muchmusic

Awesome Music That Makes Your Skin Vibrate: Two Hours of Brent Jensen on the LeBrain Train

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.

VHS Archives #97: Fred Coury & Stephen Pearcy of Arcade (July 17 1993)

By 1993, Ratt had broken up and Cinderella split with their drummer.  Singer Stephen Pearcy and drummer Fred Coury then joined forces in a new hard rock band called Arcade.  Promoting their debut album, Arcade played RPM in Toronto on July 17 1993 — their only Canadian date. They stopped by MuchMusic’s Start Me Up program (one of the only shows still playing rock music) for a quick chat with Michael Williams, who was introducing them on stage later that night.

With former bands never mentioned by name, Arcade discuss their current lineup and the Toronto Grand Prix. Was Pearcy wasted?

VHS Archives #96: Brighton Rock play ball with Erica Ehm and Duane Ward (1991)

This video is for the one and only Buried on Mars!

Up to bat:  Erica Ehm (MuchMusic)
Pitcher:  Duane Ward (Toronto Blue Jays)
Catcher:  Gerald McGhee (Brighton Rock)
Umpire:  Greg Fraser (Brighton Rock)

In 1991 Brighton Rock released their third album Love Machine, featuring backing vocals by Duane Ward of the Toronto Blue Jays! Erica Ehm got to play ball and ask questions of all of them. Questions about:

  • Duane’s “theme song” by Billy Joel
  • How Brighton Rock hooked up with Ward
  • What they do when they hang out
  • The first video “Hollywood Shuffle”
  • Life after the Jays

Let’s play ball!

VHS Archives #95: Kory Clarke of Warrior Soul gets political (1991)

Warrior Soul are a heavy band with a charismatic lead singer named Kory Clarke.  Though their subject matter varied over the years, Kory was never afraid to get political.  In this interview from 1991 supporting their second LP Drugs, God and the New Republic, Kory addresses controversial lyrics like “the goddamn president can go to hell.” Check it out. From MuchMusic’s Power 30.

VHS Archives #94: Mick Mars and Nikki Sixx’s Decade of Decadence – double shot!

“…Give us some time to work on what we wanna do now. Which is…so different, that it’s gonna take time. You can’t just go ‘we’re gonna do something different’ and just crank it out. I mean you gotta experiment and it’s going to take a lot of songwriting and trial and tribulations. So it’ll be four years between albums for us at least.” — Nikki Sixx

These are two of the interviews that made me really, really excited for the future of Motley Crue.  Nikki and Mick did a pair of MuchMusic interviews in the same day that aired on different programs.  Mars and Sixx were engaged and enjoying themselves.  I’ve edited the two interviews together here for you.  The first is a live session with Steve Anthony.  They take live questions in front of that big glass MuchMusic window with a legion of fans outside.   The second is a brief one in the basement with Teresa Roncon from the Power 30.

Subjects broached:

  • Best shows
  • Duluth
  • Glue
  • Parents still hating them
  • “Black Widow”
  • Decade
  • The next LP

VHS Archives #93: TDM talks to George Clooney and Jennifer Lopez about Out of Sight

Out of Sight was a cool movie.  Based on a classic Elmore Leonard novel, the headliners (among a star-studded cast) were a couple young newcomers named George Clooney and Jennifer Lopez.  He was still known as a TV doctor and she was not yet “J Lo”.  MuchMusic’s Terry David Mulligan spoke to both in this brief clip from MuchMusic’s FAX program (hosted by Rebecca Rankin).  From an era when George Clooney was not yet a superstar.

This clip is unfortunately symptomatic of MuchMusic’s waning years.  Less music videos, and more mainstream programming.  But since Clooney kicks a million asses, and Out of Sight was brilliant, please enjoy this video!

VHS Archives #92: On the set of “The Storm” with Helix (1990)

Helix made a bit of a comeback in 1990.  Their last studio album was three years prior.   Brent “The Doctor” Doerner was gone.  And their new platter, Back For Another Taste, was just a little different.  It was also their best in many years — maybe ever.  A little more serious.  The new video for “The Storm” reflected that.

MuchMusic was on set to watch “The Storm” being made, and got to talk to Brian Vollmer and Daryl Gray.  Longevity and the importance of music video are discussed here. From Hostess Sneak Previews in spring 1990.

 


VHS Archives #91: It’s 1998. Are you ready for DVD? (MuchMusic FAX)

Ah, 1998, a simpler age for simpler folks.  We had just finished upgrading all our cassettes to CDs.  Those old LPs that were gathering dust in the garage finally hit the curb and the landfill where they belonged.  The digital age had arrived!  Time for another new format to sweep away the old.

Are you ready for Digital Versatile Disc?

This segment was from the MuchMusic news program FAX, during a period when they used “videographers” carrying cameras on their shoulders at all times, to catch those always-breaking stories. Oh, the late 1990s.

VHS Archives #90: Aldo Nova – “Modern World” unplugged live performance and interview! (1991)

By request of the mighty JOHN T. SNOW of 2loud2oldmusic.com!  

Canadian rock sensation Aldo Nova made his very first visit to the MuchMusic studios in July of 1991, on the Pepsi Power Hour hosted by Michael Williams.  Getting down to business, Aldo plays an unplugged “Modern World” from his brand new album Blood on the Bricks!

This nearly 20 minute segment is Williams and MuchMusic at their finest.  Aldo is engaging and frequently demonstrates songs on acoustic.  Subjects covered:

  • Signing a deal / starting out with “Fantasy”
  • Producing early Celine Dion recordings
  • “Runaway”
  • “Blaze of Glory”
  • His band and working with a singer instead of singing himself

 

VHS Archives #89: Doug! Ty! Jerry! It’s King’s X with some Faith Hope Love! (1991)

The late, amicable Dan Gallagher was always enthusiastic about every band he interviewed.  He drew a good interview out of King’s X, and asked some deeper questions that got the band thinking.  You’ll also see some live footage from the Faith Hope Love tour.

Subjects covered:

  • What is King’s X?
  • What does Faith Hope Love mean?
  • How much does Ty hate making music videos?
  • Spirituality in music — does it belong?

I really love Jerry’s answer on that question.

 

 

 

Thanks for hanging this week for a whole lot of old VHS clips.  Winter is the perfect time to work on projects like this!