Today, Mrs 80smetalman along with her eldest son, youngest daughter and granddaughter and I made the 350 round trip to Sheffield Children’s Hospital to visit baby Paisley. I am happy to say that things are looking good. She’s on the mend and hopefully will be out of the hospital next week. From the bottom of our hearts, my wife and I would like to thank all of you for sending your prayers, thoughts and vibes.
Paisley today
Paisley with her step-grandfather
Paisley
Last week, my step granddaughter, Paisley Jorja Josephine was born. She has only been in the world a week but already, she has been through the wars. When she was two days old, it was discovered that she was neither peeing nor pooing. At first, they thought it might be a blockage and she was rushed to a children’s hospital 60 miles away. After an initial five hours of surgery, it was found that her bowels and intestines weren’t attached. As a result, her internal organs are now outside of her body, waiting for when it’s safe to attach everything.
Therefore, I am asking all of my readers to say a prayer and spare a thought for baby Paisley. Also remember her father, Kane, (my stepson), and mother, Steph. Hopefully, with all the positive energy, Paisley will pull through and be able to lead a normal life.
It looks like 2023 is going to suck for sure. Last night, guitarist extraordinaire, Jeff Beck, passed away in hospital in Southern England from Meningitis. He was 78. Beck’s music spanned many decades and you can click the link below to read about his amazing life in music. While I have always known him to be a fantastic guitarist, his appearances on 80smetalman featured his 1985 album, “Flash” and his appearance on Rod Stewart’s 1984 album where in the video for the song, “Infatuation,” he pops up in a hotel room to play his guitar solo. Of course, according to the most famous roadie, Del Preston, in “Wayne’s World 2,” Jeff found a sweet shop so Ozzy could fill a brandy glass with brown M&Ms.
To read about Jeff Beck’s amazing career: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/11/arts/music/jeff-beck-dead.html
Rest in peace Jeff Beck.
Christine McVie
It is my sad duty to announce the passing of Fleetwood Mac keyboardist and singer, Christine McVie who has died today following a short illness. She was married to bassist John McVie and played on the classic albums “Rumours” and “Tusk” as well as other Fleetwood Mac albums. Her contributions to those albums were phenomenal and I am sure she will be sorely missed.
Fleetwood Mac
Rest in peace Christine
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.
I nearly forgot, blame old age, that I begin any given year with albums which came out the previous year but didn’t come to my attention until the year I’m posting on. One of these was the second album by German metal band, Bonfire and my discovery of them came in a rather amusing way. My friends’ band, Torque Show was playing their first gig at London’s famous club, The Marquee. They were the opening band for, you’ve already guessed it, Bonfire.
The photo above is misleading, only two members of the band were left by the time Torque Show played the Marquee and they were on their second drummer. Anyway, they played well as an opening band and paved the way for Bonfire who impressed me as well. At least to the point that I gave their second album “Fireworks,” a go. It was a good night.
The best way to describe “Fireworks” is a straight forward glam metal album. The album does nothing I would call groundbreaking but it is consistent all the way through. For me, it doesn’t really fully kick into gear until the third track, “Sleeping All Alone.” There’s nothing wrong with the first two tracks, they both provide a good listen but it’s this particular track that turned my head. It could be the cool guitar solos from Hans Ziller which do it. That level is maintained with the following track, “Champion.” It’s a good straight ahead metal tune, one which would be radio friendly and the rhythm section, including the rhythm guitar, lay down a good foundation for the song.
Bonfire gets down and dirty with “Don’t Get Me Wrong” as this is a sleazy sounding, guitar crunching number. This is one to pump your fist in the air and flash the horns to. I can’t remember which songs they played that night so I can say if I did or not. I know I did stage dive. However, things dip a little after as “Sweet Obsession” doesn’t quite measure up to the previous three tracks. It has a good bassline though. The same can be said for “Rock Me Now.” Its intro sounds similar to the Great White classic, “Rock Me,” but then picks up speed but in spite of the increased speed, it lacks a little punch.
Fortunately, my pick for track of the album comes in and the last two tracks become distant memories. “American Nights” comes in with some cool drumming and definitely has some swagger. Lead singer, Claus Lessman, who sings well on all tracks, gives it a bit more oomph with the vocals and the rest of the band respond accordingly. Cool guitar riffs and lead guitar hooks bring in “Fantasy.” The changes in tempo keep it interesting, One minute it sounds like a ballad but then goes total metal the next with some great guitar work.
Penultimate track, “Give It a Try,” is a decent power ballad and you can feel the passion in Claus’s vocals and some good power ballad soloing from Hans. Listening to it and then to the actual closer, “Cold Days,” I think that these two songs should have been switched around. “Cold Days” would have been a better penultimate track and the passion behind “Give It a Try” would be better for a closer.
Track Listing:
Claus Lessman- lead and backing vocals
Hans Ziller- lead and acoustic guitars, backing vocals
Horst Maier- rhythm guitar, backing vocals
Jorg Deisinger- bass, backing vocals
Additional Musicians
Ken Mary- drums
Martin Ernst- keyboards
Maybe I should thank Torque Show, for opening for a great band. Torque Show broke up a couple of years later but Bonfire still burns on. With albums like “Fireworks,” it’s plain to see why.
Next post: Cheap Trick- Lap of Luxury
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
It is my sad duty to report the death of former Foreigner guitarist Ian McDonald who sadly passed away, aged 75, after a long battle with cancer. Ian not only played guitar on Foreigner’s more hard rocking first three albums but also contributed on keyboards, drums and vocals. Unfortunately for him, he left the band after the third album, “Head Games,” and therefore, didn’t enjoy the commercial success of “4” and “Agent Provocateur” albums. Tributes have been pouring in for Ian all day from former band mates and musicians who knew him. This is yet another tragic loss to the music world. The only thing I can do in dedication to Ian is to play their first big single, which was a cruising song for my then 16 year old self and the song I consider the hidden gem of all Foreigner songs.
Rest in peace Ian
Bruce Dickinson, vocalist from Iron Maiden, has been diagnosed with cancer.
While having a routine checkup in December, the heavy metal frontman, 56, learned that he had developed cancerous tumors on the back of his tongue, according to a statement on the Iron Maiden fan page.
PETER STILL/REDFERNSBruce Dickinson of the legendary heavy metal band Iron Maiden performs on stage in 1983.The performer finished seven weeks of chemotherapy and radiology treatment Wednesday.
The announcement says that doctors expect the artist to make a complete recovery, although it will take several months for Dickinson to get back on his feet.
“Bruce is doing very well considering the circumstances and the whole team is very positive,” thereleased statement explains.
Iron Maiden completed their most recent tour in the UK in July 2014
Let us all wish Bruce a full and speedy recovery.
As always, I like to start with the bad news first before progressing onto the good news. The biggest tragedy of this particular year for music fans of all kinds with the death of reggae legend Bob Marley who died from cancer in May of 1981.
Bob Marley
Whether one was a devout reggae fan, Bob Marley worshipper, total stoner or none of the above, there were very few people around my age at the time who couldn’t help but shed a tear at the passing of this great legend. His music brought reggae into the mainstream for many people, me included as did his relaxed, “be mellow” attitude towards life. Something we all probably still need to adhere to these days. While Bob may not be with us and I have to agree with his son Ziggy’s philosophy that money doesn’t buy life, his music still is alive and very well in the world today. R.I.P. Bob Marley
The Round Up
Now onto the first triumph which was at the time a local one for me and the sad thing was that I never got to see it due to being in the service. In June of 1981, Southern Rock converged on Philadelphia’s JFK Stadium as some of the great Southern Rock bands played what I later learned was a brilliant show. Oh, how amazing it would have been to see the likes of The Allman Brothers, Molly Hatchet, 38 Special and the Marshall Tucker Band on the same day. Unfortunately, I didn’t and therefore I implore anyone out there in the cosmos who is reading this and went to this great festival, please share your experiences!
Donington 1981
The second tragedy came in the form of another great music festival across the Atlantic. In the August, the second Monsters of Rock Festival at Donington Park took place. With AC/DC as the headliner and the likes of Whitesnake, Slade and Blackfoot on the bill, it couldn’t help but to be a great show. Of course, I wasn’t at this one either but I do know someone who was and he said it was a brilliant day. It also explains why Blackfoot didn’t appear at the Round Up. Furthermore, the promoters did a good job in ironing at some of the things that went wrong at the 1980 festival. So, two great musical shows on both sides of the ocean, the result was two triumphs for rock and metal in 1981.
There was one more triumph in 1981 but that deserves its own billing and will be spoken about later. To give a hint, it was considered a total triumph in 1981 but nowadays, it is more of a tragedy.
Next post: U2 -Boy
To buy Rock and Roll Children, go to http://www.strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/RockAndRollChildren.html
Also available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Froogle and on sale at Foyles Book Shop in London
Yes, I know it should be the other way around but I always like to start with the bad and end with the good, I think most people are inclined to do the same. Therefore, I will start with the tragedy. Unless you’ve been living on Pluto, you would have known of the tragic death of AC/DC singer Bon Scott.
Bon Scott
It was in 1980 when Bon Scott lost his battle with acute alcohol poisoning. To many AC/DC fans, his death couldn’t have come at a worse time as the band was just reaching the zenith of their popularity. Many doomsayers predicted that it would spell the end of the band, thank God they were proved wrong. In fact, that proof would come that very same year and I will be going there in a future post. But even after thirty-three years, the memory of Bon Scott carries on. His contribution to his band and to music as a whole will carry on forever.
Now for the triumph:
Paul Kantner- Jefferson Starship
We nearly lost another famous rocker in 1980 as well when Jefferson Starship rhythm guitarist and founding member Paul Kantner suffered a cerebral brain haemorrhage. At first, things weren’t looking too well and doctors thought that he would need an operation as at thirty-nine, most people don’t survive a haemorrhage without one. Triumphantly, for Kantner and for rock, he would later go on to joke that is stay in hospital was more a vacation as he never needed the operation.
Some of you are itching to tell me of one other tragedy that occurred in 1980 and the reason why I am not mentioning it on this post is because that tragedy shook the entire world so much, that I feel it needs its own post. It also happened at the end of the year so I thought it would be a fitting remembrance to finish my tour of 1980 with it.
Next post: Bob Dylan- Saved
R.I.P. Bon Scott
To buy Rock And Roll Children, go to http://www.strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/RockAndRollChildren.html
Also available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Froogle and on sale at Foyles Book Shop in London
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