Please join me in wishing the beautiful Jennifer a happy birthday today! I know all she wants for Christmas is the Leafs to win the Cup, but let’s wish that for her birthday too. They need all the help they can get if they wanna hoist the cup in 2024.
OK, so now I’m in trouble on her birthday.
But seriously, she’s the best Jen in the whole world and if it wasn’t for her I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing today.
Happy birthday Sweetie Cutie.
No show tonight as we celebrate a special day. Instead we are re-running the awesome Arkells Appreciation episode from last summer with Nurse Kat. Enjoy and we’ll be back next week with surprises and recap!
Thank you Grant, Aaron, Tim & Harrison for celebrating my birthday with me! We did a Nigel Tufnel Top Ten – Mike’s favourite birthday years. We showed off all his gifts this year, and looked at photos and gifts from years past.
Tim treated us to a guitar solo, and the guys had cool stuff to show us as always. Aaron’s signed Mystique poster was a highlight!
Lastly, Mike unboxed the new Grab A Stack of Rock theme song picture disc by vinyart.co. Tee Bone Erickson’s first vinyl. Now I need him to sign it! Thanks for celebrating everyone!
1981
Lego Technic Bulldozer set #856 from 1979 – “best present ever!”
1984
Michael Jackson – Thriller
Culture Club – Colour By Numbers
Transformers – Skywarp and Windcharger – my very very first two!
MOVIE: Saw The Last Starfighter for Bob’s birthday.
GRAB A STACK OF ROCK With Mike and the Mad Metal Man
Episode 29: Happy Birthdays to Us!
It’s that time of year again! We didn’t celebrate last year, because the LeBrain Train ended on July 15 2022. But we’re back and we’re celebrating 2023 in style. Join us, won’t you?
Special guest for this show will be Grant Arthur of Grant’s Rock Warehaus! Thanks for celebrating with us!
We are expecting lists! Unboxings and de-packagings! What are the best birthday gifts you’ve ever received? Mike will be listing, year by year, the most memorable albums he received for birthdays past, from 1984 to the 1990s, everything that he can remember! He even still has a few of the oldest ones to show you. What are the best albums you have received for your birthday?
Please join the party tonight. We’ll be ready to bring it!
Friday July 21 at 7:00 P.M. E.S.T. / 8:00 P.M. Atlantic. Enjoy onYouTube or on Facebook!
I always think of my best friend growing up, Bob, on my birthday. Our birthdays are only 10 days apart, so for us, July was a busy month full of music new and old. We always gave each other music. The last birthday we celebrated together was 1991 as I recall, and he gave me Van Halen’s For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge on CD. Same copy I still own today.
My favourite birthday memory might actually be his party in 1984. He was into Marvel comics limited series because they were easy to collect, and he loved The Last Starfighter, which was three issues. Obviously we had to go see the movie. His parents took us to Mother’s Pizza for dinner and then to the movie. “It’s better than Star Wars!” I raved back home.
This year on my birthday I’d like to share this new video I made from Mike and Bob’s Cross Kitchener Adventure. I set it to the Gene Simmons song “Waiting For the Morning Light”, written by Gene and Bob Dylan. (Don’t ask why I set it to that song.) I hope you enjoy this nostalgic music video from about 9 months before Bob gave me that Van Halen CD!
Major events on this date: Deep Purple broke up in 1976!
If you would like to celebrate this year’s birthday with Harrison and I, you can do that live this Friday at 7:00 PM on Grab A Stack of Rock! Please join us, won’t you?
Thanks to everyone for your kind comments about my 50th birthday gone awry. Jen is feeling better, though besides a fat lip, she now sports a nice black eye. Could have been worse.
I’m still Covid negative so I’ll take that as a win. The cold that I do have is not so bad, and though I am back at work, I have not been able to do a full day yet. But that will improve.
After Jen felt better from her fall, we opened some gifts. She got me some cool Marvel and Star Wars figures, but the music is the best part.
First up was the new Black Crowes EP, 1972. This six-song covers EP is getting rave reviews and I cannot wait to hear the Rod Stewart cover “You Wear It Well”. This EP is in anticipation of new material from the reformed band. There’s even a photo of the new lineup (including returning bassist Sven Pipien) which is a packaging touch I always appreciate. I have been skeptical of the Crowes’ current reunion, but putting out new music with this lineup alleviates most of that. Dig it!
And then we have the massive Black Sabbath Technical Ecstasy box set! This is one of my favourite Oz Sabbath albums. Actually one of my first, after Paranoid. The box includes the full album, the album remixed, some outtakes and a live show from 1977. The live show looks especially cool, with “Gypsy”, “Dirty Women” and “All Moving Parts” in the setlist. “Electric Funeral” is even included. The bizarre cover art has always struck me as Asimovian. Think The Gods Themselves.
Thank you Jen. What a day for you. You sure know how to buy gifts though.
Then I unboxed the massive parcel sent to me by Thor in Denmark. It was heavy. I didn’t know what to expect. It was obviously packed full. Even so, nothing broke in transit! Everything arrived in great condition, but there was so much stuff inside, we need to do a complete inventory.
First, there’s Anthem: Ultimate Best Of Nexus Years Japanese import with obi strip intact. Thor actually wrote an excellent review of this album with all the details. Bassist Naoto Shibata played on one of my favourite Loudness albums, so this is a total enhancement for my collection. It’s a double disc with a different singer on each disc, from two eras of the band. He rated it 4.95/5!
Then we have Red, Hot and Heavy by Pretty Maids, a band he considers the most underrated in metal. I don’t know this one, but it’s from 1984 so I think I’m going to like it.
Finally we have a self-titled album by Dizzy Mizz Lizzy, who I had to look up. This is a 1994 debut album by a critically acclaimed Danish band. Says a review on the Wikipedia page, “It all heavily oozes Led Zeppelin and Seattle.” Sounds good to me.
It may take a while for me to get to Dizzy Mizz Lizzy, considering Thor also sent me the motherlode of a band I first heard in the 80s, D-A-D, originally known as Disneyland After Dark. They too hail from Denmark, and I have praised their 1989 American debut, No Fuel Left for the Pilgrims, with a 4.5/5 star review.
Well, Thor went overboard. And by that, I mean Overmuch! Look at all this D-A-D glory! Thanks to him, I must now be the proud owner of the best D-A-D collection in Canada. Let’s go through everything one by one.
No Fuel Left For the Pilgrims (1989). This is the super rare original version of the CD, with the original name, before the change to D-A-D. Not only is the cover different, but so is the mix on four tracks: “Sleeping My Day Away”, “Point of View”, “Rim of Hell” and “Girl Nation”. On the international CD that I have, these four tracks were remixed by Chris Lord-Alge. You can hear the slight difference, mostly in terms of levels in the mix.
Good Clean Family Entertainment You Can Trust (1995). A single disc compilation with live and studio cuts, and loads of single artwork inside.
Psychopatico (1998). Double live. Their first live release besides a 1990 live Japanese EP. 17 tracks total.
The Early Years (2000). Double compilation! Includes their first two studio albums, plus their debut EP called Standin’ On the Never Ever, and 17 rare or previously unreleased bonus tracks.
Scare Yourself Alive (2006). Another double live! Two gigs from 2005 included. Minimal overlap between the two discs.
DIC·NII·LAN·DAFT·ERD·ARK (2011). Studio album. Check out that Super Audio CD case! Looks like I have all their studio albums now, as you shall see.
A Prayer For the Loud (2019). Their most recent studio album.
And, best of all…
The Overmuch Box: Twenty Five Years of D-A-D (2009)! This includes all their studio albums up to 2008, completing my collection! The albums are:
Standin’ On the Never Ever (1985 EP)
Call Of the Wild (1986)
D-A-D Draws a Circle (1987)
No Fuel Left for the Pilgrims (1989 US version)
Riskin’ It All (1991)
Helpyourselfish (1995)
Simpatico (1997)
Everything Glows (2000)
Soft Dogs (2002)
Scare Yourself (2005)
Monster Philosophy (2008)
Bonus album: Behind the Seen (Rare, unreleased & B-sides 1984-2009)
There’s still a bit of D-A-D out there to acquire, such as that Japanese EP, but surely not much. To be honest I never expected to get any more D-A-D beyond the Riskin’ It All album (which is supposedly lethal). But…holy shit people! That’s enough D-A-D to take years to digest.
Thor’s generosity cannot be understated! This is awesome stuff. You never see their music around in Canada, and I simply assumed I’d never have them. I love the price tags from a store called Moby Disc – great name! To have this much D-A-D, including the early stuff I only read about, and both versions of No Fuel, I’m just blown away. Truly overmuch! This is a band that has been special to me for a long time, because I can remember sitting in Bob Schipper’s basement when that music video came on. He went nuts for it. Just loved it. Just like I loved that big guy! Nothing but great times.
Thank you Jen, thank you Thor, and everyone who wished me a happy birthday.
Well, it happened. After two and a half years of no illnesses whatsoever, this boy finally got sick a couple days before his 50th birthday. Not Covid, thank fuck. Just the cold that seems to be going around “like wildfire” according to our pharmacist. Sunday night it hit like a ton of bricks and I was in bed by 5:30. Monday I was coughing with a sore throat and spent the entire day in bed, a couple hours here and there aside. Tuesday I was well enough to go back to work. Dead tired though.
And so, this 50th birthday that was supposed to be a simple movie night with the parents is now a night at home by ourselves. Can’t bring this cold into their house. Additionally, because I didn’t go into work on Monday, I cancelled my planned day off on Friday. Just not enough time left in the week to get everything done. We were supposed to do a 50th birthday celebration at the lake but that won’t be happening.
As miserable as I felt, it’s nice to get the birthday messages. Because I can, I’ll boast a bit about the celebrity birthday wishes. I’m always a little shellshocked when guys like this wish me a happy birthday:
Brent Jensen, the author and podcaster who always makes my skin vibrate
Mike Fraser, world-class producer and mixer extraordinaire
Brent Doerner, Helix guitarist
Greg Fraser, Brighton Rock and Storm Force axe-slinger
Michael Willerding, former drummer for Russian Blue and Feel
Rik Fox, original W.A.S.P. bassist who messaged all the way from Facebook jail
Even though I feel like I need an extended
[cut]
That is the exact moment while writing this post on a snack break that my cell phone rang.
Same old, same old, same old. The mall called. My beautiful wife had a seizure. This time, she fell flat on her face and cut her lip. She looks absolutely brutal right now. It hurts my heart.
Had to leave work early. I’m exhausted. She’s pretty sore.
Let’s focus on the good. Trying to focus on the good.
OK, the good:
Happy birthday wishes from all my friends and relatives
Surprise birthday pizza and pasta from our pharmacist, Vu
Surprise birthday parcel from Thor, aka Thunder Blackmore (it’s just cool getting a text message that says “You have a parcel from Thor”)
Jen is safe
I was going to do a big unboxing of Thor’s parcel but I am dead tired now. I need rest. And what says “you’re 50 years old now” better than a nap?
It can only get better from here. Happy 50th, to me.
All of us music-heads do it: we like to celebrate the anniversaries of our favourite (and occasionally not-so-favourite) albums! But how do you like to say it? That’s up to you. Is there a right and wrong way to do it?
I’ll tell you one thing you’ll never hear me say: “This album dropped on this day…”
I do not use the word “dropped” to refer to an album release. I know that’s what the kids say today. That’s precisely why I won’t say it.
A lot people say “Celebrate the anniversary of this album’s release today…” which is perfectly fine. No issue. Lots of big words that my fat thumbs have trouble typing on my phone though.
So I choose something simple and easy for my fingers to mash out on my phone while I’m eating my Cheerios. I choose to say “Happy birthday to this album!”
I don’t write long album birthday posts. Instead I simply paste the link to my review (when applicable) and post “Happy birthday!” I figure the review has most of the info if anybody cares enough to click it.
Two people have questioned my use of the word “birthday” in this context: rock journalist Mitch Lafon, and one loyal LeBrain Train viewer who you might be able to guess. I get it, I really do. Wishing “happy birthday” to an album? Is an album “born”?
According to Merriam Webster dictionary, the word “birth” can also mean “to give rise to”. Even so, I like to have fun with words and use them in ways not always intended. I’m also not the only person to wish a “happy birthday” to an inanimate object.
Look, it’s real simple. I won’t say “dropped”, and I don’t like the word “anniversary” (or typing it with my thumbs). I’ve chosen “happy birthday” for my album anniversary celebrations, and I think most people understand “Oh, he means it must have been released on this day.” I find a lot of arguments in the music community comes down to what I consider semantics. You’ll see all kinds of debates on what “metal” really is, or what qualifies members of a band as “original”. We care about these things because we’re music fans.
Admittedly, for me to type “Happy birthday!” on social media for an album, instead of a proper sentence about its release, is an act of laziness. But social media itself is an embodiment of laziness so I won’t apologize for that.
How do you post about an album’s anniversary? Are albums “born”? Does anyone actually care about English anymore? Let us know in the comments.
At some point in the mid-80s, I realized my little sister had crappy birthdays. She was a December 28 baby and it seemed she got decent gifts for Christmas, but only boring dresses and clothes for her birthday. So I decided to invent a new character to the pantheon of imaginary gift givers: Santa, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy…and now, enter Birthday Man.
The only problem was at that young age I didn’t own any money. So I’d re-gift little things for my sister. “To Kathryn, From Birthday Man”. She believed in Birthday Man for as long as I could find pencil erasers or pens or other assorted “gifts” for her. She did question me as to why none of her friends had heard of Birthday Man. She seemed to be the only one.
Even as we got older though, I wanted to make sure she got good things for her birthday. It did appear in my experience that kids with birthdays around the “big holiday” seemed to get shorted. So I tried to outdo myself every year, getting bigger and grander birthday gifts for my sister. I hope 2021 is no exception!
So happy birthday to Dr. Kathryn Ladano. Hopefully we can see you soon. Enjoy some takeout, Nintendo and the company of furry friends.
A mid-afternoon swim on Saturday turned into a sleepless Sunday night. The sunburn wasn’t that bad, but we lost track of time in the water and my back was really red. Saturday night I was OK, but Sunday I was not. I feel asleep with no shirt on, on top of the covers, with the air conditioning blasting right onto my back. I woke up in the middle of the night with the worst chill I ever had in my life.
I’ve never had the shivers so bad. It took a Visions In Sound sweatshirt, lots of blankets, and a Jen, but a couple hours later I was warmed up again. I haven’t felt a chill like that since the flu of 2009. I hid under the covers and was sweating for the rest of the night. The lack of restful sleep meant an exhausted Monday.
Birthday Monday, didn’t have any solid plans. Having dinner with my folks was a possibility but I was not feeling well from the lack of sleep and sunburn. Maybe it is age, but it was the second worst sunburn I’ve ever inflicted upon myself. And it was my own fault too; no sunscreen. I’d forgotten how rotten a sunburn can make you feel. Combine that with the effects from the chill the night before, and I was in no mood to be social. A quiet night at home would do.
Except it wouldn’t.
Jen went out in the afternoon to the mall. I wish she wouldn’t spend so long there. We’ve had so many seizures there, usually at the end of her day when she was getting ready to head home. When I started getting confusing text messages from her that didn’t make sense, I knew that it was happening again. I happened to be finished work at that exact moment, so I jumped in the car. It took 10-15 phone calls before she finally picked up. During the seizure she lost her groceries and mobility device. What a nightmare. She recovered all her stuff but…wow.
Not the worst birthday I ever had, but definitely in the bottom five.
The one thing I really appreciated is all the birthday messages. They were the best gift, but the one I really loved was this one from Darr Erickson. Darr wins the 2021 round with this champion of a comment:
Thank you Darr, and to everyone else who wished me a happy birthday this year. And even if you didn’t, thank you anyway, because I know you were thinking it.
This Friday on the LeBrain Train, we’ll have the real celebration. Harrison the Mad Metal Man has chosen to celebrate his own birth on Friday, so it’s a double party! It will be a list show with the theme: Songs that make our skin vibrate! We have have a full panel as well as drop-in guests. Spoiler alert: Brent Jensen will be there! (And he always shows up!)
Help us this Friday to make it a much better celebration. Hope to see you then.
I’m taking today off from blogging. It’s my birthday! So I’ll be opening stuff like this, while you are hopefully enjoying a nice day off, too.
I deserve a day off! I’ve been posting here almost daily for three and a half years! I’ve accumulated almost 1600 posts in that time, so I’m sure you won’t hold it against me.
In the meantime, you can check out the past birthday related posts. I’ll be back tomorrow with more rock!
Record Store Tales Part 78: Meat on LeBrain (An overly kind birthday post from my friend Uncle Meat to me.)
Record Store Tales Part 306: Happy Birthday to Me – (Memories of being hired at the Record Store 20 years prior.)
Blu-ray review: 2001: A Space Odyssey – (My favourite movie, a post I did on my birthday 2013)
Thank you Aaron for the gift…whatever it may be…well, it could be a bomb but it’s not ticking! I will be sure to update you all with photos of whatever musical treasures await me today.
mikeladano.com 