Duane Hitchings

[VinceRaven]

Good news for fans of the Blackout Era, Duane Hitchings is ready to answer our questions!

And he's happy to do so. Check out the reply I got:
"Yes !! And thank you for asking. The "boss" is a remarkable person. I had a great time for 2 years."

Duane's Alice credits include Special Forces, Zipper Catches Skin plus the Flush the Fashion and Special Forces tours.

I'm sure I'm not alone in feeling very excited about this.

As with the Mike Pinera thread, which pitkin88 kicked this all off with, please list any questions you have for Duane below.

Likewise, the results shall be forwarded on to Si so he can add it to the site.

[Si]

Good Job.

[mr.barlow]

Was there ever any consideration of Duane to write for Zipper?

When writing for Special Forces did the military theme evolve with the writing or was it the main theme going into the project?

How long into the writing process did Alice work ethic and interest in writing start to suffer?

What was the reason Duane left during the tour?

[mr.barlow]

We're any of the songs he wrote for Special Forces brought to the table for Alice to provide lyrics or were they all the product of a combined effort for the sessions?

[pitkin88]

Yes great job! I believe the reason he left the tour is on the Special Forces album here or the time line.

[mr.barlow]

Yes great job! I believe the reason he left the tour is on the Special Forces album here or the time line.

Over the years I heard a few different reasons and stories. I'm hoping Duane will answer with honesty.

Not to be a downer but usually the answers to the uncomfortable questions or those they choose not to answer with "it was a crazy time", "I don't remember it all because it's all a blur", "I never really saw any change in Alice" (I heard that one the most---I think Steve Hunter used that one too about the Madhouse Rock tour), and it's also amazing how everyone involved in that era NEVER saw Alice freebasing or under the influence of coke, with the exception of Wagner. I understand he got an earful by many when he talked about it before it became public knowledge.

I'm hoping that now that Alice's drug addiction is old news that these guys open up. My guess is they will stay mute on a lot of it.

My whole interest is the genesis of the SF songs and album and Duane would be the holy grail of that info as he co-wrote nearly all of the original songs for those sessions.

Duane and Pinera played together in a few bands in the 1970s and were old pros by 1981. I didn't know Podolor produced Blues Image and I'm sure that had a lot to do with the lineup for that album, Erik Scott I think came over from Flo & Eddie's touring band in 1980. He and John Nitzinger were close and I thinks that's how "Nitz" ended up with Alice.

Also Duane is good friends with Carmine Appice and he and Duane co-wrote "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy" for Rod Stewart. I know Carmine hung around the SF sessions and a I often wonder if he contributed at all to the writing.

At any rate---I'm praying these guys truly open up and I can get answers to questions I've had since 1981!

[VinceRaven]

My whole interest is the genesis of the SF songs and album and Duane would be the holy grail of that info as he co-wrote nearly all of the original songs for those sessions.
At any rate---I'm praying these guys truly open up and I can get answers to questions I've had since 1981!

Noted. I'll do my best to delve into that in detail.

We'll see how much background he's prepared to go into of the "crazy and dangerous time" as he referred to it in the reply to me. I get the impression that he's likely to open up on it to a degree BUT that he's also wary of really shooting his mouth off about such things. Again, I'll do my best to get as much as possible. I'm hoping he'll suss the fact that we're interested from a genuine fascination for the recording and performing process at the time and not just looking for sordid details for the sake of it.

[Railwayman]

Following on from Mr. Barlow's question. The two sides of SF are quite different, almost like 2 different records. Was side 1 just stuff they felt worthy of release but wasn't ready from FTF and just used to 'make' a complete lp. In English what I think I am trying to ask is why wasn't side 1 'new' stuff. Were people incapable, were there time constraints, were costs an issue. Apart from the opening track I don't really like side 1 at all and would have preferred more of side 2 type stuff

[Saint&Sinner]

Similar to all these questions, how long were the sessions - was it all done in studio? what sort of gear was used when recording?
has anyone got demos or unreleased tracks anywhere? has anyone ever been approached for material for a box set or anything?
Any behind the scenes videos or anything?

[pitkin88]

I really like Special Forces except for the rehash of Generation Landslide.

Not sure if you have messaged him your questions yet but if not...

Was he aware the riff on Rags is almost identical to Blondies Atomic?
What did he think when he saw Alice's new look?
How did he get along with Shep and was Shep around for the shows?
How did he feel about Warner not really getting behind Alice?
Did they know how well they would go down in the UK with Alice not being there since 75?

[VinceRaven]

I really like Special Forces except for the rehash of Generation Landslide.

Not sure if you have messaged him your questions yet but if not...

Was he aware the riff on Rags is almost identical to Blondies Atomic?
What did he think when he saw Alice's new look?
How did he get along with Shep and was Shep around for the shows?
How did he feel about Warner not really getting behind Alice?
Did they know how well they would go down in the UK with Alice not being there since 75?

Thanks for these.

I haven't sent off the questions yet. Things got a bit complicated for me personally over the last few days. Won't cause much of a delay though.

The latest I'll be passing them over to Duane is Friday.

[pitkin88]

One thing I wish had done was asked for comments on each song individually. I really enjoy it when artists go through tracks like that. I wasn't sure if I was asking too many questions or not.

[pitkin88]

This might be a question only Alice could answer but was I Like Girls written especially with Patti from The Waitresses in mind? Such a great fun song with some really nice guitar playing.

Was that Duane playing synth and keyboards on I Am The Future and how did that session with Schiffren compare to the rest of the sessions?

[pitkin88]

Which version of Who Do You Think We Are does he prefer the single or the album? Also what was the reason for the different versions?

[VinceRaven]

One thing I wish had done was asked for comments on each song individually. I really enjoy it when artists go through tracks like that. I wasn't sure if I was asking too many questions or not.

I'll see how it looks when it's all written out, but I was planning on doing that with all the songs he co-wrote. And perhaps some others as well.

I agree it's a bit of a concern that it makes it questions overload. Quite a few of us would love to hear them discussed in detail though.

[pitkin88]

Where are Mestreech and Padre? I thought they would be all over these threads? Hope you are both safe and sound.

[mestreech]

I have two personal friends who are in hospital on the IC with the virus.
They're fighting for their lives.
Sorry my mind is now not on this topic.

[Saint&Sinner]

Has he thought of doing a youtube video as a Q&A type thing, then its easier to ramble and go into stuff.......would make for a good series of vids id say.

[padre_sliprat]

Where are Mestreech and Padre? I thought they would be all over these threads? Hope you are both safe and sound.

I've been busy. Sorry about the absence. My question would be:

The ZCS album states that AC played synth on I Am The Future. Was that the main 3-note synth motif which opens the song?

[padre_sliprat]

I have two personal friends who are in hospital on the IC with the virus.
They're fighting for their lives.
Sorry my mind is now not on this topic.

I prayed for your friends.