ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, MARCH 11, 1993 By Steve Newton As a kid growing up in the tiny Ontario town of Watford (pop. 1,500), Tom Beaton didn’t get the chance to see many of the world’s greatest guitar heroes. But one fateful day he took a trip to London, Ont., to see Ozzy … Continue reading Ten Seconds Over Tokyo guitarist Tom Beaton was initiated into rock ‘n’ roll by Randy Rhoads
By Steve Newton I did my first interview with Ozzy Osbourne back in June of 1982, when he was touring behind his Diary of a Madman LP. Just a few months earlier he’d lost his guitar player, the legendary Randy Rhoads, in a bizarre plane crash. At one point in the conversation I asked Ozzy … Continue reading That time I asked Ozzy Osbourne if “Crazy Train” was an autobiographical song
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, DEC. 16, 1984 By Steve Newton It looks like Ozzy’ll be laughing all the way to the bank when the royalty cheques for his new album Bark at the Moon come rolling in. The raunched-out guitars, pounding drums and madman vocals that made his first two albums, Blizzard of … Continue reading Album review: Ozzy Osbourne, Bark at the Moon (1984)
By Steve Newton I did my first interview with Ozzy Osbourne in early June of 1982, ten weeks after his beloved guitarist, Randy Rhoads, perished in a fiery plane crash at the age of 25. No wonder he sounded bummed out. Rhoads’ place on the Diary of a Madman Tour had been taken first by … Continue reading Ten weeks after Randy Rhoads’ death Ozzy told me that the fallen guitar hero could do anything
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON OCT. 25, 1985 By Steve Newton Let’s get one thing straight: This isn’t heavy metal, no matter what the record company calls itself. Heavy Metal Records is a new label–distributed by Quality Records–that seems to be trying to cash in on the fierce attraction that “heavy metal” has among youngsters these days. … Continue reading Album review: Jim Dandy’s Black Oak Arkansas, Ready as Hell (1985)
By Steve Newton Whether you think Ozzy Osbourne is a genius or not, ya gotta admit that he’s a mastermind when it comes to finding killer guitarists. Tony Iommi, Randy Rhoads, Jake E. Lee, Zakk Wylde–those are some pretty smokin’ pickers. When I interviewed 27-year-old Wylde back in 1994 I asked him what he thought … Continue reading That time Zakk Wylde told me what he really thought of Randy Rhoads, Jake E. Lee, and Tony Iommi
By Steve Newton If Randy Rhoads hadn’t died in that tragic plane crash in 1982, do you think he’d still be playing with Ozzy Osbourne? I kinda doubt it. He was so fiercely talented that I bet he would have left heavy-metal in the dust and moved on to creating adventurous, technically mind-boggling instrumental music … Continue reading That time Zakk Wylde told me that he’d always be Ozzy Osbourne’s guitarist
Geez, even Jimi knew Johnny ruled. By Steve Newton Back in September of 2010 Gibson.com posted what it felt were the 50 greatest guitar solos of all time, and boy did they ever blow it. Most conspicuous by his absence is Texas blues-rock legend Johnny Winter. I for one am getting sick and tired of … Continue reading Gibson picked the top 50 guitar solos of all time, and boy did they ever blow it
By Steve Newton Way back in April of 1992 I interviewed Jake E. Lee in advance of a Vancouver show by his group Badlands, which was touring behind its second album, Voodoo Highway. At one point in the interview I started asking Jake about his time with Ozzy Osbourne, which led to me wondering if … Continue reading That time I asked Jake E. Lee if there was much pressure taking over Randy Rhoads’ spot with Ozzy
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 Gorham, John Sykes. Heck, even his first band of note, Black Oak Arkansas, featured some pretty heavy-duty pickers. When I interviewed Aldridge back in 2001 … Continue reading That time Tommy Aldridge told me that Randy Rhoads was the most talented guitarist he ever played with
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, JUNE 22, 2006 By Steve Newton How many big-league metal CDs can you name that have sold more than 3.5 million copies yet cost less than three grand to make? The only one I’m aware of is Godsmack, the 1998 debut by the Boston-based metal quartet of the same … Continue reading Tony Rombola says Godsmack has a lot of fans in the military: “Males 18 to 25 like the hard rock”
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON DEC. 27, 1985 By Steve Newton Hendrix. Page. Beck. Clapton. Blackmore. Van Halen. Rhoads. Malmsteen. Malmsteen? That’s right, Malmsteen. The name might not be as familiar, but rest assured that in years to come it will gain a place beside those of rock’s biggest guitar heroes. At only 22 years of age, … Continue reading Yngwie Malmsteen takes the guitar world by storm at age 22
By Steve Newton I got to interview rock legend Lemmy Kilmister a couple of times, first in April of 1999 and then again in the following century, in May of 2002. During that ’99 chat I mentioned how I’d first seen Motörhead back in 1983, when they opened for Ozzy Osbourne on the Blizzard of Oz tour … Continue reading That time Lemmy from Motörhead told me that Randy Rhoads became much better after he died
