Here’s one of the super-secret tapings I’ve been talking about! Helix – Part One was the Capitol Years with Martin Popoff and Tim Durling. I twisted Grant’s arm and talked him into covering the rest of the Helix story. In Part Two, Tim and I joined Grant to discuss everything Helix from Over 60 Minutes With… to Live in Buffalo. There’s a lot of story there, from Paul Hackman’s unfortunate death to the lineup changes that followed. Some great music too: Back For Another Taste, It’s A Business Doing Pleasure, Half-ALIVE and B-Sides being some of the highlights we discussed.
In Part Three we’ll finish the story, going from Rocking In My Outer Space to “Brother From Another Mother”. We will also discuss the first two Helix albums in detail since some killer reissues fall in these years.
One of the “super-secret” tapings I was involved with is finally ready for your viewing pleasure!
In this courtroom drama, I played the role of the prosecution, with Peter Kerr as the defense. Judging was the honourable Reed Little (The Contrarians), who had to choose whether or not he was going to buy Vinnie Vincent Invasion, based on our testimony.
I have not seen the final episode myself, but I look forward to watching how I did with a couple weeks distance! This show was a lot of fun, and I’ll be back on Rock Daydream Nation again this fall, defending a band I love! (Or at least, an era I love from a band I like!)
Today we wish Sam J. Jones a happy birthday, on a very special Tim’s Vinyl Confessions. Join Tim, Jex and I with Robert Daniels in his first-ever Tim’s Vinyl Confessions. Only this time we’re not confessing vinyl! Not really anyway. Yes, Queen did the soundtrack, but our focus was more on the celluloid.
Apologies in advance for any Flash Gordon fans who will automatically hate my perspective on this show. At least it was funny…
Thank you Rob and Harrison for an awesome stack of lists tonight! Jex could not make it, as having two young kids can tend to tire one out at the end of the day. He did send in a Top 5 list which Harrison read, and the rest of us saluted!
The lists were awesome and diverse. If you don’t want to watch the show, I recorded the lists for your reading pleasure below. Note the minimal amount of crossover, but also note the similarities between Rob and Jex!
We fielded an “Ask Harrison” question tonight from Jazz King, who we hope will be asking more questions of the Mad Metal Man in the coming weeks!
Great lists, and almost as impressive were the runners up! Check them out at the end of the show.
Cheers and see you next time!
MIKE
11. Trailer Park Boys (Blain Morris) – the Hawaiian guitar version from the Christmas Special
10. The Flinstones (Hoyt Curtin, Joseph Barbera and William Hanna)
9. The Simpsons (Danny Elfman)
8. Cheers – “Where Everybody Knows Your Name” (Gary Portnoy and Judy Hart-Angelo)
7. All In The Family – “Those Were the Days” (Lee Adams (lyrics) and Charles Strouse (music))
6. South Park (Primus) – it cost Matt Stone and Trek Parker only $74.
5. Beverly Hillbillies – “The Ballad of Jed Clampett” (Paul Henning, and recorded first by bluegrass musicians Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs – vocals)
4. Cops – “Bad Boys” (Inner Circle)
3. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (Dennis McCarthy)
2. Star Trek: The Next Generation (Jerry Goldsmith)
1. Star Trek: the original series (Alexander Courage) – made immortal for me by Wayne’s World
JEX
5. The (Je)X-Files
4. Unsolved Mysteries
3. The Twilight Zone
2. Knight Rider
1. Stranger Things
HARRISON
11. Dilbert – “Forbidden Zone” by Oingo Boingo
10. Miniscule
9. Air Crash Investigation (Mayday)
8. Top Gear -“Jessica” by the Allman Brothers
7. The Transformers: Cybertron
6. Gotham
5. Walking With Dinosaurs
4. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003-2009)
3. Deltoro Quest
2. Clone Wars
1. Primeval
ROB
11. S.W.A.T.
10. Game of Thrones
9. The Jeffersons
8. Mission: Impossible
7. Knight Rider
6. Space: 1999
5. Dr. Who
4. The X-Files
3. Hardcastle & McCormick
2. Battlestar Galactica (2003)
1. Star Trek: Voyager*
GRAB A STACK OF ROCK With Mike and the Mad Metal Man
Episode 31: Top TV Show Theme Music on Grab A Stack of Rock with Robert Daniels, Harrison and Jex
DISCLAIMER: Jen had a bad fall again this week, hit her head, and had to have staples put in. Therefore this is likely to be one of those shows where I’m barely there. I’ll be relying on the other guys to make the show happen.
Harrison suggested we get Rob back, and Rob suggested we do Top TV Show Themes. I think we’re planning a Nigel Tufnel Top Ten. As of this writing, I haven’t started my list. But I’ll be there.
Thank you for caring and thanks to those who reached out!
Friday August 11 at 7:00 P.M. E.S.T. / 8:00 P.M. Atlantic. Enjoy onYouTube or on Facebook!
So it shall be written, so it shall be done! The Metallica box set has been unsealed, opened, and displayed. And I am glad that I did it. Yes, I could have turned it around for $1600 but I chose to let the music be played as intended. (Then there was an added screw-up, which I quickly fixed before too late, you’ll have to see it!) Obey your Master, and watch this epic unboxing of the Master of Puppets box set.
The box included prints, lyric sheets, buttons, 3 LPs, 10 CDs, 2 DVDs, and a cassette. We tried to get a look at all of it. Pause to gaze at the track lists in detail.
In addition we took a peak at some new arrivals:
Judas Priest – Hero, Hero vinyl in pristine condition
Alice Cooper – Killer and School’s Out deluxe CD editions
Official Tee Bone Man stickers
Jex brought the fire with some cool video from Geomatrix. You have to check this out. See for yourself at about the 32 minute mark.
A big thank-you to an exhausted Max the Axe, who tried to make an appearance but suffered at the hands of the Streamyard gods. We never found out what was wrong, but Tim sympathizes!
We had our “Ask Jex” questions this week – a pair from first-timer Rob Daniels. Thanks Rob! Great questions. Keep them coming.
Finally, sincere appreciation to Paul Shortino for a wonderful Cameo, giving us a shout out at Grab A Stack of Rock, to the tune of “Dreaming Again” by Rough Cutt. The guy still has an amazing voice. We ran this Cameo twice, once at the start and once at the end of the show.
Thanks for watching and we will probably see you again next Friday evening!
A casual afternoon at the cottage with Jex! Just for fun, we invited Max the Axe to show up, but if he does or not…who knows! We’ll be playing his music regardless. Tim Durling is also a possible sighting! We’ll be talking all the latest in our musical lives, doing some unboxings, and rocking some tunes! Of course, we need to talk about Jex’s new WordPress called Jex Russell – Pop Culture Nut!
This week, we even have a celebrity cameo! From who? I guess you’ll have to tune in and find out. One clue: “Forever we will shine!”
We will be showing of a wealth of musical treasures as always, and this time…I may FINALLY unbox that Metallica Master of Puppets box set that I’ve been sitting on for five years! According to Patrick Olsen formerly of 107.5 Dave Rocks, sealed copies of these now go for up to $1600. This could be the dumbest thing you see on YouTube today!
Therefore, don’t miss it!
Friday August 4 at 3:00 P.M. E.S.T. / 4:00 P.M. Atlantic. Enjoy on YouTube or on Facebook!
Back when Harrison and I first launched Grab A Stack of Rock in late 2022, we needed an intro song. Jen and I had written some lyrics and a melody, but Tee Bone Erickson turned them into a song. I am proud to have now turned his song into a record. I decided to have a custom Grab A Stack 7″ picture disc cut by vinylart.co. I’ve done this before with two other songs (one by Max the Axe and one by Dr. Kathryn Ladano) and though the sonic results are below par, I don’t care as I didn’t have the records made to play them.
Because I’m an idiot, I had this particular record made so I could use it in the new intro video.
Yeah.
That was $60 right there. For roughly nine seconds of video.
We artists…not only do we suffer for our art, but we also go broke for it too.
I don’t make any money here, folks. I do it for fun.
Doing this intro video (over and over again) was a true labour of love. For our first show, we didn’t have the name yet, so I just ran the LeBrain Train intro video. By the second show, we had the song but no video, so I made a quickie vid using old LeBrain Train shots. As the show went on Friday after Friday, I kept updating the video (sometimes weekly) to include new guests and clips. The version below is the 40th revision! I’ve done more revisions than shows!
Now, finally I was able to let go of all the old LeBrain Train clips, as good as they often were, and use only fresh Grab A Stack content. It has been quite an odyssey to get to this point, but…as always…I’m proudest of this version. I think it’s the best one yet. Jex and Tim both ham it up a bit in this, while a stoic Harrison looks on, stoically.
Friends like these in the video are the reason I keep doing this. I love it. I love us! I love watching us do our thing, in a “greatest hits” kind of video.
I think this is the best one yet, until the next one.
Thank you Grant, Aaron, Tim & Harrison for celebrating my birthday with me! We did a Nigel Tufnel Top Ten – Mike’s favourite birthday years. We showed off all his gifts this year, and looked at photos and gifts from years past.
Tim treated us to a guitar solo, and the guys had cool stuff to show us as always. Aaron’s signed Mystique poster was a highlight!
Lastly, Mike unboxed the new Grab A Stack of Rock theme song picture disc by vinyart.co. Tee Bone Erickson’s first vinyl. Now I need him to sign it! Thanks for celebrating everyone!
1981
Lego Technic Bulldozer set #856 from 1979 – “best present ever!”
1984
Michael Jackson – Thriller
Culture Club – Colour By Numbers
Transformers – Skywarp and Windcharger – my very very first two!
MOVIE: Saw The Last Starfighter for Bob’s birthday.
mikeladano.com 
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