A million thank-you’s to Brent Jensen, the author of No Sleep’Til Sudbury, Leftover People: A Journey Through Post-Rock & Roll America and All My Favourite People Are Broken. Chatting music is what we love to do here, and it was a privilege to speak with someone so saturated with musical knowledge, stories and connections. When you watch this show, I hope you feel the kinship that we music diehards share.
Obscure format junkies: Check out 0:24:10 of the video for info on a format Sony were working on called “The Cube”. It would have been a six-sided format around the time of the compact disc.
You can buy Brent’s books at Amazon, and you can check out his podcasts at nosleeptilsudbury.libsyn.com. (I’ll be checking out the Sandy Horne from the Spoons episode ASAP!) If you’d like some merch, contact him directly and he’ll hook you up. Details at the end of our video.
A million more thanks to Superdekes for setting this episode up. My brother from Thunder Bay should be known as “Superfan” after his meticulous homework and attention to detail!
There will be no sleep tonight as I hit the web looking for all these tunes! From Saxon, to Kick Axe, to Maiden (with and without Blaze), to Priest (with and without Ripper), please enjoy the music that makes our skin vibrate.
For those who missed it, here is the 11 minutes that Youtube missed, but Facebook had. Unboxings: Jeff Scott Soto, John Norum, The Black Crowes, Frank Zappa, Def Leppard.
The LeBrain Train: 2000 Words or More with Mike Ladano
Episode 38
Music writer Brent Jensen is the author of No Sleep’Til Sudbury, Leftover People: A Journey Through Post-Rock & Roll America and All My Favourite People Are Broken. He also hosts the excellent No Sleep ‘Til Sudbury podcast, which, believe me, is a a rabbit hole with (currently) 184 episodes. Brent does a lot more than just talk about music. He digs deep into the history, the stories and most importantly the people. It is going to be an honour and privilege to talk music and pick the brain of Brent Jensen on tonight’s show.
Tonight’s guest host Superdekes has challenged me to come up with five songs that “makes my skin vibrate”. After several days of brainstorming, changes and second-guesses, I think I have done just that. It might get heavy!
It truly is an honour to have Brent on our little show. I mean, this is a guy who has interviewed Ron MacLean at least four times. Can you say “we’re not worthy”?! Either way, tonight is going to be awesome. Get ready to dig deep into tunes that make your skin vibrate.
Tune in tonight at 7:00 PM E.S.T.!
Bonus for early birds: Regular viewers know that I usually go live before the show officially starts at 7:00 — usually around 6:40 PM. This is so I can do some unboxings and new music reveals before the guests arrive. Tonight I’ll be unboxing a parcel from CD Japan and showing off my latest purchases from Encore Records!
This might get emotional here, so hold on to your hats and grab some tissues.
I just wanna say thanks.
In March 2020 the world went into lockdown, and we all dealt with it one way or another. Now, at least where I am, lockdown 2.0 is looming. Christmas is coming and seeing my family is a question mark. I’m not able to see my friends. Yet in a bizarre twist I’m feeling so connected to everyone. This pandemic has forced us all to stay home, but instead of moping and watching Simpsons re-runs, together we’ve turned Friday nights into a fun weekly event.
Not that there is anything wrong with Simpsons re-runs!
This first started with just me, talking into a camera and hoping people were watching. They were. And they wanted to play along. Then Uncle Meat came up with the “Nigel Tufnel Top Ten” countdown theme and it was a huge success. And here we are now! I had to invest a little money into this, to take it up to the level I wanted. I bought a new camera, two new microphones, lights, cables (lots of trial and error here), a streaming subscription…several hundred dollars later I’m where I want to be and I wouldn’t have done it without so many awesome humans.
Thank you Eric, my friend of 20-plus years, but soulmate for 40. I love you, you big stinky Meaty Uncle.
Thank you Derek, also know as “Superdekes”. It’s hard to believe we never spoke to each other except by keyboard until this pandemic began. You have become a friend, a collaborator, a creative genius (“Paper Plate T-Bone”) and the facilitator for bringing on some great guests.
Thank you Aaron for being a reliable regular, not to mention 24 years of friendship. Now we can speak regularly about the music we love!
Thank you Kevin for getting me on Streamyard, and for being a reliable co-host for many weeks now! Sorry I’ve been mangling your last name for years now, though you didn’t know it until recently!
Thank you Geoff and Sarah for your recent contributions. I’ll be seeing you both again soon — that’s a promise/threat!
Thanks to Rob Daniels for 35 years of friendship, amazing co-hosting duties, and for bringing your own shows to us every Wednesday and Saturday! You are weathering the storm like a superhero Rob. And of course thanks to Gimli who I suspect could actually be the real star of your show….
Thank you John Snow for helping me out multiple times as co-host, and for very cool backdrops every time!
Thank you Harrison for watching on the opposite side of the world, since the very beginning. We’ll be having you on again real soon for another great list show. No spoilers!
Thank you Holen, wherever and whoever you are! Thank you Saige for the amazing LeBrain Train graphics. Thank you to Tyler(s), plural. Thank you to my family especially my mom for watching week after week even if you do not care about AC/DC or Van Halen. Thanks to Chris, Scott, Len, Seb, Michael LeFevre, Lana, Rosana, and Никола́й Черныше́вский for watching regularly. Huge appreciation to the guys from Storm Force, Steph Honde, and Frank Loffredo for coming on and supporting the show. Taking the time to come on and talk to us means everything to me.
Frank mentioned that he loved the “DIY” method of what we do. That’s it exactly. He gets it. This is a bunch of stir-crazy friends getting together every Friday night to hang out, geek out, drink coffee (some of us anyway) and talk music together. On a personal level, it’s me trying to stay connected, but also trying to give back to the community. I’m not making money on this, it’s happening out of love. And necessity. We need to take care of each other. As a classic introvert, this pandemic has brought out hidden talents. Not just in me; in all of us. One of us (not naming names) got kind of sour on the idea of doing interviews a couple years ago. He had a bad experience. But this Friday night show has allowed us to have some really great interview experiences together and I’m glad to have been a part of that. DIY is right. We have been figuring it out as we go and it keeps getting better week after week.
The worst thing about making thank-you lists is forgetting someone. I hope I didn’t. I appreciate every single person who has watched, contributed, left a comment, and or just hung out and watched. I think we’re just getting started. Just like this pandemic keeps going and growing and evolving…so will we.
Thank you to Sarah and Kevin (Caught Me Gaming and Buried On Mars respectively) for co-hosting, and for some amazing Nigel Tufnel Top Ten Led Zeppelin songs lists! Thank you to Aaron (Keeps Me Alive) and Uncle Meat (no affiliation) for adding your lists to the mix. We heard about some brilliant songs tonight with some personal touches of what makes them so special.
But the hero of the night is Graph Wizard Geoff from 1001albumsin10years! Thanks to him, we can call some clear winners or losers in this race!
Or can we? You’ll just have to watch to find out!
If you don’t feel like watching the whole thing, you can just check out Geoff’s cool graphs below!
The LeBrain Train: 2000 Words or More with Mike Ladano
Episode 37
In case you didn’t know, Sarah and Kevin (Caught Me Gaming and Buried On Mars respectively) just finished a massive Led Zeppelin review series. Separately, they reviewed each Zeppelin album, from Zep I right to Coda. They did a fantastic job of it, so with that completed, I had to have them on. We’re going to do the Nigel Tufnel Top Ten Led Zeppelinsongs, with a few bonus guest lists in the hopper as well.
“But Mike!” you say. “I have a hard time keeping up with all those lists, and remembering how many times certain songs or albums were picked.”
You’re right; I have a hard time keeping track too. So this time, finally, we’re bringing in Geoff from 1001albumsin10years. Geoff is the graph master. You give him any subject you can think of, and he’ll come back with some kind of graph. If anyone can keep track of our Zep stats, it’s him. I feel the countdown will be in good hands with Geoff.
He came; he talked; he rocked! Frank Loffredo of Thunder Bay’s legendary Crocks N Rolls joined the LeBrain Train to tell story, after story, after story. Drawing from a broad palette of musical love, Frank talks punk, reggae, jazz, Canadian music, and everything in between. How do you nurture a music scene in an isolated town like Thunder Bay? Listen and find out.
As I often do, I began the show with a special unboxing. If you want to see that, you can start the stream from the beginning. If you just want to watch the interview with Frank, then start the stream at the 0:07:00 mark.
Thanks everyone for watching and asking your questions, and thanks to Frank for giving us two hours of your time!
The LeBrain Train: 2000 Words or More with Mike Ladano
Episode 36
We have a special show lined up for you tonight — one I have been waiting six months to do! Please join Deke, Mars, and myself tonight as we host the legendary Frank Loffredo, from Thunder Bay’s fine establishment Crocks N Rolls.
Last month, for a limited time, a documentary film by Kirsten Kosloski called Five Bucks at the Door: The Story of Crocks N Rolls was available to stream for free. We were blown away by the musical history at Crocks, and also the guy at the centre of it all: Frank. This is a guy who put every band he could get on the bill, from Quiet Riot and King’s X to Sloan and Deke’s own Current River. You don’t want to miss the stories that he has to tell.
Thanks for joining me, “Max the Axe”, for this special episode of Halloween Memories! Where’s Pablo? I’m kind of a big deal. Three yolks, two whites, that’s how you make Hollandaise sauce.
If you watch the video below I’ll give you a sneak preview of the new song “Oktoberfest Cheer” and we’ll visit with special guests “Mean” Gene Simmons and Dr. Kathryn Ladano!
To hear “Oktoberfest Cheer” which I played twice, go to 0:02:35 or 1:31:15. Chose your sound quality — shitty or shittier!
To hang out with Dr. Kathryn, go to 0:13:40.
To see what Mean Gene Simmons has to announce, check out 0:34:05.
The LeBrain Train: 2000 Words or More with Mike Ladano
Episode 34
As suggested by the inimitable Kevin / Buried on Mars, Friday’s show will be the Nigel Tufnel Top 10 Van Halendeep cuts. Join the panel and I as we run through the best stuff they don’t play on the radio. Friday October 30 at 7:00 PM E.S.T.
Episode 35
Halloween Memories! One thing I’ve noticed this year is that many friends are really bummed about the loss of Halloween. I feel bad about this so I thought I’d throw a Halloween live stream party. I used to be a real Halloween kid, so I thought it would be a lot of fun to just talk Halloween memories! I have many good ones going back to the 1970s, and best of all, I will be in costume! Saturday October 31 at 7:00 PM E.S.T.
With all apologies to Aaron, the old backdrop of checkers and lighthouses is gone. Behold the new backdrop of a cloth with a paper logo!
But that’s not all. Before this afternoon’s listening, I decided to un-package a rare 2016 limited edition 180 gram reissue of Soundgarden’s Badmotorfinger. Lemme tell you folks, it sounds great. But it also looks cool and you can see it fresh out of the package in the live stream below.
mikeladano.com 