Show Notes
In 1982, Eddie Vedder was working at a San Diego radio station, and he fell in love with a new song they were playing from a British band. Many years later, he and Pearl Jam recorded their song "Better Man," and once it became a hit, Vedder suddenly realized that he had unintentionally borrowed the chord structure from that 80's song he'd loved. But he made up for it by making sure the original writer got a special payday. Randy Renaud has that story on today's edition of For The Record, featured Monday through Thursday at 2pm.
More from Chronicles of Rock
In mid-October, 1985, a great new rock band from the north of England blazed onto the scene featuring a lead singer who'd been raised in Hamilton, Ontario. Marrying elements of 60's psychedelic rock, 70's hard rock, and 80's post-punk rock, The Cult crafted an album that served notice that heavy guitar rock was still alive and well in the era of synthesizers. Randy Renaud revisits the story behind Love by the Cult on the Chronicles of Rock.
In early October, 1992, that little ol' band from Kingston, the Tragically Hip, released their third album, Fully Completely. It featured a heavier sound and lyrics inspired by Canadian culture and history. It went straight to number one in Canada, and became one of THE defining albums of Canadian rock. Randy Renaud revisits the story behind it on the Chronicles of Rock.
The early 80's was a new era for both technology (the internet and personal computers) and music (synthesizers and drum machines). It gave rise to a new form of popular music called "synth-pop," and one of the best examples of that came in the spring of 1983 with the release of the debut album by Tears For Fears. Co-leaders Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith channeled childhood traumas into emotionally charged and instantly catchy songs that helped carry The Hurting into the top ten on Canadian album charts, and number 1 in their homeland of the U.K. Randy Renaud has the story behind it on the Chronicles of Rock.
It was 35 years ago on September 24th that the rock world was energized by a new revolution in sound, style and attitude. The Nirvana album Nevermind kicked open the door for alternative rock and became one of the best-selling albums of all time. Celebrate 35 years of Nevermind with Randy Renaud on the Chronicles of Rock.
As the winter of 1973-74 began to thaw, and spring began to dawn, so too did the Quebec music scene, with the sudden emergence of bands like Beau Dommage, Octobre, and Harmonium. Harmonium's debut album, released in February 1974, made them not only one of Montreal's leading bands, but one of the most celebrated bands in all of prog-rock -- even going on tour with Supertramp. Randy Renaud revisits the story behind a true classic of Quebec's rich musical history on the Chronicles of Rock.