OLIVER DAWSON SAXON's GRAHAM OLIVER Discusses Upcoming Book On 'Talking Metal' (Audio)

January 20, 2011

Episode 335 of the "Talking Metal" podcast features an interview Mark Strigl conducted with Graham Oliver of OLIVER DAWSON SAXON. During the chat, Oliver reveals that the band's new album will include a song that was inspired by Lady Gaga and Alexander McQueen. He also says he is writing a book called "Saxon, Drugs, and Rock 'N' Roll: The Real Spinal Tap", which will include a foreword by Harry Shearer (whose character in SPINAL TAP was based on SAXON member Steve Dawson). Regarding Randy Rhoads, Oliver said, "Randy wanted to swap me one of his Charvel Jacksons for my Gibson flying V, but I didn't really like the Charvel Jackson. When we toured with Randy, he played a Les Paul ninety percent of the time. He spent more time in his dressing room playing guitar than any other guitarist I have ever known... plus doing his hair with a hair dyer. He was meticulous about the way he looked."

You can now listen to the podcast using the audio player below.

In an April 2009 interview with SouthYorkshireTimes.co.uk, Graham said about the upcoming book, "It promises to be a who's who of the metal scene of the late '70s/early 80s," Graham told SouthYorkshireTimes.co.uk. "It will be out at the end of this year. It's taking a lot of writing and getting quotes off people — like Lemmy from MOTÖRHEAD and Ozzy Osbourne."

He added, "My biggest memory of the Hollywood gig we played with METALLICA was that Ozzy Osbourne was in our dressing room. It was just after his 'Blizzard of Ozz' guitarist Randy Rhoads had died and he was inconsolable. We were trying to give him some support, but you just felt helpless and we had to psych ourselves up to go onstage for what was one of our biggest U.S. gigs at the time. I remember spending all night in our dressing room with Ozzy and Sharon when he supported SAXON on one of our European tours and Randy borrowed my Gibson Flying V guitar for his performance. We had jammed together for hours earlier playing Jimi Hendrix stuff. I'll never part with that guitar."

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