Posts

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Cheap Trick- At Budokan 45th- Rick Nielsen, Robin Zander

Rockford, Illinois's Cheap Trick proved to be no joke on the live, Japan-only "At Budokan", but the story of how the rest of the world ever got to hear it in February 1979 is a total fluke. Hear the story In the Studio from Cheap Trick's Robin Zander and Rick Nielsen.

Cheap Trick- Big Eyes- 12-78 Passaic NJ

Cheap Trick has been consistently  excellent live for decades, as proven by this white hot performance long ago at Capital Theater  in Passaic, NJ. Broadcast live in December 1978.

Cheap Trick- Come On, Come On/ Stiff Competition- Passaic NJ 12-8-78

Forty-five years ago, Cheap Trick was poised on the brink, but depending on what continent you were referencing, it could have been the brink of  Beatlemania-type mass popularity (as in Japan that Summer 1978), or the brink of disaster here…
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The Police- Outlandos d’Amour @45- Sting, Andy Summers, Stewart Copeland

"Outlandos d'Amour' has a certain grotesque, naive charm about it," Sting confesses in this 45th anniversary interview about the Police debut,"but 'Regatta de Blanc'  was infinitely a much better record." Police founding drummer Stewart Copeland, guitarist Andy Summers & Sting join Redbeard here In the Studio.
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Billy Joel- 52nd Street 45th anniversary

It's the 45th anniversary of Billy Joel's "52nd Street". We talked rock'n'roll, from Billy Joel seeing the Beatles perform on the Ed Sullivan Show  to British Invasion bands that followed, garage rock, and the New York City punk scene that influencedhis approach after the1978 "52nd Street" album. But we also talked at length about baseball...

Heart- Dog and Butterfly 45th- Ann & Nancy Wilson

From the forty-fifth anniversary perspective on Heart's million-seller "Dog and Butterfly" released in September 1978, guitarist/singer/songwriter Nancy Wilson is gratified with how the songs "Straight On","Mistral Wind", and "Dog and Butterfly" have fared over the decades. "When I hear those songs now, I feel proud. For one thing, I feel like we really did contribute something fresh to music." Nancy and big sister Ann Wilson are my guests In the Studio.
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Styx- Pieces of Eight 45th- Tommy Shaw, James”JY” Young

focusing on the  1978 release of "Pieces of Eight", former Styx member and co-founder Dennis DeYoung  confesses that, in spite of his major conceptual songwriting role on the band's 1977 breakthrough three million seller "The Grand Illusion", the highly-anticipated follow-up "Pieces of Eight" was not his finest hour. Styx guitarists/ songwriters/ singers Tommy Shaw and James Young stepped up creatively to fill the void on "Pieces of Eigh"t, again selling triple platinum with the muscular "Blue Collar Man","Renegade","The Great White Hope","Queen of Spades", and "Sing for the Day".
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Boston- Don’t Look Back 45th Anniversary- Tom Scholz

The band Boston had by August 1978 sold seven million copies on its way to becoming the top-selling debut (now over 17 million ), and the follow-up "Don't Look Back"  was being rush released to North American rock  radio stations. Boston, led by my guest here in this classic rock interview, guitarist/composer Tom Scholz
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George Thorogood and the Destroyers- Move It on Over

I have interviewed literally hundreds of the greatest rock musicians , but George Thorogood is the only one who told me that he was planning to be a professional comedian, not a musician. The best-selling album by bare-knuckle electric bluesrocker George Thorogood with July 1982's Bad to the Bone. George marks the occasion here In the Studio  with his unlikely journey featuring all of his biggest hits including "One Bourbon, One Scotch, and One Beer","Move It On Over", Bo Diddley's "Who Do You Love", "I Drink Alone", Chuck Berry's "It Wasn't Me", and of course "Bad to the Bone".
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Dire Straits 45th Anniversary- Mark Knopfler

It's the forty-fifth anniversary of the Dire Straits debut. As Mark Knopfler prepares to mark the fortieth anniversary, we are thrilled to have him as our guest here In the Studio to share the story of how it all started.