Tonight's Slab...NUGE!

Tonight I listened to one of the many records I pulled out of the dollar bin nearly 2 months ago. The main reason I purchased it was for the awesome album cover art. I also had just seen the "Behind the Music" special on the artist a week prior, and growing up in the far outer-rung of the Detroit Metro Area he is man known to all. The man we're talking about is Ted Nugent. The album? "Weekend Warriors."

Dude, his guitar is a gun! It's like he combined his two favorite things.

The active rock station I listened to during my formative years as a music fan, 101 WRIF out of Detroit, revered this man like he was a god. I heard many a dj refer to Ted by one of his many nicknames..."The Nuge," "Uncle Ted," "Uncle Tedley," "Motor City Madman," etc. His annual "Whiplash bash" concert was a big event, and every Friday at 5PM on the WRIF legendary dj Arthur P. would yell "IT'S THE WEEKEND!" and play the title track of the "Weekend Warriors" album. It was a track that personified the "working hard, playing hard" ethos of the blue-collar worker in the Detroit area. Hmm. I just remembered that the Nuge had a track on his "Cat Scratch Fever" album called "Workin' Hard, Playing Hard." Obviously this guy knows his stuff.

Anywho, I was only familiar with the title track of this album, and looked forward to discovering more of his catalog. This was Ted's first solo record without Derek St. Holmes on vocals, but Charles Huhn fills in and does a capable job. The lead off track, "Need You Bad," came thundering out of my speakers with a propulsive beat, sweet vocals, and blistering Nuge-style guitar. It just goes to show, some artists just aren't accurately represented by your average "best of" or "greatest hits" compilations. The deep cuts can be where the real gems are. His politics be damned, I really enjoy him as a musician, and think he is an amazing guitar player with a distinctive sound.

Guilty Pleasure! 3/28/12

Today yet another semi-regular feature makes its grand debut, and it's one that will showcase all of the things that I secretly like but never used to advertise due to fear of ridicule. At this point in my life, I'm 32 years old, and I no longer care what others think concerning my taste in things, as I'm not looking to impress anyone. So, with that said, today's guilty pleasure is a one hit wonder song from the '80s:

Frida - I Know There's Something Going On

This song features 1/4 of the band Abba. (Yes, I like Abba. And I'm not gay. I like them because their brand of pop perfection is very enjoyable. It's made well, produced well, and the girls are talented singers with hot bods). I had heard this song a few times over the years and thought of it as your typical pop/dance one-hit wonder. It was about a year ago I discovered that not only was it a solo song performed by Frida from Abba but it ALSO featured Phil Collins on drums, back-up vocals, and production. When I listened to it again after learning this I wanted to smack myself in the head and say "duh, of course!"

It has all the hallmarks of a Collins production (the pounding drums, the dark atmosphere, etc.) and once I heard his voice in the chorus it was unmistakable. This is a song that I will frequently bust out on the drums to warm up, as it is so much fun to play. And speaking of Phil Collins, he may be the subject of an upcoming "Guilty Pleasure" feature as he gets a lot of shit heaped on him, but I love his stuff. I also love good, catchy, '80s pop songs with hooks, and this song is a good example.

Tuesday's Tapes 3/27/12

Today's entry is titled "Tuesday's Tapes." Every once in while in the future I might pull out a few tapes from the archives on any given Tuesday and write some short blurbs about them.

The cassette tape, while not as maligned as the poor 8 track, is still kind of considered the red-headed step-child of the last wave of music media (LPs, cassettes, and cds). People don't dig on the fast forwarding, or rewinding, and those cases just begged to get broken. But they are extremely portable, and a record store clerk I was talking to recently said that they are in fact more versatile than cds, and typically last longer. So I have decided to show the tapes some love, even though I still do and always will prefer vinyl. As an aside, the first piece of music I ever bought was on cassette..."The Doors Greatest Hits," purchased summer 1992.

A few weeks back I was at the thrift store and found a pile of cool VHS tapes, along with 4 cassettes. I'm finally getting around to listening to them tonight. Here are the titles:

1) "Top Gun" soundtrack -
This is essential for any soundtrack collector. "The Heat Is On," "Take My Breath Away," and the theme from "Top Gun" make this not only the soundtrack for a classic action flick, but a soundtrack for the whole '80s decade!

2) "Beverly Hills Cop" soundtrack -
Not as good as the above tape, but still pretty awesome. "Axel F", the theme of the movie, is a legit synth-pop instrumental classic by Harold Faltermeyer (who also co-wrote the theme to "Top Gun"). The rest of the songs are a mix of synth pop and sassy female R & B by the likes of Pattie Labelle and the Pointer Sisters. I found the Danny Elfman song "Gratitude" to be a pleasant surprise.

3) New Order - Brotherhood
Like most who were children in the '80s and teens in the '90s, when the band New Order was mentioned one song came to mind: "Blue Monday," which was memorably covered by electronic rock band Orgy in 1998 (the year of my high school graduation). It was later that same year while a Freshman at Western Michigan University that I picked up an '80s compilation featuring their song "Bizarre Love Triangle." That song BLEW MY MIND. It was at once urgent, haunting, beautiful and apocalyptic (for some reason it came to mind while watching a rented copy of the nuclear war telefilm "The Day After," a movie that I think may have the most depressing ending of all time. The song seemed to fit with the doom and gloom). I started listening to a lot of '80s synth pop in the past year and this band, while hard to label, were equal parts electronic/dance and equal parts rock. Sometimes that combo sounds pretty darn appealing to me.

4) 10,000 Maniacs - Our Time In Eden
Yes, I bought a 10,000 Maniacs tape. Before you tell me to put on my birkenstocks, spike my hair, and go to Lilith Fair, hear me out. I have always loved the voice of the lovely lead singer Natalie Merchant, and found this alternative/folk/college rock group to be enormously talented. I also picked this up out of sheer nostalgia, as this was a big album when it was released. Between this band and the Cranberries, 1992 was the year for folky, female-fronted bands to get big. This release was the last to feature the Natalie on vocals. I vaguely remember the band staying together with a different singer and doing that "More Than This" song. Natalie of course went on to a successful solo career.

Metal Friday! 3/23/12

Today I'm starting what will be a semi-regular feature, Metal Friday. Over the past 2 months I have been listening to some of my favorite metal cds from my middle school/high school years, typically on a Friday night when the Canadian Belle is at work and I'm relaxing online. Today's classic from middle school is Megadeth "Countdown to Extinction."

This album represents my first introduction to this legendary thrash band, and I still remember the first Megadeth song I ever heard, "Sweating Bullets," in the fall of 1993. It was played to me by my older cousin Travis, who was 2 years older than me and thus 2 years more experienced in the ways of awesome music. Not many people know this, but Travis was very influential in shaping my musical preferences, beginniing when I was 12-14 years old. Him and my other cousin Luke helped me get into bands like the Doors, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, and of course Megadeth.

Travis was also an original retrologist/vinyl junkie, as he had many cool old records. One memory I have is of the two of us chilling in his room listening to Led Zeppelin III while playing with the famous "farmer's wheel" jacket it came in. His stereo not only had a turntable but also had an 8 track player (!). That may have been the only working 8 track player I have encountered in my 32 years, and he had a stack of 8 tracks to go with it, by the likes of Styx, the Beatles, Hendrix, etc. One time we went to a sweet record store in Grand Rapids (wish I could remember the name!) and this guy with a blonde mullet and British accent helped us find where the Zep records were. Ahh, memories.

 
Upon further listening of this cd (I didn't get a copy of my own until 9th grade), I discovered the titles to songs on "Countdown" were all incredibly depressing ("Countdown to Extinction," "Foreclosure of A Dream," etc.) At one point in high school I had an official poster of drummer Nick Menza endorsing TAMA drums, with the old guy from the cover of the album on the bass drum skin. My drum instructor Ray used to keep it in the little closet that he taught in, but said I could have it one day after a lesson as he found the old guy "scary."

Anyway, this album makes me think of my cousin, who I haven't seen in about 5 years. He's busy with his now SEVEN kids. Yikes! He was a funny guy, and when he played "Sweating Bullets" for me he lip-synced to it in a funny, exaggerated manner. I need to find an old pic of him to put up, for perspective...



Speaking of Megadeth, guitarist Mustaine was mentioned in an article I read on Cracked.com today. Funny stuff. http://www.cracked.com/blog/6-things-that-are-far-sadder-than-they-should-be_p2/

Scary!

Off the (Spinner) Rack 1 - My Comic Collecting "Secret Origin"/Batman #430

Welcome to the inaugural edition of my new semi-regular column about comic books I'm currently reading and old memories of collecting that I like to call "Off the (Spinner) Rack."

 

Hey kids, remember these? I'm lucky enough to have a vintage one in my office.

The first comics I ever received were a pile of about five Marvel Comics from 1986. The titles included Conan, Transformers, GI Joe, the Avengers, and the Incredible Hulk. My mom bought them for me to keep me occupied during a road trip to visit my grandparents in Florida when I was in first grade, April of 1987, for spring break. Driving from MI to the Orlando area is a good 20 hour trip, and I needed all the diversions I could get.

In hindsight, the comics must have been from a multi-pack, where 3 or more comics would be bundled together and sold (in a sealed plastic bag). It also seemed like the comics featured more of their licensed properties than actual Marvel characters, which might have made the multi-pack more appealing to a mass market. All 5 comics were cover dated Novemeber 1986, when every Marvel comic published that month was given a company-wide trade dress featuring many of their well-known properties. The pic below is a sampling of what some of those covers looked like that month.

I can remember studying those multi-character covers for hours. They are definitely a time-capsule for how the heroes looked in the mid '80s.

Flash forward 1.5 years, to the fall of 1988, when my official phase of collecting had gotten underway. While I loved the comics mom bought me in first grade and spent hours poring over them (that Conan one was pretty gory in retrospect!), I didn't actually start collecting them on a regular basis until 3rd grade. And what got me into regular collecting you ask? That will be a story for another time. But the first Batman comic I ever read was issue #430, which I just reread the other day. The story title? "Fatal Wish."

I can remember mistaking the perspective of Batman walking on a ledge in the city for a giant Batman stalking through the streets! I purchased this at a party store, not far from Gun Lake, where my dad kept our pontoon boat.

The story is a good one, and an excellent intro for an 8 year old into the world of Batman. In it, Batman has to stop a disgruntled banker turned sniper. At one point early on the sniper (named Tim Conrad) yells "I wish you were all dead!" At that moment, Batman has a flashback to a child on the verge of adolescence.

The story then reveals that in the days leading up to the death of his parents, his father, Thomas Wayne, had suffered some financial set-backs. Because of this, one day a frustrated Thomas lashed out at Bruce, striking him with the back of his hand. Bruce was then consoled by his mother Martha, who told him his father didn't mean it. Bruce then yells something out of anger he would later come to regret: "I wish he was dead!"

Father and son eventually made up, and as a peace offering Thomas decided to take Bruce and Martha out to the movies to see "The Mark of Zorro." Those of you familiar with Batman's origin probably see where this is going...walking out of the movie, a thug named Joe Chill attempts a robbery, kills his parents, and the rest is history. The reason they went to the movie could indirectly be traced back to Thomas becoming angry with Bruce.

This issue was also setting up the new status quo for the character, as the previous 4 issues were part of the storyline "A Death In the Family," which featured the Joker killing the second Robin, Jason Todd. When Batman arrives on the scene at the beginning, Commissioner Gordon asks him if Robin is coming tonight, to which Batman lowers his head and quietly says "no." Gordon then asks him if something is wrong, and again Batman quietly says "no." Powerful stuff.

Looking back, that first issue of Batman I ever picked up was a great way to get started in the world of Batman. The origin was retold and a new status quo, with Batman going out without a Robin by his side, was set firmly in place. It also featured art by legendary Batman artist Jim Aparo, whose rendition of the character will always be the most definitive. The following summer the Batman movie came out, featuring Michael Keaton. The summer of the bat was soon to be upon me. But that's a story for another time.

Tonight's Slabs - A Starship is Born/Proto-Metal

Tonight's blog will be a double-look at two recent records I picked up. First on deck is Paul Kantner & Jefferson Starship "Blows Against the Empire."

I had heard about this one over the years and finally got a chance to listen to it this past Saturday after picking it up on Friday. It was released in 1970 during a time when Jefferson Airplane was starting to splinter as a band. Two of their members had formed a side project called Hot Tuna, and rhythm guitarist Paul Kantner decided to record a solo album with his old lady Grace Slick.

The album was based on a sci-fi idea he had conceived about the counterculture leaving the Earth in the not-too-distant future in a starship to start civilization anew, away from a rapidly deteriorating planet. Paul received help recording not only from his girlfriend Grace but also an ad-hoc conglomeration of musicians dubbed the Planet Earth Rock and Roll Orchestra (consisting of members of the Grateful Dead, Quicksilver Messenger Service, and Crosby Stills & Nash).

Paul and Grace with collaborator Jerry Garcia and legendary Bay Area impresario Bill Graham.

The album is far out in terms of concept and music, but is very interesting and better than I expected. At times it was folky, and at times it was cosmic. It  was also nominated for a Hugo Award, an honor typically reserved for sci-fi novels. As for the name Jefferson Starship? It would be dusted off four years later after the Airplane finally crashed, with a line-up consisting of members of that old band plus some new folks. Consider this the early beginning of what would become phase 2 of the Airplane's ultimate metamorphosis into the "Starship." You know, the ones who built this city.

 

Dig it, man.

C

Next up on the platter we have the self-titled debut of psychedelic heavy rock/metal pioneers, Vanilla Fudge.

 Released smack in the middle of the summer of love, 1967 (a year which saw the first releases of SO many influential bands...Jimi Hendrix Experience, Pink Floyd, the Velvet Underground, the Doors, etc.), the Fudge's main trip was covering other artist's songs in a slowed down, sludgy, heavy form. And they were good at what they did. Their most well-known song was from this album, a cover of the Supremes "You Keep Me Hanging On." The track is dirge-style with heavy guitars and organ, and I'm getting a contact high just THINKING of it.

As cool as this band sounded on this record, they definitely were NOT cool looking.

The faces of early metal...yikes!

Drummer Carmine Appice also happens to be the older brother of Black Sabbath/Dio drummer Vinny.

NEXT
A new feature covering comics I'm currently reading called "Off the (Spinner) Rack"

Tonight's Slab: AeroNuge?

Tonight's slab is the sole release by a hard rock/AOR duo from the early '80s that went by the handle of Whitford/Saint Holmes. First, some background...

Brad Whitford, rhythm guitarist for Aerosmith, left the band in 1981 just 2 years (and a lackluster album) after the departure of lead guitarist Joe Perry. Looking for a new gig, he hooked up with vocalist Derek St. Holmes, late of the Ted Nugent band. Derek was the lead singer on the first couple records Ted recorded following the demise of his group the Amboy Dukes, belting out such classics as "Stranglehold," "Hey Baby," and "Just What the Doctor Ordered."

I picked this up at a record show I went to last month for a buck, and I would say I got my money's worth and then some. The songs are catchy and rockin' with a kind-of Sammy Hagar vibe. Not overly memorable, but fun, and featuring a talented singer and guitarist. It didn't surpass either Aersomith or the Nuge but it is definitely a worthwhile part of their respective catalogs.

By 1985 Whitford was back with a fully reunited Aerosmith, who soldier on to this day. I even heard their singer, Steven Tyler, is on some tv show now. I don't watch it. St. Holmes languished in obscurity while occasionally reuniting with Ted Nugent.


Crank this up while cruising down to the local DQ in your Trans Am...