One person commented, “I had no idea that Winger was so close to Montreal in 1993!” MachuPikachu responded, “How is Montreal close to Toronto? It’s a 10 hour round trip.” Of all the things to comment on. But then, he went after another guy in the comments.
One commenter named Bryan, who I do not know, said that Winger had a real run of bad luck, which is undeniably true. MachuPikachu went at him, saying that they actually had incredibly good luck! Can both not be true? They started with good luck and good connections, and ended the first part of their career with some really shitty stuff, such as Beavis and Butt-Head and Metallica mocking them. Then they came back. A pretty cool story. Nothing to get into a piss match over.
I interjected and said that I thought the original commenter was talking about the early 1990s, Beavis and Butt-head, and there was no reason to harangue him for that.
MachuPikachu took issue with my comments, and also insisted that I or YouTube was deleting stuff on him. Most of the exchange is gone, but I saved what I could. Here he is complaining about his comments being deleted. He said “congrats on the censorship” and that he would not be coming back. “Best of luck,” he said.
I also mentioned I didn’t like how he harangued the original commenter. He then turned it around and asked Bryan, the original commenter, if he felt harangued. I am sure he didn’t expect the “yes” response that he got.
Now I’m mocking and ridiculing. What a fucking child. “Clearly this isn’t the channel for me.” Because you trolled, and got butthurt. Time to mock and ridicule.
Thanks for the content, MachuPikachu! Here are the rest of the comments, without his in between, since deleted them all like a baby.
Just a reminder that there will be no episode of Grab A Stack of Rock this week, new or re-run, as Mike prepares for his beloved Grandmother’s funeral.
Grab A Stack of Rock will return soon with more 50 Years of Iron Maiden, more Music & Mental Health, and live episodes.
Mike lost his grandmother on July 30 2025, at the age of 101 years old. He is working on his funeral speech, and will be the only speaker at the funeral. He feels the need to focus on that task, and supporting his family, before he is able to record new episodes of 50 Years of Iron Maiden.
In the meantime, he has created a playlist called The Greatest Grandmother, featuring some of his favourite Grandma stories.
Here is an admission about 15 years in the making.
As many know, I got my start on local radio from 2010-2012, under the name “LeBrain”. That name was given to me as both a mispronunciation of my real last name, and my musical “braininess”. The local radio station 107.5 Dave Rocks had an afternoon show hosted by Craig Fee. He had a couple popular contests: the “Tedious Tiresome Trivia” at 3 PM weekdays, and the “Four O’Clock Four-Play” at, obviously, 4 PM. The idea was that Craig would play four songs in a row, and we would guess the common theme. I began calling in, and winning regularly. I think the first quiz I got correct was “All songs produced by Bob Ezrin”. I kept calling, and I kept winning.
I had become such a dominating force on the 4 O’Clock 4-Play, my favourite music contest, that listeners were now writing in 4-Play quizzes specifically to stump me. For a while there it seemed everybody wanted to be the one to put an end to my reign as “King of the Four Play”. Craig gave me that title, incidentally. And everyone wanted to stump me. Craig set up a whole week for me and only me to try to answer questions submitted by listeners.
Craig had me come into the studio for the contest, live on the Craig Fee show, during what he dubbed “Stump LeBrain Week“. Each day that week, I came in at 4 o’clock in order to play the contest on the air. Craig selected five 4-Plays, one for each day. If I answered correctly, I won the prize (I Mother Earth tickets). If I was stumped, the person who wrote the 4-Play question would win the prize.
I “won” all five days of “Stump LeBrain Week”, and took home the tickets, which I gifted to a friend (long story about me and concerts). I didn’t want the tickets; I wanted the glory. However, I am about to reveal that not all was above the board. In one case, Craig made a mistake, and allowed a quiz question that involved a song that didn’t exist. It didn’t matter; I won that episode on the very first clue without any help. If I had got to the third clue, we would have had a problem. No matter what, they always play all four songs, whether I win on the first one or not.
See Day 2 of Stump LeBrain Week below, and track 03:
Comment: Mike nailed this one before the first song was even over.
There was a fake song here. I questioned the third song, Dio’s “Holy Diver”. Offline, I said to Craig, “Dio never sang a duet with Ozzy Osbourne.”
“Sure he did,” said Craig. “‘War Pigs’!”
“Dio and Ozzy never sang ‘War Pigs’ together,” I countered. “They never sang anything together.”
“Sure they did. I’ll play it for you.” So Craig played what I will call a mashup. It was probably Ozzy’s version of “War Pigs” from the Just Say Ozzy EP, mashed up with Dio’s voice from a live album, trading off lines. It sounded cool, but was clearly fake. However, I didn’t want to ruin the show, and so I said nothing. But now I can reveal that The Crook had no idea what he was talking about when he created that quiz. I knew, but we went with it because on with the show!
I won Day 2 legitimately.
Now here is the biggest reveal. I didn’t go five for five on Stump LeBrain week. I really went four for five. Craig gave me the final answer. Check out Day 5, the most difficult of all.
Four-Play #5 (submitted by Nick Byerjean)
Clue 01 KISS – Beth
01 Mike’s Guess: ‘songs that originated as b-sides’ (no)
01 Mike’s Extra Guess: ‘no members of the band played on the track’ (no)
01 Mike’s Extra Guess: ‘crappy songs from great albums’ (no)
Clue 02 Guns ‘N Roses – Used To Love Her
02 Mike’s Guess: ‘single monikered album titles’ (no)
02 Mike’s Extra Guess: ‘songs with unusual percussion’ (no)
02 Mike’s Extra Guess: ‘songs people think is about one thing, but it’s about something else” (no)
02 Mike’s Extra Guess: ‘acoustic ballads’ (no)
Clue 03 Aerosmith – Angel
03 Mike’s Guess: ‘bands led by duos’ (no)
03 Mike’s Extra Guess: ‘bands who shortened their name from something longer (no)
03 Mike’s Extra Guess ‘all are bands from America’ (no)
Clue 04 Slash with Andrew Stockdale – By The Sword
04 Mike’s Guess: ‘songs released in even numbered years’ (no)
04 Mike’s Extra Guess: ‘all albums released in leap years’ (no)
04 Mike’s Extra Guess: ‘songs released in Canadian-hosted Olympic years’ (yes!)
There is no way in hell I would know anything about Canadian-hosted Olympic years. Anyone who knows me, would know that. So there is the confession. The last episode that week was a fix. I didn’t get it right, but Craig didn’t want to ruin my streak, so he fed me the answer off-air.
Each track’s year refers to the single release, not the album. In this case, the years are 1976 (Kiss), 1988 (Aerosmith and Guns N’ Roses), and 2010 (Slash). 1976 was the Summer Olympics in Montreal. Calgary hosted the Winter Olympics in 1988. In 2010, Vancouver hosted the Winter Olympics. I had to look all of that up. I do have a funny story about an old boss of mine who accidentally skied into the athlete’s Olympic Village in 2010, and was detained, but that is a whole other story!
I won Day 2 on the first song, so it didn’t matter that Craig screwed up on the third song (which I didn’t need to win). Day 5 though, was a cheat. A total cheat. I was given the answer. The truth is that Nick Byerjean did in fact “Stump LeBrain”, and never got credit for it.
Well done, Nick! I should have given the I Mother Earth tickets to you.
(The title of this episode is a bit of a misnomer, because White Lion did release an album in 1991 that we’re going to discuss!) HELLO! I will be LIVE Saturday August 16 at 5:00 PM EST to discuss the early discography of New Jersey’s White Lion! Check out Slogan’s Rock and Metal Extravaganza for this special live recounting of the band’s best songs from their first four albums:
Fight to Survive (1985)
Pride (1987)
Big Game (1989)
Mane Attraction (1991)
We decided to forego 2008’s Return of the Pride for this discussion. A decent album, but without Vito Bratta on guitar (or any other member of the old White Lion, not even Tommy “T-Bone” Caradonna or Jimmy DeGrasso) we decided not to include it in this episode. Speaking with Sidney about this show, I was pretty adamant that Vito Bratta was so important to the band’s sound that I didn’t consider Return of the Pride to be a real White Lion album. More like Tramp’s White Lion.
Join Sidney, Joseph Suto, Danney Alkana, Chez Cetra (of TVC fame) and myself for this discussion. The job is simple: Just pick one favourite song from each album. Let’s see how much we agree/disagree on this underrated band.
50 Years of IRON MAIDEN bonus episode:
The Best of Blaze Bayley
GRAB A STACK OF ROCK bonus episode
In 1999, Iron Maiden reunited with Bruce Dickinson. They have been going strong for a quarter of a century since. Blaze, meanwhile, has had a solid solo career to celebrate. Tonight we celebrate everything Blaze on 50 Years of Iron Maiden, to cap off his tenure in the band.
This episode from November of 2023 pre-dates our 50 Years of Iron Maiden series, but we felt now was a good time to edit it down to a reasonable length and give it a replay. If you’ve seen this episode already, you can safely skip this bonus broadcast. If you haven’t, we have edited this live show down to the Blaze basics and cut it to a digestible length. All of Blaze’s career is included in this episode’s Top 11 song list. Foregoing the traditional rules, Harrison didn’t just pick his 11 favourite Blaze tracks like Mike did. No, Harrison technically picked 22 songs. All Blaze solo, or Blaze Bayley-branded live versions. Mike chose songs from all three eras of Blaze: Wolfsbane, Iron Maiden, and solo.
Harrison and Mike only had one song in common. That means combined we have given you 32 songs to check out. Harrison and Mike also provided a lot of context and background to our picks, and we hope that this episode is in-depth enough for the Blaze diehards. And we know there are Blaze diehards out there. We see you in the comments!
We also took a look at some physical rarities: Two Iron Maiden X Factor Japanese CDs, an X Factor singles box set, two lenticular Virtual XI CDs, a “Holy Grail” live album, one CD that Mike needs, one CD that Harrison needed but since acquired, and a Wolfsbane cassette.
We sincerely hope you take the time to watch this passionate, insightful episode about a singer that deserves more of your attention: Blaze Bayley.
Friday August 15 at 7:00 P.M. E.S.T. Enjoy onYouTube.
Our Music and Mental Health series on YouTube seemed to do some good. We decided to keep going with it. Viewers told us they’d like updates on how we’re all doing, so here’s an update on:
Jen’s health
House issues
Writing Grandma’s funeral speech
The speech is now coming along, and I’ll be proud to post it here after the funeral.
I hope you get something from this video, because when things get hard, sometimes you just gotta laugh.
Click the pic below to get to our Music & Mental Health playlist on YouTube, and check it out.
RECORD STORE TALES #1206: I Can’t Help the Feeling I Could Blow Through the Ceiling…
Two steps ahead, but one step behind? It’s still progress. It may not feel like progress, but it is.
In 2024, we had our shelf disaster. My priceless collection spilled forth unto the ground, knocking my spirits down with them. But we got back up again and rebuilt. We rebuilt despite the following furnace replacement, requiring my precious collection to be move again.
Now in 2025, we have prevented yet another shelf disaster. I returned home from the lake to find another set of shelves slowly peeling from the walls. I stopped it in time, removed the heaviest items, and prepared to make plans to replace the shelving. This will be a more difficult task this time, as it will also require me to tear apart my stereo system and place it on the new shelving. Not an easy task; there are so many cables it’s like black & blue spaghetti.
It’s hard to keep up. We have so many projects. We continue to pare things down and get rid of excess possessions. We continue to clean up and organize. We continue to replace broken household items. It’s an uphill climb and the list keeps growing.
New TV, new cable box, new rug, new blinds, new computer, new this & that…
I can’t help the feeling I could blow through the ceiling sometimes.
I’ve been crashing hard on Mondays. It’s been getting worse.
My pattern on cottage weekends goes something like this. Wake up Sunday, clean the dishes, get rid of the garbage, and pack up my things to go home. We usually leave the lake on Sundays around 11:00 AM, arriving home around 1:00 PM. I start feeling pretty down around the time of departure. It is very hard to leave that place. It doesn’t matter what music we pick in the car on the way home. This last trip, we went back to the late 80s with Blow Up Your Video by AC/DC and Dream Evil by Dio. What we listen to doesn’t seem to change the mood.
When we get home, we unpack, turn on the air conditioning, and decide what to do about food. Usually, to cheer myself up, I order something in. Sometimes this causes frustration at home, because Jen and I can rarely agree on food. If she’s craving it, I’m burned out on it. If I want it, she’s allergic to it. We usually end up with something overpriced that neither of us were happy with.
I start to feel down in the dumps by late afternoon, and really tired. I’m almost always in bed before 7:00 PM on a Sunday night.
Through the night, I can feel anxiety gathering, in my dreams. I will dream of jobs. Of work. Of things that I have to return to when I come home from the lake. I can often stop the dream, and think about other things, but these dreams are just symptoms, not the problem.
No matter how much sleep I get that night, I just stay in bed. My alarm goes off; I hit snooze. Sometimes it can be 12 hours in bed and I’m still tired.
Monday is often a trainwreck. I’m usually in a terrible mood, and usually go to bed again without eating that night.
O, By the light of the silvery moon I want to spoon, to my honey I’ll croon love’s tune Honeymoon keep a-shining in June Your silv’ry beams will bring love dreams We’ll be cuddling soon By the silvery moon
(Edwards/Madden 1909)
Oh, the moon! That might explain things. You see, the moon affects the brain.
(Amman – Clash of the Titans 1982)
RECORD STORE TALES #1204: By The Light of the Silvery Moon
I’m not a nocturnal person, though I used to pull a few allnighters with Jen when we were first dating. I do have insomnia, so I often wake in the middle of the night. At home, this usually means checking my email and having a drink before heading back to the sheets. At the cottage, I enjoy stepping out into the cool summer air and having a look around.
I don’t bring a flashlight. I let my eyes adjust to the darkness and wander.
You see things at night. When visible, the moon lends a silvery sheen over the entire landscape. Not quite enough to read by, but certainly enough to see the ripples of waves on the water. Under the cover of trees, silver slits of light pierce the darkness, creating spotlights on the earth. If there is a breeze, the movement of the trees can really make you feel as if you’re not alone.
You hear things at night. Once or twice I heard a coyote, crying like a human child and echoing through the valley. Another deep dark night, I heard a growling that I could not see. We do get bears here. Sometimes the swaying trees can create a growling sound as they move in the night, but this growl scared me and I made a quick retreat back to the house.
I enjoy the total solitude at 3 AM. I feel more connected to nature by the silence (other than wind, waves and nocturnal beasts). I don’t wear shoes on these walks. I can feel the grass or cool sand beneath my feet. Sometimes I stub my toe on a tree root, but that’s a small annoyance in the grand calculus of the pitch black night.
I try not to make a sound. Just observe with my senses. Feel the cool air on my back. It’s mental health maintenance. While I love living in Kitchener (for many great reasons), I feel truly free and alive in the wilderness.
A special moonlight treat is when the silvery satellite turns blood orange. A moonset is a very special sight that not many get to know, or even know about. I’ve seen a few of them. When a crescent moon hits the horizon, people describe as the image of a blazing sailing ship on the edge of the lake. This year, wildfire smoke has prevented us from seeing the moon kiss the horizon, but its orange glory remains as a fiery ember in the sky. When the moon is full, you can imagine it is a burning Balrog, climbing out of a gaping maw in the dark mines of Moria.
Truly the world looks alien at night in the light of the moon. Perhaps that is why I love it so much. I have always yearned to see other worlds, but the beauty of the Earth is enough to last many lifetimes, if you go out at night under the light of the silvery moon.
Of all the versions of “By the Light of the Silvery Moon”, Little Richard’s is one of the highest charting, going to #17 in the UK, 50 years after the song was written. Other renditions were performed by Gene Vincent, Doris Day, Fats Waller, Etta Jams, Burl Ives, Ray Charles, Julie Andrews, and even Bugs Bunny (Mel Blanc) among countless versions.
The Blaze Bayley era ended as swiftly as it began. Two studio albums and a handful of singles were all this lineup produced. Here we appraise the final Iron Maiden album with Blaze at the microphone, the oft-misunderstood Virtual XI.
This episode will prove to be our most controversial to date. Special guest Jake (Not From State Farm) does not hold back on certain topics, especially when it comes to fandom unwilling to accept the new lead singer. As fans of this dark era of Iron Maiden, we will tell you what was great about this album, while hopefully taking a balanced approach. Even so, some will not be happy with what we have to say.
Personal memories of Virtual XI are coupled with the facts and figures. Unlike the X Factor, we do not have 14 original studio tracks to break down this time. Iron Maiden took a leaner approach to songwriting and recording this time, but the two singles (“Angel and the Gambler”, and “Futureal”) did yield a small treasure trove of live versions, something that the previous singles did not. As usual we will look at every single B-side, including the edit version of “Angel and the Gambler”. We will also take a look at the limited edition lenticular cover art, while Harrison will go into detail on the accompanying tour.
Buckle up, metal heads. Tonight we take no prisoners on 50 Years of Iron Maiden.
Friday August 8 at 7:00 P.M. E.S.T. Enjoy on YouTube.
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