The Trooper

It was way back in 1983, when inspired by the hard rock / heavy metal bands I liked and had seen live, I picked up a couple of flyers from my local record store advertising for vocalists for local metal bands. I fancied giving it a go, what did I have to lose?

 For years I had sung along with records at home, much to my parents’ dismay, (this had reached its zenith with a cracking version of Iron Maiden’s ‘Remember Tomorrow’, which the neighbours complained about, whether it was the volume the record was played at or my voice, I didn’t know), I had also sung in choirs in school and church, which of course was an entirely different style of music and of singing.

So, I was aware I had a voice, but could I cope with this, being in a band? I had seen some of the local metal bands who plied their trade on the local pub circuit, and thought I was probably as good as some of the vocalists I had seen in the Crescent Hotel, the Copper Beech, and other places around the city.  It looked easy, having a few beers, and getting up on stage, singing your way through the cover versions, with a few songs of your own interspersed into the set. I could banter away with an audience once I had drunk a pint or two, but sober I wasn’t sure, I would get there, surely. I didn't have long hair, but what the hell, Rob Halford and Paul Di’anno got away with it so why shouldn’t I? Image wasn't everything. Like those rock gods before me, I would get there. It’s a long way to the top if you wanna rock ‘n’roll, as the song goes!

Anyway, I called one of the phone numbers, when my folks were out. The scene was set.  I would meet up with Bill and  Bob in Ma Cameron’s Bar where we would have a pint of two and discuss the potential band we could form, Bill played lead guitar and Bob played bass , they were still looking for a drummer for the as yet unnamed band, but Bill’s brother Andy would pitch up for a rehearsal if needed, and there was the matter of the second lead guitarist yet to be recruited .Evidently Andy  was a bit older, had seen Led Zeppelin at Knebworth , and Mark 2 Deep Purple live also, a bit more of a  hippy than a young up and at ‘em metal fan like me.

According to the flyer, Bill and Bob had similar musical influences as me , UFO, Judas Priest,  Whitesnake, Deep Purple, Iron Maiden being the main ones, I was not a fan of the new ‘thrash metal’ that was going about, with bands with like Slayer and Anthrax - that wasn’t for me, I was more into the melodic side of rock, maybe with two guitars playing in harmony with one another, like Thin Lizzy , and what the music papers called ‘soulful ‘ vocals, ( I’m thinking Paul Rodgers, David Coverdale and Phil Mogg here for examples) .

They had asked me what music I was into and I told them, they liked the same bands and LPs as me, so the ‘musical influences’ were there and none of us were into thrash, we had that much in common. Bill handed me a list of songs they had covered, some of which I had not heard, but UFO’s ‘Only You Can Rock Me’, Iron Maiden’s ‘The Trooper’, were favourites of mine, and strangely Tom Petty’s ‘Refugee’, jumped out at me, this music wasn’t metal, but I suppose his music was ok, I had heard ‘Refugee’ on the radio, so knew it vaguely. I told Bill and Bob, I could rehearse these ones at home, (the reality of this would be my singing along with the records at home, winding up the neighbours and my folks, and the Tom Petty LP would be borrowed from the Record Lending Library at the weekend). This was exciting, bloody hell, I might be playing at the Capitol this time next year, or at least the Music Hall!

My soon to be band mates, had discussed that my audition would be next Tuesday night, Bill would give me a lift to the rehearsal place, which was an old church hall in the harbour area of the city.

 ‘Have you got your own microphone?’, was Bob’s parting shot to me as we left Ma Cameron’s.

My own microphone? Surely, they had microphones. The only microphone I had was the one from the Grundig cassette player that my brother and me had shared in the 70s, the one I swung about as if I were, well, a rock star. Where would I find a microphone, I didn’t know anyone who had one, but in the end of the day, my future band mates would have one, I thought.

I told my folks, and brothers about my ‘audition’, and  this was treated with much mirth and derision, a lot of ‘you in a band?’, type comments, followed by guffaws of hysterical laughter.

Oh well, I would give it a go, what the hell, if at first you don’t succeed and all that.

Tuesday came around, and the doorbell went at around 7pm just after we had eaten,

My brother answered, as cheeky as ever,

‘It’s the guy from the band, he doesn’t look like a Rockstar’, more like a van driver or something!’

 Evidently Bill's 'day job' was a van driver and here I was in the delivery van he was 'borrowing' from his work for the night. It was chucking down rain by the time we reached the rehearsal place, St Magnus’ Church Hall in a dark street near the harbour which was apparently the red-light district of the city. We had access to the hall for two hours, which would be time enough, said Bill, the Church Caretaker would be through at around 9.30pm to lock the place up.

My road to fame started here!

Bob and Andy were already there and jamming along to what sounded like ‘Doctor Doctor’ by UFO, with another lead guitarist, Paul he was called, he played very  proficiently , soloing away like Eddie Van Halen’s Aberdeen cousin, in fact the sound they were making was on a par with the bands that I had seen playing in pubs, and on the Queen’s Links during the summer months- quite impressive to my ears.

Bloody hell,  how was I going to manage here, in my head I was Phil Mogg, Bruce Dickinson, David Coverdale, whichever dynamic vocalist /frontman you wish to mention, the reality was something quite different in the cold light of the church hall.

Bill plugged in his guitar, and tested the microphones, announcing to the audience of none ‘One, two- one, two, Good Evening Aberdeen, we’re WolfClaw, welcome to our show, Bob’s going to introduce our new singer, Alan Wilson, and we’ll kick off with ‘The Trooper’, a great song by our pals Iron Maiden

Here was my chance, this was my cue, I guessed, the first step on the road to fame, it’s a long way to the top etc.

The drums and bass came thundering  in at a galloping pace and the twin lead guitars sounded like  a rough approximation of the Maiden tune, the lead lines interwoven with one another,  here was my big entrance, after this intro, where Bruce Dickinson comes in ‘You’ll take my life but I’ll take yours too’, I was making all the right moves holding the mic like a real Rockstar, but what was that wailing sound?, the yelp of someone in pain, the realisation hit me, it was my voice being heard for the first time through a microphone, and it wasn’t pleasant, I couldn’t scream like Bruce Dickinson, I didn’t have the voice for that.

I hoped the next song would be better, UFO, ‘Only You Can Rock Me’, the first band I had ever seen live, could I do this justice? It was easier, the tune, the vocal line, call it what you will was lower, so I didn’t struggle to reach the notes, my voice was getting hoarse, maybe I could have a raspy voice like Rod Stewart or someone. It was not a bad version of the song, even though I say so myself, but then came ‘Refugee’ which somehow brought out my Aberdeen accent, ok I clearly was not American, but anyway, whatever. Maybe I was in, maybe I was not, the doubts were kicking in, just like when I was back at school, being the last one picked for team games.

Throughout the audition, they all carried on without comment, real troopers,  aye right.

Bill told me that he would call me later in the week once they had auditioned the other two singers they had in mind, and of course the keyboard player.

He never did call me, and to be honest it was probably a good thing, I am not sure the Rockstar lifestyle and fame was for me anyway.

So, I went back to my hum drum life as an office worker, and Wolf Claw, does anyone remember them from back in the heady days of the Aberdeen rock nights and the NWOBHM back in the early 1980s?

I thought not.