When Led Zeppelin were on top of the world in the early-mid 1970s, nothing could get in their way. As with every majorly successful band, their unit – comprised of frontman Robert Plant,
guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist John Paul Jones and drummer John Bonham – was as tight as can be in the musical and personal sense, with each side of the coin significantly impacting the other.
Reflecting this, in the first half of the decade, they released three masterpieces, 1971’s Led Zeppelin IV, 1973’s Houses of the Holy and 1975’s Physical Graffiti, and by the time the latter arrived, they had been the world’s biggest band for a long time, with their dethroning of The Beatles years ago.
After the quartet released Led Zeppelin IV, an album featuring some of their definitive cuts, including ‘Stairway to Heaven’, ‘Black Dog’ and ‘Going to California’, the first half of the decade produced untold riches. It facilitated the band launching their record label Swan Song Records in 1974 and even helped to finance the classic 1975 comedy Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
As the group were such a cultural juggernaut, the music became just one of many areas in which they operated, with fans starting to wonder where the follow-up to Houses of the Holy was when it didn’t turn up within a year, as had been the case with all their previous efforts.
However, this meant the demand was immense when Physical Graffiti arrived on February 24th, 1975. It was worth the wait; the double record featured the likes of ‘Kashmir‘ and ‘Trampled Under Foot’.
Just before the album was released, Robert Plant sat down for an interview with the Old Grey Whistle Test whilst backstage at Vorst Nationaal in Brussels, Belgium, on January 12th. Hosted by Bob Harris,
Plant discussed the band’s future, including the current tour, imminent album and the film they’d been working on to accompany it. Here, he also revealed the “secret” to Led Zeppelin’s success.
Harris asked the frontman whether the band had ever thought about doing solo albums and if Swan Song Records would give them the opportunity to do so. Here, Plant outlined the-then closeness of the band, how he couldn’t possibly dream of doing it without the others, and their “secret” to their power.
He replied: “No doubt it would if we felt that it would benefit either of us, any of us, individually, but I don’t think that I could possibly do it without playing with the other guys, you know. It’s… Part of my charisma is reliant on the other three, and the same with everybody else.
We really get off on playing together; that’s the whole secret. I couldn’t really go away and play with anybody else ‘coz if I wanted to play, who else would I need for a drummer but Bonzo? And the same with Jimmy and Jonesy, I don’t think it could… It wouldn’t be right.”
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