VHS Archives

VHS Archives #141: Alice Cooper Talks Trash – April 1989

Out promoting his big new album Trash, MuchMusic’s Terry David Mulligan spoke to Alice Cooper 35 years ago, in April of 1989.  Subjects discussed include Desmond Child, and a return to the sound of Billion Dollar Babies.  Have a watch.

 

VHS Archives #140: Bruce Dickinson & Contest Winners on the Pepsi Power Hour, Summer 1990

Contest winners Keith Kramer and Les Eckert were the names of the two chaps who got to sit in and interview Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson, while out supporting his first solo album, Tattooed Millionaire.  Dan Gallagher was hosting the Pepsi Power Hour, and his sense of humour is apparent here.  Dan always made interviews fun.

Bruce was pretty wiped out after a long night!  The guests picked the videos and asked the questions, but it is clear throughout that all three had a wild one the night before, seeing a band called Kings of the Sun.  Les was, to paraphrase Bruce, flammable.

Topics addressed:

  • Why does Bruce hate L.A. so much?
  • Touring with Guns N’ Roses
  • Rock Aid Armenia
  • Tattoos
  • Stoughton, Saskatchewan
  • “Son of a Gun”
  • “All the Young Dudes” video premiere

Enjoy this video from my personal archives.

 

 

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!

VHS Archives #137: Extreme on MuchMusic – September 1990 – Much Spotlight

Extreme were about to get really big for a little while with Extreme II: Pornograffiti.  Guitar wunderkind Nuno Bettencourt, singer Gary Cherone, bassist Pat Badger, and drummer Paul Geary sat down with MuchMusic in 1990 to discuss their name (only a jokey answer here), influences, and music videos vs the live show. Very prophetic and timely here….

VHS Archives #136: Killer Dwarfs’ Darrell Dwarf Millar backstage at Operation Rock and Roll (1991)

August 19, 1991.  Judas Priest’s final show with Rob Halford for over a decade.  Michael Williams caught Darrell Dwarf Millar of the Killer Dwarfs checking out Alice Cooper, Priest, Motorhead and more at Operation Rock and Roll!  Darrell discusses working with the very busy Andy Johns for the next Dwarfs record, Method to the Madness, which was set to begin in L.A. in September of that year.

VHS Archives #135: Extreme sign autographs in Scarborough, Ontario (1991)

Not much to be said here, just four guys at a mall signing autographs for throngs of fans! From the Pepsi Power Hour.

VHS Archives #134: Geoff Tate of Queensryche with Terry David Mulligan in Vancouver (1991)

Ever wanted to know what the legendary Little Mountain Sound studios in Vancouver looked like?  Well, you get a white wall with “Sue was here” graffiti on it.  But, you also get the legendary Terry David Mulligan interviewing the even more legendary Geoff Tate of Queensryche in October 1991!  Peak ‘Ryche.

The band were in town for a session and Mulligan caught Tate when the band were busy sound-checking.  Lots of interesting talk here.  Queensryche has done a lot of studio work in Vancouver.  Why?  According to Tate, because Seattle didn’t have the recording technology they needed to make their kind of music!  You can hear Vancouver on the Empire album, as Geoff explains.

They also talk about “Silent Lucidity” which of course was the big song for them.  It’s not exactly clear what Queensryche were doing at Little Mountain in Vancouver at that time.  Should I ask Mike Fraser?

VHS Archives #133: Winger perform 2 acoustic tracks on Start Me Up (1993)

Fantastic interview by Erica Ehm once again, with Reb Beach and Kip Winger.  Lengthy session too, 23 minutes in total!  Starting with some country riffs (Reb on 6-string, Kip on 12-string), the boys defied the expectations of the early 90s and proved they could really play — and how!  For the Winger guys, it was already “first thing in the morning”, otherwise known as “mid-afternoon” to us;  Kip had his cup of coffee ready!  (Really good coffee, according to Erica.)

Sad observation:  We’ve seen past interviews with groups like Bon Jovi, where throngs of fans were banging on the big MuchMusic windows.  Winger only got a couple curious onlookers pulling faces.  Too bad.

Songs played:

  • “Can’t Get Enuff” (at the 5:30 mark)
  • “Who’s The One” (17:30 in)

Topics covered:

  • Why were Winger not as big in Canada as they were at home?
  • Playing for musicians
  • Videos / “the image”
  • The art of songwriting / lyrics
  • Why was the new album called Pull?
  • Reb’s instructional guitar video
  • Chris Robinson, Lars Ulrich, Beavis and Butt-head, and other critics
  • Playgirl magazine!
  • Being “rock stars”

Winger ends the session with a blues jam.

Awesome acoustic tunes and a fantastic interview.  Check it out below.

VHS Archives #131: Ugly Kid Joe…cancelled again?

If anything, this Ugly Kid Joe bumper for Start Me Up is just a reminder of a time when certain words were OK on national television!