With Classic Rock 216 firmly available on the shelves of your local newsagent, it’s time to delve into its glossy pages and withdraw some amazing rock knowledge.
1. Shirley Manson was greatly influenced by Margaret Thatcher
It’s true – Garbage’s frontgal took inspiration from a grocer’s daughter from Grantham (i.e. Margaret Thatcher, UK Prime Minister from 1979-90). But not in a musical sense, thank Denis. A chance meeting with a Hollywood television executive led to Ms Manson being offered a part as a ruthless cyborg in the TV series Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, and she decided to base her character on Maggie The Thatch. Eschewing the use of a stunt double, Manson’s role in the show came to an abrupt end when she dislocated her elbow swinging a cerise handbag during a fight scene.
**2. Marky Ramone doesn’t want to be sedated…
**…He wants to be cremated. “I’d have my ashes sprinkled over some nice water somewhere,” he says in our Heavy Load feature. Offshore at Rockaway Beach, we might suggest?
3. Nik Turner gave up taking acid when an entire audience turned to skeletons
“I generally had a good time on it [acid],” proclaims the former Hawkwind flautist/saxophonist, “but when that happened and all the cables turned to snakes, I thought I’d better stop for a while.” Even so, Nik says he plans to go see the Rolling Stones in 10 years’ time, when he can recreate the experience for real.
4. Ritchie Blackmore’s new singer is a cross between Ronnie James Dio and Freddie Mercury
Although the Man In Black has yet to reveal his new frontman’s identity, he’s “sure he’ll become pretty famous because of his voice, pixie boots and generous moustache”.*
5. Iggy has popped
There’s no getting away from it. Time has finally caught up with the veteran Stoogester. The flesh of his once-toned torso now resembles a deflated balloon. Check out the photo on p122 for evidence.
6. The new Def Leppard album is called Def Leppard because it sounds like Def Leppard
“The title just made sense,” says frontman Joe Elliott in our lead news story.
7. Dokken sounded like the Partridge Family when they had to go onstage after Metallica, according to Don Dokken
Yet, significantly, Dokken failed to release an album titled The Partridge Family. Such is the thin line between ginormous success and ignominious failure.
8. Donovan’s new tour is Donovan telling the story of Donovan
Hmm… Something of a theme developing here…
9. Touring with ELO in the 1970s was like running an old-age pensioners’ club, according to Sharon Osbourne
Meanwhile, on p18, we have news of Black Sabbath’s farewell tour in 2016. Forgive us, but what goes around, comes around…
10. Saxon are full of tripe
…Or at least their tour bus used to be. In the Barnsley band’s very earliest days, their favoured mode of transport was a knackered Transit still emblazoned with the not-quite-deleted logo of its previous owner ‘Sid Cummins – Tripe Dealer’. No doubt the van was acquired due to the meat-trade connections of singer Beef Byford.
*Actually, Ritchie didn’t mention pixie boots or generous moustache, we made that up. But here’s hoping.
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