ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON APRIL 15, 1983 By Steve Newton Red Rider plays the Commodore Ballroom Tuesday, April 19. I spoke to the group’s lead vocalist and songwriter Tom Cochrane over the phone from Toronto last Monday. I understand your group had a bus accident in the Rocky Mountains not long ago. Well we lost … Continue reading Red Rider releases Neruda, Tom Cochrane rails against “trendy bullshit”
photos by Jet Sutherland By Steve Newton Bob Seger’s choice of walk-on music for his current tour is “The Old Man Down the Road”, which could be Seger’s way of acknowledging that he’ll turn 70 in two months. Or it could be that he just loves John Fogerty’s swamp-rock classic from ’84. Either way, it was … Continue reading Bob Seger’s killer band helps the rock legend shine in Vancouver
By Steve Newton Motley Crue bassist Nikki Sixx declared on his Facebook page yesterday that he’d “probably” turn down induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Fvckin-AAA! That just leaves more room for more deserving types like Rory Gallagher, Johnny Winter, and Link Wray. Here’s Sixx’s post, complete with grammatical errors: The only … Continue reading Nikki Sixx says he’d turn down Rock Hall: awesome, more room for Rory
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, MAY 30, 2002 By Steve Newton I know a couple from Richmond who were such huge Stevie Ray Vaughan fanatics that they named their first-born child Vaughan. That’s pretty cool, but I’d like to go one better, and have my own son actually become a blues-rock guitar wizard! … Continue reading Michael Burks always played a Gibson, but he keeps a coupla Strats handy too
By Steve Newton On April 6, 1985, A.D.–Deep Purple played Vancouver’s Pacific Coliseum on its Perfect Strangers tour. Obviously I went, because the year before Ritchie Blackmore and Roger Glover had reunited with Ian Gillan, Jon Lord, and Ian Paice to get the Mark II lineup back in action. “Highway Star”, motherfvckers! Anyway, in advance … Continue reading Deep Purple bassist Roger Glover on the Mark II reunion and the “uncompromising” Ritchie Blackmore
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, JULY 4, 2002 By Steve Newton Deborah Coleman is a captivating soloist in her own right, but on her latest CD, Livin’ on Love, she did fans of impassioned blues guitar a big favour by letting her buddy Jimmy Thackery get his licks in as well. Actually, she might … Continue reading Deborah Coleman switched from bass to guitar after hearing Jimi Hendrix
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON AUG. 16, 1985 By Steve Newton It’s been ten years since Heart recorded their debut album Dreamboat Annie at Vancouver’s Mushroom Studios. At a time when Saturday Night Fever was running rampant that LP–with songs like “Magic Man” and “Crazy On You”–struck an important blow for guitar-driven rock and roll. With raven-haired … Continue reading Ann Wilson on making the Heart album: “Lookout! Three gals and a bottle of Dubonnet!”
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON SEPT. 25, 2003 By Steve Newton There’s a real buzz happening right now about Kings of Leon, a scruffy Tennessee quartet consisting of three brothers and a cousin who are winning praise for their garage-y brand of Southern-flavoured guitar rock. England’s prestigious NME put the band on the cover of its July … Continue reading Interviewing Nathan Followill of Kings of Leon just before they took the throne
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON APRIL 6, 1990 By Steve Newton Legend has it that B-movie mogul Samuel Z. Arkoff took an ass-backwards (but ultimately effective) approach to producing his low-budget films. First off he’d come up with a catchy title; then he’d build an advertising campaign around that title; and only then would he start shooting … Continue reading The Cramps’ Poison Ivy says that what passes for rock ‘n’ roll isn’t
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON AUG. 21, 2003 By Steve Newton If you liked catchy, hook-infested pop-rock back in 1979, there’s a good chance you tapped a toe or two to Joe Jackson’s debut album, Look Sharp!. From the cynical hit single “Is She Really Going Out With Him?” to the postpunk rave-up “Got the Time”, the … Continue reading Joe Jackson thinks about 10 percent of music is really good stuff
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, SEPT. 4, 2003 By Steve Newton Toronto-based music writer Martin Popoff is Canada’s top expert on heavy metal. Senior editor of metal mag Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles and author of The Collector’s Guide to Heavy Metal, the Trail, B.C.–raised Popoff certainly knows his stuff when it comes to … Continue reading Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid” chosen as the top heavy-metal song of all time
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON SEPT. 18, 2003 By Steve Newton A lot of bands that were big in the ’80s are now having trouble getting booked into bowling alleys, but Def Leppard’s not one of them. The British melodic-rock quintet—which hit its commercial peak in 1987 with Hysteria, which has sold 16 million units worldwide—is still … Continue reading “Our hair was no bigger than Zeppelin or Sabbath,” declares Def Leppard singer Joe Elliott
charles campbell photo ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON SEPT. 25, 1987 By Steve Newton Texas is famous for a few things. Lonestar beer. Redneck sheriffs. The Dallas Cowboys. It’s also famous for an albino guitarist named Johnny Winter, who grew up in Beaumont, Texas, with a keyboard whiz brother named Edgar. When Johnny was just 15, the two … Continue reading Johnny Winter’s lightning-fast licks prove that he’s still alive and well in Vancouver
