The band's initial line-up consited of Graham Bonnet (vocals - ex-Rainbow / Michael Schenker Group), Yngwie Malmsteen (guitar - ex-Steeler), Gary Shea (bass - ex-New England), Jimmy Waldo (keyboards - also ex-New England) and Clive Burr of Iron Maiden fame. Burr was reportedly only in the band for a week, and left upon discovering the band was going to be based in the United States, as opposed to his native England. Burr was soon replaced byJan Uvena (drums - ex-Alice Cooper / Pointer Sisters). Shea dubbed the group "Alcatrazz". For the first album, the bulk of the material was written by Bonnet and Malmsteen, with Waldo contributing to several tracks.
The band's debut album, "No Parole from Rock 'n' Roll" was released in late 1983 on Rocshire Records. Decent support was given by MTV to the lead single, "Island in the Sun", which showed a heavy Rainbow influence. Despite the commercial nature of the song, it received little radio play. The album nonetheless spent 18 weeks on the Billboard charts and peaked at No. 128. A second video released in 1984 for "Hiroshima Mon Amour" became popular in Japan.
Rochsire then released '"Live Sentence" (1984), a concert recording with songs from both concerts of the recent tour of Japan at the Nakano Sun Plaza in Tokyo on January 28, 1984. Being discontent with the sonic qualities of the recording, Malmsteen tried to prevent the release of the album but failed. Some Rainbow covers were included, including "Since You Been Gone". The album peaked at No. 133 in the US. A live video concert was also produced. During this period, internal turmoil began surfacing within the band, between Malmsteen and Bonnet and Malmsteen left Alcatrazz.
Waldo replaced Malmsteen with former Frank Zappa guitarist Steve Vai, despite resistance from Bonnet, and the band signed with Capitol Records after Rocshire was shut down. With Steve Vai, the group worked on new material and then headlined another tour of Japan, which introduced Vai to the fans and allowed them to play new material from the upcoming album. A concert video was filmed from these dates. Vai left after recording the album '"Disturbing The Peace" to join David Lee Roth's solo band. The band released Disturbing the Peace in the spring of 1985. The album was produced by Eddie Kramer who had worked with Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, and Triumph, among others. "God Blessed Video" was the first single and video, yet MTV barely played it. The album peaked at No. 145 and charted for 16 weeks. Alcatrazz, however, could never break out of their small following, and had to cut a tour short due to financial problems. The band brought in Danny Johnson to replace Vai, and recorded the album '"Dangerous Games". The album had covers of the Animals' song "It's My Life" (one of the only rock-oriented tunes) and Marbles' song "Only One Woman". Bonnet had been a member of Marbles in the late 1960s when they had this hit in the UK. The Dangerous Games album failed to chart and shortly afterward, Johnson also quit to join the band Private Life. Disheartened by an ever-revolving door of guitarists, and dwindling album sales, they split up in 1987.
In 1998, the Renaissance Records label issued "The Best of Alcatrazz", a look back at the band's brief career. God Blessed Video appeared in the 2002 videogame soundtrack Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, playing on fictional rock station V-Rock.
Bonnet reformed his version of the band in 2006 as Alcatrazz featuring Graham Bonnet with guitarist Howie Simon ( Jeff Scott Soto Band , Talisman ), drummer Glen Sobel ( Impellitteri , Beautiful Creatures , Tony MacAlpine ), and bassist Tim Luce and toured Japan in May and June 2007—sharing the headline with another ex- Rainbow vocalist, Joe Lynn Turner . Alcatrazz continued to perform live occasionally until 2014 with the drum stool changing from Sobel, to Dave Dzialak to Jeff Bowders to Bobby Rock until the band disbanded in 2016.
In March 2017, three-fifths of the original lineup (Bonnet, Waldo and Shea) reunited for three shows in Japan, which also included Conrado Pesinato and Mark Benquechea on guitar and drums respectively. The performances were recorded for the live album/DVD "Parole Denied - Tokyo 2017 (Live)", which was released on December 7, 2018.
In February 2019, Bonnet confirmed that he had once again resurrected Alcatrazz, with a new lineup featuring himself, Waldo and Benquechea, as well as guitarist Joe Stump and bassist Beth-Ami Heavenstone from Bonnet's namesake band. Heavenstone was replaced on bass in January 2020 by a returning Gary Shea. Alcatrazz's first studio album in 34 years, "Born Innocent", was released on July 31, 2020.
On December 4, 2020, it was announced Alcatrazz had parted ways with vocalist Graham Bonnet and had recruited vocalist Doogie White. Bonnet announced that he would "still be recording and performing with Alcatrazz", with a new lineup to be announced. On June 4, 2021, the first single from the White-fronted Alcatrazz, "Turn of the Wheel" was released. A few days later, Jeff Loomis (Nevermore, Sanctuary) was announced as the guitarist for the Bonnet-led line-up, now referred to as Graham Bonnet's Alcatrazz.
On July 23, 2021, the White-fronted version of Alcatrazz released another single, "Sword of Deliverance", and announced that their fifth album, titled "V", would be released on October 15, 2021. Music video's were released for the singles "Turn of the Wheel" on June 4, 2021 and "Sword of Deliverance" on July 23, 2021.
The Alcatrazz line-up consisting of keyboardist Jimmy Waldo, bassist Gary Shea, lead vocalist Doogie White, guitarist Joe Stump and drummer Larry Paterson released their studio album "Take No Prisoners", on May 19, 2023.
Island In The Sun
Alcatrazz Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The living dead
A repose for the rich and famous
All the infamous would tell each other's
Lies
Why did they want to tell the truth
On an island in the sun
Most were poets and they wrote in
Basic prose
On the walls of their sunset blvd
In their nine by five rooms, became
Inspired
By the silence in sight of the city
On an island in the sun
Cool Pacific winds blow
Just across the bay
Battered by the waves
On an island in the sun
Cool Pacific winds blow
Just across the bay
Battered by the waves
On an island in the sun
Cool Pacific winds blow
Just across the bay
Battered by the waves
The lyrics to Alcatrazz’s, “Island in the Sun” seem to be a commentary on the infamous island prison of Alcatraz. The first few lines name the island as “the rock” and refer to it as the “land of the living dead”, indicating the horrors that took place within its walls. However, the prison was also a place of intrigue and fascination for many people, particularly the rich and famous who found a morbid fascination in the stories and legends surrounding the prison. In this context, the lyric “a repose for the rich and famous” takes on a sardonic tone, suggesting that the famous vying for attention didn’t care about the lives that had been ruined within the walls of the prison.
The second part of the song takes on a more melancholy tone as it delves into the lives of the prisoners themselves. The lyric, “most were poets and they wrote in basic prose” suggests that many of the prisoners were intelligent and creative, but were limited by their circumstances. The reference to “nine by five rooms” indicates the small and confined living spaces that they were confined to, but it was within these spaces that they found inspiration. The line “inspired by the silence in sight of the city” could be interpreted that while they were confined to their cells, they could still see the outside world and draw inspiration from it.
Overall, the song seems to be a commentary on the the human condition and how we strive to find inspiration and meaning even in the most trying of circumstances.
Line by Line Meaning
They named it the rock, land of
The living dead
The place was named the rock and seen as a place for those who were dead while still alive
A repose for the rich and famous
All the infamous would tell each other's
Lies
Why did they want to tell the truth
It was a paradise for the wealthy and famous, while the infamous would spread false tales rather than the truth
On an island in the sun
Cool Pacific winds blow
The island lies in the sun and is cooled by winds blowing in from the Pacific
Most were poets and they wrote in
Basic prose
On the walls of their sunset blvd
In their nine by five rooms, became
Inspired
By the silence in sight of the city
Many of the people there were writers and they wrote in a simple, straightforward manner on the walls of their rooms on Sunset Boulevard. There, in their small rooms, they were inspired by the quiet outside the city
Just across the bay
Battered by the waves
Despite being just across the bay, the island was constantly battered by the waves
On an island in the sun
Cool Pacific winds blow
Just across the bay
Battered by the waves
The contrast between the sunny, windy landscape on the island and the harsh, wave-ridden coastline just across the bay
On an island in the sun
Cool Pacific winds blow
Just across the bay
Battered by the waves
Reiteration of the earlier lines and their contrast - the paradise-like island filled with dreamers and writers blowing in cool Pacific winds just yards away from a rough seascape
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: GRAHAM BONNET, YNGWIE MALMSTEEN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@barkin666
lyrics
They named it the rock, land of the living dead
A repose for the rich and famous
All the infamous would tell each other's lies
Why did they want to tell the truth
[Chorus]
On an island in the sun
Cool Pacific winds blow
Most were poets and they wrote in basic prose
On the walls of their sunset blvd.
In their nine by five rooms, became inspired
By the silence in sight of the city
[Full chorus]
On an island in the sun
Cool Pacific winds blow
Just across the bay
Battered by the waves
@peugaldino2818
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They named it the rock
Land of the living dead
A repose for the rich and famous
All the infamous would tell each other's lies
Why did they want to tell the truth
On an island in the sun
Cool Pacific winds blow
Most were poets
And they wrote in basic prose
On the walls of their Sunset Boulevard
In their nine by five rooms became inspired
By the silence in sight of the city
On an island in the sun
Cool Pacific winds blow
Just across the bay
Battered by the waves
On an island in the sun
Cool Pacific winds blow
Just across the bay
Battered by the waves
@Impellitterii
Wow! Almost 40 years have passed. Young Bonnet & Yngwie. It's still a fantastic and wonderful track.
@semtex482
I know Bonnet & Yngwie, but who's Young? Sounds like a great trio
@rickgalindo7485
I saw, Bonnet Sang in Dublin, in a chair after a back surgery, the same awesome as this
@careful__Icarus
Malcolm Young was having a spat with Angus and was gonna play rhythm guitar in Alcatrazz.
@edcollins9377
@Impellitterii, in your praise for this fantastic track, you left out keyboardist extraordinaire, Jimmy Waldo. Let's not kid ourselves. Although this song has a great guitar solo and some very good vocals and lyrics, Jimmy Waldo contributes some great keyboard parts and he wrote all (or at least nearly all) of the music for this wonderful track.
@edcollins9377
A few minutes ago, I DISCOVERED SOMETHING NEW about this song that I never was aware of before!!!! The Songwriting credits for Island In The Sun lists Malmsteen, Waldo, & Bonnet. Earlier, I was checking out some rough, unreleased demos by the band New England, which happens to be the band that bassist Gary Shea & keyboardist Jimmy Waldo played in prior to joining Bonnet in Alcatrazz. Right before I played this video, I heard the New England demo "Take Another Ride" for the very first time. AS SOON AS I HEARD THE FIRST 3 or 4 CHORDS OF THE INTRO, I SAID TO MYSELF "THIS is 'ISLAND IN THE SUN'". Yes, the intro & chorus sections of "Island In The Sun" are lifted directly from the New England demo "Take Another Ride" with nearly identical sounding bass, keys, and drums although they were rather crudely recorded in the demo. There are some differences though and the changes that were made by Alcatrazz are definitely for the better. The verse section was reworked a bit (made heavier, less pop, and superior keys), the song's name and lyrics were completely changed, and to no one's surprise Yngwie's guitar solo was a definite improvement over the solo in the demo version.
The Songwriting credits for 'Island In The Sun' lists Malmsteen, Waldo, & Bonnet as song writers. Unfortunately, I didn't have access to the New England CD box set that the demo came from so I was unable to see the songwriting credits for "Take Another Ride". (95% or more of New England's songs were written by their guitarist John Fannon, but it is apparent that Waldo either wrote "Take Another Ride" or he was the primary co-writer for the song.) As for the Alcatrazz credits, I'm sure Bonnet deserves much (if not all) the credit for the new lyrics (although Waldo could have contributed to the lyrics). Bonnet likely contributed to the changes made in the verse melody, also. Although most of the keyboard parts are the same as those in the New England demo, Jimmy Waldo definitely rewrote his keyboard parts for the verse (making them much more complex and layered). I am a bit puzzled as to why Yngwie was credited as a songwriter. I'm sure he wrote 100% of the guitar solo, but it would be very unusual and highly suspect to think Yngwie got a songwriting credit for his guitar solo despite the fact it is an incredible solo. Perhaps, he helped make changes to the verses, but I'm willing to bet that Waldo and Bonnet deserve most of the credit for changes to the verses. Although Waldo was a co-writer on about half of the songs on the Alcatraz debut album, I do believe he wrote all (or most all) of the music for this song.
@WHATISUTUBE
Bonnet has such a unique look. I love it. Its some kinda Miami Vice feel. Reminder that most rockers at the time grew out their blonde locks and wore denim, leather, and towards the mid to late 80s some dabbled with spandex.
@hardluck8732
In the long run, Bonnet's look held up better.
@keiochar2129
Wish they made more videos during their prime in the 80's, what an awesome era
@martinfitzgerald1605
Excellent Alcatrazz👏🏻👏🏻 Graham's voice🎤🎸🥁