50 Years of IRON MAIDEN episode one: The Soundhouse Tapes and more! 1975-1980
A special 🅻🅸🆅🅴 debut episode
GRAB A STACK OF ROCK #85
50 years ago, Steve Harris departed his previous band Smiler, and formed the first lineup or Iron Maiden: Steve Harris, Paul Mario Day, Terry Rance, Dave Sulivan and Ron “Rebel” Matthews.
Today, Harrison Kopp and Mike Ladano are proud to debut their new series, 50 Years of Iron Maiden.
We begin with their first lineup and run through all the changes. We cover every officially released recording available prior to their first releases on EMI, of which several exist. These include Metal For Muthas, the BBC Archives, The Soundhouse Tapes, and Axe Attack. There are also existent recordings of Iron Maiden with Dennis Wilcock on vocals, and Paul Mario Day playing Iron Maiden songs. Iron Maiden with a keyboardist instead of a second guitarist? Steve Harris on lead vocals? Tonight on this special live episode, we will cover it all.
While most episodes in this Maiden series will be recorded in advance, tonight’s debut will indeed be live. Grab A Stack of Rock is usually a live show, but in 2025 we have some very special guests lined up for this series. This requires scheduling, which makes recording in advance necessary. We will continue to release shows on Fridays at 7:00 PM eastern standard time, and there will be the occasional live one sprinkled in.
It’s 50 Years of Iron Maiden, and the celebrations commence tonight. Like and subscribe to Grab A Stack of Rock on YouTube, and hit that “notify” bell so you don’t miss a single episode. We will be discussing every studio album, and we won’t be neglecting the official – and unofficial – live releases either. From the compilations to box sets, you will see our entire collections throughout this comprehensive series. Hit the gas, and here we go!
Friday January 10 at 7:00 P.M. E.S.T. / 8:00 P.M. Atlantic. Enjoy on YouTube or onFacebook!
We’re back! We had a couple weeks off for Christmas and New Year’s, but we’re back LIVE tonight to talk about some more album covers.
Today’s challenge comes again from the mind of Martin Popoff. Pick 10 great album covers from bands we despise. This was challenging in two respects. First, do we really want to say we “despise” a band? That’s a strong word, so we had to choose carefully. Just because I don’t listen to a band doesn’t mean I despise them. Second, I hate to say it, but many bands I hate have terrible covers. It was hard finding 10 good ones. But I did, so tune in tonight for some Contrarians fun with Martin, Grant, Peter, Jamie and myself.
This will be a controversial one. It is already. One of the covers I said was too crappy to include, was picked by Jamie. (At least we both despise the same band.) So we’ll see!
GRAB A STACK OF ROCK With Mike and the Mad Metal Man Episode 84: Lost Videos & Shorts – A Grab A Stack of Rock Special Friday Presentation!
While not a live episode, this special presentation was put together by yours truly, with me as your host through these forgotten and lost videos from years gone by. I have been making videos for 36 years now, and this collection of mini-episodes run from 2013 to the present day. These videos were made primarily for this blog, but also for other channels, my old show the LeBrain Train, and Grab A Stack of Rock. Some of these individual clips would require lots of determined scrolling and searching to find otherwise, so I thought it would be nice to take a viewing of some favourites of mine, and add in some that are now new and exclusive. It is certainly amusing to watch my look change, from bearded to clean and back to bearded and clean again.
New, previously unseen, and “lost” topics covered in this special episode: Rare rock and metal CDs sent from friends, rare books and rock magazines, rock band branded playing cards, a discussion on iTunes, video reviews of rare CDs, a updated check-in at the HMV/Toys R Us store, my collection of M.E.A.T Magazines, and the very first video I made in 1989. But that’s not all – stick around for Easter eggs.
I hope you can check it out tonight for this very special episode of Grab A Stack of Rock, assembled with care for your enjoyment.
Friday January 3 at 7:00 P.M. E.S.T. / 8:00 P.M. Atlantic. Enjoy on YouTube or onFacebook!
Harrison and I would like to thank our new guests Ashley Geisler, Melissa Nee, and Sidney from Slogan’s Rock & Metal Extravaganza, as well as returning guests Johnny Clauser and Todd Evans, for a rollicking good time on New Year’s Eve.
The concept was simple. Each of us took turns going round, showing off an item we got recently over the holidays.
Sidney had a massive haul of Rock Candy CDs, and used metal bargains from The Beat Goes On. He had a strong showing of Budgie remasters, and a diverse collection of bands. Melissa had some cool Iron Maiden stuff, while Ash is collecting bootlegs and had several to show us. Johnny Clauser brought some recent purchases, and Todd Evans scored well in the Neal Morse department. As for Harrison and I, he had a cool Trust tin and something call ONXRT. I decided to unveil my Van Halen For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge deluxe edition, with a short discussion.
We also started the show with the traditional Ask Harrison featuring Jex Russell.
It’s very possible the winner of the year 2024 was Judas Priest with the recent Rocka Rolla reissue. Have a watch and see.
Because we did the live show mid-week this time, Friday’s show is a pre-recorded special episode. Don’t miss it January 3!
GRAB A STACK OF ROCK With Mike and the Mad Metal Man Episode 83: New Year’s Eve Drop-In Show
It has been a while since I’ve attempted a show like this, but it’s time to do something random and chaotic to end the year with a party.
Disclaimer #1: I never make it to midnight.
Disclaimer #2: I have no idea what will actually happen tonight.
Harrison and I need a break like this to blow off steam. We’ve both been active on other channels, plus we have been preparing our massive Iron Maiden project for 2025. We are ready to launch it in January. But first, let’s have a party.
Tonight Harrison and I will be hosting some brand new guests: Ash Geisler from Australia, plus Logan and Sidney from Slogan’s music channel. There will be some returning guests and some random drop-ins.
If there is a theme tonight, it’s just showing off music we acquired over the holidays. It should be a fun discussion on that front.
Bottoms up. It’s gonna be a rock and roll party tonight…with a 52 year old host who will require a nap mid-day.
Message me if you need a link to join tonight.
Tuesday December 31 at 9:00 P.M. E.S.T. / 10:00 P.M. Atlantic. Enjoy on YouTube or onFacebook!
Wanna see what I got for Christmas in video form? Check that out and a whole bunch of Tim’s Vinyl Confessions viewers’ gifts too. The TVC episode below features the gift of music in the year 2024. My segment is roughly 3:00 long. Have a great new year everyone! Here is what Tim has to say below.
Whether it’s a fun and easy episode, or a challenging deep dive, I always enjoy sitting in with Peter Kerr on Rock Daydream Nation. Peter has been on a roll lately with a great viral interview with former Motley Crue singer John Corabi. Congrats Peter on that great chat!
In this episode, we break down the best song and worst song from every Motley Crue album. Joining us were Joe B. and Melissa Nee, with whom we also tackled Theater of Pain. They found this episode a challenge, as they were forced to listen to a lot of albums that might have been a big of a slog. However we all did our duties! As we go through the songs, you also get a sense of our album ranking too, though we didn’t do an official tally. There was some consensus, a little disagreement, and overall a sense of relief to be finished this exercise!
And yes…once again, I sing on another person’s channel. How long before I’m blacklisted for singing? And swearing? And quoting bad lyrics?
I also go on a massive rant regarding the Generation Swine album that makes for good TV.
40 years ago today was one of the most pivotal in my life. It was the day I discovered Iron Maiden. It was the day my life changed forever, and I found my new identity. Star Wars was over a long time, and I was 12. Time to grow up. Heavy Metal was around the corner. On this day, December 26, 1984.
RECORD STORE TALES PART 1: The Beginning – “Run To The Hills”
I still remember the first time I heard Iron Maiden.
Maybe it’s this way for some when they remember the first time they heard the Beatles, or the Stones. Or for those younger, maybe it’s like the first time they heard “Smells Like Teen Spirit” or “Fake Plastic Trees”. The first time I heard “Run To The Hills” was monumental to me, but I didn’t realize yet what the massive impact would be.
It was Christmas of 1984. I was a mere 12 year old looking for musical direction. I hadn’t been much interested in music prior to that. I had albums by Quiet Riot and Styx, but my majority of my collection was John Williams’ movie soundtracks.
I really wasn’t interested in music yet. I had yet to dedicate myself to any particular style. At the same time that I would listen to Quiet Riot, I somehow also thought Billy Ocean was cool.
Well, the video for “Loverboy” was nifty….
I had always been kinda afraid of heavy metal bands. Guys that wore spikes, like Judas Priest or Iron Maiden. Kiss literally scared me when I was buying my first comics (there were always ads for Kiss posters inside comic books), and I know I wasn’t the only one. The neighbor kid was scared to death of Gene Simmons spitting up blood. Bands like Maiden and Priest looked like a bunch of hooligans, definitely up to no good, definitely out to hurt people, including kids.
Boxing Day, Bob came over. It was tradition, every Boxing Day, Bob and I would get together and compare our Christmas scores. Bob scored a cassette tape called Masters Of Metal Volume 2 and I was given an Atari game called Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron.
In my basement, we sat down to play the video game. Our goal was to take the game as far as humanly possible, to see what happened when you shot down so many planes that the Atari didn’t have enough characters to display it anymore. (Incidentally, disappointingly, like most Atari games, it just starts counting up from zero again.) We sat there playing that game so long that Bob had to go home and eat lunch, then come back. But what he left behind while eating was Masters Of Metal.
“Run To The Hills” came on. Some people speak of moments of clarity: That was my moment. The music was fast, powerful, dramatic and melodic. The lyrics were cool and you could mostly sing along. Most importantly, the music and lyrics seemed to combine with the game experience. When Dickinson was singing “Run to the hills, run for your lives!” it meshed perfectly! Too bad Aces High wasn’t out yet!
A moment like that could quickly pass into history and be forgotten for most people. As the day wore on, I realized that I had found something. This music kicked ass! I was brought up on movie soundtracks. This stuff had the same drama, but with guitars! This was even better than Quiet Riot and AC/DC, so I said at the time.
It didn’t end there of course. We played through Masters Of Metal, finding a few more diamonds. “You’ve Got Another Thing Coming” By Judas Priest was definitely a close second to “Run To The Hills”. We were fixated on Accept’s “Balls To The Wall”. We’d play it over and over again laughing hysterically at the lyrics. But the song still rocked! I can still remember when MuchMusic started the Power Hour, and they played that video. There’s little Udo Dirkscheider, in his camo pants, and crew cut, rocking with these skinny German guys with long hair. It was fucking hilarious!
We skipped (what we then thought was) the crap…Lee Aaron, Anvil, Triumph. I grew into them later, particularly Triumph. Something to do with double guitars, maybe. I digress. We always came back to Iron Maiden. Always.
Bob would bring other tapes over as the months and years went by. W.A.S.P., Motley Crue, Black Sabbath. Now Bob’s a father of four who doesn’t listen to rock music anymore, which makes me sad in a way. I’m not sad for him, because he’s got a great family and always has. I’m more sad because I don’t think he can ever appreciate what impact our shared experiece of rocking out had on me. Listening to Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, and the rest. The was it, the beginning.
Merry Christmas! Here is a special set of 24 videos, one for each day on Lego’s Spiderman Advent Calendar.
MARVEL LEGO SPIDERMAN ADVENT CALENDAR 2024
I used to enjoy candy Advent calendars as a kid, since they helped us pass the boring December days a bit. As an adult, I enjoy them as something to look forward to during a December at the office. Regardless of motive, I didn’t enjoy the Lego Star Wars calendars as much. Too many fragile mini-ship builds.
I thought I’d give Spiderman a try in 2024, and I enjoyed this one a lot more. There were a lot of parts and settings that might work well in future customs. It could work as a “Christmas village” of sorts. There were come cool minifigs and accessories. Lots of webbing to play with, and a lot of spare parts.
As for value? These packages are not cheap, so don’t expect a lot of parts for your money. What you will get are some rarer minifig parts like an ugly Christmas sweater and a neat Spider-Gwen, not to mention her drum kit.
mikeladano.com 