ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, DEC. 13, 2012 By Steve Newton Sorry, I’m just not into the Gangnam style. Neil Young and Crazy Horse Psychedelic Pill The Can-Am rock legend gets back together with his favourite combo for a platter that, while not in the league of Crazy Horse offerings like Zuma and Ragged Glory, still delivers … Continue reading Newt’s Top 10 albums of 2012
By Steve Newton In a fucked-up music world where turntables pass for musical instruments, thuggish recording “artists” are judged by how many bullets they’ve taken, and the week’s top seller is directly related to whichever surgically altered and heavily made-up tart has the skankiest video, it’s no wonder I’m such a cranky bugger when the … Continue reading Newt’s top 10 albums of 2003
By Steve Newton Ha! Here’s a good one. It’s from an old interview I did with Vince Neil back in October of 1991 when Mötley Crüe was promoting its Decade of Decadence greatest hits album. This was around the time Neil was making headlines in the music press for his feud with Axl Rose of … Continue reading That time Mötley Crüe’s Vince Neil cursed me out and called Axl Rose a pussy, a wimp, and a poser
By Steve Newton In a few hours I’m heading out to see Louisiana slide-guitar ace Sonny Landreth play a gig in Vancouver. If you’re a fan of Sonny, you may know that his latest album, Bound By the Blues, features a tribute to one of his musical heroes, Johnny Winter, called “Firebird Blues”. You may also … Continue reading Sonny Landreth says he’s sure Johnny Winter will make it into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame one day
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON NOV. 29, 1985 By Steve Newton One of the wildest rock and roll sounds to come up from Down Under recently is that of the Hoodoo Gurus. Just last year the Aussie foursome released their debut album, Stoneage Romeos, a thoroughly rocking blend of pop/punk, Merseybeat, and psychedelia–all slapped on a two-guitar … Continue reading The Hoodoo Gurus’ Dave Faulkner on junk culture, Aussie rockers, and Mars Needs Guitars!
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON MARCH 15, 1985 By Steve Newton Metallica are the type of band that puts the “heavy” in heavy metal. Actually, drummer Lars Ulrich–who called me from L.A. last week–prefers to call his band’s music “speed metal” or “thrash metal”. Their sound crew are known as “The Sonic Decapitation Team”, and local metal … Continue reading My first Metallica interview, back when they were too heavy for me
mila geran photo ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON NOV. 22, 1985 By Steve Newton “Excuse me women…I mean ladies,” said Nikki Sixx as he pushed through the hordes of groupies backstage at the Coliseum last week (November 12). The Mötley Crüe bassist wasn’t zeroing in on anyone in particular–his aim was the group’s massive portable tape deck. … Continue reading Mötley Crüe plays Vancouver on the Theatre of Pain tour, Nikki Sixx cranks AC/DC backstage
By Steve Newton Fans of Jaco Pastorius, the wickedest bass player of all time, are in for some real treats next month. Legacy Recordings, the catalog division of Sony Music Entertainment, announced today that it will release a collection of music titled JACO: Original Soundtrack on November 27, aka Record Store Day Black Friday 2015. Produced by … Continue reading Jaco Pastorius, the wickedest bass player of all time, is everywhere next month
By Steve Newton Okay, by now we should all be over the disappointment (yeah, right) of the Seahawks handing the Super Bowl over to the “Boston” Patriots at the last minute and proving once and for all that Nirvana is not in the same league as Aerosmith. Now it’s time to ponder which musical act would … Continue reading Metallica must kick ass at Super Bowl 50
By Steve Newton I’ve heard a lotta amazing guitar solos in my life, but today I decided to just go ahead and pick the greatest one of all time. I’m goin’ with Mick Ronson‘s 30-second blast on Ian Hunter’s classic boogie number “Once Bitten Twice Shy”. It’s not because that’s the best rock song of 1975–the year I graduated … Continue reading The greatest guitar solo of all time: Mick Ronson on Ian Hunter’s “Once Bitten Twice Shy”
By Steve Newton Here’s a photo that was taken backstage at the 86 Street Music Hall in Vancouver on July 22, 1992. It was after a show by the Arc Angels, a bluesy band from Austin that featured guitarist-vocalists Charlie Sexton and Doyle Bramhall II along with Stevie Ray Vaughan‘s old rhythm section, bassist Tommy … Continue reading Backstage at an Arc Angels show with Charlie Sexton, David Gogo, and the blind date I never saw again
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON DEC. 6, 1985 By Steve Newton Charlie Daniels once wrote a tune called “Long Haired Country Boy” in which he sang: “If you don’t like the way I’m livin’, you just leave this long haired country boy alone.” That line pretty well sums up the attitude of Maritime rocker Matt Minglewood–over the … Continue reading Matt Minglewood on baring his soul to MacLean and MacLean and going country on Me and the Boys
kirk west photo ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON SEPT. 27, 1985 By Steve Newton Musician Magazine calls him “the most powerful blues guitarist in the world.” He has won awards from the Montreaux Jazz Festival, the French Academie du Jazz, and the Memphis Blues Foundation, and received three Grammy nominations. He is known as “The Icepicker”, “The … Continue reading My one and only interview with blues legend Albert Collins, who wanted to meet Clapton real bad
