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, […]
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 […]
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 […]
The Cramps borrow Loverboy’s barricade to keep crazed Vancouver fans at bay
chris cameron photo ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, APRIL 20, 1990 By Steve Newton What do squeaky-clean teen idols Loverboy and the crude ‘n’ demented Cramps have in common? […]
The Newt’s 300 Best Rock Albums of the 1970s
By Steve Newton You had to be there. Abraxas: Santana (“Black Magic Woman/Gypsy Queen”, “Oye Coma Va”, “Samba Pa Ti”) 1970 A Day at the Races: Queen (“Tie Your Mother Down”, “Somebody […]
Remembering the Commodore’s Drew Burns: Best. Promoter. Ever.
By now most everyone who follows the Vancouver music scene has heard the sad news about the passing of local concert-biz legend Drew Burns. The longtime proprietor of the Commodore Ballroom died […]
The Doughboys’ John Kastner is sick of hearing about the Hip
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, SEPT. 19, 1996 When Doughboys singer-guitarist John Kastner rings up and informs me that he’s calling from Kingston, Ontario, I casually comment, “Oh, the […]
Producer Dave Jerden heard a lot of Mott in Seattle’s Sweet Water
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, AUG. 17, 1995 Sweet Water singer Adam Czeisler and guitarist Rich Credo go way back—and I don’t mean just to high school or anything. […]
Wherein the Newt pines for the ’70s along with a panel of Vancouver rock experts
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, NOV. 4, 1993 “The music you listen to becomes the soundtrack of your life.” —Mike Bloomfield Ah, the ’70s—what a great decade for rock. […]
The Pursuit of Happiness leaves Todd Rundgren for The Downward Road
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, APRIL 1, 1993 By Steve Newton Recalling the televised carnage of last year’s L.A. riots, it’s hard to believe that a happy-go-lucky Canadian band […]
Dash Rip Rock has gotten into a few scrapes playing “Stairway to Freebird”
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, MARCH 12, 1992 By Steve Newton It’s strange how rumours get started, sometimes. Like the one that keeps cropping up in Dash Rip Rock’s […]
Circle of Soul brings a Motownish vibe backed by a wall of Marshalls
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, AUG. 15, 1991 By Steve Newton From the groovy way guitarist/vocalists Joie Mastrokalos and Granville Cleveland mesh musically, you’d expect that the two players […]
sound and vision
“Sound and Vision” was a pretty cool tune from a David Bowie album that made my Top 30 Rock Albums of 1977. It’s also a pretty cool name for this […]
Horror review: Pet Sematary
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, MARCH 5, 1989 By Steve Newton The long list of movies based on Stephen King’s writings range from excellent (The Dead Zone, Carrie), to […]
Ear of Newt’s Top 30 Rock Albums of 1977
Cheap Trick and David Bowie led the way in ’77 with two albums each, and the blues was represented by Johnny Winter, Muddy Waters, and Roy Buchanan. Aja: Steely Dan […]
Horror review: Idle Hands
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, MAY 6, 1999 The teen-horror genre hits a new low with this inane chunk o’ junk from Rodman Flender, the illustrious director of Leprechaun […]
A Solo Todd Kerns Is Open to Beautiful Disasters
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, NOV. 10, 2004 By Steve Newton Strolling into the living room of Todd Kerns’s Burnaby townhouse is a bit like entering a ’70s-rock museum. The first […]
Brant Bjork gets his music to the people
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, MARCH 10, 2005 By Steve Newton When Brant Bjork calls the Straight from a Southern California town named Joshua Tree, the first thing that comes to […]
Die-hard New York Dolls revel in their trashy past
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, AUG. 25, 2005 By Steve Newton Looking back, 1973 was a wicked fuckin’ year for American guitar-rock albums. It saw the release of Alice Cooper’s Billion Dollar […]
Nashville Pussy’s Ruyter Suys saw KISS in Vancouver on the Dynasty tour
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, OCT. 20, 2005 By Steve Newton Nashville Pussy lead guitarist Ruyter Suys was born and raised in Vancouver, but for the last six years she’s called […]
Stephen King calls Marah America’s best unknown rock band
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, FEB. 2, 2006 By Steve Newton Not only is Stephen King among the world’s most popular writers, he also has good taste in music. He’s long […]
Modelos keep their cowboy-surf succinct
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, MARCH 2, 2006 BACK IN THE late ’80s, when Modelos guitarists Joe Rotundo and Mike Kenney attended high school together in Fort Erie, Ontario, they couldn’t have […]
Interviews
Some of my interviews, arranged alphabetically, from AC/DC to ZZ Top AC/DC Malcolm Young & Brian Johnson, 1983 AEROSMITH Joe Perry, Sept. 2010 AEROSMITH Steven Tyler, 1997 AEROSMITH Joe Perry, 1997 […]
