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Les Binks |
Tim "Ripper" Owens |
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WHERE IS HE NOW?: Since his departure, Priest members have jokingly claimed to have lost touch with Binks and his whereabouts:
But the truth is, Les has remained active in the British hard rock/heavy metal underground. In 1981, he was a member of Lionheart which featured Dennis Stratton (ex-Iron Maiden) on guitar and Jess Cox (ex-Tygers Of Pan Tang) on vocals. Unfortunately it was only a brief stint that yielded no albums, though they did open for Def Leppard on their 1981 British tour.
Lately, Les has been playing in a classic-rock cover band around South London called The Shakers with ex-Alice Cooper/Almighty guitarist Pete Friesen and vocalist/guitarist Tom Lundy of The Poormouth. Rounding out the band is bassist Eamonn Doyle. Here's a pic of the group when Wizard Oz of Snake Eyes joined them for a couple of numbers at Eddies Bar in Luton, England:
Les and Pete Friesen have also done time in Metalworks along with ex-Iron Maiden guitarist Tony Parsons (Tony was one of a series of guitarists that played briefly in Maiden in '79 before Dennis Stratton joined the band), playing Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, and other legendary metal band covers around London:
And Les also had a recent stint with an Irish Country/Folk/Pop trio called the Faintin' Goats as well as past touring with Lionheart (featuring ex-Iron Maiden guitarist Dennis Stratton) in 1981 and Tytan (1982-1983). |
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RECORDINGS: |
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Dave uses Tama drums, Remo heads and Paiste cymbals with Judas Priest.
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DAVE'S
DEPARTURE: Dave Holland would go on to spend the longest and most successful recording era with Judas Priest, from 1979 to 1989, before exiting the band due to fatigue and family health issues.
Holland would not leave music entirely, though there was another little-known set-back: It is reported that the Ibiza Sound Studios Dave had purchased in 1983 (and where Priest had recorded several early '80s hit albums) had unfortunately burned to the ground in 1986:
Never-the-less, after a short rest, he got back into the music business, reuniting with his former mates in Trapeze for some concerts in 1991 and 1992 (two of which were recorded and released as live albums in 1998). In 1996, Dave managed a young Swedish funk teen trio called Shutlanger Sam. Also that same year, Dave played drums on a yet-to-be-released solo album by Tony Iommi that has long been out in the bootleg underground as "EIGHTH STAR". Now, Iommi is mixing the original master tapes and planning to officially release the album (under a possible different title and artwork from the bootleg) in late 2004. 1996 also saw Holland team up with original Judas Priest singer Al Atkins to record Al's album Victim Of Changes (released in 1998), which featured several Al Atkins penned Judas Priest songs from the early days. By 2000, Holland was still a part of Atkins' band and there were plans to record a new album under the moniker of Steelforce or Atkins/Holland.
While work did begin on this project, word came out that Dave was no longer working with Al and instead, Al's special guest was former Def Leppard guitarist Pete Willis. Though nothing else has come of this project to date, Al did confirm that Dave was no longer working with him. Dave however did stay busy in the music industry, contributing to a couple of tracks on the Phenomena album Psychofantasy, as well as conducting a drum clinic and slowly working on an album of his own which he started back in 1994: A collaboration project of all the artists he has worked with throughout his career. Artists who have already pledged their support include: Rob Halford (Judas Priest), Justin Haywood (Moody Blues), Mel Galley (Whitesnake/Trapeze), and Glenn Hughes (Trapeze/Deep Purple).
While this solo effort could have been quite interesting to devoted fans, it now appears it will never see the light of day as Dave has met a career-crippling and shocking roadblock: Charges were made against Dave Holland in 2003 alleging that he sexually abused and attempted to rape a 17-year old wheelchair-bound teenage boy who had been taking drum lessons at Dave's Northamptonshire cottage from June through December of 2002. Holland denied the charges, but on January 23, 2004, in Northampton Crown Court, a jury found Dave guilty of trying to rape the teen, along with an additional five charges of indecently assaulting the teenager. On Friday, February 13, 2004, Dave Holland was sentenced to 8 years in jail.
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DAVE'S RECORDINGS: Pinkerton's Assorted Colours (only singles and a compilation CD were released): Mirror Mirror/She Don't Care (1965); Don't Stop Loving Me Baby/Will Ya? (1966); Magic Rocking Horse/It Ain't Right (1966); Mum And Dad/On A Street Car (1967); There's Nobody I'd Sooner Love/Look At Me (1967); Kentucky Woman/Behind The Mirror (1968); FLIGHT RECORDER: FROM PINKERTON'S ASSORTED COLOURS TO THE FLYING MACHINE (2004) Trapeze: Trapeze
(1970); Medusa (1970);
You Are the Music, We're Just The
Band (1972); Hot Wire
(1974);
Justin Hayward: Songwriter (1977); Night Flight (1980) Glenn Hughes: Play Me Out (1977) Robin George: Dangerous Music (1985) Tony Iommi: Eighth Star (1996) This has been released only as a bootleg in 1999 and is not the final title. Tony Iommi plans to release the official album sometime in 2004. Al Atkins: Victim Of Changes (1998) |
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ROCK STAR:
Indeed, Tim ascended to the heights that only dreams are made of, but his path to success actually began at home with the support of his family. In fact, his parents are so supportive of his musical choices that for his 18th birthday, they had a cake decorated with the Metallian figure off the cover of Defenders Of The Faith! It all began in 1983 when Tim was at the impressionable age of 16 and his older brother brought home the Judas Priest album Screaming for Vengeance. Soon after, a transformation had begun:
At 18, Owens was heard singing the high notes louder than the PA at a local Akron, Ohio club where the band U.S. Metal were performing. The two musicians who discovered him, Dan Johnson and Steve Trent, then formed a band with Owens called Damage, Inc. and they played all the heavy metal standard covers, especially Judas Priest tunes. In 1986, Tim was asked to try out for another local Ohio metal band called Breaker, but Owens opted to remain with Damage, Inc. By 1988, the band changed their name to Brainicide, but they still played Priest covers, and one tune in particular that had become a staple of Tim's - "Victim Of Changes":
But in 1990, Brainicide changed their style to what has been described as "death metal meets psychotic metal", leaving little room for Tim's distinct vocal abilities, so he simply left and replaced the singer he used to mimic in the band U.S. Metal. Shortly after that, Tim was invited to try out for local band Winters Bain, and he began writing a concept album with the band's guitarist Lou St. Paul. That album, Heart Of A Killer, was picked up by Massacre Records and recorded in Germany. But the album only got distributed in Europe and the band had to come up with a unique strategy to raise their profile - they went out as a Judas Priest tribute band called British Steel and then opened for themselves as Winters Bain!
British Steel soon came into its own without Winters Bain and Tim continued in the tribute band to pursue his first love - that of imitating the Rob Halford glory days of Judas Priest. But soon the dominating scene of grunge became the style of the day and in 1995, Tim found himself joining a grunge/alternative tribute band called Seattle. In fact, Owens would even find time during and after the JUGULATOR tour to reunite with his local band mates for some good times and memories (some bootleg video footage even exists)...
It was a year after having joined Seattle, that an old, grainy videotape of Tim performing with British Steel at Sherlock's in Erie, Pennsylvania made its way into the hands of Priest drummer Scott Travis, unbeknownst to Tim. Scott, fresh out of Fight, was heading to Wales, England to meet the rest of Priest and prepare to audition vocalists. But once the band viewed the tape, they knew their search was over! And what of those postered walls of Tim's youth? Well, his walls are still covered in Judas Priest posters and photos, but there's a twist: Owens is in the pictures now!
"The guys helped me calm down right away, because they treated me so well
from the start. We got along so well, and it made me feel really good - I
think that helped me. But I still pinch myself every now and then. When you
look on your wall, and you have a nomination for a Grammy on your first
record, that's pretty good." |
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EARLY BANDS:
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Then, rumors abounded when Ripper became friends with Pantera around the time when their singer Phil Anselmo was starting a side project called Down. Many speculated that Ripper was a mere hired-gun in Priest and unhappy with the situation:
It was rumored that Ripper was going to leave Priest to replace Phil in Pantera, but those rumors proved to be untrue, as Ripper continued his reign with the mighty Priest. Ripper did however jokingly say he'd consider joining Dimebag Darrell's latest project, (which became Damage Plan, who's current vocalist happens to be former Halford guitarist Patrick Lachman):
Well, the Priest gig did finally end. Ripper Owens had kept Judas Priest going for 6 years, with two studio albums, a Grammy nomination, two double-live albums and a live DVD credited to his name, but the inevitable happened: With Ripper's blessing and encouragement, Rob Halford was called back into the fold to recapture the glory of Priest, celebrating 30 years as an industry staple. But Owens did not have to wait long to make his next career move... Many calls came in, but it would be Jon Schaffer's Iced Earth, not Dimebag's band, whom Owens would be joining! Owens had volunteered to grace the new Iced Earth album The Glorious Burden with his vocals since their vocalist had left the band. And after much decision and speculation, Tim Owens agreed to become the new singer for Iced Earth.
Iced Earth has since added another Priest-Halford related addition, former Riot and Halford drummer Bobby Jarzombek:
Besides joining Iced Earth, Owens also has a new solo project called Beyond Fear that he put together with former Spawn and 13 Faces guitarist John Compix. As of now Beyond Fear consists of: Ripper Owens (Judas Priest, Iced Earth, Winters Bane):
Vocals Here are some names that fans had suggested for Ripper's solo project: R.I.P
Beyond Fear have begun playing a few shows in Ohio and Mexico and are wrapping up their debut album. |
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GUEST
APPEARANCES: Spawn - Round 2 (1999) - Owens produced this Ohio "groove/core" metal band's second album, which features the Mötley Crüe cover "Louder Than Hell"
Kickstart My Heart - A Tribute To Motley Crüe (2000) - Owens produced and lended backing vocals to the Spawn tribute of the Crüe's "Louder Than Hell" Bat Head Soup, A Tribute To Ozzy (2000) - Owens performs "Mr. Crowley" with Yngwie Malmsteen, Tim Bogert, Tommy Aldridge, and Derek Sherinian
Let The Tribute Do The Talking'
(Japan)/One Way Street (Europe) (2002) - Owens sings "Round And
Round" a tribute to Aerosmith, and is joined by Reb Beach, Tim Bogart, and
Eric Singer MICHAEL SCHENKER AND HEAVY HITTERS (2005) - Owens sings the Black Sabbath classic "War Pigs" and is joined by Michael Schenker, Mike Inez and Aynsley Dunbar |
© 2002-2003
Steel & Leather Productions,
U.S.A.
