Scorpions singer Klaus Meine misplaced his voice at a really essential time within the band’s profession – however fortunately the group acquired a serving to hand from a future fellow rock star.

As the German rockers have been heading into the studio to report the follow-up to 1980’s Animal Magnetism, they have been poised for a long-awaited breakthrough in America. Unfortunately, the last decade of arduous work which had gotten them to that essential level had additionally taken a giant toll on Meine’s voice.

“I think the heavy touring and studio schedule finally got me,” he instructed Noisecreep. “My voice was in bad shape. I couldn’t sing and I thought my career was over. I couldn’t sing. It was that simple.”

While Meine recovered from the required surgical procedure, his bandmates continued engaged on demos for what would develop into 1982’s Blackout album. But they wanted someone to fill in for his or her singer, at the very least on a brief time period foundation. “So our good friend Don Dokken came to Germany and worked with the rest of the Scorpions in the studio,” Meine continued. “He recorded some of the songs with them.”

In a 2020 interview with the Metal Voice, Dokken was modest about his contributions, saying he solely labored on the report for a few days. “I only sang a couple of songs a really quick 20 minutes scratch track just to get the melody on tape for Klaus. It was just a scratch track to save Klaus’ voice.”

“I had some surgeries done and rested my voice for six months or something,” Meine defined to Noisecreep. “When I finally came back I was in really good shape. I even did the high-pitched backing vocals like I did on the older records. I think one of two of the songs still have Don somewhere.”

Indeed, Dokken is credited with background vocals on Blackout. “They’d been working on it like two years and they wanted to finish the record and it was almost done,” Dokken instructed Cassius Morris in 2023. And [producer Dieter Dierks] mentioned, ‘do you wish to come to Germany and simply do all of the excessive excessive excessive excessive stuff?’ So, ‘You Give Me All I Need,’ ‘No One Like You,’ ‘Dynamite,’ and all these tremendous excessive vocals on the harmonies I simply did these, that is all I did. Because I used to be inexperienced, you recognize, and I might do it.”

Dokken was also quick to shut down rumors that he was ever in line to take over for Meine. “Even if someone had requested me to affix the Scorpions I might have mentioned no,” he told Morris. “It could be a fantastic honor, however I instructed Klaus, ‘I might have mentioned no as a result of you’re the voice of the Scorpions. I’m simply right here to assist out, that is all.’ We’ve now all been associates for over 45 years.”

As a thank you, Dierks gave Dokken access to recording studio time, which he used to record the demos that led to his first record deal. Blackout turned out to be exactly the hit the Scorpions needed. The album hit the Top 10 on the US album chart and was certified gold just three months after its release, thanks largely to the hit single “No One Like You.”

As to whether fans will ever be able to hear the scratch tracks Dokken recorded with the Scorpions, well, don’t hold your breath. “I’ve been requested that so much,” Dokken told the Metal Voice. “I’ve some [tapes] however I might by no means give it to anyone or play it for anyone or let it out of my fingers.”