Spyro Gyra keeps its name out front

(Feb. 14, 1999)

To say 23-year-old Joshua Ralph is all over the map is an understatement. His debut Lava/Atlantic album, "Music to Mauzner By" (released Feb. 3), dabbles in hip-hop, funk, classical, soul, gospel, pop and world music. It's enough to make Beck's head spin.

"As you can see, I don't believe in categories," Ralph said recently. "My rule is that you can put anything over a strong hip-hop foundation of a beat and people will groove to it, as long as the beat was heavy enough.

"I wanted to do something that had never completely been put together and with each song get crazier and top the next and go further away from what I was doing but still staying within melody and rhythm, yet in its scope it would be 'How out of control will it be?' I would call up my friend James Cox and go, 'Dude, I think I'm firing up the Uptown Horns over this mariachi shit,' and he's like, 'You're crazy, dude.' The next song, we had to get a gospel choir, and the next one have an orchestra."

The Beck spirit is evident in such genre-bending tracks as "Baby," "Desert Suite Conspiracy" and "Untitled 17."

"Everything in the album, those aren't influences as much as people I admire who are working today," Ralph said. "I totally dig Beck, but a lot of this music was done before I had even heard a lot of his stuff. I always tell people that Beck breaks up these things within each song; for example, we both have a broad scope of music and an appreciation for music, whereas Beck will do it in each song, especially with 'Odelay' and the stuff earlier. It was more chopping up and throwing in influences in between songs; he definitely has a jovial manner to his stuff, whereas I was writing songs on what I was raised on - verse, chorus, verse, chorus."

Ralph attended New York University's film school but seemed more preoccupied with his home recordings. A friend hooked him up with Alex Weil, who was working on another project with engineer Louis Scalise. Both played big roles in helping Ralph piece together his SPY demo, which eventually got into the hands of Lava president Jason Flom.

Last year, Ralph holed himself up for his virtual one-man show in an abandoned silent movie theater on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.

"When I got there, there had been this primer paint put down," he said. "It was completely raw, so I got my hands on some Oriental rugs and a disco ball and antique Moroccan lamps and decadent red lights. I made it real warm and cozy. There were no windows, so you never knew what time of day it was.

"I did it from August to September, then we brought it back uptown in October and everybody wanted to sign us. After speaking to Jason, that guy is absolutely the best person, the best human being working in the business today, as far as standing behind acts and really meaning what he says ... not to sound naive. He would go to the mat for you. You're looking at somebody who signed SPY because of 'Baby' and then let me do a $60,000 orchestra piece on one song that for 90 percent of the people who buy that record I think won't care about that piece. I'm not saying people won't like it; people might not get it because it's so far from 'Baby.' "

Not only does Ralph now find himself being called upon for soundtrack work with Dr. John, he and Cox are making waves in Hollywood. Their 10-minute short film, "Atomic Tabasco," recently was awarded honorable mention at the Sundance Film Festival. Cox, who wrote three SPY tracks, has gone a step further: He signed a deal with producer Jerry Bruckheimer ("Beverly Hills Cop," "Top Gun") to write and direct "The Rock Star," a film based on Cox's own rock aspirations.

Ralph said that as long as he stuck to his goals, he knew good things would happen.

"Maybe this record'll be the hugest thing," he said. "Maybe nobody will care about it. There's all these different levels to it. To an unsigned person, yeah, I got a great deal, but to someone who's sold 5 million records, I'm just another ant, another band that got signed. Then someone who's sold 5 million, to Dr. John, he's like 'So what, dude? What have you done that's worth anything?'

"It's not just about selling records and making money; yeah, it's about money but on stuff that you feel is unique and can change people's perceptions and catch them off guard. That's what I'm trying to do."

BWF (before we forget): Mauzner all you want with SPY on the Web @ www.atlantic-records.com.

Spyro Gyra keeps its name out front

(Aug. 11, 1994)

After 17 albums in 16 years, Spyro Gyra leader Jay Beckenstein knows by now how to keep things fresh.

It's simple.

"The reason why we're not bored," the saxophonist from Buffalo, N.Y., said during a stop in the popular jazz band's tour with Basia, "is because we haven't been playing 'Morning Dance' every concert for the past 15 years."

"Morning Dance" was Spyro Gyra's breakthrough instrumental hit in 1979, peaking at No. 24 on Billboard's pop chart. The album of the same name sold more than 1 million copies, and since then, the group has garnered 11 Grammy nominations (with no wins) and remained a mainstay in the contemporary jazz scene, consistently selling about 200,000 copies per album.

Still, the pop radio climate is mostly cloudy for traditionally based jazz musicians.

"First of all, radio has changed (since '79)," Beckenstein said, "and even before it changed, it was a lightning strike that an instrumental tune would be a big single. It happens occasionally, once every few years.

"The quest for that holy grail is futile, so we've long, long ago learned to survive in the music world without relying on that kind of radio. You get around it by touring a lot because you need to let people know you're still around, that you're still doing something."

Beckenstein has kept Spyro Gyra from falling into a rut by incorporating other musical elements into its adventurous jazz sound. The group's latest GRP Records album, "Dreams Beyond Control," is sprinkled with doses of soul, pop and Latin influences, as well as the band's first English-language vocals (from Santana lead singer Alex Ligertwood) on two tracks.

"Not that a vocal tune is cutting any new ground here," Beckenstein said, "but, for us, it's something we hadn't tried before.

"This band has always opened up the creative sides of everybody who's in it. ... We always want to try new things and keep exploring new ideas, and that has kept it fresh."

As for the current state of jazz, without any name-dropping, Beckenstein laments the influx of what he calls "soft, smarmy stuff."

"Anything with an edge or anything that's trying something new, anything with a lot of passion doesn't get on the radio," he says, "and the record doesn't sell very well, especially if you're a new artist.

"We're a little insulated because our name is established, but for the new guy, he's got to make the kind of record that'll get on the radio and that means making a boring record. ... All in all, I won't say there's no good music being made out there; it's like 5 percent and there's an awful lot of crap. An awful lot, my goodness."

Putting the Squeeze on Glenn Tilbrook

(Sept. 2, 1993)

Together or apart, Glenn Tilbrook and Chris Difford know a good song when they write one.

As the creative forces behind England's successful Squeeze, the writing partners took a different approach with their new album "Some Fantastic Place." Out on Sept. 14, the disc marks the return of journeyman singer Paul Carrack and the band's reappearance on A&M, their original label.

Over the group's 12-album career, Tilbrook and Difford - long considered a modern-day version of Lennon and McCartney - let their creative juices flow in separate but equal ways. Difford would write the lyrics in seclusion and hand them over to Tilbrook, who would then compose the music.

For "Some Fantastic Place," the pair actually worked in the same room, bouncing ideas off each other to carve out more of their trademark witty and poignant songs.

"Over the last year, we've gotten a lot closer, and the fruits of that are on this record," Tilbrook said in a recent interview from his private studio in London. "We've always clicked. We've always managed to write good songs. I'm pleased with our back catalog, but we decided to try and work in a different way and we discovered that it worked."

Old habits are hard to break, though, but Tilbrook didn't see that as a problem when Difford dropped off the words to the title track.

"When Chris gave me the lyrics, he didn't say anything about it," Tilbrook said, "but I knew who it was about."

"Some Fantastic Place" is a haunting tribute to a mutual friend named Maxine.

"We had been friends with Max for years," Tilbrook said, his voice pausing at the mere mention of her name. "She was my first love, and we stayed good friends. Very sadly, she died last year after fighting for three years with leukemia."

If it wasn't for Max, there would be no Squeeze. In 1973, when Tilbrook was only 16, he and Maxine were walking down a London street and she noticed an advertisement in a shop window. It was from Difford, seeking a guitarist for his band.

"I wasn't going to answer it," Tilbrook said, "but she said, 'Now look, you should answer it.' And here I am."

Their alliance has lasted 20 years (and is still going strong), resulting in some of the most critically acclaimed albums of the 1980s - particularly "East Side Story" - through a stormy breakup in '82 and a more commercially successful reunion in 1985.

How does Tilbrook see "Some Fantastic Place" standing among the other 11 Squeeze albums?

"Well, since the band got back together in 1985, of the pre-splitting up, I think 'Argybargy' and 'East Side Story' were our best records," he said. "Since getting back together, I sort of like each record a bit more than the last one we've done, which is the way I'd like it to be, really.

"At the moment," he said, laughing, "this is my favorite album we've done."

For The Standells' Dick Dodd, 'Nuggets' box set is a gem

(Sept. 13, 1998)

Rhino Records revisits the garage/psychedelic rock era with its first-rate "Nuggets" box set, released Sept. 15. Former Raiders lead singer Mark Lindsay and Dick Dodd of the Standells relive it every day.

Subtitled "Original Artyfacts of the First Psychedelic Era, 1965-1968," the four-CD collection mines the best of garage rock and flower-power anthems. Among the 118 tracks are the Count Five's "Psychotic Reaction," The Seeds' "Pushin' Too Hard," the Knickerbockers' "Lies" and Strawberry Alarm Clock's "Incense and Peppermints."

Then there's Paul Revere and the Raiders' "Steppin' Out" and "Just Like Me" and the Standells' "Dirty Water" and "Sometimes Good Guys Don't Wear White."

The "Nuggets" box set, originally issued on vinyl by Elektra in 1972, is a boon for avid collectors, but it's a great source for Green Day/Offspring fans looking to dig deep into the roots of punk rock.

"Ten years ago, I wasn't as aware of our impact," Dodd said recently from his home in Redondo Beach, Calif., "but then we'd do gigs and I'd say, 'Here's a song I did a long time ago,' and the band makes fun of me, saying something like 'Yeah, that's back when they had 45s,' and someone in the audience says 'What's a 45?' We go out and do 'Dirty Water,' and then I'll meet someone after the show and they'll go 'You were the drummer for the Standells?! 'Dirty Water' was the first song I ever learned on the guitar.' I'm like, 'That's not a hard one, it's a pretty easy one to learn.' That's a great song for every guitar player to start out on.

"I've also done record shows and I've seen albums that I never knew we had out. European albums, pictures. I'm at this one booth signing autographs and there's this big long line of people that knows everything about what the Standells did. It's great. I think all that old stuff will be new stuff to the newer kids. I think they'll really enjoy it."

For Lindsay, it's an honor to be in the box set alongside the Leaves, Mouse & the Traps, the Music Machine, Love and the Electric Prunes.

"It makes me flash back to when I was 17," he said from his home on the Hawaiian island of Maui. "Back then, there was nothing else but music and I knew that if I kept doing music, no matter how many times I got slapped down or didn't make it, if I just got up again and started again one more time, it would happen. That's an incredibly Pollyanna attitude in today's world.

"Music was my life, and you can hear in all these records, the single thread through them is balls to the walls all the time, there is no tomorrow, and that's what's so great about these records, it was like 'What if the studio burns down tomorrow, let's get it out now.' There was a certain urgency."

That urgency was justified. Many of the "Nuggets" groups were one-hit wonders, and even for those who were trailblazers, like the Standells, success was fleeting.

"Things didn't change till we did 'Try It,' " Dodd said. "I think that album was one of our best albums, but it didn't seem to get accepted. When we tried to change our sound and grow up a little bit, it was good, but it wasn't what the public wanted. They wanted more 'Dirty Waters' and 'Good Guys,' but we're going, 'Well, we're not as bad as we used to be and we've calmed down, nobody's protesting like they used to, Sunset Boulevard isn't wall-to-wall people on the weekends anymore.' It just seemed to be mellowing and so did we. I wanted to do more soul and blues.

"Our production company kept getting bigger and they got rid of our original manager, then gee, things started disappearing ... the royalties weren't as often and 'Where'd that royalty go?' We've been fighting that for a long time. We finally got some back."

Dodd still performs, mostly in Southern California with the Righteous Brothers' backing band. These days, he's just thankful to be alive.

"I was in an accident last year and almost ate it," he said. "This guy ran a red light and hit me right at the door. I was driving a truck for a friend of mine's company, working in the day, doing anything to survive, really. I was just going back to the warehouse after making a delivery and this guy hits me.

"He hit me so hard, all the windows in the truck blew out, they had to pick me up through a window. I was unconscious. I broke my ribs, my knee, I had a concussion, a tore rotator cuff. I was a mess."

The Raiders' story has several chapters. They began as an instrumental rock band in the Pacific Northwest, then did covers of R&B classics, such as Richard Berry's "Louie Louie." Columbia Records signed them, made the photogenic Lindsay the new focal point, gave them a steady gig on TV's "Where the Action Is" and enlisted top songwriters, such as Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, to provide AM-friendly hits such as "Just Like Me," "Hungry," "Good Thing" and pop's first anti-drug song, "Kicks."

"We didn't take ourselves very seriously," Lindsay said. "In the studio, I took the music very seriously, but when we were out there performing, there wasn't anything I thought that would be too irreverent or crazy to do. Most of it was just off the top of our heads.

"It's very hard to take seriously anyone who's wearing white tights and lace dickeys. We picked good material and gave it our little twist and we had fun."

As the Vietnam War protests intensified in the late 1960s, the Raiders' frivolity wore thin. It wasn't until they did a cover of Don Fardon's "Indian Reservation" in 1971 that the band's image was restored, but even that was deceptive.

"Jack Gold said he had the follow-up to 'Arizona,' " said Lindsay, who had a solo career on the side, "and he played Don Fardon's 'Indian Reservation.' He said 'It's really big in England and 'Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee' is No. 1 on the best-seller's list and you're part Cherokee, I think you can sing this song with conviction so let's do it as a Mark Lindsay single.' We did. We cut it with all studio musicians, I produced it.

"When I got through with it, I loved it, but I was so close to it, I couldn't call it. My feeling was it was going to be either the biggest record we ever had or the biggest stiff. The Raiders needed a single, so I told CBS, 'I've cut 'Indian Reservation.' If you want to put it out as the Raiders, be my guest.' If it had been a flop, it wouldn't weigh so heavily on me. Since it was going to be a Mark Lindsay song, I was going to take all the heat or the glory. It turned out to be the biggest selling single the Raiders never played on and was the biggest selling record for Columbia Records up to that point."

Today, Lindsay commutes to the mainland for weekend gigs and sees an awful lot of second-generation fans in the audience.

"My theory is whatever was in the grooves that appealed to a 13, 14 or 15 year old then," he said, "it's the same for them today. We all have to grow up and go through that period, we think we know more than anybody else. There's a lot of angst in the stuff ... 'I want to express myself and I want to do it my way.' Every teenager can identify with that.

"I hear a lot of '60s in the '90s, so I think if this 'Nuggets' package is exposed right, it should appeal to any crazy 17 year old driving his car too fast down a too-narrow road with a girl too young."

BWF (before we forget): For a bigger chunk of "Nuggets" on the Web, visit www.rhino.com, and Lindsay fans can get their kicks @ www.marklindsay.com.

Stanford Prison Experiment explores 'Wrecreation'

(June 21, 1998)

If there's any justice left in this world, "Compete," the first single off Stanford Prison Experiment's debut Island album, "Wrecreation," would be a hit. A big hit.

"Being in America, where we're a true capitalist society," singer Mario Jimenez said recently, "you'd think it'd make a lot of sense, but there are some things beyond our control."

Undaunted, Jimenez and his band mates - guitarist Mike Starkey, drummer Davey Latter and bassist Mark Fraser - remain true to their sociopolitical beliefs, railing against the system throughout "Wrecreation." Particularly on "Compete."

"It's kind of a stream of consciousness, a general take on the culture, how it's a dog-eat-dog world," Jimenez said. "I don't want to get into too much detail, because I want people to get what they can out of it. It's more an observation of the world around us and how you survive in it."

Jimenez and Starkey formed Stanford Prison Experiment eight years ago in Glendale, Calif. The group got its name from an early '70s experiment in which Stanford students were divided into two groups, guards and prisoners, and all eagerly assumed their passive-aggressive roles.

Their self-titled debut album in 1994 was produced by former Gang of Four member Dave Allen, who runs the World Domination label, and the 1995 follow-up, "The Gato Hunch," was produced by Ted Niceley (Fugazi, Girls Against Boys, Jawbox).

The band has lasted this long, Jimenez said, because they thrive on trying to get people to think for themselves.

"We're in the music thing because there's no bosses, pretty much," he said, "and we're not in a competitive mentality. We're trying to do our own stuff, so we don't try to foster that mentality in ourselves. We just want to stay focused on making interesting music. We write about what bothers us and interests us.

"We just like the process of creativity and giving birth to a new song or a new idea. That's kind of what it's all about. It's about developing songs and trying to communicate certain vibes at a show. It's a process that just keeps going. You just keep doing it."

For the past month, the group has been opening for one of its musical heroes, the Jesus Lizard.

"The tour's been awesome," Jimenez said. "It's incredible to play with a band like the Jesus Lizard. They're relentless night after night; they're one of the best rock 'n' roll bands in America, if not the best. They're totally overlooked."

Garrison Starr lights things up

(Nov. 27, 1997)

When friends would ask Garrison Starr what she wanted to be when she grew up, she always gave them a honest answer: "I'm going to be a musician."

"No, really, what are you going to do for a real job?" one invariably would ask.

"That's going to be my job," Starr would fire back.

With her debut Geffen album, "Eighteen Over Me," the 22-year-old Memphis-based singer-songwriter already has defied the odds. And she is, as she puts it, giving back what other artists have given her.

"There have been so many people who have shared their music with me, and now I'm just ready to share my music with other people too," Starr said recently. "One of the reasons I'm a freak about listening to music is that I've always found some direction, hope and happiness from other artists. I've gotten a lot from other people's music and insights; music's something that has kept me going and helped me through hard times."

The contemplative "Superhero," the first single, is Starr's most inspiring contribution. It addresses a common fear of the unknown and the loss of youthful innocence. "We are 10 years old/ We are holding our breath under water/ Our eardrums are bursting from the pressure," she sings. "I don't ever wanna leave the stage/ I am a superhero/ I don't ever want to leave my age/ I am a superhero."

That song and the other 10 tracks on "Eighteen Over Me" exude a reticent passion and confidence, a reflection of Starr's personality.

"I'm very proud of the record," she said, "and I think it's as significant as anything else out there, and I don't mean that in an arrogant way. And I'm not afraid to get in there with the rest of them, and I think there are a lot of people out there who'll like it and get into it."

It's an easy sell so far. She was greeted favorably during a recent monthlong opening stint for the Refreshments.

"It keeps me going. It lets me know that I'm not insane, that I'm doing something that somebody else understands," Starr said. "It's been so great to be on tour and have the Refreshments' fans say nice things about me. People go to see their favorite bands and are subjected to an opening act and a lot of times people can be thoughtless and cruel, but I've been blessed along the way. Their fans have been pretty accepting of what I'm doing."

BWF (before we forget): Shine a light on Garrison Starr on the Web @ www.geffen.com/garrisonstarr.

Star 69 is ready to shine

(Nov. 28, 1996)

A buzz is building for Los Angeles alternative-rock quartet Star 69. This year, they have toured with The Heads, Magnapop, Local H and Lisa Germano, and this is long before their Radioactive/MCA debut album, "Eating February," is in stores.

Lead singer-songwriter Julie Daniels, a Southern California native, formed the group through help-wanted ads in trade weeklies while living in London.

"I had every guitar player come into my house," Daniels said recently. "That should have been a movie. It was just so funny. From the most metal guy to Brian Eno types, it was a potpourri, a plethora of guitar players. Such a bizarre mix."

She settled on Richard Corden, then added bassist Warren Huart and eventually drummer Johnny Haro.

Daniels said she moved to London because she was tired of L.A.'s let's-do-lunch scene. "I was just being a girl with no direction there, one of those lost girls," she said. With few friends to speak of, she holed up for months to teach herself to play guitar.

"I sort of got sick of depending on other people," she said, "so one day I said, 'F--- it, I'm going to learn how to play the guitar.' I sat in my apartment for a year, I'm not kidding, and I played guitar every single day. I was like a crazy person.

"I wrote all these songs and I got a publishing deal. I put an ad in Melody Maker and put a band together. It sounds so crazy, but I swear to God it's true."

Before she knew it, Daniels was back in Los Angeles, laying down tracks for "Eating February" and labels already were scoping them out. Radioactive won hands down. Last month, the label issued a four-song preview EP.

"Eating February" is scheduled for a Jan. 28, 1997, release.

"All the times I was writing these songs in my apartment, I wasn't thinking 'Oh, I'm gonna be a rock star,' " Daniels said. "It just evolved into that, you know what I mean? It was a weird time in my life and I needed an outlet. Music was that outlet.

"A lot of these songs are sad. My mom was really sick and dying of cancer ... she died two years ago. My head was into that. I was in my own world, and now I ended up here."

The best part, Daniels said, is that few people know the songs are filled with anguish because the upbeat melodies disguise them.

Her gut feeling on the fate of "Eating February"?

"I think it has a fair shot," she said. "I like it, I think it's a good record. I don't think it'll be in the 99-cent bin right away. It has a really good chance, that's all I can say. It's really up to the gods or whatever."

BWF (before we forget): Star 69 glitters on the Web @ www.radioactive.net.

The living legacy of Steel Pulse

(Jan. 23, 2000)

Reggae music does not begin and end with Bob Marley. Steel Pulse, one of Marley's favorite reggae bands in the late 1970s, is living proof.

But the Marley name remains one of the group's biggest obstacles, as it is for many contemporary reggae artists.

Case in point, Steel Pulse - one of the world's most highly regarded roots-reggae bands - was invited four months ago to appear with another group on NBC's "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno." The show's producers didn't want them to perform their own songs; they wanted them to do a medley of Marley hits.

"It's that exposure or no exposure at all," lead singer-guitarist David Hinds said recently, "and Mama didn't raise a fool, so we went ahead and did it. We love Bob Marley, don't get me wrong. I'd say we love him more than most people do, because we toured with him, we spoke to him on his death bed (in 1981). We've lived his music, everything else, but reggae music doesn't just stop at Bob Marley.

"The actual reality of it is, Marley was fortunate to get his foot in the door and there's been no stopping him or his family ever since. It's a shame no one else has looked at other acts in that light, as if Marley was the only one capable of writing lyrics. There's so many good lyric writers that have come through the reggae domain - Dennis Brown in his own kind of way, Jimmy Cliff with 'Vietnam' and 'The Harder They Come.' There's other artists that aren't commercially viable, some of the old-timers, not to mention Burning Spear, who played a big part in molding and inspiring Steel Pulse."

There definitely is a market for reggae, Hinds said. He knows because attendance at Steel Pulse concerts hasn't waned since the group formed 25 years ago in Birmingham, England. But he admits reggae hasn't had much mainstream radio success lately.

"No matter how bad the sales are, and it's shown throughout Billboard magazine," Hinds said, "you find out that the attendance at the concerts always reflect something completely different.

"The unfortunate thing is, reggae has been through so many disguises to withstand the pressure of the industry and still maintain itself as reggae, like when it marries itself with hip-hop, in the case of Bob Marley's music. Then you have acts like Maxi Priest who have gone very much pop to keep that kind of music alive; then you have bands like Inner Circle and the Wailing Souls who have kept their reggae rock-oriented.

"Reggae can never be accepted in its purest form. I kind of think there's a hidden motive for that not happening."

In Steel Pulse's case, Hinds said, the group's Rastafarian beliefs, its pleas for social reform and its resistance to big-label pressure to emulate the pop-reggae of artists like Eddy Grant may have hurt its commercial cause. But it hasn't stopped the critical praise: Steel Pulse recently was nominated for yet another Grammy Award, for best reggae album, for its 1999 live album, "Living Legacy" (Wise Man Doctrine/Tuff Gong/Lightyear).

It's up against Aswad's "Roots Revival" (ARK 21), Beenie Man's "The Doctor" (V.P.), Burning Spear's "Calling Rastafari" (Heartbeat) and Third World's "Generation Coming" (I-Man/Gator).

Recorded over three years, "Living Legacy" finds Steel Pulse at the top of its game with the likes of "Sound System," "Reggae Fever," "Ku Klux Klan" and the 14-minute "Medley Medley."

How does a group keep it so together after 25 years?

"The secret is not so much the band, it's the concept," Hinds said. "It doesn't matter who's in the band; in fact, there's been so many changes from day one till day now, what's kept us together is the concept. There's three general backbones to the band - myself; Selwyn Brown, keyboards and vocals, and Steve Nesbitt on drums.

"As of late, we've been introducing ourselves to a new audience, new as in going to new places, like in Africa. It has given the band a new lease on life, to be honest with you. We've been knocking around in the Western world through all that bureaucracy in the music business. Performing in Africa was more like a relaxing period for us. There was no industry to convince what we were about. It was just the hard-core fans living, eating, drinking, sleeping the music of Steel Pulse."

THE FIRST RECORD I EVER BOUGHT: "It's been such a long time. It's either Elvis Presley's 'Love Me Tender' or 'Needles & Pins' by the Searchers."

THE FIRST CONCERT I EVER WENT TO: "It could've been a local band called Cock and the Woodpeckers or it could have been an official band, like Matumbi, very much a mentor of Steel Pulse. There was also a band in my college years called Holy Mackerel, a rock band; I remember that particularly because of the noise they were making at the time (in 1973) in a community like mine where rock wasn't an element. It sounded like something thrown down the stairs."

THE LAST CD I PURCHASED: "It was three, actually - Mariah Carey's 'No. 1's,' Carlos Santana's 'Supernatural' and 'I Am' by Nas. But they were all stolen, along with about 24 other CDs. Someone broke into my house and took them. They helped themselves to my shit. They were all in a suitcase and it was quickly grabbed and they ran off with it. I'd rather them take my TV or some money than my music."

BWF (before we forget): Enjoy the reggae sunsplash of Steel Pulse on the Web @ www.steel-pulse.com. ... The Steel Pulse album discography - "Handsworth Revolution" (Mango, 1978); "Tribute to the Martyrs" (1979); "Reggae Fever (Caught You)" (1980); "True Democracy" (Elektra, 1982); "Earth Crisis" (1984); "Babylon On the Bandit" (1985); "Island Reggae Greats" (Mango, 1985); "State of ... Emergency" (MCA, 1988); "Victims" (1991); "Rastafari Centennial: Live in Paris" (1992); "Smash Hits" (Elektra, 1993); "Vex" (MCA, 1994); "Rastanthology" (Wise Man Doctrine, 1996); "Rage & Fury" (Atlantic, 1997); "Sound System: The Island Anthology" (PolyGram, 1997); "Living Legacy" (Wise Man Doctrine/Tuff Gong/Lightyear, 1999).

Corey Stevens travels the 'Road to Zen'

(May 8, 1997)

If Zen is the intuitive illumination of the mind and spirit, then blues-rocker Corey Stevens' mantra must be "I think I can, I think I can."

After struggling nearly 20 years in the music business, the former Los Angeles third-grade teacher is finally seeing results from all his hard work, guts and mettle.

While mainstream America was nodding off, Stevens quietly sold more than 70,000 copies of his 1996 debut album "Blue Drops of Rain" (Eureka), and now his just-released follow-up "Road to Zen" (backed by Discovery Records' distribution power), promises to open even more doors.

Stevens gives credit to where it's due: rock radio.

"I've had real good luck with radio and a hard-core, loyal fan base," Stevens said during a recent tour stop. "We just haven't had the major media, like VH1 or Rolling Stone magazine. Which, to me, is kind of okay. It's sometimes better to be the underdog. Fans will root for you that much more.

"The major media, they're too busy covering No Doubt and Stone Temple Pilots. I'm not in and out of rehab, so I guess I have a boring life to them."

Stevens' working-class hero story, though, is intriguing. The Illinois native took up the guitar at an early age and eventually earned a bachelor's degree in music at Southern Illinois University. He made the big move to Los Angeles in 1980 to pursue his rock dream, but low-paying gigs forced him to fall back on his teaching skills. He taught in the L.A. Unified School District for 10 years.

"It took me 14 years to get a record deal," he said. "I quit the teaching job once I got signed to Eureka (in 1995). Teaching was always like a side job. My music was always more important to me."

The critically acclaimed "Blue Drops of Rain" peaked at No. 7 and spent nearly 40 weeks on Billboard's Top Blues Albums chart. Stevens also kept a torrid touring pace, logging more than 100,000 miles and 200-plus shows last year.

"I was just one of those guys who wanted it really bad," he said. "I never really gave up on that dream I had when I was a teenager. I think it's something in your blood. It's like, why do surfers jump out into the ocean when it's 30 degrees? You just love it, I guess. That's why I stuck with it all those years."

Stevens has watched his popularity soar before his eyes.

"Take Pittsburgh, for instance," he said. "Last year, we played there and we had like 25 people at the show. This time, we had over 1,000, because radio is playing me there. Then, the other night, we sold out the Newport Music Hall in Columbus, Ohio. That's 1,700 people. It's a great feeling, believe me."

Stevens clearly has an appreciation for the blues, but his major influences are the Rolling Stones, Allman Brothers Band and Eric Clapton. For "Road to Zen," he said he got his inspiration from Derek & The Dominos.

"I've been touring with a trio," he said, "but eventually I'd like to have a bigger band, not so much like Derek & The Dominos, but like a harp player, another guitarist and a keyboard player. I love that big sound."

Fans and critics often compare Stevens' voice to Clapton's soulful touch. He doesn't mind.

"They always say it in a good way," he said. "When you really dig deep down into your soul and let something out, I think a different voice comes out, and that's my voice. If you listen to Clapton, he's got all kinds of voices throughout his career. This just happens to be the way I sound."

BWF (before we forget): The album's first single, "One More Time," reached No. 22 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.

Stone Temple Pilots create 'Tiny Music'

(March 28, 1996)

Stone Temple Pilots drummer Eric Kretz is asked point blank, "How close was the band to breaking up over (lead singer) Scott Weiland's drug arrest last year?

He doesn't hesitate long to answer, but first he takes a full, deep breath.

"There was a lot of talk about a lot of things," Kretz said recently from Atlantic Records' New York headquarters during a full day of interviews in advance of the group's third album, "Tiny Music ... Songs From the Vatican Gift Shop" (released Tuesday).

"There was a lot of anger and frustration over all sorts of things, not just what happened to Scott," Kretz said. "We definitely needed some time to figure out where we were going."

Where they were headed after Weiland's May 15, 1995, arrest for reportedly buying rock cocaine from a street dealer in Pasadena, Calif., is anyone's guess. The next night on KROQ in Los Angeles, Courtney Love read a letter from an "embarrassed" Weiland, apologizing profusely to fans. Later, a judge agreed to dismiss felony drug charges if the singer completed a drug treatment program and had no further run-ins with the law.

The arrest came weeks after the commercially successful but critically skewered quartet halted preproduction for "Tiny Music." It was then that Kretz and brothers Robert and Dean DeLeo (guitars) took matters into their own hands, regrouping with Weiland at Westerly Ranch in Santa Ynez, Calif., in October.

"Tiny Music" became a big blessing.

"Leading up to the recording was stressful," Kretz said, "but once we got there, the house contained only our egos and our dogs. After living there and getting to know each other again and not getting on each other's nerves, it all fell into place from there.

"There was a lot of yelling and venting before. We've been through so much together, so it's great when we get together and can still joke around and enjoy each other's company. Once you're away from each other for so long, you miss the things that brought you together in the first place."

Tucked away on a scenic patch of 100 acres two and a half hours away from Los Angeles, the 24,000-square-feet Westerly Ranch was just what the doctor ordered: 12 people - the band, producer Brendan O'Brien, the crew and engineers and a cook - had complete run of the villa. The creative juices were flowing from room to room.

"We could run to any room in the house with a microphone and help out with a song," Kretz said. "Brendan loves to try different things. He's really into spontaneity, so there were tons of great guitar leads in all sorts of places, like the bathroom and the entryway. I even set up my drums in a cedar closet upstairs. And I did the drums for (the first single) 'Big Bang Baby' on the front lawn.

"A lot of the songs you hear were written right there, in the heat of the moment."

The virtually carefree atmosphere has produced Stone Temple Pilots' most distinctive sounding album to date. Tracks such as "Big Bang Baby," "Pop's Love Suicide" and "Tumble in the Rough" have all the rough and raw earmarks of the group's first two multiplatinum-selling albums ("Core" and Purple"), while "Lady Picture Show" echoes the Beatles, "Press Play" and "Daisy" display their knack for instrumentals, and the dreamy "And So I Know" is uncharacteristically bold and beautiful.

"We're all getting comfortable playing other types of music and putting it out there," Kretz said. "We're gaining more confidence. We're not worrying what others might think. It's not overly serious like our other records. If you listen closely, there's some wonderful humor in Scott's lyrics. He's found a way to express all those things that have bothered him in a beautiful way.

"I was really blown away by reading his lyrics. At first, we were worried he might come in and his lyrics might be self-indulgent, but now I wish he'd put a book of poems together. They're really inspiring."

Whether "Tiny Music" is enough to silence critics who have slammed them as Pearl Jam knockoffs is another story. Kretz says he and his bandmates aren't sweating it.

"There's so much pressure to reinvent yourself, and that's an evil thing to chase," he said. "We're lucky we don't worry about the critics because we're lucky enough that there are enough people out there who really enjoy what we do.

"And that's all that really matters."

BWF (before we forget): Kretz and the DeLeo brothers have teamed, sans Weiland, with former Ten Inch Men vocalist Dave Coutts to form Talk Show. Their self-titled Atlantic debut album was released on Sept. 2, 1997. ... The Stone Temple Pilots discography - "Core" (Atlantic, 1992); "Purple" (1994); "Tiny Music ... Songs From the Vatican Gift Shop" (1996). ... Fan club, 1118 Magnolia Bvd., P.O. Box 227, Burbank, CA 91506.