Bernie Tormé Rest In Peace 18.03.52-17.03.19
Suzi Quatro, who more than lives up to her name as the “Queen Of Rock N’ Roll”, has signed with SPV / Steamhammer Records to release her stunning new studio album ‘No Control’ on March 29th.
The American rock vocalist has enjoyed success as a musician for more than fifty years, performing with unbridled energy her greatest hits such as ‘Can The Can’, ‘48 Crash’, ‘If You Can’t Give Me Love’, ‘She’s In Love With You’ and ‘Devil Gate Drive’, let alone wowing her fans again and again with her new material. It comes as no surprise that she’s not thinking of retiring; “I’ll retire when I go onstage, shake my ass and there is silence” she states, fully aware that that moment is still a long way off.
The majority of ‘No Control’, which contains eleven brand new songs, (plus two bonus tracks), consists of collaborations with her son from her first marriage, Richard Tuckey. Suzi explains “This was our first attempt at writing and recording something together. The creative progress began with ‘Don’t Do Me Wrong’. And, through the unusually beautiful English summer of 2018, we sat outside, acoustic bass, acoustic guitar, iPad recording app, and lots of paper, throwing ideas back and forth.” With amazing results, as the new album proves – to Suzi herself not only on a musical but also on a personal level.
Take, for example, ‘No Soul/No Control’, which features the message “Don`t let go of yourself for anyone”; Suzi: “This is my personal mantra. All you have in this world is you.” Remembering the conception of the composition, she says; “We were busy as hell, buried in the songs. Richard had a new idea and showed me. It was very unusual and I liked it. A very basic guitar and drum track was put down for me to work on the melody and lyric. I went into the living area of the studio and about 15 minutes later, it was done. It flew out of its own accord, as the best songs do.”
The same applies to numbers such as ‘Macho Man’ (Suzi: “It’s a no-brainer that this is an opening live song; you cannot help headbanging to it, it just grabs you”), ‘I Can Teach You To Fly’ (“a definite throwback to the sixties”), ‘Easy Pickings’ (“I’ve been playing this riff on acoustic guitar forever, at least the last ten years. Then all of a sudden, it became a song”) and ‘Love Isn’t Fair’ (“Got this idea sitting in our Hamburg home. I wanted to create a Blondie-meets-Mavericks song, and I think I accomplished that”).
Perhaps most unusual track on the album, ‘Strings’, has developed into a true little masterpiece during the studio recordings. Suzi: “This is all about the strings that tie our lives together. Great riff. I drove everyone mad singing nonstop in this weird voice ‘Strings’. I couldn’t get it out of my head, and – hallelujah – it came out in the recording exactly as I’d imagined.” Then saxophone player Ray Beavis asked if he could do a horn arrangement. “I didn’t really hear it, but of course I said yes. What he came up with knocked us all off our feet. What a track!”
You can tell how proud Suzi Quatro is of ‘No Control’; pride and delight at a career which has lasted for five decades and has maintained the creativity of the American rock icon to the present day. Suzi states “I’ve never stopped releasing through the years. ‘Back To The Drive’ in 2006, ‘In The Spotlight in 2011’, ‘Quatro, Scott & Powell’ in 2016. These albums were thought about and planned out in great detail. I am proud of all three releases, very proud. But my new album ‘No Control’ is its own animal.”
Suzi Quatro Live in 2019:-
4th April Manchester – O2 Apollo
5th April Leeds – First Direct Arena
6th April Cardiff – Motorpoint Arena
7th April Brighton – Brighton Centre
9th April Newcastle – Metro Radio Arena
10th April Nottingham – Motorpoint Arena
11th April London – The SSE Arena
12th April Birmingham – Genting Arena
13th April Liverpool – Echo Arena
14th April Bournemouth – BIC
SUZI QUATRO – No Control: March 29th, 2019 CD DigiPak and 2LP Gatefold, 180g, printed inner sleeves, yellow with black swirls vinyl, 2 bonus tracks + CD (in paper sleeve) seems like a bargain for vinyl lovers. Available to pre order Here
Londonium folky alternative types Skinny Lister drop their fourth long player – A loosely-based concept album, “‘The Story Is…’ anthologises a series of personal vignettes inspired by a chaotic few years for the band and binds them into 14 tracks of unmistakably Skinny-sounding rock’n’roll”. Well, that’s the press blurb sorted then. Concept albums? ‘The Wall’ yuck, ‘American Idiot’ that’s better – so not such a daunting prospect then. The band have a sparkling production on this record with swirling keyboards big drum sound and some fantastic vocal performances all wrapped up in some poptastic melodies like the huge ‘My Life My Architecture’
The band can go from balladic pop like the wheezing accordion of ‘Diesel Vehicle’ as it just drifts by like a modern-day Kinks or a hint of Lennon going on within the tracks DNA. The album sees the band expand their horizons and arguably finds them in the most potent pop form of their career. ‘The Story Is…’ Produced and mixed by the highly capable Barny Barnicott (Arctic Monkeys, The Enemy, The Temper Trap) does a fantastic job twiddling the knobs.
‘Rattle And Roar’ will have the folky side of their work fans purring. ‘Artist Arsonist’ begins to get a little bit piraty for my taste and I’m not won back until the title track hits like Eels in its arrangement, the song just gently rolls by complete with lush strings. Things pick up on ’38 Minutes’ as the band just get their rock on and sound like something between Teardrop Explodes and maybe some of Strummer’s solo work.
with possibly the albums best couple of songs towards the latter part of the record ‘Stop And Breath’ is another gentle acoustic stroll and dare I say it even easy listening. Do I have to hand in my punk rock membership or is it ok to expand one’s horizons? ‘Cause For Chorus’ is back on that Strummer tip or even veering ever so slightly into Billy Bragg territory. They really get down to business on ‘Alister McAlister’ again rockin’ out in a strummer lite manner.
In summery its a really mixed bag of an album. It sounds like a hit and a production and mix that should have wide appeal and a handful of songs that really resonate but it is interspersed with a few tracks that didn’t do anything for me or the continuity of this album which is a shame because it started so well and certainly ended well.
Author: Dom Daley
Not a country I could visit seeing as every creature there wants to kill you and I’m terrified of snakes so I’ll just settle for them producing some of the best bands old and new and that’s good enough for me. First up today we have the brand new video from the most excellent Clowns
Second up and its a right banger from Amyl & The Sniffers who are about to drop a new record and tour the UK which we can’t wait for so the new single will just have to do
Couldn’t decide what to throw in for the third was it going to be The Living End or Black Heart Breakers it would have been Main Street Brats if they only made a video maybe in the future so this time its a classic bit of footage from Radio Birdman with ‘Descent Into The Maelstrom’
Seeing the Pledge debate rage on social media recently I couldn’t help but think of my friend Duncan Reid who had very recently announced a campaign for his new album. Luckily it was barely hatched when he was able to pull the plug on the campaign and regroup to find a way around the shenanigans going on within Pledge Music. We decided to have a little catch-up and find out what’s going on round Duncan’s place?
You’ve always been self-sufficient when it comes to your solo career. Was it daunting or a welcome challenge when you first decided to start up a solo career from scratch?
It was daunting. I didn’t know how to make and release a record. Modern recording is very different from when I was in The Boys when we recorded onto 2-inch tape. It’s much more suited to DIY now. It’s very difficult to record drums at home on a proper kit (that’s why all these bedroom dance records use drum software programs) and you need to do that in a proper studio. But to a greater or lesser degree, if you spend about £2,000 on a good microphone, you can do the rest at home and mix it in a studio.
All of this was taught to me by Tony Barber (Ex Buzzcocks, Chelsea, Nirvana etc) when he produced our first 2 albums in a shed. We’ve settled on recording drums, bass and guitar in the studio because we want them to sound as good as possible and it’s not too time-consuming. What really takes the time on our records are the vocals because there are so many of them. One song might have over 20 vocal tracks on it so I do that at home. I also do keyboards as well. All of that gets emailed over to the studio to put with everything else and mixed.
These are the kind of things you have to learn how to do now because no record company is going to pay someone to do it for you when you play the music we play.
Similarly, you have to learn where to get CDs and LPs manufactured and find people who can design a sleeve for you. You need to get a digital distributor. I use AWAL who make all the tracks available on Apple Music, Spotify etc. I put the tracks on Bandcamp myself. You need a physical distributor to put the CDs and LPs in shops and online. Otherwise, you have to sort out your own Amazon and eBay accounts in every country in the world.
You have to learn about marketing, advertising on Facebook and other social media etc and, unless you want to spend a fortune every time, how to use photoshop and video editing software.
I had to pick all of this up from friends and paying to go on the odd course.
Just compare that with the seventies. Then you just played a gig and got drunk! But you know what? I really enjoy doing this stuff now. It requires a different sort of creativity and it makes me feel clever! Not just being a dumb musician getting ripped off. No one can do that because I’m paying all the bills!
Did you ever get involved during your time with The Boys? They had some infamous managerial decisions or how would you describe them, off the pitch distractions shall we say?
I hadn’t worked in the music business for decades and The Boys didn’t really put out any records after we reformed. We were discussing making one but I left before it was made. Probably just as well. There would have been blood on the floor if we’d been locked in a studio together.
As I said, the whole DIY side of it was completely unknown to me but I’m a quick learner. With The Boys, I did tend to be the one who worked with Steve Metcalfe in liaising with promoters. But everything was laid on a plate for The Boys really. Being an ex-bass player/singer of The Boys was very different. It’s getting to a stage now after 6 years where promoters contact me and I have a great network of friends like Janne Lagestrom in Sweden, Dany Torres in Spain, Cristo Blick in Argentina and Bernd Lange in Germany who help out, but in the early days I had to fight to get shows and to get people to show up. It was far more difficult than I expected.
Having released several solo records now and having an established line up (I won’t say stable ) what made you look towards the Pledge platform?
I used to be sceptical about Pledge but friends like Paul-Ronney Angel and Nick Hughes from his experience in Role Models encouraged me to have a look at it. When I did, I appreciated how good it was. First: it means musicians don’t have to beg, steal, borrow and ramp their credit cards up to the maximum to get a record made. Secondly, and just as important, I appreciated just how much fans enjoy knowing that they are playing a crucial role in making that record possible. The whole communication side of it is great as you feel an obligation to make videos of the process to let everyone know how it’s going and that they will see something for their money.
I had a few negative comments from some musicians about how they wouldn’t pay Tesco a year in advance for a roast chicken. I might have said that once but it’s not right. There is no emotional bond between me and Tesco and Tesco don’t need any help from me to get the chicken in the shop. None of the people criticising were willing to lend me the £8,000 or so it will take to get the record made, manufactured and promoted instead!
Were you aware of any other crowdfunding platforms like IndieGoGo, Crowdrise, sellaband or Kickstarter as well as Pledge?
Vaguely, but I haven’t looked at them in detail.
Did you have reservations when signing yourself up? Had you been made aware of what was brewing?
I had no idea of the trouble they were in. As I said, friends had used them and had a really good experience. But having signed up I began to have suspicions. I was new to it. I had questions. They were always saying “Hi. I’m So and So. I’m your account contact. Any questions just email or call me.” But when I emailed I had no response and calls weren’t answered. I thought it felt like an organisation who were understaffed and, being in money troubles, maybe they were trying to run it with too few staff. To get someone to contact me I would tweet them publicly asking if anyone was there. It’s a tip I’d give anyone. If you are being ignored by a company just tweet them. They tend to respond pretty quickly especially if you have 2,000 followers!
Was it easy to stop the campaign? How accommodating are they with a cooling off period?
We had just launched our campaign. After less than 2 days we had raised over half our target. Then Nick Hughes emailed me the video made by the American guy saying people weren’t being paid. As I said before, I wasn’t surprised that they were in trouble and messaged them straight away saying that it was all over the internet that they were breaking their contracts with Artists and not paying up. I told them I wanted the Pledge campaign stopped immediately. They couldn’t argue with it as they didn’t have a leg to stand on.
It’s such a shame that they messed up. Until that point they had performed a good and valuable job for bands and fans seemed to have a genuine affection and trust for them.
Will you see any of the money that fans had already laid out?
We were so lucky. As we were less than a couple of days in no one’s credit card had been charged. I think in any case the law is that if you don’t get something you pay for on a credit card then Visa, Mastercard or whoever have to give you your money back.
Where are you now with the album release? Is it still on target have you had to change your red lines or goals? Did you have to cancel the delivery of the Hot tub or just put it on hold?
The other way in which we were lucky is that having gone through the launch with Pledge we saw what was involved and it’s not rocket science. As with all the other things I was talking about earlier you can learn to do it yourself. I’d just upgraded our website (We use WordPress) to a “premium” service which for £90 a year means we can run our own shop. I think there are other sites, like Music Glue, who offer a similar service. It took me about a week to work out how to put all the stuff we had on Pledge onto our website and essentially do the same. It’s not quite as sophisticated but some people have told me it’s easier to use. And the money goes straight into our Paypal account so everyone can be sure it is going to be spent on the album.
You can look here to see how it works: Order New Album Here
People have been superb in supporting us. We don’t have all our target, so please ask everyone to feel free to pledge for some of the items there, but we have enough to know that the album will be made, even if we have to top it up ourselves. The more we get in, though, the more studio time we have.
We have recorded drums and bass and currently, the long process of recording vocals is underway. I’m getting a truckload of help with that because a line of people have pledged to sing backing vocals which is great.
I seriously think it’s going to be a great album. I’m loving seeing the songs come alive as everyone plays on them. I can’t wait for it to be finished. Probably won’t be till September as it has to be fitted around everything else and we have a load of festivals to play from next month.
This new album does it have a title yet?
We usually chose the title last thing. Quite a few of the songs reflect by advanced years and impending mortality. So I’m toying with the idea of “14 Jolly little songs about Death”.
Any idea of the songs titles yet or maybe give us a brief outline of what we can expect? 
Three of the songs we already play live. One “For All We Know”, about an actual true encounter with a stranger who convinced me to buy him a drink on the basis that “it could all end tomorrow and you can’t take it with you”. I had a lot of fun with that coming up with various allegories and symbols for kicking the bucket (but not that one).
As with my draft album title, it’s actually a jolly song with the theme of let’s party and let tomorrow look after itself.
Another song is called “Motherf*cker” about a politician I particularly admire (or not!).
“Welcome to My World” is about a guy who wakes up in a strange place “on the wrong side of a bottle” and can’t remember where his car is. Nick Hughes thought I’d written it about him!
I think it will be the usual mix of melodic rockers and slower songs, all brilliantly written with smart lyrics, plentiful harmonies and a couple of musical surprises.
Great stuff. Anything else have you been busy doing I saw you posted pictures of a re-press?
We have an updated rerelease of ‘Little Big Head’ coming out with unreleased bonus tracks and a new cover.
Excellent
So there you have it. The sharp end of being an independent artist in 2019. What doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger or something like that. Its always a pleasure catching up with Mr. Reid and his infectious enthusiasm and I hope you can find it to support the making of this new record and look forward to seeing him and his band play sometime soon – Always a pleasure never a chore.
No great surprise to see The Gala hailing from Boston seeing as the place seems to just ooze quality Garage punk rock and Power Pop and the Gala are all those things. Raw guitar riffs and swirling keyboard licks all wrapped up in songs with energy and melody.
Emily Doran has a rasp on her vocals they’re not sugary sweet nor are they rough as Wendy O Williams but somewhere in between as one track body slams into the next with songs like ‘Blood Orange’ having a hypnotic riff and that Captain Sensible two-fingered keyboard lick and some fine tunage is born.
Once it finishes ‘Crybaby (Dream Of Me)’ kicks in sounding like early Blondie a little which is a great place to find yourself trust me. But the Gala isn’t a one trick pony because ‘Fragile’ is a neat slice of punk rock or New Wave punk pop if you like. It fizzes along on a rock solid drum beat and the throbbing bass line is cool with just the right amount of keyboard stabs on the chorus but don’t get too comfortable because what did you expect Shes Fuckin’ Fragile. Alright, we’ll have some of that and its a great scream at the end.
‘Boy’ is sweaty and the highlight of a very enjoyable record as it builds to the chorus. To be fair as far as debut albums go this ones very decent with a great ebb and flow to the whole record, At times they have the organ stabs of The Fuzztones but the rhythm and distorted guitar is way more punk rock Ramones style at times I heard Lena Lovich fronting Da Brothers which is a weird proposition I’m sure you’d agree but that’s where this is pitching itself at times.
I like the rawness of the guitar its got plenty of punch and is often at odds with the keyboards on tracks like the Abrasive ‘Blood Orange’ it then has the keyboard melody whilst the rest of the song speeds off in another direction – that’s not to say I don’t like it because that’s not the case but it does take some getting used to. With no new video ready you’re going to have to take my word for it.
To end the record the band take you on a punky ‘Pity Party’ but end the record with a really strong song in the shape of the hard rocking ‘The Spins’ that has a great pogo riff that makes you want to curl your hand into a fist and start pumping the air as the band rocks out showing they’re most certainly not a one trick pony and can dance to a few styles and its a great vocal delivery to end on as well. So remember the name and its safe to say it’s not all ‘Bad News’ because The Gala brings some good news.
Author: Dom Daley
Being a lover of 50’s rock’n’roll and rockabilly I was over the moon when I first heard the screamin’ rebel angels.
With their new release ‘Heel Grinder’ they have done an outstanding job of taking me back to those great artists of the 50’s such as elvis and jerry lee lewis but also adding their own sound and bringing the music up to date.
The album kicks off with the blistering, leg shaking blast of fast rock’n’roll that is ‘Oh my soul’. This track was first released as a single last year which was accompanied by video and this gets the album off to a great start.
Close on it’s heels (no pun intended) is the next two tracks which are ‘Baby Gets Down’ and the album title ‘Heel Grinder’ which like ‘Oh My Soul’ are fast rock’n’rollers that keep the quality high.
Next up is a cover of a great track called ‘Hands Off’ which the band do a great job of making the track their own.
This is followed by ‘I Believe’ which has a great rockabilly feel to it and is a song that Brian Setzer would be proud to call his own.
What I love about vintage Rock’n’ Roll is that it takes Blues, Gospel and Country and mixes it all together to create that great sound and the Angels certainly do it as good as a lot of the greats before them which is shown on the track ‘Something On Your’ mind which goes down the bluesy route.
‘Sweet Petunia’ is a stand out with it’s laid back start that builds on the tempo throughout the song to a blistering finale. The album finishes with a great rocker ‘Racing Death’, as good a way to close any album with such a high.
Screamin’ Rebel Angels built around the songwriting talents of vocalist Laura and guitarist Brian and they have created a modern day take on that vinatge Rock’n’Roll template.
Overall this is a great album that whether your a fan of rockabilly or just great music in general and can appreciate top musicians and songwriters then this has something for anyone to enjoy, it will put a great big smile on your face and keep your ears wanting more.
Author: Gareth Hooper
By now if you’re a music fan you’ve begun to plan your holidays around whichever of this year’s music festivals you’ve decided to hit. Whether you’re a fan of Metal, your probably creaming over this year’s Download Line up, or if your much more mainstream nowadays you’ll be down with the cool kids at Reading, throw in the mash-up of mainstream artist at this years Isle of white and for the more adventurous of us you’ll be thinking Sjock or Hellfest or even both.
Sometimes you’ll even be sick of the thought of a festival if you’ve followed the Hard Rock franchise and already attended HRH Prog, HRH AOR, HRH Punk and whatever else they’ve churned out over the course of a year. For yours truly I’m more into the underground, the new bands, the variety of styles so over the last few years I’ve travelled up to the big Smoke to Camden Rocks and been surprised caught by something new every year , trouble is it ends up costing me a fortune in merchandise or new vinyl, because after all it’s the only way sometimes the bands can make a decent amount of money from the day. I’ve ended up deep in Conversation with Paul Ronney Angel (sadly not playing this year), talked music with Brandy Row and been blown away by one of the most unassuming singers I’ve ever met Suzie Stapleton.
And that’s a good place to pick up ones to watch with the Afore-mentioned Suzie Stapleton, playing Sunday this year around the 4 O’clock mark, with a new LP due to drop, if the last single Negative Prophet is anything to go by it’s going to be a stunning performance, whether its acoustic or with her band you will be blown away if you like your music in the vein of PJ Harvey, Patti Smith et’al then this ones for you.
Another band I’ll be bouncing along to are the Mighty Random Hand, now if you love your Ska with a heavy punk influence this will be where the party starts. And definitely one to tick off my current bucketlist.
Sticking with the Sunday The Virgin Mary’s are really kicking up some serious interest with a sound firmly set in the underground, these guys put on one of the best live shows your likely to encounter, I should know I’ve caught them a few times already.
As I’m looking at the line up I’m thinking How could this not excite you? Why wouldn’t you go? Others on Sunday I’m heading for? Discharge, (It’s been a while), The Last Internationale, and hopefully Millie Manders and the shut up, again one on my current bucketlist.!!!
As with every year the enormity of the task facing any reviewer is the sheer volume of bands playing and if you think over 400 bands are playing across 20 venues, there will be clashes a plenty when time slots are allocated. The other thing to think about, if your going, is that some of the venues have limited capacity so allow yourself time to get a space. I would suggest you queue overnite to catch RPM faves The Hip Priests these guys are clawing their way out of the underground into the greater consciousness kicking and screaming but refusing to bend, change their attitude or take one step backwards, these guys will be anyone’s highlight of the weekend guaranteed. Welcome to Shit Island Indeed!!!! Get over and order the new LP if you love it hard and fast Stand for Nothing!!!!
Now add in Bands like the media darlings of the underground press Hands off Gretel (It helps to have a blinding live show) again a band with a new LP to push. Plus other female fronted bands like The Healthy Junkies and The Duo that really splits the press in terms of Imagery The Soap Girls, musically they can’t be faulted a great garage punk noise.
Other bands to Consider shifting focus to the Saturday completely a rare outing for Warrior Soul, do I really need to say how important this band is when you talk about attitude, edge, image and how ground breaking they were when they first hit the public’s attention straight in the face.
Then we have yet another RPM fave, Glunk Records own Rich Ragany and the Digressions, immerse yourself in the LP Like we’ll never make it one of the best LP’s of the last year, you can pick it up here
https://glunkrecords.bigcartel.com
But don’t take it as gospel give them a listen
Other’s I’ll be looking to catch, Ginger Wildheart will be a must, The Professionals, the Angelic Upstarts and a personal fave New Model army currently working on the follow up to one of the best LP’s they’ve ever recorded Winter.
Even salivating about some of the bands I’ve mentioned so far what I always enjoy is discovering something new, last year it was a band called Sleep Token, music after all is a personal journey, everyone’s taste varies, changes, mutates and adapts to whatever situation we find ourselves in, so this year I’ll be looking lower down the list, checking out potentially the next big thing, you never know, so Brain Ape, Alive with eyes, The Black Roses, looking forward to checking you out live
If you’ve read through, hopefully perked up your interest, maybe watching a video has led to you exploring some more of the bands back catalogue I’ll see you in the Pit somewhere, if your taste runs to the more metallic, then you’ll be going in a very different direction but remember taste is very much a personal thing, the important thing is to be there, soak up the atmosphere and most importantly enjoy the experience.
Author: Nev Brooks
Canada does it again I don’t know what they’re putting in the water up there but fuck me sideways they’ve got the rock and roll happening all over the country at the moment no doubt about it and Isolation Party join the, Um, Party!
Post punk power pop with melody and enough Buzzcock vibe going on to reel you in Isolation Party are more than that. Songs like the happy go lucky ‘Fine Lines’ remind me of the trashy elements of The Replacements. there isn’t much polish going around but the tunes are really hitting the spot.
They keep up the trashy power pop noise going on ‘Mr Telephone’ as it hurtles along sounding like when Dando recorded ‘Lick’ but with more melody. The songs are short and oh so sweet with plenty of snot mixing it with New Yorkers Wyldlife and Baltimore’s Ravagers Isolation Party are the real deal. The Briefs and The Stitches must have a bearing on Isolation Party’s record collection because they dance to the same beats on tracks like the frantic ‘Pointing fingers’ and how can you not love ‘Sleeves’? for all its trashy drug talk and bittersweet melodies.
Throughout the ten tracks, the band weaves a really enjoyable tapestry of twisted melodies and its very listenable and fairly instant as well. I guess if you have even a mild interest in any of the bands that I’ve referenced then you really should check out Isolation Party because they’ve definitely got the chops and this album is really consistent and most definitely doesn’t fade away and right up to the last chorus of ‘These Things’ I know I’m going to hit repeat and go right back to the beginning and play it all over again. Great album!
Author: Dom Daley
Scott Randolph Asheton (August 16, 1949 – March 15, 2014) born in Washington, D.C. but famous for when he and his brother Ron moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan where He co-formed the Stooges in 1967 along with his older brother, Iggy Pop, and Dave Alexander. The rest, as they say, is history.
During the Stooges’ separation, Scott was one of the few ex-members to play again with Pop, with the mini-reunion occurring during a 1978 European tour. Asheton also played drums with Scott Morgan in different bands, among which were the Scott Morgan Band, Scots Pirates, and most notably Sonic’s Rendezvous Band. He then went on to play drums touring in a late incarnation of Destroy All Monsters, under the name Dark Carnival. He also recorded extensively with Sonny Vincent, playing drums on four full studio albums along with Captain Sensible on bass, as well as making special guest appearances on other Vincent releases. In addition to recording with Sonny, Asheton toured the U.S. and Europe with Sonny and Steve Baise (on bass) of the Devil Dogs.
The Stooges reformed in 2003, and remained active until 2016, releasing a fourth album in 2007. Following the death of Ron Asheton, the group worked with guitarist James Williamson. Other than Iggy Pop, Asheton was the only consistent member of the Stooges after the death of his brother, guitarist Ron, in 2009.
After they played Hellfest Festival on June 17, 2011, he went into temporary retirement from live duty. He was replaced by Larry Mullins (a.k.a. Toby Dammit), who had played in Iggy Pop’s band in the 1990s. He died of a heart attack in March 2014 at the age of 64.
I love that during an interview about the Ashton Brothers Iggy said of Scott hes the least talkative person I know any words he needs to say he does it with his drums. He played on some of the most influential records of all time for many of us here at RPM no question about it and it was pleasing that before he passed away he was able to reap some of the benefits of his work finally after the Stooges split the first time he was reduced to teaching drums to anyone who wants teaching and scratching around for a wage which is a travesty considering his contribution to an industry that couldn’t particularly give two shits for a period. A rock and roll hall of Famer and drum legend.
Scott leaves behind a pretty impressive catalogue of records he played on from The Stooges and Sonny Vincent to Sonic’s Rendezvous band The guy deserves legend status and that’s what we afford him, Rest In Peace Rock Action you had rhythm coursing through your veins and a style and swagger that was the power behind such a monumental band as the Stooges. Gone but never forgotten.
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