When Keith Richards met the Police
Keith Richards has had his brushes with the law – some severe ones, at that. He has faced police busts, endured house searches and razzias, […]
1980s
THE STORY BEHIND THE SONG: «Grimly Fiendish» by The Damned
Grimly Fiendish is a baroque, gothic rock song performed by The Damned. It was the first single from their 1985 album Phantasmagoria, which was a […]
THE STORY BEHIND THE SONG: «Is That You?» by KISS
“Oww!” The eight studio album by KISS opens with a proper howl by frontman Paul Stanley as he launches into Is That You?. It might […]
THE STORY BEHIND THE SONG: «Radio Free Europe» by R.E.M.
R.E.M. was an American rock band from Athens, Georgia. They formed in 1980, and consisted of drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, […]
THE STORY BEHIND THE SONG: «Stonehenge» by Spinal Tap
Stonehenge is a group of mysterious standing stones on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England. Historians believe Stonehenge was constructed around 1500 B.C. and was used […]
THE STORY BEHIND THE SONG: «I Guess That’s Why They Call It the Blues» by Elton John
Too Low For Zero, stylised as 2 ▼ 4 0 on the album cover, is Elton John’s seventeenth studio album, released on 30 May 1983. […]
THE STORY BEHIND THE SONG: «Out In the Fields» by Gary Moore & Phil Lynott
Out In the Fields is a song by Gary Moore and Phil Lynott, released as a single on 6 May 1985. The two Irishmen had […]
THE STORY BEHIND THE SONG: «My Michelle» by Guns N’ Roses
Appetite For Destruction was Guns N’ Roses’ first full-length studio album, released on 21 July 1987. The album would eventually explode onto the worldwide music […]
When Yngwie Malmsteen unleashed the fury on a flight to Tokyo
Some years back a recording appeared online, supposedly of Swedish guitar maestro Yngwie Malmsteen launching into a furious tirade on a plane. Initially, it was […]
Artist spotlight: Quartz
Quartz is an English heavy metal band from Birmingham. They came to prominence during the initial rise of the NWOBHM (New Wave of British Heavy […]
THE STORY BEHIND THE SONG: «Africa» by Toto
Africa is one of the world’s most popular and/or well-known songs. It is also a very divisive song – even amongst Toto fans, and even […]
THE STORY BEHIND THE SONG: «Son of a Bitch» by Accept
As Accept prepared to go into the studio to record their third album Breaker, they brought with them what they considered to be the best […]
The Alarm at the Wang Centre for the Performing Arts in Boston MA, 26 April 1988
The Alarm were musically at their peak as a live band when they toured the Eye of the Hurricane album in 1987 and 1988. There […]
THE STORY BEHIND THE SONG: «God Blessed Video» by Alcatrazz
Alcatrazz is a hard rock band that was built up around vocalist Graham Bonnet. Having been a member of Rainbow as well as Michael Schenker […]
THE STORY BEHIND THE SONG: «Stone Cold» by Rainbow
Rainbow is an interesting band in that there are several very different versions of it. Each version of the band is more or less defined […]