Now available on Bandcamp – Headlight Dreams is the first international solo release by South African singer-songwriter Steve Louw.
Helmed by internationally renowned producer Kevin Shirley (John Hiatt, Joe Bonamassa, The Black Crowes) and recorded in Nashville, Tennessee with top local musicians, the album sees Steve exploring new ground as a songwriter as he addresses issues near to his heart. Headlight Dreams sees Steve return to the studio after a seven-year break with a new set of songs and fresh musical inspiration.
Says Steve, “I’d taken an 8000-km motorcycle journey around Southern Africa and a lot of that space and time seeped into these songs. After weeks of riding I started to see things in slow motion and hyper speed, at once, and I became mesmerised by the landscape.
“I built the songs around my voice and the acoustic guitar so that the listener would be drawn into a journey through broken open landscapes, seeing images in the peripheral half- light while mesmerised by beams of light…Time passing, slowing, stopping, speeding, with shadows playing just outside of the picture frame.”
Back in November 1986, The Killing Floor hit the shelves with a defiant roar. It wasn’t just an album, it was a statement. All Night Radio, led by Steve Louw and produced by Kevin Shirley, delivered a blues-rock record that refused to play nice. It was raw, political, and unafraid to speak truth to power. Thirty-nine years later, it still burns.
Tracks like “Bernadette”, “Prisoners”, and “Reign of Fire” weren’t just songs, they were dispatches from a country on edge. “Reign of Fire” was banned by the SABC for its unflinching lyrics, while “Bernadette” painted a vivid portrait of pride and displacement in District Six. The title track, “The Killing Floor”, was a cover of the Howlin’ Wolf classic, and featured Tim Parr on guitar. Tim had just come off Baxtop and was now part of Ella Mental. His bandmate in Ella Mental, Hermann Eugster, played drums on the album. Their chemistry added a raw, bluesy edge that honoured the original while stamping it with South African grit.
The album’s sonic bite came courtesy of Nico Burger’s guitar, Mike Campbell’s bass, and Steve’s unmistakable voice, backed by a band that knew exactly what it wanted to say.
On 13 September 2025, All Night Radio reunited for a sold-out show at the Daisy Jones Bar in Stellenbosch. When they played the songs from the 80s, the crowd didn’t just cheer, they remembered. Rob Nagel returned on bass, and Willem Möller stepped in on guitar. Willem was playing in place of Nico Burger, who passed away in the mid-1990s. Nico’s distinctive tone, forged through his 1966 Fender Telecaster, still echoed through the music.
Willem Möller and Steve Louw at Daisy Jones Bar, 13 September 2025 | Photo: Jacqui van Staden
“It was so much fun singing those songs again,” Steve reflected after the show. “Playing the 1966 Fender Telecaster again, which was the defining sound of the band, was special. Sadly Nico, the band’s brilliant guitarist, was not there but his spirit and incredible talent live on in the music.”
As The Killing Floor turns 39, it’s clear that some records don’t just age, they evolve. They become part of the cultural DNA. And when All Night Radio stepped back on stage, it wasn’t nostalgia, it was a reminder that great music endures.
There’s also a bonus for long-time fans: “All Night Long”, recorded in 1986 and remixed by Kevin Shirley in 2002, is available to stream exclusively on The Killing Floor album page.
Three years ago today, on 28 October 2022, South African singer-songwriter Steve Louw released the official video for “Mother, Don’t Go”, featuring blues-rock guitar legend Joe Bonamassa. The video was created by Jacqui Van Staden and Kian Eriksen. It was our first taste of what would become his “Thunder And Rain” album, dropping just two weeks later on 11 November.
A Song Born from Lockdown and a Vintage Guitar
The story behind this track is brilliant. During the 2020 lockdown, Louw had been stuck at his farm for more than six months with only an old acoustic guitar. When he finally made it to Cape Town, he traded with his mate Willem Möller for a gorgeous 1964 Epiphone Casino.
He got home, opened the case, and the first thing that came out was the riff for “Mother, Don’t Go”. Just like that.
“The riff took me to the lyric, to the beauty of a mother’s love,” Louw explained. “It’s a simple song, and its simplicity celebrates the joy and longing for unconditional, selfless love.”
When Bonamassa Joins the Party
Joe Bonamassa’s contribution is spot-on. Working alongside guitarist Doug Lancio, Bonamassa doesn’t try to dominate the track. Music journalist Stephen Thomas Erlewine called it perfectly when he described how Bonamassa “brings out the song’s incandescent spirit” by intertwining his playing with Lancio’s. It’s collaborative guitar work at its finest.
Add Kevin Shirley’s production (the man’s worked with Led Zeppelin, Iron Maiden, and Journey, for crying out loud), and you’ve got a track that feels both intimate and powerful.
Still Resonates
Three years on, “Mother, Don’t Go” remains a standout moment in Steve Louw’s catalogue. It’s a reminder that sometimes the simplest songs carry the deepest truths. In celebrating a mother’s love, Louw tapped into something universal that still hits home every time you hear it.
Twenty-six years ago today, Big Sky released “Best of the Decade” – a compilation that captured the essence of the band’s journey through the 1990s. From their debut album in 1990 to this milestone collection in October 1999, the compilation showcased a decade of musical evolution and creative exploration.
A Decade Captured
“Best of the Decade” wasn’t simply a greatest hits collection. It represented Big Sky’s growth throughout the 90s, featuring two new tracks that encapsulated the band’s sound and vision during that formative period. The compilation served as both a celebration of what had been achieved and a testament to the creative spirit that defined the decade.
“Looking back at the 90s, it was an incredible time for music and creativity,” reflects Steve Louw. “These songs captured something special about that era.”
From Studio to Stage
What makes this anniversary particularly meaningful is that songs from Big Sky’s 90s catalogue recently came alive again at the Further On Up The Road concert on 13th September at Daisy Jones. The performance brought together tracks from across the band’s history, including material from this landmark compilation.
The Daisy Jones Bar, 13 September 2025 (L-R): Albert Frost, Tim Rankin (hidden behind the drums), Steve Louw, Rob Nagel | photo: Jacqui van Staden
The energy at Daisy Jones that night demonstrated the enduring power of these 90s recordings. Performed alongside fellow blues and rock musicians, some of whom have been friends since 1976, the songs proved they’ve lost none of their impact over the past two-and-a-half decades.
The Daisy Jones Bar, 13 September 2025 (L-R): Willem Möller, Albert Frost, Tim Rankin (hidden behind the drums), Steve Louw, Rob Nagel | photo: Jacqui van Staden
A 90s Legacy
Twenty-six years on, “Best of the Decade” remains an important milestone in Big Sky’s catalogue. Released at the close of the 1990s, it captured a band at a crucial point in their journey – looking back at a decade of growth whilst standing on the threshold of a new millennium.
“The 90s shaped so much of who we became as musicians,” says Steve Louw. “These tracks tell that story.”
Listen to the Album
Watch the Music
The Compilation
“Best of the Decade” brought together 14 tracks spanning Big Sky’s three studio albums from the 90s: “Waiting For The Dawn” (1990), “Horizon” (1995), and “Going Down With Mr Green” (1997). The compilation featured classics like “Waiting For The Dawn”, “Diamonds And Dirt”, “Slow Dancing”, “One Cut With A Knife”, “Run To Me”, “Wasted”, and “Strange Room”.
The two new recordings, “Destiny” and “Skin Deep”, were produced by Kevin Shirley in New York in 1999. “Destiny” was recorded in the same room where David Bowie cut “Let’s Dance” and Bruce Springsteen made “Born in the U.S.A.” The session featured an impressive lineup: Anton Fig on drums, Pat Thrall on guitars, Mickey d’Michelle on bass, Eric Bazilian on guitar, Adam Holzman on Hammond organ, with Shirley himself adding dulcimer.
“I wrote ‘Destiny’ for my wife, Erna, a few days before I went into the studio,” Steve recalls. “Maybe it was the room, maybe it was working in New York again with Kevin and a brilliant band, but everything just clicked that day.”
“Skin Deep”, co-written by Steve and Kevin Shirley, drew inspiration from a Keith Richards interview where he noted, “All our bones are white and our blood red – beauty is ‘skin deep’.” The track featured Alex Foster on sax and Andy Kravitz on percussion, adding layers to the rock sound that defined the decade.
On 13th September 2025, the Daisy Jones Bar in Stellenbosch was packed to capacity. Steve Louw had reunited All Night Radio for a sold-out performance, and when “Sea Side Love” and “Breaking Hearts” rang out across the winelands venue, the response was immediate. Four decades on, those songs still packed the same punch.
Willem Möller and Steve Louw at Daisy Jones Bar, 13 September 2025 | Photo: Jacqui van Staden
Forty-one years earlier, in October 1984, All Night Radio exploded onto the South African music scene with “The Heart’s The Best Part” – an album that would change everything.
Steve Louw knew exactly what sound the band needed. In 1983, he bought a 1966 Fender Telecaster in Hillbrow. “I knew a Tele was the sound the band needed,” he recalls. On the eve of entering the studio in July 1984, he gave the guitar to Nico Burger – and that Telecaster became the signature sound of All Night Radio.
All Night Radio – Breaking Hearts & Sea Side Love, double a-side single, 1984. Previous Records, PRS1
The double A-side single “Breaking Hearts” and “Sea Side Love” arrived first, and the impact was immediate. When Steve played “Breaking Hearts” for Capital Radio and 702 DJ Alan Pearce, “he looked up at me while smoking a joint and said who is on the flamethrower?” Critics were equally struck. Andrew Donaldson in the Cape Times called it “probably the noisiest and freshest-sounding rock single produced in this country to date,” whilst praising Burger for “effortlessly establishing himself as wunderkind here in one neat and fluid solo.”
The album’s sound was no accident. Steve Louw’s tenacity led to an unlikely transatlantic collaboration with producer John Rollo, fresh from working with Little Steven van Zandt, the Kinks, and George Benson. According to The Argus Tonight, when Louw met Little Steven in Johannesburg, he “grabbed the meeting, dumped the questions and, on meeting the great one asked: ‘Will you produce my band?'” Though Little Steven couldn’t commit, he connected Louw with Rollo – who left George Benson waiting and flew to Cape Town.
The result was ten days of recording at UCA Sound in Cape Town with the core trio of Louw, Burger, and Rob Nagel, backed by session players Richard Pickett on drums and Brian Seppel on keyboards. The album was then mixed at House of Music in New Jersey and mastered at Sterling Sound in New York City – giving it a sonic presence that, as The Argus review noted, “just leaves local produce miles behind.”
But beyond the production values, it was the songs themselves that gave the album its lasting power. Donaldson observed that Louw displayed “a talent for crafting songs that are free of obvious and clichéd hooks. They’re energetic, they’re thoughtfully constructed and, what’s important, they have a shelf life that takes you far past the first listening.”
All Night Radio 1984 (L-R): Nico Burger, Rob Nagel, Steve Louw
From the raw energy of “Breaking Hearts” to the driving momentum of “Rising Storm”, from the tender vulnerability of “The Heart’s The Best Part” to the defiant closing statement of “Land of Sin” – all twelve tracks were written by Louw, capturing both the passion and restlessness of the era.
“The Heart’s The Best Part” remains a watershed moment in South African rock – the album where a Cape Town band reached for international production standards and grabbed them, creating something that still sounds vital today.
Back at the Daisy Jones Bar last month, Steve Louw stood on stage with Willem Möller on guitar, Rob Nagel back on bass, Tim Rankin on drums, and Simon Orange on keyboards. With Nico Burger’s passing in the mid-1990s, his brilliant guitar work lives on only in the recordings – but there was one more piece of him present that night.
Steve was playing that same 1966 Fender Telecaster. His wife Erna had bought it back from Nico in 1992 as a gift, and the guitar that defined the sound of All Night Radio was singing those songs again.
Steve Louw and Rob Nagel at Daisy Jones Bar, 13 September 2025 | Photo: Jacqui van Staden
“It was so much fun singing those songs again,” Steve reflects. “Our first radio hits. Breaking out of the garage and onto a national platform was thrilling for all of us. Playing the 1966 Fender Telecaster again, which was the signature sound of the band was special. Sadly Nico, the band’s brilliant guitarist, was not there but his spirit and incredible talent live on in the music.”
The raw energy that made critics sit up and take notice in 1984 was alive and well in 2025, proving that some music doesn’t just survive – it endures.
