Articles by: Nick DeRiso

Bill Champlin on 'Hard Habit to Break' 'After the Love Has Gone' + others: Gimme Five

Bill Champlin on ‘Hard Habit to Break’ ‘After the Love Has Gone’ + others: Gimme Five

Bill Champlin discusses his contributions to Chicago, working with Toto, and how lounge-singer Robert Goulet almost got one of his gigs.

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Bill Champlin, formerly of Chicago: Something Else! Interview

Bill Champlin, who co-founded the Bay Area’s Sons of Champlin, is perhaps best known for a nearly three-decade tenure in Chicago.

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Something Else! sneak peek: Paul McCartney, "Coming Up" (remastered audio stream)

To get you ready for the Concord Music Group’s deluxe June 14 reissue of Paul McCartney’s 1970 solo debut McCartney as well as 1980’s McCartney II, here’s a new remastered audio stream of “Coming Up” You May Also Like: Paul McCartney, “Check My Machine” (1980): One Track Mind

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One Track Mind: ANT-BEE, featuring Peter Banks, "Endless Journey" (2011)

“Endless Journey,” a thrilling little space-rock number by ANT-BEE, begins appropriately enough: With a countdown and then a rocket launch. The unmistakable tone of Peter Banks’ guitar floats by next You May Also Like: Flash [Featuring Yes Co-Founder Peter Banks] – ‘In the USA Live 1972-73’ (2022) Robbie Dupree, Chicago,Read More

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Kevin Godley, co-founder of 10cc: Something Else! Interview

Kevin Godley talks about 10cc, Creme and Gouldman, his lost musical experiment with the Gizmo, and the dangers of working as a video director.

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Half Notes: Jessie Marquez, "La Herida (The Wound)" (2011)

Listening, you’d be hard pressed to place Jessie Marquez, a sensual American singer with Cuban roots, anywhere near her hometown of Eugene, Ore. There is something so otherworldly, so richly textured, so intimate and humid and spicy about tracks like “La Herida.” Written by Gustavo Rodriguez, this redemptive tune isRead More

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Gil Scott-Heron (1949-2011): An Appreciation

Musician and street poet Gil Scott-Heron, best known for “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised,” died today. Cause of death was not immediately known; he was 62. Scott-Heron started out at the dawn of the 1970s as a jazz-inclined R&B singer and spoken-word performer, a rapper years before the genreRead More

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Chris Connelly – Phenobarb Bambalam (1992): Half Notes

Chris Connelly, coming off key contributions to a pair of recordings by Al Jourgensen’s Ministry, neatly sidestepped the dreaded “industrial” tag here with simple musicianship (not to mention a dead-on Bowie vocal turn). Still can’t be sure how he made time for Phenobarb Bambalam, considering he was also touring andRead More

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Journey – Eclipse (2011)

In many ways, the initial cuts on Journey’s Eclipse recall the wide-open heavy fusion of the the band’s original Gregg Rolie-era records, a period when guitarist Neal Schon pulled and stretched his muse. At the same time, singer Arnel Pineda possesses a second-act Steve Perry-sounding penchant for soaring expectancy. YouRead More

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Gimme Five: Michael Wolff on songs with Cannonball Adderley, Warren Zevon, others

On this special edition of Something Else! Reviews’ One Track Mind, we hand the reins over to jazz pianist Michael Wolff. You May Also Like: Cannonball Adderley – ‘Poppin’ in Paris: Live at L’Olympia 1972′ (2024) Warren Zevon’s ‘Jeannie Needs a Shooter,’ ‘Piano Fighter’ + Others: Gimme Five Warren Zevon,Read More