RichRock
November 24, 1991: Eric Carr (Paul Charles Caravello) of KISS died of heart cancer at age 41.
He replaced Peter Criss in 1980, choosing the stage name “Eric Carr” and taking up the “Fox” persona.
Eric gave KISS a new sound with his energetic and “heavy” drumming, especially on the album ‘Creatures of the Night‘ (1982).
File this in the ‘huh!?’ category. METAL SHOP listeners may strongly disagree.
RockshowCritique.com: “Queen Of The Reich” has been one of your most popular tunes yet over the past several years, you rarely played it live. Was that by choice or is it just a harder song to sing?
GT: “Actually its not very popular at all. It’s funny actually a lot of people don’t know about that song. A lot of people don’t care about that song. Its an early song that was written and it shows. It’s funny the reaction you get because it’s a lot of blank stares. In fact its the same stare you get when you play a new song that nobody’s heard before. People just aren’t that familiar with it. Given there are a few hardcore fans that might know that song or like that song and know what it is but the majority of the people there don’t. So its not really a song that I enjoy singing strictly because lyrically its pretty adolescent. It was the first song written thirty some odd years ago and obviously I cannot relate to it anymore. I think for performance its always best for the performer to really believe in the material their singing or playing. If you don’t believe in it its really difficult to get behind a song, do it well and do it at a level that comes across with any kind of believability. For me I honestly can’t relate to the whole dungeons and dragons lyrical content of that song its really cartoonish and juvenile to me.”
In other recent interviews, Tate seems to be really trying to distance himself from his Queensrÿche past.
PureGrainAudio.com: In your vocation it becomes difficult because when you go out and play live, you have to play what you wrote twenty years ago. How do you approach a song that’s twenty years old and make it fresh from today’s perspective?
Geoff: There’s a huge amount of pressure to be a nostalgia act… Just play “Empire” songs. No! I don’t just want to keep playing “Empire” songs. I want to write new music. I want to keep stretching and growing as a musician and an artist. I’m going to do that no matter how much people tell me I can’t.
PureGrainAudio.com: But you still have to deliver it with conviction when you step on that stage…
Geoff: “And I want to and that’s why I don’t do some songs from the past because I can’t deliver them with any kind of conviction. I can’t get behind those lyrics. I gave up dungeons and dragons when I was thirty, you know what I’m saying?”
PureGrainAudio.com: What songs in particular?
Geoff: The first two albums. That stuff. I can’t… I understand and appreciate that some people really like it, but I liked it at the time I wrote it. But I’m in my fifties now and I don’t look at it the same way now. I don’t want to do a song that I can’t throw down with complete conviction because it’ll come across as fake.
You can take the man away from the metal, but you can’t take the metal out of the man.
Former Metallica Bassist Jason Newsted sustained neck and back injuries from banging his head every night onstage which contributed to his decision to leave the band.
But after a 12-year hiatus, Newsted plans to release new music. He was interviewed last week on Eddie Trunk’s “Friday Night Rocks” on New York’s Q104.3 FM:
“If you go back and look at those videos, like any of the live videos and stuff, oh my God — there’s no wonder that it’s the way it is; there’s definitely some serious degeneration that’s taken place in my vertebrae. I don’t know how many people spun their head like that that early in the progress of all this. I’m not gonna take the blame or the credit for anybody doing it anymore these days, but I know I did my share. I’ve had three shoulder surgeries and going back and forth with them, kind of to fix everything up, so I’ve been in rehab for many, many years trying to get everything back together. So I’m a lot better than I was for the last, probably six or seven years, I’m a lot stronger. I’ve always retained my same fighting weight, I’ve kept myself fit in that way, so that’s all cool. And I’m pretty close to the monster, and I think if I work on it a little bit, I can be the monster again.”
AC/DC Releases Their First Live Record In 20 years
Recorded in Buenos Aires in December 2009 after a 13-year absence from Argentina, nearly 200,000 fans (over three sold-out nights) witnessed the return of AC/DC.
‘Live At River Plate’ is a two CD set that captures the excitement and energy of those massive concerts and features their classics: “Back In Black,” “TNT,” “Thunderstruck,” “You Shook Me All Night Long,” “Shoot to Thrill,” and more.
Entire AC/DC Catalog Finally Available On iTunes
If KISS’ Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley could go back in time and do it all again, they most likely would choose to replace original guitarist Ace Frehley and drummer Peter Criss with current members Tommy Thayer (guitar) and Eric Singer (drums). In a recent interview with Revolver magazine, Gene said, “”I want to go on record: Eric and Tommy have revitalized the band, made Paul and myself realize what lucky bastards we are to be in KISS and to have each other. And this should have been the lineup of KISS from the beginning.”
Gene was later asked if he hears any complaints about Ace and Peter being out of the band. “When you have 3-year-old and 5-year-old fans showing up to our concerts — or even 30-year-old fans — they don’t know about Ace and Peter,” he said. “I mean, next year is going to be our 40th year. We’ve been touring longer than most of the people who come see us live have been alive. Who’s Ace and Peter? By the way, bless ’em both — what I just said doesn’t mean that Ace and Peter weren’t every bit as important as Paul and myself in the beginning of the band, but not everybody has the same DNA. Some people shouldn’t be in a marathon race. They’re just not designed for it. Some people are good for short runs.”
Added Paul, “I’ve said it before. I’ll say it again — we couldn’t be here today without what Ace and Peter did in the beginning, and we couldn’t be here today if they were still in the band.”
Caller.com: Before everyone was carrying around thousands of songs in their pockets on their iPods, music fans who wanted to hear their favorite tunes on the go or in their car were forced to make do with cassette tapes. These bygone audio artifacts, along with vinyl records, were the formats of choice in 1982. That was the year Judas Priest unleashed an album that would unwittingly steer heavy metal right into the mainstream.
On the 30th anniversary of its original release, the band has reached back into its archives for an impressive set of rarities as well as a definitive live concert performance that all make “Screaming for Vengeance: Special 30th Anniversary Edition” (Legacy/Columbia), a blast from the past well worth revisiting.
This updated version not only features an appropriately amped-up remastering job, but it also includes a handful of rare live tracks from a 1982 San Antonio show. There’s also a DVD that chronicles the group’s 1983 U.S. Festival performance in front of an audience of 375,000 people. Both die-hard fans and casual admirers will enjoy this impressive, expanded version of the album that retains all of its original metallic fury but sounds way better than that worn out cassette ever did.
Metal Forces: (Bassist Jeff Pilson) “George Lynch and Don Dokken sadly have an acrimonious relationship. Sure, there are reasons they don’t get along. I could go into all sorts of psychological explanations for why. Things have happened over the years (laughs). We were kind of a volatile band for many years – there was a lot of stuff going on. The easiest way to sum it up is just egos. I think it was just a battle of egos all of the way through. Sometimes George says things that he shouldn’t say, but he’s pretty much a from the heart kind of guy and he pretty much means what he says. He says things sincerely which people don’t get, and that’s the problem sometimes (laughs). Overall though, he’s a very from the heart kind of guy. It’s a shame that they don’t get along, but I think a lot of that has kind of dissipated over the years. I think they get along better than people realize now.”
“Nonetheless, a reunion of Dokken’s classic line-up cannot be ruled out. “It’s always a possibility, but timing and scheduling has been really tricky for T&N as it is,” the vocalist cautions. “We’d love to tour this thing, but certainly my commitments with Foreigner make it very difficult trying to tour. That was kind of the case the last time we tried to do a Dokken reunion; I just wasn’t able to devote the time to it that would’ve been necessary, and I don’t see that changing any time soon. You never know. If we were to do Dokken it would be a fairly intensive commitment though, and I just don’t see that happening right away.
“George’s and Don’s relationship isn’t an obstacle, Jeff feels. “If they were in a room together right now, they’d laugh and it’d be fine,” he adds. “I won’t say that there haven’t been some hiccups in the last couple of years (laughs). There have been a couple of times when things have been bad, but the last I heard they were fine with one another. I think they even spoke not that long ago, and it was fine.”
Good luck to METAL SHOP listener David McCrary in New Orleans who is on his way to the ‘Kong Off’ competition in Denver, Colorado, a National ‘Donkey Kong’ Contest of the top 12 players in the world.
Yes, he is one of the 12 best and gets his inspiration from 80’s Metal… he streams METAL SHOP whenever he plays the game. In fact, his nickname for the contest this weekend is ‘Power Metal’.
David alerted me two years ago that he had been playing the original 1981 Donkey Kong arcade machine in his garage and attempting to get a Top 5 world record score. He achieved that goal a year later, becoming the fourth player to achieve an officially-verified score of over one million points on a Donkey Kong arcade machine.
He has noted “I can’t play without METAL SHOP being on and I stream my video gameplay over Justin TV. Several watchers have inquired about the music and all have became fans of the station and listen to Live365 now. Thanks for the awesome music, I couldn’t have done it without the jams.”
Examiner.com: Queensrÿche now has joined the ranks of fellow ’80s-era bands L.A. Guns and Great White as groups with two versions. While his ex-mates hired Crimson Glory vocalist Todd La Torre to be a younger, simulated version of Tate, the original countered Sept. 1 with the announcement of his new version of Queensrÿche featuring Ratt drummer Bobby Blotzer, bassist Rudy Sarzo (Quiet Riot, Dio, Ozzy Osbourne), guitarist Glen Drover (Megadeth, Testament) and former Queensrÿche guitarist Kelly Gray and keyboardist Randy Gane.
Geoff Tate: “I haven’t heard him (Todd La Torre) sing. I don’t really know anything about him. Honestly, I look at the whole situation — their situation — as kind of insignificant to me. I have my own life and my own scene that I’m completely engulfed in. I really don’t pay attention to what they’re doing or how they’re doing it or what they think or what they say.”
“Queensrÿche had a glorious legacy, in my opinion. We had a very respectful name. We had a body of work that was very well-respected and very diverse and unique all over the world. We had a stellar reputation. Those three guys, they took that reputation, and they tore it apart and rubbed it in the dirt. That’s how much they cared about it. And if they care so little about it, they’re not the kind of people I want to associate with. Ever. Again. Honestly, I feel complete freedom being away from them, and they can live their small, little lives and do what they’re going to do, and that’s great. Happy for ’em. But I won’t have anything else to do with them.”
Powerline: “Randy was very different than other legends who have left us too soon, such as Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughn. They were amazing guitar players. Randy was an exceptionally gifted musician as well. But the strong interest in Randy 30 years after his passing is attributed to several factors. For starters, he left us just after he made it big. It was a time when we couldn’t wait to hear what would be coming next. Sadly, he passed away and left us hanging and wanting so much more. There is virtually no video of him. This adds to his mystique. We, as fans, want so much more than we were given — more music, more video, more photos. We want more of all things Randy! We just can’t let him go. He was so charismatic. We just can’t get enough of him. All the information that has been released about Randy prior to our book was very on the surface. There hadn’t been anything released that explored and documented who he was. Our book is filled with stories as told by his closest friends who knew him best. They introduce us to the part of Randy that we’ve always wanted to know.”
“It was his dedication to learning and furthering himself that we find the most inspiring and remarkable. Even Ozzy was struck by this. When Randy informed Ozzy he was quitting the rock and roll lifestyle in favor of pursuing a master’s degree in classical music, Ozzy asked him to wait a little longer. Ozzy said, “One more year and you can buy your own university. You have to strike while you are hot.” Randy didn’t care about any of that. He made up his mind and nothing was going to persuade him otherwise. There again, it’s that dedication to his beliefs that we find so inspiring. Furthering himself musically was at the top of his priority list. Anyone else would have relished in what he was experiencing. Selling out the world’s biggest arenas and stadiums got old for him rather quick. He got a taste of it and desperately wanted to move on to something else. That was Randy. He had a long list of things he wanted to accomplish.”
“Randy was one in a billion. He didn’t try to be different. He was born different. I don’t think he dressed that way because his goal was to be different. He wore what he wanted to wear. He used to take his first girlfriend, Jan, with him when he shopped for shoes. He preferred the girl’s shoes, and he would have her try them on for him. Clearly, he was embarrassed to buy them for himself, and he knew he would get grief for wearing them. It didn’t matter to him. He was very committed to doing what he wanted to do. Sometimes it did get him into a lot of trouble, especially at school. He constantly had jocks wanting to beat him up. They called him names. It didn’t affect him. Randy may have been frail, but he was emotionally strong. It took more than names to rattle him. He just laughed at them.”