Posts

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Heart- Little Queen- Ann Wilson, Nancy Wilson

The story of Heart's debut "Dreamboat Annie" remains one of the Cinderella fairy tale chapters in rock history, but the major label follow up released in 1977, "Little Queen", was made amidst a legal battle prompted precisely because initial big money, & the potential for more. Ann Wilson & Nancy Wilson are my guests In the Studio.

Alice Cooper- School’s Out: Best Of pt 2

When it came exploding out of the dashboard radio in May 1972, "School's Out" by Alice Cooper was louder, brasher, with more swagger than anything we'd ever heard on the Top 40. But with the Woodstock Generation inheriting a world of endless Viet Nam War escalation, Richard Nixon landslide re-election, while astronauts golfed on the moon, "School's Out" ominously was a sobering reality check for millions as well. Alice Cooper is my guest In the Studio on the golden anniversary.
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U2- The Joshua Tree- Bono, The Edge

Here are the first-person memoirs of U2's Grammy Award Album of the Year "The Joshua Tree". Following the release of March 1987's "The Joshua Tree" and subsequent world tour, U2 became recognized as the most popular band in the world then. In the Studio, Bono and The Edge scan the horizon from their often precarious perch atop rock history.
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Fleetwood Mac- Rumours- Stevie Nicks, Mick Fleetwood, Lindsey Buckingham

Fleetwood Mac "Rumours". Guests are Lindsey Buckingham, Stevie Nicks, Mick Fleetwood In the Studio with Redbeard.

David Bowie- Toy

The late David Bowie was already sowing the seeds of the fabled "Toy" project, which would remain unreleased until 2022, even as I watched him perform live at New York City's Kit Kat Klub on November 19, 1999 and then sit with me In the Studio for this in-depth interview. -Redbeard

Moody Blues- Every Good Boy Deserves Favour- Justin Hayward, John Lodge, the late Graeme Edge

"Every Good Boy Deserves Favour" was the Moody Blues' seventh album in a string of commercially and critically popular efforts including "Days of Future Passed", "On the Threshold of a Dream", and "A Question of Balance". Singer/ lead guitarist Justin Hayward, singer/ bass player John Lodge, and drummer Graeme Edge take "Every Good Boy Deserves Favour" to share here In the Studio insights into some of the Moody Blues' best of those early years.

20 More Rock Hall Snubs

20 More Rock Hall Snubs
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Cheap Trick- Essential- Rick Nielsen, Robin Zander

On a maximum scale of five stars, the 1977 debut by Cheap Trick  receives AllMusic.com's highest rating. And the even more melodic, better sounding  sophomore effort "In Color" in the same year earns 4 1/2 stars. Then Cheap Trick's Rick Nielsen, Robin Zander, Tom Petersson, and Bun E. Carlos wrote and recorded the  masterpiece "Heaven Tonight" in May 1978, yet again scoring a critics' perfect five star rating. So in hindsight it would appear that recording the Rockford IL quartet's set while performing the strongest material from these three killer studio albums, in front of an adoring audience in one of the world's premiere venues, would be as obvious as a sumo wrestler in your shower stall.
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Rush- 2112: Early Best 45th Anniversary- Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson

"2112"  by Rush was an amalgam of hard rock, progressive rock, science-fiction and Ayn Rand socio-economics right about the same time that The Ramones, The Dead Boys, and Ian Dury and the Blockheads were singing "Sex and Drugs and Rock'n'Roll". So things were about to get interesting in 1976. Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson of Rush join me here In the Studio
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Doobie Brothers- Takin’ It to the Streets- Tom Johnston, Pat Simmons, Michael McDonald

The fact that the Doobie Brothers reinvented themselves for their March 1976 album "Takin' It to the Streets"  is quite widely known, but the reasons for the musical shift, and the manner in which they made it work so successfully, is a fascinating back-story worthy of an HBO mini-series.. On the album's 45th anniversary, Tom Johnston, Pat Simmons, & Michael McDonald are all here In the Studio to recall how it really went down.