by Mark Kadzielawa

Thin Lizzy broke up in 1983, and three years later, band’s leader, Phil Lynott, passed away. A decade later, in 1996, former members regrouped to celebrate Lynott’s legacy. The band was centered around the final Thin Lizzy line up. John Sykes on guitar and vocals, Scott Gorham on guitar, Brian Downey on drums, Darren Wharton on keyboards, and the newcomer Marco Mendoza on bass. Sykes took on the role of lead vocals, and quickly proved he could do justice to the material. The shows turned out to be extremely successful, and the band kept adding dates left and right. Downey, Wharton, and Mendoza eventually dropped out of the reunion, but Sykes and Gorham continued on with various line ups until 2009. They even made a live record back in 2000, titled "One Night Only." In 2009, John Sykes finally quit the band, but Gorham vowed to carry on.

Scott Gorham put together a new Thin Lizzy line up. Downey and Wharton were reinstated at their respective posts, as was Marco Mendoza. The new faces in the Thin Lizzy camp are Vivian Campbell on guitar, and Ricky Warwick on vocals. Campbell is of course a very accomplished player. Currently in Def Leppard, the guitarist established his name in Dio, Whitesnake, and Riverdogs. Ricky Warwick was the frontman with 1990s sensation The Almighty.

Thin Lizzy continues to gig around the world celebrating the great music of Phil Lynott. This coincides with many of the classic Thin Lizzy albums being re-mastered and reissued. With so much attention on the Thin Lizzy front, the spirit of Phil Lynott is assured to live on. The new army of fans continues to discover the music of Thin Lizzy, and Lynott’s sensitively poetic lyrics.

Keyboard player, Darren Wharton is in a very “playful” mood, calling from the Mohegan Sun Casinos, where the band recently performed. Wharton is happy to be part of Thin Lizzy again, and very excited about the current lineup and tour. He is very easy going, and willing to discuss anything related to Thin Lizzy, as well as his other band Dare.

You were initially involved in the reunion that took place back in 1997, and then you stopped being in the band, what happened?
Darren Wharton: The original incarnation of the reunion came about when it was a 10th anniversary of Phil's death. He'd been dead ten years, when we decided to do it. It was Scott, Brian, and myself. We were asked to do the tour as a tribute, and John Sykes was obviously involved as well. That was basically how the whole thing got started. It went so well, that we decided we may do few more dates. So we did some dates in Japan, and we did some dates in Scandinavia. It was one of those things that just felt pretty good. We just went out to do few shows, and stayed. It just clicked into place again. But at that point, I was still very involved with Dare. And I had some songs that I wanted to get to, and I wanted to put out an album. I spent a couple of years doing the "John Sykes" version of Thin Lizzy, and about in 1999/2000 we were getting so many shows, it was almost impossible to do anything else. I basically made a decision to launch my new label at that time, and promote my Dare stuff. I pulled out at that point, and Brian Downey pulled out as well. I just decided to focus on Dare for a couple of years. Since then, I put out four albums. My band, Dare, was doing really well. And about a year ago I got a phone call, it was Scott asking me to do Lizzy again. I've heard the rumor that John (Sykes) had left the band, and Scott was asking me to see if I would be interested to play again. He told me Brian Downy was coming back as well. I said "absolutely," because I've always loved playing with Thin Lizzy. It was just one of those things where I wanted to do my own thing for a couple of years.
Dare is obviously known in Europe, but in the U.S. the band has only a cult following. Could you describe what the band is really like?
Dare is doing quite well in Europe. We're not that big in America, which I'm hoping to change. The record industry is quite different in America. You need lots and lots of capital to launch a band, the way the radio is structured and everything. It's almost impossible for an independent label like mine to sort of make a dent in a big industry like that. And when it comes to radio, it just depends how much money the label decides to throw at them dictates what and who they play. My first album ("Out of The Silence") with Dare was in 1989 for A & M Records, and it was produced by Mike Shipley who produced Def Leppard and Mr. Mister, and Joni Mitchell. We did our first album in Los Angeles, in Joni Mitchell's house, which was a great experience because I am a big Joni Mitchell fan. We're a melodic rock band, with Celtic overtones, so it's little bit like Thin Lizzy in a sense that it got a lot of Celtic influences, and that comes from our background. And being Welsh. It's really nice stuff. I mean, I'm a keyboard player, so it's never gonna completely sound like Thin Lizzy because all of the songs are structured on a keyboard, rather than Lizzy's guitar sound. So, it's not like Lizzy, and probably not quite as heavy.
The new incarnation of Thin Lizzy is unlike anything else before. How do you enjoy being part of it?
I think it's the best Thin Lizzy line up since Phil was alive, without a shadow of doubt. It's obviously Scott, Brian, and myself from the original line up, or one of the original line ups. Ricky (Warwick) is doing a great job on vocals. He is Irish, and he's got a real soul humility, very similar to the way Phil was. Phil was always like a humble guy on stage, and I think that comes across in how sincere he was. Ricky is a very nice guy, and does a hell of a job. He is also Irish, and it gives you that little bit Irish flavor that is big part of Thin Lizzy. Vivian Campbell is absolutely brilliant on the second guitar. I think Vivian is probably the best guitar player in Thin Lizzy, next to Scott. I think he's the best guitarist for me, it just works perfectly because of his style, and the way he plays. It works really well.
Are there any particular Thin Lizzy tracks this line up elevates to a new high?
Well, yeah. I think every single track that we do is working exceptionally well. I'm even singing some stuff this time around. I sing the lead on "Still In Love With You," which I'm really happy about, and we're doing "Angel of Death," which features the keyboards obviously. I mean all the tracks are sounding amazingly. I think the whole sort of feel of the band is right at the moment. I think it's the best it's gonna be given the fact we haven't got Phil.
Recently, there were some comments from Scott Gorham saying this line up is capable of doing some recording. Is that a something the band is considering?
Well, you know it's one of those things, it's a complicated situation. We are all quite sensitive to the fact that it's difficult to put out an album without Phil. He was the driving force behind the band, and most people think of Phil Lynott when you mention Thin Lizzy. But the fact is, we've got six guys in the band, who are all songwriters in their own rights. It's hard not to come up with ideas and things like that. Politically, it's quite difficult thing to put together. I know there is talk about it in the band, and I think all of the stars have to align to make it right. There are several factors involved, whether or not the fans are gonna be expecting it or would accept it? There is the legal side with Phil's sort of estate, whether they would want that. I think we can certainly put out a fantastic album, without a shadow of a doubt, you know, but like I said the stars have to align to the right position before we do anything like that.
And how are the fans responding to this new version of Thin Lizzy?
Well, I think it's going really well. Given the fact that we were never really massive in the States for example, it's going really well. There was great reception in New York, and Pennsylvania. By all account, we had great sell out in all Europe, and the UK, and Ireland. From what I can tell, all the fans are loving it.
Let's go back in time now. How did you initially get involved with Phil Lynott and Thin Lizzy?
Well, I was playing in a nightclub in Manchester called Dino's Bar & Grill, which is the bar in Thin Lizzy's "Boys Are Back In Town." And I actually played in there. It was just one of those things of being in a right place at the right time. Gary Moore just left the band halfway through the American tour before I was involved, and Phil knew Midge Ure from Ultravox, and he brought him in to sort of stand in Gary's place. Because Midge wasn't that great on guitar, he made up for guitar parts by using keyboards. And Phil was always into experimenting, and he liked making things work in a different ways, and always wanted to push his sound and musical boundaries forward. He liked the way the keyboard sounded in the band, and that was it. They decided they were gonna look for a permanent keyboard player. And I was the lucky guy they found. By all account, they didn't rehearse anybody else, or even tried anybody else. It was just a friend of a friend who asked me if I would be interested, and that was it. I came down for the auditions, when they were doing "Chinatown." I played on "Chinatown," and that was it, I was in the band.
But, you weren't properly credited on "Chinatown," were you?
Yeah, I got a special thank. I'm on the special thanks.
Come the next album, "Renegade," your presence is very visible from the first track onwards.
Yeah, as I said, Phil was always trying to come up with different sounds. He was trying to keep moving forward, and luckily for me keyboards were sort of involved to a higher level than previously. I really enjoyed working on "Renegade." We did "Angel of Death," and Phil was kind to let me write on couple of songs with him, and that was it. It was just a natural progression really.
The track, "Angel of Death," it really defined your sound at the time, didn't it?
In those days, I mean in 1981, there weren't a great amount of keyboards around at that time. Apart from the Hammond organ which was very sort of Deep Purple. And the synthesizers were slowly making their way round, and Phil was really into it, especially with his solo albums, and stuff like that. And that track was just one of the sounds. It was a great and unique sound at that time, the monophonic synthesizer lead was something quite new. Once I was playing that riff around, and Phil heard it and liked it. And we based "Angel of Death" around it. It was basically the technology at the time that lead to it.
How would you say Thin Lizzy progressed from "Renegade" to "Thunder and Lighting?"
Well, a lot of it had to do with a guitarist change. I think John (Sykes) coming in, rather than Snowy (White) made a lot of difference. John's style was obviously more metal sounding, just to describe John's method of playing. It took it to that sort of "1987" Whitesnake type deal, you know. Whether or not that was right thing to do, as far as Thin Lizzy was concerned, only the fans can make their own judgment. I think it was a natural progression, but the fact that we got a different guitarist with a different style, or so. When that happens, you're always gonna get a different sound on the album, when you got someone whose style is that prominent.
One of my absolute favorite Thin Lizzy tracks came from "Thunder and Lightning." It's "The Sun Goes Down," and I know you were involved in writing that song. Can you describe how that song came to be?
Phil had this sort of bass riff (he starts humming the riff,) and I was putting some chords over the top of that which Phil really liked. And then the chord progression after that first line, Phil was sort of liking where I was going with that. And yeah, it was one of those songs we co-wrote together in Ireland actually. We wrote that in Dublin together. I was living there with Phil and his wife Caroline. So me and Phil arrived earlier at the rehearsal one day, and we did that, and rehearsed before the rest of the guys got there. It was just one of those things we did. We were lucky the other guys weren't there already, we probably wouldn't have written it (laugher.)
How would you compare the latter period of Thin Lizzy, the incarnation you were part of, to let's say "Live and Dangerous" lineup?
Obviously I think it's as good as any Thin Lizzy, but I completely understand the consensus to "Live and Dangerous" lineup, which is considered the classic line up. And obviously in a lot of ways, it was. But, you know, you can't stop progress, and things never stay the same. Another day, and thing change. And then Phil dying changed everything at the end of the day. I've been very proud of being part of the band, and I think all of the line ups have gotten their own strength.
It must've been hard to play that farewell tour back in 1983, knowing the band would break up at the end of it.
Well, that's a funny thing really. It never really was supposed to be the end, truth be known. I don't know why? Maybe it was some sort of plug from the management to sort of sell more tickets on the tour. But, as far as the band were concerned, we never wanted to break up. I remember we just finished the last show in German, and we were at the airport. We all said "goodbyes" at the airport as if we were gonna see each other the week after. We didn't have a big "Goodbye" party, it was just like "alright, see you guys." And that was it really, we didn't plan on stopping. As far as I was concerned, and Phil and John, we were just gonna have a break for a while, maybe just couple of months off. I never really believed the band was breaking up, it was just a story that was made up there. It was just unfortunate really. It was not the best decision the management ever made. And one thing lead to another. Phil started doing some solo work, which sort of prolonged our break. I think Phil missed the band really, it was his baby, and he had so much success with it. So, what can I say? It was a tragic mistake. I don't think it should've ever been put out as the band was breaking up. One thing snowballed into another.
Were you surprised that Thin Lizzy was not invited to regroup and perform at Live Aid back in 1985? I mean who was more connected to Bob Geldof and Midge Ure than Phil Lynott?
I think that was a tragic, tragic decision.
This could've been a turning point for Phil, who at the time had some substance problems.
It could've been and it should've been the turning point for Phil. And I think that really did Phil in quite a lot, that we were never asked to play. I mean Phil, had a few problems at the time, but at the end of the day, if he would've been asked to play Live Aid, that would've been a goal for him to clean himself up to do that gig. We were all very upset of the fact that we weren't asked to do it. Because as you say, it was Geldof and Midge who Phil knew very well. I was surprised that we weren't asked to do that. That would've been the turning point, you know, definitely. I don't think Phil ever forgave Bob and Midge for that really.

Links:
www.thinlizzy.org