What the…?

What the devil is this? Good question.

Songwriter and music journalist Robert Cherry sits beside a portable vinyl turntable with some of his favorite vinyl record albums and music magazines spread out around him in a circle. Artists represented include: David Bowie, the Verve, Television, the Pretenders, the Beatles, Guided By Voices, The Rolling Stones, George Harrison, Echo and the Bunnymen, Fleetwood Mac and more.

By chance, design or invitation you, my friend, have discovered one man’s treasure/trash trove of recorded works, both and musical and journalistic.

My through-line is a passion for music and all things forward-leaning, emotionally resonant and/or dumbly fun in the way only rock ’n’ roll can encourage. I’ve written songs from the time of my first heartbreak (circa junior high), and while my heart has mended just fine, thanks, the compulsion to capture emotional states through words, music and amp hum has continued unabated. You can sample the results via groups such as Reaper On Red, Plastic Ants and Hot Coma.

But that’s not all…

Ages ago, I was a full-time rock journo. I championed once-fringe music as Editor-In-Chief at Alternative Press during its ’90s heyday and went on to pen pieces for Rolling Stone, Entertainment Weekly, Guitar One, The Big Takeover, Interview, Teen People and Cleveland’s daily, The Plain Dealer. Many of those stories are long out of print and pixel, but since they still bring a chuckle to their author and remain relevant in these nostalgia-drunk times, I thought I’d share them here for your amusement.

Thanks for listening, reading or otherwise lingering. Let’s take things slowly and see where they lead, shall we? 

INTERVIEW LINKS

David Bowie: The ‘Heathen’ Interview

Nine Inch Nails: Trent Reznor Remakes, Remodels

Slash: Welcome Back to the Jungle

Even Walls Fall Down: The Last Days of Ultrasuede Studio

Placebo: Rock ‘N’ Roll Anema

Parallel Lines: Psychedelic Furs + Echo And The Bunnymen Cross Paths

No Ropes Attached: Hanging Out with the Brian Jonestown Massacre

The Dandy Warhols: Modest Proposals

The Verve: The Skinny on Art, Fame and Nike Ads

Elastica: The Band that Fell to Earth

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club: What Can a Poor Boy Do?

Lucky Pierre and Prick: Kevin McMahon’s Bright Side Up

Deftones: Moreno’s Multitudes

Smashing Pumpkins: Billy Corgan Resurrects the God Machine

Earwig: The Strange Case of Lizard McGee

Tori Amos: America Trampled Under Foot

AFI: Over the Wall

Blondie: Debbie Harry’s Permanent Waves

Duran Duran: Back to the Future

Mick Ronson: Guitar God

Robert Cherry cover photo by Nikita Gross; Robert Cherry photo above by Kevin Brummer