Freelance writer and broadcasting school graduate who edited his college newspaper, produced and engineered radio talk shows, and produced Major League Baseball broadcasts. In between, he held approximately 87 different jobs, all of which he departed when he couldn't find anyone interesting to talk to.
While speaking with her, it is impossible not to recognize that former teen pop sensation Tiffany is all grown up. She projects a self assuredness and independence well earned along a difficult road traveled, spanning her attempted emancipation from her mother at the age of 16, two subsequent divorces, and the turbulent ups and downs […]
For 33 years and counting, Chad Smith has played drums in the high profile Red Hot Chili Peppers, a band who has been enshrined in the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame and sold more than 80 million albums to date. Yet, there are times where it seems like that is merely his part-time job. […]
Darryl McDaniels, the DMC in legendary rap group Run-DMC, famously left his mark on popular culture with his booming voice, creative rhymes, trademark attire, and imposing physical presence. He continues to do so today, not only in the studio and on stage, but also as an author, speaker, comic book publisher and for the better […]
In a once painful and turbulent but still very vibrant life, Cherie Currie has been a regular on American Bandstand, acted on television (Murder She Wrote, Matlock, etc), co-starred in a movie with Jodie Foster, was portrayed by Dakota Fanning in another and in the minds of millions, will forever be the fiery voice of […]
Quiet Riot drummer Frankie Banali is battling Stage 4 pancreatic cancer, and he’ll be the first to tell you that his prognosis is bleak. Still, it hasn’t stopped him from playing drums and scheduling future tour engagements for the band, plans that he is expecting to be a part of. On a day to day […]
Lisa Velez, more commonly known around the world as Lisa Lisa, first appeared on radio and MTV as a teenager, when Lisa Lisa & The Cult Jam’s ‘I Wonder If I Take You Home’ became a surprise hit in 1985. A long string of Billboard hits followed, including ‘Head to Toe’, ‘Lost in Emotion’, ‘All […]
Ruth, Anita, Bonnie & June Pointer – The Pointer Sisters – were brought up in West Oakland, California singing gospel music at the encouragement of their mother and reverend father. The foursome – soon to become a trio – would go on to sing professionally, garnering sixteen Top 40 hits on the Billboard charts, including […]
Bob Gruen | Of Personal Interest
As Tom Keifer and the six other members of his Keiferland band took the stage at the Bergen Performing Arts Center in Englewood, NJ earlier this month, their entrance music couldn’t have been more timely. The Rolling Stones’ classic “Can’t You Hear Me Knocking” blasted over the theater’s PA, while that legendary band — whom […]
Singer Bernard Fowler insists on operating outside of his comfort zone. Having worked with a long and diverse list of artists ranging from AC/DC to Duran Duran, Motorhead to Bonnie Raitt, Jerry Lee Lewis to the late Michael Hutchence, Fowler has written or performed songs spanning Rock, Pop, Blues, R & B, Jazz and Hip […]
Nils Lofgren is known as much for his long and collaborative relationships with rock royalty (most famously, Neil Young, Ringo Starr and Bruce Springsteen) as he is for his accomplished solo career and virtuosity on guitar. His personal and reflective new album, ‘Blue With Lou’, checks both boxes as it features 12 new recordings from […]
Taylor Dayne began her career by singing in small New York venues ranging from prestigious clubs like CBGB and The Bitter End, to the much less heralded Russian-American nightclub she was steadily employed at for years. Come 1987 however, her single ‘Tell It To My Heart’ made her an overnight star in Europe, and within […]
Not long after Rick Allen and I are seated in a quiet corner of a midtown Manhattan restaurant, the affable drummer of Def Leppard is indulging me on topics ranging from Thomas Dolby (who played keyboards on Pyromania under the pseudonym Booker T Boffin), to our mutual approval of the Rolling Stones’ recent set list […]
In the late 1980’s and early ‘90’s, Bobbie Brown was seemingly everywhere. She was crowned Miss Louisiana Teen USA, finished second runner up in the Miss Teen USA pageant, spent months on Star Search as the most prominent model in the show’s history, was featured in music videos for artists ranging from Terence Trent D’Arby […]
Mickey Thomas, has been the lead singer of Jefferson Starship and Starship since 1979, and his voice appears on 12 Top Forty hits, 3 memorable Number Ones from the 80’s, and one of classic rock’s most popular ballads. Now Thomas is accepting a brand new challenge by taking a star turn as Dennis Dupree in […]
Music has always been second nature for Holly Knight – by the age of 14 she had already studied classical piano for a decade. Yet, few could have anticipated the impact on popular music she would eventually have, and the indelible mark she would leave on one of it’s most celebrated eras, the 1980’s. Knight wrote or […]
In the high haired 1980’s, current Rock of Ages drummer Chris Moore chased his dream of becoming a professional musician, only to leave it behind for a more practical life and career. Decades later, he proved that dreams don’t have an expiration date. This is his story, in his words. [as told to Robert Ferraro] […]
Melissa Etheridge’s first three albums, which she affectionately calls “The Red One, The Black One and The White One”, earned her a loyal audience, along with critical acclaim for her deeply personal songwriting and emotional delivery. It was the release of 1993’s ‘Yes I Am’ however, powered by singles ‘I’m The Only One’, ‘Come To […]
These days, Belinda Carlisle is an activist, humanitarian, and friend to animals the world over. What she also is, of course, is the unmistakable voice of numerous radio hits, dating from her time with the famously rambunctious Go-Go’s, through her glamorous days as a chart topping solo artist. In this conversation Carlisle discusses all of […]
At a mere 59 years of age, Thomas Dolby has already lived a life in full. In the 1980’s he became a musical innovator with his eclectic smash hit ‘She Blinded Me With Science’, followed by 5 Grammy nominations and memorable appearances at the two largest live musical events of his generation. In the 90’s […]
Bebe Buell, a charismatic pop culture presence for five decades, represents different things to different people. For some, she’s the glamorous model who burst onto the pages of magazines while still a teenager. For others, she’s the Playboy Playmate who posed as a centerfold in a still popular 1974 pictorial. And for many others, she […]
Like most musical artists, Lou Gramm, whose powerful and distinctive voice led legendary rock act Foreigner to over 70 million albums sold worldwide, had to overcome his share of struggles along the way to success. Unfortunately for Gramm, those struggles were as unique and tough as his voice. The first hurdle nearly cost him a […]
Paul Stanley, the charismatic frontman for Kiss, has been a rock and pop culture giant for the better part of 5 decades. On stage he ignites audiences with his trademark bravado, but off of it, he shows a more subdued and thoughtful side that is exhibited through his painting – vibrant work that has garnered […]
Rick Allen first appeared behind the drum kit with Def Leppard nearly 40 years ago, at the tender age of 15. His drum sound would go on to leave a distinct impression on modern popular music, appearing on over 100 million albums sold, and winning him fans the world over. It was overcoming the loss […]
Gary Gulman will try to tell you that he’s not an intellectual comedian, and with some of his best known bits centering around cookies, the Karate Kid and yogurt containers, you might be inclined to believe him. . But when in conversation with him about comedy and his career – which includes a long string […]
In August of 2016, Ann and Nancy Wilson and the rest of Heart took to a stage in Washington, in the midst of an extensive Summer tour. While the band was performing it’s encore, Ann’s husband, angered at Nancy’s twin 16 year old boys for leaving the door to Ann’s tour bus open, physically attacked them. He was […]
Joey Tempest is the lead singer of an internationally renowned and platinum selling band, and the signature voice of one of the most enduring songs in popular music history. Tempest not only penned the lyrics for Europe’s ‘The Final Countdown’ at age 17, but wrote its iconic keyboard riff as well. One of rock music’s […]
Amy Holland started out in the music business when she was just a teen, eventually scoring a hit single with 1980’s ‘How Do I Survive?’ It would mark the beginning of a long, diverse, and too often interrupted singing career that would see her record songs for movies such as Scarface and St Elmo’s Fire, […]
Share0 Tweet0 Share +10 Lita Ford has worn many hats in her 40 plus year career, all of them comfortably. As a guitarist in the seminal all girl band The Runaways, she was a pioneering musician. After two hit singles (Kiss Me Deadly and Close My Eyes Forever) pushed her album ‘Lita’ to platinum status, she […]
Kenny Aronoff is known primarily as the drummer you’ve heard on most of John Mellencamp’s biggest hits, leaving his hard hitting mark on songs like Jack & Diane, Pink Houses, Small Town and countless others. Among musicians however, he is better known for his astoundingly long history of studio work, in service to a roster […]
For the first time since she was 19 years old, Nancy Wilson finds herself a full fledged member of a hungry new band. On an open ended hiatus from working with Heart and her sister Ann, she lends her voice and guitar to a Rock and R & B collective creatively named, ‘Roadcase Royale’. Their debut album, ‘First […]
Bernard Fowler has been an integral part of the Rolling Stones for so long now, that it’s hard to remember when they last toured without him (it was 1982). Providing backing vocals on the largest stage in live music, Fowler has won fans the world over with not only his rich voice and wide vocal […]
Ann Wilson, the renowned voice of Heart, is trekking across America on a solo tour that will see her play 80 dates before its conclusion in November. I spoke with her after her show in Sylvania, Ohio and discussed the tour, what a song must possess for her to want to sing it, bringing an […]
Men Without Hats’ Ivan Doroschuk is a polite, contemplative and soft spoken Canadian, a multilingual former law student, and a classically trained pianist. Ivan Doroschuk is also a punk at heart, possessing a defiant anti-authority streak which has informed both his music, and a turbulent musical career that spans five decades. Above all else however, at least […]
Many of classic rock’s most celebrated heroes are finding themselves to be of a somewhat advanced age, learning that attempting to create inspired and socially relevant music late in a career, is often a losing proposition. The results often range from derivative and inconsequential, to embarrassing. Heart’s Nancy Wilson, now in the fifth decade of […]
Alonzo Bodden has probably entertained you somewhere, somehow, during his 24 years of comedy. He has appeared on network and cable television, acted in major motion pictures, done voiceover work for cartoons, and hosted radio shows and podcasts. You may also recognize him from the news, as he was widely heralded for donating a kidney […]
It is widely recognized, by both fans and peers alike, that Ann Wilson owns one of the most formidable voices in rock history. That voice has propelled Heart, a collaborative with her sister Nancy, to twenty Top 40 hits, and over 35 million albums sold worldwide. Ann also possesses one of music’s more distinctive voices, […]
In 1981, a brand new channel calling itself ‘Music Television’ chose an astronaut walking on the moon as the symbol of its brand. The message was clear: no one has gone where we’re going in the field of television entertainment. Four decades later, MTV remains a pop culture landmark. Still, the groundbreaking 80’s are widely […]
Will Calhoun is the relentlessly creative and widely respected drummer for funk metal pioneers, Living Colour. Voted by the readers of Modern Drummer as “Best Progressive Drummer” on three occasions, he has collaborated with musicians as diverse as B.B. King, Public Enemy, and the Rolling Stones’ Ron Wood. A graduate with honors from the Berklee […]
