Doogie White Talks about Auditioning for Maiden
Metal-Rules.com recently conducted an interview with former RAINBOW and current YNGWIE MALMSTEEN singer Doogie White. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow:Metal-Rules: You auditioned for IRON MAIDEN after Bruce Dickinson left back in the early '90s. How was it?
Doogie White: "Long time ago, man... 1993 I think it was, November or something, certainly coming up to Christmas, because they ruined my Christmas when they gave the job to Blaze [Bayley]. [laughter] But the thing is, I didn't get the job with MAIDEN, and they went for a definite sound with Blaze, and if I had gotten the job I never would have gotten the gig with RAINBOW. Working with [Ritchie] Blackmore was really a passion for me, it was really exciting, it didn't go on as long as I would have wanted, but he had other plans. Had we done another album, who known what would have happened. Some of the stuff that ended up on the CORNERSTONE album was actually stuff that I wrote for the next RAINBOW album."
Metal-Rules: Do you remember which songs you played with MAIDEN in the audition?
Doogie White: "They had two live albums out at the time, and it was all of them... 'Be Quick or Be Dead', 'From Here to Eternity', 'Can I Play with Madness', 'Iron Maiden', 'The Clairvoyant'... I did 22 songs with them, TWICE."
Metal-Rules: How much did you practice for that gig?
Doogie White: "This was funny, I was gonna go to Scotland on Saturday morning and Dickie Bell, who was their tour manager at the time, turned up at my door on a Friday night with a tape and the lyrics and said you'll be singing at one o'clock on Monday for IRON MAIDEN. And that was because Blaze couldn't make it, because Blaze was doing something else. So I went in and sang on the Monday and they felt that it was unfair that I'd had such sort notice and they though that I had done well enough to warrant another comeback, so I went back and sang it again ten days later, so I was better prepared the second time than I was the first time. I knew the stuff, like you probably know 'Kashmir' from LED ZEPPELIN but you couldn't get up and sing it, you know."
Source: Metal-Rules, Blabbermouth.net
7 Comments
I wonder if that audition was taped. I'd like to hear it
nope, maiden had erased the vocals off of 2 unnamed Maiden song and recorded a version of each song featuring Blaze, Dougie and one other unamed vocalist. That's a total of 6 recordings.
QUOTE(gor @ Sep 3 2005, 05:49 PM)
nope, maiden had erased the vocals off of 2 unnamed Maiden song and recorded a version of each song featuring Blaze, Dougie and one other unamed vocalist. That's a total of 6 recordings.
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The third 'unnamned' was actually Geoff tate, he requested the the band said nothing of his adution to anybody. they actually Refer to him in the maiden bio as a 'sound alike' of Geoff tate but this was to also keep the secrecty ... when word got out within the members of Q.R a lot of people were confused and saddened that tate would awnt to sing for another band.... this is also a thought to be reason of Chris Dgramos and tates unhapiness with each other from around that time
is there any mp3 or something of those auditons?
any of the auditions
QUOTE(red_vest @ Sep 3 2005, 08:09 PM)
The third 'unnamned' was actually Geoff tate
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Are you sure?
I'd like to have more evidence of what you're saying there as:
1. Steve had stated once that they would only consider a British vocalist.
2. A third serious contender to Bruce's replacement was actually Damian Wilson.
I think the songs that they audition with are on a tribute album, but I don't know which one.
There are covers of Iron Maiden songs by Doogie White (tribute albums The Number One Beast Volumes I & II], but these aren't the audition recordings you're referring to, as they were played by other musicians. More information here and there.