Deke

#1015: Vis-a-Vis-a-Vous

RECORD STORE TALES #1015: Vis-a-Vis-a-Vous

As a kid, I had heard of Coney Hatch but never particularly paid attention.  MuchMusic rarely included their tunes on the Pepsi Power Hour for unknown reasons.  I probably heard “Hey Operator” but nothing else by the band.  Timing was not in their favour with me.  I wasn’t even into heavy rock yet when their first two albums came out.  No wonder they passed me by.  By the time I dove head-first into rock music on December 26 1984, I had already missed most of their career.  Ironically though, Coney Hatch did have a song on the metal album that I heard that day, which was Masters of Metal II and “Hey Operator”.

Fast forward to summer 1990, and a hot “new” singer was making waves on MuchMusic.  I didn’t really know who this Andy Curran guy was, but my best friend Bob loved his song “No Tattoos”.  Bob was pretty anti-tattoo and felt that the coolest way was to have clean skin.  He really identified with Andy’s lyrics. “No tattoos, gotta stay cool, my mama never raised no fool.”

Personally speaking I loved Motley Crue and their tattoo sleeves.  I didn’t identify with “No Tattoos” the way Bob did.  “I didn’t listen…I was scarred for life.  And I couldn’t just stop at one!”  That whole “scarred for life” line was one Bob really liked.  It was a good song and I liked it, but it didn’t resonate with me like it did with Bob.  So again, this Andy Curran guy slipped out of my mind when the single was over.

Decades passed and in 2019, Deke messaged me.  Deke is a massive Andy and Coney fan.  “Mikey!  Coney Hatch have a live album up for pre-order.  Signed limited edition.  You better get in on it man.”  I decided it was time to finally take the plunge with Coney Hatch, and I’m glad I did.  Live at the El Mocambo is one of my favourite live albums now!  And I got in on the ground floor with it, limited signed copy:  19 of 300.

But then Deke upped the ante.  He hooked up Andy Curran for a live video interview with us.  At this point I had to cram so I bought all the Rock Candy reissues of the Coney Hatch albums, and the self-titled Andy Curran.  The “No Tattoos” record, as he calls it.  Interview prep is serious business, and I did the best I could in the given amount of time.  But I didn’t want to fake it.  When I found myself vis-a-vis with Andy Curran, I fessed up.  I was new.  I was a Coney Hatch rookie who had done his best crash course in a band that I was growing to love.

And Andy was so cool about it.  In fact he came back two more times to complete our chat and answer every question we had.

Better late than never — check out Andy and some Coney hatch today.

My Top Ten Coney Hatch tunes:

1. She’s Gone

2. Marseilles (cover)

3. First Time for Everything

4. Blown Away

5. Stand Up

6. Don’t Say Make Me

7. Hey Operator

8. Monkey Bars

9. We Got the Night

10. No Sleep Tonight

 

Friday re-run: Epic All-Canadian Live Stream featuring Mr. Books and Agent Dekes

While the LeBrain Train is no more, we can still enjoy some past shows.  This one was special as it was the very first show on the Streamyard platform, 8/14/2020.  At the end we had six guests.  I called it “the shape of things to come”, and I was right about that!  Things only got bigger and better.  Not that this show wasn’t big on its own, as you can read below in my original text.

I am sure I will miss the LeBrain Train eventually, but you just don’t get this kind of interaction anymore, where I could snap my fingers and suddenly we have six people on the screen.  A moment in history, not to come again.

Enjoy!

History was made Friday night!

For the first time ever, Deke and I have shared the screen with Mr. Books himself, Aaron from the KMA.  The subject this week:  Top 11 Canadian albums of all time.  An absolutely epic discussion unfolded with so many different genres being touched upon.  As remarkable as the lists were (five in total), it’s also quite astounding when we talked about all the albums we left out!

Lists submitted by:

  • Deke
  • Mr. Books
  • LeBrain
  • Darr
  • Dr. Kathryn Ladano

With Deke coming in from Lake Superior, Aaron from Georgian Bay, and myself on the shore of Lake Huron, we had three massive bodies of water covered.  What should we call ourselves?  The Great Lakes Consortium?

For a look at the shape of streams to come, check out the end of the video.  We brought in Uncle Meat, Rob Daniels from Visions in Sound, and Kevin/Buried On Mars.  While six at a time is a lot, it sure was fun to see everybody together for the first time!

I can’t help but take a little bit of pride in all this.  My very first live stream was March 20, the week lockdown began. Eager to make connections with others in isolation, I hit that “live” button on my Facebook app just to see what would happen. It ended up being a lot of fun and it so happened that others liked it too. A few weeks later, we figured out how to get Uncle Meat to co-host and he came up with the now infamous “Nigel Tufnel Top Ten” format.

But there were limitations, because we had to use a Facebook phone app if I wanted to have a co-host.  This reduced the scope of awesome people available to share the screen with me.  Finally Kevin directed me to Streamyard which solved numerous problems.  After months of trying to figure out how to stream to Facebook (where my audience is) without having to use Facebook, Streamyard worked.  For the first time after many months of trying, Aaron has finally co-hosted a show.  A milestone!  So yeah, I’m proud of myself and proud of the awesome friends who have co-hosted along the way.  We made something here that is catching on with people.  I owe Meat a huge debt for being the first co-host and coming up with the Nigel Tufnel Top Ten concept.

Look at the first stream below, and look where we are now.  We’ve come a long way.

Tim’s Vinyl Confessions Ep. 358: Coney Hatch Retrospective w/ ANDY CURRAN

Thank you to Deke and Tim for my fifth sit down with Andy Curran! This time, we ran through all of Coney Hatch history for a special episode of Tim’s Vinyl Confessions.

Scotch on the Rocks: Series premiere with Greg Fraser

SCOTCH ON THE ROCKS

Episode 1 – Greg Fraser (Storm Force)

Instead of the normally scheduled LeBrain Train, tonight you get a real treat.  This week is the series premier of Superdekes’ new show Scotch on the Rocks. As Deke’s co-host for this episode, I’m proud to be able to help him launch his new series.  Greg Fraser of Storm Force and Brighton Rock will be the guest tonight, and I believe Deke has a few surprises in store.  Don’t miss it.

Friday September 24, 7:00 PM E.S.T. at the link below.

Sean Kelly Rocks the LeBrain Train

No preamble needed here! Just sit back, grab a drink and enjoy the entire 1:45 chat with Sean Kelly below. We tackled just about every project he’s ever been in, from Lee Aaron to Helix to Trapper to Coney to Crash Kelly, 69 Duster, Nelly Furtado, and more.  What’s this about Motley Crue figures?  And hear about the new upcoming Coney Hatch Live in Germany LP, Lee Aaron’s new tunes, and a hell of a lot more.

Sean’s enthusiasm for music and especially rock and roll is contagious.

The interview with Sean begins at the 0:17:30 mark.  Tune in and enjoy!

 

A big thanks to Sean for taking his time to talk to us, and also to Deke for hooking this one up.  You guys rock.

Happy long weekend, Canada!

 

Sean Kelly boards the LeBrain Train, Friday at 7:00 PM!

The LeBrain Train: 2000 Words or More with Mike and Deke

Episode 65 – Sean Kelly!

Sean Kelly is a busy guy!  He was in fact one of the very first guests to agree to come on the show, back before we had even done anything notable.  We finally got him on the schedule just in time to celebrate two new albums.  One is Lee Aaron’s upcoming Radio On, with its insanely catchy debut single “Cmon”!   The other is Coney Hatch’s brand new Live at the El Mocambo.  As if that wasn’t enough, he recently worked on a new Helix song called “Not My Clowns, Not My Circus”.  Did I mention he’s a busy guy?

Additionally, Kelly is known for his work with Crash Kelly, Trapper, and 69 Duster  You might also be familiar with his collaborations with Gilby Clarke, Nelly Furtado, Emm Gryner, and Carole Pope.  As if that wasn’t enough to do, he also plays classical.  On the side, he put together an EP to go with a book he wrote called Metal On Ice!  Will we have time to ask him about all this activity?  We’ll try!

Superdekes is the guy who asked Sean to come aboard, so let’s give him a round of applause while we’re at it! This is another show you’ll want to make sure you catch live.

Friday May 21, 7:00 PM E.S.T. on Facebook:  MikeLeBrain and YouTube:  Mike LeBrain.

 

UPCOMING SCHEDULE:  All times are Eastern Standard.

Friday May 28:  Dave Lizmi of The Four Horsemen (co-host T-Rev)  7:00 PM

Saturday May 29:  Top Cover Art Designers (with Aaron and Tim Durling from Tim’s Vinyl Confessions)  3:00 PM

Friday June 4:  Top Judas Priest Albums (with Harrison, John 2loud2oldmusic, and Geoff on graphs)  7:00 PM

Friday June 11:  Best “Blind Buys” (with BuriedOnMars, Sarca and J)

Saturday June 12:  Andy Curran of Coney Hatch returns for round 3 (co-host Superdekes)  1:00 PM

Friday June 18:  Author Robert Lawson (co-host Superdekes)  7:00 PM

Friday June 25:  Brian Hamilton of Storm Force (co-host Superdekes)  7:00 PM

 

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.

Brent Jensen and the Raiders of the Lost Mahogany Tape Case

Thank you Brent Jensen for appearing on the show a second time!  Although the conversation veered wildly from Cinderella to Raven and back again, we orbited around Brent’s mahogany box of cassettes.  Maybe you had one like it.  But was your stuffed alphabetically from Accept to W.A.S.P.?  Take a look inside Brent’s tape collection and listen to the amazing stories that unfold.

The chat with Brent commences at 0:23:00 of the stream.

As my One Year Anniversary Show, we are doing a CD giveaway too.  Next week we’ll draw a winner from a hat.  See bottom for the trivia question and submission form!

The trivia question was: What is the tagline on Brent’s No Sleep ‘Til Sudbury podcast? Watch the episode for some pretty obvious clues and submit your answer in the form below.  Really, really, really obvious clues.  Really obvious.

A winner will be drawn next week!

NEXT WEEK

Marco the Contrarian joins Uncle Meat and I for the Blackest of Sabbaths, only on a Friday!

Brent’s Back! Leftover People with Ladano, Deke and Brent Jensen

The LeBrain Train:  2000 Words or More with Mike Ladano…and Deke!

Episode 55 – The Return of Brent Jensen

** One Year Anniversary Episode **

 

Brent Jensen is one of my favourite people.  His No Sleep ‘Til Sudbury podcast is essential listening.  I’m currently working my way through the book No Sleep’Til Sudbury, a story I really identify with.  Though Brent is a couple years ahead of me, I really see myself in his story of discovering hard rock and heavy metal in the early 80s.  Seeing bands for the first time, the contrived origins and evolution of Motley Crue, cassettes, video tapes…it is a great read.  One that has me stroking my beard in deep thought, as I am forced to consider heavy metal history from a different angle.

Superdekes will be back as your co-host for what we hope will be another excellent free-form conversation about the subject we all love:  music that makes our skin vibrate.

In addition:  this will be my one year anniversary show!  Ontario went into a state of emergency on March 17, 2020.  I went live that Friday.  And here we are a year later!  To celebrate, I’ll be doing a CD giveaway (details at bottom), and showing clips from the very first show a year ago.

Not only that:  Brent is celebrating four years and 200 episodes of No Sleep ‘Til Sudbury, the podcast!  He just opened a new Patreon membership too, so we will be talking about that and plenty more.  This is an episode you don’t want to miss.  You want to catch it live!

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

 

CD GIVEAWAY CONTEST 

We will be asking a skill-testing question about Brent Jensen on the show.  Submit your answers in the form below.  We will be giving away two sealed CDs:  The Cars’ debut (remastered), and a signed copy of Jim Crean’s excellent Insatiable.  I will be doing a random draw from a hat next week!