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Topic: Little Steven Return to archive
20th October 2006 07:27 AM
Ten Thousand Motels Little Steven

By SCOTT CRONICK At The Shore,
Pressof Atlantic City.com
Oct 19,2006

Steven Van Zandt ¡ª aka Little Steven ¡ª is back at Borgata this weekend, but this time he won't be filming any episodes of ¡°The Sopranos.¡± The rock legend, best known as Bruce Springsteen's guitar-playing buddy in the E Street Band, brings his Underground Garage tour to Borgata's mixx nightclub with the Romantics, Shadows of Knight and the Charms.

Van Zandt, who plays mob consiliere Silvio Dante on the hit HBO series, will also bring in 1960s-style ¡°go-go dancers¡± to add to the fun at mixx.

If you're not aware of Little Steven's Underground Garage, it's Van Zandt's way of keeping rock 'n' roll alive with great rock bands from the past and present through his tour and syndicated radio show, which airs locally 10 p.m. to midnight every Sunday on 102.9 WMGK-FM and 105.7 WCHR-FM.


Little Steven talked to At The Shore after filming an episode of ¡°The Sopranos¡± at Borgata.

Q: Is there a philosophy that goes behind picking the bands for the tours?
A: It all relates to the radio show. We try to combine the old and new ¡­ which is fairly unique. We are basically the place people go to hear the best new music because there is no rock 'n' roll format anymore but ours. You can hear new hard rock, you can hear new pop, you can hear new hip-hop ¡­ you can't hear new rock 'n' roll anywhere. We played the latest Rolling Stones album ¡ª we played half of the spins they got in America. Ray Davies, of The Kinks came out with a new album and we were the only ones playing that. We were the only ones playing the White Stripes for a while, the Hives, Jet ¡­ all the good bands.


Q: What's the problem with radio right now that bands that obviously deserve play don't get it?
A: It's a strange time, man. I don't know exactly how to explain other then the homogenized genres have become the mainstream. And that's weird because for 30 years, rock 'n' roll was the mainstream, and then somewhere between 1995 or so, things just shifted, maybe because of these corporate mergers or something like that where they needed a consistent bottom line and they just decided to go with the type of music that all sounds the same. There are exceptions to the rule, but generally speaking, they went to more homogenized type of genres so they can be easily replaced instead of going with personalities, which rock 'n' roll is all about.


Q: Does this current tour aim to prove that groups like the Romantics are more than just that one song everyone knows, right?
A: That's a very good point. A lot of the garage bands' reputations have been one-hit wonders. The Romantics are just the latest of that trend that started in the '60s. But most of those bands do have more than just one great song, and it's also just nice to play the great old stuff that doesn't get played anymore from the first five Beatles albums, the first seven Stones albums, the first three Kinks albums, the first Who album. You don't hear that anywhere, and that's their best stuff.


Q: So you have ¡°The Sopranos,¡± you were on ¡°Gene Simmons' Family Jewels¡± the other night, and there's even a ¡°Sopranos¡± videogame with you on there. Even though there's all of this celebrity stuff, music always comes first for you, doesn't it?
A: Yeah. Music has always come first. It has always been my life. Radio has a way of saying thank you and paying back the people who basically made my life worth living. Being able to play the Stones and the Beatles and the Kinks and the Who and people like that basically started to be forgotten a little bit, and I want to make sure the next generation gets a chance to hear them. At the same time, we get a chance to play the new young people, who need the support.


Q: And who are some of those that really excite you right now?
A: Oh my God, there are so many. We have a thing on the show called the Coolest Song of the World this Week and we have a brand new band every week. I think this week coming up is a group called The Stabilizers out of England, last week was The Shys out of L.A., we had the Wobbles of Atlanta.


Q: You are really opening up the world to these bands that most people haven't heard of?
A: Yes, and it is the world because we are on the Voice of America (radio network) and we have affiliates. Sirius is a whole other thing because it is a 24-hour channel of ours with the same format, but we are also in Singapore, Sweden, Rome ¡­


Q: What is the band that never made it that you thought really should have?
A: Well, I mean if we call never made it America, there was three or four fantastic bands in England around the time of the British invasion that just didn't come over, and I would have to say that No. 1 on that list is Pretty Things, who we had over for our festival two years ago, but they don't come to America very often.


Q: They were the ¡®it' for you?
A: They were just one of those bands that I didn't know about at the time. I was just looking back and doing some research, and they are a part of our regular playlist on our radio show and on Sirius. The group called The Birds before our Byrds, which was Ron Wood's first band, they were just fantastic. A group called the Move with Roy Wood. A group called the Creation at the same time with this cat Eddie Phillips, who was a guitar player who started playing with the bow and Jimmie Page picked it up from him and used it in Led Zeppelin.


Q: What can you tell us about the last eight episodes of ¡°The Sopranos?¡±
A: Well, you know ¡­ it's gonna be great. The writing is great. I know I'm gonna miss it when it's all over. I'm probably as big a fan as the audience is. But secondly, it's a great escape for me to be able to be somebody else a couple days a week. It's just a wonderful thing.


Q: And he is such a great character.
A: Yeah. I really enjoy being him because things are simpler. A lot simpler than it is being Little Steven, I'll tell you that. If someone bothers you, you kill them. I am so envious of that.

Q: It is also like a boys club with you guys, right?
A: We like each other. Which is unusual I guess. It starts at the top. Jimmy Gandolfini is the greatest ¡­ he really is the boss in that sense of setting a tone. He is a very humble, normal guy who is probably more comfortable being a character actor and found himself in this lead role ¡ª and is fantastic at it ¡ª but he's never quite comfortable with being a star and that's a great attitude because that makes everybody else want to work harder because nobody works harder than him.


Q: You have been an icon in music with Bruce Springsteen for 30 years. Is it amazing how it got even to another level with this whole thing?
A: All the clich÷Ÿabout TV are true. After what was 25 years in the music career of being relatively famous ¡­ within two weeks of ¡°The Sopranos¡± being on and me looking I thought as different as I could look, right. I wanted to be unrecognizable. I had a bandana my whole life. I got this big hair thing. Within two weeks, seven out of 10 people on the street stopped and recognized me from ¡°The Sopranos.¡± Twenty-five years, gone! I said, ¡°Wow, this is really a powerful thing, the whole medium.¡±


Q: What's going on with Bruce?
A: We talk about once a month. He has just done a terrific thing with the Seeger sessions. It's really one of the greatest things I've ever seen in my life. So, he's going out one more time. Well, he'll do that through Christmas and then we're going to sit down and talk, so we'll see. We work very quickly, so he can call tomorrow and we can be on the road with a new album in like three months. I wouldn't be surprised if we didn't do something as early as ¡®07.


Q: Will Silvio make it through the whole season?
A: Well, we'll see ¡­ knock on wood, man, knock on wood.

Little Steven's Underground Garage

PERFORMERS: The Romantics, Shadows of Knight and the Charms
WHERE: mixx, Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, Atlantic City
WHEN: 10 p.m. Friday, Oct. 20
HOW MUCH: Cover charge is $20. Go to www.theborgata.com for more information.


20th October 2006 07:36 AM
PartyDoll MEG Thanks, Mr. Motels! The Best news is this: "So, he's going out one more time. Well, he'll do that through Christmas and then we're going to sit down and talk, so we'll see. We work very quickly, so he can call tomorrow and we can be on the road with a new album in like three months. I wouldn't be surprised if we didn't do something as early as ¡®07."
Please let it be true!!
20th October 2006 07:37 AM
Nellcote That's the one I caught Meg!
Wicked Pissa!
20th October 2006 08:37 AM
Erik_Snow
quote:
PartyDoll MEG wrote:
Thanks, Mr. Motels! The Best news is this: "So, he's going out one more time. Well, he'll do that through Christmas and then we're going to sit down and talk, so we'll see. We work very quickly, so he can call tomorrow and we can be on the road with a new album in like three months. I wouldn't be surprised if we didn't do something as early as ¡®07."
Please let it be true!!




You're not too happy about Bruce's last project?
Well, neither am I, yet I don't know why.
20th October 2006 08:47 AM
PartyDoll MEG
quote:
Erik_Snow wrote:


You're not too happy about Bruce's last project?
Well, neither am I, yet I don't know why.


Oh, Erik...I love Seeger Sessions!!
Just want at least one more E street fix, Pretty Please!!
20th October 2006 08:53 AM
Erik_Snow I've only caught E-street once...in Conventional Hall, NJ, of all places. A great rehearsal-concert. I'd like another E-street tour, too.
20th October 2006 08:56 AM
UGot2Rollme
quote:
Ten Thousand Motels wrote:
Little Steven

I wanted to be unrecognizable. I had a bandana my whole life. I got this big hair thing. Within two weeks, seven out of 10 people on the street stopped and recognized me from ¡°The Sopranos



He's a cool dude, but needs to come clean about why he wears a bandana and that wig on Soprano's..

Baldy.
20th October 2006 09:42 AM
corgi37 I have never been a Springsteen fan, but i always liked Little Steven. I can never get "Glory Days" out of my mind. Not the song, the clip. Where he is on Bruce's shoulder, bandanna flowing, miming the backing vocals. He's got weird frigging teeth! But, i do like him. Obviously, he's heart is in the right place. And, his views are pretty spot on.

I wish him well.

And i love the Sopranos!
20th October 2006 09:55 AM
rasputin56
quote:
UGot2Rollme wrote:


He's a cool dude, but needs to come clean about why he wears a bandana and that wig on Soprano's..

Baldy.



Actually, I believe he was in a car accident where his head went the through the window and permananently scarred part of his head. His hair was unable to grow back in those areas, thus the bandanas. Anyways, as far as Bruce and the E Street album/tour goes, he's been saying the exact same thing for years now.

Love Stevie and his effort to keep the garage band scene alive.
20th October 2006 09:59 AM
jb I love Little Stevie-a great Stones fan and great guitarist. I will not miss Bruce this time around.
20th October 2006 10:05 AM
Gazza
quote:
PartyDoll MEG wrote:
Thanks, Mr. Motels! The Best news is this: "So, he's going out one more time. Well, he'll do that through Christmas and then we're going to sit down and talk, so we'll see. We work very quickly, so he can call tomorrow and we can be on the road with a new album in like three months. I wouldn't be surprised if we didn't do something as early as ¡®07."
Please let it be true!!





'we work very quickly'? - Bruce's recording sessions have been known to drag on for YEARS with hundreds of songs and partly completed records being shelved

At least the last time they recorded together ("The Rising") they did manage to record the whole thing in about six weeks. I guess Brendan O'Brien kicks him up the arse, going by his burst of productivity in the last few years since he started employing him.

Bruce was actually toying with the idea of a 'Tracks Vol.2" AND a new E-Street Band album before he decided to do the Seeger Sessions record instead. He's gone on record as saying he hopes to tour with the E-Street Band in 2007. If they do, I think it'll be their last run with that line-up.

Bruce's tour doesnt actually go as far as Christmas, as Belfast is the last show, on November 21st. Unless he uses the band for the holiday shows in Asbury Park, or something
[Edited by Gazza]
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