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: 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

Dead Musicians Bands

Dio

When I wrote “Tee-Bone Man and Superdeke’s Time Travelling Adventure” for Mike Ladano’s blog, the biggest challenge in discipline for me was not to get totally carried away with all the possible collaborations between musicians who have left us. It doesn’t take too much smarts to realize that the possibilities are endless and I could have filled many pages with them and that’s just the ones I would like to see!

Lemmy

First, I am quite convinced that every deceased musician would love to sing or play with the King, Elvis and that includes Lemmy. It would be an interesting song, that part’s for sure. Of course Lemmy wouldn’t be left out as many would like to get him to play bass on their song or sing with them and I’m not just talking about metal musicians. Why couldn’t he lay down a bass line for Jim Morrison or Janis Joplin? Then we can take it to the complete other extreme and have Lemmy do a song with Whitney Houston. Why not?

One combination I mention in the story would almost certainly happen. I firmly believe that Ronnie James Dio would have hooked up with former bandmates from Rainbow and the connection of that band to Deep Purple and Black Sabbath and formed a band with Jimmy Bain on bass, Jon Lord on keyboards and Cozy Powell on drums. Furthermore, I stand by my choice for guitar in the group as I strongly feel that Criss Oliva of Savatage fame would be the best fit for the above combo. Of course, you are all welcome to put forward alternatives.

The Fab Four

The Who

One combination which I thought of putting into the story but didn’t was a collaboration of the two deceased Beatles and two deceased members of The Who. John Lennon and George Harrison on guitars, John Entwistle on bass and Keith Moon on drums might be something to hear. We can even make it more interesting by throwing in the two deceased members of The Rolling Stones. Then again, we can get Brian Jones and Charlie Watts to play along with the two dead Doors! Like I said, the possibilities are endless!

The teacher in me has now taken over and so, here’s your assignment. Put together your own bands, duets or collaborations of deceased musicians and post them here! There are no right or wrong answers. Maybe the Righteous Brothers song I featured last week can motivate. After all, they have a point: “If there’s a rock and roll heaven, you know they’ve got a hell of a band.”

If you missed it last time, you can read the story here: https://mikeladano.com/2022/10/05/the-adventures-of-tee-bone-man-chapter-8-tee-bone-dekes-time-travelling-adventure-by-80smetalman/

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

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 1987: Twisted Sister- Love is for Suckers

As a big Twisted Sister fan, it saddens me to write that “Love is for Suckers” was an album which was doomed from the start. Following the disappointing (I didn’t think it was that bad) “Come Out and Play” album, Twisted Sister was seen as a band in decline. In the summer of 1986, all of their albums were selling at half price or less. Therefore, not many people cared when they released this album a year later.

Cracks were already beginning to emerge in the band even before the album was made. Drummer A.J. Pero left and was replaced by Joey Franco. Furthermore, Dee Snider originally intended it to be a solo album, however, the record label insisted that all the band be brought in and record it as a Twisted Sister album. With all this seeming to go against it, it is little wonder why the album is virtually unheard of outside Twisted Sister circles and even the band doesn’t like to talk about it. But, is the album that bad?

Let me get right to the point, “Love is for Suckers” is a notably better album than their previous album. While many critics slammed the album for giving us nothing new, I think that they were just trying to recapture the magic which brought them to superstardom just a few years earlier. The album starts off with a great TS anthem in “Wake Up the Sleeping Giant.” Dee wrote this song as a big ‘FU’ to the likes of Tipper Gore and the PMRC. While it’s a true metal song, it is the only song to appear on the Twisted Sister tribute album, “Twisted Forever,” covered by the rap artist Chuck D and his version is also really good.

“Hot Love,” while lyrically, it is a song about lusting after and wanting someone, it’s backed up be some really heavy power chords and a cool guitar solo. It was the only single from the album and didn’t do too bad, reaching 31 in the Billboard charts. Then we get to the title track, which is speedier track where Joey Franco earns his stripes with the band. True, it’s an anti-love song, but its done with a sense of humour. Franco’s drumming leads in “I’m So Hot for You,” I’m getting a vibe where this album is going lyrically where Dee seems to be focusing on the love theme. But there is the catchy guitar vibe to it which has you banging away to it nevertheless. Closing out the first side is “Tonight,” which is a departure from the love song lyrics of the previous three songs and more of a motivational song, intended to get you up and raise your fist. I sometimes think this song should have come right after the opener but the energy behind it is such that when the song ends, you need that breather to change the record or tape over. It has a great guitar solo and ends with “Did you come to see the bad boys?”

Side two opens with some great riffs on “Me and the Boys.” This track definitely reminds me of the Twisted Sister I came to know and love. It’s a definite wake up call taking you back to the good old days. This brings me to my big question about this album. Why wasn’t “One Bad Habit” released as a single? I remember having this on in my car and my friend who was in the car with me and unknown to things Twisted Sister began singing along to it. The lyrics, “I have one bad habit, I love to rock and roll” may have sounded cliche but would have worked. The guitars would have let metalheads know that it wasn’t a sell out song but the use of the horn section was vey nicely done.

“I Want This Night (To Last Forever)” comes in as if it’s going to be a power ballad but as it progresses, you get more power and less ballad. It’s just gets down and dirty and highlights the fact that Eddie Ojeda and Jay-Jay French haven’t lost their touch with the six strings. The penultimate track, “You’re All That I Need” is the true power ballad and brings back fond memories of their other great power ballad, “The Price” off the “Stay Hungry” album. This one comes pretty close to equalling that classic one. Keeping with the “Stay Hungry” theme, “Yeah, Right” is a short, to the point power track which closes this album the way “SMF” closes their most iconic album.

Track Listing:

1. Wake Up the Sleeping Giant
2. Hot Love
3. Love is for Suckers
4. I’m So Hot for You
5. Tonight
6. Me and the Boys
7. One Bad Habit
8. I Want This Night (To Last Forever)
9. You’re All That I Need
10. Yeah, Right

Twisted Sister

Dee Snider- lead vocals

Eddie Ojeda- guitars, backing vocals

Jay-Jay French- guitars, backing vocals

Mark ‘The Animal’ Mendoza- bass, backing vocals

Joey ‘Seven’ Franco- drums, percussion

Twisted Sister come out and play, taken at Bloodstock 2016

Due to the lack of recognition “Love is for Suckers” received, Twisted Sister would break up shortly after. Dee rarely speaks of the album and I now know why they didn’t play any songs off it when I saw them at Bloodstock 2010 and 16. He stated that it brings back too many bad memories for the band. It’s a big shame how one seemingly bad album, “Come Out and Play,” can wreck a band because I like the album a lot more than I did their previous one.

Next post: Gay Bikers on Acid- Drill Your Own Hole

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

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

Great Metal Albums of 1987: Reckless- No Frills

Sometimes some of the tracks on the tapes my sister would send me were somewhat misleading. Often times, I thought that some of these bands were bigger in America than they actually were. Such was the case with New York band, Reckless. The track on the tape was the closer, “Holding On” from their album “No Frills.” I have always liked the song. It’s good straight forward metal. Plus, lyrics like these have always amused me for the past thirty-four years.

JD and Hennessy are old friends of mine

We get together and have a glass

And talk about old times.

As a result, I was somewhat disappointed at the amount of digging I had to do in order to find out the details about this album. My go to sources, Wikipedia, Heavy Harmonies and Metal Emporium did not house them. Fortunately, a general Google search provided the information I required for the post. Saying that, I didn’t need much back story to appreciate their album. Influences can be heard throughout. The opener, “Nitty Gritty” is definitely AC/DC influenced. Maybe a little of The Who as the opening notes do sound a little like their hit “Substitute” but the AC/DC influence is definitely there. The next track, “Wild in the Streets,” has a Judas Priest feel to it while the third, “Deadly Game,” is the closest to a power ballad on the album. It has a slower pace but does speed up in places and a killer guitar solo from Bob Gam.

It is the fourth track that really gets me. It sounds maybe a little too similar to my favourite Twisted Sister song of all time, “You Can’t Stop Rock and Roll.” Then when I read the credits, I discovered why this might be the case. The album was produced by none other than Jay Jay French and Mark ‘The Animal’ Mendoza, yep, those guys from Twisted Sister. In my opinion, the chose the right Twisted Sister song to emulate.

I thought I would put the picture in the post because it was a good shot of Jay Jay French and Mark Mendoza. Twisted Sister come out and play, taken at Bloodstock 2016

The second half of the album, while in no way bad, isn’t quite as good as the first half. I think the problem is that Reckless were so influenced by other bands that they never really stamp their uniqueness on the album. Another example is that the track “Breakin’ Up” sounds pretty much like what KISS was doing at the time and though they do it quite well, there is nothing that screams, “Reckless is different.” It’s a bit of shame because listening to the album, I can say that Reckless are a very capable band. You get some good riffs and solos from Gam. Chris Cintron is a very good vocalist. He doesn’t have to scream but delivers a sound performance on every song. Furthermore, Gary Kriss and Bob Smith make an excellent rhythm section, as good as any out there at the time.

A perfect example of what I am trying to convey is the track “Railroad Alley.” The performance of the band on this track is absolutely phenomenal. However the song is let down by a rather lackluster chorus. Speaking of influence, I do believe I hear a Motorhead influence on “Eye For an Eye” and it’s another example of a great band playing an “it’s all been done before song.” Anyway, Reckless do stamp their own mark on the already mentioned closer, “Holding On.” Even though I have listened to the album four times now, this song is still the best one on the album. They literally save the best for the last.

Track Listing:

1. Nitty Gritty
2. Wild in the Streets
3. Deadly Game
4. Voices in the Night
5. Crazy Over You
6. Breakin’ Up
7. Night After Night
8. Railroad Alley
9. Eye for an Eye
10. Holding On

Reckless

Chris Cintron- lead vocals

Bob Gam- guitar, backing vocals

Gary Kriss- bass, backing vocals

Bob Smith- drums, backing vocals

Normally I lament over why a band such as Reckless didn’t go further. They definitely had the tools to do so. However, what they needed is better song writing and to find their own niche instead of letting so many influences dictate. Still, this is a good album which should be dusted off and listened to.

Next post: Def Leppard- Hysteria

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

Merry Christmas to All!

I would like to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. 2020 has been a terrible year in a lot of ways and things aren’t looking to get better anytime soon. We’ve had the pandemic and the passing of many great rock stars. Now, it’s my sad duty to add one more to this sad list. Leslie West, guitarist in the band Mountain passed away yesterday. This means the year is going out in the same sucky way it came in.

Leslie West

Mountain

But enough gloom for now! Reading your posts and having you read and comment on mine has made a big difference this year. I hope everyone enjoys their Christmas. May those who indulge get plenty drunk and eat lots of turkey and sweets. I leave you now with Mountain’s best known song, “Mississippi Queen” and three alternative versions of the carol “Deck the Halls.”

Merry Christmas to all!

Merry Christmas to All!

A few years ago, I posted my top ten favourite Christmas songs. Now that I can paste them on here from Youtube, I thought I’d share them again while giving you a chance to listen to them and get in the festive mood. Besides, since that post, my top ten has shuffled a little. Listen and enjoy.

10. Slade- Merry Christmas Everybody

9. Joe Diffie- Leroy the Redneck Reindeer

8. The Darkness- Christmas Time

7. ACDC- Jingle Hell’s Bells

6. Bob Rivers and Twisted Radio- Walking Around In Women’s Underwear

5. Bob Rivers and Twisted Radio- Frosty the Pervert

(Author’s Advisory) This song is not for the young or those who are easily offended

4. The McKenzie Brothers- 12 Days of Christmas

3. Stryper- Winter Wonderland

2. Weird Al Yankovic- The Night Santa Went Crazy

1. In the original post, I put the entire Twisted Christmas album but for time’s sake, I chose what is my favourite song from said album

Twisted Sister- Let It Snow

I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and get lots of good music in your stockings and party away the festive season. Here’s some of my provisions, yes, it’s the same as last year.

My provisions for Christmas

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Book Review: Bruce Dickinson An Autobiography

Welcome to my second ever book review. The first one was three years ago so I figured it was time I do another. Okay, it’s because I write more than I read but this particular book definitely needs a comment or three on. My total reaction to “Bruce Dickinson, An Autobiography” was, “I wish I could write like that.” Bruce has a distinct writing style that definitely entertains as well as it informs. When recounting his life, he doesn’t do the normal David Copperfield crap with dates and list of his life’s events. Instead he gives those accounts through his own eyes in a very amusing way which at times while reading it made me wonder if I should pack up writing.

Iron Maiden

Naturally, I read the book to hear about his life with the great Iron Maiden and yes, there are some wild accounts there. However, his life before and outside of Maiden was just as intense. Reading about his childhood, his father was a bit of a Delboy Trotter, (a character from the famous British sit-com “Only Fools and Horses), in the sense that he was always acquiring and running different businesses, often at the same time. At one point, he owned a hotel but sold used cars from the front of it. I point this out because I think Bruce’s childhood experiences contributed to his eccentricity.

Bruce Dickinson

How he became a pilot was also a very good and interesting read. He started on a twin engine plane and by the end, he was piloting huge passenger jets. Then there is how he started his brand of beer, “The Trooper.” However, the part that I found most interesting was during his solo career. His account of his concert in war torn Sarajevo and all what he and his band had to go through, the check points, the fear of getting fired on, to be able to perform was absolutely mind blowing. Talk about guts but then it was those guts that helped him beat cancer very recently. How he describes what he went through while battling this disease is harrowing and it’s only right that he gets full marks for overcoming it.

Bruce Dickinson’s autobiography is a cracking read from start to finish. He keeps the reader entertained while at the same time giving them insight into his wild and wonderful life. Plus there are a few surprises along the way as long as events that I didn’t know about but not surprised about. I bow to the superior writer here.

Reading the autobiography has further convinced me that Bruce Dickinson deserves a knighthood. Therefore, I call on all British readers to clink the link and sign the petition.

https://www.change.org/p/special-honours-committees-for-knighthoods-a-knighthood-for-bruce-dickinson

On a different note, though I have retired from festivals, I will still go for single days. This year, it looks as if I must go to Bloodstock on the Sunday because Queensryche are headlining and Twisted Sister’s Dee Snider is also on the bill for that day.

Next post: Starship- Knee Deep in the Hoopla

I don’t feel worth to post a link to Rock and Roll Children for this post.

1985: The Backlash Begins

Ever since the days of Elvis, there has always been a backlash against rock music and the backlash against heavy metal in particular has always been many folds greater. Whether it be religious fanatics, parents or just trendy top forty followers who just didn’t like the genre, there have been people dead set against heavy metal music. This backlash had been slowly building up throughout the early 1980s but the fact that heavy metal had gotten mainstream attention in 1984 was enough to blow the powder keg in 1985.

The first instance that turned my attention to this backlash was reading letters to MTV citing that they were either playing too much heavy metal or not enough. It would appear that in or around March of 1985, the anti heavy metal brigade won out as MTV made a statement that it would be playing less metal on the air. Now, it’s easy to think that there were that many more anti than pro metal people writing to MTV and if anyone says that it was because metalheads are too stupid to write, me and many of my followers here will be over to your house to kick the crap out of you! Once again I digress but my theory was that by the end of the previous year, MTV was already becoming nothing more than a glorified commercial radio station. Some Dead Kennedys lyrics come to mind here and I’ll reveal those when I visit their “Frankenchrist” album which came out in said year. Oops, digressing again but less and less metal was being played on MTV or the radio.

Dead Kennedys

As 1985 progressed, I began to notice it in more ways. There wasn’t just a backlash against heavy metal but persecution of metalheads as well. One thing I was criticized for in “Rock And Roll Children,” though I don’t regret it one bit, was over pounding the point of how metalheads were discriminated against back then. Truth was they were! I simply pointed this out. Example, based on my own experiences: in 1984, I went to a McDonald’s after the Dio/Twisted Sister concert and had no problems, nor did the many other metalheads who hit up the place after the show. One year later, my friends and I hit the same McDonald’s after the Motley Crue/Loudness concert and upon entry, were greeted by all sorts of negative comments. Also, like in the story, there was an off duty cop in the store pontificating how no one did anything like that in his day and how he busts punks like us for drugs all the time. While, there were no arrests that night, one month later, after seeing Dio, we hit the same McDonald’s and this time, it was like a policeman’s convention. This brings me to another point, while I never saw it happen, there were tales in 1985 of police getting warrants and going into pre-concert parties and busting metalheads. However, they didn’t do that at the Wham concert where I heard eyewitness accounts of 12 year old kids getting falling down, sickly drunk. It was definitely war on metalheads in 1985.

Of course, the more astute of you will recall that in the closing months of the year, the backlash against rock music and especially heavy metal became the subject of a congressional hearing and lead to the formation of the Parents Music Resource Center, (PMRC). Even after more than thirty years, I tend to laugh at this if it wasn’t so pathetic and there will be a post dedicated to that.

In spite of all the doom and gloom, the backlash achieved very little. Great albums were still being made and you’ll get to read about a lot of them. There were other great events and concerts including the most famous one, Live Aid. So, sit back and get ready for another roller coaster year in the golden decade of metal.

Next post: Glenn Frey- The Allnighter

To download Rock and Roll Children for free, go to: https://crreadac.cf/current/ebooks-free-download-rock-and-roll-children-fb2-by-michael-d-lefevre.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

80sMetalman’s Top 30 Power Ballads: 1-10

The moment of truth has arrived! I am going to real my all time top ten power ballads. Before I do, let me just thank you for all of your comments and for simply enjoying the ride. While sitting down actually figuring out my top 30 was more exhausting than I had anticipated, it was still great fun. Think of all the songs I got to listen to. I know some of you might be a little disappointed that a power ballad you really love didn’t make the list but believe me, there were so many to choose from. Pity poor Ozzy, he has delivered many a great power ballad but not one of them made my list. It’s not that I didn’t want to include him, my favourite Ozzy power ballad, “In Old LA Tonight” from the “Osmosis” album came pretty damn close. Maybe if he preforms it at Download, I may change my mind. Anyway, enough of me rambling on, here’s my top ten.

10. Dokken- Alone Again

9. TNT- Eddie

8. Beggars and Thieves- Your Love is in Vain

7. Steel Panther- Community Property

I can see with lyrics like these why some people don’t take SP seriously but this is a kick ass power ballad!

6. Tyketto- Standing Alone

Another reason why Danny Vaughn doesn’t get the accolades he so truly deserves as a singer.

5. Pretty Maids- With These Eyes

4. Twisted Sister- The Price

For me, this song put the power in the ballad!

3. Savatage- All That I Bleed

I had to do some complicated math to include this one. The first half of it is a piano ballad while the second half completely rocks. So I applied the formula ballad + power rocker = power ballad

2. April Wine- Just Between You and Me

Go back and re-read my post on their 1981 album, “Nature of the Beast” and you’ll see why it’s number two.

1. Heart- Allies

Heart would put out two more commercially successful power ballads later on in the 1980s. However, in my mind, they would never be as good as this one, not even close.

There you have it, 80sMetalman’s top thirty power ballads. I hope you have enjoyed listening to them as much as I have.

Next post: A Great Unknown Philadelphia Band

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