The Tapes Archive

A never before published interview with John Entwistle, bassist for The Who, from 1996.

In this episode, we have the great singer-songwriter, John Prine. At the time of this interview in 1997, Prine was 50 years old and was out on tour with Los Lobos. In the interview, Prine talks about his record label, Oh Boy, his Indiana connections, touring, and his yet-to-be-made duet album.

In the interview Entwistle talks about:

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In the interview Aykroyd and Belushi talk about:

- They talk in-depth about their yet to be made film The Blues Brothers.

- How democratic Saturday Night Live is.

- The greatness of performing on live tv. 

- How they met and Second City days.

- How the Blues Brother’s look came to be.

- Aykroyd reveals how he came up with the SNL skit the Coneheads.

- The inspiration for Belushi’s Samurai character.

- Auditioning for SNL

- Thoughts on one of their next films, 1941.

In this episode, we have an interview you might have heard before but probably not. In the crate of Marc's tapes are some unmarked interviews that Marc did not do. One of those tapes has an interview with Dan Ackroyd and John Belushi from 1978. I couldn't find the interview anywhere online, so I thought "this is too good not to be heard" and decided to make it public. 

At the time of this interview, Aykroyd was 26 years old, and Belushi was 29. In the interview, they talk in-depth about their two upcoming films, “The Blues Brothers” and Stephen Spielberg’s “1941.” Also in the interview, Belushi reveals how he came up with the Samurai character he played on Saturday Night Live, and Aykroyd tells where he found the inspiration for the SNL skit the Coneheads. 

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This episode is brought to you by the award-winning true-crime documentary Dead Man's Line.

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A never before published music interview with Tom Morello (Rage Against the Machine) from 1993.

In the interview Morello talks about:

- The diversity of Rage Against the Machine’s audience

- The band’s intent not to preach to the converted

- The pushing of pushing an anti-censorship agenda

- The threat of the PMRC

- Boycotting record stores that don't believe in in the first amendment

- The Lollapalooza t-shirt debacle

- And more...

In this episode, we have the first of two interviews with Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello. At the time of this interview in 1993, Morello was 29 years old and was out on tour supporting his band’s self-titled first record. In the interview, Tom talks about the pushing of an anti-censorship agenda, the Lollapalooza t-shirt debacle, and how Rage Against the Machine is not like Public Enemy for white kids.

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This episode is brought to you by the award-winning true-crime documentary Dead Man's Line.

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A never before published interview with John Mellencamp from 1991.

In the interview Mellencamp talks about:

- Hows he’s given up on trying to save the world

- How big corporations don’t give a shit about your town

- In-depth with his album “Whenever We wanted”

- Turning 40 

- How the world is run by men we never hear of

- His thoughts on a friend that loves Ronald Reagan

- The movie he directed what it was like making his first film

For transcripts to this episode

This episode is brought to you by the award-winning true-crime documentary Dead Man's Line.

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A never before published interview with Alex Van Halen from 1980.

In the interview Van Halen talks about:

• Van Halen days before being signed

• Working with Ted Templeman.

• The best heavy metal band he ever saw play live

• The future of Van Halen

• And more...

Show Note: In the interview, Marc asks if it's true that Van Halen has in their rider that there are to be no brown M&Ms backstage. It wasn't until years later that David Lee Roth revealed the real reason behind their no brown M&Ms rule.

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This episode is brought to you by the award-winning true-crime documentary Dead Man's Line.

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A never before published interview with Izzy Stradlin from 1993. (Formerly w/Guns N' Roses)

In the interview Izzy talks about:

• Growing up in Indiana.

• If he’s still friends with his ex-bandmates.

• How he loves the drums.

• Recording with the JuJu Hounds

• And more...

For transcripts to this episode

This episode is brought to you by the award-winning true-crime documentary Dead Man's Line.

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A never before published interview with Ace Frehley from 1994.

In the interview Frehley talks about:

• What “sucks” about rock’n’roll.

• His side gig in computer graphics.

• The possibility of a KISS reunion.

• Playing while sober.

• His influence on other guitars players.

• And more...

For transcripts to this episode

This episode is brought to you by the award-winning true-crime documentary Dead Man's Line.

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A never before published interview with Dave Matthews from 1996

In the interview Matthews talks about:

• His fancy footwork

• His band’s first live performance.

• Why we should teach children varied philosophies.

• The making of his album “Crash”.

• Why we want freedom.

• Whether he cares or not if he makes it into the Rock and Roll Hall of fame.

And more...

For transcripts to this episode

This episode is brought to you by the award-winning true-crime documentary Dead Man's Line.

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A never before heard interview with Neal Peart from the band Rush in 1991.

In this episode, we have our second of three interviews with drummer Neal “The Professor” Peart of the band Rush. At the time of this interview in 1991, he was 39 years old and was out on tour with Geddy and Alex in support of the band’s 14th studio album Roll the Bones. In the interview, Neil talks about how he has become comfortable with a random universe, the strength of the individual, talking philosophy with his friends, and how he convinced the band to add a rap to one of their songs.

For transcripts to this episode

This episode is brought to you by the award-winning true-crime documentary Dead Man's Line.

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A never before published interview with Frank Zappa from 1991.

Transcript for this episode.

When I asked Frank Zappa if he had any regrets about the first 25 years of his career, he was blunt, as he always was. 

"There are certain things I might have said in a different way," he said. "But basically, there it is."

And that's why Frank Zappa was and is still revered by his fans—because he said and did what he believed and never let commercial considerations deter him.

In this 1991 interview from The Tapes Archive, Zappa, then 50, talked about standing up to the Parents' Music Resource Center and its warning labels on record albums, how he stepped into Eastern Europe to help American businesses establish ties in formerly communist countries, and why he refused to apologize for songs such as “Jewish Princess,” which offended some organizations.

There’s also talk about his anti-bootlegging project, “Beat the Boots,” and he tells a classic story about one of his greatest songs, “Black Napkins.”

A couple of items that need context:

-At the beginning of the interview, when he mentions “swine,” he’s referring to a show at the Indiana State Fairgrounds where he remembered seeing the Swine Barn.

-Later, when I refer to “the book,” I’m talking about “The Real Frank Zappa Book,” which was published in 1989.

More about Frank Zappa is at https://www.zappa.com/.

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