KISS
If you ever wanted a quick reference to where your favorite hair metal band got their start, check out this Hair Metal History Map put together by Phil D.
Phil writes… “I spent dozens of hours putting it together and now, I’m trying to share it with those who would appreciate it! It is a work in progress and I would love any suggestions or input!”
Band choices were made based on the look, subject matter, attitude, lifestyle, time period, influence, affiliated bands, radio/TV play, and Phil’s memory.
Click on any band photo to see where they are from. You can also click the ‘Timeline’ tab that will show the hair metal movement origins in 1977 and where it grew across the U.S. and Europe through 1994.
Thanks for the great work Phil!
Welcome to WTF Thursday. Rumors persist that Axl Rose will perform with AC/DC as a guest vocalist for their 10 remaining shows, but this sounds like a done deal with Malcolm Young’s son claiming ‘It’s True.’ Another source says Brian Johnson was “supposed to retire after the last tour.” Official word should be coming any day or minute now.
40 years ago this summer, KISS’ Gene Simmons discovered VAN HALEN and recorded several demos with them, including Eddie and Alex playing KISS’ “Christine Sixteen.” Those recordings have never seen the light of day. Simmons says “It’s a lot of cool stuff, but the band just doesn’t want it to come out — you know, the back and forth with [David Lee] Roth complicated matters.” While there is no official release, you can hear the demos online at this location – http://www.vhnd.com/2016/03/22/gene-simmons-talks-lost-seventies-van-halen-demos/
METALLICA’s “Master Of Puppets” is among the albums that have been selected for induction into the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry, which annually selects 25 recordings that are “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” and are at least 10 years old. The selections for the 2015 registry bring the total number of recordings on the registry to 450, only a minuscule portion of the Library’s vast recorded-sound collection of more than 3 million items.
On considering the possible end of IRON MAIDEN when Bruce Dickinson was diagnosed with cancer, bassist Steve Harris said “At this stage of our career, I really don’t think we would have looked to another singer. We didn’t even consider it. There’s no point. We can’t really replace Bruce anyway, so we wouldn’t try at this stage in our career. I don’t think so. But, thank God we didn’t need to and he’s fine.” Harris went on to say “If Maiden ended tomorrow, it’s been amazing and I can live with that.”
This sounds like an Onion article, but this headline was seen on a metal website yesterday – “MÖTLEY CRÜE Reunites As ‘Motley Crew’ To Avoid Retirement Contract”
Today in 1979, MOTÖRHEAD paved the way for thrash with their second album ‘Overkill’
Happy Birthday to Exodus singer Steve Souza. He turns 52 today.
The 80’s metal runs loud and proud on METAL SHOP 24/7. Thanks for listening!
Hola! regular readers and dubious skimmers alike!
It’s Wednesday, March 16th and AC/DC frontman Brian Johnson’s close friend, comedian Jim Breuer, has released a video message clarifying the comments he made in which he suggested the singer was “kicked to the curb” by the band after 36 years. “Just so people know, I’m not quoting Brian Johnson,” said Breuer. “It’s me venting. He didn’t say a lot of those things. When I first saw him he was just down and sad and just saying, ‘I’m just trying to work things out and I hope it all comes to fruition.’ The rest is me just trying to lift him up, being funny and goofy. Then I just talked in a conversation with a friend kind of exaggerating some of those points. I had no clue the madness that it would create.”
Many famous names have been floated as possibilities to guest sing for AC/DC and finish out the current tour. One of those names is KROKUS vocalist Marc Storace, whose band has opened for AC/DC in the past and who once turned down an opportunity to audition to replace the late Bon Scott in 1980. Storace says he would ‘certainly’ accept the offer to front the band, if an offer came, saying “As far as it concerns me, obviously there’s my loyalty to Krokus, but the guys would understand if the offer came and I would certainly take it up this time and go for an audition. Then it’s up to Angus to decide. For me, AC/DC is Angus Young — no offense to Brian Johnson. I think Brian Johnson did a magnificent job with his special unique kind of voice. But losing your hearing is not a nice thing. It’s like losing our eyesight for a musician.”
I remember being sick and staying home from school one day in 1976 and my dad coming home from work with the new KISS album as a get well gift. That record was ‘Destroyer’ released this week 40 years ago and what most consider to be their best album. Rolling Stone magazine disagreed with that sentiment, writing “the vocals are undistinguished and emotionally empty; the lyrics — about partying and the rock scene, with plenty of campy S&M allusions — trite. Worse yet, there’s not a memorable guitar solo on the album.” Click Here to read the rest of the review.
Today in 1992, during a METALLICA concert at Orlando Arena, fans dangled an usher by his ankles from the balcony as trouble broke out at the show. The band was charged $38,000 for repairs and cleaning after the audience trashed the building.
On this date in 2008, Daniel MacMaster, vocalist for Bonham, died of complications from pneumonia at age 39. R.I.P.
It’s a short one today, but the best part of this is your contribution, anyway. So, have at it!
Metal Monday is on and it’s Leap Day, which means we get an extra day of February this year. It also means most of us are essentially working an extra day for free. If you look at it that way, we also get a free day of cable, internet and electricity, so there’s that.
IRON MAIDEN played Las Vegas last Night (Feb. 28th). METAL SHOP’s Ralph Cartel was there and was able to get only a few photos before his phone died, but he had killer seats – see photo below. Stay tuned for his recap coming later today or tomorrow.
It was a great weekend for live 80’s metal and hard rock from many of our favorites… MEGADETH performed in L.A. last night, former KISS guitarist Ace Frehley was in San Antonio on Saturday (Feb. 27), and BLACK SABBATH played its last-ever concert in New York City at Madison Square Garden on Saturday. Checkout fan-filmed video footage at this location – Click Here
In a recent interview, MEGADETH’s Dave Mustaine was asked what it would take for another ‘Big Four’ concert to happen? He responded, “if it happens again, that would be great. If it doesn’t, the people who got to see it got to see something really remarkable. Am I supposed to doing it? You know, it would have to be the right thing. I think that, you know, Megadeth is at a place right now where we’re successful to a degree where we would be happy continuing to do what we do on our own. So if we’re gonna do another ‘Big Four’ thing, I would want it to be something where we walk away as content as METALLICA does from something like that. It’s not Metallica and three other dudes.”
You may have heard there are competing touring versions of RATT out there. Former bassist Juan Croucier fronts RATT’S JUAN CROUCIER and former drummer Bobby Blotzer is touring as RATT, but he is the only original member in that group. This has obviously created a lot of tension for everyone, including former Ratt guitarist Warren DeMartini, who in September filed a lawsuit against Blotzer, claiming that the drummer was falsely advertising his “tribute band” as the real thing… you think? Stephen Pearcy has checked out of all of this and is performing some solo shows. Croucier was quoted last week saying “There is no single person in the band Ratt who’s by themselves Ratt.’
I didn’t watch the Academy Awards last night but PANTERA was mentioned in the short clip introducing each of the nominated films in the category before the winner was announced. Actor Christian Bale learned to play double-bass drums for a short scene in “The Big Short” where his character, the hedge fund manager Michael Burry, bangs on his kit in his basement to Pantera’s ‘By Demons Be Driven.’ https://t.co/pbMJu6N6r3
Any Leaplings out there? Happy birthday! If you turned 50 today, you would actually still not be a teenager, so act your age and headbang all day while you work. You’re not getting paid anyway 🙂
We lost some hair along the way, gained a couple of pounds, got no retirement plans because we didn’t plan on living this long, but we can still rock hard and if you look at it sideways we can still kick your ass like it ain’t no thing, so let’s toast the weekend about to start.
Happy Birthday to BLACK SABBATH Guitarist Tony Iommi. He turns 68 today. Did you know Iommi briefly played in Jethro Tull? Yes, for one performance, before returning to his bandmates (Ozzy, Geezer and Ward), who were known as ‘Earth’ back then before changing their name to Black Sabbath. Sabbath’s “The End” tour stops in Detroit, Michigan tonight.
I just don’t think TWISTED SISTER’s Dee Snider can help himself. Right or wrong, he doesn’t beat around the bush, this time saying he doesn’t ‘get’ how ‘murderer’ Vince Neil ‘didn’t do any serious jail time’ when his drunk-driving car crash killed HANOI ROCKS drummer Razzle in 1984. Snider continued: “And people are cool with that. They’re like, ‘Yeah, all right! Rock ‘n’ roll!!’ And the guy didn’t do any serious jail time. I’m, like, ‘Really? Really? He’s a murderer.’ I don’t get that at all.”
Vivian Campbell was asked if he and Ronnie James DIO ever got to mend fences prior to the singer’s 2010 death. He responded: “No. I never got to talk to Ronnie again afterwards, unfortunately. Actually, we only talked to each other through the press, which is never, ever, ever a good idea. We were both guilty of saying really stupid and hurtful things. I’d like to think that we would have made up. I think if Ronnie and I had bumped into each other on the street, I think after a couple of minutes, we might have agreed to go to the pub for a pint and we could have probably worked things out.”
From one split-up to another, Sammy Hagar explained yesterday that he reached out to Eddie Van Halen on Twitter last month on Eddie’s birthday because of the recent deaths of David Bowie and Glenn Frey, saying “It just makes you stop and think that, you know, with my relationship with Eddie Van Halen and stuff that’s always been in the toilet, it makes you say, ‘I don’t want to be buried with any regrets or bad vibes like that.’ It makes you want to be just friends with everybody and say, ‘Hey, look, forget it.’ Even if you don’t want to be in a band together, just let’s be friends. No more enemies for me. You don’t want to go to your grave with enemies. So that’s what it’s done for me. It woke me up and said, ‘no more enemies.’ And before I die, I won’t have any, if I have my way.”
Speaking of Sammy Hagar, it was yesterday in 1977 when he was booed off the stage while opening for KISS. Hagar responded to the crowd with “F— you,” and then proceeded to drop his pants and pull out his wang before smashing his ’61 Stratocaster guitar to pieces and walking offstage. Check out the whole story – Click Here
On this date in 1980, AC/DC singer Bon Scott died after a night of heavy drinking. Left to sleep it off in a friend’s car, he was found dead in the car the next morning. The official coroner’s report labeled his demise as “death by misadventure” and “acute alcohol poisoning. He was 33 years old. R.I.P.
Today in 1982, Ozzy Osbourne was arrested in San Antonio, Texas for urinating on the Alamo. He was wearing a dress at the time of his arrest (his wife Sharon had hid all his clothes so he couldn’t go outside). Ozzy apparently thought he was relieving himself on a pile of rubble and was subsequently banned from ever playing in San Antonio, Texas again, (the ban was lifted in 1992).
On this date in 1992, GUNS N’ ROSES played the first of three nights at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan as part of the ‘Use Your Illusion’ Tour and today in 1995, MÖTLEY CRÜE drummer Tommy Lee married Baywatch actress Pamela Anderson, who was wearing a white bikini, on a beach in Cancun, Mexico. They married only four days after meeting and had videotaped their sexual activities while on vacation, which was later stolen and released on the Internet. The couple divorced in 1998.
Tomorrow (Feb. 20, 2003), marks 13 years since the Station Nightclub Fire in West Warwick, Rhode Island. GREAT WHITE was performing that night, where 99 people died in the fire sparked by pyrotechnics.
Former WHITESNAKE and DIO guitarist Doug Aldrich is celebrating a birthday today. He turns 52.
Happy Birthday to Jessica McNear listening to METAL SHOP in Tennessee and Siva Prasad listening in India.
Don’t forget METAL SHOP is on 24/7…. that means weekends too, so listen on the website, find us on TuneIn, or download the app to listen on your phone. Great thing to have. If you like more Hair in your metal, you can also check out our sister station HAIR BAND RADIO.
Oh so close to the weekend and if you are like me, you have a lot of extra money laying around 🙂
METALLICA announced yesterday they will reissue their first two albums, 1983’s “Kill ‘Em All” and 1984’s “Ride The Lightning”, on April 15th for $150… each.
Okay, so both albums have been remastered for the most advanced sound quality and will be available in three formats — CD, vinyl, and deluxe box set. Both deluxe box sets include original source material from the band’s personal collection with many never-before-heard-or-seen recordings, along with a book including rare photos and essays from those who were there.
I’m all for remastering, but I also love the raw sound that formed our memories of this great music… hopefully it is not too polished. Two bonus tracks have been shared online, including this killer live version of “Phantom Lord” from 1984 – Click Here
MEGADETH’s Dave Mustaine has a theory about why he is so ‘hated.’ He says “I think a lot of it goes back to the breakup from METALLICA. There are people that have picked up that feud, and they don’t even know why they’re choosing sides. I have nothing against Metallica fans. I was in both bands. I like Lars and I like James and, contrary to what people say, I do think Kirk is a good guitar player. In the beginning, when I was bitter, yeah, there was shit going back and forth. They were justifying firing me, and I was telling them that they were wrong. That’s just been perpetuated over and over again. It’s been put to bed. I’ve got no beef with those dudes. We’re two totally different bands.”
The IRON MAIDEN tour starts next week in Florida. Check out photos of the new Ed Force One, once again being piloted by Bruce Dickinson – Click Here
Today in 1974, KISS released their debut album “Kiss.” For the album cover shot, three of the four band members applied their own makeup, as they usually did, but Peter Criss’ “Catman” makeup was applied by a professional, whose work came out looking quite a bit different from the look Criss had established, and to which he would return immediately afterward. Ace Frehley, wanting to impress the other members of Kiss, dyed his hair with silver spray paint. According to Criss, photographer Joel Brodsky thought Kiss were literally clowns, and wanted to place balloons behind the group for the shoot. Brodsky denied this, chalking it up to imagination.
Happy Birthday to Rony Gomez listening to METAL SHOP in Peru.
Have a kick ass Thursday!
Welcome to a Wednesday 80’s Metal Dogs! Sometimes I do miss my mullet. I started growing it around 1985 and now I can’t grow anything, but bald is beautiful too 🙂
The term “supergroup” gets thrown around on a regular basis these days, however, a new tour featuring some of the greatest guitarists of all time is about to truly give the term a whole new meaning. It’s called “Generation Axe” and features Steve Vai, Zakk Wylde, Yngwie Malmsteen, Nuno Bettencourt and Tosin Abasi. There will be 26 performances in North America, beginning April 5th in Seattle.
Next week, the new documentary, We Are Twisted F***ing Sister!, which focuses on the 10 years the group spent playing as a full-time bar band before finally making it big, will be released on DVD, VOD and digital download (Feb. 23). Dee Snider recently discussed the movie saying, “If you’re from the Northeast, there’s a reference and understanding of the importance of Twisted Sister. That’s why you’ll see bands like Cinderella and Bon Jovi, Kix and Poison, Anthrax and Overkill. When they talk about Twisted, it’s like they’re talking about somebody that’s in their band. People from the West Coast, and overseas and South America, they get confused — ‘this is the band with two songs?’ The bands I mentioned, growing up in the Northeast, they were aware of the Twisted presence and the Twisted influence over these bands. So many of them would get in line with thousands of others to see Twisted Sister in a bar or a club, packed to the rafters to see this band. It’s great for that story to finally be made available.”
AC/DC released their debut album (only in Australia) ‘High Voltage’ today in 1975. The album featured ‘She’s Got Balls’ which was written about singer Bon Scott’s ex-wife Irene. At some point, she had complained he had never written a song about her; lead guitarist Angus Young said: “So he wrote She’s Got Balls and she left him!”
KING DIAMOND also released their debut album “Fatal Portrait” in 1986 and today in 1984, MEGADETH played their first-ever show at Ruthie’s Inn in Berkeley, California. The line-up consisted of Dave Mustaine on guitar, David Ellefson on bass, Kerry King on guitar and Lee Rausch on drums. Check out the original flyer below.
At the peak of the hair band run, David Coverdale married actress Tawny Kitaen (known for her provocative appearances in Whitesnake’s music videos ‘Here I Go Again, ‘Is This Love’ and ‘Still of the Night’) today in 1989. The couple divorced in 1991.
Finally, here’s a fun time suck – 100 Metal Facts You Might Not Know, including Rob Halford worked at a porno movie theatre before he joined JUDAS PRIEST and early era IRON MAIDEN singer Dennis Wilcock quitting the band because the other members wouldn’t follow his lead and don KISS-inspired makeup, and this one… Between his stints in METALLICA and MEGADETH, Dave Mustaine worked as a telemarketer… “Hello me, meet the real me and will Tuesday at 4pm work for me to come by and demonstrate our new vacuum cleaner?” Click Here for more.
If you are on twitter, be sure to follow METAL SHOP there for songs now playing and ALL the latest 80’s Metal/Hair Band News – Click Here.
Now go rock the day and thanks for listening!
Here we go Thursday and the 80’s metal and hard rock is flowing like a frothy cold one 24/7 on METAL SHOP. Hear it with your favorite media player (iTunes, Windows Media, etc.) with this link – http://listen.radionomy.com/metalshop.m3u
Former KISS guitarist Ace Frehley is releasing a covers album in April that includes a reunion with former Kiss bandmate Paul Stanley, who contributes vocals to a cover of Free‘s 1970 classic “Fire and Water.” This will mark the first time Stanley and Frehley have collaborated since Kiss’ 1998 original lineup “reunion” album Psycho Circus. Ace tells Rolling Stone that “Paul did a fabulous vocal on it … He jumped at the chance to do this because it’s something that’s outside of Kiss and his character in Kiss, and it gave him a chance to, you know, sing. With Paul, you usually think of him singing in a slightly higher register and on ‘Fire and Water,’ he’s singing deep from his diaphragm, and it’s a real cool vocal.”
Despite the barbs that were traded between Frehley and Kiss a couple of years ago around the band’s induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Frehley insists the two have always been friends: “The press seems to amplify negativity. I guess it makes good copy.” Last summer, Frehley mentioned the possibility of approaching another founding Kiss star, Gene Simmons, to appear on the album, but that doesn’t seem to have happened. Frehley will also be reclaiming a bit of his Kiss legacy with Origins, covering a pair of songs (“Cold Gin,” “Parasite”) that he wrote but didn’t sing due to nervousness about his vocal ability during the band’s early days. Somewhat surprisingly, he also covers the group’s Creatures of the Night song “Rock and Roll Hell.” Despite his face being on the cover, Frehley reportedly did not play on that 1982 Kiss album, and is not officially credited as a songwriter on that track. Other guest stars include Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash, Pearl Jam‘s Mike McCready, and Lita Ford.
Ex-MEGADETH guitarist Marty Friedman made headlines yesterday when he called METALLICA’s ‘Black’ LP the ‘Single Most Important Album In Metal.’ That statement right there might border on metal blasphemy, but he went on to say the ‘Black’ album was a defining release which helped introduce this brand of music to a whole new audience, saying “the sound of metal could have been long gone, but that album helped metal find its place in the mainstream.” He added: “Metal is not the easiest music to play, and its even more difficult to make sound good. Metallica was able to combine all that was good about metal without compromising who they were. There are some of the best metal songs on that album like ‘Enter Sandman’, and it really opened the door for so many bands.”
On this date in 1992, MÖTLEY CRÜE fired their singer Vince Neil when he turned up for rehearsals claiming that he had lost his passion for the band and was now more involved with racing cars.
GUNS N’ ROSES has added a second Mexico City show for April 20th and the BLACK SABBATH tour rolls into Southern California tonight with a stop at The Forum in Inglewood. They will be in Vegas on Saturday. Check out the great multi-camera footage from Capital Chaos TV of Sabbath performing the song “Into The Void” on Feb. 9th in San Jose, California.
Have a good one all and never stop rockin’!
Who Are The Top 20 Metal Bands Of All Time?
Depends who you ask and how they define who is metal or just hard rock. For example, many agree that Metalica, Iron Maiden and Judas Priest are metal, but KISS, AC/DC and Guns N’ Roses are not metal.
That is how the authors of the new book ‘The Merciless Book of Metal Lists‘ see it in one of several indexes they compiled for this release set for April 9, 2013 by Abrams Image.
Howie Abrams and Sacha Jenkins’ book features numerous compilations of bests (songs, guitarists, album covers featuring goats) and worsts (embarrassing metal videos, metal fashion faux pas’).
80’s metal fans will also surely appreciate unconventional lists such as: ’10 Reasons Why EVERYONE Loves Slayer’s ‘Reign In Blood” and ’10 Accomplishments Iron Maiden Would Never Have Achieved had Paul Di’Anno Remained Their Singer’.
One of the lists sure to spark some debate is ’20 of the Greatest Metal Voices.’ They nailed the top three (my opinion) and Queensryche’s Geoff Tate certainly deserves a top five appearance:
1. Ronnie James Dio (Black Sabbath, Dio)
2. Rob Halford (Judas Priest)
3. Bruce Dickinson (Iron Maiden)
4. Eric Adams (Manowar)
5. Geoff Tate (Queensrÿche)
6. King Diamond (Mercyful Fate, King Diamond)
7. Tom Araya (Slayer)
8. John Bush (Armored Saint/Anthrax)
9. James Hetfield (Metallica)
10. Max Cavalera (Sepultura, Soulfly)
In an interview with the New York Times, Abrams said Dio was the unanimous choice for the top spot because he had a virtuosity that set him far apart from other top metal vocalists.
“If he needed to apply darkness, he could do it,” said Abrams. “If he needed to belt and go to a higher range, he could. He replaced Ozzy Osbourne in Black Sabbath, and I’m not sure there was a taller task for a vocalist. He did it with ease and grace, and he may have improved on what Oz did in the first place.”
‘The Merciless Book of Metal Lists’ is a fun read. I especially enjoyed viewing the artwork from ‘200 Embarrassingly Bad Album Covers’… Anthrax took the top two spots with ‘State of Euphoria’ and number one ‘Fistful of Metal.’
From the 1987 Hysteria ‘In The Round’ World Tour, the Def Leppard concert book below is slightly over-sized (Approx: 12″ x 10″), but in good condition (slight wear on the cover). Beautiful full-color photographs.
From the 1996-1997 KISS ALIVE WORLD TOUR, the first with the original members (Gene, Paul, Peter, Ace) since 1979, the KISS concert book above is over-sized (Approx: 14″ x 11″), but in good condition (slight tear at the bottom of the cover). Awesome full-color photographs.