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Mark Stanway | |
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| Background information | |
| Born | 27 July 1954 Sutton Coldfield, England |
| Origin | London, England |
| Genres | Hard rock, blues rock, progressive rock |
| Occupation(s) | Keyboardist |
| Years active | 1972–present |
Mark Stanway (born 27 July 1954) is an English musician. He was the keyboard player for the hard rock band Magnum from 1980 until the end of 2016.
Stanway first appeared with Magnum on the 1980 recording of Chase the Dragon (released in 1982) Stanway provided keyboards on every studio album release from 1980 until his departure in 2016 (19 studio albums)
After a short stint with Stampede, Stanway formed Grand Slam with Phil Lynott after a Lynott solo tour in Sweden in mid 1983, this band was with Lynott on bass, Stanway on keyboards, John Sykes on guitar, Brian Downey on drums and Doish Nagle on rhythm guitar, which evolved into Grand Slam in 1984. Sykes later left to join Whitesnake and was replaced by Laurence Archer upon Stanway's recommendation. In 2016, Stanway reformed Grand Slam for a Sweden Rock Festival performance with Micky Barker (ex Magnum) on drums, Neil Murray on bass, Laurence Archer on guitar and Stefan Berggren on vocals. During this career, Stanway has performed and or recorded with many notable artists over the years including Robert Plant, Roy Wood, M3 Classic Whitesnake, featuring original Whitesnake members Micky Moody, Bernie Marsden and Neil Murray, Swiss Star Bastian Baker, Jimmy Copley, Manfred Mann's Earthband, The Quireboys, The Dogs D'amour, Mississippi blues singer Lisa Mills, Karl Wayne, Junior Giscombe, Spike Gray, Simon Kirke, Luke Morley, and The Sweden Rock Symphony Orchestra.
Stanway played keyboards on Magnum's successful On a Storyteller's Night album. Their success continued the following year with the Roger Taylor produced Vigilante in 1986, the top 5 album Wings of Heaven in 1988, and the Keith Olsen produced Goodnight L.A. which reached No. 9 in the UK Albums Chart in 1990.
On 9 December 2016, Stanway announced that he has left Magnum, mid-way through their five date Divine Lies Winter Tour. He cited "irrevocable circumstances". [1] Since his departure from Magnum, he has performed with the Sweden Rock Symphony Orchestra in 2017 and embarked on a series of 'An Intimate Evening With' shows and, in 2018, Stanway formed a new band, Kingdom of Madness, to perform Magnum songs from 1976 to 1994. This seven piece band features Stanway, former Magnum drummer Micky Barker (1985–95), former Magnum keyboard and flautist Richard Bailey (1973–74, 1976–80), vocalist and percussionist Mo Birch (UB40, Culture Club and Magnum), guitarist Laurence Archer (Stampede, Grandslam & UFO and Magnum in 1984), bassist Neil Murray (Whitesnake, Black Sabbath amongst many more) and vocalist Chris Ousey (Heartland & Snakecharmer). In July 2019, Murray was amicably replaced by Brian Badhams (ex Rainmaker, Steve Gibbons Band, Alaska, and continues to perform with Ellie Brooks).
Thin Lizzy are an Irish hard rock band formed in Dublin in 1969. Thin Lizzy initially consisted of bass guitarist, lead vocalist and principal songwriter Phil Lynott, drummer Brian Downey, guitarist Eric Bell and organist Eric Wrixon, although Wrixon left after a few months. After Bell left at the end of 1973 the band soon switched to twin lead guitarists: Scott Gorham, who remained with the band until their break-up in 1983, and Brian Robertson, who was replaced in 1978 by Gary Moore. Moore was replaced in turn by Snowy White in 1980, and John Sykes in 1982. The line-up was augmented by keyboardist Darren Wharton in 1980. The singles "Whiskey in the Jar" (1972), "The Boys Are Back in Town" (1976) and "Waiting for an Alibi" (1979) were international hits, and several Thin Lizzy albums reached the top ten in the UK. The band's 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 sometimes heavy metal.
One Night Only is a live album by rock band Thin Lizzy, released in 2000. Thin Lizzy had reformed in 1994 for a series of gigs marking ten years since the band split in 1984. Latter-day Lizzy guitarist John Sykes now took the lead vocal while Marco Mendoza was recruited on bass. The venture was popular enough to be repeated but by the time this album came out, original drummer Brian Downey had decided the affair was too disorganised and retired from the group leaving none of the original trio remaining. Keyboardist Darren Wharton also quit around the time of this album's release. The band, led by Sykes and Scott Gorham, subsequently continued performing with various lineups. This album features ex-Ozzy, Whitesnake, and Black Oak Arkansas drummer Tommy Aldridge.
John James Sykes 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.
Snakebite is the first official release by the British hard rock band Whitesnake. The original EP initially featured only four tracks and was released in the UK in June 1978 and never published in the US. Snakebite was re-released in September 1978 as a Double Extended Play containing four extra studio tracks taken from David Coverdale's second solo album Northwinds. The EP sleeve is entitled David Coverdale's Whitesnake and features photographs of the live band in concert. All tracks from the original EP also were used as bonus tracks on the 2006 remaster of Whitesnake's debut studio album Trouble.
Philip Neil Murray is a Scottish musician, best known as the former bassist of Whitesnake, Brian May band, Black Sabbath and Gary Moore.
James Stewart Bain was a Scottish musician, best known for playing bass guitar in the bands Rainbow and Dio. He also worked with Kate Bush and Thin Lizzy frontman Phil Lynott, co-writing on his solo albums.
Magnum were an English progressive rock, melodic hard rock and AOR band. They were formed in Birmingham in 1972 by Tony Clarkin and Bob Catley (vocals) in order to appear as the resident band at the Rum Runner nightclub in the city. Magnum have undergone several changes in personnel over the years; however, the core of Catley and Clarkin remained until Clarkin's death in 2024.
Slide It In is the sixth studio album by English rock band Whitesnake. Originally released on 30 January 1984 in Europe, by Liberty/EMI, it was remixed for the American market, later issued on 16 April 1984 in North America by Geffen. In Japan, it was issued a "European" Mix release date on 23 March 1984, and an "American" remix on 21 December 1984 by CBS/Sony. Widely regarded as a moderate success, it helped the American market to open up for the band's sound and breakthrough throughout the later 1980s. Historically, it was the final Whitesnake recording to use the band's original "snake" logo.
Vagabonds Kings Warriors Angels is a 2001 4-disc set by Irish rock group Thin Lizzy, which also contains a book chronicling the life of the band and music in some detail, with rare photos and a discography. The set was packaged in a longbox format with the booklet fixed inside like a book.
Michael Joseph Moody is an English guitarist, and a former member of the rock bands Juicy Lucy and Whitesnake. He was also a founder-member of Snafu. Together with his former Whitesnake colleague Bernie Marsden he founded the Moody Marsden Band, and later, The Snakes, having previously collaborated with unofficial 5th Status Quo member Bob Young in Young & Moody. Along with Marsden and ex-Whitesnake bassist, Neil Murray, he formed The Company of Snakes and M3 Classic Whitesnake with which they mainly performed early Whitesnake songs. From 2011 to 2015, Moody toured and recorded with Snakecharmer, a band he co-formed.
Grand Slam are a British rock band originally formed in 1984 by Phil Lynott, after the breakup of his earlier ensemble Thin Lizzy. Grand Slam was active for a year, and Lynott died in 1986, but the band was revived in 2016 by original member Mark Stanway.
Kingdom of Madness is the debut studio album by the English rock band Magnum. It was recorded in 1976, and was released in 1978 by Jet Records. Kingdom of Madness was awarded a 4 star review in Sounds, with writer Geoff Barton suggesting the band were capable of making a strong claim for a slice of the market occupied by the likes of Styx, Kansas and Yes.
Grand Slam: Live 1984 is a live album by Irish rock band Grand Slam, released in 2003 but recorded in 1984.
Laurence Archer 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 Stanway, some of which were released as Thin Lizzy songs. Archer was also a member of British band Wild Horses, Stampede, Lautrec, Medicine Head and Rhode Island Red with Gary Leiderman on bass, Manolo Antonana on drums and frontman/actor/writer Mike Dyer.
The Company of Snakes were an English rock band formed in 1998, by former members of the English rock band Whitesnake who were also members of The Snakes. They released two albums before morphing into M3 during 2004.
The Snakes were a British-Norwegian hard rock band, formed by former Whitesnake members Bernie Marsden and Micky Moody in 1997. The line-up consisted of guitarists Marsden and Moody with Norwegian musicians, vocalist Jørn Lande, bassist Sid Ringsby, who later joined the Norwegian band TNT, and drummer Willy Bendiksen. The band released one live album, one studio album and broke up in 1999.
"Love Ain't No Stranger" is a power ballad by the English hard rock/heavy metal group Whitesnake, and it is taken from the band's U.S.-breakthrough album Slide It In. One of the group's best known songs, it's been included in multiple multi-artist compilation albums as well as in various media from Whitesnake's own labels. Particularly well-received in the context of the 1980s heavy music boom in the Anglosphere, various music critics have praised its composition.
"Crying in the Rain" is a song by the English hard rock band Whitesnake. The song was originally released on the group's 1982 album Saints & Sinners, but was re-recorded on the group's 1987 multi-platinum album Whitesnake. The song was inspired by singer David Coverdale's divorce.
"Slow an' Easy" is a song by the English rock band Whitesnake from their 1984 album Slide It In. The album provided the group with a commercial breakthrough in the United States, and this specific song, which was released as a promo single, became a hit on rock radio. "Slow an' Easy" and "Love Ain't No Stranger" reached #17 and #34 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, respectively.
Stampede are a British hard rock band formed in 1981 by songwriting partnership Reuben Archer and Laurence Archer. The band signed to Polydor Records, emerging as part of the new wave of British heavy metal scene. Stampede disbanded in 1983, and guitarist Laurence Archer went on to play with UFO and Phil Lynott's Grand Slam, amongst other projects. The band reformed 26 years later in 2009, and a new studio album titled 'A Sudden Impulse' was released on 9 May 2011 on the Grind That Axe label, a subsidiary of Rock Candy Records.
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