CONEY HATCH – Live at the El Mocambo (2021 limited numbered & autographed edition)
It only took four decades, but like a fine Chardonnay, time made it just parfait. Coney Hatch’s first live album, recorded back in October 2020 at the legendary El Mocambo is, in a word: perfect.
First, let’s define “perfect”. “Perfect” doesn’t mean “exactly like the studio versions”. Not when we’re talking about live albums. It means there’s an exciting vibe, great songs, top-notch performances, and a band that sounds like they’re out for blood. Coney sound as if there was no pressure — but they delivered their best anyway.
Four albums, 15 tracks, over an hour of tunes. Live at the El Mocambo represents the entire career of Coney Hatch, including all your favourites like “Stand Up”, “Devil’s Deck”, “Monkey Bars”, and “Hey Operator”. A couple great tunes from Coney Hatch Four (like “Marseilles”) prove that the Hatch lost nothing when they reunited a few years back. While everyone will have their own highlights, “Wrong Side of Town” absolutely smokes. The album is paced perfectly with more contemplative tunes like “She’s Gone” balanced out by bangers like “Boys Club”. Lots of songs about “girls gone bad”, according to Carl.
Andy Curran discusses Live at the El Mocambo
The on-stage banter by Andy Curran and Carl Dixon is warm and humorous. It’s clear that they appreciate where they are in their careers now, fortunate to have this amazing second run. In the back, drummer Dave “Thumper” Ketchum gives us an idea of how he earned that nickname. But let’s not forget the newest member, guitarist Sean Kelly, who proves why he is one of the most in-demand players you’re likely to hear these days. His ripping licks on this record are hair raising.
Another strength is that these guys have lost nothing in terms of vocal abilities. It’s all there. How Carl hits the notes he does, is actually unknown to modern science. Andy Curran has just as much expression as ever, the ying the Carl’s yang. When the band sing together on a big chorus, it’s arena-ready.
The first 100 copies came signed by all four members, and with a Coney Hatch can cooler! If that’s not an invitation to get your buzz on with this great album, I don’t know what is. It’s done in true bootleg style: plain white cover, with logo stamped on the front, and plain white labels on the records. The track listing is on a separate insert.  The non-limited version is available for you to purchase so get on that right now!
When Loudness released their first live album with new singer Masaki Yamada Once And For All, they took the oft-misguided step that many bands with replacement singers make. Much like Van Halen, they dropped the majority of their earlier material from the set and focused on the new album. Unlike Van Halen, this wasn’t done due to ego, but because of changing styles of the 90s.
You hate when bands do that, don’t you? Well allow Loudness to open your mind on the concept.
In 1992, Loudness released their self-titled new album with Masaki on vocals. It is excellent. Like many late-period self-titles, it sounds like a new start. Masaki was a very different kind of singer from either Minoru Niihara or Mike Vescera. Truthfully his voice was not well suited to the old material (shades of Blaze Bayley). Focusing on the fine, new songs for their first live album together was a wise move.
Loudness opened this live set with some smokin’ guitar licks and the first two tracks from the new album: “Pray For the Dead” and “Slaughterhouse”. Masaki was in great vocal shape, able to hold it steady and belt. The slow, exotic groove of “Pray For the Dead” screams “early 90s” but in a good way. “Slaughterhouse” has a faster tempo and more “metal” vibe. Drummer Munetaka Higuchi (R.I.P.) has this song by the balls. He gets a wicked solo at the end, too.
The sole Mike Vescera song that lingered in the setlist is “Down N’ Dirty” from 1991’s On The Prowl. A little dated-sounding, its persistence in sets over the years is surprising. New bassist Taiji Sawada (R.I.P.) has the opportunity to shine on the slinky opening. The Masaki-era version is heavied-up, but that chorus can’t be saved. Never cared for it. But personal favourite “Everyone Lies” comes next in the set, a punchy fast groove with an angry vocal.
Masaki’s old group E-Z-O were not unknowns; they put two albums out on Geffen and are something of a cult band. Their “House of 1,000 Pleasures” is deservedly visited for track five. Akira Takasaki takes a wicked solo here, in a song that definitely owns its place on the album. It’s also nice to get tracks that are not on regular Loudness studio albums when you pick up a live disc.
Track six would fall where “side two” should begin — the single “Black Widow”. This menacing groove is performed to perfection. All the tracks are. Album accuracy is not an issue, but the live versions do have more energy. “Black Widow” kills, as it should.
Two more of the newer songs follow before they finally dip into classics: “Twisted” and “Waking the Dead”. Akira blazes for a bit before “Twisted”, just a prelude to the extended jam in the middle of this funky rocker. The three instrumentalists Akira, Taiji and Higuchi really get a chance to show off their chops as the song goes on for 10 minutes. After that workout, the straight-ahead riffing of “Waking the Dead” is almost a relief.
The two classics from the Minoru Niihara days are the two most obvious songs: “Crazy Night” and “S.D.I.”. Masaki’s style transforms “Crazy Night” into something more 90s. He simply isn’t the kind of singer to belt out a melody. Masaki tortures the melody and bends it to his range and growl. It is not a bad version of “Crazy Night”, but it is a different take than Minoru’s. “S.D.I.” is the encore, a blitzkrieg of metal that fares well with Masaki leading the charge. It was always a bit of a screamer.
Once And For All isn’t easy to find, and is often prohibitively expensive. This isn’t the kind of album you’re likely to just find sitting on the shelf at your favourite used CD store. It’s the kind of thing that must be sought. If it were a 5/5 star live album, I’d say “seek it”. But very few live albums are an 5/5.
Just a quickie for you this Sunday. In rather cool news, KISS announced a new series of live soundboard albums. The first of these is Tokyo 2001, one of Ace Frehley’s last shows with the band. The lineup is one never before represented on any official releases until now: Stanley/Simmons/Frehley/Singer.
The vinyl can be purchased on black or “exclusive 3LP crystal clear vinyl with bone swirl”. Or for those of us not made of money, plain ol’ CD. Check it out.
1. “Detroit Rock City”
2. “Deuce”
3. “Shout It Out Loud”
4. “Talk to Me”
5. “I Love It Loud”
6. “Firehouse”
7. “Do You Love Me”
8. “Calling Dr. Love”
9. “Heaven’s On Fire”
10. “Let Me Go Rock & Roll”
11. “Shock Me”
12. “Psycho Circus”
13. “Lick It Up”
14. “God of Thunder”
15. “Cold Gin”
16. “100,000 Years”
17. “Love Gun”
18. “I Still Love You”
19. “Black Diamond”
20. “I Was Made For Lovin’ You”
21. “Rock and Roll All Nite”
It was a beautiful day today. In the afternoon I got the ol’ laptop dusted off, and brought it out onto the patio to listen to some tunes and watch some YouTube. The laptop is at least a decade old, probably older, and has served me well as my travelling machine. Today, it could barely do two things at once. Obviously it will not serve me well for live streaming this summer at the lake. It did a stand-up job last year, with Streamyard and video editing. This year it simply will not cut the tomatoes so I pulled the trigger on a new HP. I didn’t want to go down in screen size so I ordered a 17.3″. I always get nervous when buying a new computer, and I’ve never bought HP before. I’m excited though. Whatever happens, it cannot be worse than a decade-old Acer. It could be here as early as Tuesday. Wish me luck — this summer’s future LeBrain Train episodes will depend on this laptop! Meanwhile the old one will be brought to Sausagefest — if there will be such a thing this summer.
The laptop is delivering by Purolator, which is totally safe. Amazon unfortunately is not. Their couriers leave the parcel at the door and that’s that.  Because there is so much theft of Amazon parcels in these parts, for the last six months or so, I have been having everything sent to my mom and dad’s address. I am still working from the office and they are home all the time. Jen has appointments that usually has her out of the house when Amazon come knocking. As a result, I have to pick up my parcels from them about once a week. And, according to Ontario’s current regulations, having an outdoor socially distanced visit with them is currently illegal.
“Hey, would you guys like to come out back for an illegal visit?” asked my mom.
“Sure,” I shrugged.
We’ve all been vaccinated with the first shot and are at 50% immunity. We distanced. Well, my dad got a little close as he sometimes does. But it was nice. Something almost normal. I would like to go down into the basement and look for some of my old sketches from when I was a kid, but we aren’t taking any chances. We stayed out. Doug Ford can suck it.
Ironically, one of the things I was picking up was a cheap pair of computer speakers. Every time Doug Ford goes live on TV to open his big mouth, I can’t hear him. It’s too quiet. Annoying. So I ordered some cheap Amazon branded speakers so I can actually listen next time he opens his big yap. And they’re my speakers, so if I want to use them for my new laptop, I’m good there too.
Some music also arrived. We will be interviewing Paul Laine soon on the LeBrain Train, so I grabbed his Zokusho album by the Defiants. Looking forward to that. In a previous order, I received Long Distance Voyager by the Moody Blues. Uncle Meat told us that it was his dad’s favourite album, and he would love if we listened to it or even reviewed it. So I listened to it, loved it, and ordered a CD so I can listen properly for review. I’m happy to do that for him.
I have also completed my set of Whitesnakes Red, White & Blue trilogy. In hand are the recent compilation CDs The Rock Album, The Love Album, and The Blues Album. All tracks have been remixed and updated, while unreleased songs are also included. John Snow over at 2loud2oldmusic did a fantastic job of reviewing them all. The Blues Album came from Encore while the other two are Amazons.
We talked current events, we talked family matters, we had a few laughs. All is well, more or less. This is the first pandemic for everyone present. In the five stages of grieving, I think my mom is at the anger stage. Last week on the phone, when I told her that us visiting would be against the rules, she said “I don’t give a damn about the rules!” I don’t know the last time I heard her that angry! Let’s face it, we the people of Ontario have been getting jerked around. She has a lot to be mad about. I love my mom.
My dad, on the other hand, decided to watch a documentary about Ozzy Osbourne on A&E. Excitedly, he told me all about his history with Black Sabbath and as a solo artist. “He had a lot of success on his own, when no one thought he would!” he explained to me. But it wasn’t easy for the Ozzman either. My dad told me all about Ozzy’s son Jack, and the role that Sharon played in his success. It was one of those moments you cherish. I love my dad.
My mom also loved The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, which concluded on Friday. We talked about Sam and the new Captain America. To my dad, there is only one Captain America and it’s not Sam Wilson or Steve Rogers. It’s someone I’ve never heard of — Grant Gardner, district attorney and the 1944 version of Cap that he grew up with. He has no interest in the new Cap, while my mom was really drawn into the storyline. Hopefully next time we visit illegally, my mom will have seen Captain America: The Winter Soldier which I told her to watch next.
I realize I have incriminated myself and my family with this story, and to that I say: oh well. We were safe and respectful of common sense.  When this pandemic eventually ends — and history has shown that eventually it will — I will have these chapters as a document of the weirdest times of our lives. And that has more value than a fine.
The rules were flexible to say the least, but the lists were solid as rock! What 11 albums would you bring with you, if you were stranded on a desert island? And why? Each of us had our reasons and some great lists.
Unfortunately John Snow (2loud2oldmusic) could not make it tonight. He felt terrible about cancelling, but fortunately pinch hitter Aaron from the KMA stepped in at the last minute with a list he made while cooking dinner!
The lists start at 0:25:20, and as always Aaron wrote ’em down. Read ’em at bottom!
The schedule:
April 30: T-Bone returns and we discuss Van Halen’s 5150 in depth. Guests: Kevin (BuriedonMars), Uncle Meat, Superdekes, and Aaron.
May 7:Â Paul Laine from Danger Danger and the Defiants with co-host John Snow.
May 14:Â List show by Uncle Meat’s suggestion — Best Cover Tunes — with panel TBA.
May 21: New booking! Sean Kelly (Coney Hatch, Crash Kelly, Helix, Lee Aaron, Trapper, Nelly Furtado) joins us with co-host Deke!
May 28: Dave Lizmi of the Four Fuckin’ Horsemen! Co-host will be T-Rev.
June 4: One year anniversary of Harrison’s first appearance. We re-hash the Top 11 Priest Albums and will have Geoff Stephen to graph it! Co-host is TBA.
June 18: Robert Lawson, author of Still Competition: The Listener’s Guide to Cheap Trick. Hosted by Superdekes.
The LeBrain Train: 2000 Words or More with Mike Ladano
Episode 61 – Desert Island Discs
This topic has been in the hopper a long time. Contributed by longtime reader Holen, the Nigel Tufnel Top Ten Desert Island Discs are the 11 albums you would bring with you if you were stranded on an island (with a hand-cranked record player obviously). Surely a great subject for discussion!
Just as interesting as the lists will be the rationale for inclusion. And remember: it’s more fun when you can watch live and participate yourself! Subscribe to my YouTube and get notified every time I go live, announced or otherwise.
Released to arcades in 1981, Vanguard didn’t catch my attention until it hit the Atari 2600 the following year. While I have never played the arcade game, the Atari version was in my hands as soon as I could afford it. Notably, the Atari game borrowed some of its music from Queen. Vanguard was a scrolling space game, but where it differed from other games was that it changed orientation from side-to-side to up-and-down at points during the adventure.  There were a variety of adversaries, and power-ups to take advantage of. There was even a “boss” to take out at the end, and then it all repeated over again at a higher difficulty. We kids were in love with it, even the simplified Atari version.
Incidentally, Atari artwork and instruction manuals were excellent. They often began with a short story — this one of the “Vanguard Expedition” into the “tunnels of Aterria” looking for a semi-mythical “City of Mystery”. Enough to capture a kid’s imagination, especially when combined with the cool box art.
My best friend Bob and I, being the creative types, thought we could design a sequel. We painstakingly drew every screen in pencil, one after the other. There were 19 screens in total. We taped them together in order with Scotch tape, so that you could lay the whole thing out on the floor if you so desired. Each screen led into the next with attention to detail.
Bob and I had “designed” a dozen games already, drawing them on paper, but they were one or two screens at best. Our Vanguard 2 was 19 levels! Many heavily ripped off from Star Wars. It was only 1983 or 1984 at the latest. Although ours is completely unrelated to the actual Vanguard II that came out in 1984, out friends kept on telling us “You should send your ideas in to Atari”. We were big dreamers but we had a lot of fun pouring hours of creativity into these projects. I’m glad I still have some of them, including Vanguard 2.
I thought it would be fun to scan each screen and post the whole thing with commentary. I tinted the old pages to give them some variety visually. Check out the complete Vanguard 2 game!
Title page. Our “hero ship” basically ripped off from the Colonial Viper from Battlestar Galactica. Enemy ships show heavy Star Wars influence.
Screen 1. Scrolling to the right. Imagine continuous scrolling, as if all the pages were laid out on the ground. Entering mountain! Just like the first Vanguard, you must navigate a tunnel in your space ship.  Enemy craft, mines and drones ahead!
Screen 2. A barrier to break through, and a choice of upper or lower tunnels to take.
Screen 3. Upper tunnel was a trap! Although you could possibly shoot your way through a weak spot in the cave wall.
Screen 4:Â Switching out your ship for a submarine.
Screen 5:Â More enemy resistance ahead, and a difficult choice of three tunnels to take.
Screen 6: Bottom tunnel would have been the best choice. Giant jelly fish and a 5 second force field power up ahead!
Screen 7: Now it’s giant Octopii! Your sub is running low on fuel, and there is a tempting fuel depot in the lower cave.
Screen 8: The only way through these narrow caverns is to miniaturize your sub. Then you must choose upper or lower tunnels, with the upper appearing easier.
Screen 9: The upper tunnel has heavier resistance at a poor attack angle, plus a classic Atari-style bouncing barrier block, that you must time just right. Success means deminiaturization and a new spaceship.
Screen 10: Whether you take the upper or lower tunnels, you have plenty of opposition and the opportunity for a 5 second shield. Either way — the Sarlacc pit awaits at the end of the screen. (We would have called it something else.)
Screen 11: Made it through the first mountain. Passing through the energy barrier automatically “beams” you to the next screen. (We called the mountains “Screen 1” and “Screen 2” since we envisioned it as a continuous side scroller, with only this one break in between. Here I am calling the individual drawings “screens” as it makes more sense when you look at them individually.)
Screen 12: Still scrolling to the right — entering volcano! A choice of two tunnels ahead.
Screen 13:Â Either way, both tunnels will lead you to a new ship, plenty of opposition, and a 7 second force field.
Screen 14:Â Your new ship has dual lasers and can stand the heat of the lava lake you are about to enter!
Screen 15: You’re heating up so don’t be long. Upper tunnel offers some squidly opposition while the lower has plenty of enemy subs.
Screen 16:Â You’re low on fuel, and a giant lizard is sitting right there by the fuel depot!
Screen 17: Boss Level! As in the first game, the Great Gond awaits you at the end. He is protected by enemy ships and cruise missiles. Once you beat Gond, we change orientation: now the game scrolls up! Make your escape through the cone of the volcano.
Screen 18:Â Scrolling up as you try to outrace the flames of the erupting volcano beneath you, while being harassed by enemy ships and missiles!
Screen 19:Â If you beat the flames, you win the game!
We could have had a hit video game on our hands! We loved to draw and a lot of this was drawn outdoors. I’m pleased the thing held together long enough for me to scan it. Imagine that Queen theme playing as you win!
Making a long-ish story short(er): before launching this site in 2012, I was an active reviewer on Amazon. On a good day I could finish two or three. Those reviews became the bulk of content when I launched my own site. I must have written so many that I ended up on the Amazon Canada “Hall of Fame”.
From my Amazon profile, you can get to this site. I figured, “Hey, if somebody liked my reviews enough to click my name, then maybe they’ll like the ones I have on my site even better”.
It took me a little while to put two and two together, but a year or so ago, I started getting bombarded with emails asking me to do Amazon reviews. The emails would come through the contact page here. The requests would be for USB cables, lights, HDMI cables, you name it. Anything but music.
The first few requests were vague. “Would you like to write some Amazon reviews and get the product for free?” I would respond, “Sure, I am looking to review the new Metallica album,” and that would be it. I wouldn’t hear back. They clearly didn’t check to see what kinds of products I was reviewing, which were almost exclusively CDs and DVDs. They just saw “Hall of Fame” and jumped.
Some of the requests were more detailed — like a form letter. I would have to buy the selected product myself, but after posting the review, they would refund the money and I keep the product. Some of the emails specified a “positive” review.
I don’t need extra clutter, and am generally uncomfortable writing reviews on request like that. I know a lot of those products and I would be writing a negative review on some of the USB cables and lights. The whole thing seemed kind of shaky to me.
The requests kept rolling in, so I put a disclaimer up on the contact form on this site: “no Amazon review requests”. And the request emails immediately stopped…
…Only to continue on my Instagram and Facebook pages. I have to admit the first one to come in on Instagram surprised me. (Nothing on Facebook surprises me.) An Instagram one really bugged me by calling me “dear” repeatedly. I blocked that one, and then suddenly mysteriously was contacted on Facebook by a seller who called me “dear”. Persistence like that only earns the Instablock.
The last request was for an electric toothbrush review. Eventually I figured out that I needed to put the disclaimer directly on my Amazon profile — “no review requests please”. That was a couple months ago and I haven’t had a single request since!
This message came in at 1:57 AM!
One small victory against spam. Then again, maybe I really blew it. Maybe I could have had the best USB cables and lights. My teeth could have been whiter and shinier than ever! I don’t know anyone who’s gone for one of those review deals, so if you have any insight or feedback, let me know.
Just don’t ask me to review your damned electric toothbrush!
“In case you tuned in, we’re here with Gene Simmons right now.”
Ladies and gentlemen, this is Deke’s favourite video. The legendary Dan Gallagher put on some Kiss makeup to talk to Paul Stanley. It was such a party that Slaughter dropped in too! It was the infamous gig opening for Whitesnake, and you can get a sense of Paul’s anger that Kiss were not allowed to do their full stage show. David Coverdale’s ego is alluded to.
Best quotes:
“If I was gonna paint the Sistine Chapel, I’d do it with a roller. I’m not a fine artist folks!”
“Everything we did was always in addition to what the music was doing. We never did it in place of the music.”
“Whenever people put out sequels to movies, they’re usually not as good as the original. Alive II was pretty much as good as Alive I. When gotta make sure Alive III isn’t…Jaws 3D or something.”
“Michael [Bolton] used to have the mic in his hand and strut around…he’s a rocker!”
When Mark Slaughter and Dana Strum show up, it becomes a bit of a party.
NOTE:Â There are a couple audio glitches here that I didn’t notice until too late.
CONEY HATCH – Live at the El Mocambo (2021 limited numbered & autographed edition)
mikeladano.com 