United Kingdom

Bass, Cinema, Composer, Drums, Film Scores, Guitar, Mike Oldfield, Orchestra, Piano, Rock, Songwriter, Synthesizer, United Kingdom February 16, 1997

Mike Oldfield talks Songs of Distant Earth

NICK KREWEN Mike Oldfield, the British composer of Tubular Bells, the chart-topping 1973 instrumental album that revolutionized rock music and represented progressive rock at its most indulgent, sees future music entertainment as “a Salvadore Dali painting you can walk into.” Limited copies of his new album, Songs Of Distant Earth, contain a multi-media CD-ROM that he assembled midway through recording sessions, and Oldfield says he’s excited by new computer technology. “I…

Alt. Rock, Art Rock, Flute, Pop, Scotland, Songwriter, United Kingdom, Voice May 25, 1996

Ian Anderson: Life With and Without Jethro

  NICK KREWEN Hamilton Spectator May 25, 1996   For almost 26 years, Ian Anderson has sung loudly and carried a big flute as frontman for British progressive rock group Jethro Tull. A few years ago, however, the 47-year-old made a shocking discovery: after playing the wind instrument on 28 Jethro Tull albums, he’d been using the wrong technique. “I’d say 80 percent of my fingering was incorrect,” says the…

Adult Contemporary, Indie pop, Pop, Producer, R&B, Songwriter, Soul, United Kingdom, Voice May 10, 1996

Simply Red’s Mick Hucknall On…

As appeared in the late, lamented on-line magazine Magnet, 1996   Stardust, Baked Beans, Orgasms and The Meaning Of Life   NICK KREWEN   The Bowery Boy of blue-eyed soul is back, and man is he stylin’. Although the only reason Mick Hucknall, singer and architect of Simply Red, Britain’s most astoundingly successful R&B export at 26 million records sold and counting, is in Toronto in the first place is…

Folk, Indie pop, Pop, Producer, Scotland, Songwriter, United Kingdom, Waterboys February 29, 1996

Michael Scott: Lone Waterboy

  NICK KREWEN Hamilton Spectator Thursday, February 29, 1996 As founder of Scottish rock group The Waterboys, singer and songwriter Mike Scott gained worldly insight and experience during their 12 year, six-album existence. So it’s surprising when the 37-year-old Scott, wearing a bright red shirt and matching red cap, divulges an unlikely source of inspiration for Bring ‘Em All In, his first post-Waterboys solo album: Dr. Seuss. “I was renting…

Beatles, British Columbia, Bryan Adams, Canada, Canadian Music Hall Of Fame, Grammy, Guitar, JUNO, Pink Floyd, Pop, Rock, Songwriter, United Kingdom, Vancouver, Voice January 8, 1996

Bryan Adams: 15-Year Love Affair

This expanded version was to have been published by Toronto on-line magazine Magnet, which sadly folded after one issue.     BRYAN ADAMS: 15-YEAR LOVE AFFAIR   NICK KREWEN   Before we get started, there are four things you should know about Canadian rock superstar Bryan Adams. First, he’s a strict vegetarian. “Eight years!” shouts Adams, as his voice voraciously leaps off the long-distance line from his home in London,…