Along with Van Halen’s Fair Warning, Billy Squier’s Don’t Say No is a hard rock soundtrack to a life lived by me in that very important year of growth and change. Lead off unassumingly by “In The Dark,” the record tracks (even today!) right through to the finish as a carefree time capsule of rock fashion and attitude. It was my pleasure to talk with Billy about his (ours!) masterpiece…
Tag: Music
Here’s an update on that Full House reissue
It looks like it’s canceled, at least for the moment. Take that reissue of the J. Geils Band’s “Live — Full House” off your shopping list. Peter Wolf tells The Insider that the group has scotched Rhino Records’ plans to put out the two-CD set, which was slated to feature both of the April 21-22, […]
Celebrating 20 Years of Cowboys From Hell: A conversation with Philip Anselmo
I’m pleased to welcome ATV friend Chris Akin back for another post, this time featuring a conversation recorded this past week with Pantera vocalist Philip Anselmo. With the pending release of the 20th anniversary deluxe edition of Cowboys From Hell, the opportunity to speak with Anselmo came around and I knew that Chris would enjoy […]
12/1/74 at Richfield Coliseum….
…..who was on stage? That’s the stumper of a question posed by the ticket stub below. ATV reader “Cynthia” shot me an email with a question about the stub – would I be able to help? I reached out to all-knowing Bear of Cleveland Rock and Roll and we put our heads together with no […]
I actually kinda liked those ’90s VH tracks with Roth
Lately, it seems like I might have been one of the few that enjoyed “Me Wise Magic” and “Can’t Get This Stuff No More.” Tonight, while searching for a few Van Halen III tracks (by somebody else’s request, no less!), I came across the following “open letter” which addresses the 1996 material and a series […]
The Beachland needs a helping hand (and gets a nice mention)
Summertime is proving to be a lean period for The Beachland Ballroom and they (as many venues are nationally) are experiencing monetary issues that led them to recently reach out via their email newsletter with a couple of messages asking for help. Here’s the latest word from Beachland co-owner Cindy Barber: Dear Beachlanders…Thanks to everyone […]
153 different nicknames (or so) for your favorite Def Leppard recording engineer
This weekend a friend of mine asked me if I had the liner notes handy for the Hysteria album by Def Leppard. Why? In the liner notes, the band give album engineer Nigel Green (assistant to album producer Robert John “Mutt” Lange) an extended tribute (and paragraph of his own) featuring 153 different nicknames that […]
Setlist: Yoso at The Kent Stage, 8/19/10
I caught the Cleveland area debut of Yoso on Thursday night at The Kent Stage. Judging by the small number of folks in attendance, I’d say that most of you reading this right now probably missed the show, so I’ll be happy to fill in the gaps and let you know what you missed. Yoso is the new project featuring former Toto vocalist Bobby Kimball with former ’90s Yes guitarist Billy Sherwood (the creative mastermind of Yoso, who shifts to bass playing duties with this group) and original Yes keyboardist Tony Kaye (with a couple of auxiliary players filling out the lineup on guitar and drums). I’d classify the show as “good but not great,” which is not meant to be a slam – it’s just constructive criticism of the show that I saw.
Setlist: Tears for Fears in Detroit, 8/12/10
Thursday night found me crossing another artist off of my rock and roll bucket list with a road trip to Detroit Rock City to see the opening night of a fresh set of U.S. dates for Tears for Fears. In a word, it was “awesome.” Curt and Roland sounded great and the show went a […]
A Peculiar Life: The ATV Interview with Richard Page
Life is full of happy accidents — I was in the midst of setting up an interview with Gary Wright via his publicist and mentioned to him that former Mr. Mister vocalist Richard Page (Wright’s current tour mate) had a new solo album out. Wright relayed to his publicist that Richard was willing to speak […]