When Helix seemingly dropped off the map in the mid 90’s, I didn’t think they’d ever really come back with more studio albums. Yet they did thanks to the power of the internet. The Power Of Rock And Roll is a return to roots of sorts, after the alternative stylings of 2004’s Rockin’ in My Outer Space. This is a throwback to the basic guitars/bass/drums/shredding vocals of the Helix of yore! “It’s a party that’s better than a beer, it’s a party in your ear!” That’s their modus operandi on “Fill Your Head With Rock”, a song they wrote for the Sweden Rock festival. They named it after the Kim Mitchell song of the same title, also recorded for Sweden Rock.
The Power Of Rock And Roll is essentially a reissue of the earlier seven song EP, Get Up! with five additional tracks added. If you already have Get Up! (which is now out of print), you still need The Power Of Rock And Roll because those five new songs are just awesome. Wait until you hear the power of “Nickels And Dimes”, an awesome track with a great chorus. “Eat My Dust” might be the fastest song Helix has ever done. “The Past Is Back (To Kick Your Ass)” is truly a statement of purpose. And kick your ass, this album will!
Personal favourite: “Get Up!” Can’t get enough of that chorus! “We don’t need a reason to party, so get up get up!” The first time I heard “Get Up!” was when Helix opened for Alice Cooper in Kitchener in early 2006. It was a brand new song, but instantly memorable. Brian Vollmer noticed I was in the second row singing along to the chorus. He came down and slapped my hand!
Guitars are by session musician Steve Georgakopoulos who used to play Ace Frehley in the London tribute band Alive. As such, you may notice some very Ace-like bends and licks. Steve co-wrote every song on this album with Vollmer and Gord Prior (ex-Blu Bones). The only thing that I disliked about this album is that then-current members of the live Helix band doesn’t play on it. Rick VanDyk (ex-legendary Kitchener band Zero Option), Jim Lawson, Brent “Ned” Niemi, and Paul Fonseca did not appear, although they’d play everything live. In their stead are the aforementioned Steve Georgakopoulos on guitar, ex-Sven Gali drummer Rob MacEachern, and ex-Helix bassist Jeff “Stan” Fountain. I guess this is fine — these guys have a longstanding relationship with Helix. MacEachern even later joined the band in 2009. They’re all studio pros, and the album does not suffer for it. It’s just a personal taste thing. I prefer the members of the band to play on the albums. I’m traditional that way.
There’s a bonus track, a remake of the hit “Heavy Metal Love” which is almost as great as the original. Casual listeners might not even notice the difference. This was done to coincide with the use of the song in the first Trailer Park Boys movie.
If you’ve ever been a Helix fan, you will be delighted and pleasantly surprised by The Power Of Rock And Roll. Every single song kicks, no ballads. It is pure, raw, well recorded, well played, and Vollmer signs his ass off.
4.5/5 stars
Notice the Japanese symbol for “power” on the back?
Only good news today. Mrs. LeBrain just met with Dr. Sugimoto, for what is likely to be the very last time. “Dr. Sugi” inspected her incision and is very happy not only with how it’s looking, but how well Jen has managed since her surgery almost two months ago. She’s been out and about every day for the last few weeks, sometimes even by herself. She’s getting stronger. Personally I think she’s stronger now than she was before the surgery.
“Dr. Sugi” says we don’t have to come to London anymore. He is satisfied that Jen has kicked cancer’s ass. No more trips to London, and sadly, no more Dr. Sugimoto. It’s been an emotional time and we’ve grown very attached to him. It’s weird to say, but we will all miss him.
The drive down to London was a piece of cake. Rush’s A Farewell to Kings was the soundtrack. I don’t know how it’s possible but she fell asleep during “Cygnus X-1”. For the trip home, I chose All The World’s A Stage. She was blown away by Peart’s legendary drum solo.
Remaining positive in the face of adversity is not easy, But Jen has managed to do it. She gets up each day and kicks ass, and looks forward to doing it again the next day. We still struggle knowing we cannot have kids, but being alive and healthy is so much more important than that. It really is. Her positive attitude through this has been inspiring. I hope readers have gained that much from her.
We had one errand to run on the way home. As you hopefully already know, March 9 is the release date of Judas Priest’s brand new Firepower album! I ran in and out of the mall in less than five minutes — I am the man! The deluxe edition of Firepower is in my happy hands. Rock journalist Mitch Lafon says it’s already his #1 album of 2018. Time to put Firepower to the test!
Thank you for reading these past six years. If you’re new and you like what you see, why not go back and check out the whole story from the beginning? It’s an epic tale of slinging the rock in Kitchener Ontario, from the front lines of a Record Store. 12 years in the trenches resulted in an older, wiser man with stories of legendary music, infamous parties, trials, Tribble-lations, retribution and vindication. It is the rise, fall, and resurrection of yours truly. And who am I? Just a guy with some great stories.
These are the Record Store Tales. Thank you for reading!
Helix’s fifth album was an important one. They were following the “big hit” album (Walkin’ the Razor’s Edge) and there were expectations. The band collected another batch of original material and hit the studio with producer Tom Treumuth again.
1985’s Long Way to Heaven is the second album with the “classic” Helix lineup: Brian Vollmer, Brent “the Doctor” Doerner, Paul Hackman, Greg “Fritz” Hinz and Daryl Gray. All but drummer Fritz contributed songs, with Vollmer, Hackman and Doerner leading the pack.
The two singles were the opening tracks. “The Kids Are All Shakin’” is a catchy for American radio play. It has always been a damn fine song.
Down in New York City, All the way to L.A., Boys and girls are gonna shake it, Yeah, each and every day.
There’s also a reference to a fan letter from Poland that was a big deal to the band at the time. “Kids Are All Shakin’” is a great rock and roll celebration, but the single version with additional keyboards is better.
The other single was the hit acoustic/electric ballad “Deep Cuts the Knife” written by Hackman and Bob Halligan, Jr. To this day it remains one of, if not the very best ballad Helix have done. It has atmosphere and bite, and a killer vocal performance by Brian Vollmer.
There are good tracks after the first two, but nothing quite as memorable. “Ride the Rocket” (Vollmer/Halligan) is fun but silly. I’m sure you can guess what kind of rocket Brian is singing about when he says “Reach in the pocket”. Other decent songs include the title track, which has a great chorus melody, and the heavy-as-fuck “House on Fire”. There’s also another ballad called “Without You (Jasmine’s Song)” that is worthy of praise.
There is nothing wrong with any of the other tunes, and some have some pretty cool moments. “Don’t Touch the Merchandise” has a nifty a cappella section that proves what great vocalists the band are. It’s just that none of the other songs really have a lot of staying power in the brain.
Long Way to Heaven was one of those follow-ups that was good enough, but always remain in the shadow of the more successful predecessors.
GETTING MORE TALE #659: Once Upon a Time in Shaolin
It is one of a kind, but it wasn’t the first of its kind. Jean-Michel Jarre made one copy of his Musique pour Supermarché album, for an art exhibit. He then destroyed the master plates. To this day, the only music that exists from that album are poor quality bootlegs from an AM radio broadcast. So, the Wu-Tang Clan were not the first to press up only one copy of an album.
The big difference is that Wu-Tang never intended to destroy Once Upon a Time in Shaolin. They intended to sell it as a one-off work of art.
Wu-Tang leader RZA made Once Upon a Time in Shaolin as a statement of the devaluation of music in the Spotify generation. The single copy would be made available by auction to a fortunate buyer, who then had to sign a contract agreeing that the album could not be sold commercially for 88 years. There is an unconfirmed and bizarre clause in the contract that only the Wu-Tang Clan or Bill Murray could rightfully steal the album back. It sounds like one massive publicity stunt, except that it wasn’t. The 88 year clause ensured that nobody would be getting rich off this for a long, long time (if ever).
Wu-Tang spent six years recording the double album. The tracklist has never been confirmed, nor the artists appearing on it. The auction house, Paddle8, assembled a list of working titles: 26 tracks spread over two CDs. Reportedly, Cher sings on two songs. It is assumed all the living members of Wu-Tang appear on it too. The packaging is an elaborate silver box with a key lock built in. The Guinness Book of World Records calls it the most valuable album of all time, exceeding even Bob Dylan’s original Freewheelin’ LP with the four removed tracks still intact, or the Beatles’ “butcher cover”.
Wikipedia
How much is the “most valuable”? Once Upon in Shaolin was purchased for $2 million US by “Pharma Bro” and general scumbag Martin Shkreli. Shkreli bought the CD before he became notorious for raising the price of a life saving AIDS drug by 5000%. Had this happened before, Shkreli would likely not have passed the vetting process. Wu-Tang wanted to ensure the album went to a fan who would appreciate and honour its value. Instead it went to one of the most despicable human beings on the planet.
Shkreli thought about destroying the album, or putting it somewhere so hard to get that hearing it would amount to a religious pilgrimage. According to the contract, Shkreli could have broadcast the album for free. Instead he taunted fans and played a couple snippets online. Wu-Tang member Ghostface Killah called him a “shithead”. In an act of what surely must be bad comedy, Shkreli then made a video with three masked thugs appearing to threaten Ghostface. “You’ll be a ghost for real, motherfucker!” says one of the henchmen.
“Dennis…I’m going to call you by your ‘government name’. You’re not a ‘ghostface killah’. I’m sorry.” — Martin Shkreli
Is Shkreli a fan or just a rich troll? He says he bought the album because he loves hip-hop but also relishes being a musical “villain”. He claims he hasn’t played the whole thing. Shkreli tried to sell the album on Ebay, where he wrote: “I decided to purchase this album as a gift to the Wu-Tang Clan for their tremendous musical output. Instead I received scorn from at least one of their (least-intelligent) members, and the world at large failed to see my purpose of putting a serious value behind music.” There was a winning bid on Ebay of over a million dollars, but it is not clear if the sale went through.
Speaking of “intelligent”, someone should tell Martin Shkreli that threatening people on video is not very bright. Nor is committing fraud, of which he was convicted. He followed this by stupidly offering anyone $5000 for a lock of Hillary Clinton’s hair. The judge presiding over his case saw that as a threat of assault, and sent Shkreli to jail. Do not pass “Go”, do not collect $2 million dollars.
“The Sound of A” is in the air…but it took 50 years to get there!
Alice Cooper’s Paranormal was one of the most delightful rock releases of 2017, which really came as no surprise. Alice has been consistently awesome for several albums in a row. Any time he works with producer Bob Ezrin, you can count on quality. The new five track Sound of A EP is quality.
The song “The Sound of A” was written in 1967 by Alice and bassist Dennis Dunaway. When Cooper reunited with members of the original band for some songs on Paranormal, Dunaway suggested revisiting “The Sound of A”. With Bob Ezrin’s help, “The Sound of A” has become another in a long line of understated Cooper classics. It has the sound of Welcome to My Nightmare with a hint of the present. Another apt (but coincidental) comparison would be “Journey of 1,000 Years” by Kiss.
“The Sound of A” is packaged with four unreleased live songs: “The Black Widow”, “Public Animal #9”, “Is It My Body” and “Cold Ethyl”. Of these, the real treat is “Public Animal #9”, an old School’s Out favourite that has never seen release on any Alice live album. This is from Columbus Ohio in May 2017. As is often the case, “The Black Widow” is shortened live, but “Public Animal” is damn fine. Can you believe it took this long to get a live version? It’s one of the best on School’s Out, albeit in the shadow of a big hit. Even “Cold Ethyl” is hard to find live. You can locate it on 2011’s No More Mr. Nice Guy via Concert Live, and the semi-official Extended Versions and Alone in His Nightmare.
Don’t miss The Sound of A. Consider it a live EP with some stuff you’ll be glad to have.
Happy belated birthday to this single, released March 3 1987!
GETTING MORE TALE #658: Wanted Dead or Alive
I didn’t care for Bon Jovi. They seemed like a “girls’ band”. It seemed to be all about the screaming ladies. I did like Europe. “The Final Countdown” was a pretty cool anthemic track, with a sci-fi lyric. The rock press were pitting one band against the other: “Who’s better, Bon Jovi or Europe?” I took Europe every time.
Besides, what the hell was a “Bon Jovi” anyway?* Bon means “good”. “Good Jovi to you, sir!”
I continued to ignore Bon Jovi, while receiving Europe’s The Final Countdown as a gift for Easter 1987. The album took a couple listens to get into, but once I did, “Rock the Night”, “Ninja” and especially “Cherokee” blew me away. Europe weren’t a “girls’ band” to me, with songs about Ninjas and Cherokees.
My sister and her friends loved Bon Jovi. One of them had a crush on keyboardist David Bryan. I thought he looked weird, like he had gummy worms in his hair. I remember they were writing “BON JOVI” and “DAVID BRYAN” in the sand at the beach. I erased it and changed it to “BON SCOTT” and “BRIAN JOHNSON”. Take that, eh? No wonder I thought Bon Jovi were a “girl’s band”. Anyone who had a younger sister at the time probably thought so too.
Considering that I own an extensive Bon Jovi collection now (Richie Sambora era only), something must have changed. What was it?
Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora wrote a song together in Richie’s mom’s basement. It was an acoustic song called “Wanted: Dead or Alive”. When I saw the music video in July of 1987, it changed all my impressions.
That 12 string acoustic rang true, on a song that deserves all the awards, video play and accolades. Something about the song was very real. Writing in that New Jersey basement about the road life was about as honest as Bon Jovi get, and you can hear it in the recording. “Wanted: Dead or Alive” turned me around rather quickly. I taped the video, and from there put “Wanted” on a cassette tape. The cassette tape had a lot of new songs from the summer of ’87: Ace Frehley’s “Into the Night”, and Ozzy’s live “Crazy Train” were among those tracks. Eventually I had to get all those albums.
I received the Frehley and the Ozzy for my birthday. I bought Bon Jovi later on in September. By then, I was familiar with all the singles and a track called “Raise Your Hands” from the movie Spaceballs. I just had to digest the album tracks.
Slippery When Wet was…OK, I guess. Not as good as The Final Countdown was. Not all it was hyped to be, but good enough. “Social Disease” was pretty bad. Slippery struck me as a couple songs short of a great album. Good enough, though, to hang on ‘til the next one.
1988’s New Jersey was the next one. It seems they ditched 80% of the schlock and really tried to get back to their roots. I loved New Jersey and it was my first Bon Jovi CD once I had a player. Whatever authenticity they had on “Wanted: Dead Or Alive” spilled all over New Jersey.
“Wild is the Wind”, “Blood on Blood”, “Ride Cowboy Ride”, “Stick to Your Guns”, and “Homebound Train” had the magic. There is something real and close to perfect about those songs. Bon Jovi put out an album soaked in passion, as opposed to the sterile and clean Slippery When Wet. It didn’t match the 12 million copies sold of Slippery, but New Jersey was so slouch at 7 million.
It’s funny to be using words like “integrity” when speaking of Bon Jovi today. They’ve become an adult contemporary project; no longer a rock band. “Wanted” was their first acoustic hit and it’s often considered one of the landmark ballads of the era. In many respects, the lite-rock Bon Jovi of today was forged by “Wanted”. But that doesn’t tarnish the song itself. “Wanted: Dead or Alive” is still fantastic. Even better is the 1987 acoustic version, only available on cassette single (or Japanese CD single).
You can go ahead and scoff at Bon Jovi, in light of the last 10 or even 20 years. They’re a mere fraction of the group they used to be. Yet “Wanted: Dead or Alive” still stands as a high water mark that any band would be jealous to have.
Big thanks to Craig Fee over at 107.5 DaveRocks for this one!
During Craig’s live “Tedious Tiresome Trivia” segment on the Tuesday afternoon show (on which he takes live phone calls), he received a call from Ray at “Visa Mastercard”. The entire thing went out on the air, live, just as you hear it below. There’s nothing Craig loves more than messing with a solicitor calling into his show. Needless to say, things go wonky very quickly.
What I learned from “Visa Mastercard” on this call is that, apparently, your credit card number is not personal information. It’s right there on the face of the card, so that makes it public…apparently. “Anyone can see that or memorise that,” according to the “Visa Mastercard” rep (“not a third party!”) that unwittingly called a radio station.
Do you like soundtracks? Do you like Star Trek? Well then! I will be LIVE tonight at 12:30 AM (ET) Saturday morning with Robert Daniels on VISIONS IN SOUND. Tune in on your dial to 98.5 or internet to CKWR! You folks in the UK can tune in as you enjoy some morning java! Join Us THIS Saturday 12:30-2:30am (ET).
This Week On Visions In Sound – “The 25th Anniversary Of Star Trek – Deep Space Nine” – This week we celebrate the 25th Anniversary of the third Star Trek series, Deep Space Nine. Also joining me this week is Treks-pert Bob Puersten and special guest Michael Ladano as we discuss this highly popular series. Featured music will be from series composers Dennis McCarthy, Jay Chattaway, John Debney, David Bell and Paul Baillargeon.
GETTING MORE TALE #657: Operation: Van Halen (D’s story) Guest post by guitarist and songwriter D
Alright, so I’m pretty sure all of us can relay some embarrassing moments from our teenage years. I dunno if it’s the changing hormones or what, but we tend to be pretty damn stupid in these formative years. I have been thinking about my teen years a lot recently, most likely since my high school 10 year reunion is coming up in 2019.
I don’t if it’s nostalgia or what, but I have suddenly been reliving a lot of moments from this time. Here’s something you have to know to know about me first before I start my story. I spent most of my education in public schools in Southern California, namely elementary school and college (two years at a Pasadena City College and then three at UCLA as a transfer student). I switched to a small Christian K-12 school for middle and high school because of bullying (cops got involved, nasty stuff). While I was a working class kid of a single mom, this small school had scholarships and financial aid that made it possible for me to attend.
It is at this small school in “SoCal” that my story takes place. This story involves a CD; well, two CDs to be exact. You see, music has been my obsession my entire life (it eventually became what I studied in college). I had a far ranging interest in all kinds of music from around the world but as a teenager rock, namely punk and metal, amped me up the most.
Above all bands was Van Halen.
Pretty much every person that knew me also knew how obsessed I was with the band. It didn’t matter what incarnation of the band, I owned every damn CD and cut my teeth as a guitarist on all those records.
So while I was a teenage metalhead and punk, what went along with that was that I was a bit of…let’s say, a social anomaly. I didn’t really fit into any clique, but most knew me as a decent guy who was just a tad obsessed with Eddie Van Halen. To go along with this, I was horrifically shy around girls I found attractive.
Awkward doesn’t even really cover it, but holy shit did this come to a head in a hilariously embarrassing way with a girl I liked from age 14 to age 15 (this story ranges from late middle school to early high school). Let’s call this girl “S” so that this never makes it back to people I know. Remember how I mentioned that I was a bit of a social misfit? This girl S wasn’t. In fact, she was popular.
Very. Popular.
My dumb ass had the bright idea to get a crush on a (future) cheerleader who hung around (future) jocks that hated my guts (incidentally I did play starting right tackle on the high school football team) and boy was I about to make my mark. Remember how I mentioned that I was shy around girls? Yeah, that meant I couldn’t hold a conversation without my voice cracking from nerves.
So I had a plan to say something without too many words. I was going to go old school and make a mix tape for her since my conversations were very limited. “Oh man S, is going to so dig this! She’ll love that I shared this amazing band with her,” I thought to myself. The thing is, it was my 8th grade year in the early 2000s so cassettes weren’t the thing anymore. As such, I made her a mix CD.
Not just any mix CD though. A VAN HALEN mix CD.
All the classic Roth and Hagar love songs were there man, it didn’t matter that S was more of a Mariah Carey fan, I figured NOBODY could deny the mighty VH.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA BOY WAS I WRONG.
Once I made the CD I approached her locker shaking like my apartment during an earthquake and the conversation went something like this.
Me: Hey… uh… hi S!
S: Oh hi D.
Me: So uhhhh…I really like Van Halen…and I…uh…(reaching into my backpack) made this CD for you.
S: Ok?
Me: Yeah…soooo…let me know what you think…k bye!
A day passed and I approached her again towards the end of the day. I figured “OK dude, this is it, you’re gonna find out how much she dug it!” Cue scene:
Me: So… how did you like Van Halen?
S: (nods slightly, forces a polite smile) Yeah… it was… pretty good.
Me: Cool! I, um, yeah cool see ya!
Later on I found out that she didn’t even listen to the damn thing. Friends of mine standing near the “popular group” heard that she didn’t even want the CD and tried to hand it over to guys in the group that liked metal. Major bummer.
But I wasn’t finished embarrassing myself hooooooooo boy I was just getting started.
The 8th grade year ended and I continued to make awkward conversation with S and left a couple of really geeky messages on her home answering machine (FUN FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY). On the last day of the end of the year I was risking my neck by wearing a Van Halen t-shirt (band shirts were banned by the fascists at my school). I wore it in rebellion of the fact that we were going to have to wear uniforms starting my freshman year of high school. That day I got her to sign my yearbook and she wrote, I’m paraphrasing more or less, “you’re awesome, never change <3 –S”
DUDE SHE PUT A HEART OMG.
You see I didn’t realize at the time that girls just do that sort of thing, so I figured I still had a chance. Anyways, I got made fun of quite a bit by the jocks for the whole Van Halen thing, but still liked S. Come freshman year I was a starter on the football team (still not a jock…just was a great lineman), and S had recently had her birthday.
Operation Van Halen part 2 was on.
This time I made a pastel artwork for her (I was a decent artist back then) and… also made another fucking mix CD. This time it was mixed with some more recent bands popular at the time, but still had Van Halen and also some solo Roth and Hagar as well.
Conversation follows here:
Me: So… I have something for you, wait here (I run into the athletic locker room and get the gift).
Me: (hands the artwork and CD over) Happy birthday S.
S: (stares blankly) Oh… you didn’t have to do that (gives awkward hug).
Me: (freaking out that she hugged me) Yeah…uh happy birthday, bye!
In the year that followed this solidified my place in the pantheon of stupidity as the hostility of the jocks increased since I continued to try to pursue a chick outside of my social standing. Eventually I gave up and moved on with my life. Van Halen became a running joke among the popular crowd (one jock grabbed my yearbook and wrote VAN HALEN SUCKS just for “lolz”).
Joke was on them though, I eventually became a really great guitarist (I’m sure Mike can testify to this) and performed frequently in front of the school. My senior year the leader of the worship band asked me to play this Steve Vai piece; I won 2nd place in the talent show for (most people thought I was robbed of 1st). Incidentally, I was placed right in front of S and her pals for the performance.
I wonder if she remembered those stupid CDs I made.
HELIX – The Power of Rock and Roll (2007
Personal favourite: “Get Up!” Can’t get enough of that chorus! “We don’t need a reason to party, so get up get up!” The first time I heard “Get Up!” was when Helix opened for Alice Cooper in Kitchener in early 2006. It was a brand new song, but instantly memorable. Brian Vollmer noticed I was in the second row singing along to the chorus. He came down and slapped my hand!
mikeladano.com 