Table of contents for June 2024 in Classic Rock (2024)

Home//Classic Rock/June 2024/In This Issue

Classic Rock|June 2024“I WONDER WHAT PHIL MIGHT HAVE THOUGHT…”Scott Gorham launches his first ever art exhibition, in London on April 22. You were probably unaware that the Thin Lizzy and Black Star Riders guitarist likes to wield paintbrushes and pens as well as a Gibson Les Paul, probably because Gorham hid this ‘other’ talent under a bushel for decades, drawing in the secrecy of hotel rooms around the world, and without informing bandmates or even his wife of several decades, Christine. Indeed, Gorham insists that he would never have disclosed this artistic side but for the stubborn insistence of Mrs Gorham, who stumbled on a folder of his drawings at their home. While discussing his art with Classic Rock, Gorham appears almost apologetic, at times close to embarrassment. “With a guitar around my neck you can throw me…6 min

Classic Rock|June 2024Chris CrossChris Cross, a long-time bassist with Ultravox, has died at the age of 70. Ultravox colleague Midge Ure described Cross as “the glue that held the band together”, adding: “You were the logic in the madness in our lives. It was great to know and grow with you. You are loved and missed, old friend.” Born as Chris Allen in Tottenham, North London, Cross studied art and psychology at art college in London, where he helped form Tiger Lilly along with John Foxx (then named Dennis Leigh), guitarist Steve Shears, drummer Warren Cann and keyboard player Billy Currie. Tiger Lilly renamed themselves Ultravox! in 1976, and released three art-rock albums in the 70s: Ultravox!, Ha!-Ha!-Ha! and Systems Of Romance. Poor sales lead to Shears’ sacking and Foxx’s departure in 1979.…1 min

Classic Rock|June 2024Mark SpiroSongwriter, recording artist and producer Spiro has died of lung cancer on his 67th birthday. As well as having a career as a solo artist, releasing a trio of albums that are celebrated by connoisseurs of AOR, the Seattle native supplied songs for Cheap Trick, John Waite, Heart, Giant, Mr. Big, REO Speedwagon and more. After learning his craft in Germany working with Laura Branigan, Pia Zadora and David Hasselhoff, Spiro made the big time after co-writing Mighty Wings for Cheap Trick, which appeared on the huge-selling soundtrack to the film Top Gun. Spiro released three unforgettable solo albums – Now Is Then, Then is Now, Devotion and The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of – between ’96 and ’99, but it was in the hands of other artists that…1 min

Classic Rock|June 2024NEWSGlenn Hughes has completed the writing of a new solo album, which will be his first since Resonate in 2016. Although currently busy with Black Country Communion and his ongoing 50th-anniversary tour for Deep Purple’s Burn album, the bassist/ vocalist will record the songs in June for release in 2025. With Anthrax bassist Frank Bello sitting out the band’s April and May shows “due to personal reasons”, original member Dan Lilker will deputise on a series of US and South American dates. The Crown pub in Birmingham, dubbed “the birthplace of heavy metal” and the venue for the very first Black Sabbath gig, has been given special historical status and saved from possible demolition. Then called Earth, Sabbath made their live debut there in 1968. Lynyrd Skynyrd guitarist Rickey Medlocke…1 min

Classic Rock|June 2024Silveroller“We’re going to that original well where rock’n’roll came from. There’s not many bells and whistles.” Silveroller aren’t here to start a revolution. The UK-based Gen-Z blues rockers are a proudly traditional band, with a bone-deep appreciation for “rock’n’roll in its purest form”. At the heart of their sound is a need for simplicity; a back-to-basics, no-frills approach that’s not a rehash of the past, but an extension of it. “It’s not a maths equation, it’s rock’n’roll,” says frontman Jonnie Hodson, talking about Silveroller’s new EP At Dawn, a patchouli-spiced, groove-flushed feast of feverish blues rock, soaked in whisky at its edges. Blues pioneers such as Muddy Waters, Freddie King and Albert Collins, as well as Led Zeppelin, are echoed within Silveroller’s folksy stylings and soulful melodies. “We’re going to…3 min

Classic Rock|June 2024The Dandy WarholsThe day after a “rager” playback party in NYC for their heavy, darkly twisty new album Rockmaker, Classic Rock caught up with Dandy Warhols frontman/guitarist Courtney Taylor-Taylor in Montreal at the start of a Canadian tour. “We’ve immersed ourselves in confit duck and profiteroles here,” he says, noting his gourmand proclivities before discussing the Portland alt.rockers’ twelfth album in a 30-year career. Rockmaker sounds cheery from the start with Doomsday Bells. We had a rough couple of years in the US with this cult leader of a president, a caustic and nasty-mouthed man, whipping up hate. Then we end up with Putin as an insane dictator. The last album [Tafelmuzik Means More When You’re Alone] had no songs on it, it was a lockdown soundtrack to a nine-course dinner party.…3 min

Classic Rock|June 2024Kerry KingKerry King wasted no time in getting back on the horse after his band, thrash metal juggernauts Slayer, called it a day in 2019. “I had a few months off, and that was enough for me,” says the guitarist. “I’ve had a long career, and I’m a lot closer to the tail end of it, so any time wasted is lost time.” The fruit of his recent labours is his vicious debut solo album From Hell I Rise, a record that won’t disappoint Slayer fans. That band’s unexpected reunion is off-limits today – a publicist sits in on our conversation to make sure – but King still has plenty to say about religion, politics and his late bandmate Jeff Hanneman. Was there any grand plan behind the solo album, or…5 min

Classic Rock|June 2024GOING MY WAYLenny Kravitz says that when you’ve had a career stretching over three and a half decades, you learn to accept that your fortunes will shift every now and then. “The surf changes,” says the singer, guitarist and producer (and actor, fashion designer, author and design mogul), aptly looking out over the Pacific from his pad in Malibu, Los Angeles on a slightly gloomy February morning. “You’re riding little waves, then you’re riding moderate waves, then, oh wow, you’ve caught a huge one. Throughout a career of thirty-five years it goes up, down, every which direction.” It has been a life of forward-facing restlessness for the now 59-year-old Kravitz, who emerged with the swaggering soul-funk of Let Love Rule in 1989, and went supernova with the jubilant rock’n’roll grooves of his…10 min

Classic Rock|June 2024The HOT ListSpring has well and truly sprung, bringing an abundance of gigs for our diaries, new tracks for our playlists and bands to get stuck into. Our Tour Dates pages have got you covered for live action (p95), but where to start on the newtuneage front? Right here, of course. From hard rockers and garage punks to folk troubadours and rootsy bluesers, this month’s Hot List cherry-picks some highlights that we think are worth your attention – including an enigmatic Russian singer-songwriter standing against the war in Ukraine, and the first new Blues Pills music in four years, and some swashbuckling NWOBHMinspired men in tights. Well, we do like to give you variety here… As ever we hope you enjoy this month’s selections. For more each week visit classicrockmagazine.com Wytch Hazel…5 min

Classic Rock|June 2024Toby JepsonScarborough-born Jepson began his career in the mid-80s as the singer with Little Angels, and then had a spell as asolo artist. After leaving the music business, he returned under his own name in 2001, followed by stints as the frontman with Fastway, Gun and Dio’s Disciples. This month Jepson takes time out of his latest group, Wayward Sons, to undertake an acoustic and spoken-word tour. These ‘an evening with…’ shows are becoming increasingly popular. Did you go to one by another artist and think: “I’d like to do that?” Not really. Before covid I was building a bit of areputation as an acoustic artist, and I’ve done it on and off ever since I got back in the game. Going out there alone for two hours is among the…3 min

Classic Rock|June 2024The Soundtrack Of My LifeIwas really lucky that I heard so much great music growing up,” says Walter Trout. Over a fifty-plus year solo career, including shifts with Canned Heat, John Lee Hooker and Big Mama Thornton, Trout has let everything from blues to rock to jazz flow through his writing and virtuoso playing. His latest album, Broken, with guest appearances from Beth Hart and Dee Snider, is a soulful, 12-song enquiry into our fractured world, with all the blistering guitar breaks fans have come to expect from Trout. About to turn 73, and on the eve of a world tour, he says: “I’ve been through it. I’ve been a heroin addict and an alcoholic and everything else. But now I want to savour every moment that I’m here. And music lets me do…4 min

Classic Rock|June 2024RIPTM Stevens July 28, 1951 – March 10, 2024 Thomas Michael Stevens, known professionally as TM Stevens, was anoted bass guitarist who collaborated with numerous artists working in avariety of genres, as well as working as asolo performer. Born in New York City, Stevens played with Steve Vai, James Brown, Tina Turner, Joe co*cker, The Pretenders, Billy Joel, Little Steven and his good friend Stevie Salas. The 72-year-old had been living with advanced dementia, and passed away peacefully in his sleep in a nursing home. Paul Nelson Died March 10, 2024 Having been hand-picked to join bluesman Johnny Winter’s band in 2005, guitarist Paul Nelson went on to become Winter’s producer, manager, longtime friend and saviour – he was credited for easing Winter off drugs, alcohol and smoking before Johnny’s…3 min

Classic Rock|June 2024John SinclairThe poet, counterculture figure, political activist and manager of the MC5 has died of congestive heart failure. He was 82. John Sinclair was forging a reputation as a poet when MC5 guitarist Wayne Kramer requested guidance for the fast-emerging Detroit band sometimes credited with inventing punk rock. “John and I sat up all night talking about everything and everybody.” Kramer said in his autobiography The Hard Stuff. “John had the ability to articulate feelings that I only knew on a gut level.” Sinclair helped grow Detroit’s Grande Ballroom into one of the best-known concert venues in the Midwest, and played a part in launching the career of Iggy Pop. He was also a co-founder of the anti-racist socialist group the White Panther Party that was a counterpart to the Black…1 min

Classic Rock|June 2024Vince PowerPromoter and nighttime industry kingpin Vince Power has died at the age of 76. The Irishman ran some of Britain’s top venues and festivals, and has been credited with revolutionising live music. In 2006 he was awarded a CBE for services to the music industry. John Vincent Power was born in Waterford and moved to London at the age of 15. After starting out as a shop assistant, he opened his first venue, the Mean Fiddler, in North London in 1982, which welcomed artists including Johnny Cash, Paul McCartney and Van Morrison. Such was its success that Power’s company, the Mean Fiddler Group, began expanding, purchasing otherLondon venues including the Astoria in Charing Cross Road, Highbury’s Garage, the Clapham Grand and the Jazz Café in Camden. Branching out into…1 min

Classic Rock|June 2024Erik Grönwall Quits Skid RowWith Erik Grönwall having quit Skid Row, Halestorm singer Lzzy Hale has agreed to help out the US band until they appoint what will be their seventh lead vocalist. Grönwall, who joined Skid Row in 2022, six months after completing treatment for leukaemia, was keen to stress that his decision to leave was taken purely on health grounds, and with no animosity. “I love Skid Row, I have nothing but respect for the guys in the band but I love and respect my health more,” the Swede said in a statement. “I need to allow myself more time to recover, which I can’t do as the lead singer of Skid Row.” In agreeing to stand in four US shows, Hale enthused. “I’m stepping in for a few dates as the…1 min

Classic Rock|June 2024LIGHTSHINELightshine were formed by five students in Emmerich, Germany in 1974. Their sound was perhaps considered too out of date for 1976 (the album sounds like it could have been recorded at least several years earlier), so Feeling was released on the small independent label Trefiton. It’s an album of varied vibes, yet the five tracks somehow fit together as one piece. Perhaps this is down the minimal yet satisfactory production. One obvious aspect of the album’s appeal to collectors is the piercing fuzz-tone of guitarists Joe Staacke and Ulli Strobel, which are noticeable right from opening track Sword In The Sky. Lory, with a bass line reminiscent of the Inspector Gadget theme, progresses into a Wishbone Ash style twin-guitar workout with jazzy vibes. The two standout tracks on the…1 min

Classic Rock|June 2024The Warning“We got an email from Metallica saying they loved it [their cover of Enter Sandman].” The Warning know all about ‘pinch me’ moments. Ask the Villarreal Vélez sisters to choose the highlight of their career so far, and the trio who have gone from teenage viral stars to hard-rock darlings will each give you a different answer. Maybe it was last year, when they gigged around South America and Europe with Muse, blasting their red-blooded stomp to stadiums night after night? Or perhaps when Pepsi chose them to front an advertising campaign in their home country of Mexico? If not, it could well be the night they opened for Foo Fighters at Mexico City’s Foro Sol, 65,000 capacity stadium in 2022 and hung out with the band. FOR FANS OF...…3 min

Classic Rock|June 2024Troy RedfernTroy Redfern is a blues rocker with a few twists. Recent success has planted him squarely in the blues world (he was nominated for Contemporary Artist Of The Year at the latest UK Blues Awards), but at heart he’s an eclectic soul, with roots that span Van Halen, W.A.S.P, Frank Zappa and Mississippi Fred McDowell. Not that he’s interested in mimicking anyone. “Since I was a kid I didn’t really learn other people’s music,” 50-year-old Redfern says. “I was always interested in writing stuff. I get that people are trying to keep the [blues] tradition alive, but to me it feels super-limiting.” Accordingly, his new record, Invocation, is a swaggering, sexy, non-purist marriage of early blues, stompy glam-rock and slide-guitar screams, all in tracks you can dance to. Hill country…4 min

Classic Rock|June 2024SEBASTIAN BACH“The more I listened to 18 And Life and Youth Gone Wild, the more I knew that these songs were meant for me to sing.” Sebastian Bach’s enthusiasm for life in general and music in particular is permanently off the scale. Within the first 10 minutes of our conversation today he has already excitedly namechecked Kiss, Van Halen, Twisted Sister, Rush, Queensrÿche and, most surprisingly, 80s UK glam tarts Wrathchild. “I f*cking loved that band,” he says of the latter, then launches into their song Trash Queen. “‘Trash queen, trash queen… she’ll suck you clean!’ Man, I have that album on red vinyl.” Right now, though, he’s most excited by his own music. And rightly so. His new solo album, Child Within The Man, is his first in a decade,…22 min

Classic Rock|June 2024WATCHING THE RIVER FLOWIt comes from all sorts of ideas,” David Gilmour said in 2014, of Pink Floyd’s then-new album The Endless River. “Some of it is improvised, quite a bit of it is just the two of us, Rick [Wright] and me, or the three of us, improvising together. Some of it is half-written ideas that one of us had come up with, rehearsed and considered as a start point for something.” Those ideas often came about on the Astoria, Gilmour’s houseboat moored on the River Thames in West London. It was also there, in 2012, that engineer Andy Jackson, who had worked with Floyd and Gilmour since 1980, learned there was to be a new Pink Floyd album, some 20 years after they had last released fresh material, and after years…16 min

Classic Rock|June 2024Eric CarmenThe former frontman with The Raspberries, who went on to have a string of solo single successes, has died at the age of 74. No cause of death has been announced. Eric Carmen formed The Raspberries in his home town of Cleveland, Ohio in 1970. With their short hair, matching suits and Beatles-eque sound, the band ran counter to the prevailing hard-rock mentality of the Cleveland scene, but it worked: their second single, Go All The Way, made the US Top 5, and further Top 20 hits followed with I Wanna Be With You and Overnight Sensation (Hit Record). The Raspberries broke up in 1975, but Carmen hit big with his first solo release, All By Myself. Over the next decade he enjoyed a string of single hits including Never…1 min

Classic Rock|June 2024Karl WallingerKarl Wallinger, best known as the frontman and songwriter with World Party, has died of a stroke at his home in Hastings. He was 66. Born in Prestatyn, Wales, Wallinger was educated at Charterhouse, the boarding school famously attended by the original five members of Genesis. (He later worked with Peter Gabriel on his Big Blue Ball project, although the two men weren’t at Charterhouse at the same time.) It was as keyboard player with The Waterboys that Wallinger first tasted success, playing on the 80s albums A Pagan Place and This Is The Sea, and helping to arrange the music on tracks such as The Whole Of The Moon. Chief Waterboy Mike Scott once commented that “having Karl in the studio was like having aoneman orchestra around. There might…1 min

Classic Rock|June 2024Robin TrowerRobin Trower’s titanic presence as an English guitar hero bestriding the US arena-rock circuit in the 1970s has given way to a more modest, homegrown profile in recent times. But he is never far from a recording studio, with a bunch of new songs to hand. His latest album, Joyful Sky, featuring the American singer Sari Schorr, recently topped the Billboard Blues Albums chart. Having not played live for six years, he plays a short run of UK dates in May. What’s kept you away for so long? Well covid came in, and that put the mockers on it, really. Thing is, when you get to my age [79] you’ve got to be really careful with your health. There’s not really a great demand in the UK anyway. But I…3 min

Classic Rock|June 2024Lars To Join Spinal TapLars Ulrich and Chad Smith will both make cameo appearances in the sequel to the seminal rockumentary This Is Spinal Tap, which has begun filming in New Orleans, Louisiana. Ulrich and Smith, the drummers with Metallica and the Red Hot Chili Peppers respectively, join a cast of musicians that includes Elton John, Paul McCartney and country singer Garth Brooks. Four decades after the original movie, the long-anticipated follow-up is again directed by Rob Reiner, who reprises his role as filmmaker ‘Marty’ DiBergi, with Christopher Guest portraying vocalist/ guitarist Nigel Tufnel, Michael McKean as lead guitarist David St Hubbins, and Harry Shearer as bassist Derek Smalls. No release date has been set, although it has been speculated that it might premiere in early 2025. Its storyline revolves around a final concert…1 min

Classic Rock|June 2024NEWSJeff Lynne’s Electric Light Orchestra have announced 27 North American dates between August 24 and October 25 on what will be their farewell tour. As yet there is no news of any UK shows. Stand Together, a benefit concert for Matt Long, the guitarist and vocalist with UK blues band Catfish who has been diagnosed with an aggressive cancer of the liver and stomach, takes place at The Stables in Wavendon, Milton Keynes on June 30. Among those set to appear are Kris Barras, Chantel McGregor, When Rivers Meet, Brave Rival and The Cinelli Brothers. Rammstein are being sued by the French group Ninja Cyborg, who claim that the German industrialmetal giants’ track Deutschland plagiarises Ninja Cyborg’s track The Sunny Road. The case is due to be heard in September.…1 min

Classic Rock|June 2024EaglesDEATH IN THE FAST LANE The Eagles broke up at the end of their 1980 US tour after ahuge bust-up on stage. As they were playing the sweetly soulful Best Of My Love, Glenn Frey sidled up to Don Felder and said in his ear: “f*ck you. When we get off this stage, I’m kicking your ass!” Felder, who had been drinking and had had about as much of this sh*t as he could stand, hissed back. “Only three more songs till I kick your ass, pal. Get ready.” The final number of the night before the encores was Life In The Fast Lane. Somehow they managed to churn through the encores without attacking each other. The gig ended, and most of the band split for the limos at the…6 min

Classic Rock|June 2024STEVE HARLEYSteve Harley, the lead singer and songwriter for co*ckney Rebel, has died of cancer. The 73-year-old, one of the more colourful rock stars of the 70s and beyond, passed away at his home in Suffolk one month after pausing his latest run of live shows in order to be treated for the condition. A post on Harley’s website at the time read: “Due to ongoing treatment for cancer, Steve cannot commit to any concerts in 2024. Steve is hoping next year will be altogether different. He appreciates all your kind words and good wishes. Team SH.” In a statement, Harley’s daughter Greta said: “We are devastated to announce that our wonderful Husband and Father has passed away peacefully at home, with his family by his side. The birdsong from his…10 min

Classic Rock|June 2024BACK IN BLACKBeing the biggest band in the world is overrated, reckons Black Keys frontman Dan Auerbach. Being the happiest one is where it’s at, offers drummer Patrick Carney. The Ohio alt.blues duo speak from hard-won experience. Now, a decade down the road from their four-year run of platinum sales, Grammy awards, burnout and premature greying (we’ll get to all that),twelfth album Ohio Players is the sound of rock stars enjoying their jobs again. “There’s this thing that happens when you become a middle-aged rock’n’roller,” says Carney. “You’re supposed to become this kind of sullen, introspective, depressive person. But Dan and I, we had this kind of ‘aha!’ moment. We realised we needed to go and do some fun sh*t together, and it’ll come through on the record. Like, let’s do all…12 min

Classic Rock|June 2024" FANCY GIVING IT ANOTHER TWELVE MONTHS ?"In late June last year, Louder, Classic Rock magazine’s website, re-posted an epic interview with Nazareth’s Pete Agnew and Dan McCafferty. First published way back in 2004, and conducted over an Olympic-level drinking session in the bar of the Pitfirrane Hotel in Fife, it’s a rock’n’roll yarn that has everything, starting with Agnew and McCafferty, aged five, requesting to share a double desk on their first day at St Margaret’s Primary School in Dunfermline, to them becoming best friends, and the gradual elevation of Nazareth, the band they co-founded in 1968, from wedding group into one of the most underrated and stubbornly persistent hard rock bands that these isles ever produced. With a grin, McCafferty had revealed how each year on July 1, the anniversary of the band first giving…14 min

Classic Rock|June 2024Anthrax“There’s no better catharsis than being at a thrash-metal show, screaming along with the band and banging your head.” As the band put the finishing touches on a twelfth studio album that’s expected later this year, Scott Ian, the guitarist and last remaining co-founder of the New York thrashers, sets the scene for a five-date British and Irish tour in November with fellow metallic progenitors Kreator from Germany and Bay Arena bangers Testament. Having Kreator and Testament on this bill should make for a great tour. Yeah. We had an amazing UK run last fall, so to come back again with something even bigger is very exciting. We’re pumped, man! What is the essence of a good thrash-metal gig? It’s the excitement it brings. I just love the anticipation of…4 min

Classic Rock|June 2024REVIEWSThe Who London Royal Albert Hall A week of charity shows gets a heavyweight opening night. This year is the final year that Roger Daltrey will curate the annual Teenage Cancer Trust concerts at the Albert Hall, having helped raise £32 million for the charity over 24 years. And by the sound of the first of two opening nights of the week by The Who, he plans to take the building down with him. As a full orchestra blazes into an opening segment consisting largely of the highlights from Tommy, already brazenly bombastic pieces like Overture, Amazing Journey and We’re Not Gonna Take It become monumental sonic edifices, while Pinball Wizard gets flippered through the back wall by power-chord horns. Echoing their recent The Who Hits Back! tour, the show…18 min