Category: across the pond

Ireland’s Devlins find Canadian connections with producer Malcolm Burn and manager Terry McBride

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON OCT. 16, 1997 By Steve Newton The music industry moves fast these days. As soon as there’s enough consumer demand for the next version of, say, No Doubt, some band with a slim blonde singer and quirky-looking bandmates rolls off the assembly line. I know, because I saw it on TV. Thanks … Continue reading Ireland’s Devlins find Canadian connections with producer Malcolm Burn and manager Terry McBride

It’s My Life, and it’s my unpublished 1984 interview with Mark Hollis of Talk Talk

By Steve Newton Back in early 1984 I did an interview with Mark Hollis of British synth-pop band Talk Talk.  I wasn't really into synth-pop--I was more into Iron Maiden, Scorpions, and Van Halen--but I took the assignment because Talk Talk was promoting its new album, It's My Life, and was planning to visit my … Continue reading It’s My Life, and it’s my unpublished 1984 interview with Mark Hollis of Talk Talk

Lenny Zakatek’s soulful singing is a special part of the Alan Parsons Project

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON DEC. 9, 1983 By Steve Newton "One day I got this call around ten at night, saying 'Come on down and sing this track. If you make it, fine--if you don't there's a little change in it for you.' "So I went over, went straight in and he said, 'We've got to … Continue reading Lenny Zakatek’s soulful singing is a special part of the Alan Parsons Project

Simon Townshend says that if people don’t like his brother Pete producing his LP, they can stuff it

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, FEB. 17, 1984 By Steve Newton "As soon as I got Pete involved at the production level, and not the musical, it was as if I'd stood up and said, 'Look, I'm Simon Townshend. My brother Pete just happens to be producing my album. If you don't like it, … Continue reading Simon Townshend says that if people don’t like his brother Pete producing his LP, they can stuff it

That time Mark Kelly told me that Marillion were touring with Rush and I questioned the matchup

By Steve Newton Way back in March of 1986 Marillion keyboardist Mark Kelly called me up from a tour stop in Quebec City. As the interview kicked off he told me that his band was opening for Rush there, which caught me off guard. I figured Rush, which was touring behind its Power Windows album, … Continue reading That time Mark Kelly told me that Marillion were touring with Rush and I questioned the matchup

Bonnie Tyler skips the heartache and goes straight for the glory with “Total Eclipse of the Heart”

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON JUNE 10, 1983 By Steve Newton Bonnie Tyler? You mean that Welsh girl who used to sing about heartaches in a gravelly, Rod Stewart-type voice. She still around? After her four years absence from the charts, there must be a lot of people who've written Bonnie Tyler off as something of a … Continue reading Bonnie Tyler skips the heartache and goes straight for the glory with “Total Eclipse of the Heart”

That time I asked Mark Kelly if it bothered him when people compared Marillion to Genesis

Marillion's Fish and Genesis' Tony Banks get it By Steve Newton As a prog-rock fan who was crazy about bands like Yes and Genesis in the seventies, it made sense that I liked Marillion in the '80s. I interviewed Marillion keyboardist Mark Kelly back in March of 1986, when the band was touring behind its … Continue reading That time I asked Mark Kelly if it bothered him when people compared Marillion to Genesis

That time Robin Gibb told me that the Bee Gees had never been a disco group

By Steve Newton Back in the '70s when rock music was having a huge impact on me I was rabidly anti-disco. I didn't go so far as to wear a "Disco Sucks" t-shirt like one of my high school buddies, but I was with him in spirit. But in 1977, when the blockbuster Saturday Night … Continue reading That time Robin Gibb told me that the Bee Gees had never been a disco group

That time the Bee Gees’ Robin Gibb told me that he thought the Saturday Night Fever movie was “awful”

By Steve Newton I was never a huge fan of the Bee Gees. But that didn't stop me from interviewing one of its members, Robin Gibb, back in August of 1984. At the time he was promoting a solo album called Secret Agent, which featured nine songs cowritten with his twin brother Maurice Gibb. Their … Continue reading That time the Bee Gees’ Robin Gibb told me that he thought the Saturday Night Fever movie was “awful”

That time Mark Hollis of Talk Talk told me all about the video-within-a-video called It’s My Life

By Steve Newton You may have heard the sad news making the rounds in the music press today regarding Mark Hollis. The singer-songwriter of Talk Talk, one of the most adventurous and under-rated of '80s pop acts, has died at the age of 64. Now, those who've read my stuff over the last 37 years … Continue reading That time Mark Hollis of Talk Talk told me all about the video-within-a-video called It’s My Life

Nick Feldman on how Wang Chung gave William Friedkin’s To Live and Die in L.A. a deeper dimension

"[William Friedkin] approached us and said 'Just read the script, go into the studio for a week, and be brilliant. Be spontaneous.'"

The one-hit wonders behind “I Wanna Be a Cowboy” got Lemmy in their video for a bottle of vodka

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, JULY 11, 1986 By Steve Newton When Britain's Boys Don't Cry open for Platinum Blonde at Expo Theatre this Monday and Tuesday (July 14 and 15), it's a sure thing that their current hit "I Wanna Be a Cowboy" will be a highlight of the set. A funky rocker … Continue reading The one-hit wonders behind “I Wanna Be a Cowboy” got Lemmy in their video for a bottle of vodka