Journalist, Author & Syndicated Columnist
When the hard rock group Extreme boarded the Trinidad for an hourlong cruise along the Chicago River last week, several hundred fans, waiting on deck, were surprised that the band had four members. “Who’re those two guys?” one young woman said to no one in particular. “Are they roadies?”
Anyone who buys Extreme’s album solely on the strength of the Boston-based group’s No. 1 hit ballad “More Than Words” is going to be in for a big, loud surprise. The majority of the songs on “Extreme II Pornograffitti” are fast, raucous and hard-rocking.
There’s a scene in Spike Lee’s new film, “Jungle Fever,” that hit a little too close to home for Wesley Snipes. The lovers portrayed by him and co-star Annabella Sciorra are engaged in a playful embrace that a police officer mistakes as a black man raping a white woman. Snipes’ character gets a gun put to his head.
Guns N’ Roses have been hailed and assailed as everything from rock ‘n’ roll’s messiahs to self-indulgent spoiled brats living out a hedonistic fantasy. They are musicians whose musical justification always has packed a stronger punch than the convoluted interviews they don’t readily grant anymore.
Everyone knew Chris Isaak would become a star. No one knew that it would take this long. Six years after being touted as the proverbial next big thing in rock ‘n’ roll, Isaak has fulfilled the prophecy of music critics and fans. With the release of his debut LP “Silvertone” in 1985, Isaak was pronounced as this generation’s answer to Elvis Presley and Roy Orbison, all rolled into one neat, Brylcreemed package.
A few days before my 17th birthday in 1983, INXS was scheduled to play a 21-and-older show at the Park West, which left me in a quandary. On the one hand, I really wanted to check out this new band that had a sound like nothing I’d heard before. But I also was cowed by the fact that the only fake ID I had said I was 32. INXS won out.
The Kids in the Hall are comedy’s answer to matinee idols. In their native Canada, the young, smart and cute Kids attract groupies who would look at home at a Winger rock concert.
The Goo Goo Dolls make music loud enough to get a headache over, but melodic enough to dance to. But for all the noise the three-man Goos make onstage, their harmonies save them from being just another angry young group.
When I first saw Tommy Conwell’s teen-idol face, I thought here was a guy who could win over the Tommy Page crowd with no problem. When I first heard him sing, I was shocked by what came out of that mouth. Make no mistake about it. Conwell is nobody’s pretty boy. He is a serious musician who happens to have a youthful, not-so-serious outlook on life.
Back in 1979, Cheap Trick didn’t have to beg anyone to want them. The power-pop quartet from Rockford was riding high on the phenomenal success of their fourth album, “Live at Budokan.” The hit album, recorded in Japan during a concert tour, spawned several Top 10 singles, including “I Want You To Want Me.” The buzz surrounding “Budokan” also taught the group that timing can be more important than substance. The studio version of the “Want You” song from 1977’s “In Color” album went nowhere fast.