THE POST FOR THIN LIZZY COMPLETISTS

September 5, 2008 2:07 PM

Fans of Thin Lizzy/Phil Lynott may be unaware of some recent audio-only you tubery. So, let me school you, as the kids say. Live versions: Opium Trail. Romeo and the Lonely Girl (cool slow version). It's Getting Dangerous. The Pressure Will Blow. Don't Play Around (soundcheck). Demos: Rockula. Waiting for an Alibi. Gay Boys (song from Phil's post-Thin Lizzy band Grand Slam). Got to Give it up.

Finally, a live version of Dear Miss Lonely Hearts. I picked out some of my favorites, but there are more there for the curious. (And yes, I know the kids probably don't say "school you" anymore.)

posted by wittgenstein (16 comments total)

CRAP! "Don't Play Around" is linked in there twice, somehow. Sorry about that.
posted by wittgenstein at 2:09 PM on September 5, 2008

Without linking to such I can tell you that if you look around you can find torrents to a homemade 12(yes, twelve) dvd set that seemingly contains essentially everything that was ever caught on camera about Phil and Thin Lizzy. From unwatchable bootleg concert films to talk shows on which his mother appeared. It appears that this compilation is either the work of the world's biggest TL fan or from the collection of a press agent of some sort.

I've been utterly obsessed with Thin Lizzy for the past year or so so thanks for the links.
posted by well_balanced at 2:18 PM on September 5, 2008

Lizzy fans might wanna check out Pride Tiger, a Vancouver band with a modern take on this style
posted by mannequito at 2:31 PM on September 5, 2008

The shot named after these guys sounds gross but is delicious:
The Thin Lizzy
2 parts Patron XO
1 part Jameson.
posted by solipsophistocracy at 3:30 PM on September 5, 2008

Thanks for the shot remedy. I shall endeavor to try it the next time I'm feeling any pain whatsoever.

Is there a live version of "Whiskey in the Jar" out there anywhere?
posted by philip-random at 3:53 PM on September 5, 2008

:: reminds self to keep a safe distance from any 'Thin Lizzy completist' ::

(Ok. But the live version of Don't Believe a Word on the Old Grey Whistle Test is pretty cool.)
posted by grounded at 4:26 PM on September 5, 2008

I'm a big Lizzy fan ("It's Only Money" and "Cowboy Song" are two all time favorite jams), so thanks for the post.

On a related note, about a week ago I was grocery shopping at the local Key Food. The sound system usually plays 70's top 40, like "Do You Know What I Mean?" and "Venus," I think to lull people my age into relaxing and spending more money. That day it played Lizzy's "Romeo & the Lonely Girl," a fine tune, but not one you hear all that often. Another time I was in a strip mall in South Florida and they played "Blue Money" by Van Morrison, a similarly rarely heard song. I had this vision of a guy hired to program syndicated radio for supermarkets and malls who picks tunes so good that people start hanging out in the produce aisle just to listen. I wanted to use it as a device in a story. There was going to be another charcter, a guy hired because of some blue law, to be a chef in a strip club, who cooks so well that people start going there just for the food, and yet another person who gets a job in an airport bookstore that has a tiny area called the 'Kids Corner'* and makes it into such a showplace that people turn the little gift shop into an actual destination. And all three people knew eachother at another time in their life. But I had no idea where to go with it.

Ummm...anyway, Lizzy rules.

*I saw this on a sign in an actual airport bookstore, thus inspiring me
posted by jonmc at 4:42 PM on September 5, 2008

The video for Sarah is the artistic apex of the music-video format. That's all.
posted by dvdgee at 6:26 PM on September 5, 2008

Oh man this is awesome. This post has made my day.

My favorite Thin Lizzy tribute band. I played this for a couple fellow fans (but not completists) the other day and they were just as stunned as I was the first time I heard it. They accused me of finding a lost demo.
posted by Nabubrush at 7:09 PM on September 5, 2008

I love me some Thin Lizzy! Phil was a poet. That he wrote a song called Gay Boys (non-mocking lyrics from what I could make out) shows that he wasn't your average hard rocker.
posted by ericthegardener at 7:55 PM on September 5, 2008

thanks.
posted by Thin Lizzy at 9:42 PM on September 5, 2008

This is way overdue, thanks wittgenstein. The loss of Phil Lynott is one of the most overlooked tragedies of Rock & Roll history. I once dreamt that I walked into Molly Mc. Gee's, sat at the bar and Phil was on my right hand side.

I ordered a Guinness of course.
posted by stonesy at 10:27 PM on September 5, 2008

Thanks, wittgenstein.

I don't want a funeral when I die. I want people to come to a party and listen to music that meant a lot to me.

Thin Lizzy will play a prominent part.
posted by Enron Hubbard at 8:47 AM on September 6, 2008

Thanks for that. I saw Thin Lizzy once at the Playhouse in Edinburgh (I still have the ticket) and now I remember why I still subscribe to MF.
posted by Lezzles at 2:57 AM on September 7, 2008

So that was good listening, especially Opium Trail. Where does someone wanting to hear more start? Greatest hits or best album?
posted by bystander at 12:19 AM on September 8, 2008

Bystander: I recommend picking up Thunder and Lightning, Live and Dangerous, and Bad Reputation. Maybe Johnny the Fox is you can afford four.


In my opinion, the greatest hits albums don't really contain the greatest hits. And, you may see that I am biased towards later Thin Lizzy versus early Thin Lizzy.

Hope that helps.
posted by wittgenstein at 9:56 AM on September 8, 2008