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Bob Seger- Live Bullet

"It took me twelve years to make that album Live Bullet ," Bob Seger  solemnly emphasizes to me in this classic rock interview from Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band in April 1976. This  may be the only six million-seller in history which failed to make the Top Thirty in sales when initially released.
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Rush- 2112: Early Best 45th Anniversary- Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson

"2112"  by Rush was an amalgam of hard rock, progressive rock, science-fiction and Ayn Rand socio-economics right about the same time that The Ramones, The Dead Boys, and Ian Dury and the Blockheads were singing "Sex and Drugs and Rock'n'Roll". So things were about to get interesting in 1976. Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson of Rush join me here In the Studio
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Led Zeppelin- Presence- Jimmy Page

Thus began a five year period when a series of tragedies befell Led Zeppelin even while they continued to record timeless hard rock such as "Achilles' Last Stand","Nobody's Fault but Mine", and "For Your Life" from Presence  which amaze even now almost half a century later. Jimmy Page blesses us with his Presence  and joins me here In the Studio  for “Physical Graffiti” and "Presence" .
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Van Halen- 5150- Sammy Hagar, Alex Van Halen, Michael Anthony, the late Eddie Van Halen

For the 35th anniversary, the late Eddie Van Halen's interview In the Studio is included with Sammy Hagar, brother Alex Van Halen, & Michael Anthony for the story of "5150".
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Doobie Brothers- Takin’ It to the Streets- Tom Johnston, Pat Simmons, Michael McDonald

The fact that the Doobie Brothers reinvented themselves for their March 1976 album "Takin' It to the Streets"  is quite widely known, but the reasons for the musical shift, and the manner in which they made it work so successfully, is a fascinating back-story worthy of an HBO mini-series.. On the album's 45th anniversary, Tom Johnston, Pat Simmons, & Michael McDonald are all here In the Studio to recall how it really went down.
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Jethro Tull- Aqualung- Ian Anderson

Few albums from any time in the Rock Era continue  to satisfy quite so well as Jethro Tull's masterpiece "Aqualung". Ian Anderson smartly wrote songs for all seasons for a superb band, including the timeless rockers "Aqualung","Cross-Eyed Mary","Locomotive Breath," and "Hymn #43", but perfectly paced the album with tasty acoustic classics like "Wond'ring Aloud"and "Mother Goose". On "Aqualung" 's golden anniversary, Ian Anderson is my guest In the Studio.
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R.E.M.- Out of Time- Michael Stipe, Peter Buck, Mike Mills

It is clear on the thirtieth anniversary of R.E.M.'s "Out of Time" album that the song from it, "Losing My Religion", has weathered the time in between exceedingly well. "Pop culture, particularly in the US, everything comes and goes in cycles, as things do," points out R.E.M. singer/ lyricist Michael Stipe, "which we all realize as we all grow older and wiser, whether it's politics or music or pop culture...I always wanted to have a song that would be considered 'the song of the Summer'. As it was, that song kind of became the song of the year," he chuckled. Ten million copies sold and three Grammy Awards later, nobody could argue the case.
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Phil Collins- Face Value

Of his cinderella  first solo album "Face Value" forty years ago, Phil Collins recalls the real-life betrayal and heartbreak which inspired "In the Air Tonight", "I Missed Again"; and why he did not include another original, "How Can You Sit There?", on Face Value nor it's follow up, Hello I Must Be Going, but opted instead to give it to the soundtrack of the 1984 movie Against All Odds, going on to become Phil Collins' first #1 hit.
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Rush- Moving Pictures- Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, the late Neil Peart

"Music was changing," Rush lead singer/composer Geddy Lee tells us in this In the Studio  episode, and without Lee, guitarist/composer Alex Lifeson, and drummer/lyricist the late Neil Peart embracing the fresh musical ideas in the crosswinds of the early Eighties on "Moving Pictures" with songs "Tom Sawyer","Red Barchetta","Limelight", "Vital Signs", and "Witch Hunt", it is doubtful that a path to mainstream success would have been cleared for later major bands...
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Heart- Dreamboat Annie- Ann Wilson, Nancy Wilson

"In the Studio" with Ann & Nancy Wilson of Heart for the real rock fairy tale of "Dreamboat Annie".