By Steve Newton The words “rock god” get thrown around a lot, but when they land on somebody like Joan Jett, they fit pretty well. If you’re gonna worship anybody in rock ‘n’ roll, it might as well be someone like her, someone who’s been at it forever, who’s never sold out, and who always … Continue reading That time Joan Jett told me about the sect in San Francisco that worships her as a god
By Steve Newton If you’d told me when the first Kiss album came out in ’74 that one day I’d be interviewing the guy playing all those wicked Les Paul licks on “Deuce” and “Strutter” my teenaged self mighta hollered “Hell yeah!” And 34 years later there I was, talkin’ on the phone with Ace … Continue reading That time I thanked Ace Frehley for all those awesome Kiss guitar licks that got me riled up as a teen
By Steve Newton When you’ve been interviewing musicians for as long as I have you tend to develop some trusty old standby questions that you can ask pretty well anybody in a pinch. One of those for me has always been “So, who have you been listening to in your spare time?” I like to … Continue reading That time I asked J.J. Cale who he’d been listening to in his spare time and he wasn’t exactly sure
By Steve Newton Way the funk back in November of 1988 I interviewed Living Colour guitarist and main songwriter Vernon Reid, who was quite the shredder back then. At the time his band was touring behind its hit debut album, Vivid, which went double platinum and featured the Grammy-winning single “Cult of Personality”. I liked … Continue reading That time I called Vernon Reid up in Germany and told him that I liked Living Colour’s new album Vivid
By Steve Newton As a hardcore fan of electric guitar music, I’ve managed to interview some of the top practitioners of the trade, Eric Johnson being one of them. When I chatted with the Texas Strat-master in January of 2001 he’d been chosen Guitar Player magazine’s Best Overall Guitarist four years running. So I asked him … Continue reading That time I asked Eric Johnson what he thought it was that made guitar aficionados so crazy about him
By Steve Newton I was still a guitar-rock-crazed teenager when the debut Boston album came out in 1976, so it’s not surprising that the first single “More Than a Feeling” blew me right the funk away. Even today the killer guitar sound of Tom Scholz and the incredible vocals of Brad Delp still make me … Continue reading That time I asked Brad Delp what his fave Boston tune was and he didn’t say “More Than a Feeling”
One of the most popular videos of the early ’80s was Idol’s “Dancing With Myself”, directed by legendary horror filmmaker Tobe Hooper.
By Steve Newton On this day in 1986 I saw John Mellencamp, when he was still part Cougar, in concert on the Scarecrow tour. Kenny Aronoff was kicking ass on drums, so that made me think about digitizing that interview I did with the American drum great back in 1999 and posting it on my … Continue reading That time I asked Kenny Aronoff who his favourite drummer was and who he’d most like to drum with
By Steve Newton Just finished watching that ZZ Top documentary on Netflix, That Little Ol’ Band from Texas, and it was pretty cool. I especially liked the way it focused on their formation and early albums, ’cause 1973’s Tres Hombres has always been my fave. At one point in the movie the band rips into … Continue reading That time I asked Billy Gibbons if he’d play “Beer Drinkers and Hell Raisers” for me in Vancouver
By Steve Newton I did my second interview with Jon Bon Jovi in July of 1986, when his band was heading to Vancouver for a date opening for Judas Priest. Little did anybody know that one month later, when Bon Jovi released its made-in-Vancouver album Slippery When Wet, it would rocket to worldwide fame and … Continue reading That time 24-year-old Jon Bon Jovi raved to me about recording in Vancouver just before Slippery When Wet exploded on the charts
By Steve Newton Back in January of 1990 I did the first of my seven interviews with Joe Satriani. At the time he was touring behind his latest album, Flying in a Blue Dream, and the buzz about him was growing fast. People were learning that he’d spent several years as a guitar instructor, teaching … Continue reading That time I asked Joe Satriani who his best guitar student was and he said Steve Vai caught on the quickest
By Steve Newton We’ve all seen violence at rock concerts, but usually it only involves some guy in the crowd who’s had too much to drink and decides to give another guy a punch in the head. Rarely does it involve the actual band members on stage, although there are exceptions. Like that time, as … Continue reading That time I asked Ace Frehley if he ever feared an onstage attack like the one that killed Dimebag
By Steve Newton June 18, 1987 was kind of an interesting day as far as my endless adventures in rock journalism go. That was the day I interviewed Little Steven–who was promoting his highly political Freedom–No Compromise album–just minutes after interviewing Jon Bon Jovi–who was promoting his highly non-political Slippery When Wet album. They’re both … Continue reading That time I said hello to Little Steven from Jon Bon Jovi and then things got political
