004
Taken from the CD reissue of "Midnight Flyer" (Angel Air, SJPCD198, 2005)