I am going to continue rehashing all the concerts I have been to that I still have the tickets stubs for those shows and even mention shows I remember that I can’t find a ticket stub. I started off talking about The 80’s (click to read about it), now we will pick up in the 90’s and see what wonderful shows I attended.
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. Not positive on that one. This show got me hooked on Danger Danger so that is why I remember it. The tour was for the album Hot in the Shade and had a huge Sphinx for the state setup. Ticket prices were now over $20 at $24 after fees.
I have been going through this rock & roll trip down memory lane with this blog. It started with the vinyl records I found in a box and than last week with the posters. I actually found one more box from my younger days and this one had a ton of concert ticket stubs from over the years. I also found a couple concert T’s and a couple programs as well. I still can’t believe I kept all this stuff, but I am glad I did.
Going to a concert nowadays, they don’t give you a physical ticket anymore. If they do, they charge you for it. Nope, tickets are on your phone and get scanned in or you print it out on your printer. Not the same as those dot matrix printers from the old days.
You also used to stand in line for tickets. You had to arrive an hour or two before the tickets went on sale whether it was hot, cold, raining or snowing. We did it each and every time we wanted to go see a show. And we loved it! Now you go online from the comfort of you home…not the same.
Whether you want to or not, I am going to take you on a journey of my musical concert experiences…at least most of them because I think I am missing quite a few ticket stubs.
The 80’s
Our journey begins back around 1983. I was only 14 years old. My parents finally agreed to let me go to a concert, but I had to go with my sister…REALLY!!! Actually, it was okay. My sister and I have been to many concerts together and even went to one 2 years ago some 3o+ years later.
I was in the garage getting down the Christmas decorations and I came across a box that strangely said…”Posters”. It dawned on me rather quickly that these were posters that I had when I was younger and posters from when I worked at the Sam Goody Music Stores.
I couldn’t get the box down fast enough to see what was in there. I was surprised at how many I still had after 25-30 years and what great shape they were still in. There were a few slight rips or tears and maybe a little discoloration, but all-in-all I thought they were in great condition.
We will start with those from my personal collection that actually hung on my walls when I lived at home in my parents house around 25+ years ago. First, you will notice the crystal looking candlesticks holding down the posters. They have been rolled up for quite some time and wouldn’t stay open, so I had to have some help.
If you know me, then you know I had to have either Def Leppard or Kiss on my wall. Actually, I had both. The Def Leppard posters were from High & Dry and Pyromania era live shows.
This weeks My Sunday Song #18 is by my all time favorite band, Def Leppard. The song is off their latest self-titled album and is called “We Belong”. Def Leppard just released the new video in the last couple days while promoting their upcoming DVD which is called And There Will Be a Next Time – Live From Detroit. It is a DVD-Blu-ray/two-CD set which will be released On Feb. 10, 2017. They are taking preorders at Pledgemusic.com.
The Tracklisting is 17 songs and includes the following:
1. “Rocket”
2. “Bringin’ on the Heartbreak”
3. “Switch 625″
4. Medley: “Hysteria” / “Heroes”
5. “Let’s Get Rocked”
6. “Pour Some Sugar on Me”
7. “Rock of Ages”
8. “Photograph”
I will be getting my copy for sure. Go get yours.
Now back to the song. This is the first song that every band member has a part in the lead vocals. That to me is the charm behind this great song and one of my favorite songs on the album.
I tried to look up the meaning behind the song, but really couldn’t find anything on it. In reading the lyrics it looks like it is about God. With lyrics like “You’re all that I am, You’re all that I see, The keys to the kingdom Are waiting for me” and “If you cast the first stone I will roll it away, I will kneel at your throne Hold my hands up and pray” are why I have the impression it is about his faith.
You can interpret it anyway you want, but this is my take away and why I wanted to showcase the song. To me, it screams I am not good enough to be loved by God and how can I be a part of His Kingdom.
I hope you get something out of it and enjoy. Let me know your thoughts on the song.
“We Belong”
Sometimes I feel I don’t belong here
Sometimes I just don’t feel
I feel so uninvited
A wound that never heals
I need a little shelter
Just for a little while
Sometimes I hide the sadness
Behind a painted smile
If you cast the first stone
I will roll it away
I will kneel at your throne
Hold my hands up and pray
I will hold back the tide
Push the oceans aside
Save the day
But I can be stronger
You’re all that I am
You’re all that I see
The keys to the kingdom
Are waiting for me
So don’t hold me back
Don’t hold me down
Just hold me and don’t let go
You’re all that I am
You’re all that I do
The end of the rainbow
Is waiting for you
So tell me I’m right
Cause this can’t move on
Not if we belong
Whatever happened to forgiveness
Are the words too hard to say
What happened to the answers
They disappeared along the way
I hide behind the madness
Still looking for the clues
And there’s nothing left to chance
When there’s nothing left to lose
And the voice in my head
Screams the words I believe
And the light in the dark
Is the air that I breathe
You’re all that I am
You’re all that I see
The keys to the kingdom
Are waiting for me
So don’t hold me back
Don’t hold me down
Just hold me and don’t let go
You’re all that I am
You’re all that I do
The end of the rainbow
Is waiting for you
So tell me I’m right
Cause this can’t move on
Back where we belong
As you cast the first stone
And I roll it away
And I kneel at your throne
These words that I say
You’re all that I am
You’re all that I see
The keys to the kingdom
Are waiting for me
So don’t hold me back
Don’t hold me down
Just hold me and don’t let go
You’re all that I am
You’re all that I do
The end of the rainbow
Is waiting for you
So tell me I’m right
Cause this can’t be wrong
Not if we belong
I am not sure what my fascination was with this album in High School. The album had already been out for 3 or 4 years and ‘Pyromania’ was the big album at the time. For some strange reason, I kept using things from that album for school projects.
One project was for art. I needed a subject matter for a drawing, so I picked the album cover of ‘On Through the Night’ to draw. I spent a lot of time on it and I think I did a pretty good rendition of the cover. I am not an artist, but I tried. I don’t know if I could do it again though.
Robert John “Mutt” Lange could quite possibly be one of the greatest music producers there has ever been. He is personally responsible for some of the biggest selling albums of all time. He is the man behind the music, literally.
He started producing albums in the 70’s where he produced Graham Parker’s album ‘Heat Treatment’ and worked with the City Boys. He also worked with the Boomtown Rats which gave him his first real breakout album was their 1978 album ‘A Tonic for the Troops”.
But the big break came with the success of his work with AC/DC. He produced the 1979 album ‘Highway to Hell’ and then the 1980 classic ‘Back in Black’ which is the second largest selling album of all time at over 50 million albums. ‘Back in Black’ was one of the albums I picked up just recently (read about it here). He went to do another album for AC/DC in 1981, ‘For Those About To Rock We Salute You’.
Do kids nowadays know what a B-Side is? With today’s music environment, they no longer exist. Now when a single is released, you just download that single. There is no longer another song purchased along with the single. That makes me sad.
I guess the so called Deluxe Edition of albums is like getting all your B-Sides at one time, but where is the fun in that. And are albums really “deluxe editions” if they don’t offer a non-deluxe edition? I think that would just be called an album.
Some B-Sides went on to be as big as the A-Side of even bigger. A couple examples would be with Kiss and Queen. For Kiss, “Beth” was the B-Side on the single for “Detroit Rock City”. A radio station added the song to their playlist and it went on to be Kiss’ biggest hit and reached #7 on the Billboard charts. Queen had the same thing happen. The B-Side for “We Are the Champions” was “We Will Rock You” The 2 songs now are played together and are 2 of the bands biggest and most played songs.
I hit the mother lode last weekend while I was visiting family in Atlanta. The conversation somehow ended up on Vinyl records and my sister-in-law mentioned she had some old albums laying around. My brother found the box and in it were 4 albums on my wish list…Def Leppard’s ‘Pyromania’ and ‘Hysteria’; Whitesnake’s self-titled album and Bon Jovi’s ‘Slippery When Wet’. I couldn’t believe my luck. Of course, when I left their house, for some reason I left the Bon Jovi album there. I will make sure to grab it next time I am down. BTW, they were in phenomenal shape.
Is 1987 the greatest year in music? Well, probably not, but I am going to make an argument for it to be the greatest. For me personally, 1987 was a great year. I graduated high school and started college in that year. I also had a fabulous Senior Trip with some of the best people in the world. Life was really great at that time (fyi…life is really great now as well).
Musically, some of the greatest rock albums and pop albums were released during 1987. After this list, you let me know if you think it wasn’t the greatest or at least one of the most memorable years in music.
Def Leppard – ‘Hysteria’: This is one of my all time favorite albums. It was released on August 3 and spawned 7 singles (that is right 7). The album has gone on to sale over 25 million copies and has one of the most iconic rock songs of all time…”Pour Some Sugar On Me”. Go to mikeladano.com and check out a great review on the album (Then look around at his site, great reviews and great stories). With other hits like “Hysteria”, “Love Bites”, “Animal”, “Women” and “Rocket”, it is one of the greatest rock albums of all times.
Today, July 11th, marks the 35th Anniversary of Def Leppard’s best and heaviest album, ‘High & Dry’. Everyone knows the albums ‘Pyromania’ and ‘Hysteria’, but the album that started it for me was ‘High & Dry’. My brother had their first album on vinyl ‘On Through the Night’, but that album didn’t really do much for me. I liked it, but it was lacking in a lot of areas.
It was this album that changed my views on Def Leppard. This album is what a Rock & Roll album was supposed to sound like. Once I heard this album, my world was never the same. Def Leppard became a part of my life and has not stopped since.
What was so special about this album? For starters, the producer was the legendary, Mutt Lange. He went on to produce ‘Pyromania’ and ‘Hysteria’ as well. Mutt Lange was able to take the elements that were missing on their first album and put them together here. The improvements from their first album to here are huge. They sounded like a band that had a plan and an idea of who they were that they didn’t have before.
Def Leppard – ‘Hysteria’: This is one of my all time favorite albums. It was released on August 3 and spawned 7 singles (that is right 7). The album has gone on to sale over 25 million copies and has one of the most iconic rock songs of all time…”Pour Some Sugar On Me”. Go to 
2 Loud 2 Old Music 