Rock Singers

"I’m gonna be here for a long fuckin’ time. I’m scared of death, especially death by my own hand. I’m scared of where I would go. Not that I ever consider that, because I don’t. I was lucky enough to get a glimpse of where I was going to go if I did follow through with it. That makes me sad for my friends who have taken their lives, because I know that if your time is not finished here, and you end it yourself, then you gotta finish it somewhere else. There was a time when things seemed desperate, and I thought taking my life might be a way out. I made a couple of really weak attempts, mostly to see if I could do it, and I couldn’t."

"That is real horror and blood. When the Second World War finished I was 23 and already I had seen enough horror to last me a lifetime. I’d seen dreadful, dreadful things, without saying a word. So seeing horror depicted on film doesn't affect me much."

"He looked like a miniature Edward G. Robinson, and had the vigour of six, with the promiscuity of six for that matter, as if he wanted to make the most of every second of a life that would not be very long."

"Being half the man Christopher Lee is, is more than I could ever hope for. He was a true gentleman, in an era that no longer values gentlemen."

"Fun seems to be a three-letter word these days, although with directors like Tim Burton and George Lucas, it's fun, fun, fun while working yourself to death. But if you compare those Hammer movies to what has been made in the last 20 years - Brian de Palma, Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, George Lucas, Wes Craven, Tim Burton and Peter Jackson have all said the same thing to me: 'We were brought up on your movies.' And it certainly shows in theirs."

"I never thought of him as a vampire, ever. I mean, the blood is the life. That's one thing you have to bear in mind. And it is for all of us, isn't it? Here's a man who is immortal. Here is a man who, through being immortal, is a lost soul. Here is a man who experiences the loneliness of evil, something he can't control, who wants to die but there is a force in him, a malefic force, which drives him to do these terrible things. I said earlier the character is heroic, based on the real man - a war leader and a national hero, I may say, in Romania to this day - Vlad the Impaler. Certainly a bloodthirsty character, without a doubt. I also told you that the character is romantic - so he is, as far as women are concerned, and erotic. And there's, of course, the obvious association with the bite in a sexual sense, if you like. So I tried to put all those particular characteristics into the character. It appears that I succeeded."

"I was tired of the bullying. I was tired of being pushed down so that I couldn’t say my beliefs. And being fearful of losing sales. Losing fans. Losing bookings. Losing contracts and sponsorship. You know, that’s my day to day. And a lot of my friends have the same thing. And we live in Hollywood, which is supposed to be the most open viewpoint city. But the truth is there was a lot of hate and a lot of negativity and I wanted to change the storyline to love and support and unity as an American."

"'I’m getting paid 10p per copy of every album I’m selling and they’re (EMI) selling it for 15 quid. That’s outrageous but it’s quite typical."

"We did the ‘unplugged’ project, “Acoustica“, in Portugal. There was always something new and exciting. In-between all these records and projects we’re still touring all over the world: last year, with this latest album, “Unbreakable”, we went back to Japan and played in Scandinavia again; before we come to Tel Aviv, we play in Paris, at “Olympia”; we go back to Russia, we play Kazan, the only show this year with an orchestra; so there’s a lot of things. And that, I think, keeps us going, and the fact that after all these years we have a chance to come and play in Israel is very very exciting and emotional, and it also feels like a new chapter."

"The philosophy of friendship has definitely paid off, because after all the highs and lows we’re still sticking together and we haven’t lost the passion for what we’re doing. In the Seventies, there were few changes, then we had this line-up with Herman [Rarebell] and Francis [Buchholz] for almost twenty years."

"We’re from Germany but we grew up with English and American music which was such a strong inspiration for the young band. Very early on, in the Seventies, we went to England and France, to Japan and America, we toured and then became an international band. I think our music was never German, it’s always had this Anglo-American influence – we never tried to be a German band! We are Germans, yes, but not in our music. When we grew up, there was schlager music, this pop music kind of thing."

"When we started, there were KRAFTWERK and TANGERINE DREAM, and both bands also became very very strong internationally but in a different area, in a different field. They were doing, like, experimental kind of music, and KRAFTWERK were amazing, while we played just traditional rock."

"When I was younger I got into fights with my brother. Now I’m older, I can’t get into any bother... now if I explode, I’m the one who’s going to die. I’m an old man."

"Elvis was always over the top. It's funny that in those days people who wanted to look like Elvis would wear leather jackets and jeans, because that's what he wore in his movies. In real life, Elvis never wore denim. He thought they were work clothes. When he had to wear them, when he was driving a truck, he would do but he always loved the way black entertainers dressed. He styled himself on them, because he wanted to be flamboyant. That's why he had that gold lamé suit! He designed his jumpsuits himself. He always said, "If you're going to be a star, you should look like one.""

"Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis Presley, Fats Domino, Chuck Berry and Gene Vincent would be my five."

"Yeah 'n' I'm doin' all right in school. They ain't said I broke no rule. I ain't never been in Dutch. I don't browse around too muchDon't bother me leave me alone Anyway I'm almost grown"

"Did I miss the skyscrapers, did I miss the long freeway? From the coast of California to the shores of The Delaware Bay You can bet your life I did, till I got back in the U.S.A."

"Later in the evening when the sun is sinking low All day I been waiting for the whistle to blow Sitting in a teepee built right on the tracks Rolling them bones until the foreman comes back Pick up you belongings boys and scatter about We've got an off-schedule train comin' two miles out"

"Tell me who's the queen standin' over by the record machine Lookin' like a model on the cover of the magazine She's too cute to be a minute over seventeen Mean while I was still thinkin'If it's a slow song we'll omit it If it's a rocker, that we'll get it And if it's good, she'll admit it C'mon Queenie, let's get with it"

"Beautiful Delilah, dressed in the latest style Swingin' like a pendulum, walkin' down the aisle Deep romantic eyes, speak so low in miles Maybe she will settle down and marry after a while"

"Sweet little rock and roller, sweet little rock and roller Her daddy don’t have to scold her, her mother can’t hardly hold her She never gets any older, sweet little rock and roller"

"She remembered taking money out from gathering crop And buying Johnnys guitar at the broker shop As long as he would play it by the railroad side And wouldn't get in trouble, he was satisfied But never thought that there would come a day like this When she would have to give her son a goodbye kissGoing bye, bye, bye, bye Bye, bye, bye, bye Bye, bye Johnny Bye, bye Johnny B. Goode"

"Long distance information, give me Memphis Tennessee Help me find the party trying to get in touch with me She could not leave her number, but I know who placed the call 'Cause my uncle took the message and he wrote it on the wall"

"Thunderbird saw the Jaguar gainin' speed And waved "Goodbye, Jaguar" and pulled in the lead Jaguar said, "You ain't won the race yet" And pulled back around the Bird like a sabre jet Sheriff's front bumper was a yard behind When the T-Bird, Jaguar crossed the line"

"Let me tell you 'bout a girl I know I met her walkin' down a uptown street She's so fine you know I wished she was mine I get shook up every time we meet"

"Oh Carol, don't let him steal your heart away I'm gonna learn to dance if it takes me all night and day"

"Well I looked at my watch, it was 9:54 I said, "Dance ballerina girl, go go go!" And we rolled, reelin' and a rockin' We was reelin' and a rockin' Rollin' till the break of dawn"

"She’s got the grownup blues Tight dresses and lipstick She’s sportin’ high-heeled shoes Oh but tomorrow morning She’ll have to change her trend And be sweet sixteen And back in class again."

"Milo Venus was a beautiful lass, She had the world in the palm of her hand. But she lost both her arms in a wrestling match, To get a brown eyed handsome man."

"Way down South they gave a jubilee Them Georgia folks they had a jamboree They’re drinking home brew from a wooden cup The folks dancing there got all shook up."

"Me still alone, me sip on the rum Me wonder when the boat she come To bring me love, oh sweet little thing She rock 'n' roll, she dance and sing She hold me tight, she touch me lips Me eyes they close, me heart she flip Havana moon, Havana moon"

"Baby doll! When bells ring out the summer free Oh baby doll! Will it end for you and me? We'll sing our old Alma Mater And think of things that used to be"

"Hey, the band was rockin' Goin' around and around Well, reelin' and a rockin' What a crazy sound Well, they never stopped rockin' Till the moon went down"

"Deep down in Louisiana close to New Orleans Way back up in the woods among the evergreens There stood a log cabin made of earth and wood Where lived a country boy named Johnny B. Goode Who never ever learned to read or write so well But he could play the guitar just like a ringing a bell. Go, go, Go, Johnny go..."

"His mother told him, "Someday you will be a man, And you will be the leader of a big old band. Many people coming from miles around To hear you play your music when the sun go down. Maybe someday your name will be in lights Saying 'Johnny B. Goode tonight'.""

"I wanted to write about school because most of my audience at the particular time was of a school element."

"Baby I'm gonna see that you be back home in thirty days Gonna put a false charge again ya That'll be the very thing that'll send ya I'm gonna see that you be back home in thirty=-= days"

"Workin' in the fillin' station - too many tasks. Wipe the windows - check the tires - check the oil - dollar gas! Too much monkey business. Too much monkey business. Don't want your botheration, get away, leave me! Too much monkey business for me!"

"Just like a bolt of thunder and a streak of heat Leo covered Jo Jo with all four feet Jo Jo was screamin' with tears in his eyes Said," Please Mr. Leo, I apologize""

"I bought a brand-new air-mobile It custom-made, 'twas a Flight De Ville With a pow'ful motor and some hideaway wings Push in on the button and you can hear her sing Now you can't catch me, baby you can't catch me 'Cause if you get too close, you know I'm gone like a cool breeze"

"So come on, I wanna see you baby, come on I don't mean maybe, come on I'm tryin' to make you see That I belong to you and you belong to me"

"Hail, hail rock and roll; deliver me from the days of old. Long live rock and roll; the beat of the drums, loud and bold. Rock, rock, rock and roll; the feelin' is there, body and soul."

"The first popular performer to sing, play and write his own material, Chuck Berry roared into rock and roll in 1955 with the country two-beat rhythms of “Maybellene” and claimed the genre for his own. His influences were similar to those of B.B. King but also include jump blues and country-and-western music. It was Berry’s songs from the late Fifties with cut boogie patterns—like “Roll Over Beethoven,” “Johnny B. Goode” and “Carol”—that realized electrically the guitar ambitions first dreamt by Robert Johnson. Berry’s tone—courtesy of a hollow-body Gibson through a tweed Fender amp—was raw and loud. This, along with his duckwalk, ringing double-stops and songs about cars and girls, grabbed the youth market. Tall and handsome, he brought the guitar as the “cool” instruments to a ready audience via appearances on TV and in movies, in a way that the Beatles would repeat in the early Sixties."

"While no individual can be said to have invented rock and roll, Chuck Berry comes the closest of any single figure to being the one who put all the essential pieces together."

"In his 1958 masterpiece “Johnny B. Goode,” Berry created the ultimate rock-and-roll folk hero in just a few snappy verses. As we all know, Goode wasn’t pounding a piano, singing into a microphone, or blowing a sax. In his choice of the electric guitar, something sleek and of the moment, the fictional character of Goode would forge an image of the archetypal rocker, doing as much to shape the history of the instrument as any real-life figure ever has. The song’s opening riff is a clarion call — perhaps the greatest intro in rock-and-roll history. It was played by Berry on an electric Gibson ES-350T, and it indeed sounded “just like a-ringin’ a bell.”"

"I was looking for joy Yes, yes, yes, yes When I was little bitty boy If I would have known what makes a world go 'round I would have known what goes up must come down If you love me like I love you Mademoiselle, je vous aime, voulez-vous?"

"You know, my temperature's risin' and the jukebox blows a fuse My heart's beatin' rhythm and my soul keeps on singin' the blues Roll Over Beethoven and tell Tchaikovsky the news"

"As I was motivatin' over the hill I saw Maybellene in a Coup de Ville A Cadillac arollin' on the open road Nothin' will outrun my V8 Ford The Cadillac doin' about ninety-five She's bumper to bumper, rollin' side by side Maybellene"

"I feel good, like it's party time, don't you know And it blew my mind when she smiled and said hello But it broke my heart when she told me it's time to go"

"Chuck Berry is the greatest of the rock and rollers. Elvis competes with Frank Sinatra, Little Richard camps his way to self-negation, Fats Domino looks old, and Jerry Lee Lewis looks down his noble honker at all those who refuse to understand that Jerry Lee has chosen to become a great country singer."