Some Historical Points I Missed

Tipper Gore

Part of me thinks I should be shot. After all, it was the second biggest musical event if 1985, Live Aid being the biggest. I mean, in my recent post of historical events mentioned in “Rock and Roll Children,” I missed this out. In fact, back during the tour of 1985, I wrote an entire post about it. I’m talking about the dreaded Parents Music Resource Center, (PMRC), who wanted to stick warning labels on all the records. It resulted in a Congressional hearing where Dee Snider, John Denver and Frank Zappa testified. It was big news back then. To read the post:

The Rise of the PMRC

The perceived censorship of music was a big fear for the main characters in “Rock and Roll Children.” One character stated that America was heading towards a Nazi police state. On the other hand, when a DJ stated what he thought of the PMRC hearing, the answer was a load of bodily functions coming through the radio.

On the subject of radio, back in the 1980s, and almost every Saturday night at midnight, the characters would all gather around the radio to listen to a programme called “Metal Shop.” Living in the Philadelphia area at the time, the show was on WYSP and was hosted by Mean Ed Green. I have since discovered that many stations around the country had their own metal shops.

Dr. Ruth Westheimer

By 1985, except for a few stations, commercial radio totally sucked. The Atlantic City station was called Rock 104 but it should have been renamed Top 40-104. The best stations were in Philadelphia. Anyway, when there was no decent music on the radio, we could tune in an listen to Dr. Ruth. She was a top therapist on sex and was full of great advice, although the Jeff character makes the wise crack that his sister won’t be calling Dr. Ruth saying she doesn’t orgasm.

Hopefully, you now have the full version of historical events mentioned in “Rock and Roll Children.” Knowing me, I probably will be back with more I missed.

Next post: Vow Wow- Helter Skelter

To buy Rock and Roll Children, email me at: tobychainsaw@hotmail.com

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Satan’s Plan to Take Over Rock Heaven

In case you missed it over at Mike Ladano’s blog, I am putting on my latest story. Satan plans to take over Rock Heaven and sets his plan in motion. Will he succeed? Read on and find out.

Takeover of Rock Heaven

Part 1- The Plan

Somewhere in Hell:

Satan walked into the room waiting to address the assembled gathering, when he was distracted by a commotion. His security was holding back Adolph Hitler and Saddam Hussein, who were demanding to be let into the meeting. Calmly, he walked over to where the commotion was coming from. “Look,” he said sternly, “I said clearly that you two aren’t coming in here.”

“You need us,” Hitler argued.

“No we don’t ,” Satan returned. “This isn’t a military operation, otherwise Julius Caesar would be here. Even it if it was I still wouldn’t have you two in here. You both demonstrated your military incompetence while you were on Earth.”

“But you have Vlad the Impaler here,” Hitler protested.

“He’s here for a different reason,” Satan explained. “Besides, if we have to kill any prisoners, we have your man Werner Poetsche. Now go before I go back to shoving pineapples up both your asses. “

With that, Hitler and Saddam were marched away and the door was closed. Satan let out an exasperated sigh before sitting at the head of the long table. As he sat down, Vlad questioned, “Why is he here?” pointing to Dave Holland.

“Because I should be in Rock Heaven,” Dave snarled back. “I’m only in Hell because of a bollocks conviction. Fucking Elvis used that to not allow me in, damn him.”

“Enough!” Satan boomed, his thunderous voice shaking the room. It achieved its goal in silencing all. “Mr. Holland is here at my request. He will help us in rounding up all the key members of Rock Heaven and he can get some revenge.”

That’s right,” Dave affirmed. “They’re all a bunch of assholes. They wouldn’t let me in but I bet when that woman beater Tony Iommi dies , they’ll let him in.”

Satan sighed again. “They probably will. Some religions look favourably on men hitting women. That’s another reason why I plan to take over and have summoned all of you here. There should be no Rock Heaven, most of those rock stars should be with us here in Hell. You are all going to help plan my takeover. I have had a mole there since 2003 and he’s been feeding me information whenever he can.”

“A mole, that’s a brilliant idea!” Al Capone complented. “Who is he?”

“You’d be very surprised,” was Satan’s reply. “My mole did get me into Rock Heaven when some mortal went back in time to try to wipe out heavy metal. So, now it’s the perfect time to act.”

“Couldn’t we take our legions and just storm the place?” Vlad suggested.

“It’s not that simple,” Satan explained. “The other side has a fail safe. If we simply invade, we risk all out war with Heaven, I mean the real Heaven. We don’t need that, so we have to be more cunning.”

“Is that why Julius isn’t here?” Caligula inquired.

“Exacty why!” Satan affirmed. “And why we can’t risk an all out war with Heaven. The last time that happened, Heaven’s forces were commanded by George S. Patton who studied Caesar’s strategies and thwarted him at every turn. We got our asses kicked.”

“So tell me exactly how we are going to take over Rock Heaven?” Charles Manson probed.

“Yeah, you know once we act, those two Canadian super-heroes and their companions will try to stop you,” Dave Holland pointed out.

“I know,” Satan conceded. “But I have a plan. Those two super-heroes will be on a wild goose chase and while they’re distracted elsewhere, we will make our move. Besides, once we take over Rock Heaven, I think the town of Thunder Bay will thank us. They’re not happy with those super-heroes or the musicians in Rock Heaven for putting on that concert which nearly destroyed their town.”

Somewhere in Rock Heaven:

Martin Suplee’s head was pounding once again. He hoped he might have had a reprieve this time around. After all, Rory Gallagher and Jeff Beck were more blues guitarists, likewise with Dusty Hill on bass. Even with Razzle on drums, he thought it might not have been the metal he was constantly being bombared with. However, he couldn’t have been more wrong. They turned up the amp and bombarded him with power chords and blistering guitar solos. His head was throbbing by the time the session finished.

The throbbing began to ease as he was escorted back to his cell. In one way, he was lucky. Most of the time, he was subjected to sessions involving Lemmy, Jeff Hannemann and Cliff Burton. Those sessions left him with the feeling his head was going to explode in scanners fashion. “I guess I should be grateful,” he thought to himself as he entered his cell.

He needed no force to go into the cell, it gave him respite from the constant jamming of decesased musicians from the genre he tried to erase from history. Had it not been for this time alone, he would have gone mad ages ago. Several of his hench-persons who had travelled back in time with him urged him to admit that he was wrong in trying to erase metal from history. He stubbornly refused. If anything, constantly being bombarded with heavy metal from dead metal musicians only strenghtened his belief that his cause was right.

Suplee was still thinking this over, at least when he could because even in his cell, he was still able to hear those musicans playing. At that moment, it was Warrell Dane, Eddie Van Halen, Lorne Black and A.J. Pero who were assaulting his eardrums. Suddenly, he was distracted by shuffling at his cell door. Suplee turned and saw a singer, who didn’t sing heavy metal and he admired somewhat, standing at his cell’s entrance.

Before he could say anything, the singer put his finger to his lips and whispered, “I’ve come to get you out.” With that, the singer beckoned and Martin Suplee followed. Stealthily, the pair tiptoed through Rock Heaven and somehow, nobody noticed them. They carried on until they came to a huge door.

“This is the way out,” the singer directed.

“Where will I go?” asked a rather perplexed Mr. Suplee.

“Why, to Hell of course,” the singer responded, trying to keep down the volume of his voice. “Why, if anyone leaves Rock Heaven, the only place they can go is Hell. My boss is expecting you. He will assist you in ridding the world of heavy metal.”

Suplee opened his mouth to ask for more details but the singer had mysteriously vanished from sight, leaving him on his own. Not knowing what else to do, he thought to himself, “It’s worth a try” and pushed the door open and stepped through. As he entered a strange void, all he could think was “Maybe there was still a chance that he could wipe heavy metal from ever existing.”

Back in Hell

Satan waited along with those he assembled as the figure materialised before them. “When it did, he addressed the confused new arrival, “Welcome to Hell, Mr. Suplee.”

Bewildered, Mr. Suplee looked around the room. Why he actually was in Hell! He recognized Satan as he was responsible for him being in Rock Heaven. If that wasn’t enough, he recognized some of those with him, chiefly Al Capone and Charles Manson. Plus the were two other men and a woman, who he assumed was Lizzy Borden, due to her clothing. One man was in medieval dress, the other in a Roman toga. However, the remaining man bothered him. He was dressed in heavy metal attire. Therefore, he sensed a trap.

“Who’s he?” Suplee asked pointing to the metal clad Dave Holland.

“Why, he’s part of my plan to take over Rock Heaven!” Satan laughed louldy sending vibrations around the room. “All those metal musicians should be suffering here in Hell. Don’t you agree?”

Mr. Suplee nodded, “What do you want me to do?”

Satan explained, “What you didn’t know when you went back in time to destroy heavy metal from existence is that when those in Rock Heaven created heavy metal, one of the blueprints they used was Nazereth’s “Hair of the Dog” album. What you need to do is go to this Metalman’s house and steal his copy. You can get your revenge on him as well for his assistance in Tee-Bone Man and Superdekes defeating you. When you steal that album, Metalman will call for the super-heroes and they will come to stop you and you can defeat them.

“How can I defeat them? Last time, I had a special device but they neutralized it. Now I’m just an ordinary human.”

“That’s where I come in!” Satan boomed. “I can give you powers that will help you defeat them.

“Then give me those powers,” Suplee demanded. “And I shall defeat those meddlesome super-heroes and wipe heavy metal from history!” His laughed resembled those from cartoon villians.

“Very well,” Satan chortled. He pointed his trident at Mr. Suplee and the transformation began taking place. Suplee let out a long blood-curtling scream as large black wings began growing from the middle of his back. However, he took the pain as a new aura overcame him. When the wings had fully grown out, his clothing mysteriously changed to black robes. A few seconds later, the transformation was complete and Suplee felt different.

“Arise,” Satan commanded.

Mr. Suplee stood tall. He spread out his new wings fully, nearly knocking into Al Capone.

“Your transformation is now complete,” Satan informed. “You can know go and destroy Tee-Bone Man and Superdekes.

“Yes, I will have my vengeance on those two,” Suplee snarled before he mysteriously vanished.

Once Suplee had gone, Caligula asked, “Do you think he’ll succeed?”

Satan mischievously replied, “He doesn’t need to. All we need is for him to keep the super-heroes busy long enough so we can make our move on Rock Heaven.”

I hope you enjoyed. Once again, I’ve been covering a lot of colleague sickness at work so I haven’t been able to post as usual. Hopefully, that will change soon.

Great Metal Albums of 1989: Pretty Boy Floyd- Leather Boyz With Electronic Toyz

Pretty Boy Floyd did not appear on the compilation album I will be posting about in the near future. My introduction to them came from a tape sent to me from my sister in 1990 and it featured the closer from the album, “I Wanna Be With You.” The song did come in at number 19 on my list of Top 30 Power Ballads, so it must be a good song. However, as good as it is, “I Wanna Be With You” is not typical of the rest of “Leather Boyz With Electric Toyz.”

The rest of the tracks on the album scream Motley Crue and Poison as it seems that the band want to sound like both. Judging by their appearance, it could be argued that they wanted to look like them as well. Lead singer Steve ‘Sex’ Summers, cool middle name by the way, sounds like both Vince Neil and Brett Michaels on various tracks on the album. He definitely sounds like Vince on “Rock and Roll (Is Gonna Set the World on Fire)” but the backing vocals sound more Poison. It could confuse one’s mind. To make matters worse, they cover Motley’s “Toast of the Town” and its not a bad cover. However, I’m making a note to listen to the MC original and compare. It could be worth an “Original vs. Cover” post.

We get another power ballad with “Wild Angels.” While I prefer “I Wanna Be With You,” this one is not without its charm. True, they still sound a lot like their influences but they do put some heart into the song. Here comes another comparison. Guitarist Kristy ‘Krash’ Majors rips a cool solo on “Wild Angels” and he shows himself to be a decent guitarist throughout the album. My verdict is that Krash is not quite Mick Mars but I would say he’s better than CC DeVille.

Hidden gem time, although some might call “48 Hours to Rock” hidden because it did find its way onto the soundtrack of “Karate Kid III.” Since I haven’t seen that film in a couple of decades and it has escaped unnoticed for so long, I will call it a hidden gem. PBF really rock this one out and no matter who might have influenced them, this song showed that they were capable of making it on their own merit. This one is a pure cooker. Speaking of cooking, the track “Rock and Roll Outlaws” brings the power chords and could be a second gem, although the chorus sounds too ‘done before.’

Poison’s influence comes through loud and clear on “Only the Young.” This could have easily been a Poison song but Floyd, no not Pink, do a decent job on their own. After two same-sounding but not bad tracks, we get to the already mentioned closer. Listening to the song over the years, if I was the girl Steve was singing to, I might get a bit creeped out. She’s the new girl in school and I guess it’s okay that this one guy is asking her out. Then he gets her number from a friend and calls her up and at the end, declares that she’s the girl he’s been looking for. Ladies, please answer, listen to the song and tell me if such a guy would creep you out.

Track Listing:

1. Leather Boyz With Electronic Toyz
2. Rock and Roll (Is Gonna Set the World on Fire)
3. Wild Angels
4. 48 Hours to Rock
5. Toast of the Town
6. Rock and Roll Outlaws
7. Only the Young
8. The Last Kiss
9. Your Mamma Won’t Know
10. I Wanna Be With You

Pretty Boy Floyd

Steve ‘Sex’ Summers- lead vocals

Kristy ‘Krash’ Majors- guitar, backing vocals

Vinnie Chas- bass, backing vocals

Kari Kane- drums, backing vocals

Additional Musicians:

Howard Benson- keyboards

Matt Bradley, Phil Balvano, Jennifer ‘Miss Frosty’ Hoopes, Paris Hampton, Maura Eagan, Candace Gartland, Elizabeth Goldner, Katharine Lundy- backing vocals

Pretty Boy Floyd were another band which came and went. It could be down to the fact that glam and hair metal were on their way out but who knows? If they could have shaken free from the glam metal influences, they might have gone places.

Next post: A Piece of 80s History I Should Be Shot for Missing

To buy Rock and Roll Children, email me at: tobychainsaw@hotmail.com

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Great Metal Albums of 1989: Dream Theater- When Dreams and Day Unite

Three bands immediately spring to mind whenever the term ‘progressive metal’ is mentioned. One is Dio as they could be called one of prog metal’s founders, the second is Savatage, especially after the “Gutter Ballet” album and the third band is the one I’m posting about today, Dream Theater. They are another band I discovered on the compilation album I’ll be visiting in the near future and like Mammoth, they impressed me. Therefore, it’s only logical that I explored their debut album, “When Dreams and Day Unite.”

Oh yes, to clarify, I can already hear some of you screaming at the top of your lungs, “What about Rush?” I don’t consider them metal and neither do they. Maybe progressive hard rock at best but not metal. In any case, I still enjoy a good Rush album so this whole argument is pointless.

Now back to Dream Theater and their debut. “When Dreams and Day Unite” starts off with three good tracks, the third one an instrumental and while I say good as they keep me interested, track two, “Status Seeker,” being the best of the three, the throat grabbing track comes fourth, “The Killing Hand.” For me, this is the best track on the album and I can see why it was the one which appears on that compilation album. It’s an eight minute long progressive metal master piece with all the elements required for such a track. What I had forgotten is that it was broken down into five parts. It tells a story of time travel and murder although the writer, John Petrucci, isn’t totally sure himself. Great keyboard work, some nice guitar work, a steady rhythm section and good vocals all combine to make it the best song on the album.

What critics have said, not that I pay attention to them, although there is some truth in the fact that the band were finding themselves as a band and individual musicians. This is not a criticism of the band but it’s something a lot of bands experience with their debut albums. I could have said the same about Mammoth in my previous post. However, what they have done on “When Dreams and Day Unite” is build the foundation for their more successful follow up album, “Images and Words.” Listening to the album, I remember why I was excited about Mike Portnoy filling in as drummer for Twisted Sister and I can add John Petrucci to my list of underrated guitarists. Some have slated Charlie Dominici’s vocals on the album but I find nothing wrong with them and of course, you can’t have good progressive metal without keyboards and Kevin Moore shows he’s the one for the job. While I don’t hear much of John Myung’s bass on the album, I know he lays down a good line.

Not wanting to leave out the rest of the album, I can say that the second half of the album, with the exception of “The Killing Hand,” is better than the first. The standout track of the four is “Light Fuse and Get Away.” It’s another cool track which neatly combines all the elements. Saying that, there seems to be a Rush-Styx influence throughout most of these songs.

Track Listing:

1. A Fortune In Lies
2. Status Seeker
3. The Ytse Jam
4. The Killing Hand- i. The Observance, ii. Ancient Renewal, iii. The Stray Seed, iv. Thorns, v. Exodus
5. Light and Fuse Get Away
6. Afterlife
7. The Ones Who Help to Set the Sun
8. Only a Matter of Time

Dream Theater

Charlie Dominici- vocals

John Petrucci- guitar

Kevin Moore- keyboards

John Myung- bass

Mike Portnoy- drums, percussion

While “When Dreams and Day Unite” is the only Dream Theater album which failed to break into the top 200, it did set the foundation of greater things to come for the band. Still, if you fancy some great progressive metal, then check this album out.

Next post: Pretty Boy Floyd- Leather Boyz With Electric Toyz

To buy Rock and Roll Children, email me at: tobychainsaw@hotmail.com

To sign the petition giving Bruce Dickinson a knighthood, click the link: https://www.change.org/p/special-honours-committees-for-knighthoods-a-knighthood-for-bruce-dickinson

Great Metal Albums of 1989: Mammoth

British band, Mammoth, first came to my attention via a compilation album which I’m going to cover in the very near future. The song represented on that album from this debut is “Fatman” and it was a good choice as for me, it’s the best song on the debut. It’s a good heads up rocker and I get the impression that the band are laughing at themselves with it, in a good way of course.

Of course, we got to ask about the rest of the album. If they were looking for Top of the Pops chart success, then the opener “All the Days” would be a prime candidate. It does open with a pop oriented intro but never gets too heavy for the delicate ears of the top 40 brigade. However, there is a cool guitar solo in the middle. Mac Baker is a decent guitarist.

Like with so many bands on their debut albums, some might say that Mammoth were trying to discover what they were. True, on the album songs go in a variety of directions but they mostly stay with the hard rock formula. “Can’t Take the Hurt” is another mid tempo rocker which also could have been released as a single. With the video, maybe it was as it’s the closest they come to a true ballad. The history behind the band is vague at best.

They prove they can rock on tracks like “Bet You Wish,” “Long Time Coming” and “30 Pieces of Silver.” These are good hard rocking tracks and “Bad Times” is a steady melodic one. However, they venture into more progressive metal territory on “Dark Star” and the closer, “Home From the Storm,” and they sound pretty good. I put forward the argument that Mammoth weren’t necessarily trying to find their sound as opposed to the belief that they just wanted to make music.

Track Listing:

1. All the Days
2. Fatman
3. Can’t Take the Hurt
4. 30 Pieces of Silver
5. Dark Star
6. Bet You Wish
7. Long Time Coming
8. Bad Times
9. Home From the Storm

Mammoth

Nicky Moore- vocals, keyboards

Mac Baker- guitar

John McCoy- bass, guitar, synth guitar

Vinnie Reed- drums, percussion

Additional Musicians:

Bernie Torme- guitar

Kenny Cox- guitar

Rob Fisher- keyboards

David Lloyd, Mark Williamson- backing vocals

Steve Sidelynk- percussion

Mammoth was one of those bands who came and went without getting much notice. According to sources, they wouldn’t release another record until 1997. Shame, because with this debut, they were certainly heading in the right direction.

Next post: Dream Theater- When Dream and Day Unite

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

Historical Events in Rock and Roll Children

Main objective behind writing “Rock and Roll Children” was to remind people, especially metalheads, of heavy metal history. At the time I began writing, there seemed to be a push by mainstream media to downplay the role heavy metal played in during its golden decade, the 1980s and that decade, contrary to what the media was pushing was not all Frankie Goes to Hollywood. Like it or not, heavy metal was a dominant force in the 1980s. True, it got little radio play and minimal play on MTV but the most successful bands sold millions of albums and played to packed out arenas. So, we can safely say that the 1980s was the golden age of heavy metal and I wrote “Rock and Roll Children” to bring home that point.

With all that said, the 80s for me was a busy decade and there were a lot of events, both music related and not, which took place in the time period in the book, 1984-7. That is the purpose of today’s post, to give you a history refresher of the events, (sorry, it’s the teacher in me) and by some weird hope, more of you will buy the book.

Non- Musical Events

U.S. Marines in Lebanon- In the story, Bob’s older brother, Mitch, served with the US Marines in their ‘peacekeeping’ mission in Lebanon. Although, he wasn’t there when the big tragedy happened in October 1983, some of his friends were. He is clearly effected by his experiences there, getting wounded when a grenade went off near him.

McDonald’s Mass Shooting- In the summer of 1984, a man went into a McDonald’s in California and shot and killed 22 people. Before he left, the shooter declared he was going to hunt humans. In “Rock and Roll Children,” the main characters joke that if they go to McDonald’s, they’re going to get shot.

Famine in Africa- I make reference to this in the book because it led to one of the greatest musical events of the decade, which I will mention more further down.

Ronald Reagan’s Re-election: This is briefly mentioned because Mitch is upset that the country re-elected the man who sent him to Lebanon where he was wounded.

Super Bowls XIX, XX and XXI- All three of these super bowls get mentioned.

The Bombing of Libya- When the US bombed Libya in 1986, there was concerns for the safety of Americans travelling in Europe. Jeff had been accepted to the University of London and while he wasn’t worried, some others were.

Reagan’s Contra War in Nicaragua- Bob becomes an anti- Contra Aid protester in light of events. He saw what Lebanon had done to his brother and this is what drives him here.

Arthur Fowler’s Imprisonment- When I got to England, I became engrossed in the very popular soap opera, “East Enders.” (Today it holds no interest for me.) In one episode, the character Arthur Fowler gets sent to prison for stealing money from a Christmas Club. A couple of nights later, I saw stickers at one underground station saying, “Free Arthur Fowler.”

Herald of Free Enterprise Disaster- In March, 1987, a British ferry called The Herald of Free Enterprise capsized in Zeebrugge, Belgium, killing 193 crew and passengers. This was a huge tragedy. One month after the event, Jeff and his roommate, Henry, take a ferry to France and this does worry them a little.

Music Related Events

Concerts- Every concert which takes place in the story actually happened and at the time they actually occurred.

Vince Neil’s Accident- This rocked the heavy metal community hard and gave plenty of ammunition to the anti-metal establishment. In case anyone has been living on Jupiter, Vince was more than twice over the drink-drive limit and crashed his car, injuring two people and killing Hanoi Rocks drummer, Razzle. It had an effect on the major characters in the story as after that, they made sure that they didn’t overdo it if they had to drive.

Rick Allen’s Accident- Rick’s accident happened about three weeks after Vince’s. While Rick and his girlfriend survived, Rick lost his arm as a result of the accident and the entire heavy metal world held their breath as to whether he would play the drums ever again.

Aerosmith’s Bottle Incident- The actual event happened seven years before it gets mentioned in the book, therefore, it’s told retrospectively. The character Tammy was at the concert in Philadelphia in 1979 when some moron threw a bottle on stage hitting Steve Tyler. She gives her full account of the incident and alludes to why Aerosmith seemed to holding back their best efforts when they played Philadelphia in 1986.

Live Aid- This was the musical event of the 80s I mentioned earlier. The concert was put on to raise money to help those in famine stricken Africa. Two concerts took place simultaneously, one in London, the other in Philadelphia. In “Rock and Roll Children,” I focused more on the two metal acts which performed that day, Black Sabbath and Judas Priest.

Farm Aid- This was a concert to raise money to help American farmers who were losing their farms. The main takeaway from that concert was Eddie Van Halen and Sammy Hagar playing together for the first time. The rest of the story is history.

Jesus Freaks at Concerts- I wrote a post about this. Starting in 1986, whenever people went to a metal concert in America, there were the Jesus freaks all there telling people they were going to hell for seeing that band. It was a great source of entertainment.

Religions War on Rock Music in 1986

Bon Jovi and Europe Being in the top 10 in the UK Charts- In November, 1986, Bon Jovi was at number nine in the UK charts with “Living on a Prayer” and Europe at number two with “The Final Countdown.” For many of us metalheads, it was a slap in the face to the mainstream music industry.

Prosecution of Jello Biafra- This made the news in England. Former Dead Kennedys singer, Jello Biafra, was prosecuted and fortunately acquitted on the charge of distributing pornographic material to minors on the DK album, “Frankenchrist.” While Jeff was reading about it on the train to the airport to return home, it gave him a wake up call about the society he was heading back to.

See, you do learn about history if you read “Rock and Roll Children.” One thing I was criticized for but make no apologies was how metalheads were discriminated against in the 1980s. Not that we let that stop us. Maybe I did over-pound the point but it was real. There were a lot of great and tragic events both musically and not throughout the 80s. I tried to bring history to life and maybe that was the problem, I wrote it too much like a history book.

To buy Rock and Roll Children, email me: tobychainsaw@hotmail.com

Next post: Mammoth

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Great Metal Albums of 1989: Motley Crue- Dr. Feelgood

Critics and fans have called “Dr. Feelgood” Motley Crue’s best studio album. It was their most commercially successful album going six times platinum in the US and gold in many other countries. Furthermore, it produced five singles, two of which made it into the top 40. However, while impressive, this doesn’t make it their best album in my view. That honour belongs to “Shout at the Devil.”

In comparison to my favourite MC album, what they did similar is play to their strengths. It also helped that the band were addressing their demons in regards to substance abuse and were sober when they recorded. They also recorded each of their parts separately as they were all at each other’s throats but fair dues to producer Bob Rock, he combined all their efforts to make a really good album, the best since my favourite one.

Before, I launch into the album proper, I must say that I’ve apologized enough to Mick Mars for calling him the worst guitarist in metal for many years in previous posts. He never accepted my invitation to come to England and give me a slap and now he’s probably physically unable to do so. With that said, his guitar playing is top notch on “Dr. Feelgood.” Arguably, his best effort is on “Sticky Sweet.”

After a brief opener which they unashamedly borrowed from Queensryche’s “Operation Mincdrime” album, the title cut has lots of swagger to it and shows that Motley Crue were going in the right direction. It’s also good to see that they hadn’t lost their sense of humour. While never lyrical geniuses, “Slice of Your Pie” has some amusing innuendos backed up by some more rock swagger. The same can be said for “She Goes Down.”

The problem with an album which produces so many singles, it’s sometimes hard to find a hidden gem but no worries, I find it with “Rattlesnake Shake.” If there is any song which can take me back to “Shout at the Devil,” it’s this one. They put it all together here with some good drum rolls from Tommy and guitar hooks from Mick and even though some might say that Vince sings the title too much, he does make it sound good.

At the middle of the album, you get three of the five singles in succession. “Kickstart My Heart” begins this and even though it was released as a single, it doesn’t sound overly commercial and that’s always a good thing. I think Crue had a good time making this one, at least the video. That is followed by the first of two power ballads on the album, “Without You.” While not bad, I prefer the other one, the penultimate track, “Don’t Go Away Mad (Just Go Away.)” It was the highest charting of the singles but for me it brings the power to the ballad and while Vince puts his soul into both of them, he does it more convincingly on the second one.

That brings me back to the third of the singles string and my favourite of all the singles, “Same Ol’ Situation.” They rock this one out more. It’s one of those enjoyable anthem sounding songs you just want to bang your head along to. There’s much for me to like about it whether it’s Tommy’s drumstick twirling or Mick’s guitar solo. “Dr. Feelgood” ends with a good closer. Were they singing about their change in lifestyle? I don’t know but all the band comes together to end the album right.

Track Listing:

1. T.n.T. Terror in Tinsletown
2. Dr. Feelgood
3. Slice of Your Pie
4. Rattlesnake Shake
5. Kickstart My Heart
6. Without You
7. Same Ol’ Situation
8. Sticky Sweet
9. She Goes Down
10. Don’t Go Away Mad (Just Go Away)
11. Time for Change

Motley Crue

Vince Neil- vocals, rhythm guitar, harmonica, shakers

Mick Mars- guitar, backing vocals

Nikki Sixx- bass, backing vocals, organ, piano

Tommy Lee- drums, backing vocals

Additional Musicians:

John Webster- honky tonk piano, keyboards

Tom Keenlyside, Ian Putz, Ross Gregory, Henry Christian- horns

The following provided backing vocals:

Bob Rock, Brian Adams, Steve Tyler, Donna McDaniel, Emi Canyn, Marc La France, David Steele, Jack Blades, Robin Zander, Rick Nielsen, Skid Row, Bob Dowd, Mike Amato, Toby Francis

“Dr. Feelgood” gained Motley Crue complete success, although some metalheads complained that it was a step further to them simply becoming glam rock posers. However, the success tells the story but personally speaking, while I like this album, especially more than their previous two, I’ll stick with “Shout at the Devil.”

Next post: Due to having to cover a lot of sickness at work, I won’t post an album next. Instead, I will use one of my supplemental post which will be “Historical Events Mentioned in Rock and Roll Children, Music and non-Music Related.”

On another note, I would like everyone to congratulate Mrs. 80smetalman because today officially marks 19 years of her being married to me.

To buy Rock And Roll Children, email me at: tobychainsaw@hotmail.com

To sign the petition for a knighthood for Bruce Dickinson, click the link: https://www.change.org/p/special-honours-committees-for-knighthoods-a-knighthood-for-bruce-dickinson

Great Metal Albums of 1989: Bitch- A Rose By Any Other Name

After their less than successful attempt at gaining more commercial notice on the album, “Betsy,” Bitch not only went back to their more traditional sound with “A Rose By Any Other Name,” they went even harder. This six song EP comes blasting out of the gate with a more thrash metal approach on “Walls of Love.” You know right from the get-go that Bitch aren’t fooling around. “Walls of Love” comes out at 600mph and maintains that cruising speed all through the track. However, the band remain as they were on previous albums with Betsy’s voice being as good as very, the rhythm section might speed up but remains solid and you get a great guitar solo from the very underrated David Carruth.

After the blinding start, the next track, “Throw Me In,” slows down a little while still managing to pound your eardrums with power chords. This is one of those metal anthem type songs where you want to throw your fist up in the air and headbang along to it. However, better is to come because right after is my choice for best song on the album, “Sunset Strut.” The power metal approach is still present and Betsy’s vocals are just superb with the guitar, bass and drums keeping up support behind her. There are some cool drum fills from Robby Settles (R.I.P.) and David hammers an intriguing guitar solo followed by some nice hooks on the second half of the song.

With the track, “Skullcrusher,” the name says it all. Bitch are out to crush your skull, period. After an cool intro from Dave, the song goes full on thrash here and Betsy proves she can adapt her voice to keep up, I love her screams on this, and need I mention Dave again? Betsy takes a break on the instrumental, “”Crashthepartysmashthecake,” but the rest of the band certainly do not. The speed is kept up and Ron Cordy’s bassline anchors the song firmly, especially when Dave is called upon to work his six string magic. Closer, “Make It Real,” slows down slightly but only enough to deliver one last blow to the jaw before ending the album nicely.

Track Listing:

1. Walls of Love
2. Throw Me In
3. Sunset Strut
4. Skullcrusher
5. Crashthepartysmashthecake
6. Make It Real

Bitch

Betsy ‘Bitch’ Weiss- vocals

David Carruth- guitar, backing vocals

Ron Cordy- bass, backing vocals

Robby Settles- drums, backing vocals

Once again, I’m venturing out onto the thin branch and say that possibly, Bitch was one of the best bands not to get the attention they richly deserved. On “A Rose By Any Other Name,” you might only get six songs but they are six songs you definitely remember.

Next post: Motley Crue- Dr. Feelgood

To buy Rock and Roll Children, email me at: tobychainsaw@hotmail.com

To sign the petition for a knighthood for Bruce Dickinson, click the link: https://www.change.org/p/special-honours-committees-for-knighthoods-a-knighthood-for-bruce-dickinson

Great Metal Albums of 1989: Lizzy Borden- Master of Disguise

It’s a good thing I now go back and read posts from bands’ albums which came out previous to the band I’m writing about. In the case of Lizzy Borden’s “Master of Disguise,” if I hadn’t done so, then this post might have gone a different direction. When I first listened to the album, I thought that Lizzy was heading in a more progressive metal direction, which the album is. However, after re-reading my post on their previous album, “Visual Lies,” they were heading in that way on the last few tracks of that one.

The only remaining members of the band on the album were Lizzy himself and drummer Joey Scott Harges as long term guitarist and songwriter, Gene Allen, departed the band. Therefore, other musicians were brought in for the guitar, bass and keyboard parts, although Steve Lukather wasn’t one of them. Now and it’s probably me thinking too much, I wonder if there is any relation to Gene’s departure and the new progressive metal direction.

“Master of Disguise’s” progressive sound comes through on the opening title track. A theatrical keyboard introduction welcomes the album in but it’s not long before Lizzy Borden remind you they’re a metal band. The track gets and holds your attention. More evidence of the progressive comes in the form of the ballad like “One False Move.” It’s an acoustic number, less that three minutes but it would fit in nicely on a concept album. After that, we get the intended single, at least there’s a video to it, “Love is a Crime.” Once again, Lizzy Borden have a song which is totally suited for commercial radio play but never got picked up. Further proof that commercial radio has sucked since 1985.

For me personally, the middle part is my favourite part of the album. Tracks four through nine really make this album what it is and could be why it is Lizzy Borden’s highest charting album. Starting the party is the charging straight forward melodic metal tune, “Sins of the Flesh.” This one has me head banging away even through the more prog rock sounding guitar solo. It would have been my choice for hidden gem had it not been for the next track, “Phantoms.”

“Phantoms,” is the song which completely defines the album. Like the opener, it starts off with a scene setting keyboard influenced intro and then going into an acoustic instrumental after which transforms into a cool metal tune. I really love the guitar solo on this and I would love to know which of the contributing guitarists on the album plays it. Furthermore, Lizzy is at his vocal best with both the lead and backing vocals.

The next four tracks don’t disappoint either, “Never Too Young” has a piano intro before going metal, which would have gotten a thumbs up from Jon Oliva or so I’d like to think. The guitar solo and vocals are really good on it. The coolest intro comes on “Be One of Us.” It is none other than Bach’s “Toccata in D Minor,” which for movie buffs is also the theme song for the 1975 film, “Rollerball.” Again, the rest of the song is pure metal. I would be repeating myself in regards to “Psychodrama” and “Waiting in the Wings,” but who cares? They are both cool tunes.

Penultimate track, “Under the Rose,” is similar to the second track, an acoustic, ballad like number. Closer, “We Got the Power,” sounds like it’s recorded live and the way it’s done, it’s the best way to close the album.

Track Listing:

1. Master of Disugise
2. One False Move
3. Love is a Crime
4. Sins of the Flesh
5. Phantoms
6. Never Too Young
7. Be One of Us
8. Psychodrama
9. Waiting in the Wings
10. Roll Over and Play Dead
11. Under the Rose
12. We Got Power

Lizzy Borden

Joey Scott Harges

Lizzy Borden- lead and backing vocals

Joey Scott Harges- drums

Additional Musicians:

Ronnie Jude, David Michael Phillips, Mike Razzatti- guitar

Mike Davis, Joey Vera, Brian Perry- bass

Elliot Solomon, William Kidd- keyboards

Tim Stithem- additional percussion

Brian Coyle, Jacques Voymont, Jerry Moore, John Chuboda, TJ Santos, Tim Taylor- horns

Black, White and Brown Orchestra- backing vocals on track 12

As stated previously, “Master of Disguise” is Lizzy Borden’s most commercially successful album. Could it be the more progressive metal direction? Possibly or maybe it’s because it’s just a good album. This album puts Lizzy Borden firmly on my list of American artists not to have cracked the UK.

It is now my sad duty to announce the passing of former Cockney Rebel frontman, Steve Harley, who quietly passed away at his home age 73. Rest in Peace Steve.

Next post: Bitch- A Rose By Any Other Name

To buy Rock and Roll Children, email me at: tobychainsaw@hotmail.com

To sign the petition for a knighthood for Bruce Dickinson, click the link: https://www.change.org/p/special-honours-committees-for-knighthoods-a-knighthood-for-bruce-dickinson

Breaking News: Well Done Birmingham, UK

Black Sabbath

When this article popped up on my Google Alerts, I felt I had to share it with my faithful readers. The city of Birmingham in the UK has given the pub where Black Sabbath played their first ever gig and has been dubbed “the birthplace of heavy metal,” The Crown, listed historical status, Grade II. For the full story, click the link: https://www.birminghamworld.uk/news/birmingham-pub-heavy-metal-born-crown-station-street-black-sabbath-ozzy-osbourne-4557445

I think this is great news, especially as heavy metal music and its followers are often snubbed by the so-called mainstream of society. So, I take my hat off to Birmingham City Council for this wise decision.