Four decades on and rockers Magnum keep rolling

Formed in 1972 and with a run of top 40 singles in the 80s, Magnum have just released their sixteenth studio album, On the 13^th Day, to rave reviews from fans and critics alike.

Taking a 10-minute break in their Birmingham rehearsal studios, singer Bob Catley says: "The older we get, the easier it becomes. It's a doddle, this is . . . but at a really high level.

"We've got it right at last; the right people in the band, the right production, the right songs, the right record company, the right fans, right everything . . . fantastic!

"Magnum," he insists, "can go on for a long time."

Which is great news for the thousand or so fans who will pack out Wolverhampton's Wulfrun Hall when Magnum play there on Saturday, December 1.

The band celebrated the release of On The 13^th Day with a special meet and greet pre-release party at the Robin 2 in Bilston at the end of September, when fans got their first listen to the new songs.

With Magnum drawing its members from Wolverhampton, Burntwood, Walsall and Tamworth, it was put on as a treat for the band's Midlands fans.

"It went great," says Catley. "It was to promote the album of course but it was nice not to charge anybody for anything, except the people charging for the beer! It was just a case of 'Have this all you wonderful fans'. It was just like doing a gig but without actually singing!

"Everybody had a good listen to the album and went 'Oooh, I like that'!"

The band has been bowled over by the reaction to the new album, their highest charting release since their comeback in 2001 after they had split up for six-years. It's a release which has been favourably compared to some of their landmark albums including On A Storyteller's Night, Chase the Dragon and Wings Of Heaven.

Catley says: "Everybody's saying it's the best thing we've ever done, which sounds too fantastic to believe but I do believe it because I know what we've done."

Referring to Magum's guitarist and songwriter Tony Clarkin, he adds: "Everybody's saying it's the best thing he's ever written and I agree with that."

He picks out some of his favourite songs from the new album, the likes of the crunching Dance Of The Black Tattoo, the uplifting Shadow Town and All The Dreamers and the gorgeous ballad Putting Things in Place, which sadly has not made it onto the setlist for the upcoming tour.

"Putting things In Place I love far too much to sing," confesses Catley, of a song dealing with the pain of loss and trying to move on in a time of grief.

"It nearly made it on to the setlist but we had a rethink. I've got to sing it don't forget and you know how upset I get . . . maybe not a good idea for Bob to be seen blarting his eyes out! It's very personal. It's about a loss. We've all had loss in our families, in our lives, and so I'm kind of glad we're not doing it.

"We're doing probably an hour-and-45-minutes show on this tour. We're doing four from the new album, but I'm not telling you which ones," he says conspiratorially, "and we've brought a few songs back from the dead."

Since reforming in 2001 Magnum - who are completed by keyboard player Mark Stanway, bassist Al Barrow and drummer Harry James - have released six albums, with guitarist Clarkin on an incredible creative run.

"We're down to 18 months between albums now," says Catley. "Eighteen months is good. It's not too soon and it's not too long away either.

"As soon as we get off tour Tony has a couple of days off and then he goes into his 'shed', his studio up his garden, and he starts writing. Just ideas, just playing for the love of creating something new.

"That's where Tony is and he has been for a long time now. And I'm right behind him with all that and I can't wait to hear them. I'll probably hear something new again in about six months time, when he's got something to play me.

"We could just go out and not make any new albums and just tour and earn a living - and bands do that, good luck to them - but Tony wants to record music more and more these days. We just keep recording.

"When we go out we want to do new songs. We don't want to be a heritage band, that's not our style at all."

Looking back to the band's break-up in 1995, Catley says: "That was the end of an era. We'd been going 20 odd years but enough was enough at the time.

"But you realise after a time what you miss when you haven't got it. So Tony called me up and said 'Yeah, come on then, let's do it'. That's how we got back together because we both really missed it.

"But you've got to make it work and you need your fans to make it work, you rely so much on people going out and buying the record. We get on really well with the fans and it's great to know that people genuinely, really do love the music and they'll be there on the tour and they'll be there for the right reasons.

"They won't have been dragged along kicking and screaming . . . although you can bring your friends along kicking and screaming. I'm sure they'll be converted!"

*Magnum play the Wulfrun Hall, Wolverhampton, on Saturday, December 1. Tickets cost £21.50 plus fees.

Interview by Ian Harvey