Author: mikeladano

Metal, hard rock, rock and roll! Record Store Tales & Reviews! Grab A Stack of Rock and more. Poking the bear since 2010.

#1204: By The Light of the Silvery Moon

O, By the light of the silvery moon
I want to spoon, to my honey I’ll croon love’s tune
Honeymoon keep a-shining in June
Your silv’ry beams will bring love dreams
We’ll be cuddling soon
By the silvery moon
(Edwards/Madden 1909)

Oh, the moon! That might explain things. You see, the moon affects the brain.
(Amman – Clash of the Titans 1982)

RECORD STORE TALES #1204:  By The Light of the Silvery Moon

I’m not a nocturnal person, though I used to pull a few allnighters with Jen when we were first dating.  I do have insomnia, so I often wake in the middle of the night.  At home, this usually means checking my email and having a drink before heading back to the sheets.  At the cottage, I enjoy stepping out into the cool summer air and having a look around.

I don’t bring a flashlight.  I let my eyes adjust to the darkness and wander.

You see things at night.  When visible, the moon lends a silvery sheen over the entire landscape.  Not quite enough to read by, but certainly enough to see the ripples of waves on the water.  Under the cover of trees, silver slits of light pierce the darkness, creating spotlights on the earth.  If there is a breeze, the movement of the trees can really make you feel as if you’re not alone.

You hear things at night.  Once or twice I heard a coyote, crying like a human child and echoing through the valley.  Another deep dark night, I heard a growling that I could not see.  We do get bears here.  Sometimes the swaying trees can create a growling sound as they move in the night, but this growl scared me and I made a quick retreat back to the house.

I enjoy the total solitude at 3 AM.  I feel more connected to nature by the silence (other than wind, waves and nocturnal beasts).  I don’t wear shoes on these walks.  I can feel the grass or cool sand beneath my feet.  Sometimes I stub my toe on a tree root, but that’s a small annoyance in the grand calculus of the pitch black night.

I try not to make a sound.  Just observe with my senses. Feel the cool air on my back.  It’s mental health maintenance.  While I love living in Kitchener (for many great reasons), I feel truly free and alive in the wilderness.

A special moonlight treat is when the silvery satellite turns blood orange.  A moonset is a very special sight that not many get to know, or even know about.  I’ve seen a few of them.  When a crescent moon hits the horizon, people describe as the image of a blazing sailing ship on the edge of the lake.  This year, wildfire smoke has prevented us from seeing the moon kiss the horizon, but its orange glory remains as a fiery ember in the sky.  When the moon is full, you can imagine it is a burning Balrog, climbing out of a gaping maw in the dark mines of Moria.

Truly the world looks alien at night in the light of the moon.  Perhaps that is why I love it so much.  I have always yearned to see other worlds, but the beauty of the Earth is enough to last many lifetimes, if you go out at night under the light of the silvery moon.

 


Of all the versions of “By the Light of the Silvery Moon”, Little Richard’s is one of the highest charting, going to #17 in the UK, 50 years after the song was written. Other renditions were performed by Gene Vincent, Doris Day, Fats Waller, Etta Jams, Burl Ives, Ray Charles, Julie Andrews, and even Bugs Bunny (Mel Blanc) among countless versions.

50 Years of IRON MAIDEN episode 20: Virtual XI with Jake (Not From State Farm)

50 Years of IRON MAIDEN episode 20:  Virtual XI

With special guest Jake (Not From State Farm)

GRAB A STACK OF ROCK #113

2nd show of Friday August 7!  For Music & Mental Health II, click here.

 

The Blaze Bayley era ended as swiftly as it began.  Two studio albums and a handful of singles were all this lineup produced.  Here we appraise the final Iron Maiden album with Blaze at the microphone, the oft-misunderstood Virtual XI.

This episode will prove to be our most controversial to date.  Special guest Jake (Not From State Farm) does not hold back on certain topics, especially when it comes to fandom unwilling to accept the new lead singer.  As fans of this dark era of Iron Maiden, we will tell you what was great about this album, while hopefully taking a balanced approach.  Even so, some will not be happy with what we have to say.

Personal memories of Virtual XI are coupled with the facts and figures.  Unlike the X Factor, we do not have 14 original studio tracks to break down this time.  Iron Maiden took a leaner approach to songwriting and recording this time, but the two singles (“Angel and the Gambler”, and “Futureal”) did yield a small treasure trove of live versions, something that the previous singles did not.  As usual we will look at every single B-side, including the edit version of “Angel and the Gambler”.  We will also take a look at the limited edition lenticular cover art, while Harrison will go into detail on the accompanying tour.

Buckle up, metal heads.  Tonight we take no prisoners on 50 Years of Iron Maiden.

Friday August 8 at 7:00 P.M. E.S.T.  Enjoy on YouTube.

Past episodes:

Handy YouTube Playlist:

🅻🅸🆅🅴 Music & Mental Health II with Johnny Metal and Mike

SPECIAL TIME!  2 episodes coming today!

GRAB A STACK OF ROCK With Mike and the Mad Metal Man

Episode 112: Music & Mental Health II with Johnny Metal and Mike

This special live episode is a sequel to last month’s mental health episode called Ask Jex Anything.  In this installment, Mike and Johnny Metal return to the cottage, live, to discuss new developments and updates.  Returning to work after a mental health leave can be daunting, but we’re going to go there.  Mike is also dealing with the death of his beloved grandmother, and all the complex feelings that arise from that.

Music will always remain important when we talk about mental health.  When Mike first started experiencing his own issues, there was a new single out by Motley Crue called “Primal Scream” that seemed to express his feelings after a lifetime of bullying:

When I was just a young boy,
Had to take a little grief,
Now that I’m much older,
Don’t put your shit on me!

What a release music can be!  We will also discuss physical activity such as yoga, and other healthy ways to help purge those negative thoughts and feelings.  We’ll also share an incredibly thoughtful email from Broadway Blotto, from (of course!) the band Blotto.

This is the first of two episodes today.  50 Years of Iron Maiden will continue in the evening.  Look for this in a separate post.  We hope you can join us live this afternoon for this very important episode of Grab A Stack of Rock.

 

Friday August 8 at 3:30 PM EST, 4:30 PM Atlantic.  Enjoy on YouTube or Facebook.

#1203: Wildfire Haze (with drone videos)

RECORD STORE TALES #1203: Wildfire Haze

 

Wildfires are more and more common as the world warms, but this year has been something else.

The sunsets have been alien and unimpressive.  The sun appears as a red dot, but disappears before reaching the horizon.  You can’t smell or taste the smoke, like you could in 2023, but the visuals are more obvious in 2025.  The windmills that dot Bruce County disappear into the distance.  The horizon isn’t a clear line, but a blur.  The sky is a hazy blue-grey.  The water is a shimmery silver.  It is like we live on an alien world, or a place from a science fiction dystopian novel.

This is the first chapter I have written since we lost Grandma on July 30, 2025. If she were here, I would show her the photos and videos and ask if she had ever seen the lake like this, in her 60 or so years at Lorne Beach. While I can never ask her now, I feel like the answer would be no. I don’t think she’d ever seen a sky like this on Lake Huron.

Grandma’s funeral will be August 22.  I have been asked to speak.  I would have wanted to speak even if I was not asked, but now that the task is ahead of me, I am strangely without words.  I have things I want to say, but these thoughts are disorganized and jumbled.  When I speak at her funeral, I want it to be the best speech I’ve ever given.  I have spoken at weddings, funerals, and my Grade 2 English project, but this feels like the most important speech I have had to do yet.  What to say?

I wish I could show you the wildfire haze, Grandma.  Actually I wish you were there on the weekends like you used to be.  I used to drive her to the lake.  I would pick the music.  She liked my picks.  She didn’t even mind Sloan’s 4 Nights at the Palais Royale, which was the exact length that it took to go from her driveway in Waterloo to her cottage.  A few weeks ago, we decided to drive to the cottage listening to music she’d like, so we picked the Swingers soundtrack.  She loved Dean Martin.  She loved Tony Bennett.  A lot of our family’s musical inclination came from her side of the family.  Though my dad played saxophone, Grandma’s family were the musicians.

I miss talking to her.  I used to say she was the only one in my family who understood me when I spoke.

I’m going to have to come up with a heck of a speech for her.

 

 

VIDEO: Grab A Stack of Rock – Emergency Preparedness Kit – Just in case the nuclear reactor melts down!

Things you didn’t know about Grab A Stack of Rock summer HQ!

It’s not just about the music and showing off our collections in paradise.  It’s also about emergency preparedness!  Check out this helpful video in the event you’re ever up in cottage country during a nuclear meltdown.

These kits are distributed to residents within 10 km of the Bruce Nuclear power plant.  I thought it would be at least interesting to have a good look inside one!

 

Tim’s Vinyl Confessions: Ep. 689: Top UK Albums August 2, 1970 (including Black Sabbath)

Join Tim Durling for another one of his channel’s fun features: Music charts from this time in history! This week, Tim goes back 50 years to August 2, 1970. Some interesting charting albums here from the 2001 soundtrack to Black Sabbath’s debut LP. Tim asked me to say a few words about Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath for this episode, so check it out!

#1202: Jock Jams

RECORD STORE TALES #1202 Jock Jams

At the Beat Goes On, we had a lot of teachers as customers.  Teachers were interesting customers.  They were like sheep, all looking for the same thing.  It was so bizarre the first time I was swamped by teachers all coming in looking for the same CD.  A CD that was out of print, incidentally.  That CD was TSN’s Jock Jams disc.

In the late 90s, teachers were told at a teaching convention that kids learn better to certain kinds of upbeat music.  1995’s Jock Jams was given as an example of the kind of music to play in class.  Teachers were told to get a copy, play it in class while kids worked, and note the improvement in their performance.  Jock Jams!  That is what they were told to buy.  They couldn’t get it at the mall, since it was out of print.  So, they came to us, a used CD outlet.  We were swamped, at every location, by teachers.

“Do you have Jock Jams?” asked the first one.  I didn’t have one in stock, but I called one of our other stores who did have it.

“Can you get them to hold it for me?  I’ll be right there,” said the teacher.  That teacher would be the only one to score Jock Jams on that day.  Shortly thereafter, a second customer came in asked for the exact same CD.  That always raised my eyebrows when it happened.  When multiple people came in asking for the same album on the same day, over and over again, it meant something had happened.  Sometimes it meant an artist won an award.  Other times it meant the artist had died.  This time, much to my surprise, it because of a teacher’s convention, where they were told to buy an out-of-print and out of date CD.

“Do you have Jock Jams?” asked a second customer.

“No,” I answered in surprise. “We just sold our only copy.  Literally just now, a guy came in and got our only copy.”

“When can you get another? I need it for my class. I’m a teacher.”

“Well, we are a used CD store, so we’ll get another copy when it is traded in. I can put you on a wait list,” I answered.

“How long will that take? I need it for September.”

“Impossible to guess,” I replied. “The CD is out of print.  Someone has to have a copy, and trade it in first. I can put you on a waiting list.  Or I could get you Jock Jams 2?” I offered.

“No no,” answered the teacher.  “We were told to get Jock Jams 1.”

“Jock Jams 2 will have similar music, just newer songs that your students will know better than Jock Jams 1,” I mentioned.

“They said to get Jock Jams 1,” replied the teacher with zero initiative.  And so, the customer left their name and number and I put them on a wait list.

Then the next customer came in.

“Do you have Jock Jams?” they asked.

“No, we sold our only copy this morning. Are you a teacher?” I asked.

“Yes, how did you know?”

Because of that teacher convention, we had 20 customers come in that day for Jock Jams, and added seven names to the waiting list. It took years to clear that waiting list.  Notably, a few went for the more recent Jock Jams 2, but most were steadfast.  “We were told to use Jock Jams 1,” they would answer.

“Well I can tell you that you’re not going to get Jock Jams 1 in this town, this semester,” I regrettably informed them.  “Your students won’t even know the songs on Jock Jams 1.”

“We’re supposed to use Jock Jams 1,” they would reply.  OK…lots of luck!

We ended up cranking our prices up on Jock Jams 1 any time they came in stock.  They used to be $8.99.  Now we would ask $19.99.  Supply and demand, and there was very little supply and much demand.  Teachers didn’t want alternatives to Jock Jams. “We were told to get Jock Jams,” they would bleat like sheep.  This went on a couple years, every August.

Every time I see a Jock Jams CD, I think of that damn teacher convention that brainwashed these people into thinking that Jock Jams, and only Jock Jams, would improve their students’ learning.  Only towards the end of the rush would teachers finally break down and buy something else that was similar in style, like a MuchDance album.

I lost a lot of faith in the teachers of the late 1990s during the week of that convention, and the rush on Jock Jams.  No imagination, no flexibility, no originality.  What was the world coming to?

 

 

50 Years of IRON MAIDEN episode 19: Best of the Beast & Virus

50 Years of IRON MAIDEN episode 19: Best of the Beast & Virus

GRAB A STACK OF ROCK #111

Iron Maiden’s first official compilation album came at an interesting time.  Many bands release such albums after a massive success, to keep capitalizing upon it and keep the artist on the charts.  In Maiden’s career, the first compilation came during the dark times of the 1990s, when sales were lower and tickets were not flying out the door.  Welcome to Best of the Beast, available in several configurations.  There was a single CD (which we ignore for the purposes of this episode), a beefed up double CD, and a Holy Grail 4 LP set with exclusive extra tracks.

Taking a roughly reverse-chronological approach, Best of the Best contained a new single called “Virus”, unreleased live tracks, and the Soundhouse Tapes reissued.  Harrison and I cover every single track, what might have been missing, and all the B-sides to the “Virus” single.  We also take a deep dive into the artwork for the album, single, and postcards included.  The album itself was a deluxe package with plenty of Eddies to enjoy.

Have you decided that you don’t need Best of the Beast because it is “merely” a compilation?  Harrison and I will convince you otherwise, tonight on 50 Years of Iron Maiden.

Friday August 1 at 7:00 P.M. E.S.T.  Enjoy on YouTube.

Past episodes:

Handy YouTube Playlist:

The Greatest Grandma – Rest in Peace Doris “Dolly” Winter: Jul 12 1924-Jul 30 2025

I wrote this over two years ago.  We thought she was gone, four or five times since 2022.  Now it is the sad time to post it.

 

For most of my life I’ve only had one grandparent.  I never knew Grandma Ladano – she’s been gone over 70 years.  Grampa Ladano died in 1981.  Grampa Winter left us in 1984.  For over 40 years, I’ve only had one grandparent and she’s the best one you could ever ask for.

I was a cheeky kid.  Around the time I started highschool, I started calling my grandma “Dolly”.  Everybody else called her Dolly (her real name is Doris), so we kids started doing it too.  She never quite liked it though.  I reverted to “grandma” in more recent years.  I can’t remember the last time I called her “Dolly” but that’s what her friends called her!

She babysat me when I was really young and I have so many memories of being at her house.  Playing games like Mousetrap and Clue.  Reading books, watching the Flintstones.  Grandma and Grampa took me to Welland to see the big boats at the canal.  How exciting that was!  I remember those big ships, so long that I could not even fit one into a single camera frame.

She was always good to us.  When visiting, she’d serve up my favourite pork chops:  in mushroom soup!  Or, I’d eat all her Rice Krispies.  My dad and I would dig carrots out of her garden.  Oh, how she hated us stealing her carrots!  Later on in life, I would have dinner at her house every Thursday night in between classes at school.  Thursdays were my busy day.  I had day classes and night classes.  There was a short break between the end of the afternoon class and the night class, and my grandma lived really close to the university.  I would eat with her for an hour and head back to school.  We always had a nice visit.  I remember during exams, I once forgot my pen so I quickly drove to her house, got a pen, and got back to my exam just in time to start!  Her house – so many memories!  An epic front hill, and lots of fun adventures in her yard.

She always tried to treat us right, though she didn’t know exactly what we liked.  One birthday, she wrote me a cheque and asked me to use it to buy “one of your CD records”.  Another time she bought me Ozzy Osbourne’s Blizzard Of Ozz, with him dressed as a priest holding a big cross!  I know she didn’t pick that one!  As a staunch Catholic she never would have picked that one!  She prefers John McDermott to John “Ozzy” Osbourne.

When we travelled with Grandma, she was always a bit slower than the others, so I always hung back a bit to make sure she was OK.  “Wait for the grandma!” I would shout as we walked through an airport in Toronto hauling all our bags.  “Wait for the grandma!”  I would always make sure we didn’t lose sight of her.  Calgary 1997 with Grandma and Aunt Marie was one of my favourite trips ever.

In the years following that, I enjoyed driving Grandma to the cottage.  I would pick her up after work, and we’ve drive up together.  I played the music a little lower for her.  She would point out things along the road that I couldn’t look at because I was too busy driving.  “Look at the dandelions!” she would say with excitement, not realizing I was too busy keeping my eyes on traffic.  She never drove, which we didn’t understand when we were little kids.  An adult who didn’t drive?  How unusual!

We loved spending time with her, shopping at Zellers or going to one of the restaurants she liked such as the Cedar Barn.  She hates this story, but I can’t help but laugh.  She wanted to treat my sister and I to lunch at the Cedar Barn, but when it came time to pay, they didn’t accept cheques or credit cards.  Cash only.  My sister and I scrounged enough together to pay for the lunch.  It was funny to us at the time.  She didn’t think it was funny, but I still smile.  Sounds like a scene from a movie!  Grandma invites the kids out to lunch, but then realizes she can’t pay!  I think it’s pretty funny.

Speaking of scenes from movies, in 1998 we all went to the theater as a family:  my mom, my aunt, my grandma and my sister.  My mom and sister came with me to see Star Trek: Insurrection.  Grandma and Aunt went to see You’ve Got Mail.  Grandma loved it!  Coming out, she said “I just saw the nicest movie.  It was called There’s Mail Waiting For You!”.  A few years later, she was telling us about another movie she liked called Brother, Can You Spare A Dime?  She had actually seen O Brother, Where Art Thou?”

Most of all, I’ll always cherish how much she loves a visit.  The longer the better.  Just a visit is all she needs to be happy.  As she got older, she had to sell the cottage.  She could no longer handle the travel.  She sold the cottage to my sister, and every summer I make cottage videos for her to watch.  One time I forgot my laptop.  She noticed right away!  The videos are a highlight of any visit.  But all she needs is a visit.

In the end, she got tired.  Tired of being tired all the time.  She stayed for us, but everyone has their time to go.

I had the best grandma.  I’m a lucky grandson.

#1201: Reno Schmeno! (What A Song Should Do)

RECORD STORE TALES #1201: Reno Schmeno! (What A Song Should Do)

The things we find and re-discover during renovations are exciting!

I was extremely anxious in the months leading up to replacing our windows.  As classic collectors of merch (aka “hoarders”), we had to move a bunch of stuff and make a lot of space.  We donated a lot of clothes, and we dug up a ton of cool stuff that we forgot we had.

In a box hidden away, I found five sealed Transformers toys (including four 3rd party toys) that were San Diego Comicon exclusives.  I bought them years ago, cheap.  I just sold the first one for $250.  I also dug up some musical treats and memories that are only the tip of the iceberg.

More discoveries included binders full of collector’s cards, and a box full of Jen’s teenage and mid-20s CD collection.  Some surefire embarrassments in there that will make for a great video post someday soon.  I also found a box full of memorabilia, which I have purposefully not dug into yet, because I want to surprise myself on camera when I open it up.

As the kids say, if you don’t do it on camera, what’s the point of doing it?

Finally after several weekends of work, we were ready.  New windows going in July 28.  I tore down my PC and relocated it to a safe room.  I covered everything in sheets.  We over-prepared.  This caused all my anxiety to melt away and transform into excitement.  Our old windows were 34 years old.  Last winter, you could feel the draft, and this summer they started to leak.

The window renovations were scheduled for 8:00 AM.  I woke Jen up at 7:00 to do the final prep.  We set up a nice area in the kitchen to sit and stay out of their way.  They would need access to all the other rooms.  Four windows in total, including bedroom and en-suite bathroom…and of course Grab A Stack HQ’s window.

8:00 ticked by.  No trucks outside.

“Maybe they’re eating breakfast,” said Jen.

8:30.  9:00.  No sign of the workers.  I was impatient, but knew they would get there eventually.

Finally at 9:30 a truck rolled in.  As the workers poured out, a second truck (a foreman) also pulled in.

“You guys have to get here at 8:00 AM!” he yelled.

“We’re trying,” replied one of the workers.

“It’s 9:30!” yelled the foreman.  “You’re at the shop at 7:30; it doesn’t take two hours to get here!”

Fortunately, the workers were efficient, considerate and friendly once the work started.  I didn’t want to have to move my actual desk at Grab A Stack HQ.  It would be easier for me to move the the PC and peripherals while leaving the desk intact.  The main worker said “no problem”.  They did a great job working around my small desk.

The windows were all ripped out by 11:00 AM.  The guys took a lunch break.  Gleefully, I stuck my head out the gaping holes, seeing my home from an angle I’ve never had before.  I have to admit, I had fun.

The workers were based out of St. Thomas, where I assume country music is the norm.  Their truck was backed in close to my open window holes.  I got to hear every song.

Every. Damn. Country song.

The one that sticks out the most reminded me of Bon Jovi, but not in a good way.  It went like this:

Hell yeah,
Me too,
Yeah, that’s what a song should do.

I laughed to myself.  What shit!  I wonder if Iron Maiden would agree that a song should make you go “Hell yeah, me too”?

I asked my buddy Tim Durling, who works in radio and was familiar with the song, who sang this atrocity?

“That guy,” he responded.  I laughed.  Turns out it is a Canadian country singer named Tim Hicks.  Of course he would be named Hicks.

I didn’t hear one single country song that I recognized the whole day.  They all sounded like stuff that could have been on Lost Highway by Bon Jovi.  Awful, but I looked at it as a learning experience, as I did the whole day.

The guys were done by about 3:00 PM.  I set up my computer and started to refresh Grab A Stack HQ around my new window.   It went so smooth.  We only had two issues.  My security camera won’t power up.  I guess I must have dropped it.  We also needed to get creative when hanging the blinds back up, but they are only temporary.  We will be getting new ones to go with the new windows.

Jen and I are thrilled with our new windows and brighter spaces.  We can’t wait to continue this project into 2026.

Playing music in my new brighter HQ makes me happy.  Isn’t that what a song should do?