This week on Tim’s Vinyl Confessions: #8 in his Sammy Hagar Deep Dive video series. This all coincides with a new book he has out, all about the Red Rocker’s discography. V.O.A. is a special album for me personally as it was my first ever Sammy Hagar solo purchase. I bought it for “I Can’t Drive 55” but I found a whole lot more.
What did Tim and I like, and dislike about this record? Find out today on Tim’s Vinyl Confessions. Don’t Make Me Wait too long…the show will be up this afternoon!
Buy Red On Black: The Listener’s Guide to Sammy Hagar at this link.
A big thank-you to my co-host Jex Russell and special guest Tim Durling for this informative, fun and funny look at the career of Sammy Hagar. The show was also about this new book that Tim has out about the Red Rocker.
OK, sure, the show went off the rails from time to time, but there were plenty of highlights:
Enjoy the show!
Show notes:
How do you go about asking Greg Renoff to write a forward. Just “Hey Greg…”?
Thanks for the shout out about the “late tax”.
Do you think Roth still listens to Montrose?
Have you ever heard “Sammy Hagar Weekend” by Thelonious Monster?
Regarding the “contractual obligation album”, there was a lot of information here that I was not aware of before, such as that note inside 5150 that says “Sammy’s solo albums can be found on Geffen records.” When you first notice that?
Capital Special Markets – were these only serviced to certain kinds of stores?
THE QUIZ:
Who engineered Chickenfoot III? – Mike Fraser
What is the name of the alien race that Sammy believes abducted him, and inspired many of his lyrics? – The Nine
Did the Sam & Dave actually happen, or was it just a Mandela Effect?
To coincide with his new book RED ON BLACK: The Listener’s Guide to Sammy Hagar, Tim Durling and I took a deep dive on album #3: Musical Chairs.
Here’s what Tim has to say about this episode:
“@GrabAStackofRocK’s Mike Ladano joins me for this look through Sammy’s third album, his second to be released in 1977. For the most part, we agree on this one. Be sure and subscribe to Mike’s channel for great content.“
This is the last show recorded at the cottage in 2024, in front of a nice fireplace. I unboxed my copy of the book on this show. Buy your own by clicking below!
Purchase RED ON BLACK: The Listener’s Guide to Sammy Hagar.
This was a fun show to do. Recorded at the cottage in the summer, Tim and I had a look at the Canadian Top 100 Singles chart, for September 14, 1974. There were plenty of head-scratchers and a few well-known hits. Tim provided the education, all I did was read the listings! Even so, a majorly fun episode to do. Here’s what Tim had to say:
Mr. Lebrain is back and we REWIND the CHARTS back an even half century. We discuss the most popular songs in Canada on this date in 1974.
GRAB A STACK OF ROCK With Mike, Aaron KMA and Tim Durling
Special Edition Episode: An 8 Track Holy Grail & More
This video is years in the making. More than just an “unboxing” video, this is a fun and informative episode that documents one man’s journey to collect his favourite bands on obsolete formats, and another man’s ability to find them.
About four years ago, Aaron provided Tim with a rare 8-track tape that he needed for his collection. Another one of Aaron’s tapes went to Martin Popoff. But there was one tape that Tim needed to “complete” a specific collection. And this summer, Aaron found that one too. He just has a knack for it, and it seems appropriate that it was Aaron who found this last tape. There’s a story that goes with it, and three tapes that went to me as well!
“Complete” is in quotes, because this video is far more than just an unboxing video. This is a philosophical (and fun) discussion about 8-track tapes, collecting, and genuine Australian bubble wrap. We discuss breaks in the middle of tracks, altered track listings, and for good measure, a little bit about vintage Star Wars toys. We also speculate on one tape that may still be out there, but remains unknown.
This episode is in two parts. It begins with Aaron and I unboxing three beautiful 8-track tapes, and a number of birthday gifts. Also inside that box was Tim’s tape, which I mailed immediately to New Brunswick. The video cuts and picks up with Tim, ready to open his treasure in front of the cameras.
Today August 26 at 3:00 PM EST!
Aerosmith have called it a day, at least insofar as playing live is concerned. While we know a series of reissues is coming, it is likely that Aerosmith are done as an active band. I never got to see them live, but at least I did get to participate in this great Top Five album ranking with Tim, Jex and Will! (The same team that did a “least favourite Kiss list last year.)
The task was simple: Pick our top five Aerosmith albums, and two runners-up. This time, Jex didn’t go wild and pick, like, Just Push Play as his #1. In fact we think these lists were pretty rock solid! Some lesser-appreciated albums were given love, and the “big ones” were well represented. Studio only, no live or compilations.
Please enjoy this show as much as we enjoyed making it.
Today on Tim’s Vinyl Confessions, we deep dive into the new (final?) Mr. Big album called Ten. Shockingly, it’s their tenth studio album. I know, right? It’s also a few firsts: the first album with no songwriting from bassist Billy Sheehan, and debut Mr. Big album for new drummer Nick D’Virgilio. It has been eight long years since their last album, Defying Gravity, which wasn’t bad at all. Did they top it? Did they go out on a good note?
My written review will go up tomorrow.
A few weeks ago, Tim & I tackled a classic Helix album on Tim’s Vinyl Confessions. Check out this 4:07 mini album review, in which we discuss the album and the rare Canadian glow in the dark cassette.
The album should have been bigger than it was, so hopefully we spread some appreciation in the video below.
Even since the LeBrain Train days, I loved a good intro video to a live show. Not too many YouTube shows do intro videos these days, but it has always been something I liked. Even back in the Train days, I wanted an intro video with every guest we ever had appearing in it. That carries over to Grab A Stack of Rock. The only problem is, the intro video was 1:14 minutes long, and it was getting harder and harder to cram everyone in. I had to sacrifice a lot of Harrison’s Lego art in order to fit everyone.
The other problem with the intro video were the lyrics. There was one line that was relevant when the show started, but not anymore. I figured the only thing I would be able to do was hire a band (I had one in mind) to re-record the entire song from scratch.
Fortunately, audio wizard and author Tim Durling had a quicker, easier, and cheaper solution. He made some minor edits to the original track and voila!
This new version of the song is extended by nine seconds, an absolute eternity in some ways, and enough to pack in a lot more Lego art and show cameos. The new version includes the latest guest to appear on our show, Mr. Matt Phillips.
With this new show intro, we’ll be able to keep adding guests for the next year. Thank you so much Tim for doing this. As Johnny Walters used to say, “the cheque is in the mail!”
Please enjoy and let me know your feedback!
Huge thank you to Jex Russell and Tim Durling for spending Friday afternoon with us chatting about Kansas! Tim’s third book, Let It Be Your Guide: The Kansas Album Review, is out now Like his previous two books, you can get this one now on your local Amazon.
Kansas are progressive rock legends, but did they ever get the respect they deserved? They are still making music today, and good music too. This book, and this interview, reflect a love of Kansas that perhaps isn’t seen enough in media (mainstream and social) these days. Tim hopes to change that. His appreciation for the music is sincere. As for Jex and I, we could only sit back and learn.
We had one surprise lined up for Tim, a Grab A Stack of Rock first. In a surprise appearance, TVC bandmate and book cover artist Matt Phillips explains what went into the artwork, and other important details about publishing a book like this. Indeed, there are photos of articles from Tim’s personal collection inside, all laid out beautifully with great care. Thank you Matt for sending in this great video. If you want to know about some of the Easter eggs on the book art, watch this video.
Congratulations Tim on this third book, and please support him by picking up a copy on Amazon. Jex and I will be back from the cottage soon for another Grab A Stack of Rock. Thanks everybody for your viewer questions and comments!
SHOW NOTES
“A FAN’S EAR-VIEW OF WHAT MAKES KANSAS’ MUSIC SO SPECIAL” – Jeff Wagner
Tim, what took you so long to write a third book? Y&T was 7 months ago.
Tell us your point of entry into Kansas. (I do not remember ever seeing Kansas on MuchMusic)
One might argue that you were born to write this book, given your channel “Tim’s Vinyl Confessions”.
During a debate of greatest “Song 1 Side 1” in history among the lead characters in the movie High Fidelity, Jack Black’s character criticizes one of John Cusack’s character’s proposals as “too obvious, like ‘Point of Know Return'”.
Let’s assume you’re talking to Kansas megafans watching this show, who have every album already. Why should they buy this book?
The band is known for clever wordplay in titles, such as “Point of Know Return” and “Leftoverture”. Did you sneak any clever wordplay into this book that you can tell us about?
mikeladano.com 