RECORD STORE TALES
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Parts 51 – 100
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Parts 251 – 300
Parts 301 – 320
RECORD STORE TALES MkII:
Getting More Tale
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Thank you once again Nurse Kat for coming on Grab A Stack of Rock to talk about a band we both love: Hamilton Ontario’s Arkells. It isn’t her first time, as last year we did a show focusing largely on her 13 concert experiences (now 20). Check out Nurse Kat’s first show by clicking here!
This time, we did a deep dive. We went album by album, from Jackson Square to today: the brand new release, Disco Loadout Volume One. If I do say so myself, I think this is the most comprehensive Arkells deep dive you will find.
My friend D’Arcy Briggs was unable to attend the show, but he provided ample notes and we presented his views on each album in the form of short videos. Additionally, we ran excerpts with commentary of three Arkells music videos: “Oh, the Boss is Coming”, “All Roads”, and “Past Life”, which allow us to view the evolution of the band.
Show highlights:
That’s right. The Mad Metal Man himself, who also ordered Disco Loadout, made a brief cameo at the end of our show, and we love him for it. I missed my Mad Metal Man.
Thank yous:
Next week is a re-run of Top Five Bald Artists. Speaking of which, I may look a little different this week. Spot the change!
My notes:
Jackson Square – 2008
Michigan Left – 2011
High Noon – 2014
Morning Report – 2016
Rally Cry – 2018 – sudden change in cover art style, more political than personal lyrics
Campfire Chords – 2020
Blink Once – 2021
Blink Twice – 2022
Laundry Pile – 2023
Disco Loadout Vol. 1 – 2024
GRAB A STACK OF ROCK With Mike and the Mad Metal Man
Episode 60: Disco Loadout! The Arkells Discography Ranked!
Please welcome back superfan Nurse Kat, returning to discuss the Arkells one more time! Last time she was on, she talked about seeing the band 13 times in an 18 month span. Now, a year later, I wonder how many more times she’s caught the band live?
The occasion? Today’s release of the new covers album Disco Loadout Vol. 1, featuring songs by Hall & Oates, Peter Gabriel, Abba, Bruce Springsteen and Whitney Houston among others! The Arkells have always had a knack for covers, and today they put their money where their mouths are with their first full-on covers album. Our copy is pre-ordered and we hope to have it in hand to show tonight.
Kat and I will be talking favourite songs, from album to album, and then I will attempt to rank all 10. A daunting task; I will not be relying on my written reviews for this job. I will listen to them all with fresh ears and try to figure out a ranking. We will even be running clips from our favourite videos.
Tune in tonight for the epic of Arkells appreciation!
Friday May 17 at 8:00 P.M. E.S.T. / 5:00 P.M. Pacific. Enjoy on YouTube or on Facebook!
Thank you to Thor Blackmore for this CD!
PRETTY MAIDS – Red, Hot and Heavy (1984 Sony)
I ignored Pretty Maids when I first heard of the band. “Pretty Maids? What kind of name is that?” Shallow kid stuff, but impactful, because now in 2024 this is my first real listen to Pretty Maids with intent. Red, Hot and Heavy was the debut album for the Danish hard rock band, after a self-titled EP in ’83. The six-piece band had some moderate success with the album, so let’s have a listen.
Opener “Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi” is actually an excerpt from Carl Orf’s “Carmina Burana”, and is credited as such on the back. It’s just a few seconds. The real opener is “Back to Black”, a scorching metal number with tempo and riffs sharpened and at the ready. The raspy vocals of Ronnie Atkins differentiate the song from the works of other metal groups such as Iron Maiden and Judas Priest. The keyboards give a highbrow neo-classical vibe. It’s heavier and fuller than Dio, but with all the drama and guitar solo shenanigans.
The title track is slower and nastier. A rallying cry for metal heads, “Red, Hot and Heavy” doesn’t pretend at being anything more than it is. A slow metal banger, perfect for fist-pounding and shouting along with at the concert hall. The shout chorus is custom made for the stage. The duel guitar solo is pretty cool. A stock metal chugger, but there is a need for a drum-bashing, stompy riff-rocking concoction such as this.
The highbrow keyboards return on “Waitin’ for the Time”, a very European sounding song which builds from a ballady opening to an upbeat pounder. Sounds a bit like the Swedish band Europe during their Wings of Tomorrow era, with a hint of Def Leppard in the riff. It’s an excellent song with light and shade, and a complete musical journey without exceeding five minutes.
“Cold Killer” begins with news broadcast dialogue, and then goes in a fast and ominous music unlike the other songs. The rather clunky lyrics are about the weaponization of space, a hot topic in 1984 with Reagan’s “Star Wars” program in the nightly news. But…clunky. “There should have been a paradise, instead there’s a killer out in space.” We’ll give them credit for trying at least, which is more than could be said for many bands of the 80s. Musically it’s a terrifically fun ride through sweet guitar riff and solo action. The keyboards add a progressive vibe, though some might say pretentious.
The anti-war theme flips over onto side two, with “Battle of Pride”. Again, it’s not poetry, but the lyrical theme was very popular in metal at the time. Musically it’s a fast Dio-like rocker with the keyboard accents giving it a different flavour. Ronnie Atkins’ rasp continues to separate Pretty Maids from other bands, but by the time we hit side two, the ear is craving more variety in the voice.
“Night Danger” is a pure blitzkrieg, now more in the wheelhouse of a band like Accept. These guys are not slouches when it comes to riffs over 80 mph in speed. The irony is that, even at that speed, the song doesn’t really go anywhere. It’s speed for its own sake, and that’s actually fine, because it’s plenty fun and doesn’t need to be anything else.
Acoustics join the electric guitars on “A Place in the Night”, one of the most impressive songs on the album. Mid-tempo melodic rock, and dialing down on the vocal growls, is exactly what the album needed at this point. The chorus explodes with passion and power at the right moment. The keyboards add to the mixture by thickening up the melodic accents. Brilliant deep cut late in the album.
“Queen of Dreams” has an Yngwie vibe again, though Malmsteen wouldn’t put as much emphasis on the other instruments. The keyboards add a regal synth-trumpet sound over the guitars, but when the drums kick in, there’s no nonsense. It’s that kind of metal that is obviously influenced by Deep Purple and Blackmore’s Rainbow, but amped up for the 80s.
The surprise is the closer: a cover of Thin Lizzy’s single “Little Darling”. Formerly a horn-laden rock classic, Pretty Maids heavy it up a bit and increase the tempo. Though “Little Darling” will always be a personal favourite, I don’t think Pretty Maids did it any favours. Their backing vocals are too shrill for the chorus, and without the horns, it loses that something special. A swing and a miss for Pretty Maids, which is terribly unfortunate.
Red, Hot and Heavy is a strong debut. Obviously the band grew and expanded their sound, and still continue today. This is the foundation.
3.5/5 stars
Not enough footage to make a cottage video this week. Instead, check out the photographic beauty.
Do you ever order a lot of music and then forget about it? I was confused when I saw this parcel from Quebec on my desk. Do I know anyone in Quebec? Thomas Polychuck, and that’s about it. While I am expecting a parcel from Polychuck soon, this wasn’t it.
I was confused at first, but one disc in this package indicated who it might be from.
SPOILERS: Read after watching!
D’Arcy Briggs is a friend from the Darcyska YouTube channel. I’ve been on his show before, as has Jex Russell and John Clauser. I recently sent him a care package which he showed on his channel, and he returned the favour! The sending address threw me, which is why I seem confused at first.
Here’s what he sent:
One Drop looks like reggae, and it looks like they actually have a lot of albums out.
I look forward to checking out some new music with my new copilot!
RECORD STORE TALES #1125: Purple Rain, Purple Sky
“I want to do something new this weekend,” goes the eternal complaint. Even with Lake Huron in front of us, and a lush green paradise all around, sometimes I still moan about doing the same things every weekend.
There is so much you can do, but only a couple days to do it all. It’s easy to fall into comfortable habits and just…relax. However, the cottage is too special to just relax. Surely, I’ve had some of the best sleeps of my life there, but you don’t want to sleep your day away, as easy as it can be.
As always, we started the trip on the front porch. We always like to listen to music on our night of arrival, as the sun sets. This time, we chose Prince’s Purple Rain, which I didn’t own last year. This music was new to the cottage, and it was an absolutely incredible experience. I danced around the porch to “Computer Blue”, but the sun was setting just as Prince began singing about the “Purple Rain”. It was a surreal experience hearing Prince sing “Ooo, ooo, ooo,” as the orange and pink clouds slowly let the sun sink beneath the horizon. It felt like Prince was there in the forest somewhere, just out of sight.
New thing #1 achieved: “Purple Rain” at sunset.
We always like to experiment with food. Believe it or not, we have not made homemade burgers at the lake in decades. Why? My dad used to hate cooking them, as they’d fall to pieces on the grill. Not anymore. Thanks to a tip from my good buddy Thuss, we now are making our own homemade burgers. The secret: Freeze them. Once frozen, those patties stay together and do no break apart. For our first batch, this was our successful blend:
I don’t know how much of that we could actually taste, but it was fun and the result was juicy and perfect. And then next batch is already in the freezer waiting to be cooked up, with a new set of ingredients including local beef.
New thing #2 achieved: Perfect homemade burgers on the grill.
But wait, there’s more! Thanks to a new, deep cast iron frying pan, we also fried our own french fries. No more oven baked fries, or air fries! Only the real deal. They were crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside, and perfect all around.
New thing #3 achieved: Golden brown french fries.
To quote ZZ Top: I AM your burger man.
“My charcoal’s getting red hot,
Put your order in my hand,
Won’t you let me show you what I got,
Sizzling in the pan.”
I woke up on the Saturday morning as I often do, bright and early. It was damp and cold with not a single human to be seen, myself excluded. It’s a good time to spot wildlife. There have been bears in the area, but I did not see one. Instead, I saw a red canid coming up the path from the beach. A fox? I had not seen our local fox up there in at least a year. This animal had the gait of a fox, but not the bushy red and white tail. This animal had a thin, bony tail, and its frame was larger than a fox.
It was a coyote. My first coyote sighting, ever. I’ve heard them at night, but never seen one in the fur before.
New thing #4 achieved: Coyote sighting!
I knew there was no way I’d be able to grab my phone in time. I simply watched the confident, unafraid animal stroll down our little dirt road as if he was the only one in the world.
Of course, all of this would pale in comparison to the Aurora Borealis. I’d never seen the Northern Lights before. I did my best to describe the experience, but words and pictures do not capture the awe. It felts as if we were all under a huge electric dome. It is something I’ll never forget even if I never see it again. It began suddenly and dimly, before the lights were all you could see anywhere, in every direction. The lights reflected off the waters, and created beautiful patterns in the ripples.
New thing #5 achieved: Aurora Borealis
New experiences are not always possible at the lake, nor are they always necessary. Sometimes it’s enough to just sit on the porch and watch the days go by. After 52 years of coming to the exact same location, to have so many new sights, sounds and flavours in one weekend was unexpected.
The cottage is like a box of chocolates – you never know what you’re going to get!
RECORD STORE TALES #1124: Aurora Borealis
52 years of coming to the cottage, since my very birth, and there are still new things to see.
I used to think I was too far south to ever see the Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis). Certainly it has never happened before. However, we are heading into a Solar Maximum, which means a high point in the sun’s 11 year cycle of activity. The sun’s magnetic field is a twisty turny-thing, and every 11 years, it gets twisted up into an increasingly excited state, and the sun ejects massive eruptions of particles into the surrounding space. When our Earth eventually collides with the charged particles, they create brilliant shows of light in the sky. There are both northern and southern borealis, and in northern Canada, people can see the lights easily. Where I live in the southern tip, we never see the lights!
May 10, around 10:15 PM, the lights came to visit the shores of Lake Huron.
Jen and I headed down to the beach, as the Boston Bruins were getting mauled by the Florida Panthers. I kept my eyes north, assuming that was where I would see the lights. Disappointed, I shouted back at Jen, “There’s nothing yet.”
I noticed something as I looked back at her. The sky was “hazy”,
“Is that it?” I asked Jen as I looked straight up. There was a cloudy streak across the sky.
Then I looked south and saw the horizon glowing green. The northern lights were not coming from the north! They were all around us, in every direction, like a glowing curtain! It was not at all what I expected to see.
The light show peaked for about 15 minutes, on a very cold night. The lights shifted and changed, ever so slowly, so that you barely noticed. You could stare at a band of green until it faded and was suddenly replaced by swirls of red. The moon was a sharp crescent and it cut a hole through a band of green, as did a handful of bright stars.
Photographs and videos, of course, only tell part of the story, and only insofar as technology can capture. The real colours and the subtle wispy cloudy bands we saw are lost in photos.
Directly overhead appeared to be the center of it all. Radiating out from a central point were bands of cloudy white, like a celestial starfish. Jen and I pondered this and wondered if the solar particles were hitting at that point.
I wish I had been listening to “Purple Rain” at that moment. It did almost look like purple rain at times.
Jen and I had a moment on the previous night, listening to “Purple Rain” during sunset. It was an uplifting, somewhat surreal moment to hear Prince soloing and singing over the sight of the glowing sky. Imagine if we had it playing during the borealis!
The bone-chilling cold of the Kincardine night cut our visit short, but I can now say I’ve seen the Northern Lights.
Bucket list achieved.
And the Oscar for Best Music Video Re-enactment goes to: JEX RUSSELL!
Folks, Jex could not make it to the show live tonight, but he prepared his list in advance and appeared by video. And folks…Jex knocked it out of the park this week. That’s all I’m going to say. Jex also provided physical product in the shape of vinyl for his picks.
Between Jex, Dr. Kathryn and I, we ended up covering some of the best music videos for:
What we didn’t cover, the comments section did! Thank you for watching and commenting on this show. On a personal note, this was a technical challenge this week as I had to manage 21 individual video files for presentation, but fortunately it went off with very few glitches!
If you watch only one thing today, watch Jex Russell’s #1 pick.
See you next week with D’Arcy Briggs and Nurse Kat as we celebrate the release of the new Arkells album Disco Loadout!
GRAB A STACK OF ROCK With Mike and the Mad Metal Man
Episode 59: Top Five Music Videos From Our Childhoods
This show is a little different, and has been in the planning stages since February. Tonight on Grab A Stack of Rock, we present to you our Top Five Music Videos from our childhoods! Dr. K will be in the special panel tonight, with Jex Russell providing his list but unavailable to go live. This particular grouping is interesting, because Dr. K and I grew up during the dawn of MuchMusic, but Jex Russell is a little younger and grew up with a completely different set of music videos.
Either way: nostalgia on tap tonight!
Here’s the new twist: Normally we show off physical product on our show. It is called “grab a stack of rock”, after all. This time, the stacks of rock will be in the form of short video clips from each of our picks, that we will show and comment over tonight! I have personally edited these clips myself, and if all goes well, this should be a lot of fun. We are all psyched to see how this works.
Wish us luck tonight as we try something new! Either way, you can expect lots of laughs, some music history, and some cool music videos! Tonight on Grab A Stack of Rock!
Friday May 10 at 7:00 P.M. E.S.T. / 8:00 P.M. Atlantic. Enjoy on YouTube or on Facebook!
Y&T – Ultimate Collection (Universal)
When Tim Durling, author of Down For the Count: The Y&T Album Review, found out I didn’t own any Y&T, he sought to rectify the situation. As a passionate and knowledgeable fan, he knew that I wanted to start with a good compilation that covered all the songs I liked, and as many albums as possible. The Ultimate Collection was the CD he vouched for, and he did not steer me wrong. This is an amazing compilation.
The disc opens with four songs from Earthshaker, their first album as Y&T after two records as Yesterday & Today. “Dirty Girl” is an unusual if brilliant opener. It’s both slow and heavy, with a couple genius guitar solos, one different from the other, and each telling a story. This track plods in the best possible way, with a cool signature riff and a stomping beat. The chunky “Hurricane” and an epic “Rescue Me” follow, but “I Believe In You” is a real standout from Earthshaker. This is a powerful metal ballad, like something the Scopions used to score hits with. Dave Meniketti has expert control of his voice, with a vibrato to die for.
A clutch of songs from Black Tiger (produced by Max Norman) follows. The title track from that album fades in from ominous jungle sounds (because tigers usually live in the jungle). “Cat eyes! She draws you in!” Dave is singing about a different kind of jungle here. The black tiger he’s singing about is of the feminine variety, and Dave wants you to heed his warning. “She’s playing for keeps, so you better get away!” Just a smoking metal track with stinging guitars. “Open Fire” is just as heavy, if a bit faster. These two songs boast hooks, both on guitar and vocals. Y&T are experts at this high-velocity rock, but “Forever” could fool you into thinking it’s another ballad…until it storms off, bordering on thrash metal. “Forever” definitely competes with the kind of heavy rock bands that were starting to make a name for themselves in the early 80s. Leonard Haze pushes it over the top with his adrenalized drumming.
Chris Tsangarides took over production duties on Mean Streak. We only get two heavy hitters, including the title track “Mean Streach”. (That’s a joke – listen to the chorus.) “Midnight In Tokyo” is the other, and by contrast, this song isn’t as simple or straight ahead. Complex, jazzy verses collide with melodically heavy choruses. Phil Kennemore must be credited for some really incredible, gallopy and melodic bass playing.
In Rock We Trust was produced by Tom Allom of Judas Priest fame. We only get one track from this record, the big hit “Don’t Stop Runnin'”. This one is especially notable for the backing vocals. The band probably don’t get enough credit for that, and the thick and sweet chorus is all band. Though I did see this music video on Toronto Rocks and the Pepsi Power Hour once or twice, it should have been a lot bigger. This band had a number of circumstances against then, as discussed in Tim Durling’s book, available on Amazon.
The next couple studio albums were produced by Kevin Beamish. Some may love, and some may hate, the direction this band evolved on Down for the Count and Contagious. If the songs chosen here are any indication, the band were going for a more radio-oriented mid-80s mainstream sound. They still managed to pack punch into the songs, but “Summertime Girls” and “Contagious” are notable more streamlined and polished. The melodies and backing vocals take more prominent positions, and keyboards enter the fray. I think these tracks are great. They are among my childhood favourites. I love the backwards-recorded drum parts on “Summertime Girls”.
A live track from Open Fire provides some much-needed music from the first Yesterday & Today album, which was on London Records and unavailable for this compilation. Wicked riff from Joey Alves on “25 Hours A Day”! Note the backing vocals once again. Whether they were polished in the studio, it doesn’t matter. The band can sing. This fun rock groove has a little more power than the studio version. Nice bass solo from Phil!
The end, temporarily, was 1990’s album Ten produced by Mike Stone. The ballad “Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark” turned me off back in the day. It was too soft for the direction I was headed. Judas Priest was dropping “Painkiller” while Y&T released a ballad. It just wasn’t what I wanted. I should have given Ten a chance. I love this song now. Though the lineup had changed, and Journey’s Steve Smith was playing drums in the studio, it still sounds like Y&T. Those melodies and backing vocals! That “touch by touch, little by little!” hook just knocks me out, not to mention Meniketti’s voice and delivery.
Y&T came back in 1995, retaining Stef Burns and Jimmy DeGrasso from the last incarnation. Musically Incorrect was the name of the album, and “I’m Lost” is an absolute smoker! You’d think it came from one of the earlier albums…because it does. It was originally on Struck Down and re-recorded here. It’s one of the fastest songs on the compilation, and the raw 9o’s production gives it a vintage sound. It’s challenging stuff. DeGrasso absolutely smokes on the drums. No wonder he ended up in Megadeth a bit later on. The same lineup remained on Endangered Species in 1997. A heavy ballad called “God Only Knows” represents that album. It’s passionate metal, with the kind of wrought-iron arrangement you expect from a power ballad. Absolutely killer lead solo work.
The final track takes us back to the beginning. A live version of “Beautiful Dreamer” from 1991 is originally from the debut Yesterday & Today. Again, it’s a little more complex, but still boasting the kind of melodies, riffs and singing that we expect from Y&T. That is, high quality heavy rock.
This is easily the best first-purchase Y&T you can make. It’s a great sampling of as much music as you can reasonably expect. Solid listen front to back, and then back to front. Liner notes are by the late Gerri Miller of Metal Edge magazine.
5/5 stars
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