Still Rockin' It - Cheryl Lee
Still Rockin' It - Cheryl Lee
What's Jon Stevens from Noiseworks been up to lately? OR Who got the scoop about next year's Bluesfest line up?
Join Cheryl Lee - That Radio Chick on STILL ROCKIN' IT for news, reviews, music and interviews with some of our favourite Australian musicians.
Today I share a phone chat I had recently with New Zealand born Australian singer of Scottish and Maori descent, Jon Stevens .
Best known for his work in Jesus Christ Superstar as Judas and as frontman for Noiseworks, The Dead Davies and INXS, the now 60 years young pop star is back out the front of Noiseworks with new music, a new band member, and coming to a town near you.
Jon Stevens is a heart foundation ambassador and Noiseworks' new single is forming part of their fundraising efforts for Give With Heart Day. Jon survived open heart surgery after in 2009 a routine health check-up found an anomaly in John’s heart. Jon said he felt like he's been given a second chance at life and now has a strong desire to spread the message about heart disease.
Includes Songs:
Hot Chilli Woman - Jon Stevens
No Lies - Noiseworks
Heart & Soul - Noiseworks
Superstar - Jesus Christ Superstar 1992 Cast
What is Jon Stevens from Noiseworks been up to at the moment?
Let's find out .....
Get out when you can, support local music and I'll see you down the front!!
Visit: ThatRadioChick.com.au
That Radio Chick Cheryl Lee here with you. Welcome to the Still Rocking it podcast, where we'll have news, reviews and interviews with some of our favourite Australian musicians and artists. Today I share a phone chat I had recently with New Zealand-born Australian singer of Scottish and Maori descent, john Stevens. Best known for his work in Jesus Christ Superstar as Judas and as frontman for Noiseworks the Dead Daisies and In Excess, the now 60 years young pop star is back out the front of Noiseworks with new music, a new band member and coming to a town near you. What's John Stevens from Noiseworks been up to lately? Let's find out.
Speaker 2:Cheryl Lee, how are you going?
Speaker 1:Very well, thank you. Thanks so much for chatting with me this morning. I know you are super busy, especially at the moment, so I really appreciate it.
Speaker 2:Oh, I'm quite Cheryl. I actually have a cousin by the name of Cheryl Lee. Do you, is she in New Zealand? I do no, no, she's off on the Gold Coast actually. Oh lucky, but she's my first cousin, cheryl Lee. There you go, there's not many of us. I had a little chuckle when I saw your name.
Speaker 1:Well, there's not that many of us. So say hi to her from another, cheryl Lee from South Australia.
Speaker 2:Oh, no worries. How was it down there in Adelaide?
Speaker 1:Well, it's been a bit too chilly. Actually I envy her up in Queensland. Right, I know you haven't got very long, All good. So we've got some very, very exciting news on the new music front and the touring front, but I just wanted to find out a little bit more about John Stevens. I know you're from a very large family. Was your family a musical family? Is it in your DNA?
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, very much so in my DNA. You know, I'm the youngest of 11 children, so I got to hear all the music that all my siblings, older siblings, played, from the Beatles, you know, right through to Deep Purple, mid Zeppelin, all the great, all the soul stuff, all the classic stuff from Frank Sinatra. You know, I mean Mahalia, anyway, jackson, so much stuff, mahalia Jackson. Yeah, my mother loved Mahalia Jackson. Look, you know, music's always been there. Here we are a million years later. Yeah, that's right, I'm, you know, a Music's always been there. Here we are a million years later. Yeah, I'm a musician. What can I say? It was my last calling. It took me a few years to figure that out, but I'm very grateful to do what I love and to still love what I do.
Speaker 1:Well, that's pretty obvious. We've seen you quite a few times. Last time, I think, I saw you as Noiseworks was in Manum, the Red Hot Summer Tour with Barnsley in 16, I think, and the last time I saw you was at Blues Fest. Hubby and I got on our Harley and rode to Blues Fest to watch you.
Speaker 2:Nice and, yeah, that was the first time I did Blues Fest this year, actually, yeah, so it was really one of those bucket list things that I was so happy to, um have done it. You know, they've just invited me back for next year, which is fantastic, because next year is pretty much going to be an all-international with only a few Australian artists, so awesome to be asked back, you know. So, um, it was certainly a magic show, that one at that police fest.
Speaker 1:No, question it was. I interviewed Peter Noble and he said it was like the perfect storm, you know, with COVID and what have you, and he probably could never recreate 2022. Yeah Well, it's awesome that you're going back.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, no, I'm stoked, really really excited about it. I don't think it's been announced yet, but I just announced it.
Speaker 1:Oh, you heard it first here. Is that some sort of scoop, John? But I just announced it. Oh, you heard it first here.
Speaker 2:Is that some sort of scoop, John Woo-hoo? Never mind. They told me I couldn't say anything, so there you go.
Speaker 1:There you go. You know what I noticed at Blues Fest, not just with you but with all the artists and all the bands, I think, because of the enforced downtime how happy you guys look to be up there performing again. I bet it was just magic.
Speaker 2:So happy to be. You know, look for everybody, the whole world. You know, coming back online, I suppose you know being able to leave your homes, being able to go out and work, being able to, you know, go on a holiday. I mean it's such an amazing thing when your freedom's taken away from you. Especially for us who, you know, lived through the Melbourne lockdowns which I did and all Victorians did it was very, very difficult to come to terms with. You know how we actually were so sort of suppressed for such a long time. And you know, looking back on it, you kind of go, huh Boy, was that really necessary? Yeah, and you know what's the real agenda? I don't know. Well, things are coming out, but you know it's all coming out as we go. But it's good to be free, get on with life, and you know that's about it really. What can we say?
Speaker 1:that's right, absolutely. Live music is back with a vengeance. Woo it is. It is Still rocking the podcast with that radio chick, cheryl Lee. Noiseworks released three platinum studio albums between 1987 and 1991 and had three top ten singles across that time Take Me Back, touch and Hot Chili Woman. Here's an acoustic version of Hot Chili Woman from John Stevens' solo album from 2005, the Works. We'll be back to speak more with Noiseworks frontman John after this.
Speaker 2:Are you ready? I said are you ready? Are you ready? Are you ready?
Speaker 1:Noiseworks are back too, with the Vengeance and you guys. Last week, I think it was released your first single in 30 years and straight to number one. Congratulations, thank you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's very, very, very, yeah, surprised. But look, we finished this record. It was meant to come out in 2019. Unfortunately, our guitar player and best mate, Stuart Fraser, passed away from cancer. Yes, and that put the record back on the shelf and Favoured happened after that and here we are in 2022, everything's opened up.
Speaker 2:And you know, this year I've been touring a lot myself and then, you know, we're doing the Noiseworks and NXS collection tour, just playing the hits from those two bands that I fronted, and you know the support has just been so overwhelming and people are just saying when's that Noiseworks record coming out? Because all the fans are like, come on, hell. Yeah, and you know. So I spoke to all the boys and said, look, you know I can put the end of the year on hold for Noiseworks if everyone wants to do it. You know, from November to March and we'll just do a bunch of shows. We'll get the album out in October.
Speaker 2:We'll go and honour our mate Stuart and have some fun and, you know, get this record out and whatever happens after, that is what happens, but it's only for a short space of time, so you're going to have a certain shelf life. Noise works, but the original band's back together and Justin came back from America it's the first time he's been with us for 30 years and we have the wonderful, amazing Jack Jones playing guitar. Jack was, you know, great friends with Stuart and the band since back in the day. So you know, the planets are lined up and we'll go and pay our respects to our mate and have some fun.
Speaker 1:That's great, and do say hi to Jack. I interviewed him, I think, may last year. He's a lovely guy and he seems an absolute perfect fit somehow. So I think you've done well there, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, no, you no. When I first thought of Jack, it was like I said to all the boys hey, what about Jack Jones? And all the boys just went what a great idea. There was no other choice after that.
Speaker 1:Good thinking, 99 Well he's amazing.
Speaker 2:He really is truly an amazing artist and an amazing guitar player and he's a wonderful, wonderful guy to beat. So, yeah, we love him.
Speaker 1:We've loved the In Excess shows and we love the opportunity to hear all those great In Excess songs again. But I tell you what we're looking forward to the Noidworks ones, that's for sure you are listening to Still Rocking.
Speaker 1:It, the podcast with Cheryl Lee. We'll be back to speak more with John, but first let's have another song no Lies, the debut single from their first studio album in 87. I'd like to dedicate this to the late great Stuart Chet Fraser. So I think we're going to see you first. Is it at One Electric Day here in South Australia at Victor Harbour? Yeah, our first gig yeah. Oh, we're the virgins, woo yeah where are we playing? Victor Harbour.
Speaker 2:Victor Harbour, that's right.
Speaker 1:So get onto the Gigalometer Saturday, the 5th of November. I think it's nearly sold out, so if you want tickets you better hurry up. The Noiseworks are playing with headliner Susie Quattro and great Adelaide band, the Angels and the Baby Animals and the Jets and Chucky Starfish Great line-up.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know Kevin Nicholl, who's Noiseworks drummer. He's from McLarenvale.
Speaker 1:Great, I love that there's an. Adelaide connection. Mclarenvale's a beautiful spot. Have you been there?
Speaker 2:It is. I certainly have. I mean I've been going. I first went to Adelaide in 1977, you know, as a young man from young teenager from New Zealand. I had a brother and a couple of sisters that lived in Adelaide, so it's a place that I cherish. I love Adelaide.
Speaker 1:I love the Adelaide connection. Mclaren Vale has great wine.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, just a few yeah that's right.
Speaker 1:After that, you guys are going on a tour called Take Me Back. Where are you going?
Speaker 2:Noise Works yeah, we're doing the festivals and then we're just going to put some other shows in around it. You know, some big theatre shows or club shows or pub show, whatever. We're still in the process of putting those around the festival stuff. So, yeah, you know, we'll just go and have some fun for a few months and then get back to our day jobs. Yeah, which is our own careers. I mean, that's really the gist of it why you haven't seen Noiseless for many, many years, because we're all just doing other things.
Speaker 2:That's right, you've all been busy After we broke up in 92, it was pretty bittersweet. So now that we're all older and a bit more wiser and we lost our mate, we've got a whole album there with him on it. We can't let that sit on a shelf somewhere. That's just a sacrilege. So just get it out there and you know, stuart lives again.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's. The best way that you could honour him is to get it out there so that we can listen. That's amazing. Get onto your Noiseworks Facebook page and keep your eyes peeled for the dates for the Take Me Back tour. Can I ask you, what does John Stevens like to listen to? So, like, if you're alone in your car or whatever, what do? What's your thing?
Speaker 2:You know I listen to the radio, yeah, in the car, yeah, I switch between stations. But you know, obviously lately I've been listening to a lot of Triple M because they were the first network to pick up the new Moiswick song, art and Soul. So I'm still yet to hear it on the radio. So I guess that's why I'm tuning in a bit closer, because it's always exciting. Even now at this point in my career and my life, you know, I still like get really excited about hearing, you know, a new song on the radio. It's only old school, I guess it is, but it is really exciting to hear that. So I'm constantly tuned to the Triple M right now, yeah.
Speaker 1:I grew up on Triple M. Here we affectionately call it Bogan FM. But they do play the best music, don't they? Apart from me, of course, that's right.
Speaker 2:I mean, you know there's a lot, I turn off, you have to change the channel there. I mean, you know there's a lot, I turn off, you have to change the channel. There's a lot of stuff out there that gets played. I go huh, is that music? What is that? Oh, you'll have to have a listen to it.
Speaker 1:You'll have to have a listen when I play. I'll send you the link and you can have a listen to my little community radio station when I pop your interview on. Thank you so much and so much for your time and I'll see you down the front at Victor.
Speaker 2:Harbour. Well, you know, come say hello, don't be a stranger.
Speaker 1:I'll give you a wave. Thanks again, john Cheers, sarah Ta-da. Bye. Still off on that podcast with that radio chick, cheryl Lee. There are two reasons why Heart and Soul is such a great song A because it's such a great song and B because John Stevens is a Heart Foundation ambassador and Noiseworks' new single, heart and Soul, is forming part of their fundraising efforts for Give With Heart Day. John tells a tale of surviving open heart surgery. After, in 2009, a routine health checkup found an anomaly in John's heart, resulting in the open heart surgery, john said he felt like he'd been given a second chance at life and now has a strong desire to spread the message about heart disease Without any further ado.
Speaker 1:Here it is Heart and Soul, brand new music from Noiseworks and, if you get it, you're also supporting a very worthy cause. I'm on my way to you. I'm on my way. It won't be long until I hold you. I wanted to give you one more little treat before we go from the 1992 Australian cast recording highlights album featuring John Stevens Superstar. Please enjoy. You're with Cheryl Lee lee, that radio chick. Thank you so much for joining me on the still rocking up podcast. Hope to catch you again next time. Get out when you can support aussie music and I'll see you down the front.