Posted by Steve.

Well, it's Christmas Eve Eve and in 36 hours all the fuss and hassle for Christmas 2008 will all be over! The job I do has entailed 4 hectic 12+ hour days at work - all in the name of Christmas. Driving past the supermarkets over here and seeing car parks full to bursting with hundreds of cars makes me chuckle at times! The shop is only closed for a day - 2 tops - and the country is panic stricken! All roads leading to supermarkets, high street shopping areas and malls are gridlocked! In a way I hate this time of year - but we all know we will have to endure it all again in 360 days! If I see any more mince pies or pork pies in the mean time I will scream!!!! Just call me Ebeneezer!

At the same time I like Christmas as I get some time off from work - 2 full days (well I did volunteer for extra work on Saturday!) Florida in October feels such a long time ago and my next break comes pretty quick in the new year too! Egypt here I come!!!

Well it's time for may favourite Yuletide song and as Metallica and Iron Maiden haven't released one you're stuck with the Pogues! Can anyone tell me the name of another 3 Pogues songs?

Last year Radio 1 caused controversy when they "cleaned" up the song by bleeping several words from it! In the end I think it was a marketing ploy to get the song high up in the charts again, especially with the advent of the downloadable songs counting in the charts, now there is no need for a physical release. The song is currently in the charts for a sixth time - but has still yet to hit the top spot!




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Posted by Steve.

Happy Birthday to Knights13!

Really? You are how old this time????

Have a slice of Collective Soul from the Jukebox - did you really expect me to post another Nickelback song?

Can't wait for the ice cream cake!!!

trzydzieści pięć!!!! ::::evil grin::::




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It's Metallica... what else do I need to say?

The second single lifted from this years Death Magnetic album has such a weird video to it - plenty of Russians, aliens and Zombies! And yes, this IS the official video for it - not a you tube fan made project!

The video is directed by Roboshobo. It depicts fictional Soviet newsreels about the Tunguska Event back in 1908. Around the impact site from a crashed meteor spores of an unknown species were discovered that can reanimate the dead. The Soviets exploit this as a weapon to turn the tide in a war against nuclear America.



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The Christmas song that actually wasn't released as a Christmas song! For years my mum always said that when she heard this song on the radio then she knew it was getting close to Christmas!

The song reached number 1 in the French charts during the summer of 1981! In the UK it was released during November and the song features the line "I wish I was at home, for Christmas" and has been a Yuletide hit since!

This song has been Lewies one and only hit - kept of the top slot in the UK by two reissues of John Lennon singles released after his death. He was also part of the Stiff Records roster, a label I have always associated with a more punk and new wave labels. He would have rubbed shoulders with the likes of Madness, Nick Lowe, The Pogues, Kirsty MacColl, Motorhead, The Plasmatics, The Adverts, Ian Dury and the Blockheads and The Damned!



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Posted by Steve.

It's Friday - the start of the weekend. The time when the UK youth get ready to walk the streets with cheap cider and lager because they aren't old enough to gain access to night clubs! Time for some dance music to accompany them! Oh, how that takes me back to the early 90's. It was a time when my metal liking friends from school drifted to the rave and dance music scenes (must have been more grown up) and started listening to the likes of 808 State, S'Express, Technotronic, Black Box, 2 Unlimited, Urban Cookie Collective, Snap!... you get the idea! Some of the stuff from the time I like odd songs by and have already been posted here and some will no doubt be future postings.

Around that time The Prodigy were making a name for themselves in the dance scene with tracks like "Charly" and "Out of Space" and boy were they in for a shock in 1994 when their "Music for the Jilted Generation" album came out! Still pretty dance like but with a harder rockier edge. I would love to have seen their face in 1997!

The album itself is partly a response to the corruption of the rave scene in the UK. At this time it had gone from an underground scene to a very mainstream and public status, which resulted in Britain's Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994. This act effectively criminalised raves, rave culture - and by implication rave music itself.

The major national radio station in the UK has a masterpieces week where they play a different album in full each night after they have had a mini documentary about each album beforehand. The week started off with the self titled albums from Inspiral Carpets and Rage Against the Machine and finished with The Prodigy. The idea of the week is to introduce you to something you hadn't heard before or re-connect you with something you had forgotten. I'm in the latter part of that!

If you are a Nirvana fan you might be thinking "Very Ape" and you'd be right!



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Whats going on??? I'm posting Bing Crosby!!! And I haven't even caught up with Jack or Morgan yet! :::evil grin:::

Well it is a Christmas song and you can't really have a Christmas song montage without Bing Crosby being in there somewhere! Instead of posting White Christmas - I can leave that to Queensryche if they did a video for it! - I'm gonna give you Bing and David Bowie.

I'm posting this one out of curiosity more than anything. On the radio in the week they were asking about collaborations in rock and this got a mention. The DJ said that the video of the 2 together was TV trickery as Bowie was in Europe and Crosby was on the golf course in Arizona or somewhere. I've seen the video a few times over the years and watching it again earlier today there seems to be far too much interaction between the two for them just to be told to talk and look in a certain direction!

After a bit of research (OK, Wikki) this was filmed September 11th 1977 for Crosby's Christmas special Bing Crosby's Merrie Olde Christmas. It must have been one of the last things he did as he passed away a little over a month later.

David Bowie officially released the single in 1982 and it reached number 3 in the UK charts.



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Paramore seem to be one off those bands that it seems to be cool to dislike - but I don't really care, they write damn catchy tunes!

This track is one of two new songs featured on the soundtrack to the recently released, hysteria inducing, film over in the States - Twilight. In the UK those in the know (which I ain't!) have to wait till December 19th. I've heard news reports of teenage girls going hysterical over the lead actor of the film. The European premier was last night in London and there were even girls camping out over night this side of the pond just to get a glimpse of the Quidditch captain Cedric Diggory (or Robert Pattinson as him mum and dad know him!)

I don't know if it's an North American thing or a gender thing - I believe the books are aimed at a more teenage and female audience - but I had never heard of the Twilight series until we were over in Florida in October! I don't frequent too many book stores, but I have never seen any of the books in the UK and I believe there are 4 of them! (and a leaked book?)

I've seen no reviews yet so I don't know if it would be worth going to the cinema to see or just wait for the DVD and save any embarrassment (I'm not a girl and I can just about remember being a teenager!!)I'm kind of expecting Lost Boys for girls?! But I do know that it blew the combined takings of the latest James Bond and High School Musical films out of the water on it's opening weekend.

Anyway - enjoy Paramore.




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Posted by Steve.

It's December 1st - now it's time for the mad rush towards Christmas Day. Working where I do I now see what a mad rush it is for a 2 day holiday. Come noon on Christmas Eve I'm ready to finish work after the most hectic week business wise over the previous year. It's usually followed up by the quietest week of the year as every body has eaten too much food and they don't want to buy any more food - or see anything else! And add that on top of the mad shopping trips! Be thankful for internet shopping! My sister went to Birmingham on Saturday and she said it was chaos! Queuing just to use escalators and elevators! The queues in the shops were even worse.

I thought I'd throw in a few Christmas songs over the next 25 days and instead of starting with the obvious Pouges / Kirsty MacColl collaboration I thought I'd go for Twisted Sister!!!!!

In 2006 they released an album of traditional Christmas songs done 80's metal style!! The video for this one is the third video released from said album - the other 2 being versions of Silver Bells and Oh Come All Ye Faithful. It's a duet with Lita Ford (apparently her first music video for nearly 20 years!) so it's kinda like the Pogues and Kirsty!?

My favourite track on the record has to be "Heavy Metal Christmas" a re-working of the 12 days of Christmas, just check this list out:

"12 Silver crosses";
"11 Black mascaras";
"10 Pairs of platforms";
"9 Tattered t-shirts";
"8 Pentagrams";
"7 Leather jackets";
"6 Cans of hairspray";
"5 Skull earrings";
"4 Quarts of Jack";
"3 Studded belts";
"2 Pairs of spandex pants";
"And a tattoo of Ozzy!";



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RIP
Munetaka Higuchi
December 24 1958 - November 30 2008

Possibly one of the few Japanese bands that gained a decent following away from their home shores in the 80's. Formed in Osaka in 1981 they released four records in their homeland before hooking up with the then Twisted Sister co-manager Joe Gerber. This track is taken from their fifth releaese Thunder In The East and I believe their first entirely sung in English.

Their hook up with Joe Gerber led to tours in Europe and the United States with the likes of Motley Crue, Poison, AC/DC and Stryper. The next album (Lightning Strikes) gave them their huge break through in the States - before they replaced their original vocalist with American vocalist Mike Vescera - and from there it seemed to go down hill for the band, but they are still releasing records today Metal Mad surfaced in February this year.



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I always sit at the PC listening to itunes on shuffle so I will listen to stuff as random as Metallica, Ash, Sammy Hagar covering the Beastie Boys, Sunny Day Real Estate, Atheist, Nickelback, MSG, Joker, Guns 'N' Roses (stuff from the new record non the less!)- actually the 9 bands played before this track!

Once in a while it will throw up a song that I haven't heard in such a long time and it stops me dead in my tracks for the duration - and today this has been one of them!

I've never been a Marillion fan. I liked Kayleigh, which seems to pop up on local radio pretty regularly and channels like VH1. Ex-Marillion vocalist Fish was playing a solo gig at a venue close to me and I thought about going, but I had no Marillion (besides Kayleigh) or any of his solo stuff. I downloaded a dozen tracks but never went to the show!

I actually brought the 7" single of this when I was at school - I have no idea why as I'm pretty sure I never played it back then. A shop near to my high school used to sell off singles that had been taken out of jukeboxes and I seemed to buy way to many with my lunch money at the time! :)



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A bit later than expected, but this follows on from my dilemma regarding the Damnation Festival and who do I see? The previously posted Carcass or this lot of noisy oiks from Nottingham - Pitchshifter?

I have been a fan of Pitchshifter for as long as I can remember - but surprisingly I have only ever seen them live once @ The Wheatsheaf, Stoke April 1993 (I can't believe it was that long ago!) It rates as one of the best gigs I ever saw there. It was pretty early on in their career, so they still had a lot of drum machine in their set along side an awesome live drummer. They were still an industrial sounding political / anarchist band, not the kind of dub-hip hop-jungle-electronic-dance band that they became before they split in 2003.

This track is taken from the bands second album "Desensitized" - even this was a drastic step forward compared to the debut record "Industrial", heavily influenced by Godflesh, who they would later share labels with.



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This weekend I'm off on a road trip to Leeds for the Damnation Festival. This festival is a one day event over three stages featuring 17 bands, there is no way you will see all of them, so you have to be a bit picky on who you see! Possibly the 2 main draws for most people at this years event seems to be Sigh - a black metal band all the way from Japan - and Liverpool grind core legends Carcass playing their one and only UK show after splitting up back in 1995. This is their first UK show in 14 long years and rumoured to be their last gig ever.

I saw Carcass years ago at the Wheatsheaf down in Stoke - that place used to be my second home. When it was owned by a guy who loved live music it was an awesome venue. Over the years I saw bands like Napalm Death, Life of Agony, Wolfsbane, Skyclad, Xentrix, Green Day, Hellkrusher, DIRT, Anathema, Clawfinger, Cathedral, Refused, Madball, Dog Eat Dog, Kyuss, Snuff, Dub War, Skunk Anansie, Sham 69, Eddie and the Hot Rods, GBH, UK Subs, The Exploited.... the list is endless. I even put my own shows on there!

Anyway, back to 2008!

Four bands I saw there are playing this weekend in Leeds. One of them I have seen several times away from the Wheatsheaf (Napalm Death), one I couldn't really care less about (Cathedral) and the other 2 I have only seen once and both times at the 'Sheaf - Carcass and Pitchshifter. I want to see them both but they are both on stage at 9.35pm!

Both bands are no longer a going concern (Pithshifter split in 2003 but have played odd shows and festivals since then) so it maybe the last time I see either band ever again - Carcass for sure. But I know I will enjoy Pitchshifter more - but how can you miss Carcass after 14 years? Too many decisions!

Here's the first of 2 Damnation 2008 videos for you - maybe I'll let you decide who I see for me!

Carcass formed in 1987 and due to the covers and titles from their early albums it was always suggested that the band were student doctors! (Reek of Putrefaction, Symphonies of Sickness and Necroticism - Descanting the Insalubrious were their early releases), By the time Heartwork came out they had mellowed out but the end was near for the band.

Refering to Red Dwarf again - vocalist Jeff Walker Walker and Bill Steer appeared in an episode Red Dwarf. Walker performed as 'Gazza', a 'neo-Marxist nihilist anarchist', the bassist of the band 'Smeg and the Heads' in the 1989 episode "Timeslides" and Steer was the "whacked-out crazy hippy drummer" 'Dobbin'.



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We got Guitar Hero World Tour on Friday and it feels like it's been on the go non stop for the last 70 hours!!! I commandeered the drum set - it's fun but I'm completely useless at it! As Snowy pointed out, she can't believe someone that listens to as much music as I do can't hear the beat in a song!

I did really well with "Hail to the Freaks" by a band called the Beatsteaks (only missed 4 beats) and I'm pretty good at "Beat It" by Michael Jackson. I say pretty good but that is below average compared to the scores Snowy was getting - but I can do awesome drum fills!!!

And boy did I struggle to finish "Trapped Under Ice" by Metallica, on the forth attempt and I nearly crashed and burned on that one too. And I'm telling you now, it won't matter how much practice I get I will never complete Motorhead's "Overkill", "B.Y.O.B." by System of a Down or the video on display here!

With this song I can't even get to the vocals - I have a complete lack of hand to eye co-ordination! I love the mini Van Halen in this video and all my teachers at school looked like that!! How uncomfortable does 3/4 of the band look doing the dancing about half way through the video? It reminds me of a dance sequence from Red Dwarf, and I'm sure somebody will come up with the name of the episode!



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November 17th. The first song I heard this morning - well technically second as I heard half of a Rolling Stones song before this one, but for the life of me I can't recall what it was!

"Bad Seamstress Blues/Fallin' Apart at the Seams" is the first track from the bands second record Long Cold Winter, this was never released as a single (as far as I am aware) but was a popular track with their fans back in 1988.

The video is taken from their appearance at The Moscow Music Peace Festival held (obviously) in Moscow at the Lenin Stadium. One hundred thousand Russian fans were there to see a line up which included Gorky Park (now there's a band I've long forgotten!), Scorpions, Skid Row, Ozzy Osbourne, Motley Crue and Bon Jovi.

I can't remember the exact details, but I do recall this had something to do with the then Bon Jovi manager Doc McGee being arrested for some drugs offence. As part of his sentence he put on this show in aid of drink and drug awareness! Would you really pick some of those bands to play an alcohol and drug benefit concert? Not really!! And what a meeting of egos it must have been!





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As promised earlier here's a slice of British heavy metal - or Barnsley to be exact! Also, as stated earlier I'm not a fan of Saxon as I never really "got" them, but tomorrow I will be off to see them and I will keep an open mind when I see them live. I'm going to be more intrigued than anything else.

The first time that I saw the band was in the Assembly Rooms in Derby in 2001 at the inaugural Bloodstock Festival. This will be only the second time that I have seen any version of the band. The band split into two - the more popular and probably regarded more as Saxon featuring vocalist Biff Byford and Paul Quinn. The other faction is referred to as Oliver/Dawson Saxon since 1995. Well if Faster Pussycat and L.A. Guns can do it then why not Saxon?

This track is taken from 1980's "Wheels of Steel" album. It appears that the song isn't actual;ly about any factual event. Bet there were a few metal heads who were put off flying thanks to this!!



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Something I've been meaning to do for a while now, but just don't seem to get the time to do - or just simply forget!!

My radio alarm goes off at 3:45AM 6 days a week and I have it tuned in to a UK station called Total Rock - you can guess what racket greets Snowy at that time of day! On the odd times that I remember (or even the times that I like the song being played!) I'm gonna do a thing where I post the first song that I heard today!

Saturday 1st November - First song I heard today - W.A.S.P. "L.O.V.E. Machine"

What a great start - W.A.S.P. I love this song and I love the whole album it comes from (1984's self titled debut or "Winged Assassins" as some know it!) I haven't heard this track for ages and it had been even longer since I saw the video! For me this is the bands strongest record - all 10 tracks are solid anthems and not a filler in sight. This is up there as one of my favourite records ever. The single for this had the Rolling Stones' "Paint It Black" as the B-side (in the days of vinyl!!)

The video is from a time when rock 'n' roll was "dangerous" and the airwaves was ruled by the Los Angeles scene. Can you imagine a video being made like this today?



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A review from the Unholy Alliance III tour some of you may want to check out?

Follow the link - if I've done it right!!!!

READ ME - SLATE ME!!!!

Posted by Steve.

Off to see Motörhead and Saxon tomorrow night in Wolverhampton (November 3rd) so why not post another Motörhead track (and maybe later today another Saxon track?)

I'm not the biggest fan of either band, so why am I going? My best friend asked me to go, so I know it will be a free ticket and free cola all night just for driving a round trip of 70 miles! I will end up having to pay for my own pork bap though!!! :)

Last time I saw Motörhead - at the Download Festival earlier this year - they bored me rigid. I've had the latest album "Motörizer" for some time now, but I haven't listened to it all the way through just yet!

Even though I'm not a huge fan of Motörhead by any stretch of the imagination, I do know that this isn't one of their best tracks by far, but it is one of the first 'Head videos that I ever saw - once again on the UK's Power Hour TV show.

It was released as a single only in the UK and in States it was released as a promo 12" with the same song on both sides so that radio DJ's couldn't play the wrong song. The song was included on the bands "No Remorse" compilation double album.



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October 31st - All Hallow's Eve, never been the biggest of events in the UK, but over the last few years it seems to be getting more popular every year. Several shops I have to go to now have the treat size - fun packs of sweets and chocolates (candy)and even toffee apples on display just inside the door as you walk in the shop. Even yesterday I had to take my 8 year old nephew shopping so that he could buy a pumpkin!!

To celebrate Halloween (I always want to spell it Helloween thanks to those wacky Germans!) here's a video from ex-White Zombie front man Rob Zombie!! Coincidentally, he also directed a remake of the classic 1978 "Halloween" film a few years back.

This is actually a song about the drag racer "DRAG-U-LA" featured in the TV programme The Munsters.



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Is it just me or every so often do you get an urge to listen to something from yester-year for no apparent reason? I'm guessing a lot of it is to do with the radio station I listen to. In between the constant airings of The Stones, The Who, Jimi Hendrix and AC/DC there's an odd song that makes you go "I remember that one!"

I've had an "urge" for bands like Gun, The Dogs D'Amour, Little Angels, Thunder and this lot The Quireboys (or on the other side of the Atlantic you might be familiar with The London Quireboys!) Formed way back in 1984 as the Choirboys, but didn't release their debut until 1990 and in their prime they supported the likes of The Rolling Stones and Aerosmith.

All the above mentioned bands are from the late 80's and early 90's when I wasn't really into them - BUT I could name a few songs by each of them at the time and are now obligatory at the Saturday night 80's rock disco at Rock City, Nottingham.

The track here "Hey You" was probably their biggest hit single in the UK - charting at number 14 and taken from the bands debut album "A Bit of What You Fancy.

I don't think I liked them at the time as all I could think of when I heard them was Rod Stewart! Vocalist Spike has a very raspy, gravelly voice - maybe the sound of too many cigarettes? I'm currently listening to their latest offering "Homewreckers & Heartbreakers" which I have to say sounds pretty damn good! Why did I miss out on so much good music when I was a teenager? I discovered that they are on tour over here in December and I think a trip to Dudley may be required and I do think Snowy could get into this lot!



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