By Steve Newton Bob Rock is the famed producer best known for helming several Metallica albums, including their hugely popular Black Album of 1991. I’ve interviewed Rock a few times, both for his role as a producer and as a rockin’ guitarist in bands like the Payola$, Rock and Hyde, and Rockhead. Back in February of … Continue reading That time Bob Rock told me that Metallica never have and never will sell out
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, DEC. 8, 1994 By Steve Newton When the time comes to interview Bob Rock about the recent resurrection of the Payola$, the prospect is particularly appealing. Rumour has it that the big-time Vancouver producer (the Cult, Bon Jovi, Mötley Crüe) is to work with Metallica again soon, and I’m … Continue reading Bob Rock resurrects the Payola$ with Paul Hyde and sets up a helluva three-night benefit for B.C.’s Children’s Hospital
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, MAY 27, 1994 By Steve Newton From his early-’70s glory-and-glitter days as the muscular, platinum-haired axeman in David Bowie‘s Spiders from Mars to his workmanlike late-’80s club gigs with Ian Hunter, Mick Ronson always proved himself a rock guitarist of the highest order. When Ronson succumbed to cancer on … Continue reading Album review: Mick Ronson, Heaven and Hull (1994)
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON JUNE 30, 1989 By Steve Newton Diehard Led Zeppelin fans were either impressed or outraged when Kingdom Come’s debut album came out two years ago. The LP–made here in Vancouver at Little Mountain Sound and produced by Bob Rock–sounded an awful lot like a tribute to (or cloning of) Messrs. Page and … Continue reading Kingdom Come hopes to avoid Zeppelin comparisons with new In Your Face LP
By Steve Newton Being a rock journalist in Vancouver during the ’80s and ’90s meant that I was close to where a lot of the top-selling albums of the time were made. That was mainly down at Little Mountain Sound, where local producers, engineers, and mixers–guys like Bruce Fairbairn, Bob Rock, and Mike Fraser–were tweaking … Continue reading That time Bob Rock told me that he just wakes up in the morning and music is what he does
By Steve Newton Bon Jovi may have been hugely popular back in the day, but I actually enjoyed guitarist Richie Sambora’s solo debut album, Stranger in This Town, more than any Bon Jovi band release. I even preferred Sambora’s lead vocals over Jon Bon Jovi’s, especially on solo tunes like “Ballad of Youth”. So it … Continue reading That time Richie Sambora told me why Bon Jovi switched producers from Bruce Fairbairn to Bob Rock
By Steve Newton Back in January of 1992 I interviewed the Cult vocalist Ian Astbury while his band was touring behind its fifth studio album, Ceremony. That LP–and the one before it, the Bob Rock-produced Sonic Temple–had featured American session drummer Mickey Curry, who is best known for his work recording and touring with Bryan … Continue reading That time the Cult’s Ian Astbury told me that he thought session drummer Mickey Curry was “totally wasted” with Bryan Adams
By Steve Newton I’ve long held the opinion that AC/DC’s Powerage is their best album. Keith Richards agrees, and he knows a thing or two about rockin’. And more importantly, Malcolm Young himself has named Powerage as Number One. When I met Young backstage after an AC/DC show in Vancouver back in 2001 I mentioned that … Continue reading Eddie Van Halen’s favourite AC/DC album was Powerage
By Steve Newton Back in December of 1989 I did my second interview with Mick Ronson, one of the greatest rock guitarists ever. At the time he was touring with Ian Hunter in support of their amazing YUI Orta album, released two months before. At one point in the conversation I asked Ronson how it … Continue reading That time Mick Ronson told me that Steve Jones got pulled from the Hunter-Ronson tour because his album fell off the charts
By Steve Newton Back in April of 1997 I did my first interview with Rush bassist-vocalist Geddy Lee. At the time the group was touring behind its Test for Echo album, and that tour marked the first time Rush had taken the “An Evening With” approach, where there is no opening act and it’s just … Continue reading That time Geddy Lee told me that Rush had 4,000 albums
By Steve Newton I wasn’t a huge fan of new-wave music in the mid-’80s–I was too busy banging my head to Maiden and Priest and Scorps and such–but for some reason in November of 1985 I sat down with Martha Davis for an interview that was never actually published. She was promoting the Motels’ fifth … Continue reading That time Martha Davis told me that the Motels lost 60 grand a week on their last tour
By Steve Newton Way back in November of 1985 I interviewed Helix frontman Brian Vollmer. This was right after the band had released its fifth album, Long Way to Heaven, and were quite popular on the Canadian heavy-metal scene. Anybody remember 1983’s “Heavy Metal Love”? At one point in the conversation I asked Vollmer if … Continue reading That time back in ’85 when I asked Brian Vollmer if Helix were hometown heroes in Kitchener
bev davies photo By Steve Newton I did my first interview with Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford back in May of 1984, when Judas Priest was touring behind its Defenders of the Faith album. At one point in the conversation I mentioned how one of Priest’s songs from two years earlier, “You’ve Got Another Thing … Continue reading That time back in ’84 when Judas Priest’s Rob Halford told me that metal was a young musical force
