Chinatown

Chinatown is the tenth studio album by Irish band Thin Lizzy, released in 1980. It introduced guitarist Snowy White who would also perform on the next album as well as tour with Thin Lizzy between 1980 and 1982; he replaced Gary Moore as permanent guitarist. White had previously worked with Cliff Richard, Peter Green and Pink Floyd. Chinatown also featured eighteen-year-old Darren Wharton on keyboards, and he joined Thin Lizzy as a permanent member later that year. Recording Having recruited new guitarist Snowy White just before Christmas 1979, Thin Lizzy began recording sessions at Good Earth Studios for what would become the Chinatown album in January 1980, and finished recording "Dear Miss Lonely Hearts" (co-written with Jimmy Bain) in early February. This song was not considered for the album and was instead used for Phil Lynott's debut solo album Solo in Soho, despite all the musicians playing on the song (and ultimately appearing in the video) being members of Thin Lizzy. Between March and May, the band worked on more songs, including "Lady Killer on the Loose", "The Sacred Sweetheart" and the title track "Chinatown", the latter two of which were also performed live at this time, at shows in Ireland and Scandinavia. Another song which had already been played live was "Didn't I", on the recent Japanese tour with temporary guitarist Dave Flett in the band. The co-producer on the album was Kit Woolven, who was employed by Thin Lizzy's previous producer, Tony Visconti. New keyboard player Darren Wharton later described Woolven as a "really nice guy, easy-going, diplomatic type of guy", and a "really good engineer". Wharton also described how Woolven acted as a guide for Lynott in terms of production, rather than either man producing the album himself. Woolven described the recording as "hard to do" due to Lynott's tendency to make up ideas on the spot rather than undertake any pre-production work. He also stated that this made it harder for new guitarist White, who was used to a more regimented style of working. Bass guitarist Jerome Rimson, who worked on Lynott's solo albums, described the scene in the studio: "I watched him [Lynott] record most of the Chinatown album standing at the microphone and making up the words as he was standing there. There was a full-blown party going on in the control room." Midge Ure had been performing live with the band up to this point, but left after the Scandinavian shows in April.