Monthly newsletter 2024

#7

Newsletter nr 7

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INTRODUCTION

Welcome to The Story of Rock and Roll.  This newsletter covers episodes S7E23 to S7E26.  These shows are available on podcasts from this website and all major podcast sites.  Quick links to all things TSORR are at the end of the newsletter.  Please share the newsletter with anyone who may be interested. 

If you listen to the podcasts on Google Podcasts and can no longer find us, check out the YouTube Music app, they have moved us there.  Otherwise just search online for ‘The Story of Rock and Roll Radio Show’ and you find loads of other podcast options.  You will always find us on www.thestoryofrockandroll.com and at Buzzsprout https://www.buzzsprout.com/273305/stats

HIGHLIGHTS

The Evolutions feature has been a lot of fun, I got the idea from something in my feed where someone had mapped out the Evolution of the Foo Fighters.  I thought it would be cool to play those ten tracks, one per week but then to continue it with other bands.  We are now at the end of the Foos having covered: ‘This is a Call’, ‘Monkey Wrench’, ‘Everlong’, ‘Learn to Fly’, ‘All My Life’, ‘Best of You’, ‘Walk’, ‘The Feast and the Famine’, ‘Shame Shame’, and ‘Rescued’.  We will discuss the next band to feature in Evolutions in next month’s newsletter but to say goodbye to the Foo Fighters and to kick off the newsletter here they are with ‘Best of You’ and ‘Walk

A new part of the show called Bomb Crocodile and Slow Panda’s Picks of the Week continued to showcase some amazing tracks.  For example, Rise Against’s ‘Hero of War’ certainly got people thinking.  It’s a tough track to listen to lyrically and shows the power of music, how it can bring important issues to our attention.  When it comes to emotional impact it is right up there with Third Eyed Blind’s ‘Slow Motion………..’.  In this track Rise Against reaffirm that ‘something’ that was highlighted in the book The Story of Rock and Roll, I called it “the power of one man and a guitar”.

THE DIABOLICAL CHALLENGE

Every week in The Diabolical Challenge I pick 4 albums that you would find filed under a letter of the alphabet if you were shopping in a record shop.  This was a 5-week month, and we covered the letters R through V.  Here are the bands we looked at in each show and the albums chosen are in the pictures below. 

S7E23 = W – W.A.S.P., Whitesnake, Wolfmother, and Warrant

S7E24 = XYZ – Yngwie J. Malmsteen, Y&T, Zakk Wylde, and ZZ Top

S7E25 = A – Airbourne, Arapaho, Alice Cooper, Arch Enemy

S7E26 = B – Bush, Buckcherry, Bullet for My Valentine, and The Black Crowes

W

W

The tracks played were:

The Joker & the Thief’ (Wolfmother), ‘L.O.V.E. Machine.’ (W.A.S.P.), ‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin’ (Warrant), and ‘Still of the Night’ (Whitesnake).  This one was interesting with no standout trend in voting.  In the end, W.A.S.P. took it but Wolfmother was also popular.  Warrant fared worst which makes sense if you think about it, they were a band of the times and you kind of had to be there.  One thing that gets lost in time is just how extraordinary the W.A.S.P. debut album was, it was heavier than everything around barring Accept’s Restless and Wild and maybe Venom.  It was released before many of us in SA had heard Metallica’s Kill ‘Em All which was released about a year before.  For me it was pretty much as heavy as things got in 1984

XYZ

XYZ

The tracks played were:

Open Fire’ (Y&T), ‘Far Beyond the Sun’ (Yngwie J. Malmsteen), ‘Throwin’ it All Away’ (Zakk Wylde), and ‘Over You’, (ZZ Top).  Personally, this was one of the more interesting challenges because of the differences between the albums.  Book of Shadows is a mainly acoustic album with electric solo’s, Rising Force is largely instrumental, La Futura is a Rick Rubin produced blues rocker and Black Tiger is classic ‘80s hair metal.  Zakk’s Book of Shadows was ahead marginally but Yngwie and ZZ Top were right behind.  It was acknowledged that Rising Force was an album that had an impact like few albums do.  From a guitar player’s perspective, it was a game-changer.  However, it is not everyone’s cup of tea as half of it is instrumental.  For non-guitarists ZZ Top was popular, but it isn’t their best-known album and didn’t have the mass appeal of Eliminator or Afterburner.  The solo on ‘Over You’, is one of my favourites and the lyrics are perfect for getting over emotional situations or heartbreaks.  Finally, there is Book of Shadows, it is a unique album and a well-deserved winner.  

A

A

The tracks played were:

Stand Up for Rock ‘n’ Roll’ (Airbourne), ‘Wicked Wonder’ (Arapaho), ‘Billion Dollar Babies’ (Alice Cooper), and ‘Sunset Over the Empire’ (Arch Enemy).    Last year the Diabolical Challenge looked at four albums released in a given year but by December we had run out of years, so the format was changed to have four albums from bands filed under the same letter of the alphabet.  The idea was to do two cycles.  This is the first of the second cycle.  Where possible I am trying to avoid repeating bands.  On the first cycle we had albums by ACDC, Accept, Audioslave, and Avenged Sevenfold, but with ‘A’ there are plenty of bands to avoid a repeat, so this was easy.   This one wasn’t even close for me, Arch Enemy all the way.  Arch Enemy have been my favourite modern metal band for the last 5 years.  The popular choice was Airbourne.

B

B

The tracks played were:

Everything Zen’ (Bush), ‘Jealous Again’ (The Black Crowes), ‘Slammin’’ (Buckcherry), and ‘Tears Don’t Fall’ (Bullet for My Valentine).  This was an interesting challenge because, once again, they are all pretty different.  The biggest problem we seem to have is separating the songs from the albums.  A good track wins votes but sometimes the album doesn’t match up.  The concept that the album you choose is the only album you will ever hear again possibly gets lost in the heat of the moment.  Anyway, not to overcomplicate it, it’s just a bit of fun.  The TSORR suggestion is that you listen to all four albums in their entirety, make it a weekly project instead of letting Spotify choose for you.  Bush’s Sixteen Stone took it by a vote, it was very close with The Black Crowes and Buckcherry getting plenty of support.  While listening to Bullet for My Valentine I was struck by how they can be musically reminiscent of Iron Maiden.  The vocals are totally different, but I’d love to hear Bruce Dickinson sing ‘Tears Don’t Fall’.

THE IMMORTALS

First up for this newsletter was an amazing track by Jethro Tull called ‘My God’.  This came off the career-defining Aqualung, an album that spawned ‘Locomotive Breath’ and the title track ‘Aqualung’.  Released in 1971, the album has become a classic.  ‘My God’ was a seven-minute and three-second masterpiece and was the first track on Side 2 of the vinyl pressing.  It contributed to the album’s religious themes on ‘Wind Up’ and ‘Hymn 43’ although Ian Anderson did not consider it a concept album.  I don’t think he expected the album’s runaway success either.    

The following week we checked out ‘Golgotha’ by W.A.S.P. who are well-known to the Immortals.  We previously featured ‘Chainsaw Charlie’ and ‘The Idol’.  ‘Golgotha’ is the title track from their 2015 album.  By this stage, W.A.S.P. was essentially a Blackie Lawless solo project, with hired hands Doug Blair on lead guitar, Mike Duda on bass, and Michael Dupke on drums. 

Golgotha was W.A.S.P.’s 15th studio album, and their last, excluding the 2018 remake of The Crimson IdolDoug Blair shines on this track, delivering one of those soulful, soaring solos that are so much a part of the W.A.S.P sound.  Blair replaced Chris Holmes when he quit in 2007, so he has been involved with W.A.S.P. for a long time.   

On S7E24 it was the turn of Iron Maiden.  We listened to the title track off their 1988 release Seventh Son of a Seventh Son.  This wonderful track builds up steadily culminating in solos by Adrian Smith and Dave Murray that elevate it to the next level.  By this stage the pair were so in tune with each other that it came as a shock when Adrian was asked to leave the band during the recording of the next album No Prayer for The Dying

Seventh Son of a Seventh Son marked a departure from what Maiden fans were used to, with some considering it a shift towards a more prog rock direction.  Apparently, Adrian Smith liked this direction and was very unhappy when the bands decision makers (presumably Steve Harris and manager Ron Smallwood) decided to return to a more typical Maiden sound for No Prayer For The Dying.  Smith didn’t buy in and was asked to leave.  Fortunately for Maiden fans he was back again in 1999 just in time for the incredible Brave New World album. 

The final track for the month came from Accept.  We heard ‘Galley’ off their 2012 release Stalingrad.  Accept are not known for lengthy tracks, so when they do one, it is well worth a listen.  Wolf Hoffman’s guitar work on the outro is sublime, the whole track is reminiscent of Iron Maiden’s ‘Rime of the Ancient Mariner’. 

Herman Frank is the other guitarist on the track, and it is worth noting that besides the five albums he recorded with for Accept, he has played on another 23 albums and done production work for Saxon, Rose Tattoo, and Molly Hatchet

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NEW RELEASES & NEW DISCOVERIES & SAD GOODBYES

I am reading There Was Nothing You Could Do by Steven Hyden.  The book is extremely enlightening and pulls Born in the USA into the Zeitgeist of the mid-80’s i.e. the Reagan years, the hair metal years, Rambo & Terminator, MTV, and all that amazing stuff.  Much like Warren Zanes’ Deliver Me from Nowhere, which deals with Bruces’ 1984 release Nebraska, Hyden’s book covers the details and is just what true and serious Springsteen fans love to read.

Lo and behold Born in the USA Tour 84/85 has just been released right when I needed it most.  A fair amount of Born in the USA appears on the triple album set Live ’75 to ’85 but none of these recordings are repeats and this is the entire album plus a few additional tracks like ‘Seeds’ and ‘Pink Cadillac’.  I have been listening to in constantly and the louder I play it the better it is. 

Other than that, it has been a really bad month for new releases.  Thanks to The First Lady of Rock, I do have a new discovery.  She drew our attention to Goodbye June, a band out of Nashville Tennessee.  They are about to release a new album called Deep in Trouble, we will await the release but seeing as they have four albums out, I played tracks off their 2022 release, See Where the Night GoesTyler Baker on guitar is excellent and the vocals are reminiscent of the late, great Ronald Belford Scott

SOUTH AFRICAN SCENE

As promised in the last newsletter I had the chance to interview Mark Biaggio of The Fismits about his new single ‘Halen’.  Mark recorded it as a tribute to Marc Feltham, singer and guitarist for SA band Live Jimmy Presley who were tearing up the local scene in the ‘90s.  Mark recorded the band back in the day as part of, a compilation of unsigned SA bands titled Soda Sex Fountain.  He went on to further work with Live Jimmy Presley in the studio and ‘Halen’ never made it onto any of the band’s recorded work.  This always bugged Mark who felt this song needed to be out there.  He took it upon himself to record his own version of it and the world is a better place for his efforts. 

Roan Ash released a new track titled ‘Holy Ground’. For those of you unfamiliar with the man, he is a master songwriter with a golden voice and is currently based in Nashville.  His 2018 release Whisky to My Soul did really well for him and this new track, ‘Holy Ground’ marks what will hopefully be the first of about four new tracks to be released this year. 

CHEERS @#$%’s

The shows discussed in this month’s newsletter can be heard as podcasts S7E23S7E26.  Feel free to drop me a message on The Story of Rock and Roll Facebook page or via email at thestoryofrockandroll1@gmail.com.  If you want to be added to TSORR Central WhatsApp Group, send me your number on this email address and I will send you an invite link. 

For those of you who are new to TSORR here are the quick references to find The Story of Rock and Roll Radio Show:

THURSDAY’s Live on Rebel Rock Radio from 19h00 – 22h00 South African time.  Find it on www.rrr.cat

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Take care and keep rocking. 

James