Tag: Toronto

Kiss – ‘Flaming Years: Toronto, Canada, September 6, 1976’ (1994) – Album Review (The Kiss Bootleg Series)

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We are now to a set of shows that were all done within a month of each other. These three disc were included in the John Humphrey Collection I bought last year at an auction where I got my hands on 38 Bootleg CDs from his personal collection. Oh, if you don’t know who John Humphrey is, you need to know he is a massive Kiss collector. And he is the drummer of the band Seether. John decided to sell off his entire collection…sort of…he kept all the vinyl (like 4,000 of them). He did it through an auction at Backstage Auctions and I had to have a piece of it…which I did.

We are going in chronological order for these three shows, so last time we did ‘Unnecessary Evil: Anaheim Stadium August 20, 1976’. Then it was ‘The Spirit of ’76: Richfield Coliseum, September 3, 1976’. We are now to the final of the 3 shows from the Destroyer Tour. This one is called ‘Flaming Years’ and it was recorded on September 6, 1976 in Toronto Canada at Varsity Stadium. This bootleg was released in 1994 by Backstage and it was released in Italy. The CD was purchased on March 27, 1995 as the receipt was still in the CD and John paid $29.25 for it which I imagine that was a lot back in the day.

Like the Cleveland show, this is another soundboard recording, but the sound is little more clear as it seems to breathe a little better. Paul is still as loud, but the crowd is very faint. There are some interesting moments here as “Rock and Roll All Nite” does cutout midway through and goes right into “Deuce” which is already in-progress. And during the intro to “Black Diamond,” Ace Frehley is apparently calling someone an “asshole.”  I wonder what that was about.

The show stsarts with the annoucer screamning “Alright Toronto, You Wanted the Best and You Got the Best…KISS”. This was louder then when the band actually starts playing “Detroit Rock City”. Paul’s vocals are quite loud in the mix so you hear all his flaws (which aren’t many at this time in their career. Everything else isn’t quite as loud as Paul, but it is clear. Peter is keeping great time, Ace’s is playing is outstanding and the bass is laying the groove. A great performance. It is definitely a soundboard recording. It ends with a car crash as it should be and then it is “King of the Night Time World”. Gene roars in the backing vocals on the Chorus and Paul is still really loud and Ace is still killing it, so is Peter.

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My Sunday Song – “Hard to Laugh” by The Pursuit of Happiness

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For My Sunday Song #374, we are on to Deke’s fourth choice which is another Toronto band and this one is called The Pursuit of Happiness. The song is “Hard to Laugh” which is the opening track of their debut album from 1988 called ‘Love Junk’ and it was a single. The album was produced by none other than Todd Rundgren so you know there is some massive talent here as Todd doesn’t just produce anyone.

The song was written by Moe Berg who is the guitarist & vocalist in the band. We also have Kris Abbott who also does guitar and vocals along with Dave Gilby on drums, Johnny Sinclair on bass and Leslie Stanwyck on vocals. The song is about the girlfriend of the guy in this story and she is so gorgeous with a killer body and everyone is wondering why he isn’t smiling from ear to ear all the time. Well, that is easy because she has been cheating on him and he finds it hard to laugh but he is torn up and destroyed.

The song is a great upbeat, power pop song. The song seems almost happy while the subject matter is far from it. There is a lot of humor in the lyrics too and his phrasing is great. Musically, it is simple yet effective as there is a power to it, a great drum beat and rhythm section, I like the guitar tone and it is an all around great tune. Moe’s vocals have a punk feel to it as there is some angst to it which I think adds to the subject matter of the song. He feels it.

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My Sunday Song – “Winter Freeze” by Santers

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For My Sunday Song #373, we are on to the third pick from Deke over at The Distortion Den. This time he picked “Winter Freeze” by the band Santers. Now, Santers never broke here in the States, but in Canada they did well as well as the UK. The band hails from Toronto Canada, but I don’t think they sound Canadian, if that is a thing…we will get to that. The band is a trio with Santers brothers Rick(Guitar and Vocals) and Mark (Drums) as well as their trusty sidekick Rick Lazaroff (Bass).

The song “Winter Freeze” is off their 1982 sophomore release ‘Racing Time’. The song seems to be about a woman that Rick is wanting but she keeps freezing him out…thus “winter freeze”. She is giving him the cold shoulder, the freeze out and any other cold saying you want to throw in there. She is apparently American and she probably doesn’t want to date a Canadian because it is too cold in the Great White North.

The song is a great melodic rock song. The band was listed as metal, but they are far from it. This song and this album are firmly planted in the 80’s hard rock category. The song is actually killer with some great guitar work and a great rhythm section with some great drumming by Mark. The sound is a little raw in the production, but I like that feeling…it isn’t overproduced. Rick’s vocals are great as well and he does have an 80’s sound, but such a great tone and nice high register. Really a kick ass song and I hate that it never did anything down here. Maybe the whole country gave them the “Winter Freeze”.

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Heart – “What About Love” – The 45 Single

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I haven’t done one of these in awhile where I highlight a 45 Single in my collection so I went through and pulled out “What About Love” from the band Heart.  The song is from what is considered their comeback album ‘Heart’ that was released in 1985 and the single was the first off the album and released on June 1, 1985.

The song is a cover song actually and was originally performed by the band Toronto.  It was written by Brian Allen. Sheron Alton and Jim Vallance.  You know Jim as he is the writing partner for some guy named Bryan Adams.  Brian & Sheron were in Toronto, however, Jim wasn’t although he did play drums on the song.  Enough about them, let’s get to Heart.

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