SCORPIONS Guitarist Doesn't Rule Out Recording New Album With MICHAEL SCHENKER, ULI JON ROTH

The Dio Message Board recently conducted an interview with SCORPIONS guitarist Rudolf Schenker. A few excerpts from the chat follow:

The Dio Message Board: Why did you decide to use Jimmy Bain and Bobby Rondinelli for the "Love at First Sting" recording. Jimmy himself admitted he is on the album in a Q&A with us a while back. I was wondering what your thoughts on it all were?

Rudolf Schenker: "This was in 1983. I remember we booked Polar Studios in Sweden. We had a feeling we needed somebody fresh to play, which was Jimmy Bain, because we knew him from the old days. Herman was the one who came up with the guy… He said, 'Look, I know one person I can play with very well. That is Jimmy Bain.' So we went to the studio in Sweden and we played and then somehow Herman got sick. With the studio booked we wanted to finish recording. The first person who came to mind to fill in for Herman was Bobby Rondinelli. We called him and asked him if he was available to record with us. He said, 'Yeah, OK. When?' I told him the plane is ready and will be there in five hours. He said, 'You are crazy!' and I replied, 'Yeah, rock 'n' roll is crazy!' He actually made it, he came over and recorded the whole thing.

"After we finished recording, we had this tour coming up — a two-week tour in America which included the US Festival. We played the tour, the original band, and the tour was very successful, especially the US Festival. The band talked things over and everybody said, 'Look, we feel great now and let’'s do the whole thing again.' Then we went back into the studio and recorded again the whole 'Love at First Sting'. So nothing was left from the Polar Studios recording. Everything was redone with the original band."

The Dio Message Board: Your brother Michael has occasionally come on stage to jam with you guys towards the end of the show. My question is: would you consider having Michael back and making it a triple guitar trio in the band with you along with Matthias for a new album with a tour?

Rudolf Schenker: "As far as for an album, everything is possible. To make a special album with my brother and also with Uli, you never know…. we are still good friends. At the moment, professionally we are very happy with 'Unbreakable' and we will continue to make other rock albums. You know we originally had a plan to make an album with my brother and Uli but the problem was that the timing was not right. But you know, if the timing is ever right, why not?"

The Dio Message Board: Having a brother that plays the same instrument in this business is quite rare. Is there ever any feeling or sense of competition between the two of you?

Rudolf Schenker: "I think that the thing about the '80s music was that everyone was thinking in terms of competition. Who can play faster, who can play better and not about the music. The situation that we want to do is music, he is doing it in his direction and we are doing it in our direction. I always told him that I wish to play with him but I think that two Schenkers in one band is too much, the reason that he went his own way from the beginning with Uli Roth and later on as MSG. We never had a form of competition. Twice he had the chance to come back to the SCORPIONS and instead he made his own way. You know in SCORPIONS we need team players and Uli Roth and my brother are not team players. He can play in a team for a short time but then he has to do something else otherwise he gets bored."

Read the entire interview in the "Don't Talk to Strangers" forum at The Dio Message Board (free registration required).