Working in one of the larger record stores I'd ever stepped into for much of the '90s provided the opportunity to encounter a collection of characters that one might ordinarily have to do time to experience. (an outcome that one co-worker narrowly avoided after being busted for manufacturing his own money) Of these compatriots, The Drunken Frenchman was certainly one of the more memorable. A good decade older than most of us, he had eased into the role of gruff, cantankerous elder so effortlessly that there was a yard no doubt lamenting his [...]
Capitolo Ke$ha . Se sei stata miracolata fin'ora dalle classifica non puoi permetterti di fare la figa e di prenderti un periodo sabbatico alquanto lungo per cercare di trovare l'ispirazione per comporre il nuovo album (cosa che fanno i più grandi al fine di re-inventare il loro percorso artistico e così offrire al pubblico l'evoluzione del personaggio). Si dice "batti il ferro finchè è caldo", frase che la cantante in questione deve aver colto molto bene visto che si è decisa a sfornare un nuovo album a poca distanza dall'ultimo (senza contare che è in arrivo dal medesimo qualche [...]
News Legendary rocker Alice Cooper spoke to USA Today about "Welcome 2 My Nightmare", a sequel to his platinum-selling 1975 album "Welcome to My Nightmare", which he is currently putting the finishing touches on with producer Bob Ezrin.
Over 15 years since their last album, the two-headed rock 'n roll behemoth that is Urge Overkill , will finally make its return. Their new album, Rock&Roll Submarine , is out May 10th on their own label UO Records . The band's mixture of arena-ready hooks with punk rock ferocity is as potent as ever, as apparent on the rip-roaring new track, "Effigy." As fans who crowded NYC's Mercury Lounge this past October to witness the reunited group can attest, UO's live...
With a line-up that included members of '70s stalwarts such as Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Yes, and Uriah Heep, Asia not only helped popularize the term "supergroup," but they also scored the biggest-selling album of 1982 with their self-titled debut. While it wasn't surprising that the release found favor with rock audiences, the group managed to become immensely popular with pop audiences, notching a pair of hit singles with Heat Of The Moment and Only Time Will Tell (the former climbing to #4 on the charts). Asia's follow-up, Alpha , [...]
With their first two albums, 1981's Too Fast For Love and 1983's Shout At The Devil , the Los Angeles glam-metal band Motely Crue had become one of the most popular acts in metal circles. Although Shout At The Devil had sold millions of copies and even spawned several videos that received heavy airplay on MTV, radio play was still practically non-existent. However, by the time Motley Crue's third album, Theatre Of Pain , arrived in the summer of 1985, things had changed. Hard rock acts like Quiet Riot and Ratt had [...]
With the twin-guitar attack of Jeff Watson and Brad Gillis - the latter having filled in with Ozzy Osbourne for the late Randy Rhoads - San Francisco's Night Ranger clicked with rock fans on their 1983 debut Dawn Patrol . The group also managed to crossover to a pop audience with the #40 single Don't Tell Me You Love Me . Their 1983 follow-up, Midnight Madness , looked as though it would keep the band in a holding pattern when its lead single (You Can Still) Rock In America stalled at #51 on [...]
One-time New York police officer Eddie Money burst onto the music scene with his self-titled 1977 debut, notching a pair of Top 40 hits and rock radio staples with Baby Hold Onto Me and Two Tickets To Paradise . His next several albums, though, failed to duplicate that success and by the beginning of the '80s, it appeared that Money's career had stalled. Then came his 1982 release, No Control . Arriving in late summer, the album quickly spawned a radio hit with Think I'm In Love . Like his earlier work, [...]
Californian musician Tony Carey spent time playing keyboards for hard rock band Rainbow in the '70s before relocating to Germany and pursuing a solo career. Forming a musical partnership with German producer Peter Hauke, he had earned radio play with the song Why Me under the name Planet P Project in 1983, as well as some minor hits as a soloist with songs including I Won't Be Home Tonight . In 1984, Carey released his second solo album, Some Tough City , on which he played virtually every instrument. Culled as the lead single, [...]
Hailing from Sheffield, Human League was one of the first New Wave acts to breakthrough in the US. Although their success in the States lagged behind that in the UK, their single Don't You Want Me topped the US charts during the summer of 1982, propelling its parent album Dare! into the Top Ten. Although the group failed to notch a follow-up hit, they received a Grammy nomination as Best New Artist in early 1983. Recording a follow-up album to Dare! proved to be difficult and by the summer of 1983, it [...]
In 1981, Phil Collins successfully launched a solo career parallel to his role as the lead singer of Genesis. Face Value saw him actually surpass the commercial fortunes of the band with the album reaching the Top Ten and it's first single, the horn-driven I Missed Again , climbing to #19. The album's second single went in an entirely different direction. Where I Missed Again was upbeat and almost playful, In The Air Tonight was filled with menace and dread. Featuring a now-classic, cavernous drum sound and Collins' echoed vocals, the [...]
British guitarist John Parr received his introduction to American listeners in early 1985 when his song Naughty, Naughty , a slice of melodic hard rock, climbed to #22 on the pop charts. It would be one of only two US Top 40 hits for Parr, but the song is probably remembered by far fewer music fans than his other one. That song, St. Elmo's Fire (Man In Motion) , would become a hit during the summer of 1985 and prove to be a far bigger hit for Parr. The song had a built-in audience as it [...]
Born in Argentina and raised in the UK, singer/songwriter Chris DeBurgh had reached superstar status in much of Europe and South America when he released his album The Gataway in May of 1983. However, during a career that had already spanned nearly ten years, he had been ignored in the US and UK. Produced by Rupert Hine (The Fixx, Howard Jones), The Getaway featured a heavier reliance on keyboards and, as keyboard-dominate acts were prospering, it proved to break DeBurgh in both the US and England. Driving the breakthrough success was the single [...]
One-time aspiring opera singer Pat Benatar burst onto the rock scene in late 1979 when her debut, In The Heat Of The Night , became a surprise smash on the strength of her gritty-styled rock and roll. The first hit from that record, Heartbreaker , epitomized that song and rewarded Benatar with her first US Top 40 hit. For the follow-up single, We Live For Love , Benatar opted for a decidedly different approach. While she would primarily become known for guitar-driven rock, We Live For Love made greater use of keyboards and [...]
Although they were often lumped in with, and performed with, other punk acts of the period, the British trio The Police infused their reggae-tinged music with classic pop melodies so effortlessly that they easily became a commercial, as well as critical, force to be reckoned with. Beginning with their first album, 1978's Outlandos d'Amour , and through their first four albums, they continued to capture a larger audience and have greater success. When Ghost In The Machine hit #2 on the album charts in 1981 and spawned the #3 single Every Little Thing She [...]
Although all four of The Beatles had success in the years after the band broke up, Paul McCartney certainly maintained the highest profile from a commercial standpoint. During the '70s, and with his recorded output mostly with his band Wings, McCartney placed two dozen singles into the US Top 40, including 17 Top Ten hits and five #1s. McCartney began the '80s with his second solo effort, titled (appropriately enough) McCartney II . With it, McCartney added to his cache of chart-toppers with the first single Coming Up . Not surprisingly, the song was an immediate [...]
Without a doubt, one of the most enduring images from the videos of the '80s is that of 'Til Tuesday singer Aimee Mann, rising from her seat in a theater and belting out the song Voices Carry to the dismay of her abusive boyfriend. Although the band, broke up less than three years after that smash, it remains a classic video and song from the period. Led by Berklee School Of Music student Mann, 'Til Tuesday formed from the ashes of the Boston band The Young Snakes. The band's triumph in a battle of the bands [...]
When the Boston quintet The Cars released their fifth album in early 1984, they were already established stars with platinum-selling albums like Candy-O and Panorama to their credit and a string of hit singles including Good Times Roll , My Best Friend's Girlfriend , and Let's Go . Their previous album, 1981's Shake It Up had continued the winning streak spawning their biggest hit to date, the Top Ten title song, as well as a couple of minor hits like Since You're Gone . However, [...]
Upon their formation in 1981, the British quartet Asia was immediately dubbed a supergroup as its members had previously spent time in such '70s stalwarts as King Crimson, Yes, and Emerson, Lake & Palmer. Despite their pedigrees as progressive-rockers, Asia brought a surprisingly concise and pop-oriented feel to their self-titled debut. Released in 1982, Asia quickly topped the album chart, becoming the biggest record of the year. More unexpectedly was their mainstream pop radio success. The driving and muscular Heat Of The Moment - inspired by the Bjorn Borg/John McEnroe Wimbledon final the year [...]
From its opening, heralded by a thumping bassline, Loverboy's Turn Me Loose immediately grabbed radio listeners and made for an attention-getting introduction to the Canadian band. The song, from their 1981 self-titled debut album, came less than two years after the group's formation in Toronto and launched a career that would make them one of the most successful mainstream hard rock acts of the first half of the '80s. Driven by lead singer Mike Reno, who punctuates the usual hard rock delivery with falsetto climaxes, Loverboy managed to deftly blend crunching guitars with synthesizer sheen in [...]
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