For My Sunday Song #126, the instrumental we will be covering is “Switch 625” by none other than Def Leppard. For a band that is not noted for doing instrumentals, when they did one, they definitely got it right. The song is off the band’s second album ‘High & Dry’ and is still played today in concert as a tribute to the writer of the song, the late, great Steve Clark.
The song bleeds effortlessly after “Bringin’ On the Heartbreak” with such a smooth transition you would swear it is part of the song. The long, unedited version of the song. The song itself is a beautiful representation of all that was great about the god-given gift of Steve’s guitar playing.
I love the dual guitars battling it out. I can picture Pete & Steve going back and forth and playing off each other (now I am making an assumption that Pete played on the recorded version). It also has such a great melody and if it had lyrics would have made for another great Def Leppard ballad I am sure.
In fact, producer Mutt Lange wanted to add lyrics but after battling out with Joe Elliot, no lyrics were added. Joe felt the song was perfect the way it was and no need to mess it up with his voice (of course that isn’t a direct quote, I’m making assumptions but the story itself is true).
Welcome to the First Friday New Releases of the New Year!! I hope 2019 is full of musical joy all year long. Let’s kick it off with this first, very limited, batch of releases to get the year started. There is some pop, some country, some metal and alternative. Hopefully something for you. Unfortunately nothing is jumping out at me as have to have, but will probably try the Taking Back Sunday one as they are usually good. Let me know what you like or what I missed. Have a great weekend!!
Taking Back Sunday – Twenty – (Concord Music Group): Celebrating 20 years together as a band, TBS is back with a greatest hits compilation with 19 great tracks and 2 brand new songs. Might be worth it just for those 2 new ones. Here is one of their first hits, give it a view & a listen.
Ace Frehley! This ratty kid walks into the audition with a mismatched pair of shoes and Gene and Paul are not sure what to think of this mess. He plugs in and plays and the rest is Kisstory as they say. Ace is the one of the main reasons I love rock & roll. His playing was amazing and he played with such feel that you wanted to be Ace. When you and your friends wanted to pretend to be Kiss, I always wanted Ace and if I couldn’t get Ace, I was Paul (no one wanted to be Peter, not even Peter…old joke).
His time with Kiss was tumultuous at best. But when the band did their solo albums back in 1978, Ace showed he had the goods to do this on his own and eventually that is what he did. Eventually due to his drinking and other issues, Ace was let go and his solo career began. And that solo career is the focus. We will include the Kiss solo album because it is an Ace Frehley album, but only Ace’s stuff, no other Kiss. And only studio albums will be counted, no live or compilations.
Sit back and enjoy the ranking of the Ace Frehley albums from Worst to First…
THE WORST – FREHLEY’S COMET – SECOND SIGHTING (1988)
Now when it comes to Ace, I am a little biased. I do enjoy all his albums so for me “worst” is a little harsh. I would just say it is the least favorite and not really the “worst”. I have heard some pretty awful albums and this isn’t one of them. But, it isn’t that great either in my humble opinion. I know some would disagree (right LeBrain!!).
Def Leppard have been milking the Hysteria album for years and why not as it is their most popular album. It was an album that would reach Diamond status with well over 10 million copies sold. It would produce 7 singles in the US and even 6 in it’s home country of the UK.
In celebration of the albums 30 years, they released a beautiful box set of the full album which I reviewed a long while back (Hysteria). Now, they have decided to release the Singles Box set to celebrate those 7 singles and for fun they released two more singles plus gave us an extra Spanish Version of one of their singles (Spanish cover, not sung in Spanish although that would’ve been cool). This gives us a nice set of 10 singles plus their B-Sides.
There were two things that made the Hysteria Singles so special. One was the cover of those singles were a puzzle piece that when put together, they created the album artwork. The second thing was that the B-Sides were all unreleased tracks. As a collector, they were awesome.
For My Sunday Song #125, the instrumental this week is one that blew my mind and I think changed the way guitar solos were done for most of the 80’s. The song is “Eruption” by Van Halen. Often thought of as the introduction to the band’s cover of the Kink’s song “You Really Got Me”, it is considered one of the greatest guitar solos of all time. In fact, Guitar World Magazine ranks it at #2. For me, it might be #1.
The Van Halen debut is considered one of the greatest debut albums of all time in no small part to the work that Eddie Van Halen did on this song. At only 1:42 in length, it is the most exciting and electrifying 1:42 you will ever experience in music. The song is accompanied by Michael Anthony on bass and brother Alex Van Halen on drums, but there is no denying the star is Eddie Van Halen.
The introduction of the song is based on a song by Cactus called “Let Me Swim” and it has a little piece of “Etude #2” by Rodolphe Kruetzer, but the rest is all Eddie. The song is famous for a guitar technique using the two-handed finger tapping. Finger tapping was not new, but never before had it been showcased in such an amazing way.
After touring the band’s second album, ‘Valley of the Dolls’, the band was in shambles. During the recording of their third album, Derwood Andrews decided to leave the band. And shortly thereafter, Billy asked drummer, Mark Laff, to leave…well, he fired him as he didn’t feel his style was appropriate for the new sound. Generation X was done. That third album would not be released for another 20 years.
Remaining players, Billy Idol and Tony James, decided to keep going, but now they were called Gen X. First the band needed a new manager, Tony found a guy by the name of Bill Aucoin. If you are a Kiss fan, that name should ring some bells pretty loudly. The band then got drummer Terry Chimes and they auditioned several guitarists while recording the new album.
The band’s style was no longer punk. They were going to ride the New Wave sound that was starting to sweep across England. That sound would be what carried Billy into his solo career. Speaking of solo career, Bill Aucoin wasn’t overly impressed with Gen X. His real interest was Billy Idol and what he could with him in America, but that would come just a little later down the line.
Turntables & Vinyl is usually about my vinyl collecting, but most importantly it is really a documentation of my journey through music. Instead of talking about vinyl today, the discussion is on The Guitar.
I turned 50 a couple weeks ago and one of my goals for this year is to learn to play guitar. Most people when they turn 50, their mid-life crisis is a fancy sports car or some 20 year old young thing that ruins their marriage, but I am not most people (not really most people, but has been known to happen). When my wife asked me what I wanted for my 50th Birthday, I said I want to finally learn to play guitar so I want a guitar.
I sent her a picture of the one I wanted. She replied back with several other possible choices and I said the following…
“…went through the list and still like the one I chose. I love the style and color (it has to look good!!)…”
And she kindly responded back…
“Sounds great! and, of course it has to look good otherwise your awesomeness would overpower it!”
Yes, that is why I love her. Her sarcasm can sometimes out do mine!
I tried learning to play when I was a kid, but I couldn’t understand why I didn’t learn it in 2 days and my frustration level was not manageable. I gave up too easily. I am definitely older, but not sure if I am wiser. However, I think I can patiently work through it this time.
Back in October, Kiss announced their final tour called “End of the Road” World Tour. The tour would last three years according to them and that is one helluva a long tour. But it has made me sad for many reasons. One, all the rockers I grew up idolizing and following are getting old and are not going to be touring for too much longer. As a result, I need to catch as many shows now as I can before they are all gone. Two, It means I am getting Old.
But this is Kiss. One of the very first concerts I ever saw was Kiss. I think it was the 2nd concert I had ever been to see. This a different sadness. Thanks to the influence of my big brother, I became a huge fan of the band. I have seen them only 7 times so far, but next to Def Leppard, that is the most I have seen any band. I thought I would go through my Kiss journey in form of all the concerts of theirs I have seen.
It all started in 1983. Christmas morning to be exact. I was turning 15 years old. I think it was a Birthday present and not a Christmas present (as they are the same day). My older brother, Gary, gave me a ticket to see Kiss for my birthday. That was a big surprise. The other surprise was, the show was the very next day on December 26th.
Kiss was touring in support of their album ‘Lick It Up’. It was the first time they were performing without makeup. It was a big deal…well it was to me!! I never had seen them before so I was just happy to finally see them live in all their glory.
The opening acts were Pat Travers and the band Axe and the show was at the Omni which has since been torn down and became Phillips Arena (which I think just changed it’s name to State Farm Arena or something like that). The stage was still the Tank stage from the Creatures of the Night Tour and was completely badass to this 15 year old. It was pretty cool. The lead guitarist at the time was Vinnie Vincent and Eric Carr was on drums. I am glad I got to see that line up of the band. Vinnie was fired after this tour.
Setlist:
Creatures of the Night
Detroit Rock City
Cold Gin
Fits Like a Glove
Firehouse
Guitar Solo (Paul)
Exciter
War Machine
Gimme More
Guitar Solo (Vinnie)
Bass Solo (Gene, duh)
I Love It Loud
I Still Love You
Drum Solo (Eric)
Young & Wasted
Love Gun
Black Diamond
Lick It Up (Encore)
Rock And Roll All Nite (Encore)
That was a damn fine setlist. Songs on here they will never play on their final tour.
On January 9th, 1985, brought me to my 2nd Kiss concert and back at the Omni. The opening act was Krokus and they were great. The tour was for the Animalize Tour and the lead guitarist on this one was supposed to be Mark St. John, but he was fired in December. Bruce Kulick took over duties for the remainder of the tour and for years later. I hate I didn’t get to see Mark. He is the only Kiss guitarist I have not seen live.
This time I bought a souvenir as I would have had a job. I bought one of their big ass programs. I still have the Tour Program from that show and it still had Mark St. John throughout since they didn’t have time to change them up.
The setlist for this show was similar to the last with some minor tweaks.
Detroit Rock City
Cold Gin
Creatures of the Night
Fits Like a Glove
Heaven’s On Fire
Guitar Solo
Under the Gun
War Machine
Drum Solo
Young & Wasted (Eric now on vocals)
Bass Solo
I Love it Loud
I Still Love You
Love Gun
Black Diamond
Oh! Susanna (Encore)
Lick It Up (Encore)
Rock and Roll All Nite (Encore)
I started 1985 with a Kiss concert so I had to end it with a Kiss concert. This one was on December 31, 1985 and where else, but at the Omni. This show was for the Asylum Tour this time. The opening act for this show was Black n Blue. Gene had produced their album so no wonder they opened. Same line-up as the earlier show so nothing really new. I had to get another program…of course.
This setlist was different in the sense that Rock and Roll All Nite was not the encore. This encore was a big jam session with a lot of covers
Detroit Rock City
Fits Like a Glove
Guitar Solo (Paul)
Uh! All Night
Cold Gin
Under the Gun
Guitar Solo (Bruce)
I Still Love You
Bass Solo
I Love it Loud
Tears Are Falling
Drum Solo
War Machine
Love Gun
Rock and Roll All Nite
La Bamba (Encore)
Whole Lotta Love (Encore)
Heaven’s On Fire (Encore)
Oh! Susanna (Encore)
Won’t Get Fooled Again (Encore)
Lick It Up (Encore)
The 80’s still weren’t done. Time for another show. We are now in February 1988. February 10th to be exact. They were now touring for the Crazy Nights album. The show was less pyrotechnics and more of a rock show. Gene did spit fire though. The opening act, if I remember correctly, was the one and only Ted Nugent. For me, this was a dream come true as I hadn’t seen him before and I was a huge “Cat Scratch Fever” fan. I was not disappointed. He is a mad man.
No tour book this time as I had been to so many concerts over the past 12 months and ticket prices were now up to $17.50 up from the $11.50 that cost for my first show. Since it had been about 3 years since the last show I had seen, had the setlist changed much? Let’s see
Love Gun
Cold Gin
Bang Bang You
Fits Like a Glove
Crazy Crazy Nights
Shout it out Loud
Guitar Solo
Drum Solo
War Machine
Reason To Live
Heaven’s on Fire
Bass Solo
I Love it Loud
Lick It Up
Rock and Roll All Nite
Detroit Rock City (Encore)
This was a shorter set and a much shorter encore. They must have been bored or something. But some cool songs that they don’t play now like Bang Bang You.
Now we jump to the 90’s. The first show for me of this new decade was none other than…KISS!! It was July 20, 1990 and this time it was at the Coca-Cola Lakewood Amphitheater. This was a great show. The opening acts were Danger Danger for sure and the other act was possibly Slaughter. This show got me hooked on Danger Danger so that is why I remember it. I was already a fan of Slaughter, but Danger Danger was better live. The tour was for the album Hot in the Shade and had a huge Sphinx for the stage setup. Ticket prices were now over $20 at $24 after fees.
This one is probably my favorite setlist so far. They played mostly old songs and some new and just a great mix of songs. Plus a lot I hadn’t seen live yet.
I Stole Your Love
Deuce
Heaven’t on Fire
Crazy Crazy Nights
Black Diamond
Shout it Out Loud
Strutter
Calling Dr. Love
I Was Made For Lovin’ You
Rise To It
Fits Like a Glove
Hide Your Heart
Lick it Up
God of Thunder
Forever
Cold Gin
Tears are Falling
I Love It Loud
Love Gun
Detroit Rock City
I Want You (Encore)
Rock and Roll All Nite (Encore)
The next time I saw the band was the big Reunion Tour in 1996. Kiss reunited with Ace Frehley and Peter Criss. The make-up came back on and they did a massive tour. I am glad to say that on October 1st, I got to see them finally in their make-up. I never thought I would get to see that and I never thought I would get to see Ace & Peter. My dreams were fulfilled. The opening act was the Verve Pipe. Yeah, don’t remember their set at all. The ticket price was $42 with fees, but I paid nothing as my sister-in-law worked for the company that built the Omni so we were in their box.
It was such an amazing show and my favorite so far. I got to see them do what they do best. Gene looked so much more comfortable back in the make-up and the blood and fire spitting were back in full force. I remember it was the best Kiss show I had seen because it was them in Make-up. Ace doing his guitar solo with the smoking guitar and shooting fireworks. It was what I wanted to see when I was a little kid, but I was too young. I was in my late 20’s at this point so no longer too young!
The setlist was nothing but classic 70’s Kiss. No 80’s crap here (not really crap, I like the 80’s music too) since Ace & Peter were’t really there in the 80’s. It was fan’freakin’tastic.
Deuce
King of the Night Time World
Do You Love Me
Calling Dr. Love
Cold Gin
Watchin’ You
Firehouse
I Stole Your Love
Shock Me
Guitar Solo
Let Me Go, Rock ‘N’ Roll
Shout It Out Loud
Strutter
Bass Solo
God of Thunder
Drum Solo
New York Groove
Love Gun
100,000 Years
Black Diamond
Detroit Rock City (Encore)
Beth (Encore)
Rock and Roll All Nite (Encore)
Damn!!!
Now, there was a long, long stretch before I saw them again. In fact, it was 16 years. The next show I remember was on July 19th, 2014 after we had moved to Charlotte. It was Kiss’ 40th Anniversary Tour and the opening act was Def Leppard!! That is right. The 2 bands I have seen in concert the most were playing together in the same show. Wow!!
My brother, my sister and her husband drove up to Charlotte to see them with me. If I am being honest, Def Leppard was absolutely amazing. Probably the best show I have ever seen them do. They blew the doors off Kiss that night. Kiss has become a well organized, choreographed Las Vegas show and it felt forced. It did not have the excitement as did Def Leppard’s. However, it was still an awesome time and I am so glad my family came up to see it with me. That meant a lot. I can’t find a stub, but I have a shirt and some pictures!!
And what about the setlist? A little shorter as they are older and it was a double headlining show so both acts put on full sets.
Psycho Circus
Deuce
Shout it Out Loud
War Machine
Hotter than Hell (Gene breathes fire)
I Love it Loud
Lick it Up (with Won’t Get Fooled Again)
Bass Solo (Gene spits blood and flies to rafters)
God of Thunder
Hide Your Heart
Cold Gin
Love Gun (Paul flies out to audience)
Black Diamond
Detroit Rock City
Rock and Roll All Nite
I thought this would be my last time seeing the band since I was a little disappointed (only a little). But when Kiss announced their End of the Road Tour, I changed my mind. I decided to take one more final ride. This time I am taking my wife and two daughters whether they like it or not. I want them to see, just one time, the band that has been a part of my life for so long and has meant so much to me. I took my wife and oldest daughter to see my other favorite band Def Leppard just last year.
We have our tickets. Four of them. For August 10th, 2019 at PNC Pavilion here in Charlotte, NC. It will be a sad and joyous day for me. But one I am eagerly anticipating. I know it is a long way away, but I can’t wait. Once the show is over, I will definitely write about it, but until then I hope you enjoyed this walk back through my Kiss Experiences. It has been a fun ride.
I haven’t seen them near as many times as those diehard fans, but I have had my fair share. As my final sign-off for this post…here are the ticket stubs for my first time and what will be my last time!!! Prices have gone up a little.
2019 is upon us and it is always fun anticipating what new albums are and will come out in the year. There are quite a few we already know about, but some haven’t been officially announced or even a date set yet. From what I have gathered around the internet, here are the bands that should have new albums out in 2019, but no dates announced yet. The ones I would give a try (and my kids) will be highlighted in Blue. The ones with Dates Announced are at the bottom of this post. The list is building up nicely!!
Adele
Billy Eilish
Coldplay
The Defiants
Eclipse
Greta Van Fleet– (rumor already for new music)
Hootie & the Blowfish(new tour has been announced)
Megadeth
Michael Sweet
Miley Cyrus
Prince
The Raconteurs
Rob Zombie
Stryper
The Cranberries
Taylor Swift
Tesla – Shock (Produced by Phil Collen of Def Leppard)
Every year I do a post memorializing musicians that we lost in that year. The list is really long and I guess each year it will get longer as all the bands I grew up with are getting older and it is bound to happen. Though we have lost them, they live on in our hearts and in their music they left behind. I guess we might as well get started. Do realize this list isn’t every musician that passed away, it is really those that I have listened to over the years or were legends and icons in music. So if I leave someone off, it is nothing personal but please add their name in the comments.
JANUARY 2018
January 10th: “Fast” Eddie Clark of Motorhead and Fastway. He was the last surviving member of the original and classic line-up of Motorhead. He was in the band from 1976 up until 1982 and was on the classic song and album that everyone knows, “Ace of Spades”. Clark was also a founding member of the 80’s band Fastway (“Fast” Eddie Clark wasn’t a giveaway).
January 15th: Dolores O’Riordan of the Cranberries. A common theme lately is that artist seem to be committing suicide at an alarming rate. The year kicked off with the loss of these heavenly voice. The Cranberries were huge in the 90’s with such great songs as “Zombies” and “Linger” to just name a few. She will be missed.
January 16th: Dave Holland, drummer for the band Judas Priest during some of the biggest years of the band, The 1980’s.
January 24th: Mark E. Smith, founder and lead singer of The Fall. The band released over 32 albums from 1972 to 2017. Quite an accomplishment.
FEBRUARY 2018
February 1st: Dennis Edwards, singer for The Contours and The Tempations. He died at 74 of meningitis.
February 7th: Pat Torpey, drummer for the band Mr. Big. Pat’s drumming was sensational and a much respected drummer by musicians and non-musicians. He was 64 and died from Parkinson’s Disease.
MARCH 2018
March 9th: Gary Burden – album cover artist. I normally do only musicians, but the album cover is just as important as the album itself (at least it used to be). Gary was a pioneer in the the whole idea of cover art. He worked mostly with Neil Young, but wored with The Doors, The Eagles, Joni Mitchell and many, many more.
March 14th: Alfred Lynn, singer for Wu-Tang Clan. Alfred died of a heart attack at the age of 62.
March 20th: Peter Cowling, bassist for the Pat Travers Band. He was 72 years old.
APRIL 2018
April 18th: Dale Winton – Dale was an English Radio DJ and very famous over in the UK. He even had a cameo in the movie Trainspotting.
April 20th: Avicii – This Swedish musician and DJ was only 28 years old. The details of his death were never released (that I can see), but it appears it was related to years of alcohol abuse.
April 26th: Charles Neville – saxophonist for the Neville Brothers. He was 79 and died of pancreatic cancer.
MAY 2018
May 1st: John “Jabo” Starks – drummer for James Brown. He was 79 years old.
May 4th: Steve Coy – drummer for the 80’s band Dead Or Alive who had the big hit “You Spin Me Round”
May 10th: Scott Hutchison – guitarist, singer and songwriter for the Alternative rock band Frightened Rabbit. I came across them on a post I did about them years ago. Damn fine singer and artist.
JUNE 2018
June 8th: Danny Kirwan – Danny was a former guitarist for the band Fleetwood Mac. He was with the band at it’s infancy from 1968-1972. Danny was 68 at the time of his passing.
June 18: XXXTentacion – XXXTentacion was a rapper and was murdered at only 20 years of age.
June 22: Vinnie Paul of Pantera – Vinnie was the drummer for the famed Thrash metal band Pantera. He was only 54 years old and is now with his brother Dimebag who was killed during a concert in 2004.
June 27th: Joe Jackson – the mastermind behind the Jackson 5 and father of Michael Jackson and all the other Jackson clan. His abrasive style has not looked fondly for him, but he did make those kids successful.
July 2018
July 3rd: Richard Swift – Richard was a singer & songwriter for the band The Shins and The Black Keys.
AUGUST 2018
August 14th: Randy Rampage – Randy was the singer and bassist for Canadian thrash metal band D.O.A. He died at 58 of a heart attack.
August 14th: Jill Janus – Jill was the singer for the rock band Huntress. She died of an apparent suicide at the age of 42 years old.
August 16th: Aretha Franklin – Aretha was a living legend and one of the greatest singers we have ever had. Her song “Respect” by Otis Redding is one of the most famous songs probably ever. There was no one that her vocal power and she was adored by so many. Definitely a legend and a icon has been lost.
August 22nd: Ed King – Ed was a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame guitarist for the band Lynrd Skynrd and Strawberry Alarm Clock. He is most famous for co-writing the song “Sweet Home Alabama” Funny thing, he was from California.
August 25th: Kyle Pavone – Kyle was the lead singer for the band We Came as Romans. He was only 28.
SEPTEMBER 2018
September 7th: Mac Miller: Mac Miller was a Rapper, singer and producer. Sadly at he age of 26 died of a drug overdose. For me, most notable for his collaborations with Ariana Grande who my kids are a fan.
September 27th: Marty Balin – Marty was the singer and musician for the Hall of Fame band Jefferson Airplane. He was 76 years old.
OCTOBER 2018
October 29th: Jimmy Farrar – Singer for Molly Hatchet and Gator Country died of a heart attack at the age of 67. I loved me some Molly Hatchet. He was singer from 1980-1982 and appeared on two of their albums.
October 30th: Hardy Fox – musician with the avant-garde musical group The Residents. Famous for their weird eyeball-band.
NOVEMBER 2018
November 3rd: Glenn Schwartz – a member of the James Gang died at 77. I just picked up a live James Gang album that I will play in his honer.
November 4th: Josh Fauver – Bassist for the band Deerhunter. Josh was only 39 years old. Way too young.
November 15th: Roy Clark – Roy was 85 when he died of pneumonia. I remember Roy from Hee-Haw and was actually one of the first guitarist I remember paying attention to. I was forced to watch Hee-Haw and it was funny at times, but Roy Clark’s guitar and banjo playing was sensational. He was one of the few Country musicians that I ever noticed that could serious play…I mean freaking awesome. He will be missed.
DECEMBER 2018
December 6th: Pete Shelley – Pete was a member and co-founder of the band the Buzzcocks. He died from a heart attack at only 63. The Buzzcocks were a British punk rock band that have influenced so many others. Some songs include “I Don’t Mind”, “Fast Cars”, “Ever Fallen in Love (with Someone You Shouldn’t’ve) and “Orgasm Addict”.
December 13th: Nancy Wilson – The Grammy winning Jazz Singer was 81 years young. She won 3 Grammies in her life including for Best R&B recording in 1965 for “How Glad I Am”.
To all the musician we have lost in 2018, may you rest in peace knowing the legacy you have left behind. Thanks for the music!!
Soilwork – Verkligheten – (Nuclear Blast)
2 Loud 2 Old Music 