Jex Russell

#1142: A Top Five Birthday!

RECORD STORE TALES #1142: A Top Five Birthday!

After you hit the big 50, it seems birthdays are less important and a little hum-drum.  My 52nd birthday fell on a Friday, so I decided to take advantage of that and have a little long weekend for myself.  My week ended on Thursday, which coincided with one of the boss’ birthdays at work.  He was turning 65, so we had a bit of an upscale lunch to celebrate both birthdays.  My coworkers and I enjoyed an afternoon at Milestones in Cambridge.  I had a delectable penne pasta with shrimp, mushrooms, bacon and a creamy truffle sauce.  The sauce was aromatic, and quite deliciously pungent.  It was almost more an experience of smell rather than taste, but I enjoyed it thoroughly.  A wonderful start to the birthday weekend.

Thursday night was an evening to chill.  I bought a Lego set, the Atreides Ornithopter set which will give me my first Jason Momoa, Oscar Isaac and Josh Brolin minifigs for my collection.  This difficult set kept my hands occupied while I enjoyed a traditional movie treat.  I went with 1984’s The Last Starfighter, a movie that I watched with Bob Schipper the summer it came out 40 years ago.  “Better than Star Wars!” I told my parents when I got home.  Watching it again today, it’s definitely derivative of Star Wars though able to deliver new things in a grounded Earthly setting.  I smiled the whole way through.

I couldn’t sleep that night.  We had water coming into the home office, and after the shelf disaster of three weeks ago, it kept me up at night.  I also slept on my arm in a way that pinched my nerves and left me with two numb fingers on my left hand.  Ah, 52.  But I had morning plans.

I wanted to head down to the Grand River at 6:00 am when nobody is around, and take the drone up.  With Jen at my side on second camera, we had a quick flight over the fog at sunrise and got some remarkable footage.  First birthday goal accomplished!

I wanted to do something special for my birthday meal, and so I chose a lunch instead of a dinner.  Why?  Because as you get older, bed time gets earlier.  I also wanted to do something different that we don’t usually do.  And so, Jen sucked up a Benadryl for me, and we hit up Ye’s Sushi.  There was plenty of stuff that Jen could eat, but an allergic reaction is impossible to avoid, so precautions were taken.  I really appreciated this sacrifice on her part.  Her favourite was the edamame, while mine was the beef short ribs.  For me, generally, beef won the show.   Dessert was deep fried banana with chocolate dip sauce.

Jen had to crash for a couple hours after the allergy meds kicked in, but she enjoyed her first sushi outing and I really appreciate her doing it.  Next year we’ll do something different, but this was a first for us and it was really special.

At that point, it was time to get ready for Grab A Stack of Rock at 3:30.  I warmed up my coffee and jumped in front of the camera.  I had originally thought of taking my birthday off from the show, but as the week wore on, I felt like I wanted to celebrate a bit with my friends.  So, I scheduled a show and Jex Russell, Tim Durling and John Clauser joined me for gifts and memories.  And much more.

All Jen’s gifts came from Encore Records in Kitchener.  They were:

Ratt – Rarities (2024)

A good compilation of demos and live stuff.  There’s a 1989 demo called “Love on the Rocks”, which is a Pearcy/Crosby composition that never made it onto an album.  Good song, and a CD that is hard to find.

Black Country Communion – V (2024)

I hear good things!  I am missing a few BCC releases, but there has never been a better time to jump back into the band.  I’m spinning it now and enjoying that bluesy rock groove with just a hint of Zeppelin that I love so much.

Prince and the Revolution – Live (2022)

From the Purple Rain tour, I figured this release would make a great accompaniment to my Purple Rain deluxe edition.  It will go well in the car on a future cottage trip.  Contents:  two CDs and a blu-ray, including favourites of mine like “Computer Blue” and “I Would Die 4 U” .  Closing the set is nearly 20 minutes of “Purple Rain”.  This will be epic!

The gifts were just a precursor to the main event, which caught me by surprise and knocked me out of my chair.  With the help with Tim Durling, Jex arranged special surprise birthday messages in a video that we ran live on the show.  I was blown away by the words and sentiments from so many people!

    • Jex Russell
    • John Clauser, performing an acoustic version of “Grab A Stack of Rock”
    • Rob Daniels from Visions in Sound, with some kind words that hit me in the heart
    • Aaron Stewart of the KMA
    • Harrison Kopp with Lego art
    • Uncle Meat with some comments that left me head over heels…
    • Martin Popoff with some more kind words that left my jaw on the floor
    • Dr. Kathryn Ladano (with Molli, Daisi, Winston and Bruce)
    • Grant Arthur from the Rock Warehaus with good advice
    • Metal Roger with metal vocals
    • Todd Evans of the Contrarians to grab a stack of cake
    • Tom Brislin, keyboard player from Kansas
    • Jen Ladano right from the bowling alley
    • D’Arcy Briggs from darcyska on YouTube!
    • Marco D’Auria with a funny name mix-up and more kind words that I don’t think I deserve
    • Brent “the Doctor” Doerner of Helix to grab a stack of beer
    • Steve Deluxe and some wise words about B-sides
    • Tim Durling, who helped connect some of these people with Jex
    • Peter Kerr of Rock Daydream Nation with a pretty excellent vocal performance
    • Chris Preston of MyRockandRollHeaven on Twitter
    • My Aunt Lynda and cousin Geoff with embarrassing stories
    • Matt Phillips of GoNorth Design, with a custom Lego Stratocaster
    • My mom and dad

By the end of it, I was emotionally exhausted…so much love and encouragement from people I really look up to.  The one common recurring thread was a message I really need to hear:  keep doing what you do.

What better birthday gift could anyone want?

The rest of the weekend will be spent enjoying music, and reflecting upon the blessings I have in my life.

I cannot thank you, my friends, enough for this very special birthday.  No matter how hard I try to search for the words, they remain out of my reach.  My words cannot sum up the feeling of a full heart.

The Best Birthday Party Ever! Thank you Jex, John, Tim, Jen and a cavalcade of guests for an awesome Grab A Stack of Rock celebration

The birthdays keep coming, relentlessly as the tides, but Jex Russell ensured that this one was special and different indeed.

This birthday, I was joined by Jex, John Clauser and Tim Durling for a fun Friday afternoon that turned quite epic by the end.  Before that surprise unfolded, we took a look at my new shelving and a large chunk at my CD collection.  We discussed favourite birthday memories and a movie in its 40th anniversary this year:  The Last Starfighter.  (This led into a side discussion on Howard the Duck.)

Jen joined us for gifts at the halfway point of the show.  She gifted me with two new releases and one deluxe live album.  You’ll have to watch the show and see!  (Clue:  royal rodents and the Phoenix lights.)

As a finale, Jex unveiled his surprise.  With the assistance of Tim Durling, it was like an episode of “This Is Your Life”, or a Cameo with all my favourite people.  Jex’s presentation included friends both famous and infamous. There was even an acoustic version of the Grab A Stack of Rock theme song performed by Johnny Metal himself. Thank you, John!

Here is Jex’s presentation:

By the end of it, I was flattered and honoured, and maybe my eyes were a little wet.  I’m not crying, you’re crying.  All my reactions to the kind words and surprise guests are live and unfiltered.

I’m the guy who usually has all the words.  I don’t have any this time.  If a picture is worth 1000 words, just watch my face.

Thank you everyone for everything.  Here’s to another year.

Celebrate Mike’s Birthday on Grab A Stack of Rock – Live!!

GRAB A STACK OF ROCK With Mike and the Mad Metal Man
Episode 65:  Celebrate Mike’s Birthday on Grab A Stack of Rock – Live!!
(There will NOT be cake)

I was going to take the day off, and just chill on my birthday.  No Friday show.  “I deserve a break,” I reasoned.  We had the Great CD Avalanche of 2024, a physically & emotionally & financially taxing event in recent weeks, and it will be many weeks more before all the CDs are alphabetized again.  So, my birthday was going to be spent going out to a quiet lunch with Jen, and then watching Doctor Who and the Acolyte at home.

Then I started to think, that sounded a little too lonely.  I wanted to celebrate with my friend Jex.  So, I asked.

“Brother, whatever you want to do on your birthday, show or no show, I support you man!” came his response.

I thought about it for two days.  I decided that I wanted to celebrate my birthday with Oojaboojagan.

Today’s show is a no-list, no-pressure, just chill-and-join-us event!  I’ll be stuffed full of food by that time, and I may even have a birthday drink, so you never know what you will get!  There is no theme, but I promise you this much:

  1. Grant Arthur from Grant’s Rock Warehaus plans to attend.
  2. I will open my gifts from Jen live!  (She shopped at Encore Records.)
  3. Jex has “something” planned.
  4. You will get the first look at the new show backdrop, with my new shelving, and I will be able to show you a whole bunch of CDs if you want to see them.  They’re not all alphabetical yet, but I’m in good shape to retrieve most things from the collection.  This is the first episode of Grab A Stack of Rock to feature the new hardware, and I’m excited to have my music looking good again.

Join us this afternoon at 3:30 PM E.S.T. for “Operation:  Oojaboojagan”!  Seriously, I have no idea what Jex has planned.

Friday July 19 at 3:30 P.M. E.S.T. / 4:30 P.M. Atlantic.   Enjoy on YouTube or on Facebook!

Grab A Stack of Rock talks to Tim Durling about his new Kansas book Let It Be Your Guide: The Kansas Album Review

Huge thank you to Jex Russell and Tim Durling for spending Friday afternoon with us chatting about Kansas!  Tim’s third book, Let It Be Your Guide: The Kansas Album Review, is out now Like his previous two books, you can get this one now on your local Amazon.

Kansas are progressive rock legends, but did they ever get the respect they deserved?  They are still making music today, and good music too.  This book, and this interview, reflect a love of Kansas that perhaps isn’t seen enough in media (mainstream and social) these days.  Tim hopes to change that.  His appreciation for the music is sincere.  As for Jex and I, we could only sit back and learn.

We had one surprise lined up for Tim, a Grab A Stack of Rock first.  In a surprise appearance, TVC bandmate and book cover artist Matt Phillips explains what went into the artwork, and other important details about publishing a book like this.  Indeed, there are photos of articles from Tim’s personal collection inside, all laid out beautifully with great care.  Thank you Matt for sending in this great video.  If you want to know about some of the Easter eggs on the book art, watch this video.

Congratulations Tim on this third book, and please support him by picking up a copy on Amazon.  Jex and I will be back from the cottage soon for another Grab A Stack of Rock.  Thanks everybody for your viewer questions and comments!

SHOW NOTES

“A FAN’S EAR-VIEW OF WHAT MAKES KANSAS’ MUSIC SO SPECIAL” – Jeff Wagner

Tim, what took you so long to write a third book?  Y&T was 7 months ago.

Tell us your point of entry into Kansas.  (I do not remember ever seeing Kansas on MuchMusic)

One might argue that you were born to write this book, given your channel “Tim’s Vinyl Confessions”.

During a debate of greatest “Song 1 Side 1” in history among the lead characters in the movie High Fidelity, Jack Black’s character criticizes one of John Cusack’s character’s proposals as “too obvious, like ‘Point of Know Return'”.

Let’s assume you’re talking to Kansas megafans watching this show, who have every album already. Why should they buy this book?

The band is known for clever wordplay in titles, such as “Point of Know Return” and “Leftoverture”. Did you sneak any clever wordplay into this book that you can tell us about?

Let Tim Be Your Guide: Grab A Stack of Rock talks to Tim Durling about his new Kansas book!

GRAB A STACK OF ROCK With Mike and the Mad Metal Man
Episode 64: Let It Be Your Guide: The Kansas Album Review with Tim Durling

Masquerading as a man without a reason, Tim Durling is a wayward son no more!  Now with his third book on the shelves, it’s time to talk to Tim about his latest tome:  Let It Be Your Guide: The Kansas Album Review.  Like his previous two books, you can get this one now on your local Amazon.

Cohost Jex Russell and I will be chatting with Tim this afternoon about all the usual stuff:  the genesis of the idea, recruiting the coterie of “Wheatheads” (including Jex and I, among other members of the community) and the brilliant cover artwork by Matt Phillips.  We also have a very special surprise for Tim, plus lots of physical product to show.  This time, I’ve got an 8-track!

Today’s show will be a free-flowing chat, and it will be live, so you too will be able to ask Tim your Kansas questions!  Let Tim be your guide.

From Amazon:

THE MUSIC IS ALL FOR YOU.

LET IT BE YOUR GUIDE: The Kansas Album Review is an in-depth look at America’s premier progressive rock band, and celebrates 50 YEARS OF KANSAS!

Led by the songwriting and multi-instrumental genius of Kerry Livgren, the pristine pipes of Steve Walsh, and the cutting violin of Robby Steinhardt, Kansas emerged from their Topeka home base with their 1974 debut album, to take on the world… and win! Initially met with confusion from music buyers, Kansas eventually captured the hearts of listeners far and wide. Kansas has proven that a band writing—and playing—music their way can succeed, and flourish:

  • 7 Billboard Top 40 singles
  • 7 Billboard Hot 100 hits
  • 5 Gold albums
  • A 4X Platinum album
  • A 4,000,000-selling album
  • A 3,000,000-selling greatest hits
  • A Platinum live album

After 50 years, Kansas continues to produce vital, new music, and brings their songs to audiences night after night.

Let It Be Your Guide gathers together a coterie of “Wheatheads” to wax thoughtfully on the deepcatalogue this band possesses. Each of the band’s 15 studio albums are explored thoroughly, with space also given to their many live albums, and compilations.

BOOK FEATURES:

  • An interview with Kansas cover artist Denise De la Cerda, who painted the artwork for The Prelude Implicit (2016), The Absence of Presence (2020) and the Kansas’ 50th Anniversary Poster!
  • Foreword by Jeff Wagner, who was the Product Manager at InsideOut music when they signed Kansas in 2014!
  • Insightful contributions from no less than 30 Kansas Super Fans!
  • Over 250 pages and many B&W photos from Tim Durling’s personal collection, including 8-tracks, records, cassettes, CDs, tickets and more!

Join us for the talk, and support Tim by buying the book at the Amazon link above!

Friday July 5 at 4:00 P.M. E.S.T. / 5:00 P.M. Atlantic.   Enjoy on YouTube or on Facebook!

 

 

BONUS:  Tim’s Guide to the Kansas Compilations!

Tim Durling’s Guide to Kansas Compilations – Grab A Stack of Rock with Mike & Jex

GRAB A STACK OF ROCK With Mike, Jex & Tim

Special Edition Episode: Tim Durling’s Guide to Kansas Compilations

Folks, we have a great live episode of Grab A Stack of Rock coming up this Friday.  Yes, today’s mini-episode is essentially a teaser to another episode, but it’s is also a great standalone in its own right.  Thank you Tim Durling for sharing some of your collection with us today.

For this instalment, Tim Durling, author of the new book Let It Be Your Guide – The Kansas Album Review (buy in the link), guides us through the essential Kansas compilations if you are new to the band.  Starting with the original 1984 best-of and its variants, we go through the decades to the present day.  Compilations vary in size and scope.  From single discs, to doubles and even a triple, Tim has a Kansas recommendation for every appetite.  Perhaps you’re just looking for the classic era up to 1984.  Or, maybe you need representation for the Steve Morse years of the late 1980s for your Kansas listening.  If you’re really going for it, you may as well pick one that covers the whole career.

Check out what Tim has on offer to get your Kansas collection started.  And, of course, check out Friday’s show when we go into the book in detail!

Friday July 5 at 4:00 PM EST / 5:00 PM Atlantic

Teaser

Crime of the Century! Angie Moon explains her new Classic Rock / True Crime book

Mama, just killed a man!  Learn all about musicians who killed, artists with mob connections, murders and money laundering, oh my!  Angie Moon has written the book:  Crime of the Century – Classic Rock and True Crime.  In this one-hour interview, Angie informed Jex Russell and I on so many topics!

  • Jack Ruby & the Band
  • DEVO’s connection with true crime
  • Dennis Wilson & Charles Manson
  • The excellent cover art of her book
  • Publishing a book from scratch
  • Social media and promotion
  • The diversity of classic rock
  • The Kinks
  • The White Album
  • And so much more!
  • Thank you Angie and thank you Jex for the education on Grab A Stack of Rock!

You can get your copy now on your local Amazon, or directly from the author.

 

 

Show notes:

Your dad was once a police officer, and later on in life you realized there were no books about true crime and classic rock.  Does that about sum up what started you on this journey?

I like the way the book is formatted.  You have a chapter about a band/crime, and you introduce both the band and the criminal in a way that you don’t need any background knowledge at all.

Jack Ruby and the Hawks (the Band) – sounds like Jack had a reputation and an aura to him?  No surprise the shows they played at his club were poorly attended?

What is it about the Kinks that you love so much?  Can you sum it up?  What do you imagine that party at John Wayne Gacy’s place was like?

I enjoyed your overview of the White Album.  I realize this might be the most difficult question of the interview, but where do you rank that Beatles album in their catalogue?

I didn’t know about Charles Manson’s childhood, and that his alcoholic mother was destitute and spent time in prison.  That had to have an impact on the person he became.  I also had no idea he was studying Scientology.

Reading about how Manson and his girls duped Dennis into staying at his rented mansion, fleecing him for $100,000 worth of generosity, just made me feel sad for Dennis.  He was not a man without his demons.

Are there any classic rock crimes or bands that you just decided to steer clear of for this book?

I did not know that Paul McCartney bought the rights to Buddy Holly’s back catalogue!

It’s the Crime of the Century! Grab A Stack of Rock with Jex and special guest, author Angie Moon!

GRAB A STACK OF ROCK With Mike and the Mad Metal Man
Episode 63: Crime of the Century with Angie Moon

Please welcome Angie Moon to the show!  Angie has long been a member of the WordPress community, and is now out with her first book:  Crime of the Century!  It’s all about the connections between classic rock and true crime, and could be the first book of its kind.

This afternoon, co-host Jex Russell and I will talk with Angie about the book, and these fascinating cases of crime intertwined with figures from classic rock history.  The Kinks, the Beach Boys, Debbie Harry, Jimmy Page, Frank Zappa and DEVO are all covered in the book, with an additional section on “musicians who killed”!  It’s a fascinating read.  You’re bound to learn something you didn’t know before on today’s show.

You can get your copy now on your local Amazon, or directly from the author.

Please join us this afternoon for the Crime of the Century!

 

 

Friday June 21 at 3:00 P.M. E.S.T. / 4:00 P.M. Atlantic.   Enjoy on YouTube or on Facebook!

 

The Best Music Videos, and a Stack of Nostalgia with Dr. Kathryn and Jex Russell

And the Oscar for Best Music Video Re-enactment goes to:  JEX RUSSELL!

Folks, Jex could not make it to the show live tonight, but he prepared his list in advance and appeared by video.  And folks…Jex knocked it out of the park this week.  That’s all I’m going to say.  Jex also provided physical product in the shape of vinyl for his picks.

Between Jex, Dr. Kathryn and I, we ended up covering some of the best music videos for:

  • Canadian content
  • Impact and influence
  • Cool factor
  • Mid-80s metal icons
  • Pop classics
  • Obscure gems

What we didn’t cover, the comments section did!  Thank you for watching and commenting on this show.  On a personal note, this was a technical challenge this week as I had to manage 21 individual video files for presentation, but fortunately it went off with very few glitches!

If you watch only one thing today, watch Jex Russell’s #1 pick.

See you next week with D’Arcy Briggs and Nurse Kat as we celebrate the release of the new Arkells album Disco Loadout!

 

Top Five Music Videos From Our Childhoods, with Dr. K and a list from Jex

GRAB A STACK OF ROCK With Mike and the Mad Metal Man

Episode 59: Top Five Music Videos From Our Childhoods

This show is a little different, and has been in the planning stages since February.  Tonight on Grab A Stack of Rock, we present to you our Top Five Music Videos from our childhoods!  Dr. K will be in the special panel tonight, with Jex Russell providing his list but unavailable to go live.  This particular grouping is interesting, because Dr. K and I grew up during the dawn of MuchMusic, but Jex Russell is a little younger and grew up with a completely different set of music videos.  

Either way:  nostalgia on tap tonight!

Here’s the new twist:  Normally we show off physical product on our show.  It is called “grab a stack of rock”, after all.  This time, the stacks of rock will be in the form of short video clips from each of our picks, that we will show and comment over tonight!  I have personally edited these clips myself, and if all goes well, this should be a lot of fun.  We are all psyched to see how this works.

Wish us luck tonight as we try something new!  Either way, you can expect lots of laughs, some music history, and some cool music videos!  Tonight on Grab A Stack of Rock!

 

Friday May 10 at 7:00 P.M. E.S.T. / 8:00 P.M. Atlantic.   Enjoy on YouTube or on Facebook!