Rock Episodes

Dave Hill is a national treasure. Half a century after Slade’s first hit, surviving a stroke, depression and the departure of his former band mates, Dave is still going strong and entertaining Slade fans with live performances of the band’s hits - seventeen consecutive top twenty and six UK number …

Before becoming one of the biggest names in rock history, Status Quo honed their craft as a holiday camp act at Butlins in Minehead. Sixty years later, the same venue was the chosen to host the last performance of John Coghlan’s Quo’s farewell tour. But John is not ready to hang up his drum stic…

Carl Palmer is a drummer’s drummer. His dazzling speed and mastery of the drums has secured him multiple awards and well as a respected place in history as one of rock and roll’s greatest drummers. A consummate professional, a brilliant technician and a dynamic showman, he has thrilled audiences…

Tale 2… There’s so much more to Nils Lofgren than just being part of Bruce Sprinsteen’s E-Street Band. He’s played with Neil Young, Crazy Horse, Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band, Patti Scialfa, and Grin as well as being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. So when I got the opport…

Wishbone Ash are the musicians’ musicians and original and founding member Andy Powell is happy with that.  With over 50 years and more albums than Andy can recall under its belt, Wishbone Ash is still going strong despite seeing more than 20 band members go through the exit door and surviving a…

Steve Harley has spent over 50 years making us smile. The rebel with a cause really has done it all; achieving number one chart success, selling millions of records worldwide and writing music that will live on forever. One of the nicest men in the business takes time out to chat with me about m…

Unleashing his 5th solo album, When Life Was Fast & Hard, Ricky Warwick aimed to deliver a collection of songs with the simplistic melodies of Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers charged with the electric hedonistic fury of Johnny Thunders And The Heartbreakers. And, boy, has he done that! Somehow T…

Rock band Inglorious are nothing short of glorious, fronted by the powerhouse vocals of founding member Nathan James. With the release of the band’s fourth album, We Will Ride, several new things surround them, not least of all a new line-up, songwriting process and producer.  We chat about h…

It’s been 50 years since German guitar virtuoso, Michael Schenker, made his recording debut with the Scorpions at the tender age of 16.  From the start it was obvious he was playing at a level that was way beyond many of his contemporaries, a little detail that did not go unnoticed by UK rockers…

Rudy Sarzo is a bass playing hero. With a career spanning over 40 years, he’s headlined worldwide tours with Quiet Riot, Ozzy Osbourne, Whitesnake, and Dio, recorded multi-platinum albums, and appeared in numerous MTV videos.  But, without knowing what he’s been up to for the better part of his …

I’m Walking On Sunshine today with the musician who’s had a worldwide hit that that catapulted Katrina & The Waves to the forefront of the music industry in 1985 with over 2.5 million plays on US Radio and was the soundtrack of a host of films. But for many, Grammy nominated Katrina will be the …

Ian Anderson is the cat that walks by himself despite leading one of the most iconic, not to mention successful, bands of all time. Charismatic frontman, virtuoso flautist and composer, Ian has been steadfast through Jethro Tull’s many musical incarnations, which, with its idiosyncratic blend of…

Del Bromham has performance in his blood. He began playing guitar at the tender age of eleven and formed dynamic hard-rock band Stray whilst he was still at school. In a career now spanning an incredible six decades, Del has rubbed shoulders with many of the greats, toured with Iron Maiden, and …

For 25 years, Alan Lancaster was bassist with one of the most successful rock bands of all time. A band he founded with school friend Francis Rossi and one which enjoyed multi-platinum album sales and stadium gigs. But an acrimonious split after Status Quo opened the stage at Live Aid in 1985 le…

In this second tale of a two-part series, I chat more to founding member of Motorhead and current Pink Fairy, Lucas Fox.  We chat about how Lucas cheated death and why he has no fear of the afterlife, how Warsaw Pakt paved the way for Jack White and ended up in the Guinness Book of Records, and …