Queen- We Will Rock You- London 10-28-77

Like a cosmic rarity, here is an aural snapshot of  a star going into the white-hot state of supernova: Queen in a London studio performing live for the BBC with a then-new song, "We Will Rock You". Equal parts promise and serving notice, this stuff is historic, essential, and bloody epic!
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INXS- Kick- Andrew & Tim Farriss, Kirk Pengilly, the late Michael Hutchence

Keyboard player/songwriter Andrew Farriss of INXS is joined by multi-instrumentalist Kirk Pengilly & guitarist Tim Farriss here In the Studio to share the backstory behind "New Sensation", "Devil Inside","Never Tear Us Apart","Need You Tonight", and the stunning "Kick" title song. Also we share my interviews with the late INXS singer/lyricist Michael Hutchence about the international blockbuster "Kick".
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Meat Loaf- Bat Out of Hell

Meeting Meat Loaf head on in the narrow hallway at midnight "on a hot summer night" in 1978 left an unforgettable memory. His debut album "Bat Out of Hell"  had been building slowly over the ten months since release, and now the bombastic, passionate, outrageously funny music of composer Jim Steinman as performed by Meat Loaf was one of the hottest new things in American music then. The late Meat Loaf is here In the Studio for the story of "Bat Out of Hell".

Tom Cochrane- Lunatic Fringe- Dallas 1989

From its release in 1979 on the Red Rider album As Far as Siam ,"Lunatic Fringe " was always a popular song on North American rock radio . However , in a post-9/11 world , Tom Cochrane's lyrics are now even more chilling . This performance in a Dallas Mexican restaurant- January 1989 . No stage , no P.A. , no monitors , just Corona beer & the radio feeding back . That's a lot of intense music just by two very talented guys .-Redbeard
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R.E.M.- Automatic for the People- Michael Stipe, Peter Buck, Mike Mills

R.E.M. singer/lyricist Michael Stipe, multi-instrumentalist/singer Mike Mills, and guitarist/songwriter Peter Buck all convene with me here In the Studio for "Automatic for the People" by R.E.M., estimated to have sold 18,000,000 copies worldwide because of "Man on the Moon","Everybody Hurts", & "Drive".

R.E.M.- Strange Currencies- Milton Keynes 7-30-95

At England's massive Milton Keynes Bowl in late July 1995...Enjoy "Strange Currencies" by R.E.M.
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Billy Joel- The Stranger

Billy Joel is certainly not "The Stranger" to spectacular popularity, or the record books documenting same. And it's not as if Billy Joel had not been a prolific recording singer/songwriter or an infrequent touring musician prior to his fifth album, "The Stranger", in Fall 1977. But strangely his album sales were in a decidedly negative trend after "Piano Man". "The Stranger" changed all that, permanently. Billy Joel joins me In the Studio on the album's 45th anniversary.

Peter Gabriel- Us

The various subjects on Peter Gabriel's "Us", like the deep funky grooves, are all killer and no filler, from the pleading divorced parent to his regressing child on "Come Talk to Me". the matter-of-fact demystification of personal therapy in "Digging in the Dirt", to the Biblical allusions in "Blood of Eden", inspired by Gabriel's study of capital punishment. My exclusive classic rock interview with Peter Gabriel, in front of a small intimate audience, was his first reveal of those songs in September 1992, plus "Love to Be Loved", "Steam", "Kiss That Frog", and "Secret World". Part one of two. 

Billy Joel- Only the Good Die Young reggae demo

Just for fun, check out this previously unreleased demo of Billy Joel leading his band through a playful reggae version of "Only the Good Die Young", no doubt in tribute to the popularity  of Bob Marley and the Wailers in 1977 when Billy Joel's…

The Doors- Strange Days- the late Ray Manzarek

"Strange Days", The Doors' second album in only nine months,  was uncanny in capturing seismic changes already underway in America which would signal the end to the all-too-brief "Summer of Love" in 1967. The Doors’ late co-founder Ray Manzarek In the Studio for "Strange Days".