Creem magazine writer Jeffrey Morgan returns to the show this week to unveil his very unusual NSTS kin vibration playlist. When I express my lack of understanding in his choices, Jeffrey uses the movie “The Man Who Fell To Earth” to explain. And it does make sense. 

Jeffrey and I also discuss his Van Halen Diver Down record review for Creem, with began with a warning that it was “an exceptionally vicious kick in the teeth to Van Halen fans everywhere”. The band was not at all pleased about the scathing review, and Jeffrey contends that as a result, Van Halen recorded a much better follow-up with 1984. Can he prove it? Listen and find out.     

Morgan’s playlist:

Lou Reed – Metal Machine Music A1

Lou Reed – Metal Machine Music A2

Neil Young – Arc

Lou Reed – Metal Machine Music A3

Lou Reed – Metal Machine Music A4

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Remember Creem magazine? Remember Lester Bangs? This week’s NSTS guest, author and rock critic Jeffrey Morgan, worked for both of them. His new book, Rock Critic Confidential, opens with the original handwritten letter Morgan received from Lester Bangs, on Creem letterhead, inviting him to write album reviews for the magazine in 1974. 

Rock Critic Confidential is a fantastic read done in the style of a magazine, and includes all of the greatest moments of Morgan’s writing and photography career. In Part One of my discussion with him, we talk book highlights – Morgan’s chat with KISS from 1974 when they played a Toronto strip club, the time he administered a Rorschach inkblot test to Gary Numan, his three-hour lunch with Lou Reed, and chats with Ted Nugent, Alice Cooper, Stan Lee,  and more.   

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Dark and mysterious Manic Street Preachers guitarist Richey Edwards vanished on February 1, 1995, and was never heard from again.  

Was it a suicide, or was it staged to look like one? This week NSTS examines the life of the intellectual poet, the events leading up to his disappearance, and the clues left behind that led some to believe Edwards is still alive.  

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It’s my privilege this week to be joined once again by Canadian great Murray McLauchlan, who returns to the show to discuss his new record Hourglass, available everywhere July 9. 

Murray always has some great stories for me, and he brings in another handful of songs that mean something to him. We chat about Sinatra, Tom Thomson, Ray Charles, the healing power of music, and what it really means when people crave fame. 

McLauchlan’s playlist (on Spotify):

Bob Dylan – Blowin’ in the Wind

Roy Orbison – Pretty Woman

Frank Sinatra – I’ve Got You Under My Skin

Ray Charles – Come Rain or Come Shine 

Blossom Dearie – Now At Last  

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