When this video debuted on MuchMusic in spring of ’89, everybody but Harrison Kopp (who was not born yet) and John Hubner (who was not Canadian) said “Wow that singer really sounds like David Coverdale from Whitesnake!” The VJs said it and the kids said it. Do you agree? Does Ray Gillen resemble Coverdale in any way? Do you hear it too? Let us know in the comments.
GRAB A STACK OF ROCK With Mike and the Mad Metal Man
Episode 1: Dio – Dreamers Never Die review with Uncle Meat
As I was leaving for work on Friday morning, I thought to myself, “You know, I wonder if Harrison or anybody would feel like going live tonight. Just shoot the shit for an hour. It might be a fun way to be social on a Friday night and it only has to be an hour.”
I messaged Harrison in Australia just as he was tucking in for the night, and he graciously agreed to get up early and join me for an impromptu live stream. Setting his alarm clock, Harrison prepared for our first live show since July!
In this hour we discussed the following subjects:
This was great fun and I hope to catch up to the guys again in the near future. Thanks for watching everyone!
RECORD STORE TALES #1018:
Surfing the October Colours (Cottage Video)
The last cottage weekend before closing was totally maxed out! And I don’t mean Max the Axe!
Life is too short. It must be lived to the fullest. When you and I first met here at mikeladano.com, I was 10 years younger. Spending four hours on a Saturday pounding words into a keyboard was nothing back then. Today I’d rather be experiencing life. So that’s what we did. From music to food to photography, we enjoyed our last weekend at the cottage before closing, to the max!
The music for the road was top notch. Ghost’s new album Impera received another spin. It’s as good as the day it was released. Then while hanging out in the “G” folder, we rocked out George Lynch’s debut solo album, Sacred Grooves. Better than any of the Lynch Mob albums. It also enabled me to teach Jen a little bit about the mighty Glenn Hughes. His struggles and triumphs. On the road home, we rocked David Lee Roth’s Eat ‘Em and Smile and Your Filthy Little Mouth. A pretty solid selection of guitar rock.
The fall colours were spectacular. Orange, yellow, deep maroon. As you are all well aware, I am not usually a “fall guy”. This year has been a little different. I have a friend in California who finds all this Canadian weather beautiful and fascinating. For her, I enjoyed documenting the weekend with video tours and personal messages. It totally made this fall weekend a different experience for me. It was like seeing the place through new eyes. And this is now going to be part of my wellness plan for winter. She wants me to continue sending her fun videos and pictures of the Canadian landscape during the snowy months. I checked my phone — do you know how many pictures of snow I had from past winters? Two. TWO. I have photos on my phone going back to 2014, and I only have two with snow in them. With her enthusiasm and encouragement, I’m going to have fun documenting the winter of 2022-2023! I’ve never had this before — a friend in a sunny climate who has requested Canadian snow videos! On the condition that I stay safe and don’t crash my car or break my neck! This gives me a whole new project to do this winter, that I never had before. I feel very positive about going into the cold, dark winter months.
I’m recovering well from my dental surgery and ate two steaks this weekend! They were awesome! As were all the fish and mushrooms I cooked up. No A5 wagyu in stock at the butcher’s shop though. That will have to wait until next year, I suppose.
We did something else different that we haven’t done in recent years. We went into town! I took some video of the big waves, a daring surfer, and some quaint streets. Something new for this video.
Please enjoy this last cottage video before we close — all to the music of Tee Bone Erickson and Max the Axe!
I’m not posting this with the expectation that anyone will spend an hour and 45 minutes watching me drive home from the cottage. This is for me.
However, if you want to hear a live bootleg of Max the Axe playing their first gig with the current lineup…it’s here. I actually didn’t intend to use it, but I clicked the wrong music folder and it will take hours to re-save. So here you go! The track list for this video is:
MAX THE AXE
Live on the Farm Aug 4 2017
“The Other Side” (Instrumental)
“I Don’t Advocate Drugs”
“River Grand”
“Next Plane to Vegas”
“Uptite Friday Night”
“Randy”
“Scales of Justice”
“Sick of Living”
“Thirsty and Miserable”
“Gods on the Radio”
Trillion Dollar Threats
“Overload”
“Guns To Iran”
“Daddy Was a Murderin’ Man”
“Labyrinth”
“I Don’t Advocate Drugs”
“Belljar Party”
“Blood Runs Red”
“River Grand”
“Uptite Friday Night”
“Immortal”
“Space Marine”
“Mutant Mind”
“More”
“Letter To Yourself”
“Livin’ the Country”
“Mexican Standoff”
Bonus track
“Scales of Justice” (Remix)
Points of interest:
The Cosmic Superheroes are a band out of North Carolina, and I have just received a copy of their new CD, Hell Yes Ma’am Sessions! Bluesy, rootsy rock and roll with boogie! I’m digging their sound. What caught my attention was that they covered “Peace Pipe” by Cry of Love, one of the greatest songs of the 1990s. They were also produced by John Custer, so you know the final result would sound good. And it does!
Check out the unboxing video below, and become familiar with the Cosmic Superheroes!
Summer is over. Today is the first day of fall. For the final cottage video of the summer, you can see more of the incredible wildlife that we have come to expect. This is edited to the tune of my favourite Tee Bone Erickson song, “The Last Train”.
While it is always sad when summer comes to an end, it must be remembered that things are not like they once were. I don’t think I’ve ever gone swimming in September before. Fall is not necessarily the depressing wet cold thing it was in the 80s or even the 90s.
This video also features a cameo by my old friend and guest contributor Aaron Lebold. I don’t think I have seen Aaron in person since the Record Store days! We hung out and shot the shit for about an hour. He brought me some crazy Optimus Prime figures that you will see as well. Good to see an old friend, and good to have company at the lake, which we have not had since well before the pandemic.
Thanks to Marco D’Auria for the use of three exclusive movie clips in this review.
I am pleased to present to you a work in progress by Max the Axe: a new remix of “Randy” by Robi Banerji. This remix veers wildly from the original album version of the song.
There are lots of dogs and cats in this video for you pet lovers.
You’ll notice we saw our UFO at the lake again on that August weekend. And weirder than ever. Explain this to me, people. See for yourself!
Sometimes my videos are inspired, sometimes less so. This time was one of those times I just couldn’t seem to satisfy myself. However, there’s still some great footage here. A couple of blue jays, some delicious steaks, incredible sunsets, waves in slow motion, and miniature Schnauzers. All to the greatest hits of our good pal Tee Bone. And you can’t resist his music!
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