ROBIN GEORGE

By M W Daniels

Robin George is a British guitarist and song writer. Robin has also worked with David Byron (ex-Uriah Heep vocalist), briefly with Asia members John Wetton & Carl Palmer and Notorious with Diamond Head's Sean Harris. He was also in Magnum for a brief period. He achieved a lot of recognition with this 1985 debut album “Dangerous Music” and the single from the album “Heartline” peaked at #68 in the U.K. singles chart and #92 in the US hot 100 (#40 in the mainstream U.K.chart). His solo albums often get overlooked which is annoying as Robin has made some wonderful albums and they deserve to be recognised for his song writing and playing talents.  

You have released lots of albums since your debut "Dangerous Music" in 1984 but is that first album still very special to you?

Yep, Dangerous Music is still special to me for many reasons! My then manager John Holman who also managed the David Byron Band got me a publishing deal with DJM, who got me a deal with Bronze Records. To me the best rock label ever!

Bronze poured their hearts, souls & big bucks into recording and promoting the album. They got my 1st single, HeartLine A listed on every rock radio & TV show across Europe and it hit the charts in the UK and crept into the U.S. Billboard chart which was amazing for me at the time as you can imagine. They funded the Heartline video, directed by andy Earl and art directed by the superb and much missed Andie Airfix. They booked the cover photo shoot with the brilliant Fin Costello. You can see the results for Yourself. Then the Bronze team got me tours opening for REO Speedwagon and Uli Roth which went really well for me and my Dangerous Music band... then a headline Euro tour which again was really well received, so good times indeed. For your info, the Euro tour album is out now on Dangerous Music Records.

What was it like working with the late great Phil Lynott and was Thin Lizzy a big influence on you growing up?

I was invited to audition for Lizzie when Garry left, so whilst I, like all my mates lovedthe Lizzie singles, that was all I had heard apart from the Laff gig, So Lizzie weren’t a musical influence for me. I borrowed a copy of ‘Live and Dangerous’ and stayed up all night learning all the trax. We got stuck in traffic on the way to Shepperton Studios for the gig and Pete Winkelman my then friend and manager drove like a maniac through rush hour London traffic, I mean wrong side of the road flashing headlights and horns stuff... By the time we got there my fingers were cramped from gripping the dashboard! I didn’t get the gig, but Phil told me when we finally got together that he wanted me, but politics dictated they got Snowy White, I think I won in the end, thanks Phil my friend.

Phil was a real pleasure and privilege to work with, we became firm friends during our times together, and co-wrote some great songs together, mostly written sitting on his bedroom floor with an acoustic guitar each, bouncing thoughts and ideas off each other. Then we go into Phil’s garden studio and record the ‘demos’. We called ‘em demos, but they were really studio quality masters. It was just before Xmas, and as I was leaving for the station to go home to Wolves for the hols Phil said, ‘I’ll come with you for the ride and we can listen to the trax together on the way.’ When we arrived at Euston Phil said ’can I keep the tape to listen more, I’ve got some ideas I wanna try’ so of course I said yes, to my great regret... I’ve never heard the songs since that day!

I first saw Lizzie when they played the fab Lafayette club in Wolves, I got chatting to Phil at the bar and I told him truthfully what a great band he had. I thought that was that, but, when I was recording ‘Showdown’ for the DM album I invited my good mate Mark Stanway, from Magnum to play keys on the track. To my great surprise and pleasure Mark said, ‘I’ve brought a friend with me, is that Ok?’ I said fine,and in walked Phil!! We had a ‘Rock & Roll cuddle’ like friends do. Mark played great Keyboards and then Phil said ‘I’ve got my bass in the car. Shall I send my man to get it, I’d like to play on the track, if you like.’ I was gobsmacked, I nearly fell off my, horse! He played the track in one take, which was so incredible as he’d only heard Showdown a few times that day. Result or both...

I got a call out of the blue asking me to play on Phil’s single, ‘Nineteen.’ Of course I jumped at the chance! We were recording at Bronze Records Roundhouse Studio, with Paul NNNN Nineteen Hardcastle producing. I was very familiar with the studio, having recorded most of my Dangerous Music album there, and it was a great session indeed. Phil wanted Harley D engine roaring on the track, so, there was a bike shop opposite the studio and Phil got the owner to bring a Harley near to the studio. Phil had a great time revving the guts out of the machine, people were hanging out of windows shouting at him to stop... the more they shouted, the more he revved! In fact, the only photo I’ve got of me and Phil together is of that moment, ... good one though!

When I got the call to say Phil had died I had to put the phone down I was so shocked... devastated really. When we were filming the video for Nineteen a few days before, Phil was complaining of back ache but carried on like the pro he was. The warehouse we filmed in was freezing, my stage gear was wringing sweat wet from my gig the night before, no not much fun but worth every second. The vid never got used, I’ll never know why, but still, but we thought it was good! Phil had invited me to go to L.A. to co-star in the Nineteen vid, but I felt duty bound to honour the contract for the Tonnypandy Navel Club in the Welsh mining valleys. It was a fab gig but what a bad decision, sun with Phil or freezing in Wales. I felt so honoured have another filming just to include me though. Oops.

What prompted your move to spain?

 Mainly what the UK was becoming, not somewhere we wanted to live any more, not the country we loved and were lucky enough to grow up in. So, we spent 5 years travelling all across Spain until one day we drove into an Andulucian village that was in mid fiesta (party week) and loved the vibe and welcome from the locals, My wife Debbie said ‘I want to live here’ So we found a run down town house thinking we just had to replace the floor tiles! A major refurb later we had created a beautiful home and have lived here happily for many moons. We have fab views of 7 mountains, a sparkling lake and the distant sea. It’s pretty cool, well mostly warm really! The added plus is that Debbie, my soul mate and wife, speaks perfect Spanish, and now translates for people world wide. We both work mainly over the internet and it works great for us.

The first room finished was my studio, and I have had the pleasure of many ‘name’ artists recording with me, both in person and online, so everything works really well.

 You recorded 4 albums during lockdown, were any of these started on before lockdown or all created at that time?

Dangerous Daze my new album was written and recorded entirely during lockdown, so it became Rockdown for me! With Charlie Morgan, the best melodic rock drummer ever in Nashville, it was online all the way, and again, a fab way to work!

In fact, Charlie has played on 7 of my albums, starting with DM 2, produced by Gus Dudgeon and featuring the superb Pino Palladino on fretless bass, right up ‘till now... what a brilliant mate to have huh!

Then I was in danger of becoming bored, so I asked the great sound engineer Klaus Bohlmann to re master the Asia 2 Live at the Marquee gig, which now sounds like the gig if you Play Loud, then I edited the music and the vid to what is the CD/DVD. I like it! Fantastic players and songs, It was only our 3rd and, unfortunately, last gig, and it is a good show, I’m told.

Then I remembered all the mostly unheard masters of name artists I have written with, played with and produced. ‘Roxstar Legends’ was begun. It was a labour of love & sadness, BitterSweet really, but the great memories fought through, and I came to love editing and remembering some truly wild and tremendous, awesome times with my much-missed friends. LovePower Angels with you all Amigos.

Finally, I dived into the vaults to recover the RockinG LovePower chirridy masters. Such fun!.

LovePower & Peace was recorded & compiled over many moons, with most song co written by me and the amazing artists I have been privileged enough to work with, from Phil Lynott to Ruby Turner. The album is a journey through Rock, soul, pop & funk Rock, mostly Rock though. This re-mastered version, ‘RockinG LovePower’ is even rockier with star performances from Robert Plant, John Wetton, Damage Control (feat the much-missed Pete Way, Chris Slade & Spike).Vix Fuzzbox, et al.

It was great to edit out unneeded sections, e.g. Robert & me co-produced Red for Danger, and he wanted wild guitars from me, a few bits were crazy wild, but tightened up a bit it works great for me now! See what you think?

Like the original release this CD is totally for charity, but for this release of ‘RockinG LovePower’ people buy it for £5 and donate whatever they can to the charity of their choice, and so do I.

Seems like a plot that’s working well, my friends!

One desert island album that you would have over everything else?

 Have to be 3 albums to choose from, Journey Escape, Foreigner Urgent & Led Zep 1.

Is there any collaborative work of yours that's yet to see the light of day?

Yep, for some reason Robert didn’t release the album we recorded together, mostly at my home studio in Wolves and then a few great London studios where Robert sang a few tracks & we mixed & mastered them. Then... nothing! I don’t know why. It was good!

 I’ve said before, you form a sort of brotherly/sisterly love bond with artists you’re working so creatively & closely with, so Robert must have fallen out of love with me as a guitar player, and in love with some random keyboard techno wiz! ‘I don’t want to play ‘Cock Rock’ anymore was his reason...a sort of compliment, I suppose!

He said he wasn’t gonna pay me because he’d buy me a house in the country with my share of my royalties... I’m still waiting?

Then the Phil & me tapes were stolen after we lost him...I’ve tracked them down to a woman in Sweden, but she will not return them, or even send me copies, F’k knows why but how selfish to deprive Phill’s fans and the world of his last ever recordings! There’s nothing I can do legally due to the ridiculous 6-year law, which has left me powerless to re-claim monies stolen from me via bootlegs etc. Nobody is aware they’re bootlegs until they are released by the thieving companies by when it's too late to block or retrieve them, so a loss loss situation for so many artists, including me!

Then the me & Sean Harris (Diamond Head) Notorious album was released by Warner’s in the UK & Geffen records the the USA, but the companies fell out and the vinyl & CD were pulled... we’ll never know why. Again, it was a great album...

The only other ‘non releases’ are my writing and recording with the fab

Ruby Turner, but I’ve included a rocked-up version of ‘Pride’ on ‘RockinG LovePower’ CD with Ruby’s blessing! So, you can hear it at last my friends... Ruby Really Rocks the socks off the track!! Ruby was booked to play Pride at the closing ceremony of the Commonwealth games, but the games were cancelled due to lockdown. A shame for us all, but understood of course. Onwards & upwards is the only way to go! So here we go again my friends!

Future plans Robin?

To keep on rocking for as long as possible, it’s all I know and always has been and will be my calling! Thanks for asking Martin

Cheers Robin.