Poison – ‘Your Mama Don’t Dance” – 7″ Single

In my quest for 7″ singles with Picture Sleeves, I found another great 80’s single and this one is for Poison. The song is a cover of Loggins & Messina’s “Your Mama Don’t Dance” and was released as a single for Poison on February 1, 1989. The song reached #10 on the Billboard Hot 100 and went Gold which the Loggins & Messina version also went Gold while their version went to #4. So, not too different from one another. The song can be found on Poison’s second album, ‘Open Up and Say…Ahh!’

My version of the single is the U.S. promo as it says “Not for Sale” on the 7″ single label. There is no B-Side as “Your Mama Don’t Dance” is on both sides of the single. If you were to find the actual single for the song, the B-Side would be “Tearin’ Down the Walls” also from the ‘Open Up and Say…Ahh!’ album.

The song is about the generational gap between kids and parents. The parents don’t agree with that rock & roll and all the degenerative behavior. It is based off what happened during the ’50’s and ’60’s with the onslaught of that new fangled thing called Rock & Roll. The lyrics are cliched with all stereotypes from that era. It was also based a little on what Jim Messina went through with his mom and step-father.

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Bon Jovi – ‘Crush’ (2000) – Album Review (The Bon Jovi Collection Series)

I can’t believe we are already to the 2000’s with Bon Jovi. Man, has this series been flying. However, we are no where near being done. We are now on the band’s 7th Studio album with ‘Crush’. After the band’s hiatus after the ‘These Days’ Tour, the band took some time to themselves and even released a couple of solo albums. But it was time to get back to work. Well, it was for Jon as he started planning to do a third solo, but that fell through because the band talked and it was decided it was time to start work on the next album.

Richie Sambora, Jon Bon Jovi, David Bryan and Tico Torres were ready to go so they planned on getting producer Bruce Fairbairn to handle the producing duties. However, that wouldn’t work out. Sadly, Bruce died in May 1999. The band decided to hold auditions for new producers, but they didn’t like anyone. They asked their old friend John Kalodner if he knew and new, up & coming producers that could help bring their sound in to the 21st Century and he suggested Luke Ebbin. And Luke helped do just that to amazing success.

The album was done and released on June 13, 2000 and it show up the charts thanks to the first single, “It’s My Life”. The album went to #9 in the U.S. and debuted at #1 in the UK which made it the fifth #1 album in the UK for the band. The album saw 3 singles and a fourth in Japan with overall sales reaching well over 4,000,000 copies which easily matched the success of previous albums for the band. Bon Jovi is one of the few bands to survive the 80’s and still see success in to the 2000’s. The album was nominated for a Grammy and Bon Jovi was back in a big way!

The copy of the album I have is the Japanese Edition with 2 bonus tracks and a bonus E.P. called ‘Live in Osaka’. We will talk more about that and the E.P. in the next post and stick to the main CD here. I do have the vinyl as well if you were wondering. You can see all of the Crush collection in the final picture. Let’s go ahead and get to the music.

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My Sunday Song – “Nothing’s Gonna Stop You Now” by Loverboy

For My Sunday Song #387, Tim’s next pick is from Loverboy and the song is “Nothing’s Gonna Stopy You Now”. The song was written for the U.S. Olympic Team for the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles and it is know as the Team Sports Theme (whatever that is). Yes, nothing like a U.S. Olympic Theme Song written by a Canadian band. Makes a lot of sense!! The song was written by composer Bill Wray with Paul Dean and Mike Reno. The song was released as a single and on the album ‘The Official Music of the XXIIIrd Olympiad Los Angeles 1984‘.

The song is an anthem for the athletes and is made to inspire which the lyrics are all about that dedication and sacrifice the players have to make to be world-class athletes. The opening lyrics “You know you paid the price – You made every sacrifice,” showcase that belief.

Musically, the music is powerful and full of energy and excitement needed to inspire. It starts off with some keyboard filled with orchestration and a high-pitched vocal by Mike Reno. Then the song kicks in and it sounds like classic Loverboy. It could be “Queen of the Broken Hearts” or any other Loverboy song it sounds that familiar. It is fist pumping and hard driving with some great guitar work while the drums and bass drive the song forward. There is no denying the band behind this song.

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Friday New Releases – November 17, 2023

The Wait is over!! Dolly Parton’s Rock album has arrived. When she was elected in to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, she said she would make a rock record so she would belong in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame!! I’m really interested in to hear what she put together because the guest list is really impressive. And I am also interested in the new Micheal Sweet project called Soledrive with Alessandro Del Vecchio. The man is always working on new music. What are you most interested in the week? Let us know and what we may have missed as well. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a wonderful weekend.

  • A1oDnZJp9KL._AC_UY436_FMwebp_QL65_  Dolly Parton – Rockstar – (Butterfly Records / Big Machine Label Group)
  • Soledriver – Return Me To Light – (Frontiers Records)
  • Kenny Wayne Shepherd – Dirt on my Diamonds, Vol. 1 – (Mascot Label Group / Provogue)
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Def Leppard – “Photograph” (1983) – 7″ Single (The Def Leppard Collection Series)

I love to collect singles with picture sleeves and I love to find them in the wild. I generally will never buy a single on eBay or Discogs. However, there was one big exception and that was for the song “Photograph” by Def Leppard. The song is off the album ‘Pyromania’ and was the very first single released for the album and it was huge. It was released in January 1983 and went to #12 on the Top 40 and #1 on the US Mainstream Rock Chart for an impressive six weeks. The U.K. didn’t see them have as much success as it only went to #66, but the band was not overly loved in its home country because they felt the band were sellouts to the U.S. market..which truth be told, they were. But the single I wanted was a U.K. only release and I had to buy it online as I wasn’t expecting to ever find it in the wild in the U.S.

Now, why I did I have to have this U.K. only version? Simple…the cover is a 3-Dimensional cover that folds out to look like an actual camera. The Pop-up camera picture sleeve was very rare and only limited to 500 copies and I have now have one. See it below… 

…but that isn’t the only cool thing about it. When you look into the view finder you see a photo of Marilyn Monroe. But…the song is NOT about Marilyn Monroe. She is only in the video for the song, see the info below which will talk more about the song. Now, I think this was pretty cool and a must have for any Def Leppard collector.

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Alice Cooper – “You and Me” – 7″ Single

I always love to find a good picture sleeve single and most of the ones I have are from the 80’s, however, I found a gem from 1977 that I had to have. This one was from Alice Cooper and for his hit song “You and Me” which was the first single off his 1977 album ‘Lace and Whiskey’. The album was his third solo album and his tenth overall as Alice Cooper. The single did really well going all the way to #9 on the Hot 100 chart as well as #23 on the Adult Contemporary Chart which is significant as he was considered a metal act.

The song was so popular that in 1978, Alice appeared on The Muppet Show and did the song as a duet with a bird-like character named Beakie, who was a creepy bird-ish Muppet who was actually was the embodiment of Miss Piggy after she was transformed by Cooper. If you haven’t seen it, check it out.

The song was written by Alice Cooper and Dick Wagner and it is a ballad and just a plain and simple love song. It is a celebration of the little moments in every relationship. Those little pleasures we have with each other. The song is the final in a trilogy of love songs from Alice including “Only Women Bleed” and “I Never Cry”.

In an interview with Creem magazine a few months after the release of “You and Me,” Cooper discussed the impetus behind his trilogy of ballads: “I did those songs totally out of spite,” he said. “I kept reading so many interviews and articles that I said I was never considered musical. Best rock show they ever saw, but musically lacking (songfacts).

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Richie Sambora – ‘Undiscovered Soul’ (1998) – Album Review (The Bon Jovi Collection Series)

As I stated in Jon Bon Jovi’s ‘Destination Anywhere’ Review last week, after Bon Jovi’s very successful ‘These Days’ album and especially that tour which ran for 126 shows in around 43 countries, the band was ready for a break. The tour ended on July 19, 1996 and the band decided, it was time for a hiatus from the band. They did a self-imposed two year break from the band. That 2 year break would turn in to 3, but no one is counting. During that time, we saw solo albums, Jon went and did a lot of acting and the thoughts that Bon Jovi were done were on everyone’s mind. Jon’s solo album came first, but shortly after we received Richie Sambora’s solo album.

‘Undiscovered Soul’ was Richie’s 2nd solo album and was produced by Don Was which saw Richie work with a ton of musicians and writers and really push himself both musically and lyrically. He worked with Richard Supa who had worked with The Rascals and Aerosmith and he worked with his old Bon Jovi bandmate, David Bryan, who co-wrote a handful of songs. Richie didn’t stick with the straight blues-rock album like before, he experimented a little with rock and country and anything else he that inspired him.

The album came out on February 23, 1998 and saw four singles released, however, only one of those charted in the U.S. and not very high. The album only reached #174 on the Billboard Top 200 album charts and that isn’t very good. The first single only reached #39 on the Mainstream Rock Chart while doing better in the UK hitting #37 with the second single going to #58 in the UK with no U.S. charting. The album didn’t do as well as the debut and was gone before you knew it.

Thanks to Music on Vinyl, we finally received a vinyl edition to the album last year and that is what I am reviewing. It came on a 2 LP set on 180 gram records and sounded awesome. The album cut out all the crap you hear on the Apple Music version that goes on between the songs which makes you not take the album very seriously, where the vinyl makes it a more serious sounding record. The album didn’t do as well as the debut as I said, but is it worse? Let’s go through it and find out.

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My Sunday Song – “Got To Get You Back In My Life” by Triumph

For My Sunday Song #386, we are talking about one of the earliest Triumph songs called “Got to Get You Back In My Life”. This Tim selection was the B-Side to their debut single called “Hobo” and has never been on any studio album. The single came out back in 1975 and the song was written by drummer and vocalist Gil Moore there is a lot of questions around who sang the song. Most likely it was Gil, but some have said it was handled by bassist and keyboardist, Mike Levine…who I don’t know if he ever sang another song for the band after this. My guess it is Gil with a lot of help by maybe Mike or any of the other two members.

The strange thing about this song is the band that was playing it was a four-piece with Gil, Mike, Peter Young and Fred Keeler…no Rik Emmett in the band yet. They were a blues-based band and they called themselves Abernathy Shagnaster. They signed to Attic records for which the single was released, but the single came out under the Triumph name. I’m not sure I have found why that happened. Shortly after the single was released, Young and Keeler left the band and the band found Rik Emmett

The song itself is very early 70’s. You can hear Year’s organ really well and Mike’s bass line is thick and heavy. The drums are soft and minimal and the guitar isn’t very prominent. The background vocals are great with some good harmonizing. The song sounds like a cross between the Carpenters and the Partridge Family. Okay, not really but the song is light and poppy and has that 70’s sound like you’d get from Jackson Browne or singers of his ilk. It’s a pretty good song, but man, I would’ve never guessed this was Triumph if Tim hadn’t told me.

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Friday New Releases – November 10, 2023

As fall sets in, and the time has fallen back an hour earlier so the sunsets way too earlier, I need something to pick me up and new music always does that for me. What about you? We have a bunch of releases and a wide variety of choices so something for everyone hopefully. I’m looking forward to Chris Stapleton as he’s one of the few country artists I actually dig. I might even pick up the Bush greatest hits album. I’m also intrigued by the new Missing Persons album with Steve Stevens on guitar. Let me know what you want to hear this week or what we may have missed. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

  • 61c-KwoKdCL._AC_UY436_FMwebp_QL65_  Chris Stapleton – Higher – (Mercury Nashville / Sound Records / UMG)
  • Bush – Loaded: The Greatest Hits 1994-2023 – (Round Hill Records / Zuma Rock Records)
  • Soul Asylum – The Complete Unplugged NYC ’93 – (MTV Networks / Sony Music)
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Def Leppard – ‘Pyromania’ (1983) – Album Review (The Def Leppard Collection Series)

The tide was changing, Def Leppard’s success was palpable at this point, but not quite there…YET! Robert John “Mutt” Lange was back as producer and the band hit the studios in January 1982 and went through November of that year at Park Gates studio in London. All didn’t go smoothly, there was one big issue and that issue was Pete Willis.

Pete’s drinking problem was…well, becoming a problem. It was causing issues that were impacting his work and the band. It got so bad that on July 11, 1982, mid-way through work on the album, the band fired Pete. This was not a rash decision as it was discussed fully amongst the band because on July 12, 1982, the very next day, the band announced his replacement in the likes of Girl’s guitarists, Phil Collen. By this point in recording, Pete had already recorded all his rhythm parts and those are still on the album. Phil came in and added a few guitar parts and as well as some solos, he had it easy.

The album was finished, it was called “Pyromania” and it would basically change the landscape of music for quite some time. It saw the band’s sound go from heavy metal to a more polished hard rock sound that was more radio friendly. They worked on their craft diligently with Mutt and their playing and their songwriting was getting better and better. The band was now Phil, Steve Clark, Rick Allen, Rick Savage and Joe Elliott, this is considered the classic line-up to some. The album saw the light of day on January 20, 1983 and would shoot up the charts going to #2 on the Billboard Charts. It was held out of the #1 slot thanks to Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ album.

Thanks to MTV and the Leppard videos, the band would sell over 6,000,000 copies within the first year or so and go on to sell over 10 million copies making it Diamond Status. There would be 4 singles from the album and it would change me forever as this was the album that made me a lifelong fan and collector of the band’s music. It changed my listening habits and the 80’s hard rock sound was it for me and that would be all I listened to during the 80’s…heck even today I still love it as much as back then!

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