Posts

Metallica- Black Album 35th Anniversary- James Hetfield, Kirk Hammett
"Metallica" (affectionately known as "The Black Album" in the same way The Beatles had been dubbed "The White Album"), Metallica's lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and lead throat James Hetfield show how the band sits atop the family tree of hard rock/heavy metal evolution.

The Who- Who’s Next 55th- Pete Townshend
"Who's Next" by The Who, ranked by Rolling Stone magazine as the #77 rock album of all time, this August 1971 absolute musical masterpiece is mated with an incredibly illuminating classic rock interview with its composer, Pete Townshend, here In the Studio including the songs "Baba O'Riley","Bargain","Going Mobile","Behind Blue Eyes","Getting in Tune", and "Won't Get Fooled Again"...

Stevie Nicks- Bella Donna 45th Anniversary
In July 1981, Stevie Nicks already was in arguably America's most popular band, Fleetwood Mac, but her first solo album then, "Bella Donna", took her career to another level entirely, a fact that was by no means guaranteed and which came at some cost. Stevie spells it all out quite candidly In the Studio while revealing the stories and characters behind "Edge of Seventeen", "Leather and Lace" with Don Henley, and the timeless duet with Tom Petty on his "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around".

Al Stewart- Year of the Cat 50th Anniversary
Al Stewart joins me In the Studio in a rare interview about his breakout 1976 album "Year of the Cat". But being witness repeatedly to rock history apparently accounted for nothing when Al Stewart's seventh album, "Year of the Cat", was unceremoniously turned down by every major UK record label 50 years ago.

Journey- Escape @45- Neal Schon- Jonathan Cain- Steve Perry
Hard-charging San Francisco juggernaut Journey unveiled a defining album for the decade with "Escape" in July 1981, containing "Don't Stop Believin' ","Stone in Love", "Who's Crying Now","Open Arms", and "Mother, Father". For the forty-fifth anniversary of this timeless effort, the Journey songwriting triumvirate of Steve Perry, founding guitarist Neal Schon, and new recruit then Jonathan Cain all recall their daring "Escape".

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers- Into the Great Wide Open 35th
July 1991's "Into the Great Wide Open", Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' first post-Traveling Wilburys/"Full Moon Fever" effort with his own band. First, Tom turned forty. "I'll probably look back at this as some kind of mid-life crisis album," Petty chuckled, "and go,'God, I should've just lightened up ! Should've had a drink and forgot about it!' ,,.It's very hard living your life as we have in tour buses and airplanes for all of this time... And you do kind of realize that ,' Gee, twenty more and I'm outta here!' So you do take stock of that, you do."

Steve Winwood- Back in the High Life 40th Anniversary
"Higher Love", the #1 seller and winner of both the "Record of the Year" and "Song of the Year" Grammys for 1986, isn't about doing it in the top bunk. It's about love on a spiritual plane, not an airplane. By his mid-twenties, Steve Winwood already may have been on a hall of fame career pace, singing and playing hits as a mere teenager with the Spencer Davis Group ("Gimme Some Lovin' "," I'm a Man"), Traffic, and Blind Faith. Yet Winwood told me in this classic rock interview about 1986's "Back in the High Life" that a 1972 bout with peritonitis almost killed him...

Genesis- Invisible Touch @40- Mike Rutherford, Tony Banks, Phil Collins
Genesis' biggest album in their long fifty year+ career, "Invisible Touch" (worldwide sales estimated at 15,000,000) turns forty, so we convened Mike Rutherford, Tony Banks, and Phil Collins here In the Studio to discuss the blockbuster sales behind "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight", "Land of Confusion", "In Too Deep", "Throwing It All Away", and "Invisible Touch".

Peter Gabriel- So 40th Anniversary
This week's classic rock interview guest: ex-Genesis lead singer Peter Gabriel had a cult following after four studio solo albums, with his most significant creation being the ground-breaking "Shock the Monkey" video. But with the May 1986 release of "So" forty years ago,(#1 UK, #2 U.S., over 5 million sold; 4 Grammy nominations including Album and Record of the Year for the #1 hit "Sledgehammer"), Peter Gabriel was vaulted into international pop stardom with all of its attendant door-opening , barrier-eliminating amenities...(more)

Billy Squier- Don’t Say No 45th Anniversary
My guest Billy Squier's 1981 second solo album “Don't Say No” sold over three million copies forty-five years ago because of songs "In the Dark" , "My Kinda Lover" , "Lonely Is the Night", & the big hit " The Stroke".
