That time Jake E. Lee of Badlands told me that hearing Van Halen got him back into hard rock

By Steve Newton Millions of rock fans around the world were mesmerized by Van Halen‘s sheer rockingness when it blasted onto the music scene in the late seventies. And Jake E. Lee was mightily impressed as well. When I interviewed Lee back in 1992 before a Badlands show in Vancouver we got to talking about … Continue reading That time Jake E. Lee of Badlands told me that hearing Van Halen got him back into hard rock

Joey Belladonna talks rap/metal crossover while Anthrax and Public Enemy bring the noise on tour

By Steve Newton Back in the eighties there was a thing called “The Big Four” which meant the top four American thrash-metal bands, including Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax, and Slayer. I never interviewed anybody in Slayer, but I have interviewed two members of Metallica (James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich), three members of Megadeth (Dave Mustaine, Marty … Continue reading Joey Belladonna talks rap/metal crossover while Anthrax and Public Enemy bring the noise on tour

That time I asked Alex Van Halen when he first knew that Eddie had the makings of a guitar legend

By Steve Newton Everybody remembers the first time they heard Eddie Van Halen. Or they should, anyway. For me it was sometime in early ’78 when the band’s first single, “You Really Got Me”, scorched the airwaves. It was clear right away that the guy creating the six-string racket had the makings of a guitar … Continue reading That time I asked Alex Van Halen when he first knew that Eddie had the makings of a guitar legend

Newt’s top 10 horror flicks streaming on Netflix Canada now

The Cabin in the Woods is #1 By Steve Newton #10. 1408 (2007). Directed by Mikael Håfström. Unforgettable haunted-house flicks are extremely hard to come by; the only two I can think of are 1963’s The Haunting and The Shining. The subgenre of haunted-hotel-room flicks is promising in that the number of hotel patrons passing … Continue reading Newt’s top 10 horror flicks streaming on Netflix Canada now

That time John Sykes told me how he got Tony Franklin and Carmine Appice to commit to Blue Murder

By Steve Newton If you’ve been reading my blogs for any length of time you must know that Thin Lizzy is one of my all-time favourite bands. I just love anything to do with them. John Sykes had something to do with Thin Lizzy–like playing on their final studio album, and their last live one … Continue reading That time John Sykes told me how he got Tony Franklin and Carmine Appice to commit to Blue Murder

That time Stevie Ray Vaughan told me about the labour of love he’d never live to see released

By Steve Newton I did my second interview with Stevie Ray Vaughan six weeks before he died in that goddamned helicopter crash, which was itself less than a month before the release of Family Style, the album he’d always wanted to make with his big brother Jimmie. At one point in the conversation I asked … Continue reading That time Stevie Ray Vaughan told me about the labour of love he’d never live to see released

That time I told Gene Simmons that I saw Kiss in a Vancouver club on the Hotter Than Hell tour

By Steve Newton Some concert experiences are just seared into memory–if you’re lucky–and one of the most unforgettable for me was seeing Kiss at Vancouver’s Commodore Ballroom in January of 1975. They were on the Hotter than Hell tour, and they were still hungry. They hadn’t earned untold riches yet, hadn’t become masters of marketing, … Continue reading That time I told Gene Simmons that I saw Kiss in a Vancouver club on the Hotter Than Hell tour

That time I told Stuart Adamson that “Long Way Home” was my fave tune on the new Big Country album

By Steve Newton Most people probably remember Scottish rock band Big Country for its anthemic single “In a Big Country”, which was a massive radio hit in North America in 1983. But ten years later they released an album called The Buffalo Skinners that included a song called “Long Way Home”, which I liked a … Continue reading That time I told Stuart Adamson that “Long Way Home” was my fave tune on the new Big Country album

That time I asked David Lee Roth if he regretted leaving Van Halen

By Steve Newton I did my first interview with David Lee Roth in June of 1994, when he was promoting his Nile Rodgers-produced album Your Filthy Little Mouth. He called me from L.A., where 10 days earlier O.J. Simpson had gone on his murderous rampage, so we chatted about the media circus surrounding that, among other things. … Continue reading That time I asked David Lee Roth if he regretted leaving Van Halen

In praise of the unreal Allan Holdsworth

By Steve Newton Some time ago I posted my 1986 interview with Allan Holdsworth on the Facebook group The unReal Allan Holdsworth. With over 17,000 members, the page offers “everything pertaining to his music, his history, his friends and the influence he’s had on the music scene and on guitarists.” One of the comments on … Continue reading In praise of the unreal Allan Holdsworth

That time I asked Steve Vai if he was daunted by stepping into Eddie Van Halen’s shoes with David Lee Roth

By Steve Newton I did my first interview with Steve Vai in May of 1990, when he was just 29. He had just released his solo album Passion and Warfare, and was touring with Whitesnake, which was then basking in the glory of its multiplatinum Slip of the Tongue album. Before Whitesnake Vai had played … Continue reading That time I asked Steve Vai if he was daunted by stepping into Eddie Van Halen’s shoes with David Lee Roth

That time I asked Iron Maiden’s Steve Harris if he had to practice a lot to keep his bass licks up

By Steve Newton I’ve been fortunate enough to have interviewed Iron Maiden members six times between 1982 and 2012, but the only time I chatted with bass god Steve Harris was in May of 1988, when the band was touring behind its Seventh Son of a Seventh Son LP. That disc featured the wicked singles “Can … Continue reading That time I asked Iron Maiden’s Steve Harris if he had to practice a lot to keep his bass licks up

That time David Lee Roth blasted the media, ten days after O.J. Simpson’s dirty deed in Brentwood

By Steve Newton Ten days before David Lee Roth called me up from L.A. on June 22, 1994–to promote his latest album Your Dirty Little Mouth–football legend and sometime actor O.J. Simpson had taken a knife and carved himself up a big chunk of infamy. The media circus was in full P.T. Barnum-style swing by … Continue reading That time David Lee Roth blasted the media, ten days after O.J. Simpson’s dirty deed in Brentwood