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

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Great Rock/Metal Albums of 1989: Aerosmith- Pump

With my weird, wishy-washy mind, it is sometimes great when I prove myself right. A long time ago, I think it was on Mike’s blog, I stated that “Pump” was Aerosmith’s “Toys in the Attic” for the 80s. After multiple re-familiarizations to this all time classic, I stand by that statement. Now, I know some of you out there prefer their previous album, “Permanent Vacation,” and there isn’t much between the two but it was “Pump” which brought Aerosmith back to the garden of superstardom.

When I visited “Permanent Vacation,” I stated that Aerosmith had brought back the swagger which made so many of their 1970s albums so brilliant. With this one, they brought even more swagger. The first two tracks and I love the hidden meaning behind “F.I.N.E.,” are absolute groove-a-thon songs. They get the head banging and the blood pumping, yes pun intended. Then we get to their well known single, “Love in an Elevator,” which is my favourite Aerosmith song from the 1980s. Of course, if I was to do a top ten all time list, it would be on that for sure. I love the line, “Kiss your sassafras” and how Misters Perry and Whitford trade off guitar solos. I always said that Brad was a better guitarist than what he’s given credit for.

The party continues with “Monkey on My Back,” which if I’m right, talks about the band’s struggle with drugs a decade earlier. Then it goes to the second single, “Janie’s Got a Gun.” Now, I have always liked the song and I knew it was about a daughter killing her abusive father but what really gave it meaning for me was when they played it at Download in 2017. Steve explained that he got the inspiration for the song from a woman he met while he was in rehab. That explains why there is so much feeling in the performance of it.

Tracks six through nine are all candidates for hidden gem as they all have that potential. Rockabilly is brought in with “Dulcimer Stomp/Take Me to the Other Side,” at least at the beginning. The second half is the band doing what they do best. What I didn’t know was that it was the subject of a lawsuit where the song writing team of Holland-Dozier-Holland claimed that the melody sounded like one of their songs. As a result, Aerosmith settled by giving them a song writing credit. On second thought, maybe not “My Girl.” It’s a decent track but maybe not as good as the others. Actually, the hidden gem award goes to “Don’t Get Mad, Get Even.” It has a blues stomp intro, which generates into a blues/hard rock tune. Steve’s vocals are just amazing on it and there is plenty of Aerosmith swagger. That doesn’t stop the party moving on “Hoodoo/Voodoo Medicine Man.” “What It Takes” was the third single and it’s a great closer. I love the guitar solo.

Track Listing:

1. Young Lust
2. F.I.N.E.
3. Going Down/Love in an Elevator
4. Monkey on My Back
5. Water Song/Janie’s Got a Gun
6. Dulcimer Stomp/Take Me to the Other Side
7. My Girl
8. Don’t Get Mad, Get Even
9. Hoodoo/Voodoo Medicine Man
10. What It Takes

Steve Tyler- lead vocals

Joe Perry- lead guitar, slide guitar, backing vocals

Brad Whitford- guitar, lead guitar on “Voodoo Medicine Man”

Tom Hamilton- bass, backing vocals

Joey Kramer- drums

When the likes of Motley Crue and Poison were ripping up the metal world, old timers Aerosmith came in and took over with “Pump.” This album put them back on top of the music world.

Next post: Nine Inch Nails- Pretty Hate Machine

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Great Metal Albums of 1988: Poison- Open Up and Say Ahh!

In the life of 80smetalman, everyone’s favourite band of phillies with willies, Poison, put out their first two albums in the wrong order. Although the 1986 album, “Look What the Cat Dragged In,” is the inferior of the two albums, it would have suited me more if it had come out in 1988. By this time in my life, I was settling into domestic bliss unlike two years previous when I was still a big party animal. That’s precisely the reason why it would have suited me more if the 1988 album, “Open Up and Say Ahh!” was made two years earlier is because I find it to be one big party album!

“Open Up and Say Ahh!” is an album to have at parties. Every track, okay, except for the power ballad which I’ll get to, is one, cliche alert, to have blasting out the speakers while driving with the windows down. And if you don’t have a car, then it’s one to have playing in the living room while consuming many cans or bottles of amber nectar. What’s even more perplexing is that while many people out there, including some of you, my readers, have called CC DeVille the worst guitarist in metal but he sounds okay on this album.

If any track relates to the party theme, it has to be one of the four singles from the album, “Nothing But a Good Time.” More stereotypical cliches here but it’s a song you have for Friday night as you are preparing to go out and party after a working week. Unfortunately, working a crap job and a baby on the way, I wasn’t able to take advantage of the theme of that song. The other tracks pick up the theme from there with “Back to the Rocking Horse” being the hidden gem. This has a definite hard rock vibe to it and the entire band clicks on all cylinders. “Good Love” has a swagger to it and “Tearin’ Down the Walls” has some cool opening riffs and it another definite hard rocker.

One can’t talk about this album without mentioning the power ballad, do I even have to say the title? Just in case, I do mean “Every Rose Has Its Thorn.” Like hard rocking males back in the 1970s used to play “Beth” by KISS to seduce their ladies, this was the song which metalheads in the 80s used in a similar attempt. It is a cool power ballad even though I sometimes make jokes about it. After all, it did come in at number 15 in my list of top 30 power ballads.

“Fallen Angel” was another single and though I don’t rate it has good as the other singles from this album, I also prefer the cover of the Loggins and Messina classic, “Your Mama Don’t Dance,” especially with CC’s guitar solo, it’s still a great song to keep drinking to. God, some of you might think I’m a right lush. Well, I was more back in the 80s but these days, it’s all done in moderation. That reminds me, I have a bottle of wine in the fridge to finish off.

Track Listing:

1. Love on the Rocks
2. Nothin’ But a Good Time
3. Back to the Rocking Horse
4. Good Love
5. Tearin’ Down the Walls
6. Look Buy You Can’t Touch
7. Fallen Angel
8. Every Rose Has Its Thorn
9. Your Momma Don’t Dance
10. Bad to be Good

Brett Michaels- lead vocals, rhythm guitar, acoustic guitar, harmonica

CC DeVille- lead guitar, backing vocals, keyboards

Bobby Dall- bass, backing vocals

Rikki Rockett- drums, backing vocals

For those of us in the UK, this weekend, with the bank holiday Monday, would be a great time to get this album out, crack open the tins and have a listen. For the rest of the world, you don’t really need the bank holiday as an excuse. “Open Up and Say Ahh!” is Poison’s best performing album, I’m not surprised.

Next post: King Diamond- Them

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Great Metal Albums of 1988: Wrathchild- The Biz Suxx

What seems like a long time ago, I stated that the band Tigertailz were trying to be the British version of Poison. Perhaps I was a bit hasty there because after listening their album, “The Biz Suxx,” it might be Wrathchild who more deserve that title. Although, Wrathchild came out of the new wave of British heavy metal in the early 1980s, they didn’t achieve the success of other bands from that time. Then there’s their image, while not quite the ‘fillies with willys’ which Poison have been called, Wrathchild do try to go heavy on the make up.

The album is pretty fun, a good one to have at parties but I can also hear why they didn’t achieve the success of let me say, Iron Maiden or Judas Priest or even Saxon. What I can say is that there is a sound similar to Poison with many of the songs. What I do like is some of the spoken parts like at the beginning of the title track which states, “What’s wrong? It’s only rock and roll” and the dialogue with an unknown lady on the track, “Hooked.”

Girl: What are you doing, Rocky?

Rocky: Looks like you, babe

Girl: You’re pretty sure of yourself

Rocky: Well, your mother didn’t seem to mind

I know this isn’t too politically correct these days but a cool guitar solo from Lance Rocket follows immediately. The album also features what is possibly Wrathchild’s best known song, “Na Na Nuklear Rokket.” Yes, I am sure the bad spelling on the song titles is one of the band’s selling points but what I like about the song is the fact that it has a real catchy melody and the band aren’t trying to sound like Poison or anyone else for that matter. But if “Na Na Nuklear Rokket” was the single, then “She’z No Angel” is the hidden gem. You get a good vocal performance, cool guitar solo and a steady rhythm section, all in a song about a bad girl.

My realization from the album is that Wratchild use innuendos, some sleazy some not, in the lyrics to attract listeners and not just on the spoken parts. Further along on the title track, there’s the line: “I look like a star but I’m still on the dole” which is a dig at the fact that the band weren’t getting rich from their record sales.

With all that said, the band can play some. Lance puts down a couple of good guitar solos, one on “Hooked” and another on “Ring My Bell.” Furthermore, his opening riffs on “Hooligunz” is quite impressive and a decent guitar solo to boot. Credit where due must be given to the rhythm section as well. While not mind blowing, Marc Angel and Eddie Starr lay down a consistent beat all throughout the album. While I won’t call lead singer Rocky Shades a weak link, he’s not the greatest singer in metal but makes up for it with plenty of charisma.

Track Listing:

1. The Biz Suxx
2. ££ Millionaire $$
3. Hooked
4. Na Na Nuklear Rokket
5. Wild Wild Honey
6. Ring My Bell
7. Hooligunz
8. She’z No Angel
9. OK. UK
10. Noo Sensation
11. Sticky Fingerz

Wrathchild

Rocky Shades- vocals

Lance Rocket- guitar

Marc Angel- bass

Eddie Starr- drums

They say that in 1988, glam and hair metal bands were coming out of the woodwork and I can see truth in that. It could be why Wrathchild never got any real traction. However, this album is a fun listen and oh yes, that’s Bruce Dickinson in the video for “Na Na Nuklear Rokket.”

Next post: Dogs D’Amour- In the Dynamite Jet Saloon

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Great Metal Albums of 1987: Tigertailz- Young and Crazy

Making their way around the British metal scene in 1987 was Welsh glam metal band Tigertailz. While I never got the chance to see them live, I do know they played great London rock clubs such as The Marquee and the Royal Standard. Looking at this album cover, your initial reaction is probably similar to mine back then, they could rival Poison in the ‘rock dudes who look like chicks’ sweepstakes.

The funny thing is that their debut album, “Young and Crazy,” is similar to the Poison sound. I do hear the similarities between the two bands. However, I also note a KISS influence in some of their songs, the opener, “Star Crazy” and “Shameless.” Paul or Gene would both be comfortable singing either of those songs.

There is no doubt in my mind that Tigertailz were a competent band and there are some really good songs on it. The standout song for me is definitely “Livin’ Without You.” Crunching guitars and a pumping bass dominate the song but without losing any of the catchy melody. It is probably Steevi Jaimz best vocal effort and the crunching rhythm in the middle stamps its authority. Additional, there is a great drumroll from Ace Finchum and Jay Pepper lays down his best guitar solo. Definitely, my choice for best song.

The other thing is that because they look and sound similar to Poison, I want to compare and contrast them with Poison. What would be cool if Brett Michaels came and sang for Tigertailz as he is better than Steevi Jaimz while Jay Pepper is a better guitarist than CC DeVille. Just my opinion and of course, you are all free to offer yours. The teacher in me always welcomes debate.

Oh, another thing about the track, “Shameless,” is that while KISS influenced, in the middle of the song, Steevi does a David Lee Roth style spoken part. Is it as good as Dave? Well, not many singers can talk their way through songs like DLR but I will give Steevi and ‘A’ for effort. Where Tigertailz go original is the track, “City Kidz.” There is a blues like swagger to this song and a real cool rhythm guitar riff before a cool guitar solo. Okay, it gets the number two spot in the best song on the album category.

“Shoot to Kill” isn’t a bad track but it’s more filler with all the cliche heavy metal elements to it. On the other hand, “Turn Me On” is definitely the song for the rhythm section. It begins with Jaimz saying, “Come on Ace” and Ace responds with a cool drum fill. His drums take command but there is a good bass solo from Pepsi Tate in the middle. Less fortunately, it’s sandwiched between the two filler tracks. The former already mentioned track and “She’z Too Hot” has the same heavy metal cliches. Still, it’s not that bad. The title track is a more lively penultimate track where Jay is once again let off the leash on the six string. However, the album ends with a decent power ballad in the form of “Fall in Love Again.” At first it seems out of place but that thought is quickly erased and guitar and bass make it okay.

Track Listing:

1. Star Attraction
2. Hollywood Killer
3. Ballerina (Instrumental)
4. Livin’ Without You
5. Shameless
6. City Kidz
7. Shoot to Kill
8. Turn Me On
9. She’z Too Hot
10. Young and Crazy
11. Fall in Love Again

Tigertailz

Steevi Jaimz- vocals

Jay Pepper- guitar

Pepsi Tate- bass

Ace Finchum- drums

In respect to what I said about the Brett vs Steevi aspect. Steevi isn’t a bad singer but he wasn’t that good. It’s probably why Tigertailz got a new singer after this album. There is even a re-recorded version of my favourite track sung by the new singer. Anyway, this is a good effort from a band looking to make it. If the production had been better, then I think it would have been phenomenal.

Next post: Anvil- Strength of Steel

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London’s Aladdin’s Cave of Heavy Metal

Now that I am back from my weekend of playing Santa Clause to my step-grandchildren in Cleethorpes, I can return to posting about the golden age of heavy metal. However, this post isn’t for an album or event which happened in 1987. Instead it’s about a record store in London called Shade’s. A few years back, fellow blogger Every Record Tells a Story wrote a post about the store and now that it has been several years, I thought I’d put my own spin on it.

The best way I can describe Shade’s is using the words I used in “Rock and Roll Children,” an Aladdin’s cave of heavy metal. Although in the book, I changed the name to “Snakes” so I wouldn’t infringe any laws. It was down an narrow lane, so you had to actually be looking for it in order to find it and once inside the door, the staircase leading down to the main room added to the cave effect. Actually, I think I described it better here than I did when I wrote “Rock and Roll Children.”

Inside Shade’s

Shade’s had everything a metalhead could possibly hope for. Records, tapes, t-shirts and all other types of metal paraphernalia was on sale. I thought it particularly cool when I say a t-shirt of Kreator’s “Pleasure to Kill” album cover. However, I procrastinated and when I tried to buy it a few months later, it was no longer available. The attitude of the sales attendant when I inquired confirmed the belief that Londoners didn’t do customer service very well. They also sold concert tickets as it was there that I bought my ticket to see Possessed, Voi Vod and the English Dogs. Furthermore, while they had the classics, they also seemed to get the albums from the US when they first came out. That’s how I learned of new releases from the likes of KISS, Whitesnake, Billy Squier and the Killer Dwarfs. My one regret is that I wasn’t able to attend when Poison showed up for an autograph signing.

Unfortunately, Shade’s is no more. I heard it had become an internet cafe but I can’t be sure. I also wonder if they had been around in 2010, if they would have sold copies of “Rock And Roll Children.” I hope they would have. Still, I have fond memories of this great store.

Next post: Lee Aaron

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80sMetalman’s Top 30 Power Ballads: 11-20

It figures that once I embarked on this massive project, there would be power ballads from my past which really liked but forgot about because of time. Since my last post two have come to light in my mind. Now I know how Sam Beckett must have felt like in Quantum Leap with the Swiss cheese brain. One of them, “I Believe In You” by Y&T, was one but would have only made the lower twenties. The other I have put it jointly with another on the upcoming list. Thing about this one is that this band has already had an entry and though the one from the previous list was commercially more popular, I prefer the the ballad on today’s post to that one. Anyway, here’s 11-20!

20. Def Leppard- Bringing On the Heartbreak

19. Pretty Boy Floyd- I Want to Be With You

18. Danger Danger- One Step From Paradise

17. Von Groove- Arianne

16. Warrant- Glimmer

15. Poison- Every Rose Has Its Thorn

I know I take the piss out of this song a lot but I secretly really kind of like it.

(Joint) 14. The Scorpions- Still Loving You

Yep, you guessed it! This was the other one I had forgotten about. Call me weird but I prefer this one to “Winds of Change.”

(Joint) 14. Metallica- Nothing Else Matters

13. Asphalt Ballet- Wasted Time

12. Steelheart- I’ll Never Let You Go

11. Little Angels- I Ain’t Gonna Cry

There are probably other great power ballads I had forgotten about and you can feel free to put them forward but I must tell you, my top ten is set in stone. In the meantime, you got 11 great power ballads to rock out to.

Next post: 1-10

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