Grand Slam are an Irish rock band originally formed in 1984 by

Phil Lynott Philip Parris Lynott (, ; 20 August 1949 – 4 January 1986) was an Irish singer, bassist, and songwriter. His most commercially successful group was Thin Lizzy, of which he was a founding member, the principal songwriter, lead vocalist and ba ...

(lead vocals and bass guitar), after the breakup of his earlier ensemble

Thin Lizzy Thin Lizzy are an Irish hard rock band formed in Dublin in 1969. Their music reflects a wide range of influences, including blues, soul music, psychedelic rock and traditional Irish folk music, but is generally classified as hard rock or s ...

. Grand Slam was active for a year, and Lynott died in 1986, but the band was revived in 2016 by original member Mark Stanway.

Early history

The birth of Grand Slam can be traced back to the solo band Lynott formed during July/August 1983 for a tour of Scandinavia. This line-up featured keyboardist Mark Stanway ( Magnum); Thin Lizzy members Brian Downey (drums) and

John Sykes John James Sykes (born 29 July 1959) is an English guitarist, best known as a member of Whitesnake, Thin Lizzy and Tygers of Pan Tang. He has also fronted the hard rock group Blue Murder and released several solo albums. Following a stint in ...

(lead guitar); plus rhythm guitarist Doish Nagle (ex-The Bogey Boys). When Thin Lizzy completed its farewell tour in September 1983, Lynott continued working with this configuration as a band project that eventually became known as Grand Slam. Sykes departed the project following an offer to join

Whitesnake Whitesnake are an English hard rock band formed in London in 1978. The group was originally put together as the backing band for singer David Coverdale, who had recently left Deep Purple. Though the band quickly developed into their own entit ...

and was replaced with guitarist

Laurence Archer Laurence Archer (born 9 November 1961 in London) is a British guitarist and songwriter notable for his work with British rock bands UFO and Phil Lynott's Grand Slam. He wrote many of Grand Slam's songs together with Phil Lynott and Mark Stanw ...

(ex Stampede), who had previously been approached by Lynott. Prior to the band's first shows, Downey left to be replaced by Robbie Brennan. The name Grand Slam was chosen after a plethora of other band names had been considered, including Reactor Factor, Catastrophe, Hell Bent On Havoc, Slam Anthem and Slam, the name of a song Lynott had in mind. Lynott earned the nickname Sergeant Rock at the rehearsals at the E'EE studios in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, due to his almost overbearing strictness and dedication to the rehearsal drill. With the line-up of Lynott, Stanway, Archer, Nagle and Brennan, Grand Slam played its first show in

Waterford "Waterford remains the untaken city" , mapsize = 220px , pushpin_map = Ireland#Europe , pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ireland##Location within Europe , pushpin_relief = 1 , coordinates ...

, Ireland on 26 April 1984. The band's live set contained a mixture of new songs, written by various combinations of Lynott, Stanway and Archer, as well as songs from Lynott's solo career plus selected Thin Lizzy songs. Lynott was keen to avoid any 'second-rate Thin Lizzy' tag, and was adamant that they should only ever perform three Lizzy songs live ("Cold Sweat", from their 1983 album '' Thunder and Lightning'', "Sarah", from Lizzy's 1979 album '' Black Rose: A Rock Legend'', and the crowd favourite, "Whiskey In the Jar", which can be found on '' Grand Slam: Live 1984''). Grand Slam toured extensively in the UK and Eire throughout 1984, with shows favourably received by both audiences and media. The band also appeared at high-profile festivals such as Crystal Palace (as special guests of Status Quo), Nostell Priory (as special guests of Marillion) and the

Kerrang ''Kerrang!'' is a British weekly magazine devoted to rock, punk and heavy metal music, currently published by Wasted Talent (the same company that owns electronic music publication ''Mixmag''). It was first published on 6 June 1981 as a one ...

Weekender festival in

Great Yarmouth Great Yarmouth (), often called Yarmouth, is a seaside resort, seaside town and unparished area in, and the main administrative centre of, the Borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England; it straddles the River Yare and is located east of ...

, the latter show broadcast by

BBC Radio One BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

. Despite shows being well received by audiences and the band having built up a large cult following, Grand Slam failed to secure a record deal (largely due to Lynott's reputation as a drug user during his later Thin Lizzy days). The original Grand Slam played its final show at

Walthamstow Walthamstow ( or ) is a large town in east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London and the ancient county of Essex. Situated northeast of Charing Cross, the town borders Chingford to the north, Snaresbrook and Sou ...

Standard, London on 7 December 1984 and folded shortly after. Phil Lynott died on 4 January 1986 from

liver The liver is a major organ only found in vertebrates which performs many essential biological functions such as detoxification of the organism, and the synthesis of proteins and biochemicals necessary for digestion and growth. In humans, it ...

, heart and

kidney The kidneys are two reddish-brown bean-shaped organs found in vertebrates. They are located on the left and right in the retroperitoneal space, and in adult humans are about in length. They receive blood from the paired renal arteries; bloo ...

failure, due to years of

drug abuse Substance abuse, also known as drug abuse, is the use of a drug in amounts or by methods which are harmful to the individual or others. It is a form of substance-related disorder. Differing definitions of drug abuse are used in public health, ...

and

alcohol Alcohol most commonly refers to: * Alcohol (chemistry), an organic compound in which a hydroxyl group is bound to a carbon atom * Alcohol (drug), an intoxicant found in alcoholic drinks Alcohol may also refer to: Chemicals * Ethanol, one of sev ...

excess. Several original songs from Grand Slam's catalogue resurfaced on Thin Lizzy releases including "Nineteen" (also released as a Phil Lynott's final single in 1985), "Sisters of Mercy" and "Dedication". The latter became the subject of controversy upon its inclusion as the title track of the '' Dedication: The Very Best of Thin Lizzy'' compilation in 1991. Originally recorded as a Grand Slam demo by its authors, Laurence Archer and Phil Lynott, Thin Lizzy's management had former members

Scott Gorham William Scott Gorham (born March 17, 1951) is an American guitarist and songwriter who is one of the "twin lead guitarists" for the Irish rock band Thin Lizzy. Although not a founding member of Thin Lizzy, he served a continuous membership after ...

and Brian Downey overdub guitar and drum tracks, respectively, and in an attempt to pass the song off as a Lynott solo composition. Archer was uncredited as a songwriter, but later settled out-of-court for a share of the publishing. The Grand Slam song "Military Man" was also recorded by Lynott and

Gary Moore Robert William Gary Moore (4 April 19526 February 2011) was a Northern Irish musician. Over the course of his career he played in various groups and performed a range of music including blues, blues rock, hard rock, heavy metal, and jazz ...

on Moore's 1985 album '' Run For Cover'' In 2002 and 2003, keyboardist Mark Stanway produced several releases of previously unreleased live, studio and demo material of Grand Slam compiled from his personal archive. Guitarist Laurence Archer recorded a solo album, titled ''LA'', in 1986, and went on to record and tour with a number of acts, including Brian Spence, Rhode Island Red (with drummer Manolo Antonana), UFO, and

Medicine Head Medicine Head were a British blues rock band – initially a duo – active in the 1970s. Their biggest single success was in 1973 with " One and One Is One", which reached number 3 on the UK Singles Chart. The group recorded six original albums ...

before retiring from the music business in 1994.

Reunion

In 2016 Mark Stanway reformed Grand Slam together with Laurence Archer, drummer Micky Barker (ex Magnum), bassist Neil Murray (ex

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath were an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy metal music. The band helped de ...

etc.) and vocalist Stefan Berggren (ex M3 Classic Whitesnake). This line-up made appearances at the Sweden Rock Festival and the Robin 2, Bilston. In 2018, Laurence Archer and Mark Stanway (with Mike Dyer, Dave Boyce and Benjy Reid) recorded a new Grand Slam studio album at VADA Recording studios with producer Matt Terry, reworking original Grand slam material written by

and Mark Stanway. along with new material written by Laurence Archer in collaboration with Mike Dyer, David Boyce and Benjy Reid. The album was released as ''Hit the Ground'' in November 2019. Mark Stanway did not feature in the line-up but contributed keyboards to five of the ten tracks.

Original line-up

- lead vocals, bass guitar *

- lead guitar, backing vocals * Doish Nagle - rhythm guitar, backing vocals * Mark Stanway - keyboards, synthesizers, piano, backing vocals * Robbie Brennan - drums

Current line-up

*Laurence Archer - guitar *Mike Dyer - vocals *Rocky Newton - bass *Benjy Reid - drums

Discography

;Studio recordings * 2002 - ''

Studio Sessions Studio Sessions may refer to: * ''Studio Sessions'' (Headhunterz album), 2010 * ''Studio Sessions'' (Grand Slam album), 2002 * ''Studio Sessions'' (Terry Ronald album), 1990 See also * Studio Sessions, Chicago 1956, a jazz collection produced ...

'' - collection of recordings from 1984 * 2019 - '' Hit the Ground'' - first official album as working unit ;Live recordings * 2003 - '' Grand Slam: Live 1984'' * 2003 - ''Twilight's Last Gleaming'' (Live album, the bulk recorded in London at the Marquee Club on 4 December 1984.) * 2008 - ''Glasgow Kiss'' (Live album recorded at Glasgow Mayfair on 30 October 1984.) ;Compilations * 2007 - ''The Grand Slam Years'' (3-CD box set collection of live and studio tracks.) ** Disc 1: Phil Lynott Live In Sweden 1983 ** Disc 2: Live In Ireland 1984 ** Disc 3: Studio Sessions * 2009 - ''The Collection'' (4-CD

longbox A longbox is a form of exterior paperboard packaging for musical compact discs in widespread use in the 1980s and early 1990s in North America. Background When compact discs first began to appear in the retail stores, the longbox packaging s ...

collection of live and studio tracks.) ** Disc 1: Phil Lynott Live In Sweden 1983 ** Disc 2: Live In Ireland 1984 - Galway / Castlebar / Lifford ** Disc 3: Studio Sessions ** Disc 4: Live At The Nostell Priory Festival, Wakefield, 27 August 1984 ;Singles * 2002 - '' Whiter Shade Of Pale / Like A Rolling Stone'' * 2003 - '' Whiskey in the Jar (Live)''

References

{{Authority control Irish hard rock musical groups Irish heavy metal musical groups Musical groups established in 1984 Musical groups disestablished in 1985 Musical groups from Dublin (city) Musical groups reestablished in 2016