Album review: Various Artists, We’re a Happy Family—A Tribute to Ramones (2003)
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, FEB. 27, 2003 By Steve Newton You don’t fuck with the Ramones. And one of the best ways to not fuck with them is […]
Search Results for: ramones
That time Johnny Ramone told me why the Ramones covered the Doors’ “Take It as It Comes”
By Steve Newton I got to interview legendary punk-rock guitarist Johnny Ramone a couple of times, once way back in 1983 and again in ’92, when the Ramones were touring […]
That time I called Johnny Ramone up in Rio and he said the Ramones were huge down there
By Steve Newton Back in September of 1992 I did my second interview with punk-rock guitar legend Johnny Ramone. (Here’s my first one, from 1983.) At the time the Ramones […]
The Ramones stay fast and furious on Mondo Bizarro
ORIGINALLY POSTED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, OCT. 1, 1992 By Steve Newton The Ramones have come a long way since their ear-bustin’ brand of music first helped kick-start the late-’70s […]
Ramones box set boasts over 75 tunes on six discs
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, NOV. 13, 2013 By Steve Newton Like the band itself, there’s nothing fancy about the new Ramones boxed set, The Sire Years: 1976-1981. The seminal NYC punks […]
Johnny Ramone says being in the Ramones “beats working”
By Steve Newton Whether you remember or not, May of 1983 was a great month for historic rock concerts in Vancouver. On May 9 Roxy Music played the Pacific Coliseum, […]
That time I asked Tommy Aldridge to name the most talented guitarist he ever played with
By Steve Newton Drum legend Tommy Aldridge has played with some of the greatest rock guitarists of all time: Gary Moore, Steve Vai, Randy Rhoads, Pat Travers, Tony MacAlpine, Scott […]
That time I asked Poison Ivy what inspired the Cramps’ “Bikini Girls with Machine Guns”
By Steve Newton Back in April of 1990 I did my first interview with Cramps guitarist Poison Ivy Rorschach, in advance of a show at the Commodore Ballroom in Vancouver. […]
That time Tommy Aldridge told me why Black Oak Arkansas wasn’t mentioned in his bio
By Steve Newton When it came to hard rock drummers in the ’70s, there were a couple who particularly turned my crank. One was Cozy Powell, mainly for his work […]
Eric Clapton stopped the car when he heard Stevie Ray Vaughan’s guitar solo on “Let’s Dance”
By Steve Newton Where were you when you first heard Stevie Ray Vaughan‘s killer guitar playing on David Bowie’s 1983 hit single, “Let’s Dance”? It was definitely the type of […]
That time I asked Mike Rutherford about the biggest highlights of Genesis’ career
By Steve Newton Way back in December of 1983 I did an interview with Mike Rutherford, who at the time was the guitarist-bassist in Genesis, joined by singer-drummer Phil Collins […]
That time Dickey Betts asked me to mention all the guys in the Allman Brothers
By Steve Newton Yesterday I went and dug up the old cassette with my first Buddy Guy interview on it, the one from 1991, because I wanted to digitize it […]
That time I asked Country Dick Montana what he liked best about playing live with the Beat Farmers
kevin statham photo By Steve Newton Here’s another audio excerpt from my 1990 interview with the legendary Country Dick Montana, because it’s Sunday afternoon and posting this seems like way […]
That time Warren Haynes told me that his Allman Brothers song “Soulshine” was inspired by his dad
By Steve Newton There some tunes that just grab you by the heart with their simple beauty and honesty and, if you’re lucky, maybe a wailing Les Paul guitar. “Soulshine” […]
The Strangers: Prey at Night is routine masked-killer fare
By Steve Newton According to the on-screen message in its opening scene, The Strangers: Prey at Night was “based on true events”. It kinda makes you wonder if anyone was ever actually […]
Drive-By Truckers guitarist Jay Gonzalez steals the show from Patterson and Cooley in Vancouver
photos by Jeff Sutherland By Steve Newton The Drive-By Truckers, probably my fave band at the moment–unless I’m in a heavy Gov’t Mule mood–played the Imperial in Vancouver last […]
Album review: The Tragically Hip, Phantom Power (1998)
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, AUG. 20, 1998 By Steve Newton I took my wife, Dawn, to see the Tragically Hip at Thunderbird Stadium last summer when she […]
Album Reviews
Aerosmith: Honkin’ on Bobo (2004) Eric Clapton: Me and Mr. Johnson (2004) Jimi Hendrix: Axis Outtakes (2003) ZZ Top: Mescalero (2003) Nickelback: The Long Road (2003) Joe Jackson Band: Volume […]
Seattle beats Portland as Flop’s unsullied exuberance outdoes Everclear’s grating thrash-punk in Vancouver
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, JAN. 20, 1994 By Steve Newton After being seduced by several catchy tunes on the latest Flop album, Whenever You’re Ready, I was definitely […]
Blitzspeer’s Phil Caivano says the New York metal scene kicks L.A.’s poser ass
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, APRIL 11, 1991 By Steve Newton In the rock journalism biz, it’s sometimes fun to get your interviewee a little riled. Like when Blitzspeer […]
Rolling Stone can piss right off: here’s the 100 Greatest Guitarists (that I’ve interviewed) and 50 that I haven’t (yet)
By Steve Newton Google “100 greatest guitarists” these days and what shows up at the top is a total joke. It’s the high ‘n’ mighty Rolling Stone‘s list of the […]
That time Donald “Duck” Dunn told me that Eric Clapton was the best all-around guitarist he ever worked with
By Steve Newton Bass players don’t get much more special than Donald “Duck” Dunn. As a session musician for Stax Records, Dunn brought the bottom end on scores of legendary tracks, […]
Duane Allman and Berry Oakley’s motorcycle deaths couldn’t keep the Midnight Rider off his bike
By Steve Newton I’ve been on a bit of an Allman Brothers bender of late. It started a while back when Gregg had to cancel some shows due to a […]
Rudy Sarzo talks Ozzy Osbourne and Randy Rhoads while Quiet Riot storms the charts
By Steve Newton One day back in the summer of ’83 I stopped by the Vancouver offices of CBS Records and did an interview with Rudy Sarzo, who was one […]
That time Donald “Duck” Dunn told me about working with Eric Clapton and John “the Godfather” Belushi
By Steve Newton Back in 1985 Eric Clapton played a show in Vancouver, but he wasn’t doing any interviews with the likes of me. I was happy as hell just […]
Newt’s Top 10 albums of 2012
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, DEC. 13, 2012 By Steve Newton Sorry, I’m just not into the Gangnam style. Neil Young and Crazy Horse Psychedelic Pill The Can-Am rock legend gets back […]
Newt’s Top 10 albums of 1997
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, DEC. 18, 1997 By Steve Newton There were a lot of things that sucked the biggie in the world of music this year. From […]
