PL: As part of a band you have many different characters. MB: We have been lucky enough to have had a lot of songs that have stood the test of time and people still love to hear played live. What do you think has contributed to your long-term success? The excesses that had come in to play on our tours continued in the studio as we were still away. In those days we were on the road constantly so being away from home to record too did not sit very well. MB: We recorded this in Munich and weren’t a band comfortable recording away from England. Wonderworld (1974) was as difficult time period for you all - what was the most challenging aspect for you? ![]() There were some great songs on there too - Easy Livin’ really took us to the world stage. We’d also found a very magical and mystical way of writing lyrics that captured everyone’s imagination. MB: It was the first time that the cover and audio were married together perfectly. Then when we are together we know what each other wants and what we want to aim for.ġ972’s Demons and Wizards is one of your most successful records - what made everything fall into place for you? We don’t live near each other and we don’t socialise unless we are together on the road. We are not in each other’s pockets either. We know each other’s writing abilities and we get on really well with that. Phil Lanzon (PL): Mick and I take care of the writing mostly having lost Trevor Bolder (bass). What is it about the current line up that ensures you have such a strong bond? We all seemed to be on the same musical page. MB: The only way I can describe it is chemistry. What made your writing relationship with David Byron and Ken Hensley (original keyboardist) so productive? He congratulated us and said the ticket sales had gone through the roof. Seeing this I phoned our agent to tell him we thought that we may have had the wrong night. When we arrived we saw a queue that stretched right around the block. I drove to the Marquee with David Byron (our then vocalist) in his father’s Ford Cortina. ![]() What was it like paying your first big venue? We adopted the instrument and added another member - it changed our musical template, so we decided to change the name of the band to Uriah Heap. The versatility of the instrument really fit our dynamics at the time. ![]() I was a big Vanilla Fudge fan and they used a Hammond Organ. We were initially a four piece - guitars, bass, drums and a vocalist - but when we heard our original songs coming out of the speakers I felt we needed another colour. Mick Box (MB): We called ourselves Spice because we wanted our music to have more than one style or flavour. Success, fall outs, personnel changes, huge gigs and 24 albums (including 2014’s Outsider) but despite everything that the music biz has thrown at them, the band continue to release records and head out on huge tours.Īhead of Heep’s impending American jaunt and release of their new live DVD Amanda Gentle took time out to catch up with Mick Box and Phil Lanzon (keyboardist since 1986) to find out what makes for a successful long-term career in rock…ĭid you have a vision of what you wanted to create at the start with Spice back in 1967? Taking their name of the group from a Charles Dickens character at the very genesis of British rock and roll, the band have been through pretty much all a group can go through in its life time. Since their inception in the late sixties, Uriah Heep, alongside the likes of Black Sabbath and Deep Purple, have been one of the UK’s most enduring and successful rock outfits.
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