Firstly, it's a pleasure to meet you and I want to say 'thank you' for some brilliant music. Obviously in its original incarnation the band was pretty short lived but, living locally, I've always been fascinated by the fact that there was this band from Whitley Bay and they put out some bloody good material. Those records really do still stand up!

(RW) - I have to say I think they do as well. I was actually playing Spellbound the other day and if that album was remixed (which I don't think is possible as I don't know who owns the masters or whether they still exist), I think with modern technology it would probably give the whole album a little bit more edge and life. I'm not sure how re-mastered they got when Jess Cox did them.

So were you not involved in that repackaging?

- Not whatsoever, although I did do some liner notes. At least Jess dug out all the extra tracks and put them on, which obviously gave them a little bit more interest for the fans.

Going back to the early days, you put a lot of hard yards in setting up the band. Can you give us some thoughts on what it was like starting out?

- I put an advert in the local paper for a drummer and a bass player. At the time I was really into Rush, ZZ Top etc and thought 'why can't we be a three-piece?' A response came from the Polytechnic and I got a phone call - it was Rocky, Richard Laws, saying he was interested in forming a band. He said that on his college course there was another lad called Brian, he plays drums, so I said 'shall we have a jam?' I worked in a Jewellers shop at the time and one of our customers was the Reverend Zach who had a parish at Earsdon. I asked him whether he had a church hall which we could borrow for rehearsals. Off we went in a big white van I had at the time and rehearsed. We did Rush, ZZ Top, and Ted Nugent stuff, but I discovered that singing, playing guitar and getting it all together was just a bit too much for me so we advertised for a singer and got a lad called Mark Butcher who was brought into the band. We did around 25 shows with Mark just round the area playing for anyone who'd have us really. We had a great laugh but one day Mark decided we weren't getting anywhere just playing pubs and clubs so he bowed out. We put another advert in the local paper and got 2 responses! one of which was a lad who was a dead ringer for John Lennon, and the other was Jess so it was an easy choice. He was in; we played the songs I'd written, plus covers inc (Cat Scratch Fever, Whole Lotta Rosie, and Bastille Day). We signed on at Burchill's agency in Newcastle, which opened up the working men's clubs circuit for us. We did this one evening concert at Whitley Bay High School where Dave Woods, who owned Neat Records kids attended. It was packed fortunately and at the end, Dave came up and said 'I like what I've heard, will you come up to the studio and record don't Touch Me there?' So that's basically what we did. All the major record companies seemed at the time to want a rock act and either fortunately or unfortunately for ourselves we ended up with MCA.

And then the way things were going, 2 guitar bands were the way forward?

- That's exactly right. We were out on the road with the Scorpions and I remember Tom and Grahame saying 'when you play and when you come to a guitar solo, something drops'. The two guitar player sound was what was felt was lacking. We advertised in the music press and 80-odd guitar players came down, one who claimed to have been in the Scorpions. I thought, well, I've never seen you with them and we've been on tour with them! But he had a nice German accent. So it came down to two players - Steve Mann and John Sykes. Steve Mann was multi-talented…they both looked great…but we more or less told John on the day that he'd got the job and he moved straight across to live with Jess. We hired a little white van and went across to Blackpool to fetch him over. I am lead to believe Tom gave him £300 to buy a Gibson Les Paul, coz that's what he wanted. We went to this junk shop - not even a music shop really - and there was this black Les Paul and that's the classic guitar that he still plays to this day.

It's interesting the money for the guitar came from there (through the Tygers). I don't think he's ever admitted that.

- I think John would need to clarify the tale but he came to the audition with a Gibson SG with a Bigsby trem on it. I also remember when we were recording the audition tapes and the pre-recording of Spellbound I was in the studio and accidentally knocked his guitar over and he went absolutely bananas!

So the two of you roomed together. Would you say you got on well?

- Absolutely. There was always a bit of competition, certainly on my part, although there was nothing I could really do about it in that John was a far better guitar player than I was. I was always trying to up my game to try and compete but of course I never could. He was and will always be a great lead guitar player. I suppose to my credit I'd written the songs. I certainly think that we were pretty good friends.

He stayed at Jess's house, didn't he?

- Yeah, so did Jon Deverill. It was quite a bizarre set-up really! I now can't even comprehend how it all worked.

And it was a bit of a dive, by all accounts?!

- Yeah, well I went round there on 1 or 2 occasions. Saying it was a bit of a dive is an understatement, you're talking about 3 working musicians. I don't suppose anyone was keen on doing the cleaning, not when you're away touring all the time.

How did the songs on the Spellbound come about?

- "Take it" was the only song John and I wrote together. John came to my mum and dad's house where I was teaching him all the Wild Cat songs before we went out on tour and he was there probably over a week. One day after lunch I said 'I'm absolutely sick to death of these songs', and he said 'I'm a bit sick as well'. So I said, 'what do you think of this' and I played this kind of little line, and he said 'I like that - would this go with it?' And that's how "Take It" was born: the only song John and I ever wrote together.

What about the other songs - did they come from riffs or were those well-formed song ideas?

- All the other songs on that album - I and John wrote half each seperately. Those were well-formed riffs with places where a chorus and guitar solo would go! Not like now with the current Tygers, I record in my own studio, but when someone brings in a song or a riff or whatever, Brian (Brian West) the bass player and Craig (Craig Ellis, drums), normally take it apart, analyse it and you're lucky if you end up with one bloody chord left!! But the song comes out absolutely spot on because the boys in the band now are fantastic musicians and technology is so much more these days. Back in those days and when you're in your early 20s, you just want to do the songs and go out and perform. You hope that when you go into the recording studio the producer is going to spot something and go 'let's put an extra chorus in there or say 'I don't think that goes with that' or whatever. As a young musician you just want to do everything at 100mph.

So did you take that same approach to Crazy Nights?

- Crazy Nights was a funny old deal. We decided to go with a different producer. We were recommended to go with this fellow called Dennis Mackay whose credentials were David Bowie, Judas Priest, Pat Travers and I liked all that. When we heard his name I got the albums out and went 'oh bloody hell', you know, 'there's his name!' He lived in America so he was contacted - yes, he would do it - flew him over, we started recording at Trident Studios about 200 yards from the Marquee where Queen and Roy Thomas Baker had recorded that very famous album [A Night at the Opera]. From there (I don't know why we jumped around so much) we went to Rock City where they made Star Wars and from there to the Marquee Studios. The vocals were done on The Barge, which was owned by Virgin, and then I think it was mixed back at Trident?. Halfway through the recording Dennis announced that he hadn't quite finished off Stanley Clarke's new album so he said 'I'll be back in a few days' lads' - he jumped on a plane and flew off. We were at Shepperton Rock City and there was a young studio engineer called Jules who did 2 tracks with us which we produced. I wrote Slip Away and John wrote Stormlands - I love that song Stormlands. And if you listen to those 2 songs they sound a million miles away from Crazy Nights. There were some great songs on there, but the sound, the engineering, was awful. The drums sounded like biscuit boxes and the guitars sounded like angry wasps! And if you listen to the album as well there are no backing vocals. We found that very odd when we played it back. Crazy Nights was written in 3 weeks because the record company rang Tom and Grahame around July 1981 and said we want another album - the second one in 1981 - and we've got a date set for November. John and I obviously set about writing separatly, we rehearsed them and recorded them. We always recorded quite quickly although goodness knows why we went and played in all those different studios!

Well I agree about the songs, I mean I think there's some really good stuff on there, unfortunately let down by the production. I think on most of the tracks there are 2 guitar solos [one by Robb, one by John] - was that a specific decision to share lead guitar duties?

- Yeah, I think so. I don't think we sat down and went 'John you can do the fast one and Robb can do the slower melodic one'. It was just 'well I'll do the first one and you can do the second one.' There was no decision made, although I'd love to say it was all very structured. I'm sure it wasn't. But there are two very contrasting lead styles. Whether they work or not is entirely up to the listener really. They're different enough to work in my opinion.

I certainly think they do. What about the lead-up to The Cage then, because Sykes plays on "Love Potion No.9" and there's some of him on "Danger in Paradise"…

- Well I think there's all of John on "Danger in Paradise" - he recorded that. "Love Potion" was going to become the single…that was planned as a single. I don't know quite what the thinking was behind "Danger in Paradise". On The Cage we do covers, well, Grahame's brother wrote 3 of the songs then John left and Fred came in and wrote a couple more of the songs. The only track I wrote was "The Cage", that little short piece of music and that wasn't how we recorded it. It was recorded on acoustic guitars and quite heavily messed about with, so I was really starting to wonder where it was all going. We'd changed dramatically. The record company wanted us to become more 'American' and said that our sound wasn't what they felt they could work with in the States.

So were you actively preparing for that record with Sykes before he left?

- No, we'd just recorded those 2 tracks.

Some of the other guys have said Sykes tried to rejoin the band after his audition with Ozzy came to nothing. Were you aware of that?

- No, that's complete news to me.

One thing I've picked up quite strongly is that Sykes was unhappy with the way the band split song writing credits. Did he ever voice those concerns at the time?

- Not as far as I can remember. Right from day one we said we would do it like Saxon did, it would be a band thing and then everybody would get a fourth or a fifth of the royalties because a lot of drummers and bass players don't really write and it was felt it was better and fairer to all. To be honest when you're young you don't really think 'oh god I'm going to lose some of my royalties', you just want to get the record finished and get out there and play live', You're not really that clued up on the business side of things.

What comes through from music magazine interviews with Sykes (particularly from the 1980s) is a picture of him having been very unhappy in the band, and those interviews also show him giving the band a bit of a slagging anytime Tygers are mentioned.

- I really don't know if he does that. I haven't read anything to that effect, I have to say. As far as I am concerned all the memories John should have from playing with the Tygers are fond memories, the business side was not the best it's clear now but we had some good times. We went out we got drunk together, we shared the same stage together, we roomed together and we had a laugh, you know? We went to Kensington Market once and had snakeskin boots made together, we went into Carnaby Street, and had leather jackets made together: I had a red one made, he had a black one made. We more or less did everything together. I can't understand what went sour other than his opinion on the business side. I thought that what we did in those years was very productive - it's what people wanted because we sold shows out. The Wild Cat tour was about 25 dates, most of the shows were about 90% sold out. It really went pretty well.

Did you follow JS's career after he left?

- John and I had a bet in 1980/81 about who would own a Porsche first. I guess he clearly won!

So have you had any contact with him since then?

- I actually was with him in 2000, when Thin Lizzy came to the UK to tour. I drove up to Glasgow Barrowlands to see him. I thought we would have all night to reminisce and have some good craic ,but there was an issue and the tour manager said to John 'something's happened and you're going to have to get back on the tour bus and go on to the next show. John wasn't very pleased but that's just the way it has to be' sometimes, we had a drink at the bar for five minutes, we just had a reminisce about some of the daft things we did to Jess and to Jon Deverill, we were a bit naughty John and I in those days.

Some of those things were documented on Grahame's now sadly defunct website! [Hog of Pan Tang]

- I didn't realise Grahame had kept a diary to be honest!

So moving on to around The Cage time and touring that album, you did Reading '82. I heard a rumour that gig was filmed. Would that be true?

- Oh, I hadn't heard that one but I'd love to know it if that's true. We headlined the B stage and Iron Maiden headlined the A stage. If you track it down please let me know.

Some of the band had had reservations about playing that gig…

- I know that's been documented but I certainly can't remember that. I was quite honoured to be asked to headline the B stage. There were some great acts on before us, you know, Blackfoot and Gary Moore. What I do remember is seeing photographs back from that time, MCA employed a wardrobe mistress to make us look like we belonged together, but looking at those photos the dress sense was a bit misguided. We didn't look like a band. This was back in the days of spandex. We needed another element to make us look like a headline band. The Scorpions were a band who looked great, had great stage sense, and all their moves were planned, you know, if the singer went back the guitarists came forward.

You went onto Japan. Would you say that was the most successful time for the band?

- We played the last date of The Cage tour at Edinburgh Playhouse. Tom and Grahame told us they were resigning the posts. We were all a bit gutted so we went off to Japan with our tour manager, who was lovely character and I really did like him. Did five shows, played on the same nights in the same town as the Scorpions, in Osaka and outsold them by the way. But then again, they'd been there four or five times and it was our first time so I suppose we had the element of interest. The only reason I know that is because we stayed in the same hotel. We had a bit of a wingding with them in the bar afterwards. We were making everybody money at that time apart from ourselves! But Japan went really well it really did. We had cars following us, cavalcades, fantastic time!

Then came some demos for a 5th Tygers album. Did you play on those?

- I did. MCA bought us a little 4-track studio at the time and gave it to Fred. He was the recorder, got everybody to play their parts. Fred had written the whole album so it was a Fred Purser album and if you notice on The Cage the songs Fred wrote are published as FP Music. Fred was the first one to say 'my song, my right to royalties. I had no songs on the album, no involvement that way, and as far as I could gather Fred was going to play all the guitar solos. I still speak to Fred a couple of times a year, normally to ask him how much his studio rates are. I'd really like to go and record there: you know, I'd like him to play a couple of guitar solos on the new album we have written.

That would be a good marketing ploy!

- Absolutely, and the idea is not completely dead. I'm sure he would do it if we could get him there. But when we recorded 'Mystical' I actually asked John, I rang him and said 'would you and Scott be interested in playing a guitar solo' because I've got a song marked for you and one for Scott?' I thought it would be quite a good selling point but unfortunately it did not happen.

Moving on…can I ask you about Sergeant because the songs you did with that band showed a lot of promise?

- I asked Brian did he want to do something together. We'd just done The Tube before Christmas 1982 and there was a lad on there called Tony Liddell who sang and played guitar. I had a friend at the time, stage manager called Colin Rowell. I put it all together. Colin and I managed Sergeant. I was like the player-manager! There's nobody in the music business Colin doesn't know as everyone in the world's been on The Tube. We went into [AC/DC singer] Brian Johnston's studios, now since gone, and recorded four songs on 24-track, one of which was called 'Angel', which was to be used as the title tune for a new TV game show. Colin and I took the demos down to London, got a deal with CBS. For various reasons and musical differences within the band it all fell apart just before we could tell them of the deal. This was just before we were about to open for Mamas Boys at the marquee, Colin and I walked out. Unfortunately that was the end of that - I couldn't believe it.

Then you hooked up with Jess again to do Tyger Tyger?

- Yeah, we did a small number of shows, recorded an album's worth of material but it was just never released. We played the Stars and Stripes in Carlisle, 2 shows up in Scotland, the university here and somewhere else. It was a rockin' little band. The other guitarist Martin looked exactly like John Sykes but with brown hair!

So you took part in the Tygers reunion at the 1999 Wacken festival?

- Jess said he tried to contact everyone else. Jon didn't have time because of his acting. It would have cost us 100s of pounds in loss of earnings to put him up here, rehearse etc. Brian was contacted and was in a summer season somewhere. Rocky just wasn't interested, I don't think he wants to associate himself with Tygers music any more, although I haven't spoken to him since about 1983 which is a shame.

Well Rocky seemed to relish the chance to talk about the Tygers for my website. But you're certainly right - that was another life as far as he is concerned.

- Obviously John Sykes was not available, or indeed was Fred so it just became Jess and I. So off we went and did it.

So what has been your inspiration in reviving the band?

- After Wacken I said to Jess, 'if you get any enquiries from anyone let's do it', but his response was I haven't really got the time. There was a fellow called Little Jeff who has unfortunately now passed away, he used to be a DJ in town [Newcastle]. Every time we met he used to say why don't you play again? And then I thought, well maybe. I was in a record shop in Newcastle, got talking with the owner who said he had some Tygers albums and I said 'that used to be me'. He went 'never!' So we got talking, he said hey listen I've got a friend who's got a record label, here's his number. So I rang and it was Mark Aldred from Z Records. He said 'have you got any unreleased stuff' and I did, you know. Sergeant and Tyger Tyger. And Mark said 'I like it but why don't you write a new Tygers album, put a band together'. So I rang Tony Liddell. I also rang Brian [Dick] and at first he was going to come and do it but then he said he had some work coming in, time and money sort of thing. So Tony had worked with Brian [West] the bass player and Craig Ellis the drummer and Dean [Robertson] my other guitar player, and said 'why don't we use these boys for the session?'

Are you recording at the moment?

- Yes, in the same studio that we recorded Noises from the Cathouse. We have recorded 3 classic tracks Take it, Rock N Roll Man and Hellbound and 2 new songs Bury the Hatchet and Live for today. It's was going to come out as a promo, because we hadn't got any product with Jacks (Jacopo Meille - Tygers vocalist) voice on it. Jack is an incredible singer, very much in the Jon Deverill mould with that stance and style and the result is so good we are pressing the promo now as a 5 track EP called Back & Beyond. His voice suits the music that we're playing now the best since Jon, he's a lovely lad, the baby of the band, a good fifteen years younger than me! We're now a fully working band with new management to help guide us through an ambitious twelve month plan. Our new manager is looking after all our business affairs which includes all sorts of stuff. We're headlining a festival in Greece with Cloven Hoof and Elixir and Avenger in February. I'd imagine that there'd be quite a few more shows up and coming next year as well as the new album in early 2008 which has the working title of Animal Instinct. The new website's going to be launched soon. We've got new merchandise and a fresh new spirit within the band so it is all marrying up together and the future looks great.

Thanks to Robb for making the time to meet up, and to the Tygers' business manager Simon Morton.

Tygers of Pan Tang UK Tour