37. Here Comes The Rain – The Last MAGNUM Opus

The recording process of the next studio album started in autumn 2022. In 22 “studio updates” Tony, Bob and the others let the fans know about the current progress on the new album. On 20.10.2023 the album title and artwork were revealed: The album was called “Here Comes The Rain” and was out on 12.1.2024, followed by a lengthy European and UK tour. There were 10 tracks on it: “Run Into The Shadows”, “Here Comes The Rain”. Some Kind Of Treachery”, “After The Silence”, “Blue Tango”, “The Day He Lied”, “The Seventh Darkness”, “Broken City”, “I Wanna Live” and “Borderline”. The album was released in several different versions: As download and streaming version, on baby blue or splattered orange vinyl, as CD/DVD Digipak and jewel case CD. All of these could be ordered with a special “castle”-T-shirt in the SPV shop. In the Napalm Records shop one more version of the vinyl in red-yellow-blue-clear-splatter could be obtained. There also was a limited box set, containing the album in spattered yellow vinyl, the CD/DVD DigiPak, a 2-CD-live album “Live at Steel Mill” from the 2022-tour, an A1-poster, a photocard, a sticker and a MAGNUM-umbrella(!). The live DVD ans CDs sported the setlist of the last tour: “Days Of No Trust”,  “Lost On The Road To Eternity”, “The Monster Roars”, “The Archway Of Tears”, “Dance Of The Black Tattoo”, “Where Are You Eden”, “The Flood”, “The Day After The Night Before”, “Wild Swan”, “Les Morts Dansant”, “Rockin’ Chair”, “All England’s Eyes”, “Vigilante”, “Kingdom Of Madness” and “On A Storyteller’s Night” and “Sacred Hour”.
   The cover was done by long-time band-associate Rodney Matthews. The front side depicts the Storyteller, dressed in his usual violet coat with a large brown sack and a sword on his belt in front of an orange moon with a light blue starry sky in the background. He is obviously trying to fend sth off with his leather umbrella, although there are a lot on holes in it. Next to him there are the boy that first appeared on the “Moonking”-cover and the black-and-white dog (Rodney Matthews’ own dog, Barkeley) who have already appeared on several MAGNUM-album covers before. The little boy aims with his slingshot at some kind of threat while the dog seems ready to attack and bite whatever comes at them. Turning the album to the backside reveals the entire picture: there is a flock of evil mechanical vultures and ravens attacking them who seem to come from a pinkish-blue castle in the background. Clarkin: “The back of the cover features a kind of avian battalion in attack mode, which I think is a great allegory!” As Rodney revealed in late October, the album’s working title had been “Some Kind Of Treachery” and Tony’s original idea had been to create an Eastern-styled city of skyscrapers seen from above with a number of vultures and ravens swooping around the damaged and war-torn buildings. However, when Rodney had already done a first sketch of the idea Tony called to cancel the first idea and came up with the cover image that now sports the album. Rodney got the inspiration for the colours when walking his dog in a “Worm Moon” night in which the moon appeared in a bright orange. It’s not very difficult to see a comment on the attack on Ukraine, which is mainly carried out with rockets and drones, in that image.

   Clarkin answered the question how continues to find motivation and ideas for new material after more than fifty years in music easily: “At the end of the day there’s not much that’s more satisfying for a musician than to come up with new number that you yourself really like.” He draws inspiration from a wide range of different areas: “You never quite know where or how an idea originates, but the many different countries we’ve travelled, our decades of artistic experience and also our interest in what’s happening on our planet have definitely all played a part. When I start to write the songs, I don´t have any fixed ideas in my head. I probably play a bit of guitar or mess around on a keyboard, sometimes I read a book and usually this gives me a place to start. But to put this into words that people can understand I just fiddle about for hours hoping something inspires me. Being a musician can be a very isolating life in that you don´t live and work like normal people do. But then I start writing and that´s MY world, that´s where I belong.”
   
Tony spent more time writing this album because the tour got delayed due to Covid. He split his normal writing time into two sections. “I thought this would give me more time to do it, but I found it harder to get into a writing mindset when I was being interrupted by preparing for live shows.” As far as subject matter is concerned, he doesn´t have a hangup with any particular topic but takes inspiration from all sorts of places. Clarkin: “Over the years hearing maybe some records that were my favourite songs at the time and then only much later did I ever discover that the meaning of the song was totally different to what I thought it was. So, I´m sort of protective about explaining the meaning of songs that I´ve written because it can actually spoil a person´s enjoyment of the song, better that they find their own meaning in it.” Apart from Magnum’s typical trademarks, ‘Here Comes The Rain’ also holds a number of thoroughly pleasant surprises in store, music-wise. “Everyone played their part without me dictating anything, everyone just instinctively played what their inspiration told them”, Clarkin stated. “It’s a good thing that these superb musicians can rely on their intuition!”

      War is the main topic on the album, being featured in three songs: the title track, “Run Into The Shadows” and “Broken City” “Here Comes The Rain” was a comment on the Ukraine War, also referred to in Rodney’s cover. “Broken City” was about the Syrian cito of Aleppo, almost completely destroyed in the Syrian civil war. “Blue Tango” and “I Wanna Live” appeal to enjoy life as much and as long as you can.
On 22nd November the first single, “Blue Tango” was out. Tony commented that ”Blue Tango was: “…a real riff-rock number that makes you want to move your feet." And so it was! The single’s most memorable feature was a change of key in the middle of the chorus.

   The reviews were great everywhere. The German Rock Hard magazine made it the album of the month, in the Hardline-magazine MAGNUM’s Bob was on the cover, in the German Metal Hammer “Here Comes The Rain” came second in the “album of the month”-ranking. Some quotes read “the new album can top its predecessor”, “AOR at its best”, “an outstanding album”, “profound lyrics and catchy songs, convincing after the first spin”

   A UK and European tour was scheduled to kick off in early April 2024. However, not everything works out the way it was planned. On Monday, 18.12. an e-mail suddenly popped up on all MAGNUM fans’ computers and the social media channels. It was a message from Tony which read:

   “I’m afraid I have some bad news for you guys.  Over the past year or so I’ve been bothered by increasingly bad pains in my neck and head.  For a long time, the docs couldn’t work out why, but now they’ve found out and it’s gonna mean some changes.
I have developed a rare spinal condition.  It’s not life-limiting, but it can be degenerative in some people, and sadly it’s not curable.  There are treatments that may help but we don’t know how good they’ll be.
   With the nature of touring and the weight of electric guitars this means there’s no way I would be able to play the scheduled shows in the spring.  We've taken the decision to cancel the tour, rather than mess anyone around trying to postpone in the hope things might get better in the short term. Bob didn’t feel it would be right doing it with a dep at this time.
This is not gonna be the end of Magnum, but the future might have to be a bit different, so please bear with us while we try and figure out what I can and can’t do moving forward.
I’m really sorry for everyone who’d already bought tickets, it goes without saying that I’m absolutely gutted that I’m not gonna be able to play for you.”

   The others issued a statement too:
“We are obviously all extremely upset at this development, especially so close to Christmas. We can’t thank you all enough for your support over the years and hope you’ll stick with us through this too. We really hope you’re all going to love the new album “Here Comes The Rain” out on the 12th January 2024 and this won’t spoil it for you.
Bob, Rick, Lee and Dennis“

   The MAGNUM-fan-community was very understanding as numerous postings proved. Health had to come first, so there was no questioning the band’s decision.

   The second single ‘The Seventh Darkness’ was out on 3. January 2024. It was a song about crooked politicians with some awesome brass sections courtesy of guest musicians Chris ‘BeeBe’ Aldridge (saxophone) and Nick Dewhurst (trumpet), which lend the song brilliance and shape. Clarkin added: “The recordings were great fun, especially the moment when Chris’s sax took the lead and my guitar responded. A real highlight on this album!”

   And then, from one moment to another, the MAGNUM world changed completely.

   On Tuesday, 9th January Dionne Clarkin announced what left the MAGNUM community speechless: Tony Clarkin had passed away two days before.

“From the Clarkin family:

   On behalf of the family it is with profound sadness that daughter Dionne Clarkin is sharing the news of the passing of Tony Clarkin. Following a short illness, he died peacefully surrounded by his girls on Sunday 7th January 2024.

 “I know that Tony has touched so many people through his music in so many
different ways. I don’t really have words to express what he meant to me right
now as the grief is too fresh.
As many of you know Tony had a great affinity with animals. It is the family’s
intention to set up a charitable trust in his name to aid this cause, further details
to follow. Please do not send flowers or cards, as he would have much preferred
expressions of sympathy to go to charity in this way.
It was a privilege to call him my Dad.”

“I didn’t look to live forever”
(TC 2024)

   Of course, this left the fan community and, of course, me in shock. Thousands of condolences were stated to the family and all current and some former band members published mourning statements to show their solidarity with the Clarkin family.

   Dionne Clarkin decided to set up a Tony-Clarkin-Foundation to help animals in need, because Tony had loved animals so much.

At the funeral a film with lots of family and band photos was shown to the guests using a piece of music that Tony had originally composed for his son-in-law.
Amazingly, the album shot into the charts all over the UK and Europe. In Germany it achieved MAGNUM’s highest sales chart position ever (!!) at nr. 2, In Sweden it went up to nr.1 in the physical charts (i.e. without downloads), Hard Rock charts and Vinyl charts, in Austria it came in at nr.3 in the sales charts and in Switzerland in nr.4. In the UK it reached nr.4 in the download charts and nr. 6 in the physical charts and in Finland nr.2 in the physical charts.

On 7th March, exactly two months after Tony’s passing, Bob, who had withdrawn from the public for two months, issued a highly emotional statement:



"I wish I didn't have to tell you this, but I really can't carry on with Tony not here anymore." Please forgive me, and I hope you understand how I feel. (…) But now, it's all too much for me, people. I may pop up in some other shape or form in the near future – you never know – but I can't keep going on like this. It's far too sad. It's all too sad. So, I hope you understand. You've been fantastic, the best audience ever. You've kept this band going, year after year, album after album. And we thank you for that.
So, be good. Keep Tony's music in your heart always. I know I will. I will always carry Magnum inside me, and I will always have Tony Clarkin beside me, wherever I go. I love you. You've been brilliant. But it's time for me to bow out now. It's my last curtain call, okay? I'll see you sometime. Be good. Cheers. Bye-bye."
   Although that was to be expected, up to that moment there had still been hope for a final “Tribute to Tony” concert or tour. However, the fans around the globe gave warm-hearted comments and best wishes to an obviously heart-broken Bob. Everybody was understanding and friendly – just the way the MAGNUM-family and fan community had always been.
   On a personal note: I was devastated by Tony’s death and still almost refuse to believe it. Tony has become like an elder musical brother in spirit to me, so he accompanied most of my life through the best and worst times. I’m eternally grateful for all he has done for my world of music and I’ll miss him and the band forever!

   So, the official end of MAGNUM in March 2024 will also mean the end of this book. There may be the odd addition here and there online, but my work for the band and the readers is now done. I do hope that everyone has enjoyed the read and will forever enjoy the music of our favourite band. Hope to see you all around, celebrating the legacy of what was the best rock band ever for me – the one and only, the mighty MAGNUM.

                                                                                         THE END