The Elder

REVIEW: Gene Simmons – The Vault – Disk 10 (2018)

Previous Reading: 

Record Store Tales #600:  The Vault
Disk 1 Review
Disk 2 Review
Disk 3 Review
Disk 4 Review
Disk 5 Review
Disk 6 Review
Disk 7 Review
Disk 8 Review
Disk 9 Review

 

 

 

 

 

 

For those keeping score at home, this CD contains tracks 136-150 in the Vault box set.  This time we foray into genres far and wide, from disco to reggae.

GENE SIMMONS – The Vault – Disk 10 (2018 Rhino)

“Take It Like a Man #2” originated with a riff written on bass, and then intended for Psycho-Circus.  Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer play on this demo.  It was intended that Ace, Peter, Paul and Gene each take a line, and Gene does his little imitations of the members where he wanted them to sing.  This song may have had been better than “You Wanted the Best” which had the same idea.  It’s heavier and sounds pretty good in this demo form.  Though it came later, it has a Creatures vibe.  3.5/5

“Take It Like a Man #1” is the original bass lick from which the song was later written.  This is included to show how Gene would “hear” a full song in his head when coming up with the riff on bass.  It also demonstrates he’s a better bassist than he gets credit for.  This unfinished idea is just that: unfinished.  Yet you can hear he was onto something, as demonstrated by “#2”.  2.5/5

“Have Mercy, Baby” is a Simmon / Kulick composition with Bruce playing guitar.  This is a fully-fleshed out demo, at first recorded to four-track and then upgraded to 24-track for overdubs.  It sounds like a Crazy Nights or Hot in the Shade era tune.  That said, it wouldn’t have been album worthy.  Though Bruce Kulick always offers intelligent and tasteful solo work, the song itself only has one or two solid hooks.  2.5/5

Gene gushes over Eric Carr as a human being in the liner notes.  “We Won’t Take It Anymore” is a song that originated in the same session as “My Babe”, next on the box set.  Written by Gene and Eric, this is a hard rocker with a cool chorus.  It really is a shame that Eric wasn’t nurtured as a songwriter in Kiss the way he could have been.  This has a strong “All Hell’s Breakin’ Loose” kind of vibe, and the chorus really would have worked well with Kiss.  3.5/5

“My Babe” is completely different!  This fast, almost pop-punk!  It almost throws back to Dressed to Kill-era Kiss, with that kind of simplicity and basic rock and roll arrangement.  What it is, is a hybrid of many things and all of them sound good to me.  It’s understandable why Kiss didn’t want to do this kind of song in the Carr era, but they really should have.  3.5/5

“Eat Your Heart Out” is not the same song that was later used on Monster (though the chorus really is similar).  This is a late 70s demo of an idea that originated with “Rotten to the Core”.  It’s a tangled web since so many ideas appear in multiple forms on this box set.  This is a menacing little rock song that would have worked on any Kiss album from that period, but probably just wasn’t good enough.  There are some cool melodies on the pre-chorus especially.  3/5  

“Nine Lives” is a cool late-80s idea with Bruce Kulick on guitar.  Again, not quite good enough to replace one of the album songs, but there is promise here too.  It has a slow, slinky vibe.  Kulick shows of some cool whammy work, followed by two-handed tapping.  His technique seems to date it to Crazy Nights.  3/5

Back to the 70s, “Howling for Your Love” has Katey Sagal and the girls on backing vocals.  It’s very similar to “Bad Bad Lovin'”, also known as “Dr. Love”, and the tangled web of songs becomes even more so.  It’s pretty good and, once again, had Kiss made more albums, this would have been on one of them.  3/5

“I Ain’t Coming Back” is the song that “Never Gonna Leave You” from Disk 7 became.  This is a four track demo with a dancey beat, but it’s no better than the other version.  One of the poorer tracks on this set, with a chorus that should have never hit the recycle bin.  Just trash it.  1/5

The riff to…ahem…“Granny Takes A Trip” sounds similar to “Weapons of Mass Destruction”.  The title here was taken from a store in New York that sold platform boots.  It’s very metal, but not very good.  It’s very alterna-grunge.  Probably intended for Carnival.  Very noisy.  Not worth exploring further.  1/5

Former Journey and Vinnie Vincent Invasion singer Robert Fleichmann co-wrote “Piece of the Rock” (not the King Kobra/Kick Axe song).  This has a dark 80s vibe but sounds unfinished.  There’s a compelling guitar part with good verses and a decent chorus, but the bridge that connects them should be excised.  The song just needed something else to go in that section, and it would be pretty good.  2.5/5

Gene says “Rock It” was inspired by Fine Young Cannibals.  I also hear Love and Rockets.  Judging by the vocal track, this sounds like it was recorded much later.  It’s not bad.  There’s something cool going on here, especially with those 80s drum programs.  3/5

“Sticky Goo” is a cool reggae-based idea.  It also has a “New York Groove” vibe.  It could be finished into something cool.  Cool, but different.  There’s no denying that some of these songs would simply not work with Kiss and would have to go on solo albums.  But, then again, they did do “Torpedo Girl”, so who’s to say what’s ultimately outside the Kiss wheelhouse?  Gene is sure to lay down crunchy rhythm guitars here to ground it in rock.  Still hearing lots of “New York Groove” though.  3/5

“Love Came To Me” is Gene’s answer to “I Was Made For Lovin’ You”, but it also re-uses certain melodies from “Love Is Blind”.  (This is not mentioned in the book, but I’m telling you with my ears.)  Gene concedes that he doesn’t know as much about dance music as Paul Stanley, but this isn’t a bad stab at the genre.  It’s not as fast and infectious, but the bassline is a lot of fun, as is the beat.  You could dance to it.  3/5

“Roar of the Greasepaint” is the original idea that later became “Journey of 1,000 Years” on Psycho-Circus.  He later added chords from the earlier “You’re My Reason for Living 4 Track” (Disk 4) to create the final version.  That version is superior for many reasons, including the heavy orchestration and progressive vibes.  “Roar of the Greasepaint” has a cooler title though.  It really ties into the Kiss image and should have been left as-is.  This was the closing song on Psycho-Circus, and would have been the closing song on this 150 song box set…if Gene didn’t include an 11th bonus disc!  3.5/5

Average score by song:   2.76/5 stars

 

Disk 10 Track length and songwriters (from Wikipedia)

1. Take It Like a Man #2 (2:38) Simmons
2. Take It Like a Man #1 (2:44) Simmons
3. Have Mercy, Baby (4:04) Simmons / Kulick
4. We Won’t Take It Anymore (3:03) Simmons / Carr
5. My Babe (1:51) Simmons / Carr
6. Eat Your Heart Out (2:22) Simmons
7. Nine Lives (3:33) Simmons / Sigerson
8. Howling for Your Love (2:47) Simmons
9. I Ain’t Coming Back (3:02) Simmons
10. Granny Takes a Trip (1:55) Simmons
11. Piece of the Rock (3:48) Simmons / Fleischman
12. Rock It (2:23) Simmons
13. Sticky Goo (3:05) Simmons
14. Love Came to Me (3:25) Simmons
15. Roar of the Greasepaint (3:07) Simmons

REVIEW: Gene Simmons – The Vault – Disk 9 (2018)

Previous Reading: 

Record Store Tales #600:  The Vault
Disk 1 Review
Disk 2 Review
Disk 3 Review
Disk 4 Review
Disk 5 Review
Disk 6 Review
Disk 7 Review
Disk 8 Review

 

 

 

 

 

 

Welcome back, creatures of the night.  For those keeping score at home, this CD contains tracks 121-135 in the Vault box set.

GENE SIMMONS – The Vault – Disk 9 (2018 Rhino)

Gene wrote “It’s Gonna Be Alright” with Mikel Japp, who was a Paul Stanley co-writer.  This was written for Creatures, and this 4:29 version appears on that box set.  Japp came up with the opening lick while the rest came from Gene.  It’s a good song, though too upbeat and pop for Creatures.  The drum machine is just a placeholder, but even with the drum machine, it’s a good song already.  The guitar part is catchy and Kiss-like.  It would have fit into that Kiss Killers sound.  3.5/5

“It’s Gonna Be Alright #2” was re-done with Bruce Kulick in the mid-80s.  This is more fleshed out, with solos and harder-edged guitars.  The drum program is more sophisticated and it’s more suitable for an album like Asylum.  A real shame that songs like this were not chosen in favour of weaker compositions.  Some songs might not have fit the direction of the album, but perhaps the direction of the album was at fault.  4/5

“Everybody Knows #1” is performed with Tommy Thayer, who plays a very similar acoustic guitar part inspired by “Rock Bottom” from Dressed to Kill.  The electric guitars kick in, along with a massive chorus.  This would date back to the Hot in the Shade era and absolutely should have been on that album.  The answering vocals are killer and it makes you wonder what Paul Stanley could have done with those backing vocals.    According to Wikipedia, the Japanese version of Asshole contained “Everybody Knows” as a bonus track, but it is unknown which one.  4/5

“Everybody Knows #2” is a very different version.  This one is more 90s and alterna-rock.  It could have worked on an album like Carnival of Souls or Psycho-Circus.  While it is still a good song, the previous one is superior, though that might just be a matter of taste.  The chorus is intact but a lot of the hooks I liked are not.  3.5/5

A very special demo is ahead.  “You’re All That I Want” was of course the closing song on Kiss Unmasked.  Gene says this is the only demo he has with Paul Stanley assisting.  Therefore this is the Starchild’s only appearance in this box set, and perhaps therefore the only “true” Kiss demo.  It’s like a shock to the system to finally hear Paul singing, nine discs in.  This demo doesn’t have the pep of the final version, but they were going for something harder edged.  The acoustic guitars are very crisp and unlike anything on the Unmasked album.  This demo just proves that Gene and Paul are better together than apart.  4/5

“Kids With Painted Faces” is the third version of “I Am Yours”, here re-written with new lyrics including one about playing air guitar to Ace.  The Beatles influence still comes through.  This is the song Gene compared to “All the Young Dudes” due to its anthemic guitar melody.  One lyric is pretty poignant:  “There is no Kiss without you.”  True, Gene.  True.  3.5/5 

“I Wanna Rule the World” is another variation of the “Now That You’re Gone” / “Mirage” idea.  It sounds as if the Beatles moved to Seattle in 1992.  It’s quite intriguing.  There was a certain simplicity that was happening with melody in the 1990s, and this demo shares that quality.  It is not bad, but the rough and distorted recording does it no favours.  It is important to remember that “demo” means “demonstration”.  You would literally record an idea to relay or demonstrate the idea to another person, either for them to perform it themselves, or see if they are interested in it.  3/5

“Rule the World #2” is a completely different idea with a similar title.  In the liner notes, Gene explains he does this to make box sets harder for reviewers to write about (kidding!).  This is a very grungey, alternative song with droning guitars and a distinctly 90s sound.  This is one of the songs Gene wrote with Scott Van Zen.  It’s pretty good, and if Kiss had just made more albums instead of drying up creatively after the reunion, this might have come out on one of them.  3/5

“Damn, I’m Good” starts with Gene coming up with the CCR-inspired chord ideas on acoustic.  It then fades into a funky electric demo with Eric Singer.  Gene notes that he re-used some of the lyrics in this song in multiple other songs in the box set, including opener “Are You Ready”.  Now, you don’t often associate Gene Simmons with funky rock, but “Damn, I’m Good” cooks.  Kiss could not have done a song this funky without Ace Frehley, which is to say, though it is only mildly funky, it would benefit from the guy who wrote “Torpedo Girl”.  In short:  this is a different song and it may turn off some listeners.  I think it’s great.  4.5/5

An instrumental version of “Dial L For Love” appeared on Eric Carr’s posthumous Unfinished Business album.  Now here is a full version with drums, lyrics and Gene Simmons singing.  Bruce Kulick also appears, and Adam Mitchell helped finish.  It has a cool 80s riff with the harmonics that were currently in vogue.  Had it been included, Gene says it would have been on Animalize or Asylum, but I think his memory is a bit faulty.  This sounds more like Crazy Nights era.  It should have had Eric Carr singing.  The chorus sounds up his alley.  3.5/5

“Just Like the Movies #1” is the only song Gene wrote with singer / songwriter Stephen Bishop.  This might be a good thing.  It’s hard to hear what Gene was going for.  It sounds like something circa Unmasked, with complex pre-recorded drums and a dancey sound.  In fact some of it did end up in “She’s So European” if you listen carefully.  You won’t read that in the liner notes.   Gene liked the title as a chorus idea:  “Just like the movies, I feel like Romeo.”  The idea seems like it has something usable, but this recording wouldn’t have been it.  2/5

“I Know Who You Are” ended up on Gene’s first solo album as “Living In Sin”.  This early demo features Joe X. Dube of Starz on drums.  Though this version still features prominent piano beats, it’s more rock n’ roll, and Kiss-like, than his solo counterpart.  You can almost hear where Gene would want Ace to lay down a fat solo.  Gene says all this is based on an old song idea called “Drive Me Wild”.  3.5/5

“Sweet Temptation”, or part of it anyway, was used in “Only You” on The Elder.  It becomes the “I can’t believe this is true, why do I listen to you?” part.  The rest was discarded.  Which is fine.  The chorus is not memorable.  It’s fascinating how these songs come to be.  Of course, as we have discussed, perhaps the older demo of “Only You” is better than the final, but here’s the missing element that was needed to created the Elder version.  2/5

“Are You Always This Hot” is a late-80s shredder song featuring Bruce Kulick and co-written by Adam Mitchell.  The solo is all whammy and tricks, and the tempo is that uptempo plod that Gene was good at on albums like Animalize.  “Are You Always This Hot” is a song title we’ve seen printed in magazines and books for years, but I always thought with a title like that, it was a Paul song.  Nope!  All Gene.  2.5/5

“Fourever” goes back to the same sessions as “Bad Bad Lovin'” aka “Dr. Love”, so you know how old it is, though this version sounds newer.  It features prominent sax, and was inspired by the Dave Clark Five.  It’s basically Gene singing about himself and Kiss, but it’s certainly not the first time.  It’s pretty good, mostly because of the saxophone and cool shouted backing vocals.  It could have worked with Kiss, who did eventually incorporate sax into some of their music.  3.5/5

Average score by song:   3.3/5 stars

 

Disk 9 Track length and songwriters (from Wikipedia)

1. It’s Gonna Be Alright (4:30) Simmons / Japp
2. It’s Gonna Be Alright #2 (3:15) Simmons / Japp
3. Everybody Knows #1 (3:55) Simmons
4. Everybody Knows #2 (3:45) Simmons
5. You’re All That I Want (4:06) Simmons
6. Kids With Painted Faces (3:15) Leader / Simmons
7. I Wanna Rule the World (5:01) Simmons
8. Rule the World #2 (4:08) Simmons / Van Zen
9. Damn, I’m Good (3:29) Simmons
10. Dial L for Love (3:42) Simmons / Mitchell / Carr
11. Just Like the Movies #1 (2:45) Simmons / Bishop
12. I Know Who You Are (3:28) Simmons
13. Sweet Temptation (2:48) Simmons
14. Are You Always This Hot (3:01) Simmons / Mitchell
15. Fourever (3:05) Simmons

#1043: Music From the Elder – Winter 1986

An expansion upon #579:  Entering the Asylum

 

RECORD STORE TALES #1043: Music From the Elder – Winter 1986

As much as we teased him, and as much as he may have deserved it, George Balazs was something of the elder statesman of music on our street.  An awkward kid with big glasses, big hair, and knobby knees, George was an outcast from every group.  Yet, George was passionate about music to a degree that pushed the rest of us further in as well.

George fancied himself a bass player, and Gene Simmons was his idol.  He posed like Gene, he sang like Gene, and just really wanted to be Simmons.  He surely gave it a shot, but to most of us, he was a joke.  An awkward, porn-obsessed older kid who dressed in the full metal regalia with studded wristbands and bandannas.  What he did have going for him was a pretty good record collection.

I don’t know where he got the money, working at Long John Silver’s down the street, but George always had a steady stream of new records coming in.  Sam the Record Man, Dr. Disc, or Encore Records was his supplier.  George always had a hustle going on, selling old comic boys or toys.  He always felt like he was making money, even though he was buying the comics at retail price and selling them for half that.  I got my entire GI Joe collection from him that way.  George was acquiring complete collections of Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and Lee Aaron vinyl.  Kiss was nearly complete:  By the start of 1986 he finally acquired Kiss Killers, and only needed Double Platinum and The Elder.

George always made it well known how good his Kiss collection was.  We all knew what he needed.  He made sure that was publicly known.

Meanwhile, I was in grade eight, a miserable year of fake friends and emboldened bullies.  There was a newer kid in class, named Joe Ciaccia (pronounced “chee-chaw”).  In casual conversation, Joe boasted that he already had a complete Kiss collection.  I suspected he was lying to impress me, but I pressed him on it.  If his was complete, maybe he’d sell his copy of The Elder to George.  I was being selfless here.  Even though I had started getting Kiss albums myself, I was thinking only of George.  I knew George would allow me to record it, once acquired.

I informed George that I knew someone who had The Elder, and George nearly leaped out of his shoes.

“WHO?” he asked.

“Joe Ciccia, this kid at school.  He says he has all the Kiss albums.”

“Bullshit,” said George.  “There hasn’t been a copy of The Elder for sale in this town in two years.”

“Well he says he has it,” I insisted.  I was instructed to broker a trade, and so I did.

On a slushy Sunday afternoon in the dead of winter, I loaded up my Sanyo ghetto blaster with batteries and my Kiss Asylum tape.  With Bob Schipper and George Balazs, we trudged off in the snow, blasting “King of the Mountain”.  I can still remember holding that stereo as steady as I could, while Eric Carr pounded out the drum intro.  Asylum was their newest album, and my copy was only a few months old.

George was adamant that we were going to Joe Ciccia’s place, and not leaving without The Elder.  The address and time were set up.  “I don’t care what he wants for it, I’m not leaving without that record.”  The Elder was all but legendary.  None of us had heard any of the music, except George, who had seen the music video for “A World Without Heroes” once.  He loved the song.  He could not wait to get that record in his hands and on his platter!  No matter the cost.

It wasn’t a long walk, it just took forever with that slush all over the ground.  It was a wet, dark Canadian winter day, and we were on a mission.

Joe lived on Breckenridge Drive, the same street as Brian Vollmer and Ian Johnson.  Joe was about to inherit a certain crown from Ian – the king of lies.

We arrived at Joe’s apartment and buzzed.  No answer.  Buzzed again.  No answer.  It became clear that, as I had suspected.  Joe was all talk and no Elder.  We waited outside in the cold a while, but there was no sign of Joe.  We were at the right place at the expected time, but Joe was hiding.  As expected, George was partly crushed and mostly pissed off.  Joe dodged me at school the next day.  George kept pestering me to arrange a second hookup with Joe, thinking he still had that copy of The Elder that he wanted so badly.  I realized Joe was full of shit and told George my unfortunate opinion.  The record was not there, period.  Joe was telling stories, trying to act cool and impress me at school.  Then he got caught in the lie, not realizing that George was going to go apeshit and do whatever he had to do to get this record, and he hid.  This was after going so far as to arrange a trade and giving me the address.  He really went all the way before his lie could take him no further.

George did get a copy of The Elder a  short time later, and he still taped me a copy.  It was a strange album to me, with a lot of music that didn’t sound like rock, but I liked it because it was Kiss.  Songs like “The Oath”, “I” and “Odyssey” were immediately appealing.

What happened to Joe?  He was one of the first kids to have a girlfriend at school.  I seem to remember it being quite scandalous for our little Catholic school.  He was making out with Sharon Burns, a girl we’d known since Kindergarten.  Then we graduated and I never saw him again.

When I think of Joe I’ll always remember him for two things:  the colossal Kiss lie, and making out with Sharon on a religious retreat at Mount Mary.  Things you just never forget.

#833: Just A Boy

STOPARRETPotentially triggering material ahead.  The following is a work of fiction — or not.

 

Just A Boy

I stepped into the titanium chamber, glowing lightly purple from the inside.  A bare metal seat was firmly bolted to the floor with two control panels, one on either arm.  The seat was its only occupant.  The walls glowed faintly as the mercury pumps worked their strange magic.  I sat.  The door closed automatically, latched shut and hissed with the sound of a vacuum seal made perfect.

On the right control panel, I entered a date.  February 18, 1986.  On the left, my hand flew as I swiped a series of commands.  In my excitement, I forgot to fasten my seatbelt.  With that now tight across my chest, I pulled the red lever on the far left.  My vision blurred.

G-forces assaulted my body but I had no difficulty in breathing.  I saw stars, the kind like when you fall and hit your head.  I heard voices but they were melded together and the words indistinguishable.  White noise but identifiably human.  Then I heard music.  A guitar strummed.  A triangle tinkled.

I was close.

The taste of hot chocolate, but overly sweet and unappealing.

Very close.

The sensation of cold and damp.  Feels like February.  I must be there.

Music again.

For I am just a boy,
Too young to be sailing.
I am just a boy,
And my future is unveiling,
And I’m so frightened of failing.

My eyes opened — I didn’t realize they had been closed.  The chamber door was open ahead of me and I could see white snow, and dark green trees.  I heard the sound of children.  But I could not be seen.  I could not be heard.  In fact I was not really there at all.  A part of me was, but not physically.  I could see, hear, smell and feel my surroundings but not affect them.  The process of travelling back through time had a strange effect on the senses.  To a limited degree, I could also feel what my younger self was experiencing.  The cold, wet feet.  The taste of that awful hot chocolate.  I was in the right place.

This was Mount Mary 1986.

Every year, the Catholic school sent its graduating grade to a week long retreat at Mount Mary.  A few students declined to attend, but only over the loud objections of the Grade 8 teacher.

“Any student I had that didn’t go to Mount Mary either died or went on the drugs!”

For an entire week, I was stuck with those awful kids and the oblivious teachers.  It was a lonely time.  That’s why I had to come back here.

We weren’t allowed to bring anything with us to Mount Mary except our clothes.  No Walkmans, no music.  The night before we left, I absorbed as much Kiss as I could.  Times like this called for my favourite band, and only my favourite band.  I memorised Double Platinum and The Elder the best I could.

That music that I was hearing when I arrived back here?  The songs in my younger self’s head.

I surveyed the landscape.  It felt like I was floating.  I could see my legs, and they hovered inches above the fresh dusting of pure white.  I could move in any direction at any speed I liked.  I just had to think it.  I couldn’t be seen or detected in any way.  Nothing more than a ghost in their world.  A world that disappeared, and transformed over the decades into the one we live in today.

I followed the sound of the children.  Their footsteps were deep in the snow.  The larger prints were from the teachers.  The adults who enabled the bullying.  The people who allowed this trauma to happen under their watch.

“Here we are!  Agony Hill!” said one of the supervisors.  I remember this hike.   The teachers hyped up the forest to us beforehand.  “You’ve never seen trees so dense in your life!” they boasted.  It wasn’t true.  It was the same as the cottage.  Agony Hill was a steep incline that we had to traverse.  This time, I flew.

There!  Just below.  I saw him.  Me.  In the blue coat, blue mittens, and blue jeans.  Why did I always wear blue?

A couple larger kids pushed.  I felt the shove in my back.  I felt the surge of anger and the welling of tears.  I remembered.

I stopped.  I had no idea that time travel would be this intense.  I wasn’t prepared.  The wounds are fresh.  Other memories are flooding back.  An assault of snowballs was still to come, followed by the laughter.

It was time to do this.

I willed my presence ahead and caught up to my younger self.  My face was red.  I was burying as much of it as I could into my coat.  I could see the glistening in my own eyes.  I was utterly alone.  I had a few friends but they were walking in groups with other kids that didn’t like me.  But I wasn’t really alone this time.

It felt weird talking to myself.  I put the strangeness aside and spoke.

“Kid,” I started and stumbled.

“I know you can’t hear me.  I can’t hear me.  This is weird.  Let me start over.  Kid, I know what you are going through now feels like an unending series of hellish bad dreams.  I know it because I lived it.  I survived it.  Those kids that have power over you today — power over your fear — won’t be around forever.  You only have to hold out a little longer.  Just a few more months.  And there are good things to look forward to in those months too.  It’s not all doom and gloom.”

“Trust me on this.  You are just at the horizon of experiences that will change your life.  When that happens these kids will be in the past, forever.  They will have no power over you anymore.  They will have no more influence on your life than a bent and creased photograph.  I didn’t realize it before, but seeing you now, you are already on your way.”

“You climbed Agony Hill.  You were breathless by the time you were over the top but you made it.  And guess what?  Your legs and lungs will be stronger tomorrow because of it.”

“This whole time, with all these kids, you’ve been preparing yourself for the better years.  And you are going to cherish and savour every last moment of them.  You are going to use all of this, the good and the bad, to light a fire.  Everything about this time and this place is going to drive you to be an individual.  And that individual is the guy next to you right now.”

I paused my monologue and observed something peculiar.  I saw something flicker on my younger self’s face.  It was like he could hear me.  He shouldn’t be able to.  It turns out, nature is always two steps of humanity.  There is no such thing as a time travel paradox.  Nature wouldn’t allow it.  All I could do was see and feel the past, but I couldn’t interact with it.  The laws of reality are quite firm on this matter.  Yet I could swear I saw my past self react to my own words.  Impossible.

Yet the younger me appeared more relaxed in posture.  I wouldn’t go so far as to use the word “confident”, but there was a visible shift in that direction.

Impossible!  Carry on.

I continued.  “Stay you.  You are going discover some amazing new music, meet people that inspire you to create, and these…”  I trailed off.  No need to encourage my younger self to swear more.  “These little jerks are going to be nothing more than ghosts in your past real soon.  But what they have done by mocking you and belittling your individuality is that they have made you more determined.  Instead of trying to be more like them, you are going to keep pushing to be more like you.”

I had to pause again.  After all, I don’t want to lie to myself.

“It’s not all a bed of roses.  I don’t want to mislead you.  What these kids did to you is going to last and it’s going to take work and time to process it.  Sometimes memories will sneak up on you.  But I’m OK.  I can honestly say that I am OK.  Being an individual makes me happy.  It means people really like me, for being me, not for someone I’m pretending to be.   And guess what?  Tables always turn.  One day, the things you have always loved your whole life are going to be considered cool.  And you are going to be the expert.”

Suddenly my younger self smiled.  I could not believe it.  Coincidence?  I immediately felt the need to cut my visit shorter than I planned.  What if the science had an unseen loophole?  Science always has a way of surprising us.  I didn’t want to change the past, or even take the risk.  Let the theorists argue about it.  I had to go.

“See you round, kid.”  I gently kissed myself on the forehead.  It didn’t seem a weird thing to do.  But I had to go now or I’d never leave.

In a blink I was back in my chair.  I felt the warmth of my tears on my cheeks.  I had to wipe my eyes to set the date back to the present.  Seatbelt on, I pulled the lever.  I saw the stars, and again I heard the music.  Drums now, stuttering through time.

I was so frightened,
I almost ran away.
I didn’t know that I could do,
Anything I needed to.

They said I didn’t stand a chance,
I wouldn’t win no way.
But I’ve got news for you,
There’s nothing I can’t do.

I believe in me.

They say that time travel can be a bit unnerving.  That’s why most people don’t do it.   They try it once, and most folks leave it at that.  Me, I need to recover after this trip.  Home again, my tired eyes closed as I drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

CODA

February 18, 1986.  Mount Mary, Ontario Canada.

I can’t sleep.  All I can think about it is that voice I heard today on Agony Hill.  This place is weird.  The shadows on the walls are strange and creepy and these beds feel like army beds.  But what’s keeping me up is that voice.  I’ve never heard a voice like that before.  Was it a ghost?  Is this place haunted?

I’m drifting off, but I hear music:  the music in my head that I memorized before they bussed us off to this awful place.  The beat is still fresh in my head and the words echo into my sleep.  I feel OK.  I feel like I’m going to be OK.

I believe in me.
I believe in rock and roll.
Yes I believe in me.

 

#344: Childhood Recording Sessions

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RECORD STORE TALES Mk II: Getting More Tale
#344: Childhood Recording Sessions

When we were kids in the 1980’s, pre-internet, pre-downloading, the only avenue we had to share music with each other was taping.  If a friend had an album you wanted, you could try to record it.  For example my next door neighbor George had all the Kiss albums, on LP.  All he was missing was The Elder.  What Kiss albums I didn’t own myself (which was most of them) I gradually taped one by one from George.  I’d write down the song titles and make a cassette cover.  When George wrote down the songs, I couldn’t always read them.  When he did get The Elder in ’86, he made a copy for me.  For a little while, I thought Kiss had a song on it called “Escape from the Ish”.

One Sunday afternoon in ’85 I went over to his place with a 60 minute tape, intending to record Unmasked.  George dusted off the LP, dropped the needle and hit “record”.  At the same time, he also decided to play bass along to the whole album.  Somehow, his bass bled through to the tape recorder.

I didn’t find an original copy of Unmasked for two more years.  Until that time, all I had to listen to was my taped copy, complete with George’s bass “overdubbed” on top of Gene’s!  If I think back and remember really hard, I can still hear in my mind how George kept playing through the song fade outs!

Other recording sessions were far more elaborate.  When George acquired Kiss’ Animalize Live Uncensored on VHS tape, he brought it over along with his own VCR, so we could dub a copy, VCR to VCR.  On other occasions I would bring our VCR over to my best friend Bob’s place, and record there.  My parents hated it when I disconnected the VCR!  My dad always seemed to fear we’d never get it hooked up properly again!  Or that we’d lose the controller, or worse, break it.  But then, if we were recording at my house, my dad would always walk in and mock the bands.  “What’s wrong with that man?” my dad said of Bruce Dickinson.  “He keeps on screaming as if he’s in terrible pain!”

Copying music improved greatly in the 1990’s.  The durability of the blank tapes improved, and dubbing from CD was infinitely better than recording tape to tape.  Because of the improvements in quality, the cassettes we dubbed in the 90’s are still playable.  Still, there is no comparison in sound to a CD.  Finally in 2001, I purchased my first CD burner, enabling me to create the best possible sounding copies of music.

None of those improvements in technology, nor the advent of the CD-R, swayed me from owning an original CD or LP.  I may have had a burned copy of the Sultans of Ping F.C., but there’s nothing better than an original.  Somebody could send me a CD rip of some amazing rare bonus tracks by bands I like, which is great…but not as great as owning the original.

Why?

I don’t really know.  Certainly I have plenty of friends from every age group who are content not to own any CDs.  They don’t need to own it in order to listen on an iPod.  That’s not good enough for me.  I want the whole experience.  I want the cover art (on paper, not a computer screen), I want the liner notes.  I want to file the new CD on my shelves in the right order, and then gaze upon my collection of a given artist.  I like to handle the artwork, the CD, and take a hard squint at the pictures.  It’s hard to explain.  I can justify it by saying CD just sounds better than an mp3.  And as good as CD gets, sometimes vinyl can sound even better.

Even though I don’t need them anymore, I miss the old days of the Sunday recording sessions.  I miss the social aspects of friends gathering in somebody’s basement or living room to share and discuss and enjoy music (all of which I later bought, anyway).  I miss that feeling of heading home with some new music to listen to, right out of a friend’s collection.  But I don’t miss having only enough money to buy blank tapes, instead of originals.  I’m much happier now with my collection of well loved physical, original music.