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

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

Great Metal Albums of 1989: Danger Danger

My sister, Dawn, sent me Danger Danger’s debut album along with two other albums from Dream Death and Wrath as a Christmas present in 1989. I can’t help thinking she was just unloading them. The other two albums were too thrash for her and if I’m right, she probably thought Danger Danger were trying to be the next Bon Jovi. When I listened to the album back then and listening to it now, I remain convinced that they were.

Now, I am not saying that Danger Danger wanting to be Bon Jovi is a bad thing. Bon Jovi have always been a great band to look up to and their success can’t be denied. So, one can’t really blame this band for trying as the result was a pretty decent debut album.

For me, the album doesn’t really kick into gear until the fifth track, “Bang Bang.” There’s nothing wrong with the first four tracks, they’re all good but rather forgettable. Although “Under the Gun” is starting to grow on me. Furthermore, “Saturday Nite” does have a really cool rocking intro and rocks quite a bit but does lose its way around the middle of the song. The ballad “Don’t Walk Away” is okay but there is a far better ballad further along on the album.

Like I said, “Bang Bang” gets the album cooking in full earnest. There is much more pizzaz behind this song and this is the first one to make me bang my head in earnest. That rocking accelerates a little more with “Rock America.” True, they were trying to be Night Ranger here and maybe there could be less keyboards here but the guitar solo nails it. That leads perfectly to my two favourite songs on the album. “Boys Will Be Boys” is a great rocker and it shows that this band had pure potential to be a great metal band. Next is the other ballad, “One Step From Paradise.” Way back in 80smetalman antiquity, actually it was 2018, this track was number 18 in my list of Top 30 Power Ballads according to me. I stand by that.

A tip for listening to the album: Don’t judge the lyrics for many of the songs by today’s standards. Remember and this is not a justification, the album came out in 1989 and back then, it was cooler to sing about subjects like seeing girls in their birthday suits and justifying one night stands, which is done on my favourite track but that’s not why I like it.

Track Listing:

1. Naughty Naughty
2. Under the Gun
3. Saturday Night
4. Don’t Walk Away
5. Bang Bang
6. Rock America
7. Boys Will Be Boys
8. One Step From Paradise
9. Feels Like Love
10. Turn It On
11. Live It Up

Danger Danger

Ted Poley- vocals

Kasey Smith- keyboards

Bruno Ravel- bass, backing vocals, cello, rap on track 11

Steve West- drums, rap on track 1

Andy Timmons- guitar, tracks 3 and 7

Tony ‘Bruno’ Rey- guitar on all other tracks

Note; Tony Rey played on the album but left to rejoin Saraya and was replaced by Andy Timmons. If you ask me, both of them wail on this album.

Whether Danger Danger were trying to be the next Bon Jovi or even the next Night Ranger, is irrelevant in regards to their debut album. It is good enough to stand on its own.

Next post: Lizzy Borden- Masters of Disguise

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

Great Metal Albums of 1989: Alice Cooper- Trash

Here’s my weird mind’s ability to notice the not so strange things. Both Aerosmith and Alice Cooper had similar career paths. Both were rock legends in the 1970s, I had albums from both of them. Then by the end of the decade and into the early 1980s, they had fallen victims to the excesses of the music industry. Aerosmith were making albums to pay off their dealers and Alice Cooper describes the same era as his ‘drunk period.’ Then in the late period of the decade, both released albums which let the world know they hadn’t gone away, which was followed by a more solid album. However, it was 1989 where both Alice and Aerosmith had the albums which brought them the adulation they had missed for over a decade. I’ve already posted Aerosmith’s “Pump” album but Alice’s breakthrough album was “Trash.”

Naturally, a breakout album usually needs a great single to propel it. In the case of “Trash,” that came in the form of “Poison,” which was Alice’s highest charting single since 1977’s “You and Me.” I must have this single on at three least rock compilation albums and those are the ones I can think of off the top of my head while I sit here typing this. But make no mistake, “Poison” is a great song and I love everything about it.

Avoiding the temptation to make a boring statement about albums being more than one song, I can say for sure that the rest of “Trash” doesn’t disappoint. The hard rocking “Spark in the Dark” carries on the momentum from the big single and that’s followed by the more melodic offering, “House of Fire,” which was also released as a single. It didn’t have the chart success of “Poison” but it’s a cool tune anyway.

Next comes the hidden gem, “Why Trust You.” This is a fast tempo burning rocker and Alice’s vocals are in no doubt here. However, full credit should also be given to guitarist “John McCurry” as he really shreds on it. Afterwards, Alice ends the first side of the album with a cool power ballad “Only My Heart Talkin.'” I say cool but to be honest, Alice has done better ballads like “Only Women Bleed,” “I’ll Never Cry” and “How Are You Gonna See Me Now.” Alice voice sounded much better on those classics and John ‘s guitar solo could have been a tad longer but it’s still enjoyable.

Another single released from the album, “Bed of Nails,” had better chart success than “House of Fire.” Well, it begins with a horror movie like intro, which made Alice a legend back in the 1970s. This is a good throw back to those days and then some good hard rock comes in but being melodic enough to gain some appeal from the more fickle listeners. Now, I’m going to utter blasphemy but I think I like this one better than “Poison,” though that could be down to the fact that I don’t hear it as often as “Poison.”

A good guitar solo brings in the very amusingly titled track, “This Maniac’s In Love With You.” Alice always has to have one song whose lyrics shouldn’t be taken seriously and this one is it. Then the lyrics don’t matter when you get some great guitar shredding. Guy Mann-Dude from the Dudes of Wrath plays guitar on this track, which might explain things. A huge number of guests appear on the title track, including two members of Aerosmith, which reminds me, Steve Tyler sings on the power ballad. If it wasn’t for all these musicians contributing their expertise, then this track might have been more filler. Instead, it kicks a bit of ass.

Jon Bon Jovi and Ritchie Sambora help Alice out on the penultimate track, “Hell is Living Without You.” Don’t panic, this song sounds nothing like any tracks from the “New Jersey” album. If anything, this is more classic 70s Alice with the horror movie feel to it. There’s also some great power chords on the songs and I think it’s Ritchie but whether it’s him or John, that person lays down a cool guitar solo. Furthermore, the track could have made a good closer, maybe even more so than the actual closer, “I’m Your Gun.” It’s okay as a closer but it could have fitted anywhere else on the album.

Track Listing:

1. Poison
2. Spark in the Dark
3. House of Fire
4. Why Trust You
5. Only My Heart Talkin’
6. Bed of Nails
7. This Maniac’s In Love With You
8. Trash
9. Hell is Living Without You
10. I’m Your Gun

Alice Cooper

Alice Cooper- vocals

John McCurry- guitar

Hugh McDonald- bass

Alan St. Jon- keyboards

Bobby Chouinard- drums

Additional Musicians:

Vocals:

Steve Tyler- track 5, Jon Bon Jovi- track 8, Kip Winger- track 10

Guitars:

Joe Perry- track 3, Ritchie Sambora and Steve Lukather- track 9, Kane Roberts- track 6, Guy Mann-Dude- tracks 2,4,7, Mark Frazier and Jack Johnson- track 8

Tom Hamilton- bass- track 8

Joey Kramer- drums- track 8

Paul Chiten- keyboards

With “Trash,” Alice Cooper had returned to reclaim his crown in the music world.

Next post: Queen- The Miracle

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

1989: Metal Comes to Moscow

Oh damn my memory! I nearly left out a very important event in the metal history of 1989. Under the Glasnost era of Mikhail Gorbachev in what was then the U.S.S.R., the country became more open to Western influences. One example of that was they held a huge metal festival in Moscow calling it the Moscow Peace Festival. I was lent a video recording of the show and I remember it being really good.

The lineup was as follows, at least on my video:

Bon Jovi

The Scorpions

Ozzy Osbourne

Motley Crue

Cinderella

Gorky Park

Skid Row

My memories of the concert are very limited. Things I do remember is my ex wife having a go (not literally) at Sebastian Bach for telling the audience not to take shit off anyone. She pointed out that a few years earlier, Skid Row wouldn’t have been allowed to play there. I remember Motley Crue singing “Girls, Girls, Girls” and being rather impressed with Russian band, Gorky Park as well as The Scorpions kicking ass, especially because five years earlier, I saw Bon Jovi supporting The Scorpions and now it was the other way around. It was my first time seeing Zak Wylde playing with Ozzy and of course the end of the show where Bon Jovi invited everyone back to the stage, along with Jason Bonham for one big jam session. So, instead of me trying to rack my brain for more memories, I will defer to the Tubes of You and show you some live performances from that historic day.

There’s also a nice little guitar intro from Jeff LaBar

Thank God my memory came back and I remembered this amazing show. Metal final broke through to Russia and was graciously accepted. Proof that heavy metal could rule the world.

Next post: Steve Stevens- Atomic Playboy

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

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

Great Rock Albums of 1989: Cher- Heart of Stone

The opening song on Cher’s 1989 album, “Heart of Stone,” “If I Could Turn Back Time,” showed me that she was capable of rocking. Yes, I know that I should have remembered her previous self-titled album, but I didn’t but the memory of it came back when I wrote about it in the tour of 1987. Anyhow, “If I Could Turn Back Time” was a big hit for Cher, charting in a number of countries and it appears on several rock compilation albums I own. I think that explains it all about that song.

With all that said, it’s the second track, “Just Like Jesse James,” which I really love more. I’m not the only one because after a brief search, it charted better in some countries than the previous mentioned song. I love the country rock feel to this song and the guitar solo by John McCurry is cool. The tempo has me bobbing my head along with the beat. Great song.

Third track, “You Wouldn’t Know Love” is one of those 1980s, sounding rock songs in the field of Night Ranger. Not a bad thing and it’s a decent song and another guitarist, Michael Landau, fires off a nice guitar solo. It’s funny that the first four songs on the album were released as singles. The final of these four is the title track, which has a nice little acoustic guitar opening. It’s kind of an acoustic ballad with some great backing vocals behind Cher’s phenomenal voice.

Always looking for hidden gems, tracks 5-11 give me a lot to choose from. One song which is a definite contender is “Does Anybody Really Fall in Love Anymore?” Cher gets assistance from Jon Bon Jovi and Ritchie Sambora as they wrote the song and it’s great to see Cher hooking up with some of those who made her previous album great. That includes, yes, Steve Lukather but he plays on the first track. But there is something good in all of these tracks and provided further proof that Cher could rock. That brings me to the true hidden gem, “Love on the Rooftop” is a great rocker, the way the guitars kick in. When the guitar isn’t engaged, the bass line does its job in holding things together and I do like that sax solo. It was one of the four songs on the album written by Desmond Child. It can also be why “Emotional Fire” comes a very close second in the hidden gem search. But all of these tracks prove Cher’s ability to rock out!

“Heart of Stone” closes with Cher singing a duet with Peter Cetara from Chicago on “After All.” Their chemistry is plain to hear and the song is a great way to close the album. It was another song which charted in a number of countries, so Cher must be given full marks here as those who played on the album.

Track Listing

1. If I Could Turn Back Time
2. Just Like Jesse James
3. You Wouldn’t Know Love
4. Heart of Stone
5. Still in Love With You
6. Love On the Rooftop
7. Emotional Fire
8. All Because of You
9. Does Anyone Really Fall in Love Anymore?
10. Starting All Over
11. Kiss to Kiss
12. After All

Cher

Cher- lead vocals

Like on her previous album, a huge army of musicians was recruited to play on this one. Here are some of the more noted ones.

Steve Lukather

Waddy Watchell

Peter Cetara

Andrew Gold

Diane Warren

Michael Bolton

Hugh McDonald

Bonnie Tyler

In the late 1980s, Cher put out two hard rocking albums, “Heart of Stone” was the second of those and it’s a brilliant album. It’s a shame that she didn’t continue in this vein, don’t get me started on “The Shoop Shoop Song.” I could easily picture her on the stage at Download rocking to the masses.

Next post: It’s a shame AC/DC didn’t put out and album in 1989.

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

Great Metal Albums of 1988: Ted Nugent- If You Can’t Lick’em… Lick’em

My big question from Ted Nugent’s 1988 album, “If You Can’t Lick’em…Lick’em,” was if his popularity fading away. Being in the UK, I didn’t know this album existed until years after and further evidence was brought about in 1990 when I heard he had joined a band with other fading 80s superstars. However, that’s a story for another time.

On the first listen to “IYCL’E…L’E” was that in an attempt to regain lost popularity, he fashioned some of the tracks after one of his best known songs, “Stranglehold.” Both the opening track and title track give me that impression, even more so with the title cut because even the guitar solo reminds me of that big hit from days gone by. That’s not to say that either of the songs aren’t good, they truly are and maybe he was onto something there.

While Ted has some decent metal tunes on the album, “She Drives Me Crazy” is an excellent metal tune and with its opening riffs from Ted, “Separate the Men From the Boys, Please” is the hidden gem on the album, there is too much of what I would call filler. “Skintight,” “Funlover” and “The Harder They Come (The Harder I Get)” all tick that box. Again, they’re not terrible songs and Ted’s mastery of the guitar is what makes each of these tracks enjoyable. Actually, it’s what saves them as the lyrics to them give ammunition to the accusations of him being a misogynist many years later. Or is it me getting old? Not just the lyrics though, they simply just don’t measure up to the other tracks on the album.

On the other hand, the Motor City Madman does throw in a blinder of a curve ball on the track, “Spread Your Wings.” This is a blues rocker in the vein of many of the great blues based guitarists of the world, I’m talking about Stevie Ray Vaughn, Pat Travers, Eric Clapton, Rory Gallagher and Kenny Wayne Shepherd. With this song, he could have his name right up there with all of those great guitarists I’ve just mentioned. The Nuge really does himself proud with this one. His vocals are very good and his guitar solo just sends me to another dimension. Maybe, it should have been released as a single.

Two points I never realized until pulling out this album. The first is that “IYCL’E…L’E” is the first album where Ted sings lead vocals on every track. I know that he did share vocal duties with other members of his band on previous albums. Ted’s vocals have always been all right, so this is no major shock. What is a little shocking, at least it would have been for me if I had actually heard this album back in 1988, is that he co-wrote the closer with Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora. However, these days, it’s not really a surprise and besides, it’s a good song to end the album.

Track Listing:

1. Cant Live With’ Em
2. She Drives Me Crazy
3. If You Can’t Lick’ em…Lick’ em
4. Skintight
5. Funlover
6. Spread Your Wings
7. The Harder They Come, (The Harder I Get)
8. Separate the Men From the Boys, Please
9. Bite the Hand
10. That’s the Story of Love

Ted Nugent

Ted Nugent- lead vocals, lead and rhythm guitars, bass

Dave Amato- rhythm guitar, backing vocals

Jai Winding- hammond b3 organ

John Purdell- keyboards

Chuck Wright- bass

Pat Torpey- drums, backing vocals

Tom Werman- percussion

“If You Can’t Lick’em… Lick’ em” would be the last solo album Ted Nugent would release for seven years. History knows what he did during that time but it doesn’t stop this album from being good. Sure, Ted has many greater albums to his name but this one has its charm. One other useless point of information, Ted has only come to the UK four times since this album.

Next post: Sword- Sweet Dreams

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?redirect=false

Great Metal Albums of 1988: Winger

Back in 1988, heavy metal wasn’t so categorized, at least in my view. If it had some good power chords, suitable vocals and killer guitar solos, then it was metal. Sure, I knew of glam metal. Bands like Motley Crue, Bon Jovi and Europe carried that banner proudly. As for hair metal, it didn’t exist although I would say that TNT were pioneers of the genre. Therefore, when my sister sent me one of her many compilation tapes from the US, I made no such distinction when it came to the Winger song, “Headed for a Heartbreak.” I just liked the song.

Winger’s debut album was exactly one direction which heavy metal seemed to be heading in the late 1980s. For metalheads, there were power chords galore but there was some great melody and power ballads to gain the band much commercial success with the album. Four singles were released from the album, one of which, “Heading for a Heartbreak,” has already been mentioned. It’s considered a great power ballad and I don’t disagree. Three other singles begin the album, the first one, which was also the first single, “Madeline,” is another almost power ballad type song but it shows the potential of the band from the right off. The second track, “Hungry,” is noticeably heavier. Maybe it’s me mellowing with age but I appreciate the combined power chords with melody much more these days.

Single/track three, “Seventeen” is my favourite among the singles. It’s even more rockier than “Hungry” with a lot of swagger to it. True, it’s about intimacy with a girl of the same age as the title but the lyrics don’t matter here. It’s a catchy hard rock vibe and guitarist, Reb Beach, really steps into the spotlight on this one. His rhythm guitar work is exceptional and he plays a blinder of a guitar solo. But before I get into the deeper cuts and reveal the hidden gem, one can’t help but notice the cover of the Jimi Hendrix classic, “Purple Haze.” It wouldn’t win a Original vs. Cover competition in my eyes but it’s done fairly well.

Although “Without the Night,” wasn’t released as a single, maybe it should have been. It’s a good enough power ballad. Kip Winger does pour some genuine passion into the vocals and lays down a cool bassline. Maybe it should have been called, “Kip’s Song.” Okay, maybe not because bass and vocals are supported by some good keyboards from Paul Taylor. Additionally, we get another great guitar solo from Reb and one can’t forget the drumming of Rod Morganstein. However, it’s not the hidden gem.

So, the search for the hidden gem continues. All four remaining tracks are contenders but the winner is “Time to Surrender.” Reb’s riffs at the very beginning lets you know that Winger want to rock. This one is great hard rocker but with some great harmonizing at the chorus and some superb guitar fills. I had to momentarily stop typing so I can bang my head to it, at least until the guitar solo. “Poison Angel” comes second in the hidden gem search. In contrast to the other tracks, this one just gets down to business with some traditional metal. The fastest song on the album. One final point. I think it was a good idea to have the final single, “Heading for a Heartbreak,” close the album.

Track Listing:

1. Madeline
2. Hungry
3. Seventeen
4. Without the Night
5. Purple Haze
6. State of Emergency
7. Time to Surrender
8. Poison Angel
9. Hangin’ On
10. Heading for a Heartbreak

Winger

Kip Winger- lead vocals, bass, keyboards

Reb Beach- guitar, backing vocals

Paul Taylor- keyboards, backing vocals

Rod Morganstein- drums, backing vocals

Additional Musicians:

Dweezil Zappa- slide guitar on “Purple Haze”

Beau Hill, Ira McLaughlan- backing vocals

Sandra Park, Rebecca Young, Hae Young Ham, Maria Kistopoulos- strings

It has been said that with Winger’s debut album, hair metal was launched upon the world. It could be the case but I never noticed it. For me, this is a great album no matter what category you put it in.

Next post: Overkill- Under the Influence

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

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

Original vs. Cover vs. Cover: The Boys Are Back in Town

Unfortunately, I am not ready to post the intended next post which was Paul Di’Anno’s Battlezone “Best of” album. Owing to a busy week and the fact that the album is seventeen songs long, I wasn’t able to give the number of listens I give an album before I go to post. Instead, I thought I would treat you to an Original vs. Cover post but I am adding an extra cover. The song in question is the Thin Lizzy classic, “The Boys are Back in Town.” Will either cover be better than the original? And which of the two covers is the better one? Have a listen and judge for yourself.

Thin Lizzy

I can still remember back in 1977 this song blasting through my AM radio. I rocked to it then and more than 45 years later, it still rocks. There’s not much more about this classic which hasn’t already been said.

Bon Jovi

Bon Jovi’s cover of the song was known to me via the “Make A Difference” compilation album. For those not in the know, the album featured artists covering songs from ones who left the mortal plain. I did find Ozzy’s rendition of “Purple Haze” quite interesting. Anyway, Bon Jovi covered the Thin Lizzy classic.

Briar

While they never became a household name like Thin Lizzy or Bon Jovi, English metal band, Briar, covered the song on their 1988 “Crown of Thorns” album.

My Verdict:

The original wins this one hands down. For a song to be so well known after so many years says a lot about the band which recorded it. This song was a crowning achievement for Phil Lynott and Thin Lizzy. As for the covers, my opinion on that score hasn’t changed. Briar wins out easily. Their hunger to make it big is reflecting in the way they record the song and I do like the echoing guitars as the song makes its exit. It was also good to give Phil a shout out at the beginning.

Have a listen to all three and let me know your thoughts. Remember dissent is always welcome on 80smetalman.

Next post: Paul DiAnno’s Battlezone- Warchild, The Best of

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?redirect=false

On another note, the petition to have Ozzy knighted as reached 35,000 signatures.

Great Metal Albums of 1988: Briar- Crown of Thorns

With heavy metal bands being a dime a dozen in the late 1980s, it was very easy for bands to come and go unnoticed. In some cases, it was whether you were in the right place at the right time to catch a particular band. That was the case for me with UK metal band, Briar. I discovered them when I saw them open for Styper in London in 1987. Another reason why they might have not gotten true recognition is that while they were pretty good that evening, I wasn’t wowed by them either. Still, it was enough for me to check out their previous album “Take On the World” and their 1988 offering, “Crown of Thorns.”

Here’s another take from the evening, the song I remember the most from their set was “One Foot Back in the Door.” When I got “Take on the World,” I assumed the song was going to be on that album but it wasn’t. However, it does appear on this album. Here’s another idea, because they played that song, I assumed that it was going to be released as a single and it might have been. There was a vague air of familiarity when Briar played the song in London but I don’t remember it as a single. On the other hand, the song that made its way onto MTV in the US was “Frankie.” Both songs were worthy of being released as a single, they have that vibe to it but it’s the deeper cuts which interest me more.

When Briar stick with the melodic metal, which they do for most of the album, things sound really good. The opening title cut and tracks like “Back and Wild,” (my vote for hidden gem) and “Another Day in the Life of a Fool” bear witness to this. All three tracks are straight forward, let’s get down to business songs which are really good. Furthermore, one of their two covers, the one of Thin Lizzy’s classic, “The Boys Are Back in Town,” is done quite well. In fact, I’m going to step into the ring of controversy and declare that I prefer this cover to Bon Jovi’s cover of the same song on the “Make a Difference” compilation album. As for the other cover, Los Lobos’s “La Bamba,” well let’s just say that it’s pretty amusing though metalled out fairly well. I do like the guitar solo on it and Dean Cook has a nice drum fill at the end.

Again, they’re not bad tracks but “Spirit of the Wood” attempts to go a bit progressive at the beginning before going back to Briar basics. Perhaps they realized they shouldn’t veer to far away from their bread and butter. Saying that, the guitar at the intro and between the verses is quite alluring. “Empty Words” is a decent but unspectacular power ballad. Normally, I would say that the album ends with a cool closer and “Everyone’s Going Crazy” is just that. However, officially, it’s not the closer because that is the two second long track, “Fart.” Yes, it’s literally that!

One thing I can say for sure from listening to “Crown of Thorns” is that Briar were a good tight band. Kevin Griffiths has double duties on vocals and bass, just like Lemmy. His vocals are good and I can’t fault his bass playing. The guitar duo of Dave Fletcher and Darren Underwood make a great combination. I like the way they complement each other on the Thin Lizzy cover. Maybe they should have done more, even one guitar solo trade off. Drummer Dean has already been mentioned and what he does on “La Bamba” he does throughout the album. Together, they did make a good band.

Track Listing:

1. Crown of Thorns
2. Frankie
3. Just Another Day in the Life of a Fool
4. Back and Wild
5. La Bamba
6. One Foot Back in Your Door
7. Spirit of the Wood
8. The Boys Are Back in Town
9. Empty Words
10. Everyone’s Going Crazy
11. Fart

Briar

Kevin Griffiths- lead vocals, bass

Dave Fletcher- guitars, backing vocals

Darren Underwood- guitars, backing vocals

Dean Cook- drums

There are probably many reasons why Briar , like so many other bands, never made the big time. It’s basically down to the fact that they were competing in a very saturated market at the time. As “Crown of Thorns” shows, they had the tools. Oh yes, I’ve decided that in the not too distant future, I will write a Cover vs. Cover or even an Original vs. Cover vs. Cover post in reference to “The Boys are Back in Town.”

Next post: Stryper- In God We Trust

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?redirect=false

Great Metal Albums of 1988: Cinderella- Long Cold Winter

“Long Cold Winter” is Cinderella’s second album, following on from their noteworthy debut, “Night Songs.” With this album, they moved away from the glam metal and produced a more bluesy rock album. That comes through straight away on the opener, “Bad Seamstress Blues/Falling Apart at the Seems.” I really dig the bayou sounding intro to the track before it goes into more harder rock waters, although there’s a cool blues type riff in the middle. However, you can still tell it’s Cinderella.

With “Night Songs,” the band was constantly compared to Bon Jovi although it was Jon who helped Cinderella with that album, which led to their success. While I don’t think “Long Cold Winter” is like “New Jersey,” what it does have in common with that album is that it also produced four big singles. After the opener, you get three on the trot. The cool rocker which is “Gypsy Road,” the mega successful ballad, “Don’t Know What You Got, (Till It’s Gone)” and “The Last Mile.” Of the three, it’s the last one I was least familiar with, (I don’t have it on any compilation albums). But I do like the guitar intro before it goes into rock mode. Of the four singles, this is the one I like best. It’s a more straight up rocker, maybe except for the harmonizing at the chorus but the guitar riffs and Tom Keifer’s guitar solo make up for it.

After the singles, we get into lesser known songs territory. While “Second Wind” is not filler, it’s not the hidden gem on the album. It does it’s job in keeping the album ticking over and in this case, that’s not a bad thing because the title track is a real burner. This is a blues based cooker. The guitars are just awesome, starting with the very blues lead guitar intro. That alone makes it the hidden gem, although Tom’s fits his vocals to the song very well. See, on their first hit, “Shake Me,” from the debut album, Tom was accused by some of trying to sound too much like AC/DC. He definitely silences his critics here. However, I still enjoy the guitar work more.

In spite of my gushing over the title track, it did have some competition from the tracks, “If You Don’t Like It” and penultimate track, “Fire and Ice.” Need I say that the latter isn’t a cover of the Pat Benatar classic? Oh, I just did. It’s a great track in it’s own right and “If You Don’t Like It” shows that Cinderella are still a metal band. I can hear a bit of influence from the Aerosmith classic, “Walk This Way” in places and it sounds as if Tom and Jeff LaBar do a bit of a guitar solo trade off.

Sandwiched between the hidden gem contenders is the fourth single, “Coming Home.” It’s a ballad and a decent one. I like the melodic feel to the song, though Tom could have toned down his vocals a little. “Take Me Back” takes the album out very well as an upbeat rocker.

Track Listing:

1. Bad Seamstress Blues/Fallin’ Apart at the Seems
2. Gypsy Road
3. You Don’t Know What You Got (Till It’s Gone)
4. The Last Mile
5. Second Wind
6. Long Cold Winter
7. If You Don’t Like It
8. Coming Home
9. Fire and Ice
10. Take Me Back

Cinderella

Tom Keifer- vocals, guitars, steel guitar, harmonica

Jeff LaBar- guitar, lead guitar on tracks 1 and 8

Eric Brittingham- bass, backing vocals

Fred Coury- drums (credited but does not play on the album)

Additional Musicians:

Jay Levin- steel guitar

Cozy Powell- drums, except track 5

Denny Carmassi- drums on track 5

Rick Cirinti- piano, organ, synthesizer

Kurt Shore, John Webster- keyboards

Paulinho Da Costa- percussion

With this album, Cinderella proved they could succeed in their own right. It’s unfortunate that they would fall away a few years down the line while the other band would continue to achieve great glories. Still, this is a really good album.

Next post: Guns ‘N’ Roses- EP

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

To sign the petition to give Bruce Dickinson his knighthood, click the link: https://www.change.org/p/special-honours-committees-for-knighthoods-a-knighthood-for-bruce-dickinson?redirect=false

Last week in the UK, Iron Maiden postage stamps went on sale. Here’s some I bought and I won’t be posting any letters with them.