Magnum - the band

[KevB]

Popped down to Rock City last night to catch Magnum on tour. I noticed that after many years exclusively using Warwicks that their bass player Al was sporting a rather sexy looking Fender jazz five string. I'm hopeless at identifying which specific one it was as there are so many Fender variants these days. It looked pretty new and appeared to be a natural body finish with black block inlays. Hard to tell from where I was if it was strung through body or bridge. Very nice tone though!

Edit, just found an online pic, looks strung through bridge, Jap reissue of some sort maybe?


[IMG]http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c307/KevB64/alb.jpg[/IMG]

Edited November 26, 2012 by KevB

[Dingus]

Wow , are they still going ? I remember seeing them opening for someone or other back in the 1970s ! I remember the guitarist was called Bob -something ( maybe ?) and had a chubby face and a red Gibson ES335. That bass looks like a current Fender American Deluxe Jazz 5 .

[MacDaddy]

Where's Wally?

one for the Magnum fans only

[Cygnus x-1]

Supported Whitesnake (I think) in the late 70's, good band.
Makes me feel old!

[Dingus]

I remember that album Magnum II with a silver cover .

[KevB]

Bob's the singer actually. Probably Tony Clarkin you were thinking of on guitar, used to wear a hat and had a big bushy beard back in the day. Totally bald these days. Wally Lowe quit quite a while ago, Al's been on bass since they reconvened, after a 5 year hiatus, in the early 2000's. They've had Harry James on drums for several years too (he does Magnum and Thunder), excellent player.

[stoker]

I've seen Magnum twice and love 'em!

[Big_Stu]

Saw them do a charity gig at the Robin in Bilston a few years ago. It was a fundraiser for their original drummer (IIRC) who was terminally ill. A wet weekday night & it was a disaster. The second lowest turnout I ever saw for a gig. The band were great though, much of the planned auction was pulled & Bob was buying rounds in for those there at the bar.
The gig was rescheduled & the 2nd time around was a huge success, absolutely rammed; I remember one of the items up for grabs was a fully autographed copy of Brothers in Arms. I've got an autographed copy of one of their album's from it somewhere.

[gafbass02]

Bob did backing vocals on an album I released back in the early 00's nice bloke.

[RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE]

Remember them on that channel4 programme ECT.It was very funny.The mic wasn't working,
So the singer was looking like a giant goldfish,) .Warlock were great tho'.they too had sound problems.

[Gilby]

Off to see them Saturday, the mrs is a big fan. Last saw them on the "Goodnight LA" tour. Yep, feel old too.

Edited November 27, 2012 by Gilby

[Skybone]

[quote name='RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE' timestamp='1353958586' post='1880295']
Remember them on that channel4 programme ECT.It was very funny.The mic wasn't working,
So the singer was looking like a giant goldfish,) .Warlock were great tho'.they too had sound problems.
[/quote]

Remember that one as well... followed Venom IIRC (who's sound was awful as well IIRC), singer was on a Cherry Picker up above the stage and looked like a right knob! Funny though!

[Schnozzalee]

My dad gave me an album of theirs recently, 'The Spirit', I enjoyed it and uploaded it to Media Player - huge fan of Thunder though, another incredible rock band that didn't fully take off (flawless live too)!

Edited November 27, 2012 by Schnozzalee

[Leen2112]

I used to see Magnum almost twice a year in big venues, back in the eighties. Storytellers night was awesome. They even rocked up to the Edinburgh playhouse in a Limo once! Sad to see them play small clubs now but I can't bear to see them now as personally I think Bob lost his voice 10 years ago.

[Stacker]

Magnum, eh? I remember when they finally 'arrived', sometime in the mid '80s and they were playing Edinburgh Playhouse and that guitarist in the top hat ruined my night! I was the Runner on the local crew that day and usually the Runner got let go just before showtime. So, I went up to the production office to get paid and their tour manager says to me "Oh, we can let you go just yet. Tony wants curry after the show!" So, I had to go out and get menus from three curry houses and deliver them back to the TM who then handed them to the band. Still they refused to let me go and kept me there until well after the show until Tony the diva decided what curry he finally wanted. They eventually let me go around 11pm, with still no curry order in sight!

[paul_5]

should have just bought him a choc ice.

[dmccombe7]

[quote name='Stacker' timestamp='1355133387' post='1894350']
Magnum, eh? I remember when they finally 'arrived', sometime in the mid '80s and they were playing Edinburgh Playhouse and that guitarist in the top hat ruined my night! I was the Runner on the local crew that day and usually the Runner got let go just before showtime. So, I went up to the production office to get paid and their tour manager says to me "Oh, we can let you go just yet. Tony wants curry after the show!" So, I had to go out and get menus from three curry houses and deliver them back to the TM who then handed them to the band. Still they refused to let me go and kept me there until well after the show until Tony the diva decided what curry he finally wanted. They eventually let me go around 11pm, with still no curry order in sight!
[/quote]

Yep that's much the same opinion i have of them when they played the Heathery Bar in Wishaw late 70's / early 80's. I was helping as road crew at the time for the venue. Don't touch that, don't touch this, It was all a bit over played IMHO. They were technically a great band though and have many of their albums to be honest. Think the fame must have gone to their heads at that point. Hopefully they settled down a bit once they got used to it.
Yes i still like them.

Dave

[only4]

I saw them quite a few times in the early days, they always wrote great endings to their songs.

[tauzero]

I see Bob now and again in my local - his daughter works as a barmaid there.

[Bilbo]

Marauder was one of the first Rock lps I ever bought (it was cheap, as was I). Loved it then and still do (although I let it go years ago) as it featured some great musicianship and arrangements. Their early LPs were great. Kingdom of Madness was another one I liked.

[dmccombe7]

Agree Marauder was the 1st one i bought and thought it was excellent.
Soldier of the Line i just loved the bass sound on that album. Great songs but the bass was very sharp and clear - i think it was an Aria SB1000 by this period.

Dave

[spinynorman]

[quote name='Big_Stu' timestamp='1353950113' post='1880140']
Saw them do a charity gig at the Robin in Bilston a few years ago. It was a fundraiser for their original drummer (IIRC) who was terminally ill. A wet weekday night & it was a disaster. The second lowest turnout I ever saw for a gig. The band were great though, much of the planned auction was pulled & Bob was buying rounds in for those there at the bar.
The gig was rescheduled & the 2nd time around was a huge success, absolutely rammed; I remember one of the items up for grabs was a fully autographed copy of Brothers in Arms. I've got an autographed copy of one of their album's from it somewhere.
[/quote]

Kex Gorin was the drummer, lived near me, died in 2007 from kidney cancer. The fund raising was partly because the drugs he was prescribed weren't available on the NHS in Warwickshire, though if he'd lived a few miles up the road in Birmingham he could have had them. He played with a couple of local bands, on a battered old kit with one tom missing. Great drummer, and a really nice guy.

[Bilbo]

That's the guy; Kex Gorin. Lovely player. The keyboard player was a bit tasty too (Richard Bailey).