Jeremy Porter recaps the Scorpions/Skid Row Sin City Nights Residency with a review of their April 9th, 2022 show.
Read MoreALICE COOPER RUINED MY BIRTHDAY - by Scott Carr
OK, that may sound a little harsh but it is 100% true. On my birthday in 1989 Alice released an album that I think is the worst thing he ever put down on tape. The aptly titled Trash was released twenty seven years ago today but my disappointment in this record and Alice are still as vivid as yesterday.
It's exciting when you learn that one of your favorite bands or artists are gonna release a record on "your" day. I remember in 1980 AC/DC released their career defining Back In Black album on my birthday. While it took me awhile to get used to singer Brian Johnson as the new voice of AC/DC, there was no denying that they had made a great record. Also in 1980 Kiss made their debut performance at The Palladium in NYC with drummer Eric Carr, who had replaced the recently departed Peter Criss. Out of all the days in the year two of my favorite bands picked my birthday for these events. I felt like the coolest kid on the block.
Fast forward nine years and I am still at an age when birthdays are still exciting and seem really important. I had heard that Alice Cooper was gonna be releasing his new album on July 25th, so I knew my birthday would include a trip to the local mall to pick up his new record. I woke up bright and early on that birthday morning and could only think of one thing, I gotta get to the mall and get the new Alice Cooper record. Everything else could wait but I had to get this record. So I headed to the mall and was waiting patiently for National Record Mart to open. Once the store open I dashed in and grabbed the new Cooper record. I might add that I was the only one waiting in line but my enthusiasm for this record was like I was racing to get the last copy.
Alice had semi-retired after the release of his 1983 album DaDa. Alice was in bad shape during that time, struggling with alcohol & drug addiction and he decided to step away for a few years and get clean. Alice resurfaced in 1986 with the album Constrictor and quickly followed it up with 1987's Raise Your Fist and Yell. Both records were supported with very successful tours. Alice was healthy again and his shows during this time are considered some of his best. Alice had something to prove and you could tell he was ready to reclaim his title "the king of shock rock." I saw Alice in 1986 on the "Nightmare Returns" tour and I still consider it one of the best concerts I've ever seen. Constrictor and Raise Your Fist and Yell were both solid records but they didn't burn up the charts. Alice's concerts were sell-outs but that had not translated to record sales.
I liked the direction had gone with Raise Your Fist and Yell, it was a little more heavy metal than Alice had ever been but it worked. I had planned on getting more of the same with Trash but that was not the case. I became a little concerned when I saw the album was produced by Desmond Child. Desmond was credited with turning Kiss into a disco band. Desmond had co-wrote "I Was Made For Loving You" on Kiss' 1979 album Dynasty. Of course Desmond would go on to work with many other artists including Aerosmith, Joan Jett and Bon Jovi. Desmond had become known for his slick production work, so I was a little nervous at what his collaboration with Alice would bring.
When I got the record home and put it on the turntable I knew instantly that this was a different Alice than the one that had made Raise Your Fist and Yell. The production was very slick and big. The opening track "Poison" was pretty good but had a more commercial sound than anything in Alice's catalog. The album is loaded with special guests including Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, Jon Bon Jovi, and Steve Luckather among others. It felt like Desmond had called in a bunch of favors on this record. Desmond co-wrote almost every song on Trash and every song felt like it was trying to be a hit. The weirdest thing that struck me about Trash was the New Jersey twang that Alice had developed in his vocal delivery. I was like what the hell is wrong with Alice's voice. I was underwhelmed with the entire record and my birthday was ruined. How could Alice let me down on my birthday.......I was crushed.
The irony of all this is, Trash went on to be one of Alice's biggest records and a worldwide success. It was his first platinum record in many years and the videos from the record were staples on MTV. So the direction Alice chose with Trash connected with a lot of people but not with this birthday boy.
All these years later I have still not warmed up to this record. I usually pull it out on my birthday to give it a spin but it still falls flat for me. Alice redeemed himself in my eyes with his next record, Hey Stoopid, a much better record all around. Alice has released some great records since Trash but none have been on my birthday. The only way I can see Alice making all things right with me is making a new album with all original surviving Alice Cooper Group members and releasing it on my birthday.
If that doesn't happen......I still have Back In Black!
I posted some videos below so you can decide for yourself.
Also for some further Alice Cooper reading you can check out my review of Muscle of Love here
Scott Carr is a guitarist who plays in the Columbus, OH bands Radio Tramps andReturning April. Scott is also an avid collector of vinyl records and works at Lost Weekend Records. So...if you are looking for Scott....you'll either find him in a dimly lit bar playing his guitar or in a record store digging for the holy grail.
Great Band, Worst Song: Van Halen's "Jump"
Van Halen – the greatest rock band of the 80's. The original line-up will go down in history as one of the amazing hard-rock bands ever. When their songs came on the radio, you automatically turned it up.
Their drummer, Alex Van Halen, merged traditional rock beats with mind-blowing drum fills that you couldn't help but pound along on your steering wheel to. He was the first to effectively use a double bass drum, demonstrated here in Hot For Teacher.
Add in a front man, David Lee Roth, with such bravado and presence, plus a twist of humor. His ego was so huge he needed three names. This guy didn’t really care at all but knew how to sing a hook, tell a story, and make you want to come back for more. Just watch this video of Panama to truly understand this guy’s talent.
Not to mention, the world’s most underrated bass player, Michael Anthony, who was an amazing vocalist in his own right and laid down heavy righteous low-end rhythm. Just listen to the raw bass line in Ain’t Talking About Love and the backup vocals in Beautiful Girls.
But Van Halen wouldn’t have been Van Halen without the best rock guitarist in history, Eddie Van Halen: the virtuoso who owned rock guitar in the 80's. Everyone wanted to play just like him. He came up with distorted grooves, rip-roaring bluesy solos, and perfected the tapping technique which became his signature move. He’s probably one of the most influential rock guitarists. He tops lists that include Jimi Hendrix, Frank Zappa, and Jimmy Page. Heck, even Michael Jackson asked him to guest solo on Beat It (start at 3:10). Check out the solo on Ice Cream Man.
Van Halen was an awesome band. Even their covers were kick ass. You Really Got Me, Dancing In The Street, Pretty Woman.
You want to hear something that rocks? Listen to any Van Halen song… any song with the original line-up and you’ll crank it up and relive what it’s like to be surrounded by 80's hard rock.
Except for one.
Jump.
This song stands out like a sore thumb on their album 1984. It had so many killer Van Halen songs… Panama… Hot For Teacher… Top Jimmy… Drop Dead Legs.
But what do you do when you have the world’s greatest guitar player? You do a heavy synth song like "Jump"? I’m not knocking the tune… it’s a great song. But it belongs on Bon Jovi’s Slippery When Wet - not 1984.
If Poison would have recorded this song, it would be by far the best Poison song. But it’s the worst Van Halen song. It’s too poppy. Too synthy. Lacks a powerful bass line. Lacks any strong guitar riff. Lacks any killer drums. And lacks powerful vocals. It’s like they took all their energy and put it into Panama and Hot For Teacher and then said, “Hey… let’s do something really cheesy. Let's do Jump.”
Unfortunately, this song opened up the era of keyboard-heavy Van Hagar… with songs as Dreams, Why Can’t This Be Love, Love Walks In, and When It’s Love. All good tunes, but each overshadows the guitar virtuoso and hard-rockin’ band Van Halen was during the late 70's and early 80's.
The good news is, it left a void to fill from guitarists like Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Nuno Bettencourt, and others: all of whom brought their own skills and talent to create some of the best hard-rock music we've heard.
Wal Ozello, a child of the 80s, is the former singer of the Columbus hairband Armada. He's the author of the science fiction time travel books Assignment 1989, Revolution 1990 and Sacrifice 2086 and a frequent customer at Colin's Coffee.
"Reason to Live" by KISS Gave Me a Reason to Live. - by Jeff Hassler
This is Day 5 of Kiss Kountdown. Click here for day 4 or Click here for Day 6 "Kiss Rocks vs Kiss Sucks"
Reason to Live Was My Reason to Live by Jeff Hassler
Thanks to Colin for letting me contribute to the Kiss Kountdown! I like to think I bring a different sensibility to the conversation. On one hand, I agree with Wal and Ricki C. that Kiss while wearing make-up were just a circus act. As a fan of quality music myself, I too had zero interest in the original line-up. Kids stuff.
But once the group "unmasked" (ha), got rid of all the special effects and replaced Ace Frehley with the completely superior musician Bruce Kulick, KISS finally started making records for grown-ups. While all the non-make up albums are superior to the previous (except for maybe The Elder) I think they hit their high-water mark when the band teamed up with master producer Ron Nevison for the blockbuster CD Crazy Nights. In fact, I would even go so far as to say it's even better than Bon Jovi's classic Slippery When Wet, which came out around the same time. Both went on to be HUGE sellers and influenced millions of people the world over.
What makes Crazy Nights so much better than the early Kiss stuff? Well, in addition to Bruce being a technically superior guitar player to Ace, Nevison finally brought the band into the modern world by adding all kinds of cool synthesizer parts. Kiss records like Rock n Roll Over and Love Gun just sounded so dated by the year 1987. So boring. Nevison was able to bring a modern rock quality to the record, allowing it to be on the cutting edge of the new metal scene that was happening. Digital recording got rid of all that noisy tape hiss, and sampled drums allowed Eric Carr's drumming to finally sound as thunderous as it did live.
For example, Reason to Live was the #1 video on MTV's daily countdown and it featured keyboards for the first time in a Kiss song since Beth. And the lead single, Crazy Crazy Nights, while not a smash in the States, went on to become one of the biggest hits of the decade in the UK. You know, England: home of The Beatles, Stones, The Who, Ozzy, Oasis, Def Leppard, Arcade Fire, Deep Purple.....do I have to go on? My point being that Great Britain knows a thing or two about good rock n roll, if you know what I mean. Let's face it, the USA can be a little off in our taste. I mean can anybody explain why Guns and Roses became huge and Faster Pussycat didn't? Exactly.
Desmond Child. Heavy Metal Personified.
Do you know what else Crazy Nights and Slippery When Wet had in common? Desmond Fucking Child! One of rock's greatest songwriters. Ricki claims he has never heard of him and Colin says "Desmond Child is where bad songs go to become even worse," but you cannot argue with his results. The guy is a lyrical genius and he has co-written more hits than any "Hitless Wonder" I know. Sorry, Colin, but you know it's true. Just sayin'.
I have my own story about how the songs of Desmond Child have touched my life. In 1987, I was a senior in high school and I had just met my later ex-wife Kim in French Club. (Looks good for a college resume: French Club that is, not Kim!) I went stag to the Valentine's Day dance and Kim got into a fight with her boyfriend Chase on the way there and ended up coming alone, too. When the DJ played "I'll Die For You" we danced and that became "our song." It was co-written by Desmond Child.
I'd die for you, I'd cry for you, I'd do anything, I'd lie for you, you know its true, baby I'd die for you, I'd cry for you. If it came right down to me and you, you know it's true, I'd die for you.
Hard to top that. Anyway, fast forward a couple of months and Kim and I were still going strong until.... One day she stopped by my parents house with some leftover cookies she had made as part of the dance squad for the lacrosse players. I don't know how to say this exactly, except she surprised me in my bedroom while I was doing a private act adolescent boys are known to engage in. I was listening to the song "Bang, Bang You" on Crazy Nights (also co-written by D. Child.) and didn't hear her knock. To make matters even worse, the school yearbook just happened to be open on the bed next to me turned to the page of the girls tennis team. I SWEAR it was just a coincidence, but when Kim saw the picture of Linda Assario stroking that backhand in her tennis skirt she just went CRAZY, screamed "Chase was right!" then threw the cookies in my face and stormed out of the room in tears.
I was beyond heartbroken. Frankly, I was borderline suicidal. I'm not sure I would have made it if not for this Kiss classic. Ricki C likes to say rock n roll saved his life, well the song "Reason to Live" saved mine. "Reason to Live" was literally was my reason to live. I played it first thing in the morning and the last thing at night for six straight months. I found strength in the words and in the sampled drum sounds. Desmond Child, I am forever in your debt.
"Reason To Live" (Stanley, Child)
Out of love, there's nobody around,
all I hear is the sound of a broken heart
Out of time, no more waitin' for you
Now the hurtin's through, and a new day starts
And I feel a change in my life,
I sailed into dark and endless nights
And made it alive
[Chorus:]
Everybody's got a reason to live, baby
Everybody's got a dream and a hunger inside
Everybody's got a reason to live, but it can't be your love
Out of touch, with myself for so long,
now a feelin' so strong comin' over me
Down the line, there's a lesson I've learned
You can love and get burned, if it has to be
And I see a change in my life,
and I'm not alone when I'm strong inside
And I realize
Anyway, Kim and I eventually met up again in college and got married and then recently divorced. Thanks for reading my blog. Hassler is out.
You can learn more about Jeff Hassler and other Pencilstorm contributors by clicking here
Below: 1) The video for the song that saved my life. 2) The best KISS lineup rocking Bang Bang You. LIVE!! It really takes off around 2:40. Trust me, it's worth the wait. 3) Kim and my song. 4) KISS live in a rare daytime concert from Germany on the Crazy Nights Tour. They are so much better without Ace, Peter or any lights or effects. Great set list too! Paul is playing the coolest guitar.
I wonder if Kim still plays this once and a while.