OSIBISA: Howard Popeck interviews Gregg Kofi Brown: Lead vocals, bass, guitar, compos. Part 1 of 3 – in the recording studio

Hi Gregg. Thank you so much for agreeing to this. So jumping right in … Q: Where do your affections lie; is it vinyl, CD, Radio, live gigs? A. Playing live is my passion. It’s the one thing I missed during the pandemic, although I was able to record some live performances for social media. […]

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Q&A / LITTLE RICHARD: What was he referencing in his song, ‘Tutti Frutti’?

NEIL ANDERSON … To fully understand the song you need to scrutinise the lyric. Now, there’s a lot of repetition, but the verses are: Tutti frutti, oh rootieTutti frutti, oh rootieTutti frutti, oh rootieTutti frutti, oh rootieTutti frutti, oh rootieA wop bop a loo bop a lop ba ba I got a gal, named Sue, […]

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Q&A / HEAVY METAL: What album made you a heavy metal fan?

ROY TRUAX … This one… Turned 13 that year. Was ripe for something (anything really) that made-up for boring radio friendly noise polluting the airwaves. ’76 was a great year for… denim bell-bottoms. Starland Vocal Band, Dr. Hook, The Captain and Tennille and other glorified Holiday Inn circuit acts where inescapable!!! Not everything was utterly […]

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Q&A BILL HALEY: Why didn’t any of the big 50s rock & rollers acknowledge him? They did covers of each others’ songs but never one of his.

John Howard Sr writes … Just off the top of my head, I can think of two reasons. First, Bill Haley was white. Many radio stations simply would not play songs by black artists, even if the songs were big hits. A large number of record producers and managers took advantage of this by having […]

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Is music ever worthy of your FULL attention?

Originally published here 2014 Steve Guttenberg writes: A couple of weeks ago Geoffrey Morrison and I wrote about listening to music from totally opposite perspectives. He started with “Music multitasking: How ‘background’ listening enhances life,” and I countered with “To listen to music or not: That is the question.” Apparently, we’re not done; on Wednesday […]

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Can you think of a musician or band that went 30+ years without a loss in the quality of their music?

LELAND SHENFIELD … OK, A lot of these answers are individuals. Let’s try a BAND that plays one of the HIGHEST QUALITY and most DIFFICULT styles of music: Progressive Rock. Let’s talk: RUSH. Rush 1976. Double doublenecks. Crazy, I know, but needed for the songs that they used them on, because they are crazy. Rush […]

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Q&A SHORT LIVED: Who are the best band members who left after only 1 or 2 albums?

Thom Harmand writes … Greg Lake, Ian McDonald, and Michael Giles from King Crimson – The lineup (except for Fripp and lyricist Pete Sinfield) was in flux for awhile.: From Wilipedia: After their first US tour, King Crimson was in a state of flux with various line-up changes, thwarted tour plans, and difficulties in finding […]

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Q&A BLACKBIRD: What is the story behind the song Blackbird by the Beatles?

TODD LOWERY (Arranged “The Complete Beatles” for publication at Hal Leonard LLC (1986)) “Blackbird” was written by and solely recorded by Paul McCartney. The acoustic guitar part is based on “Bourree in E Minor” by J.S. Bach. Other than his voice and his Martin D-28 acoustic guitar, the only other sounds on the recording are […]

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Q&A BRIAN MAY: Seems like a remarkable human in every way. What’s your best Brian May story?

VIOLET ZANN: There are many, but there’s one in particular that I recently discovered and I’d love to share. In 2012 Brian bought 121 acres of land that were about to be developed into building, and planted over 100,000 trees there with help from volunteers. It’s now a thriving woodland called “May’s Woods”. 15.4K viewsView […]

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MUSICAL ENGAGEMENT: What is a band whose music you just don’t get?

TODD BARTHOLOMEW writes … I think David MIchaels pretty much nailed it. Taste is subjective and a matter of opinion. There have been a lot of popular bands where I just don’t get the appeal or popularity. I don’t disparage them because I know how hard the artistic process can be. Tastes change and evolve […]

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NOTORIUS: What rock albums are notorious for the band members all recording their tracks in separate and isolated sessions before the final mix?

Rocci Disopa, former Recording Engineer Without a doubt…”Synchronicity” by The Police. 1983’s LP by the English band ‘The Police’ was its zenith. The totally organized chaos that became the biggest Rock band in the world, had humble beginnings. Yet they somehow managed to put aside those huge egos and big frustrations, and record one dominant […]

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DYLAN: How close is Bob Dylan to his children, and do they ever collaborate on music together?

Amy Christa Ernano, lifelong rock & roll fan, sometime singer Only one of Dylan’s 6 (known) children, Jakob, is a musician, and no, they have never collaborated on music. As far as I know, Jakob had a hard enough time distinguishing himself as a musician in his own right, as opposed to being “Bob Dylan’s […]

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ANGRY: Who’s a famous singer whose music is so bad that it genuinely makes you angry?

CHRIS GIESBRECHT suggests Harry Styles: “Do they let him write his own songs? They need to stop him from doing that. His first single as a solo artist made me angry at the whole concept of music. It was the most insipid, vapid, uninspired, cliche-riddled garbage I’ve ever heard. I know nothing about him or […]

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FEAR: Have any musicians in a notable band ever been genuinely fearful of one of their bandmates?

Carl Mally writes … Watch the movie Beware of Mr. Baker. It tells about Ginger Baker the incredibly talented drummer for Cream. Everyone around was afraid of him or did not want to have anything to do with him because of his temper and nastiness. Another story that is supposed to become a movie soon […]

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