Videos

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

 

VIDEO: Eight Days in June at the Cottage – 2023

We had a lot of fun over the last two weekends.  It is very rare we can get that much cottage time all at once.  Obviously, it had to be captured on video!

In this video you will see:

Hope you enjoy!  All set to the music of Blotto.

 

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!

 

VHS Archives #139: Queensryche! Geoff Tate, Chris DeGarmo, Eddie Jackson, Michael Wilton and Scott Rockenfield do the Pepsi Power Hour with Dan Gallagher (1991)

An unusually playful and jovial Queensryche joke around with Dan Gallagher while waiting for chicken wings at the Anchor Bar in Buffalo!  The band show a rare comradery here and are absolutely having a blast laughing it up with Dan.  It’s quite refreshing.  Unfortunately, the whole interview is tinted in blue, because the 90s.

Topics discussed:

  • The Empire tour’s stage show.
  • Suicidal Tendencies opening.
  • The upcoming “Seattle Sound” and why Queensryche don’t sound like that.
  • Rock In Rio II.
  • Howard Ungerleider and Jaymz Bee.
  • Changes in songwriting.
  • Fulfilling their dreams on stage.

VHS Archives #138: Chris DeGarmo and Geoff Tate of Queensryche with Erica Ehm (1991)

Fall, 1991.  A shy Chris and Geoff dropped by the MuchMusic studios to talk Empire with Erica Ehm.  Topics addressed:

  • Being homesick for Seattle
  • Canadian connections – DalBello, Howard Ungerleider, Jaymz Bee
  • Playing Operation: Mindcrime on the Empire tour
  • What is the stage show like?
  • “Another Rainy Night (Without You)”

With 20/20 hindsight, it’s funny to hear Geoff Tate talk about the live Mindcrime set being a one time only event, considering how much he’s milked it since then!

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!

A Triumphant Arkells Appreciation Friday with Mr. Books and Nurse Kat

A massive thank you to Nurse Kat for spending her Friday night with Aaron and I, talking Arkells!  Though none of us could be called hardcore Arkells veterans, our passion certainly came through.  Since falling in love with the band roughly 18 months ago, Kat has seen Arkells 13 times.  From New York to LA to Glasgow, she had a lot of cool stories to tell.  Meanwhile, Aaron filled us in on the early years, as he saw them even before the Jackson Square debut album was out.

A common theme for this show was the power of music to connect with the human heart.  Kat and I both had some pretty emotional experiences to an Arkells soundtrack.  This is a band that really seems to have a direct line to the mind and soul.

I presented my Nigel Tufnel Top Ten Arkells songs (from the albums I own) and Kat provided some cool live clips and photos.  We hope you enjoy!

 

 

Mike’s Nigel Tufnel Top Ten Arkells tunes:

 

11. “Savannah” from Morning Report – acoustic anthemic awesomeness.

10. “Passenger Seat” from Morning Report – what a falsetto!  So much passion!

9. “Hung Up” from Morning Report – “The gatekeepers are keepin’ me out!” – what a hook!

8. “Coffee” from Michigan Left – Powerful lyrics with personal meaning.

7. “On Paper” from Michigan Left – killer chorus, powerful rock.

6. “Whistleblower” from Michigan Left – as hard as Arkells songs get, based on that riff.

5. “Michigan Left” from Michigan Left – “Decorations won’t be wasted” – one of their best choruses!  And that percussion!  Oh man.

4. “Come to Light” from High Noon – channeling 80’s Bowie?  You be the judge.

3. “Leather Jacket” from High Noon – the song that got me to buy the album in the first place.

2. “11:11” from High Noon – so hard to narrow things down to only four songs from High Noon, but this one is just hook laden and nostalgic.

1. “Fake Money” from High Noon – This song is pure hooks, from start to finish, with an angry bent.

Honorable mentions – “Cynical Bastards”, “Crawling Through the Window”, “Book Club”, “Drake’s Dad”

Jen’s #1 – “Leather Jacket”

BONUS

Tune in 9:00 AM Saturday morning for an extra weekend live stream with Jex Russell!  Cassette fans, don’t miss this bonus episode!