Tag Archive for: classic rock interview

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Alice Cooper- Love It to Death/Killer 55th Anniversaries

"Love It to Death" in March 1971 may have been the third album by the band Alice Cooper, but that doesn't change the fact that nobody bought the first two. By December of that same year, EVERYBODY had heard "I'm Eighteen" off of Love It to Death , and Alice Cooper had written and recorded a soon-to-be-classic additional full album, "Killer". And it was. Alice proves in my classic rock interview that  you can project practically any fringe, edgy, sociopathic image in rock and get away with it - as long as you deliver the hits.
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R.E.M.- Out of Time 35th Anniversary- Michael Stipe, Peter Buck, Mike Mills

It is clear on the 35th anniversary of R.E.M.'s "Out of Time" album that the song from it, "Losing My Religion", has weathered the time in between exceedingly well. "Pop culture, particularly in the US, everything comes and goes in cycles, as things do," points out R.E.M. singer/ lyricist Michael Stipe, "which we all realize as we all grow older and wiser, whether it's politics or music or pop culture...I always wanted to have a song that would be considered 'the song of the Summer'. As it was, that song kind of became the song of the year," he chuckled. Ten million copies sold and three Grammy Awards later, nobody could argue the case.

38 Special- Wild-Eyed Southern Boys- Donnie Van Zant, Jeff Carlisi

Former singer/songwriter/co-founder Donnie Van Zant and original 38 Special lead guitarist Jeff Carlisi recall band headquarters in an abandoned auto parts garage in a swamp to work up songs for "Wild-Eyed Southern Boys".
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Rush- Moving Pictures- Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, the late Neil Peart

"Music was changing," Rush lead singer/composer Geddy Lee tells us in this In the Studio  episode, and without Lee, guitarist/composer Alex Lifeson, and drummer/lyricist the late Neil Peart embracing the fresh musical ideas in the crosswinds of the early Eighties on "Moving Pictures" with songs "Tom Sawyer","Red Barchetta","Limelight", "Vital Signs", and "Witch Hunt", it is doubtful that a path to mainstream success would have been cleared for later major bands...

Judas Priest- Point of Entry- Rob Halford

Judas Priest's "Point of Entry" 45th anniversary, & Rob Halford is In the Studio with Redbeard "Heading Out to the Highway" for some "Hot Rockin'".
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Heart- Dreamboat Annie- Ann Wilson, Nancy Wilson

"In the Studio" with Ann & Nancy Wilson of Heart for the real rock fairy tale of "Dreamboat Annie".

Jackson Browne- Lives in the Balance

Jackson Browne had grown increasingly active in a series of high-profile humanitarian causes including nuclear energy moratorium, climate change awareness, famine relief, and anti-apartheid in South Africa...But not until the February 1986 release of "Lives in the Balance" had the popular singer/songwriter turned his introspective mirror around in his songs. Jackson Browne joins me here In the Studio .
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YES Album- Jon Anderson, Tony Kaye, Steve Howe, Bill Bruford

"The YES Album", a progressive rock touchstone, was quietly released in early 1971. If the British Invasion bands led by The Beatles and Rolling Stones wanted to be rock'n'roll's second verse after "Be Bop a Lula" and "Maybe Baby", then London's King Crimson, Emerson Lake and Palmer, and YES were determined to be rock's "C" section, the musical bridge which takes the listener somewhere unexpectedly before returning to the familiar refrain.
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Bad Company- Run with the Pack- Paul Rodgers, Mick Ralphs, Simon Kirke

Bad Company lead singer/songwriter Paul Rodgers, guitarist/songwriter Mick Ralphs (d.2025), and drummer Simon Kirke all agreed that being the first band signed to Led Zeppelin's Swan Song label, as well as sharing management with them, was advantageous. However the expectations for this "supergroup", containing Rodgers and Kirke from Free and Ralphs from Mott the Hoople, were exceedingly high for "Run with the Pack".
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Sting- The Soul Cages

The Sting and I...We had already done multiple interviews when he was in The Police and now Sting had released three solo albums, including his solo "The Soul Cages", by the time we reconvened in 1991. Sting had lost both parents by then, the most recent  his father, and was clearly wrestling with his star ascending amidst pain and personal loss.