70's/80's Rock Radio Soundtrack: From Jethro Tull to Jackson Browne..

My 86-song playlist / homage at the end of this post opens with Ian Anderson and his band. Jethro Tull front man, icon, innovator: Ian was the first to introduce the flute as a main rock music instrument.. and for me, the very first world-class musician I had the pleasure to interview!

And I DO mean that - he was absolutely delightful. Kind, accommodating.. generous in spirit. This guy certainly didn’t seem like the kick-ass rock and roller I'd seen a few years earlier on his 115 date, 1970 world tour - he felt more like a grandfather in his plaid shirt, vest and hat.. holding that signature pipe.

 

Comforting. 

As a 20-something with just a handful of radio years under my black leather belt.. I needed that. Only a thirty-minute warning that he would drop by the radio station for a pre-concert conversation? Freaked beyond belief. Ian Anderson!! How does one describe the '1st big interview' apprehension of talking live, on-air with such a beloved, bona fide icon whose music - by that time - helped shape the 70’s rock landscape?!

Scottish singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist who could sing, jump like a jester.. and play the flute on one leg while guitarist Martin Barre cranked out his amazing leads on the big stage.

I knew I’d freeze when I opened the microphone and I told him so. Not to worry, he kindly spoke.. assured me he’d do all the talking. He didn’t have to. Once I asked him how the tour was going our chat began to flow. 

 Re-released as a Collector's Edition in 2010

Will never forget my extraordinary intro to the art of Interview. I have Ian to thank and do that warmly today with an invitation to listen to this magical maestro’s album track.. and 85 other songs of the era - a tasty and diverse sampling of what we played on FM Rock Radio, then. 

Now.. 6 hours, 17 minutes and 31 seconds worth of tuneage - pretty much chronological in the order in which I interviewed each band and/or member of each group - some more than just once, tour after tour. Though this playlist is still a work in progress, ( stay tuned for more! ) it wraps with Jackson Browne whom I'll highlight in a future blogpost along with all the rest! 

                                   

  
Here’s to the remarkably gifted artists who gave us all of this incredible sound! Browse through the 86.. pick your favorites or play the whole list.. then play it again! Best to open the windows and turn the volume up. Way UP..


                      



- Still one of the coolest guys around - 

Ian Anderson continues to create music and perform (Thick As a Brick 2, was released April 2012 ) loves cameras, writes about Indian cuisine and is currently involved in protecting rescued wild cats! Keep on brother.. keep on.. (>'.'<)

Long Live the “King of Power-Pop” !

When viewed through the lens of his multitude of fans and followers, worldwide.. Paul Collins is quite clearly rock and roll royalty. His throne? Any stage that’ll have him throughout the USA, Europe and/or Japan +. His scepter? A must-have for any potentate: a stunning, sunset-red Rickenbacker that he wields with passion and authority and loves to brandish!
 

 
Ok.. all very tongue-in-cheek.. but look - he’s earned the accolades and the honorary crown. This guy is one of the hardest-working, hardest-touring rockers out there with a very impressive history to match.. and as Mark Deming wrote in a sweet review of Collins' 2010 release:

“Paul Collins might not be the King of Power Pop, but if there was an elected President of Power Pop, an album this good would certainly sweep him into office; it's fun, raucous, thoroughly enjoyable rock & roll from one of pop's greatest unsung heroes.”

Been at it a long, long while..

39 years since he co-founded the pioneering, seminal power-pop band The Nerves with Peter Case, ‘74-’78.
The short-lived The Breakaways followed, then The Beat, formed with guitarist Larry Whitman, drummer Mike Ruiz and bassist Steve Huff. A name change ensued to avoid confusion when a ska band popped up almost concurrently in the UK with the same name. The Brits switched it to The English Beat; remember their hooky tune Save it for Later? Paul’s band modified to Paul Collins’ Beat and on they went to score a deal with CBS records in 1979 with their first album simply called The Beat, followed by The Kids Are the Same.

 

Fast forward..

Some 30 + years to a box of recently unearthed, old photos. As I sifted through the stacks, one jumped right out and immediately took me back to the streets of Juarez, Mexico; an unforgettable afternoon/evening in 1981 with Paul and Larry along with our lively entourage. Picture us high-tailing it south of the border after an on-air interview at the notoriously hard-rockin KLAQ FM studios in El Paso, Texas, USA..

Pictured above: Guitarist Larry Whitman.. Lori P, then mgr Soundwarehouse Records.. Paul Collins.. Arin Michaels, Program Director, KLAQ and Bob Conrad, CBS record rep extraordinaire.

 
'On the Highway' in Juarez.. Luckily we missed the bus!

Arin Michaels, KLAQ & Paul Collins - Juarez, Mexico, 1981

                               


Off the road and into the restaurant..

The walls of the Shangrila Chinese restaurant are probably still reverberating from all the fun we had that night. Our mantra? Work hard.. play even harder!

Lori sold the music, Paul made the music, Bob promoted the music.. and moi? I gave it the deserved airplay so the listener could hear it.. love it.. then go out and buy it! Full circle, win-win.. for us all..

 Lori, Paul, Bob and Arin - Shangrila restaurant, Juarez

 

Since then, radio and the music business have changed, in this, the digital age.. dramatically. These days, Paul can be found at the confluence of two spheres: the world of the artist and the world of the get-it-done, DIY guy who, from all appearances, keeps on listening and traveling to the beat of his own drum; one that has propelled him forward, step by step thru the decades, with an army of admirers at his heels.

Check out his Facebook fan pages: The Beat Army, Paul Collins Beat  and his website http://www.thepaulcollinsbeat.com/ Read about him, Wiki him right here on this page, snap up some of his music then go see one of his shows!

Still out there rockin anywhere and everywhere he can..

On his way to Pomona, Cali - May 7th, 2013!

Rock on, Rory. Rock on!

These days.. there’s an undeniable Rory buzz felt around the globe! A resounding, posthumous reverberation.. gaining more amplitude by the moment as more people discover his music.

Rory Gallagher - Charismatic Blues-Rock multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, band leader. March 2, 1948 – June 14, 1995

 While well known and loved in Ireland and much of Europe in the 70’s /80’s, and voted Melody Maker‘s Guitarist of the Year in 1971 - ahead of such players as Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Pete Townsend and Jerry Garcia - he didn't get the FM airplay he deserved in the states. Progressive programmers and a few AOR (Album Oriented Rock) stations were on it - especially we renegades who played music for our audiences.. not the consultants and general managers - but with little play, he never 'broke big' and remained relatively unknown. Not entirely radio's fault. He wasn’t a sell-out.. didn’t care to be ‘number one with a bullet’ in Billboard Magazine.. stayed true to his music and even shunned his record company once as they were about to launch his career in America.

Without substantial on-air support in the USA, he was out there touring non-stop, blowing audiences away.. city after city. He didn’t need American radio to one day have a street named after him in Paris where anyone can stroll down le Rue Rory Gallagher and feel his presence. 

In Ireland folks understand what a beautiful force of nature this guy was. Their native son is celebrated in a large way with memorials and monuments from a street corner in Dublin to a bronze statue in Donegal.

Rory Gallagher Corner - Temple Bar, Dublin

Rory Gallagher Statue - Donegal

Consider the old Woodstock yarn which goes something like this - “A reporter comes up to Jimi Hendrix after the concert and asks him what it feels like to be the best guitar player in the world. And Jimi says: “How should I know? Go ask Rory Gallagher.” Some say it was Woodstock.. others claim it was the legendary Isle of Wight where Hendrix uttered such high praise, if he ever did. Whether the story is true or not.. that’s debatable.. fact is, Rory WAS one of the absolute finest players.. ever.. who lives on in the warmest of ways in the hearts and minds of many. He’s way up there in my pantheon of Guitar Gods.. definitely hovering near or at the very top.. and is attracting a whole new generation of fans who are beginning to feel same way.

 

Much more global recognition now than when he was alive and so it goes for many of the great artists and legends who have graced the planet. Thanks in part to the excellent 2010 documentary Ghost Blues - a 2 DVD set which includes The Beat Club Sessions, also found on a separately released audio CD - Rory's story and more of his music is out there. Highly recommend these discs along with his complete music catalog!

Extra thanks to Sirius-XM Radio’s Earle Bailey, who, on his always thoughtful Deep Tracks show, has gone the extra mile in turning his listeners on to RG.  He’s given Rory more on-air exposure in the past decade, or so.. and shown him more love and appreciation than any broadcaster I can think of.

Back in Black! ( and white.. )

Yes.. it's been awhile... 20 to 30 + years! They've treated me fairly well.. and you? I've followed my big dreams which have led me across the continents.. and back again.. and now after unearthing hundreds of photos from the old Rock Radio days - boxes of them - I've realized just how special those years were and how important it is to celebrate those remarkable moments in time.. at this particular moment in time.. and to show the love for the colorful cast of characters who made it all so memorable! The world of terrestrial radio professionals, record label reps, indies and consultants, managers and concert promoters.. and the artists themselves.. the rockers who gave us all of that amazing music to work with during such a significant and unparalleled era in rock and roll history.

 Roger Lifeset, Saxon lead singer Biff Byford and Arin Michaels

So stay tuned.. there is PLENTY more to come.. in stories, music and pix.. much like the one above after a 1982 Saxon concert in the hard-rockin town of El Paso, Texas! That's me wearing pie along with purple zebra! First published in Heavy Metal Magazine.. ( photo by the great Andy B.) Singer Biff Byford looks on after indie record promoter Roger Lifeset hurled the first one at me after I unsuspectedly walked through the dressing room door! Trust me.. it got rowdier by the minute..

Saxon - An English heavy metal band formed in 1976. Front runners of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal. They still tour regularly and have sold more than 15 million albums worldwide.