Aaron finds the weirdest stuff! In a recent Box of Goodness that he sent me (including an awesome Thin Lizzy Thunder and Lightning reissue on vinyl) I found this. It’s Def Leppard’s Pyromania(review here) on cassette, but not just any cassette.
The weird extra-thick and bendy clamshell case was the dead giveaway that this was something unusual. A quick look at the sleeve reveals it’s an actual Vertigo release, but also an import from India! Does anyone know if cassettes in India always came in these odd cases? The cassette actually snaps into the case, and is held by two tabs. I’ve never seen anything like it. This version even has an oddly coloured Def Leppard logo, that I’ve never seen on anything else.
Pyromania had a max. retail price of 60 rupees. That’s approximately one US dollar today.
Even though the yellow price tag on the side says $2.99, Aaron got this for the princely sum of one Canadian dollar! And now here’s the gallery of this strange oddity.
So, for iPhone users, I present to you my own original idea of an alternate use for an old cassette case! We all have a ton of these things sitting around!
After Randy Rhoads died, Ozzy really seemed to have gone into a tailspin. He just seems to have been completely miserable at the time and he really tries to bury the albums he made in this period. Speak Of The Devil, a live album featuring Brad Gillis (Night Ranger) on guitar, was not even included on Ozzy’s 2002 reissue program and went out of print.
Ozzy owed his label a live album, and had actually recorded one too (Randy Rhoads Tribute). With fresh wounds from the loss of Randy, Ozzy didn’t want to do a live album at all. So a compromise instead; Speak of the Devil (Talk of the Devil overseas) consisted entirely of Black Sabbath songs. At the same time, Sabbath was releasing their own double live album, Live Evil. This direct competition poured fuel over an already volatile feud.
I always hate to compare Ozzy’s versions of Sabbath songs with the originals. Ozzy’s have always sounded different because of the guitar players he’s chosen to use over the years. These Gillis versions are about as authentic as Ozzy’s been, until the fortuitous discovery of Zakk Wylde five years later. Gillis is a flashier player than Iommi, but without Randy’s intricate classical bent.
You absolutely cannot argue with the track list (from the Ritz, in New York). This is Sabbath boiled down to its black core. These are the desert island songs, and I love that “Never Say Die” and “Symptom of the Universe” were included. Through the classics, Ozzy sounds tremendously drunk. Colossally smashed, not quite completely out of his fucking head yet, but close. Still lucid, not yet totally annihilated. His voice takes on an angry shade when he starts reminiscing about the the groupies at the old Fillmore East (“The Wizard”). (Sounds like a naughty word was awkwardly edited of out this ramble, too.)
I do love a moment when, just before breaking into the aforementioned “Wizard”, Ozzy says to somebody (a roadie?) “Hey, what’s happenin’ man?”
The vocals sound like they’ve been sweetened in the studio. They’ve been double tracked, or manipulated to have that effect. I’m normally not a fan of that kind of thing, but it’s still a great listen. There’s some annoying feedback at points…it doesn’t bother me too much, hell, when I first heard this album (on cassette) in 1991, I couldn’t even hear the feedback, for the shitty fidelity of cassette tape. I’m sure Ozzy considers the album to be sonically embarrassing, that seems to be his modus operandi.
Of note, “Sweet Leaf” did not manage to make the original CD release, but has been restored to this version, its CD debut. It was on the original cassette version, a cassette-and-LP-only “bonus track” at the time. (Aaron, that means you gotta buy remastered or LP.)
Band lineup: Osbourne/Gillis/Sarzo/Aldridge/Airey.
RECORD STORE TALES Part 173: Gene Simmons’ Asylum Demos
Back in 1994-95, when I was working at our original store, I would always proudly fly the Kiss flag. This was before the mega reunion, and on the heels of the Revenge album, which I was really into.
I had a small online presence back then, I had created our very first online ads in 1994. I was talking about music on every single BBS (Bulletin Board System) in the area, and on one board, called Wanderer’s Rest, I had a forum for my reviews. I was going by the online name “Geddy” (hah!) back then, and I was extremely prolific. Very little has changed since!
One guy, name long forgotten, messaged me. “Hey, I’m a customer at your store. I have some rare Kiss demos. Do you want to do a tape swap?” Of course I did. For him, I made a copy of the March 25 1974 show in Washington at the Bayou club. It was a cool show because they played an unreleased song called “You’re Much Too Young”.
For me, he made a tape of Gene’s Asylum demos, on one of our Maxell UR60’s that we sold in our store. Gene is a very prolific songwriter. Not everything he comes up with is gold (clearly!) but he usually submitted a dozen tunes or more for consideration on each album. Judging by this cassette, Asylum was no exception, even though he was very distracted by Hollywood at that time.
The tape, which unfortunately did not survive the years very well at all, contains 13 of Gene’s demos, 3 being instrumental ideas, and a bonus track. A couple songs made the final album. I tried to listen to the tape, to see if I recognized any ideas. Unfortunately, this tape now sounds terrible and is unlistenable. I ripped only one song, which was “Russian Roulette”, to see if it resembled the version that later ended up on 2009’s Sonic Boom album. From what I can tell, only the title survived to Sonic Boom.
Musically however, the song was recycled on the Monster album, as “Eat Your Heart Out”! It’s the same riff. Although you can’t make out the lyrics on the demo version at all, you can tell they are completely different.
See the pictures below for the tape made for me by the Mystery Kiss Fan back in ’94-95. If you know any of these Gene songs, please comment below! We can hope that good quality versions will come out on Gene’s “Monster” box set, if it ever comes out!
Remember tape cases? Some looked like briefcases. You could store anywhere from 24 to 60 tapes in one case, which snapped shut with a clasp. Others were double sided, made of nylon, zipped shut, and could hold 120 cassette tapes. At my peak, I owned about 10 cases altogether, different sizes, to hold my cassette collection.
We had phased out tapes completely by 1996. It was a dead format. CD had taken over completely, and our stores were some of the first in the area to go 100% CD. You could still buy tapes downtown at Encore Records, and I occasionally still did. I remember buying Fireball, by Deep Purple, on tape there in 1996, because finding a CD in town was impossible.
One afternoon in ’97, when I was working alone, a big dude walked into the store. Outside of a Tarantino movie, I’d never heard so many “F-bombs” dropped in one conversation. Luckily I was journaling back then and recorded the conversation for posterity.
Big guy: “Hey, where are your cassette boxes?”
Me: “You mean like tape cases, for carrying your tapes around with you?”
Big guy: “Yeah, them fuckin’ things.”
Me: “Uhh…we don’t carry those anymore. We phased out tapes a while ago.”
Big guy: “Fuck. You fuckin’ sure you got nothin’?”
Me: “Yeah, pretty sure. We don’t carry tapes, so we don’t carry tape accessories either.”
Big guy: “Why the fuck don’t you carry tapes? What are people supposed to do who listen to fuckin’ tapes?”
Me: “Well, you could try the mall. I think some of those stores carry tapes. They probably have cases too.”
Big guy: “Think so?”
Me: “It’s worth a try?”
Big guy: “Fuck. I’ll just make one.”
Me: “OK.”
Big guy: “Yeah. Fuck. I’ll just buy some fuckin’ wood. Cut ‘er up nice and build a fuckin’ box for my tapes. Just get some fuckin’ wood, fuckin’ slap ‘er together, and make a fuckin’ tape box of my own. Yeah. That’s what I’ll do.”
Me: “…That sounds like a good idea.”
Big guy: “Fuck, it’ll be easy, I’ll just buy some fuckin’ wood.”
SLASH PUPPET – No Strings Attached (2007 Sun City Records)
Slash Puppet were one of the biggest names of the burgeoning Toronto rock scene of the early 1990’s. Unfortunately, unlike their competition Sven Gali and I Mother Earth, they never got signed to a major label. They did, however, manage to sell out 2500 copies of their first recording, The Demo, an independent cassette, via mail order. They were the darlings of M.E.A.T Magazine and appeared on MuchMusic’s Power Hour. Slash Puppet signed a management deal with Ray Danniels and SRO (Rush) who later also handled Van Halen, King’s X, and Extreme.
I was one of the 2500 people who ordered The Demo. Every mail order was accompanied by a glossy 8 1/2 x 11 autographed photo. I still have mine, this is especially treasured since their talented lead guitarist, Lou Garscadden, passed away in 2001. Today, lead vocalist Mif (originally billed as “Tony Terrance Dartanian”, for some weird reason) is a successful actor. That’s him as the mob boss in Norm McDonald’s hilarious Dirty Work, billed under his real name, Anthony J. Mifsud!
Incredibly, for a band that never put out a major label release and split in 1994, Australia’s Sun City Records reissued The Demo on CD in 2007, as No Strings Attached. A well-assembled package, it features liner notes, lyrics, and loads of photos.
This ass-kicker starts with a bang: “Slow Down”. This was the first video, and it even made a return appearance (in slightly remixed form) on the second Slash Puppet release, a self-titled EP. “Slow Down” is an infectious hard rocker, a tougher and faster Faster Pussycat with a way, way raspier singer. It has more integrity than most of the Sunset Strip of the time combined. And this was from the bad bad streets of Mississauga!
The extremely catchy ‘Squeeze It In” follows, a mid-tempo groover, and my personal favourite song. This one just drips sleaze with a knack for gritty melody. Up next is “Hard On Love”. It’s another concoction of raspy lead vocals, catchy backing gang vocals, and pure sex. It’s twice as hard as anything Hollywood was producing at the time. “Bad Girls”, which closed side one of the original cassette, is about the only misstep. While the song is another adrenaline-filled sex romp, the chorus lacks punch.
It’s here that I think the CD edition of No Strings Attached differs from The Demo. If memory serves correctly, side two began with “Overload” and closed with “Turn It On”. On the CD, the track order seems switched. Unfortunately, my original cassette copy is now lost.
Regardless, “Turn It On” is fast paced, raspy and built for sex. It’s not an upper-echelon song, it’s more similar to “Bad Girls”, the chorus is a bit thin. The band compensates with the excellent “Evil Woman”. Great chorus, great hooks, and it sounds great in the car. It also has a cool dual guitar solo by Lou Garscadden and Frank “Bart” Bartoletti, proving these guys had the chops.
The dark and slower-paced “Some Kind O’ Lady” provides some variety on an album that is otherwise very party-oriented. This killer tune was always one of my favourites. It has some killer soloing and a great riff. The verses kind of remind me of a Testament ballad like “Return To Serenity”, but before Testament even wrote that song. Maybe it’s the grit in Mif’s voice that reminds me of Chuck Billy.
“Overload” closes the CD on an upbeat note. It has a fast, playful riff, sleazy lyrics and plenty of grit. It’s totally headbang-worthy. And with that, the CD ends, listener exhausted by half an hour of pure heavy glam rock!
The production values for this album are not the greatest. Keep in mind this was originally a self-financed demo tape, never meant for wide release, and never intended for CD. The guitar solos are often buried, and the backing vocals sound a bit thin. What does come across is the grit of Mif, an underrated singer and frontman (by all contemporary accounts).
As mentioned, Slash Puppet returned with an EP later (released by indi Fringe), amped up, better sounding and more mature without losing an ounce of their street-tough sensibilities. Look for a review of that ultra-rarity in a future edition of mikeladano.com!
BLUE RODEO – “Til I Am Myself Again” (1990 cassette single)
From my years at the record store, I’ve seen scores of copies of this single on CD. It has four tracks, all album tracks. The cassette single on the other hand was something special. It had a unique bonus track called “5 Day Disaster” that (so far as I know) was exclusive to the cassette format.
In 1990, (Casino era) Blue Rodeo had gone down the road of simpler, short pop-country-rock songs, and “5 Day Disaster” is one of these. It’s a peppy, uptempo Jim Cuddy blaster with an unforgettable chorus. It has strong upfront keyboards by Bobby Wiseman, including a piano solo.
The A-side was of course one of Blue Rodeo’s biggest early hits. It too is a short poppy Jim Cuddy song. Both songs are credited to the duo of Greg Keelor/Jim Cuddy. It should be assumed that both songs were also produced by Pete Anderson, although the credits on “5 Day Disaster” are not clear, they both sound cut from the same cloth.
Cassette single tracklist: Side A: “Til I Am Myself Again” / Side B: “5 Day Disaster”
CD single (not shown in photos) tracklist: 1. “Til I Am Myself Again” 2. “What Am I Doing Here” 3. “Rebel” 4. “Diamond Mine”
4/5 stars
(NOTE: A few months after posting this review, Blue Rodeo reissued “5 Day Disaster”, now titled “5 Day Disaster Week”, on their excellent 1987-1993 box set! Thanks guys!)
Note that I have the US version of Casino below. Notice the different logo from the cassette? In the US they were still using the Diamond Mine logo!
HELIX – “Good To The Last Drop” (1990 cassette single)
One thing though that I thought I lost was all my cassette singles. They were stored in a shoebox at my parents’ house, and I thought I lost them in a move. In that box of cassette singles were some tunes that could not be replaced on CD, because they don’t exist on CD. One is the original version of “S.E.X. Rated”, by Helix. There was a remake done on 1999’s B-Sides album with the original lineup, and it’s awesome. There is however an earlier version from the “Good To The Last Drop” cassette single that is early enough that it had to be Paul Hackman on guitar. It was noticably different from the 1999 version, and I have hunted and hunted to find a CD version, but none exist. I tracked down a couple “Good To The Last Drop” CD singles, but they contain just one track, the Remix version of “Good To The Last Drop”, which they later re-released on a Best Of CD.
“Good to the Last Drop”, the remix version, is superior to the album version. The main difference is that catchy keyboard hook. That’s not there on the album version. It’s not available on many CD compilations now, although its B-side is not.
In 2007, my parents were digging away in the basement and they found the box of cassette singles. There are a couple other winners in there too. But the Helix one is there, and in remarkably great shape, probably because BOTH tracks are on each side, so you’d play the tape half as much. The integrity of the tape would presumably last longer. At least if one side starts to sound bad, you can play the other side.
The song is really different from the other version, it starts with a spoken-word intro. Somebody that sounds like a radio DJ says, “Hi, this is Johnny (something?). And this is for the girl that wants me to love her for her mind. But I want to love her because of what she doesn’t mind.” And then the band kicks in, and the lyrics to the song are the same as the ’99 version. Sounds like it could be Fritz on drums. On the cassette sleeve, the track is credited as “Produced by Helix” as opposed to Helix and Tony Bongiovi, as the album was. Recorded at a separate session perhaps? Daryl’s bass sounds great, punchy and driving. In general the track sounds great.
I like how the cover says “INCLUDES BONUS UNRELEASED TRACK”. The back cover reveals the tape was released in 1990, probably late 1990 if I remember, because I seem to remember getting this tape around or during Christmas holidays 1990.
Incidentally, I emailed Brian Vollmer about this version of “S.E.X. Rated” and asked if there was a CD version ever coming. He said he can’t remember anything about another version. I asked Daryl Gray, and his response is below:
try the CD version of Long Way To Heaven album…
Nope. Sorry Daryl! Not there, got that one too. So there you go! A Helix rarity that even the band doesn’t seem to know about. Cool.
VAN HALEN – “Right Now” (1992 cassette single, Warner)
“Right Now”, the cassette single version, – featuring two non-album versions of the title track.
side one:
Right Now (single mix)
Man on a Mission (album version)
side two:
Right Now (edit)
Man on a Mission (album version)
There are two interesting things about this cassette. First, I’ve never encountered that “Right Now” remix on any other format. No CD, no vinyl, nothing that has a longer lifespan than a cassette. Cassettes are not that durable. I want to get this thing burned to CD as soon as possible. Second, the remix is actually quite cool. It features an organ solo instead of guitar, and you won’t hear this version anywhere else. Any serious fan of Edward Van Halen would be interested in hearing it.
I find it a little odd that the b-side “Man on a Mission” appears twice. Shame about that, as I consider it easily one of the worst songs on For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge.
I always hate to compare Ozzy’s versions of Sabbath songs with the originals. Ozzy’s have always sounded different because of the guitar players he’s chosen to use over the years. These Gillis versions are about as authentic as Ozzy’s been, until the fortuitous discovery of Zakk Wylde five years later. Gillis is a flashier player than Iommi, but without Randy’s intricate classical bent.
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