As Blotto themselves know, from the making of their new documentary film Hello! My Name Is Blotto – The Movie, sometimes great stuff happens when the tape stops rolling! That happened to me on Tuesday February 25, after finishing up my interview with the band.
During the pre-show chat, Bowtie Blotto told me that they had played my home town of Kitchener, as well as my dad’s city of Guelph. And he asked Broadway Blotto what he remembered of those gigs.
Check out the funny story in the YouTube short below, and check out the full interview if you haven’t already!
GRAB A STACK OF ROCK With Mike and Blotto Episode 92: Hello! My Name Is Blotto! The Interview
Blotto hit the sand on MTV with “I Wanna Be A Lifeguard”, being among the first 40 videos played on their first morning as a station. Then came “Metal Head”, Metal For Breakfast, and a heck of a lot of gigs. The core members were all named Blotto: Sarge, Cheese, F Lee, Broadway and Bow Tie. Sadly we lost Cheese and Sarge, but for this special interview, F Lee, Broadway and Bow Tie reunited with director Bert Blotto on Grab A Stack of Rock. It’s a Blotto reunion, and a good time was had by all.
The subject is a new movie about to premier on April 12 at Cohoes Music Hall: Hello! My Name Is Blotto! The Movie. Director Rob “Bert Blotto” Lichter has carved this film from many hours of archives, like a sculptor cuts wood. Join the Blotto guys and I, as we check out the movie trailer and hear firsthand stories from the band. There are laughs a-plenty, some serious moments, and some fan geekery. You’ll always hear about the one (hilarious) unreleased track that was never recorded.
It is clear that for Rob, this is a work of passion and pride, as well as hope. Indeed, Blotto deserve a larger audience, for their music still rings true and makes us laugh.
Plus, Bow Tie does the “Dr. Bow” laugh from “Goodbye Mr. Bond” and if that isn’t worth the price of admission, I don’t know what is.
Video premieres at 7:00 PM Eastern.
Thursday February 27 at 7:00 P.M. E.S.T. / 8:00 P.M. Atlantic. Enjoy on YouTube.
Episode 6 of 50 Years of Iron Maiden (and episode 93 of Grab A Stack of Rock) was a learning experience as Harrison schooled us on the Beast On the Road Tour.
A fabulous live album recorded in 1982 but not released until 2002, Beast Over Hammersmith rivals Live After Death in metal mastery. The lively comments section anticipated all of our praise for this album, which you can get on vinyl, but probably not on CD without buying the Eddie’s Archive box set.
Harrison Kopp was the master of ceremonies, and this episode was all his. Hear about the unusual opener, the instrumental, the guitar solo, the B-side, and much more. Several things came up multiple times in this episode: 1) Bruce Dickinson’s voice at this point in 1982. 2) Clive Burr’s masterful performances of these songs. 3) The band’s fresh take on the songs that would later be played hundreds of times.
This is episode is certain to go down as a favourite. Join us next week with Melissa Nee, for Piece of Mind!
Recorded 20 March 1982 – 2 days before album was out, released 2 November 2002.
Never released in full on video as the band were unhappy with the quality, but you can see part on the 2004 Early Days DVD.
Opener: Murders in the Rue Morgue! Starts slow, showcasing Steve’s bass harmonics. Then goes breakneck! What a strange opener!
Wrathchild is another great Steve bass opener. This one is more along the lines of the album version, but with Bruce singing.
New song Run to the Hills is 3rd in the set! Not as breakneck speed as some versions.
Another new song, Children of the Damned. Bruce announces the album will be out March 22. Tour de force vocals and some nice guitar harmonics added in.
Crowd is very quiet except for a few pockets of cheers to open Number of the Beast. Bruce mentions the “problems” they had in the studio.
Great version of “Another Life”, with Clive absolutely on fire on the snares and cymbols. Bruce’s vocals make the lyrics more clear: “As I lay here lying on my bed.” Amazing Davey soloing here.
Screaming version of Killers next. Bruce at peak voice tackling this song. Otherwise pretty faithful to album cut, especially the guitars and guitar tone. We also learn Adrian had some bruised up ribs that night.
22 Acacia is introduced as an Adrian co-write. Another perfect performance. Bruce’s vocals are biting and growly during the intro.
Bruce says Total Eclipse isn’t really a B-side, but it is. “Didn’t have enough room on the album.” This song and Run to the Hills were on a vinyl single already. The vocals are a little haggard toward the challenging ending high notes.
Leads into instrumental Transylvania, played as it should be by Clive.
Crowd is silent during the Prisoner opening. Great hearing it like with Clive on drums. The drums are fast, frenetic and flawless. Tempo seems a bit faster in the latter part than the album.
Hallowed comes in with no intro from Bruce. Better live version than Live After Death, as Bruce sings the opening a little more true to album. Passionate singing from Bruce.
Phantom – Top performance from Bruce, expressive and soaring! Tempo feels a little faster than album.
Iron Maiden – Breakneck version!
Sanctuary – Same with Sanctuary!
Drifter – Songs tend to flow one into another. I don’t like when Bruce refers to some in the audience as a “fucking women,” but that was the 80s. I doubt he’d say this today.
Running Free – A top Bruce version, with impassioned and wild vocals.
Prowler – Crazy to hear this album opener as a closer.
50 Years of IRON MAIDEN episode 6: Beast Over Hammersmith
A special 🅻🅸🆅🅴 episode
GRAB A STACK OF ROCK #93
Good evening Hammersmith…or wherever you are! Tonight on 50 Years of Iron Maiden, Harrison and I are appropriately tackling this live album with a live episode!
Beast Over Hammersmith is a double live album recorded just before The Number of the Beast was released. The band played a rare mix of Di’Anno classics and deep cuts, along with new material, and one B-side! Bruce explains to the crowd that it’s not “really” a B-side, which it was, but we’ll get into that, as well as “all the lazy bastards from EMI in the back.”
This episode is our sendoff to Clive Burr, and we’ll be talking about him, though not for the last time in this series.
Beast Over Hammersmith was first issued as a 2 CD set within the Eddie’s Archive box set, which we have taken brief looks at in the past. Today you can get Beast Over Hammersmith on vinyl, so it is a significant enough release to warrant its own episode.
So give us a yo, yo yo yo! and see us tonight, live!
GRAB A STACK OF ROCK With Mike and Blotto Episode 92: Hello! My Name Is Blotto! The Interview
Blotto hit the sand on MTV with “I Wanna Be A Lifeguard”, being among the first 40 videos played on their first morning as a station. Then came “Metal Head”, Metal For Breakfast, and a heck of a lot of gigs. The core members were all named Blotto: Sarge, Cheese, F Lee, Broadway and Bow Tie. Sadly we lost Cheese and Sarge, but for this special interview, F Lee, Broadway and Bow Tie reunited with director Bert Blotto on Grab A Stack of Rock. It’s a Blotto reunion, and a good time was had by all.
The subject is a new movie about to premier on April 12 at Cohoes Music Hall: Hello! My Name Is Blotto! The Movie. Director Rob “Bert Blotto” Lichter has carved this film from many hours of archives, like a sculptor cuts wood. Join the Blotto guys and I, as we check out the movie trailer and hear firsthand stories from the band. There are laughs a-plenty, some serious moments, and some fan geekery. You’ll always hear about the one (hilarious) unreleased track that was never recorded.
It is clear that for Rob, this is a work of passion and pride, as well as hope. Indeed, Blotto deserve a larger audience, for their music still rings true and makes us laugh.
Plus, Bow Tie does the “Dr. Bow” laugh from “Goodbye Mr. Bond” and if that isn’t worth the price of admission, I don’t know what is.
Video premieres at 7:00 PM Eastern.
Thursday February 27 at 7:00 P.M. E.S.T. / 8:00 P.M. Atlantic. Enjoy on YouTube.
Show notes
Rob Lichter’s Hello! My Name Is Blotto – The Movie! Is set to premiere at Cohoes Music Hall on Saturday, April 12. The film spans the origins of the band members starting as The Star-Spangled Washboard Band in the 1970’s, their evolution to Blotto and heyday in the 1980’s, and their long afterlife up to the present.
This film is the brainchild of Rob Lichter, aka Bert Blotto, a multimedia expert and longtime friend of Blotto. 25 years of footage and interviews plus archives going back to 1972! Why a documentary, and why now in 2025? Whose idea was it to create a film? How did this evolve?
Is the film done, edited, finished, ready to roll?
Obviously MTV was important to the success of the band, having been one of the first 40 videos played on the station. MuchMusic in Canada also played a lot of Blotto and I’m wondering what your career was like in Canada.
What were you guys thinking, making music videos before there even was an MTV?
What was that feeling like, seeing your music video on national TV?
Did the Metal For Breakfast compilation album bring “Metal Head” to another level?
When prepping this interview, a friend asked me if Buck Dharma from BOC was on Metalhead and I confirmed. How did you get that to happen?
“Video 45” on VHS from Sony with three videos of Blotto songs that also received wide exposure from airplay on MTV, including “Metalhead,” with Donald “Buck Dharma” Roeser from Blue Öyster Cult on lead guitar.” How did this happen?
I was struck by the one quote in the trailer about how some people thought Blotto was making fun of the music they liked. I felt the same way! I didn’t know how to take this band. There was a bald guy and a guy with a tie and glasses! They did look like they were “taking the piss” as the English say.
Each guy in the band had a different look. How did you approach Blotto as a visual band?
Were there any musical genres off limits to you guys?
What about musicianship? Obviously you guys could play. Were there any ideas you had that were beyond your abilities?
I’ve always wondered who is singing lead on HSH? Bowtie?
Any plays for DVD or Blu? Or even a soundtrack album?
This fun subject is courtesy of Martin. Amps, microphones, tape decks…whatever goes into making music, if it’s on the album cover, it counts! I will be bringing out some big heavyweight albums for this special episode tonight.
What are some of your favourite albums with amps and recording equipment on the cover? Or perhaps in some cases, the entire packaging? Stay tuned!
Watch live and comment! Martin always tries to address the comment section.
GRAB A STACK OF ROCK With Mike and the Mad Metal Man
Special Edition Episode: “Hey, You Like Records!” – Grab A Stack of Free Records
One day, Jen came home from bowling with a stack of records from a near-stranger! “Hey, you like records don’t you?” said the person as he dumped all this ancient vinyl in her hands. She knew I’d be able to make a video of them, if nothing else. So that is what we did.
Join Harrison and I for a look at some musty records with a couple surprises. Apparently, if you like Led Zeppelin, the Who and the Beatles, then we discovered the Canadian equivalent of those bands for the “over 25” crowd. Please welcome…the Moms and the Dads!
Gospel, Hans Albers, Wurlitzer, Bill Haley & the Coments, songs about cats and dogs…we got it all on this weird bonus episode of Grab A Stack of Rock!
This episode is live on YouTube now! Hit up the channel, like and subscribe!
50 Years of IRON MAIDEN episode 5: The Number of the Beast
With Jex Russell
GRAB A STACK OF ROCK #91
Enter: The Air Raid Siren. “Bruce Bruce”. Paul Bruce Dickinson to his mum. One of the greatest lead vocalists, frontmen, songwriters and lyricists in heavy metal: Bruce Dickinson. None of that is hyperbole.
It’s one of the greatest “replacement singer” success stories in heavy metal. Not just anyone could replace the beloved Paul Di’Anno. What Iron Maiden did with Bruce took the band to a whole new level. They tightened the songwriting, sharpened the production and put out one of the best albums of their lives. The Number of the Beastpushed Maiden to a new level, and hinted at how they would grow album by album in the future.
In this episode, Mike and Harrison discuss the full track listing, including “Total Eclipse” and the live B-side “Remember Tomorrow”. We’ll talk about the different coloured covers, the different track listings, and of course the tour! Also included, an interview clip with Bruce Dickinson on assumptions made about heavy metal at that time. This in-depth episode is our longest to date at just over an hour. It is filled with praise and critique, but by the end you will understand why this is considered by some to be “the” Maiden classic.
Jex Russell’s favourite Iron Maiden album is The Number of the Beast. He was thrilled to find that no-one had snagged this slot yet. Please welcome Jex back to the show!
This week I didn’t choose the subject, but I did pick the title! Martin Popoff liked “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Hipgnosis!”, based on the old margarine ads “I can’t believe it’s not butter!”
Yes, this week we are tackling album covers that look designed by Hipgnosis…but are not! This will be a lot of fun, and I have my ten picks lined up with lots of Canadian content.
Please join John T. Snow and I on his excellent channel, The Collection! Snowman and I have always had a friendly competition over KISS. He was the first to get the Vault (the BIG Vault!), and lately he has been collection KISS compilations on CD. There are many, as you shall see in this episode. Even with our collections combined, there are still a couple out there that elude us both.
We went chronologically, starting with the first compilation that you can buy on CD: Double Platinum! We then went through the entire collection, including Japanese imports, remasters, promos, oddities, Canadian compilations, and weird stuff that only Snowman could tell you about!
mikeladano.com 