Music Talk Radio

      Media has changed drastically since the 1970s, as has how we consume it. Today, we can access bands and artists through Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, and Podcasts. We have so much info readily available to learn about and be exposed to the artists and bands we love.   Right now, I am watching YouTuber Rich Beato interview Maynard James Keenan, the lead singer of Tool. The interview made me realize just how easy it is to humanize artists. Teenagers today never enjoy the mystery of a band or artist's image.     In the 70s, though, media, or lack thereof, allowed the mystery and band image to grow.  For instance, there was a whole mystique about Led Zeppelin and who the members were as "real" people. We didn't have social media at the time. We didn't even have the internet to look them up. So, band management could represent a band or artist's image how they wanted to. It was easier to sell the band's image, and, as consumers, it was easier...

      To be honest, at sixteen, I was in a haze at the end of the crazy, bell-bottomed, experimental 70s.  Even so, The Car's self-titled debut album stuck out like a sore thumb. That I even noticed was saying something in my case. I was hanging on to the end of Led Zeppelin's reign.     There wasn't anything like this type of "New Age Rock," or very little at the time. This was a breakthrough album for the soon-to-be genre. Rock and roll, for the most part at the time, was struggling, and the end of disco was beginning. This left a gap for The Cars to step in. Perfect timing!     The production on The Car's debut album was polished, the songwriting was succinct and tight, and the arrangements were refreshing. The use of synthesizers in particular. Of course, you had Ric Ocasek's voice, which lent itself to the quirky, catchy, rock-laden tunes. Ocasek didn't look like anyone else either. He was acceptably odd.        The C...

     It was news to me that two guitarists came in to record and write quite a bit of the guitar parts on 1974's " Get Your Wings ." Aerosmith's second album. According to Sam Roche from guitar.com , Steve Hunter and Dick Wagner were called in by Producer Jack Douglas simply because he didn't feel Joe Perry or Brad Whitford could write or play the guitar parts needed to give the record a professional sound. Neither guitarist Perry or Whitford were happy about it, but they acquiesced to keep their record deal after almost being dropped when their self titled debut effort didn't do well.      The guitarists brought in by Douglas were  Steve Hunter, who had played with both Lou Reed and Alice Cooper, and Dick Wagner who also played with Alice Cooper. So, Alice Cooper's guitarists.      In a conversation with Brad Whitford, Matt Parker of guitarworld.com quotes Bradford as saying that Steve Hunter plays the solo on "Train Kept A-Rollin." Hu...

    I had no idea Nazareth's 1975 song "Love Hurts" was initially covered by The Everly Brothers in 1960. I just can't picture it. (The song was not written by either band.)      The Nazareth version is dripping with hurt thanks to lead singer Dan McCafferty's perfect gritty voice, while the Everly Brothers sound so 'politely' hurt! I prefer the Nazareth version. Check out The Everly Brother's version and Nazareth's version.

     There are some great female singers: Ann Wilson, Pat Benatar, and Janis Joplin, for instance. Although Linda Ronstadt was multi-genre, and that is a positive, she was a phenomenal rock singer. Linda is a powerhouse and should be right up there with the best female rock vocalists. She could do it all: soft ballads, country, rock and opera.       I happened to think of Linda while watching a reaction video by "The Charismatic Voice" on YouTube. The host, Elizabeth, an opera singer, reacts to rock and metal songs she has never heard before.  Check it out.  She was completely unaware of Ronstadt's talent in the rock world. Elizabeth teaches opera and has studied Linda's opera technique in school. It reminded me of Ronstadt's talent. Another fun fact is that Don Henley, Glenn Frey, Bernie Leadon, and Randy Meisner  were all members of Linda Ronstadt's band before forming the Eagles. That says something.    Ronstadt has won 11 G...

     I know Prince is not classic rock. Still, I wanted to mention a few songs he wrote for other artists in the 80s and 90s that I  read on phactual.com .        I knew he wrote "Nothing Compares 2 U," which Sinead O'Connor made famous in 1990.      He wrote what I thought was a song written by Chaka Khan, "I Feel For You." I never would have guessed that!      I didn't know he wrote the Bangles hit "Just Another Manic Monday." For the life of me, I can't hear him singing that at all. He is credited on the song but under the name 'Christopher.' I can imagine him singing "Nothing Compares 2 U," though. He recorded "Nothing Compares 2 U," but I haven't heard it.     Prince also co-wrote "Stand Back," which Stevie Nicks wrote in response to hearing "Little Red Corvette" on her wedding day. She recorded a demo of "Stand Back" on her wedding night in a hotel room.       Nicks asked Princ...