ACCEPT Recruits Ex-TT QUICK Singer To Replace UDO DIRKSCHNEIDER

Guitarist Wolf Hoffmann and bassist Peter Baltes have recruited Mark Tornillo, former lead singer of the New York/New Jersey metal band TT QUICK, to front the new version of ACCEPT. Tour dates are currently being booked and a new studio album is on the way.

ACCEPT 2009 is:

Wolf Hoffmann: Guitar
Peter Baltes: Bass
Herman Frank: Guitar
Mark Tornillo: Vocals
Stefan Schwarzmann: Drums

Two audio samples featuring the new ACCEPT lineup are currently available for streaming/download on the band's web site (taken from a jam session recorded on April 26, 2009 at Shorefire Recording studios in Long Branch, New Jersey):

"Balls To The Wall": Audio Stream, MP3 Download
"Flash Rocking Man": Audio Stream, MP3 Download

ACCEPT in 2005 completed a 25th anniversary tour with a touring lineup of original members Udo Dirkschneider (vocals),Wolf Hoffmann and Herman Frank and Peter Baltes, along with Stefan Schwarzmann.

In a 2007 interview with Lords of Metal e-zine Dirkschneider stated about the 25th anniversary trek, "I didn't see it as a reunion. A reunion, to me, is coming back together, getting to rehearsals, doing shows and writing songs together and eventually mak[ing] an album. That wasn't the case with ACCEPT. It was just for the fans and for fun. We had a great time together and shared a lot of drinks and old stories. But, anyway, when we got back together [in 2005], nobody was talking about a new studio album with ACCEPT. Even if you wanted it somewhere deep inside, you still had to wait for a magic moment to let it out. But such a magic moment never came, at least not for me. . . A real reunion, with a new album and a tour to support it . . . means that I have to start writing songs together with Wolf Hoffmann and that would be a problem. You know, it's easy to play the old songs, because they already exist. Especially for me it was easier, because I still do those classics with U.D.O., but for some of the guys it was a bit harder. But everybody did a great job on stage. I understand that people want a new ACCEPT album, but composing songs together would have been a disaster. That way we would destroy more than we would create. We have a good relationship now and it's best to keep it that way."

Speaking to Metal-Rules.com in 2005, Udo said, "I think that after doing all these [reunion] shows [to celebrate ACCEPT's 25th anniversary], [Wolf] was really thinking about doing something more with ACCEPT. The thing is that if he really wanted do something like that, why he never came up during all the shows and say, 'Hey, Udo, I got some new songs, do you wanna hear them?' or something like that. There was nothing. Music-wise, he was maybe thinking something and I was like, this is very hard to explain but I felt inside of me, 'Don't do it, don't do it!!' I think that this was a perfect way finish ACCEPT."

Udo added, "I think [Wolf] did lot of very boring interviews [after we completed the ACCEPT 25th anniversary tour]. When I read [Wolf's comments in the press about a possible new ACCEPT studio album], I was wondering what was coming up from his mind. I mean, when he started doing interviews, he said, 'I have no problem to do ACCEPT but Udo doesn't want to do it. There will be no real reunion because of Udo.' Still, it wasn't too long time ago when he said 'No ACCEPT — I don't wanna do it because I hate that business. I don't wanna be in music business anymore.' . . . I think this is some kind fear of him, you know. I mean, he knew that I was working with U.D.O. and we had a new album coming out and he know what I was thinking all the time. From my side, there wasn't [the possiblity of a full-fledged] reunion at any point and he knew that right from the beginning and now he's changing the story. . . He changed his mind. If he wants to, he can still do ACCEPT but with a different singer. [Laughs.]"

TT QUICK was a popular club band during the 1980s in the New York and New Jersey area and was known for the guitar work of David Dipietro and the powerful vocals of Mark Tornillo. Dipietro's skills were especially singled out as he had given lessons to both Zakk Wylde of the OZZY OSBOURNE band and SKID ROW's Dave Sabo.

TT QUICK disbanded and later reunited sporadically and released a few more albums, including a live CD from one of their reunion gigs ("Thrown Together Live") and a studio effort, "Ink", which came out in 2000.

Mark Tornillo (photo by Brian Rademacher):