In the summer of 1989, rock-stars gathered at London Metropolis Studios to record all-star version of Deep Purple’s “Smoke on the Water” hit to help Armenia after the Spitak earthquake. Mediamax presents the special project dedicated to the 30th anniversary of Rock Aid Armenia to reveal previously undisclosed details.
Rock Aid Armenia special project is supported by the British Council.
***
Sometimes you can see reports on the web claiming that the all-star Rock Aid Armenia squad was going to give a concert at Wembley in 1989 and the plans fell through.
The project’s creator Jon Dee cleared that up for Mediamax:
“The reason why people think this concert was planned is because in 2005 someone made a fake concert poster with the Rock Aid Armenia musicians’ names on it and started selling it on eBay! There was certainly no plan to do a gig at Wembley Stadium as the poster claimed. So if you see the poster, please don’t buy it as we get no money from it and it’s not a real concert poster!”
Fake poster
There were also rumors that Stas Namin wanted to organize a Rock Aid Armenia concert in Moscow. Jon Dee said he met with Namin while visiting USSR with Ian Gillan in 1990, but there was no talk of a concert.
“I met Stas Namin in Moscow and he was a very nice guy. He did an anti-drugs concert in 1989, but we had no plans for a USSR concert.
Jon Dee and Stas Namin
What Stas did was to see if we could release an album in the USSR via a local label. We didn’t do that in the end as we were not sure it could raise money for people in Armenia. But Stas was very helpful and provided us with lots of encouragement. And he gave us great advice on how to help people on the ground in Armenia,” recalled Jon Dee.
Read also:
“Rock and Mercy”: Komsomolskaya Pravda covers Rock Aid Armenia in 1989
David Gilmour helps put together the constellation of Rock Aid Armenia
Roger Taylor takes over as drummer for Rock Aid Armenia
***
On 5 June 2019, Yerevan will host a gala night to mark the 30th anniversary of Rock Aid Armenia. Deep Purple’s Ian Gillan, Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi and organizer of Rock Aid Armenia Jon Dee will attend the gala. The visit and celebration of the anniversary are organized by Mediamax Media Company and DoSomething (Australia).
The sponsor of Rock Aid Armenia’s 30th anniversary celebrations and the rock stars’ visit is IDBank. Koor Wines is the partner of the event.
Comments
Dear visitors, You can place your opinion on the material using your Facebook account. Please, be polite and follow our simple rules: you are not allowed to make off - topic comments, place advertisements, use abusive and filthy language. The editorial staff reserves the right to moderate and delete comments in case of breach of the rules.