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Pete Makowski

Pete Makowski

Pete Makowski joined Sounds at the age of 16 as an office boy in 1972 and within two years was a fulltime journalist. Mostly known for his encounters with the more rock-orientated acts like Deep Purple, UFO, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Aerosmith, Grand Funk, Rush, etc., during his stretch in the business Makowski interviewed a diverse array of artists including Blondie, Johnny Thunders, The Only Ones, Sparks, Millie Jackson, Stevie Winwood, Twiggy, Iggy Pop, the Sex Pistols and Alvin Stardust.

His other careers included being press officer for the New York Dolls, Ted Nugent, Black Sabbath, Hawkwind, the Pink Fairies, Man, Motorhead, Michael Moorcock, Gary Holton and Tommy Chase; setting up an independent record label with Pete Townshend, playing guitar and writing songs for the infamous (or is that unfamous?) Snivelling Shits. He also put together a photo journal – Powerage – with legendary photographer Ross Halfin. The two of them worked together on various projects and magazines for almost three decades.

Apart from Sounds, Pete wrote for Street Life, New Music News, Kerrang! (under the nom de plume "Toots Daley"), Soundcheck, Metal Hammer and This Is Rock. He also contributed to Q, Mojo and Classic Rock.

Pete died in November 2021.

78 articles

List of articles in the library

By date | By artist | Most recently added

The Groundhogs, Stray: Rainbow Theatre, London

Live Review by Pete Makowski, Sounds, 5 January 1974

THE GROUNDHOGS' Rainbow concert was plagued with problems from the word go! ...

Ace: Hornsey College of Art, London

Live Review by Pete Makowski, Sounds, 19 January 1974

ACE PERFORMED a nifty little set at the Hornsey College of Art last Thursday. I do not have much information about this band except their ...

Mick Ronson: Rainbow Theatre, London

Live Review by Pete Makowski, Sounds, 9 March 1974

"TWINKLE TWINKLE little starman". Mick Ronson possesses all the necessary qualities to ensure stardom but his good looks and lithe limbs seemed to be the ...

Queen: Friars Hall, Aylesbury

Live Review by Pete Makowski, Sounds, 9 March 1974

IT WAS A bad night for Queen at Friars Hall, Aylesbury, last Saturday, but this was not completely their fault. For a start one of ...

Sparks: Come Into Marks and Sparks

Interview by Pete Makowski, Sounds, 1 June 1974

LOOK AT those two, aren't they cute? Who are they? Why they're the Mael Brothers. You know, Ronnie's the one who looks like a crossbreed ...

Phil Manzanera, Roxy Music: Roxy Music: The Two Sides Of Mr Manzanera

Interview by Pete Makowski, Sounds, 24 August 1974

Since the beginning of Roxy Music's career there have been many reports of fights and ego stomping between various members. One man who's been keeping ...

The Sensational Alex Harvey Band: Alex Harvey: Rock And Roll Warrior

Interview by Pete Makowski, Sounds, 26 October 1974

Pete Makowski talks to a man who fought at Waterloo. Here, back in his reincarnated form, he talks about making peace with the people. ...

Deep Purple: Stormbringer

Review by Pete Makowski, Sounds, 2 November 1974

IT IS going to be interesting to see the fans' and critics' reaction when they lay their hands on Stormbringer. ...

Cockney Rebel, Steve Harley: Steve Harley: Mr Soft gets tough

Interview by Pete Makowski, Sounds, 2 November 1974

Meek, mild mannered Pete Makowski sacrifices his tape machine to the meanderings of that nasty Steve Harley, at home, as always, tearing at the throats ...

The Commodores: Caught In The Act (Motown import)

Review by Pete Makowski, Sounds, 12 April 1975

THERE'S A new breed of soulmongers on the loose, since the emergence of bands like the Isleys, The Ohios and BT Express, funky music has ...

Bernard Purdie: Purdie's School of Drumming

Interview by Pete Makowski, Sounds, 26 April 1975

Pete Makowski talks to top American session drummer Bernard Purdie ...

Genesis: Empire Pool, Wembley

Live Review by Pete Makowski, Sounds, 26 April 1975

THE STAGE was set. On the left hand side, Steve Hackett was seated with guitar and a melange of effects around him. Behind him, Michael ...

Led Zeppelin: Earls Court, London

Live Review by Pete Makowski, Sounds, 24 May 1975

"SIX AND A half years is a helluva long time," said Robert Plant who was standing one side of the Earls Court stage, bathed in ...

ZZ Top: Fandango (London FHU 8482) (31.00)

Review by Pete Makowski, Sounds, 24 May 1975

ZZ Top will tear this country apart ...

The Osmonds: Mass Masochism In Belgravia — The Story of O

Report by Pete Makowski, Sounds, 7 June 1975

Young girls spend hours queuing in Eaton Square in the hope of catching a glimpse of the Osmond Brothers pop group. Some of them get ...

Todd Rundgren: Initiation (Bearsville Import) Time: 68.00

Review by Pete Makowski, Sounds, 7 June 1975

TODD: ONLY FOR THE INITIATED ...

Rainbow: Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow: Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow (Oyster OYA2001)

Review by Pete Makowski, Sounds, 16 August 1975

VOLCANIC BLACKMORE ...

Supertramp: The year of the 'Tramp

Interview by Pete Makowski, Sounds, 27 December 1975

Pete Makowski traces the success of Supertramp ...

Heart: Dreamboat Annie (Arista)***

Review by Pete Makowski, Sounds, 31 January 1976

THE FIRST time I heard this album was in the offices of another record company (who shall go unnamed) who were pretty hot to get ...

Status Quo: Blow By Blow

Interview by Pete Makowski, Sounds, 28 February 1976

BY THE time you read this, Status Quo's new album and single should be riding high in the charts. You don't have to be an ...

Deep Purple, Ian Gillan: Ian Gillan: Rock And Roll's In Gillan's Soul

Interview by Pete Makowski, Sounds, 13 March 1976

"We all came out to Montreux, On the lake Geneva shoreline. To make a record with a mobile, We didn't have much time." ...

Thin Lizzy: Buzy Lizzy

Retrospective and Interview by Pete Makowski, Sounds, 27 March 1976

Pete Makowski's putting his money on Thin Lizzy making the real big time. Here, he talks to Phil Lynott and looks at the past, present ...

Alice Cooper: Alice Cooper Goes To Hell

Review by Pete Makowski, Sounds, 10 July 1976

THIS ALBUM HAS already received an almost unamimous thumbs-down form the staff, which really suprises as it's no better or worse than Welcome To My ...

Rainbow: If You Don't Like Rock'n'Roll, It's Too Late Now

Report by Pete Makowski, Sounds, 11 September 1976

"We're not in Kansas We must be over the Rainbow" – Judy Garland, Wizard Of Oz ...

Thin Lizzy: Malady Of A Thin Man

Interview by Pete Makowski, Sounds, 16 October 1976

A CASUAL conversation. A relaxed Sunday afternoon at the, er, Chez Lynott. I mean if you want to catch the man, it's got to be ...

Lynyrd Skynyrd: Saturday Night Special

Report by Pete Makowski, Sounds, 30 October 1976

"It's like throwing a bleedin' virgin into a bed of rampant nymphomaniacs," commented Pete Makowski, our jotter on the spot. Sis he lose his white ...

Tommy Bolin: Private Eyes (CBS IMPORT)*****

Review by Pete Makowski, Sounds, 30 October 1976

WHILE LISTENING to this white label copy for about the millionth time, all that comes to mind as an introduction to this review is 'forget ...

Nazareth: Naz in Exile

Interview by Pete Makowski, Sounds, 13 November 1976

NAZARETH are pissed off!!! Well, they're not that pissed off. Only a bit. In fact they're probably just pissed... ...

Bonnie Bramlett, Grinderswitch, The Marshall Tucker Band: The Marshall Tucker Band, Grinderswitch, Bonnie Bramlett: Southern Boys, Booze And Boogie

Report by Pete Makowski, Sounds, 27 November 1976

Krautland krumbles to the beat of Macon Georgia. Pete Makowski checks out the Marshall Tucker Band and friends in Hamburg. Bourbon by Jim Bean — peanuts by Jimmy ...

Rainbow: 'Lainbow!!!

Profile and Interview by Pete Makowski, Sounds, 29 January 1977

SO THERE we were, surrounded. But where does the story really begin? ...

Lynyrd Skynyrd: Rainbow Theatre, London

Live Review by Pete Makowski, Sounds, 5 February 1977

TO SOME people, kicking off a British tour in London is the equivalent of musical suicide. ...

Lynyrd Skynyrd: The Wild Bunch

Report and Interview by Pete Makowski, Sounds, 12 February 1977

Hey, You Shoulda Bin At The Trial!!! ...

Utopia: Todd Rundgren's Utopia: New Victoria, London

Live Review by Pete Makowski, Sounds, 12 February 1977

HoooooRa! ...

Jethro Tull: Hammersmith Odeon, London

Live Review by Pete Makowski, Sounds, 19 February 1977

IT'S STRANGE, but up until Sunday night at the Hammersmith Odeon, Jethro Tull had been an anonymous quantity in my musical catalogue. ...

Kansas: (1) Who Are These Persons and (2) Why the Silly Clothes?

Interview by Pete Makowski, Sounds, 30 April 1977

(1) They're Kansas, one hot US band (2) They're pictured at a ritzy bash to celebrate the platinum status of their current long player Leftoverture. ...

Status Quo: Story Of Quo

Retrospective by Pete Makowski, Sounds, 14 May 1977

"Status Quo are one of those peculiar groups who have been around for years and who go through cycles and surges of popularity that make ...

Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers: D*T*K*L*A*M*F

Report and Interview by Pete Makowski, Sounds, 4 June 1977

WHAT JT's HBs SAID TO PM ABOUT TP & HIS HBs AND A LOT OF OTHER STUFF ...

Blondie, Television: Television/Blondie: Hammersmith Odeon, London

Live Review by Pete Makowski, Sounds, 4 June 1977

Television: I preferred the other channel ...

Tom Jans: Dark Blonde

Review by Pete Makowski, Sounds, 4 June 1977

SOMETIMES I feel so good I can feel my body growing... YEAHHH!!! Y'know CBS were really surprised (in fact speechless) when I enquired about this ...

Jethro Tull: New Wave From An Old Hand

Interview by Pete Makowski, Sounds, 18 June 1977

OII!!!!! EVEN IF YOU THINK JETHRO TULL ARE JUST A BUNCH OF ARTHRITIC CLAPPED OUT OLDTIMERS, COP A READ OF THIS, YOU MIGHT EVEN FIND ...

Rainbow: There'll Always Be A Rainbow As Long A Ritchie's Here

Interview by Pete Makowski, Sounds, 25 June 1977

Well, and as long as Cozy and Ronnie are still here, and as far as you — dear SOUNDS reader — are concerned, as long as Pete ...

Rainbow: There'll Always Be A Rainbow As Long As Ritchie's Here

Interview by Pete Makowski, Sounds, 25 June 1977

"THERE'LL ALWAYS be a Ronnie, there'll always be a Cozy and myself in Rainbow and that's all that matters, others may come and go because ...

Eddie & The Hot Rods: Eddie and the Hot Rods: The Rods Are Awright

Interview by Pete Makowski, Sounds, 6 August 1977

"All my friends at school grew up and settled down. Then they mortgaged up their lives. When things get set too much but I think ...

Iggy Pop: Lust For Life (RCA AFLI 2488)*****

Review by Pete Makowski, Sounds, 20 August 1977

"Yeah I'm through with sleeping on the sidewalk,no more beating my brains,no more beating my brains,with liquor and drugs,with liquor and drugs,well I'm just a modern ...

Motorhead: Motorhead (Chiswick WLK 2)*****

Review by Pete Makowski, Sounds, 20 August 1977

MOTORHEAD BANGER ...

Thin Lizzy Rule At Reading OK?

Interview by Pete Makowski, Sounds, 27 August 1977

THE TELEX ended something like: "And besides he's black, Irish and only wears one earring." ...

Dolly Parton: Here You Come Again (RCA PL 12544) **

Review by Pete Makowski, Sounds, 18 February 1978

I DON'T KNOW if reading the Marquis De Sade's Juliette (phew wot a scorcher!) before hearing this was such a good idea. Since broadening her ...

The Only Ones: The One and Only

Profile and Interview by Pete Makowski, Sounds, 15 April 1978

PUNK. NEW Wave. I groan inwardly at all these new clichés that seem more painfully predominant as the years go by. It seems that most ...

Robert Palmer: Hammersmith Odeon, London

Live Review by Pete Makowski, Sounds, 1 December 1979

A BIT trendy-poo's, y'know? ...

Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Rossington Collins Band: Lynyrd Skynyrd: If I Leave Here Tomorrow

Retrospective by Pete Makowski, Sounds, 15 March 1980

Dear Everyone,I would like to say how shocked and sorry I am at the deaths of Steve, Cassie and Ronnie. I know how it must ...

Killing Joke

Profile and Interview by Pete Makowski, ZigZag, April 1980

MY FIRST sojourn into the pages of this fine mag and what a balls up. Cock up amundo, mate. ...

Phil Lynott: Phillip Lynott: Solo In Soho (Vertigo 9102038)

Review by Pete Makowski, Sounds, April 1980

Black and Irish is beautiful ...

Van Halen: Women And Children First (Warners) *****

Review by Pete Makowski, Sounds, 5 April 1980

VAM! BLAM! KAPOW! SPLAT! ...

Black Sabbath, Girlschool: Black Sabbath/Girlschool: Hammersmith Odeon, London

Live Review by Pete Makowski, Sounds, 24 May 1980

THE SABS are back. And after a series of false starts to their British tour due to drummer Bill Ward contracting viral pneumonia they are ...

Girlschool: Girls At Their Best

Report by Pete Makowski, Sounds, 7 June 1980

THESE SCHOOL-TYPES WILL MAKE THE ORCHIDS WILT, SEZ PETE MAKOWSKI ...

Girlschool: Back to Schooldays

Interview by Pete Makowski, Sounds, 9 August 1980

Pete Makowski deciphers the scrawl in his exercise book. Mike Laye makes with the paints, crayons and Box Brownie ...

Pat Benatar: Fire And Loathing

Report and Interview by Pete Makowski, Sounds, 12 September 1981

Can Pat Benatar survive the American Rock Business? ...

Def Leppard: The Leppard Doesn't Sleep Tonight

Report and Interview by Pete Makowski, Sounds, 6 February 1982

ROUGH NOTES/ROUGH NOTES (Prelude) ...

Kiss: Inside Kastle Kiss

Interview by Pete Makowski, Sounds, 13 February 1982

"What Alice Cooper was to dead babies and corpses, Kiss became to fire breathing and sadomasochism. With Kabuki-whitened faces, they leap on stage puking blood, ...

The Rossington Collins Band: Born Again

Profile and Interview by Pete Makowski, Sounds, 13 March 1982

AFTER SO much tragedy and so much pain the Skynyrd people are back on their feet again...almost. ...

The Scorpions: Boom! Boom! Out Go The Lights

Report and Interview by Pete Makowski, Sounds, 27 March 1982

HERE WE are in Spain – San Sebastian to be precise. Poli de Portivo is the name of the venue and the Scorpions have just ...

Anvil: What Heavy Metal Dreams Are Made Of

Interview by Pete Makowski, Sounds, 17 April 1982

LET ME tell you about Canada's number one secret weapon. It's called Anvil and when they finally decide to unleash themselves on this poor unsuspecting ...

Rush: Adrenalin Rush

Report and Interview by Pete Makowski, Sounds, 18 December 1982

PETE MAKOWSKI finally delivers the goods on RUSH ...

Hanoi Rocks: Mystery Boys From Mystery City

Report by Pete Makowski, Kerrang!, 19 May 1983

A heart-to-heart on the art of falling apart. PETE MAKOWSKI meets HANOI ROCKS. ...

Deep Purple: Nobody's Purple

Interview by Pete Makowski, Metal Hammer, 20 June 1988

"Rock'n'Roll is the perfect art which conceals art, that satisfying spontaneity which can be achieved only by taking intense thought" – Kathleen Cleaver (paraphrased) ...

Aerosmith: Sex'n'Drugs'n'Rock'n'Roll!

Memoir by Pete Makowski, Kerrang!, 6 April 1994

Up until the early '80s, Aerosmith indulged in every rock 'n'roll excess! "It's a miracle they survived!" says Dr. Pete Makowski, who met Steven Tyler ...

Hole, Mother Love Bone, Nirvana: Rock 'N' Roll Suicide?

Report by Paul Elliott, Pete Makowski, Kerrang!, 9 July 1994

Seattle's heroin nightmare continues. First ANDY WOOD of the seminal MOTHER LOVE BONE overdosed and died. Then KURT COBAIN ended his desperate addiction by committing ...

Grand Funk Railroad: Get The Funk Out

Retrospective and Interview by Pete Makowski, Classic Rock, October 2005

WHO THE hell are Grand Funk Railroad? More to the point, why should we even care who they are? These are pertinent questions for any ...

Blackmore's Night, Deep Purple, Rainbow, Ritchie Blackmore: Richie Blackmore: Blackmore's Nightmare

Retrospective by Pete Makowski, Classic Rock, March 2006

"I'm at that stage where I will play anything I want to. I will not be dictated to by fans or people who say: 'You ...

Detective, Michael Des Barres, Silverhead: Silverhead: Studs Silver

Retrospective and Interview by Pete Makowski, Classic Rock, March 2006

MOST OF you will never have heard of Silverhead. The pseudo-flowery moniker of frontman Michael Des Barres probably doesn't even tinkle the vaguest of bells. ...

Aerosmith: Deuces Are Wild

Retrospective and Interview by Pete Makowski, Classic Rock, May 2007

LONDON, TUESDAY, February 20, 2007, 11.35pm. Me, photographer Ross Halfin, Aerosmith tour manager John Bionelli and oh yeah – Joe Perry and Jimmy Page are ...

UFO: Reissues

Review by Pete Makowski, Classic Rock, February 2008

WATCHING THIS once-great band drag their bruised, battered – and in some cases surgically-enhanced – carcass around metal's chicken-in-a-basket circuit, it's difficult to believe that ...

Stone Temple Pilots: Scott Weiland (2008)

Interview by Pete Makowski, Rock's Backpages audio, March 2008

The late singer recalls childhood friends Stone Temple Pilots disintegrating through success and drugs; talks about leaving STP and joining Velvet Revolver, about the latter band also falling apart, about the overdose death of his brother and about rejoining STP... and at length about his own addictions and attempts at rehab.

File format: mp3; file size: 58.6mb, interview length: 1h 01' 03" sound quality: ****

ZZ Top: Billy Gibbons: An Interview

Profile and Interview by Pete Makowski, Guitar Aficionado, Fall 2010

"It's not really about fashion; it's only about STYLE. Style lives on and fashion dies." John Varvatos, contemporary menswear fashion designer* ...

Chris Cornell, Soundgarden: Chris Cornell: An Interview

Interview by Pete Makowski, unpublished, Spring 2011

NOTE: This is an uncut version of an interview I did with Chris Cornell in Los Angeles in Spring 2011 for MOJO. Soundgarden had reformed ...

Saxon: Biff Byford: An Interview

Interview by Pete Makowski, unpublished, May 2012

This is a previously unpublished Q&A with Biff Byford, Saxon's enduring, uncompromising and down-to-earth frontman as he contemplates, amongst other things, the prospects of getting ...

Black Sabbath: 02, Birmingham

Live Review by Pete Makowski, Rock's Backpages, 19 May 2012

ALMOST A WEEK LATER and my ears are still ringing – and I don't know if it's due to the rousing response of the audience ...

ZZ Top: An Interview

Interview by Pete Makowski, Rock's Backpages, October 2012

"TWO FLAT TIRES on a muddy road. Thick and Throbbing. The rhythm section from Hell and holding on strong." ...

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