GETTING MORE TALE #773: Rock Candy + Internet = Kick Axe!
Like many things, it started with a story.
I have liked the music of Kick Axe since I first heard them back in 1984. “On the Road to Rock” was a Power Hour (not yet the Pepsi Power Hour) staple. I knew the video off by heart. A Vices button was among the first handful I owned. I think it was a birthday gift from my best friend Bob. As it turns out, I never got the album, or any Kick Axe for that matter, until now. So how did it turn out that I’m doing this Kick Axe review series?
I. ENCORE
In July, I scored two Kick Axe remastered CDs by Rock Candy records. This occurred at the best Record Store in town, Encore, who had both Vices and Welcome to the Club in stock. I had been looking for these in Toronto (“Taranna”) for years. No luck. The Encore visit was my first time finding them in store. Vices has a bonus track. I always intended to get the Rock Candy version for that reason. Aaron and I found Kick Axe vinyl in Taranna before, but I was holding out. The bonus track made the Rock Candy reissue my preferred version.
II. ROCK CANDY
Another thing about Rock Candy: the liner notes are, shall we say, goddamn essential. Featuring original interviews, untold stories, and assorted documented details, you will absolutely learn something from the liner notes in a Rock Candy CD. One thing I learned before even opening the booklet was that the third Kick Axe album was also available from Rock Candy. Already having the first two, it seemed dumb not to get the third. Especially since the liner notes said that Rock the World was, in some regards, their strongest album. As I read the notes, I recalled they did two songs for The Transformers soundtrack under the name Spectre General. The notes confirmed that Spectre General was Kick Axe, not some side project.
Thanks to Rock Candy, light was shed on early Kick Axe history previously unknown to me. I discovered they had an early 7″ single called “Weekend Ride”, with a singer earlier than George Criston. They also had a live track on a compilation called Playboy Street Rock. When Bob and I were kids, we used to be fascinated by the early history of bands. Like finding out White Lion had an album before Pride, or that Iron Maiden had something called The Soundhouse Tapes before their first album. I wanted to get the early Kick Axe stuff I just found out existed!
III. AMAZON and DISCOGS
If I knew about those early Kick Axe songs as a kid, it would have taken me decades to find them. Today, I had most of them within a week.
Amazon had Rock the World in stock, and it was at the house two days later. Discogs had “Weekend Ride”, The Transformers, and Playboy Street Rock from different sellers. I hesitated on Transformers but pulled the trigger on the other two. I would have preferred a remastered Transformers CD with bonus tracks. They were way too rich for me. I couldn’t get one for much less than $50. Even the reissued vinyl without the bonus tracks was pricey. Ultimately, I settled on an original CD, which was still not cheap.
“Weekend Ride” and Playboy Street Rock arrived within a few days. Wonders of the modern world. What would have taken years before happened in under a week.
IV. KICK AXE
Fortunately, it turns out that I quite like my Kick Axe purchases. So much so, that I was inspired to do a Kick Axe review series.
Kick Axe have a fourth album (Kick Axe IV) from a Criston-less reunion. I’m undecided if I’ll go that far, but in the mean time you can look forward to learning more about Canada’s own metal proponents. I’m delighted to discover a band that could really sing, and play like big leaguers. I hope you’ll enjoy them too.
KICK AXE – “Weekend Ride” / “One More Time” (1981 Swyne Song single)
When we last met Kick Axe, it was on the surprisingly great live track “Reality is the Nightmare“, from a very obscure compilation by Playboy magazine. It seems the guys at Playboy thought they should get into the music business too. They put out an album featuring recordings by unsigned bands, and among them was Kick Axe. At roughly the same time the live track was recorded, Kick Axe were also working independently on a single.
This early Kick Axe lineup still featured Charles McNary on lead vocals, a capable singer. The rest of the classic band was set: Victor Langen (bass), brothers Larry (guitar) and Brian (drums) Gillstrom, and guitarist Raymond Harvey. Recording in Vancouver, they managed to get the late Brian “Too Loud” MacLeod to co-produce, he of Headpins and Chilliwack fame.
“Weekend Ride” was the A-side, a slick track that already had the trademark Kick Axe rhythm. It’s largely based on Victor Langen’s thrumming bass. Solid chorus, interesting guitar hooks, and a screamin’ lead vocal — the essential stuff — are all present. There’s even some wild, prototypical metal soloing. The band were also fortunate enough to have capable backing vocalists, not fully exploited until their major label debut. On “Weekend Ride”, you can hear the start of that.
The interesting thing is the B-side, “One More Time”, a song written by Ray Harvey. This sounds like a different singer from the A-side, and it’s probably Harvey. It also features extensive keyboard solos, something they never did again. It sounds like a different band. Suffice to say, Kick Axe pursued the sound of the A-side when they made an album. “One More Time” sounds like a poor man’s Styx!
A few more years of hard work and a critical lineup change would prove to be the key for Kick Axe. Spencer Proffer of Pasha records was about to change their fortunes in a big way.
If not for this small handful of early Kick Axe recordings, we’d have no record of what they sounded like before Spencer stepped in and added his own ingredients to the stew. As it turns out, they were already good. They didn’t need a big namer to write good songs. They even had a good singer, before the lineup change that would bring George Criston’s golden pipes to the fore. They were on their way…for a “Weekend Ride”.
KICK AXE – “Reality is the Nightmare” (1981, from Playboy Street Rock on Nightlife Records)
They were originally called Hobbit. Formed in Regina Saskatchewan, the core was Larry Gillstrom and the Langen brothers, Victor and Gary. They were playing mostly covers, but by mid-1976 they changed their name to Kick Axe. What is a “Kick Axe”? The name represented rock band instruments – kick drums and axes. Members came and went, including Gary Langen, until they settled on a five member lineup: Larry Gillstrom (guitar), his brother Brian (drums), Victor Langen (bass), Raymond Harvey (guitar) and Charles McNary (vocals).
It was this lineup that recorded the first Kick Axe releases. (Though not the very first Kick Axe recordings — an earlier album was scrapped and has never been heard.) The first two records that were available were a single called “Weekend Ride” (to be reviewed next time) and a live song called “Reality is the Nightmare”. This was recorded in Vancouver and released in April 1981 on a most peculiar LP.
Street Rock was a compilation by Playboy Magazine of new, unsigned bands. Kick Axe were one of two Canadian bands to make the cut, the other being a group called The Remedials. According to the back cover, which prominently features the “rabbit head” logo, these are the bands that won a Playboy “music poll talent search”. It appears Kick Axe were the only group here who went on to bigger things. I’ve never heard of Snake Rock. Have you? The singer’s name was Snake Rock (no relation to Kid or The), and he had a snake tattoo and a snakeskin vest.
Kick Axe clearly had talent even back in 1981. “Reality is the Nightmare” boasts a solid riff and accompanying groove. Charles McNary was a decent singer, too. Kick Axe got lucky later on when they landed the golden pipes of George Criston, but McNary could hold his own. He could scream and carry a melody. The guitar soloing and drumming on this track is quite exceptional. The track was written by McNary and Larry Gillstrom, and whadayaknow? — they could write a good song! It’s a well constructed heavy rock song, not breaking any new ground, but doesn’t have to. Listening to the individual instruments, it’s clear that Kick Axe could always play and always write melodically. Victor Langen is a melodic bassist and combined with Brian Gillstrom’s almost tribal drums, you get a song that is more than the sum of its parts. That’s pretty impressive for such early material.
With a quality track like this right from the start, Kick Axe were off to the races.
The first weekend of August is a long weekend in Ontario. It’s called the Civic holiday, but people in retail still have to work it. I did, almost every single year at the Record Store. This year we spent the holiday at the lake, where I secretly began work on the next review series here at mikeladano.com. Two posts were completed at the lake, on the front porch. You couldn’t have asked for a better setting.
As usual I’ve assembled a video of some of our weekend fun, all to the tune of Max the Axe (“My Daddy Was A Murderin’ Man”, and “Call of the Wild”). Check out crystal clear waters, mountains of food, and rock and roll. And of course that sneak preview for our next review series!
I’ve been avoiding downtown Kitchener for the last couple years. All that construction (five years’ worth) installing our new light-rail transit system…it’s been hellacious. But that construction is now over, and the LRT train (called the ION) is running every 15 minutes. Only two years behind schedule! And guess where one of the stops is? Right by legendary record store Encore Records. Perfect! No need to worry about parking.
Mrs. LeBrain and I hopped on a bus to the mall, and a few minutes later the train pulled in. Using the free Wi-fi, I live-streamed myself making goofy faces on our new train. The ride was quiet and fast since it only stopped a handful of times. These new trains are lovely! Now that they are finally running, I can see that the headaches will be worth it. Clean and quick – I’d use the ION again. It’s a shame but there are still people who hate the train so much that they would actually like to spend taxpayer money on ripping up the tracks! What a waste that would be. Let’s give this LRT a fair shake.
We disembarked the train at the City Hall stop, only a brief walk from Encore. Not only was this my first ride on the train, but also my first visit to Encore since they moved from their old Queen St. location. The new store, though not wheelchair accessible, seemed bigger and cleaner. Old pal Al “The” King was there, happily still slinging the rock for us patrons.
We chatted a bit. Al really enjoyed working at Encore. There was a guy that I trained at my old Record Store about 15 years ago. He left shortly after to work at Encore, and he’s still there! When you find a place you enjoy working, I guess you stay!
Time to go look at music….
It didn’t take long for me to exceed my budget for the day. First snag was from the new release rack: The Beaches’ excellent new EP The Professional, $9.99. A great recording; it will be getting a few spins this summer. Next: the used CD racks. Plenty of stock as usual. I came looking for old Styx, but there was no used Styx that I needed. Instead I grabbed three Scorpions remasters: World Wide Live (with DVD), Savage Amusement (with DVD), and Animal Magnetism. $20 each.
Whoops! I already owned Animal Magnetism. No big deal; looks like some lucky person will be getting a free copy from me. I really have to keep track of reissues better. This is happening more and more frequently as my collection grows.
I still wanted some more classic Styx. I’ve been playing my Styx albums repeatedly. I needed some more classics to throw in the shuffle, so I moved on to the new CD racks. There I picked up Pieces of Eight and Crystal Ball. $9.99 each. One by one and I’ll get them all.
Continuing through the racks of new stock, I spied two Kick Axe remasters by Rock Candy. I’ve wanted both these albums for a long time: Vices and Welcome to the Club, $22.99 each. I’ve spun through both twice and was impressed with both the music and liner notes. What an underrated singer George Criston is. This sparked more Kick Axe purchases later on Discogs and Amazon. The third album, Rock the World, is coming in the form of another Rock Candy remaster. And thanks to the excellent liner notes inside Vices, I also tracked down some early Kick Axe on Discogs. Debut single “Week-End Ride” / “One More Time” from 1981 is inbound! Also coming, from the same year, is a compilation LP called Playboy Street Rock. Kick Axe have a live track on that called “Reality is the Nightmare”. It’s going to be cool hearing those early songs, which had a different singer.
It’s funny about Kick Axe. One of the first buttons I ever bought for my jacket was Vices. It only took close to 40 years to finally get the album.
Finally we closed the Encore trip with some vinyl. A lovely reissue of Alice Cooper’s Zipper Catches Skin, on clear “black smoke” vinyl. It looks and sounds great, and now I finally have all the Alice Cooper studio albums.
We bid farewell to Al and headed home again on the ION. Now that the train is up and running, I do believe I’ll be making Encore a fairly regular weekend stop.
This blue Scotch tape has seen a lot of use over the years. It was my first blank tape, 120 minutes. This cassette was well loved. Back in ’83, it contained open-air recordings of songs like “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap” and “The Mighty Quinn”. At some point in history (early 1991) I must have recorded over it. Let’s have a listen.
Play ►
I have a feeling I know what it is now. Sounds like something I recorded for a girl! It would have been for my long distance crush Tammy.
This tape was never anything more than a cheap cassette, and it sounds awfully horrendous today. The contents, however, are still identifiable. The reason I never sent it to her was that it didn’t pass the sound quality test when I played it back. That was the shitty thing about cassettes. You could pour hours into making something, and then abandon the entire project.
I’m writing this in real time as I listen. If I’m right about my original intentions with this cassette, then I know that I’m going to find a specific song buried somewhere in the track list. Let’s find out.
Side 1
1. Tesla – “Love Song”
The acoustic intro to the song made a perfect run-in for this lovey-dovey tape. I’ll spare the identity of the poor girl who this was made for, but she knows! This Tesla ballad is still utterly perfect. Off to a good start.
2. Kiss – “Shout It Out Loud”
Whew, I sure am glad it’s not all ballads. This track took me by surprise. I’m glad I used a classic Kiss rocker as the second track, instead of pandering for romance with “Reason to Live”. Good for me!
3. Cheap Trick – “The Flame”
I read a lot of hate for this song today. In the 80s, it was my favourite Cheap Trick and it’s still in my top five. It may be a ballad but like the Tesla one, it’s utterly perfect. This tape is now clearly made for a girl. I’d never do 2/3 ballads for my opening trio otherwise.
4. Warrant – “Thin Disguise”
Here I go again with the rarities! She loved Warrant but there is no way she had this song unless she had the cassette single for “Cherry Pie”. I did — I collected that stuff even back then. Turns out the B-side “Thin Disguise” is one of the best Warrant tracks, even today. It’s an acoustic/electric killer. Jani wrote some incredible songs in his time. This is one.
5. Warrant – “I Saw Red (Acoustic version)”
Another rarity, this time from the “I Saw Red” cassette single. I think this simple acoustic track (just Jani and a guitar) is better than the bombastic A-side version. Even then, I was trying to impress a girl with my music collection — how comical is that?
6. Kiss – “Reason to Live”
Ahh shit, there it is! That is hilarious.
7. Cinderella – “Nobody’s Fool”
OK, I’m getting a little sick of the power ballads now. The cool thing is, I know for a fact that I taped this off a cassette that she gave me for Christmas called Rulers of Rock. I wanted to show that I appreciated the gift by including this song. Kind of like when your favourite aunt gave you a sweater and you had to wear it when she was over to visit.
Enough with the ballads though. Let’s get a rocker next. Let’s hope for a rocker.
8. Kim Mitchell – “Easy to Tame”
Well, it’s not a ballad, but it ain’t a rocker either. Kim Mitchell was a good way into a girl’s heart in the late 80s and early 90s. Everybody loved “Patio Lanterns”. “Easy to Tame” was kind of like it’s cooler, lesser known cousin.
9. Paul Stanley – “Hold Me, Touch Me (Think Of Me When We’re Apart)”
Jesus fuck! I went full ballad. This was probably my favourite ballad of all time back then. Stanley’s guitar solo is flawlessly written and executed. And I got three Kiss songs right there on side one.
10. Kiss – “I’ll Be Back”
Four! Four Kiss songs! What a wild inclusion, too. This is a brief, very quick, Beatles tune done a-cappella for Kiss eXposed on VHS. I dubbed this from the video for a “soundtrack tape” that I made, and then recorded it here tape to tape. Just a filler between two other songs, but fuck…that’s cool.
11. Killer Dwarfs – “Doesn’t Matter”
At least this ballad has balls. We played this song a lot the previous summer. Bob had the cassette for Dirty Weapons, and he loved this song. A couple years later it was still good enough to include on their next album Method to the Madness. It’s still great.
12. Triumph – “Let the Light (Shine on Me)”
I’m getting steadily more and more disgusted with myself as the ballads play on. This one was recorded from the 7″ single, but at this point I don’t care and I just want the side to be over so I can flip the tape.
13. Quiet Riot – “Don’t Wanna Let You Go”
I’ll let myself off with a warning here, because this electric song is still pretty great. Truthfully, I included it hoping she’d like it, as Quiet Riot wasn’t really her thing. I was feeling nostalgic for the early 80s, the simplicity and quality of the Metal Health era. You didn’t need a ballad to have a hit then, and indeed “Don’t Wanna Let You Go” isn’t a single. Even in this shitty tape, Carlos’ guitar sound incredible.
14. Slaughter – “Fly to the Angels (Acoustic version)”
I put this on because she loved Slaughter but didn’t have a CD player, and this was a CD bonus track.
Side 2
I need a break from all the balladeering, but I have a feeling the mush will be just as relentless. On the whole of side 1, there was only one track that you could call a rocker!
1. Judas Priest – “Out in the Cold”
Here it is! Yes, I sure do remember making this tape. The main motivation was — get this — to trick her into liking Judas Priest.
She hated Priest. Meanwhile, we were in the Painkiller era and I was riding a Priest high. I planned to write this song on the cover as:
1. Exciter – “Out in the Cold”
I used an alias (disregarding the thrash band with the same name because I know she wouldn’t recognize it) because I wanted her to hear this awesome Priest song with no preconceived notions. I wanted her to love it. I never found out since the cassette sounds so terribly bad and I never sent it, but this proves that I remembered my intentions correctly.
This sheds a new light on all the balladry. I was trying to really lull her in. I figured I needed a tape with nothing but the best soft songs in the world to really get her with the mighty Priest. It’s all coming back to me now.
2. Frehley’s Comet – “It’s Over Now”
I didn’t think she would know this one, but I hoped she’d like it. I was a big proponent of the second Frehley disc, appropriately called Second Sighting. I always thought this song should have been a huge, huge hit. I was hoping she would agree. Unusually for a Frehley song (but wiser from a commercial ballad point of view), it has both lead vocals and lead guitar by Tod Howarth.
3. Frozen Ghost – “Promises”
This one takes me completely by surprises. It’s a great song, but I didn’t have it back then. My sister did — I must have poached it from her collection for this tape. Bob played this a lot in the car over the last couple summers, so our whole gang would remember it fondly. She would have been in the car when we were rocking Frozen Ghost. Lead singer Arnold Lanni later went on to become quite a successful producer. Guitarist Phil X made it even bigger, now touring the world with Bon Jovi!
4. Lee Aaron – “Only Human”
I don’t think this is one of Lee’s finer moments, but I thought she’d like it, so on it went.
5. Winger – “Miles Away”
Putrid. Just awful. Fast forwarding.
6. AC/DC – “Moneytalks”
Holy shit! Finally a rock song. AC/DC were huge in ’90-’91. I couldn’t have gone wrong with AC/DC. Then why the fuck didn’t I include more? “Who Made Who”. “You Shook Me All Night Long”. Everybody likes those songs. Holy shitballs.
7. Motley Crue – “Home Sweet Home”
Tammy had Dr. Feelgood before I did, but I don’t know if she would have Theater of Pain back then. There was no such thing as a Motley greatest hits (can you imagine such a world?) so I thought this would be nice for her to have.
8. Van Halen – “Dreams”
OK, probably not a ballad. Very keyboard-heavy. Very easy to enjoy, and Van Hagar were still cool as fuck.
9. Van Halen – “Dancing in the Streets”
Some folks that are not necessarily Van Halen fans really like their version of “Dancing in the Streets”. It’s probably better than Bowie/Jagger, at least. I’m pleased with myself for including both Sammy and Dave on this tape, and one after the other no less!
10. REZ – “Shadows”
Woah! Deep cut. This was a tape, of a tape, of a tape, of a tape. You can imagine what it sounds like today. Bob and I loved this song by the Christian rock band REZ, formerly Resurrection Band. You can see that I snuck in a few unfamiliar songs like this, hoping she’d get into them. This one is pretty easy to like. Total shock to find it here.
11. Kiss – “Hard Luck Woman”
Kiss Count: five.
12. Brighton Rock – “One More Try”
This also comes as a surprise. Then I think to myself that my music collection wasn’t very large back then and I would have to pull a few obscure ones out. If I remember the details clearly, Tammy had MTV and so didn’t necessarily hear as much Canadian content like Brighton Rock.
13. AC/DC – “You Shook Me All Night Long”
Ah, good. What’s interesting to me about this is that at this point of the tape, the right channel is completely inaudible. So all I get is Angus (no Malcolm), Brian, and maybe half of Phil Rudd.
To my surprise, that is the last song. Usually I snuck something short and goofy at the end of a tape. “You Shook Me All Night Long” does make a good final song….
Wait!
I didn’t erase the tape to the end! There is something left at the tail. Older contents; older than 1991.
It’s “On the Road to Rock” by Kick Axe! It is a mystery how that song got on this tape in the first place, as I didn’t own it back then and don’t even own it now. I must have recorded it off someone. Who, I have no idea. Perhaps my next door neighbour George had it. It was him or Bob, but I’ll never know for sure. George is gone now and Bob wouldn’t remember.
Knowing when I made this tape, and all the motivations behind it doesn’t forgive it for being a piece of shit. I did a shitty job here folks! Too many ballads, not enough variety. It’s a real slog to listen to without a fast forward button. At least half of those ballads could be axed, and replaced with something else that I had in my collection at that time.
Usually when you make a tape for someone, you give it away and never hear it again. In this case I had the rare chance to play back a mix tape that I made 28 years ago and never sent. It’s just as bad as I feared though not without some surprises and the odd cool inclusion.
That blue Scotch tape, an ancient C-120, goes back to at least 1983 making it 36 years old at minimum. 120 minute tapes are never any good, and this one was always particularly cheap. Now that I’ve satisfied my curiosity, I will never play this tape again.
Ever have extracurricular activities at work? Do you enjoy them?
We had very, very little at the Record Store. In 1995, the mall had a bowling tournament. Different stores faced off against each other. The Record Store had to take on the ladies from A Buck Or Two, a bargain shop. We had a lot of fun, and I cannot recall who won, which means we probably lost.
We did have annual Christmas parties at the Record Store, and for a while we even had summer parties. There was nothing else though that would have qualified as an extracurricular activity, unless you count endless staff meetings. I know some places have team building events, like going to an “escape room”. That sounds like fun, unless you don’t like your co-workers.
The best work event I had the pleasure to attend was Jan 31 2009, right after Jen and I married. I received four passes to go see the Toronto Maple Leafs from a private box. My boss and I went, and of course I had to bring Jen. It was fantastic! So much food: nachos, chips, prime rib, chicken, sushi, ribs, wings, everything! On top of this, it was Dougie Gilmour night, and they raised his number 93 to the rafters. I didn’t even know who Doug Gilmour was. But the Leafs beat the Penguins and Sidney Crosby. Good thing; the rest of the season sucked!
Our work is doing a team building event this Friday, which unfortunately conflicts with Star Wars, but that’s life right? We all voted, and for our event we are going axe throwing! How metal is that? Fortunately I do like all my co-workers, so I’m not worried about any errant axes headed my way. The establishment is called Bad Axe Throwing. By that I hope they mean I’ll be like a bad ass, not that I will be throwing axes badly.
Knowing my teammates, we’ll be laughing as much as throwing. I’m looking forward to it, though the timing is shitty. This will be the first Star Wars Saga* opening that I’ve missed since Return of the Jedi. No big deal; it’s only a movie and I’ll see it soon enough.
Axe throwing is just so metal! With that in mind, here are five awesome tracks involving axes.
1. KISS – “I Love it Loud”, because of Gene’s axe bass.
2. KICK AXE – “On the Road to Rock”, because they have axe in their name.
3. PINK FLOYD – “Careful With that Axe, Eugene”. Not metal, but good advice.
4. HELIX – “Axe to Grind”, from my home town!
5. THE SWORD – “How Heavy this Axe”. Really fuckin’ heavy!
What happened to the good ship King Kobra? Hilarious misspelled name, silly coordinated hair colours (all but veteran drummer Carmine Appice, who complimented their red and blonde with his red and black), and production by the guy who brought you Quiet Riot — what could possibly go wrong? They even had their own “kobra” signature hand gesture, and weird complementary stage moves in an expensive music video.
When you have lyrics like, “I’m ready to strike, I’m cocked and loaded tonight,” but you’re not David Lee Roth or Gene Simmons, you’re already fighting an uphill battle. Carmine saw the sudden success of bands like Quiet Riot, and decided “why the hell not”? He picked up some great players for this project. Bassist Johnny Rod ended up in W.A.S.P. later on. David Michael-Phillips played with Lizzy Borden after Kobra. Mick Sweda formed BulletBoys. Mark Free formed Unruly Child, and ultimately became Marcie Free. She still fronts Unruly Child today. Meanwhile Carmine Appice reformed this lineup of King Kobra, substituting in Paul Shortino for Free, and getting good reviews for it.
So talent aside, there’s no worries there. There are two major issues with this record. One: the muddy Spencer Proffer production which lays a muffly blanket over the band. All but Appice of course, who bears a very Frankie Banali-like sound on this album. The guitars are empty transistor radio renditions of what guitars should sound like. Two: filler material kept Ready To Strike from fulfilling its potential.
It’s not all filler of course — much of it is damn good. The first three tracks in a row (“Ready to Strike”, “Hunger”, and “Shadow Rider”) are all really good, actually. Famously, “Hunger” became a minor hit, although it was actually written by Canada’s Kick Axe, and recorded by them under the name Spectre General, for Transformers: The Movie in 1986! I prefer the King Kobra version, because Mark Free really nailed that vocal.
Other decent tunes include “Shake Up”…I mean, it’s OK. It has a good pre-chorus, “And the beat goes on and on and on…”, but the lines about home work and yard work were pretty goofy even back then. Like that one, “Tough Guys” is also a good tune (mid-tempo mellow rocker) sunk by a bad lyric. “The world’s greatest lie, is that all of us tough guys don’t cry.” No thanks, not cranking that one with the windows down.
Crummy tunes: “Attention”, “Piece of the Rock”, “Breakin’ Out” and “Dancing With Desire”. Stinky. I can’t decide how I feel about the overwrought “Second Thoughts”.
Overall: Middle of the road album that neither astounds nor repulses. It has enough good tunes to warrant a place in my collection. How about you?
RECORD STORE TALES MkII: Getting More Tale #394: Between the Buttons
Kitchener, early 1985. A 12 year old little Mike is at Stanley Park Mall with friends Bob and George, and a little bit of allowance money. There was a crappy little rock shop in the mall that sold T-shirts, posters and buttons. It was on a corner of one of the corridors, right down the hall where I would later work at the Record Store myself. For a little while back then, my favourite band was W.A.S.P. They were soon usurped by Iron Maiden and ultimately Kiss. At the time of this particular visit, it was still W.A.S.P., and my favourite W.A.S.P. was Chris Holmes.
I had enough money for one rock button – my first. The one of Chris caught my eye. He looked cool and theatening in the picture holding his blood-streaked guitar. Bob approved. “If you get that one,” he reasoned, “you’d be the only guy in Kitchener to have that button on his jacket.” I don’t know how he knew so precisely that I would be the only person in Kitchener to have it, but it made sense. The shelves were full of other bands: Motley Crue, Van Halen, Motorhead, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Rush, and Black Sabbath. You didn’t see as many W.A.S.P., and you didn’t see any with just Chris Holmes.
“I’ll take this one,” I shyly said as I made my purchase, but I was happy. Which button would be next?
Over the months, I added more to my collection. Two more W.A.S.P. buttons, an Iron Maiden, and a Kick Axe Vices were next. The funny thing about that one is, of all the buttons here, the only band I don’t own an album from is Kick Axe. I love their song “On the Road to Rock” but to this day, I still do not own Vices! I still don’t have any Kick Axe!
My sister got into the action and bought one of David Lee Roth (she liked “California Girls” and “Just A Gigolo”) and one of Maiden’s Steve Harris. (When Roth left Van Halen I believe we covered his face with a ZZ Top Eliminator sticker!)
Bob and I focused on Iron Maiden from there in, although I seem to remember also having a Judas Priest button that is now lost. We would trade them until we had all the Eddies we could find. Eddies were the best, much better than buttons with just the band on them. We were specifically looking for the Eddies. The most common seemed to be the mummy Powerslave Eddie. They were everywhere. The best one, to us, was the “Aces High” Eddie. We each had one.
Once in highschool, Bob did something I wish he didn’t. He ripped all the pins out of the back of his buttons, so that he could better tape them up in his locker for display. Every last one, wrecked. Bob had a habit of modifying things, only to destroy them. He hacked a piece of out his guitar to make it look more jagged, but it weakened the tone. The paint job he gave it wasn’t much better! He also wrecked his amplifier by sewing a huge Iron Maiden Powerslave patch onto the front.
I on the other hand am glad I hung onto this stuff and kept them intact. They bring back so many memories. I can remember that conversation about the Chris Holmes button at that store. I remember being with those guys at that exact spot and buying that button for those reasons. I think that location might be vacant now. I don’t know because I haven’t been to Stanley Park Mall in a long time. The place has almost completely died, except for a bank and a grocery store.
When we kept items like these buttons as kids, I probably said something ridiculous like “One day this will be worth something, so I’d better keep it.” What I didn’t appreciate is that these buttons are worth something now. They trigger memories, and that is something money can’t buy.
R.I.P. George.
The rest of these buttons came much later and there’s not much to say about them. The I Mother Earth Blue Green Orange and Yoda buttons were both store promos. The Samuel Jackson Snakes on a Plane button was made by me, at a summer barbecue for Jen’s old work in Brampton. That movie had just come out and I had an Entertainment Weekly magazine in the car. We entertained some of the younger kids by giving them good pictures to make buttons with on their button maker, and I made Samuel for myself! There were two Jamaican ladies there who loved it. Those two really liked Samuel, if you know what I mean!
The Walter Sobchek (John Goodman) and “Geddy” buttons were made for me by friends. The rest were gifts.
The Helix Power of Rock and Roll button was given to me by Brian Vollmer himself at thePower of Rock and Roll CD release party! The cool thing about it is that it is dated specifically to that gig, August 19 2007.
mikeladano.com 