Graham's Career   1981

It was a big and brave decision for Graham to leave Rainbow, but at the time he obviously thought it was the right thing to do. When the word got out, Graham was offered the job in Black Sabbath, but turned them down in favour of another shot at a solo career.

A contract was signed with Phonogram International and Graham's releases were to be issued on the Vertigo label. Since 1977 Graham's manager had been David Oddie. He was part of Quarry Productions who took control of matters. Francis Rossi (Status Quo) was also connected with Quarry, so he was brought in to work along side John Eden for the production of what was going to be Graham's debut single.

Right from the off I would have thought that Graham would have been listening to a vast number of demo's that had been submitted through various sources, as well as listening to suggestions made by musicians and people connected with the project for his debut single and an album ? Graham said in an interview in UK magazine Kerrang "We basically started 'Line-Up' with one of the songs on the album, 'Be My Baby'. We were in the studio just banging it out on the piano and someone suggested we record it."

The song chosen as the first single to be released was titled "Night Games" and written by Ed Hamilton. Graham stamped his own authority on the song giving the verses and chorus's depth, body and power. The song had a good melody, still sounded commercial and was reasonably similar to his two Rainbow single releases. So it stood a good chance of being a hit. One couldn't have wished for better musicians to record the song as Cozy Powell was brought in on drums, Micky Moody on acoustic and electric guitars, Gary Twigg on bass guitar, Andy Bown (Status Quo) on organ and piano and co-producer Francis Rossi even joined in the fun by playing coral sitar : S.H.7 synthesizer. A suitable 'B' side had to be chosen and this came in the song "Out On The Water" written by Bob Young and Micky Moody. Once again the song was powerful and had a good melody. The line-up was the same except Neil Murray (Whitesnake) played bass. Andy Bown just played piano on the song and Francis Rossi played rhythm guitar and did some backing vocals. A video was shot to accompany "Night Games" which basically featured Graham walking down a street mixed in with his band featuring Jon Lord, Cozy Powell, Micky Moody and Gary Twigg playing the song. By this time a few photo' shoots had also taken place to keep the press happy !!

So March saw the release of "Night Games" in the UK. The single had a colour picture sleeve and showed two different shots of Graham singing. The single was also released in Europe where it had the same picture sleeve. Portugal for some reason had a completely different picture sleeve. This one had a colour photograph of Graham form 1977 !! In the Australasian areas the single was issued on the Mercury label under license from Phonogram. The Japanese went a little better than everyone else as the song went on slightly longer. The picture sleeve was the same as the UK and Europe.

"Night Games" shot in to the Top 10 of the UK charts during April and peaked at No. 6. Graham even made an appearance of Top Of The Pops where he was introduced by Richard Skinner. Out of the musicians who played on the single, only Cozy Powell and Gary Twigg were in the band that appeared on the show. According to an article that appeared in Graham's home town newspaper 'The Standard', "Night Games" at least reached the No. 2 position in the Japanese charts. As for everywhere else in the world I am not sure how successful the single was.

With a huge hit single now under his belt, the press were queuing up for interviews. Graham told Robin Smith of Record Mirror in the UK where he was featured in colour in the centre pages "Obviously I had to do something which the kids can identify with. I'd be a fool to make a complete change from the Rainbow style. Today though I feel like a new man, I've blown the cobwebs out of my system. I'm breathing again." He also told Steve Gett of Melody Maker "The material I'm working on at the moment is very much in the same vein as the songs I sang in Rainbow like 'Since You Been Gone' and 'All Night Long'. Basically it's retaining the commercial element - I believe I've got to stick to this format. I can hardly wander into other areas and try something completely different because it simply wouldn't work."

Yes, Graham got a tremendous amount of press coverage around this time and the tag of 'Ex-Rainbow' or 'Ex-Rainbow Singer' was certainly working in his favour. Some of these articles mentioned that Graham was planning to do some gigs in Japan and the UK with Jon Lord, Micky Moody and Cozy Powell. There was also talk also in the press was that the album was due out in a couple of months, but obviously it got delayed. It was also mentioned that Graham had not contributed any writing to the album, but he did say that he would contribute to the follow up. But as we know that didn't happen.

Unknown to the public Graham had recorded the vocals for a Levi's advert that hit the TV screen during April. When the version was released as a single it was titled "These Eyes" and recorded by Young & Moody (Bob Young & Micky Moody). Sadly, Graham had nothing to do with this. Ed Hamilton of "Night Games" fame penned song.

May 13th was a very happy day for Graham and his Australian girlfriend of three years Jo, because they got married at Marlybone Register Office in London. Pictures appeared in the daily newspapers as well as the Sunday magazines.

The follow up to "Night Games" was a very important decision. Another big hit single was needed but sadly it wasn't to be. The record company chose "Liar" which was written by Russ Ballard while he was in Argent. During June 1971 American band Three Dog Night took the song to No. 7 in the US Top 40.

By this time I would have imagined that all the songs for the album would have been recorded. So if this had been the case why on earth they didn't choose the other Russ Ballard penned song "S.O.S." I will never know !! "Liar" wasn't as successful as it's predecessor only peaking at No. 51 in the UK charts. It is a pity the record company didn't pay as much attention to what they should release as they did to the colour picture sleeve. In this case, the sleeve was excellent. It was a still shot from the "Night Games" video showing Graham singing with Cozy Powell in the background. Sadly there was no video to promote "Liar" which I think is very strange, especially when someone was supposed to be planning a follow-up package to a massive hit single !! One good thing about the single was that the 'B' side was a song that didn't appear on the forthcoming album - "Bad Days Are Gone" which was written by Bob Young and Micky Moody. This song rocked along more than the 'A' side to be honest !! Musicians who featured on "Liar" according to the album's inner sleeve are Cozy Powell, Micky Moody, Gary Twigg and Ian Lynn on wurlizter piano and prophet synthesizer. As for who plays on the 'B's side I am totally sure. Although according to the back of the picture sleeve it mentions the same musicians with the exception of Ian Lynn. In his place it mentions Jon Lord. So I presume Jon played on "Bad Days Are Gone" ? I am not too sure if "Liar" was actually released in Europe and the Australasian countries. I would imagine it was, but I have never seen any releases. It was definitely released in Japan along with "Bad Day Are Gone". For marketing reasons because of how the Japanese feel about their music and lean culturally towards things, "Liar became the 'B' side and "Bad Days Are Gone" the 'A' side. The reason for marketing it this way was because Graham was being promoted as a hard edged-pop singer who was now a solo artist after been part of a band and the buying public of Japan lean towards the type of sound for "Bad Days Are Gone". The same approach applied to "Night Games" as well.

By now three low budget video's had been shot. These showed Graham and the band, I believe he wanted to call The Hooligans singing and playing along to "I'm A Lover", "That's The Way That It Is" and "Anthony Boy" on stage or in a studio somewhere. The musicians were Jon Lord, Cozy Powell, Micky Moody and an unknown bass player. Maybe it was Chrissie Stewart ? Graham played acoustic guitar on "I'm A Lover".

Graham started to get a little disillusioned with things and how his solo career was going. So he decided to go back to L.A., leaving his album to be mixed and finished. Unknown to him at the time, that wasn't a good idea !!

August's issue of Flexipop magazine had Graham on the front cover along with Phil Lynott of Thin Lizzy and Tim Worman from The Polecats. Issued with the magazine was a 4 track flexi-disc. "Night Games" was one of these and in brackets next to the title it said 'New Version'. What it really should have said was, 'Extended version only released in Japan'.

Graham returned to the UK to promote his album. It had been recorded at various studios around London - Red Bus, Marquee, The Glade, RAK, Ramp, and the Roundhouse. It was mixed at Playground studios, also in London. When he heard it he was shocked. Gone was the hard edged sound that was in the can when he left, and in it's place was a far thinner sound. Graham said "It became a pop album, though it started off as very basic rock. Jon Lord was there, Cozy, Micky Moody, rock and rollers y'know. But John Eden, the guy who produced it, got in keyboard players from Toyah's band and made it flowery. He worked hard, but I wasn't very impressed, and that went down the drain !!"

Released towards the end of October the album was titled "Line Up". It is a pity that the album's promotion wasn't as good as it looked as the outer sleeve was very colourful and featured five photographs of Graham standing. The back of the sleeve showed photographs of most all the musicians who had played on it. Inside on the inner sleeve, were all the lyrics to the songs. So visually it looked very good. But sadly as I said, there was very little publicity in the press and shops to promote it. The album entered the UK charts at No 75 for the week November 7th. But after managing to only reach No. 62 shortly afterwards, it sank out of sight. The reviews it got in the UK were just average. Carol Clark of Melody Maker concluded her review by saying "As solo albums go, this one's fairly listenable, if inevitably lacking in direction or any attempt at originality." Robin Smith described it for Record Mirror by saying "Another old boys outing for the likes of Moody, Lord and Powell on Uncle Graham's solo album. Granted, the man can produce immaculate singles, typified by 'Night Games', but an album is a different story. At best it's workmanlike. Bonnet makes a creditable job of the Ballard songs 'S.O.S.' and 'Liar', but the Phil Spector track 'Be My Baby is painful candyfloss." Robin Smith finished off by saying the album only warrants a cursory listen and thought that Graham was at the crossroads and as school reports used to say, he could do better. Robin gave the album 2 out of 5. As for 'Playboy' magazine in Australia they reviewed the album and regarded Graham as 'One of Britain's better rock singers' !! At least Graham tried his best to promote "Line Up" here in the UK by visiting various radio stations in Scotland, Bristol, London's Capital Radio and maybe even more. He also appeared on 'Roundtable' on Radio 1.

"Anthony Boy" got released throughout Europe and achieved chart success in Germany. It was a very punchy version of the Chuck Berry penned song and had a good sax solo from Mel Collins to help it on it's way. Other musicians who played on the song were :- Cozy Powell, Micky Moody, Chrissie Stewart on bass, Richard Parfitt (Status Quo) on guitar and Adrian Lee on Jupiter 8 synthesizer. Another non-album track appeared on the 'B' side - "Don't You Tell Me To Go" written by Bob Young, Micky Moody and a certain Mr. Marquee. I would imagine the third credit is Dave Marquee who played bass on Graham's two solo album's of the late 70's. What was nice to see about "Anthony Boy" was that different picture sleeves were issued in Germany and Holland. As for other European countries I am not sure. I would imagine that the same musicians who played on the 'B' side also played on "Bad Days Are Gone" ? There were plans for Graham to visit Germany to promote "Anthony Boy", but I am not sure if it happened ?

There were also plans for Graham to go Japan because of the success of "Night Games". But once again I am not sure if it went ahead. By this time a version of The Kinks "Set Me Free" had been released in Japan and on the 'B' side was the Phil Spector penned song "Be My Baby". The whole package was quite unique really because non of the songs were issued anywhere else in the world as a single. Plus the picture sleeve wasn't used anywhere either. But sadly, I don't think the single was a success. The usual musicians played on both songs - Cozy and Micky, along with Gary Twigg on bass. Adrian Lee played a Jupiter 8 synthesizer on "Set Me Free" and keyboards on "Be My Baby". Martin Ditcham played percussion on "Be My Baby" and Kirby Gregory added some more guitar work.

Back home in the UK "That's The Way That It Is" was released during the first week of November which was written by Paul Bliss. Yet again there was virtually no promotion in the press for the single at all. The reviews were pretty fair and The New Musical Express said in their October 31st issue that Graham sings far to well on the song to be taken seriously !! The single was issued in a black & white picture sleeve. Cozy and Micky were there again along with Chrissie Stewart on bass guitar, Adrain Lee on Jupiter 8 synthesizer and Martin Ditcham on tambourine. On the 'B's side was "Don't Tell Me To Go". This and "Bad Days Are Gone" seem to have more about them than the album tracks. They seem more alive, raw and powerful. Maybe this is how the album tracks sounded before Graham left prior to it being mixed ? It would be nice to hear what the demo's sounded like. Probably better than the finished product !! As for "That's The Way That It Is", it did not trouble the UK charts whatsoever !! The same applied to the Australasian countries where "That's The Way That It Is" was also released, this time on the Vertigo label with the same 'B' side.

In a Dutch press release from Phonogram for Graham during November it says that plans are afoot for him to tour Japan in the new year, with the accompaniment of Cozy Powell and Micky Moody. Graham is also quoted as saying "I'm really looking forward to that because I've missed touring since leaving Rainbow. After Japan I may do some gigs in England but at the moment I'm concentrating on recording."

Graham made an appearance on UK Saturday morning TV show 'Tiswas'. Two videos were shown, "I'm A Lover" and "That's The Way That It Is". Usually the guests dive in a swamp, but Graham wasn't too keen on the idea. Anyway one minute after the show had gone off the air in one glorious moment he dived headlong into it !!

As the end of the year approached, Graham went home to think about the future of his solo career. It had been a strange year. Everything started so well, but then went sadly down hill. Cozy Powell said at the time "The track 'S.O.S.' is great, but they didn't put it out as a single. They put out 'That's The Way That It Is' - that's a nice song but it's not a single. 'S.O.S.' was written as one. Next thing you know........oh dear......then they release 'Liar', that's a bit old hat for a single. I often wonder who makes the decisions at record companies to put out singles. Maybe they ask the tea lady what she thinks."

I personally totally agree with what Cozy said. For the UK market I would not have released "Liar" as a single. The follow up to "Night Games" should have been "S.O.S.". I really think the song would have been a Top 20 hit. Then I would have released "Anthony Boy" as a little teaser towards the end of the year and I think that would have been a hit too. Along the way I would have been trying to come up with a really top quality song for February or March the following year and then taken things from there. But what do I know ? As for Graham, we all know in March 1982 joined MSG.

What has always puzzled me is if "Night Games" had a cat. no. of VER 1, "Liar" VER 2 and "That's The Way That It Is" VER 4, what was VER 3 ? Maybe it was going to be "Set Me Free" ? If so, I am glad they didn't release it.

Because of the success Graham had achieved in Japan during 1981, Mercury Records, through Nippon Phonogram re-issued his 1977 and 1978 solo albums in August 1982. "Bad Days Are Gone" open Graham's re-issued 1978 album "No Bad Habits". The song replaced his massive Australasian hit single "Warm Ride".

June 1st 1983 saw Hideki Saijo release his version of "Night Games" in Japan. It was sung in Japanese and the tempo is faster than Graham's version. This is probably to match Hideki's wild character !! The song is actually titled "Night Game" because the Japanese do not use plurals in their language. Hideki's version became a big hit. So to try and cash in on what was happening, Phonogram re-released Graham's original version in a different picture sleeve with the sentence written on the front 'This is the original of Hideki Saijo's new hit Night Games.' The new picture sleeve was like the front cover of the "Line Up" album. Whether it did boost sales for Graham's original as well as the "Line Up" album I do not know.

1987 saw the first appearance of "Line Up" on CD. Vertigo Records issued it in Japan along with nine of the ten tracks from Graham's 1977 solo album. It was part of a series titled 'Vertigo - CD Rock Collectors'. The CD is hard to come by these days and is certainly a collector's item.

Three years later in 1990 Vertigo Records issued "Graham Bonnet - The Rock Singers Anthology" in Australia. The CD was also issued shortly afterwards in the UK and Europe with a different sleeve, plus Japan as well. Three songs appeared on the album from Graham's "Line Up" album - "Night Games", Liar" and "Be My Baby".

August 1991 saw EMI/Polygram issue an album titled "Purple Rainbows". This featured "Night Games" along with songs by Deep Purple, Rainbow, Dio etc. The album was re-issued in 2004 with a different sleeve.

Even though the Japanese were the first to issue "Line Up" on CD along with tracks from Graham's 1977 album. They were also the first country to issue the album on it's own which they did in 1994.

Throughout his career Graham has performed a couple of songs from his "Line Up" album on various tours. Alcatrazz started doing "Night Games" in early 1984. He performed "S.O.S." on his February 1989 solo tour of Australia and has continued to perform the song on various solo gigs in California over the last five years. "Night Games" was again given an outing on his tour with Don Airey during 2001.

Lemon Records, which is a subsidiary of Cherry Red Records issued "Line Up" for the first time on CD in the UK in 2004. It is a pity that they didn't do their homework and add the two 'B' sides and even the extended Japanese release of "Night Games". I'm sure this could have been achieved with the minimal of fuss along with maybe a few demo's like a lot of albums re-mastered these days from many years ago !!

Steve Wright (c) 2005