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Somebody Get Me A Spin Doctor (Live)
I Love You More Than Rock 'n' Roll
BIOGRAPHY
Thunder
Danny Bowes (Vocals)
Luke Morley (Guitar)
Ben Matthews (Guitar/Keyboards)
Chris Childs (Bass)
Harry James (Drums)
Thunder’s new album “Robert Johnson’s Tombstone” is released on 30th October on STC Recordings (via Universal). The band will tour the UK in November to support the new release.
Since the 2005 release of the highly acclaimed “The Magnificent Seventh” LP, Thunder have been very busy indeed:-
The band have played 2 UK tours, 2 European Tours, done lots of festivals and finished off with a triumphant appearance at the Monsters of Rock Festival in Milton Keynes in June. They’ve recently released their fourth self financed DVD – a double affair called “Thunder Go Mad In Japan” – which, as the title suggests, was filmed on tour in Japan in February 2006. Disc 1 contains a documentary of the trip, and Disc 2 features a full blown 2 hour show. Harry performed with Ian Gillan at the Teenage Cancer Trust show at the Royal Albert Hall, and Chris has assumed the role of in house designer for the band’s label. Luke wrote and produced the new album, and Ben engineered and mixed it. Danny has spent the whole time (when not singing of course) plotting world domination for their record label (STC Recordings). The campaign for the new LP is gathering pace, and full details of all their activities can be found as ever at www.thunderonline.com
Luke Morley says “Robert Johnson’s Tombstone is possibly our most cohesive album to date. The title track is one of the best things we’ve ever done. It says everything there is to say about THUNDER and where we come from musically. There’s nobody else doing what we do right now and this album gets right into the soul of what we are. I didn’t realise until the album was finished that lyrically a lot of the material deals with temptation and regret, so what that says about us I don’t know! Despite that, it’s still an uplifting album though. I can’t wait for people to hear it and it’s going to be great to play it live. We went to Spain to record a lot of the album but instead of heading to the beach we rented a place up in the mountains to keep us out of trouble! It was all big, sweeping views down to the coast; very dramatic and inspiring. Hopefully some of that comes through in what we’ve done. With every album we’ve made for our own label we get closer to defining what we are as a band and that’s because we really are making music for ourselves. There’s a purity about that. We know what we want to do, and because we answer to ourselves only, we’re completely free to get on with it. People that buy our albums and come to our shows know that, and I’m sure that’s partly why we’re still here.”
A BIT OF THUNDER HISTORY – For those who need it…
Formed at the turn of 1989, Thunder have enjoyed an eventful career that has thankfully witnessed more highs than lows. The release of “Robert Johnson’s Tombstone” finds the quintet on a very remarkable high, and in a position where they are pretty much masters of their own destiny.
Having known each other since they were 11 and been playing in bands together since they were 15, Danny and Luke knew exactly what they were going for when they began demo-ing tracks with Duran Duran guitarist Andy Taylor producing. With Harry James occupying the drum stool, bass player Mark “Snake” Luckhurst and guitarist/keyboardist Ben Matthews swiftly joined the trio, and by this time a record deal had been inked with EMI. Debuting in front of a mere 35 punters at a gig in Southend in July 1989, they did a handful of shows before the band entered the studio with Taylor and engineer Mike Fraser (Bryan Adams, Aerosmith etc) to cut their first magnificent offering in the shapely form of debut album 'Backstreet Symphony'. More touring followed, including two dates at the NEC in Birmingham opening for Aerosmith, and the band's fondness for the road would only increase their popularity. “In our previous band Terraplane,” notes Luke, “we never got any support from radio and TV and with Thunder we just assumed the worst. So we just decided to get out there and play. We knew our ability to play live would make us friends, and if we only played to ten people we felt confident that those ten people would tell their mates and another ten would be along to the next gig. We grafted and we enjoyed it, and it worked! We went from a pub in Shepherd's Bush to headlining three sold out nights at Hammersmith Odeon within fifteen months. I’m very proud of that”
And Thunder would play bigger venues than Hammersmith on the back of their debut album. Following European dates opening for Heart earlier that year, Thunder, not for the last time in their career, would play the 'Monsters Of Rock' event at Donington Park in August 1990. 'Kerrang', 'Raw' and 'Metal Hammer', the three leading UK rock magazines at the time, deservedly voted them the best new band of the year. “Big outdoor shows suit us,” opines Morley. “Whether it’s Donington or Wembley Stadium with Bon Jovi in 1995, we do these kinds of shows very well. We're a very natural, festival band. Perhaps that's because we encourage people to enjoy themselves?” Thunder's fondness for hard graft and a good laugh into the bargain turned them into one of the most visible and popular British rock acts of the 90s. By the time the Taylor/Fraser produced second album, 'Laughing On Judgement Day' was released in August 1992 (held off the Number One spot in the UK's album chart only by a Kylie Minogue greatest hits package) the quintet had worked extremely hard out on the road. Not only had they made inroads into Scandinavia, and South America, they had also appeared at the Milton Keynes Bowl alongside ZZ Top, experienced the delights of New Year's Eve in Tokyo on a bill with Metallica, Europe and Tesla and, to perhaps top it all, made a triumphant return to the Donington stage as guests of Iron Maiden.
However, the tour to support 'Laughing On Judgement Day' (which included headlining dates in the UK and a European tour supporting Extreme) proved a step too far for bassist Snake. He quit after Japanese dates at the end of 1992. Snake's immediate replacement was ex Great King Rat man Mikael Höglund, and with the Swede in tow Thunder toured Canada in early 1993, before returning to Europe for more headlining shows and an appearance on the bill at Don Valley Stadium in Sheffield headlined by Def Leppard.
Third album 'Behind Closed Doors' was recorded in the US with Mike Fraser producing, and was released in January 1995, after another year-end UK tour. Thunder spent the summer touring throughout the UK and Europe playing on bills with Bon Jovi and Van Halen, including gigs at Cardiff Arms Park, Wembley Stadium and Feyenoord Stadium in Rotterdam. They also headlined the Bulldog Bash that year before venturing to Japan once more. However, the album was released during a particularly grim period for bands like Thunder. Grunge had hit in a big way. Staring at your shoes was in. Singing songs about dirty love was not….
“I don't think we were particularly affected by Grunge in terms of musical influence,” reckons Luke. “Although there was some great music that came out of that period - Alice In Chains and Soundgarden spring to mind - the problem was that America, in particular, was sold on Grunge to the detriment of everything else. It definitely hurt us, but not just us of course” Thunder gritted their teeth and carried on. Despite the departure of Mikael Höglund due to family pressures, they recorded and released 'The Thrill Of It All' through new label Castle in February 1997. By this time, former Then Jericho bassist Chris Childs had been added to the ranks. That year found them playing throughout Europe and also putting in an appearance at Finsbury Park in London on a bill headlined by Kiss.
The band's first official live album, 'Live', hit the stores in February 1998 and the quintet toured the UK once again, and doing another couple of bits for charity by abseiling off of the side of the Tyne Bridge in Newcastle for the British Lung Foundation (not Luke - he hates heights), and doing a freefall parachute jump (Danny & Ben). Thunder are, of course, no strangers to charity, having organised several highly publicised gigs in aid of CRISIS in the past. Surprisingly, eight months after the release of the next studio album, 'Giving The Game Away', in 1998, Thunder announced a split due to “outside business forces”, going out in typical style with a series of farewell shows, climaxing with two gigs at Dingwalls in Camden on May 4 and 5 2000.
Danny “We’d been at it solidly for eleven years, we were still doing great touring business and we were solid as a unit, but we felt frustrated. There didn't seem to be any room for us to operate outside of our own fanbase. Our label seemed content to sell reasonable numbers of records then shut up shop and count the money. We felt a bit like hamsters in the wheel. We weren't going forwards. In the end I told the band I wanted to stop, and I suggested they get another singer. They didn’t want to continue without me, so, with heavy hearts, we announced the split”
We thought it was all over…..
Not so. Like the proverbial bad penny, Thunder returned in 2002. While Danny pursued other activities within the music business or, as he describes it, a “varying portfolio of interests” (i.e. managing a band, record label consultant and video and tour production), Luke recorded a solo album ('El Gringo Retro'). Meanwhile, Ben got back into his earlier role as a recording engineer, Harry joined Magnum, and Chris returned to session work. Having been offered a deal to make a different kind of record, it wasn't long before Luke and Danny teamed up again in Bowes & Morley, a musical vehicle that has so far produced two albums.
So, why reform? Let Danny explain….
“I'd had the idea of the 'Monsters Of Rock' tour and took the concept to Clear Channel. I convinced them it was a workable thing to do, thinking that my role would be behind the scenes, and just walking around telling people what to do!
“But they felt Thunder should reform and be on the bill. ‘It would be great for ticket sales’, they said. I wasn't sure, but I took it back to the guys, who basically bit my arm off! Luke wanted to do a record straight away, but I knew it would get out of hand, and I wasn’t ready to jump straight back into the fire, so we settled on an EP to start with. When the news got out, we were offered record deals, but with the advances in technology and the internet, we felt we knew enough about the record business to form and run our own label. I also felt we needed to get a proper distribution deal before doing a full blown LP. I wasn't really interested in sitting at home licking labels, though for a while I did...”
“The thing is, we never fell out, we’d all remained good friends,” continues Luke. “When the offer for the 'Monsters Of Rock' tour came in, we went for it. We felt that at the very least we'd have a laugh and enjoy ourselves. After that we’d have to see if there was any goodwill out there for us. We seriously underestimated the goodwill.. The 'Back For The Crack' EP sold incredibly well, as did the 'Shooting At The Sun' album. Amazingly the fans were still there and they’ve continued to grow throughout the campaign for 'The Magnificent Seventh', and all the touring we’ve done with it”
Indeed. Onward and upward and there's clearly no chance of Thunder joining the derelict old barflies up on Boot Hill just yet!
Luke “There was a period just after the whole Brit-Pop thing in the late 90s when we were truly out of sorts. But rock is back, and we're having a great time, and what’s even better, now we’re doing it all on our own terms.”
Danny “There’s no doubt it’s very hard work doing this all ourselves, but the rewards are there with each record selling more than the last, so we can see the curve going upwards, and it's great not to have to deal with all the record label bullshit, now it’s my bullshit, and everyone else has to deal with it!”
