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EXPLAINED: Russ ballard - The Real Truth

"He said he did these big gigs to make money, but what he enjoyed best was playing in churches and castles with his missus." Russ Ballard's wild tales of Ritchie Blackmore, The Beatles, Robert Plant, Ozzy Osbourne and more

Go-to songwriter, solo artist and former Argent guitarist/singer Russ Ballard hung out with The Beatles, is mates with Roger Daltrey and heard Elvis stories from Robert Plant

Louder

“Ozzy asked whether I had night-sight goggles. I didn’t. He told me you could pick up an ex-military pair for $10,000!”: Legendary songwriter Russ Ballard tried to write a song with Ozzy Osbourne – and failed

Ozzy offered Ballard tips on how to get high-grade military hardware - and Ritchie Blackmore just wanted to play “minstrel music”

Louder

"I think the song will resonate for the next hundred years": The story of the Kiss classic Kiss didn't actually write

Now a rock anthem, Argent's God Gave Rock And Roll To You was written under the storm cloud of cancer and enjoyed a superstar second wind

Louder

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"Ace's is easily the best of the solo albums, although the bar is set pretty low": In which Ace Frehley annoys Gene and Paul by releasing the best and most successful of the Kiss solos

Kiss famously released four solo albums on the same day. Just as famously, only one of them was truly worthy of the Kiss name - Ace Frehley's

Louder

"I wish I wrote it - I would’ve made a lot more cash!" The story of the English song that was minor hit in Europe before becoming an all-American classic

Written by Russ Ballard, it was a surprise solo hit for the Space Ace – and it's still paying off

Louder

“That actually came from me and Oz jamming on the piano in my apartment in North Hollywood”: From Ozzy Osbourne to Papa Roach, Fleetwood Mac to George Harrison, here's 5 career-defining songs you didn’t know were written on the piano

We take a deep dive into classic guitar-driven songs that actually started life on the piano

MusicRadar

“Some of the guys never wanted to do that song in the first place. ‘This is crap – too poppy!’ I thought it was great, but I had no idea that it would become the band’s signature tune”: The ’70s hit that reinvented a legendary rock band

A triumph for a singer who’d been doing TV ads for yoghurt and crackers

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“The depression lasted quite a long time. At the end of it, when I felt I was coming out of a long tunnel, I wrote God Gave Rock And Roll To You”: The epic story of Argent, the forgotten early 70s band who inspired one Kiss’ biggest hits

Argent were the missing link between the 60s pop scene and the emergence of Cream and Led Zeppelin

Louder

“They didn’t understand how important image was – they started the thing about us being academic geeks. It really hurt us”: The Zombies on living large, inheriting the Beatles’ studio and staff, and being prisoners in a concert hall

Colin Blunstone and Rod Argent look back on finding fame in their teens and experiencing the highs and lows of the music industry over six decades

Louder

In 1979, Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow began making their fourth album, Down To Earth. Cue pranks, tantrums, line-up changes, bad vibes and really bad hair days

"I didn’t look like them and I wasn't into their music" - Graham Bonnet on being offered the job of Rainbow singer

Louder

John Lennon wanted to produce them, Pat Metheny said he wouldn’t have played jazz fusion without them, and Rick Wakeman claimed he played the greatest organ solo ever: Rod Argent looks back on his time with the Zombies and Argent

Rod Argent was the founding member of The Zombies and Argent and collaborated with some of the best-known names in music, including Phil Collins and The Who. And now the Zombies are reanimated and ready for another bite of success…

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