Billboard articles, interviews and reviews from Rock's Backpages

NEW YORK — Synthesizer inventor Robert Moog plans to have Moog "performing instruments" on the market within three to six months, priced up to $2,000. ...

Miles Davis, Steve Miller, Neil Young: Neil Young, Steve Miller, Miles Davis: Fillmore East, New York NY

Live Review by Ian Dove, Billboard, March 1970

THE INTEREST in Miles Davis' East Village debut lay in the fact that for the past year he has supposedly been moving towards contemporary rock ...

Liberace: Waldorf Astoria, New York City

Live Review by Ian Dove, Billboard, March 1970

ANYBODY WANDERING in midway through Liberace's performance would probably think they were into a remake of Hellzapoppin. Liberace (about three costume changes through his act, ...

Brinsley Schwarz, Van Morrison, Quicksilver Messenger Service: Quicksilver, Van Morrison, Brinsley Schwarz: Fillmore East, New York NY

Live Review by Ian Dove, Billboard, April 1970

BRINSLEY SCHWARZ is an unknown British group that aroused interest because over 100 U.K. journalists braved a 12-hour trouble beset trip from London to spend ...

Duane Allman, Delaney & Bonnie: Delaney & Bonnie And Friends: Carnegie Hall, New York NY

Live Review by Ian Dove, Billboard, October 1970

GUITARIST DUANE Allman, moving with agility, skill and taste from bottleneck to feedback, was probably the Friend who fitted best into the D&B format at ...

Soft Machine: Gaslight, New York NY

Live Review by Ian Dove, Billboard, July 1971

ORNETTE COLEMAN'S presence in the audience was no coincidence — there's mutual admiration between the CBS group and the avant jazzman. It's also apparent in ...

Elvis Presley: Spectrum, Philadelphia

Live Review by Ian Dove, Billboard, November 1971

ELVIS HAS now copped the music from 2001 as his opening theme (Grand Funk also use this) but from there on in, it's Presley material all the ...

Davis Case Stirs Wide Probe on Federal Level

Report by Ian Dove, Billboard, June 1973

NEW YORK — Rumor, speculation, innuendo and fact — all rocked the music industry in the wake of Clive Davis' dismissal as president of CBS ...

CBS Records: U.S. Attorney Bows Probe — Leiberson Upholds Code

Report by Ian Dove, Billboard, June 1973

NEW YORK — Support for the Billboard editorial (see last week's issue) calling for the RIAA to create a committee of industry lenders to structure a code ...

Jo Jo Gunne, Kiss: Kiss, Jo Jo Gunne: Beacon Theater, New York NY

Live Review by Toby Goldstein, Billboard, April 1975

AS KISS thundered onstage March 21, for the first of two shows, it was clearly a case of "hail the conquering heroes." The sold-out crowd ...

Alice Cooper, Suzi Quatro: Madison Square Garden, New York NY

Live Review by Toby Goldstein, Billboard, May 1975

WHEN ALICE Cooper's track record is summoned up, the one question that springs to mind is, what can he possibly do to surpass himself this ...

'Northern Soul': Excitement In U.K. With U.S. Records

Report by Peter Jones, Billboard, May 1975

LONDON — It is spoken of, in grateful but astonished tones, as Northern Soul. It is a frantic, energetic, money-spinning soul scene, based in the ...

The Eagles, Dan Fogelberg: Academy of Music, New York NY

Live Review by Toby Goldstein, Billboard, May 1975

PERFORMING AT the first of two sold-out shows May 16, the Eagles demonstrated that a band of considerable musical expertise resides behind its string of ...

Brian Auger, ZZ Top: ZZ Top, Brian Auger's Oblivion Express: Felt Forum, New York NY

Live Review by Toby Goldstein, Billboard, June 1975

THERE IS A certain sector of the rock audience — very young and overstimulated — that cares little about what the group onstage is accomplishing ...

The Carpenters: Palladium, London

Live Review by Peter Jones, Billboard, December 1976

COMPARED WITH the almost clinical and perfectionist act provided by the duo on a previous visit, the Carpenters went all out Nov. 22 to pull ...

The Sex Pistols: U.K. Sex Pistols Fire a Controversy

Report by Peter Jones, Billboard, December 1976

LONDON — A live televised shouting match between interviewer Bill Grundy and the EMI punk rock band, Sex Pistols, in which four-letter words flew fast ...

The Long Ryders: Long Ryders: Don't Call Us Country-Rock

Profile and Interview by Jeff Tamarkin, Billboard, January 1984

L.A. Band Following in Burrito Brothers' Footsteps ...

T-Bone Burnett, Elvis Costello: Elvis Costello, T-Bone Burnett: State University of New York, Stony Brook, N.Y.

Live Review by Jeff Tamarkin, Billboard, May 1984

IT WAS THE old, familiar scene of singer/songwriter bearing acoustic guitar and playing for an attentive college crowd. What wasn't so familiar was that the ...

Discotto Finds Way To Succeed In Italy

Report by Peter Jones, Billboard, May 1984

MILAN — A new trend within the troubled Italian record business is for wholesalers to set up their own record production operations, mainly turning out ...

Herbie Hancock, Kashif, Raydio: The Synthesizer: Instrument, Not The Player, Changes Music

Report and Interview by Vernon Gibbs, Billboard, June 1984

HERBIE HANCOCK, Kashif, and Ray Parker Jr. praise the impact of the synthesizer on black music, feeling its unlimited sound potential and ability to provide ...

The Band, Richie Havens, Roger McGuinn, R.E.M., John Sebastian, Jesse Colin Young: R.E.M. and Friends: Capitol Theater, Passaic, N.J.

Live Review by Jeff Tamarkin, Billboard, June 1984

IT WAS A folk-rocker's fantasy: R.E.M. was videotaping a concert for MTV broadcast in July, for a new series called Influences. And so the IRS Records ...

The Ramones: Things Get Exciting Again for Ramones

Profile and Interview by Jeff Tamarkin, Billboard, November 1984

'Too Tough To Die' After 10 Years ...

World Metal On Rise; Europe Leads Trends

Report by John Tobler, Billboard, May 1986

THAT HEAVY metal is a force to be reckoned with in chart terms seems beyond dispute, though it's fast becoming apparent that Europe and, to ...

Chad & Jeremy, Freddie & The Dreamers, Gerry & The Pacemakers, The Mindbenders, The Searchers: Chad & Jeremy, the Mindbenders, Freddie & the Dreamers, Gerry & the Pacemakers, the Searchers: The British Invasion — Felt Forum, New York NY

Live Review by Jeff Tamarkin, Billboard, November 1986

PERHAPS HOPING to capitalize on the nostalgia fever that has made the recent Monkees tour a success, five acts that got their start during the ...

Whitney Houston: The Long Road To Overnight Stardom

Report and Interview by Bud Scoppa, Billboard, December 1986

ONCE IN A BLUE MOON, a new artist emerges who simply takes over, in utterly decisive and undeniable fashion. So it was with Whitney Houston ...

Biz Markie, Just-Ice, Mantronix, Salt-N-Pepa, Joyce Sims: Indie Labels: Players With the Rap Attack Making the Most Impact — and It's Not Just for the Money

Report by Vernon Gibbs, Billboard, June 1988

INDEPENDENT LABELS have always been critical to the exposure of new black music. In the '50s, labels like Specialty and Chess gave pioneers like Little ...

Rosie Flores, George Highfill, Michelle Shocked, Dwight Yoakam: Producer Pete Anderson Leads Calif.'s Gold Rush

Report and Interview by Holly Gleason, Billboard, July 1988

LOS ANGELES — With the success of Dwight Yoakam's gold albums (Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc. and Hillbilly Deluxe), producer Pete Anderson has found a beachhead ...

The Deele, Keith Sweat, Teena Marie: Teena Marie, Keith Sweat, The Deele: The Forum, Los Angeles, Calif.

Live Review by David Nathan, Billboard, July 1988

WlTH ITS strong lineup of urban contemporary talent on display and its billing as "the hottest show of the summer," this event could hardly have ...

Etta James

Review and Interview by David Nathan, Billboard, December 1988

"SHOW BUSINESS became a lifestyle for me from the beginning," says legendary vocalist Etta James. "The road became my home – I was almost like ...

The Go-Betweens: Go-Betweens Aim To Strike Public Chord

Profile and Interview by Dave DiMartino, Billboard, January 1989

AT THE END of the day, what do good reviews really mean? In the case of the Go-Betweens, whose debut Capitol album 16 Lovers Lane ...

The Red Hot Chili Peppers: Red Hot Chili Peppers: The Ritz, New York

Live Review by Evelyn McDonnell, Billboard, June 1990

LIKE PUBLIC Enemy, Red Hot Chili Peppers appear to want to do the right thing. It's just that they keep sticking their feet in their ...

Bob Marley & the Wailers: Early Wailers: Fussing & Fighting

Report by Larry Jaffee, Billboard, June 1994

Marley Catalog Is A Source Of Strife, Suits ...

Spirit of '69 Woodstock Alive At Falcon Ridge

Comment by Chris Smith, Billboard, August 1999

BLAME IT ON the heat. Blame it on poor security. Blame it on the cause/effect relationship between artist persona and audience behavior. Blame it on ...

Blasts to the Past: Canada's labels dig through back catalog and discover gold

Report and Interview by Nicholas Jennings, Billboard, March 2001

THERE'S GOLD in them there vaults. Like miners digging for precious nuggets, Canadian record companies have been sifting through their back catalogs to find long-lost ...

Glenn Frey, 1948-2016

Obituary by Barney Hoskyns, Billboard, January 2016

THE DEATH OF Glenn Frey has robbed the world of half the partnership at the heart of the Eagles, whose Greatest Hits 1971-1975 remains the ...