Videos

T-Bone Lets The Music Do The Talking on tonight’s LeBrain Train

The LeBrain Train:  2000 Words or More with Mike Ladano

Episode 49 – “The Return of T-Bone”

 

Layin’ down some facts for you:

  1. T-Bone is one of my favourite people,
  2. “Let the Music Do the Talking” is one of my favourite songs,
  3. but Done With Mirrors is one of my least favourite Aerosmith albums.

It’s been a mere two months since T-Bone last graced our show with his presence, but this time he’s coming locked and loaded with a special album deep discussion:  Aerosmith’s Done With Mirrors.

When I ranked all the Aerosmith albums, I placed it at #11.  I gave it a 3.5/5 when I reviewed it separately, but I blame Deke for that.  He was whispering things in my ear.  “36 minutes of classic Aerorock,” is what he said.   That was six years ago, and I have not listened to Done With Mirrors much since.  So it will be interesting to see what we have to say this time out.  Deke and T-Bone are big fans.

Besides Deke and T-Bone, we’ll also be bringing in Uncle Meat and Buried On Mars.  They are coming into the discussion with fresher ears than I, so it’ll be interesting to hear their takes.

Also:  Special beer “de-canning”!   Music unboxing from Encore Records!  New Current River music video!  All coming to you live…tonight!

 

7:00 PM E.S.T.
Facebook:  MikeLeBrain  YouTube:  Mike LeBrain

 

 

Scheduling Notes:

Martin Popoff will be back next Friday, February 12, for a King’s X Top Five show!

We are also hard at work on plenty of list shows and returning guests.  Rob Daniels and Mike Slayen will be returning when we do the Top Riffs of the 80s.  Harrison the Mad Metal Mad will be back when we tackle Top Maiden Album Covers, and a few other topics that we have cooking up.  And for a special 1st Anniversary show on March 19, Brent Jensen is going to talk about music that makes our skin vibrate one more time!

 

 

Mike Fraser takes us inside the recording studio on an epic LeBrain Train

“What happened to the guitars? Well put them back the way they were!” – Jimmy Page

A huge, huge, huge thanks to Mike Fraser for hanging out on a Friday night!  Growing up a young rock fan in Canada, we heard legend of Little Mountain studios in Vancouver.  Tonight, Superdekes and I got to ask the questions we wanted to know for over 30 years.  And Mike delivered!

Krokus.  Loverboy.  Honeymoon Suite.  AC/DC.  Aerosmith.  Bryan Adams.  The Cult.  Coverdale-Page.  So much more!  We tackled some of our favourite albums and a few cult classics.  From the Stone Gods to Canadian folksters The Rankin Family, we tried to explore the slightly obscure corners of Mike’s discography.  And we had a blast!  We took a few viewer questions, and if Mike comes back to the show again in the future, then maybe we can ask him the rest.

As I often do, I started early with an unboxing.  Start the video from the beginning if you want to catch that.  If you’re only interested in Mike (couldn’t blame you) then skip to 0:08:00 of the stream.

Make sure you watch all the way to the end to catch the brand new music video by T-Bone Erickson:  “Balls of Steel”.  This song is a tribute to Superdekes, who hooked us up with Mike Fraser for this show.  Thank you Deke, and thank you T-Bone for this awesome premiere video!

Feedback has been saying that this was the best LeBrain Train yet.  Do you agree?

REMINDER: Mike Fraser, Engineer Extraordinaire, on tonight’s LeBrain Train

Just a reminder that Mike Fraser, who has either engineered or mixed just about every album you love, will be on the show tonight!

The LeBrain Train:  2000 Words or More with Mike Ladano

Episode 48

In preparation for tonight, Deke and I have been doing our research, listening to records, and listening to other podcasts that Mike has been on.  While you can count on some AC/DC questions (and other major bands that Mike has worked with) Deke and I have some queries about some other albums off the beaten track.  You can check out some of Mike’s credits at his website.

Please give this a share to your rock buddies, and show Mike a warm welcome on tonight’s LeBrain Train!

January 29 2021. 7:00 PM E.S.T.
Facebook:  MikeLeBrain  YouTube:  Mike LeBrain

Note:  Thank you T-Bone for your understanding.  We original had T-Bone Erickson on the schedule for tonight to debut the latest Current River music video.  That show will now be pushed back to February 5.  T-Bone has graciously agreed to be bumped so we could talk to Mike Fraser.  Mighty fine dude!

Engineer Extraordinaire Mike Fraser joins the LeBrain Train – Friday Jan. 29 7:00 PM EST

The LeBrain Train:  2000 Words or More with Mike Ladano

Episode 48

Ever wanted to know what it was like making records with AC/DC, Aerosmith, The Cult, Coverdale-Page, Joe Satriani, Blue Murder and many more? If so, make sure you tune in to this Friday’s episode of the LeBrain Train.

Mike Fraser has worked on so many classic rock albums that your head will spin. There is a 99.999% certainty that you know and love at least one record he’s been involved with. For some of us it’s more a matter of the ones we haven’t heard yet!

A huge thanks to Mike for agreeing to come on our lil’ show and chat music, and an equally big thank-you to Superdekes for hooking it up. This is going to be fun.

January 29 2021. 7:00 PM E.S.T.
Facebook:  MikeLeBrain  YouTube:  Mike LeBrain

 

VHS Archives #101: The Wisdom of Michael Schenker (1987)

‘Twas the Pepsi Power Hour in 1987, and Erica Ehm asked Michael Schenker a question about fast guitar players.  In just a minute and 15 seconds, he responded with a remarkable amount of wisdom.  From MuchMusic.

 

The Riffs Kept A-Rockin’ on the LeBrain Train

Dude!!  What a show that was!  Technical difficulties aside, another excellent Nigel Tufnel Top Ten.  Hottest Riffs of the 1970s was the topic at hand.  The lists went far and wide and everybody came out of it with huge smiles on their faces.  Rush, Van Halen and Black Sabbath received a lot of extra love tonight, but you’ll have to watch to find out!

Your panel:

It was a tremendous amount of fun to actually hear some of these riffs instead of just talking about them.  A huge thanks to Mike for doing this with us.  And he will be back when we talk about the 80s.

The less said about this show, the better, because who wants spoilers?  Not you, trust me!

To jump straight to the lists without all the preamble and introductions, go to 0:21:00 and enjoy!

Top Riffs of the 1970s tonight on the LeBrain Train – special guest Mike Slayen

The LeBrain Train:  2000 Words or More with Mike Ladano

Episode 47

 

In October 2020, we did one of my favourite LeBrain Train episodes:  Van Halen deep cuts.  Shortly after, I was contacted by guitarist Mike Slayen about how much he enjoyed the lists.  He asked me if there was any way he could participate and I “sure DUDE!”  See, Dude is the title of his excellent instrumental acoustic CD.  But Mike knows not just acoustic, but also the sweet siren song of a fully electrified six-string.  Why not talk about Top Riffs?

Kevin, Aaron, and Uncle Meat were interested.  But it was quickly obvious that the scope was too large, so we decided to break it down by decade.  In the future, we’ll reconvene to talk about riffs of the 80s and 90s, but tonight, we talk about the greatest time ever (perhaps) for guitar riffs:  the molten 1970s.

Tonight’s panel will be five:

Mike Slayen is a guitar teacher, so what I am hoping is that he can demonstrate how some of these riffs are played.  This is going to be a fun night with plenty of great picks for you (and I) to check out.  See you tonight, and please share with your music buddies!

 

 

 

 

VHS Archives #100: The Final Episode of the Pepsi Power Hour

The final episode of the Pepsi Power Hour aired at the end of the summer of 1991.  The man with the sad honour of signing off was veteran Michael Williams.  Off and on, Williams hosted the Power Hour since 1986 if not earlier.  It was filmed at a welding shop in Calgary, Alberta.  Because metal?  (Bad, bad idea!  Audio engineers, your thoughts on this setting?)

Williams played Metallica’s “One”, and “Hunger Strike” by Temple of the Dog.  The shape of things to come.

The episode also features an interview with a new band called The Scream, featuring an up-and-comer named John Corabi.  A couple years later, and Corabi would be the new singer in Motley Crue.

The very last band ever played on the Pepsi Power Hour was Van Halen.  It was a big interview by Kim Clarke Champniss regarding the new album For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge.  The very last song ever played was “Runaround”.

The Power Hour was supplanted by the inferior Power 30.  It was a significant change.  I rarely missed a Power Hour.  The Power 30 was rarely worth catching.  However, look for the ad for a promising new Saturday show called Start Me Up – three hours of rock!

YouTube has forced me to butcher this video to get it up, so there are no music videos.  The Van Halen interview is mutilated. There are some ads and all the talking.  It’s history!

 

Speaking of history:  100 VHS Archives!  And counting!  I started posting these in 2019 and I still have plenty of files left to upload, and a few more tapes to play.  I’ve been taking it easy lately because the software is user-unfriendly and my VCR is making odd noises.  But we’re not done.  Not by a long shot.

Click here to check out all the VHS Archives!

 

VHS Archives #99: Duff & Matt from Guns N’ Roses backstage in Toronto – with an Axl Rose cameo (1991)

Use Your Illusion wasn’t even out yet, but Guns N’ Roses were two solid weeks into a tour chock full of new and old music.  MuchMusic’s Dan Gallagher talked with Duff McKagan and new member Matt Sorum before their show on June 7 in Toronto.  Was there an album really coming?

MuchMusic was into adding strange visual effects to their videos in the early 90s.  That choppy visual is not mine.  That is from the source broadcast.

Axl Rose had hurt his ankle and was giving the injury a stretch, riding around backstage on a bike.  Stay tuned to the end!  I hope that was gum.

Topics discussed:

  • “Popping the question” with Matt Sorum.
  • The broad appeal of Guns N’ Roses.
  • Unexpectedly playing “November Rain” for the first time in a year in front of 20,000 people.
  • Rock In Rio.
  • Punk covers recorded for a future album.
  • Tattoos.

 

VHS Archives #98: Blackie Lawless vs. Erica Ehm – 1992 reunion interview

VHS Archives proclaimed that video #43, Blackie Lawless’ 1989 Power Hour show, was the best interview with the man that you’ll ever see.

Every hit deserves a sequel.*

Unfortunately by 1992, when Blackie returned with new album The Crimson Idol, MuchMusic cancelled the Pepsi Power Hour and replaced it with the half-hour Power 30.  No more hour-long in-depth shows with an artist like Blackie.  This shorter talk is from midday in the summer of ’92.

Erica and Blackie joke around, but still get serious.  They maintain their excellent rapport from the prior encounter.  Topics discussed:

  • Spinal Tap’s three concerts in a single day, and Blackie’s cameo in the VHS release.
  • The concept behind new CD The Crimson Idol.
  • Pete Townsend.
  • The price for anyone who wants to make it in the music biz.
  • New video “The Idol”.

Once again well done to Erica Ehm who did the best with the limited time at hand.

* Kevin does not agree.