690 Goodbye Thin Lizzy -Dedication

Chart  entered :  26  January  1991

Chart  peak : 35

This  was  another  posthumous  hit, the  band  having  been  defunct  for  nearly  eight  years  at  this  point.

The  band  struggled to  follow  up  "Whiskey  In  The  Jar"  in  1973  and  guitarist  Eric  Bell  buckled  under  the  pressure  quitting  the  band  at  a  gig  in  Belfast  on  New  Year's  Eve. Gary  Moore  came  in  for  a  few  months  followed  by  a  couple  of  fly  by  nights  then  singer / bassist  Phil  Lynott  and  drummer  Brian  Downey  decided  to  expand to  having  two  guitarists  and  held  auditions  in  1974. They  picked  17  year  old  Brian  Robertson  from  Scotland  and  Scott  Gorham  a  Californian  who  had  hoped  to  join  his  brother-in-law  in   Supertramp   but  was  now  at  imminent  risk  of  deportation. With  the  new  guys  able  to  play  harmony  guitar, Thin  Lizzy  jettisoned  most  of  their  old  material  from  the  set. They  gradually  built  up  an  audience  again  and  their  1975  LP  "Fighting"  was  their  first  to  chart. It  all  came  good  in  1976  with  the  album  "Jailbreak"  and  the  classic  single  "The  Boys  Are  Back  In  Town", the  anthem  for  that  long  hot  summer. They  had  a  string  of  UK  hits  in  the  late  seventies  although  American  interest  in  the  band  declined  with  each  album. They  also  indulged  heavily  in  rock  and  roll  excess  and  eventually  the  hard-drinking  Brian  R  was  fired  and  replaced  by  Gary  in  1978.   Phil became  interested  in  new  wave  encouraged  by  his  friend  Midge  Ure  and  collaborated  with  the  ex-Sex  Pistols  as The  Greedy  Bastards  in  1979  then  flirted  with  synth  pop  on  his  solo  album  in  1980. At  the  same  time  his  heavy  drug  use  was  alienating  his  colleagues. Gary  left  for  a  final  time  and  producer  Tony  Visconti  refused  to  work  with  Phil  anymore. Gary  was  replaced  by  blues  guitarist  Snowy  White   for  the  album  "Chinatown"  which   contained  their  last  Top  10  single  "Killer  On  The  Loose". Touring  keyboard  player  Darren  Wharton  was  upgraded  to  a  permanent  member. The  band  went  into  rapid  commercial  and  artistic  decline becoming  a  routine  metal  act, confirmed  by  Snowy's  departure  in  1982  and  replacement  by  John  Sykes  from  metal  toilers  The  Tygers  of  Pan  Tang. The  band  then  announced  that  their  next  album "Thunder  and  Lightning" and  subsequent  tour  in  1983 would  be  their  last.  Phil  had  plans  for  a  new  group  Grand  Slam  but  largely  due  to  his  drug-addled  state  it  never  got  off  the  ground. He  returned  to  the  charts  in  1985  in  tandem  with  Gary  on  the  single   "Out  In  The  Fields"   which  reached  number  5  although  his  mumbled  contribution  is  peripheral  and  his  co-credit  a  very  generous  gesture  by  Gary.  Barely  six  months  later,  he  succumbed  to  pneumonia  ,his  body  weakened  by  the  years  of  drug  abuse. In  1986  Gary, Scott, Brian  D  and  Darren  played  the  Self  Aid  concert  in  Dublin  with  a  guest  bassist  and  Bob  Geldof  helping  out  Gary  on  vocals.

"Dedication"  was  a  similar  effort  to  The  Beatles'  Free  As  A  Bird  a  few  years  later.  It  was  the  nearest  thing  to  a  completed  song  on  Phil's  voice  and  bass  demos  for  the  Grand  Slam  project. Brian  and  Scott  agreed  to  work  on  it  for  inclusion  on  a  Thin  Lizzy  compilation  to  mark  the  fifth  anniversary  of  Phil's  death  and  release  as  a  single. Gary initially  agreed  to  work  on  it  then  changed  his  mind. Scott  managed  to  come  up  with  a  melodic  punky  riff  to  match  Phil's  tune  and  it's  as  good  as  it  could  be  given  that  it's  a  half-formed,  repetitive  song  - you're  certainly  not  in  any  doubt of  the  title -  and  Phil  sounds  like  he's  singing  through  a  scarf.

The  album  reached  number  8  and  a re-release  of  "The  Boys  Are  Back  In  Town" had  a  week  in  the  charts  at   number  63  a  couple  of  months  later. At  the  end  of  the  year  the  two  Brians  did  a  brief  tour  of  Ireland  as  Thin  Lizzy  with  Bobby  Tench  on  vocals. In  1994  they  joined  Eric  and  Darren  for  a  tribute  concert  in  Wolverhampton  which  also  featured  Lizzy  tribute  acts. There  was  another  one  on  the  tenth  anniversary  of Phil's  death  which  involved  John  instead  of  Brian  R. Following,  that  John decided  to  reactivate  the  group  on  a  more  permanent  basis  and  persuaded  Scott, Brian  D  and  Darren  to  come  on  board  though  it was  understood  that  the  band  would  not  record  new  material. Brian  D  quit  on  health  grounds  the  following  year  and  Darren  left  in  2001. John  and  Scott  balanced  the  group  alongside  other  projects  until  2009  when  John  quit  leaving  Scott  to  arrange  a  new  line  up. Brian  D  and  Darren  both  rejoined  and  ex-Almighty  singer  Ricky  Warwick  joined  to  replace  John  on  vocals.

With  Warwick   in  the  band , thoughts  turned  to  writing  new  material  but  with  Brian  and  Darren  declining  to  take  part   (  though  both  remained  willing  to  play  live  occasionally   as  Lizzy  ) it  was  decided  to  record  as  Black  Star  Riders . Since  2012  they  have  released  three  albums  and  toured  heavily. Their  melodic  hard  rock  does  owe  a  lot  to  Lizzy  and  Warwick  has  started  to  sound  like  Phil  but  they  are  writing  decent  songs  like  recent  singles  "Testify  Or  Say  Goodbye"  and  "Dancing  With  The  Wrong  Girl"  and  each  album  has  done  better  than  the  one  before.

Brian  D  cited  the  touring  schedule  as  the  reason  for  pulling  out  of  Black  Star  Riders  but  earlier this  year  formed  Brian  Downey's  Alive  and  Dangerous  to  perform  Thin  Lizzy  songs  in  Europe.

Darren  went  back  to  his  main  group  Dare. They  had  formed  in  Oldham  back  in  1985, their young   keyboard  player  being  future  TV  scientist  Brian  Cox. Eventually  they  signed  with  A & M   and  had  four  very  minor  hits  in  1989-91  playing  Mike  and  the  Mechanics-style  AOR  with  Celtic  leanings. Their  first  hit  "The  Raindance"  sounds  very  similar  to  John  Farnham's  The  Voice.  They  were  dropped  after  two  albums  and  broke  up. They  reformed  in  1998  ( without  Cox )  but  have  pursued  a  more  overtly  Celtic direction  on  Darren's  own  label  Legend.  Terry  Wogan  gave  them  support  on  Radio  Two . Their  most  recent  album  was  "Sacred  Ground"  last  year.

Eric  joined  The  Noel  Redding  Band  for  a  couple  of  albums  in  the  mid-seventies, then  the  blues  ensemble  Mainsqueeze  in  the  early  eighties. For  the  past  three  decades  he  has  ploughed  his  own  furrow in  the  Eric  Bell  Band  staying  firmly  in  the  blues  rock  genre.

Brian  R  joined  Motorhead   and  John  joined  Whitesnake  so  we'll  pick  up  their  stories  in  the  appropriate  posts. Gary  of  course  had  a  successful  solo  career  so  we'll  come  back  to  him  as  well.

Snowy  went  on to  score  a  fluke  hit  single  in  the  post-Christmas  lull  in  1984  with  "Bird  of  Paradise" from  his  debut  album  "White  Flames"  which  then  became  the  name  of  his  band.  Like  Eric  he's  stuck  with  the  blues  rock  scene   releasing  a  steady  string  of  albums. He's  also  known  for  his  long  association  with  Roger  Waters  with  whom  he  has  frequently  toured.