INTERVIEW: My Dinner With Sarge (2004)

In the summer of 2004, modded people from all over the world gathered in Toronto, Ontario for BMEfest, an annual gathering of like-minded individuals. Some came to be social. Some came to drink. Some came to perform. Sarge came for all these reasons and more.

Sarge is a renowned piercer, and owner of the Metal Fatigue studio in Bournemouth, England. His real name has been lost to time (but is easily readable on his passport if you’re lucky enough to see it). This was his second trip to Canada, and I had the opportunity to speak with him at length, observe him performing an extremely exotic piercing, and get pierced by him myself.

Upon meeting him, it’s obvious that he fits no stereotype. On the hottest days of the summer Sarge was found wearing black leather pants, his trademark tophat, and aviator’s goggles. For a piercer, Sarge has relatively few piercings himself. The only visible ones are multiple gauged holes in his ears. I wondered about this.

“Blimey!” said Sarge with typical zeal. “Over the years I have had different piercings, but I was always into the tattooing side of body art.” Indeed, Sarge has a wonderful pair of wings on his back, and his sleeves covered. “Even though I never made it to that particular job (tattooing), I prefer the look. Body piercing to me is becoming more of a personal goal to strive at. I just pride myself on the job and quality of work the shop is producing. To me it’s more important to give good quality piercings than actually have them myself, plus I’m a big pussy when it comes to piercing pain.”

I got to wear the Sarge tophat.

Can this be true? We’ve all seen people who seem like they’re on the verge of tears when getting pierced. Could Sarge be like one of these people? Could Sarge even be worse than yours truly when it comes to pain? “No really!” he says. “Even worse than you!”

Although it’s impossible to guess by looking at him how old the Sarge might be, it’s clear from his stories that he’s been around for over 35 years. I was curious when he first encountered an “unusual” piercing, and what he thought of it at the time.

“The first unusual body art and modification I ever saw was in a re search book called Modern Primitives. That totally opened my eyes I can tell you! There was a whole world of piercing anthropology out there! I was 18 at the time and getting my first tattoo, which was pretty hardcore anyway at the time as it is a full arm of tribal. So I was pushing the boundaries then, because nobody had those types of tattoos then. Well so I thought! Then I read Modern Primitives and the rest as they say is history.”

From there, Sarge began exploring piercings himself. “My good friend Jenny was a mobile body piercer on the Isle of Wight. She taught me all she knew and pierced my navel, then got pregnant and gave the box of equipment to me. I sort of drifted about for a few years piercing my friends, then moved to Bournemouth UK and started working with various local cosmetic piercing studios. When I got fed up with their bad habits, I opened another. Then another. Then this one, which I called a clinic. I think it deserved it considering that’s a good 15 years of Metal Fatigue.”

Sarge’s first piercing was technically not his navel. He too experienced the dreaded piercing gun at an early age, before he knew any better. “I think my first piercing was when I was 14, I had my ear pierced with a really old piercing gun. It was a bit like a cross between a pair or pliers and a hole punch. I’m serious! And the freezing spray hurt more than the piercing!”

Eventually Sarge began doing piercings himself. His first was in 1989. “I cannot tell a lie, I totally screwed it up. It was a tongue piercing, and I got it off centre. It was on my friend Jenny.” Jenny had been teaching Sarge how to pierce, and continued to give him guidance. “She made me take it out and ‘Bloody well do it again!’ Suffice to say that was the first and last time I ever screwed up a tongue piercing!”

As time went on, the shop currently known as Metal Fatigue opened it doors to the public. The shop now enjoys an excellent reputation, but it was not always easy. “As an Aquarian, I have a total lack of a business mind. I am absolutely hopeless! So money has always been a problem. I have always thought it was always reputation over money anyway, so I’m lucky there, huh? I owned a tattoo studio called White Flame for three years with my ex-girlfriend, but left after we split up. I couldn’t really walk in there anymore after. It just gave me the fear. Although, my friend and housemate, Ana is a tattooist there and she just did a piece on my leg in the shop, so I’m getting better with it.”

Metal Fatigue itself runs on a fairly small staff. Aside from Sarge, “the shop runs two apprentices and two shop cleaner/desk personnel. All of them are friends, which sometimes doesn’t work: Mixing business and friendship is always a mistake. I think that pretty much sums up most piercing clinics, you definitely have to deal with the whole soap opera of this job somewhere along the line!” He must be doing something right despite this, as his shop has proven to be extremely popular.

Sarge is most definitely well versed in many topics. During a sushi dinner with him, pop culture was a topic that came up frequently. I recalled the first time I saw an unusual piercing myself. It was Axl Rose in a music magazine, and he had a ring in his left nipple. I had heard about Axl Rose’s unusual nipple adornment on a Canadian television music program, but seeing it changed a lot of things for me. I was wondering if, In England, there were any pop culture figures who might have had the same impact on people.

“The Spice Girls!” said Sarge with glee. Sporty Spice had her pierced nostril, Ginger had her navel done, and Scary had the most extreme piercing of the group, a barbell in her tongue. “They started the whole girly piercing craze. Before that it was all “alternative” people and middle aged swingers, I swear! It’s true! ” This trend has not changed, even if the pop culture faces have. “Even now, I’m getting people in who want piercings because some famous person or other has one!”

Having been in this business for the better part of 15 years, Sarge has seen a lot of different piercing techniques. When he came to Canada, he asked me how we did piercings here. I had to confess I was ignorant that there would be a difference in technique between the two countries. “I actually employ a cross between Standard American devised techniques and Standard English devised techniques. The difference is in the needles, but if you know what you’re doing you generally get the same result.”

What about attitudes? Are they the same in both countries? “With attitudes, I don’t honestly know, I tend not to get into big arguments about ethics. Lately I have had to really bite my tongue about certain issues. I’m quite happy that I did.”

I tried to pry his tongue loose on a few topics, and Sarge was willing to discuss common mistakes made in the piercing industry. “There are so many! Bad placement, wrong jewelry, trauma on areas caused by holding clamps too hard, the list is large. I personally have had to mop up after a large percentage of local piercers. I have just got used to it now. I learned a long time ago if you treat people with respect after they have been butchered by some backstreet piercer, instead of giving them attitude, they come back to you and tell all their friends. I do despair sometimes, and get downright angry about certain situations, but there’s nothing I can do about it. You can’t fight city hall, and any complaints that I make are deemed as ‘Professional jealousy’!”

Sarge does his best to keep his shop state of the art, and top of the line. In order to do this, he makes sure that he’s on top of sterility issues, and also provides excellent aftercare to his clients.

“Sterility in the studio is something that has evolved over the years. We buy better chemicals and better autoclaves each year, I update my techniques and basically do my homework. This has made the shop the way it is. We have this horrible super bug here called MRSA which seems to be ravaging the local hospitals, I don’t understand why they have it. All it takes is common sense and a proper cross contamination cleaning regime to work safely and efficiently. I swear sometimes I think that Technicare should pay me commission; on the amount of student nurses I have turned on to it!”

As far as aftercare goes, Sarge provides excellent service to his clients. “Metal Fatigue is twinned with a shop called Paradox which is just across the road; they are a jewelry shop, which is where I get all my ‘standard’ piercing jewelry. We have a policy: I use standard sensible pieces in all the different piercings that I pierce, in turn the piercees then come back to change their original piercings for an interesting piece of jewelry of their choice. I in turn change these for free. We’re pretty user-friendly like that!”

This makes Sarge a pretty popular guy. “I can’t move in my local rock nightclub for people the shop has pierced, the running joke is about the scrap value in titanium every Saturday night!”

When asked what his future plans for his studio were, Sarge’s love of Canada was evident. “Metal Fatigue Ontario, maybe? Any sponsors out there?”

Although he has yet to fulfill this cross-Atlantic dream, Sarge has pierced in Canada before. Sarge pierced my right nipple, and did a fantastic job. He made a piercing that, for me, was always extremely difficult and painful the exact opposite of that. It was quick, painless, and I did not even realize it was over until he told me that it was. Even more exciting than this was getting to watch Sarge perform was he calls his “trophy piercing”, the clavicle.

The clavicle piercing, under the collarbone.

A young Kitchener, Ontario resident had seen Sarge’s clavicle piercing on the BME site and was interested. It’s a very unusual piercing that involves going underneath the collarbone. Sarge is one of very few people who do it. This young girl eventually emailed Sarge about getting one done, not realizing he lived across the ocean. However, with BMEfest just around the corner, Sarge was planning on coming and visiting his friends. The Canadian girl could have her clavicle piercing after all.

It was quite a sight to watch. “The clavicle piercing (under the collar bone) is probably my ‘trophy’ piercing now, its really dangerous,” says Sarge. “If I hit anything untoward, someone may die. I have had loads of criticism from various piercers for even thinking about doing one. Saying that, I have now done eight and they all love them so much! I have stopped doing them now, as we are into unknown territory, watching them heal, working around possible problems with them. So far everything has been hunky dory.”

As we were wrapping up our talk, I wanted to lighten the tone a bit. I know Sarge has met a few celebrities in the past. My favourite story involved a bar, a drunken Sarge, and a certain lead vocalist from a certain British heavy metal band called Motorhead. Although he had no way of knowing, Philip Lynott from Thin Lizzy had died that day, and the bar was playing his music in tribute to the fallen rock hero. Sarge, however, was not a fan. When he openly criticized the music of Thin Lizzy with some choice words, a large man with “bad teeth, long black hair and a low gruff voice,” told the young Sarge to fuck off. This was Sarge’s first and last meeting with Lemmy Kilmister. Not all his encounters were this scary. “I met Jon Anderson from the band Yes when I was working at a hotel once! Had a beer with him after work, he was doing some book signing thing, I think I still have his autograph somewhere, he signed a copy of a (Yes cover artist) Rodger Dean art book for me!”

Has Sarge ever pierced a celebrity? “I have, but I can’t tell you her name. She’s more a British music celebrity, quite young and has only just been in the charts here, I don’t honestly know how far reaching her music is. She’s definitely not one of these corporate girly types, she writes all her own tunes. Oh yeah and she’s really cute.”

We wrapped up our talk, half of our sushi still lying on the table. I very much enjoyed having the chance to speak with, and have some work done by the man known in Canada as the “Jedi Master of Piercings”. If you ever have a chance to visit Bournemouth, UK, be sure to drop in and say hello to the extremely talented and friendly Sarge.

 

More on Sarge:  

REVIEW: Accept – Symphonic Terror – Live at Wacken 2017 (2018)

ACCEPT – Symphonic Terror – Live at Wacken 2017 (2018 Nuclear Blast)

They weren’t the first, but they did it with their own twist.  It was inevitable that even a band with the heavy metal roots of Accept would eventually go symphonic.  Guitarist/leader Wolf Hoffman released his first classical album in the 90s, and in 2016 made the Headbanger’s Symphony record, adapting classical pieces to metal with Czech National Symphony Orchestra.  Accept’s Symphonic Terror combines their own metal masterpieces with the classical/metal hybrid Headbanger’s Symphony at Wacken 2017, to create a unique musical experience.

Like Kiss with their symphonic detour, Accept chose to break the set into sections.  The first consists of five Accept songs, mostly new, performed straight by the band with no extras.

“Die by the Sword” was the logical opener, also being the starting track on Accept’s newest album The Rise of Chaos.  The biting riff storms the Wacken stage.  It is vocalist Mark Tornillo who proves his worth over and over again through the entire show.  With voice set to full-grit he delivers all the power and melody that Accept’s material demands.  Not an easy gig.  Second, it’s the riffy “Restless and Wild” from Accept’s 1982 album of the same name (an album that they return to more than once on this night).  It’s singing the old Udo material that people will judge Tornillo by, and he does the job.  By necessity, it’s done with his own twist.  Another sharp Rise of Chaos standout, “Koolaid” is rolled out to great effect.  They dig back to the first album with Mark for “Pandemic”, riding the Peter Baltes bass groove to heavy effect.  Finally it’s the speed metal of “Final Journey” from the Blind Rage album.  Not the finest song of the set, but a banger indeed.

The Headbanger’s Symphony featuring the Czech National Symphony Orchestra has a different set of musicians in the front.  Wolf Hoffman and drummer Christopher Williams remain, while Mark Tornillo, Peter Baltes and Uwe Lulis are replaced by keyboardist Melo Mafali, guitarist Phillip Shouse and bassist Daniel Silvestri.  With the full might of the orchestra behind them, they take on  the tempests of “Night on Bald Mountain” (Mussorgsky). It’s not a pure adaptation, but more a thrash metal version with an orchestra.  “Scherzo” (Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony) is fully enjoyable and a better melding of the two styles.  Moving on to Prokofiev, “Romeo and Juliet” is slow and plodding.  Even with a burning hot Hoffman solo, it’s the least interesting.  I don’t think Beethoven envisioned the heavy riffing of “Pathétique” but you never know.  Did Beethoven invent speed metal?  Judging by this, he might have.  Vivaldi is next, the metal shredder’s favourite.  “Double Cello Concerto In G Minor” is less familiar but continues to combine the heavy and delicate music with an emphasis on the heavy.  Mozart closes the Headbanger’s Symphony set with “Symphony No. 40 In G Minor”, a familiar favourite made heavy enough to sound eerily similar to Queensryche’s “The Needle Lies”.

The orchestra stays on stage for the remainder of the show, peppered with new and old Accept classics.  Accept’s music works well with the orchestra behind, arguably better than Metallica’s does.

Back to 1982 and “Princess of the Dawn”, an awesomely enhanced Udo-era metal classic.  However it is “Stalingrad” that is the show stealer, a song clearly suited to the orchestral treatment.  It sounds as if the string section is charging into battle with the band.  Blind Rage‘s “Dark Side of My Heart” comes to life in this new form, a superior track to the original.  The punchy horns, the silky strings — everything comes together to raise the track to a higher level.

Back to 1981, the classical musicians may have had a difficult time keeping up with the speed metal of “Breaker”!  They get a “break” on the more deliberate pace of “Shadow Soldiers”, an excellent tune adapted well to the orchestra.  Another album highlight.  “Dying Breed” is a heavy track from Blind Rage, a little same-same sounding to other tracks like “Stalingrad”.

“Fast as a Shark” is the last of the speed metal tunes that the symphony has to try and keep up with.  They sure sound wonderful together on the neoclassical guitar solo section.  “Metal Heart” (with classical interlude) and “Teutonic Terror” both work well enhanced, but “Balls to the Wall” is surprising.  It’s always been a bit silly, but it sounds great with an orchestra.  Too bad Mark couldn’t nail that “sign of victory” part, but the absurdity of “Balls to the Wall” with a symphony is not lost.

Symphonic Terror was the second live album with Mark Tornillo on vocals.  Only about half overlaps with the previous one, and when you consider the differences offered by the symphony, not much overlap at all.

4/5 stars

#970: Soundtrack From the Video Historia (with Tim’s Vinyl Confessions)

Part Ten of the Def Leppard Review Series

Original review:  Historia (1988 VHS)

RECORD STORE TALES #970: Soundtrack From the Video Historia

Love is like a bomb (b-bomb b-bomb bomb)…

December 1988: The Zellers flyer.

Zellers was a popular Canadian retailer with a decent music department.  They folded several years ago after a slow decline, but once upon a time, they were a central “anything” store for families all over Canada.  Anything but groceries anyway; Zehrs had that covered.  We’ve talked about Zellers numerous times here, as they were the best store at our local mall.  Whether you were buying toys, a new bike, or school supplies, they had kids covered.  Meanwhile the adults spent time in housewares, clothing, kitchen goods, and automotive.  In the 80s, the era of “Club Z”, Zellers did not suck.  They even had a restaurant in the store.

Zellers’ music department sold both albums and equipment in the same area.  Needed a head demagnetizer or a record cleaning kit?  Batteries, blank tapes, new decks?  All there for us kids to gaze at with wishes in our eyes.  The selection of cassettes had us constantly flip-flip-flipping.  Meanwhile the clerks would be playing music unique to that department, while the rest of the store got Muzak.  I first became exposed to the concept of a single B-Side thanks to somebody there spinning “Ride Into the Sun” by Def Leppard.  I bought a lot of my Judas Priest and Kiss tapes there.  I saw Poison on the shelves at Zellers for the first time.  (I thought Rikki was hot before I learned the terrible truth!)

In fact, because of Zellers and that very single (which had “Hysteria” on the A-side), I began frantically collecting everything Def Leppard that I could find.  Zellers bears 100% responsibility for this story we are about to unfold.

My growing Leppard collection had many gaps, but there was one that I wanted to patch up immediately.  It gnawed at me.  It was “Pour Some Sugar On Me”, the remix with the extended intro used in the music video.  It wasn’t on the album; it wasn’t on the single.  It wasn’t available on any known audio formats.  Radio stations didn’t play it.  The only place you could hear it was on your TV.  I kind of preferred that mix, with the long intro.  It had more vibe.  I remember hanging by the radio hoping to tape it, but was always disappointed when they played the album version.  The best copy I had access to was the 1988 Def Leppard home video, Historia.  It was a comprehensive home video, and had both mixes of “Sugar”.  But I couldn’t make a good taped copy to listen to; all I could do was dub to a cassette in mono.

One day I came home from school, and the Zellers flyer was sitting on the kitchen table.  I flipped to the music section, and there it was:  Soundtrack From the Video Historia.  A brand new Def Leppard release; a “greatest hits” if you will!  They had it for sale on cassette.  I reasoned that it had to have that remix.  If it was the soundtrack to the home video, then it had to have that remix!  I would have wanted it anyway, being a “new” Def Leppard release.  The possibility of the remix changed it from “want” to “must”.

It was kind of odd that none of the rock magazines mentioned this new release.  Nobody talked about it on MuchMusic.  That seemed very unusual for a band of Leppard’s stature.  They were the biggest rock band in the world in 1988.  Why wasn’t this new compilation album mentioned anywhere else?  That was worrying, but on the flipside, once I had it, I’d own a Leppard album that none of my friends had.

Later that week, I trekked to Zellers with my best friend Bob.  I looked in the Def Leppard section, but they didn’t have the soundtrack there.  New releases?  Nothing.  I went up to the counter, and there it was!  Sitting out for store play!

“I’ll take one of those please, Def Leppard Soundtrack From the Video Historia,” I said to the clerk.

“It’s not for sale,” he quashed.  He took it off the counter and put it behind him.  He wouldn’t even let me look at it.

Not for sale?  The hell?  It was right there in the flyer, $8.99 or $9.99 was the going rate back then.  He refused to sell it to me.  It was sitting in front of me under my nose; I could have reached out and grabbed it.  Whatever had happened, it managed to get into the Zellers flyer, but it was promotional only — not for sale.  It was meant only for them to play in store, but not to sell.  I was shit out of luck, and I went home brokenhearted and empty handed.

Now here’s where things get freaky.

That same week, all the way in New Brunswick Canada, Tim Durling (future author of the book Unspooled) saw the same ad in the Zellers flyer.  He got just as excited as I did, but there was one catch.  Living in rural New Brunswick, his closest Zellers store was an hour away.  It was Friday night.

“I pestered my father, ‘we gotta go to Fredericton tonight’,” says Tim.


Tim tells the story.  This happened live on the LeBrain Train Nov 23, 2021!

His disappointment might even have exceeded mine, as he returned home without his precious treasure.

“The poor girl working behind the counter,” he said.  “I was such a little shit.  I said ‘I want this tape right here!'”

Isn’t it incredible that two guys who didn’t know each other had the exact same experience at the same time?  And that we later put two and two together, and realized we had this bizarre experience in common?  It really happened, not a figment of my imagination.  The ad was real, and screwed somebody else’s hopes and dreams too!  But how did it come to be?

We have two theories.  I think it was a simple cock-up, a tape got put in the flyer before they realized it wasn’t for sale.  Tim thinks some jerk did it on purpose!  We will never know.

When Historia was reissued and updated on DVD accompanied by In The Round In Your Face on a single disc, it was revised to include three bonus videos from later in the band’s career.  We will get to that when we arrive at the Euphoria era.

 

Previous:  

  1. The Early Years Disc One – On Through the Night 
  2. The Early Years Disc Two – High N’ Dry
  3. The Early Years Disc Three – When The Walls Came Tumbling Down: Live at the New Theater Oxford – 1980
  4. The Early Years Disc Four – Too Many Jitterbugs – EP, singles & unreleased
  5. The Early Years Disc 5 – Raw – Early BBC Recordings 
  6. The Early Years 79-81 (Summary)
  7. Pyromania
  8. Pyromania Live – L.A. Forum, 11 September 1983
  9. Hysteria

Next:  

 11. Live:  In The Round In Your Face DVD

Sunday Screening: The Contrarians – Episode 63: Def Leppard – Hysteria

It’s the episode I’ve been waiting forever for! Tim Durling vs. Martin Popoff on Def Leppard’s legendary Hysteria!  I’ve been consistent in my love for this controversial album since its 1987 release.  So has Tim!  Meanwhile, Martin gave the album a pounding 0/10 score in Riff Kills Man!  “Hysteria sucks righteously!”

Let’s see how Tim holds up in this episode, shall we?

Tomorrow in the Def Leppard review series, Tim will be returning to talk about the Soundtrack From the Video Historia.  Don’t miss it.

Thanks Marco for letting me participate! The Contrarians Panel: Dark Horse Album #7 – Judas Priest’s Rocka Rolla

Last week, I asked Marco from the Contrarians to sit in with us for our Top Five Tony Martin albums.  Unfortunately he could not join us live due to a taping of the Contrarians that night.  Instead he sent us a great video that allowed him to participate, a highlight of the show.  And as an added bonus, Marco asked me to participate in his Contrarians taping!  My very first Contrarians appearance.  The subject was Judas Priest’s Rocka Rolla, an album I have been playing a lot recently due to my recent acquisition of the 50 Heavy Metal Years of Music box set.  My part is right near the beginning.  After watching the in-depth analysis the group did, I wish I had contributed something a little more insightful.  However, this is such an honour and privilege to participate.  I can’t thank you enough Marco!

A Treasure Trove of Picture Discs with 2Loud2OldMusic

Brilliant show and tell tonight with John from 2Loud2OldMusic!  Iron Maiden and Def Leppard made up a large chunk of our picture disc collections that you will see by watching the live stream below.  Awesome comments from hardcore collectors and show regulars.  Enjoy the Buried On Mars vs. Everybody commentary on Leppard!

Thank you John for co-hosting tonight, and thank you everyone for hanging out on a Friday night.  See you next Saturday!

Upcoming Schedule:

DO NOT miss next week!  A special Saturday evening show replaces the usual Friday night as we chat with…

AARON AND JAMES FROM THE KMA!

If you are reading this, then you are a part of the community!  The Keeps Me Alive guys were here first!  Geoff from 1001 Albums, Scott our Heavy Metal Overlord, and LeBrain all came after.  I consider James and Aaron to the founders of the community.  Saturday February 5 at 7:00 PM, we will sit down and chat with Aaron and (for the first time ever) James about their history with music and writing about it.  This show has been a long time coming!  I have wanted to spotlight the KMA for a year and a half now!

We will also have a 10 Year Anniversary of Record Store Tales and a 2 Year Anniversary of the LeBrain Train, both coming in March!  If you would like to participate in either, drop us a line.

 

Picture This: A LeBrain Train Picture Disc special with 2Loud2OldMusic!

The LeBrain Train: 2000 Words or More with Mike and John

Episode 96 – Picture Discs Show & Tell

 

I had so much fun showing off my 7″ singles collection a few weeks ago!  When brainstorming for ideas to do this week, John over at 2Loud2OldMusic suggested picture discs.  Great idea!  John will be joining me tonight for a guaranteed fun time, a show and tell show.  I’ll be rediscovering what I own in picture disc form, since I buy so many records, I can’t remember them all.  10″, 12″, and shaped vinyl will be on deck for me tonight.  As for John?  I sure hope to see some Kiss and Def Leppard….

We will also be including etched discs from our collections.

If the 7″ singles show was any indication, then this will be a blast.  Make sure you catch it live to participate!

 

Friday January 21, 7:00 PM E.S.T. on YouTube, Facebook and also Facebook!

Upcoming Schedule:

DO NOT miss next week!  A special Saturday evening show replaces the usual Friday night as we chat with…

AARON AND JAMES FROM THE KMA!

If you are reading this, then you are a part of the community!  The Keeps Me Alive guys were here first!  Geoff from 1001 Albums, Scott our Heavy Metal Overlord, and LeBrain all came after.  I consider James and Aaron to the founders of the community.  Saturday February 5 at 7:00 PM, we will sit down and chat with Aaron and (for the first time ever) James about their history with music and writing about it.  This show has been a long time coming!  I have wanted to spotlight the KMA for a year and a half now.  Next week will be a party, I promise you.

We will also have a 10 Year Anniversary of Record Store Tales and a 2 Year Anniversary of the LeBrain Train, both coming in March!  If you would like to participate in either, drop us a line.

 

#969: Picture Discs

RECORD STORE TALES #969: Picture Discs

Picture discs – in this case, vinyl records – will be the subject of tomorrow’s episode of the LeBrain Train (don’t miss it).  If you have ever seen a playable record with an image on one or both sides, then you have seen a picture disc.  If you’ve played one, you know the quality of the audio can be dicey.  Today picture discs are quite common on store shelves, but they used to be much rarer.  What is the history of the picture disc, exactly?

The very first modern picture disc was 1969’s Off II – Hallucinations.  This German compilation disc from Metronome featured the Doors and MC5 among other current artists.  In the 1970s, Elektra records experimented with a five-layer disc consisting of vinyl film over a paper image over a core of traditional black vinyl.  Difficulties with the materials (particularly the paper) and manufacturing led to inconsistent audio quality.  Eventually the process was refined and picture discs today can deliver acceptable audio over cool artwork.  But the roots go further back.  Etched discs aside, the first true picture disc recordings were actually picture postcards!

We begin in the early 1900s.  Rectangular pieces of cardboard, with a transparent celluloid record glued to one side, were the first “discs” that you could play with a needle on a gramophone.  Later versions had the recordings etched into special transparent coatings.  These kinds of records could be mailed or even included in magazines and cereal boxes.  Later, in the 1920s and 1930s, regular circular picture discs began to emerge.  Some were used to spread political propaganda.  And yes, that means there is such a thing as an Adolf Hitler picture disc.

Picture discs disappeared for a while during the war era.  Vogue Records attempted a revival in 1946 but released only around 100 records before folding due to lack of interest.  From that point on, picture discs were dominated by children’s records.  One unique variety even included crude animation on the record as it spun, if you looked at it through a special mirrored eyepiece.

When picture discs re-emerged in the 70s, popular music and soundtracks took over.  The standard cover art would traditionally be on side one, with the back art and track listing on side two.  There were variations but generally this is what you’d find on a normal everyday picture disc.

And they are normal, and everyday items now.  Most record collections have at least one.  What are your favourite picture discs?  Tomorrow, John Snow from 2Loud2OldMusic will join me as we show off our records.  They are always eye-catchers, and some occupy some real points of pride in our collections.

 

REVIEW: Yngwie Malmsteen – I Can’t Wait (1994 Japanese EP)

YNGWIE MALMSTEEN – I Can’t Wait (1994 Pony Canyon Japanese EP)

Immediately following the Seventh Sign album, new Yngwie Malmsteen material surfaced in Japan.  Three songs and two live tracks served as a nice dessert after a pretty good studio album.  Mike Vescera remained on lead vocals.  The lineup is largely the same as The Seventh Sign, but with Barry Sparks added on bass (probably just for the live songs; it sounds like Yngwie on the studio cuts).

Title track “I Can’t Wait” is one of Yngwie’s strongest ballads.  Though it starts with uncharacteristic acoustic strumming, the song transforms into the kind of epic ballad that you expect from the guitar god.  Vescera’s range and power are on display.  Great song.  And you don’t always say that about Yngwie tunes.

“Aftermath” is a pounder.  Slower, determined, great drums.  Lots of shredding come solo time.

The two live songs are “Rising Force” and “Far Beyond the Sun”, hits from the days of yore.  Recorded live at the Budokan earlier in the year, it must have felt something like home for Mike after his stint in Loudness!  “Rising Force” is an ass-kicker, pedal to the metal, and the whole band rising to the occasion.  That’s it for vocal tracks though.  “Far Beyond the Sun” is one of Yngwie’s best known guitar compositions, familiar and beloved for its exquisite neo-classical stylings.  As for this version?  Flawless and inspired.

The final track is a studio instrumental called “Power and Glory (Takada’s Theme)”.  This was done as a theme for a Japanese pro wrestler and few will be familiar with it.  Slow, plodding, with the repeated chant of “Ta ka da!”, it is hard to really like.  Yngwie’s acoustic work is always brilliant, but difficult to digest here.

Good EP overall.  Hard to find.  Snag if you find for a good price.

3.5/5 stars

Rest in Peace, Sarge

It has been almost 20 years since I last saw Sarge in person.  2003?  2004?  The “greatest piercer in southern England” make the trek to Canada once again to hang out with our Niagara Falls friends, the Legendary Klopeks.  Sarge loved Canada.  He was hoping to make another visit from Bournemouth, post-pandemic, or so he told me in one of our late night chats.

Late night for me; for him in England it would have been early morning.  We talked science fiction into the wee hours.  We’d speculate on what Marvel was going to do next and what was going on elsewhere in entertainment.

The last time I saw him, we were in St. Catharines and he gave me the awesome Motorhead T-shirt seen below.  He brought it especially for me.

A few weeks ago, Sarge’s wife posted that he was in hospital with bleeding in the brain.  As if that wasn’t enough, he got Covid while he was there.  I hoped we hadn’t had our very last chat about Thanos and Loki.

But we had, and with no time stone to turn things around.  No soul stone for a final meeting.

I’ll never forget my favourite Sarge story.  He told me this tale when I interviewed him years ago:

The year was 1986. Sarge was out at the bar. Although he had no way of knowing, Philip Lynott from Thin Lizzy had died that day, and the bar was playing his music in tribute to the fallen rock hero. Sarge, however, was not a fan. When he openly criticized the music of Thin Lizzy with some choice words, a large man with “bad teeth, long black hair and a low gruff voice,” told the young Sarge to fuck off. This was Sarge’s first and last meeting with the infamous Lemmy Kilmister!

Rest in peace my friend.