What the Riff Next Gen

JUNE of 1971 “One World” by Rare Earth Detroit-based Rare Earth brought a funk rock fusion sound to the scene. Motown was looking to expand its repertoire and signed Rare Earth to a yet-to-be-named record label more focused on white rock acts. When members of Rare Earth suggested that they name the record label "Rare Earth," Motown surprisingly decided to do so. Rare Earth had a string of successe...

MARCH of 1982 “Asia” by Asia In early 1981 with the apparent demise of prog-rock supergroups Yes and Emerson Lake & Palmer, a new supergroup began. With Jon Wetton (King Crimson) on vocals and bass guitar, Steve Howe (Yes) on lead guitar, Geoff Downes (Yes and The Buggles) on keyboards, and Carl Palmer (Emerson, Lake, and Palmer) on drums, Asia began work on this self-titled debut album which...

“Some Girls” by the Rolling Stones By the time that “Some Girls” was released The Rolling Stones were a household name. This was their 14th British and 16th Studio album, and was both a commercial and critical hit. Many reviewers consider this the best album since "Exile on Main Street." Rock music was taking a back seat to punk rock and glam rock, and the late '70's was dominated by disco. “Some...

“Dulcinea” by Toad the Wet Sprocket This fourth album by Toad the Wet Sprocket takes its name, “Dulcinea,” from Don Quixote's love interest in the Cervantes novel. “Toad the Wet Sprocket” was formed in 1986, and takes ITS name from a Monte Python sketch. Consisting of Glen Phillips on guitar and vocals, Todd Nichols on guitar, Dean Dinning on bass, and Randy Guss on drums, Toad the Wet Sprocket wa...

“The Doors” by The Doors With their self-titled debut, The Doors burst onto the late 1960's scene on the strength of Jim Morrison's poetry and psychedelic style. There's a dark element to the group. The band takes its name from a book by Aldous Huxley called "The Doors of Perception," and took inspiration from concepts of altered perception. Jim Morrison could not read music or play an instrument...

“Dream of the Blue Turtles” by Sting This is the first solo album from Sting - formerly known as Gordon Sumner - formerly the front man of the ultra-successful band, “The Police.” The title, “The Dream of the Blue Turtles” was based on a dream Sting had while recording in Barbados. He was sitting in his walled garden at his home, and the wall crumbled down as a crowd of giant blue turtles invaded...

“Fair Warning” by Van Halen Eddie and Alex Van Halen moved to America from the Netherlands as children of a musician father. Eddie and Alex formed their band along with front man and perennial showman David Lee Roth and bassist/vocalist Michael Anthony, and were known as a hard working band in Pasadena. It wasn't long before they developed a following of several thousand in the area, and Gene Simm...

“Gordon” by The Bare Naked Ladies Some groups take themselves way too seriously. That is an accusation that could never be leveled against the Barenaked Ladies. Rob shares that Ed Robertson and Steven Page began the group after getting bored at a Bob Dylan concert. They made up a list of imaginary bands for music critics...and a few years later entered a local music festival under the name of one...

“Animal Tracks” by The Animals Wayne hosts this episode on The Animals. Formed in 1962 as an electric blues/rock band, The Animals followed a trend amongst many British Invasion groups of the day in arranging blues songs in a rock format. They would later get more psychedelic, but the album Animal Tracks is from their earlier, blues-focused era. Eric Burdon fronts the group, and The Animals would...

** GRAVE DANCER'S UNION by Soul Asylum ** Wayne shares this great album by 90s sensation, Soul Asylum. Black Gold Somebody to Shove Get on Out April Fools ENTERTAINMENT TRACK: Theme from “Frazier.” STAFF PICKS: "Believe" by Lenny Kravitz — Bruce. “Fields of Gold” by Sting — Brian. “Come Undone” by Duran Duran - Rob. “Not Quite Sonic” by Mother Earth — Wayne. LAUGH TRACK: "Three Little Pigs" by Gre...

CRIME OF THE CENTURY by Supertramp Rob brings us Supertramp — with their commercial breakthrough, Crime of the Century, their third studio album. Rick Davies and Roger Hodgson rebuilt the group after their first two unsuccessful albums, adding Bob C. Benburg on drums, Dougie Thomson on bass, and John Helliwell as their woodwinds player. Although not a concept album, Crime of the Century loosely fo...

ALLIED FORCES by Triumph. Brought to us by Bruce, Triumph was a great band out of Canada that tended to be in Rush's shadow. They hit their greatest commercial success in 1981 with their fourth album Allied Forces. Featuring Gil Moore on drums and vocals, Mike Levine on bass and keyboards, and Rik Emmett on the high vocals and the flying "V" guitar, Triumph wrote stunning anthems and driving rock...

SECOND COMING by The Stone Roses. The Stone Roses burst on the scene in 1989 with their self-titled debut album. However, legal wrangling with their record label, combined with slow progress on new material caused their next album to be delayed for years. That second album entitled “Second Coming” was finally released in December 1994. The Stone Roses are out of Manchester, England, and showed up...

Another Mother Further, by Mother’s Finest Bruce hosted this Album. Truth'll Set You Free "Baby Jean" Kennedy takes the lead vocals on this gospel-inspired track. Mickey's Monkey This remake of the original Smokey Robinson and the Miracles song also takes inspiration from Led Zeppelin — listen to the difference we share — and takes the energy level up a notch from the original. Piece of the Rock "...

If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears, by the Mamas and the Papas Brian hosted this Album. Monday Monday California Dreamin' Hey Girl Go Where You Want to Go Got a Feelin' ENTERTAINMENT TRACK: Theme from Flipper. STAFF PICKS: "Five o'clock World" The Vogues Wayne's pick. “Groovy Kind of Love” - Wayne Fontana & the MindBenders Rob's Pick. "Shapes of Things" - The Yardbirds Bruce's Pick. “19th N...

Can’t Buy a Thrill by Steely Dan This is Walter Becker and Donald Fagen's debut album as Steely Dan. Taking their name from the William S. Burroughs novel "Naked Lunch," Becker's guitar work and Fagen's keyboard and vocals combine in a jazz-rock fusion, and Can't Buy a Thrill​ shows a lot of smoothness and diversity from jazz to latin to straight-ahead rock guitar. This is a stellar debut album fr...

Scarecrow by John Mellencamp ​With his eighth studio album, John Cougar becomes John Cougar Mellencamp as he transitions away from his stage name and towards his real name. This also is the album where John Mellencamp transitions towards a purpose of his own. He brings his passion for small towns and small farms to the songs of this album. Mellencamp is maturing into the activist that would charac...

FEATURE: COLD BLOOD - by Cold Blood from February 1970 I’m a Good Woman — This is the first song on the album, and gives a great flavor of both the vocalist and the talented horn section. Watch Your Step — The Hammond organ leads off this jam. The band sounds like it is channeling James Brown on this track, and has a screaming sax solo. I Just Want to Make Love to You — Yep. You know this song. Th...

FEATURE: PINK FLOYD - Wish You Were Here from SEPT 1975 Pink Floyd Wish You Were Here SOUNDTRACK: ʺWelcome Backʺ - John Sebastian. Welcome Back Kotter Space 1999 STAFF PICKS: ** “Ballroom Blitz” - Sweet.** Rob thought this was Meatloaf for years....a great story behind this song. "Bastille Day" - Rush. Bruce brings Rush in with Bastille Day....a release that nearly ended their career. WHY? We don’...

FEATURE: HOURGLASS - Power of Love from JUNE 1968 Hour Glass was a band based in Los Angeles, California in 1967 and 1968. Among their members were two future members of the Allman Brothers Band, Duane Allman and his brother Gregg. Power of Love was their 2nd album. The first was a lighthearted, poppy 60's type sound with a slight soul taste, and "the music had no life to it" according to Allman....

FEATURE: Yes - 90125 from DECEMBER 1983 Yes disbanded after a disappointing run with their tenth album Drama in 1980. Former Yes members Chris Squire, Alan White, and Tony Kaye joined with newcomer Trevor Rabin to form a new group called Cinema. The new group would trend towards more mainstream tastes, with shorter songs but maintaining excellent musicality. But after asking Jon Anderson to join t...

FEATURE: Queen - Innuendo from FEBRUARY 1991 Freddy Mercury - the iconic lead vocalist for Queen - was nearing the end of his battle with AIDS as the band was putting together their 14th album. This would be the last album of all-new material with Freddy Mercury, as he would die in November of that year. This is a great album, and a poignant one, as Mercury's health was deteriorating. Join us as w...

FEATURE: The Alan Parsons Project - I Robot from JUNE 1977 Isaac Asimov's science fiction was the inspiration for The Alan Parsons Project's second album, and I Robot draws on concepts of artificial intelligence in its songs. The Alan Parsons Project is a progressive rock group led by Parsons and Eric Woolfson at the core and surrounding themselves with session musicians. Alan Parsons had extensiv...