| Bob Catley |
| Background
information |
| Born |
11 September 1947, Aldershot |
| Genre(s) |
Hard Rock
Blues
rock
Heavy
metal |
| Years active |
1972 — present |
Associated
acts |
Magnum
Hard Rain
Gary
Hughes |
| Website |
www.bobcatley.com |
Bob Catley is a British
musician,
perhaps best known as the lead singer of the rock band Magnum.
He is also an accomplished solo artist.
|
Contents
- 1 Biography
- 1.1 Early
Years (1947 — 1972)
- 1.2 Magnum
(1972 — 1995)
- 1.3 Hard
Rain (1995 — 2001)
- 1.4 Magnum
Reunion (2001 — present)
- 1.5 Solo
Career (1998 — present)
- 2 Discography
- 2.1 Magnum
- 2.2 Hard
Rain
- 2.3 Solo
- 2.4 Side
Projects
- 3 References
- 4 External
links
|
Biography
Early Years (1947 — 1972)
After leaving school Catley (born 11 September 1947,
Aldershot) started an apprenticeship at the GPO. During this time he joined several bands,
such as The Smokestacks, Life and Clearwater. Shortly afterward he
decided to pursue a career in music professionally and he joined local
outfit The Capitol Systems. The line up was Bob Catley (vocals) Paul
Sargent (guitar) Charlie Harrison (bass) (replaced later by Dave
Morgan), Dave Bailey (keyboards) and John 'Pank' Panteny (drums).
Shortly afterwards they changed their name to Paradox, inspired by a
science-fiction novel. A one off deal was arranged with Mercury after
Paradox had come to the attention of Francis
Rossi and Rick Parfitt - the tracks
chosen were "Ever Since I Can Remember", backed with "Goodbye Mary". In
addition they recorded "Mary Colinto" and "Somebody Save Me". All of
these songs were written by Dave Morgan.
Magnum (1972 — 1995)
-
Main article: Magnum
(band)
Formed in 1972, Magnum have undergone several changes in
personnel over the years, however the core of vocalist Bob Catley and guitarist/songwriter
Tony
Clarkin remain today.
Magnum began as the house band at Birmingham’s
famous Rum Runner night club (later
the home of Duran Duran). They began to
develop their own style by playing Clarkin's songs at a residency at
The Railway Inn, in Birmingham's Curzon Street, in 1976. Joining Clarkin
and Catley were drummer Kex Gorin and bassist Dave
Morgan (later a member of ELO). Their most
notable success during these early years was the Jeff Glixman produced Chase
The Dragon (1982) which reached #17 in the UK,
and included several songs that would be mainstays of the bands live
set, notably "Soldier Of The Line", "Sacred Hour" and "The Spirit".
Their breakthrough album came in 1985 with On A Storyteller's Night
which featured the single "Just Like An Arrow". This success continued
in the following years 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.
reaching #9 in the UK album charts in 1990.
In the summer of 1995 Tony Clarkin announced the band were to
split following a farewell tour of the UK and Europe.
Hard Rain (1995 — 2001)
-
Main article: Hard
Rain (band)
After Magnum split, a spin off group featuring Catley and
Clarkin was formed called Hard Rain, and they released the
albums Hard Rain
and When The
Good Times Come. It was around this time that
Catley launched a solo career using various songwriters, including Gary
Hughes of the band Ten. However, Hard Rain found gigs and
booking hard to come by, and there were discussions about renaming the
band as Magnum. Also, at this time, Catley was becoming increasingly
focused on his solo career, and he quit Hard Rain, marking the end of a
working relationship with Clarkin that dated back to 1972. After a
quiet period Clarkin announced the end of Hard Rain.
Magnum Reunion (2001 — present)
-
Main article: Magnum
(band)
Eventually, Tony Clarkin and Catley
re-launched Magnum with the album Breath Of Life
in 2002 on SPV.
They were again joined by Stanway, with former Hard Rain bassist Al Barrow
and former-Thunder drummer Harry
James. This was subsequently followed by Brand New Morning
in 2004.
Magnum completed work on a new studio album, Princess Alice
And The Broken Arrow released on 26th March
2007, that also marked the return of cover artwork by Rodney
Matthews. The album entered the UK Album Charts at #70, the first time
Magnum have charted in the UK after 1994. It also reached #4 on the BBC
Rock Album Charts and #60 in Germany, the bands biggest market outside
of the UK along with Scandinavia.
Solo Career (1998 — present)
Despite a busy touring and recording schedule with Magnum
at this time, Bob Catley has found time to embark on a highly
successful solo career. He was first approached by Gary
Hughes (frontman of Rock band Ten) in
1998 to write a solo album. Bob joined together with Gary who wrote all the
songs on The Tower
(as well as producing and playing bass and keyboards). The
Tower was written with classic Magnum
very much in mind and harks back to On A Storyteller's Night
style pomp meeting Wings Of Heaven
style AOR with a very 90s melodic rock production. The
Tower was released in 1998 and was critically
acclaimed.
Bob made his debut solo appearance at The Gods '98, performing
a show stopping set featuring tracks from The
Tower as well as classic Magnum
songs. Such was the response to the show that Now & Then
decided to release an "official bootleg" of the set. Live At The Gods
which was released in January 1999 and features the full set list
performed on the day. Bob's backing band for the concert was made up of
Canadian label mates Emerald Rain with Vinny
Burns (Ten) on lead guitar and Paul Hodson (Hard
Rain) on keyboards. Bob and Emerald Rain also undertook a successful UK
tour.
During the summer of 1999 recording commenced on Bob's second
solo album Legends.
Gary Hughes once again wrote and produced the album (as well as playing
keyboards) with Ten's Vinny Burns and Steve McKenna and Dante Fox's
John Cooksey providing the musical backing. The songs are based on
various Legends, factual, fictional, historical and mythological.
Legends
was launched at The Gods 99 where Bob headlined the Saturday night with
Emerald Rain and Paul Hodson once again providing backing. Bob toured
the UK extensively during 2000 with Paul Hodson and Native Cain
providing his backing band. In the run up to Christmas 2000 Bob toured
the UK again, and for one Spanish date, with special guest Kip Winger.
2001 saw the release of Bob's 3rd album Middle
Earth, which was based on J.
R. R. Tolkien's epic The
Lord of the Rings. The songs, once again penned
by Gary Hughes, are based on various parts/incidents/characters from
the book. Musicians on Middle
Earth include Gary's band mates Ten plus a
guest appearance by Landmarq vocalist Tracy Hitchings. Bob toured
extensively in 2001 with Kip Winger opening acoustically early in
the year, and then spent a month co-headlining UK and European dates
with Ten later in the year.
2003 saw a change in writing partners for Catley - When Empires
Burn was written and produced by Bob’s long
time keyboard player Paul Hodson. The backing band included Vince
O’Regan (Guitars), Al Barrow (Bass) and Jamie Little (Drums). When Empires
Burn was again backed by a full European tour,
this time touring with the Yorkshire based band Lost Weekend.
Bob’s 2006 solo album Spirit Of Man
was written by Dave Thompson and Paul Uttley of Lost Weekend and Vince
O’Regan of Pulse, and was recorded at KRT Studio’s in Wolverhampton.
Bob and Vince have co-produced the album. This is the first time that
Catley has had a role in the production of one of his albums. The album
was supported by a full UK and European tour, including an intimate
date at London's famous Underworld club.
Discography
Magnum
-
Main article: Magnum
discography
Hard Rain
- Hard Rain
(1997)
- When The
Good Times Come (1999)
Solo
- The Tower
(1998)
- Live At The Gods
(1999)
- Legends
(1999)
- Middle Earth
(2001)
- When Empires
Burn (2003)
- Spirit Of Man
(2006)
Side Projects
References
External links
| v • d • e Magnum |
| Members |
| Bob Catley •
Tony
Clarkin • Mark
Stanway • Al Barrow
• Jimmy
Copley |
| Discography |
| Studio albums:
Kingdom Of Madness
• Magnum II
• Chase
The Dragon • The Eleventh Hour
• On A Storyteller's Night
• Vigilante
• Wings
Of Heaven • Goodnight
L.A. • Sleepwalking
• Keeping The Nite
Light Burning • Rock Art
• Breath of Life
• Brand New Morning
• Princess Alice
And The Broken Arrow
|
| Live albums:
Marauder
• Invasion
Live • The
Spirit • The Last Dance
• Stronghold
• Days
Of Wonder • The River Sessions
|
| Compilations and Box
Sets:
Mirador
• Foundation
• Archive
• Chapter & Verse
• Road To Paradise
• Long Days,
Black Nights
|
| Related
Articles |
|
Bob Catley •
Tony
Clarkin • Hard
Rain • Ten
• Gary
Hughes • Thunder
• Rodney
Matthews
|
