Posts

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Lynyrd Skynyrd- Street Survivors- the late Gary Rossington

The tale of Lynyrd Skynyrd and "Street Survivors"  seems to have been hatched in the vivid imagination of Tennessee Williams, Harper Lee, or William Faulkner, but the characters are so colorful, the childhood bonds so strong, the struggles so personal, the victories so inspiring, and the heartbreak so deep that there is simply no need for hyperbole in telling it. The dearly beloved late co-founder Gary Rossington was my guest In the Studio.
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ZZ TOP- Eliminator 40th- Billy Gibbons,Frank Beard,the late Dusty Hill

And yes, the series of clever, campy videos on the upstart MTV video channel in America undoubtedly had much to do with that staggering (15 million just in US) level of popularity for "Eliminator" (truly ironic, since manager Bill Ham had steadfastly kept ZZ Top off of U.S. television until then). But the songwriting, musicianship, modern arranging, and state-of-the-art recording on "Eliminator" which I heard that day was truly extraordinary. Billy Gibbons, Frank Bread, & the late Dusty Hill are my guests In the Studio.
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Pink Floyd- Dark Side of the Moon 50th- David Gilmour, Nick Mason, Roger Waters

To illustrate how seriously many of the post-British Invasion bands were approaching the rock idiom by early 1973, you need look no further than Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" to see how this progressive rock movement had matured,  with spectacular results both artistically and commercially, confirmed in this fiftieth anniversary classic rock interview by my guests, musical lunar explorers David Gilmour, Roger Waters, and Nick Mason.
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U2- War 40th- Bono,The Edge, Adam Clayton, Larry Mullen jr

With the rousing martial rhythms from Larry Mullen jr’s drums on the opening to “Sunday Bloody Sunday”, the tortured passion evident in Bono’s voice over The Edge’s stiletto guitar stabs on “New Year’s Day”, and Adam Clayton’s rolling bass on “Surrender” as well as “Two Heats Beat as One”, War  by U2 was a musical proclamation of a serious contender on the unfolding Eighties rock vista. Hear the fortieth anniversary classic rock interview In the Studio.
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Doobie Brothers- The Captain and Me 50th- Tom Johnston, Pat Simmons

In the Studio classic rock interview with the Doobie Brothers The Captain and Me , released March 1973.
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Robert Plant- The Principle of Moments 40th/Now and Zen 35th Anniversaries

"The Principle of Moments", Robert Plant's second solo album, first convinced us forty years ago that Plant could sustain a viable solo career outside of the legendary Led Zeppelin, which he fronted for twelve fabled years. But for me personally it was "Shaken 'n' Stirred" in 1985, served pre-release on a Walkman at 40,000 feet over the Atlantic Ocean,  that began my professional relationship with the complicated singer. And then with 1988's "Now and Zen", Plant scored with his most popular effort to date, "Now and Zen". Robert Plant is my guest In the Studio.
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Van Halen @ 45- Alex, David Lee Roth, Michael Anthony, the late great Eddie Van Halen

The interviewsof the earliest years of Eddie and Alex Van Halen’s emigration from The Netherlands to Southern California, meeting Michael Anthony and David Lee Roth, playing Pasadena backyard parties to the Sunset Strip, and recording their January 1978 debut.
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Journey- Frontiers 40th- Neal Schon, John Cain, Steve Perry

Jonathan Cain, band co-founder/guitarist Neal Schon, and former singer Steve Perry reveal considerable personal pathos during the Big Payday provided by  "Separate Ways", "Faithfully", and two more Journey hits which were inexplicably bumped off of "Frontiers", "Only the Young" and "Ask the Lonely", on the "Frontiers" 40th anniversary.
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Alice Cooper- Billion Dollar Babies 50th anniversary

In February 1973 when Alice Cooper's sixth album "Billion Dollar Babies"  went  #1 sales, we all thought that Marshall McLuhan, Andy Warhol, and Alice Cooper were being hyperbolic with their predictions about video fame's impact on society. We laughed then, but as it turns out, the joke's on us...Alice Cooper is my fascinating guest on the 50th anniversary of “ Billion Dollar Babies”.
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Def Leppard- Pyromania 40th- Joe Elliott, Phil Collen, Rick Savage

Def Leppard “Pyromania” 40th anniversary interview with Joe Elliott, Rick Savage, Phil Collen