What the Riff Next Gen

One of the great underappreciated singer-songwriters of the rock era was Tulsa, Oklahoma native Claude Russell Bridges, better known as Leon Russell.  Russell was a musician and songwriter with records spanning rock, folk, country, gospel, bluegrass, and blues who began playing piano at the age of four.  He went to the same high school as David Gates (from Bread), and the two collaborated as a gro...

Let's get this out of the way up front:  when you think of rock albums, Rick James is not the artist that immediately comes to mind.  But when former founding podcaster Brian Dickhute comes back and wants to do the album, we find it difficult to deny him. James Ambrose Johnson, Jr. was born in Buffalo where he was in a number of groups and bands as a teenager.  He joined the US Navy Reserves to av...

Pete Townshend intended the fifth studio album from The Who to be a science fiction rock opera called “Lifehouse,” as a follow up to the rock opera “Tommy” released in 1969.  After conflicts with their band manager and issues just managing the complexity of what Townshend envisioned the project to be, the rock opera was shelved, and the follow-up was made into a more traditional album entitled Who...

Rubber Soul was the sixth studio ablum released by The Beatles in the US and the UK.  The album was largely recorded in October of 1965 over a four week period, and relesed in December of 1965.  The Fab Four had completed their North American tour by August, and had returned to London to compose this album.  It would be the first album they completed without the pressure of commitments to tour, fi...

We've covered a lot of great bands and artists in our podcasts, but it is a rare occasion when we get to explore a group that has defined an entire rock genre.  The Cure are considered to be the defining band within the goth rock movement.  Formed in 1978 out of the post-punk era, this West Sussex band would grow into an international cult favorite, complete with black wardrobe, smeared lipstick,...

Swamp rock afficianados, this is your podcast! Despite forming in California, Creedence Clearwater Revival was known for their Louisiana sound often described as "swamp rock" or later as roots rock.  They tended towards an earlier rock sound during a time when much of their fellow performers were moving in a more psychedelic direction.  But CCR (as the band was known, or Creedence) would find prol...

We've made a few jokes in past episodes about Michael McDonald popping up in unexpected places.  It's an easy joke to make, because McDonald has a distinctive voice and has worked with a lot of artists covering numerous genres.  But the man is talented - both vocally and on the keyboards - and his career has put him at the forefront of rock music for a long time. Sweet Freedom is a compilation alb...

Van Halen’s New Era: The Launch of "5150" with Sammy Hagar In 1985, rock legends Van Halen were at a pivotal juncture. Following the departure of charismatic lead vocalist David Lee Roth, the band faced the daunting task of finding a new frontman. After an exhaustive search, Eddie Van Halen connected with a familiar face from the music scene—Sammy Hagar, the dynamic solo artist and former Montrose...

Wilmington, Delaware's George Thorogood got his start on acoustic blues.  He formed a band called the Delaware Destroyers in 1973, and this would eventually become his band, known as George Thorogood & The Destroyers.  He released his first record in 1977, and received more mainstream notice when he opened for the Rolling Stones in 1981.  The same year his touring schedule included the “50/50...

A supergroup is a band made up of musicians who have already achieved fame either as soloists or members of another band.  One of the most iconic of supergroups would be formed in 1988 and go by the name of The Traveling Wilburys.  In 1987 George Harrison released his album "Cloud Nine" with Jeff Lynne performing a number of instruments and co-producing.  They started talking about forming a group...

Stone Temple Pilots, often abbreviated as STP, burst onto the rock scene in the early 1990's, becoming one of the most commercially successful bands of that era.  Their debut album, Core, was released in late September 1992, and we're highlighting it in January 1993 when many of their hits were on the charts. The DeLeo brothers form the heart of the band:  Dean DeLeo's guitar work provides the son...

It will come as no surprise to regular listeners of this podcast that we are all big fans of Steve Perry, the chief vocalist of Journey.  So it should also not come as a surprise that we would want to feature his debut solo studio album called Street Talk.  Perry embarked on this solo project shortly after the release of Journey's "Frontiers" album, at a time when the group was packing arenas arou...

The Outlaws had a long history as a band prior to the release of this debut album.  Formed originally in 1967 in Tampa, Florida, the original name for the group was "The Four Letter Words."  They toured off and on through the early 70's, and made an aborted attempt at an album the late 60's.  Finally, they were signed by Clive Davis and Arista Records while opening for Lynyrd Skynyrd.  Ronnie Van...

Eric Clapton is a living legend in the rock world.  He was a member of the Yardbirds from 1963 to 1965, a founding member of the supergroup Cream, founding member of Blind Faith, founder of Derek and the Dominos, and a multi-album soloist.  He has received 18 Grammy awards, sold more than 280 million records world-wide, and is the only three-time inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Unplu...

While we may think of the German band the Scorpions as an 80's metal band, they started much earlier - way back in 1965.  Things didn't really come together for the group until the 1978-1992 personnel lineup of Klaus Meine on lead vocals, Rudolph Schenker on rhythm guitar, Mattias Jabs on lead guitar, Francis Buchholz on bass, and Herman Rarebell on percussion.  By the time that the live album ent...

There are two distinct eras of music by The Doobie Brothers.  From their formation in 1970 until 1975, Tom Johnston was the lead vocalist, and the group had a mainstream rock sound, with some folk and “California Country” influences.  Starting in 1975, Michael McDonald joined the group as a keyboardist, as well as providing lead vocal work to help Johnston, who was having health problems at the ti...

Because all of us presenters live in Georgia it is hard for us to believe that Cosmic Thing, the fifth studio album from The B-52's was the international breakthrough album.  We had been listening to “Rock Lobster” and “Private Idaho” for about a decade before this album came out.  But much of the B-52's discography was confined to college radio stations outside of their home state.  Cosmic Thing...

Johnny Cash was a prolific hitmaker in the mid 50's to early 60's.  In the late 60's  he released a couple of live albums which had crossover appeal:  "Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison," and "Johnny Cash at San Quentin."  By 1969, Johnny Cash had become an international musical success, selling more records than the Beatles at the time. Cash had left his original label, Sun Records, back in 1958.  How...

We've already covered a couple of Journey albums.  Episode 250 profiled "Infinity," the introduction of Steve Perry to the group.  And episode 26 delved into arguably the high water mark for Journey, the album "Escape."  Here we take a look at the band as they are in their transition into one of the world's biggest rock bands. The appropriately-titled album Evolution is Journey's fifth studio albu...

Did MTV make Duran Duran, or did Duran Duran make MTV?  Perhaps a little of both.  What is beyond doubt is that Rio, the band's second studio album, would propel Duran Duran into a worldwide new wave and dance phenomenon, and would be a major offensive of the Second British Invasion in the United States. Duran Duran had found success in the UK with their self-titled debut album in 1981, and expect...

OK, it isn't rock music, but the Soundtrack to "Saturday Night Fever" was a tremendously successful album both commercially and critically, and it had a major impact in popular culture of the later 70's.  The theatrical release of the movie actually went back to December of 1977, but it was the winner of the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in February 1979, one of only three soundtrack albums t...

By the end of 1970 Three Dog Night was in the middle of their most prolific and successful period of their career.  The group would land 21 Billboard Top 40 hits between 1969 and 1975 with three of these taking the top slot.  The group was formed by three vocalists in 1967 - Chuck Negron, Cory Wells, and Danny Hutton.  The other members of the band for this album are Mike Allsup on guitar, Joe Sch...

The Electric Light Orchestra, also known as E.L.O., was formed in Birmingham in 1970 by multi-instrumentalists Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood, and by percussionist Bev Bevan.  Wood was in a band called the Move in 1968 and had the idea of a new band which would feature classical instruments more prominently than the guitars, hoping to "pick up where the Beatles left off."  He recruited Lynne to the cause...

The year 1985 would find the band R.E.M. in transition between college band success and the mainstream powerhouse they were to become in future years.  The quartet of Michael Stipe on vocals, Mike Mills on bass and vocals, Peter Buck on guitar, and Bill Berry on percussion and backing vocals were moving towards a greater variety of instrumentation and a bit more experimentation with their third st...

Yes, you are right - Toto IV was released in March of 1982, not April of 1985.  However, the rock group Toto was a celebrity phenomenon in 1985, particularly in Japan.  In April of 1985 MTV broadcast a special episode showcasing a Toto concert from Japan. Toto IV was both a commercial and critical success.  Three of the singles would be top 10 hits, and the album would achieve triple Platinum stat...