Our special co-host tonight will be Grant Arthur from Grant’s Rock Warehaus. Thanks for filling in, Grant!
Considering our first chat with Archie went almost two hours, this time we’ll be focused on fun. Tales from the road, tales from the studio, and beyond! Who’s been rocking Archie’s speakers lately besides The Warning? Find out tonight…
Friday November 29 at 7:00 P.M. E.S.T. / 8:00 P.M. Atlantic. Enjoy on YouTube or onFacebook!
My dad used to tell me stories about my grandfather, his dad. “He had the gift of gab,” said my dad. “So do you, too. He could have sold ice to Eskimos.”
He was right. I’m good at small talk. I just hate it, that’s all.
The year was 2004. I was stuck working at the Beat Goes On location that I hated most, the Highland Road store. It was on the wrong side of town, had a lot of crackhead customers, and there was no direct way to get there like the other stores I worked at over the years. It was, by far, the worst store I had managed. Small, out of the way in a little known plaza, and with the corporate office in the back. That meant that Boss Man made it his headquarters, as did the office Bully and her lacky. The only days I enjoyed working there were Fridays. The office bully usually chose Friday afternoons to work with her friend at the Cambridge store. Seniority had its privileges. I tried to hide my improved Friday moods from my co-workers so they wouldn’t figure out how much I hated that bully. It failed. They all noticed I was in a much better mood on Fridays.
I remember one time the Boss Man was observing me at work. He noted that my shoulders were hunched up when dealing with him, but when I was just working with my regular staff, I was more relaxed. He used this as a chance to critique my management style with my subordinates. I don’t think he ever understood that I was tense and hunched up around him because he stressed me the fuck out! He did that to a lot of us. Not all, but he sure could be intimidating just by standing there. When I first started, things were different but as the chain became more successful, he changed. The power structure had also changed. I changed too, but for different reasons. I was becoming worn down by the job. Whatever the cause, I could not be relaxed around him anymore.
You could imagine how thrilled I was when he asked for a ride over to the Fairway Road store on my way home one wintry snow-covered day. I cringed when he asked. The last person in the world I wanted to be stuck in a car with during a snowstorm. Well, second last. The only person who made me more tense was the office bully. I never had to give her a ride in a snowstorm though.
“Yeah, no problem!” I said with as much enthusiasm as I could muster. “Just to the store?”
“Just to the store,” he answered. “I have some work to do there, and then I’ll get a ride from there.”
“Great!” I said with more of that fake lustre in my voice. I was an expert at it.
I know it was 2004, because it was before Christmas, and I remember the small talk we engaged in: the Lindsay Lohan feud with Hilary Duff. Lohan’s debut album Speak was featured on our front chart. Hilary Duff was out with her second album, which I actually enjoyed. There was a rocker on there that I liked called “The Getaway”. A rocker? You bet. It was co-written by James Michael of Sixx A.M.
My small talk skills were put to the test as we got in the car. I remember the weather was bad, and he said “Just take it slow, we’re in no rush.”
Well, I was. I wanted to get home, but I drove as carefully as I could. I felt like he was watching every move I made as I drove. Every lane change. He didn’t backseat drive like others sometimes did, but he I felt his eyes on my steering wheel.
I struck up the conversation. “So, did you hear about the feud between Lindsay Lohan and Hilary Duff?” I asked him.
“I’ve heard about it, but I don’t understand it,” he answered. “What’s it all about?”
I explained that it started with Aaron Carter, who Duff dated before he moved on with Lohan, and then back to Duff. That’ll do it. They sniped at each other in the press for a while. I tried to to explain to the boss everything I knew about the feud, which was just what I had read on the internet. The boss listened politely, and commented that it all sounded manufactured to sell CDs.
We finally arrived. I helped him unload his crap from my car and wished him a good night. I went home to decompress and try to forget how depressed I actually was.
But I could small talk. I could do it with just about anybody, given the need. My dad was right. It’s a gift!
Doing the live Contrarian chats on Wednesday nights has been great fun. I will keep going with these as long as I’m welcome and as long as I don’t burn out. For those keeping track, this is my seventh week in a row on the Contrarians. The subjects thus far have been:
For this week, Toys and Games, I’m not taking the easy way out. My list will have unexpected picks (because I let Tim have the good ones). Check out the show tonight, live at 7:00 PM.
THE CONTRARIANS – Album covers featuring Toys and Games – Wed. November 27 – 7:00 PM EST
VOLLMER – It’s A Pleasure Doing Business (2024 Helix Records vinyl reissue)
In 1993, Helix released one of their best, most unsung albums: It’s a Business Doing Pleasure. It featured a more acoustic-based side of Brian Vollmer’s writing, who penned the majority of the tunes with Marc Ribler as a solo project. At the same time, Helix guitarist Paul Hackman was writing his own set of tunes for the next Helix album. When Paul was tragically killed in a 1992 tour bus accident, Brian had no choice but to use his solo album as the next Helix record. This never sat well with the frontman, who felt it did not represent the hard rockin’ down n’ dirty core of Helix. Brian said in his book Gimme An R, that the album was “a huge mistake on my part, and I take full credit for the blunder. The really sad thing about it all was that I was really proud of all those songs on the album and they were wasted because they did not fit under the Helix name.”
I occasionally differ with Brian Vollmer’s opinions on such things. I loved the album in 1993 and it still sounds brilliant today, and not at all dated to the time. While Helix’s new sound came as a surprise, it was not an unpleasant surprise. In an age when every band was getting heavier to compete with grunge, Vollmer took the opposite tack, and I loved him for it. It’s a Business Doing Pleasure was a brilliant album, “Helix” or not. A rose by any other name…
I can understand why Vollmer chose to reissue this album under his own name, seeing as it was intended to be from the start. To differentiate from the original, he changed the title to It’s A Pleasure Doing Business, which unfortunately loses the wink-and-nod cleverness of the original title.
Vollmer also chose to axe and replace two songs. The closing duo of “Sleepin’ in the Doghouse Again” and “Mad Mad World” are lost, which is a real shame. “Doghouse” featured Kim Mitchell on lead guitar, though it was the hardest and most Helix-like of the tracks. “Mad Mad World” was just melodic brilliance, with whistling! Two crucial songs. They are replaced here by new recordings. “Still Got that Look in Your Eyes” is a previously unheard track, featuring Helix members Fritz Hinz and Daryl Gray. “Hung Over But Still Hanging In” is not a new version of a Helix deep cut from Vagabond Bones. This seems to be a completely new song with the same title.
There are some serious unrecognized tunes of brilliant melodic composition here. “That Day Is Gonna Come” remains a Helix pinnacle of sorts, a passionate callback to the golden years with that delicious acoustic backing. “Tug ‘o War” is a ballad that Brian and Greg Fraser once performed live in the MuchMusic studios, and a strong one at that. “Look Me Straight in the Heart” is a duet with Lee Aaron, that used to open side two of the album. Another ballad, but one that really should have been a hit. You’d think Lee and Helix on one big ballad would have set Canadian radio on fire. “Wrong Side of Bed” has some kick, and funny lyrics. Side one closer “Can’t Even Afford to Die” is actually upbeat, and features some brilliant twangy soloing by Ribler.
“Still Got that Look in Your Eyes” is a really decent 80’s-sounding pop rocker. It is an awkward fit on the album, because though it suits the poppy direction of It’s A Pleasure Doing Business, the keyboards differentiate it. It’s also played by different musicians, which the subconscious mind of the Helix fan can pick up on. Brian’s voice is a little lower, since 30 years passed between songs. Good tune though, perhaps even great! It will take some getting used to in this running order.
“Trust the Feeling” is another shoulda-been classic from the original album. Though a ballad, this album didn’t really feel like it had too many of them. It just felt like everything fit. Ribler plays some very nice slide parts here. “Love Is a Crazy Game”, though…what a ballad! There’s a rock version of it on another Helix album, but this fully acoustic version of it is flawless. Vollmer was in peak voice, and peak songwriting. His vocals just speak, the way only great singers can do it. There’s plenty of acoustic excitement with the guitars too. No drums. The album may have been a stripped back affair in terms of rock, but not in arrangement. There is plenty going on with percussion, vocals and acoustics to occupy the ear.
“Misery Loves Company” is a solid country rocker from the original album. More rock than country, but the twang is undeniable and nothing wrong with that. It has a shout-along chorus that would still do well today, if Helix ever decide to bring this gem onto the stage.
The other new song, “Hung Over But Still Hanging In”, closes the album. It seems like only the title was re-used from Vagabond Bones. This is a nice drinking ballad, with a bit of a kick compared to the rest of the ballads. It matches very closely the vibe of the original album, featuring Helix guitarist Mark Chichkan on guitar,
Here’s where the constructive criticism comes in. The original album title and font on the cover were better. This new zoomed-in cover with the Vollmer logo on it feels…off. The original was a piece Hugh Syme art, and the new version was re-created by Brent Doerner. It’s hard to improve perfection, and that’s not Doctor Doerner’s fault. I wish this album had a big Helix logo on the front cover. The original album never had the classic Helix logo. Imagine if this did! There is also a laissez-faire approach to capitalising the song titles on the back cover, but it’s a gatefold cover at least.
For 30 years, this was a Helix album. It just doesn’t feel right filing it under “V”. (However it’s my collection and I’ll file as I please!) Since it was intended as a solo album back in 1992, it’s logical to do a reissue under the Vollmer name. It makes sense to add new material. Shuffling the running order for a pleasing listening experience on vinyl is fine, but losing two songs is unfortunate. This reissue could have been a 5/5 star bang-on wish fulfilled. So close to the mark!
RECORD STORE TALES #1166: A Storage Solution for Certain Promo CD Singles
I managed a CD store for 10 years. Storage was always a commodity to me, then and now. As a young guy living in a small bedroom in his parents’ house, I was running out of CD space fast. Every slot counted. An opportunity to save some slots, by replacing a 2 CD “fat” case with a slim one, was always valuable.
There are occasional promo CD singles that were cheap on packaging because, well, it was a free handout CD given to radio stations or stores to play. Front covers were optional. Sometimes, singles such as these were valuable to me, for the inclusion of edit versions or other mixes that may not have been on commercially available singles or albums.
There was one storage solution I came up with to save space in my collection, and logically file these singles in an interesting way. Have a look at the short video below.
Blackie Lawless is a controversial figure, and his contentious 1989 interview is excellent for repeat viewings. Many of the rude comments are about the interviewer, Erica Ehm, who did an incredible job. On the other hand, this comment was so stupid that it cracked us up immediately. Please enjoy Mungos’ two word comment about Blackie Lawless.
A big thank-you to my co-host Jex Russell and special guest Tim Durling for this informative, fun and funny look at the career of Sammy Hagar. The show was also about this new book that Tim has out about the Red Rocker.
OK, sure, the show went off the rails from time to time, but there were plenty of highlights:
A hilarious cold open by Jex
A cool 12″ single for “Heavy Metal” with two bonus tracks
An inside look at Tim’s process and priorities when writing this book
Lots of interesting opinions on Sammy and his various bands
Great interaction in the comments section with loads of great questions
Enjoy the show!
Show notes:
How do you go about asking Greg Renoff to write a forward. Just “Hey Greg…”?
Thanks for the shout out about the “late tax”.
Do you think Roth still listens to Montrose?
Have you ever heard “Sammy Hagar Weekend” by Thelonious Monster?
Regarding the “contractual obligation album”, there was a lot of information here that I was not aware of before, such as that note inside 5150 that says “Sammy’s solo albums can be found on Geffen records.” When you first notice that?
Capital Special Markets – were these only serviced to certain kinds of stores?
THE QUIZ:
Who engineered Chickenfoot III? – Mike Fraser
What is the name of the alien race that Sammy believes abducted him, and inspired many of his lyrics? – The Nine
Did the Sam & Dave actually happen, or was it just a Mandela Effect?
GRAB A STACK OF ROCK With Mike and the Mad Metal Man Episode 79: Red On Black: A Chat with Tim Durling on Sammy Hagar
Viewers are by now very familiar with Tim Durling and his body of work. He needs no introduction. But, he has a new book out, and every time that happens, we have to get Tim back on the show to talk about it. The subject this time is Sammy Hagar. We’ll run through Montrose, his solo career, HSAS, Van Halen, Chickenfoot and all the rest.
Co-hosting tonight is Jex Russell. Just because we’re all pals, don’t expect a softball interview. We’ll be testing Tim tonight. There’s Only One Way To Rock, but tonight we’ll be showing you some new ways of doing an interview.
This will be live, so don’t hesitate to join the chat and ask a question! You’ve got to give to live, so give us your questions!
Friday November 22 at 7:00 P.M. E.S.T. / 8:00 P.M. Atlantic. Enjoy on YouTube or onFacebook!
RECORD STORE TALES #1165: Zero the Hero The True Story of My Favourite Album of All Time
1984.
It wasn’t I that owned Born Again by Black Sabbath. That would have been Bob Schipper, who had all manners of metal in his cassette collection. I knew very little about Black Sabbath when I first discovered music at the end of 1984. Though Ian Gillan was not the lead singer by the time I became interested in bands like Black Sabbath, he was for all intents and purposes the lead singer to me. Magazine coverage of Black Sabbath goings-on were beyond my reach, and this would be the last Sabbath album for a few years anyway. To me, Black Sabbath were: the two guys with the moustaches, the guy with the long black hair, and the drummer…who looked completely different in the music video for “Zero The Hero” than he did on the Born Again cassette cover. How was I to know that original Sabbath drummer Bill Ward had been replaced by a guy named Bev Bevan? I was just starting out on my rock journey. I had the puzzle pieces in my hands, but no picture to guide the assembly.
It all started when Bob came over one day raving about this song called “Zero the Hero”. “You gotta hear it! It goes, ‘Whatcha gonna be, whatcha gonna be, Zero the Hero!'” Bob was right that the chorus was pretty cool and memorable. The effects on Gillan’s voice on the chorus lent it a metallic sheen. He let me borrow the tape a bit to listen. I enjoyed it. Master of Reality was another one we listened to together. He liked a song called “Children of the Grave”, especially the spooky outro. Born Again had some spooky stuff on it too. This would come in handy a little later on.
As I discovered bands, I tended to hear the stuff that most popular in my own neighborhood. W.A.S.P., Iron Maiden, Kiss, Judas Priest, Van Halen, ZZ Top. I heard some of The Police as well, but my closest friends were rockers. Metal heads. There was a serious division in music back then: Heavy Metal vs. New Wave. You couldn’t like both. To us, everything that wasn’t metal was “New Wave”. If you liked Corey Hart, you were a “Waver”. If you liked Tears For Fears, you were a “Waver”. In our neighborhood, you didn’t want to be a Waver. Basically a Waver would be a slur along the lines of “gay” or whatever the kids were saying back then. I remember “hurtin’ eunuch” was a phrase that kids like Jeff Brooks would throw around at kids like me.
Anyway, I threw myself into metal full-time and counted Black Sabbath as one of the bands I liked. I didn’t own any Black Sabbath, but I could name two songs that I liked. I think Ozzy Osbourne had something to do with the band, and that singer with the black hair was also in Deep Purple. I was learning. I didn’t know his name, and I didn’t realize that Ronnie James Dio was also in Black Sabbath (mind blown there) but I was piecing that puzzle together. I had a few of the edges together, and now I would work on the body: collecting the music.
In the mid-80s, Bob and I were too old for going trick or treating at Halloween time. Instead we gave out candy at Bob’s house. We wanted to go all out and really make a cool “haunted house”, and for that you needed sound effects. Instead of spending valuable allowance money on one of those corny Halloween tapes, we made our own. We did this by looping the scary bits of Black Sabbath songs. Bob especially liked that haunting whisper at the end of “Children of the Grave”. We made loops, maybe 10 of them, adding in our own bits via an external microphone. Then we would loop “The Dark” a few times, until the side was full. Bob would go home and eat lunch, and come back later that afternoon to work on more Halloween stuff. We were very resourceful and creative. To this day I have never used pre-made Halloween sounds. I always made my own by looping bits of songs. It worked. Kids would either go straight to our house for candy like a bee to honey…or they would run past terrified!
[Bob and I learned from this experience when a young girl cried at our house. If we saw anyone really really little approaching, we would kill the sounds and turn on the lights. It wasn’t our goal to make kids cry.]
I managed to record the music video from the Pepsi Power Hour one afternoon. I called Bob over to watch it with me. It was (and remains) one of the weirdest things I’ve ever seen in my life. A Frankenstein looking guy and a Franken-Hitler guy appear to be resurrecting a dead body as…a nerd? They force fed him eggs with ketchup, while he grinned the whole way through. Then, a horse walked backwards down a flight of stairs in a mansion. Meanwhile, scenes of the band playing live were cut in, and you could hardly see Gillan’s face. It was weird…and heavy. We hated it. But I loved it.
Finally one day in highschool I said to myself, “Why the heck haven’t I taped Born Again off Bob Schipper yet?” I wanted that song “Zero the Hero”. I popped over one afternoon and borrowed it. I put it in deck “A” of my Sanyo dual deck ghetto blaster, with a Maxell blank 60 in “B”. I hit “dub” and began recording. For whatever reason (and I tried a couple times), I could not get a good copy of that tape. It wasn’t the best blaster in the world that I was using, but there was so much warble in the copies I made, I got fed up. I called Bob and asked if I could just buy the tape from him. I knew it wasn’t in regular rotation at his house. He said “OK” and I gave him $2 or $3 for it.
I was finally able to listen to Born Again properly. I liked a few songs such as “Trashed”, “Disturbing the Priest”, “Born Again” and “Keep It Warm”. It played better on my Walkman, so that’s where most of my listening happened. That meant it was often on the way to the cottage, or at the cottage, where I used my Walkman most.
I don’t know when Born Again became my favourite album of all time. I really don’t. The tape grew on me through the years, but the poor quality of that old WEA cassette made listening hard. It probably elevated to “among my favourites” when T-Rev found me a vinyl copy in 1995, a full decade since I first became acquainted with it. A decent CD reissue followed a few years later, and then it hit serious heavy rotation.
Keep it warm, rat: I love this album for all its flaws and overreaching. It brings me back to that bedroom, dubbing scary music with Bob. It brings me back to listening on my Walkman at the cottage at night. It brings me back to that place where I escaped all the bullies and teachers, and was alone with my own imagination.
Yes, Born Again is my favourite album of all time. I play it more often than I should, sometimes twice in a row. No remix or reissue could make me love this album more. I am Born Again!
Doing the live Contrarian chats on Wednesday nights has been great fun. I will keep going with these as long as I’m welcome and as long as I don’t burn out. For those keeping track, this is my sixth week in a row on the Contrarians. The subjects thus far have been:
For this week, Hell and the Underworld, I am going straight metal. No deviations. We’ll see what the other guys bring. Check out the show tonight, live at 7:00 PM.
THE CONTRARIANS – Album covers featuring Hell and the Underworld – Wed. Novermber 20 – 7:00 PM EST
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