I would like to wish everyone out there a very Merry Christmas and stay safe.
Those who know me, I like my Christmas parody songs, so I thought I would treat you to this one which parodies a Nat King Cole classic.
Next post: A Joint Post With Mike Ladano.
First, I’d like to thank all of you out there for showing me the love following my accident. It will probably go down in history as my biggest, ‘You couldn’t make it up,’ events of my life. I took some pics of the aftermath for insurance purposes and I thought I’d share them here.
One event in 1988, which many metalheads had a chuckle at, was the downfall of anti-rock music preacher, Jimmy Swaggart. Back during the tour of 1986, I posted about religion’s war on rock music and Jimmy was leading the charge. Have a watch here:
Swaggart’s downfall came in 1988 when he was caught watching porn videos in a motel room with a prostitute. Of course, he cried for forgiveness to his congregation, which you can watch below but he was expelled from his church. While he continued on independently, he never regained the popularity he enjoyed in the mid 1980s.
Served him right, I think.
To buy Rock and Roll Children, email me at: tobychainsaw@hotmail.com
To sign the petition to have Bruce Dickinson knighted, click the link: https://www.change.org/p/special-honours-committees-for-knighthoods-a-knighthood-for-bruce-dickinson
After the critical and commercial disappointment of his album, “Polka Party,” Weird Al thought his career might have been over. As a result, he took some time off before getting back into the studio. It seems that taking his little break paid multi-dividends as “Even Worse” has been his most successful album. Note here, it is typical of Weird Al to call his album “Even Worse” when it was such a good album. Of course, knowing him, Weird Al might have been in the mindframe that if you thought “Polka Party” was bad, maybe this album is even worse. Either way, it had the desired effect.
Track Listing:
Weird Al Yankovic- vocals, accordion, keyboards
Jim West- guitar, mandolin, backing vocals
Steve Jay- bass, banjo, backing vocals
Jon ‘Bermuda’ Schwartz- drums, percussion
Rick Derringer- guitar
I don’t think this was an official video for the song as “Attack of the Clones” came out 14 years after the song but I think Mike Ladano will get a kick out of the Star Wars reference.
Weird Al Yankovic was definitely back and on fine form in 1988 as “Even Worse” shows. His album is not only a bowl full of laughs but the musicianship on it is first rate as well.
Next post: Pat Benatar- Wide Awake in Dreamland
To buy Rock and Roll Children, email me at: tobychainsaw@hotmail.com
To sign the petition to give Bruce Dickinson a knighthood, click the link: https://www.change.org/p/special-honours-committees-for-knighthoods-a-knighthood-for-bruce-dickinson
You know what? The more I reflect back on the music of the 1980s, the more I am convinced of the similarities in the careers of Aerosmith and Alice Cooper. Both were 1970s icons with great albums. Then by the end of the decade and into the early 1980s, they were both nearly destroyed by the excesses enjoyed by many great rock and roll musicians. Aerosmith had become druggies dabbling in music Alice describes the early 1980s as his ‘drunk period.’ Then in the middle of the decade both dried up enough to cut albums which got them back on the rock map. Aerosmith released “Done With Mirrors” and Alice gave us “Constrictor.” But in 1987, both came out with defining albums which stamped their comeback as the real deal. I have already covered Aerosmith’s “Permanent Vacation” and Alice hit us all with this album, “Raise Your Fist and Yell.”
Alice tells us all to “raise our fists and yell” with the opening track and my favourite on the album, “Freedom.” The song is a totally undisguised dig at the PMRC when Alice says, “You want to rule us with an iron hand, change the lyrics and become big brother. This ain’t Russia! You’re not my dad or mother.” Whenever I hear the song, I want to raise my fist and yell. It also helps that with the exception of a new drummer, Alice keeps the same band he had from the last album.
New drummer Ken K. Mary introduces himself with a thundering drumroll on the second track, “Lock Me Up.” That’s followed by spoken word from Freddy Kruger actor Robert Englund accusing Alice of mass mental cruelty. As always with Alice, his sense of humour comes through here when he sings that he’s a criminal and if you don’t like it you can lock him up. Not me, Alice, not me. Guitarist Kane Roberts takes his turn to shine on “Give the Radio Back” as he solos his way all throughout the song. The lyrics have me thinking here. Did someone take Alice’s radio and he wants it back or is he singing out against how crap commercial radio had become by then? Yes, commercial radio did suck back then.
Was Alice at a thrash gig when he came up with “Step on You?” He does sing about sharpening his spikes and strapping up his boots. Anyway, on this track, it’s bassist Kip Winger’s turn to shine as the bass line here is just outstanding. The drumming and guitar get an assist though. More Alice humour closes out side one with “Not That Kind of Love.” He doesn’t favour romantic love on this one but wants to get down and dirty. If there is any song that would have riled the PMRC on this album, it would have definitely been this one. Once again, the band is really tight here.
Side two of the album has a death related theme starting out with my vote for hidden gem, “Prince of Darkness.” This is a song which takes me back to his shock, horror rock days of the 1970s. This is a great metal track with some great changes and no one can make this sound this good like Alice does. The eerie acoustic part at the tail end says it all.
Some great guitar work backs up Alice telling us that it’s time to kill. He’s going to take his fist and make them understand is augmented with some more magnificent guitar work from Kane, possibly his best solo on the album. Once he realizes he only has time to kill, Alice tells us how he’s going to do it with “Chop Chop Chop.” There is some great musicianship all around on this one. I love the intro. Afterwards, we get to know who his victim is, it’s “Gail.” The knife wound on her chest and her blood served time in its skeletal jail lets us know in this slow acoustic ballad. At the end of the album, we learn that Alice loves what he has done because he tells us that blood drops look like roses on white lace. It’s a great closer and with more great metal musicianship, (it’s almost a speed metal song), you definitely don’t forget this album.
Track Listing:
Alice Cooper- lead vocals
Kane Roberts- guitar, backing vocals
Kip Winger- bass, backing vocals, keyboards on “Gail”
Paul Taylor- keyboards
Ken K. Mary- drums
Robert Englund- Freddy Kruger on “Lock Me Up”
For all the similarities between Alice Cooper and Aerosmith, there will be one difference. Aerosmith will go onto make a greater album in 1989 with “Pump.” As for Alice and I have already put up the screen to defend against all the rotten vegetables about to be thrown at me, I prefer “Raise Your Fist and Yell” to his next album, “Trash.” Nothing wrong with “Trash,” I know I’ll sing its praises when I get to1989, but “Raise Your Fist and Yell” will be my favourite 80s Alice Cooper album. It could be down to the fact that I finally got to see him live on tour for the album but who’s to say? I just love this album.
Next post: Helix- Wild in the Streets
To buy Rock and Roll Children, email me at: tobychainsaw@hotmail.com
To sign the petition to have Bruce Dickinson knighted, click the link: https://www.change.org/p/special-honours-committees-for-knighthoods-a-knighthood-for-bruce-dickinson
A few years ago, I posted my top ten favourite Christmas songs. Now that I can paste them on here from Youtube, I thought I’d share them again while giving you a chance to listen to them and get in the festive mood. Besides, since that post, my top ten has shuffled a little. Listen and enjoy.
10. Slade- Merry Christmas Everybody
9. Joe Diffie- Leroy the Redneck Reindeer
8. The Darkness- Christmas Time
7. ACDC- Jingle Hell’s Bells
6. Bob Rivers and Twisted Radio- Walking Around In Women’s Underwear
5. Bob Rivers and Twisted Radio- Frosty the Pervert
(Author’s Advisory) This song is not for the young or those who are easily offended
4. The McKenzie Brothers- 12 Days of Christmas
3. Stryper- Winter Wonderland
2. Weird Al Yankovic- The Night Santa Went Crazy
Twisted Sister- Let It Snow
I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and get lots of good music in your stockings and party away the festive season. Here’s some of my provisions, yes, it’s the same as last year.
My provisions for Christmas
After the big success of his 1984 album, “In 3D,” it was only expected that the King of Parody, Weird Al Yankovic, release an album in 1985. Therefore, many people like me eagerly awaited and grabbed “Dare to be Stupid” as soon as it came out. Even though some critics said that the new album wasn’t as good as its predecessor, (what do they know?), I still really like this album.
First let us start with the parodies. Opening the album is what has been said one of his best songs, “Like a Surgeon,” which is a parody of the then Madonna classic, “Like a Virgin.” For all the things I might say about Madonna, I have to give her credit here. Not only did she give Weird Al her blessing to make a take off on her song, she collaborated on “Like a Surgeon.” Reportedly, this was the only time that he used ideas from outside artists on any of his songs. Whatever the case, the song is a hoot and so is the video for it.
Other artists who gets the parody treatment are Huey Lewis and the News, the Kinks and Cyndi Lauper. The Huey Lewis song which gets it is “I Want a New Drug” in the form of “I Want a New Duck” and the song is actually about a duck. Listen to the lyrics and you’ll be rolling around in laughter but that’s what Weird Al does best. Back in 1985, some Star Wars fans took offense at his parody of the Kinks classic, “Lola” with “Yoda.” The song shows that at least he saw the film. No 80smetalman points for guessing which Cyndi Lauper song he would parody. Thinking about it, “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” was probably to golden of an opportunity for him and “Girls Just Wanna Have Lunch” is a great send off. It sounds like he’s singing off key on the song but I think that’s just the weird in Weird Al.
Something which always gets overlooked in regards to Weird Al is the fact that he does have musical talent. All of his parodies sound like the original. “I Want a New Duck” and “Yoda” sound almost exactly as they could have been done by the original artists. It’s his seemingly non parodies where his talent can be seen more. I shouldn’t call some of these non-parodies because they are parodies in a different way. The style in which the title track is that of Devo and the very funny “One More Minute” sounds like an Elvis Presley ballad. However, the lyrics in that song will crack you up. Staying with that one, it sounds like a lamentation of a guy who has been dumped by his girl but in typical Weird Al style, he goes above and beyond. Sure, I’ve been dumped but I never considered burning down the malt shop we went to because it reminded me of her.
If his songs aren’t spoofing an artist’s song or musical style, they’re doing it to aspects of life. “This Is the Life” is a send off on rich people’s life style and “Slime Creatures From Outer Space” pays hilarious tribute to 1950s Sci-Fi films. However, my favourite in this category is “Cable TV” which by 1985 was becoming a nationwide household phenomenon. Nowadays, most Americans have hundreds of channels but often times still nothing to watch. There’s also a cover of the theme song to the cartoon “George of the Jungle,” I like it and like “In 3D” he puts popular contemporary at the time songs to polka music. ZZ Top and Twisted Sister along with many others get the polka treatment. Only this time, it closes the album and probably the most appropriate song to do so.
Track Listing:
Weird Al Yankovic
Weird Al Yankovic- lead vocals, accordion, keyboards
Rick Derringer- guitar, production
Steve Jay- bass, banjo, backing vocals
Jim West- guitar, backing vocals
John ‘Bermuda’ Schwartz- drums percussion
Ignore the critics, to me “Dare To Be Stupid” is just as zany and well done as any of Weird Al’s other albums. While songs will have you in stitches, try to appreciate just how musically talented he really is.
Next post: Petra- Beat the System
To buy Rock and Roll Children, go to: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rock-Roll-Children-Michael-Lefevre/dp/1609763556/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1537086656&sr=1-1&keywords=michael+d+lefevre
Big question: Is my memory not as good as I thought or is Wikopedia not as accurate as they are believed to be? For more than thirty-three years, I was convinced that “The Wrestling Album” came out in the early part of 1985. However, Wikopedia claims it came out in the November of that year. Anyway, when in 1985 the album came out doesn’t really matter, it did and it provided an amusing alternative. Besides, it was still better than a lot of the commercial synth crap that was around.
“The Wrestling Album” came out in a bid to take advantage of the “Rock and Wrestling Connection” which was established the previous year with Cyndi Lauper. She doesn’t sing on this album, with the exception of Rick Derringer’s “Real American,” the wrestlers do. Many of the big WWE, although back then it was still the WWF, who were around at the time have songs, some of them are quite good. The best ones in my view are “Grab Them Cakes” by Junkyard Dog and credit where due, “Eat Your Heart Out Rick Springfield” by bad guy manager Jimmy ‘The Mouth of the South’ Hart. Wrestling commentator Mean Gene Okerlund does do a pretty good rendition of “Tutti Fruitti.” Derringer’s song, like most of the ones sung by the wrestlers is done in a punk/new wave fashion but he does do a reasonably cool guitar solo on it. After all, that’s what makes Rick great! Furthermore, all the main WWE wrestlers perform on the first track, “Land of a Thousand Dances” which got considerable airplay on MTV. But the album isn’t just music, in between the tracks, you get some funny commentary from Vince McMahon, Gene Okerlund and wrestler, actor and the man who would eventually come to be governor of Minnesota, Jesse ‘The Body’ Ventura.
While it’s very easy not to take the album seriously, I can also see that those behind the album, especially Cyndi’s then manager David Wolf, made sure the songs were done right. He got Derringer and Meat Loaf producer Jim Steinman to produce the album. I have to admit, they do a good job on it, no matter how much I want to burst out laughing whenever I hear “Captain Lou’s History of Music/Captain Lou” by Lou Albano. Then again, I have never dismissed humour in music and there’s a lot to be had with “The Wrestling Album.”
Track Listing:
Rick Derringer
Jim Steinman
Frank Zappa once asked, “Does humour belong in music?” My answer to this has always been an emphatic, “Yes!” “The Wrestling Album” is a very fun album and you can’t fault the quality of the songs even if the singers aren’t “ahem,” top notch. It did provide a humourous break in the action back in 85.
Next post: Van Morrison- A Sense of Wonder
To download Rock and Roll Children for free, go to: … .cf/olddocs/free–download–online–rock-and-roll–children-pdf-1609763556-by-michael–d–lefevre.html
Beru Revue
Living in Southern New Jersey, I was very much influenced by what was happening in Philadelphia which was fifty miles away. I rooted for their sports teams, most of the time, except when the Phillies played the Dodgers, the Eagles played the Steelers or the 76ers played the Celtics. However, I have always been a die hard Flyers fan. Most importantly though, Philadelphia was where I went to see most of my concerts. Which is why most of the concerts in “Rock And Roll Children” take place at the Spectrum. Furthermore, Philadelphia radio stations were far superior to the one in Atlantic City, also I got treated to some of the bands coming out of there. One of these bands was Beru Revue.
The Philadelphia Spectrum, now sadly torn down.
Back in the mid 1980s, Beru Revue made several trips to South Jersey clubs and I was lucky enough to catch them three times. Their brand of rock, considered new wave by most was definitely unique. They combined great musicianship and if you listened to the lyrics, keen political awareness while maintaining a sense of humour. This gave them a pretty large cult following around the clubs of the Delaware Valley, (comprising Eastern Pennsylvania, Southern New Jersey and Delaware.) One of their songs, “Hoods A Go Go For the 80s” got airplay on local radio, unfortunately, their fame never spread much beyond that. Although I did take two friends who were visiting from Rhode Island to see them and they were so impressed, they bought Beru’s EP.
Beru Revue:
Bob ‘Beru’ McCafferty- lead vocals
Greg ‘T-Bone’ Davis- guitar
Gerry Healy- guitar
Johnny Sacks- bass
Buzz Barkley- keyboards
Tommy ‘Sir Francis Drake’ Pinto- drums
This is my favourite Beru Revue song:
Hopefully, you’ve had a listen and agree with me that Beru Revue were far too good to be just a locally known band. Even to this day, I have cool memories of them. Maybe one reason they never made it nationally or internationally was the fact that Philadelphia has produced so many great musical acts over the years. One such band would get national attention in 1985, you’ll read about that in the near future and a year later, a Philly metal band would do the same. However, I lament as to what a great contribution to the music world Beru Revue would have been if they had been luckier.
Next post: 1985- The Backlash Begins
To download Rock and Roll Children for free, go to: http://allkindlecloud.com/register/14510967-Rock_and_Roll_Children_pdf_premi.html
My provisions for Christmas
Christmas is nearly upon us and as you can see from above, I’m ready for the festivities with my barrel of The Trooper and my bottles of Motorhead pale ale. I’ll be having a heavy metal Christmas! Reading other posts about Christmas, I have to agree with the premise that there are a lot of versions of the classic carol, “The Twelve Days of Christmas. So, I thought it would be cool to share some of those versions I like the most with all of you. After all, Christmas is the time for giving.
Starting with my favourite, I have to agree with my Canadian friends that the version by The McKenzie Brothers has to be the best in my humble opinion.
Being a big Twisted Sister fan, it would be an act of sacrilege not to include their version from their “Twisted Christmas” album. It’s my second favourite. I do like the way all the band contribute to the gifts mentioned.
If “Twisted Christmas” is my favourite Christmas album, my second fave is “I am Santa Claus” by Bob Rivers and Twisted Radio. This version, “The Twelve Pains of Christmas” doesn’t appear on the album but it’s a fun song nonetheless.
I came across this one by Jerry Pate back in the days I had Limewire. I liked it so I downloaded it onto my MP3 and I’m now going to share it with you.
This last one isn’t for the easily offended. This is a dirty version of the carol but it’s done by one of my all time favourite Country singers, David Allen Coe.
So there you have it, my favourite versions of “The Twelve Days of Christmas.” I hope you enjoy them and before I go, there is another petition for a knighthood for Ozzy. I didn’t start it but you can sign by clicking the link below.
https://www.change.org/p/knight-mr-john-michael-ozzy-osbourne-for-services-to-music
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