My Music Corner

50 Years of IRON MAIDEN episode 2: Iron Maiden (1980) and “Women In Uniform” with John Clauser

50 Years of IRON MAIDEN episode 2: Iron Maiden (1980) and “Women In Uniform”

With John Clauser (My Music Corner)

GRAB A STACK OF ROCK #86

Welcome to the big leagues, as Iron Maiden are signed to EMI and release their first singles and album!  New members Clive Burr and Dennis Stratton are now on board with Steve Harris, Dave Murray, and Paul Di’Anno.  We cover it all on this second episode of 50 Years of Iron Maiden.

Joining Harrison and I is John Clauser from My Music Corner!  We bid you welcome to this special pre-recorded look at Iron Maiden’s self titled debut album.  Because we always aim to go in depth as possible, we’ll discuss the entire album track by track, the artwork, and all the singles and B-sides.  As an added bonus, we’ll also take a look at the standalone single “Women In Uniform”, a Skyhooks cover that the band have somewhat disowned.

A new feature to the series debuts tonight as well:  Harrison Kopp will take the spotlight every time we talk about a studio album, to go over the tour in detail.  Harrison will provide the facts, the figures, and the dates, while also analysing the setlists.  This segment is a highlight of the show.

This episode premieres at 7 o’clock PM exclusively on YouTube.  (Sorry Facebook – we are trying some new things with this Maiden series.  The live episodes will still be streamed to Facebook, but not these recorded ones.)

One of us will try to be in the comments tonight, so if you want to take part in a discussion, please don’t miss the premiere!

Past episodes:

Friday January 17 at 7:00 P.M. E.S.T. / 8:00 P.M. Atlantic.   Enjoy on YouTube.

My Music Corner: Up to the Limit Episode 14 – Accept: Blind Rage (2014)

NOTE: My text review of Blind Rage by Accept will go up in the coming days.

Johnny Metal and John the Music Nut have been breaking down, in detail, every Accept studio album.  I jumped on board with Blind Rage, the third album with Mark Tornillo.  I chose this album since I had the Japanese import and I wanted the two Johns to have a chance to cover a rare bonus track on their show.

In this episode, we break down the album track by track, with a high level of agreement between us.  The Music Nut then goes through the tour in detail, discussing all the songs that were played live, and how often.  Some are still played live today.

If you want a sneak preview into my Blind Rage review, watch this episode, as I tried something new here:  reading my review aloud (not easy).  I may have even done some singing.

Check out the show, and look for my text review in a few days.

Holy Grail CDs, Live Bootlegs, and Music DVDs from the Kollection of Kopp

A true throwback to the early days of Grab A Stack of Rock, and a showcase for the Mad Metal Man.  That was Friday night on Grab A Stack of Rock.

Harrison showed us several CDs that Mike wants to add to his collection, including a 2 CD edition of Alice Cooper in El Paso 1980, Iron Maiden bootlegs with Paul, Bruce and Blaze, Black Sabbath with Ian Gillan, a Bruce Dickinson single, and many more.  Harrison also had a rare Nintendo NES video game soundtrack on 7″ vinyl, and possibly the only Arkells CD in all of Australia.  (We just don’t know!)

I miscalculated the length of tonight’s show.  I expected it to run an hour.  I invited some surprise guests to welcome back Harrison after his long absence, and so we were joined by Peter Kerr, Johnny Clauser, and Jex Russell at the one hour mark.  Thank you guys for joining us on this special night.

Mike also had some CDs to show off, such as Prince, Paul Stanley, ELP, King Kobra, and Faster Pussycat.  However, storytelling was his main role.  The Sultans of Ping FC and the Arkells featured into two stories.

Thank you for watching and see you next week on Grab A Stack of Rock for our Mad Max movie ranking!

We Love Paul Di’Anno: A Thorough and Engrossing Tribute to the Iron Maiden frontman with Pete Jones, Johnny Metal, Metal Roger & Harrison Kopp

This week, we lost the monolith of metal known as Paul Di’Anno.  Born as Paul Andrews, he gripped the world in 1980 fronting the almighty Iron Maiden.  The spark was brief but bright.  His two Iron Maiden albums, plus some EPs and singles, carved an identity.  Those who get it loved him.  Some of them followed Paul into solo outings and new bands.  And this show has a wealth of appreciation for it all.

With Professor Pete Jones on board as surprise guest, we talked about all things Paul.  Pete was there from the very beginning, buying the first album in store upon sight.  He goes deep into the music and the early Iron Maiden sound, supplanted by the late great Clive Burr on drums.  Harrison Kopp, in a mighty return to Grab A Stack of Rock after nearly nine months away, gave us a run through Paul’s career, highlighting live songs and memorable tracks suck as “Marshall Lockjaw”.   Johnny Metal and Metal Roger contributed their own personal stories and what Paul’s music meant to them.  As John said so well:  thank you.

Meanwhile, I let the boys do most of the talking.  Instead, I presented an interview I did with Paul’s old guitar player Steph Honde.  He tells a tale of picking up Paul at the airport, and playing live without rehearsal.  I also played Bruce Dickinson’s tribute to Di’Anno, and friend Brian Richards’ thoughts about the tribute from the perspective of an audience member that night.  Finally, I read a loving statement from friend Thor Blackmore, towards the end of the show.

I know we will all miss Paul Di’Anno.

Paul Di’Anno Tribute on Grab A Stack of Rock with Harrison, Johnny Metal, and Metal Roger

GRAB A STACK OF ROCK With Mike and the Mad Metal Man
Episode 75:  Paul Di’Anno Tribute

We had a completely different show planned this week.  Then, in the early hours of Monday morning, John Snow informed us that former Iron Maiden singer Paul Di’Anno had passed.

It was like that moment the record scratches and the needle comes off.  The shock set in, and then I realized, we need to change the show this week.  We need to pay tribute to (not the original singer, but) the first recorded Iron Maiden lead singer.  Paul filled some shoes:  Paul Mario Day and Den Wilcock preceeded him in Iron Maiden, but it was Di’Anno who helped put them on the center stage.  Paul’s punk look and snarl differentiated Iron Maiden from the rest of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal.  They were clearly different from the pack, and their intense and sweaty live shows proved it.

This week on Grab A Stack of Rock, Harrison Kopp will make an early unscheduled return, joining myself, John Clauser, and Metal Roger in tribute.  24 hours after our show, Roger will be seeing Iron Maiden themselves in Toronto.  All of us will be talking about the man, the myth, and the albums!  As an added bonus we will also be running a clip from my 2021 interview with his former guitar player Steph Honde, on playing live with Paul!  We will also be playing Bruce Dickinson’s tribute to Paul from Minnesota.

“I know you’d have gone insane if you saw what I saw,” but tonight, please join us and see our Tribute to Paul Di’Anno.  As usual there will be lots of physical products, including two VERY RARE Iron Maiden box sets, some vinyl, and double CD sets.

Friday October 25 at 7:00 P.M. E.S.T. / 8:00 P.M. Atlantic.   Enjoy on YouTube or on Facebook!

Finding the Beatles and Beck: That’s the “B” Section – Compact Disc Collections with John Clauser @MyMusicCorner

An exhaustive two hours with Johnny Metal took us through almost everything we own in the “B” section of the CD collections!  From Sebastian Bach to Bryan Byrne, we looked at everything on CD, except a few box sets.  As such, we did not see all my Beatles, Black Crowes, Black Sabbath, Bon Jovi, or Blue Rodeo on CD.  We saw pretty much everything else.

Johnny Metal’s collection, as usual, featured some really cool and rare Christian metal, and other assorted metal and blues that most of us might not have heard of.  Many of his CDs included collector’s cards or autographs.  John excluded (most of his) Black Sabbath and all of his Beatles for this exercise.

Speaking of the Beatles, halfway through the show, I realized I didn’t have any Beatles in my stack, which is just not right.  I have lots of Beatles besides the Stereo and Mono box sets.  Then viewer Ashley mentioned I had no Jeff Beck.  Well, obviously I do!  I reviewed two of them here on this site!  I realized I had a whole stack I left behind!

That’s how much B stuff I have.  Bon Jovi was the majority of it, and a lot of it turned out to be Bon Jovi I don’t even like.  There was, however, some Bon Jovi that I really really do like, and I hope you enjoy having a look at them.

We saw a lot of CD singles, remasters with bonus tracks, deluxe editions, remasters, digipacks, Japanese imports, and even one 3″ CD.

Thanks for watching this show, which might take you two viewings to finish, but that’s it – that’s the B section, done n’ dusted.

The “B” Section – Compact Disc Collections with John Clauser @MyMusicCorner

GRAB A STACK OF ROCK With Mike and the Mad Metal Man
Episode 74:  The “B” Section with Johnny Metal

Johnny Metal Homework is back for the third week in a row, to grab some stacks of rock!  As a sequel to our “A” section show, this time we are diving into some killer “B’s”.  You’ll be seeing my Black Sabbath, Bon Jovi, and yes…Blaze Bayley.  This episode will exclude box sets which have been shown off before on their own dedicated episodes.  CDs only; no vinyl, cassettes or 8-tracks on this week’s episode.

John says it won’t be as crazy this time (no 74 CDs from a Christian parody band), but it will be  heavy!  The big section is loaded with “Big” bands (Wreck, Sugar, House), and plenty of “Black” (Sabbath, Country Communion, Label Society, Star Riders, Jack).  Let’s take a deep dive into some Japanese imports, rarities, and heavy hitters.

Join us live!

Friday October 11 at 7:00 P.M. E.S.T. / 8:00 P.M. Atlantic.   Enjoy on YouTube or on Facebook!

That’s the “A” Section! Our CD Collections with John Clauser from My Music Corner

74 CDs of a Christian parody bands called the ApologetiX?  That’s just a taste of what you get when you go through the “A” section of Johnny Metal’s CD collection!

Thank you John for joining me for this blast of an episode.  In under an hour, we went through a few hundred CDs from the “A” section.  Lots of Christian rock from Johnny, as well as Anthrax, Armored Saint and obscure bands I’ve never heard of before!  Of course we had plenty of AC/DC between us.  My stack went from Lee Aaron to Autograph.

The Aerosmith section dominated the show, with plenty of CD singles (including 3″), Japanese imports, a DualDisc, EPs, a bootleg and lots of limited collector’s editions.  My AC/DC collection also included 3″ CDs, DualDiscs and bootlegs.  Johnny and I showed off our Australian AC/DC albums, but not the same ones!  We also saw Abba, Ryan Adams (with jokes from Pete Jones on the sidelines), some Jazz, and a few very rare coloured jewel cases.

Of note:  We were drinking tonight, but things did not get out of hand!

Thanks for watching everyone…it means the world to me.

The “A” Section – Our CD Collections with John Clauser from My Music Corner

GRAB A STACK OF ROCK With Mike and the Mad Metal Man
Episode 70:  The “A” Section with Johnny Metal

Back to basics this week:  we are literally showing off stacks of rock!  With the CD collection being re-alphabetized, and with Johnny Clauser currently tackling the Accept albums on his music corner of the world, let’s dive into the “A” section!

CDs only this week.  Let’s have a look at complete collections of AC/DC, Aerosmith and more!  Lee Aaron, Accept, A.S.A.P., Alice In Chains…we’ll look at the whole section of my collection tonight.  John will be bringing in select items from his.

Join us live!

Friday September 13 at 7:00 P.M. E.S.T. / 8:00 P.M. Atlantic.   Enjoy on YouTube or on Facebook!

A Friday Hang with Johnny Metal & Mike Ladano – Classical Music, Quiet Riot, Lego Jazz, Movie Props and more!

Thank you to John Clauser of My Music Corner for joining me for an impromptu Friday afternoon!  I wanted to finish showing off my birthday hauls, because there was some cool stuff still to be seen.  Possibly the coolest of them was a Star Trek:  Strange New Worlds plaque made by the propmaster on that show and purchased directly from him.  I also received a replica lamp from the Star Wars series Andor, and a Tchaikovsky CD.  This led to an informative back-and-forth about classical music in the comments, led by Pete Jones.

John Clauser brought with him some personal stories and rare copies of his own music.  One is an album that he played some guitar on, one is an album of his own making, and another is a live DVD recorded at a coffee house!  He also has a demo tape of his early W.A.S.P.-influenced solo music.

Quiet Riot was an artist that John spotlighted, with a bonus Randy Rhoads bootleg.  He also brought a double live Accept — a prelude to his next big deep dive series on My Music Corner!

The final thing I had to show off was my Lego Jazz quartet, which ironically, Aaron received for his birthday a few days ago.

Thanks to everyone for the lively comments.  This is why I love going live.  See you next time!