519 Magazine - April 2019

Enuff Z’Nuff Still Carrying The Rock Torch After 30 Years
By Dan and April Savoie
Hard rock connoisseurs have fond
memories of American glam band
Enuff Z’Nuff. Founded by singer
Donnie Vie and bassist Chip Z’Nuff,
this Chicago area unit tore up the late
90s with their psychedelic-flavored
singles “Fly High Michelle” and “New
Thing”, both which surfaced from the
band’s debut album in 1989.
Now here we are 30 years later and
the band is still on the road and still
recording. Their latest and 14th album
Diamond Boy was released last year.
It’s the first recording without Donnie
on lead vocals, who left the band in
2013 and was never replaced. Chip
now carries the torch on his own.
Enuff Z’Nuff head to Westland’s
Token Lounge on Friday, April 12
for an all out psychedelic rock attack.
Chip checked in with 519 and not only
looked back at that first album, but also
looked ahead to a band without Donnie
at the helm.
“On that first album, we certainly
weren’t trying to pillage off of anybody,
but you are what you eat,” Chip told us.
“Our parents turned us onto bands like
The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Sweet, Led
Zeppelin and Queen - all the different
bands from that era. It was over the top
and that’s what tripped our trigger. So
we made the record and we just wrote
the stuff that we enjoyed playing and
we weren’t thinking of trying to sound
or emulate anybody. We’re just trying
to make a great record and those were
the bands that we were competing
against. We did record those songs in
the bedroom and in the bathroom at
the house, but when it came to making
the record, we were in a fully fledged
studio with a great vibe. There was
no pressure on us. It was just the four
guys in the band and the engineers.
We didn’t have Pro Tools where bands
could go in and fix everything. It was
real performances where we worked
on our craft and were serious about
laying down some good tracks.”
In an interesting twist, the new
album Diamond Boy was recorded
exactly the same way, directly to tape
without Pro Tools. It was also the
first time Chip headed into the studio
to make an album as the band’s lead
singer.
“I never wanted this job after
Donnie left in 2013,” Chip explained.
“My guitar player Johnny Monaco
took over singing for a couple years
and then one day I couldn’t get a
hold of them – I couldn’t find him
anywhere. You can’t be in a band with
me, if I can’t talk to you. He told me
through a text that he needed a break
and couldn’t do it anymore. I sat at
the kitchen table for a day and then my
wife says ‘Why don’t you do it?’ She’s
a singer too. So I decided to listen to
my better half. The next day I got on
the phone and started calling people
that she’s recommended. Low and
behold everybody loved the legacy of
Enuff Z’Nuff and we formed a touring
band. It was quite a challenge - I’d
have seven or eight sets of lyrics on
stage - and I wasn’t sure. I just had
to build my confidence up, but after
about a month of shows, I started
hearing great reviews. Then when
we played on the KISS Kruise, Paul
Stanley and Doc McGhee came to me
after the show and told me the band
sounded terrific and that I should have
been doing this 10 years ago. Bang. I
was right back in the game.
Chip wants to continue the Enuff
Z’Nuff legacy and shows no signs of
slowing down, even at the age of 50.
“I don’t want to give up right
now,” he said. “I still have stuff to
say and I think most of the fans out
there will be happy that there are two
original members of Enuff Z’Nuff
still touring out there. Most bands out
there are either a tribute band or there
is maybe one guy left, so let’s count
our blessings because when all these
bands are gone - when the Aerosmith’s
and the Cheap Trick’s and all these
cats are gone - who’s going to lead?
Who’s going to keep going and
peddling this bicycle? There are not
many cats out there anymore, so
support your favorite bands, because
the run doesn’t last forever.”
Catch Chip and Enuff Z’Nuff in
action in Westland on April 12.
Lisa Brokop Bringing Legendary Ladies of Country to the 519
By April Savoie
Country music is known for its
legendary ladies. Icons like Loretta
Lynn, Tammy Wynette, Tanya Tucker
and Emmylou Harris. Icons that
Canadian country singer Lisa Brokop
is looking forward to recreating in her
new Legendary Ladies of Country tour,
which stops in Highgate, Ontario on
April 6.
Having already toured with a
critically acclaimed Patsy Cline
tribute, Brokop is excited to bring
these legendary ladies to life on stages
across Ontario this month.
She called in to give 519 the details
of the new show.
The Legendary Ladies of Country
sounds like a great show. Can you
tell me about it?
I’ve been doing the show for about
year and it’s a follow-up to my first
show The Patsy Cline Project, which
was a show of Patsy’s classics and
this one will be kind of along the
same theme, but will also include a
few legendary ladies of country, like
Patsy, Tammy Wynette, Loretta Lynn,
Emmylou Harris and all of those great
ladies. I’m focusing on the ones that
were my favorites.
How did you go about selecting
which ladies you’re going to
perform?
Well, that was not easy actually. It
was a harder process than I originally
thought. I always forget just how many
great songs there are and I just can’t do
a six-hour show, so I wrote down all
my favorites without thinking about
it – I just made a big long list. And of
course, I had way too many songs. I
just narrowed it down from there and
some of the artists were specific ones
that I remember listening to when I was
younger - before I was even a teenager
- great singers like Barbara Mandrell.
Then there were certain songs that I
have stories to go with and other ones
that I just really love to sing.
I finally narrowed it down; trying to
include songs that I think other people
would want to hear as well. There are
a couple of Patsy’s in there as well,
because she’s obviously one of the
legendary ladies.
Was it the song or the lady that
you chose first?
I did actually start by writing down
the ladies names, because I thought
that’ll be a shorter list with just the
ladies and then kind of go in and go
through the songs of each one and go
from there. With Tammy Wynette,
I have to do a couple of her songs,
because there’s just too many to choose
from. After a while I realized I’m not
going to get all my favourites in and
just let it go.
Is there a personal favourite lady?
I think Patsy Cline and maybe Dottie
West. I really have fond memories of
listening to Dottie. I used to have this
little cassette player and my cassettes.
I loved the rich tone in Dottie’s voice.
She had this lower range and I kind of
have that in my voice, so that could be
why I was drawn to it. She sang a lot of
duets with Kenny Rogers, who I also
really loved. It’s a connection with the
memories of going back to that time
when I was just first getting into music,
learning how to play guitar and trying
to find myself in music. These ladies
were so influential in that.
You’re bringing the Ladies tour
to Highgate, Ontario. That’s not a
normal concert stop.
I actually enjoy those kinds of stops.
I love the small towns. I don’t know
exactly how big it is, but I’m guessing
it’s a small town. I find those are some
of the best concerts because not a lot
of music comes through and people are
very excited. They are very attentive. I
am actually pretty excited about that.
I just love that community feel as it’s
pretty neat.
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