URIAH HEEP kick off their Magician’s Farewell’ Tour in the UK in February. Supporting Heep will be Canada’s APRIL WINE and US band TYKETTO. (*Added updated dates for Europe below).
As a fan of both Uriah Heep and April Wine, I see this as an exciting bill, and Hope that April Wine is on the tour when Heep comes to Canada and the US. Both bands, in very different incarnations each time shared the stage in the early 70s when April Wine opened for Uriah Heep in Ontario, in 1972 and then years later when it was the other way around for a few US shows.
I belong to a few groups online of band, and actually (but not unbelievably) see fans of one or the other who has little to know knowledge of the other band, so I wanted to give a wee bit of background, as well as the current line ups, and 5 recommended (starting point) albums from each….
Both bands formed in 69, but really got going in 1970. UH’s debut album came out in 1970, while AW’s came out in 71. While UH took a few albums before they had a hit single, AW had one (“Fast Train”) off their debut album and would continue to have hit singles off every subsequent album here in Canada, while UH didn’t rack up the hit singles, but became an international concert draw with a number of big selling albums from 72-75. AW pretty much stayed in Canada, with limited releases outside the country, before they had a big radio hit in the US in 78 (“Roller”) and went on to huge international success from then til about 82. While AW’s most successful period ended with the 3 guitar line up breaking up in 84, UH’s comeback lineup split in 85, with a new line up soon coming about. AW returned with a new line up in 92, and have carried on since, releasing 4 studio albums up until 2006, and continuing to tour, now as a 4-piece, with a few line-up changes along the way, most notably with singer/guitarist Marc Parent taking over for founder Myles Goodwyn in 2023 before Goodwyn passed away last year.
April Wine consists of Brian Greenway (since 1978’s First Glance album, when the band took off as a 3 guitar act). Richard Lanthier (bass, since 2011), Roy ‘Nip’ Nichols (drums, since 2012) and Marc Parent (lead vocals, guitar, hand picked by Myles Goodwyn).
When Uriah Heep added Phil Lanzon (keyboards, songwriter) in mid 1986, and Canadian singer Bernie Shaw (end of 86) the band found some long-term stability, and from 1988 ’til last year Heep has released 9 studio albums and numerous live albums. The band lead by founder Mick Box (guitar), Lanzon, Shaw, Russell Gilbrook (drums, since 2007) and Dave Rimmer (bass, since 2013).
For my fellow fans of each band I’ve selected 5 recommended studio albums + 1 live album – should you want to check out either band you’re not familiar with.
APRIL WINE
Stand Back
The band’s 1975 album that was full of hits, and arguably their most popular amongst longtime fans. “Oohwatanite”, “I Wouldn’t Want To Lose Your Love”, “Victim Of Love”, “Come Hear The Band”….There was 5 hit singles off this album, and every song is memorable.
Harder… Faster
It was a tough choice between this and the previous album First Glance, but this one features the hit “Say Hello”, as well as favorite AW rocker “I Like To Rock”, “Before The Dawn” (from by Brian Greenway), and the band’s killer rendition of King Crimson’s “21st Century Schizoid Man”.
Nature Of The Beast
The band’s biggest commercial success, and height of their popularity. From 1981, with “Just Between You And Me”, “All Over Town”, and their heavy remake of (and hit) Lorence Hud’s “Sign Of The Gypsy Queen”, and heavy album cuts like “Future Tense” and “Crash And Burn”. Much of this album featured in the live set for years, and a number from it still do.
Back To The Mansion
The overlooked gem in the AW catalogue. From 2001, BTTM saw the band recording as a 4 piece again, and taking a less heavier direction. But plenty of good songs here like ‘I’ll Give You That”, the ballad “Paradise”, Brian Greenway’s excellent “Holiday”, and an interesting version of Simon & Garfunkel’s “I Am A Rock”.
Greatest Hits Live 2003
Recorded on the BTTM tour, w/ Carl Dixon added for keyboard & guitar. Sure, One For The Road from 1984s Farewell tour sounds heavier and features the classic 5-man line up, but Greatest Hits Live 2003 (what a lame title) covers more hits, and is a bit more representative of what AW sounds like in later years. Features 21 live tunes, plus 2 studio cuts.
URIAH HEEP
Look At Yourself
Heep’s 3rd album and the one that got the ball rolling, defining their heavy prog sound, and loaded with classics like the title track, “July Morning”, “Shadows of Grief” and “Love Machine”. The last to feature founding bass player Paul Newton.
Demons And Wizards
The band’s commercial breakthrough and most successful album. Features 2 of Heep’s Best known tracks, the hit “Easy Livin”, and the single “The Wizard”, along with huge fan favorites “Circle Of Hands” and “Rainbow Demon”. The first to feature the ‘classic’ line-up of Mick Box, David Byron, Ken Hensley, Lee Kerslake and Gary Thain, as well as Roger Dean artwork.
Abominog
Fast forward 10 years, and the band’s brand new line-up, and new sound for the 80s. Abominog featured a more American sound (aka Foreigner) with new singer Peter Goalby, as well as the hit “That’s The Way That It Is”. Killer album, despite a lot of covers, but everything going together so well. Favorites be “Too Scared To Run”, “Sell Your Soul”, “Chasing Shadows”, and a cover of Russ Ballard’s “On The Rebound”. Also included bob Daisley (Rainbow, Ozzy) on bass, and keyboard player John Sinclair (Heavy Metal Kids).
Sea Of Light
After more line-up changes, a few bum record deals, and less than stellar releases Heep returned to their ’70s style in a way. The 3rd to feature Canadian singer Bernie Shaw and keyboard player Phil Lanzon (by now a major writer in Heep). Tho modern sounding, SOL featured more variety, a mix of acoustics, different keyboards, more progressive tracks, and a few big riff driven rockers. This album brought a lot of old Heep fans back with tracks like “Against The Odds”, “Logical Progression”, “Words In The Distance” and “Love In Silence”.
Chaos And Colors
Heep’s latest from 2023. The band has been on a roll since 2007 when drummer Russell Gilbrook joined (bassist Dave Rimmer a few years later). This is the band’s 5th studio album of new material since then, and arguably their best. More progressive, more varied, still heavy, with favorites like “Age Of Change”, “Hurricane”, “Golden Light”, the single “Save Me Tonight”, and epic “You’ll Never Be Alone”!
*Future Echoes Of The Past : Live
So many great UH live albums (like the classic Live: January, 1973)…but I’m going with this from 2000, from the band’s tour in support of 1998s Sonic Origami. A huge mix of classic Heep and gems from the band’s 2 latest at the time. Sounds amazing.
Canada’s ANDY CURRAN may have been best known for his days and 3 album run in the early 80s CONEY HATCH, but following the breakup of the band, Andy would go on to record a few albums throughout the 90s. Albums released under such names as SOHO 69, CARAMEL, DRUG PLAN and LEISURE WORLD came later in the decade, but in 1990 his first ‘solo’ project was released simply as ‘Andy Curran’. A few songs received massive radio play across the country, and he was nominated for 2 Juno Awards in 1991, winning ‘Most Promising Male Vocalist’. That album was re-issued last year (in expanded box set form) for it’s 30th anniversary as ‘Whiskey & The Devil 30th’, as well as a 2LP colored issue. The extra LP included previously unreleased studio and live recordings. In this interview Andy recalls a lot from making that album, its success, and what came after, as well as detailing the bonus material. We also discuss SOHO 69, reissues, updates on ENVY OF NONE (w/Alex Lifeson) and CONEY HATCH, including the band’s plan to play the entire ‘Friction’ album (which they did) on a recent trip to the UK & France. And lastly, Andy gives us some great Canadian listening recommendations to check out.
I want to talk about the Whiskey and the Devil album. I know the box that came out last year, and I picked up the vinyl when I saw you guys in Oakville. So, a couple things right off the bat, obviously, is the title and the new artwork, because that wasn’t the original of either.
That’s correct. You know, I could be guilty of confusing people, but what I thought I’d like to do, Kevin, is all these years later, because it was a celebration or an anniversary issue, was to change it up a little bit. So I changed the artwork. That artwork was originally done by a very good buddy of mine named Bill Baker, and Bill is a tattoo artist. He has a tattoo shop in Toronto called Pearl Harbor Gift Shop, and he did that artwork for me back in the day, and it was on a t-shirt, and I just really loved it and thought, ‘man, I’m going to use it this time around’. And if I was to be really honest, when the record was released originally back in 91, I had a disagreement. It wasn’t anything hostile, but I never wanted to call the record Andy Curran. I wanted to call it ‘Soho 69’, and I had a title for the record called ‘Every Dog Has Its Day’, and they were adamant that it had to be called Andy Curran. And I was just like – I’ve always been part of the band; I always felt weird about calling the record after my name and everything, so I got a chance to finally get my way, and I changed everything.
The original seems to be a safe title and a safe cover, which is just the photo.
Yeah, I know. It’s weird because I literally had discussions with the label back then. I don’t want to use my photo. I don’t want to use my name. And they were like ‘Yes, guess what? We’re the record company, and this is the way it’s going to go.’ So, I wanted to change it afterwards, Kevin, and I got my way. Working with the guys at SING has been really great, and they were totally cool to just give me full artistic control on it, and so that’s the story behind the artwork.
On the original album, you have that emblem on the back there of that kind of eagle thing. Did you ever use that for anything?
Yes, the eagle logo we used quite a bit, and again, it was sort of a play on this whole ‘no tattoos’ thing. So going to my friend Bill Baker, he did the illustration for the eagle with the banner, and that was on our merch back then. I think we even had a backdrop with the eagle in the background. So, yeah, so we used that quite a bit back in the day.
You had quite a bit of success with this album. You had the Juno and everything, and you had like, the first three songs, I think, were all radio hits and singles!?
Yeah, that was a nice run for me. I mean, those songs, like “License To Love”, “No Tattoos”, and “Let Go” – they were all top ten songs at Rock Radio in Canada, and they were getting a load of airplay on MuchMusic with “No Tattoos” and “License To Love”. And I think that really propped up the visibility of the release of the project and helped me get a couple Juno nominations. The record was also nominated for, I think, Best Hard Rock Album of The Year, and I lost to some band called Rush or something. Yeah, that’s alright, I guess.
Did you tour a lot with this album?
We did. We were out on the road, Kev, for – when all things were said and done, we were out for approximately 18 months that year. The touring cycle was really, really quite long. Lots of solo dates, if I recall. Now you’re really stretching my memory here. We went out on the road with Glass Tiger and Haywire was one tour. We did a bunch of shows with my buddy Kim Mitchell. We did a bunch of shows with Rick Emmett after Rick had left Triumph and was out playing solo shows. And, I think probably the highlight for me was doing some dates with Rush, opening up for them on the Roll The Bones tour.
So, again, having the visibility of the Juno awards and all that airplay, it just fueled the touring cycle. So that might have been. It wasn’t a steady 18 months, but that’s how long we were out for on and off. Yeah.
You have live stuff on this new reissue. Do you have a full show of that or did you just kind of handpick some of the songs?
Well, there was a couple of live shows floating around that various people had recorded. And, with the live stuff that made the Whiskey And The Devil anniversary, I worked very closely with my buddy, and lead singer of Harem Scarem, Harry Hess. And Harry is a renowned mastering engineer and he and I were talking, and he said ‘man, your live band was so good back then. It’s too bad you don’t have any recordings’. And I said, I do, but they’re all on cassettes. And he said ‘well, I’ve done some pretty cool stuff with audio from cassettes. Why don’t you give it to me, and I’ll see if we can rescue it from the dead’. So, Harry’s got some really great technology, that works with basically upgrading audio from that format. So believe it or not, that was taken from a live recording that was handed to me on a cassette and Harry did some wonderful stuff with it. But, to answer your question, yeah, I cherry picked it because there were some songs that just didn’t really sound any good quality wise. So, we sort of focused on the ones that we thought sounded great.
I see you did a couple of covers. You didn’t just really stick to your own stuff there.
We had so much fun doing covers, man. Over the years, there was something about wanting to put my stamp on a few different songs that I really, really loved, you know? So, I’ve been a huge fan of the band WAR for a very, very long time. And I think I gravitate a lot to some of that old *funk just because of the baselines on it. But those two songs “Cisco Kid” and “Low Rider”, we always had a lot of fun with.
But we used to do a version of “Highway Star”. I wish I had a version of that Deep Purple one that we did. We did the Beatles “She’s So Heavy”. We used to do “Schools Out”. And I think we even did a version of Stan Ridgway’s “Mexican Radio”. I mean, these are songs that I grew up with and people are like ‘what are you doing? A hard rock version of “Mexican Radio”!?’ And I was ‘I love those songs’. But those two songs by WAR have just been old favorites of mine and I wanted to put them on there just to let people hear what we did, and best with those cover versions.
I like things that are different, and they sound different. They’re kind of out of their genre, you know!? And then you have the two songs that weren’t on the album that!?
As a lot of artists do, you go into the recording sessions with some extra material, just in case some of the songs don’t really pan out or, you never know how they’re going to go regardless of getting bed tracks done. You never know if they’re actually going to sound great or not sound great. So, “One Woman Man” and “Walk The Other Way” were recorded at the same time as I recorded all of the other songs, and I kind of had forgotten about them, to be honest with you. It was just such a distant memory that we had gone in and recorded those songs. And when Tom Berry from Alert Records gave me access to all of the original tapes, multi-track tapes, I was surprised to see two extra songs. I opened them up and I was like ‘Oh my God. I remember these two songs!’ The story behind them. If I recall is you’re always challenged with the amount of music that you can put on a side of vinyl and vinyl was still around. And so, we figured out that there was no way to get those two songs on vinyl. And if I recall, there was some business stuff going on about lawyers going back and forth about ‘Hey, you know, we’re, we’re only going to pay Andy up to 10 songs and we’re not going to put up 12 songs’. So, they just for no bad reason, just got shuffled off to the side. I just thought it would be cool to resurrect those ones. And I worked with my buddy, Vic Florencia, who is also a Juno award winner. And we thought ‘well why don’t we just those songs were finished. I was surprised that I had done everything on it. There was no extra overdubs required. They were finished and, but just never brought to life. So, it was a pretty easy thing just to get those tracks and remix them and kind of get them pulled out of the vault for people to hear. Because we used to play one of them live – “Walk The Other Way” – we played live for a long time.
There was no issue of what tracks you were going to put aside; was it was an easy choice, the first 10?
It was. I think when everybody sort of threw that through the list of titles into a hat and we picked them all, everybody was fine to leave those ones off and, full transparency with “One Woman Man”, that has a bit of a Southern rock-blues vibe to it. (And) we thought, we thought ‘does this even fit?’ And I’m a huge Lynyrd Skynyrd fan, and I just thought, ‘okay, well, guilty as charged’. That was me trying to add a little bit of Southern rock into the mix. Did it work? Did it fit? Maybe not. But all these years later, I really don’t care. I just was like, let’s put these in.
You also had a new single out “Looking For Love”, that came out a couple of months ago. And that’s a new recording!?
That is a brand-new recording. I’ll tell you how that came to fruition. *When I was talking to Geoff Osler, he is the CEO of SING. And he’s the guy that basically championed all of this and said ‘go ahead, Andy,.. I’m happy to work on this with you’. And he said, ‘but it’s really too bad you don’t have a new song’. And I said ‘that’s a stretch, man. I’d have to really put the band back together and go and write some stuff.’ I probably could get in touch with Glen and Simon, the original players. But I said, ‘what I do have is a demo of this song called “Looking For Love”. And we actually never got around to recording it’. And the premise of the song itself is based on a personal ad page in the back where people were. It’s almost like a version of a dating app. Now dating apps are so popular that the song topic might actually be relevant, even more so now with people on Tinder and all these different apps where they’re swiping to find mates. So, he said ‘well, we’ll go ahead and do it, pull it out and record it with the band’. So that song was originally written for my solo record. But I think one of the reasons we didn’t do it, it kind of starts off with bass, drums, guitar, almost a bit like “No Tattoos”. We thought ‘okay, we have these, but we can’t put both of them on the record. They are similar sounding’. So, we ended up shelving “Looking For Love”. And many years later, got back in the studio with Glen Milchem on drums and Simon Brierley, who both who played on the original record. And then I’ve obviously got a new friendship with Sean Kelly, who plays in Coney Hatch. I asked Sean Kelly to come in and do it. And all these years later, we resurrected “Looking For Love”.
Is ‘Whiskey And The Devil’ on CD as well?
We did not make this record available on CD. There’s been some discussion about doing that. I forgot if people still like to listen to CDs. I’ve got a huge collection. I’ve got a CD player in my studio. But a few people have been vocal about it. I don’t know. You’d have to tell me whether you think I should reissue it on CD as well.
I found over the last year, I’ve been buying more CDs, just because the way the price of vinyl has gone up. Plus, I play CDs in my car.
Yeah, well, it’s interesting that you mentioned it, because my friend Harry Hess, told me a lot of his fans still buy CDs. So maybe I got to put that on the to-do list and get a CD version of it.
With the success of that album when it came out, you then went with the band name SOHO 69 for the next album. Was there any pressure to follow up?
I don’t think there was any pressure, but it was a really, really odd chapter. Because you think about, I look back on it now, and it’s really just indicative of the music industry and life as a musician – just when you think things are going great, or you think you got the world by the short and curlies, the bottom drops out on it, right? So, when I was at the Juno Awards, and had won that Juno that night, I spoke to the record company, and they said, ‘By the way, we have to tell you congratulations, but we’re actually not going to be a full-fledged label anymore. So …you don’t have a record deal anymore.’ And I’m like ‘in what world does this happen?’ And you’re arguably celebrating something very successful, only to find out that you don’t have a record deal anymore.
I immediately had to scramble to just even find a home for the ‘Scatterbrain’ record, which I had already started working on. And there was all of this groundwork and all of this, great airplay that happens. So it did feel like there was momentum on this thing, and that I had to follow up on it really quickly. But because I didn’t have a record deal, it took some time. By the time ‘Kiss My Boots’ came out, off the SOHO 69 record, I had lost some *serious momentum on there, just trying to put everything together. And that deal with Hypnotic Records did not go well, like the honeymoon was over.
And when we released the record, we did very little touring on it. So, I look back on that chapter and thought, well, that was a tough punch in the chin, because everything went from super high to super low. And, after Scatterbrain, I sort of took this break to start working on the Caramel record.
*So, really a wheel fell off immediately after the Junos. And it really affected the lack of progress on it, to the point now where even if I was to go out and do some dates on this, and support this record, I wonder how many people would even remember ‘Licensed To Love’ or ‘No Tattoos’!? But it was a really tough chapter. It was mixed with highs and lows.
Yeah, I had Scatterbrain in the car this morning. The first like the lead off song starts and I was listening to this new Trapeze release the other day. It’s kind of got that same funky kind of heavy vibe to it. I thought the singles were great. So my next question is, would you ever like, between these albums and some of the other stuff you did in the 90s, would you ever contemplate taking a solo band or SOHO 69 on the road now and do a few shows?
Well, I have to tell you that my beautiful wife Monica is one of my best supporters. And she keeps saying to me ‘Andy how come you’re not going out and doing any shows with your No Tattoos band? And how come you’re not playing any Caramel or how come you’re not playing Drug Plan or Leisure World?’ So, I honestly have been talking to Sean and Glen Milchem about maybe doing some shows. Simon is a world-class pyro tech engineer that travels with all of these amazing bands and does pyro. So, his schedule probably wouldn’t permit Simon coming out, but I’ve entertained it.
But at the moment, I’ve been kind of focused on finishing off the year with Coney Hatch and the dates that we have in Europe and then also working on Envy of None. So there’s only enough time in the day. I gotta figure out how I can pull this off, you.
(talk of seeing Coney Hatch on Helloween 1994 at LuLus, which is now on YouTube)
I took my CDs with me that night and you signed mine. And so, I’ve got my Scatterbrain here and you wrote in it ‘if you’re not the lead dog, the view is always the same’.
Well, and listen, that’s a little bit of a play on the words. Like I had this artwork done for the record and it was ‘every dog has its day’. And there’s a really cool Toronto graphic artist by the name of Runt, and he did all the artwork at Lee’s Palace on the outside of the building. I got him to do this almost like an assembly line conveyor belt of dogs,. And they were all behind each other. And it just occurred to me that if you’re not the lead dog, you’re always looking up somebody’s ass, right!? So, you better get yourself in the first place. Yeah. I still want to use that artwork one day. And there is a song that I wrote called ‘Every Dog Has Its Day’ that was finished, and I might try to release that one too.
Who did the artwork for Solo69?
The Soho69, the Scatterbrain was done by my brother, Mike, and that was a bit of a play on an exploding brain and particles. We used to love Monty Python and some of their artwork was just like very, almost childlike where they would take things and cut it up. But the Scatterbrain record was also when the grunge thing started to happen. We thought we’d do a little joke and have everything in the tartan plaid grunge stuff. And by the time that record came out, when Nirvana came on the scene, anything remotely connected to hard rock or long hair was dead in the water. I remember hearing that track in Montreal going ‘this is amazing. My career might be over.’
It was really weird, because there’s lots of kinds of what I would call discrimination in the music industry. And there’s certainly age discrimination in North America that doesn’t exist in Europe. If you go to Europe, you could still see Status Quo playing or you could still see Rose Tattoo or Sweet or all these bands and nobody cares that these guys are in their 70s and they still go out. And then Coney Hatch falls into that category too. When we go over there, we have loyal fans that love us, and they still continue to see us. Not that we don’t in Canada, but in Canada, in North America, if you’re not young and if you’re not 20 years old or the next best thing, you easily get shuffled off into the side. And people forget about you. But in terms of styles changing, we can look over time, whether it was when our parents’ parents were listening to classical music and then Buddy Holly came on the scene and The Beatles that had just obliterated all of that kind of stuff. And then you think about disco and all of that stuff. It’s one of those things that changes all the time. And grunge really, really changed things. And it was a tough go for all of us at that point.
SOHO 69 got reissued back in 2004. Would you ever consider any kind of limited run reissue, including vinyl with it?
It’s interesting that you said that, because I’ve had a few people talking about trying to put that out on vinyl, because it was never out on vinyl before. But it’s always interesting when you get in touch with the old record company and ask them if they’re interested in doing it. But I remain friendly with them. But that would be fun; I’d like to see that on vinyl. I’d like to see the Caramel record on vinyl. I’d like to see the Leisure World record on vinyl. Those are things that, like the Leisure World and Caramel, I can control those. So I can get them out. And I’ve been thinking about doing that for quite some time now.
Now I’m assuming there wasn’t a lot of leftovers from that album?
There was a track that I had mentioned to you earlier on called ‘Every Dog Has Its Day’. I would probably add that to it and see what else is kicking around. I’ve got a lot of old demos that maybe I need to just get my buddy Harry Hess to resurrect them from the dead.
You’re playing the Friction album (with Coney Hatch) fully.
Yes, we are going to Manchester and to France, and our goal is on both of those nights to play ‘Friction’ in it’s entirety. We did, at the El Macombo, we played the first record for the 40th anniversary of that album. And then when we were in Oakville, we did the ‘Out of Hand’ record. We had a lot of fun doing that, just revisiting the old songs. So we haven’t played some of those, a few of them, we’ve never even played them. I don’t think we played ‘Burning’ Love’ – ever.! ‘Coming to Get You’ and ‘Champion’ haven’t been in our setlist in a long time, and ‘Stateline’. So, we’re going to dust them off, and do the entire record.
I did like the way they (Friction tracks) turned out on the Live in Germany album. I thought it was kind of minus the keyboards and it made it a little bit heavier than that.
Well, we’re thinking about recording one of those nights and maybe, you know, jokingly said, what about ‘Friction in France’? And we quietly went and recorded a couple of new tracks this year in Hamilton. At the beginning of the year, after we did the Oakville show. We kept Dave Ketchum in town and convinced Dave to go in the studio and hang out with us a little bit longer. So, our goal would be maybe to finish off those two songs, kind of like what we did with ‘Postcard’, where we had ‘It’s About a Girl’ and ‘Heaven’s on the Other Side’. Do the same thing and feed a couple of new tracks now that Sean Kelly is officially a Coney Hatch member. He’s been in our band for 10 years now, so we made it official with him the other day. We just thought it was time to let the new guy in on some stuff, so he’s been co-writing with me, and it’s been a lot of fun.
Do you foresee yourself doing just singles or do you foresee yourself ever doing a full album again?
I think the goal is to see what we come back from Europe with. If we’ve got some good recordings of those two shows, we might take a page out of the ‘Postcard from Germany’ and maybe do another live Friction record with some extra tracks on it. So, the goal would be to put out a full record.
I didn’t want to ask, but I wondered, because I was at those previous two shows, if anybody was actually recording them for future saving.
No, we didn’t record the Oakville show. It was a good night and I think the previous show at the El Macombo, we did record that. We just haven’t gotten around to listening to it just because we’re kind of focused on the Friction stuff, you know?
Did any of the songs that originated from you on that album (Friction) ever have a vocal put down by you?
That’s a well-documented difficult chapter for Coney Hatch with Friction, with the changing of drummers and me sort of stepping aside in the vocal department, but you know, ‘Coming To Get You’ and ‘Burning Love’, those two songs in particular were originally written by me and were supposed to be vocals by me. It’s funny you said that. I don’t know if we have old demo versions of those kicking around with me singing on them, but I think it would be so early that they might just be really bad rehearsal recordings of them. Carl’s a bit of a pack master, so next time you talk to Carl, ask him if he’s got a version of it shoved away in a closet somewhere, because he’s constantly surprising me with demos. He sent me some demos the other day, and there was a song that we had, I think it was called ‘Don’t I Know You’, and it was just dreadful. I said, ‘we’ve got to make sure that the world never hears this song’. He was laughing his head off! There were a couple others that didn’t make it to the A-list, so hopefully Carl doesn’t sneak them out and put them up online, because some of them I’d be pretty embarrassed for the general public to hear. it wasn’t our finest hour. (laughs)
What else do you have on the go? Is there a second Envy of None album on the go?
Yes, We’ve been working really hard for the good part of this year on the second Envy of None record, and we had so much fun recording that first record that we just thought, why not? Let’s just continue. If all the stars align, there will be a new Envy of None record coming out sometime next year. But we’ve been chipping away at the stone on that one for quite some time and making some good progress.
Can you give me any underrated Canadian albums?Things that you would recommend to somebody that isn’t too familiar with Canadian rock.
I was a big fan of Queen City Kids back in the day from Winnipeg. They were a really cool band, and I don’t know if a lot of people know them. Obviously out West they know those guys. I thought Queen City Kids were a very, very cool band. There’s a very good friend of mine who’s a super talented graphic artist named Paulo Rizzo, and Paulo has a band called ‘Puddy’. Paulo has released some stuff recently that I think is absolutely crushing. That kid is super talented, so if you’re into really grungy mayhem rock, Puddy’s a good one. Obviously, my friends in Sven Gali, I really enjoyed working with them on their new record. There was this band that came out, and they kind of just came and went – ‘Priestess’! They were from Montreal, and they had some Queens of the Stone Age isms. Their first record (ed- ‘Hello Master’) was released back in 2005. What a great band! I would encourage anybody who hasn’t heard that record to really give it a listen.
And although they’re doing mostly covers, I really think my buddies in ‘Toque’ are doing a great job out there. They’re all super talented guys. I went to the induction of the Songwriters Hall of Fame on the weekend, and Sam Roberts got up. I just thought that guy’s so underrated. He’s got so many great songs. I think Sam Roberts is so great, the early Sam Roberts especially. There is a band on Arts & Crafts (Canadian label), I’m going to give you one more…This isn’t really a heavy rock band, but I’m going to tell you they’re definitely one of my favorites. I’m going to see if I can find this for you on there. I don’t think they’re together anymore, but that shouldn’t stop people from trying to go out and find it Arts and Crafts have a lot of pretty hipster bands. It’s a home of Feist. and Hayden is on that label too. I might have to text it to you because I played the crap out of this band. They’re called The Stills. There’s an incredible song called ‘I’m With You’ that I think is really good.
(And) Let’s not forget my buddy in Harem Scarem, Mr. Harry Hess. I’ve got to give him a shout out. My buds in Teenage Head are still kicking. I think that’s such a cool band. As far as I’m concerned, they’re the Ramones of Canada. If you want to go back and get an early kick in the teeth with some great Canadian punk rock, you’ve got to listen to Teenage Head!
So I gave you a couple of well-known ones and a couple of obscure ones, but yeah, especially like Priestess. The Stills did really well at Radio. Speaking of The Stills, there’s another band called The Standstills, which is a two-man band. One man, one woman. I’ve met them through the Tea Party guys. They’re another great band. I think they’re based out near St. Catharines.
Well, I know she’s unfortunately passed away, but Care Failure and Die Mannequin. I thought Care Failure was destined to be a huge star. Unfortunately, she passed away. But if anybody has a chance to check out Die Mannequin, it doesn’t get any more legit than that.
MusicOnVinyl has reissued Heep’s 1985 album Equator in a limited, color vinyl edition. Equator was the last to feature singer Peter Goalby and keyboard player John Sinclair. See info below!
Limited edition of 1000 numbered copies on smoke coloured 180-gram audiophile vinyl. Equator is the sixteenth studio album by the British rock band Uriah Heep, released in 1985. It marked a departure from their earlier progressive rock sound towards a more commer- cial and accessible style, incorporating elements of pop rock and AOR (album-oriented rock). It peaked at #79 in the UK albums chart. The album features a lineup consisting of Mick Box (guitar), Lee Kerslake (drums, vocals), Trevor Bolder (bass guitar, vocals), Phil Lanzon (keyboards), and Peter Goalby (vocals). This album was the last to feature Kerslake and Goalby before their departure from the band. Singles on the album include “Rockarama” and “Poor Little Rich Girl”.
STRYPER’s new album When We Were Kings‘ is now out. These guys seem to sound better with age, and the title track and video are classic! *Check out the clips already posted, as well as the press info and 40th anniversary tour dates.
The legendary, long-running metal band STRYPER has released its twelfth studio album ‘When We Were Kings’ alongside a new single, “Rhyme of Time.” STRYPER’s current lineup includes original members Michael Sweet, Robert Sweet, and Oz Fox, along with bassist Perry Richardson.
“The new single ”Rhyme of Time” is definitely a rock ballad with dark overtones musically, but lyrically it’s a love song. It definitely has its own signature sound compared to all the other songs on the album in the best of ways. Very excited about this one.” – Michael Sweet.
With ‘When We Were Kings’ STRYPER feel they are creating their finest and most powerful music yet.
About ‘When We Were Kings,’ Sweet adds:”We couldn’t be more excited about this new album. I feel that it really captures our classic sound, but also captures our most recent sound. We’ve definitely grown as a band and evolved quite a bit so it’s important to have both. We’re 40 years into our career and releasing the best music of our career.”Looking ahead, STRYPER is also working on a Kickstarter-funded documentary film directed by Chris Atkins. With career album sales exceeding 10 million worldwide and a history of Billboard Top 40 hits, STRYPER continues to record, tour, and perform for devoted fans globally.
Guitarist SEAN KELLY has become a huge part of the Canadian rock scene over the past 2 decades. In the early 2000s his band CRASH KELLY released a number of albums, and since then Sean has gone on to work with numerous acts as a songwriter, recording artist, and live player – NELLIE FURTADO, HELIX, HONEYMOON SUITE, LEE AARON and CONEY HATCH! Sean has also released a new book which discusses 80s hard rock & metal and includes loads of interviews with legendary 80s players – Don’t Call It Hair Metal. This book, and Sean’s previous writing Metal On Ice can be easily found online and in shops. Below Sean talks about the book and the new CD (sold separately from the book), both highly recommended for fans of 80s hard-rock & metal. Check out the links below. (*Photos courtesy of Donald Gadziola).
So, the book, I’m assuming the CD is meant to tie in with the book as did with the ‘Metal on Ice‘ and the CD with that book?
Yeah, exactly. That was something we kind of knocked around before the book came out. We didn’t quite line it up with the book release, but it was something I really just kind of wanted to get out of my system, too. I had a bunch of cover songs that were used as B-sides for, Japanese releases, and those were mostly, the kind of early 70s type stuff or the 70S – mid-70s glam stuff. But I always wanted to cover a couple of these songs, and I thought it would be kind of a nice thing to have as a kind of a compendium to go along with the book. You could listen along, and that was the motivation.
I’m kind of on the fence about ‘covers’ albums, because some bands, I don’t know why they do them, but other bands, depending on the track listing – and what I like about this is the track listing, because it’s a lot of stuff a lot of people would not normally hear covered – like “Roxy Roller” and the WASP song and a few others there.
It’s funny, those were just songs that for some reason or another stuck with me, like “Sex Action” by L.A. Guns, that song has just always kind of resonated with me from a guitar perspective. I just remember the video, so I really wanted to kind of capture that feeling of, for that, like the Troubadour in the early 80s in L.A., and then also the early days of Twisted Sister, which is why I picked “I’ll Never Grow Up Now“. So, kind of really between the early 80s hard rock and Sunset Strip stuff and the 70s glam – that was my whole inspiration for doing the Crash Kelly thing anyway. So, it works as kind of a sign of what Crash Kelly was about, but it also works as a companion to the book.
Is Crash Kelly basically just yourself now, or is it still a band?
I used to say it was kind of like T-Rex or Marilyn Manson. I always considered it a band, whoever was playing with me at the time was in the band, but really it was a benevolent dictatorship, and it still kind of is. It really was my thing, although I have to say that the drummer, Tim Timleck, he’s been my musical partner on so much of this stuff for many years, and he’s definitely a band member. We’re actually working on some solo instrumental stuff for me right now, and the guy is just so talented on so many levels.
And you had a few guests on it as well. I’m just trying to think, Nick from Slick Toxic…?
Yeah, Nick Walsh. Nick and I were in a band together called ‘Revolver’, but I’m a massive Slick Toxic fan. Slick Toxic, really one of the reasons I moved to Toronto was reading about them in ‘Meat Magazine’ and them getting a deal, and then they made that amazing ‘Doing the Nasty’ record. So yeah, I did say it was great. I consider Nick a very close friend of mine, and it was great to have him on that. That was many years ago we recorded that; he’s got the Alice thing down. Nick is a master vocalist, he has his own sound, but he can also kind of catch the tonality of different artists, and he just did the Alice thing perfectly.
When did you move to Toronto?
I moved to Toronto in 1991.
So that was kind of like a tough period for metal and all that, because I remember getting those Meat Magazines and suddenly you had all the Smashing Pumpkins and Nirvana and all these other bands that were on the covers and stuff.
That came just after. When I landed in Toronto in 1991, I’m from a smaller place, so it still very much felt like bands like Skid Row and Guns N’ Roses and Firehouse and Slick Toxic – they were still kind of the big bands, and then there was Extreme and Saigon Kick and all these bands. So, it felt like it was still very vital, and I remember getting to Toronto and immediately going to the Gasworks and seeing bands that were very much in that kind of 80s rock kind of paradigm. But you’re right, what was really happening was a change of scene was happening, and when it changed, it felt like it changed overnight, and all of sudden things were radically different. And unfortunately for some of us, it was harder to find a place in that, because it seemed like some of the things I valued, like the way I played guitar or the way I looked, those things didn’t seem as relevant. It was a new way of thinking about things.
Regarding the book, what inspired the whole concept, I guess the whole premise of it?
Yeah, I think I got a little flack by some people because they said – “well, who cares about hair metal!? A lot of bands consider themselves hair metal.” But you’ve got to remember, when that term came out, it was after market. That was a term that was applied to 80s rock after the fact. It was a pejorative term. It was a term designed to put it down. So no matter what it’s become – hey if you embrace it, you call it hair metal, you love it – more power to you! I actually don’t care. But where it comes from is from a pejorative insulting place, and that’s just fact. I’ll argue anybody on that. And what I wanted to do was… and a lot of these bands have expressed frustration because really what they are is rock and roll bands. And the best of it deserves to be considered among the best of rock and roll. I don’t care what you say, Cinderella? Tom Keifer’s as good a musician as anybody who’s come before or after. So to lump him in under some pejorative title, I find it insulting. And I am an artist. I am a musician. I know how it feels to be lumped into something when it might not be appropriate. So this was a deeper dive into the best of it. Now, sometimes I would go back and listen to things and go, Oh, you know what? I can kind of hear that is formulaic. Or I had to re-investigate or reconsider some things that I initially had thought about some of those bands. But for the most part, I really wanted to tell the story and honor the contributions of those people that made up the soundtrack of my life.
You’ve got a lot of interviews. How much time or (I guess) over how much of a period of time did you collect interviews and stuff for?
It was over about two years. Every time I go in and write a book, I’m working on it right now. I’ll tell my publisher, ‘Oh, yeah, it should be done by this so and so.’ And I always need an extension because what happens is once you start talking to people, new ideas percolate. And new directions reveal themselves. Fortunately, I have an amazing publisher, ECW Press, and an incredible editor who’s become a dear friend, Michael Holmes. And he is so ‘writer friendly.’ He just wants you to write the best book possible. So, if I need more time, he’ll fight for that for me, and I appreciate that.
I know you’re friends with a lot of these people like Dee Snider and that. Have you got much feedback from them regarding the book or the album?
I did. And I have to tell you, on the album not so much because really, let me just talk about the album. The album is only available through rockpapermerch.com. Yeah, I didn’t put it up for streaming. And I’m not really pushing it, and Crash Kelly isn’t really touring. But I kind of like that because the people that are seeking it out are realizing it feels kind of special. It’s something that’s not widely available, and it’s not disposable, unfortunately a lot of great music starts to feel disposable in the age of streaming. You listen to half of a new song, and you go ‘that’s cool’, and it doesn’t stick. And music like anything else – like food and art, takes time to learn to appreciate it. So, I think the people that have actually gone out and picked up the CD and dusted off their CD player I think that they appreciate it.
Yeah, well, with me, CDs are for the car, mainly. I have my vinyl downstairs. But, but yeah, there’s a lot of albums. One thing is there’s so many albums coming out nowadays, it’s tough to keep up, right?
That’s it. And because the technology is such that we can record albums more efficiently, cheaper, I think there is a bit of a glut in the market sometimes, even with bands that, you know, ‘Heritage bands’, so it’s tough. And because you have the access to it, you can flip through and, skip ahead. It’s so easy. It’s not like rewinding a cassette or having to walk over to the record player, pick up the needle, right? I think sometimes good music that normally would have really sat in the listener’s mind doesn’t get a chance to do so.
I think like when we grew up, you put on an album, you had to listen to it, because you didn’t have much else. And you listen to it over and over until a couple weeks later until you got something else. But now you can get three or four things in a day, right?
Totally. And listen, to answer the other part of your question, I had some wonderful feedback, Dee Snider reached out to me to tell me how much he loved the book and enjoyed it. And I’ve had that from a few different people who really kind of told me that. That made me feel good, because I really was writing that to honor them, and honor the artistic motivation of these people.
What’s your take on some of these, a lot of these bands are still going and some of them are kind of like getting a bit of flack, like obviously Motley Crue and a few of these bands that are still going and kind of, you know, making changes and stuff like that!? And then you have other bands that are going strong still, they’re putting out decent albums and stuff.
Yeah, honestly, I think that it’s up to the listener, but people don’t stop being creative. And that’s something that the audience sometimes needs to understand about artists, like, “why are they just putting out new music, it doesn’t sound like their old stuff, or it sounds too much like their old…” Listen, these are just people who want to create, I think it’s important. I think it keeps it fresh for artists. And it kind of re-energizes them to allow them to go and deliver those hits that people love. Yeah, that’s important. And look, at this stage of the game, for artists from the 70s and 80s, a lot of it is based on nostalgia, but it doesn’t mean that they’re not creative people. So, more power to anybody who takes a shot at it and puts something new out there. I appreciate where it’s coming from. And, it’s funny, someone was talking to me about this whole thing about bands that replace members, and when is it too much – I think if there’s some kind of officially sanctioned line to the original band, like, I just had a great chat with Pete Agnew from Nazareth. And Pete acknowledges it’s not the same game without Dan McCaffrey, or Daryl Sweet, sure, but it feels so authentic. We just played a gig with Lee Aaron with Nazareth, and it feels so authentic because it has the blessing of the original unit. Listen, Daryl Sittler doesn’t play for the Leafs, but they’re still the Toronto Maple Leafs, you know what I’m saying? It’s a franchise, and if it’s fostered and passed along with love and respect and integrity, I think it’s a great thing.
With Coney Hatch you’ve done the two live albums, and obviously a couple new tracks. (Yep) Have you guys given any thought to or are you hoping to record something new with those guys?
Absolutely, in fact, you know, I can say there’s been a couple of new things that have been worked on, and I don’t know what format that’s going to take, but you know, we’ve been in the studio and worked on a couple of things, so you never know what’s going to be coming in the future.
Lee Aaron’s another one, obviously you’re playing with Lee. And I never really got into Lee much in the 80s and early 90s, but the last four albums or so, they’re very consistent, very solid pop rock stuff…(Thanks.) Yeah, so I guess what’s your whole thing with her, like how you guys work together and, you know, she’s pretty consistent putting out albums, right?
I mean, Lee Aaron is very much the captain of the ship. But she’s also very, very open to input. We all write together as a band. At first it would be, she would co-write with when I first joined the band, co-write with me or co-write with Dave, the bass player (Dave Reimer.) But now we just all throw our best ideas into the pot, and we work on it together, and it’s been a really great experience. She’s amazing to work with, very open, very collaborative, you know, she produces a record, she’s got the direction, but very open and it’s been a really rewarding experience.
You’ve, obviously you’ve worked with a number of Canadian bands, not just Coney Hatch and Lee Aaron, but Honeymoon Suite and Helix and a few others. Do you ever have stuff where you’re writing with somebody and you think ‘this is an idea or something that would really sound great on somebody else’s thing’, you know, like you ever have kind of a conflict, I guess, of ideas?
Well, not really. I mean, I’ve never kind of come up with something and said, ‘oh I’m going to hold on to that.’ I’m not really like that. I believe in working with the artist at the time, if I’m co-writing with somebody, you know. Yeah, sometimes you bring things that you think they’re going to really love and that they’re going to be – ‘oh, this is going to be perfect, this is going to sound exactly like a vintage track of such and such artist’ and they’ll go, ‘nah, that’s not really what I want to do.’ So sometimes that’s interesting. It’s like, ‘oh okay’. But I’m always open to it. When I’m trying to help, especially when I play with a band that’s had success or a history, I’m just trying to really help them flesh out their vision.
Now you grew up on a lot of the stuff you’re actually playing in now. So what’s, I guess, your whole experience of where you are now looking back at it.. I wonder if you can talk a bit about that, like how that experience of going from being a fan to a band member.
Yeah, I always try and keep that fan alive when I’m playing with those bands, because it’s that excitement in their music that kind of drew me into a career in music. So, first of all, it’s an honor; it’s definitely a thrill. But also, I think that that renewed sense of energy helps to renew them. They start to see the influence maybe they’ve had on other people.And I think it becomes this nice transaction of energy.
Now, do you have any Canadian bands you’d still like to work with?
Ha Ha! Yeah, I want to work with everybody! I’m energized by working with people. I’ve been so lucky to get a chance to work with so many. April Wine comes to mind. I almost had a chance to work with them, but it just didn’t work out. But yeah, Kim Mitchell – that’s someone I’ve always, you know, Kim is to me, the greatest guitar player this country ever produced, so I’d love to love to work with him. You know what!? There’s so many. It’s almost too many (LOL) to think about. But I’ve been sure lucky to work with the people I have. I’ll tell you that much.
In talking with a buddy of mine we’d mention the number of bands that Spider (Sinnaeve) would show up in as bass player. So, in mentioning you he said, ‘he sounds like the Spider of Canadian guitar players.’
I don’t even close to anywhere as talented or prolific. But I’ve been very fortunate. And it’s weird how it’s worked out. Helix and Honeymoon Suite were my first concert. And I got a chance to play with both of them and write songs with both of them. I play guitar because of Twisted Sister, and I got to star in a musical with Dee. It’s kind of crazy.
You’re also doing an acoustic thing with Carl (Dixon)!?
Yep, we have a new project called ‘Northern Strum’, which is a lot of fun. I love working with Carl, and Carl and I are no stranger to the acoustic thing together. We did it for years. But this has taken on a new element and really enjoying it actually working on a couple of new arrangements right now of classic Canadian songs and having a great time with it.
Yeah, that’s just gonna be a corporate thing perhaps!?
That’s kind of the idea, right!? But, you know, we kind of take everything from an artist’s point of view – it’s always really about making something that feels artistically satisfying. And sure, we need to make a living. But wherever we go, it’s always kind of coming at it from the idea of a recording act or recording artist or from an artistic point of view. It’s never about crass commercialism. It’s always about art.
Can you tell me a bit about your own record collection? Do you still collect a lot of records?
You know what, I wouldn’t say I’m a collector, but I buy a lot of records. And I buy a lot of vinyl, just for the thrill of the ritual of taking off the shrink wrap, reading the liner notes, that was very important to me. And like everybody else, I got rid of my record collection. I had tapes, I got rid of tapes, I had CDs. And now I’m just back to vinyl. I just like the ritual of it. I get excited when I see something, maybe it was something I couldn’t afford or couldn’t find when I was a kid. And I find it now. And that’s what it’s really all about.
What are you currently listening to these days?
I just listened to – on repeat, the new Michael Schenker Group, a couple of songs with the guests. So, I was blown away with Joey Tempest from Europe and Roger Glover on “Only You Can Rock Me”. So, I’m a big UFO fan, big Schenker fan. I’ve been listening to that. I’ve been listening to Teaze. I got back into the band Teaze. I’ve been listening to Teaze ‘Tour of Japan’, great 70s Canadian rock band, who are still active. I’m trying to think what vinyl I picked up recently. I grabbed that Kiss ‘Destroyer’ Deluxe version. So, some of the demos on that. But really, – Enuff’s Enuff, Van Halen, Cheap Trick… that’s the stuff that I listen to at home. But I recently started hosting a radio show on 94.9 Rock called ‘Generation X Radio’. And I’ve been getting hip to a lot of great bands like Damn Truth and Sierra Pilot, Art Deco. So that gives me a chance to listen to brand new music. So, kind of the new interpretation by younger artists on the classic sounds that we grew up on. So that’s been great.
You’ve written a few books. Do you read much as far as rock bios?
I read tons of rock bios! I’m constantly reading them. I’m looking forward to the new Cheap Trick one that’s coming out very soon. I forget what the author’s name is, but there’s a new Cheap Trick one ‘From the Bars to Budokan’, I think it’s called. So, looking forward to that. And my buddy Robert Lawson writes some great books. I’ve just been reading his Nazareth book. His Cheap Trick book is excellent; it comes more from a listener, record collector perspective. I just read a couple of books on Power Pop, which were collections of writings by other music writers. Oh, I just read a book I have to tell you about – ‘They Just Seem A Little Weird’ by my good friend Doug Brod. It’s an amazing book that connects Kiss, Cheap Trick, Aerosmith and Stars. It’s incredible!
One last thing I want to ask you is, of your Canadian albums, can you recommend a few of your underrated Canadian bands or albums?
Oh, underrated. Okay, I’ll go Slick Toxic ‘Doing the Nasty.’ I’ll say, underrated, Big House – their self-titled album. Teaze, anything by Teaze. I really love the ‘Tour of Japan’ album because they’re playing great, they’re on fire, they’re in some place that are excited to see them. It’s a great, great record! Underrated(?)….Well, you know what, that first Kim Mitchell EP is crucial. The one with “Kids in Action”.
I remember that, that got played to death on the radio here.
Yeah, there’s bands like Refugee and Orphan and even on the New Wave side – Cats Can Fly or Images in Vogue, you know there was so much world-class music coming out of Canada. And, even on the rock side, Brighton Rock…
I’d like to see somebody do a book someday on just like the top 100 or 200 Canadian rock albums that are less than obvious.
MR BIG have a new album coming out next month. Check out the first 2 videos below, as well as the press info & bio, tracklisting and artwork (below)!
MR. BIG will release it’s tenth studio album, ‘Ten’, on Friday, July 12 featuring 11 new original tracks! In a tribute to their late drummer Pat Torpey, Martin, Gilbert, and bassist Billy Sheehan have enlisted the exceptional talents of Nick D’Virgilio on drums for ‘Ten’, which was produced by Jay Ruston and MR. BIG.
In the midst of their final tour – The BIG Finish – MR. BIG, inspired by the legions of fans that shared in their goodbye over the past year, wanted to say a final farewell with the undertaking of a brand-new studio album. Culminating over three decades of musical partnership, Martin, Gilbert, and Sheehan, with the help of D’Virgilio, ignite their spark once more and take a new form with the forthcoming ‘Ten’. The first single and accompanying video from ‘Ten’, “Good Luck Trying”, is a loud, raw, ‘70s blues rocker that pulls influence from MR. BIG’s earliest musical inspirations.
Eric Martin comments on ‘Ten’: “This new album doesn’t copy anything from the 9 previous studio records its all new stuff from scratch.. this is raw, unadulterated riff rock and blues with all the Mr. Big trimmings.”
Paul Gilbert explains the meaning behind the lyrics: “Overall, it’s about being overwhelmed with life, and realizing that you won’t win many of the battles, but still fighting to the end. And keeping a sense of humor about it by saying to anyone nearby, ‘Wish me good luck trying!'”
As a session musician and touring artist, Nick has worked with many different kinds of artists and bands, from Tears for Fears, Sheryl Crow, and Kevin Gilbert to Peter Gabriel and Eric Burdon and the ANIMALS. In 1996, Nick took Phil Collins’s place in GENESIS and played on their ‘Calling All Stations’ album. He has also carved out a major presence in the progressive rock world with his bands, Spock’s Beard and Big Big Train. Before joining the Sweetwater team, Nick spent almost five years touring with Cirque Du Soleil’s “Totem” as a drummer, vocalist, and assistant bandleader. The entirety of the album, recorded both live in the studio and on the tour bus, showcases the band’s unique ability to compose homegrown hard rock ‘n’ roll and their consistent success in climbing new musical heights.
MR. BIG recently completed the South American leg of its farewell tour, dubbed The BIG Finish, which sees the veteran band performing MR. BIG’s 1991 album, ‘Lean Into It’, in full and other cuts from the group’s history.
When MR. BIG announced The BIG Finish tour last year, the band members said that it was “time to mark the end of this chapter of their legacy” after Torpey lost his battle with Parkinson’s disease in 2018. The first leg kicked off in Japan and Southeast Asia in July and August 2023, where the band performed for hundreds of thousands of loyal fans at 11 sold-out shows including Budokan in Tokyo, Japan.
The band continues its tour in the US throughout the month of May before wrapping up in Buffalo on June 6. Additional European dates kick off on July 13 in Bulgaria. For a full list of tour dates visit HERE.
TRACKLIST: 1. Good Luck Trying 2. I Am You 3. Right Outta Here 4. Sunday Morning Kinda Girl 5. Who We Are 6. As Good As It Gets 7. What Were You Thinking 8. Courageous 9. Up On You 10. The Frame 11. 8 Days On The Road (Bonus Track)
UK Rock Legends UFO Reissue Rare 1988 EP With Vintage Live Bonus Tracks & Other Treasures!
The legendary British rock band’s rare 1988 EP, Ain’t Misbehavin’, is making a triumphant return in a Deluxe Bonus Track Edition reissue, promising a treasure trove of sonic delights for enthusiasts and collectors alike. Recorded in the wake of the band’s electrifying 1987 tour in support of their ’85 album Misdemeanor, this EP marked the final collaboration between UFO frontman Phil Mogg and the virtuosic Japanese-born guitarist Atomik Tommy M.Much like its predecessor, Ain’t Misbehavin’ goes full throttle from beginning to end with Mogg matching his vocal prowess to the pyrotechnic playing of guitarist Tommy alongside superstar bassist Paul Gray (The Damned) and former Magnum drummer Jim Simpson. The brilliant lead off track, “Between A Rock And A Hard Place,” ranks up there with some of the band’s best rockers. Check out this special digital single release of the track below!
This deluxe reissue not only reintroduces the original EP in all its glory but also treats fans to a selection of bonus tracks, including vintage live performances and other rarities that showcase UFO’s dynamic live energy and musical evolution. The artwork has been revamped with an even sexier front cover image, and the whole thing is being released on all formats this June 14 so order your copy today!
TRACK LIST: 1. Between A Rock & A Hard Place 2. Another Saturday Night 3. At War With The World 4. Hunger In The Night 5. Easy Money 6. Rock Boyz, Rock 7. Lonely Cities (Of The Heart) BONUS TRACKS 8. Only You Can Rock Me (Live In Milwaukee 1986) 9. The Chase (Live In Milwaukee 1986) 10. Night Run (Live In Milwaukee 1986) 11. Doctor Doctor (Live In Milwaukee 1986) 12. Between A Rock & A Hard Place (Instrumental Version)
Dokken’s One Live Night Is Now Available For The First Time On 180g Vinyl Through Deko Entertainment
Featuring the Original Lineup in a Special Semi-Acoustic Performance and Limited to Only 250 Copies of Each VariationStocktom, NJ – Dokken, formed in Los Angeles in 1978, had several hit singles which charted on the Billboard Hot 100, such as “Alone Again”, “In My Dreams”, and “Burning Like a Flame”, and has sold more than 10 million albums worldwide. The classic Dokken line-up consisted of founder Don Dokken on vocals, George Lynch on lead guitar, Mick Brown on drums and Jeff Pilson on bass.One Live Night is the 1996 semi-acoustic live album of the then reunited Dokken who recorded the album before a live audience at The Strand, an intimate concert venue in Redondo Beach, California, on December 13, 1994, and prior to their 1995 tour. The album went virtually unheard at the time of its release, being overshadowed by the then fledgling grunge and alternative rock movement.
Listen to “Alone Again” here:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwY1B6rqmBU Now it is available through Deko Entertainment for the first time on 180g vinyl as a double album with a beautiful gatefold. Completely remastered, repackaged, and limited to only 250 copies of each variation. This intimate performance includes versions of “Tooth and Nail”, “Into the Fire” and “Alone Again”, as well as covers of the Beatles’ “Nowhere Man” and Emerson, Lake & Palmer’s “From the Beginning”. This is a must have for any Dokken fan!
Legendary Rockers BLUE ÖYSTER CULT Share New Single “Don’t Come Running To Me”+ Music Video New Studio Album ‘Ghost Stories‘ due Out April 12th via Frontiers Music Srl. Pre-Order HERE
Legendary rockers BLUE ÖYSTER CULT share the second single from their upcoming release, ‘Ghost Stories,’ out April 12th on Frontiers Music Srl. The track, entitled “Don’t Come Running To Me,” is accompanied by a new music video.
After the resounding success of their 50th Anniversary celebration, ‘Ghost Stories‘ sees the band eagerly gearing up for an exciting new chapter in their storied career. This highly anticipated album marks a fitting finale to the recording legacy of one of rock’s most iconic fixtures from the past 50 years.
In partnership with Frontiers Music Srl, ‘Ghost Stories‘ will captivate fans with a collection of reimagined and completed songs that span from 1978-2016. These musical treasures, long considered the ‘lost gems’ by BLUE ÖYSTER CULT enthusiasts, were originally recorded between 1978 and 1983, except for one track from 2016, “If I Fell.” Also included is the only known recorded performance of their concert classic “Kick Out the Jams” (MC5 cover). Some of the material is from workshopping albums, some from performance rehearsals, and all were recorded once in the hopes that someday they’d see the light of day.
As BLUE ÖYSTER CULT embraces its ‘classic rock’ phenomenon status, the anticipation for this album is reaching a crescendo. Fans are eager to experience the culmination of the band’s artistic vision and witness the completion of songs that have become part of their folklore. The band will also add some of the songs in their up-and-coming 2024 shows.
With a legacy spanning over five decades, BLUE ÖYSTER CULT continues to be a formidable force in the classic rock scene. The exciting partnership with Frontiers Music Srl and the visionary leadership of Serafino Perugino add an extra layer of anticipation to the release of ‘Ghost Stories.’ As the band bids farewell to their recording career, they do so with a flourish, offering fans a musical odyssey that is sure to leave a lasting imprint on rock history. Truly, a remarkable journey.
Work in the studio for the album was completed by Richie Castellano along with remaining original members Eric Bloom and Donald “Buck Dharma” Roeser and both Albert Bouchard and Rick Downey appear on drums with additional overdubs recorded by Joe Bouchard. All these original lineup members appearing on ‘Ghost Stories,’ create a musical journey that traverses decades and promises easter eggs for days.
George Geranios, the band’s original audio engineer and an integral part of the band’s golden years produced the tracks along with BÖC and all were originally recorded on reel-to-reel analog tape. He transferred them to digital audio which is when modern AI and magical musical talents meet and the collection of vintage multi-track recordings was de-mixed, re-mixed, and produced by Steve Schenck and Richie Castellano to become ‘Ghost Stories.’ The two explain the album’s amazing process HERE
Band Members & Credits:
Eric Bloom – Guitar, Keyboards, Vocals
Albert Bouchard – Drums, Vocals
Joe Bouchard – Bass, Guitar, Keyboards, Percussion, Vocals
Old Habits Die Hard is the fourteenth studio album from the legendary British AOR rock band, FM. The album is released by Frontiers Records on Friday May 3, 2024, and available to pre-order from https://orcd.co/oldhabitsdiehard.
The first single “Out of The Blue” is now available and is available on all streaming platforms from https://orcd.co/fmoutoftheblue.
Released to coincide with the band’s 40th Anniversary (1984 – 2024), vocalist, guitarist and founding member Steve Overland says, “the new album encompasses the best melodic elements of the band’s illustrious 40-year spanning career.
‘We really looked at what made the most popular FM albums great and tried to focus on that,” says Steve about the new album Old Habits Die Hard.
FM are known by many for their big choruses, twin lead guitars and Steve Overland’s intimate, yet powerful vocals, and clean guitar sound. Following 2022’s Thirteen album, Old Habits Die Hard was delayed slightly by keyboard player Jem Davis’ cancer diagnosis (thankfully he’s now received the all-clear) and then by the sudden passing of FM’s founding guitarist Chris Overland (Steve’s brother), which hit the band hard.
“Chris’s passing came out of the blue and it was devastating,” says Steve. To add insult to injury, close friend of the band and long-time collaborator of Jim Kirkpatrick, guitarist Bernie Marsden passed away just two days after Chris.
The tragedies that plagued the band through the recording process only reinforced FM’s resolve and desire to make the best album that they could to represent their 40 years in the business. The new album is also a fitting tribute to Chris Overland.
Over the past 12 months, during their extensive touring schedule, FM produced the album themselves and recorded the bulk of it at their own Dale View and Electric Pepperland recording studios.
Opening track and first single “Out of The Blue” was a song that originated from keyboard player Jem Davis. Says Jem, “the band love the music of Toto and Foreigner and so I tried to put those influences into one track. ‘Once Steve got involved and started singing it, I knew that we were onto something special.”
“Out Of the Blue is a song that old school FM fans will really latch on to,” says Steve. “So far, the reaction to the track has been amazing.”
The album continues with the rocker “Don’t Need Another Heartache” an AC/DC meets Foreigner anthem with an infectious chorus. ‘This song will probably be in the live set for the 40th anniversary tour as it’s one of our favorites from the album,” explains drummer and founder FM member, Pete Jupp.
“Whatever It Takes” and “No Easy Way Out” are typical FM melodic tracks and could fit seamlessly on to one of the bands earlier classic albums. Bass player and founder member Merv Goldsworthy explains, “No Easy way Out has the big typical FM chorus. It’s a massive hook. The kind of thing that we’ve become known for. It’s one of my favorites on the album.”
The heavier side of the album is represented by “Lost,” “Another Day in My World,” and “Leap of Faith.” Whilst more hard hitting, these songs embody the catchy melodic choruses that FM are known for.
“Cut Me Loose,” “California,” and “Blue Sky Mind” are poppier, more feelgood tracks. “Blue Sky Mind” was conceived again by keyboard player Jem Davis who originally wrote the song about his experience with his cancer diagnosis. ‘That song really was therapy for me. It was important that I got it out of my system and into music,” says Jem.
“Black Water” is a brooding, bluesy track that grows and grows. ‘This is a real favorite of mine,” says FM guitarist,Jim Kirkpatrick. “I could hear Brian May playing the guitar solo, so I pulled out my Brian May signature guitar and tried to do my best impersonation of him. Hopefully I got somewhere close.”
Track Listing 1. Out of the Blue 2. Don’t Need Another Heartache 3. No Easy Way Out 4. Lost 5. Whatever It Takes 6. Black Water 7. Cut Me Loose 8. Leap of Faith 9. California 10. Another Day in My World 11. Blue Sky Mind Production Credits Old Habits Die Hard Produced by FM, Mixed by Jeff Knowler, Mastered by Jim Griffiths at Principal Audio Photography by Paul Stuart Hollingsworth
Recorded at West3 Productions, Tremelo, Electric Pepperland, Morsecode Studios, JK Studios *All songs written by – Overland/Goldsworthy/Jupp/Davis/Kirkpatrick
Outsider Rock 