No Sleep Til Sudbury With Brent Jensen

NSTS is back this week with part one of a two part series featuring Guns N' Roses frontman W. Axl Rose, one of the intriguing, beguiling, and mysterious figures in rock and roll history. In part one we examine the rise of Rose - how a delinquent kid from Lafayette, Indiana would lead a band of rock and roll street urchins on to absolute global domination, and all of the insanity that took place along the way.           

A few weeks back we lost one of the greats - ZZ Top bassist and singer Dusty Hill.  This week on NSTS we pay tribute to Hill by looking back on his life, including his cello-playing high school days, how he came to be the bass player in ZZ Top, the time he accidentally shot himself in the abdomen, and the events leading up to his death.     

Ten years ago we lost Amy Winehouse, a shepherd of the pop culture past whom Bob Dylan called "the last real individualist".    This week NSTS examines the highs and lows of Winehouse's tragic life - her love for the girl groups of the 60s, her rise to fame, the struggles she endured with substance abuse, and her very sad and untimely end. 

Creem magazine writer Jeffrey Morgan returns to the show this week to unveil his very unusual NSTS skin vibration playlist. When I express my lack of understanding in his choices, Jeffrey uses the movie "The Man Who Fell To Earth" to explain. And it does make sense.  Jeffrey and I also discuss his Van Halen Diver Down record review for Creem, with began with a warning that it was "an exceptionally vicious kick in the teeth to Van Halen fans everywhere". The band was not at all pleased about the scathing review, and Jeffrey contends that as a result, Van Halen recorded a much better follow-up with 1984. Can he prove it? Listen and find out.      Morgan's playlist: Lou Reed - Metal Machine Music A1 Lou Reed - Metal Machine Music A2 Neil Young - Arc Lou Reed - Metal Machine Music A3 Lou Reed - Metal Machine Music A4

Remember Creem magazine? Remember Lester Bangs? This week's NSTS guest, author and rock critic Jeffrey Morgan, worked for both of them. His new book, Rock Critic Confidential, opens with the original handwritten letter Morgan received from Lester Bangs, on Creem letterhead, inviting him to write album reviews for the magazine in 1974.  Rock Critic Confidential is a fantastic read done in the style of a magazine, and includes all of the greatest moments of Morgan's writing and photography career. In Part One of my discussion with him, we talk book highlights - Morgan's chat with KISS from 1974 when they played a Toronto strip club, the time he administered a Rorschach inkblot test to Gary Numan, his three-hour lunch with Lou Reed, and chats with Ted Nugent, Alice Cooper, Stan Lee,  and more.    

Dark and mysterious Manic Street Preachers guitarist Richey Edwards vanished on February 1, 1995, and was never heard from again.   Was it a suicide, or was it staged to look like one? This week NSTS examines the life of the intellectual poet, the events leading up to his disappearance, and the clues left behind that led some to believe Edwards is still alive.  

It's my privilege this week to be joined once again by Canadian great Murray McLauchlan, who returns to the show to discuss his new record Hourglass, available everywhere July 9.  Murray always has some great stories for me, and he brings in another handful of songs that mean something to him. We chat about Sinatra, Tom Thomson, Ray Charles, the healing power of music, and what it really means when people crave fame.  McLauchlan's playlist (on Spotify): Bob Dylan - Blowin' in the Wind Roy Orbison - Pretty Woman Frank Sinatra - I've Got You Under My Skin Ray Charles - Come Rain or Come Shine  Blossom Dearie - Now At Last  

This week on NSTS we look at the life and death of one of rock's most polarizing icons, singer Scott Weiland.  Weiland has always been an intriguing figure, with a voice like Bowie crossed with Lennon, a wild and chaotic stage persona, and a decidedly perplexing personality. This episode examines that personality in depth through Weiland's own eyes, and also from the perspectives of those closest to him amidst the madness.      

Alex Huard is the host of a great series called Release Day, a program that promotes new album releases by independent artists that don't have the marketing reach of a major label.  Alex and I have been talking about collaborating on something new for a while now, and we finally landed on something that came together very organically as a result of him listening to No Sleep 'til Sudbury. This new project, called Thursday Night Record Club, is going to be a lot of fun. We discuss the details of TNRC this week, along with Alex's skin vibrating songs. Check it out!  Huard's playlist (on Spotify):      Tom Petty - Learning to Fly Bob Dylan & Johnny Cash - Girl From The North Country Olafur Arnalds - 3055 James Taylor - Fire & Rain Classified - All About You  

My old pal Zero from The Kings makes his return to the show this week to talk about what's going with the band lately - new videos, new records, and a few pretty prestigious awards received for their classic single "This Beat Goes On/Switchin' To Glide".  Z wanted to do something a little different for his skin vibration segment, and he did. These are the songs he listens to in the wee hours when he's not rocking out - opera!  Z's playlist (in Spotify): Celine Dion and Andrea Bocelli - The Prayer Sarah Brightman and Andrea Bocelli - Time To Say Goodbye  Pavarotti, Carrerras, and Domingo - Nessun Dorma         

This is an absolutely fascinating story. A song appeared on the internet in 2007, with no information surrounding its name, the artist responsible for the song, or when and where it was recorded. To this day, despite the search for this information going viral, the mystery remains unsolved.   This week on NSTS we dig into this phenomenon, and consider the notion of something being unknowable in such an information-rich age.   

We could all use a little more 'happy', couldn't we? And this week, an infusion of musical happiness comes compliments of Chris Stamper.  Chris and I met through working together with The Awesome Music Project, an organization that promotes music's influence in improved mental health. He recently wrote an article outlining how music contributes to maintaining a positive mental attitude, which included five of his 'happy' songs. So of course, it was a no-brainer to invite him to talk about them on NSTS.    Stamper's playlist (full playlist on Spotify): The Rolling Stones - Start Me Up The Go-Go's - Our Lips Are Sealed Bill Withers - Lovely Day The Beatles - Eight Days A Week Katrina & The Waves - Walking On Sunshine        

Rock documentary The Story of the Hard Luck 5 tells the fascinating tale of New Jersey band Rye Coalition, a group loved by Dave Grohl and signed by one of the world's largest record labels. They seemed destined to take over the world, until it all imploded. Rye Coalition drummer Dave Leto joins me this week to recount the unbelievable series of events the band experienced, along with some great stories about Dave Grohl and Interscope mogul Jimmy Iovine.        Leto's playlist (on Spotify): Neil Young - Birds Prince - The Beautiful Ones Donny Hathaway - Jealous Guy The Rolling Stones - She Smiled Sweetly Pixies - Where Is My Mind   

Shortly after it occurred, it was widely believed that the death of INXS singer Michael Hutchence was the result of autoerotic asphyxiation - a sex game gone wrong.  This week on NSTS I wanted to dig a little deeper to shed some additional light onto the circumstances surrounding Hutchence's unfortunate passing, because there was a whole lot more going on than just sex games - a larger, important truth exists under the tabloidification.          

The energy and enthusiasm that guitarist Sean Kelly brings to describing the songs that make his skin vibrate is unparalleled. Sean takes the notion of skin vibration very literally with his songs, and it was a joy for me to experience his excitement during our chat on NSTS this week.     In addition to his enthusiasm, Sean shares impressive musical insights and an honest sentimentality that makes this show special. Highlights include a funny Dee Snider conversation, why he never wants to meet Pye Dubois, the unique way the new Lee Aaron record was written, and so much more. Sean Kelly is living his dream, and it's a lot of fun to behold.      Kelly's playlist (in Spotify): Kim Mitchell – Kids In Action Urge Overkill – Sister Havana Mott the Hoople – All The Young Dudes Thin Lizzy – Cowboy Song Daniel Lanois – The Maker  

Andy Curran is back on NSTS this week to talk about the five-ish songs that make his skin vibrate - he actually sneaks a few extra tunes in! Before that, we finish up last week's discussion detailing how Coney Hatch's excellent new new live record Live at the El Mocambo came together.      Along with the song discussion, there are more incredible stories. Andy recounts how Robin Zander took his request and played his favourite Cheap Trick song for him during their Toronto show, what it was like seeing an unknown opening act called AC/DC open for UFO at Massey Hall in Toronto, and much more.  Don't miss this.    Curran's playlist (on Spotify): Aerosmith - Nobody's Fault Cheap Trick - Auf Weidersehen Tom Petty - Into The Great Wide Open Deep Purple - Highway Star AC/DC - Overdose (Van Halen - Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love)

As a Coney Hatch fan from waaaaay back, it was a privilege for me to host Coney singer and bassist Andy Curran this week. The band has released their new live record, Coney Hatch Live at the El Mocambo, recorded in October 2020 at the historic Toronto venue.  Andy has some tremendous rock stories, and he shares many of them with me in this episode - playing tennis on the road with Iron Maiden's Steve Harris and getting pelted with cutlery on stage opening up for Judas Priest among them. You don't want to miss this.          

Since its inception, Heavy Metal has spawned a countless number of subgenres. Black Metal is one of them, and in the early 1990s Norwegian Black Metal became more than just a musical subgenre. It developed into a violent, deeply sinister belief system.  In this episode of No Sleep 'til Sudbury, we examine the dark origins and horrifying transgressions associated with the genre - Satanism, murder and corpse mutilation, church burnings, and the disturbing extremism of Norwegian Black Metal's purveyors.       

Longtime NSTS listeners know that I love speaking with up-and-coming musical talent on the show. And I anticipate that country singer songwriter Nelson Sobral will be a well-known name fairly soon.    Nelson's imaginative with the instrumentation he utilizes in his country-inflected material, a nod to his sophisticated musical tastes - something he credits to his mother. We talk Crowes, Otis Redding, The Ronettes, Howling Wolf....and we see things very, very similarly.  Sobral's playlist (available in Spotify): The Ronettes – Be My Baby The Black Crowes – Sting Me Willie Nelson – Can I Sleep in Your Arms Otis Redding – I Love You More Than Words Can Say Howlin’ Wolf – 300 lbs of Joy

This week on NSTS I welcome back one of the industry's 'good guys', Jitters frontman Blair Packham. Blair is a friend and it's always a pleasure to have him on the show.  In addition to chatting about the new record he's currently working on and his skin-vibrating songs, we also discuss how his dad inadvertently named his last record, the interesting story behind how Blair became acquainted with Crowded House's Temple of Low Men record, what Malcolm Gladwell sees him as, and how he really feels about Elvis Costello's lyrical cleverness.  Packham's playlist (available in Spotify): Ron Sexsmith - Speaking With The Angel Elvis Costello - Shipbuilding Tom Petty - Dreamville Crowded House - I Feel Possessed John Legend - Everybody Knows