"Waiting for an Alibi" is a song by Irish rock band

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 som ...

, and the first single from their 1979 album, '' Black Rose: A Rock Legend''. ''Black Rose'' was the only Thin Lizzy album recorded while Gary Moore was a member of the band, and he left soon after. The song was released as a single reaching No. 9 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

and No. 6 in Ireland, and an accompanying video was filmed. The band promoted the single with a performance on ''

The Kenny Everett Video Show ''The Kenny Everett Video Show'' (later renamed ''The Kenny Everett Video Cassette'') is a British television comedy and music programme that was made by Thames Television for ITV from 3 July 1978 to 21 May 1981. Overview Philip Jones, Tham ...

'', An extended version of this track can be found on '' The Adventures of Thin Lizzy'' compilation LP released in 1981, '' Dedication: The Very Best of Thin Lizzy'' released on CD in 1991, as well as '' Wild One: The Very Best of Thin Lizzy'', released in 1996. It also appears on the compilation albums ''Lizzy Killers'' (1981) and ''Soldier of Fortune'' (1987). This version lasts 4:08 and has a third verse and chorus not included on the single.

History

Prior to its release, the track had been reworked from its original recording. A demo of the song was recorded in early 1978 and featured Brian Robertson on lead guitar alongside

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 afte ...

(this was prior to Gary Moore's return to the band). The song was also played at Thin Lizzy's major gig at Sydney Harbour in late 1978 where the version performed could be described lyrically as a cross-over between the original demo and the final version that was released the following year. When Moore left Thin Lizzy in July 1979, Midge Ure was brought in to help finish a tour of the US, becoming the first in a string of guitarists to perform the song with the band. He was followed by

Dave Flett David Flett (born, 2 June 1951) is a Scottish rock guitarist, best known for performing with Manfred Mann's Earth Band and Thin Lizzy. Career Early years and Manfred Mann Flett began his career with local groups in Aberdeen such as Cat Squirre ...

Snowy White Terence Charles "Snowy" White (born 3 March 1948, Barnstaple, Devon) is an English guitarist, known for having played with Thin Lizzy (permanent member from 1980 to 1982) and with Pink Floyd (as a backing guitarist; he was first invited to tour ...

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 ...

before Thin Lizzy split in 1983. In later incarnations of the band,

Vivian Campbell Vivian Patrick Campbell (born 25 August 1962) is a Northern Irish guitarist. He came to prominence in the early 1980s as a member of Dio (band), Dio, and has been a member of Def Leppard since 1992 (replacing Steve Clark after his death). Camp ...

Richard Fortus Richard Fortus (born November 17, 1966) is an American guitarist. He has been a member of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he has recorded one studio album, since 2001. Fortus has also collaborated extensively with The Psychedelic Fur ...

and

Damon Johnson Damon Rogers Johnson (born July 13, 1964) is an American guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter, currently a solo artist and member of Thin Lizzy. In the 1990s he co-founded Brother Cane, and later joined Alice Cooper's band as lead guitarist. He w ...

also performed Moore's parts.

Personnel (studio version)

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 ...

–

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

–

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

* Gary Moore – lead guitar * Brian Downey –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

References

Thin Lizzy songs 1979 singles Songs written by Phil Lynott Song recordings produced by Tony Visconti Vertigo Records singles 1979 songs {{1970s-rock-song-stub