Singer Robert Hart released his latest solo album, “Circus Life”, through Escape Music on 26th January. Robert was the lead singer for Bad Company from 1994 to 1998 and has gone on to front The Jones Gang, Mannfred Mann’s Earth Band and several other bands. I had the opportunity to chat with Robert on 19th February and we talked about the new solo album, Bad Company, The Jones Gang, Mannfred Mann and much more. You can listen to that interview on the Friday NI Rocks Show on 23rd February along with tracks from “Circus Life”, the two Bad Company albums he sang on and The Jones Gang album “Any Day Now”
The Show is now available on our MixCloud page -
The interview can be read below.
The album “Circus Life” also features Steve Overland, Steve Morris, Robert Säll, Chris Childs, Harry James, Keith Atack and Steve Mann. It can be purchased from Escape Music - https://www.the-music-shop.net/
Playlist for the Show –
AC/DC - Whole Lotta Rosie (Live)
BALANCE OF POWER - Never Be There Again
SHINEDOWN - Black Soul
BLACK SMOKE TRIGGER - Proof of Life
LION - Fatal Attraction
BAD MOON RISING - Darkside of Babylon
BURNING RAIN - Stone Cold ‘n’ Crazy
DAN BYRNE - Like Animals
BLACK DOG MOON – The Free Wind
ORIANTHI – First Time Blues (ft Joe Bonamassa)
ROBERT HART - Overdrive
Interview with Robert Hart Part 1 (5 Min)
ROBERT HART – The Time of Our Lives
Interview with Robert Hart Part 2 (5 Min)
BAD COMPANY – Company of Strangers
BAD COMPANY – Oh Atlanta
Interview with Robert Hart Part 3 (5 Min)
ROBERT HART – Stoneheart
THE JONES GANG – Angel
BAD COMPANY – Judas My Brother
BAD COMPANY – I Still Believe in You
WHITESNAKE - Best Years
REVOLUTION SAINTS - The Storm Inside
THE DEAD DAISIES - Dead and Gone
MR BIG - Daddy, Brother, Lover, Little Boy (The Electric Drill Song)
TYGERS OF PAN TANG - Gangland (Live)
MILLION DOLLAR RELOAD - The Last Icon
NI ROCKS – Hi Robert, thanks for taking some time to chat to Rock Radio NI. Your new solo album “Circus Life” was released through Escape Music on 26th January. We’ve just played the opening track “Overdrive”. What can you tell us about that track and do you feel it provides a good insight into the album as a whole?
ROBERT - Yeah, well it's when Khalil Turk from Escape Music wanted to make another record, we wanted to sort of take it back to like very basic rock and roll like Bad Company, really. And “Overdrive” is one of those tracks where it's just a pounding, straightforward, simple sort of rock track, really. And I think the whole album, I really enjoyed doing it because of the fact that it was just a great rock and roll record.
NI ROCKS – There isn’t a track called “Circus Life”, so what was the inspiration for the album title; and also the great album cover?
ROBERT - I'm really pleased with that. I have to be honest, I didn't have a say in it. Khalil called up and said, I've got this great idea, “Circus Life”, because life's been a bit of a circus. And they did great on the artwork, didn't they? Yeah, it's a real sort of outstanding cover. So yes, it was, again, Khalil Turk's idea.
NI ROCKS – The album was produced by Steve Overland and Steve Morris; both of whom appear on the album as well. Both of them have long standing links with Escape Music and you’d worked with Steve Overland on your previous album “Pure” (which was released in 2020). Had you worked with Steve Morris before?
ROBERT - No, but what a fantastic guitarist. I mean, he really can play. I was actually blown away when I heard the final mixes of the record. I thought, wow, what a great musician he is. And I only ever met him for probably four hours, because it was just me and Steve (Overland) in the studio. And Steve, it's great to work with another singer to produce vocals. And I really, really, really enjoyed working with Steve. And we've known each other, I don't know, 35 years or something. So yeah, it was lovely.
NI ROCKS – In addition to Steve Morris on guitar, the album features Robert Säll and Keith Atack on guitars, Steve Mann on keyboards, Chris Childs on bass and Harry James on drums. That’s a very impressive line-up.
ROBERT - Yeah, you know, it is really. I've known Harry and Chris for a long time and Chris was in my very, very first band, Robert Hart and the Machine. Then he went on to join Thunder and I love Thunder. It's a shame that Danny's not been well. Yeah, myself, Danny and Luke, we did the Rock Meets Classic Tour with Alice Cooper in Germany. It was great to get up, you know, to spend some real quality time with them and see how they tick. And Danny's one of the great singers, I think.
NI ROCKS – Yeah, he’s fantastic. It was a different lineup when you worked on “Pure”. Was that down to Khalil again, or how did that come about this time?
ROBERT - Yeah, Khalil with Steve, I mean, Steve's worked for Khalil, he's made so many albums. And he's lovely, have you met Steve?
ROBERT - Yeah, he's a lovely chap and he's perfect for me because he's easy going and he gets the job done and he's got a very clever way of doing it. You don't know, you're finished basically. You just go in and we're chatting, we're singing and before you know it, it's done. So I think the whole album took about four days to sing.
NI ROCKS – In terms of song-writing, when did you actually start writing for “Circus Life” and who was involved?
ROBERT - It was the two Steves because I was touring with the Mannfred Mann Earth Band extensively last year and this year. So basically they came to me and said I could tweak a few ideas. I tweaked a few musical ideas, but the songwriting is the two Steves.
NI ROCKS – Listening to “Circus Life”, it has a slightly heavier feel to it than “Pure”. How would you compare the two albums?
ROBERT - Well, they're both different, I'd say. Tommy Denander, the great guitar player from Sweden, co-produced the last one and I particularly like that record because to me it was like when I used to work with Bernard Edwards when they’d just done the “Riptide” album with Robert Palmer. It reminded me of that sort of Robert Palmer era and so I love “Pure” but then again you know, “Circus Life”, it is what it is. It's a rock album, you know. And it was great just to let loose and sing some rock.
NI ROCKS – We’ll play another track from “Circus Life” now. Would you like to pick a track and maybe tell us something about it?
ROBERT – Oh, “The Time of Our Lives”
NI ROCKS – I mentioned that Harry James is playing drums on the new album. Harry was also playing for you when I saw you play Belfast back in 2008 with Mick Ralphs Bad Company. That was a great evening.
ROBERT - Wow, I remember because we stayed in a hotel directly opposite. And we were stood in the bedroom window watching the people come in. We had a great night, as I remember.
NI ROCKS - It was fantastic. It was 2008. It didn't seem that long ago, but it was 2008 when I actually looked it up.
ROBERT - Can you believe that, man? It's that long ago. I was only 14 at the time, Nigel. (Alughs)
NI ROCKS - Time does flies, unfortunately.
ROBERT - Yeah, yeah.
NI ROCKS - You have a very busy schedule this year, as I said earlier. Are there any plans for any solo shows on the back of the album?
ROBERT - Well, I'm hoping. This year, it's been absolutely manic. I'm on tour again now with Mannfred Mann’s Earth Band, and we've got gigs all the way through the year; in Germany and Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland and stuff. And then in April, I'm doing Rock Meets Classic with Midge Ur and Ross Ballard and a couple of guys from Supertramp. And then I'm doing a rock cruise with Foreigner in March with Our Bad Company Legacy with Bucket (Dave Colwell). So hopefully around September time, we're going to try and do a few gigs, which I'd love to do, Nigel.
NI ROCKS - Hopefully we'll bring you back to Belfast.
ROBERT - Hey, do you know, I'd love to come back to Belfast. What a brilliant city, huh?
NI ROCKS - It is. It is.
ROBERT - Very lively.
NI ROCKS – Many people will know you of course as the front man for Bad Company from 1994 to 1998, alongside founding members Simon Kirke and Mick Ralphs. What was it like stepping into the role previously held by Brian Howe, who sadly passed away in 2020, and of course Paul Rodgers?
ROBERT - Yeah, it wasn't so much Brian Howe’s shoes I was honoured about stepping into, but it was Paul Rogers because as a young….; by the way, I don't mean that bad, Brian Howe is an amazing singer, but he had his own distinctive sound for Bad Company at that time. But, as a young lad, I remember buying the “Bad Co” first album and just staring at the cover and listening to Paul's voice; who I still think is one of the greatest singers ever - that we've produced anyway, you know. And so I was greatly honoured and he did say to me one time, if anybody was going to take my place, it should be you. So that was a very nice thing for him to say. So that was nice! Then he proceeded to punch me. (Laughs)
NI ROCKS – You released two albums with Bad Company – “Company of Strangers” in 1995 and “Stories Told & Untold” in 1996; which is actually the last Bad Company studio album.
ROBERT – It really was, wasn’t it!
NI ROCKS - What are your main memories of working on those albums?
ROBERT – Well, I love the first album, “Company of Strangers”, because I sort of more or less wrote a lot of it with Nick and ‘Bucket’ and Simon. And we recorded it at Richard Branson's studio, The Manor. And we lived in it for about five months. And that was a great experience. But also the second album, “Stories Told and Untold”. We went to Nashville and we knew some of the great Nashville people, you know, we had Vince Gill, we had Timothy Schmidt, Kim Carnes, Alison Krauss. They all wanted to come and guest on our album. So it really was a wonderful time.
NI ROCKS - Did British Sambora play on that album too somewhere?
ROBERT - Yeah, he came in because we'd just done a tour with Bon Jovi and I think we asked him one night, would you like to come over to Nashville and play it? Yeah, and he turned up the next day. He turned up with his guitar and that was it. He stayed and had a bit of fun and was a thoroughly nice chap.
NI ROCKS – We’ll play a track from each of those albums later. Would you have a favourite track to play or will I just pick?
ROBERT - Well, on “Company of Strangers”, the actual track “Company of Strangers”, I love. And I love “Judas My Brother”. On the second album we did a Vince Gill song called “I Still Believe In You” and we did “Oh Atlanta”; we reworked that with Alison Krauss on it that's a blinding track. So they're my favourites.
NI ROCKS – Getting back to your solo album again. It is being released in a limited-edition green vinyl version. And “Pure” was released on red vinyl. What are your thoughts on the vinyl revival over the past few years?
ROBERT - Do you know what! I love it! It’s very nice to look at. It's like having one of the old albums in your hand. And you can actually read, being a bit old, I can actually read the sleeve notes. (Laughs)
NI ROCKS – Yeah. We talked about the artwork earlier, but the artwork on the album obviously is a lot better too, than on the CD version.
NI ROCKS – After leaving Bad Company you joined The Jones Gang in 2001 and you continue to perform live with them. The band have only released one album during that time strangely enough – “Any Day Now” – in 2005. Is there any particular reason why there’s only one album?
ROBERT - Well, it's very strange. For one, we were astounded that anybody would sign us because, you know, we were getting on a bit, Kenney (Jones) and myself and every Rick Wills. We were so pleased and we had a number one single for 12 weeks, “Angel”. But then the guy that was running the whole caboodle, a guy called Peter Keys, he wasn't very honourable. So we didn't make a second album really due to a lot of the things that he'd done. But you know what, I still play with Kenney maybe three or four times a year. He's one of life's lovely people. And that was a wonderful time, the Jones Gang.
NI ROCKS – It’s a great album. You mentioned the track “Angel” there which you co-wrote with Russ Ballard. I think it would have been huge if it had been released 20 years previously; it was obviously successful anyway, but it would have been massive back in the mid 80’s.
ROBERT - Yeah, that was one of those songs. It was just, it was radio friendly. And it just had every little component and working with Russ Ballard, he sort of borders on the genius, you know, and the loveliest man in the world. So I'm looking forward to doing the Rock Meets Classic with him.
NI ROCKS – Your last one was interrupted wasn’t it? It was 2020 and it was hit after about three or four shows by Covid?
ROBERT - We did five concerts with Alice Cooper and then COVID hit and I just made it back to England before, otherwise I'd have been locked in Germany. Let me tell you, Nigel, nobody wants that. (Laughs)
NI ROCKS – You mentioned Manfred Mann’s Earth Band earlier. You’ve been performing with them for well over ten years now and the band celebrated its 2000th live concert recently. We mentioned that there’s quite an extensive European tour schedule. That presumably takes up most of your time, that band?
ROBERT - Yeah, do you know, I love it. I love Manfred. Manfred's one of life's eccentric but lovely people. And I love being with the Earth Band. We have a massive following in Germany and Europe. But over in England or the UK, we can't sell a ticket.
NI ROCKS - Yeah, I noticed that on the website, there's no UK shows, there's loads and loads of shows right across Europe, not one UK show.
ROBERT - No, no, we don't draw many people over here. But you know what, we're happy with our lot and like I say, we do incredibly well in Europe.
NI ROCKS – It’s another band that hasn’t released a studio album in a long time; do you think that it’ll ever happen now?
ROBERT - Do you know what? Manfred's working on something now, but he's so brilliant Manfred. He's the best at arranging things - like “Blinded by the Light” obviously was a Bruce Springsteen song and it's nothing like the song Bruce Springsteen wrote. I mean, I've been with the band since 2011 now and it's, I love Manfred. He's one of life’s honourable people and he's a great musician and the vibe of the band is great. It's very easy going. So yeah, we do really well.
NI ROCKS - There might be an album, but I know you did a solo album with you before.
ROBERT - Yeah, he's working on something now. Manfred lives in Sweden, so I know he's busy in his home studio doing something. Then he comes to London. I've been doing sessions for him, vocal sessions. So you never know. Maybe at the end of this year, you may see something.
NI ROCKS - That'd be good.
ROBERT - Yeah, it'd be great.
NI ROCKS – Getting back again to your solo material. There was four years between the release of “Pure” and the new album “Circus Life”. Are we likely to have to wait as long for another new solo album? Has there been any discussion about that yet?
ROBERT - Yes, I would love to make an acoustic album, acoustic based album, songwriting album because when I did the Bad Company album in Nashville, I actually stayed on and I lived in Nashville for five years, just simply writing songs and learning the craft of songwriting. When I say acoustic I don't mean just me and a guitar but acoustic based instruments - mainly concentrating on songs really. Maybe we'll do that later on or maybe early part of next year so that's something I'm excited about.
NI ROCKS – We’ll finish by playing another track from “Circus Life”. Would you like to pick one and tell us something about it?
ROBERT - Let's go with “Stoneheart”.
NI ROCKS – Okay we'll go with that one. Again, thanks very much for taking the time to talk to us. It's much appreciated.
ROBERT – Nigel, thank you so much. Give my regards to Belfast, and I look forward to seeing you one of these days.