beer

50 Years of IRON MAIDEN bonus episode: Collections! Stories! Maiden on Vinyl, Bottlecaps & More!

50 Years of IRON MAIDEN bonus episode:
Collections! Stories! Maiden on Vinyl, Bottlecaps & More!

With special guest Aaron “Mr. Books” KMA and Jex Russell

GRAB A STACK OF ROCK bonus episode

Originally run:  June 16 2023.  Now edited with new content.

This special bonus episode of 50 Years of Iron Maiden may be an old show from 2023, but most Maiden viewers never saw it, so I re-edited it and we’re running it again!  This episode was a special fun one that we did with Aaron “Mr. Books” KMA, showing off parts of our Maiden collections.

Aaron, being Mr. Books, had one of Bruce Dickinson’s novels on hand.  He also had a near-mint collection of Trooper beer bottle caps, and a rare Iron Maiden menu from Toronto.  Harrison tended to focus on CDs.  He had some rare bootlegs, including a DVD.  For myself, I was eager to show off my Maiden vinyl collection at the time, including coloured vinyl, picture discs, some sealed records, and much more.  Early on, Jex Russell showed up just to crash the party!

Speaking of books, we also took a look (for the very first time) at a Maiden book that features Mike himself.  Chances are, you’ve never seen this book before.  You definitely have never seen it on 50 Years of Iron Maiden before.

This was the infamous night that Jen had a seizure, fell, and almost broke her jaw.  I’ve edited most of that stuff out but some remnants remain.

Friday June 27 at 7:00 P.M. E.S.T.  Enjoy on YouTube.

Past episodes:

Handy YouTube Playlist:

#1077: Lunch With Aaron & Son

RECORD STORE TALES #1077: Lunch With Aaron & Son

In the last five years, my world has changed drastically.  We lost Jen’s mom, we’ve lost friends, but on the positive side, we’ve also lost weight!  The world has gone through a transformative pandemic, but one constant is Aaron KMA, a man I have not seen since 2018.  I am happy to report that Aaron is still out there being Aaron – bearing gifts and warmth as always!

We met halfway, at the Elk & Finch in Southampton Ontario.  He brought his son, who I’ve never met before, but has good taste in hamburgers.  We sat down to some amazing food, including the best smoked salmon I’ve ever tasted in my life.  This is it: as good as it gets.

Food aside, I knew Aaron would arrive bearing gifts, and as usual, he did:  Books, CDs, and more.  Let’s have a gander, shall we?  Let’s go through the contents of Aaron’s gift bag bit by bit.

Not pictured, there were four bottle of Iron Maiden’s Trooper beer!  Not pictured because I didn’t think I should pull out liquor of my own at a restaurant.  You understand of course!  You are probably familiar with this acclaimed brew already.  That made up a lot of the weight of the gift bag.  Much of the rest of the weight was taken up by books.  One book specifically.

The big one is The Art of Classic Rock by Paul Brushkin, with foreward by Alice Cooper.  Aaron has showed this off on my show before.  We also have rock magazines (with CDs)!  Other reading:  Gods of the Hammer by Geoff Pevere, the story of Teenage Head.  The “Hammer” in this case is Hamilton Ontario.  Keeping a punk vibe, Aaron also gave me Perfect Youth: The Birth of Canadian Punk by Sam Sutherland.  Finally, it’s The Story of Tommy which is really gorgeous!

I’m very excited about the music.  I actually didn’t own a copy of Garbage’s self titled debut, until now.  This one is signed by all four members, and lo and behold, it’s dedicated to Mike!  Just a coincidence I assure you but how cool is that?  I now also owned Backwaxed by Anvil, which I was missing until now, and now I also own the Hip side project Stripper’s Union.

I get more and more excited the further we go!

These Hot Wheels are really cool.  I think I need to open them.  The Yellow Submarine (Beatles) is groovy.  The USS Enterprise though…I just enjoy swooshing those ships around.  This Enterprise is NCC-1701 from the 2009 film Star Trek, directed by JJ Abrams and starring Chris Pine as Captain Kirk.  (I have to be honest, I prefer Paul Wesley’s Kirk from Strange New Worlds, which I am trying to get Aaron to watch!)  I enjoy these very much, and this is not the first time Aaron has found an appropriate Hot Wheels to gift me.

Onto the shirt, which was actually the first item in the bag.  Jeff Woods is legendary in my circles – he is THE Legend of Classic Rock.  Jeff Woods even contributed to the Sausagefest countdowns a number of times.  Aaron, however, isn’t a radio listener and isn’t intimate with the works of Mr. Woods as I am.   Yet Aaron found this shirt, thought of me, and put it in the bag.  I am thrilled.  This is a shirt I would have bought myself anyway!

Finally…

I just loved the Sheik.  I have always loved the Sheik.  He was one of the greatest villains in WWF history.  We talked to Spenny about the Iron Sheik back in May on Grab A Stack of Rock.  And now I have a little loveable stuffed Sheik of my own.   I couldn’t be more happy.  This is the kind of gift that just screams “Mike”.

 

Aaron, it was a delight to hook up again and finally meet your son.  I hope we do something like this again soon.  I could go for some salmon again.  And the coffee was great too.

Three cheers for Aaron!

 

 

#918: Drinkin’ Thinkin’

RECORD STORE TALES #918: Drinkin’ Thinkin’

A buddy of mine said the other day, “I saw your clips from the first live show.  I was killin’ myself laughing, that was great”.  The part a lot of people laugh at is when I say “Have I had too much fruit punch this evening?”  I appear drunk but was not.  I told him that, and I had to convince him.  But it’s true.  I don’t really drink.

Note that I said “don’t really”.  I don’t call myself a “non-drinker” or an “abstainer”.  Two summers ago I had a beer with Max the Axe, so I am obviously not a non-drinker.  But that was the first drink in many years, and last drink until present.  I just don’t like the way it makes my stomach feel.  As I got older, my stomach got worse, exacerbated by anxiety and stress.  It’s just not an experience I seek out anymore.

From my mid-20s to my early 30s, I enjoyed a sometimes-drink.  I was a lightweight.  T-Rev was a great buddy to hang out with, and he tried to get me to be more social.  We’d be hanging out with a whole bunch of girls that he worked with at the Waterloo Inn, and I loved hanging out with that group.  They could take it much further than I could, but I did my best.  Beer, shots, depth charges.  Usually, I was just the designated driver.

When I wasn’t driving, I’d have some drinks at work functions.  The Record Store had a birthday party for me at Jack Astor’s.  I loved Jack Astor’s because they had the most amazing seafood linguine, and still to this day, the best lemonade.  None of my co-workers particularly liked it, but it was my birthday so it was nice of them to go there.  As for the drinking, it started with one beer and picked up from there.  Everybody wanted to buy me a shot.  It was a great night and I distinctly remember grabbing a dude’s ass.  No homophobia here, folks.  I’ll save him the embarrassment of being named, but it was a friend who played guitar in one of my favourite local bands.

I am pretty sure I puked the next morning, but I can’t even say for sure which birthday it was.  I think it was my 31st.

Even though my relations with the boss that I refer to as “The Bully” were always rocky, she did attend my birthday party.  Having seen me grab a guitar player’s ass, I thought it might be prudent to just pro-actively apologise in case she was offended by anything she saw.  “Sorry I got a little loud and rowdy when I was drunk,” I said.

“You weren’t drunk,” she flatly responded.

What?  “Yes I was…they started buying me beer right away,” I said, taken aback by her response to me.

“I’ve never seen anyone get drunk off one beer before,” she claimed.

I didn’t know what to say.  She thought I was putting on an act?  I was a little disturbed by her accusation.

At that time I was a skinny guy.  I had very little alcohol tolerance.  Whether she believed me or much, it didn’t take much to make me tipsy.  Add in the natural high you get from your own birthday party, when everybody is nice to you and at least pretends to like you.  Not only was I drunk, but I think that might have been the best drunk I’ve ever been.

What a strange accusation to make.  There was something wrong with this boss.  The professional response would have been, “Apology accepted, hope you had a nice birthday.  Have a good day.”

Circling back, when I appeared drunk on fruit punch in that live clip, I was completely sober.  I was having a lot of fun, and being live on Facebook was kind of like a birthday party.  It’s a natural high.  Your friends are there and you are the centre of attention.  Being “drunk” doesn’t depend on how many beers I’ve finished.  If I’m already surfing the high of life, it just takes a little.  I’m a cheap drunk if I’m in a good mood!

 

Marathon T-Bone Show – 5150 is Dissected and LeBrain is Pummelled

Hold onto your seats, folks, because T-Bone will blow you away with his 5150 knowledge and insight. In fact, all six panel members tonight brought it!

While it wasn’t fun being the lone dissenting voice when you’re up against heavyweights like Kevin and Meat, this was one of the best discussions on 5150 that you are likely to hear. And you need a dissenting voice, right?  I was happy to play the role of punching bag too!

The Van Halen talk begins at exactly 0:48:00 and runs through to the end.  Before that we unboxed some action figures, talked about the new Coney Hatch live album, and a little bit of current events.  Watch right from the start to catch all that.  We also played three music videos:  “Donna (Do Ya Wanna)” by Deadline, “Open Door Piss” by T-Bone, and “Victim of Changes” (Priest cover) by Clockwork Orange.

Enjoy!

May 7:  Paul Laine from Danger Danger and the Defiants with co-host John Snow.

May 14:  List show by Uncle Meat’s suggestion — Best Cover Tunes — with panel TBA.

May 21:  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.

All aboard!

 

Trifecta of T-Bone…5150 Time!

The LeBrain Train: 2000 Words or More with Mike Ladano

Episode 62 – 5150 Time &  a Trifecta of T-Bone

Tune in tonight for beer, some T-Bone (his 3rd appearance) and an in-depth discussion of an album that went to number one 35 years ago this week:  Van Halen’s 5150.  The complete panel will be as follows:

To quote Pearl Jam, it’s “Five, five, five against one.”  I’m the lone dissenting voice that will be highly critical of 5150, while the other five guys will probably take turns punching me in the balls.

Friday April 30 7:00 PM E.S.T. on Facebook:  MikeLeBrain and YouTube:  Mike LeBrain.

T-Bone and the Gang are Done With Mirrors on the LeBrain Train

What can you say about a show that does all the following in one night:

  1. An in-depth, track by track analysis and critique of Aerosmith’s Done With Mirrors
  2. A tribute to Christopher Plummer (R.I.P.)
  3. CD unboxing and beer de-canning
  4. A world premier music video
  5. The sound of the real toilet flushing
  6. Awesome rock and roll chit-chat for almost three full hours

Why, it could only have been the LeBrain Train!  And this week, far more than 2000 words were said about Done With Mirrors.  This album generated so much passionate and sometimes dispassionate discussion that it would have been a shame if everybody didn’t get to speak their piece.  This album isn’t as polarizing as you might think.  We all found something enjoyable, we just didn’t always agree on what was enjoyable.

Your panel tonight was:

To skip ahead to the parts you may be interested in, go to the following points in the video:

  • Beer de-canning:  0:26:40
  • Encore Records unboxing:  0:28:10
  • Christopher Plummer tributes at:  0:18:30 and 2:34:50
  • Done With Mirrors discussion:  0:34:05
  • World premier music video of Current River’s Rock’n in a Rubber:  2:38:45

 

Thanks for watching and leaving the awesome comments, folks!  Tune in next week when Martin Popoff returns with his King’s X Top Five!

 

T-Bone Lets The Music Do The Talking on tonight’s LeBrain Train

The LeBrain Train:  2000 Words or More with Mike Ladano

Episode 49 – “The Return of T-Bone”

 

Layin’ down some facts for you:

  1. T-Bone is one of my favourite people,
  2. “Let the Music Do the Talking” is one of my favourite songs,
  3. but Done With Mirrors is one of my least favourite Aerosmith albums.

It’s been a mere two months since T-Bone last graced our show with his presence, but this time he’s coming locked and loaded with a special album deep discussion:  Aerosmith’s Done With Mirrors.

When I ranked all the Aerosmith albums, I placed it at #11.  I gave it a 3.5/5 when I reviewed it separately, but I blame Deke for that.  He was whispering things in my ear.  “36 minutes of classic Aerorock,” is what he said.   That was six years ago, and I have not listened to Done With Mirrors much since.  So it will be interesting to see what we have to say this time out.  Deke and T-Bone are big fans.

Besides Deke and T-Bone, we’ll also be bringing in Uncle Meat and Buried On Mars.  They are coming into the discussion with fresher ears than I, so it’ll be interesting to hear their takes.

Also:  Special beer “de-canning”!   Music unboxing from Encore Records!  New Current River music video!  All coming to you live…tonight!

 

7:00 PM E.S.T.
Facebook:  MikeLeBrain  YouTube:  Mike LeBrain

 

 

Scheduling Notes:

Martin Popoff will be back next Friday, February 12, for a King’s X Top Five show!

We are also hard at work on plenty of list shows and returning guests.  Rob Daniels and Mike Slayen will be returning when we do the Top Riffs of the 80s.  Harrison the Mad Metal Mad will be back when we tackle Top Maiden Album Covers, and a few other topics that we have cooking up.  And for a special 1st Anniversary show on March 19, Brent Jensen is going to talk about music that makes our skin vibrate one more time!

 

 

Scraping the Skies of Thunder Bay with Tee Bone

Thank you Tee Bone for an awesome Friday night on the LeBrain Train! Tee Bone, an original member of Thunder Bay’s own Current River, has plenty of great stories which we only scratched the surface of in this almost three-hour chat!

Topics discussed and their locations in the stream:

  • T-Bone Tales – scattered throughout.
  • Shaun of the Dead challenge – 0:33:20.  The zombie apocalypse has come and you are unarmed.  All you have to save yourself from the horde is your record collection.  Choose five records from your collection to throw at the zombies to save yourself.  Harder than it sounds!  This segment includes a highly disputed meltdown over Tenacious D’s debut.
  • Beer de-canning from Sleeping Giant brewery’s 2020 advent calendar – 0:35:00
  • A special Def Leppard box set unwrapping and story from someone involved with the making of it – 1:27:25
  • An hour-long track by track discussion of David Lee Roth’s Skyscraper LP – 1:50:00

Truly, some of the most fun I’ve had on a Friday night.  Good stories, good times, good beverages.  Good friends.  Spend your Friday nights with us, or catch us on Youtube after the fact.  Give the videos a share if you think your friends would like watching too.  It’s all about community and thanks for being a part of it.  Special appreciation to Harrison the Mad Metal Man for hilarious commentary.  I shall dub thee:  Hilarrison.

Chewing the Fat with T-Bone on the LeBrain Train

The LeBrain Train:  2000 Words or More with Mike Ladano

Episode 40

This special 40th episode of the LeBrain Train is brought to you by T-Bone!  That’s right folks — after months of isolation in the wilds of Lake Superior, finally we have the one and only T-Bone from Thunder Bay joining us this week.  Deke and I will be talking rock with a true original.  On the docket this week:

  • An advent beer calendar “de-canning”
  • An in-depth discussion on David Lee Roth’s Skyscraper LP
  • A mental musical exercise based on Shaun of the Dead

…and lots more

T-Bone has contributed to list shows in the past but this is his first real live experience on the LeBrain Train.  T-Bone’s past submissions to the show were all Nigel Tufnel Top Ten lists and you can check out his rock pedigree in the following shows:

We hope you enjoy tonight’s rock as we chew the fat with T-Bone.

7:00 PM E.S.T.
Facebook:  MikeLeBrain  YouTube:  Mike LeBrain

 

 

 

Sunday Chuckle: A Scottish Concussion

My sister, world-travelling bass clarinetist Kathryn Ladano, is in Scotland!

This should surprise no-one, but one of the things she is doing in Scotland is drinking beer.

As luck should have it, on her first day, she had a fall at a pub. I am assuming alcohol was involved, but that’s not important to the story. She spotted a black Scottish Schnauzer, and jumped up to see it.  She bumped her head and injured her shoulder. In her email to the family, she said, “I have a lump, but I didn’t have to go to the hospital.” Glad she’s OK!

My dad read this email first, and he immediately announced to the family that “Kathryn had a great start to her vacation…got a concussion, dislocated a shoulder. In a hospital.”

Talk about misreading! My dad has been known to 1) stretch the truth, and 2) immediately go to worst-case scenario, but I’ve never seen anything like this before!  She specifically said she didn’t have to go to the hospital, and she made sure to put that up front so my dad wouldn’t worry too much.  Well shit!