When Orson Welles recorded with Manowar
Several legendary actors have provided narration for rock and metal bands. Sir Christopher Lee had a particularly close collaboration with Italian symphonic metal band Rhapsody […]
Rock’n’Roll War Stories
When Neil Young lurked in the bushes outside a CSN recording session
The constellation of musicians referred to as CSNY (Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young) has an intriguing and complicated history. CSN have mostly been active together without […]
When David Crosby got pranked by his CSNY bandmates
The constellation of musicians referred to as Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young has an intriguing and complicated history. In 1988 they released the American Dream […]
When Ace Frehley of KISS got electrocuted on stage
In the 1970s, KISS emerged with one of the biggest and most spectacular rock’n’roll shows on the planet. It included extravagant stage designs, a larger-than-life […]
When U2 got trapped inside a giant lemon
The Spinal Tap mockumentary is legendary for all the right reasons. It is one of the funniest movies ever made. The music is way better […]
When Buffalo Springfield was formed thanks to a traffic jam
In 1966, Neil Young drove his battered 1953 Pontiac hearse from Toronto, Canada to Los Angeles. He wanted to form a band with Stephen Stills, […]
When Rick Wakeman pushed Salvador Dali off the stage
Before finding superstardom with progressive rock giants Yes, Rick Wakeman joined the folk-prog band Strawbs in 1970. It was an interesting time for Wakeman, who […]
When Deep Purple and It’s A Beautiful Day swapped song ideas
Deep Purple In Rock is one of the all-time classic albums of its genre. Released in 1970, it firmly put Deep Purple on the map […]
When a banjo-playing Vince Gill opened for KISS
It was 4 March 1976. KISS were due to play a show at the Civic Center Music Hall in Oklahoma City. The show was sold […]
Snowblind: Ozzy Osbourne vs David Lee Roth
Back in November 1978, Van Halen was the opening band on Black Sabbath’s North American tour. By most accounts, David Lee Roth’s band put on […]
Pink Beatles (or: how close was Paul McCartney to joining Pink Floyd in the 1970s?)
First of all, let’s answer the question posed in the headline: not very close at all. The paths of Paul McCartney and Dave Gilmour have […]
Keith Moon: «THAT was noise. THIS is the ‘oo!»
Keith Moon was known for two things: his innovative and spectacular free-form drumming for The Who, the like of which the world has rarely seen […]
THE STORY BEHIND THE ALBUM: «Stormbringer» by Deep Purple (a.k.a. When funk drove Ritchie Blackmore out of the band)
Saying that Deep Purple has gone through many line-up changes is like saying that there are many stores in a mall. The various line-ups are […]
Big Country vs. bottles and explosives at Reading Festival, 1983
The Reading Rock Festival is an institution in the UK. It started in the 1960s and kept going for many a year at the Richfield […]
When KISS released four solo albums on the same day
In 1978, the world saw one of the most extravagant album launch campaigns ever: the simultaneous release of solo albums by all four members of […]