By Steve Newton I did my first interview with Rush singer-bassist Geddy Lee back in April of 1997, when the trio was touring behind its Test for Echo album. At one point I brought up the topic of the almost two-year break the band members had taken from each other in 1994, following the release … Continue reading That time I asked Geddy Lee if Rush had considered breaking up in 1994
By Steve Newton Back in June of 1994 Collective Soul frontman Ed Roland called me up from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. At the time his band was touring behind its debut album, Hints Allegations, and Things Left Unsaid, which opened with the riff-driven, five-minute guitar opus “Shine”. That song would claim the top spot on the … Continue reading That time I asked Ed Roland if he was shocked by the massive popularity of Collective Soul’s current hit, “Shine”
By Steve Newton There were a ton of amazing albums released in 1974, and you can trust me on that, ’cause I was standing right there, wide-eyed, watching it happen. That was the year I turned 17, and as a music obsessed kid my world revolved around the latest rock releases to fill the stacks … Continue reading Robin Trower to release 50th anniversary edition of Bridge of Sighs, the best rock album of 1974
By Steve Newton I interviewed Rickey Medlocke in 1997, the year after he’d joined Gary Rossington and Hughie Thomasson in Lynyrd Skynyrd’s three-guitar lineup. While Rossington was a founding Skynyrd guitarist, and Medlocke had played drums for them in their early days, Medlocke and Thomasson had made their names in two of my other fave … Continue reading That time I asked Rickey Medlocke if he and Hughie Thomasson might get to sneak a Blackfoot or Outlaws tune into Skynyrd’s set
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON AUG. 6, 1993 By Steve Newton Last Saturday night (July 31) wasn’t Vancouver’s warmest evening on record, but the heat inside the Lunatic Fringe sure made you wonder. The club’s air-conditioning had broken down two nights before, so management lugged out a couple of huge fans to keep the temperature down, but … Continue reading Annihilator tones down the thrash on new CD but still cranks up the heat on stage
By Steve Newton Way back in January of 1984 I did my first interview with heavy-metal master Tony Iommi, famous for creating the most powerful hard-rock riffs known to man. At the time Iommi was touring behind Black Sabbath’s much-maligned Born Again, which is quite possibly the raunchiest Sabbath album ever recorded. At one point … Continue reading That time heavy-metal god Tony Iommi told me that he wasn’t into new-wave, but he liked the music from Flashdance
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON NOV. 18, 1983 By Steve Newton Spandau Ballet are an immensely popular British band whose third album True is currently at the number 8 position on the local Top 50 chart. Last week, before their Tuesday performance at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre, I called drummer John Keeble in London and asked him … Continue reading Spandau Ballet shun rock ‘n’ roll, embrace soul to strike gold with new album True
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, MARCH 19, 1991 By Steve Newton People initially pick up musical instruments for all kinds of reasons. For singer/accordionist Wayne Toups, it was jealousy of an older brother’s musical abilities that caused him to pick up the multi-buttoned squeeze-box in the first place. But he laughs about that inspiration … Continue reading Wayne Toups says Zydecajun’s foot-stompin’ music is universal
doug kretchmer photo ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON APRIL 2, 1998 By Steve Newton Life’s full of memorable little firsts, and sometimes they even come in pairs. I can still recall one such double-whammy from my mid-70s high school days. A few pals had convened in a schoolmate’s basement one night, and before you could say “Let’s … Continue reading Roger Hodgson recalls his split from Supertramp after the “miserable” Famous Last Words
By Steve Newton Back in 1994 I did my first interview with David Lee Roth while he was promoting his Nile Rodgers-produced Your Filthy Little Mouth album. At one point in the conversation Roth started discussing how the changing times over the past decade–since his last album with Van Halen, 1984–had affected his life and, … Continue reading Ten years after Van Halen’s 1984, David Lee Roth ponders how condom use changes lyrical content
By Steve Newton Back in May of 1989 I interviewed British guitar great John Sykes, who was promoting the debut album by his power trio Blue Murder. Six years earlier Sykes had played on Thunder and Lightning, the final studio album by Thin Lizzy. So at one point in the conversation I asked him rather … Continue reading That time I asked John Sykes if he thought Thunder and Lightning ranked among the best of the Thin Lizzy albums
By Steve Newton Metallica, arguably the world’s greatest-ever heavy-metal band, has announced that it will release its next album on my birthday. The Bay Area headbangers will unleash their 12th studio album, 72 Seasons, on April 14, 2023. “72 seasons,” says Metallica singer-guitarist James Hetfield in a press release. “The first 18 years of our … Continue reading Metallica announces new album to be released on my birthday, but won’t play Vancouver on world tour
By Steve Newton Tom Cochrane turned 70 the other day–on May 14, 2023–so to celebrate I digitized my third interview with him, from October 17, 1991. That was less than a month after he released the single “Life Is a Highway”, which became a massive hit. But as I pointed out to Tom about a … Continue reading That time I told Tom Cochrane that I didn’t think his new “Life is a Highway” song sounded like him
