"Waiting for an Alibi" is a song by the Irish rock band

Thin Lizzy Thin Lizzy are an Irish rock band formed in Dublin in 1969. The band initially consisted of bass guitarist, lead vocalist and principal songwriter Phil Lynott, drummer Brian Downey, guitarist Eric Bell and organist Eric Wrixon although Wr ...

and the first single from the band's 1979 album, '' Black Rose: A Rock Legend''. ''Black Rose'' was the only Thin Lizzy album recorded while

Gary Moore Robert William Gary Moore (4 April 19526 February 2011) was a Northern Irish musician. Over the course of his career, he played in various groups and performed a range of music including blues, blues rock, hard rock, Heavy metal music, heavy ...

was a member of the band, and he left soon after. The song was released as a single reaching No. 9 in the UK Singles Chart and No. 6 in Ireland. An accompanying video was filmed. The band promoted the single with a performance on ''

The Kenny Everett Video Show ''The Kenny Everett Video Show'' (later renamed ''The Kenny Everett Video Cassette'') is a British television comedy and music programme that was made by Thames Television for ITV from 3 July 1978 to 21 May 1981. Overview Philip Jones, Tham ...

''. An extended version of this track can be found on '' The Adventures of Thin Lizzy'' compilation LP released in 1981, '' Dedication: The Very Best of Thin Lizzy'' released on CD in 1991, as well as '' Wild One: The Very Best of Thin Lizzy'', released in 1996. It also appears on the compilation albums ''Lizzy Killers'' (1981) and ''Soldier of Fortune'' (1987). This version lasts 4:08 and has a third verse and chorus not included on the single.

History

Before its release, the track had been reworked from its original recording. A demo of the song was recorded in early 1978 with Brian Robertson on lead guitar alongside

Scott Gorham William Scott Gorham (born March 17, 1951) is an American guitarist and songwriter who is one of the "twin lead guitarists" for the Irish rock band Thin Lizzy. Although not a founding member of Thin Lizzy, he served a continuous membership after ...

(this was before Gary Moore's return to the band). The song was also played at Thin Lizzy's major gig at Sydney Harbour in late 1978 where the version performed could be described lyrically as a cross-over between the original demo and the final version that was released the following year. When Moore left Thin Lizzy in July 1979,

Midge Ure James "Midge" Ure (; born 10 October 1953) is a Scottish singer-songwriter and record producer. His stage name, Midge, is a phonetic reversal of Jim. Ure enjoyed particular success in the 1970s and 1980s in bands including Slik, Thin Lizzy, ...

was brought in to help finish a tour of the US, becoming the first in a string of guitarists to perform the song with the band. He was followed by Dave Flett,

Snowy White Terence Charles "Snowy" White (born 3 March 1948) is an English guitarist, known for having played with Thin Lizzy (permanent member from 1980 to 1982) and with Pink Floyd (as a backing guitarist from 1977 to 1980), and later for Roger Waters' ...

and

John Sykes John James Sykes (29 July 1959 – December 2024) was an English guitarist and singer, best known as a member of Whitesnake, Thin Lizzy and Tygers of Pan Tang. He also fronted the hard rock group Blue Murder and released several solo albums. ...

before Thin Lizzy split up in 1983. In later incarnations of the band,

Vivian Campbell Vivian Patrick Campbell (born 25 August 1962) is a Northern Irish musician. He came to prominence in the early 1980s as the guitarist of Dio. He has also been the guitarist of Def Leppard since 1992 (replacing Steve Clark after his death). C ...

Richard Fortus Richard Fortus (born November 17, 1966) is an American guitarist. He is a member of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he has recorded one studio album, since 2002. Fortus has also collaborated extensively with The Psychedelic Furs fron ...

and Damon Johnson also performed Moore's parts.

Personnel (studio version)

Phil Lynott Philip Parris Lynott (, ; 20 August 1949 – 4 January 1986) was an Irish musician, songwriter, and poet. He was the co-founder, lead vocalist, bassist, and primary songwriter for the hard rock band Thin Lizzy. He was known for his distinctive ...

–

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

–

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

– lead guitar * Brian Downey –

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

Charts

References

Thin Lizzy songs 1979 singles Songs written by Phil Lynott Song recordings produced by Tony Visconti Vertigo Records singles 1979 songs {{1970s-rock-song-stub