Veteran rock writer Nick Krewen takes a tour through defunct Toronto concert venue history – from the ’60s in Yorkville, to the subsequent decades when the action was mostly around Yonge St., to the rise and apparent decline of Queen St. W. Nick Krewen and Garnet Fraser Published on Sun Jan 03 2010 On Queen St. W., the concert scene is changing, and it’s leaving some fretful. Hard-rock hangout the Big…
The Sweet Smell Of Success October 22, 2009 Recording artists bottle their success GRAMMY.com Nick Krewen Tim McGraw and Faith Hill have not only experienced the sweet smell of success, they’ve bottled it. Country music’s first couple has a couple of new scents on the market — Faith Hill Parfums is her first and Southern Blend is his second — and they are just two of the music celebrities that…
ACTS FORGE AHEAD WITH NEW VOCALISTS AND ENJOY NEW SUCCESSES October 08, 2009 — 12:00 am PDT Nick Krewen / GRAMMY.com At the apex of Styx‘s popularity in the 1970s and 1980s, many of the Chicago rockers’ Top 10 hits came from a single songwriting source. Not only did cofounder Dennis DeYoung pen such Styx hits as “Lady,” “Babe,” “Come Sail Away,” and “Mr. Roboto,” but his signature vocals played…
Companies generate big business with upscale artist tour buses GRAMMY.com Nick Krewen August 20, 2009 Talk about a sweet ride. If you happen to see a top-level entertainer’s coach rolling down the highway, you can be certain the star hurrying to their next gig within it — be it Justin Timberlake, Taylor Swift or a member of the rock band Rush — is traveling in style and comfort. “We use high-end…
Companies use algorithms, math and even colors to chart a song’s potential for success GRAMMY.com Nick Krewen March 20, 2008 When Gnarls Barkley‘s “Crazy” enjoyed its chart-topping run in 2006, its blockbuster stature may have sounded like a foregone conclusion to some. After all, the song had a whimsical feel, an easily digestible melody and a can’t-miss chorus that had no problem lodging itself in your memory’s instant recall. But…
