Grab a Stack of Rock / LeBrain Train

Grab A Stack of Birthday Cake with Mike and the Mad Metal Man – Happy birthdays to us! (Special guest Grant Arthur)

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

Episode 29:  Happy Birthdays to Us!

It’s that time of year again!  We didn’t celebrate last year, because the LeBrain Train ended on July 15 2022.  But we’re back and we’re celebrating 2023 in style.  Join us, won’t you?

Special guest for this show will be Grant Arthur of Grant’s Rock Warehaus!  Thanks for celebrating with us!

We are expecting lists!  Unboxings and de-packagings!  What are the best birthday gifts you’ve ever received?  Mike will be listing, year by year, the most memorable albums he received for birthdays past, from 1984 to the 1990s, everything that he can remember!  He even still has a few of the oldest ones to show you.  What are the best albums you have received for your birthday?

Please join the party tonight.  We’ll be ready to bring it!

Friday July 21 at 7:00 P.M. E.S.T. / 8:00 P.M. Atlantic.  Enjoy on YouTube or on Facebook!

Mostly New, But All Awesome! The Grab A Stack of Rock theme video has been heavily revised!

*pictured above: Gimli, the secret star of the show

Folks, I am so proud of this new show intro! Grab A Stack of Rock is almost at 30 episodes, so the show intro should consist of entirely original footage, should it not? Yes it should!  I’ve finally removed all the old footage and guests from the LeBrain Train shows (I think?) with two exceptions; both clips of original music videos that we still play frequently today.

There are more clips and less photos – the new version is faster and far less static. This means it takes an hour or so to load all the files into my editor, but it’s worth it when the results come out this good.

Our fans and Sarre have spoken, and they want more music and more lists on this show. We’re gonna bring ’em to ya baby.

I want to thanks Harrison Kopp for being awesome support and my rock of a co-host. I wanna thank Jex Russell for bringing a new energy to the show. I wanna thank Rob, John, Tim, Aaron, and Marco for helming some great episodes with me. Dr. K, Grace Scheele, Spenny Rice and Nurse Kat have been generous with their time and made their own episodes something really special to watch. Uncle Meat sparked the concept of this show and he’s in the new theme video too. He did after all make some cameo appearances on special occasions. Also a special thanks to Grant Arthur for welcoming me on his Rock Warehaus and helping me stay focused.

Spoilers:  There’s a new revision coming in a couple weeks with a new opening, but I’m waiting for a specific “prop” to come in the mail.  You’ll see!

Thanks for watching folks.

Alice Cooper’s Top Five Albums + Rarities, with Harrison & Jex

Awesome show tonight hosted by Harrison and Jex!  Top Five Alice Cooper albums, plus a nice collection from Harrison for bonus show & tell.  Harrison has three Alice Cooper albums that I would like to steal from his house.  Which ones?  You’ll have to watch to find out.  But you can check out the boys’ Top Fives below!  And as a bonus, I’ll throw in my Top Five as well.  Check ’em out!

This was one of my favourite shows to watch!  Thank you to Harrison and Jex for doing such an amazing job!  This was a great set of lists, and some awesome show & tell from Harrison.  My list will be drastically different from theirs!

Thanks for watching and we’ll see ya next week for my birthday!

JEX

5. Special Forces (1981)
4. Trash (1989)
3. Constrictor (1986)
2. Killer (1971)
1. Flush The Fashion (1980)

 

HARRISON

5. The Last Temptation (1994)
4. Welcome To My Nightmare (1975)
3. Flush The Fashion (1980)
2. Dirty Diamonds (2005)
1. Special Forces (1981)

 

LeBRAINLESS

5. Welcome 2 My Nightmare (2011)
4. Killer (1971)
3. Love It To Death (1971)
2. Welcome To My Nightmare (1975)
1. School’s Out (1972)

 

The Stone Gods and Hot Leg rocked Grant’s Rock Warehaus!

This was a lot of fun.  If you missed it, you can catch up below.  Grant and I discussed Hot Leg and the Stone Gods – the two bands that emerged from the Darkness split in 2005-2006.  Grant had a favourite of the two, as did I.  Can you guess who picked what?

 

Grab A Stack of Alice Cooper with Harrison & Jex: LeBRAINLESS!

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 on YouTube or on Facebook!

Grant’s Rock Warehaus: The Darkness Spinoff Projects – Live Stream TONIGHT 7:00 PM E.S.T.

Tonight, I’m with the band! Whichever way you wanna give it, I’ll take it! Tonight with Grant Arthur on Grant’s Rock Warehaus! Let’s burn the witch!

New Grab A Stack show intro, now with more Jex!

By popular demand, here’s an updated version of the show intro!  Now featuring more Jex Russell!

Here’s some site news.

  1. Jex has contributed his first guest shot – a review of a movie that we will be discussing August 12 on Tim’s Vinyl Confessions.
  2. We have plans for a very unique show on Grab A Stack of Rock – a show first.
  3. I appreciate all the support I have received over the last two months.  Music will become more of the central focus here once again.
  4. The feedback is unanimous.  List shows are coming back.  There will be more Nigel Tufnel Top Tens and the return of Cinco de Listo.
  5. 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!

Stay frosty,

Mike

 

HAPPY CANADA DAY! Top 11 Canadian Bands (Unknown Outside Canada)

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!

HAPPY CANADA DAY!

 

Top 11 Canadian Bands (Unknown Outside Canada) at a special time! Grab A Stack of Rock with Jex and Mike!

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!

 

Grab A Stack of Lost Cassettes! With Jex and Mike on a Surprise Saturday Stream

GRAB A STACK OF ROCK With Mike and Jex

Episode 26:  Lost Cassettes Unboxed!

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!