Monday August 2, 2010

Buckcherry
All Night Long

What, no live performance? OK, we’re admittedly spoiled, Buckcherry has plugged in and performed live twice recently on our show, so we became accustomed to having them plug in and let it rip. But for this show it makes much more sense not to have a live performance and we’ll tell you why in just a moment, so let’s do this properly with a big headline….Buckcherry is coming back to ROCKLINE! There we go, emphasize the many positives we have planned for this show. “All Night Long” is the name of the forthcoming CD by the So Cal based band which we will have before it officially becomes available in stores and online. It’s a better decision to listen to the new songs off the fully produced new studio album than having the band perform them live out of the box, maybe that third live show will happen sometime down the line. In addition, this is a double disc album with a six song acoustic EP included titled “Reckless Sons”. The net result is Buckcherry has delivered a seventeen song, two disc album that will get any party started in fine fashion all from a band with huge musical sensibilities and a stylish approach to everything they do. Josh Todd is back with one of the best tattoo collections in rock right there in Technicolor on his own skin, Keith Nelson wears a fedora as well as anyone we’ve seen. Now that we think of it darn near every band member does. Bandmates Stevie D, Xavier Muriel and Jimmy “Two Fingers” Ashhurst bring one of the coolest vibes to a rock stage that you’ll ever encounter. And the music itself? The band seems to have found a new groove which fits them as well as Keith’s now omnipresent chapeau. Visit the guys at Buckcherry.com on their MySpace and on facebook too.

Of course, if you really want to visit the guys make plans to join us as Josh and Keith roll on down to the ROCKLINE studio. It’s become a part of our lore to see what vintage motorcycle Keith will show up on. We’re talking about bikes from the 1940’s and other selected decades. Our neighbors know when Buckcherry is on the show several minutes before they actually arrive as some of those older rides were made when the laws were different and mufflers were mere ornaments. Or Keith just took them off. Our whole studio shakes when he’s in the vicinity and we’re in the flight path of the Bob Hope International Airport in Burbank. Those jets got nothin’on Nelson when it comes to sheer volume, plus he’s got better tone. And wait until you hear this album, it’s one of the band’s absolute best if not THE best top to bottom….Buckcherry’s got their mojo workin’ both musically and lyrically with two of the best in the business in Josh and Keith each in fine form and full bloom. Just when the electric album has blown you away you realize there’s a whole other disc to check out.

Ahhhhhh, this is gonna be a good one with Buckcherry exclusively on the next ROCKLINE!

Wednesday August 4, 2010

Best of ROCKLINE LIVE!
Part One

Before we provide specifics for these two spectacular shows we have planned for you a brief history is in order. Rockline was originally owned by a small consortium of forward thinking individuals who saw potential in a good idea, acted on it and launched an innovative show based on a simple idea, let you the fan speak with the biggest names in Rock. Over the years we had several challengers to our show. They all fell by the wayside and now, based on that simple premise, ROCKLINE is on the brink of celebrating its 30th anniversary of being on the air. That small original group cashed out in the late 1990's selling the show to a large radio company known as AMFM. Their days were short as the company was gobbled up by radio's largest corporate behemoth, Clear Channel, which also owned one of radio's largest syndication companies, Premiere. Extremely fancy (and expensive) state of the art studios were built for the show, much to the appreciation of those who worked on the program and the guests who joined us. Well, some of the guests who joined us at least. Others voiced their thoughts that the studios, while beautiful and with terrific audio quality, were sterile and library-like. The last show we did before 9/11 was with Slayer for their album "God Hates Us All", which they were going to debut in a cemetery a few hours later…..you can't make this stuff up, ya know. The guys in Slayer hated the studios calling them sterile, corporate and funereal, but most of all non-Rock. On Halloween day 2001 ROCKLINE host Bob Coburn was in San Francisco working with his morning show team at 107-7 The Bone in San Francisco when he received a phone call.

Bob's on-air teammates immediately sensed something was wrong and quickly learned Premiere/ Clear Channel had decided to pull the plug on the show proclaiming that Rock & Roll was dead, that there was too much access to the musicians of the day and that they and the music we love were done for good. Upon hearing the news Bob asked, "What do you want for the show"? After swallowing his tongue, he stated, "Let me see what I can do." Thus, in December of 2001 a deal was made and the show returned to the hands of small, individual ownership. Really small. Bob and his wife got a second mortgage on their home and rolled the dice.M

We'll continue the story next week, but suffice to say ROCKLINE has prospered, broadcasting from a couple of locations before we finally found a studio that was pure Rock, sounded great and felt like home. We've been there six years. For the next two weeks we will be choosing some of the best live performances from the past three years of the show from guests such as George Thorogood, Queensryche, Dave Mason, James Taylor, Lindsey Buckingham, Great White, Foghat, Eddie Money and about two dozen other greats.

Join us this week for "The Best of ROCKLINE Live", Part One!