Doing the live Contrarian chats on Wednesday nights has been great fun. I will keep going with these as long as I’m welcome and as long as I don’t burn out. For those keeping track, this is my seventh week in a row on the Contrarians. The subjects thus far have been:
For this week, Toys and Games, I’m not taking the easy way out. My list will have unexpected picks (because I let Tim have the good ones). Check out the show tonight, live at 7:00 PM.
THE CONTRARIANS – Album covers featuring Toys and Games – Wed. November 27 – 7:00 PM EST
Doing the live Contrarian chats on Wednesday nights has been great fun. I will keep going with these as long as I’m welcome and as long as I don’t burn out. For those keeping track, this is my sixth week in a row on the Contrarians. The subjects thus far have been:
For this week, Hell and the Underworld, I am going straight metal. No deviations. We’ll see what the other guys bring. Check out the show tonight, live at 7:00 PM.
THE CONTRARIANS – Album covers featuring Hell and the Underworld – Wed. Novermber 20 – 7:00 PM EST
This time I’m not going too far off the beaten track. Nothing Canadian, nothing too far outside the rock genre, and all artists who have been featured on the Contrarians before. Sometimes you have to play it straight. Check out the show tonight, live at 7:00 PM.
THE CONTRARIANS – Album Covers with Robots, Aliens and Spaceships – Wed. Novermber 13 – 7:00 PM EST
Last Wednesday on the Contrarians, I was absolutely blown away to hear my favourite writer, Martin Popoff, say the words “Mike is a great addition to the show.”
Thank you Martin. I hope this week I live up to everybody’s expectations!
For those keeping track, this is my fourth week in a row on the Contrarians. The subjects thus far have been:
I tend to go off the beaten track and focus on artists or albums that have never been on the Contrarians before. I will be doing that again this week, with some more Canadian picks and some albums that are not in the rock genre at all. Begin the guessing.
THE CONTRARIANS – Album Covers with Fire and Explisions – Wed. Novermber 6 – 7:00 PM EST
A sequel to last week’s show! Last Wednesday, we covered brown album covers. This week we’re following that up with yellow album covers! I will be joining the Contrarians LIVE tonight at 7:00 PM EST for this excellent topic idea. Each of us has ten picks. The final panel is TBA but I will be with at least the following people:
Grant Arthur
John “Johnny Homework” Clauser
Jamie Laszlo
40 unique picks for yellow cover art. Yes, we will see Stryper.
THE CONTRARIANS – Yellow Album Covers – Wed. October 30 7:00 PM EST
A sequel to last week’s show! Last Wednesday, we saw quite a few brown album covers when we looked at minimalist album art. This week we’re following that up with brown album covers! I will be joining the Contrarians LIVE tonight at 7:00 PM EST for this excellent topic idea. Each of us has ten picks. I will have the honour of sitting on a panel with:
Grant Arthur
Tim Durling
John “Johnny Homework” Clauser
Jamie Laszlo
Peter “The Professor” Jones.
60 unique picks for brown cover art. I’ve given my list a twist: all Canadian artists!
THE CONTRARIANS – Brown Album Covers – Wed. October 23 7:00 PM EST
I will be joining the Contrarians LIVE tonight at 7:00 PM EST for an excellent topic idea: minimalist album covers. Each of us has ten picks. I will have the honour of sitting on a panel with:
Martin Popoff
Grant Arthur
Tim Durling
John “Johnny Homework” Clauser
Jamie Laszlo
Peter “The Professor” Jones.
70 unique picks for minimalist cover art. This outta be good. Link is below!
GRAB A STACK OF ROCK With Mike and the Mad Metal Man Episode 73: A Mighty Wind Appreciation, with Dan Chartrand, Uncle Meat & Johnny Metal
In 2003, Christopher Guest unveiled his third improv comedy movie, following Waiting For Guffman (1996) and Best In Show (2000). While each film has its focus (a small town play; a dog show), it was 2003’s A Mighty Wind that “tapped” into the spirit of music that made Guest a fan favourite in the first place. This time it’s folk music!
The Folksmen are a fictional folk band that actually opened for Guest’s “other” band, Spinal Tap. Ironically, all three members are the same: Guest, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer. Together with Mitch & Mickey (Eugene Levy and Catherine O’Hara) and the New Main Street Singers (Jane Lynch, John Michael Higgins, Parker Posey, Paul Dooley et. al.), the bands have reunited for a big folk show in New York City. As he often does, Fred Willard stole the show in this film.
This hilarious comedy boasts an incredible soundtrack of originals and one cover (“Start Me Up”), and tonight I’ll be joined again by Dan Chartrand and Uncle Meat to discuss it. With them will be John “Johnny Metal” Clauser, who has wanted to do this topic with us for some time now.
You might not be as family with A Mighty Wind as you were with This Is Spinal Tap, but you won’t regret spending an hour with us tonight. It may not be heavy metal, but good music is good music, and this soundtrack is loaded with great songs. Join us tonight!
Friday October 4 at 8:00 P.M. E.S.T. / 9:00 P.M. Atlantic. Enjoy onYouTube or on Facebook!
A huge thank you to Marco D’Auria of the Contrarians, Dan Chartrand of Off the Charts, and the near-legendary Uncle Meat for comprising our expert panel tonight. The subject was Spinal Tap, the band and the music. It may be fair to call Dan a “superfan”, as he had some Spinal Tap rarities that I don’t. Dan provided some cool physical product, including CDs and LPs of This is Spinal Tap, Break Like the Wind, and he even unfolded his Back From the Dead CD packaging to show us what it looks like when it’s a little paper stage set.
Taking a cue from another big Spinal Tap fan, Peter Kerr, I stole a tactic from Rock Daydream Nation and did some discussion questions in rounds. Here’s what we tackled:
Were you ever in the blissful unawareness that Spinal Tap was a fake band? Or were you always in on the joke?
Evaluate the musicianship of Tap.
Pick a favourite song from the soundtrack.
Pick a favourite song from Break Like the Wind.
And a quick discussion of Back from the Dead.
Along the way we discussed the history of Tap, both real and fictional. We had a look at the DVD for the Return of Spinal Tap, and had a chat on that subject. I peppered the panel with trivia throughout the night. We had an insightful discussion about talent, and the three actors who played the central characters: Michael McKean, Christopher Guest, and Harry Shearer. We speculated on director Rob Reiner’s role in the songwriting, and technical aspects of the writing and playing. Did Harry Shearer play fretless bass on “Break Like the Wind”? I don’t know, but we do know he can play upright bass thanks to his role in A Mighty Wind. In short, the music and movie were given as much appraisal and analysis as we could do in an hour.
Meanwhile in the comments, Pete Jones provided quote after quote after quote, from a variety of Tap interviews and performances. Thank you Peter! And thank you to everyone who watched and joined in.
I started the show with a quick unboxing, from Australia’s Ash Geisler, who has been a huge supporter of the show. Thanks again Ash for watching, and for sending me this awesome package. I guarantee some of them will be getting a review.
One topic I didn’t get to mention on the show, but did come up among the viewers: Spinal Tap II is coming to theaters in 2025. How do you feel about this? Let us know in the comments. I for one don’t think it’s necessary or a good idea. The cameo-laden cast seems gimmicky, but Rob Reiner is back is the director’s chair.
Thanks for watching, and if you didn’t, the link is below. This is one I’ll be watching over again.
NEXT WEEK: A Mighty Wind with Dan Chartrand, John Clauser & Uncle Meat!
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