On May 1, Rob Daniels from CKWR and Visions In Sound recorded a show live to tape at TheMuseum in Kitchener. Here are some photos and videos of Rob, with Erik Woods and myself.
The show, which will air in a few weeks as part of Star Wars month, covers the amazing soundtrack by John Williams and stories of the movie’s creation. Rob will take you from the bleak early 1990s, to the Special Editions, and finally to May 1999 when The Phantom Menace was finally released. He discusses the fallout, in particular with actors Jake Lloyd and Ahmed Best, who bore the brunt of fan hate. On a lighter note, he also tells you the story of how Erik Woods broke the internet when he broadcast the world premier of the soundtrack!
Stay tuned in May to Visionsinsound.ca for this and much more great Star Wars content!
While we enjoyed the music, Erik and I spent roughly two hours discussing Star Wars and Indiana Jones. Like typical fans, we talked about what we would have done to make both series better! And we had some great ideas, trust me. We talked about our own ideas for the prequels, the sequels, and an Indiana Jones adventure that, like poetry, would rhyme.
TheMuseum is a wonderful location for such an event, though they need to do more advertising. Their website didn’t even show that they were open that night. The lounge area where Rob was recording had ample space and a bar.
I hope to see Rob do more tapings at the TheMuseum in the future. Long live Visions In Sound!
Welcome to Homework From My Therapist! I have a new therapist; she’s nice, and fresh ideas are always helpful as I make the transition from Summer to Fall to Winter. She asked me about happy winter stories; I said I had several. She suggested I write them down somewhere I could easily find them, any time I needed a pick-me-up in the winter. Of course, for me, that means the easiest location is right here. I am putting on my Empire Strikes Back soundtrack as I type, and I am in the zone. Let’s do this!
Join me won’t you, for this walk through the winter snow of 1981?
RECORD STORE TALES #1100: Happy Winter Stories Vol. 1 – The Empire Strikes Back
Even as a child I never liked winter, always looking forward to the warmth and freedom of the summer sun. The winter of 1981, however, offered a new opportunity. The Empire Strikes Back was the latest thing. We were collecting all the toys, all the figures, everything we could. With winter here, we now had the opportunity to dress up as the characters for outside role play!
The snow was deep on our tiny frames that winter. You truly could imagine you were on the ice planet of Hoth, if not for all the trees. Winter trips to the cottage offered the more bleak landscape of a completely frozen lake as far as the eye could see, but we didn’t dress in our Star Wars outfits when we made those winter visits. That was a home activity for the winter weekends!
My sister dressed as Luke Skywalker. I let her use my glow-in-the-dark “laser sword” for that purpose. I wanted to be Han.
My dad had made us wooden guns and pistols by cutting shapes out of playwood offcuts and painting rough details. Perfect for a Solo blaster! I used my dad’s real leather holster, which even at its tightest was always so loose. Every good Canadian kid has a pair of snow pants; mine were blue or brown. I grabbed a pair of goggles from a snorkel set. To top it off came my pride and joy: a blue winter coat, with a big furry hood…just like Han Solo’s. I’d strap on my laser pistol on top of that and trudge out into snow for an hour or two.
Other kids from the neighbourhood would drop in and play other roles. Someone would have to roar like Chewbacca as I pretended to trade blasts with an Imperial probe droid.
When it was time to board the Millenium Falcon, we’d jump into my dad’s car in the garage. He didn’t like that part too much, as we fiddled with buttons in a vain attempt to get the Falcon into hyperspace.
When it came time to come in and get warm, we always had the original John Williams soundtrack to keep us entertained with our Kenner action figures. Even so, the importance of the role play can’t be left out of the story. It allowed the kids to go out, run around, burn off energy, and be social with other kids as we all re-enacted our favourite Star Wars movies. We couldn’t just go and pop a video tape into our VCRs. Few of us had a VCR yet.
The Empire Strikes Back was the newest of the Star Wars movies, and was completely new and exciting to all of us, boys and girls alike. We’d all seen it. It was a family thing. Anyone could jump in and play the role of Chewie, 3P0, Princess Leia, or Darth Vader. But I was Han Solo. That was a constant, as non-negotiable as a deal with Jabba the Hutt himself.
We did it all over again in 1982, and 1983. I think I may have commandeered my mom’s ski goggles at that point, refining my costume.
After Return of the Jedi came out in May of ’83, my focused changed to Luke Skywalker. Not only was he suddenly badass instead of this whiny disrespectful little shit, but he looked really cool in his new black outfit. Our role play changed to summer, and I donned a black glove while reclaiming the glow-in-the-dark laser sword as my own. My sister could be Han Solo this time, but that meant she had to pretend to be blind before I saved her!
Star Wars died down pretty quickly after 1983, and as kids we moved on to other interests as well. It must be remembered, the length of time we lived with Empire as “current” Star Wars movie. It came out in spring of 1980, so we were playing Empire and getting Empire toys for Christmas for 1980, ’81, and 1982! For me, that was age 8 to age 10, the most important span of years in a kid’s childhood! For my sister, it was ages 4 to 7, almost as important! That chunk of our lives coincided with a cool “sweet spot” of Star Wars. Not only did we get the best movie of the series, with some of the best toys and figures of the line, but also got three years of yearning anticipation and fear! Was Darth Vader really Luke’s father? How would they save Han Solo from Jabba the Hutt? What was Jabba the Hutt? We had to use our imaginations and we imagined every scenario we could in our games.
Those were good times in some cold, wet winters. Let’s not forget them, nor the warmth of a hot chocolate after we kicked the snow off our boots and hung our snow pants up to dry. That would have been a good winter Saturday in 1981.
RECORD STORE TALES #1093: What Are the Earliest Pieces of Music You Remember Loving?
We are all shaped by our earliest experiences, whether we admit it or not. What were the first songs and pieces of music that you remember loving? Let’s have a look at 10 of mine, from my pre-heavy metal years!
10. The Doctor Who theme.
I grew up with the third and fourth doctors: Jon Pertwee, and Tom Baker. In particular I remember the Baker years as the most important to my childhood. I asked my mom to knit me a long brown scarf like Baker’s Doctor wore. I also remember sitting in front of the TV and recording the intro music to Doctor Who, so I could rewind and play that tape whenever I wanted to. The music was all synth, and entirely spooky, cool and catchy.
9. John Williams’ scores.
Star Wars was first. Empire was second. Raiders was third. Those three soundtracks made up the majority of my musical listening for years. I didn’t own any other records. Just John Williams. When you consider the impact that Holst’s The Planets had on Williams, and heavy metal too, it is no wonder that heavy metal music would later speak so clearly to me.
8. Joey Scarbury – “Theme from The Greatest American Hero (Believe It or Not)”
My earliest musical loves all came from TV or cinema. This was the first non-Williams record I owned, on a 7″ single. Mike Post co-wrote the song, and he would figure into the career of Van Halen much much later. “Believe It Or Not” was a pleasant pop song with an irresistible chorus. The B-side was a ballad called “Little Bit of Us”. I hated it. I remember playing the single at 78 RPM to see if it would make the song any better. It didn’t.
7. Magnum P.I. and The A-Team theme songs.
Here’s Mike Post again, with the theme music to Magnum P.I. starring Tom Selleck. Funky electric guitar hovered behind a bouncing string section playing the theme. It was like my John Williams soundtracks had collided with rock instrumentation. I would sit in bed and hum these themes, singing myself to sleep. And guess who was behind the A-Team’s music? Also Mike Post! Military drums and more symphonic theme greatness. I was well on my way, wasn’t I? These two themes were critically important to the whole action TV show genre.
6. Michael Jackson – “Beat It” and “Thriller”
Like every kid in the mid-80s, I loved Michael Jackson. It would not be an exaggeration to claim that every kid in my grade liked Michael Jackson to a certain degree. He had a number of hits on the radio, including “Say Say Say” with Paul McCartney, which I was frustrated to find was not on my Thriller cassette. Of course, I had no idea who Eddie Van Halen was yet, but he was in my head, playing the “Beat It” guitar solo without my knowledge. Michael’s songs were perfectly written and produced. His videos were groundbreaking, but I hadn’t seem them yet. I wasn’t even sure what he looked like at first. Tabloid photos always showed a gaunt Jackson hiding from the cameras. Once we saw his videos, I was shocked at how effeminate his speaking voice was, for a guy who sang so powerfully. Yet, I only played two or three songs on the tape.
5. Culture Club – “Karma Chameleon”
Hot on the heels of Jackson was Boy George. “Karma Chameleon” was impossible to forget, and I could care less about any of his other hits. I had the Colour By Numbers cassette and never played it except for one song. The album cover shocked me! I thought Culture Club was synonymous with Boy George – a one-man band. I had no idea there were other members, or what they looked like. I liked the tune, but this band was not for me. Eventually I would erase both Jackson and Boy George, and record other things on their tapes.
4. Styx – Kilroy Was Here
“Mr. Roboto” was the song that hooked me, but the album itself was pretty good: “Cold War”, “High Time”, “Don’t Let It End (Reprise)”, “Heavy Metal Poisoning” and “Double Life” were awesome rock songs! As before, I had no interest in the ballads. I played them once or twice, and just skipped them from then on. Styx were the first band with multiple singers that I liked: Dennis DeYoung, Tommy Shaw, and James Young. I wonder what influence this would later have on my love of KISS. Styx were bombastic and huge. The gatefold album came with lyrics, which I studied as if they were containing deep hidden meaning.
3. AC/DC – “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap”
I recorded this song from my best friend Bob, along with “The Mighty Quinn” by Manfred Mann, and if memory serves, “Ooby Dooby” by Roy Orbison. I might be wrong on that last one, but AC/DC was the one I kept playing over and over, sometimes to irritate people. I remember distinctly telling people I liked the chorus because the singer sounded like “he had a frog in his throat”. My classmate Alan Runstedtler said “I like songs with the guy with the frog in his throat!” and so did I. It was pure comedy and novelty to me, but the guitars lay the groundwork for what would come later.
2. John Fogerty – “The Old Man Down the Road”
MuchMusic had arrived! I had no idea who Fogerty was, or that he was in a legendary rock band called Creedence Clearwater Revival. All I knew was that he had a really, really cool music video on TV, and I couldn’t stop watching it. The upbeat bluesy song with rattling slide guitar seemed cool to me. I decided that I liked John Forgerty based on that one song. I was slowly discovering rock music, and the last song on this list was the last one I loved before going full-metal in 1984.
1. Quiet Riot – “Cum On Feel the Noize”
I didn’t know what they looked like. I didn’t know anything about their prior history, the two Japanese albums, or Randy Rhoads. All I knew was I had finally found “my thing”. My sound. Bombastic, big, loud, catchy, well-written, and perfect.
Without Quiet Riot, I may never have taken my next tenative steps: Helix, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, and W.A.S.P. All much heavier than Quiet Riot. Without Styx, I might never got gotten into Quiet Riot. Without John Williams, I might never had dug into Styx. Who knows?
I loved Quiet Riot well past their best-before date. I remember other kids at school making fun of me for calling Quiet Riot my favourite band. “They’re out!” laughed Ian Johnson. “Duran Duran are current!”
Fuck Duran Duran.
My journey into metal was natural and organic. I don’t know if those kids from school even listen to music anymore. Their loss.
THE MAX REBO BAND – “Jedi Rocks” (1997 BMG CD single)
This is, in my humble fan opinion, one of the worst pieces of music ever included in a Star Wars movie, if not the very worst.
The 1997 Star Wars special editions are derided for many reason, but one that is not talked about nearly enough is the replacement of certain pieces of music. In this case, “Lapti Nek” from the 1983 cut of Return of the Jedi was removed. Why? Because George Lucas loves to tinker. He wasn’t happy that the singer in the band, Sy Snootles, didn’t have enough articulation and so thought to himself, “What could I do with a new song and a computer?” The unfortunate results are called “Jedi Rocks”, by Jerry Hey.
The original song, “Lapti Nek”, plays in Jabba’s palace just before he feeds Oola the slave girl to his pet Rancor monster. In universe, it is performed by the Max Rebo band, originally a trio featuring keyboardist Max, singer Sy and flautist Droopy McCool. The band is expanded in the special edition to include more singers, including a really annoying big-mouthed Yuzzum named…uhg…Joh Yowza. You can just tell that certain parts of the song were designed to show off what computers could make Yowza’s mouth do in the scene in question.
This is shit. At least “Lapti Nek” sounded a little alien. “Jedi Rocks” sounds like generic blues rock written by a highschool music teacher for his class to perform at the spring pageant. And it sounds completely terrestrial, aside from the silly cartoonish vocals. You can identify an Earthly harmonica, drum kit, organ, saxophones, guitars and bass. That should never be the case when you’re talking about an alien band from a galaxy far, far away. More than half the track is bland jamming that could have been on any soundtrack from virtually any Earth-bound movie with a bar and a band in it.
The only reason to buy this single, since you’ll never listen to it, is the clear picture disc. The CD single released for The Empire Strikes Back was a shaped Vader-head disc, but they realized this were not good for the insides of your CD transport, which prefers a perfectly balanced disc. Hence, they switched to clear picture discs that look shaped but are not.
RECORD STORE TALES #1060: Max the Axe’s Garage Sale
A huge thank-you to my host Max the Axe today at a fantastic garage sale! BEHOLD!
“9:00 AM!” he said. “Serving shots and weed to my Facebook friends starting at 9 AM!”
There was no way I was missing this garage sale.
I only had four hours sleep, and a large Tim Horton’s coffee, to prepare me. I didn’t think I could make it. After the events of last night, which left me rocked (in a bad way), I didn’t think I was up for it. But at 9:00 AM I said “to hell with it, let’s go,” and Jen and I were in the car off to the Trillion Dollar Treats that Max had on offer.
First up: cassettes! I picked up six:
Poison – Flesh & Blood
Metallica – Metallica
Van Halen – Diver Down
Extreme – II: Pornograffitti
Ozzy Osbourne – No Rest for the Wicked
Van Halen – Women and Children First
You can blame Tim Durling for my sudden interest in buying Cassettes That I Already Own On Remastered CDs. He did point out the Diver Down cassette was an unusual cover variant, with the image slanted taking up the whole cover.
Speaking of Tim Durling…
Led Zeppelin – Led Zeppelin IV
I’ve caught the 8-track bug, baby! Tim remarked that my copy was in better condition than his. Max had more 8-tracks but none from bands that I collected.
So that’s cassette and 8-track. What about CD and vinyl? Maxie has plenty of both, but my tab was starting to rack up. I gave him $20 for this rare AC/DC longbox, still sealed.
It’s the live “Highway to Hell” single, with long box intact and not in terrible shape. I used to have CD longboxes, but I foolishly tossed them when I moved, assuming their were worth next to nothing. Just paper. But now…
Next up: Max has been trying to sell me a tape deck for years. This one was $20, a Kenwood. My old Sony has seen the better of days, and Max says this one runs perfectly. I guess we’ll find out soon enough, to try out these new tapes I just bought, huh?
Finally, we have the magazine scores. Some MAD, some Cracked, some Star Wars, and some music! Even a M.E.A.T Magazine! A little bit of everything, and…woah, that’s Lee Aaron!!
Max has so much stuff, and you still have time to get down there. Kites, speakers, tape decks, collectables, magazines, all killer deals! Blank media galore.
Am I ever glad I went to Trillion Dollar Treats to see Max the Axe on my Saturday morning. My Friday was brutal – absolutely brutal. I am sure you will eventually be reading about it in one way or another. My real life has a habit of becoming public knowledge, because when I’m hurting inside, I need to get it out. My only weakness. Thank you to everyone who sent helpful messages and offered to talk. I need to single out Boppin, Jex, Tim, James and especially Jen for talking to me last night and this morning. I love you all.
As I was leaving for work on Friday morning, I thought to myself, “You know, I wonder if Harrison or anybody would feel like going live tonight. Just shoot the shit for an hour. It might be a fun way to be social on a Friday night and it only has to be an hour.”
I messaged Harrison in Australia just as he was tucking in for the night, and he graciously agreed to get up early and join me for an impromptu live stream. Setting his alarm clock, Harrison prepared for our first live show since July!
It was May 2002 and I was a first-time homeowner. My dad taught me, “Never rent! Only buy. Put your money towards something.” So I trusted his advice and lived at home as long as could I possibly milk it!
Moving in to my new place took a day. I had a lot of help from family and friends. We probably had 10 or 12 people total. I packed up all my CDs and insisted that only I handle them. It caused me more than a little anxiety. I figured a few jewel cases would crack, but there were some special ones I took extra precautions with. Coloured jewel cases are hard to replace. The most precious CD case to me is the 1996 Deep Purple In Rock anniversary edition. The case comes etched with signatures and other text. Breaking one of those means either living with it, or trying to find another copy with case intact. I desired to do neither. In Rock survived the move intact. I would not be lying to you if I told you that this one little item was of more concern to me than anything else I moved that day. My stereo equipment came in second.
Some people say they have a hard time sleeping, their first night in a new home. I did not have that problem. After a full day of moving, I was wiped. But also eager to get going the next day and set up my new place. Against the better judgement of everyone who helped me move, the very first thing I did was set up my CD towers. Having those discs sitting in boxes really bothered me. I wanted them out, so I could inspect them and ensure they all survived intact, and I wanted them accessible. A long day of painting was ahead!
I cannot remember the first album I played in my new home. Strange, because normally I’d commit that sort of thing to memory. It was probably Kiss. I like to use Kiss for firsts. I do remember the first movie I watched. It was The Phantom Menace. I wanted my first movie to be a DVD, and I wanted it to be a Star Wars. The older Star Wars films would not exist on that format until 2004.
I set up the CD towers, put the discs back in their alphabetical homes, and was relieved that only a couple cases broke. I then painted around them. Priorities.
The funny thing about these memories is how much space I thought I had back then. I had so many empty closets. I didn’t have enough stuff to put on my shelves. To say things have changed would be an understatement. Due to lack of storage, there are CDs everywhere in random order. We need to hire a carpenter and get some proper CD shelving made for this place!
After a solid weekend of working, painting and assembling, I was settled into my new place. I had my first guests over that Monday. I loved my new place, but I did not have long to enjoy it. The following week, I was on my way to Prince Edward Island, determined to find the home of Stompin’ Tom Connors, and eat lobster at least once a day. Success on both counts. But I couldn’t wait to get home again. I had a new Deep Purple box set of official bootlegs waiting for me to finish listening. 12 CDs. I only had time to hear the first three discs before departure. And you can bet your last dollar that I picked up where I left off, with disc four.
Jen moved here in 2008. It’s cramped but we make due. Her illness set us back in the sense that we haven’t been able to move somewhere bigger. But it’s home. It’s our home. It has 20 years of memories. I’m proud to say that many of them are musical in nature.
Did Harrison really cause Erik and Rob to walk off the show? Did Rob drop two “F-bombs”? Did Harrison actually smile in the featured image? Was this one of our best shows ever?
“It’s true. All of it.”
Our esteemed panel of Jedi masters tonight were:
Erik Woods – movie and soundtrack expert
Robert Daniels – movie and soundtrack expert
Harrison Kopp – young fella who grew up on prequels and Clone Wars
LeBrain – old fart
Opinions veered wildly on the 11 Star Wars films we examined in great detail tonight. While you may never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy, I also will contend you will not find a more passionate Star Wars discussion than the one we had this week.
Truly one of our best shows, and we barely scratched the surface of these films. Perhaps a deeper dive is in order for the future.
The LeBrain Train: 2000 Words or More with Mike Ladano and Friends
Episode 108 – All the Star Wars films, ranked!
This is a show that has been in the works a long time. A long time. I understand you’re Star Wars fans yourselves! Then you will love this show we have lined up for you tonight.
The Nigel Tugnel Top Ten list format — a top 11 — is perfect for cases like this. Tonight our panel of experts (top men!) will rank all 11 films (9 Saga movies plus 2 spinoffs). This is sure to get hairy (Wookiee style) due to the diversity of the panel:
Erik Woods – movie and soundtrack expert
Robert Daniels – movie and soundtrack expert
Harrison Kopp – young fella who grew up on prequels and Clone Wars
LeBrain – old fart
Note: We are only counting the 11 live action theatrical films, not any made-for-video films, or the animated Clone Wars (which did have a brief theatrical run). Oh sure, Harrison might try to throw a curve ball but the rules are clear.
At the end of the night, will we have consensus? I sure hope not! What I do expect is plenty of lively conversation with maybe a little trash-talk.
mikeladano.com 