liam regan photo ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON OCT. 7, 1988 By Steve Newton Things are going well for Vancouver's Barney Bentall these days. The 28-year-old rocker and his band, the Legendary Hearts, have a hit on their hands, a self-titled debut album on Epic Records that has sold 45,000 copies in Canada in three months. The … Continue reading Barney Bentall finds something to live for after years of working the Vancouver club scene
Category: from the ‘hood
Abandoned Youth makes good at Band Warz competition, swears off the top-40 circuit
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON JAN. 3, 1991 By Steve Newton Yours truly doesn’t frequent a lot of top-40 clubs these days, but I did brave the radio-rock recesses of the Rock Cellar last week. Abandoned Youth, the local hard-rock outfit that represented B.C. in the recent Guitar Warz competition, was playing, and I wanted to see … Continue reading Abandoned Youth makes good at Band Warz competition, swears off the top-40 circuit
My niece Kylie Katz just released her first song, and it’s awesome!
By Steve Newton Today my 22-year-old niece Kylie released her first song, "What Could've Been", and I think it's awesome! That blinding light you see flowing out from the wilds of North Delta is me beaming with pride. Stay tuned for updates on the career of this promising singer-songwriter.
10 minutes in a studio with producer Bob Rock in 1991
By Steve Newton I did my first interview with hugely successful hard-rock producer Bob Rock in December of 1991. I went to meet him at Vancouver Studios, where he was working on albums by the London Choirboys and his own band, Rockhead. Four months earlier the massively popular album Rock made with Metallica, The Black … Continue reading 10 minutes in a studio with producer Bob Rock in 1991
Coast to Coast rocks Surrey like a hurricane while paying tribute to guitar great Michael Schenker
By Steve Newton I don't get out to too many tribute concerts. I've been reviewing nothing but the real thing for over 40 years now, so why settle for imitations? But I made the quick trip across the Scott Road border from North Delta to the Surrey Arts Centre last night because I believe Coast … Continue reading Coast to Coast rocks Surrey like a hurricane while paying tribute to guitar great Michael Schenker
Ear of Newt has two free tickets to Coast to Coast’s February 24 gig in Surrey: who wants ’em?
Coast to Coast By Steve Newton If you're a big fan of classic hard-rock bands like UFO, Scorpions, and the Michael Schenker Group, here's a contest for ya. Local tribute band Coast to Coast--known for cranking out fab versions of UFO's "Lights Out", the Scorps' "No One Like You", and MSG's "Armed and Ready"--is playing … Continue reading Ear of Newt has two free tickets to Coast to Coast’s February 24 gig in Surrey: who wants ’em?
Images in Vogue pondered taking their synths to England to make their mark on the new-music scene
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON APRIL 23, 1983 By Steve Newton "I think the reason it's been called new music," says Images in Vogue synthesist Joe Vizvary, "is because there's been so much emphasis on old music, like with the Doors and Led Zeppelin. If people who were programming that on radio and listening to that at … Continue reading Images in Vogue pondered taking their synths to England to make their mark on the new-music scene
Soul vocalist Janelle Reid learned to sing before she could speak
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON JULY 31, 2021 By Steve Newton When Janelle Reid was a baby in Trinidad her parents used to play music on cassette tapes to keep her and her twin sister still. They were super-active kids, but the harmonious voices on the tapes really worked to calm them down. In Janelle's case, the … Continue reading Soul vocalist Janelle Reid learned to sing before she could speak
That time Bob Rock told me that “the dreaded David Foster album” was the nail in the coffin for the Payola$
By Steve Newton Back in 1991 I interviewed famed Vancouver producer Bob Rock, who at the time was flying high, coming off the production work on Metallica's multiplatinum Black Album. At one point in the conversation I mentioned Blue Murder, whose self-titled debut album Rock had produced two years earlier, but which was not a … Continue reading That time Bob Rock told me that “the dreaded David Foster album” was the nail in the coffin for the Payola$
Nature and the afterlife inspire Desirée Dawson’s soulful sounds
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON APRIL 13, 2022 By Steve Newton The first CD that Desirée Dawson ever got as a gift was an album by the similarly named British crooner Des'ree. As a youngster growing up in White Rock, she also listened to a lot of R&B-inflected pop by the likes of Destiny's Child, Tracy Chapman, and Diana … Continue reading Nature and the afterlife inspire Desirée Dawson’s soulful sounds
From the ‘hood: 10 of my fave albums by 10 of my fave Vancouver bands
By Steve Newton When you've covered the Vancouver music scene for as long as I have, you realize there's a lot more to it than Loverboy and Bryan freakin' Adams. Art Bergmann Sexual Roulette (1990) The hero of Vancouver’s alternative music scene really hit his stride on his second full-length album, telling insightful and thoroughly … Continue reading From the ‘hood: 10 of my fave albums by 10 of my fave Vancouver bands
That time back in ’91 when producer Bob Rock told me that he, Bruce Fairbairn, and Mike Fraser all had different things to offer
By Steve Newton I did my first interview with hugely successful hard-rock producer Bob Rock in December of 1991 at Vancouver Studios, where he was working on albums by the London Choirboys and his own band, Rockhead. Four months earlier the massively popular album Rock made with Metallica, The Black Album, had been released, and … Continue reading That time back in ’91 when producer Bob Rock told me that he, Bruce Fairbairn, and Mike Fraser all had different things to offer
Vancouver jazz vocalist Laura Crema discovered her love of singing somewhere over the rainbow
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON JUNE 20, 2021 By Steve Newton When Laura Crema was five years old, growing up in North Burnaby, she started taking tap-dancing lessons. As well as being a good workout for her nimble limbs, the music she'd dance to introduced her to some of the world's great jazz and pop singers. But it wasn't … Continue reading Vancouver jazz vocalist Laura Crema discovered her love of singing somewhere over the rainbow