kiss

REVIEW: Union – Live in the Galaxy (1999)

UNION – Live in the Galaxy (1999 Standback)

  • John Corabi – vocals/guitar
  • Bruce Kulick – guitar/vocals
  • Brent Fitz – drums/vocals
  • Jamie Hunting – bass/vocals

This great, forgotten Union live album should be added to the collections of any fans of John Corabi or Bruce Kulick.  Packed with great songs from Union, Motley Crue, Kiss, the Scream, and even Cheap Trick and the Beatles, this live album delivers on every level.  11 tracks live, plus two bonus studio songs.  Power to the music indeed!

There are no specifics about recording dates, but regardless the album has been well sequenced, opening with Union’s own album opener, “Old Man Wise”.   Very much a continuation of the Motley and Kiss albums of 1994 and 1997 respectively.  Mix them up with riff and groove sauce, you’d get something like “Old Man Wise”.  Bruce’s playing is always fascinating and “Crabby” was in top voice.  Grit and power are the words of the day.  This song pounds, and Bruce absolutely rules.  We go straight into the equally grooving but more upbeat “Around Again”.  Union had an excellent self-titled album out at the time, and it makes up the bulk of the album.  Fortunately the band’s original songs set a high bar.  Bruce Kulick doesn’t put out crap.  A third song from the debut, “Heavy D…” might be called a ballad, but really it’s a quiet song with heavy parts.  Or is it a heavy song with quiet parts?  It is performed with gusto in either guise.

“We’re gonna do something from Carnival of Souls!  This is called the ‘Jungle’, baby!”  Then Jamie Hunting comes in with that rolling bassline, originally played on album by Bruce himself.  Kulick’s past with Kiss makes an appearance on “Jungle”, a song Kiss never performed live, so quite a treat.  John Corabi’s spin on a Paul Stanley vocal is full of raspy power yet still appropriate.  Hearing this makes one wish that Kiss did have the balls to play it live.

That’s a lot of heavy rock in a row, and to lighten the mood, it’s the Union original “Love (I Don’t Need It Anymore)”, which is dedicated to a certain someone who was involved with a current event in the news at the time.  It’s a little more upbeat, a little more “Motley” and absolutely one of the best Union songs from the debut.  The chorus kills like a classic from Dr. Feelgood.  Corabi then takes us back to his earliest catalogue, The Scream’s “Man In the Moon”.  The Scream were a sort of musician’s super group, featuring Bruce Bouillet and John Alderete from Racer X.  The Scream was more mainstream than that.  This is a melodic rocker with a bluesy twist, and the band do a slamming job of it.

Bruce Kulick takes center stage on another Kiss song that was never played live, and his vocal debut:  “I Walk Alone”, which he wrote with Gene Simmons.  It begins with a short, Zeppelin-esque guitar exercise from Bruce.  As for the vocals, you gotta give Bruce credit for not going back and fixing things.  This is Kulick’s voice raw and exposed and imperfect and yet…perfect for the album.  In many ways, this is better than the Kiss version, as Bruce adds a really sweet guitar outro.

A fun unexpected cover next:  Cheap Trick’s “Surrender”!  The backing vocal abilities of the entire band enable them to easily pull this off.  You’d look at it on paper and scratch your head a bit, but it’s short work for these pros.  It’s all about the vocals.

A dramatic “Pain Behind Your Eyes” brings to the stage another soft/hard hybrid with wicked drumming and vocals.  However this is just a prelude to one of the heaviest Motley Crue songs ever:  “Power to the Music”.  Corabi takes center stage doing some screamin’ and preachin’ to the crowd.  The demanding song is handled ably by Corabi, seemingly relishing playing this awesome song live on the stage again.  They probably would have blown Motley off the stage doing the same song.

After some band intros, we get some Kulick solo wailing right into the final song “Tangerine”.  Nothing like the Zeppelin song, this is a riff-rocking groover with excellent melodic delivery by John Corabi.  Union were a melodic band, but John’s approach added the grit and grime that is like rock candy going down.  This song slays with a resilient groovy riff.

Bonus studio tracks are two:  an acoustic rendering of “October Morning Wind” from the debut, and a Beatles cover that blows away the more well know Oasis version.  First up though, the rich acoustics of “October Morning Wind” really bring warmth to a cold subject.  “My pain is measured by a sky that is old and grey,” sings John in a song that may well be about seasonal affective disorder.  Then, the Beatles cover is handled with ease.  “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away” benefits from similar acoustic warmth.  It sounds live in the studio, and again the lead and backing vocals make it work seemingly without effort!

Union really made a strong impression with their first two releases, the debut and the live album.  Was it too soon for a live album?  When you look at the setlist, absolutely not.  They had enough material with which to build a very strong set of songs, needing only one true cover (the Cheap Trick song).  The bonus acoustic tracks are icing.

4.5/5 stars

 

Shock Me: The Tragic Passing of Ace Frehley, My First Rock Hero (1951-2025)

When I was in grade eight, I nicknamed myself “Ace”.

I think the reason I picked Ace as my favourite Kiss member (and therefore favourite rock star) back then was twofold.  It didn’t have anything to do with the music.  I didn’t know what songs he wrote, and I didn’t hear any of the songs he sang for a short while.  Early in my Kiss fandom, I picked Ace because of his cool silver makeup, and the spaceman theme.  I was a science fiction kid looking for my next thrill now that Star Wars was over.  It was Kiss.

Frehley’s guitar playing wasn’t complicated, but it was impossible to duplicate.  Kiss know that:  they tried.  Any Kiss fan worth their salt can easily tell the difference between Ace and his final replacement, Tommy Thayer.  Tommy was the next best thing, but he didn’t have that chonky, gnarly feel that Ace poured into every solo and every rhythm track.

Ace’s style was based on the pentatonic blues scales of the classic rock bands he loved.  His rhythms, double tracked with a Les Paul and a Fender, was the foundation of the original Kiss sound.  His solos, blazing and breakneck, were squiggly delights of power.  I loved Ace.

When I got my first Kiss albums in September of 1985, I had yet to hear his voice.  When I finally did on Dynasty, I loved it.  Ace’s voice had a smooth, commercial sound that Gene and Peter’s did not.  I loved “2000 Man” and “Hard Times”.  Especially “Hard Times”, because the lyrics gave a glimpse of the childhood of the Bronx boy named Paul Frehley.

Ace’s first post-Kiss solo album was finally released in 1987, and I was immediately on board.  My sister bought Frehley’s Comet for my birthday that summer.  I loved the album:  “Rock Soldiers”, “Into the Night”, “Calling To You”, “Fractured Too”…I played it back to back all summer.  I dreamed of Ace opening for Kiss on their upcoming Crazy Nights tour.  Hah!  As if that would happen.

Ace’s premature loss is tragic, but what is most tragic is that Kiss refused to allow him back on stage with them during their farewell tour.  By now we have all learned that life is too short to not reconcile with our friends and loved ones.  Kiss never did and now they never can, and that is a tragic loss too.

On September 25 2025, Ace fell in his home studio.  He suffered bleeding in the brain, and was taken off life support on October 16.  Kiss fans worldwide steeled themselves for the news.

I hope Ace is not just remembered for the classic Kiss songs he wrote and played on.  I hope attention is paid to his solo albums, from which you could build an absolutely killer boxed set.  Tracks like “Insane”, “Juvenile Delinquent”, “Trouble Walkin'”, “Space Invader”, “I Wanna Go Back”, and “Mission To Mars” should all be given just as much attention as “Rip It Out”.

The first original Kiss member to fall was Ace Frehley.  That is a sad landmark.   Let us remember him not for the feuds, the drama, or the negative words that Gene and Paul bandied about too often.  Let’s remember Ace for his charisma and most of all, his music.

Rip it out, Ace, for Words Are Not Enough.

#1211: Public Speaking

RECORD STORE TALES #1211: Public Speaking

The year:  1980.

I stood there in the gymnasium, in front of the whole school, holding my two cue cards in my hands.  I had the whole speech memorized.  This would be the second full performance.  I was already chosen as the best speech from my class, so now I had to say it in front of the school:   “My Trip to Alberta”, written by Mike Ladano with a little help from his mom.  It was the story of our summer 1979 trip to the mountains.  The exciting climax to the story was the moment that I fell into the Athabasca glacier.  It was August and I was excited to make a snowball.  ‘Twas the adults who gave me this idea.  “You’ll be able to make a snowball in the summer!”  So I ran towards the snow, and fell into a cold icy stream of water.  I was soaked and it kind of ruined the day for me, but on the other hand, it made for a great speech.  I did a great performance of it, certainly better than most of the other kids.

I came in second, because the teachers thought I probably received too much help from my parents.  I didn’t.  My mom provided the neat and tidy printing on the tiny cue cards, but the words were mine.  It made me bitter and I didn’t put that kind of effort into writing a speech in later years.

Public speaking topic in Grade 5:  Pac-Man

Public speaking topic in Grade 8:  Kiss

Public speaking topic in Grade 9:  Iron Maiden

The Kiss one…oh the Kiss one.  It was good.  I started it by shouting, “You wanted the best, you got the best!  The hottest band in the land, KISS!”  I know I was pissing off the Catholic school teachers every time I mentioned the album Hotter Then Hell.  I can’t say this wasn’t intentional.  I no longer wanted to participate in the big speech-off in the gymnasium.  No matter how great my Kiss speech was, there was no way I’d ever be chosen, so it was the perfect topic.

I have a love/hate relationship with public speaking.  I’ve always been good at it, but the creation of the speech and the anxiety leading up to it lead me to procrastination.  I had to do several more big ones through school.  In my grade 13 year, I had three class-long presentations to do, all within the space of a week.  I had another speech to do in my first year of Sociology at university.  I don’t remember a lot of specifics except that they went over well.  I try to be expressive and speak naturally.

There’s a line that kids always said back in school.  “When am I going to need to use this in my real life?”  Remember in Superbad, when Jonah Hill was talking about making tiramisu in Home Economics class? “When am I going to make tiramisu? Am I going to be a chef? No!”  I haven’t needed public speaking in my professional life, but in my personal life, the experience sure did come in handy.

I’ve spoken at two weddings, and now three funerals.  These things are necessary.

The year:  2025.

I did a eulogy at my grandmother’s funeral recently.  I spent a few weeks working on the speech and polishing it, but not rehearsing it.  I didn’t want that emotional experience, of reciting the speech.  I wanted the first real reading to be live at the funeral.  I was nervous as hell.  I had this idea in my head that I would know everyone in the room.  That was not the case.  My mom has a large family, and so many people came that I kind of recognized but could not remember well.  I became more and more nervous.  I had two panic attacks that day.

The priest, Father Phil, took us aside and told us the order in which the funeral would proceed.  I was last, but I knew my cue.  Fortunately, Father Phil was great (this is not always the case at a funeral).  During the service, he told us of a Bible passage that said “God’s house has many rooms,” and there is a special room prepared for everyone.  He asked what room my grandmother would choose to go to?  There was a long pregnant pause and so I said “the gardens!”  Father Phil said “Great; she would love the flowers in the gardens”.  Suddenly something clicked in my head.  I unrolled my speech, which by now had become a tight scroll.  I found two spots in the speech where I could tie into Father Phil’s gardens.

My moment came.  I started rough.  Starting is always the hardest part (unless you start with “You wanted the best grandma, you got the best grandma!” but I chose not to Kiss-ify my speech).  It took three or four sentences to find my voice and my rhythm, and I was off to the races.  I was brisk and expressive.  I started making gestures with my hands to emphasise words.  I was loose and improvised here and there.  Then came the two moments I was preparing for.

“It was always fun to visit Grandma’s house.  My dad and I would pick carrots from her garden – remember what I said earlier about the gardens?  She had the best carrots, and we took them all, much to her scolding!  [Improvised portion in italics.]

Then the second instance.  Speaking about driving her to the lake, and placing my hands in the steering wheel position, I said, “she would point out all the flowers along the way – remember what I said earlier about the gardens? – which I couldn’t stop to look at because I was driving!”

People laughed in all the right spots.

I sat down, and my dad clapped once, and shook my hand.  My mom and my aunt said “Great speech”.

The funeral ended.  My knees were limp and my hands were numb.  I sat, exhausted, and drank some lemonade (with gingerale, a delightful mixture), and just tried to unpack and unwind from what had just happened.

I was approached by friends.

“Great speech!” they said.

I was approached by distant relatives.

“Great speech!” they said.

I was approached by old friends of my parents.

“Great speech!” they said.  Even Father Phil said it.

I started to think to myself, I think I just gave the best speech of my life.  A moment that can never be re-captured.  It was live, it happened, it existed for a fleeting moment and now it is just a memory.

“I wish I had recorded myself,” I lamented.

“No, it was great, we will always remember it,” said everyone else.

But if I had recorded it…would it have been the same?  Would I have been distracted by the recording device?  Would I have been able to perform it exactly the same, if I knew it was going down on tape?  Would the added pressure have hurt the performance?  These are quantum questions we can never answer.  Sometimes the mere observation of an act can change the act, in physics and in life.  (Maybe there’s no difference between physics and life.)

One of the warmest moments came when an older gentleman walked up to me, rubbed my shoulders, and told me that the speech made him feel like he got to know my grandmother.  I was so overwhelmed with faces and names, that I have no idea who he was anymore.

One guest even told me he watched me on YouTube.  That was pretty cool.  He liked the speech, too.

The most important comment came from my mom, who said that my grandmother would have loved the stories I chose to tell in my speech.  Of course, that is the most important thing.  I have told a lot of stories about my grandmother over the last eight months.  Some of them were hilarious, but she wouldn’t have liked them.  For example, the time she gave me some money and told me to “go and buy one of your CD records.”  That’s funny, but she wouldn’t have wanted any stories that made fun of her, so I left all of that out.  If I had kept them in, the speech would have been more like a stand-up comedy routine!  And that would be fine for another time.

I think this speech was the best public speaking I’ve done to date, and I think it’s my proudest moment in my life.  And it all started in 1980, in a glacier in British Columbia.  If I hadn’t fallen in, maybe I would never have been able to do a speech like that for my grandma.  The universe is a multitude of possibilities.  Maybe I was meant to fall in, just as Gollum was meant to find the One Ring?  In this reality in which we all co-exist, I’m just trying to make it through day by day.  However it came to be, I did something that somebody had to do, and my grandmother is now smiling down on me.  I can hear her voice.  She would say, “That was lovely, Michael.  Just lovely.”

That’s more than enough.  However it came to be, the culmination of all these experiences coalesced into a moment that was there, and gone.  I’m just glad I was the conduit.  And it was a heck of a lot better than the 1983 Pac-Man speech!

To read the written version of the speech, click here.

Found Musical Treasures! Last Video Before House Renos! [VIDEO]

At long last, it is time for house renovations!  We are receiving new windows and doors, as Phase One of this long awaited project.  It begins today, July 28 2025.

In preparation for this project, I have dug up and rediscovered some cool treasures.  We will be taking a look at more of them at a later time, but for this video, I decided to take advantage of the calm before the storm.  Before the dust starts a-flyin’, let’s have a quick look at some fun re-discovered items in the Grab A Stack collection.

This video is for fans of toys, cassettes, Harrison Kopp, Kiss, Tim Durling, or country music.  That’s a lot of people, so I hope you check it out!  It’s live now on YouTube, so give the link a click!

 

Rest in peace, Tommy Morais (1991-2024)

I was sad to learn this week that one of my earliest collaborators, Tommy Morais, passed away last year.  He was only 32.

I first met Tommy when he was just 18.  It was around the time of the release of the “new” KISS album Sonic Boom.  I was writing a complete set of Kiss reviews on Amazon to celebrate.  As it turns out, Tommy was also writing reviews for every Kiss album, and lots more that I was working on too.  I jealously read his writing.  He was good.

Eventually I decided to reach out to Tommy via email, and tell him how great his reviews were.  We became friends.  We didn’t agree on every Kiss album.  Tommy liked Animalize a lot more than I did!  He had the rock star hair and a glam image.  Tommy was no-holds-barred when it came to the music he loved.  He identified with the Kiss song “Freak”:

I’ve got streaks in my hairPeople point at me and stareIf they ask me I say: Yeah! I’m a freakAnd I love the clothes I wearLet them laugh ’cause I don’t careIt’s my cross, I’m proud to bearI’m a freak

Tommy was based out of New Brunswick and eventually moved to Ontario.  Meanwhile, I transitioned my writing from Amazon to WordPress.  Tommy was an eager reader, and was responsible for a couple Record Store Tales and several reviews.  Tommy wanted more Kiss!  So I wrote Part 26 and Part 27 of Record Store Tales by his request.  Tommy also contributed several of his own reviews to this site!  For me, Tommy wrote reviews of:

As you can see for yourself, Tommy was a wise rock fan beyond his years.  Every artist he reviewed for me really peaked long before he was even born.

I never met Tommy even though he was only a short distance away, relatively speaking.  We lost touch shortly after the Europe review.  I was really saddened to hear of his passing.

Gone way, way too soon.  Rest in peace Tommy.  Here’s some Kiss for ya.  I hope you’re rocking up there with Eric Carr.  You were an original.

VIDEO: Tim’s Vinyl Confessions Ep. 664: Kiss Off the Soundboard (San Antonio 12/3/85 review)

Check out this brand new episode of Tim’s Vinyl Confessions featuring yours truly in the guest seat!

Kiss have released a brand-new Off the Soundboard album, the very first live release from the 1985 Asylum tour.  The lineup this time featured Stanley, Simmons, Bruce Kulick and Eric Carr.  The setlist also features the first ever live version of “Uh! All Night” to be released officially!

The crappy thing is, the album was only available on vinyl, and is currently only sold with a crappy T-shirt bundle.  Japan, however, took matters in their own hands and released a CD.

Tim and I take a deep dive into the set, the solos, the stage raps and much more.  Check out the show!

 

 

 

#1188: I Wanna Be A Lifeguard: Long Weekend at the Lake – May 2025

RECORD STORE TALES #1188: I Wanna Be A Lifeguard: Long Weekend at the Lake – May 2025

Jen and I were fortunate enough to spend a long weekend at the cottage, arriving Thursday night (May 8).  As has been my goal for several seasons now, I try to do new things each time, when possible.  This time, it was something out of the box.

Having become more comfortable working from home thanks to the pandemic, I asked my bosses if I could work from home Thursday afternoon, saving me 30 minutes of commute time and accumulating traffic, and getting to the lake that much faster.

“That’s a great idea, you should do that,” came the first response.

“Why don’t you just work the whole day from home?” came the second.

I was pleased to receive so much support.  With that plan in motion, we hit the road at 4:30 sharp.

Unfortunately traffic was slow, and it took over two hours to get there, but imagine if we didn’t have that extra time.  Music on the way up included Sing the Sorrow by AFI, to prepare for that Saturday’s show with D’Arcy Briggs, an album in review.  Once we arrived, I hit the porch and rocked out to “I Wanna Be A Lifeguard” by Blotto.  I delighted in emailing Broadway Blotto the video footage.

With coffee and snacks in hand, we were well prepared for a great weekend.  Though cold, I did manage to spend a lot of time outdoors, with hoodie protecting me from the bitter breeze.  All the snow was gone now, though only recently.

The next morning I went for a fly down to the river with my drone, and captured some wonderful footage.

Music: Blue Rodeo – “Dragging On”

At 8:15 AM, we headed out to get the best choices of steaks at the Beef Way.  We chose two T-bones, some fry-pies, and for me, lake trout and duck legs.  The duck legs made for a tasty lunch that afternoon.  I wanted to do some kind of potato in duck fat, so I boiled two potatoes in hot water until they were soft, but still solid.  I then got a grooved aluminium tray, and laid slices of potato in the grooves.  I placed the seasoned legs on top and seasoned everything.  When the duck fat started to render, the potatoes fried in it, making them so crispy with a pleasant accent to the flavour.  In short, the best fries I ever made.  And the duck legs weren’t bad either.

Sometimes at the cottage when it’s cold, you have to force yourself to be outside, so I pulled out some old Transformers toys (some vintage, some reissues) and did some fun photos on the front porch.  I even experimented with filming one of the big ones from the air with my drone.

I had more changes to fly on the weekend, capturing incredible images of Lorne Beach, on the western coast of Lake Huron.  The footage was some of the nicest I’ve managed to take.


Music: Bruce Cockburn – “Lovers In A Dangerous Time”

It is always fun editing these drone videos to music.  This time it was all Canadian content and nothing too hard.  There’s a line in “Lovers In A Dangerous Time” that has long resonated with me:

“Nothing worth having comes without some kind of fight, got to kick at the darkness ’til it bleeds daylight.”

Playing the song on the front porch that afternoon, I dedicated the song to a couple of friends who are dealing with health struggles.  Raise your goblet and send some love to these friends.

I watched a lot of Doctor Who, ate too much meat, and had a great time feeling like a kid again.  There was one eerie moment of déjà vu, and I absolutely love when these moments come.  Usually the come when music was the trigger, but this time it was Doctor Who.  I was watching some classic Tom Baker era episodes on Tubi, on my laptop on the front porch.  As a kid, I always associated Doctor Who with Sunday nights.  There would be a few episodes to watch (either Jon Pertwee or Tom Baker) before bed time, and back to school the next morning.  As the day grew late and I started working on dinner, it felt like a Sunday night again.  Family dinner as the sun was getting low.  It was actually Friday, but the feeling of Sunday was uncanny.  Do you ever get the Sunday blues?  It was like that, but warmer because it was Friday and just a memory of happy childhood.

We didn’t see any wildlife, which was disappointing, but there’s always next time.

Seeking to avoid a Monday crash, I tried to place my mind in the right set.  We drove home without much talking, but a steady soundtrack of Kiss.  Rock and Roll Over, Love Gun, and Dynasty.  When I really need to feel good, Kiss are usually a good band to go to.  Nothing but good memories with Kiss.

As for the cottage, it is always sad saying goodbye, but we came home on Mother’s Day and had a nice visit with the folks, and a dinner on Dad.  We’ll be back soon enough.  And in fact, when we do return, we’ll be doing our first live episode of 50 Years of Iron Maiden from the cottage.  Little things like that get me excited.  I’ve already started packing.

Allons-y!

Check out the cottage video below.

Music:  Blotto – “I Wanna Be A Lifeguard”

PHOTOS: KISS – Off The Soundboard – CD version Japan exclusive – Asylum Tour San Antonio TX 12-3-1985

Fresh in today’s mail, it is the latest KISS Off the Soundboard CD, Asylum Tour 1985, in Texas!

“But Mike,” you query.  “I thought that was a vinyl exclusive, and I thought it sold out too.”

True, it was a stupid coloured 3 LP set, exclusive to the KISS store, and now sold out except in bundles with a shirt.

The Japanese record company said いいえ and issued it on CD anyway.  They did a smashing job of it!  Some fans received a free sticker; I did not.  Inside the cardboard gatefold sleeve was a mini KISS poster, and 2 CDs, each one within its own plastic sleeve within its own printed paper sleeve.  The design for this album was a little different from the previous five in that this time there is a picture on the outer cover.

The CD sounds great, and it’s classic fastfastfast 80s Kiss with the unforgettable Eric Carr on drums.  That’s why you only see CD 2 in this photo.  CD 1 is in the deck!  This could have been released officially in 1985.

 

#1186: Reunion of the Legendariumites

RECORD STORE TALES #1186: Reunion of the Legendariumites

A sequel to #1182: The Legendarium of George
and #1184: The Legendarium of George: Gene Simmonsarillion

There we were, three men in our 50s, sipping hot drinks as old men do.  One of us is bald now.  One of us has grey, stringy hair.  The third one, perhaps having sampled the powers of longevity from the One Ring itself, had barely aged a day.  There he stood, tall and red:  the legendary Bob.

“What’s your drink?” I asked, having ordered a large coffee for everyone.

“I only drink tea,” he explained.  “I’ve never drank coffee actually.”

“I did not know that,” I replied.  You learn something new everyday, even about the guy you grew up with.

And so, Scott Peddle, myself and the legendary Bob gathered over hot beverages to catch up.  For Bob and I, it had been only a year and a half since the last funeral at which we reunited.  Lately, it has only been funerals.  For Scott, it was their first meeting since 1989, when Bob graduated highschool.

We smiled, we reacquainted, and we laughed.  It was good to be together again.  Our small trio was only a fraction of the old neighbourhood gang.  George, of course, is 10 years gone now.

“So I have to know, do you still listen to music?  And do you listen to the old stuff?” I asked Bob.

“Not so much; my kids like the current music.  One of my sons likes the old rock.”  I smiled.  Someone was continuing the legacy.

Scott then showed off his magnificent Kiss tattoos.  Both of us still love Kiss.  Some things have never changed.  Bob still has some of his old Iron Maiden picture discs.

Talk soon focused on the old neighbourhood.  The late George was older, and always a bit of a pervert.  He had no problem telling us what dirty song lyrics were really about.  “Let me ask you something,” I queried Bob.  “Did you know what a ‘love gun’ was?  Or did you think it was something else?  I thought it was like a gun that shot love potion, like in stories and movies.”  Bob agreed.  It didn’t occur to us that Paul Stanley was singing about his wiener.  Our innocent minds interpreted the lyrics innocently.

I remember a conversation with George about the Kiss song “Under the Gun”.  I assumed the song was about cars.  “Let’s hit the highway doing 69!” sang Paul Stanley.

“That’s not about driving,” said George, but declined to elaborate.  He was always the one with the dirty mind.

Coffee with Bob and Scott was probably the fastest two hours I’ve ever spent.  We spent just as much time talking about the past as the present.  What are you driving?  More like, what is your son driving?   Remember that time that Mike threw a lawn dart and hit Mrs. Reddecopp’s car?  Bob and I agreed to cover for me by blaming it on George.  It was the only time George was innocent, but got the blame anyway.  Most of the time he was the guilty party.  Not always.  We reminisced about all sorts of activities that we got into in the 80s.  Speaking from my own perspective, I think we felt entitled to own those streets as kids.  Cutting through a private parking lot to get to the mall quicker?  That was OUR route; we beat that path into the grass with our own feet, week after week.  How dare they fence it off!  What rebels we were.

Walking to the mall and Short Stop on a Saturday is a memory of something I miss.  Short Stop in those days was like a different store.  No liquor, but loads of comic books and magazines, candy and kites.  When we were young, we’d walk or bike and buy a comic and a candy bar.  When we were older, it was a rock magazine and a bag of chips.  We were, literally kids in a candy store, but the candy store was way better.

Conversation drifted back and forth from family to vehicles to work, but always circled back to George; the tie that still binds us.

I noticed something interesting.  Within the microcosm of our small suburban neighbourhood, there were subdivisions.  Scott Peddle was part of the “Secord Gang”, consisting of himself, George, and Sean and Todd Meyer.  I was in the Owen Avenue Gang, which featured George, Rob Szabo, Bob and his brother.  George’s house was the dividing line, thus he was in both groups.  Further down, there was the snootier Halliwell Gang, and so on.  These groups didn’t intermingle much, even though they were only meters apart.  When you’re a kid, meters may as well have been miles.

Before too long, two hours were behind us, and other duties beckoned.  We pledged to reunite again soon.  And we will.

Some things are as temporary as morning mist, others last a lifetime.  It’s a comforting thing to know.

 

#1184: The Legendarium of George: Gene Simmonsarillion

Much as Tolkien was reticent to write a sequel to Lord of the Rings (itself, technically a sequel), I was reluctant to talk about the Legendarium of George any further.  I thought I had said as much as was needed about this character and his adventures in 1980s Kitchener Ontario.  Upon further reflection, I realized that the story of George was incomplete, even insofar as public information was concerned.  If a story is private, it’s private, but if it was common knowledge in the neighbourhood, it’s safe to discuss.

RECORD STORE TALES #1184: The Legendarium of George: Gene Simmonsarillion

My sister and I hid in the garage.  We opened up the milkbox/mailbox from the inside, and pried open the mail slot with a stick.  Then, we waited.  And waited.  Some days, nothing would happen.  Others would be like pure gold; like finding the hord of Smaug.

If we were patient enough, the bass playing would begin.

It was easy to identify certain basslines, such as “100,000 Years”.  George would hit the first two notes – “Dm dmmmmmm…”, pause and hit them again just like Gene Simmons did on Kiss Alive!  And then…

“I’M SORRY TO HAVE TAKEN SO LONG, IT MUST HAVE BEEN A BITCH WHILE I WAS GONE…”

George half-yelled, and half-croaked out the lyrics to the song.  My sister and I sat there, laughing out loud but unheard by George.  He was enveloped in song.  If we had X-ray vision, we could have seen him in his room, headband holding his curls in place, wristbands on each arm, and absolutely mangling “100,000 Years”.

George was good entertainment.  He’d boast about how great he was, but we got to hear him loud and clear.

Then, suddenly, his mother would shriek from the kitchen below.

“WILLIAM!  SUPPER’S READY!”*

“I’ll be down when I’m done this song!” he’d yell back.

“WILLIAM!  GET DOWN HERE NOW!”

We never found out why his mother called him “William”.  That wasn’t even his middle name!  But that was the name she screamed when it was supper time, no matter where he was.  Usually he was down the street.  Everyone always knew when it was supper time at George’s house.

His mother was a character too.  One day she came over our house with a bag full of clothes that didn’t fit her or the kids anymore.  Take ’em, she said.  My mother threw this gross bag of clothes in the trash.  A few days later, George’s mom asked for the bag back.  “Oh I’m sorry, I donated it!” lied my mom wisely.  Who gives away a bag of clothes and then asks for it back?  George’s eccentricities were certainly genetic.

I remember some time around 1986 or 87, George was constantly on the shitlist with his parents.  Even if I wasn’t evesdropping, I could always hear them arguing from my bedroom window.  One afternoon I overheard his dad saying he was going to kick George out.  That was the day I wrote my first ever original song.  It was called “George Is Gone”, and it went something like this (to a jazzy rock beat).

“George is gone,
Yeah he’s really really gone,
George is gone,
Yeah he’s really really gone.”

[Repeat]

They never did kick out George, but he was around less and less as we got older.   I ran into him once at the Record Store, shopping with his mom.  That was the last time I ever saw him in person.

George may be gone, but thanks to the Legendarium of George, he’ll never be gone.

*Some recall that his mother yelled “GEORGIE!” when it was supper time.  It was probably both that and “WILLIAM”!