Posts

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Aerosmith- Get a Grip- Steven Tyler, Joe Perry,Tom Hamilton, Brad Whitford, Joey Kramer

 "Livin' on the Edge", "Cryin'","Eat the Rich", "Fever","Line Up","Amazing" ...any wonder that "Get a Grip" is Aerosmith's biggest-selling album worldwide at over twenty million copies? The entire band sat down with me In the Studio to get a handle on "Get a Grip" in a revealing classic rock interview with an American treasure for the album's 30th anniversary.
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David Bowie- Let’s Dance

"Let's Dance"  was nominated for the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 1983, and if David could have moonwalked like Michael Jackson, Bowie probably would have won. it was no surprise that multi-media maven David Bowie, who seemed tailor-made then for the dawn of the MTV era in America when "Let's Dance"  was released, would later be among the first to embrace computer-generated gaming and virtual reality, which David discussed at length here, reprised on the album's fortieth anniversary.
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Queen Forever- Brian May, Roger Taylor

We celebrate "Queen Forever" and Freddie Mercury's memory with Queen's Brian May and Roger Taylor.

Genesis- And Then There Were Three- Mike Rutherford, Phil Collins

Progressive rock band Genesis flirted perilously close to the mainstream for the first time in December 1976 with "Your Own Special Way" on the album Wind and Wuthering, yet there are no reports of any permanent injury. Mike Rutherford and Phil Collins join me In the Studio. -Redbeard

Procol Harum- the late Gary Brooker, Keith Reid, Matthew Fisher, Robin Trower

Keith Reid, Procol Harum lyricist, has passed away March 23. “Live with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra" from the eclectic British band Procol Harum, which has the distinction of placing two of the most unlikely songs at the top of the singles chart five years apart with "Whiter Shade of Pale" in 1967 and "Conquistador" in 1972. This ultra-rare interview features organist Matthew Fisher, lyricist Keith Reid, guitarist on the first three studio albums,Robin Trower, and the late singer/pianist Gary Brooker.
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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.