GRAB A STACK OF ROCK With the Mad Metal Man & Jexciter: LeBRAINLESS!
Episode 28: Alice Cooper Rarities & Cinco de Listo!
I’ve been wanting to do something for a long time: Take a day off, sit back, and watch Harrison host the show without me. Seriously! I’ve always wanted to do that. Today I get my wish. For the first time ever, I get to watch Grab A Stack of Rock from the audience.
Join Harrison and Jex tonight as they show off highlights of their their Alice Cooper collections! They will also be bringing back “Cinco de Listo” for the first time in ages, to count down an Alice Cooper TBA list that will rock your minds.
With the Coop’s 29th (not including the Hollywood Vampires!) new studio album Road coming soon, the time is perfect to revisit one of the greatest stars in all of metal history. Ladies and gentlemen…Alice Cooper!
Friday July 14 at 8:00 P.M. E.S.T. / 9:00 P.M. Atlantic. Enjoy onYouTube or on Facebook!
By popular demand, here’s an updated version of the show intro! Now featuring more Jex Russell!
Here’s some site news.
Jex has contributed his first guest shot – a review of a movie that we will be discussing August 12 on Tim’s Vinyl Confessions.
We have plans for a very unique show on Grab A Stack of Rock – a show first.
I appreciate all the support I have received over the last two months. Music will become more of the central focus here once again.
The feedback is unanimous. List shows are coming back. There will be more Nigel Tufnel Top Tens and the return of Cinco de Listo.
Jen is feeling much better lately, and will be contributing more to the site in the future! She wants to do more guest appearances on live streams, and we have plans to write an episode from the Tee Bone Man Multiverse!
Thanks Jex Rambo Russell for a terrific Canada Day celebration. Yes we celebrated early, but now you can watch what we did!
We wanted to list 11 Canadian bands that we thought you should know. I think we did a sweet job of it, with plenty of really cool “Show & Tell” on vinyl, cassette and CD. Loads of rarities and obscurities here to check out. We also played some video clips when we could to give you a taste of the music!
Below you’ll also see my photos of the lists, and a graph of the cities from which the bands originated. Hamilton won handily!
Thanks for watching! No show next week as I’m doing a super secret taping with Tim’s Vinyl Confessions!
GRAB A STACK OF ROCK With Mike and Professor Jexcalibur
Episode 27: Nigel Tufnel Top Ten Canadian Bands (Unknown Outside Canada)
It’s Canada Day Weekend, and let’s celebrate at a special time! The 3:00 timeslot has been a tremendous success for us here at Grab A Stack of Rock. Top Canadian Bands unknown outside Canada? A full Nigel Tufnel Top Ten? Don’t mind if we do!
This topic comes courtesy of the Jexciter. Back in the LeBrain Train days, we covered Canadian bands, but that was a long time ago and a fresh perspective is due. Expect the usual trademark “Grab A Stack Show & Tell” and lots of shenanigans. And remember: Even though it’s Friday at 3:00 PM, shirts are compulsory!
Friday June 30 at 3:00 P.M. E.S.T. / 4:00 P.M. Atlantic. Enjoy on YouTube or on Facebook!
SURPRISE! The first two-show weekend since 2021! Thank Jex!
I thought I lost all my cassettes from my youth: I assumed they were all thrown into a dumpster here in town, or up north in Thunder Bay. There was one box (Journey – Niacin alphabetically) that I discovered in my parents’ basement. Let’s have a look inside with co-host Jex Russell on a surprise Saturday morning show!
What we found inside was a variety of home made and store bought cassettes. The astounding thing is just how much effort I went to on some of the artwork! You will have to see for yourself, but a sampling of some cassette spines can be seen in the gallery below.
I used coloured paper, computer software, fine marker pens, coloured pencils, scissors, paste and photocopiers to create all the cassette art you see here. I’m pretty proud of all this.
What’s most remarkable is that I still had most of my original Kiss and Judas Priest cassettes! In some cases, I played these tapes at the cottage for the first time back then, and today unboxed them in the same location!
SHOW NOTES:
If you need context for our opening “topless” sketch, read this first! All is meant in jest and not to be taken as anything else.
If you don’t want to see us topless, you can buy a shirt at teepublic.com!
A massive thank you to Nurse Kat for spending her Friday night with Aaron and I, talking Arkells! Though none of us could be called hardcore Arkells veterans, our passion certainly came through. Since falling in love with the band roughly 18 months ago, Kat has seen Arkells 13 times. From New York to LA to Glasgow, she had a lot of cool stories to tell. Meanwhile, Aaron filled us in on the early years, as he saw them even before the Jackson Square debut album was out.
A common theme for this show was the power of music to connect with the human heart. Kat and I both had some pretty emotional experiences to an Arkells soundtrack. This is a band that really seems to have a direct line to the mind and soul.
I presented my Nigel Tufnel Top Ten Arkells songs (from the albums I own) and Kat provided some cool live clips and photos. We hope you enjoy!
Mike’s Nigel Tufnel Top Ten Arkells tunes:
11. “Savannah” from Morning Report – acoustic anthemic awesomeness.
10. “Passenger Seat” from Morning Report – what a falsetto! So much passion!
9. “Hung Up” from Morning Report – “The gatekeepers are keepin’ me out!” – what a hook!
8. “Coffee” from Michigan Left – Powerful lyrics with personal meaning.
7. “On Paper” from Michigan Left – killer chorus, powerful rock.
6. “Whistleblower” from Michigan Left – as hard as Arkells songs get, based on that riff.
5. “Michigan Left” from Michigan Left – “Decorations won’t be wasted” – one of their best choruses! And that percussion! Oh man.
4. “Come to Light” from High Noon – channeling 80’s Bowie? You be the judge.
3. “Leather Jacket” from High Noon – the song that got me to buy the album in the first place.
2. “11:11” from High Noon – so hard to narrow things down to only four songs from High Noon, but this one is just hook laden and nostalgic.
1. “Fake Money” from High Noon – This song is pure hooks, from start to finish, with an angry bent.
Honorable mentions – “Cynical Bastards”, “Crawling Through the Window”, “Book Club”, “Drake’s Dad”
Jen’s #1 – “Leather Jacket”
BONUS
Tune in 9:00 AM Saturday morning for an extra weekend live stream with Jex Russell! Cassette fans, don’t miss this bonus episode!
GRAB A STACK OF ROCK With Mike, Aaron and Nurse Kat
Episode 25: Arkells Appreciation
25 episodes! We’ve had ups, downs and cancelled episodes, but we finally made it to 25. This week we celebrate with a band I’ve recently fallen in love with: Hamilton’s Arkells! Just what is it about this band that resonates with people? The music, lyrics, Canadiana, or something else? The natural charisma of Max Kerman is a big factor. I’ll be talking about all this and more with fan Nurse Kat. She’s seen them THIRTEEN times in a year, and has some merch to show. I will be listing my Nigel Tufnel Top Ten Arkells tunes.
Joining Kat and I tonight will be Mr. Books from the KMA, who saw the band once, leaving me as the only one who hasn’t!
Friday June 23 at 7:00 P.M. E.S.T. Enjoy onYouTube or on Facebook!
“The show must go on.” That’s the saying, right? That’s what the most supportive wife in the world said to me tonight when I was debating whether to cancel Grab A Stack of Rock this week. Another seizure, another fall, thank God no broken jaw. We’ll have to fill you in on the details later.
An exhausted Mike (physically, emotionally, and mentally) relied on his co-host and guest, Harrison and Mr. Books, for carrying the weight. Jex Russell also stopped by with some rarities.
We looked at:
Rare bootleg CDs
Rare DVD
All my Maiden vinyl with stories to go with
Maiden beer, Maiden menu
Books
And some tangents.
A great show all things considered, and now I need to go take care of Jen. See you next week if all goes well.
Next week, the summer tour of 2023 rolls on with Nurse Kat and the Arkells!
GRAB A STACK OF ROCK With Mike and the Mad Metal Man
Episode 24: Grab A Stack of Iron Maiden
Harrison thought it was time to look at Iron Maiden again. After all, Iron Maiden was the subject of two of our most successful shows in the past. Enough time has passed that people will want to see our Maiden collections again. I’ve dug up all my vinyl, and I have plenty of action figures from Super Seven to show off, as well as other assorted Eddies!
Joining Harrison and I tonight will be Mr. Books from the KMA. It has been ages since he’s been on the show, so please give a warm welcome back to Mr. Books!
As always, we will start the show with “Ask Harrison” and some unboxings. Hope you can join us!
SPECIAL TIME!
Friday June 16 at 8:00 P.M. E.S.T. Enjoy on YouTube or onFacebook!
Next week, the summer tour of 2023 rolls on with Nurse Kat and the Arkells!
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