Simon Kirke is an English musician who was the co-founder, drummer, and only continuous member of the rock supergroup Bad Company. Prior to forming Bad Company he was the drummer and co-founder of Free.
Simon Kirke and Paul Kossoff left the band Black Cat Bones and with Paul Rodgers and Andy Fraser formed the band Free. Their biggest hit, "All Right Now", was a number one in more than 20 territories and was acknowledged by ASCAP in 1990 as having received more than one million radio plays in the US by late 1989. In 2000, an award was given to Paul Rodgers by the British music industry when "All Right Now" passed two million radio plays in the UK.
After the disbanding of Free in 1973, Kirke and Rodgers again teamed up to form Bad Company. They were joined by guitarist Mick Ralphs (Mott the Hoople) and bassist Boz Burrell (King Crimson).
After Bad Company disbanded in 1982, Kirke joined a band called Wildlife. They toured in support of the Michael Schenker Group around this time in the UK. Wildlife's self-titled album was mostly written by Steve and Chris Overland, produced by former Bad Company bandmate Ralphs, and featured Kirke as their drummer. Despite being signed to Led Zeppelin's label, Swan Song Records, and Kirke's high-profile involvement, the album failed to sell. Wildlife's core members, brothers Chris and Steve Overland went on to greater success with the band FM.
Kirke returned to Bad Company when the band reformed in 1986. As well as touring with Ringo Starr's All Star Band on three occasions, he is an accomplished songwriter, releasing Seven Rays of Hope in 2005. He toured with Bad Company in 2009. He has been playing with New York City rock band Zeta Vang as a side project.
A governor on the board of NARAS (the Grammy Award Committee), Kirke is on the board of Road Recovery, which helps teenagers recover from addiction.
Listen to the conversation I had with Simon Kirke about his plans for the future, about his past and about the presence.
We talk about when he played with Bad Company and Free but also his latest projects, the band Lonerider and the new rock musical he's writing Rock Bottom. The Lonerider band have released two albums so far, Attitude and Sundown but are about to release a new album soon. Simon is telling us about how they recorded the first album with Bad Company in Headly Grange because Led Zeppelins bass player John Paul Jones got the flu and Peter Grant, Led Zeppelins and Bad Companys manager, let them use Zeppelins booked time at Headly Grange. John Bonham and Jimmy Page had their gear already in place but they used their own equipment. Alex asked Simon if they ever crossed path with The Sensational Alex Harvey Band but Simon tell us that Alex Harveys brother Las Harvey and the singer Maggie Bell had a band called Stone the Crow which shared the same record label Swan Song.
We also talked about the guys that made their album covers, Storm Thorgerson and Aubrey Powell from the designer group Hipgnosis.
There's a lot of stories here so take a seat and listen to Simon Kirke in Urban Stories
Discography:
Free
Tons of Sobs (1969)
Free (1969)
Fire and Water (1970)
Highway (1970)
Free Live! (1971) (live)
Free at Last (1972)
Heartbreaker (1973)
Kossoff Kirke Tetsu Rabbit
Kossoff Kirke Tetsu Rabbit (1971)
Bad Company
Bad Company (1974)
Straight Shooter (1975)
Run With the Pack (1976)
Burnin' Sky (1977)
Desolation Angels (1979)
Rough Diamonds (1982)
10 from 6 (1985) (compilation)
Fame and Fortune (1986)
Dangerous Age (1988)
Holy Water (1990)
Here Comes Trouble (1992)
What You Hear Is What You Get: The Best of Bad Company (1993) (live)
Company of Strangers (1995)
Stories Told & Untold (1996)
The 'Original' Bad Co. Anthology (1999) (compilation CD)
In Concert: Merchants of Cool (2002)
Live in Albuquerque 1976 (2006)
Hard Rock Live (2010)
Live at Wembley (2011)
Live in Concert 1977 & 1979 (2016)
Wildlife
Wildlife (1983)
Lonerider
Attitude (2019)
Sundown (2022)
Solo
Seven Rays of Hope (2005)
Filling the Void (2011)
All Because of You (2017)
8 сен 2024
