Nor dread nor hope attend
A dying animal;
A man awaits his end
Dreading and hoping all;
Many times he died
Many times rose again
A great man in his pride
Confronting murderous men
Casts derision upon
Supersession of breath;
He knows death to the bone
Man has created death
W.B. Yeats
For Phil the disintegration of Thin Lizzy and the sudden separation of his wife and kids was the beginning of the end. Not that Phil was 100% faithful to Caroline anyways, like most rock stars he had trouble keeping his dick in his pants when not at home. Without his family or his band Phil sank deep into depression, took his heroin intake to new levels and grew apart from everyone. He refused help and didn’t believe his drug abuse that was that much of a big deal. Although at the time Phil never truly believed that Thin Lizzy’s last stand would be that gig in Nuremberg, secretly it was killing him to accept that Lizzy had been a failure. Thin Lizzy held a much deeper meaning to Phil than to every other musician that came through its ranks and he had spent more time with his musical brethren (Thin Lizzy) then with his actual real family. He was the wild rover, vagabond, and Irish trailblazer that he sung and wrote about but as 1984 dragged on, Phil found himself alone, strung out and isolated for the first time in his life. The walks along Burrow beach with Jim Fitzpatrick no longer contained enthusiastic chatter and the days of playing soccer amongst the Irish sands with the boys had long ceased to exist. Instead of seeking help and resting Phil put together another band and hit the Showband circuit in a failed attempt at recapturing his youth.
Grand Slam was put together post-Lizzy and was pretty much doomed from the start. It took ages for Phil to even come up with a name for the band and soon after it formed, drummer Brian Downey quit the project claiming that he didn’t see the point in making a half-ass version of Thin Lizzy and guitarist John Sykes walked out on Phil after accepting an offer from David Coverdale to join Whitesnake. An old friend from his Dublin Skid Row days, Robbie Brennan replaced Brian on Drums and Laurence Archer took over on lead guitar. The group consisted a second guitarist and also a keyboard player similar to the set up of the late Lizzy. When Slam toured throughout the rest of 1984 critics and fans responded negatively to this perceived low-grade version of Thin Lizzy. Their reputation improved slightly thanks to the premiering of some new original Phil compositions as Slam stayed far away from covering Lizzy songs, except for the obligatory “Whiskey in the Jar” and the touching “Sarah” and some cuts off the Thunder & Lightning album.
Some decent songs arose from the demo sessions that were primarily recorded in Lynott’s Richmond home recording studio and a week-long session at Lombard’s in Dublin. Despite the media backlash Phil was committed to Grand Slam and rehearsed vigorously before an important gig at the London Marquee.
Prior to the show he told a reporter from Kerrang!:
“I’m really fighting for Grand Slam at the moment. I mean, we’re here rehearsing 6 days a week, from two in the afternoon until ten at night. I’m really pushing a heavy emphasis on my playing and it’s standing me in good stead because it has really improved. When it comes down to it though I do feel that the future of the band lies in America. If we head over there and work on it for a time then we can come back to England and not have to face the usual crap that gets flung in my direction I’m not fashionable here anymore so once we complete this tour that should be our next move.”
Phil was deeply troubled at failing to cross over into America especially after having such a huge hit with “The Boys” and the realization of never being able to recapture that moment in time crushed him. Making it worse was the fact that the bridge that he helped build for musicians to cross over from Ireland was being used to stunning success by the rock group Def Leopard. A band that in 1984 sold seven millions records in America and was kept from having a #1 record on the billboard charts only because they were competing with Michael Jackson’s Thriller. Phil offered excuses to Lizzy’s failed conquering of America, claiming that the percentage points that they would have to give up to tour and promote extensively in America didn’t make sense considering that they were selling huge amounts of records in Europe and the U.K. and for a band just starting out it would be in Def Leopard’s favor to give those points away. Even though what Phil says is true it’s still a pretty poor excuse considering that the fault of never having made it in America was Lizzy’s just as it was their record company’s ineptness. After a blistering set at the Marquee Phil’s hopes improved about a landing a record deal but the suits seemed uninterested on signing a known drug addict destroying his legacy during a mid-life crisis. Ultimately Grand Slam like its inventor was doomed but listening to the remastered demos released in 2002, there’s a fair share of quality material composed by them. Although the songs were definitely more New Wave than Rock n’ roll, Phil’s songwriting capabilities were still prevalent despite being weighed down by an unwavering heroin addiction. One example is the spectacular song “The Sisters of Mercy” a tune that had a New Wave vibe full of outstanding lyrics, riffs and keyboard melodies…
You've been living like a hobo in the hallways
Oh way too long
You've been sleeping in the doorway
Oh what's gone wrong?
And you cry like a baby
A baby whose mama's gone
As you holler from your squalor
Into the distance
The sisters of mercy will come (Praise)
Little sisters of mercy
The sisters of mercy will come
Little sisters of mercy
Father dear father
What's gone wrong?
Your boy that was proud and was angry, his spirit was overcome
He's calling for mercy, Oh, but no one phones.
Into the cold black night
She stands alone
Oh father dear father
What have I done?
The sisters of mercy they come
Hail sisters of mercy
The sisters of mercy they come
Hail sisters of mercy
The sisters of mercy they come
Hail sisters of mercy
Mama mama
This is your boy
In this smile that you gave me there is sadness
There is no joy
I am weary I am lost and overcome
If my sadness my anger is swallowed
Oh mama mama
What went wrong? (Help me!)
And the bells that will ring
They're calling from Zion to Babylon
We are weary we are lost
Like children
We are angry we are frightened
Oh mama oh mama what have I done?
“Harlem” was another lyrical gem that Phil wrote in 1984 and the track has a funky Hip-Hop feel to it…
I have often wondered
What it’s like to be the friend
Of someone who is (black) just like you
And with that I’ll pretend
That I would keep this friendship
Even though my life might end
So if you’re all through, ooooh darlin’
In Harlem, there’s a warning, ooooh darlin’.....
And I have often wondered,
Sometimes I was sober
Sometimes I’m weak//Always getting weaker
Sometimes I’m older//Never growing older
I have often wondered
Weary and depressed
Lord help me now
I’m wrecked, reckless
In Harlem, there’s a warning, ooooh darlin’....
Where do you come off,
Giving me the jive
About the jungle that we live in being hard to survive
Where do you get off
You crazy son of a bitch
Taking easy money
Getting your hit without a hitch
In Harlem, there’s a warning, ooooh darlin’....
The remaining Grand Slam recordings are more musical than lyrical but the sessions did provide Phil with some last minute songwriting glory in the form of a Gary Moore single and B-side. For Phil the end of the Grand Slam experiment occurred during the summer of 1985 when he ventured to California to shoot a music video. When he returned he learnt that the members of Slam had abandoned the group to pursue other musical paths. Phil was essentially dumped but almost immediately after his fortunes improved with the offer of another solo album deal and a possible publication of his short stories. Before the break up of Slam Phil wrote and sang on Clann Eadair’s tribute single to the late Sandy Denny and produced and appeared in Auto Da Fe, another New Wave band’s video “Man of Mine”.
But Phil’s reputation had suffered greatly within the higher echelon of music circles and his Manager Chris Morrison quit producing Grand Slam after sinking 100,000 dollars of his own money on the ill-fated experiment. With no money to support the band Grand Slam finally ended in 1985 and Phil’s bloated and heavy appearance began to send shockwaves throughout the industry. Tony Clayton-Lea interviewed Phil for Hot Press on May 4th, 1984:
Tony Clayton-Lea: I know it's been recounted before, Philip, but what thoughts do you have now on the demise of Thin Lizzy?
Philip Lynott: I was sorry to see it go... everybody thought it was a scam, that we'd be back together again in six months. Maybe it's because I'm such a proficient liar... but there was no way around it, it was definitely goin' to end. And now it's gone, it's never goin' to come back. It's like your virginity... that's the way I feel. It was a good band, I was very pleased to be in it…I thought 18 months ago I'd learnt lessons in humility... I mean, you do get used to people runnin' around after you, carryin' your guitar case, doin' this, that, and the other. When it's done constantly, you start to take it for granted. You start expecting the amps to be ready when you walk in to play, the equipment to be set up. Obviously, I'll still expect that in certain situations. For rehearsals, I don't mind settin' everythin' up. I do mind if I'm payin' somebody to do it, like in the Lizzy situation. Because people treat you as important, you begin to think that maybe you're a little bit more important than you are. You always have to look in the mirror, though. It never got out of hand.
Tony Clayton-Lea: From the death of Thin Lizzy to the birth of Grand Slam - what differences will there be, musically?
Philip Lynott: It's a different mixture... there's old guys like meself, and there's young guys like Laurence Archer. Now, he's very talented musically, but he's not very experienced in goin' on the road or tourin'. It's also different from the personality aspect.The other thing musically is that we're gonna feature one lead guitar as opposed to two. Also, it's a lot looser. There's no pressure for us to be like anybody else.Initially, we'll do a few Lizzy songs, but that is just to let us get on our feet. I mean, when Lizzy started, we used to play other people's material, so...We're goin' to have a much broader outlook in contemporary music, and in music of the past. For instance, we've been dabblin' with 'Like A Rollin' Stone' and 'Whiter Shade Of Pale' and we're stickin' them together. Years ago, they called that a medley. But we're puttin' them together and calling' it a concept.The contemporary stuff... it's amazin' what you can do with all this technology. That sounds really corn, doesn't it? No, but we'll be usin' Simmonds drums and keyboards. Another thing about Grand Slam, which I think is good, is that rather than just make good demos, and then get a deal, we thought we'd go on the road, warm up, and become a 'live' entity before we signed a deal. And therefore, be able to get more money; there is a business side to it too.I do think that there's so many bands gettin' deals because of the make-up they use, and how good a demo they make, instead of being a good live act. Look, I hate those guys in interviews that say 'Come and see the band, and buy all the records.' They always sound so insincere. So I'd like to say, really sincerely, Come and see the band and buy all the records.
Tony Clayton-Lea: Is Philip Lynott a religious person?
Philip Lynott: As I get older I get more religious... because I'm goin' to die fookin' soon. The odds are more in God's favour. I'd say it's almost like bein' Irish and Catholic. Once you're Irish and Catholic, you're always Irish and Catholic. I think it's in you. You can never disassociate yourself from it. You can acquire another accent, but it'll always be there in your head. The rules that were beaten into me at school are ingrained. I still know when I commit a mortal or a venial sin, y'know?
Tony Clayton-Lea: Were you ever verbally or physically abused because of your colour?
Philip Lynott: Er... you mean attacked? A couple of times people have said something, but we buried them shortly afterwards.
Tony Clayton-Lea: What's your favourite drug?
Philip Lynott: Sugar... I'm off the ciggies... Alcohol, it must be. I'm not a lush, but I do like a drink sometimes…I think drugs are there to be used. If you're goin' to ask me about drugs in general, as opposed to 'drug' drugs... that's the reason why I mentioned sugar and alcohol; to show that there are a lot of drugs about that you aren't even aware of. I found out that tomato ketchup has 23% sugar in it. I've got this big thing against sugar at the moment, 'cos I'm the father of kids... all those Easter eggs...'Drug' drugs are really bad for you. They can cause you an awful lot of misery. Initially, you get some great kicks, and it does give you different perspectives, and you can find all the reasons in the world for taking them, but there's juts as many reasons for not taking them. In fact, more. The reasons for not taking them obviously include addiction, they can change your personality without you knowin', so you lose control of your mind and body, and therefore you lose your dignity. And the stigma attached to taking drugs socially is bad news. A lot of people look to Keith Richards, and hold him in reverence, like a hero, but I know if Keith had his life again - he said to me - he wouldn't do them again. Sid Vicious is also held in reverence. He was just a guy fucked up on dope. It sounds like you're preachin' or condescendin', like (adopts admonitory accent) 'Don't take drugs, I've been there'. So I'm not even goin' to try. Just don't. If anybody really wants to find out about drugs, they should go to a Narcotics Anonymous meeting.
Tony Clayton-Lea: What do you think of the present heroin situation in Dublin?
Philip Lynott: It's bad, it really is…I'd like to know more about the situation before I could give you a positive reply. At the moment, I can't see a solution to it. For the past 15 years you've been living a lifestyle that condones - sometimes encourages - the easy availability of drugs and sex. I don't agree with that. I think the media picked up on those aspects, and blew them up out of proportion. I remember there was a film out, called 'The Stud', starring Oliver Tobias. Me and Oliver were knockin' about at the time, and he was stuck in one room, and I was in another doin' an interview with the Daily Mirror and I had a studded leather bracelet on. Anyway next day, I buy the paper, and it's like 'The Black Stud'. I do things that are wrong. I make mistakes like everybody else as far as society is concerned. I don't try and promote that. If you listen carefully to all those songs, 'Got To Give It Up' or 'The Opium Trail', which is actually - jokin' aside - an anti-drug song. The message is fairly serious. Now, to speak about such things, you have to be experienced - Have you ever been experienced? Well, I have.' Some of the things I'm proud of. Some of the things I'm not. I'd hate to think that I encouraged people to go over the rails, y'know what I mean? I always thought that I was sharin', laughin' with the people. I'd hate to think I was corruptin' them.”
Long time Phil Lynott supporter, Irish musical hero and former Thin Lizzy road manager Frank Murray reflected on Phil’s last days to Hot Press in 2011:
“Phil was a very complex man, again because of his generation. We used to go watch Elvis in his early movies and the characters he played were kind of tough no-nonsense people. Phil often used to quote that thing from Kid Creole, ‘I ain’t no grease monkey. I ain’t gonna slide for you’. Skid Row toured America twice and Gary Moore was this great guitar player and Brush was a great bass player and Noel Bridgman was an incredible drummer, but the one thing that Philip had over any of those people was that he was a star…The attitude to drugs in the early days was far more lax than it is now. Back then it was regarded as a bit of a weird thing to do, but you were less likely to be hassled about it by the cops or customs staff. For example, I remember a bunch of us smoking joints on a plane and the stewardess just laughed at us. Then the big stuff came in and Ireland was flooded with cocaine and heroin and gradually it became harder and harder to be seen to use any kind of drugs at all. When the criminal gangs got involved something had to be done about it. When Phil came back to Dublin, the doors had just opened on the heroin rush. Heroin was available to every single body. And when Lizzy finished and he tried to put together Grand Slam he was too far gone to create it. I think his creative muse was hibernating somewhere. Put it this way, had he given up Thin Lizzy earlier, and had he been confident about recording a solo album, staying at home, kicking back for a year, playing around in the home studio, doing the things that you’re supposed to do, that are kind of normal, I think his songwriting would have developed in a different way. He would have really delivered. He still had so much to give when he died.”
Alan Byrne described the uneventful year Phil had prior to recapturing a little bit of his former glory:
“1984 had been a somewhat lackluster year for Lynott. His drug habit had finally begun to overrun him, his marriage for all intents and purposes was over, and due to his hectic lifestyle, access to his two daughters Sarah and Cathleen was limited. Many people within the band and those on the perimeter tried to speak with him, but unfortunately he was simply unable to acknowledge his predicament. Grand Slam had been a failure and many people were only more to remind him of this fact.”
Phil did still have some fight left in him and it only took the resolve of long time friend and ex-Lizzy member Gary Moore to bring it stunningly back out of him. In 1985 Moore rescued his old buddy and placed him back in the top ten on the charts for the last time.
Phil was already in good songwriting form having spent the first half of 1985 working with Huey Lewis and the U.K. R&B sensation Junior. These tracks have been leaked in various bootleg editions and despite the jagged sound quality they remain interesting anecdotes to Phil’s unique musical catalogue. Phil’s duet with Junior “The Lady loves to Dance” is an excellent song that could have been a hit single in the vein of 80’s style R&B like you would hear from Billy Ocean. The song was even submitted as a single by Junior but Phil’s record company blocked its release and to this day Phil’s versatility in being able to work with R&B star Junior outside the rock element has never had a proper release.
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