Scorpions had originally been founded by Rudolf Schenker some time back in the nineteen sixties. After Michael Schenker and Klaus Meine had joined the Scorpions in 1972, the band recorded an album, LONESOME CROW, and started touring Germany extensively. On one of these tours they supported the British hard rock band UFO, who snatched up Michael. Scorpions broke up afterwards and all its members went their separate ways in a general air of disillusionment. Michael had asked Uli to take his place, but the latter did not want to give up DAWN ROAD. After a phone call from Rudolf, however, he agreed to stand in for Michael on a final Scorpions gig at Vechta which had been agreed to beforehand. There was only one rehearsal with Rudolf and the now-deceased drummer Helmut Eisenhut. The concert took place on June 29th 1973 and was part of a festival, which also featured the two German bands Karthago (with Joey Albrecht) and Epitaph. The gig was very successful and Scorpions gave two encores. Uli had enjoyed the whole experience and suggested to Rudolf afterwards that they should maybe do more music together. Rudolf did not want to resurrect the old line-up, however, but came to Dawn Road’s rehearsals at the Robert-Koch Schule in Langenhagen. It was then decided to form a new band together. Some time later Uli persuaded Rudolf to ask Klaus if he would join as well, who then came to the rehearsals as well. Very soon a good working relationship developed between all involved and the new Scorpions were born. Although there were effectively four members of Dawn Road in the initial line-up - against only two ex-Scorpions, it was decided to call the new band Scorpions, because they had already recorded an album and had made a name for themselves in the, then very small, German hard rock scene. The band had their first appearance at a festival in Lindau, Lake Constance, on August 18. 1973. The show was also part of nationwide television broadcast. Scorpions played two songs which were broadcast on November 9, 1973. Due to this their then publisher Rudolf Sleszak managed to get the record company RCA interested in signing a deal. There were to be a few more concerts that year, including some big festivals and the band was busy writing songs. The first song Uli wrote for Scorpions was ‘Drifting Sun’, which soon after its release in 1974 became a cult classic - particularly in America. (The Story of Scorpions is To Be Continued...)
Posted on: Tue, 28 Jan 2014 05:50:44 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015