Cargo Records

The Tower

The names Bob Catley, Tony Clarkin, Wally Lowe, Mark Stanway and Mickey Barker might not be as well known as John, Paul, George and Ringo but to the thousands of fans who bought all of their recordings and who filled the some of the biggest venues Europe has to offer,

The names represent the members of Magnum, kings of the UK "Pomp Rock"scene and one of the most distinguished and exciting groups Britain has ever produced. The band was formed by Clarkin and Catley in Birmingham in 1972 along with bassist Dave Morgan and drummer Kex Gorin. By the time they signed to Jet Records in 1978 they'd expanded to a five piece with the addition of keyboardist Richard Bailey and replaced Morgan with Colin "Wally" Lowe. Magnum's debut album in 1978, "Kingdom Of Madness" was the beginning of a career spanning over 20 years and ten further studio albums. Magnum were to capture top 40 album success six times, "On A Storytellers Night" sold over 150,000 copies in UK, "Wings Of Heaven" reached no.5 and contained three top 30 singles bringing them several Top Of The Pops appearances and a string of high profile concerts. And it was the concerts that made Magnum a cornerstone of British rock music, a legend on the continent and endeared them to their fiercely loyal "family" of fans: Reading Festival 1983, Donington Monsters Of Rock in 1985, and hundreds of shows that took them all over Britain, Europe and the US. Wembley Arena was an ever present on successive tours and Hammersmith Odeon became the band's second home. In March 1988 Hammersmith was the setting for successive sell out shows, a live Radio 1 broadcast and a 90 minute concert video all in three unforgettable nights. So with Magnum reaching it's logical conclusion in 1996 on a highly emotional Farewell Tour of the UK and Europe, Clarkin and Catley have moved on once again. After a year in the studio writing and recording a project called Hard Rain the horizons have broadened for the duo. After Hard Rain's debut album which saw a departure from the classic Magnum style, Bob Catley felt the need to restart his career once again and to give the fans what they had never been able to listen to from the days of "Wings Of Heaven": classic and powerfully epic, pomp heavy rock, backed by strong guitars and majestical keyboards. At the beginning of 1998, after headlining "The Gods" Festival 1997 in Wigan with Hard Rain, Bob Catley joined forces with producer/songwriter/singer Gary Hughes, of Ten fame, in order to write a new solo album that could have been the logical follow up to Magnum's glorious and pompish albums, but recorded in the nineties. Helped by Ten members, Vinny Burns on guitars and Greg Morgan on drums, the result is "The Tower": the album that Magnum never made, yet so easily could be part of their repertoire. From the epic rock of songs like "Dreams", "The Tower" and "Fear Of the Dark" to the marvellous and unforgettable hooklines of "Scream" and "Steel" passing through heartfelt ballads like "Far Away"and "Madrigal", everything about this album re-establishes the inimitable charisma of a world class singer. The album definitely appeals to all Magnum and Hard Rain fans and given its majestical atmospheres can also be compared to symphonic rock and metal bands like Marillion and Savatage.