Janick Gers

GhostofCain said:
Jan is brilliant when it comes to recycling his own riffs! :lol:
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Nothing wrong with that, especially when it was really good and no-one really noticed the first time around ...

Self-borrowing is nothing new btw - Vivaldi was already at it in the 17th century (and he was a lot less subtle with it).
 
Black Abyss Babe said:
Nothing wrong with that, especially when it was really good and no-one really noticed the first time around ...

Self-borrowing is nothing new btw - Vivaldi was already at it in the 17th century (and he was a lot less subtle with it).
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I agree there is nothing wrong with self-borrowing. :)
 
Nothing wrong with it when the material was never released before. White Spirit ended soon after this demo anyway, and he joined Gillan.

It's fun to hear Janick do a solo over the chord progression in "'Till the Kill" as he doesn't have a solo in The Mercenary.
 
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From 1982 (quote starts last paragraph of 4th column):
"Janick Gers, doing things to a guitar we never dreamed could be; flying about the stage in a scarlet blur, climbing the lighting scaffold like some Hadian demon, producing a sound as close to ecstacy as we here are ever likely to experience."
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gillan-review-1982.jpg


If only there was some bootleg film from this show ...
 
@Brigantium Both clips are from No 73 and I've since discovered this one as well:
(Since non of their gear has moved I'm assuming it's all from the same episode)
:)
 
No he hasn't and it's a good thing!

Been a while since he was last seen in fuchsia velvet pyjamas though, I think ...
 
Black Abyss Babe said:
The similarity between the opening riff of this song and "2 Minutes to Midnight" is well commented upon (including by the man himself), but has anyone else noticed "Out of the Silent Planet" right at the end?

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I think the jam during the last minute sounds strongly inspired by UFO's Rock Bottom - notice the choice of the notes that are left hanging at the end of each lick/phrase. Very similar feel, without any direct copying.
 
Nice pics, Black Abyss Babe

Here is a very rare White Spirit picture feat. bassist Peter Flint.
He was with the band from 1977 to 1978. About this time they added the Hammond organ to the lineup.

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Interview with Ian Gillan from 2006. He has this to say about Janick:
Janick Gers, who Gillan had seen playing in north-east band White Spirit, was immediately installed as Tormé’s replacement. Gers, currently a member of Iron Maiden, made his recording debut on Double Trouble. But he received stick from a cabal of rock journos who accused him of being a Blackmore clone.

“I went through that when I started out, when I was being criticised for being an Elvis Presley clone. That was unfair on Janick – he’s a lovely guy. He’s straight and honest, and you know where you stand with him. I saw an old Purple video the other day and I thought it was Led Zeppelin – Ritchie was copying Jimmy Page to the point where he was wearing identical clothes, and the poses were exactly the same. So what goes around comes around.”
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http://teamrock.com/feature/2006-04...ollapsed-financially-i-couldn-t-pay-the-wages
 
Black Abyss Babe said:
Sounds article from 1980 with a section on White Spirit:

https://todestrieb.co.uk/blogs/feat...-tygers-of-pan-tang-white-spirit-neat-records
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Just re-read this (the "topic" discussion on the 2018 Tour thread reminded me!) and noticed something - here is the relevant section:
Something Spirit find happening with great regularity is that they prove to be slightly more competition as a support band than some headliners can handle. Blown anybody off recently boys?
Malcolm: "Praying Mantis are hiding from us. We're supposed to be playing the Marquee with them this week but they haven't rung us up."
Janick: "And there was Budgie at Newcastle Mayfair. We played with Girl the other week and I'm not saying we blew them off but they won't let us support them any more."
Malcolm: "Put it this way, the two guitarists came into our dressing room afterwards and said, 'Nice supporting you lads, see you again sometime' and then walked out!"
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Guitarists in Girl in 1980 were Gerry Laffy and Phil Collen - this is the same Phil Collen who two years later would join Def Leppard and remains with them to this day. The same Phil Collen who, around the time of this article or shortly after, was approached by Steve Harris with a view to his joining Maiden in place of Dennis Stratton (apparently a back-up plan in case they really couldn't persuade Adrian).
In an interesting historical footnote, if Adrian had turned down their offer, the other guitarist that Maiden would have approached was Paul Di'Anno's old East End mate Phil Collen, who was then going nowhere fast with an even more glam-influenced London outfit called Girl. In the event, however, Adrian accepted Maiden's offer, leaving Collen free to take up the offer not long after to join those other leading lights of the NWOBHM, Def Leppard.
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- Mick Wall, "Run to the Hills" 2001 edition, p163

Considered by Steve to be good enough for Maiden, but already intimidated by Janick? Interesting!
 
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