CBC had a music program called Ear to the Ground in the early 1990s. Their Rockhead episode aired at the tail end of 1993 (judging by the New Year’s ads). Rockhead, of course, included producer extraordinaire Bob Rock on lead guitar — and as a writer and musician, he’s as good as the bands he produced. But what made Rockhead special was not Bob himself. It was the singer he discovered, Steve Jack, a new screamer who could easily compete with the big boys on the scene.
Apparently Bob Rock experienced some resistance from people who thought being a successful producer should be enough. This is discussed alongside some killer live and rehearsal footage. Drummer Chris Taylor and bassist Jamey Kosh also get some camera time to talk about the boss! Other topics:
Four years of effort to get the record out
Going from unknowns to opening for Bon Jovi in Europe
Being true to your roots
The evolution of the songs and trying to say something “a little more deep”
The problem with the show Ear to the Ground was that they played a lot of music, but not complete songs. This meant it was both light on interviews, and light on music. Sort of a soupy in-between. You be the judge.
The quiet of the north was broken by the usual morning drone of cars, trucks and the activity of the modern world. Covered with a light dusting of snow, the grass and leaves woke from their nightly slumber. As the frigid tundra of Thunder Bay Ontario slowly warmed in the rays of the July sun, the citizens of the city emerged to begin their daily routine.
Except this day was hardly routine.
Thunder Bay is the great Canadian crossroads. One cannot drive from one side of the country to the other without passing through frosty Thunder Bay, the land of perpetual winter. Other routes involve going off the beaten track, but only fools dare cross into the United States. The level-headed travel the Trans-Canada Highway. All roads eventually wind back to Thunder Bay.
Down the highway, came the Caravan. They came from the warm southern reaches of the province, unprepared for the sudden July cold of Thunder Bay. They called themselves “The Sausagefesters”, a merry band of rock and rollers who adored the taste of red meat and distorted guitars. The Caravan powered its way through the Canadian shield, the tall majestic evergreens shading their journey. Bound for a new music festival called Sausagefest West (an offshoot of the original southern variety), their spirits could not have been higher. Happy songs rang as they made their way to Thunder Bay. If only they knew the dangers that lay ahead, they would not be singing so merrily.
Their trip had started peacefully enough, but now, travelling at speed down the cold asphalt, they found themselves careening towards a dark, towering figure ahead.
“Watch out!” yelled the passenger in the lead vehicle, a big meaty man with a scruffy exterior.
“I see it!” exclaimed the driver. “But I don’t know what I’m seeing!”
The driver, normally quite the brain, found himself frozen in shock. For what was ahead would chill the bones of any man. The massive figure ran towards them.
“It’s a sasquatch!” answered the meaty man. “Swerve!”
It was too late and the beast swatted the lead vehicle like a fly. The rest of the Caravan came to a screeching halt behind.
“Stay in your cars! Stay in your cars!” came the chorus of voices from behind.
Unconscious, the driver hung limply from the broken window. The meaty man got out the passenger’s side only to find the giant beast waiting for him. Its roars nearly deafened the man, who fell back to the cold ground. He managed to grab his phone from the snow. Retreating, he dialled a number as the beast advanced. It lunged again and the phone fell, hanging up the call.
He heard the phone immediately begin ringing back.
“Beth? I hear you calling!” the man screamed trying to reach the phone.
The beast crushed it with a mighty big foot.
“I can’t come home right now,” the man whimpered as the sasquatch moved in for the killing blow. The cars behind honked and flashed their lights trying to distract the sasquatch, but no one dared get out.
Then, suddenly, the beast looked up, his eye caught by a flash of colour.
A sound approached: a sonic boom, and then a roaring melody of distortion from the sky.
The beast began to retreat as the sound grew closer, and louder.
Like a bolt from the blue, a figure appeared overhead. From his back he pulled an electric guitar and the sound grew deafening. He flew towards the sasquatch.
Now truly afraid, the beast backed off, retreating to the treeline. The guitar-wielding figure landed and ripped out a wicked solo. With a shriek, the sasquatch ran into the woods.
The flying guitarist moved his weapon around to his back, as he leaned over to help the meaty man up. “Here,” he said extending his hand. The meaty man noticed that the hero wore a mask bearing a distinctly stylized “VH” logo. He clasped the extended hand, and then as if by summoning, a motorcycle could be heard approaching, and soon rolled over the hill.
“You took quite a tumble!” the hero said with a heave-ho.
“Woah, thanks man. I feel like I’ve been hit by a truck, except covered with hair.”
The man on the motorcycle, clad in black, pulled up. The dark rider dismounted and unlocked the compartment on the back of his bike. The meaty man was stunned to see that it contained ice, and cans of beer.
“Drink this. This will make you feel better.” The rider handed a cold can of beer to the meaty man who eagerly cracked it open and sipped its nourishments.
“Thanks man,” he answered. “My friend driving, he’s knocked out. Can you help him?”
“Sure can!” answered the black biker. Stepping over to the driver’s side, he checked the brainiac behind the wheel.
“Hey man, you awake?” The driver opened his eyes. “Here, inhale this. This will make you feel better.” He handed the driver some kind of heated inhalant, which revived the man immediately.
“Woah! Thanks…what happened?” he asked in confusion.
The flying hero with guitar on his back, sauntered over. Below the mask, he sported bright spandex and a cape with a drawing of a steak bone. His voice boomed when he spoke.
“You guys ran into a sasquatch on the highway, a particularly nasty sasquatch. Not your fault, we get a lot of that up here in Thunder Bay.” The black rider nodded his head knowingly.
Feeling just as confused as before, the meaty man asked, “But who are you? Where did you come from? How did you know we were in trouble?”
The hero, with a kind look behind his glasses, answered simply.
“I’m Tee Bone Man.” A crack of thunder broke overhead. “The guy on the bike is my partner Superdekes.”
“Hey guys,” said the new arrival as he removed his sleek black helmet. “Me and Tee Bone here are powered by the fusion of arena rock, good Scotch, and guitars. We were sipping some drinks and rocking some Van Halen on the old turntable when we got a vibe that something bad was going down at the old current river. We play vinyl exclusively, because those danger vibes only come through the grooves. That’s how we knew something was up. So I hopped on the bike — Tee Bone can fly, but I can’t, and I’m not exactly sure how that happened.”
“It’s complicated,” shushed Tee Bone. “Origin stories can be told another time. The point is, anywhere my fellow rockers need help, I’ll be there. Wherever evil threatens rock and roll, I will answer to it. Tee Bone Man stands for music, lyrics and rock and roll! When any one of those things are in danger, you can count on me!” He paused. “And Superdekes too, if he’s within motorcycle riding distance!”
“We really gotta talk about the flying thing,” retorted Superdekes.
Then, there was a painfully long pregnant silence.
“Are you…are you pissing?” asked Tee Bone Man of the meaty one.
“Heh. Yeah. Had to go, you know.” Zipping up, he thanked the guys once again for their help.
“No problem,” the heroes answered. “No handshakes though. You take care of your buddy and drive safe! And don’t drive until that stuff wears off, give it a few hours.”
“We will!” they both answered, as Tee Bone Man lifted off. Waving goodbye, the hero flew. Superdekes kicked his bike into motion and was gone in mere seconds. The two friends watched them disappear into the distance. Their entire Caravan observed from the windows.
“Do you think that’ll be the last we’ll see of Tee Bone Man and Superdekes?” asked the driver to the meaty one.
“No way,” he answered. “Not even if hell freezes over!”
To be continued in Chapter 2: Hell Freezes Over…
THE ADVENTURES OF TEE BONE MAN: PHASE ONE – THE SQUIRREL SAGA
DEF LEPPARD – A Concert For Life – Tribute to Freddie Mercury (Wembley Stadium, 20 April 1992)
Metallica had come and blown the crowd of 72,000 away. Extreme impressed the skeptics with a Queen medley. Live broadcast to 50 countries, there was no pressure at all on Def Leppard! The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert was only the biggest show of 1992. And they had a new member to show off.
The band had given their new guitarist an easy warm up at a club gig at home in Ireland. But his first high profile show would be the biggest imaginable. Without an introduction, out walked former Sweet Savage / Dio / Whitesnake / Riverdogs / Shadow King guitarist Vivian Campbell!
What a choice! There he was with his new band, completely confident and nailing “Animal”. In his Union Jack jeans, Joe Elliott bounced on the massive stage, working the crowd without missing a note. After a brief pause, he then asked the throbbing mass of people, “Do you wanna get rocked?”
It was the first major live outing of a brand new Def Leppard hit. Hamming for the camera, Vivian ably handles the backing vocals, adding more depth to the live Leppard sound. The late Steve Clark didn’t sing as many backing vocals, and Viv was a natural. The crowd ate it up, fists in the air and digging the new tune. One of the coolest moments is the solo, in which Phil Collen’s picking hand turns into a blur.
One more tune. And then an even bigger moment: Brian May himself joined Def Leppard for a cover of Queen’s “Now I’m Here”! (This track was later included on the 2 CD Adrenalize deluxe edition.) Of course we all awaited the guitar solo. Viv went first (introduced by Joe for the first time), and Phil took the second solo. They really made ’em wait for Brian May! It was, of course, not May’s first time with Def Leppard.
Even bigger things were in store for the Wembley Crowd as day turned to night. Queen emerged, playing a long set of classics with a series of incredible guest singers. And Joe got to open their set, with Slash on guest guitar. With one of his very favourite bands, Joe got to sing “Tie Your Mother Down”. And nailed it.
The big question for Leppard fans was “who could possibly replace Steve Clark?” In Vivian Campbell, they selected a guy who could play with both feel and shred, as well as write songs and sing. The personalities worked. The ironic thing is, post-Dio, Vivian had been seen as something of a “hired gun” guitar player. Would he last in Def Leppard? In his early interviews, he insisted that he was always looking for a band situation that he could stay in for life. It turns out that Def Leppard was that band.
Club gig aside, the Freddie Mercury tribute concert was Vivian’s real trial by fire. It was obvious the band had made the right choice. Nobody could truly “replace” Steve Clark as the band’s in-house riffmaster. Vivian helped Leppard evolve into the 1990s. On with the tour! Leppard might not have been the biggest rock band in the world anymore, but they rocked 72,000 people, plus millions more at home worldwide. Not too shabby.
5/5 stars
MuchMusic broadcast the whole show, and then did a repeat performance of the entire thing at night. It was then that I set my VCR and taped the entire broadcast, with Erica Ehm’s interviews with various bands, including Def Leppard. Wembley were treated to Queen videos on massive screens in between bands, and those videos are also part of the broadcast. MuchMusic’s feed was superior to MTV. I was in Frankenmuth, Michigan mere days later at the end of final exams, watching MTV. Our coverage was better. The complete show has never been officially released in any format.
I did another taping with Tim Durling on early Saturday morning, my favourite time on my favourite day. The subject: a band that just announced the title and tracklisting of their new album Freedom: Journey!
It’s been a crazy time for Journey, with plenty of lineup upheaval and uncertainty. Tim and I address all this while going through our favourite Journey rarities from the catalogue. We discuss every Journey lead singer: Greg Rolie, Robert Fleischmann, Steve Perry, Steve Augeri, Jeff Scott Soto, and Arnel Pineda. Enjoy this chat as we gear up for the next chapter of Journey!
Scorpions are back with their new album Rock Believer! The excellent title track, an uplifting ballad-like construction of anthemic quality, must surely be one of their best songs from the past two or three decades. From the vintage-looking artwork to the mighty Teutonic rock melodies of the Scorpions, it is clear that Klaus and the gang are back. Unlike some past records like Humanity: Hour 1 and Comeblack, praise this time is fairly unanimous. It’s clear this band still has “Gas in the Tank” as they “Knock ‘Em Dead” in 2022! Have a great weekend and as we absorb the new album; enjoy the fabulous title track! Are you a Rock Believer?
An unprecedented episode with six killer lists and a mystery to boot! Top Five Ballads. As an added twist, tonight we added a secret guest to the panel, and the rest of the guys had to guess who this person was on their list alone! Although I was worried they would guess the guest quite easily, that isn’t how it went down.
Unfortunately this episode was also Chris Sarre’s least favourite show due to the big reveal, and he says he will never watch again! Everyone else seemed to love it and I think we will try this again some time.
Thanks to everyone for hanging out tonight, it was a show I’ll remember a long time.
The LeBrain Train: 2000 Words or More with Mike & Friends
Episode 99 – Top Ballads…Remastered
On July 3 2020, we did the Nigel Tufnel Top Ten Ballads on the LeBrain Train with six sets of lists. And it was great! We had lists from Meat, Harrison, Holen, Darr, and Len Labelle. Unfortunately due to Facebook Live and a bad internet connection, I find this show impossible to watch today. Harrison and I have been trying to talk Meat into doing a “remastered” version of the show in the new Cinco De Listo format for a long time, and we finally twisted his arm. The new panel tonight:
“X”? That’s right. This week’s show is not just a list show. There will be a sixth panel member, and that member’s voice and likeness will be obscured for the whole countdown. It will be up to the others to figure out who “X” is, and they have five songs with which to do it.
I love a mystery and I’m really looking forward to this! Tune in tonight for six lists of awesome ballads, and a little Friday evening mystery too. Where’s Mulder when you need him?
Please enjoy one of Canada’s greatest bands, live or in the studio: Blue Rodeo! Pay special attention to master bassist Bazil Donovan, the elegantly complex slide work of Kim Deschamps, and ex-Andy Curran dynamo Glenn “Stumpy Joe” Milchem on drums!
Hosting the Juno Awards on this night was Roch Voisine. Though they were nominated for three awards including Group of the Year (which they lost to the Rankins), Blue Rodeo went home empty-handed.
This was, in my humble opinion, the best lineup the band has ever had. I was fortunate enough to see them in this incarnation on the Tremelo tour in ’98.
Jim Cuddy – vocals/guitars/mandolin Greg Keelor – vocals/guitars Bazil Donovan – bass Glenn Milchem – drums Kim Deschamps – pedal steel James Gray (RIP) – keyboards
The first new physical music from Guns N’ Roses since 2008’s Chinese Democracy has finally arrived in the form of an EP! Good enough; we’ll take it. Beggars (and hangers-on) cannot be choosers. Considering how scarce new Guns music has been since the early 90s, the new Hard Skool EP almost feels like manna from the gods.
To the disappointment of some, the two new songs are slightly old: Chinese Democracy outtakes that have been reworked with Slash and Duff McKagan. The duo have writing credits on “Hard Skool” along with Axl Rose and former members Robin Finck, Josh Freese, Tommy Stinson and Paul “Huge” Tobias. Formerly known as “Jackie Chan”, this song comes closest to capturing the classic Guns vibe – think Illusions era GN’R. Slash imbues the riff with his trademark snakelike style, and Axl is in full-scream mode on the powerful chorus. The cowbell brings us back to the 80s a bit, but the experimental solo section is more modern.
The other new/old song “ABSUЯD” is much more Chi-Dem, and more divisize. Formerly known as “Silkworms”, it was largely enjoyed by those who knew it from live bootlegs but thought it should have been on the album. The keyboard intro has been axed, the riff emphasized and the lyrics slightly modified. The main hook “What can I do, with a bitch like you?” has been replaced with a refrain of “Absurd!” The words are otherwise just as angry. “Listen motherfuckers to the song that should be heard!” bellows Axl on the opening line. “Parasitic demons sucking acid through your heart!” I wonder who this was written about? Vocally, Axl’s in the faux accent he utilized on “Down on the Farm” and you’ll love it or hate it. Interestingly former keyboardist Chris Pitman, who was credited with songwriting on the original “Silkworms” version, no longer has a credit. It is now credited to Axl, Slash, Duff and Dizzy. Presumably the Pitman parts were chopped. At the time of its writing, Pitman said: “It ended up being this incredible track that sounded like Guns N’ Roses 10 or 15 years in the future. It was so far removed from our other songs that we had to put it in this other place. Concept-wise, it didn’t fit with Chinese Democracy. We hope we will have other songs that match that kind of futuristic sound. It’s a really exciting track because it morphs into this crazy sound, but it was out so much in the other direction that we have to let time catch up with it.” While that was true of “Silkworms”, the version known as “ABSUЯD” is more guitar-oriented.
The live songs commence with “Don’t Cry”. Slash and rhythm guitarist Richard Fortus sound great together on this, but Axl struggles when the singing gets high at the end. It’s a demanding song, and 1991 was a long time ago. “You’re Crazy” on the other hand is really good. Using the slower Lies arrangement, but played on electric, this version is like brand new. A real cool addition to your GN’R library.
The third live track is exclusive to the 7″ vinyl: “ABSUЯD”. Not only do we get new songs on this EP, but we already get one in a live version. Guns started playing “ABSUЯD” live in 2021 as a surprise before it was released on iTunes. Axl’s voice is pretty strange here, sounding a bit muppet-ish. (The screaming portion sounds like tape.) This live track will take some getting used to. It’s not that Axl’s voice is bad just…different than what you’re used to.
The 7″ vinyl came with a sticker while the cassette and CD versions come with no extras. The CD is packed in a slipcase, and the cassette in a cassingle cardboard sleeve. This got crushed a bit in the mail; a jewel case would have been better.
The cover artwork includes an interesting visual clue. On a school locker door, the classic Guns N’ Roses logo is stickered overtop a graffiti style logo reminiscent of Chinese Democracy. Almost a metaphor for what these new songs are.
It’s encouraging that Guns N’ Roses have finally released something new, even if the songs are just reworked tunes from 20+ years ago. Perhaps they’re clearing the decks before working on truly new material. It’s all but certain that we will see more, and hopefully a longer release next time. While some moments on the live tunes are shaky, and the new tunes were not as warmly received by some, the Hard Skool EP is wonderful to hold in hand. New physical music from GN’R! About time.
4/5 stars
All cautions made Every chance was given No effort spared to save what we had All in good faith I would not hesitate To extend myself and lend you my hand
But you had to play it cool, had to do it your way Had to be a fool, had to throw it all away Too hard school and you thought you were here to stay If that were true, it wouldn’t matter anyway
As tempers fade And lies forgiven No cause embraced could break what we had In its place A storm is lifting I would’ve thought you could be more of a man
But you had to play it cool, had to do it your way Had to be a fool, had to throw it all away Too hard school and you thought you were here to stay If that were true, it wouldn’t matter anyway
But you had to play it cool, had to do it your way Had to be a fool, had to throw it all away Too hard school and you thought you were here to stay If that were true, it wouldn’t matter anyway
You had to play it cool, had to do it your way Had to be a fool, had to throw it all away Too hard school and you thought you were here to stay If that were true, it wouldn’t matter anyway
You had to play it cool, had to do it your way Had to be a fool, had to throw it all away Too hard school and you thought you were here to stay If that were true, it wouldn’t matter anyway
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