Power 30

WTF Comments: Toxic Sebastian Bach Fan edition

I received my first comment on a video made almost a year ago, with over 1200 views!  Please welcome @tcconnection to the show!   They took offense to my looping of Sebastian Bach’s amusing laugh in the video at bottom.

The ironic thing about @tcconnection is that they have none – zero, nada – videos on their channel, but still had the balls to post this.

The other ironic thing is that I have, in fact, made videos that benefit society.  Check out Adventures in Epilepsy for example.

How much do you wanna make a bet that @tcconnection never replies, and never makes a video of their own?

VHS Archives #152: Grumpy KISS Host the Power 20 on MuchMusic (1993)

A bitchy Paul Stanley and a disinterested Gene Simmons walked in to host the Power 30 on MuchMusic, with only Eric Singer and Bruce Kulick to save them.  On the road to promote the new home video KISS Konfidential, Paul starts off by complaining that Kiss never got played on MuchMusic.  (Untrue; all their current videos received ample play, with the exception of the ballad “Every Time I Look At You”, and “Domino” did quite well.  It was so popular with one of the MuchMusic hosts that he even played a clip of it on a rap show.)

Kiss videos played on this episode were “I Love It Loud” (Live), “Heaven’s On Fire”, and “A World Without Heroes”, which was the first time I ever caught the full track played any time on MuchMusic.  These videos are not included in the clip.

Bonus: Paul sings in the intro to “Heaven’s On Fire” live in the studio.

VHS Archives #151: Yngwie J. Malmsteen hosts the Power 30 on MuchMusic in 1992

Disclaimer:  This is an extremely dull video!  Consider:  without music videos, Yngwie Malmsteen “hosting” the Power 30 in 1991 amounts to less than 90 seconds of video.  How disappointing.  This is an excellent example of why the Power 30 was a vastly inferior format to the Pepsi Power Hour.  The shortened time led to substance-free content like this for the vacuous 90s.

Yngwie comments a little bit about each of the videos he has been assigned:

  • “Dragonfly” by Yngwie Malmsteen
  • “Over My Head” by King’s X
  • Deep Purple and Jimi Hendrix – songs not named
  • “Heaven Tonight” – Yngwie Malmsteen

I just told you everything they played, but watch it for Yngwie’s quick comments if you like.

 

 

VHS Archives #128: Armored Saint on the Power 30 (1991)

John Bush and Gonzo Sandoval stopped by the brand new Power 30 in September 1991 to talk about their new album, Symbol of Salvation.  Founding guitarist Dave Pritchard passed after a short but impactful battle with leukaemia.  The band had to carry on, and they did with a smashing album.  There’s a bit of footage from their gig at Rock ‘N’ Roll Heaven.  Great if short interview with a couple guys who are now heavy metal legends.

VHS Archives #127: Ugly Kid Joe hit on Teresa Roncon on the Power 30 – 1993

Ahh, summer. The boys in Ugly Kid Joe were on the make with Teresa Roncon on the Power 30, in the warm rays of 1993. Their open flirtations with the host is unusual by today’s standards. If Teresa was irritated by Whitford Crane and Dave Fortman, she didn’t let on. Total professional.

Other subjects besides flirting with the host:

  • Writing for the next album
  • Meat Loaf
  • Touring
  • Violence at concerts

VHS Archives #112: Russ Dwarf & Dee Cernile at Phase One

Another short one from the Power 30 with Teresa Roncon.  At Phase One studios, a quick visit with Russ Dwarf (Killer Dwarfs), Dee Cernille (Sven Gali) and Gord Prior (Blu Bones).  At the time Sven were in the middle of touring with Def Leppard, and the Dwarfs were “takin’ ‘er easy for the summer”, but the new album mentioned by Russ never came to be.

You can see what I have been saying all this time, about the Power 30 having shorter content than the superior Power Hour.  Sure, there were technically more minutes of metal per week, but not the kind of extended content that I’ve brought you recently, such as The Axemen Cometh and Waltzing With Helix.

VHS Archives #111: Slash Puppet rock the Power 30 in summer of ’93

Toronto’s Slash Puppet are back in the speakers, with a new “best of” CD called Studs & Gems, featuring classics and unreleased material! To pre-order your copy, contact MIF Entertainment ASAP, as this is a limited edition. Studs & Gems includes favourites like “When the Whip Comes Down”, “Slow Down” and the amazing ballad “Eyes of a Child”, one of the most intensely emotional ballads you’ll ever hear. Studs & Gems also includes the unreleased “Stranger Danger”, a live track previously unheard elsewhere. Finding original copies of their first two releases can be an expensive prospect, so Studs & Gems makes it easy to get some of these unsung classic songs.

For the occasion I’ve dug up this VHS tape of Teresa Roncon of the Power 30 talking to Mif, Dave and Franklin of Slash Puppet. It was summer of ’93 and the band were going the independent route. Teresa questions them on the pros and cons, and their musical influences. Wisdom is offered and bands are praised. Brief, but terrific interview with the band!

Studs & Gems track listing:


When the Whip Comes Down
Rippin’ On a Wishbone
Eyes of a Child
Evil Woman
Hard on Love
Stop Tellin’ Me Lies
Hitch a Ride (On a Train)
Slow Down
Squeeze It In
Overload
Stranger Danger (Live)

VHS Archives #106: On the Tour Bus with Varga (1994 Power 30)

Varga were on the cutting edge of combining heavy metal music with the burgeoning industrial scene. Teresa Roncon of the Power 30 caught up with the band in Buffalo, on their bus. Looks like there was a bit of a party going on, but in the back of the bus was a makeshift recording studio where the guys were assembling ideas for album #2.  “Heavy and exploratory” was the promise!

Meet Varga & Ugly Kid Joe’s manager Dennis, and find out just how to get on a tour bus. A little bit of live footage is within, and the always likeable guys request a few tunes.

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