ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON SEPT. 24, 1992 By Steve Newton When Def Leppard guitarist/co-founder Steve Clark died of a drug overdose in 1991—six years after drummer Rick Allen lost his left arm in a New Year’s Eve car accident—rumours were rampant as to who would replace him in one of the world’s most successful and least … Continue reading Def Leppard’s Vivian Campbell never wanted to be Joe Guitar Hero
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON OCT. 15, 1993 By Steve Newton The first time I saw Rick Derringer play live was back in ’73 or something, when me and a bunch of high-school pals from Chilliwack loaded into a van and drove to the Pacific Coliseum to see the Edgar Winter Group and opening act UFO. This … Continue reading Rick Derringer is still alive and well in Vancouver in 1993
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON AUG. 8, 1991 By Steve Newton Back in the halcyon days of the early ’70s, there was a choice collection of albums that one gang of air-guitar-playing Chilliwack Junior High rockheads used to foam over. There was Deep Purple’s Machine Head, J. Geils’ Full House, Alice Cooper’s Billion Dollar Babies, Foghat’s Energized, Nazareth’s … Continue reading Dickey Betts figures Duane Allman is playing “Dreams” in heaven with Hendrix and the guys from Skynyrd
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON JULY 6, 1995 By Steve Newton When Matthew Sweet checks in from his L.A. abode for an afternoon chat, I’ve got a fair supply of questions lined up. I want to uncover the acclaimed pop rocker’s thoughts about his place on the Another Roadside Attraction megatour, which comes to UBC’s Thunderbird Stadium … Continue reading Matthew Sweet wishes his records were as loose as Neil Young’s
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON MAY 28, 1992 By Steve Newton You don’t have to be a big fan of Metallica’s furiously thrashy—albeit recently refined—sound to give the band credit for blazing a formidable trail since its inception in ’81. The group has always gone against the grain and done things its own way, riding the precarious … Continue reading Metallica delivers on Lars Ulrich’s promise to “kick f***in’ ass” while touring behind The Black Album
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, MARCH 12, 1992 By Steve Newton It’s strange how rumours get started, sometimes. Like the one that keeps cropping up in Dash Rip Rock’s press kit, about R.E.M. bassist Mike Mills being a mortal enemy of the Louisiana-based roots-rock band. Supposedly, Mills was spotted at a particularly crazed DRR … Continue reading Dash Rip Rock has gotten into a few scrapes playing “Stairway to Freebird”
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON AUG. 6, 1992 By Steve Newton Used to be that whenever you saw Kim Mitchell’s name on an album’s liner notes the name of his lyricist, Pye Dubois, would be right there beside it. But Dubois’ moniker is nowhere to be found on Mitchell’s latest release, Aural Fixations. Seems the long-time songwriting … Continue reading Kim Mitchell hits 40 and just keeps getting wet with life
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON FEB. 25, 1993 By Steve Newton I’d never heard the Wallflowers until about a week ago, when a fellow Straight contributor suggested I might like their rootsy style—the Black Crowes meet The Band. After rounding up a copy of the group’s self-titled 1992 debut, I fell under the spell of 22-year-old singer/songwriter … Continue reading The Wallflowers’ Jakob Dylan says he’s not here to talk about his dad
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, OCT. 4, 1990 By Steve Newton ZZ Top has always been one of the coolest bands in the land. Those wacky beards, those nifty suits, those fuzzy guitars—not to mention those barnstormin’ boogie tunes that make you wanna rock ’n’ roll all night and party every day. But after … Continue reading ZZ Top’s Vancouver fans wimp out while that little ol’ band from Texas delivers
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON AUG. 13, 1992 By Steve Newton Some hard-rock bands like to boast about not using keyboards; they take pride in sticking with the trusty old guitar-bass-drums ideal. Guns N’ Roses might have been such a band in its early days, but when it came time to record its ground-breaking Use Your Illusion … Continue reading Now that he’s in Guns N’ Roses Dizzy Reed can buy drinks for all his freennz
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON JUNE 16, 1989 By Steve Newton By now, most every rock fan in Vancouver must be aware that many of North America’s best-selling bands–Aerosmith, Bon Jovi, and the Cult to name a few–have been making their latest chart-topping records right here in town. Little Mountain Sound on West 7th has been the … Continue reading Ex-Thin Lizzy guitarist John Sykes on Blue Murder, Bob Rock, and the Little Mountain sound
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON NOV. 21, 1991 By Steve Newton Twice during Van Halen’s show at B.C. Place last Wednesday (November 13), shaggy-maned vocalist Sammy Hagar apologized for having throat problems and not being able to sing up to par. The second time, he added, “But the band’s hot, and that’s all that counts.” Yeah, sure, … Continue reading Eddie’s off-the-cuff raunch blasts save Van Halen’s ass while Jimmy Page watches from the wings
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON SEPT. 2, 1993 By Steve Newton The metal world got quite a shock when it was announced last year that original Anthrax vocalist Joey Belladonna was leaving the band after 11 successful years. It got even more of a jolt when former Armored Saint vocalist John Bush jumped in to take Belladonna’s … Continue reading Anthrax singer John Bush looks back on Armored Saint with no regrets
