Tag Archive for: 1978

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Styx- Blue Collar Man- 2120 Michigan Ave, Chicago- 2005

Styx here live in blues legend Willie Dixon's Chicago recording studio at 2120 Michigan Avenue, the site of the original Chess Records, back in 2005 laying down a soul-infused reading of Tommy Shaw's working class musical manifesto "Blue Collar Man".

Talking Heads- Take Me to the River- WCOZ, Boston 11-17-77

the first time that I met legendary songwriter/ guitarist the late Teenie Hodges was at a Talking Heads record release party for "Fear of Music"  in Memphis in 1979. Teenie had sought me out to introduce himself, since I had been influential in getting ROCK 103 Memphis to play the Talking Heads version of "Take Me to the River", the soul classic originally co-written and recorded by Memphis legend Al Green.
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Cheap Trick- At Budokan- 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- Sting, Andy Summers, Stewart Copeland

"Outlandos d'Amour' has a certain grotesque, naive charm about it," Sting confesses in my 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

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- 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- 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 Eight", 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- 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