This is a great example of what made the Power Hour special. It was an hour of live television. That means when Dan Gallagher (always) refers to Anthrax as “Anthrash”, then it goes out live like that.
Queensryche were in Toronto promoting their then-new Empire CD. Geoff was sick, so Michael and Chris visited the MuchMusic studios. They co-hosted the hour with Dan and did a damn fine job of it. Ladies and gentlemen, Chris DeGarmo and Michael Wilton: Queensryche!
THE HELLACOPTERS – Grande Rock (1999 Sub Pop vinyl edition)
Personally, it all began with Iron Tom Sharpe and Joe Big Nose Perry. By 1999, everyone was well aware that the big Kiss reunion album, Psycho Circus, was a diluted compromise of the album they should have made. “The Hellacopters made the real new Kiss album, man.” Come on, Tom, quit yanking my chain. “You’ll love it. This is the album Kiss should have made. No man, seriously, they even have a song called ‘Paul Stanley’.” Joe stepped in by offering to pick me up a vinyl copy, which had a bonus track, at the Orange Monkey. I gladly took him up on his offer and hoped to hear what Iron Tom was talking about. Grande Rock was the Hellacopter’s third LP, but LeBrain’s first Hellacopters.
What’s this about Kiss then? As “Action De Grâce” easily demonstrates, The Hellacopters can groove like the original foursome don’t even dare anymore. This is Kiss circa 1976, but if they had taken a road other than Destroyer. This is something like what they could have done if they wanted to take Kiss Alive! to the next step, and maybe taking some punk inspiration instead of disco. “Move Right Out of Here” slams like Dressed to Kill on jet fuel. “Alright Already Now” adds some harmonica, fuzz bass, and wah-wah. The Hellacopters are not slavish like Klassik’78, they’re not trying to duplicate anything. They’re going their own way with it, and it just so happens to be a lot better than Psycho Circus. A lot of the vocals actually are closer to Steven Tyler circa Draw the Line.
A slower and darker vibe hits on “Welcome to Hell”, with some electric piano mixed in with Frehley-like solos and a little “Sympathy for the Devil”. The punk rock builds on “The Electric Index Eel”, with stabbing guitar licks in under two minutes of length. Clearly far beyond Kiss. But then as if to get my attention back, there it is: “Paul Stanley”, the song! The riff must be inspired by Paul’s solo song “Tonight You Belong to Me”. Wasn’t I telling you recently that Paul is one of rock’s most underrated riff writers?
The vinyl bonus track is right at the end of side one: “Angel Dust”, which really sounds more like a top speed Appetite for Destruction outtake. There’s a lot of Guns N’ Roses on this record too, particularly when there is a wah-wah solo or a blast of speed.
“The Devil Stole the Beat From the Lord” continues the rock and roll party on side two. It’s pedal to the metal right through to “Dogday Morning”. There’s a real gem in the middle of side two called “Venus in Force”, a big and grand riff with a song to go with it. A more Kiss-like tempo in “5 Vs. 7” maintains a sense of variety. Enjoy the flurry of guitars in the extended fade-out. “Lonely” is a nice shorty by contrast, like a Gene Simmons love lament written in a hotel bathroom. Closing position goes to “Renvoyer”, a killer outro jam.
Here is an interesting observation for you. I used to think that Grande Rock had a great side one, but not much happening on side two. However, I hadn’t actually listened to the vinyl for years. I was listening to an mp3 rip of the 13 track album. This time, I played the record and my perspective changed. You have to get up and flip the record, and I happened to do something else for a few minutes before I dropped it back on side two. That intentional break right there is everything. There’s some sort of reset that happens, and you’re good to go for round two.
Grande Rock is damn near perfect for anyone craving a dose of the classic 1970s with a toe in punk rock too. Vinyl is the way to go. Don’t even bother with the CD, which taunts you with the fact that you bought the wrong version on the back cover by telling you that you’re not getting “Angel Dust”! Awesome.
4.5/5 stars
Just a clip from an interview by MuchMusic’s Steve Anthony. I didn’t catch the full show at the time, so I recorded the interview clips whenever they were re-run.
In this clip, a hyper Bret Michaels of Poison talks about inspiration for his music and the audience response.
GETTING MORE TALE #735: Quite Possibly the Worst Music Video I’ve Ever Seen
Vigilants – “Run For Cover”
Recording music videos from the TV as a kid was a fine art. My method was to keep the machine on “record-pause” as videos were playing. Then all I had to do was un-pause and I’d be able to start recording almost immediately. I’d lose maybe a second of video. Then I’d pause again at the end, waiting for the next “good song”.
The Pepsi Power Hour was an amazing way to discover new (or old) bands. By recording the videos, I could hear the songs over and over. If there was a new band I was curious about, I’d take a chance and hit record. If I didn’t like the song or band, I’d just rewind and record over it. The Power Hour would play virtually any kind of metal. Their intro had Slayer’s “Angel of Death” as the theme music! From Poison to Cro-Mags, they would play it. Venom were regular favourites.
One afternoon in 1986, I was recording away when J.D. (John) Roberts announced a new band coming up, called Vigilant. (Over the years I’ve seen it spelled as Vigilants and Vigilante, but I will continue to use the spelling as it appeared on TV that day.) I recorded it — decent enough hard rock song — and I kept the video because their labelmate Lee Aaron had a cameo in it. Lee Aaron was and is Canada’s Metal Queen, so I thought the band must be OK. But dear God, what a video. What a horrendous video!
Let’s break it down.
We got the asshole record exec who won’t give a band a shot. We have Lee Aaron at reception, and a stripper entering the offices! What could this be about?
The stripper plays the record exec a tape, and then suddenly enters: more strippers! How many? Who knows, but you can play “count the strippers” with your friends if you like. The song is playing, but we still haven’t seen the band.
It’s well over two minutes before the band burst into the room, guitars in hand, to play along to their song. The fashion of the day: checkers, stripes, tassels, and tight tight pants. Pants so loud that Jon Bon Jovi himself wouldn’t have been seen in them. The bassist has one of those narrow body basses that were trendy at the time. The drummer? He doesn’t even show up until the 3:00 mark. Poor drummer! The point of course is that the strippers have far more screen time than the guys in the actual band, the hallmark of the stinkiest of the 1980s. Sulfer-stinky!
The one on the left is in roller skates.
The plot thickens when a roadie enters, with a flash bomb. He’s going to blow up the band! But then, Lee Aaron pulls the old switcheroo. And the roadie, though good at plugging in flash bombs, doesn’t seem to know how to unplug them. Guess who gets blowded up! Not the band or the strippers, I’ll tell you that!
Don’t worry, it’s a happy ending for everybody. Including the lead stripper, it’s heavily implied….
Please enjoy (?) the music video for “Run For Cover” by Vigilant (or Vigilante, or Vigilants) featuring Lee Aaron. The song actually wasn’t that bad. The verses were nothing to write home about, but the bridge and chorus are pretty good! Generic as hell, but it was the 80s. (Oh, and check out the funny MuchMusic bumper before the actual video, featuring Loudness singer Minoru Niihara!)
In 1992, MuchMusic introduced a new Saturday show called Start Me Up that focused on rock. It helped make up for the diminished Power 30. It got to the point that Start Me Up was the show to watch for rock and metal, since the Power 30 detoured into grunge and thrash.
Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Bruce Kulick and Eric Singer of KISS dropped in one afternoon on the Revenge tour. It’s a strange, stiff interview compared to past KISS appearances on MuchMusic. Paul Stanley seems to want to answer all of Eric’s questions and aside from Bruce, everyone’s awkward.
By request of reader KK, enjoy this strange Kiss interview from 1992!
In 1991, MuchMusic made a change that, I think, ultimately hurt their standing with heavy metal. They cancelled the twice weekly Pepsi Power Hour, and replaced it with the daily Power 30. The difference of course was that the Power 30 was a shorter show, but at five days a week, you’re getting an extra 30 minutes of metal every week. In theory. In reality, this meant more ad breaks so the amount of music you got was the same or even less. The reduced run time also meant no more hour long specials or hosting gigs. Coming up, we have a Power Hour co-hosted by Queensryche, but this segment with Faith No More is from the shorter Power 30.
Here Billy Gould and Roddy Bottum talk Slayer, Helmet, Young Gods and possible issues with the “MidLife Crisis” video. They’re funny in this clip but you can certainly see how the Power 30 offered less.
Popular vote by Harrison, Jessie, and a bunch of others who picked Iron Maiden’s Bruce Bruce (Bruce Dickinson) for this VHS Archive.
Yes folks it’s 1986, and that means questions about Satanism and devil worship. Oh my.
My wife bought me this sign. It hangs in my work area at home.
It is not wrong.
By request of Jay.
Ziggy Lorenc usually hosted soft rock on MuchMusic, but this time she got to talk to Dave Fortman and Whitfield Crane of Ugly Kid Joe! The guys discuss the video for their hit “Neighbor” and the memorable back cover of the America’s Least Wanted CD.
Who would you like to see next in the VHS Archives? Vote in the comments from the artists below!
This video comes from popular Facebook vote! Stone from Metal Odyssey, Max the Axe, and your Heavy Metal Overlord all voted for Blackie Lawless as our next VHS Archive.
In this interview (estimated to be from 1986 based on the date of the tape), Blackie is confronted by MuchMusic’s Erica Ehm about W.A.S.P.’s stage show. Lawless is strangely awkward and makes very little eye contact with anyone. It’s the 1980s and so Satanism must be denied. Check it out!
Who would you like to see next in the VHS Archives? Vote in the comments from the artists below!
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