VHS Archives #6: Blackie Lawless of W.A.S.P. interview (1986)

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!

  1. Faith No More (Billy & Roddy) 1992
  2. Bruce Dickinson 1986
  3. Kiss (full band) 1992
  4. Queensryche (Wilton & DeGarmo) 1990
  5. Steve Vai 1990

VHS Archives #5: Rob Halford interview (1986)

This brief but great clip has MuchMusic’s Terry David Mulligan getting Rob Halford to open up about drugs and Judas Priest’s image.  TDM hosted a show called MuchWest, but this was aired on the Power Hour.  Summer 1986, (presumably from Expo ’86) and Rob’s got a moustache and slick, long hair!  Definitely a look that didn’t stick.

REVIEW: John Dunsworth – Stories – Volumes I & II (2010 & 2012)

JOHN DUNSWORTH – Stories – Volumes I & II (2010 & 2012)

John Dunsworth, known as the beloved Jim Lahey on Trailer Park Boys, was a Canadian treasure.  By all accounts he was a caring man who gave generously of his time to fans and friends.  He loved this country and took great pride in the fact that many Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan were entertained by his “drunken” antics as Lahey.  He toured coast to coast with Pat Roach as Lahey and Randy, meeting fans in character and signing autographs.  People loved John Dunsworth.

John recorded two CDs of his life stories.  Some copies were recently found in a box by his daughter Sarah Dunsworth, who plays Sarah on the show.  She made them available to fans and even included memorabilia in the mailed packages.  We’ll get to that; the CDs are quite interesting.

Dunsworth had a rich voice, and you might even find these stories soothing to listen to.  Amusing anecdotes about family and friends are framed in an entertaining way.  He had a long career in show business and shares those stories as well.  As a casting director, Dunsworth gave a young Ellen Page a role in a TV movie called Pit Pony.  She later played Trina Lahey in the second season of Trailer Park Boys.  Media gave him credit for “discovering” Ellen Page, but he is far more humble about his small role.  The real talent belongs to Ellen Page, and he was very proud of her.

John talks about childhood.  I have a few things in common with him.  Neither of us could sleep on Christmas Eve, and both of us would creep downstairs in the early hours of the morning.  Some stories are darker.  “Flight 111” is about a plane crash over the ocean, that John was a member of a search party for.  229 people died, but the cause of the crash is debated.  Keep listening as the story takes a turn to the unknown.

I mentioned that copies came stuffed with free gifts.  Mine came with two “Lucy and Sarah” buttons but I almost missed the real treasure inside.  It’s just a copy, but I got a page from a Trailer Park Boys script, and not just any Trailer Park Boys script.  Season five (the hash driveway season), episode nine:  “I Am the Liquor”.

Randy:  “Is that you talking or the liquor?”

Lahey:  “I am the liquor Randy.”

Possibly the most legendary line of Lahey dialogue of all time.  Sarah Dunsworth signed it, as it originally came from her script.  Incidentally, by this page it appears the episode was originally titled “I’m A Cock-Riding Gay Cowboy Am I?”  I am going to keep this page safe and sound, because I love it.

The light and dark of Stories Volumes I and II will be treasured by the hard core Dunsworth fans, and they are out there.  Very limited in number, they will not be around long.  Check them out on the official John Dunsworth site.

4/5 stars

VHS Archives #4: Pepsi Power Hour – classic 1987 intro

This sure does bring back memories.

Below is a MuchMusic bumper and the Pepsi Power Hour intro from 1987.  This intro heralded my favourite hour of television every week.  The best hours of my life.

Look for two cameos by Master T (Tony Young) before he was the host of Rap City.

 

VHS Archives #3: Vinnie Vincent Invasion interview (part two)

The second part of the Vinnie Vincent Invasion interview by Erica Ehm, from MuchMusic’s Pepsi Power Hour, September 1987. Dana, Vinnie and Bobby speak. Mark makes faces.

“Why is there so much heavy metal in L.A.?” is the question.

Part one can be found here.

VHS Archives #2: Hear N’ Aid Special – Pepsi Power Hour (1986)

The one VHS tape I’m working on currently spans a period of recordings from about July 1986 to September 1987. This Hear N’ Aid special features a MuchMusic interview conducted by J.D. (John) Roberts. There’s lots of exclusive information in this valuable video, including a tidbit on bands who refused to be in the same project as Spinal Tap!

VHS Archives #1: Vinnie Vincent Invasion interview (1987)

I have begun converting my video library to digital! The big challenge is finding all the old tapes. I have no idea where I put the most important ones.

In the meantime, enjoy this brief Vinnie Vincent Invasion interview with Erica Ehm, from MuchMusic’s Pepsi Power Hour, September 1987. Bigger and better stuff will follow if/when I find the tapes.

REVIEW: Queensryche – Speaking in Digital: A Conversation with Queensryche (1986 promo)

QUEENSRŸCHE – Speaking in Digital: A Conversation with Queensryche (1986 EMI America promo interview LP)

Here’s a nice little rarity for you, a full-length Queensryche interview disc from the Rage For Order era.  Promos are a funny thing for reviewing (and this is our second Queensryche promo review).  These records were never made for sale, therefore nobody reviews them.  Nobody…but us.  Is there any rock knowledge or collector’s value to be gleaned from this disc?  Let us find out.

It’s an attractive record, Geoff Tate’s digitally distorted face in black & white.  No Try-Ryche, but a neat digital Queensryche logo.  The interview is conducted by radio DJ Ralph Tortoro.  A very low-key Geoff Tate begins by answering general questions about the beginning of the band and their independent EP.  Chris DeGarmo is a bit more engaged and adds the details.  Shy Michael Wilton speaks up only on occasion.

You’ll also get bits and pieces of music:  Snippets of “Queen of the Reich”, “Warning”, and “Gonna Get Close to You”.  There are four full songs too:  a massive “Screaming in Digital” (so hot on vinyl!), “I Dream in Infrared”, “Chemical Youth” and “The Whisper”.

Interesting things I noted while listening:

  1. They hadn’t settled on the name Queensryche for the band until they had to print up the first EP, forced to make a decision.
  2. Maiden was one of their favourite bands to cover according to Chris.
  3. Tate clearly didn’t like being called “metal” even back in 1986.
  4. “NM 156” from The Warning is hailed as the track that showed the way of the future of Queensryche.
  5. Steve Harris loved The Warning and asked for Queensryche to open for Iron Maiden.
  6. Rage for Order is a “loose concept” album, examining order over three levels:  order in relationships, political order, and technological order.
  7. Other questions remain unasked.

The new digitally enhanced Queensryche of 1986 was destined to confuse people in the short term, gradually winning over fans as time went on and people “got” the album.  If you want to deepen your understanding of its themes, this record will help.  There’s more too; we won’t tell you everything.  As a fan, you should be able to decide if Speaking in Digital is the kind of thing you want in your rock and roll reference library.  The young, shy Queensryche interviewed on this LP are as cold as the machines that are striving for order in the lyrics.  It’s a dry but interesting listen.

3/5 stars

 

 

Sunday Chuckle: A Tribute to LeBrain’s Dad

You’ve read the story, now you can hear the song!  Getting More Tale #488:  Almost Cut My Hair described a song that my dad likes to sing, called “Shittily Shittily La La La”.  Have a listen to my dad’s biggest hit.

Just Listening to…Whitesnake – Unzipped (Deluxe)

Just Listening to…Whitesnake – Unzipped
Acoustic Adventures – Unplugged in the Studio and Live on Stage 1997-2015

I thought this was going to be a boring listen.  5 CDs and a DVD of acoustic Whitesnake?  The same songs over and over?  It sounds pretty dull on paper, but in practice it’s another story.  So far, Unzipped has been a blast!

It turns out, a lot of my favourite Whitesnake songs are acoustic.  “Sailing Ships” is a fine example.  When David Coverdale is in a philosophical mood and busts out the acoustic guitar, he has the ability to make magic happen.  (But damn, he sure does like to re-use lyrics and imagery.  “Circle ’round the sun” again!)  Other tunes, such as and “Summer Rain” are less intellectual, but still leave a lasting impression.  Then you have acoustic arrangements of old familiar songs.  Whitesnake, Deep Purple, and even Coverdale-Page are revisited, and not just the hits.  These are songs to warmly enjoy when in a laid back mood.

The discs also include a remixed and expanded version of the first acoustic live Whitesnake album, Starkers in Tokyo.  The differences are audible; the album finally comes alive.  As a bonus, there is a off the cuff version of David’s solo song “Only My Soul” done a-cappella.  There is also a disc of “unreleased acoustic demo ideas”.  They are very raw — one track even begins with David calling it a “very rough idea”.  Some are written on the piano.  It’s hard to say if any of these ideas could have been made into hits, but they’re not bad.  Points must be awarded for the best song title:  “Another Lick While the Missus is Busy in the Kitchen”, a swampy blues riff.

Man, this one’s gonna take a long time to review!

For a fully detailed review, check out this one by John Snow!