Jex Russell

Road Tunes: Top 11 Albums & Songs to Play with the Windows DOWN! – CD, vinyl, cassette & 8-track

Friday afternoon and we’re off to the races!  The Summer 2024 season of Grab A Stack of Rock has commenced and Jex Russell was there to ring in this happy tradition.  The theme(s) for this week are:  Top 11 Albums & Songs to Play with the Windows Down!  Summer is the time for rocking the road, and Jex and I brought the thunder with two excellent Nigel Tufnel Top Ten lists!

Highlights:

  • Music on four of the major physical formats:  CD, vinyl, cassette and 8-track!
  • Lots of Canadian content:  Nova Scotia, Saskatchewan, Ontario, & Quebec represented!
  • Stories of years gone by:  1991, 1992, 1996, 2002, 2023 and today.
  • A brand new release making the list.
  • Bad behavior  with Bob and Peter.
  • Jex and the Chili Peppers.

Show notes:

This show was dedicated to my Uncle Paul, and my mother in law Debbie, who inspired some of these picks.  It’s also in the spirit of friendship and good memories with Jex’s friend Lucas, and my friends Peter, Bob and Trev.

See you next week for Top 11 Marillion albums with Todd Evans and Uncle Meat!

 

 

 

Top 11 Albums to Play with the Windows DOWN! 1st Cottage Show of the Season with Jex Russell – CD, vinyl, cassette & 8-track

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

Episode 57: Top 11 Albums to Play with the Windows Down – with Jex Russell

Show & Tell on four formats:  CD, cassette, LP and 8-track

Long we have waited, but Spring is here and the traditional outdoor afternoon Grab A Stack of Rock is back too.*  Jex Russell joins for this happy cottage tradition.  Last year, these afternoon outdoor shows were incredible fun!  If you were there last year, you know!  If you weren’t, join the rock and roll party today at 3 PM E.S.T.  It’s our first live show in almost a month, after several weeks of popular re-runs!

The theme this week is a “Nigel Tufnel Top Ten” list:  Our 11 favourite albums with play with the windows down!  There are so many to choose from, this list is literally wide open.  What are you choosing to play this spring with the windows down?  Many of my picks are traditional favourites with stories attached.

Now, due to a miscommunication on my part, I will do top 11 albums, while Jex will do top 11 songs!  This will give us plenty of variety in the lists.  Expect plenty of show & tell.

This episode is dedicated to my late Uncle Paul, whose beloved ‘Cuda appears in the show art.  He loved music and cruising, and we spent many summer hours in his car with the take deck going!  Will Van Halen make these lists today, or something else?  Tune in and join the fun!  We always chat with the comments section, live.

What are your top 11 albums or songs to play with the windows down?  Drop a comment today, on Grab A Stack of Rock.

Friday April 26 at 3:00 P.M. E.S.T. / 4:00 P.M. Atlantic.   Enjoy on YouTube or on Facebook!

 

 

* forecast is for 14 degrees C

A Meaty Surprise! Happy Easter with Jex and Uncle Meat – Top 5 Albums from Our Birth Years

This episode is dedicated to Harrison Kopp.

The Jexter Bunny brought an early Easter surprise this year.  Unbeknownst to me, Jex Russell and Uncle Meat had conspired to surprise me with Meat’s first live appearance on Grab A Stack of Rock since 2022!  The topic:  Top Five Albums from our birth years!  The presence of Uncle Meat enabled us to do albums from three consecutive decades.

  • Uncle Meat drew 1969
  • I had lucky 1972
  • Jex had a rocking 1985

Additionally, Metal Roger sent in a thrashing guest list  covering 1988, while Harrison Kopp submitted a Blaze-heavy list spanning 1998-2000.  Because he’s our unicorn.

We looked at a variety of vinyl releases, CDs, and box sets.  I brought multiple copies of mine.  The genres ran from doomy to thrashy, Beatles to Black Sabbath, soul, progressive rock, and beyond.  We had a great discussion on a classic album cover, and went in-depth on a Deep Purple album that was just reissued this week for its 50th anniversary.  Meanwhile, I had a nice 40th anniversary edition of that album to show off.

One of my picks from 1972 enabled me to rewind to an old clip from my earliest YouTube days, featuring Uncle Meat.  The irony is I picked this clips days ago and certainly not before I knew he was showing up live on the show!  Jex really slammed it out of the ball park with this surprise.  And Jex knows I don’t really like surprises!  Thank you Jex Russell for setting up this epic and surprising reunion.  Long overdue.  The man who essentially inspired this show to exist in the first place is beloved here, and I will always love him.  Thanks for doing this Meat Man.

Finally, Jex…Jex Jex Jex!  When I took my headphones off for 30 seconds to change my shirt, you happened to take to a shot at my former chesty co-host from last year’s Good Friday show.  Well played, sir.  Well played.

Next week is a re-run of the last two Mike and Aaron Go to Toronto trips, with brand new content with Mike and Aaron in the present day.  Hope you enjoy this week and next week’s shows!

Good Friday Grab A Stack of Rock Special: Top 5 Albums from Our Birth Years with Jex and Mike – Special Time!

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

Episode 56: Top 5 Albums from Our Birth Years with Jex and Mike – Special Time!

An Easter tradition!  Jex Russell and I will be going live this Good Friday afternoon, in the Second Annual Good Friday Afternoon Show!  Jex came up with this subject for us to tackle and I don’t mind telling you it’s not an easy one.

What are our Top Five albums from our birth years?

We will be looking at 1972 and 1985 for great records.  There are plenty to choose from.  Many landmark albums will have to be eliminated.  So what will be on our list?

This is our first afternoon show of the year, a favourite timeslot of mine on a Friday.  They were plenty fun last year.

Don’t be a Machine Head!  You don’t have to be an Exile in a Theater of Pain! Check out this episode this Good Friday afternoon and join us for some musical shenanigans!  We always enjoy interacting live with the comments section!

 

 

Friday March 29 at 3:00 P.M. E.S.T. / 4:00 P.M. Atlantic.   Enjoy on YouTube or on Facebook!

Our Heavy Metal Origins with John Clauser, Reed Little, Roger and Jex Russell!

A longer episode, but worth it:   A treasure trove of memories unfurled on Friday night.  How did we discover heavy metal music?  What did we listen to before that?  What were our earliest metal records?  Johnny Metal (My Music Corner on YouTube)  came prepared with stacks upon stacks of rock (and Johnny Mathis).  Metal Roger brought a younger perspective, highlighted by Elvis Presley and Slipknot.  Reed Little left us spellbound by the stories he weaved of his Heavy Metal Origins!  Growing up watching MTV and MuchMusic, together we reminisced about Kiss videos, getting music from friends, finding our musical identities and generally rocking out to heavy music.  Family man Jex Russell joined in shortly after, with stories mix CDs, buying a turntable in 2004 (way before it became trendy again) and hearing the Heavy Metal soundtrack.

Several artists came up repeatedly.  W.A.S.P., Dio, Kiss, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Black Sabbath, Accept.  Regardless of some of the age differences here, certain albums were common to our stories.  Reed and I share a background involving a love of science fiction and discovering Kiss at an early age.   We also shared an aversion to rock music that was from a prior generation, for “old people” such as…Deep Purple!  Obviously we all grew in the years since, but when we first discovered metal, all of us went head first, all-in.

I hope you enjoy this show and this exceptional panel.  See you in two weeks with Jex Russell on Good Friday at a special afternoon time!

 

METAL: Point of Entry! Our introductions to heavy metal music with John Clauser, Reed Little, Roger and Jex Russell

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

Episode 55: METAL:  Point of Entry

We are back to live streaming this week!  Tonight I am joined by John Clauser of My Music Corner, Metal Roger, Reed Little of the Contrarians, and Jex Russell joining in a little later at 8 PM!  The topic tonight is a simple discussion:  What was our “Point of Entry” into Heavy Metal music?

It’s an important question.  We are all passionate about the music we love.  We all have a story about how we got there.  What’s yours?

We will show off some old records, and talk about how we discovered and fell in love with this genre of music.  I will run some old promo clips from MuchMusic to illustrate our stories, and the fun will flow like molten lead!

Topics to cover:

  • What music did we listen to before metal?
  • What metal band or song changed that?
  • What were our first metal albums?
  • What were our earliest memories of listening to metal?

There will be vintage MuchMusic clips and lots of records.  All this and more with our fantastic panel!

 

 

Friday March 15 at 7:00 P.M. E.S.T. / 8:00 P.M. Atlantic.   Enjoy on YouTube, or (HOPEFULLY) Facebook!

The Jex Russell Show on Grab A Stack of Rock! CDs Galore! With John Snow, Aaron KMA, and Metal Roger

Get well soon, Harrison!  The Mad Metal Man was unable to co-host tonight’s show with Jex Russell, so what did Jex do?  He grabbed the bull by the horns, the guitar by the neck, and the stack of rock by the stones!  It was the historic first-ever episode of Grab A Stack of Rock with Mike and the Mad Metal Man…without Mike, or the Mad Metal Man.

Jex, you dapper handsome movie star.  I admit, I had it coming.  It was not unearned.  But vengeance shall be mine. ;)

On with the show:  Dressed to the nines, Jex pulled out all the stops tonight.  Tonight’s musical physical media included:

Jex with buying tips, some psychedelic rock,  Hard Rock Gold, Over 60 Minutes With…, some Vital Idol, Deep Purple, DEVO, Pat Benatar, Ten Years After, Jimi Hendrix, Billy Squier, and Motley Crue ’94!

Jazz, soul & blues provided by Aaron “Mr. Books” of the KMA with: Tobin Sprout (only 1000 made), GBV, Hilliard Ensemble, John Lee Hooker, Prince, Ry Cooder, Simply Red, Gojira, Matt Costa, Oscar Peterson, Rheostatics, Kurt Vile, Live at Leeds, a live album in Toronto, the sound of Starbucks, Phil Collins, Blues Brothers, Hootie, Debussy, Yo-Yo Ma, Hans Zimmer, and dad memes.  Sadly no opera and “y’all-ternative country” (with apologies).

John T. Snow from The Collection brought on the hard rock side of things.  We had his early thoughts on the new Ace Frehley 10,000 Volts (red transparent vinyl and lentincular cover CD), KISS final show merch and memorabilia, new Collective Soul 8-track (!!), a Canadian gift from Aaron, and new Jeff Scott Soto.

Metal Roger on marital harmony, comedy relief, heavy metal and screamo.  He brought some Metallica, Death Cab, Papa Roach, Queen, Guns N’ Roses, and books!

Thank you guys for doing the show and giving me a night to just watch and enjoy.  I’ll be back Monday with Tim Durling for a special episode on the complete Journey discography!

 

 

A LeBrainless Panel with New Arrivals, Jazz, Hard Rock and Metal on Grab A Stack of Rock

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

Episode 52:  Jex, Aaron, John and Metal Roger!

First order of business:  Get well soon, Harrison!  The Mad Metal Man is unable to co-host tonight’s episode, so filling in for him will be Jex Russell.

I don’t know precisely what the guys will be showing off, but new arrivals are guaranteed!  We will see Kiss, Metallica, Billy Idol, The Who, Chuck Berry and a whole whack of fresh jazz from Mr. Books.

The panel tonight:

  • Hosted by: Jex Russell from Jex’s Vinyl World
  • Jazz provided by Aaron “Mr. Books” of the KMA
  • John T. Snow from The Collection on the hard rock side of things
  • And Metal Roger on comedy relief and heavy metal

Historically speaking, this is the first ever episode of Grab A Stack of Rock with Mike and the Mad Metal Man, without Mike or the Mad Metal Man.  But fear not, Mike will be back on Monday with Tim Durling for a very special Journey episode for Jon Cain’s birthday!

Friday Feb 23 at 8:00 P.M. E.S.T. / 9:00 P.M. Atlantic.   Enjoy on YouTube, or Twitter!!  (Facebook has been problematic of late.)

Tim’s Vinyl Confessions Ep. 497: This Should Really Be On CD

One of my favourite tapings of Tim’s Vinyl Confessions dropped yesterday.  With Matt Phillips, we listed and showed our favourite albums that deserve a reissue on CD today.  These included:

  • Albums out of print on CD for 20 years, 30 years, or more.
  • Albums, cassettes and EPs never printed on CD.
  • Records that deserve the deluxe treatment.
  • Music from deluxe editions and box sets that deserve individual releases.
  • Lots, and lots, and lots of rarities.
  • A Holy Grail.

There were some solid rants, about record labels, NFTs, and snobby collectors alike.  This episode is for lovers of the CD format.  Enjoy!

Retro is the word! 80s and 90s cassettes, cassingles and beyond with Dr. Kathryn, Jex and John!

Happy 50th episode to us!  This was a special episode to me.  Watching it back now, what made last night’s show really special wasn’t so much the cassettes.  Rather, it was the stories!  The memories came flooding back as we looked at piles of cassettes from ages past.  With Dr. Kathryn’s recently exhumed cassingle collection on hand, we were joined by Jex Russell and John T. Snow for a nostalgic evening.

  • Playing “Bad Boys” by Inner Circle at a fancy wedding.
  • Buying cassingles by Van Halen in Frankenmuth, Michigan.
  • The value of Bryan Adams’ live B-sides.
  • Collecting a rare Cult cassette box set with all the extras.
  • Bands that Kathryn has seen live and owns on cassette, such as Roxette and Rod Stewart.
  • A US version of a Def Leppard single vs. the Canadian.
  • Songs/version that are still exclusive to the cassette format.
  • Whitesnake every Christmas.
  • Collecting bonus tracks on cassette and throwing temper tantrums when the CD didn’t have the bonus track.
  • Summery memories of Bon Jovi, ZZ Top, Cheap Trick, Britny Fox and Poison.
  • Ratt, Dangerous Toys, “Digalog”, “Q-Sound” and more.

We also took a peak at Tri-Con in Kitchener, where Dr. Kathryn met members of the Degrassi cast, Rob Daniels, and some Mandalorians.  She had much praise for the Degrassi folks, and you’ll have to make sure you don’t miss this segment at the end.

Congratulations to Marco D’Auria, last week’s special guest, for the nomination of his film Mystique:  Standing on the Firing Line at the Canadian Independent Film Festival!  The DVD is on sale all February.

Stay tuned for John Snow’s “The Collection” starting February 20.

Bonus:  We unboxed the recent reissue of the rare Starchild album Children of the Stars (featuring Greg “Fritz” Hinz of Helix), and a recent Rock Candy reissue of Europe’s The Final Countdown with more bonus tracks than before.

Apologies to Facebook; the Streamyard streams have not been working on Facebook at all and their team is still looking into it.

See you again next week for Too Much Music Part 2!

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