The Collection: Ep. 12 – The 45’s (Part 1)

This week on The Collection, we are going to start going through my Box of 45’s. We will only go from AC/DC to Cinderella this time around for Part 1. You will see some from Bon Jovi, Cheap Trick, Billy Idol and many more so I hope you enjoy. We even have a rare Billie Eilish Single, you read that right.

I have been collecting 45’s since I started collecting vinyl and I love the ones from the 80’s with the picture sleeves. We have a few from the 70’s as well, but the 80’s rock ones are my sweet spot. And when I see them out in the wild, I will rescue them and adopt them in to my collection.

So go check it out as it is live now on May 6, 2024 at 8pm. Thanks for stopping by and please click “Like” and hit “Subscribe” as it helps out the site when you do.

The Collection: Ep. 11 – Wrap-Up April 2024

I can’t believe it is time for another monthly wrap-up of what we added to The Collection. This time around, it is April 2024 and we added a ton of stuff. Somethings we added were actually in their own episode like the Record Store Day purchases and some Kiss Bootlegs. The rest of what we added are on here.

We hit up the local record stores here in Charlotte and even down in Wilmington, North Carolina when we were on our Spring Break trip. We picked up stuff from Discogs, eBay and even from Amazon as well. It is a lot of stuff and so much in fact, there are things still unopened and haven’t been listened to yet. I think that is a sign I bought too much. But like traffic signs, I’m ignoring it too!!

So go check it out as it is live now on April 29, 2024 at 8pm. Thanks for stopping by and please click “Like” and hit “Subscribe” as it helps out the site when you do.

And for those that wanted the BIG picture we used to put at the bottom of the post with everything in it, here you go…it is back as requested…

Friday New Releases – April 26, 2024

This is a big week for me. Two of my favorite artists are releasing 40th Anniversary Editions of their biggest albums. First, Def Leppard and ‘Pyromania’ and Billy Idol with ‘Rebel Yell’. Yes, I ordered both and they are on their way. Can’t wait to dive in to this and here the previously unreleased material. If those don’t shake your tree, there are ton more new releases this week that are actually new releases. Let us know what you want to hear or what we may have missed. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

  • Def Leppard – Pyromania 40th Anniversary Box Set – (Mercury Records)
  • Billy Idol – Rebel Yell (40th Anniversary Expanded Edition) – (Universal Music)
  •  Pet Shop Boys – Nonetheless – (Parlophone Records / x2 Recordings Ltd)
Continue reading “Friday New Releases – April 26, 2024”

December 2023 Purchases – Vinyl & CDs & More

Welcome to the final Purchases Wrap-Up of 2023 and we will go out with a bang. This month saw a trip to New York City to see the final Kiss show so of course we hit some record stores while there. It also saw Christmas and my Birthday so a lot of good stuff came my way. The month started off with the Kiss show and if you want to see all the Kiss stuff go read the review HERE!!!. Here, we will show the purchases I made while in New York. We hit four record stores and bought from three of them. First up is a couple from the first store and found the debut Kix album and Maneskin’s new one on vinyl. Good stuff…

And at the next one, we found a couple Whitesnake bootlegs of a couple radio broadcasts. And these are early 80’s which is the best stuff…

And I picked up a couple CDs as well including Eric Singers ESP album signed by Eric…

Continue reading “December 2023 Purchases – Vinyl & CDs & More”

Billy Idol – ‘Idol Songs: 11 of the Best’ (1988) – Album Review (The Billy Idol Series)

While I was recording a show on Grant’s Rock Warehaus, we were discussing the Billy Idol Chrysalis Years and as I was gathering my vinyl for that show, I realized that I was missing the ‘Idol Songs: 11 of the Best’ from my collection. I could’ve sworn I had bought that one before as I remember holding it in my hand at one time. But, I apparently didn’t buy it. So, I told Grant I would remedy that situation and so I head over to discogs to see if I could get one and what the best one to get. Well, it turned out the best version to get was the UK 1988 version which came with a 12″ Limited 4 Track E.P. exclusive to this set. Sold. I bought it from someone in Sweden and a week later, it was in my hands. It still had the stickers on the front and back cover talking about the 12″ Exclusive 4 Track E.P. and it was in pristine shape.

The album was released on June 20, 1988 on Chrysalis Records and contains 11 tracks from his first three studio albums as well as the E.P. and includes a live version of “Mony, Mony” which wiki says comes from the ‘Don’t Stop’ E.P. but my E.P. does not have a live version, it is the studio track. You can get another limited edition version with 2 bonus tracks, but why do that when you get one like I have with the the 4 bonus tracks. The album went to #2 on the UK Charts and was certified Platinum. I don’t really remember this album here in the States as it came out after Vital Idol and I felt that was pushed way more than this compilation. But I have one now, so all is good. In 2003, they did reissue this album with a different cover and called it ‘Essentials’…I like my version better.

The opening track is the title song “Rebel Yell” which actually opened the ‘Rebel Yell’ album.  It is a scorcher of a song, high energy and attitude.  The opening of the song is all done with the guitar even though it sounds like both a guitar and a keyboard.  Steve is showing off right out of the gate.  Vocally, Billy is on fire and you can see his lip curling up while he is signing which is amazing as it is on vinyl.  “Rebel Yell” was actually inspired by the Rolling Stones according to Billy on VH1 Storytellers.  Billy was at a party thrown by the Stones and everyone was drinking Rebel Yell Bourbon Whiskey.  I guess he loved that whiskey (along with a lot of drugs at the time).

Continue reading “Billy Idol – ‘Idol Songs: 11 of the Best’ (1988) – Album Review (The Billy Idol Series)”

Billy Idol: A Career Retrospective w/John T. Snow at Grant’s Rock Warehaus

Tonight at 7pm, check out the Billy Idol Retrospective on Grant’s Rock Warehaus on YouTube. Thanks so much for Grant inviting me as we blast through the entire Billy Idol solo catalog as well as some of his rare vinyl releases. We had a great time and I hope you will too!! Give it a watch and then Subscribe to Grant’s channel as there is so much fantastic content!!

November 2023 Purchases – Vinyl & CDs

Welcome to monthly wrap-up of what 2 Loud 2 Old Music added to the collection and it was another good month. I will be honest, I don’t know if December is shaping up to be as good as this one and that is okay. I need a break. I will be in New York City and hope to hit a couple stores so there is still hope, but as far as what has already been ordered, not much. I know there is Christmas, but that list I gave my family was pretty light as I’d like a new laptop and that will drown out most everything else. For now, sit back and enjoy what we have this month.

The month started out with a sale at 2nd & Charles with a Buy 2 Get 2 Free sale on CDs. Well, you don’t have to tell me twice. My daughter and I hit up a different one then our normal haunt as I have picked that one clean and boy did that pay off. I picked up 20 CDs and 1 DVD as well. So technically, the first photo I bought, then the 2nd one was free.

And the DVD was for Robbie Williams’ TV concert show called “The Robbie Williams Show” and a review if forthcoming…

Continue reading “November 2023 Purchases – Vinyl & CDs”

Billy Idol – The Best and Worst Songs on Every Album (The Billy Idol Series)

I have done two posts already on the Best & Worst songs from every Judas Priest album, Cheap Trick and even Whitesnake. I really enjoyed doing those so I thought I would continue that process and this time we would go through every Billy Idol album and see what is the best song and the worst one off each album as well. Billy Idol has 8 studio albums to go through and we will throw in the 3 E.P.’s and the 2 Vital Idol remix albums for fun. So, sit back and take it all in. Let’s preface this with the fact that these are my choices and not necessarily yours as we can have different opinions. If you watched the show you will see that sometimes my worst song was their favorite so you never know what people like and we all like different things or this would be a very dull world. I hope you enjoy!!

‘DON’T STOP’ E.P. (1981)

BEST SONG – “DANCING WITH MYSELF”: The Gen X track, “Dancing With Myself”, was not re-recorded for this release.  Instead, they took the extended version of the original song which was over 6 minutes and remixed it down to under 5 minutes to change it up a bit.  It is still just as fantastic as the original cause it was still the original.  The song was released as a single, but didn’t do anything. I don’t know if it was bad timing or what it was as it is a great song.  It wasn’t until 2 years later when they released as a bonus track on the first full length album did the song finally blow up.

WORST SONG – “MONY, MONY”: The song is a cover of Tommy James & the Shondell’s #1 song, “Mony, Mony”.  The song was a really good cover, but it didn’t really do much on the radio.  Compared to what was to come later from this song when he released the live version years later, this version is a little flat and doesn’t have the sonics and feel of that version.  It is missing a little of that charm and energy.  It is not a bad introduction to Billy, just kind of missed the mark as I know the live version so well.

Continue reading “Billy Idol – The Best and Worst Songs on Every Album (The Billy Idol Series)”

October 2023 Purchases – Vinyl & CD’s and more

We have a lot of treats for you today. No tricks. I promise. It is all good stuff. October was another good month for the 2 Loud 2 Old Music Collection. We have box sets, CDs, Vinyl, Cassettes, books and I would say that is a good month. The month started off with a couple items that were supposed to arrive in September, but sadly did not come until after I had written the September Purchases post. It also ended with a new a new band from this album as well. A perfect booked. So, we have the two Night Ranger Rock Candy reissues and their new album that is a live album done with a Youth Orchestra. Great stuff…

Next up is a bunch of items I picked up when I went to visit a local store I hadn’t hit in a while. It is Repo Records. I dug through the CDs, the Cassettes and the Vinyl and found a lot of good things. First, I found another Kiss bootleg I didn’t have in my collection. That was an easy decisions…

And then I found some great 45’s from the 80’s with picture sleeves. I like picture sleeves. I picked up a Billy Idol, a Loverboy, a Billy Squire and a John Cougar Mellencamp single. All choice cuts…

Continue reading “October 2023 Purchases – Vinyl & CD’s and more”

Grant’s Rock Warehaus – Generation X featuring Billy Idol Discussion & Review

Premieres Sep 8, 2023 @ 8PM EDT

Discussion & Review: Generation X featuring Billy Idol w/John T. Snow

Join Grant and John as they take a look at the band Generation X.

This was a lot of fun, if you want to know where Billy Idol started, then you will enjoy this walk through the Generation X Catalog. Check it out! And thanks to Grant Arthur for having me on the show.