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If you ranked rock's great two-guitar tandems, Television's Richard Lloyd and Tom Verlaine would be at or near the top. Verlaine was the poetic songwriter, idiosyncratic singer and improvisatory guitarist, but Television would not have been Television without Lloyd’s dazzling counterpunches and composed solos that take melodic leaps no one could anticipate. Television launched the mid-1970s art-punk scene at the grungy East Village club CBGB and produced arguably the greatest album from that era, Marquee Moon. How did the band capture such combustible magic in songs like “See No Evil” and the epic title track? Why did Television make only two more studio albums, and why was Lloyd dissatisfied with each? Why did Jimi Hendrix punch out a teenage Lloyd? What impact did drugs and alcohol have on Lloyd’? How did he wind up making more great music with Matthew Sweet? And how did he feel when Television moved on without him? Was he in touch with Verlaine before the Television leader died a year ago?

Cheers ended its 11-year TV run in 1993, yet on the Emmy Awards in January, George Wendt showed up as his old character, Norm, and drew laughs and, yes, cheers. Even 31 years later, everybody knows his name. Wendt discusses his beginnings at Chicago’s Second City, including his firing and rehiring there. How did that ensemble work prepare him for Cheers? How did the series’ energy change when Kirstie Alley replaced Shelley Long? Was the Saturday Night Live episode he co-hosted with Francis Ford Coppola the weirdest one ever? How did he wind up in those “Da Bears” sketches and in Michael Jackson’s “Black or White” video? How did he enjoy his roast hosted by his nephew, Jason Sudeikis? Pull up a stool and grab a beer, because Wendt has stories to tell.

Brendan Canty’s work in Fugazi established him as one of rock’s great drummers, but this thoughtful, multitalented artist has done much more than that. Rooted in Washington, D.C., Canty played with the hardcore bands Deadline, Rites of Spring, Happy Go Licky and One Last Wish before Fugazi, Deathfix afterward, and he currently is stretching out his jazz-punk chops in the instrumental trio Messthetics. He’s also a soundtrack composer and filmmaker, having directed documentaries featuring Eddie Vedder, Wilco and others. Here Canty takes us deep into the music, where exploration and improvisation bang up against structure. He tells the story of Fugazi, from the breakout song “Waiting Room” and intense touring through the band’s 2003 “indefinite hiatus.” And he explains how a big reunion would—or would not—jibe with Fugazi’s values.

Our Colin Moulding conversation picks up with XTC working in Woodstock, N.Y., on what would become one of their most beloved albums, Skylarking. Moulding appreciated that producer Todd Rundgren chose to include five of his songs, though the recording experience was a bit of a minefield. XTC built on its newfound momentum with Oranges & Lemons, a bright, lively album that features Moulding’s hit single “King for a Day.” Moulding continued to be a keen observer of everyday life, but financial issues plagued the making of Apple Venus Volume 1 and Wasp Star and precipitated Dave Gregory’s departure. Moulding reveals what prompted his final split from singer-songwriter Andy Partridge as well. Moulding has since reunited, briefly, with original XTC drummer Terry Chambers as TC&I, and he continues to make music in the band’s collective hometown of Swindon, England. Might the four of them ever share a stage, a studio or just a night out again?

Bassist Colin Moulding wrote, played on and sang some of the XTC’s greatest songs, including the breakthrough singles “Life Begins at the Hop” and “Making Plans for Nigel” plus “Ten Feet Tall,” “Generals and Majors,” “Runaways,” “Ball and Chain,” “Wonderland” … and those are just in the period covered in Pt. 1 of this fun, insightful conversation. Speaking from his home outside Swindon, England, Moulding tells of his musical beginnings; his and the band’s evolutionary leap when guitarist Dave Gregory joined for Drums and Wires; the weird vibes as Moulding, and not primary singer-songwriter Andy Partridge, was writing the band’s early hits; his reaction to the abrupt end of XTC’s touring days; the jaw-dropping moment when drummer Terry Chambers quit; the joyous psychedelic side project, the Dukes of Stratosphear; and that time David Gilmour asked him to replace Roger Waters in Pink Floyd.

It's time for our third early-year check-in with renowned mastering engineer Kevin Gray. In 2023 he was more in demand than ever; your jaw may drop when he reveals how many albums he mastered. Plus, he launched his own label, Cohearent Records, with an album he recorded in his home studio: saxophonist Kirsten Edkins’ Shapes & Sound. With Cohearent’s second release, jazz guitarist Anthony Wilson’s Hackensack West, imminent, Gray discusses mic placement, what he has learned as a label owner and whether he’ll shift more energy in that direction. He also details his work on Rhino’s High Fidelity series (including his first encounter with Television’s Marquee Moon) as well as Blue Note’s Tone Poet and Classic Vinyl series, Craft’s Original Jazz Classics and Jazz Dispensary releases and more from Jackpot Records and other labels.

Janet Beveridge Bean drums, sings and writes in the great, muscular Chicago guitar band Eleventh Dream Day, which celebrated its 40th anniversary last year. She also sings, writes and plays guitar in the off-kilter-beautiful Freakwater, her country-folk group with singer Catherine Irwin that released its debut album in 1989. Those bands have 25 albums between them, yet Beveridge Bean, who calls herself “musically illiterate,” has applied her ever-restless artistic spirit to many other projects as well. She takes us inside the dynamics of her various collaborations, tells of how Eleventh Dream Day maintained its singular vision while working with and without major labels, and presents a life lived at peak creativity. (Photo by Iwona Biedermann.)

Joe Bonamassa, who opened for B.B. King at age 12, was a cocky 26-year-old blues-rock guitar virtuoso when he made his breakthrough third album, Blues Deluxe, in 2003—and an established 46-year-old when he released Blues Deluxe Vol. 2 in the fall. In a thoughtful conversation, Bonamassa reflects on all that has happened in between, how he has grown as a musician, taken control of the business side of his career and launched his own label and foundation, both called Keeping the Blues Alive. He also weighs the impact of artificial intelligence on music. Would the blues be the hardest kind of music for robots to fake? (Photo by Adam Kennedy)

Andrew Sandoval is a musician, producer, author, publisher, reissue compiler, liner notes writer, video director, fanzine creator, record collector extraordinaire and more. Not only did he write and publish the gorgeous The Monkees: The Day-By-Day Story, but he also oversaw many of that band’s reissues and produced their shows—and still works with Micky Dolenz. Ray Davies requested that he oversee recent Kinks reissues, and he has performed in Dave Davies’ band, led musicians at the Wild Honey Foundation’s Nuggets concert and released his own albums. His many compilations for Rhino Records include the Grammy-nominated Where The Action Is! (Los Angeles Nuggets: 1965-1968) and Elvis Costello’s reissues campaign. In an inspiring entrepreneurial tale, Sandoval has created a life around the music that he loves.

Maybe you know Paul Williams for hits he co-wrote for the Carpenters (“We’ve Only Just Begun,” “Rainy Days and Mondays”) and Three Dog Night (“An Old Fashioned Love Song”). Or for his performances in Brian De Palma’s Phantom of the Paradise and the Smokey and the Bandit movies. Or for his Oscar-winning song with Barbra Streisand, “Evergreen (Love Theme from A Star Is Born).” Or for the songs he wrote for Bugsy Malone and Ishtar. Or for his singing (and writing) on Daft Punk’s 2013 Grammy-winning album, Random Access Memories. Or for what may be his most beloved song of all, “Rainbow Connection” (plus the rest of The Muppet Movie soundtrack). Factor in the current stage adaptation of the 1977 Jim Henson TV special, Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas, and Williams has a lot to talk about—and he does so, delightfully.

Brilliant pianist Bill Payne, who founded Little Feat in 1969 in Los Angeles with singer-songwriter-guitarist Lowell George, takes us on this great American band’s rollercoaster ride through the 1970s. Payne wrote or co-wrote more than half of Little Feat’s self-titled debut album, but the mercurial George came to dominate as the band ascended via the albums Sailin’ Shoes, Dixie Chicken and Feats Don’t Fail Me Now, the last of which features the Payne standout “Oh, Atlanta.” By the time of the classic 1978 live album Waiting for Columbus, George had pulled back and was struggling with addictions, and tensions ran high — yet the band still cooked. What happened? And how did Payne revive Little Feat after George’s death to continue leading it through today?

The Vinyl Me, Please record club marked its 10th anniversary this year and now boasts more than 30,000 members. As senior director of music and editorial, Andrew Winistorfer chooses many of the Records of the Month and exclusive store drops. A passionate music fan himself, he has developed keen insights into the psyche of obsessive vinyl buyers (raising my hand) as well as the business of licensing music from labels and getting albums mastered and pressed to the club’s standards. How does VMP select its “Lost Sounds Found” and less obscure albums? Where did it get the gumption to try to top Mobile Fidelity with its Miles Davis box? What factors drive album pricing? How much does FOMO drive sales? Vinyl fanatics, this one's for you.