Posts

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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.
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Phil Collins- Face Value

Of his cinderella  first solo album "Face Value" forty years ago, Phil Collins recalls the real-life betrayal and heartbreak which inspired "In the Air Tonight", "I Missed Again"; and why he did not include another original, "How Can You Sit There?", on Face Value nor it's follow up, Hello I Must Be Going, but opted instead to give it to the soundtrack of the 1984 movie Against All Odds, going on to become Phil Collins' first #1 hit.
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ZZ Top- Rio Grande Mud- Billy Gibbons, Frank Beard, the late Dusty Hill

Their much-improved second album,"Rio Grande Mud" in 1972, with Billy Gibbons, Frank Beard, and the late Dusty Hill who passed away in July 2021 following hip surgery.
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Styx- Equinox- James Young, Tommy Shaw

there was high drama and great music before with the third-time's-the-charm "Lady", then 1975's strong Equinox  album containing "Light Up", "Lorelei", and the timeless "Suite: Madame Blue". Band leaders even today James "JY" Young and Tommy Shaw look back on the Equinox  along with the original former co-founding member who wrote and sang all of those songs, Dennis DeYoung

Emerson, Lake, and Palmer- Tarkus

Listening now to the epic title song to "Tarkus", the second studio album in June1971 which followed quickly after their stunning 1970 debut, with Greg Lake's voice delicately yet nimbly bounding along to Keith Emerson's piano runs, it's clear that Emerson Lake and Palmer were much  less "Be Bop a Lula" in their melodic grandeur and much more "Andrew Lloyd Weber". Here In the Studio is the story in their own words of progressive rock's first supergroup.
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REO Speedwagon- Hi Infidelity- Kevin Cronin, Neal Doughty

REO Speedwagon believed in their long game, and their long-suffering record label gave them TEN trips to the plate until the band touched all the bases in November 1980 with Hi Infidelity . Lead singer Kevin Cronin and band keyboard player co-founder Neal Doughty tell the worst-to-first ten year overnight sensation story In the Studio.
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Queen- A Night at the Opera- Brian May, Roger Taylor

In November 1975 Queen sent out invitations for "A Night at the Opera" and the whole rock world RSVP'd. With Brian May and Roger Taylor here In the Studio.
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Led Zeppelin III- Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, Terry Manning

Led Zeppelin III  appeared October 5, 1970 with surprisingly little notice. Containing "The Immigrant Song","Gallows Pole", and "Since I've Been Loving You", Led Zeppelin III  also planted exotic seeds of sounds in "Friends" with its Middle Eastern orchestration, which would skip several subsequent albums only to germinate with legendary impact on Physical Grafitti . My guests Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, and Led Zeppelin "III"  recording engineer at Ardent Studio in Memphis, Terry Manning, tell the story In the Studio.
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Police- Zenyatta Mondatta- Sting, Andy Summers, Stewart Copeland

It seems that stardom for The Police had occurred in the UK after the release of their second album, "Reggatta de Blanc" , but mainstream popularity in the U.S. still eluded them until October 1980's "Zenyatta Mondatta". My guests In the Studio are Police-men Sting, Stewart Copeland, and Andy Summers.