Gary Moore Biography Part 2 1980-1989 7 August 1997

1980 The newly formed trio G Force release their first (and only) album, G Force, followed by two singles, White Knuckles / Rockin' and Rollin' and Hot Gossip. 1981 By the summer of 1981 G Force is no longer and Gary Moore is back doing session work for Greg Lake's solo LP, Greg Lake, released later that year. According to the legend, Greg Lake had called on Gary Moore to do a guitar solo which no one else could do; Scheduled to start recording at noon, Gary showed up 15 minutes early and finished by the time he was supposed to start! Greg asked him to stay for a while and Gary ended up playing on half the record. (Again, that's only according to the legend!) Gary Moore will even follow Greg Lake on tour in England and in the US. Also released that year was Nuclear Attack, Gary Moore first 12" single (actually released under the name Gary Moore & Friends). 1982 In February Gary Moore starts working on Greg Lake's Manoeuvres LP, then he begins working on his own LP to be released later that year. During the Summer, Gary Moore plays at the Marquee in London (August 26th), where the live album Live at the Marquee was recorded; then at Reading (August 28th), experiencing some sound problems. Later in the year he plays at Surrey University. In September/October Gary Moore is back in the studio recording Cozy Powell's Octopuss LP and his own Corridors of Power. Only then does he go back to finish up Greg Lake's Manoeuvres LP. By year's end Corridors of Power is within the 50 best-selling rock LPs of the year and it reaches the Top 10 on the UK hard-rock charts. The singles from the album are quite successful in the charts as well. 1983 In January Gary Moore is the midst of the Corridors of Power tour. At the end of the month he is in Japan where a couple of shows are recorded. After mixing in March a live album is released in Japan only (Rockin' Every Night). The rest of the world will have to wait until 1986! In October Gary is back in the studio recording his next LP Victims of the Future, to be released in January of the following year. The other releases of the year on which Gary Moore plays are Cozy Powell's Octopuss, Greg Lake's Manoeuvres (recorded the preceding year), and Thin Lizzy's Life - Live. 1984 After the release of Victims of the Future Gary Moore embarks on a world tour starting in early February in England, going through the rest of Europe and Japan and ending up in the States in late July. The rest of the summer is spent going through everything recorded during the tour, mixing, and putting together a live album, We Want Moore !. Gary Moore also plays at the Monsters of Rock throughout Europe alongside Van Halen, Ozzy Osbourne, and AC/DC. By September/October the live album is ready for release and accompanied by a short promotional tour in the UK. 1984 seems to be one of the most eventful years in Gary Moore's career. First, there is the release of Empty Rooms, the first version (but far from the last...) of a very successful single; then this mammoth world tour; but the biggest event occurs in December when Gary Moore returns to his native Ireland, performing there for the first time in 10 years. To celebrate the occasion, the video Emerald Aisles is shot and guess who joins on stage in Dublin... Phil Lynott. Gary and Phil have just burried the hatchet, as 1985 will demonstrate. 1985 Phil Lynott and Gary Moore are reunited once again! But this time, it's just the two of them since Thin Lizzy had already been disbanded at the time. This last collaboration will produce Out in the Fields, an EP also containing the songs "Military Man" and "Still in Love with You" (an excellent remake of Thin Lizzy's 1974 version, on which Gary played as well). The new single climbs the charts and the legendary pair ends up on the cover of Kerrang! This will unfortunately prove to be their last effort together. "Out in the Fields" and "Military Man" are featured on Gary's release for the year, Run for Cover. 1986 Phil Lynott dies early in January, leaving fans stunned. The only Gary Moore release worth noting that year is in fact a re-release; Rockin' Every Night is finally released outside Japan. Gary seems to be taking a break that year, but the following year's album will be worth the wait. 1987 The new album, Wild Frontier, finds Gary Moore returning to his Irish roots. Still considered by many his best non-blues album, Wild Frontier sells well and the critics seem to like it. The album features a cover of "Friday on my Mind"; the instrumental "The Loner", already featured an a Cozy Powell solo album, gets a facelift and sounds better than ever; the album closes with "Johnny Boy"... Later in the year (April), the Stockholm show is filmed, then released on video. 1988 Has anyone seen Gary Moore in 1988? Where was he? What was he doing? 1989 After the War is the year's release. Ozzy guest stars on "Led Clones", "Livin' on Dreams" tells of Gary's early days as a musician, the excellent "Blood of Emeralds" finds Gary still thinking of Phil Lynott. One of the singles for the album will feature a remake of Thin Lizzy's "Emerald" yet again reminding us of Phil. Also featured on the album: a cover of Roy Buchanan's "The Messiah Will Come Again" instrumental. Sounds like a great album, doesn't it? Well, Gary's growing tired of the hard rock scene and while on tour in Switzerland he tells his manager that he'd like to try something else, like say blues or something!!!

(Images 3 and 4 courtesy of Phil Gregg) Part 3

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