Album Notes

This month for our artist of the month spotlight we take a look at Needle Park, a band created by Craig Bradford (Joey C. Jones and The Glory Hounds) and Adam Hamilton (L.A. Guns, Joey C. Jones and The Glory Hounds, C.C. DeVille, Joe 90).

Needle Park is a one off album project between Craig and Adam where they set out to recreate the guitar driven power-pop hard rockin sound of yesteryear. Not only did they accomplish that mission, the music came out not as a retro-rockin revival but more as a modern interpretation of the vibe that ruled rock radio in the 70’s.


Craig Bradford

Craig Bradford is best known as the man who replaced CC Deville in the band Joey C. Jones and The Glory Hounds. Craig gave the group a different energy than CC that made them more rooted in power-pop hard rock than glam. Unfortunately, even though the band caught national attention with a radio hit that was penned by Cheap Trick, the band disbanded and the members went off to pursue other music projects.

But Craig and Adam recently got back together to recreate some of Joey C. Jones and The Glory Hounds vibe with the Needle Park project. Adam took some timeout from his duties as LA Guns bassist to enter the studio with Craig to produce Needle Park’s debut album “C'mon Get Real”.

As soon as word leaked out about the project, several other musicians wanted to get in on the fun. Two notable musicians were asked to participate in the recordings. Buckcherry’s Yogi and Enuff Z’nuff frontman Donnie Vie joined Craig and Adam in the studio to record the two songs that would end up as bonus tracks on the CD.

I first heard of Needle Park from Craig himself when I was introduced to him at the Rocknworld.com 4th Anniversary party at the Cat House in Hollywood. Without hearing a note, I was really impressed with Craig’s attitude and musical vision. Unlike other musicians who have had to suffer through the 90’s trying to make a name for themselves under the backdrop of pop, rap-rock and hip-hop ruling the airwaves, Craig hasn’t grown jaded or cynical about the business at all. He is one of those guys that just wants to make music he loves, he doesn’t care about trends, genres or being the “biggest thing”. Adam is a perfect match for Craig, I’d first met Adam backstage at his second gig with LA Guns a few months back and have had the opportunity to talk with him several times since then and he like Craig share the same passion for music.


Adam Hamilton

Plus they are both really down to earth guys that you know you’d have a ball hangin out with on a Saturday night. No pretentiousness with these guys, they put their egos in the backseat and concentrate on the music not the associated bullshit that goes along with being a career musician or rock star. So I knew I wanted to do a feature on Needle Park even before I heard the songs. Well, I have since heard the CD and was impressed enough to give Needle Park the May 2002 Artist of the Month slot, which they really deserve. Before we hear from Craig, I have to chime in on the CD. With the former C.C. Deville association some might get the wrong impression, I have to reiterate that the music produced by Needle Park doesn’t fall into the 80’s glam category at all, if anything Craig did a masterful job of taking the best parts of the late 60’s and 70’s melodic guitar rock and putting a modern rock spin on them. So while it does have a hint of a retro feel to it, it still fits comfortably with today’s rock music.

Craig graciously agreed to discuss the new album with us and let us in on his future plans. So get plugged in and get ready to rock as we discuss “C'mon Get Real” with Craig!