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Grand Slam (or Phil Lynott's Grand Slam) are a  (originally )  band originally formed in 1984 by  (lead vocals and bass guitar), after the breakup of his earlier ensemble . Grand Slam was active for a year, and Lynott died in 1986, but the band was revived in 2016 by original members  and .

Early history []

The birth of Grand Slam can be traced back to the solo band Lynott formed during July/August 1983 for a tour of Scandinavia. This line-up featured keyboardist  (); Thin Lizzy members  (drums) and  (lead guitar); plus rhythm guitarist Doish Nagle (ex-The Bogey Boys). When Thin Lizzy completed its farewell tour in September 1983, Lynott continued working with this configuration as a band project that eventually became known as Grand Slam. Sykes departed the project following an offer to join  and was replaced with guitarist  (ex Stampede), who had previously been approached by Lynott. Prior to the band's first shows, Downey left to be replaced by Robbie Brennan.

The name Grand Slam was chosen after a plethora of other band names had been considered, including Reactor Factor, Catastrophe, Hell Bent On Havoc, Slam Anthem and Slam, the name of a song Lynott had in mind. Lynott earned the nickname Sergeant Rock at the rehearsals at the E'EE studios in , due to his almost overbearing strictness and dedication to the rehearsal drill.

With the line-up of Lynott, Stanway, Archer, Nagle and Brennan, Grand Slam played its first show in , Ireland on 26 April 1984. The band's live set contained a mixture of new songs, written by various combinations of Lynott, Stanway and Archer, as well as songs from Lynott's solo career plus selected Thin Lizzy songs. Lynott was keen to avoid any 'second-rate Thin Lizzy' tag, and was adamant that they should only ever perform three Lizzy songs live ("Cold Sweat", from their 1983 album , "Sarah", from Lizzy's 1979 album , and the crowd favourite, "Whiskey In the Jar", which can be found on ).

Grand Slam toured extensively in the UK and Eire throughout 1984, with shows favourably received by both audiences and media. The band also appeared at high-profile festivals such as Crystal Palace (as special guests of Status Quo), Nostell Priory (as special guests of Marillion) and the  Weekender festival in , the latter show broadcast by .

Despite shows being well received by audiences and the band having built up a large cult following, Grand Slam failed to secure a record deal (largely due to Lynott's reputation as a drug user during his later Thin Lizzy days). The original Grand Slam played its final show at  Standard, London on 7 December 1984 and folded shortly after.

Phil Lynott died on 4 January 1986 from , heart and  failure, due to years of  and  excess.

Several original songs from Grand Slam's catalogue resurfaced on Thin Lizzy releases including "Nineteen" (also released as a Phil Lynott's final single in 1985), "Sisters of Mercy" and "Dedication". The latter became the subject of controversy upon its inclusion as the title track of the  compilation in 1991. Originally recorded as a Grand Slam demo by its authors, Laurence Archer and Phil Lynott, Thin Lizzy's management had former members  and  overdub guitar and drum tracks, respectively, and in an attempt to pass the song off as a Lynott solo composition. Archer was uncredited as a songwriter, but later settled out-of-court for a share of the publishing. The Grand Slam song "Military Man" was also recorded by Lynott and  on Moore's 1985 album 

* – Slam Anthems …Renovations Label:  – CLO4015LP-RED Format: , 12", Album, Compilation, Red Country: Released: Genre: ,  Style: Tracklist A1BreakdownA2CrazyA3I Still Think Of YouA4DedicationA5Look In These EyesB1NineteenB2Military ManB3Hot N SpicyB4Sisters Of Mercy Barcode and Other Identifiers Barcode: 889466401510