Rock Talk With Mitch Lafon… and Alan Niven present the Scorpions’ Mikkey Dee (October 2020 interview). Alan and I sat down with the Scorpions Mikkey Dee to discuss the band’s upcoming new album, the Motörhead 40th anniversary deluxe edition Ace Of Spades box set, hockey and Alan explains to Mikkey why he wasn’t considered for the drummer position in Guns N’ Roses after Steve Adler left.
It’s so sad to hear about the passing of one of the best Hard Rock Guitarists ever …. the iconic Eddie Van Halen. The US Festival … the Monsters of Rock .. we’ve shared the stage so many times with Van Halen back in the 80s … what a great loss for the World of Music … our Hearts and Prayers go out to Wolfgang , Alex and the Van Halen Family ….
RIP Eddie With Love – Scorpions
To celebrate the 30th anniversary of their classic album “Crazy World” and its worldwide smash hit single “Wind Of Change”, lynchpin SCORPIONS members Klaus Meine, Rudolf Schenker and Matthias Jabs have all given extensive and exclusive interviews to Rock Candy magazine for a huge 16-page cover story feature. Together with respected musician and lyricist Jim Vallance — who co-wrote seven of the album’s 11 tracks — Meine,Schenker and Jabs open up like never before to reveal in forensic detail how the “Crazy World” project came together.
“If I’m honest, nothing we’ve done in the past three decades matches ‘Crazy World’,” says vocalist Meine with admirable candor. “I think it’s a classic, and any SCORPIONS fan would agree. It’s the last album from what I’d say was our golden period.”
The bandmembers recount the story of the album’s creation, from splitting with long-standing producer Dieter Dierks (“We’d been together for too long and we felt we needed new energy,” says guitarist Schenker), to a false start with Bruce Fairbairn, and then finding the perfect producer in Keith Olsen.
The writing and recording process is described in detail, including the story behind the groundbreaking “Wind Of Change” single.
“The record company was very concerned about the whistling on it, because they thought it would hurt sales,” explains Meine. “I insisted that it should stay, because, to my mind, it was a vital part of what made the song work so well.”
“At first, even I didn’t like it,” admits Schenker. “I didn’t think it was a good thing for a rock band to do, but we tried something else and it just didn’t work. The song only worked with the whistling.”
Of course, “Wind Of Change” went on to become the SCORPIONS‘ biggest ever hit, becoming a worldwide anthem for the changing political times of 1990 when the Soviet bloc collapsed.
With the SCORPIONS currently working on a new album, Rock Candy‘s cover story provides a must-read look back at a key moment in this legendary band’s history.
Rock Candy is a 100-page, full-color bi-monthly rock mag, created in the U.K. It covers the sights, sounds and smells from the greatest era in hard rock music, the ’70s and ’80s. Put together by respected U.K. rock journalists Derek Oliver, Howard Johnson and Malcolm Dome — all frontline writers for the legendary Kerrang! magazine in the golden era —Rock Candy is available in print format with a free digital download version for anyone who buys the mag online at www.rockcandymag.com.
According to Mikkey Dee, SCORPIONS have completed the “first leg” of the pre-production sessions for their upcoming studio album. The drummer and his bandmates are scheduled to regroup in October to resume work on the effort, which is tentatively due in 2021.
The initial session for SCORPIONS‘ new LP took place at Peppermint Park Studios in Hannover, Germany. The disc will mark the German hard rock legends’ first release since 2017’s “Born To Touch Your Feelings – Best Of Rock Ballads”, which was an anthology ofSCORPIONS‘ new and classic material.
SCORPIONS originally intended to record the new album in Los Angeles with producer Greg Fidelman, whose previous credits include SLIPKNOT and METALLICA. However, because of the pandemic, most of the work so far has been done remotely, with Fidelman taking part via Zoom.
Here is my second blog on Scorpions rare songs. This one has never been released to my knowledge as well. It is titled Strangers in Paradise. It was written by Klaus Meine, Herman Rarebell, and Jim Vallance. Because of who the writers are, my best guess is that it was written in the Crazy World studio session(s).
This link pretty much confirms that this song is a leftover track from the Crazy World sessions. This list also has a few songs I didn’t know about. This link also implies that these tracks are out there somewhere floating around. Maybe one day we will be able to hear them.
The five members of SCORPIONS have reunited at Peppermint Park Studios in Hannover, Germany to resume work on their upcoming studio album. Tentatively due in 2021, the disc will mark the German hard rock legends’ first release since 2017’s “Born To Touch Your Feelings – Best Of Rock Ballads”, which was an anthology of SCORPIONS‘ new and classic material.
SCORPIONS originally intended to record the new album in Los Angeles with producer Greg Fidelman, whose previous credits include SLIPKNOT and METALLICA. However, because of the pandemic, most of the work so far had been done remotely, with Fidelman taking part via Zoom.
Earlier today, SCORPIONS posted a short video message from Peppermint Park, letting their fans know that they have finally been able to come together as a band and work on the new LP in a more traditional way.
In the clip, which can be seen below, frontman Klaus Meine said: “Hi everybody out there. We are the SCORPIONS. Believe it or not, after all these months, we are all together here in Hannover. We’re joined in the studio, at Peppermint Park. And we’re very excited to be all back together in one room and to keep going with this new record. It feels great that the band finally rejoined forces.
“Take care of yourselves, stay well and safe, and we love you.”
Meine recently told Talking Metal that the goal with using Fidelman to produce the new LP is to bring “the old vibe from albums like ‘Blackout’, ‘Love At First Sting’ or even‘Lovedrive’. We try to focus on those albums and this attitude,” he said. “If we get there, who knows — it’s so many years later. But it’s the spirit and it’s the whole vibe around this album. This time, the focus is on the harder songs.”
According to Meine, SCORPIONS‘ new LP will feature “no outside writers at all,” unlike 2015’s“Return To Forever”, which was largely co-written by the album’s producers, Mikael Nord Andersson and Martin Hansen.
SCORPIONS SIN CITY NIGHTS!
Just Announced: RESCHEDULED dates for our Las Vegas residency will now take place May 8-30, 2021 at the Zappos Theater at Planet Hollywood! All info: https://bit.ly/2WJguRu
