Posts

,

Aerosmith- Permanent Vacation- Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, Tom Hamilton

Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, and Tom Hamilton join me In the Studio in this classic rock interview for the back story on "Permanent Vacation" & "Magic Touch","Dude Looks Like a Lady","Rag Doll", and the #3 power ballad "Angel" which erased all doubts...to the tune of over 5,000,000 sold beginning in August 1987...

INXS- Early Best- Andrew & Tim Farriss, Kirk Pengilly, the late Michael Hutchence

It was their third album,"Shabooh Shoobah", where INXS finally made the leap to America and the UK late in 1982 with "The One Thing"and "Don't Change". For the story of INXS' formative years, the band's keyboard player/ songwriter Andrew Farriss, guitar-playing brother Tim Farriss, and guitar/sax man Kirk Pengilly, tell of the tough and tender early days forming in the most remote city in the world, Perth Australia; surviving the one-nighters there,  in Sydney and in Melbourne; allying with a talented singer from Hong Kong-via-Hollywood,  the mercurial snake-hipped Michael Hutchence;
,

Def Leppard- Hysteria- Joe Elliott, Ric Savage

Def Leppard lifers Joe Elliott and Ric Savage join Redbeard In the Studio for the mega-hit "Hysteria".
,

Guns’n’Roses- Appetite for Destruction 35th anniversary- Slash

By the time Guns'n'Roses "Appetite for Destruction" passed the 18,000,000 sales point early in the 21st century, several rock magazines and websites had revised their original reviews from the July 1987 release. My guest In the Studio GNR lead guitarist Slash remembers, fondly in most cases, but admits to at least one rookie mistake that left a scar that smarts to this day.
,

Styx- Grand Illusion- Tommy Shaw, James “JY” Young, Dennis DeYoung, Lawrence Gowan

Styx co-founder Dennis DeYoung, lifer James "JY" Young, and then recently recruited Alabama boy Tommy Shaw all join me here with current Styx keyboardist/vocalist Lawrence Gowan In the Studio for the early days of being the perennial opening act, saddled with the curse "big in the Flyover States", all the while writing and recording "Fooling Yourself","Come Sail Away","Miss America", "Man in the Wilderness", and "Grand Illusion".
,

Grateful Dead- In the Dark- Bob Weir, Mickey Hart, Phil Lesh

Grateful Dead's Bob Weir, Mickey Hart, Phil Lesh In the Studio for the 35th anniversary of "In the Dark".

Doobie Brothers- Toulouse Street- Tom Johnston, Pat Simmons, John Hartman

After a totally forgettable first album, the Doobie Brothers' sophomore effort "Toulouse Street" may just be the strongest second act of the Seventies. In the Studio Tom Johnston, Pat Simmons, & John Hartman joined me forf "Listen to the Music","Rockin' Down the Highway","Disciple", and the definitive cover of "Jesus is Just All Right".
,

Sammy Hagar- I Never Said Goodbye

After years of struggle as the undercard rock palooka who could take a punch and never go down, in 1984 Sammy Hagar answered the bell  and came out swinging, scoring a technical knockout with his mainstream hit "I Can't Drive 55" from his eighth solo album "VOA". Then in 1987 Sammy won by a knockout with his solo album "I Never Said Goodbye", at #14 his highest charting album ever, and that while being newly installed as Van Halen's lead singer. Sammy Hagar is my guest In the Studio.

Eddie Money- No Control

Eddie Money was always an effortless interview before his death in September 2019, a real pleasure, because he loved people, he loved to tell stories, and he had a million of 'em. As I prepared dual anniversaries for two of the late Eddie Money's best selling albums, “Eddie Money” debut in October 1977 and the big breakthrough “No Control” five years later in June 1982 forty years ago,  it occurred that one of the less recognized aspects of the brief but all-important Punk Rock trend in the latter half of the Seventies is how it aided and abetted countless upstart bands at the same time which were not necessarily a part of that CBGB Club scene. The late Eddie Money is my guest here In the Studio.
,

Motley Crue- Girls Girls Girls- Nikki Sixx, Vince Neil

In an alternate universe where being boring and predictable is the Original Sin, Vince Neil, Mick Mars, Nikki Sixx, and Tommy Lee of Motley Crue would be sanctified saints, because they have been waging  jihad against the tyranny of the mainstream for a full four decades. Peaking at #2 on Billboard Album Sales chart, "Girls, Girls, Girls"  would eventually equal their preceding mega-seller "Theatre of Pain" with another four million copies sold. The always eyebrow-raising Nikki Sixx and hilarious Vince Neil are my guests In the Studio for "Girls, Girls, Girls"..