God bless Scott Gorham’s 60-second guitar solo on Thin Lizzy’s “Romeo and the Lonely Girl”

By Steve Newton I freakin’ love guitar solos, where some talented artist carefully chooses the perfect notes and uses vibrato and tremolo and all that other technical shit to come up with something that’ll stick with me for decades and be there whenever I want to retrieve it, replay it in my head, and holler: … Continue reading God bless Scott Gorham’s 60-second guitar solo on Thin Lizzy’s “Romeo and the Lonely Girl”

That time I asked Country Dick Montana what he liked best about playing live with the Beat Farmers

kevin statham photo By Steve Newton Here’s another audio excerpt from my 1990 interview with the legendary Country Dick Montana, because it’s Sunday afternoon and posting this seems like way more fun than the other crap I should be doing instead. Please note: you can hear the entire interview–all 20 minutes of Dick being Dick–by … Continue reading That time I asked Country Dick Montana what he liked best about playing live with the Beat Farmers

That time I asked Poison Ivy what inspired the Cramps’ “Bikini Girls with Machine Guns”

By Steve Newton Back in April of 1990 I did my first interview with Cramps guitarist Poison Ivy Rorschach, in advance of a show at the Commodore Ballroom in Vancouver. At the time the band was touring behind its new Stay Sick album, which she produced herself, and which included the song “Bikini Girls with Machine Guns”, … Continue reading That time I asked Poison Ivy what inspired the Cramps’ “Bikini Girls with Machine Guns”

That time Joan Jett told me she couldn’t picture herself slinging a guitar at 60

By Steve Newton Back in January of 1992 I interviewed Joan Jett, who was heading to Vancouver on a tour promoting her eighth album with the Blackhearts, Notorious. You may recall how that disc opened with a pretty cool tune she cowrote with the Replacements’ Paul Westerberg called “Backlash”. At one point in the conversation … Continue reading That time Joan Jett told me she couldn’t picture herself slinging a guitar at 60

That time I asked Mick Mars if Mötley Crüe were softening on Theatre of Pain, then told him that I liked their debut album best

By Steve Newton Way the hell back in November of 1985 I interviewed Mick Mars at his Vancouver hotel before a show on Mötley Crüe‘s Theatre of Pain tour. I was quite the little metalhead back then, and I liked my tunes with a bit of bite, so at one point in the conversation I … Continue reading That time I asked Mick Mars if Mötley Crüe were softening on Theatre of Pain, then told him that I liked their debut album best

That time I asked Billy Gibbons what the glue was that kept ZZ Top together for so long

By Steve Newton Being a teenaged devotee of guitar-driven boogie in the seventies put me directly in line with what was required to be a hardcore ZZ Top fan. I have vivid memories of the band, like that time I walked into the Chilliwack Second Hand Store and found a near-mint copy of the Tres … Continue reading That time I asked Billy Gibbons what the glue was that kept ZZ Top together for so long

That time Tommy Aldridge told me that he “wasn’t a fan” of Brian Downey’s drum parts with Thin Lizzy

By Steve Newton As far as seeing concerts goes, I’ve been very lucky to have been situated in Vancouver since the early ’80s. It’s a major stopping point for bands touring North America–just a quick scoot across the border from Seattle–and being a music writer meant most of the shows were free. Only a few … Continue reading That time Tommy Aldridge told me that he “wasn’t a fan” of Brian Downey’s drum parts with Thin Lizzy

That time Slash told me how Guns N’ Roses chose the cover tunes for “The Spaghetti Incident”

By Steve Newton The first time I interviewed Slash was two months after the release of “The Spaghetti Incident?”, Guns N’ Roses’ collection of punk and hard-rock cover tunes by bands like the New York Dolls, T-Rex, the Runaways, and Nazareth. At one point in the conversation I mentioned that I was happy they’d recorded … Continue reading That time Slash told me how Guns N’ Roses chose the cover tunes for “The Spaghetti Incident”

The 70 greatest opening tracks of the ’70s

By Steve Newton Remember how you’d set the needle down on the opening track of a new rock album and the first tune would just blow you the funk away? Me too. “(Ain’t Nothin’ But a) House Party” (Bloodshot, J. Geils Band, 1973) “All the Way From Memphis” (Mott, Mott the Hoople, 1973) “Already Gone” … Continue reading The 70 greatest opening tracks of the ’70s

That time Mike Fraser told me what it was like recording AC/DC without Malcolm Young

By Steve Newton There were a lot of rumours circulating back in 2018–some started by yours truly–about AC/DC making a new album in Vancouver with Mike Fraser. And those rumours were proven true with the release in November 2020 of Power Up. The band’s previous album, 2014’s Rock or Bust, was the first one not … Continue reading That time Mike Fraser told me what it was like recording AC/DC without Malcolm Young

Album review: Georgia Satellites, In the Land of Salvation and Sin (1989)

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON DEC. 1, 1989 By Steve Newton You’ve gotta like a band like the Georgia Satellites–they know what they do best, and the just keep doin’ it. On their first two albums they made pulverizing boogie-blues their one-and-only forte, and on their excellent third album they’ve not only kept the faith–they’ve become better … Continue reading Album review: Georgia Satellites, In the Land of Salvation and Sin (1989)

That time Lemmy from Motörhead told me that Jimi Hendrix was “the best you’ll ever have”

By Steve Newton I was just listening to an old interview I did with Lemmy Kilmister back in 2002 and came upon a bit where he talks about being a roadie for Jimi Hendrix back in the day. Having never seen Hendrix in concert myself, I had to ask Lemmy if he was really as … Continue reading That time Lemmy from Motörhead told me that Jimi Hendrix was “the best you’ll ever have”

That time Buddy Guy told me about Muddy Waters bringing him sandwiches when he was hungry

By Steve Newton Here’s an interesting tidbit from the first interview I did with Buddy Guy, back in 1991. At one point in the conversation I asked Buddy about this story in his record-company bio about the time he was starving in Chicago and Muddy Waters “force-fed him salami sandwiches”. Have a listen: To hear … Continue reading That time Buddy Guy told me about Muddy Waters bringing him sandwiches when he was hungry