Tommy Stinson - The George Harrison of The Replacements by Colin G.

Tommy Stinson's Cowboys in the Campfire will be performing at Used Kids Records Monday March 26th, 7 pm. He will also be taping a Big Room segment with Brian Phillips on CD1025 airtime TBA. This story was originally published in the past. 

It's Replacements week here at Pencilstorm. Along with my Watershed pals - Hitless Wonder author Joe Oestreich and the living literary legend, "Biggie" - I have been invited to St. Paul, Minnesota, to witness The Replacements' homecoming show on Saturday September 13th at Midway Stadium in St. Paul, MN. In honor of this we decided to knock out some 'Mats-related material for your enjoyment. - Colin G.  Click here for previous Mats' story.

Here are three facts about Tommy Stinson:

1) He joined one of the most notoriously dysfunctional bands in rock history just as he was entering puberty. Even as his older brother was kicked out of the band and eventually died of alcoholism-related complications, and as the Replacements fell apart, he emerged from the mess as a completely functional adult as if he was raised in a New England boarding school.

2) He is the only person never to have been fired from Guns n Roses by Axl Rose.

3) Tommy Stinson always looks like a rock star.

On the merits of those three facts alone, I think one could argue that Tommy Stinson deserves admission into the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist. But you know what hardly anybody mentions when they talk about Tommy Stinson? He is an amazing musician who makes GREAT solo records. 

In fact, I think if you put Tommy's post-Mats' solo output head-to-head against Paul Westerberg's, Tommy has a higher percentage of great songs. No knock on Paul, he is on the Mt. Rushmore of great rock songwriters, but Tommy - simply put - doesn't release sub-par albums. Unlike Paul at times, it obvious Tommy he puts everything he has into each of his records.

His three full-length records in the past twenty years are: Bash n Pop - Friday Night is Killing Me, Tommy Stinson - Village Gorilla Head and Tommy Stinson - One Man Mutiny. Perfect is good as well, but we will stick to the full-lengths.(* Author's note: Since this story was published, Tommy released the record Anything Could Happen with his band Bash and Pop. I think it's his best record yet. )

These records all age well and there isn't a weak track in the bunch. More so, a number of tracks are as good as the best of any Replacements records. If Paul is the Lennon/McCartney of the 'Mats, Tommy Stinson is the George Harrison.

The funny thing is, nobody listens to Tommy Stinson records. Especially Replacements fans, it seems. Hell, even I took over a year to press one single button on my phone so I could check out One Man Mutiny. I don't know why it took so long. It just didn't seem important. Then, within the first thirty seconds of the the opening track that familiar light- bulb went off, "Oh yeah, I forgot, I fucking love Tommy Stinson. Why did I wait so long to play this?"

I have since played One Man Mutiny about 100 times and loved every spin. Great songs. Great vocals. Great sound. You know what would be really cool? If somehow the "new" Replacements could let Tommy slide over to center stage every night a-la Keith and do a couple of solo songs. I think that after all Tommy Stinson has lived through, survived and meant to rock and roll, he deserves a little glory all to himself. - Colin Gawel

Colin Gawel plays in the band Watershed and was once kissed on the lips by Tommy Stinson onstage for covering a Kinks songs at Stache's in Columbus,OH. You can read about that and whole bunch more in the best-selling book "Hitless Wonder- A Life in Minor League Rock n Roll" by Joe Oestreich   

Secret Bonus Track. A Tommy Stinson Primer.

Click here for a massive Tommy Stinson playlist some maniac put together on youtube. Songs, videos, and interviews. Below are some of my picks.

Tommy Stinson - One Man Mutiny

Listen to This! "All This Way For Nothing"     

Watch this! "It's a Drag"  

Listen to This!  "Meant To Be"     

Listen to this! "Destroy Me" 

Tommy Stinson - Village Gorilla Head

Listen to This! "Without a View" (opening track on record)  

Watch this! "Someday" (fan video with a bunch of cool pics)  

Listen to this! "Not a Moment Too Soon" 

Bash n Pop - Friday Night is Killing Me 

Listen to this! "Friday Night is Killing Me"

Listen to this! "Tiny Pieces"

Watch this! 'Bash n Pop' on Letterman                                                                    

FAIR USE NOTICE: This video may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. I believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C.

Book Review: Runnin' With The Devil: Behind the Making of Van Halen (Monk & Layden) - by John Egertson

Strolling through a Barnes & Noble store one afternoon I noticed a book about Van Halen called “Runnin’ with the Devil.”  I mentioned to my wife that I thought I might like to read it.  I never gave it another thought until Christmas morning when I received a copy as a gift from her.  Before I get to the book, let me give you my general thoughts about Van Halen.  When the first Van Halen record came out in 1978, I was 15 years old and I was just starting to get very deeply into the Sex Pistols, Clash, Damned, etc.  I was a punk and new wave fanatic.  I adored The Cars first record from the minute it came out, and I despised bands like Styx, Journey, REO Speedwagon, etc.  But to me, Van Halen was different.  That first record, with “Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love,” “Runnin’ with the Devil,” “Jamie’s Cryin’” and the cover of “You Really Got Me” was - and still is - excellent in my opinion.  I continued to listen to Van Halen records for the next one or two releases, but by the time they were doing “Pretty Woman” and “Dancing in the Streets” I thought they sucked.  I will admit that when I was in college and the 1984 record came out (think “Panama” and “Jump”), I liked that one pretty well.  It was after that record that the band split and while they soldiered on with Sammy Hagar, I have never liked them since that time.

So let’s get to the book.  The very first thing I learned as I began reading was that the author, Noel Monk, was the band’s manager from 1978 to 1984.  Perfect for me since that is the time period that I had interest in: essentially all of the David Lee Roth era of Van Halen.  It was instantly apparent that this was not going to be a band biography.  Instead, it would be more of a “tell all” book and a memoir of Noel Monk.  I also immediately learned that Noel Monk was the road manager for the one and only U.S. tour by the Sex Pistols, which occurred just before he became manager of Van Halen.  I had already read his very good book entitled “12 Days on the Road with the Sex Pistols.”  I did not realize that he was the author of that book until I started reading, but it gave the guy a bit of instant credibility from my point of view.  

I liked the fact that the book told the story of the band in chronological order, from one record and tour to the next.  My favorite tidbits from the first record and tour were these:

1) The manager was on tour with the band before he ever heard the record.  That lost him some credibility with me.

2) That first tour was opening for Journey.  The author claims Van Halen blew them off the stage on a nightly basis.  I believe it.

3)David Lee Roth was an egomaniacal asshole but he had the business sense and was the most driven to succeed.  I certainly believe that as well.

As the book went on through the next records and tours, it primarily emphasized the hedonistic tendencies of the band, the dysfunction, etc.  The author makes no secret that that things will end badly for both he and the band.  As the book progresses, he seems to take more and more shots at the band while taking more and more credit for the job he did managing them.  Despite this fact, I found myself believing most of the stories he related, although I suspect some level of exaggeration was involved, i.e:

1) Monk takes credit for finding a way to get the band out of a bad contract and doubling their royalties.  

2) Monk also takes credit for having the band do its own merchandising, creating a huge source of income for he and the band.  He spends a bit too much time bragging about his efforts to stamp out bootlegging of merchandise at the band’s concerts.

The entire storyline involving the marriage of Eddie Van Halen and Valerie Bertinelli is entertaining.

The book never waivers in painting all members of Van Halen as completely screwed up with the exception of bass player Michael Anthony.  Anthony is described as a quiet, faithful, all-around excellent dude, if not an awesome musician.  The dude married his high school sweetheart and is still married to her to this day.  I doubt that’s easy when you’re a rock star in the 1980’s.

It is interesting to learn that Van Halen split all profits equally among the four members even though only Eddie and David wrote songs.  I find that to be an excellent thing.  Unfortunately, when the album 1984 broke big, the boys kicked poor Mr. Anthony out of the royalties, which was entirely unfair when you read the details.  

“Runnin’ with the Devil” was an easy read.  I got through it in less than a week, which for me is fast.  I felt like some of it was sour grapes, but the author was careful to include positive stories about the band as well.  It was certainly an entertaining book, but not a great piece of literature by any means.  If you liked David Lee Roth era Van Halen, I would recommend it.  I do enjoy learning things about the business side of the music industry, and this will definitely give you some insights into that.  I could relate a lot more, but I don’t want to ruin the book for anyone who might decide to read it.

Kiss Turn On The Night - My Kiss Record by Scott Carr

Eddie Trunk recently released a cool list of his top twenty KISS songs. But just before that moment, Pencilstorm held a fantasy draft of songs from the KISS Unmasked era. Click here for the full results of the draft . Below is the album selected by Scott Carr.. More albums from other owners coming soon. Enjoy!

KISS Turn On The Night - My Kiss Record by Scott Carr

Produced by Scott Carr with permission of the Pencilstorm Unmasked KISS Fantasy Draft. Number next to song indicates the round it was taken. 

Side A

Take It Off

Who Wants To Be Lonely 

Not For The Innocent 

Spit 

King Of Hearts

Side B

Turn On The Night 

A Million To One 

While The City Sleeps

(You Make Me) Rock Hard

Get All You Can Take 

Carr Jam 1981

Thoughts on Side A:

Take It Off (Revenge) - I decided to start my record off with a Paul song from Revenge. It's always a good idea to start your record with a Paul Stanley song. Great uptempo rocker from the starchild. Classic Kiss vibe on this one complete with solid guitar licks from Bruce Kulick and plenty of cowbell. Speaking of cowbell , this is the only track on Revenge that newly seated drummer Eric Singer did not play on. Producer Bob Ezrin thought Singer wasn't quite locking into the groove and Eric had to leave the studio to go on tour with Alice Cooper, so Ezrin brought in Kevin Valentine to play drums on this track. Valentine would later provide drum tracks for the Psycho Circus album in 1996. 

Paul claimed he was trying to write a strip club anthem in the vein of Lick It Up. I think "Take It Off" is the better of the two songs.

I was happy to get "Take It Off" in the third round. I knew the Revenge tracks would go quick and this was one I really wanted. "Take It Off" was almost the title track for my fantasy album but I figured it would have made for a better album title in 1983 when the band officially unmasked.

Artsita: Kiss Album: Revenge Brano: Take It Off

Who Wants To Be Lonely (Asylum) - A round #2 pick for me. Sadly my only pick from 1985's often overlooked Asylum album. I always thought Asylum was a much stronger album than the previous years Animalize and rocked a lot more than it's follow up Crazy Nights. "Who Wants To Be Lonely" is an 80's classic from Paul....great vocal and catchy chorus. Asylum had a lot of other contenders for me but these tracks got snatched up almost as quickly as the Revenge tracks,

Music video by Kiss performing Who Wants To Be Lonely. (C) 1986 The Island Def Jam Music Group

Not For The Innocent (Lick It Up) - Gene's first appearance on what ended up being my very Paul oriented Kiss fantasy album. Gene had a very strong set of songs for 1983's Lick It Up and "Not For The Innocent" is one of my favorites from that record. Gene co-wrote this song with guitarist Vinnie Vincent who had joined the band during the recording session for the previous years Creatures of the Night album. I actually prefer the demo version of this song were Paul sings the chorus sections...I always enjoy hearing Paul and Gene sing together.

First mix of "Not For The Innocent" where paul stanley sung the chorus.

Spit (Revenge) - Cringe-worthy Spinal Tap lyrics aside, "Spit" is a great Gene track from Revenge. Not sure why I picked this one for my record other than I love all the cool guitar riffing throughout the track. Again Bruce Kulick shines on this track. Bruce really came into his own on Revenge, I just wish I had been awake enough during the draft picks to capture another Revenge track or two. I think at one point I was trying to sneak in a Carnival Of Souls track or two but the other guys weren't having any of that.

Some sections of "Spit" date back to a 1977 demo that Gene recorded with Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry called "Mongoloid Man". 

New York, USA SONY Sound Studios Attendance: ~500 Opening Act: n/a MTV Unplugged Filming

Kiss having fun during the MTV Unplugged sessions playing "Spit".

Artista: Kiss Album: Revenge Brano: Spit

King Of Hearts (Hot In The Shade) - Side A of my fantasy Kiss record ends with a Paul track from 1989's Hot In The Shade. Oddly enough this was the first track I ever heard from Hot In The Shade. I remember it well, I was playing a gig with a band I was in at the time and the local rock radio station said they would be debuting a new Kiss track at a certain time that evening and the time happened to fall right when we were on a break. I tuned on the radio and this is the song they played, not sure why they chose this song over the albums first single "Hide Your Heart" but radio was a different animal back Then.

I always liked this song, kinda the same vibe as "Hide Your Heart". Paul claims he was trying to write a Bon Jovi type song but felt like he fell flat with this one. 

Thoughts On Side B

Turn On The Night (Crazy Nights) - I always like when the band uses a song from the album as the title for the album. Kiss has had many title track songs that have went on to be classics including Hotter Than Hell, Love Gun, Creatures of the Night, Lick It Up etc. I thought I would use that as a template for my Kiss Fantasy album and call it Turn On The Night. I would make this my albums lead single because of it's catchy sing along chorus. "Turn On The Night" was actually the third single from Kiss' 1987 album Crazy Nights and it was a complete flop on the charts. I think it deserves another chance.

Music video by Kiss performing Turn On The Night. (C) 1987 The Island Def Jam Music Group

A Million To One (Lick It Up) - I will admit that going into the Kiss Unmasked Fantasy draft I had no real game plan in mind. The draft was held on a very early Sunday morning and I had played a gig the night before and had only a few hours of sleep when it was time to start the draft. I had all my notes in front of me but in my foggy sleep deprived state they made no sense. The one thing that was clear tho was that I had to have "A Million To One" on my album. I took it in the first round and was very happy with this pick.

I think "A Million To One" may be Paul's best song of the entire non makeup era. In fact I would place it in his Top 10 all time best. 

Paul co-wrote all his songs for the Lick It Up album with new guitarist Vinnie Vincent and "A Million To One" is the best of the lot. In recent years it's been asked if Vinnie Vincent saved Kiss and the general response has been "YES!". With songs like "A Million To One", how could you argue this point.

Paul Stanley A Million to One New Door Records/Universal Music Group Recorded House of Blues, Chicago, IL, November 6, 2006

While The City Sleeps (Animalize) - The weakest of the Gene songs to make it onto my album. I have no real defense for this except that it's not "Burn Bitch Burn" or "Murder In High Heels".

(You Make Me) Rock Hard (Smashes, Thrashes and Hits) - By the late rounds in the draft I will admit that my record kind of went off the rails. When I got this one my thought was at least it's not "Read My Body". Musically this one is pretty cool but those lyrics. Even Paul has suggested that it wasn't one of their finer moments and he didn't like it at all.

For some reason Paul decided to ditch his guitar for the videos from Smashes,Thrashes and Hits and just prance around in front of the camera. He seems almost as uncomfortable as Gene does playing his bass without a pick in all those Kiss videos over the years.

Music video by Kiss performing (You Make Me) Rock Hard. (C) 1988 The Island Def Jam Music Group

Get All You Can Take (Animalize) - I always thought this was a bit of a sleeper track on Animalize and never really got much attention. Has a cool Zeppelin-esque guitar groove with Paul doing a Robert Plant inspired vocal. 

Carr Jam 1981 (Revenge) - My album wraps up with the instrumental "Carr Jam 1981". This song was included on Revenge in 1992 as a tribute to drummer Eric Carr who had passed away the year before. 

"Carr Jam 1981" is a studio outtake from the (Music From) The Elder sessions and features a drum solo from Eric Carr in the middle of the track. Ace Frehely would eventually turn the track into a song called "Breakout" for his first Frehely's Comet record after leaving Kiss.

I like having "Carr Jam 1981" on my Kiss Fantasy album because it has a link to the makeup era and to one of my all time favorite Kiss albums The Elder. More importantly it has my las name in the title. No one else in the fantasy draft was gonna touch this one.

Provided to YouTube by Universal Music Group North America Carr Jam 1981 · Kiss Revenge ℗ 1992 The Island Def Jam Music Group Released on: 1992-01-01 Producer: Bob Ezrin Mixer: Mick Guzauski Assistant Mixer: Rall Rogut Author, Composer: Eric Carr Music Publisher: Horipro Entertainment Group Inc. Music Publisher: Universal Kiss Auto-generated by YouTube.

So there you have Turn On The Night, my Unmasked Fantasy Kiss album. It didn't quite turn out as expected but it's a fun listen. It's pretty unbalanced and all over the place but when you look at the unmasked era for Kiss that's a pretty accurate description. With that said I loved every minute of being a Kiss fan during the unmasked years and would defend them at every turn. For awhile I turned away from the unmasked records but in recent years I've been revisiting them and probably enjoy them more now than ever.

This was a fun way to look back at these records.

And, for the record, here is my ranking of the unmasked era Kiss albums. For fun I have included the live albums and Carnival Of Souls.

1. Lick It Up

2. Revenge

3. Asylum

4. Kiss MTV Unplugged (actually one of my favorite Kiss records period)

5. Kiss Alive III

6. Animalize

7. Crazy Nights (could have been higher with better production)

8. Hot In The Shade (could have been higher with fewer songs)

9. Carnival Of Souls (not a grunge record and I don't hate it as much as most people do)

10. Smashes, Thrashes and Hits (should be smashed)

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.

Ranking the Best VH Songs! Pencilstorm Goes on Spring Break to Cabo Wabo! - by Jeff Hassler

HEY GUYS!! Hassler here. I'm super stoked for Spring Break this year. Got the whole week off from Nationwide and I am totally single and totally ready to mingle. The Pencilstorm offices are going to be closed March 13th-22 so if you start jonesing for Pencilstorm hit our archives page and type in a word like Bon Jovi or Hassler. 

Colin and Ricki are totally burned out so they asked me to post something before we fly out tomorrow. I got a voice mail late last night, "Hassler, can you post something about how Pencilstorm is on vacation for a few days? Please don't do anything embarrassing." I know the guys love ranking songs by bands like KISS or Cheap Trick so I thought I would chip in with the TEN Best VH songs. You know, V H = Van Halen.  And the whole gang is headed to Cabo Wabo anyway... Just Sayin!

Hassler's 10 Best VH Songs! 

#10 - Running With The Devil - This is the only song I ever mastered after three years of bass lessons in high school. My ex-wife Kim said it was the first thing that attracted her to me when we played it at the Worthington High School talent show.

#9 - Beautiful Girls - I remember being on spring break in Panama City when I was in college and they would always play this at Club LaVela during the wet t-shirt contest. I tried to talk Kim into entering and the one time she did she WON! I missed it though. Had one too many "shark salutes" the night before and couldn't answer the bell if you know what I mean. (Ha!) What are the odds the one time I don't go she decides to dance? It was nice of those guys from the Auburn wrestling team to let her crash at their place that night too. Southern gentlemen no doubt.

#8 - Best of Both Worlds - When Kim had that job selling beers in the parking lot of the Varsity Club on game days and I would come visit her before going to see kick-off this song would play and I knew I truly had the "Best of Both Worlds." And Bobby Olive made THE CATCH.
 

#7 - Ice Cream Man - I've always been a big fan of interesting lyrics like from Rush and Bon Jovi but this one is cool because it's not just Ice Cream that Dave is talking about. Give it another listen if you missed it.

#6 - Summer Nights  - Come on! A stone cold classic. Reminds me of Thunder Road.

#5 - Feels So Good - The guys give me a hard time about it but OU812 is the best VH album. Case closed. 

#4 - Right Here Right Now - Think about it. Seriously. Live in the moment. One time I tried to do a Hot Yoga class with Kim and it got really hot. Like super hot.  We were supposed to have a mantra so I kept saying to myself Right Here Right Now. I guess I got a little carried away because Kim started telling me to be quiet but I was in the zone. I was sweating so many toxins out and so in the zone that I sorta got sick right then and right now. Kim was sweet to help me clean it up. 

#3 TIE!!!!!! Love Walks In AND When It's Love. Kim and I danced to Love Walks In at our wedding but When It's Love was always "our video." I'm sorta glad MTV doesn't play videos anymore. The thought of Kim watching this with Chad makes me nauseous. Like hot yoga. 

#2 - Jump - Well. duh!

#1 - Cabo Wabo - I'm kind of new to this tune as when Kim and I were having some trouble my attorney insisted I stay away from triggers so I would pass the mandatory blood test. But now that I am single and ready to mix it up I FELL IN LOVE with this song. And the Pencilstorm staff is going to CABO. I'm so stoked for the trip I made a fan video to get everybody pumped up. This one is for Wal and Scott! 

Sorry you guys won't have any new Pencilstorm stuff for a week but I'll do a shot of Cabo for you. I hope it isn't too expensive. Hassler is out. 

Check Out the Video I made!!!! - Hassler.

MINHA VIBE !

KISS Master Blaster - My KISS Record by Colin Gawel

Eddie Trunk recently released a cool list of his top twenty KISS songs. But just before that moment, Pencilstorm held a fantasy draft of songs from the KISS Unmasked era. Now that is something never attempted by mankind. Some might say it put the X in the Xtreme and even Exposed the Extreme.  Click here for the full results of the draft . Below is the album selected by Colin Gawel. More albums from other owners coming soon. Enjoy!

KISS Master Blaster  

Produced by Colin Gawel with permission of the Pencilstorm Unmasked KISS Fantasy Draft. Number next to song indicates the round it was taken. 

Side One

Crazy Crazy Nights (5)

Hide Your Heart (2)

Hell or High Water (4)

Read My Body (12)

Forever (7)

Thief in the Night (9)

Side Two

Thou Shall Not (3)

Tears Are Falling (1)

I’m Alive (10)

Let’s Put The X in Sex (8)

Secretly Cruel (6)

The Street Giveth and the Street Taketh Away (11)

Thoughts on side one:

Crazy Crazy Nights (Crazy Nights) - I was hoping to land Unholy and Heart of Chrome but unfortunately lost both to draft lottery winner Matt Walters. By round five I was backed into a corner and really needed a song to lead off my album. Maybe it’s just force of habit but it’s hard to imagine a song that didn’t lead off a side of a real KISS record leading off my fake record. So though never my favorite song or record, I chose Crazy Nights and immediately slotted it to lead off my record. I also thought about naming my record Crazy Crazy Crazy Nights instead of Master Blaster. 

KISS with Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Eric Carr and the great and underrated by "some" Bruce Kulick !!! Budokan Hall Tokyo, Japan April 21 1988 on the successful Crazy Nights World tour .

Hide Your Heart (Hot in the Shade) - As mentioned, I missed out on my first two picks so I pivoted and went with two singles giving me this song in the 2nd round. Though it’s kinda cheesy and the production isn’t great, it’s catchy as hell and I’ve always had a soft spot for it after seeing Paul debut it live on his solo tour at the Newport Music Hall in Columbus, OH. His “COME ON!” is one of my favorite Paul moments.

KISS didn't tour or perform in 1989. Instead, Paul Stanley embarked on his first solo tour, with Eric Singer, Gary Corbett, Dennis St. James, and Bob Kulick ( Bruce Kulick' brother )...

KISS with Bruce Kulick and Eric Carr @ The Palace Of Auburn Hills . Detroit, MI. October 14th 1990

Hell or High Water (Crazy Nights) - After nabbing two Paul songs out of the gate, I knew I had to rally quick and grab some decent Gene tunes before the pickings got slim. Generally speaking, I’m not a fan of Ron Nevison production style but I think it works very well in this instance. Slick, but rocking enough to do the Demon justice. Hearing Paul doing background vox towards the end is a bonus. FAN VIDEO!!!

Read  My Body (Hot in the Shade) Ugh. There just isn’t any place to hide this stinker so in the interest of keeping both sides of my record relatively balanced I’m going to slot it before my big ballad. Bonus points that they modulate and move up a full step before the last chorus like they were cutting Born to Run.  Let's turn the page and get to the good stuff.... FAN VIDEO!!!

Concert footage of KISS edited to the CD track

Forever (Hot in the Shade) - I felt lucky to grab the biggest hit of the Unmasked era in the 7th round. My record may not be the best, but I think it might have been the top selling of the bunch. One thing that became clear to me doing research for this draft is what an unfocused mess HITS is. It’s WAY too long and many songs just don’t sound finished. KISS got very lucky that this song, buried in the middle of 15 songs,  found its way into the pop top ten. In fact, without this surprise hit, KISS wouldn’t have even toured behind this record. What would have happened to the band? KISSstory would have taken a different course without it. Live in Australia with a Symphony and Beck's Dad conducting Peter Criss???? Hells Yeah!

Thief in the Night (Crazy Nights) A fairly forgettable though not awful Gene song to round out side one.

Side Two:

Thou Shall Not (Revenge) I think Revenge and Lick it Up are the best records of the Unmasked era and I got exactly ONE song total from either so I guess I wasn’t alone in that thinking. This song rocks way harder than any other on this record so I’m just going to lead off side two with it. Taking it in the 3rd round I thought I would be able to find some other hard rockers later in the draft but lonely is this hunter. FAN VIDEO!!

Concert footage of KISS edited to the CD track

Off the top of my head: Ranking the Gene songs that lead off a KISS side. As released on real records and not reissues.

1. Deuce 2) Unholy 3) I Love it Loud 4) World Without Heroes 5) Love ‘Em and Leave Em’ 6) That one from Hotter than Hell 7) Charisma

Tears Are Falling (Asylum) A solid first round pick. In fact, listening to it now, it doesn’t really sound like any other KISS song from the era. It’s almost alternative hard rock. The Cult could have put it on the LOVE record and it would have sounded at home. Pretty amazing this was the lead single from an 80’s KISS record. Sublime is a word rarely used to describe a KISS song though I would use it here if it means what I think it means.

Along those lines, Asylum as a whole ages pretty well. Truth be told, before revisiting the entire Unmasked era for this draft, I would have called this my favorite album of that period. It still sounds good and I don’t hate the album art as much as everybody else. And I liked the big KISS sign they used on that tour though not much footage of it exists for whatever reason.

Music video by Kiss performing Tears Are Falling. (C) 1985 The Island Def Jam Music Group

KISS live at the Monsters Of Rock Festival performing Tears Are Falling

Un - Unmasked Live version

Rock the nation tour

I’m Alive (Asylum) - I like this song more now than I did as a young man. Kind of fresh and different. It certainly “kicks” as they say. Too bad Eric Carr didn’t get more of a chance to contribute to the band. I’m sure Gene and Paul were hesitant to unleash another Catman or Vinnie Vincent but seems like they left some potential on the bench with the fox.

Let’s Put the X in Sex (Smashes Thrashes and Hits)  OK. I never planned on having this song for obvious reasons but once staring at my choices in the 8th round I decided it would be way more fun to have the X than not have it. I already had Crazy Nights and Forever so who was I kidding? For all its flaws, it’s kind of groovy. And even better, I own the video rights which you get to enjoy…...right……… NOW!      FYI - this video has 5,617,122 views. More than all the Decemberists videos combined. For what that is worth.

Music video by Kiss performing Let's Put The X In Sex. (C) 1988 Mercury Records

Secretly Cruel (Asylum)  In retrospect this was a reach at six. I was feeling pressure to get enough decent Gene songs and panicked. My pain was eased when Matt Walters showed me the amazing video to this song done by the band Double Virgo. They (He?) takes modern KISS songs and recuts them as if they were recorded for Dressed to Kill. And films a video too. It’s completely amazing and it saves this pick. Enjoy!

When I first got the "Asylum" album in '85, I thought "Secretly Cruel" sounded almost like an old KISS song. So when Sagafoo of sagafoo.com asked me to do a track for his upcoming tribute album, "Got To Foo", I thought I'd take this '80s song back to the '70s.

Geez. I should have called this record Asylum Resurrected. What is my problem ?

The Street Giveth and the Street Taketh Away (Hot in the Shade) - Some of those late HITS songs are sneaky good. I can live with this in the 11th round.

Summary: Looking at this now. My draft looks like a guy who got drunk and drafted all 1st basemen and closers.

Hot in the Shade  4 songs

Crazy Nights  3 songs

Asylum 3 songs

Revenge 1 song

Smashes 1 - song

Ugh. If you would have told me before the draft this is where my songs would come from I would have assumed a my record only got released on 8 track in Brazil but it’s a testimony to KISS how strong Master Blaster is. I like this record. And now I’m going to crank it up!! 

Colin Gawel plays in Watershed and The League Bowlers. He founded Pencilstorm while working at Colin's Coffee and really thought his idea for the KISS Unmasked Fantasy Draft would make him famous and get him invited VIP to the KISS expo in Indianapolis. He was wrong. None of that happened but his is going to Indy anyway. 

Corona's Covers For a Cure Saturday @ Big Room Bar - by Ricki C.

The second annual Corona’s Covers For a Cure benefit show will take place at CD 102.5’s Big Room Bar this Saturday, March 10th, beginning at 4 pm, and running ‘til eleven (or thereabouts, you know how these multi-band extravaganzas go).  Full details and a rough running order of the local artists performing can be found at Corona’s Covers For a Cure.

The basic premise and set-up of the show is simple, but profound: local Columbus bands & solo rockers play cover songs by bands or solo artists who died of cancer, thereby keeping those songs from being lost to live performance.  This show is really close to my heart.  I first heard about last March’s inaugural show while driving away from one of my sister Dianne’s chemotherapy sessions at the Zangmeister Cancer Center.  That CD 102.5 ad – local artists playing songs lost to cancer – seemed like a perfect fit for me.  “Hey, I know songs by The Velvet Underground,” I said out loud to myself in the car, and when I got home I set about trying to cadge my way onto the bill.  I felt like I owed it to the doctors, nurses & technicians who were caring for Dianne.  

Somewhere along the way Colin’s band The League Bowlers also became involved in the benefit.  The show went great, the guys & girls from Corona were truly friendly & caring and the benefit raised thousands for cancer research.  Colin & I asked if they were going to repeat the benefit in 2018 and the Corona & CD 102.5 crews said they hoped so.  We asked them to keep us in mind for a repeat appearance.

And now comes the downside: in the year that has transpired since that show my sister died of the cancer she was in treatment for when I played that first benefit.  Further, Mike Parks – the genius lead guitarist of The League Bowlers – ALSO died of a cancer that hadn’t even been DIAGNOSED when the Bowlers played the benefit.  (Click here to read Pencilstorm Remembers Mike Parks)

At one point in Colin’s e-mail when he asked me to write this story for Pencilstorm, he used the phrase “if that ain’t evidence that cancer is a mean son of a bitch I don’t know what is.”  (And Colin should know, he lost his beloved mom to cancer more than 20 years ago.)  He’s exactly, precisely right: cancer is a mean son of a bitch and I’m asking you to come out this Saturday to show your support – with your money and your hearts & minds – to fund research to show cancer that we’re meaner sons of bitches than it is.  - Ricki C. / March 8, 2018