6 Comments to “Is this love?”:

1. 1
   Uwe Hornung says:

   Call me a wimp, but together with even the new version of Here I Go Again this was always my favorite track on the 1987 album. I never cared too much for the more hard-rocking tracks. It’s also instrumentally and production-wise well done, I like the many sound and synth layers that permeate through it though it is obviously a very 80ies sound. But you’re not gonna hear me say a bad thing about that song, it’s among Coverdale’s best compositions and certainly the best one he did with John Sykes as a co-writer. As regards Sykes’ input, I wonder if an influence from Thin Lizzy’s The Sun Goes Down crept in,

   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6e9FFPHDI0

   as song which he didn’t write (Phil Lynott and Lizzy keyboardsmith Darren Wharton did), but played in the last Lizzy line-up, it was their farewell single (and a wonderful number to go out on).

   And if Tina Turner would have done Is It Love – as was initially planned -, she would have likely taken it to No 1 in the markets where she was strong (Europe and South America). Whenever I hear it, I can imagine her huskily breathing her way through it. It would have been a good fit, also lyrically.

   And to answer the question: No, I didn’t think it was love, David – with you and Tawny (why no one ever named a car buffing wax ✨ after her is beyond me!). It was reciprocal infatuation and a hormone rush – not for the long mile.

   Flash thought(s): It will be a long while before Elizabeth will write a Rock Family Tree I think. Peter Frame she is not. And as for not knowing the song: Yes, she was born only in 1986, but did she grow up with a cult where even occasional listening to Classic Rock radio was forbidden? 😑 She lived in Washington State until she was a young adult! The song was No 2 in the US Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, making it Whitesnake’s second-biggest US hit after “Here I Go Again”, which topped the chart.

   March 26th, 2024 at 08:27
2. 2
   timmi bottoms says:

   @ 1….. Yes, Uwe back in the day i to also enjoyed that song. As for the sun goes down by Thin Lizzy that is my favorite song on the Thunder and lightning album. I own the 45 version, the original on side one, and an acoustic version on side two, which is my favorite version of the song, so beautiful and haunting with Phil’s vocals, John’s guitar, and Darren’s synth/keyboard playing. If you have never heard that version before look for it, and you will be amazed how good Phil and john worked together. Is this love, reminds me of Don’t hurt me this way, off of John’s solo album Loveland with Phil on guest vocals.

   March 26th, 2024 at 12:21
3. 3
   Uwe Hornung says:

   Timmi, you mean this version here?

   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6adwwpOImI

   Thanks, I wasn’t aware of its existence. Though I prefer the original where the bass seems to be more driving and proves a nice counterpoint to the atmospheric music. But no matter, this is my favorite Thin Lizzy number ever though it is rather untypical for them. Maybe that is why I like it, I’ve never been the greatest Lizzy fan, but my judgement is probably tainted by seeing their last ever gig in Nürnberg, Germany, in 1983 when Lynott and Gorham were a shambles due to drug abuse (yet Sykes skipping about over-enthusiastically, seemingly oblivious to it all). By then their days alternated between being high and having withdrawal symptoms. It was pitiful to witness what had become of a once mighty live act. Maybe that was how DP Mk IV appeared to people on a bad day too.

   Ironically, Brian Robertson joined them for the final song(s) because Motörhead were also on the bill (with Robertson being an extremely uncomfortable fit to the other two on stage to put it mildly, he sure looked like he had zero fun playing with Lemmy and ‘Philthy’) – and as he looked at them from his sideways stage position you could tell that Robertson was aghast about what the band had become, he had a definite dejected “Told you so …” air about him while he was on stage with his old band buddies.

   I remember thinking from that Motörhead and the following Thin Lizzy performance that being a popular rock musician did not necessarily make you a fulfilled and happy person. That the rock festival took place at the scene of the infamous Nürnberg Nazi rallies did not help either, it was a weird atmosphere for me. Saxon, BÖC (plus from the original roster Twisted Sister, Meatloaf and Ozzy Osbourne who however bailed out shortly before for probably health issues) and headliners Whitesnake also performed – Hodgkinson’s and Moody’s days were already numbered as a perceptive DC had on that day sunk his fangs of desire into a blond Les Paul-wielding rock god newcomer aka John Sykes …

   March 26th, 2024 at 18:16
4. 4
   timmi bottoms says:

   Yes Uwe, That is the version glad you where able to find. Shame, but the drug use did destroy Thin Lizzy and ultimately took Phil’s life. I do love that album Another Perfect Day from Motorhead, is different but i enjoy it.

   March 27th, 2024 at 12:09
5. 5
   Uwe Hornung says:

   I’m with you, Timmi, that album wasn’t bad at all, but live Brian Robertson – never the easiest of men to have around – wasn’t having fun at all with Motörhead.

   This pic really says it all:

   https://thin-lizzyfan.com/home/templates/yootheme/cache/13/830904p2-13ddeec7.webp

   The guy in the back with the Henna dye red hair leaning against the stage scaffolding watching his former band members from the side? That is a bemused/baffled Brian Robertson. And what he’s wearing (or not wearing) is exactly what he wore (or did not wear) on stage with Motörhead (who played before Thin Lizzy), a conscious effort not to to match Motörhead’s classic “Mexican desperados”-gun belt look. He was basically saying “I don’t give a fuck!” to Motörhead fans everywhere (I’m not and wasn’t one of them, my Motörhead intake at any given time rarely exceeds a song or two) and the fans sure noticed and didn’t take kindly to it. But that is after all Brian Robertson for you.

   March 27th, 2024 at 15:29
6. 6
   timmi bottoms says:

   Great picture Uwe, and thanks for the story lol!

   March 27th, 2024 at 20:18

Add a comment: