Classic Rock
An Oral History of The Clash’s “The Magnificent Seven”
“It’s perfect,” Joe Strummer insisted about The Clash’s fourth album, the sprawling, 36-song triple album set, Sandinista!, over beers in an East Village bar back in the early 1990s. While Strummer’s tongue was firmly in cheek, he wasn’t backing down on his claim. He loved his former band, and Sandinista! loomed large in the legend about everything they stood for – the good and the bad, planting feet firmly in the future while still honoring the past, not to mention both their collective creativity and rock star excess – and still stands today as a remarkable, if beguiling, achievement. Featuring forays into everything from jazz and gospel to hip-hop and rockabilly, Sandinista! was the ultimate rock and roll indulgence by a band that had only just started to crack the big time after releas...
Charting the Influence of Santana
Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Play | Stitcher | Radio Public | RSS Consequence of Sound and Sony present The Opus, an exploration of legendary albums and their ongoing legacy. For Season 11, host Jill Hopkins (The Moth Chicago, Making Beyoncé podcast) will conjure the enduring magic of Santana’s landmark Abraxas. As we’ve already learned this season, the members of Santana all came in with their own eclectic perspectives. From the traditional to the avant garde, they dropped a witch’s cauldron of diverse sonic experimentation. For the third episode, The Opus wants to talk about the power of influence. Not only on the members of Santana, but how they’ve since left their own distinct thumbprint on artists for generations to come. Gro...
Kyle Meredith’s Best of 2020 Pt. 1: Stephen Malkmus, Ed O’Brien, Paul Banks, and More
Listen via Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Play | Stitcher | Radio Public | RSS For all of December, Kyle Meredith is looking back on his favorite moments in 2020. This week, we revisit talking with Stephen Malkmus as he geeks out about Led Zeppelin, Radiohead’s Ed O’Brien balancing the darkness of the world with an optimistic light that he carries, Interpol’s Paul Banks finding his own new light within the band Muzz, King Krule discovering The Beatles, Sparks being masters at cussing, and Buzz Osborne who gets playful about the importance of music. Kyle Meredith With… is an interview series in which WFPK’s Kyle Meredith speaks to a wide breadth of musicians. Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, Meredith digs deep into the artis...
Slash: New Guns N’ Roses Pinball Machines Are “Way Beyond My Expectations”
A couple of months ago, Guns N’ Roses announced a series of “Not in This Lifetime” pinball machines, modeled after the band’s mega-successful reunion tour of the same name. The arcade games were co-designed by Slash, who caught up with us to discuss all things pinball and his involvement in the creation of the machines. The “Not in This Lifetime” machines are manufactured by Jersey Jack Pinball, and are available in three editions — Standard, Limited, and Collectors — each with a different design on its body. The machines feature a 21-song soundtrack that closely mirrors the setlists that Guns N’ Roses played on their “Not in This Lifetime” tour, which saw the return of classic members Slash and Duff McKagan. As we learned from Slash while speaking with him about the machines, his love of ...
Tom Petty’s Estate Releases “Something Could Happen” Video Starring Lauren Cohan: Watch
Tom Petty’s estate has released a new music video for “Something Could Happen”. It’s directed by Warren Fu (The Strokes, Daft Punk) and stars The Walking Dead’s Lauren Cohan. “Something Could Happen” appears on Wildflowers & All the Rest, Petty’s new double album reissue of his 1994 record Wildflowers. When finding inspiration for the track’s music video, Fu fell hard for “Into the Great Wide Open”, off Petty’s 1991 album of the same name, and decided to create a modern spinoff on its imaginative, out-of-left-field video. “In looking back on Tom’s old music videos, it was obvious that he had a lot of fun with them and was not afraid to get a bit weird,” said Fu in a statement. “I wanted to create another modern fairytale in the spirit of Tom’s music video for ‘Into the Great Wide Open’...
Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr Pay Tribute to John Lennon on 40th Anniversary of His Death
Today, December 8th, marks the 40th anniversary of John Lennon’s death. The Beatles’ two surviving members, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, have both posted tributes to their former bandmate, as have Lennon’s two sons, Sean and Julian. “A sad sad day but remembering my friend John with the great joy he brought to the world,” wrote McCartney in a social media post. “I will always be proud and happy to have known and worked with this incredible Scouse X love Paul.” McCartney’s tribute was accompanied by a photo of the two musicians together as taken by his late wife, Linda McCartney. A sad sad day but remembering my friend John with the great joy he brought to the world. I will always be proud and happy to have known and worked with this incredible Scouser! X love Paul#JohnLennon 📷 b...
Paul Stanley on Kiss’ Record-Breaking New Year’s Eve Show
Kyle Meredith With… Kiss Listen via Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Play | Stitcher | Radio Public | RSS Kiss legend Paul Stanley and Landmarks Live creator Dan Catullo sit down with Kyle Meredith to discuss the band’s upcoming New Year’s Eve show, which is said to be their biggest show ever. Catullo tells us of safely producing a show of this magnitude during a pandemic and doing it live from Dubi to a virtual audience around the world. Meanwhile, Stanley details the importance of bringing people together and how he makes a show that people will watch online compelling for them at home. The frontman also speaks about his unstoppable positive outlook, an update on the debut record from his side band Soul Station, impressing Rod...
The Origin Story of Carlos Santana’s Abraxas
Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Play | Stitcher | Radio Public | RSS Consequence of Sound and Sony present The Opus, an exploration of legendary albums and their ongoing legacy. For Season 11, host Jill Hopkins (The Moth Chicago, Making Beyoncé podcast) will conjure the enduring magic of Santana’s landmark Abraxas. For the second episode, The Opus is curious to know the stories behind the liner notes to Abraxas. Sure, Carlos Santana was the face and name of the band, but he wasn’t the voice and he didn’t make up the totality of their signature sound. Of course, a good bandleader knows it’s not always about them, and Santana was no exception to that rule. His crew of players were all virtuosos in reach of their respective areas, and together they cr...
Slash Unveils Gibson “Victoria” Les Paul Standard Goldtop Electric Guitar
Gibson and Slash have announced the “Victoria” Les Paul Standard Goldtop electric guitar, the latest instrument in the company’s expansive Slash Collection of signature models. The “Victoria” Les Paul Standard features a maple top, a solid mahogany body, a dark back finish and personal touches from Slash, including a C-shaped neck profile, uncovered Gibson Custom BurstBucker Alnico 2 pickups, color coordinated hardware appointments, hand-wired electronics with Orange Drop capacitors, and a vintage style brown hardshell case. Exclusive to the collection is Slash’s “Skully” drawing on the back of the headstock and the guitarist’s signature on the truss rod cover. Developed in tandem with Slash himself, if you want to play and sound like the guitar legend, look no further than this new Les Pa...
Cherie Currie on Living with Trauma
Listen via Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | Google | Pocket Casts | Radio Public | RSS Presented by Consequence of Sound and Sound Mind Live, Going There with Dr. Mike is a new interview podcast series in which clinical psychologist and life coach Dr. Mike Friedman talks with musicians about the crossroads where music and mental health meet. Cherie Currie joins the show this week to discuss her experience with trauma and post-traumatic stress. The Runaways vocalist explains how she was the victim of two separate sexual assaults as a teenager, and describes how she experienced symptoms of post-traumatic stress, including anger and hostility, pervasive distrust, and emotional detachment. The Neon Angel author recalls how she initially coped with the traumatic events, includin...
David Lee Roth Creates Morbid Artwork Referencing Sammy Hagar
The rivalry between erstwhile Van Halen singers David Lee Roth and Sammy Hagar has taken on a new art form … and a morbid one, at that. Diamond Dave has created a new piece of artwork that makes several references to the Red Rocker’s future passing and afterlife. Roth’s art piece comes just a few days after Hagar said he would have loved to take part in an all-inclusive Van Halen farewell tour featuring all three of the band’s singers (including Gary Cherone), despite a “not user friendly” DLR. The “kitchen-sink” tour, as Wolfgang Van Halen referred to it, was being planned by Eddie Van Halen before his passing in October. While the timing of Roth’s artwork seems to be in direct response to Hagar’s harsh words, the subject matter apparently references quotes that Hagar made back in June. A...
Hollywood Will Never Stop Loving the Music Biopic
This past week saw the release of Stardust, a biopic about David Bowie’s first trip to the United States. If you’ve seen any piece of media related to the film, you probably know that the movie was received poorly — to say the least. This isn’t surprising, though. When the film’s first trailer dropped months ago, the film was immediately scorched online for being a very blatant and very poorly executed attempt to piggyback off the recent success of other musical biopics such as 2018’s Bohemian Rhapsody and last year’s Rocketman. Whereas those two films at least had the wherewithal to secure the rights to their stars’ likeness and discography, Stardust opted out of either of those things. Even so, the film chugged along on the strength of its premise alone, but mostly because it’s a musical...
