Oh, it’s good to be back from the dead. Less than 24 hours ago, a major Internet outage knocked thousands of radio stations off the air, including METAL SHOP and HAIR BAND RADIO. All are back now, so your days and nights can again be filled with 80’s metal and hard rock.
It appears the outage may have effected everything else as well because it’s been a slow news day. However, I did come across this interesting interview from last month with SLAYER and EXODUS guitarist Gary Holt, who was asked about how he previously admitted he was a fan of RATT with thrash and glam metal being enemies in the ’80s. When asked why Ratt in particular stood out as opposed to other bands from the genre, Holt said: “The talent! Warren DeMartini is one of the best guitar players on Earth, with some of the best riffs. His solos are incredible. So I mean, I think that’s where it starts. A guy like me, who was raised since the birth of thrash metal and hair bands were like our common mutual enemies, we all secretly coveted all of George Lynch and Warren’s licks! They’re both phenomenal guitar players. And the bands are great because they had those guys writing such awesome stuff and they had the chops to play it. And you know, the guitar tone…everything like that was just killer. it was some super good stuff that I didn’t appreciate till later in life. I always appreciated the soloing aspect. But you know, now, you listen to the opening riff of ‘Lay It Down’, and it’s just brilliant.”
Regarding his current gig with Slayer, Holt says, “I Still Come Out On Stage Trying To Make Jeff Hanneman Proud; It’s Still His Band Now”.
Happy Birthday to Anvil singer and guitarist Steve “Lips” Kudlow. He turns 60 today. The band’s documentary film ‘Anvil! The Story of Anvil’ revealed “Lips” often had other jobs during Anvil’s career due to the band’s continual lack of success since the late eighties and the lack of income it had produced. He has worked as a truck driver for a catering business and despite it being often physically demanding and ‘backbreaking’ work, he has spoken positively of his job and lifestyle, saying “I’ve raised a family, I own a home, I’ve lead a great, “normal” life, which is something that you just can’t do if you’re a monster star your entire life. Working the other jobs allowed me to go out and play across the world and do whatever I like, but when I come home, I get to be normal again.”
Former AC/DC Bassist Mark Evans is also turning 60 today. He quit the band in 1977 after becoming tired of touring.
On this date in 1981, IRON MAIDEN released the single “Twilight Zone” from the album “Killers” and today in 1984, the classic mockumentary “This Is Spinal Tap” was released. Probably no surprise that much of the dialouge in that film was ad libbed.
That’s all for now. The metal is flowing on a Wednesday, so it’s off to a good start. Rock on brothers and sisters.
