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MICK AND MICHAEL
Mick celebrated his birthday while on tour in the North America. His son, Michael, was traveling with the band to see his
dad in action. Mick remarked that due to Heep's touring schedule,
this was the first time he had ever been with Michael on his birthday.
THE MAGIC BISCUIT
For many years, Mick has communicated with the audiences with a series of hand gestures such as miming the lyrics
of July Morning, apparently plucking notes out of the air, and gesturing
a warm 'thank you' to the audience. Recently Phil, Lee and Mick have begun to throw an invisible
object around the stage during performances. My best guess
is the object is a magic biscuit. Mick throws the biscuit
behind his back and Phil catches it mid-note. Just
as quickly, Phil lobs the biscuit to Lee who speedily relays it back to Mick.
This scene is repeated often during concerts. The
reason I think the object is a biscuit is because
on occasion Phil catches it in his mouth and gobbles it down.
Obviously, if the biscuit is invisible, it must be magic!
HENSLEY, LAWTON GUEST
AT THE M.B.P.
In a surprising development, Ken Hensley and
John Lawton were special guests at the Magician's Birthday Party,
a special Uriah Heep concert on December 7th, 2001
at Shephards Bush Empire, London. Rumors have abounded
over the years of a possible
collaboration between Uriah Heep and former Heep member
Hensley. Ken was Heep's primary songwriter in
the '70s. Former Focus member, Thijs Van Leer,
was also a special guest of the band.
THE MAGICIAN'S BIRTHDAY PARTY
The 2001 Magician's Birthday Party was a three day event
in London with a John Lawton Band concert on
December 6th, the Magician's Birthday Party Heep concert on the 7th, and
a Ken Hensley & John Wetton concert on
the 8th. Additionally, the Heep Festival Club
provided entertainment during the daytime hours
and included a press conference, band interviews,
an auction of Heep memorabilia, and was capped
off with an excellent Lawton-Dunning acoustic concert. Uriah Heep
plans to have a special event similar to the MBP each
year if possible.
URIAH HEEP VODKA
A Russian brand of vodka has been manufactured in the honor of Uriah Heep.
The vodka has a photo of the band on the label. Here's what Lee had to say about it...
"We had a Vodka named after us, it's called 'Drinking Eagles Vodka, Extra Strong Russian Uriah
Heep'. That's all that is on the label with our picture. None of us
have tried it, but we use it to clean the cymbals!"
CLASSIC OZZY ALBUMS DEFACED
In a stunning move, the 2002 remasters of The Diary of a Madman and
The Blizzard of Oz were released with the re-recorded bass and
drum tracks. Many fans have expressed outrage over
the decision to tamper with the classic Ozzy albums which originally included
bass tracks by Bob Daisley and drum tracks by Lee
Kerslake. Sharon Osbourne indicated the altering of
the tracks was done because Bob and Lee had
continually harassed the Osbournes. Bob and Lee
pointed out in their statement in response to her allegations that the only contact
they've had with the Osbournes has been through their attorneys concerning
the suit for unpaid royalties.
HEEPVENTIONS
The popularity of the Internet led to the communication between many
Heep fans since the mid 90s. Although the Heep websites had their
place in bringing the fans together,
I believe the Heepsters Mailing List played a
very important role in formal gatherings of Heep fans, or Heepventions
as they came to be known. The primary Heepventions
so far have been:
October 1997 St. Louis, Missouri
May 1998 Cleveland, Ohio
July 1999 Myrtle Beach, SC
May 2000 London, UK
This information is not meant to take away from the formal Heep gatherings in Japan
(Circle of Hands), the Heep Tribute concert in Finland or the Stay on Top Conventions in Germany.
