Archive for category: Classic Rock Interviews

These are the interviews from the most recent editions of the weekly national radio broadcast of In The Studio .

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YES Album 55th- Jon Anderson, Tony Kaye, Steve Howe, Bill Bruford

"The YES Album", a progressive rock touchstone, was quietly released fifty-five years ago. If the British Invasion bands led by The Beatles and Rolling Stones wanted to be rock'n'roll's second verse after "Be Bop a Lula" and "Maybe Baby", then London's King Crimson, Emerson Lake and Palmer, and YES were determined to be rock's "C" section, the musical bridge which takes the listener somewhere unexpectedly before returning to the familiar refrain.
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Bad Company- Run with the Pack 50th- Paul Rodgers, Mick Ralphs, Simon Kirke

Bad Company lead singer/songwriter Paul Rodgers, guitarist/songwriter Mick Ralphs (d.2025), and drummer Simon Kirke all agreed that being the first band signed to Led Zeppelin's Swan Song label, as well as sharing management with them, was advantageous. However the expectations for this "supergroup", containing Rodgers and Kirke from Free and Ralphs from Mott the Hoople, were exceedingly high. Golden anniversary of silver-clad "Run with the Pack".
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Sting- The Soul Cages 35th Anniversary

The Sting and I...We had already done multiple interviews when he was in The Police and now Sting had released three solo albums, including his solo "The Soul Cages", by the time we reconvened in 1991. Sting had lost both parents by then, the most recent  his father, and was clearly wrestling with his star ascending amidst pain and personal loss.
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David Bowie- Station to Station 50th Anniversary

"The way you change Music is by changing the music," David Bowie told me, without any hint of irony whatsoever, as we discussed  January 1976's "Station to Station". Songs include "Golden Years","Stay" ,"TVC 1-5" ,"Wild is the Wind" , and the title song, often cited by post-punk bands including The Cars, Talking Heads, and Gary Numan as a major influence. David Bowie guests for "Golden Years" golden anniversary.
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Styx- Paradise Theatre 45th Anniversary- Tommy Shaw, James Young

If I told you that forty-five years ago  one of America's top music acts released a concept album that  identified growing cracks in the foundation of our society and presciently predicted practically everything we find today, who would you guess it was? Bob Dylan? Neil Young? Crosby Stills and Nash? I doubt that Styx would come to mind to many, but that is precisely what "Paradise Theater"  was, part lament, part warning. Current members Tommy Shaw, James Young, & Lawrence Gowan all weigh in as does ex-member Dennis DeYoung on "Paradise Theater" 's forty-fifth anniversary.
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Peter Frampton- Comes Alive 50th Anniversary

Peter Frampton interview In the Studio for "Frampton Comes Alive" 50th anniversary.
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Steve Winwood- Arc of a Diver 45th Anniversary

When I sat down In the Studio in Autumn 1990 with Steve Winwood to talk about his then new release "Refugees of the Heart" , he had already established himself with the breakthrough album  "Arc of a Dive"r  ten years prior, then midway in between released "Back in the High Life", one of the biggest albums commercially as well as critically, and "Roll With It",  in the Eighties.
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Van Morrison- His Band & Street Choir

With Belfast-born Van Morrison's the mainstream rock audience November 1970's "His Band and Street Choir" finally caught up to the quality jazzy, folksy rhythm'n'blues Morrison had been belting out consistently since critics began lauding his debut,"Astral Weeks". This rare 21st century classic rock interview was conducted in Belfast by the BBC's intrepid John Bennett.
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The Who- My Generation- Pete Townshend, Roger Daltrey

"In the case of The Who, the thing that comes across for me is that The Who started as a Pop band. Good Pop possibly is the sublime and the ridiculous, the important and the absurd." Pete Townshend & Roger Daltrey are my guest In the Studio for "My Generation" @60!
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Scorpions- Crazy World- Klaus Meine, Rudolph Schenker

It's the thirty-fifth anniversary of Scorpions "Crazy World". Scorpions lead singer Klaus Meine and guitarist Rudolph Schenker are my guesst In the Studio.