Special report by Deb Rao:

DOKKEN released their tenth studio album, Lightning Strikes Again, on Rhino Records on May 13th. The first single is 'Standing On The Outside'. Dokken will be embarking on POISON's Live, Raw, And Uncut Tour, which is slated to kick off on July 3rd.

I recently caught up with Dokken guitarist Jon Levin to discuss the strong first week of sales, the band's upcoming Rockline appearance on June 11th and the recording industry today.

Q: Jon, congratulations on the first week of sales. Ratings have been revealed for Lightning Strikes Again and Dokken debut on the Billboard 200 at #133. For over 20 years Dokken has been a staple and influenced so many bands in the industry today. How does it feel for the band to be on the charts once again?

A: "Yes, we are surprised and very pleased. Hell To Pay didn't crack the charts at all. When I got the email from Rhino that we debut at #133 at The Billboard Top 200 that was really good news. We were also #1 on CD Universe for

sales and we hit #80 on Amazon.com's Top 100 for the first week of sales. We had a very strong first week and everybody was very surprised."

Q: I think it goes to show that the fans really wanted the old school Dokken sound that is ever so prevalent on Lightning Strikes Again and this was very instrumental in helping boost the sales. Do you agree?

A: "I do too and this is definitely a testament to the fact that we went in the right direction and we are very pleased with the results. The bottom line here is that we made a great record. I have been listening to it all the time. It is really strong and I am glad the fans are responding to it as well as they are. We are real excited."

Q: What are your thoughts on the first single, 'Standing On The Outside'? I hear it is doing very well on the radio.

A: "I think they chose the right first single. It is a strong song and it has all the right elements for what a Dokken song should be. Don sang real well on it. It has been getting a really big response on radio. So they went in theright direction with it."

Q: For the second single release do you think there will be also be a video to go along with it this time?

A: "There are discussions right now about doing a video for 'Heart Of Stone'. If we do the video - we are already talking about it now and it looks like that it might happen - we might shoot it in June and in which case it should be finished by early July."

Q: That is phenomenal news for the band. Has Dokken started rehearsals yet for the upcoming tour and how many songs will the band play from the new album?

A: "We are starting rehearsals in two weeks. We have shows coming up in June. It depends on how much time we have when we do the headlining set. But on the shorter set when we go out with Poison, obviously we are not going to be able to do the full headlining set, so we will have to choose our songs carefully. We should be able to get one new song in there."

Q: Are there any touring plans after the Poison tour ends?

A: "I think we want to keep going as long as we can. Right now they have us booked thru the middle of September. So there is talk after the middle of September, we take maybe two weeks off and come back in October."

Q: Is Dokken going to be on Rockline on June 11th? Will the band be performing live?

A: "Yes, that is still happening. So look out for that. It is going to be live. We are going to be playing; I think six songs and being interviewed. It should be good."

Q: How has the recording industry changed since the early heyday of Dokken?

A: "It is dramatically different. There isn't the retail support that there once was in terms of there are not enough stores selling these records. It is just disappearing. I think if this record came out in the 80's it would be selling 10 or 20 times the amount of records it is selling today. For today’s market, the record is doing extremely well."