Veteran Led Zeppelin author and journalist Dave Lewis, best known for his many books on the band and his decades editing the magazine Tight But Loose, recently published a new photo book that focuses on Robert Plant’s 1980s solo career.

The book, titled “Portraits of Robert Plant – Through the Eighties” and available through Rufus Publishing, shines a spotlight on Plant’s emergence as a solo artist following the breakup of Led Zeppelin.

Lewis has brought together a collection of black and white photographs of Plant, including unreleased images and on-stage and off-stage shots, to tell the story of this oft-overlooked part of Plant’s career.

With no official band books on the way, this volume might be your best bet as a Christmas present for the Led Zeppelin fan in your life, particularly if they’re a fan of Plant’s solo career.

LedZepNews interviewed Lewis over email about the book. You can find our full interview below:

James Cook: Why focus on Robert Plant in the 1980s? Was this a period of Plant’s career you feel is undercovered?

Dave Lewis : I think it’s a very crucial decade for Robert Plant. He was trying to re-establish his career after the demise of Led Zeppelin. Musically and visually, this was a new era. When Rufus main man Mark Smith came to me with an idea for a Robert Plant photo book he initially sent me over some contact sheets and this is where the idea really developed. Mark had sourced a number of 1980s era photos shot both onstage and off.

I’ve worked with Mark on various publications, such as the ‘Five Glorious Nights Led Zeppelin at Earls Court’ book. He explained he was producing a series of photos books under the Rufus Portraits imprint.

JC: Why have you concentrated on Robert’s career in the eighties?

DL: It was evident Mark had collated a lot of photos from The Principle of Moments tour in 1983 and the Non Stop Go tour in 1988. It was agreed we should concentrate on this era. I have seen a lot of Robert Plant photos but a good 85% of what we had collated were rarely seen or previously unpublished.

JC: Robert Plant’s solo career often sees him reinvent himself; it’s something we see during the 1980s in this book and even now with his current band. Does that present a challenge when trying to include the various groups he performed as part of?

DL: Not really no. Basically we were mainly dealing with two sets of line ups. The 1981 through to 1985 band that recorded the first three solo albums and toured with him in 1983 and 1985. Then the second line up that recorded the Now And Zen album in 1988 and embarked on the toured Non Stop Go tour that year.

It’s a very sad fact that a few of Plant’s bandmates from that era have passed away. Bob Mayo, Richie Hayward, Phil Johnstone, Paul Martinez, long time sound man Roy Williams – this book is dedicated to their memory.

When it became to representing the differing line ups, I worked closely with Mark’s excellent designer at Rufus Publishing Jamie Wallis. He created an initial rough layout and sequence. I then got to work on the painstaking task of putting it all into a chronological order. This was a similar approach to how I formatted the ‘Five Glorious Nights Led Zeppelin at Earls Court’ book. I also captioned the photos where required.

We split the photos into chapters as follows: Pictures at Eleven 1981 to 1982; The Principal of Moments 1983; Shaken’ N ‘Stirred 1984; and Now And Zen 1986 – 1989. I spent many an hour identifying the photo locations and adapting a logical sequence. In the case of the Live Aid 1985 and Atlantic 1988 Zep reunions I made sure it followed in a set list order.

JC: Robert Plant’s solo career in the 1980s saw him photographed more than during his time in Led Zeppelin. Do you think Plant embraced his high profile during this time? I’m curious to hear your thoughts on whether Plant was comfortable being in the spotlight as he moved on from Led Zeppelin

DL: I think he gradually grew into the role and became more confident as the 1980s unfolded. The book illustrates that development at every stage. There’s the initial tentative club appearances of Honeydrippers 1981 period and onto The Principle of Moments US tour. The various backstage photos are a clear proof that Robert was growing in confidence at being the central focus and how much he was enjoying that role.

Then there’s the diversions of Live Aid, Atlantic, and the Non Stop Go tour in 1988 where the hair is getting longer and the rock god look is back. Along the way, various fellow musicians are caught on camera with him – Jimmy Page of course, Phil Collins, the Heart sisters, Pete Townshend, Tom Petty, Neil Young and Steven Tyler. Robert worked hard to establish himself again and performed nigh on 250 gigs between 1981 and 1989. The Appendix One section at the end of the book has a log of every show he performed during the 1980s decade.

As for the albums, 1985’s Shaken ‘N’ Stirred was something of a challenge. By his own admission, he was really pushing the boundaries. On initial listens it did seem all over the place – awkward time signatures, female backing vocal from Toni Halliday. For all that, I really admired him for taking these risks and going away from what might have been expected. I remember playing ‘Too Loud’ to anyone who would listen, citing it as an example of how contemporary Plant had become. Shaken ‘N’ Stirred has actually stood the test of time pretty well – ‘Little By Little’ and the closing track ‘Sixes And Sevens’ still sound great. The latter is a much underrated performance.

Just prior to that he recorded The Honeydrippers Volume One mini album. He went from one extreme to another. It’s never been dull being a Robert Plant fan! A ten inch mini album which was so refreshing in its simplicity. Suddenly he’s in heavy rotation on MTV with ‘Sea of Love’, a top five US hit.

I still love the innocent charm of his debut album Pictures At Eleven. Then there’s the high tech 80s sound of Now And Zen which was another prime example of Robert grasping the moment. I still have much affinity for the Pictures At Eleven debut album. I can vividly recall the first time I played it – it was a real watershed moment as there was no real indication of how this new found solo career was going to evolve. From the first bars of the opening track ‘Burning Down One Side’ it was evident this new era was going to be quite a ride. I also love the Now And Zen album, another prime example of Robert grasping the moment. The late Phil Johnstone brought a commercial edge to the song writing that really inspired Robert’s vocal delivery. The second appendix in the book offers a recommended listening guide to his 1980s catalogue.

I also feel very fortunate to have witnessed many memorable live performances during that first decade of Robert’s solo career. I have to say the thrill of him performing ‘In The Evening’ at the Leicester University gig on January 23, 1988 was something really special. Bringing back Led Zeppelin numbers just never seemed on, so that was a watershed moment and that gig remains one of my all time favourites. The Honeydrippers show at Retford Porterhouse on May 4, 1981, the Hammersmith Odeon shows in 1983 and 1988 when Jimmy Page guested – particularly the latter one. There was always a feeling of unfinished business between Robert and Jimmy.

Other memorable gigs that spring to mind: the Prince’s Trust appearance in 1982, the Marquee Club media showcase gig in 1988 – I was right at the front for that, and the 1985 Wembley Arena show. Throughout the decade I was also lucky enough to be in Robert’s company backstage and speak to him on a fair few occasion and there’s some special memories there.

JC: Mark Blake wrote the book’s introduction. Why choose Mark to contribute to the book?

DL: It was Mark Smith approached Mark to supply the introduction. Mark, who I have worked with on various Zep projects, has interviewed Robert many times over the years and was able to offer a clear career perspective that sets the scene. Mark is also the author of the superb Peter Grant biography ‘Bring It On Home’.

For my written contribution, I felt the book would benefit from an overview that touched on my personal experiences of following Robert’s career during that decade. So there’s a 6,000 word text that I hope brings a clear perspective to the various twists and turns Robert’s career underwent from 1981 onwards. I witnessed a lot of this at close quarters and the text is designed to complement the subsequent spread of photos that goes through to page 240.

JC: I particularly like the book’s format: It’s a smaller coffee table book which lets people see the photos but doesn’t make it unwieldy to read. What was the thinking there?

DL: I’ve worked with Mark on various publications, such as the ‘Five Glorious Nights Led Zeppelin at Earls Court’ book. He explained he was producing a series of photos books under the Rufus Portraits imprint. These were compact small size editions presenting black and white photos on high quality paper and pitched as a standard edition price of around £60. The Portraits catalogue was steadily building up with titles on Rory Gallagher, Rush, Dio, Status Quo, Iron Maiden already out.

Mark said he was eyeing a Robert Plant book in the series as a potential future title and asked what I thought. As there had not been a specific Robert Plant photo book I was interested to see what Mark had in the way of photos. I had seen some of the Portraits series books and felt the format would work well with the scope of photos we had to select from. There is actually a larger deluxe limited edition version available too.

JC: Is there a single image in the book that stands out for you? Why?

DL: I particularly like the spread of photos taken off stage during The Principle of Moments US tour in 1983. This includes shots taken on the airplane, backstage with Phil Collins, Robbie Blunt and the band. The Live Aid and Atlantic 40th anniversary are great to see. On stage with Jimmy at the two Hammersmith shows, close up photos from the Marquee show in 1988 three gigs I attended, and crazy poses backstage with Steven Tyler at an Aerosmith show in 1989. It really exposes the sheer fun Robert was having in this new guise.

JC: There are many unreleased photos in the book. How did you go about tracking them down?

DL: As mentioned, it was a combination of what Mark had already collated and a case of digging deep in the agency archives and my own collection. We had over 200 images at our disposal covering the years 1981 to 1989. A lot of them were from the archive of the late George Bodner’s archive images.

I also brought in the services of ace researcher Mike Tremaglio, co-author of the ‘Evenings With Led Zeppelin’ book for the Appendix One gig listing. He did a great job in identifying various shows and the end result is as accurate a concert log as we could produce. Readers of the book I am sure will be checking through to see which ones they attended. Mike was a massive help in overseeing the whole book. One of the leading memorabilia and ticket collectors, Cliff Hilliard, was also a great help in supplying the ticket stubs that are re-produced in the book.

JC: The book has a mixture of on-stage and off-stage shots. Was it important to have both types of photos?

DL: Yes very much so. There’s a good contrast of behind the scenes shots and the onstage photos. In particular, the off stage shots on The Principle of Moments US tour in 1983. There’s an up close and personal feel to what was an enlightening period for both Robert and his audience alike.

JC: It’s only in the second half of the book that photos of Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones alongside Robert Plant. Was this a conscious decision or simply part of the chronology of the 1980s?

DL: It was all part of the chronology really. The book attempts to portray the total reinvention Robert’s career underwent following the demise of Led Zeppelin. Looking at the photos from the first US tour, it’s incredible to think it was a mere four years on from Zep playing Knebworth. His whole visual persona had massively changed. Gone was the Zep rock god and in its place a more sophisticated and understated image emerged. There were new bandmates and of course new music. I think what is really interesting is how the call of the past still held sway.

This is evident in the Jimmy Page guest appearances and of course the Zep reunions at Live Aid and the Atlantic 40th Anniversary show in 1988. That year was very significant; not least the decision to introduce several Led Zep numbers to his set. Guided by new manager Bill Curbishley, we see the re-emergence of a more confident front man and one at peace with his past. The book is able to portray that change very effectively as the decade moves on.

JC: You were closely watching Robert Plant’s solo career during the 1980s. Did partial reunions like Live Aid and the Atlantic Records 40th anniversary cause renewed hope for a full Led Zeppelin reunion?

DL: Both occasions I think did distract him somewhat. For all the chaos around Live Aid, it showed all three of them the esteem they were still held in. The 1988 Atlantic 40th anniversary show should have worked far better, but circumstances were against them (such as the sound issues and going on so late).

On both occasions, Robert was on tour with his own band. After Live Aid in early 1986 there was a get together at Peter Gabriel’s Bath studio, but it never really jelled. However, Jimmy’s guest appearances in 1983 and 1988 was a clear indication of the affinity they still had for each other.

They always looked so at home in each other’s company and as we now know that sense of unfinished business did find an outlet with the Unledded reunion in the 1990s.

JC: In recent interviews, Robert Plant has often looked back on this period of his career with embarrassment, saying he looks back in ‘horror’. Is he right to react like this?

DL: Obviously looking back to the fashions, the haircuts etc, I guess there might be a sense of mild embarrassment, but I think a lot of what he has said has been in jest. I think he is very proud of the fact that he managed to carve a significant solo career.

As Robert once observed, ‘So at age 32 years old I began again, veering and careering, avoiding and inventing, sometimes with success but always talking it up. I loved rolling into projects, embracing new writing partners, new technology and new techniques.’ I think that’s an accurate summary of where he was at in the 1980s.

JC: Is Robert Plant’s 1980s music career due a reassessment? There was talk of a Honeydrippers box set but that seems to have faded away. Is it worth critics and fans listening again to this period of Plant’s career?

DL: Yes think his 1980s albums are absolutely ripe for a re-visit-and the book is intended to act as inspiration for fans to pull out the likes of Pictures At Eleven, Now And Zen etc.

Those innocent days of the immediate post-Zep era now seems a long way off; the 1980s however can be viewed as a pivotal decade for the former singer in Led Zeppelin. It was the period when Robert Plant – then in his 30s – took a firm handle on his career.

This book is a timely reminder of that era of mullet haircuts, jump suits, 12 inch remixes, indulgent videos, and some truly fantastic live performances. ‘Portraits of Robert Plant Through the Eighties’ is a snapshot in time and will offer Robert Plant fans a renewed perspective on a decade that truly shaped his solo career.

Since that first decade, Plant has enjoyed many twists and turns in a musical journey that has included the 1993 release of his Fate of Nations album; a four-year spell back with Jimmy Page that would herald two world tours and the Unledded and Walking Into Clarksdale albums; a back to the roots venture in the quirkily named Priory Of Brion; a merging of ethnic influences and trip hop rhythms in the Strange Sensation; the Grammy Award-winning Raising Sand collaboration with Alison Krauss; further Americana excursions in the Band of Joy and on into a merging of a multitude of influences in the Sensational Space Shifters.

More recently he has maintained a dual career, partnering alongside Alison Krauss on the back of a second album Raise The Roof, and what has emerged as one of his most acclaimed projects in presenting Saving Grace featuring Suzi Dian.

Along the way, I personally have witnessed over 100 further sightings of Robert Plant on stage. For all his idiosyncratic traits, being a Robert Plant fan remains a richly rewarding experience. He does everything an artist should do: he enchants, he intrigues, he frustrates, he confuses and above all… he digs deep to inspire and he certainly inspired this writer yet again at the trio of March 2024 gigs I saw his current outlet Saving Grace perform at the London Palladium, Peterborough New Theatre and at the Teenage Cancer Trust final night at the Royal Albert Hall.

He is singing as well as ever and the Saving Grace band featuring Suzi Dian really is something really special. With a recent tour of Italy and European dates next year he continues to delight audiences from far and wide. As he once remarked ‘The past is a stepping stone, not a millstone.’

JC: I note that the book has the same format as your Earl’s Court photo book and sits nicely next to it on the shelf. Could there be more books like this on the way from you?

DL: That is a possibility though nothing is planned at the moment. I very much like working with Mark Smith at Rufus Publishing. I do need to get back to working on my own memoirs – of which I’m 45,000 words up and only in 1975! So I do plan to get back on that in the new year. I’m also currently contributing to a couple of other Zep writing projects.

It really has been an absolute joy editing this ‘Portraits of Robert Plant Through the Eighties’ book. It’s taken me back to a time where I spent a lot of my waking hours diligently following his career. I did all this during a decade where I was full on managing the WH Smith and Our Price record shops, courting and marrying the good lady Janet, writing two weekly pop columns for the local papers (which of course chronicled Robert’s gigs and albums).

Robert perhaps summed it all up when he stated in 1983 that ‘It’s still today’s work and tomorrow’s plans that give us all a reason for being – instead of a reason for having been.’

The book is aimed at both Robert Plant and Led Zeppelin fans. I think during that 1980s decade a lot of Zep fans kept faith with Robert. The mega gigs of the Zep era were now long gone and being able to see him at low-key venues and theatres provided greater proximity to him and his various bandmates. He was still capable of selling out all sizes of venues; however, taking into account the many direction his career would undertake in the 90s and beyond, gradually there may have been a dropping off of interest but in this 1980s decade there was a definite air of curiosity and affection for what the former singer from Led Zeppelin could achieve on his own.

With that in mind, the book is able to take readers right back to that era with much clarity. How his whole visual image evolved after Zep is captured in sharp focus – so there’s the initial mullet hair styles, the jump suits and then the return of a more golden god stance with bigger hair. As Robert noted with tongue firmly in cheek at a Q and A event in 2020: ‘I was chest of the year in 1969, king of cock rock in 1970, and by 1988 I was in ‘Heavy Rotation’ on MTV. I was embarrassed by the 1980s until about 2010!’

Fellow fans who attended Robert’s gigs during the 1980s will feel a warm sense of nostalgia for an era that provided many captivating live performances. Of course, if you weren’t there then, this book offers the opportunity to see what it was all about.

“Portraits of Robert Plant – Through the Eighties” is available to purchase online directly through Rufus Publishing. Dave’s regular updates can be found on the Tight But Loose website.

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