ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, JULY 11, 1986 By Steve Newton When New York rockers Bon Jovi flew into Vancouver to record their third album, it didn’t take long for them to become attached to the place. “The first night we got there we were into the Embassy and the Metro,” says singer Jon … Continue reading Jon Bon Jovi in 1986: “As long as there’s a plug, we’ll plug it in.”
By Steve Newton Back in 1985 I interviewed British art-pop legend Kate Bush, who was promoting her new album Hounds of Love, which you may recall spawned the hit single “Running Up That Hill”. At one point in the conversation she told me about working with David Gilmour as a teenager, discovering Pink Floyd, and … Continue reading That time Kate Bush told me about working with David Gilmour and experiencing the “profound” Pink Floyd
By Steve Newton Back in 2016 I interviewed Uli Jon Roth for the first time ever, and made sure to ask him one of the more burning questions guitar-freaks might have for the legendary picker. I knew he’d played with some of the world’s greatest guitarists over the years–heck, at the time he was touring … Continue reading That time Uli Jon Roth told me that he’d most like to jam with David Gilmour, Ritchie Blackmore, and Jeff Beck
By Steve Newton Now here’s a fun little soundbite I digitized off an old cassette I had lying around from 1993. It’s an AudioMagnetics XHE 60, so good on them for making tapes that still work decades later. That particular tape also includes 1993 interviews with Devin Townsend, Steve Hackett of Genesis fame, and Stuart … Continue reading That time Robert Plant told me he was “very very pissed off” that Black Sabbath wasn’t going to reform
By Steve Newton Back in November of 1985 I did a phone interview with Kate Bush, who was promoting her new album The Hounds of Love at the time. Three months earlier she’d released the single “Running Up That Hill”, which I really liked, but I hadn’t yet seen the new video for it. So … Continue reading That time Kate Bush told me about creating the music video for her new single “Running Up That Hill”
By Steve Newton I did my one and only interview with Ronnie James Dio back in December of 1985. The metal legend, 43 at the time, was headed to Vancouver for a show on his Sacred Heart tour, with opening act Yngwie Malmsteen‘s Rising Force. I’d been a fan of his since I first heard Elf … Continue reading That time Ronnie James Dio got me and my nephew Jeff backstage on the Sacred Heart Tour
By Steve Newton Back in the spring of ’85, before the reunited Mark II lineup of Deep Purple played Vancouver on its Perfect Strangers Tour, I interviewed Purple bassist Roger Glover. At one point in the conversation I asked him why it took so long for the Mark II lineup to reunite, which led to … Continue reading That time Roger Glover told me that Deep Purple’s Mark II lineup was offered $2 million to reunite for one show
By Steve Newton Back in January of 1984 I called Tony Iommi up for a chat at his home in Birmingham, England. I was pretty psyched, since Sabbath albums like Paranoid, Volume 4, and Sabbath, Bloody Sabbath had meant a lot to me as a metal-loving teenager in the ’70s, growing up in the wilds of … Continue reading That time Tony Iommi told me about the guys from Black Sabbath blowing up singer Ian Gillan’s boat
By Steve Newton Whoa! I woke up to an angry Facebook message from rocker Tony Carey this morning. Turns out the singer, songwriter, and keyboard great was none too impressed with the blog I posted yesterday, which included audio from 1984 of him denouncing his previous band, Rainbow, and in particular guitarist Ritchie Blackmore. “Why … Continue reading Tony Carey not happy that I blogged about his ancient issues with Rainbow
By Steve Newton Back in May of 1984 I did a phone interview with Tony Carey, who at the time was basking in the success of a solo career that had produced such radio-friendly hits as “A Fine, Fine Day” and “The First Day of Summer”. He’d first caught my ear as the keyboardist for … Continue reading Tony Carey found no beauty in Rainbow: “I wouldn’t tell Ritchie Blackmore if his hair was on fire”
By Steve Newton Back in 2016 I had a nice chat with German guitar maestro Uli Jon Roth. As we were talking about Uli Jon Roth’s Ultimate Guitar Experience–the tour he was on with Jennifer Batten and Andy Timmons–I mentioned a previous guitar tour he was part of, the G3 European Tour of 1998. That … Continue reading Uli Jon Roth recalls the friction between Joe Satriani and Michael Schenker on the 1998 G3 European tour
By Steve Newton On May 20 and 21, 1985, the charity project spearheaded by Ronnie James Dio, Hear ‘n Aid, recorded its video/single “Stars” at A&M Studios in L.A. “Stars” was a one-time collaboration featuring an array of the biggest hard rock/heavy metal artists of the ’80s. Contributing lead vocals on the track were Dio, … Continue reading That time Ronnie James Dio told me a fib about Priest and Maiden contributing songs to Hear ‘n Aid
By Steve Newton Back in June of 1983 I did a phone interview with Bruce Dickinson in advance of Iron Maiden’s show in Vancouver on the Piece of Mind tour. During the course of our conversation Dickinson claimed that it would be “unthinkable” for Iron Maiden to make an album without producer Martin Birch, who … Continue reading Bruce Dickinson in ’83: “It would be unthinkable to make an Iron Maiden album without Martin Birch”
