Grab a Stack of Rock / LeBrain Train

The Horror! Top Five Scary Flicks on the LeBrain Train

The LeBrain Train: 2000 Words or More with Mike and the Meat Man

Episode 85 – Cinco De List-O: Top 5 Horror Films

Topic courtesy of the Meat Man! It’s Halloween so perfect timing for another movie list: horror movies! And any time we’re talking movies, we better have Rob Daniels and Erik Woods on board!

It’s a really simple subject so we don’t need a lot of explanation here. To read up on my history with horror films, check out Record Store Tales #496: The Horror. It may spoil a couple of my picks so be forewarned!

Friday October 29, 7:00 PM E.S.T. on Facebook: MikeLeBrain and YouTube: Mike LeBrain.

Upcoming shows:

I am very pleased to announce next week’s show:

November 5 7:00 PM E.S.T.: We are joined by the awesome Dan Fila, drummer of Sven Gali and Varga! Freeze, don’t move, this show is gonna be Under the Influence! Co-hosted by John “2loud2old” Snow.

I also have an appearance on Tim’s Vinyl Confessions coming up, and will be be on 107.5 Dave Rocks, with Jessie David and my pick for The Essential Alice Cooper, on October 31!

Tim, Marco and Meat list the Top 5 Closing Tracks of All Time

Tim Durling from Tim’s Vinyl Confessions, and his fellow Contrarian, Marco D’Auria, were the special guests on this week’s LeBrain Train and they absolutely nailed their lists!Β  The topic:Β  Top 5 Album Closers of All Time.Β  This was probably a more challenging set of lists than Album Openers was.Β  There was very little crossover, but many excellent selections from the mainstream to the obscure.

Insightful and entertaining banter abound.Β  Watch the show to the end to get the “bonus tracks”:Β  the runners-up that were just as exciting as the songs that made our lists.Β  Another bonus:Β  Our picks for worst album closer of all time!

Thanks Tim and Marco for spending your time with Eric and I tonight.Β  We had a blast.Β  Let’s do it again!


 

Top 5 Album Closers with Tim and Marco

The LeBrain Train: 2000 Words or More with Mike and the Meat Man

Episode 84 – Cinco De List-O: Top 5 Album Closers with Tim and Marco

A couple weeks ago, the LeBrain Train charted the Top 5 opening tracks of all time.Β  (Thanks to Harrison Kopp for your participation in that episode!)Β  That set of lists inspired Tim from Tim’s Vinyl Confessions to suggest a logical followup — Top 5 closing tracks!

The Meat Man and I decided to invite Tim and his fellow Contrarian, Marco D’Auria, to go up against the two of us for this list show.Β  (Sorry Harrison, but you will be back soon!)Β  We have not talked to Marco since March so we have a lot to catch up on.Β  We’ll ask him for an update on his film project about the band Mystique, and congratulate Tim for fully funding his book Unspooled:Β  An Adventure in 8-Tracks!

 

Friday October 15, 7:00 PM E.S.T.Β onΒ Facebook:Β  MikeLeBrainΒ andΒ YouTube:Β  Mike LeBrain.

Tim Durling gets Unspooled with music and stories on the LeBrain Train

Have you ever had a conversation when you just knew what the other person was about to say?Β  Not like a dΓ©jΓ  vu, just a…synchronicity.Β  A crossroads in time and space, intersecting with a very specific subsection of music fandom.Β  I experienced that tonight with Tim Durling, but you will have to watch this episode yourself to hear the stories.Β  Keywords:Β  “Soundtrack to the Video Historia“.

Tim has just written what could be the very first book dedicated to the subject of 8-track tapes.Β  You can support Tim’s project by clicking here!Β  As a collector, he has sought to determine what exactly has been released on the format and what has not.Β  There are a lot of unknowns in this little-documented realm, but what you will find in his book is only information that is 100% verified.Β  If he wasn’t satisfied that something was released, it didn’t go in the book.

I can’t wait to get my copy of Unspooled, and you have until October 23 to kickstart it.Β  The colour photographs of these tapes are sure to melt your eyeballs.Β  But before that happens…watch the show below!Β  Thanks again to Tim for stopping by.Β  And thanks to Aaron for co-hosting!

Unspooled! Author Tim Durling joins the LeBrain Train Friday at 7:00 PM

The LeBrain Train: 2000 Words or More with Mike Ladano

Episode 83 – Unspooled with Tim’s Vinyl Confessions

8-track tapes:Β  While many of us know what they are, very few of us have ever played one.Β  I still remember the clicky-clacky of the tape changing tracks!Β  So does Tim Durling, from Tim’s Vinyl Confessions.Β  But he’s not here to talk about vinyl tonight.Β  Tonight we talk 8-track tapes!

Unspooled:Β  An Adventure in 8-Tracks is the title of Tim’s forthcoming book, which you can help fund right now on Kickstarter.Β  Tim’s knowledge of the format, and his mighty collection, have enabled him to write a must-have book loaded with pictures of ultra-rare releases.Β  If you have ever been curious about this most intriguing of formats, then this is an episode that you do not want to miss!

Joining us for co-hosting duties will be Aaron from the KMA.Β  Tune in, won’t you?

Friday October 8, 7:00 PM E.S.T.Β onΒ Facebook:Β  MikeLeBrainΒ andΒ YouTube:Β  Mike LeBrain.

Top 5 Album Openers, on the opening of the new LeBrain Train

Streamlined lists, and three of the most passionate rock fans on the planet came together last night for the relaunch of the new LeBrain Train!Β  The topic was Top Five Album Openers, and the guests were Uncle Meat and Harrison the Mad Metal Man! We call it “Cinco De List-O” and although the lists were shorter, we made sure we didn’t skimp on the analysis and appreciation.

Every one of the songs listed tonight deserve some time in your ears.Β  You can read the lists below, or have some real fun and watch the show!

Big thanks to my two co-hosts tonight, for what I think was a pretty damn good re-launch.Β  Let’s pour on the steam and this train a-rollin’ again.

Note:Β  Apologies to Max the Axe for playing the wrong version of “Pygmy Blowdart” at the top of the show.Β  I loaded the early cut into Streamyard.

 

 

 

Cinco De List-O: The New LeBrain Train

It’s back!

The LeBrain Train: 2000 Words or More with Mike Ladano

Episode Ξ± – Cinco De List-O – Top Five Album Opening Tracks

 

Welcome back to the show, everyone!Β  Break time has been fruitful, and working closely with the Meat Man, we’ve decided to set aside the Nigel Tufnel Top Ten for now.Β  In the effort of revamping and streamlining the show, as painful as it is, we have to let go the lists of 11 for the time being.Β  It was our gimmick, a gift from Uncle Meat, and it worked brilliantly. We did some amazing list shows over the last 18 months and we have the graphs to prove it.Β  But I need the episodes to run under three hours if I’m to come back to do this again.

Tonight is a trial run.Β  We’re going to try lists of five instead.Β  (This is something Martin Popoff suggested to us a year ago.)Β  Tee Bone calls it “Cinco De List-D” and that’s just too good to pass up so we’re going with it.Β  Harrison and Uncle Meat will be on hand to discuss our Top Five Album Opening Tracks.Β  What a great subject for “opening” this new era of the LeBrain Train.

Friday October 1, 7:00 PM E.S.T.Β onΒ Facebook:Β  MikeLeBrainΒ andΒ YouTube:Β  Mike LeBrain.

Long Live the LeBrain Train

The weekly LeBrain Train has come to an end after 18 solid months.Β  I’ve done what I wanted to do — keep you entertained and connected during this pandemic.Β  I’ve not missed a week, but my fuel tanks need refilling and now’s the time to take a break.Β  But not to fear — as we announced, there is an alternative.

Darr Erickson said, “What about re-running classic episodes instead of going live?”Β  So that’s what we’re doing!Β  Special and well regarded past episodes will be repeated on Friday nights at the regular time and regular place.Β  The shows aren’t necessarily easy to find so we’ll do the searching for you, and play the best of the best one more time.

Next week tune in for the ZZ Top Deep Cuts episode, which made many lists tonight.

Oh right, the lists!Β  Joined by Harrison the Mad Metal Man, we listed the Nigel Tufnel Top Ten episodes of all time.Β  Lists submitted by:

  • Tee Bone (x 2)
  • Rob Daniels
  • Uncle Meat (x 2) – special cameo appearance
  • John T. Snow
  • Scotty Peddle
  • and me (x 2)

We also had plenty of special features!

  • Harrison’s Top Albums He’d Save From a Fire (0:08:00)
  • Brand new Tee Bone song “Ode to Darr” (0:29:00)
  • Special Sausagefest 20 highlights & video from Uncle Meat (0:31:15)
  • Lego LeBrain Train diorama & Easter Eggs with Harrison (1:01:30)
  • Not one but two new LeBrain train intros, adding new faces

Watch the video to learn who’s who in this Lego diorama by Harrison!

 

Discussion in the comments was lively and made me wonder if more people are still home on a Friday night than I assumed.Β  I hope you enjoy next week’s repeat of the ZZ Top episode.Β  With Dusty’s recent passing, it will be interesting in retrospect.

And we’ll be back with Superdekes on September 24 to talk to Storm Force one more time.Β  Our first interview was Storm Force so it’s full circle.Β  Stay tuned for plenty more list and theme shows.Β  The ideas flowed in the comments section so there is no shortage of potential themes!

‘Til next time….

A LeBrain Train Retrospective

Lego by the awesome Harrison

 

The LeBrain Train: 2000 Words or More with Mike Ladano

Episode 81 – A Retrospective

When you put as much into something as I have with this show, you eventually need a break.Β  I said I would keep doing this every week so long as Covid is keeping people stuck at home with nothing to do on a Friday night.Β  I think I’ve done that.Β  While not 100% of us are back to situation normal, it’s clear that most of us have had other things to do on the weekends.Β  And that’s awesome.

Given that the landscape has changed, and I’ve been at this for 18 solid months, changes are coming.Β  This show is to honour the past and look to the future.

Tonight, Harrison and I shall discuss our Nigel Tufnel Top Ten LeBrain Train Episodes of all time.Β  We’ll also run down the show’s history from its debut on March 20, 2020 to the present.Β  The fun, the ambition, the setbacks, the wins, the losses, and the memorable.Β  And what is to come!Β  We have something very, very cool planned.Β  You have Darr Erickson to thank.

I’ll be back September 24 with Superdekes to talk to Greg Fraser of Storm Force.Β  And we’ll be back again and again, any time a bunch of us want to talk about music on a Friday night.

As Ozzy would say, “Thank you, goodnight, I love you all.”

And you know about Ozzy and farewells.

 

Friday August 27, 7:00 PM E.S.T.Β onΒ Facebook:Β  MikeLeBrainΒ andΒ YouTube:Β  Mike LeBrain.

 

Complete Show List

 

Awesome Show & Tell! Top Music We’d Save From a Fire on the LeBrain Train

Let’s have a huge round of applause for our awesome panel tonight!Β  Showing off all our most beloved treasures, this show was a bounty of beautiful musical mana.

We didn’t stick strictly to the idea of saving “albums” from a fire.Β  We just made it “music” and in some cases it was “musical memorabilia”.Β  All good — all valuable in their own way.Β  Some valuable in serious monetary ways!Β  Wait until you hear how much some of these things cost today!

Special features tonight included:

  • Tons of show & tell! – Gene Simmons’ Vault, Metallica’s Fan Can #4, autographs, vinyl, cassettes, CDs & VHS!
  • The return of “The Author Reads“, the first in over 16 months.Β  This time I read Record Store Tales Part 19:Β  “The Rules” which directly related to my #1 pick.Β  (2:55:00 of the stream.)
  • Great stories from Aaron about his awesome Nana and B.B. King.

 

Thanks for watching and the awesome comments.Β  See you next week!