Episode Transcript
Speaker 1 00:00:24 Well, hello everyone, and welcome to episode 47 of the Rock Podcast. For those about the pod, we sal you, we have, as usual, all the latest rock news, new Rock on the block. We have Hidden Gem Time on Sun Hero, but here he is, the maestro of Mayhem from our little orchestra of rock and roll. Mr. Matt Rogers. Hey Matt. How you doing?
Speaker 2 00:00:47 Hello, bro. All right, thank you. How are you
Speaker 1 00:00:50 Tired after 57 takes of that Unru <laugh>?
Speaker 2 00:00:56 Well, we got there eventually.
Speaker 1 00:00:57 We did indeed.
Speaker 2 00:00:59 Um, last time I saw you, of course we were at Rush Fest in, uh, in Glasgow. That was, that was fun on the hole, wasn't it?
Speaker 1 00:01:10 It was very good. I now knew that in the Pantheon and levels of Rush fandom, I am a mere child. A beginner.
Speaker 2 00:01:21 Yeah, same. I'm about a six <laugh>. I mean, the, the level of, we did say this and we were talking about it originally, the level of fan worship. Uh, I suppose it was a convention, wasn't it? It was off the scale. Um, and it was good. There was a, there were q and a with the, the long time longtime producer, Terry Brown, which was good. Very interesting. And, um, they're longtime artists who designed, uh, all, most of the album covers. Hugh Simon, both of both of whom we met. They're lovely guys, were, they
Speaker 1 00:01:54 Were fabulous. They were lovely.
Speaker 2 00:01:56 And, um, but I think the highlight for me was the q and a with Neil Pitt's sisters, the late drummer of Rush. His sisters were there and talking about him as just a regular guy, a big brother, which is very sweet. A very poignant, yeah. Um, it's a fun weekend though. It
Speaker 1 00:02:12 Was indeed.
Speaker 2 00:02:13 I may, I may, I was a bit under the weather when we were there. Again.
Speaker 1 00:02:18 Food poisoning, young man.
Speaker 2 00:02:19 Just be recurring food poisoning. Don't have chicken burgers when you're in, uh, Basco, I'm sure on the whole they're fine. I mean, it wasn't even, maybe it wasn't even that. Who knows, maybe what, but I'm fine now, thankfully.
Speaker 1 00:02:32 Yeah. And the bands that played, I know why I wasn't there on the Saturday. The young girl that played on this Friday night, she was fantastic with her, uh, acoustic renditions of some rush material. And then the, the band on the Sunday played my era of rush. The, the kind of the eighties and the, the, the latter period of rush. Um, and the, the drummer was phenomenal. And the singer blossomed to be singing at two o'clock, two three o'clock in the afternoon. Day three of a Rush Fest. He did a fantastic job. They were, they were a great band.
Speaker 2 00:03:11 Yeah. We should give a shout out to Leoni Jane Kennedy. You, you, you it was the Yeah. Uh, person who was playing the, uh, the rush songs on a acoustic guitar and, uh, movie pictures were there. Uh, it was great. It was good fun. Good fun. Yeah. Good fun. So, um, what has caught your eyebrow in the news?
Speaker 1 00:03:31 Well, in the news All change again, all the boards, the Ever-Changing Bus that is The Dead Daisies Krabs back, John Crabby was teased in social media this week. Um, dead Daisies are bringing out a best of album and coming back out in tour. And Glen Hughes has been, uh, has probably going to spend more time singing Deep Purple Tunes. Mm-hmm. So, John k Crabby is back and what's an even fabulous addition to the Dead daisies? Michael Devin is gonna be playing bass. And Michael Devin is a, an amazing singer in his own rights. So, um, dead Daisies are gonna be fabulous. New album. Best of and touring later this year. So that's first bit of news.
Speaker 2 00:04:20 No, I'm really pleased about that. I mean, no, nothing against Glen Hughes, but I, I thought The Dead Daisies with John Krabi was just, was excellent. Saw him a few times. He's a, a amazing front man. Um, course spend a little bit of time in Motley Cru. Um, but I think he's found his, I found his home with, uh, dead da and he, as you dead da and as you say, it's a never revolving door with dead daisies. Um, they've had all sorts of members over the years more, more so than white snakes. Exactly.
Speaker 1 00:04:48 <laugh>. Well, how many White Snake members are in, have been in the dead Diaz?
Speaker 2 00:04:53 Well, that's true. If funny, funny you should say that cuz cuz we were talking about it. Um, and a lot of the, a lot of the white snake guys, no, that white snake is largely kind of finished with the live Yeah. Performances. We mentioned Joel Hooks last time with 13. Michael Devons joined, um, dead Davis, which is great for them, of course. Fantastic bass player, say great singer. Um, tell me All J's with, uh, and Joe Hsk with Iconic, so they're all getting back out and Red Beach, who we'll talk about later. Ooh. Is that with Wininger? She's great. Yeah. I'm very pleased. I like John Krabi. He's very hairy, which is fine, by the way. <laugh> ridiculously hairy. He's like walking blob of hair
Speaker 1 00:05:35 With a great
Speaker 2 00:05:35 Voice, long hair, amazing voice. Great, great fun man too. If you, uh, if you get a chance to see Dead Daisy with, um, with John Krabi, and I know our know our friend Will Stoney's, I'm huge fan of Dead Date. He'll be very, very happy, uh, to know that John Krabi is back. Yeah. Um, I did the caught my eye. Bri I know, I know you, I know you saw this as well. Um, there's a new world record for the number of gigs attended in a year. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Now, when I saw this, I thought it was gonna be like, you know, four, 500, you know, at least. And the new total is 86, which, uh, which is great, you know, good on Joshua Beck from Monroe Township, New Jersey. Hello to our New Jersey listeners, by the way. Hi everyone. Um, who was officially entered the ward record the Get Book of Rail records after he attended, uh, a Mind-Blowing as the Guinness Book of Records said 86 gigs in 2022. Now the previous record was 65, so he smashed it by 21 gigs. Uh, 86 is, uh, one gig every 4.2 days, or putting another way seven concerts per month. Now. It, it got me thinking, I think you thought the same thing, Bry, our friend John Law, when he was 50, he did 50 gigs at 50. Now if he'd tried a little bit harder <laugh>, if he did 66, he'd have had the he had the world record then.
Speaker 1 00:07:04 Exactly. He had it in his midst.
Speaker 2 00:07:07 Exactly. He said his, in
Speaker 1 00:07:08 His grasp,
Speaker 2 00:07:09 He was in his grasps. It's on the horizon, a contract. So, uh, it made me, because you've taught it up, how many gigs you did in 2022? How many, how many was it bright?
Speaker 1 00:07:20 I was, I was kind of hoping it would be, you know, maybe half. But, but I did 29 gigs.
Speaker 2 00:07:25 It's not That's very, so, very impressive.
Speaker 1 00:07:27 It's, yeah. And I, but I'm counting festivals as one gig. Um, yeah,
Speaker 2 00:07:33 Well that's, that's, and that, that's fine. Um, that's, that's, well, I say very impressive. Very impressive indeed. But, um, yeah, it just shows you, I mean, you know, these records are, you know, not out of reach mm-hmm.
Speaker 1 00:07:46 <affirmative>.
Speaker 2 00:07:47 So, um, I, I basically we're thrown down the gauntlet, you know, thrown down the challenge. Anyone offense who's trying to beat that good on you, go for it.
Speaker 1 00:07:55 Exactly. But, but re remember people, um, when Josh was, uh, uh, reported around his world record, he did say that he spent about five grand in tickets, plus whatever the cost is gonna be for his accommodations. So your world record is gonna set you back quite a bit of money.
Speaker 2 00:08:12 So here's what you gotta do, Brian. You, you live in Edinburgh, as we've established on the edge of Edinburgh. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, there's a great little venue called Bannons in Edinburgh, but she has gigs every night. All you gotta do is go for a couple of months, you're done. That's it. A few months, three months, you go every night for three months. Exactly.
Speaker 1 00:08:30 Exactly.
Speaker 2 00:08:31 And, and that's it. I'm, I'm, I'm calling the Grim Guinness Book of Records. Now the Grest Book of Records even. Oh, yeah. Goodest book of records. I'm calling them, uh, just set them up for your record Breaking Feet. <laugh>. Can you imagine that you'd make the, you'd make all the headlines and everything. It'd be great. Brian Mayley, half Decent guitarist has broken the world record for gigs all at the same venue in, in Edinburgh <laugh>,
Speaker 1 00:08:55 You know,
Speaker 2 00:08:56 Gigs a gig, and he spent a Prince Lee 200 quid.
Speaker 1 00:09:00 Uh, there will be, I think there'll be a lot of people who've read that article going, Hmm, 86. 86 gigs. Not that much. I might just go, sorry. There'll be, there'll be hundreds of people. There'll be trying to go for that world record.
Speaker 2 00:09:14 I never have to keep an eye on that one. See how the record goes. Right. Ah,
Speaker 1 00:09:18 Nice. Now as we are recording, Matthew
Speaker 2 00:09:22 Yes.
Speaker 1 00:09:23 Breaking News. We now know who, who the drummer for the Foo Fighters is going to be.
Speaker 2 00:09:31 Go on. Who is it?
Speaker 1 00:09:32 It is Josh Fries.
Speaker 2 00:09:36 Ah. As expected.
Speaker 1 00:09:37 As Expected. So,
Speaker 2 00:09:39 Well possibly too expected my money was on, um, Rufus Taylor from The Darkness. Yeah. But Josh Fries Good choice. We talked about him in the context of the tribute concerts. Yeah. Uh, is that, is that, are you sure about that or is he just kind pin
Speaker 1 00:09:53 Ab Absolutely con, absolutely confirmed. Cuz ladies and gentlemen, as we're recording the podcast this evening, the Fus are actually streaming their first live show. Um, and yes, it is confirmed that Josh Freeze is the new drummer. So, good luck, Josh, the new singles that have been coming off the new album, um, from the Fus Song Brilliance. So, uh, that's good news.
Speaker 2 00:10:18 Uh, well, good luck, Josh. Yep. Another news, something else that caught my eye was, um, something quiet. We love a little quirky story on the old podcast, of course. And, uh, this was, uh, a good example. So, um, the, uh, the Lord Mayor or the New Lord Bear of, um, Portsmouth, which on the south coast of England, where my daughter Georgia, went to university actually. Hi, Georgia. Hi Olivia. Hi. Have one at notices, by the way, just in case you feel left out. <laugh>. So, so, uh, counselor Tom Coles, uh, he was inaugurated as the Lord Mayor of, of, uh, Portsmouth and his part of his inauguration ceremony. He insisted on having Metallica's eye over the beholder as his kind of walk on music. Thought it was great from, uh, the album and, and Justice for All. Slightly overlooked Metallica album, mainly causes, got no bass on it. But, uh, yeah, he <laugh> and also, I love this, this guy would be hilarious. We should get him on the podcast. He, he said this, this self-professed Star Trek, dev Devote t then, then proceeded to drop a few bars of clinging on into his welcoming speech. I love that. Cling on and Metallica in the same inauguration. It's brilliant.
Speaker 1 00:11:43 Do you know one of, do you know what one of his favorite books will be? Hitch Harker Guide to the Galaxy Wound? It'll be, undoubtedly,
Speaker 2 00:11:50 It'll
Speaker 1 00:11:50 Be a real tricky sci-fi bloke, Blake seven. He still have his D v D of that.
Speaker 2 00:12:00 Now, you've challenged me now to put the theme music to, um, Blake seven. And also that clip, which is an Eagle song. I forget the name of the song actually. Um, which is the, essentially the theme music to, um, I'll find out. Our, our sci-fi iono, uh, Paul Wheeler will help us out on that one. Okay. Um, put the, uh, the theme music to Hitchhike Sky to Galaxy on as well on the old playlist. Mean an eclectic one as usual. Exactly.
Speaker 1 00:12:25 And
Speaker 2 00:12:25 The, anything else break? Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:12:26 The other thing, um, our, something happened in our District of London. Birthplace. Yes. Islington. Yes.
Speaker 2 00:12:33 Wilton. So those who don't know, Brian and I were born in the same hospital a few years apart, but we were set, we were both born in the Witton Hospital in London. Well, we're giving too much information away. Oops.
Speaker 1 00:12:42 <laugh>,
Speaker 2 00:12:44 My mother's name. Name was Yes.
Speaker 1 00:12:46 So go on
Speaker 2 00:12:46 Bryce. Sorry. And,
Speaker 1 00:12:47 And Slim Gym's Laure store or liquor? It wouldn't be Laure, it'd be liquor. It's
Speaker 2 00:12:53 Li it's, it's it's liquor. It's just Laure. They serve in there. It's lovely. <laugh>
Speaker 1 00:12:57 Have a little quantro.
Speaker 2 00:12:58 Exactly.
Speaker 1 00:13:00 So I,
Speaker 2 00:13:01 I used have a Quantro actually. Good car. Actually. I, I only enjoyed that driving that car. <laugh> the algae. Audi Quantro. <laugh>.
Speaker 1 00:13:08 Anyway, come on. Anyway, so the, the band borderline Toxic. Yes. Were, were in the midst of their set in Islington, in Slim Gyms. And they're going through the Green Day classic Song, basket case. And you'll never guess who just jumps up on stage, Matthew, to join them as a singer. It was Billy Joe Armstrong himself from Green Day, got up and sang with the band, the Face On, um, on Carrie, Carrie Glass is the lead singer of the band. It's brilliant. Billy just, he just walks up to the front of the audience, rocks up onto the stage, takes a microphone, her face is a picture. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And she's just like, stunned Billy, just smi obviously he just smiles, takes the microphone and sings a song. But I just thought, I thought brilliant. And the band, the band really good. You know, they, they just kept going. Billy Jewel was just, it was fantastic. So your hero's getting up on stage in a pub. I know
Speaker 2 00:14:14 What mean One experience and, and, and, uh, someone had the, uh, foresight to capture it. Yeah. Well, I mean, everyone's filming on the gigs these days, but someone captured it. Um, and ironically as I, as I mentioned this around the corner from my daughter Georgia, uh, she said, yeah, I know Slim Jims. We, I said, you should have been there on Saturday night. Billy Joe Armstrong was there. Um, but yeah, right time, right place, real treat for the people who were there and looked like a really busy place. We'll put the clip on, um, put the clip on our Facebook page. Of course. Yeah. And you can see how it went. That's great. That's it. All the news, Brian. That is it.
Speaker 2 00:14:53 So Brian, here we go again. New Rock on the Block, the gift that keeps giving. So this time we're gonna take a look at the new Wininger album, which is called Seven. I've got a problem with that name by the way. Uh, we'll come to that. And the new Def le the much awaited Def Leopard album. Mm. Drastic Symphonies, which has been hyped to the sky and back again for the last couple of weeks and p of months, in fact. Um, let's talk about the Wininger album first. Do you know anything about Wininger? Um, good band.
Speaker 1 00:15:29 They were a great band in the sort of mid to late eighties. They kind, they kind of came in, obviously kept wingers. The, uh, the main songwriter bassist, vocalist. And obviously I, I'm, I'm well aware of them because of Red Beach. Um, been sort of the, the main guitar player, but a, a band in the, in the eighties. I probably went down there, the Mr. Big Ri rather than, uh, than the Wininger. But they, they had a few big hits in America, so, and, and have kept touring, obviously signed. Now, Matt too,
Speaker 2 00:16:01 Don't tell me. I mean, if I said, do you still get a pound?
Speaker 1 00:16:05 I still Yes, that's true. Yes.
Speaker 2 00:16:07 Uh, frontiers,
Speaker 1 00:16:08 They another pound in the genre <laugh>. So, yeah. So yeah, I reasonably, uh, no reasonable mind about Winer. Um, Kips a fabulous singer. Um, and this album, as you say called Seven, which mm-hmm. <affirmative>, is there Seventh Studio album? Who would've thought
Speaker 2 00:16:29 Funny that fuck. Now I have a problem with that. When bands call their albums like, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, whatever. Uh, I mean, come on. I didn't think of anything. Can't even think of a name for it. You know, I mean, it's just so unimaginative. Okay. In my opinion.
Speaker 1 00:16:47 I I'm with you.
Speaker 2 00:16:48 You know, although I do find it a little bit boring when they just pick this, pick this decent song of the album. Call it this, this the, uh, title. It's cuz it's a good song. Anyway, all that side. What'd you think of the album? I
Speaker 1 00:17:01 Thought the album, the album to me, Matt, was a modern twist on eighties hair metal <laugh>.
Speaker 1 00:17:12 Okay. Yeah. It, it, it had that, it had that, you know, it had the riffs, riffs, it had the great production. Some of the material on the album. Uh, my, my standout track on the album, uh, is a track called, uh, tears of Blood, very reminiscent of Queens Reich in the Empire period. Uh, it just was, you know, though, the production, the separation, chunking guitars, great solos, um, but the band was so tight and, and, uh, kept vocal for somebody who produces the band as well as he does. His vocal was exemplary, I thought, for a man of his age, he must be in his sixties now or so. Yeah, yeah. Um, sounding great. And the band were sounding good. So there's some, there's some really, really good tracks on it. Probably one or two power ballads could have been dropped off for me, Matt. It was kind of a, it's like half the albums got good old rockers on it and it, you know, some quite funky, groovy tunes. But, um, a few too many ballads for me, Matt, Chuck, the piano in the River don't need it.
Speaker 2 00:18:24 Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:18:25 How about you? Yeah,
Speaker 2 00:18:27 I liked it. I really liked it. I don't know much about Wing. I mean, we, we, we know the kind of the, the, the good old hits from the, um, as you said, late eighties headed, headed for a Heartbreak is probably their biggest song. Um, but I, I quite like this, as you say, it's quite, quite contemporary sound to it. Um, weighing in just shy of an hour. Yeah. Which is, so you get value for your 1299 or whatever it is. Um, I like Proud Desperado. I pretty much standout song on the album. Then I, and then I noticed it is, it's all, it was co-written with Desmond Child who, uh, of course his prolific co songwriter written songs for, um, or with Bonjovi, for example. Some of their mega hits were, uh, written with Desmond Char. So, um, clearly a great pedigree. No, I, I, I enjoyed it. I think it's an album, you know, like we used to say in the old days, take a few listens, you know, took me a couple listens before I get got into it. We used to say. Yeah. And, um, yeah, proudest Brother's, good Heaven's, fallings. Good. Stick the knife in and twist. It's good. It's okay. As, as you observed, it's got that kind of classic, uh, what's that thing called it? Voice
Speaker 1 00:19:36 Box. Voice box, yeah. Yeah. Voice
Speaker 2 00:19:37 That sort of, you'll know it when you hear it. We'll put it on the, that sort of Peter Franton, Richie Sambar kind of, uh, effect. Yeah. Um, but yeah, I would, I would certainly, you know, I would certainly play it again. It's good. I'm gonna recommend it to everyone to, to have a listen to it. It is, as I say, worth of you listens nice. You put together Red Beach's guitar playing is fantastic on it. X of white snake. Uh, as we said earlier, they're all fun. They're own niches now. They're white snake boys and girls. So, um, yeah, I think it's world Worth a listen. Good, good album. Seven by, um, wga and the other album, which we've been listening to lately, is the new album from Deaf Love, literally only out a few days ago, called Drastic Symphonies. So this essentially is a, a modern praise, a re-imagining of, um, maybe you should re-imagining the podcast Bry at some point. Um, I dunno what that would entail. Anyways, a re-imagining of, um, uh, various Def Leopard songs, not necessarily the Hits, um, but a variety of their songs. Uh, 16 in total to be, to be specific, um, with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra recorded Abbey Road, uh, which of course made famous by the Beatles and Pink Floyd and, and, and so on. Um, what do you think, Brian?
Speaker 1 00:21:00 Oh, you used a word Matt. Hmm. Very interestingly, reimagining.
Speaker 2 00:21:09 Yes. I didn't make that word up by the way. It's no quite popular word, but let's use it anyway.
Speaker 1 00:21:14 Yeah. The, I think where this, I think the album itself starts off brilliantly with a track, which I didn't, I didn't know particularly well. In fact, the, the opening two tracks in the album are a track called Turn to Dust. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, and a track called Paper Sun, which are not on, you know, pyromania or a stereo. They're Turn To Dust is on, uh, it, it's on the Slang album and it opens up with this Led Zeppelin Eastern. Uh, just, it just sounds fantastic. You the, it really works. The, the orchestra and the band and the Tune really works similarly with Paper Sun as well too, which is off the Euphoria album. So I think the album gets outta the traps very, very well. However, in the middle of the album, you then have animal, uh, pour some sugar on me. Hysteria and Love Bites.
Speaker 1 00:22:19 And if I look at those four songs themselves, they're from probably the one of the greatest rock albums of all time. And it feels as if nothing really has been imagined. Apart from Pour Some Sugar and May Hysteria. They've taken the guitars down in the theater, stuck some strings on similarly with Love Bites, love Bite. They've just whacked a whole bunch of strings on it. But it's still got the electronic drums and the production values of the Hysteria album. So, to me, on the Hysteria tracks, it just feels they've taken the original tracks and just mixed them with some strings on top. And it just didn't work for me, Matt, in the, in, in the sense of re-imagining the tunes or giving me something different. I still like the original version of Hysteria and Love Bites. These tracks don't add anything to it. Um, I, I dunno what your thoughts are.
Speaker 2 00:23:17 Well, I tend to agree with you. Uh, I think because we're so familiar with the Hysteria album songs, anything which deviates from them, even live versions, but certainly a, a version with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. We probably sound a little bit, sort of contrived, I suppose you could say for one another expression. However, I did, like I did, as you said, I like terms to last. Like Paper, sun, I thought God's of War was, was, which is an epic song from Hysteria was, um, was, was enhanced by having the orchestral arrangements. I light switched 6 25, which is one of my favorite, um, instrumentals. Mm-hmm. And, um, and you know, you're right, some of them were a bit hit and miss, but, um, you know, bringing their heartbreaks pretty good. Um, I would like to have, uh, had them record the vocals. Cause they have to do these songs every night live.
Speaker 2 00:24:11 So it would be nice if they'd really record the vocals. But that said, and it, you know, it's, it's, it's good. I mean, it's, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra sounds absolutely fantastic. The arrangements are brilliant. Um, and I found myself, you know, in a way, enjoying that part of the songs more than the Def Lepard part, which I suppose is, you know, somewhat fair enough. But, you know, go never listen guys. I think if you, um, if you like Def Lepard, you'll love it. If you like, you know, those sort of, uh, rock songs put to an orchestra arrangement, you'll enjoy it too. I mean, in my opinion, it's only my opinion, of course, it's a little bit hit and miss. Um, not necessarily in this case, but, you know, but it is, um, it's a, it's a tall order putting rock songs to, um, orchestral arrangements. But, um, in some cases they did it. And some cases, as I say, cuz we're so, um, you know, we're so kind of conscious and biased towards the originals. Maybe they didn't quite, uh, fit. But, um, you know, well worth the listen Drastic Symphonies by Def Leopard probably gonna be a lot of people's album of the year, I imagine. But, um, whether it's ours, we sure we shall see in Jude course.
Speaker 1 00:25:18 So Matt, we arrived Yes. At the letter D in our A to Z of Rock. Yes. What a difficult chapter. This will be in our tome of rock.
Speaker 2 00:25:30 I know, it's a tough one, wasn't it? Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:25:32 Not really <laugh>. So where should we start? Will we start with the artists and get all of the easy ones out of the way? <laugh>,
Speaker 2 00:25:42 I think we should really, we touched upon Def Leopard. Yep, of course. Oh, um, I mean, I remember, I remember when they, they were first, you know, on the scene as it were, back in, uh, the late seventies. And I mean, what a, what a legacy, what a what a what a cannon of work. Um, we touched on Hyster earlier, but I mean, para mania first color valves are really good too. Ary night high and dry. So, um, of course we put some deaf leard, more deaf leard on the, uh, on the podcast playlist.
Speaker 1 00:26:19 And for me, an easy one for, for D's was always going to be Ronnie James. Ronnie James deal. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:26:27 Yep. Yep. Great choice. Actually's real name. Of course. It's funny, I was reading his book. I've been reading his book for a while. Maybe I'll talk about it in the next episode. But, um, Ronnie Patavan, the real name, changed his name to Dio because he, he thought Patavan was a bit of a mouthful. Um, and selected somewhat Riskily the surname of a well-known New York gangster called Johnny Dio. Oh,
Speaker 1 00:26:55 Right. I never do that. And,
Speaker 2 00:26:56 And there was a, there's a, a, a quite a funny story where he, he, he claims to be related in a club in Florida, I think it was someone like that. He claims to be related to, uh, Johnny Dio. And the club owner says, oh, that's good. Well, John Johnny, some of Johnny's friends are coming down the weekend. I'll introduce it to him. And he's like, oh my God, I've, I've better, what have I done? But, uh, I mean, what, what a singer. I mean, what are the greats? What, what an amazing singer, Ronnie Dio, um, from the early days of Elf through the, the amazing early years of Rainbow, another excuse to put some fantastic rainbow songs on, um, black Sabbath. Of course, I think it's probably where you tuned into him was it, isn't it Brian?
Speaker 1 00:27:38 Absolutely. Live Evil, which which will be coming out newly remixed. So we'll be able to hear the newly remixed Live Evil, which was obviously the album where Ronnie walked away from Black Sabbath.
Speaker 2 00:27:51 Yes, indeed. Yeah. For reasons that are somewhat subject to kind of, uh, uh, you know, they've been lost in the Animals of time as to whether he was tweaking them with the mixes or not after hours, but, um, it's all water under the bridge. Now, I was first introduced to dio, uh, I mean on the, in the Rainbow era, of course, but I actually saw his first ever gig in Britain as DIO at the, uh, 83 Mo Rock, uh, festival in at Donnington another D Hey.
Speaker 2 00:28:22 Um, and I put some, I put a couple of songs from the DIO at Donnington 83 album, which is, uh, which you can, which you can listen to. It's good. I mean, there somewhere the age of 18 or so, listening, watching, um, yeah. What a, what a singer. I mean, one of the, literally one of the greats, and sadly no longer with this, died in 2010, um, stomach cancer, um, and a much mist. And as I say, one of the, one of the heroes of rock and just a really nice guy and an amazing, amazing singer. Eight songwriter, of course. So I'll put plenty of DIO songs, rainbow Songs, black Sabbath, an excuse to pile them into the playlist. Of course. <laugh>. Anything else on dio, Brian, any good memories of Dio? One of your first gigs? Dio, of course, wouldn't it?
Speaker 1 00:29:03 Uh, it was my first gig. Yep. Uh, Antrim Forum, uh, yep. 19 19 84. Um, yeah, phenomenal. And, um, was followed him whenever I could, and I saw him with Heaven and Hell, uh, when, when the band came back around again, um, when they, yeah, fantastic. They, you, yeah. The, the, the best heavy metal in that genre of, of, without a doubt, uh, fantastic. Not many bands can turn around in out of a, out of three major acts. And you can say that probably in the top 20 heavy metal hard rock albums of all time, you're able to sing on Rainbow Rising Black Sabbath, heaven and Hell. And then his own Holy Diver album. Many of which singers or performers like to just be on one of those albums. Matt and he, yeah, fantastic.
Speaker 2 00:30:04 I, I actually saw DIO a few times and I saw him with Denzel the Dragon <laugh>, remember that era? I think it was the Sacred Heart Tour at about 85 Sig, something like that. And he, and he had this dragon, it was obviously, it was his real dragon. Couldn't get a real dragon. It was a bit too dangerous. But he had this kind of, you know, rubber, it was hilarious. I think I've got think they, they, uh, named it Denzel, at least I'm calling it Denzel for the purposes of Ds in the, uh, <laugh> eight in of Rock. So there's, uh, devil Lebanon, dio, uh, any other Ds we can think of
Speaker 1 00:30:38 Deep Purple, a band that, a band that was, uh, Dio was involved with, uh, through Ds career, you know, elf supported, um, deep Purple. That's right. Um, which is when Richie Cuts sight of Ronnie's talent. And then Roger Glover, uh, ended up inviting Ronnie to sing on the, uh, butterfly Ball.
Speaker 2 00:31:03 That's
Speaker 1 00:31:03 Right. Yeah. They're the single, uh, lovers all around her.
Speaker 2 00:31:07 Yeah. Love is all,
Speaker 1 00:31:08 Love is all that's, thank you.
Speaker 2 00:31:10 You're thinking of, uh, your favorite Bear and Wet Wait, we actually, honey sh what a legacy. Uh, fantastic. I mean, from the late sixties, um, there's song, of course, smoke on the Water, but, you know, some amazing albums, machine haired in Rock, um, still going of course with the, with, you know, the core of the original lineup to an extent with the I Ian Paceon and Gillon Simon McBride on guitar. And, um, Don, your, your, your old friend Don ay on keyboards, um, you know, of course Roger Glover on bass. So, you know, still going strong and, um, you know, we wish them well. And, um, you know, as I said, one of that Holy, holy Trinity of, of bands with Black Sabbath and, and led Z from the, you know, late sixties and hugely influential of course. So any more bands been bit deeper? I think I can think of one more.
Speaker 1 00:32:02 Can you? I can't, I'm,
Speaker 2 00:32:03 Yeah. I see a band very rarely mentioned actually, diamond Head.
Speaker 1 00:32:08 It's gotta become a drinking game, isn't it? It's like, we're gonna, this podcast is like, every time, every time we hear this, we should, we should have this. And every time you mention this band, somebody should like, have a little shot of whiskey, a little shot of Dam dwin whiskey.
Speaker 2 00:32:22 That'd be nice, wouldn't it? Yeah. I, I'm just gonna put Di I'm, I'm not gonna mention Diamond Head too much. 40 19 76, still going strong. Brian Tatter the only, uh, original member, of course. Um, if they play near you, go and see them. Um, Brian Tatter, of course, is now the touring guitarist, as we touched upon a few weeks ago with, uh, Saxon, um, as we've said many times, my favorite band of all time, m MIT Diamond Head, um, also mentions band wise to dire Straits, of course, but some dire straits on the old Playlist, the Doors, how can We Forget The Doors? Hugely Influe influential, um, some great songs, great albums, sadly, uh, their career Cut Short by the, by the Untimely Death of Jim Morrison at the age of 27. Um, dream Theater. What are your favorites? Dream Theater. Aren't they featuring the Great Mike Portner? Of course. Or at least they were. Yes, indeed. Ryan's now doing the famous Mike Port I 87 Drum Al <laugh> Dream Theater. You like them, don't you?
Speaker 1 00:33:29 I love Dream Theater. Dream Theater. Brilliant. They, the periods that period in the, uh, early to mid nineties, you know, albums like images and words all the way through to falling into Infinity. Even his Doug Panic from, uh, King's Exon. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Yeah. Great. And yeah, dream Theater, uh, really, really good band. It's, and continued to, you know, sell out shows across Europe, still have a big, big following, um, and continue to record to this day. So, great. Um, other, other bands that notable mentions. We've, we've obviously talked about the Dead daisies earlier in the show, um, great band, but a band who I loved in the early eighties. And I, I don't think time, I don't think Father Time has been too kind on this band, and particularly with Don Duncan's voice, but I loved Duncan. You know, the, the, the classic, uh, um, the classic lineup of Duncan, of Don Duncan, George Lynch, Jeff Pilsen, Mick Brown made some fabulous albums in the early eighties, eighties on Electro Records Tooth. And Neil, oh my goodness, under Lock and Key, um, even live fantastic as well too. So, uh, yeah, din would've been a not notable mentioned me, Matt.
Speaker 2 00:34:51 Very good, very good. Um, yeah, other notes we mentions Bruce Dickinson, the great Bruce Dickinson cause, uh, singer of th maiden for the last, uh, 40 odd years. Uh, Bob Dylan, like we miss out. Bob Dylan. Uh, again, hugely influential. Bob Dylan put some Bob Dylan songs on the old playlist, of course. Um, one thing we did think about was, um, the amount of times the devil has made it into rock music. Um, in fact, the Devil Horns, of course, as we all like to, uh, occasionally, you know, make that gesticulation. Yes. Uh, the Malloy Maloy actually, which was popularized by the late great Ronnie Di as mentioned earlier. Um, the, it's amazing that, I mean, the thinking in any other, possibly with in Blues, uh, which obviously, you know, spawned rock to a large extent, um, and not many other music genres would you find so many references to the devil, of course, to the Devil is due by the mighty diamond head.
Speaker 2 00:35:52 Sympathy for the devil. Of course, they're rolling stones and, and so on. Um, so many references, and it is some, quite a lot of kind of, you know, hidden references. Black Sabbath, of course, we've mentioned many times where, uh, uh, suggested that they were Devil worshipers and not their songs were, uh, kind of related to the OC cult I made. And of course not. The songs are original songs about the Devil and, uh, you know, and 6 66, the number, the Beast and so on. But, uh, and of course, plenty of no doubt, plenty of DIO and Black Sabbath dio era songs were with the Devil as a subject matter.
Speaker 1 00:36:32 One, one person that came to mind for me and Matt, when we were talking about Ds and you, you mentioned Bruce, Bruce Dickinson and, and talked about Black Sabbath. Somebody that comes to mind for me, and he, he sadly passed away a couple of years ago, is David de nato. Do you remember David Danto? Yes.
Speaker 2 00:36:53 We've talked about him on here. Yeah. The short-lived singer of Black Sabbath.
Speaker 1 00:36:57 Yeah. I, the
Speaker 2 00:36:58 You no longer with it, so that's a shame.
Speaker 1 00:37:00 He's, he passed away in 2021. I always, when I think of, when I think of Dees and, uh, that, that famous, you know, Ang picture where, you know, the band, you know, a photograph is taken, they do an interview and, and at the time, Sabbath are still auditioning members of the band. So ang have got this picture of four blokes, you know, it's, it's geezer. I think it's probably gonna be geezer Bill, Tony and Dave. Yeah,
Speaker 2 00:37:32 Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:37:33 And then, and a handsome looking chappy was, you know, yeah. In a, he had all along hair and the muscles and he, he looked like a great front man, you know, and then you're kind of going, this is gonna happen. And then zip nothing. And then the next year, the, the, uh, the new version of Sabbath comes out and know David Danana. And he never, that's right. He never really joined the band cuz he, he was just there for rehearsals. So there's, there's a That's
Speaker 2 00:37:58 A weird one though, isn't it? Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:38:00 Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:38:01 And then finally in the word of Ds, of course, we can't overlook denim. So we talked last time about the importance of clothing. Yes. But denim, of course is synonymous. Um, and has been probably since, well forever, uh, with rock music, probably rise probably by a, uh, quo who, uh, head to toe in denim. Um, and, uh, of course, you know, denim jackets we touched upon, uh, were, you know, Deri and still are largely for, um, you know, your, your your your classic rock fan because famously you got, you got, you still got, well, you actually haven't got it anymore, sadly, but your famous meatloaf <laugh> back patch denim jacket, it
Speaker 1 00:38:47 Had to be Wrangler, uh, denim jackets had to be a Wrangler though, max. Really?
Speaker 2 00:38:51 Oh yeah, I was, I was for the Levi should be the, uh, oh no, the jacket of choice Wrangler. Really? Well, maybe Northern Ireland, but in, in, in Norfolk we were all, uh, we were all levied up. Oh yeah. Um, yeah. It's funny though, isn't it? Yeah. Wrangler
Speaker 1 00:39:07 Wrangler, Wrangler Denim. Um, other, other denim, other denim manufacturers of course are right there. <laugh>.
Speaker 2 00:39:13 Indeed. Yes. Yes. I can't think of any, but I'm sure there are some. Um, yeah. So d yeah, denim of course. I mean, you know, it's synonymous with rock music, of course. And, um, and this theory, I was thinking about it, you know, our, our people sort of put patches and embroided. We touched on this last time. Do you? Where I think it all comes from.
Speaker 1 00:39:32 Where's that?
Speaker 2 00:39:33 Boy Scouts, boy Scouts and Girl guides.
Speaker 1 00:39:35 Oh, when we got
Speaker 2 00:39:37 You must have been. He's that there. Yeah. Yeah. I think it's got an extension from that <laugh> know you were est you, were you a scout bride before you?
Speaker 1 00:39:45 I was. I University did. I did Cobs. I did, yeah. Cubs Scouts. Venture Scouts.
Speaker 2 00:39:51 Yeah. And then you what, 15 years at university? Yeah. What did you do when you, did you do anything University Scouts or Cubs wise, or you just That was it. You were done. No,
Speaker 1 00:39:58 I was done. Have you,
Speaker 2 00:40:00 I'd love, I'd love to know whether you got, still got your Little Scout uniform.
Speaker 1 00:40:03 Uh, do you know what? I think my mom still has my little green, my little green, uh, jumper from the Cubs where I had my little proficiency badges sewn on to my, my arms.
Speaker 2 00:40:16 I'd like to see a waggle at some point. Hold on if you, if you <laugh>
Speaker 1 00:40:21 Stop it. And other Ds young man.
Speaker 2 00:40:24 Yes. Let's, let's
Speaker 1 00:40:25 Away from away from denim. See, when you say denim, I, I, I can't help but think of Denim and Leather by Saxon
Speaker 2 00:40:32 Deni Leather. That's a staple of the old playlist that one blind
Speaker 1 00:40:37 Is is but double albums Matthew.
Speaker 2 00:40:40 Yes.
Speaker 1 00:40:41 Double album. Double album
Speaker 2 00:40:42 Albums. Not anthologies, just double albums. Double
Speaker 1 00:40:45 Albums and usually live albums. But we don't have to go down the rabbit hole of live albums, which are double albums cuz we'll then get into a playlist of Strangers in the Night. <laugh>
Speaker 2 00:40:57 Yes.
Speaker 1 00:40:58 Live and Dangerous.
Speaker 2 00:41:00 Yeah. Double Double Albums course. Probably the, one of the most famous I would say is Physical Grati by Led Zeppelin. Yeah. I mean, largely kind of a, a double album by mistake because they had lots of stuff left over from Led Zep four and Houses of Holy. Um, but there's been a few, there's been a few over the years. Yeah. Yeah. Um, and, uh, and we're dying A dying Art now that you can cram what for since the invention of or, or the inception of, um, CDs. You can cram a lot of songs onto basically one disc, but yeah. Double albums, gate fold sleeves. Yes,
Speaker 1 00:41:35 Absolutely.
Speaker 2 00:41:36 Pink Floyd fantastic. Because it, there was the gate fold
Speaker 1 00:41:40 Live after dance.
Speaker 2 00:41:40 That was the thing, wasn't it live after the West? Yeah. Double Live album. Yeah, exactly. But it was that you opened it, I was like, huh, you're entering into this other world Topographic Oceans or Long Beach Arena or wherever it was, you would end up fantastic double albums. Yes. Bring back the double album, this pry
Speaker 1 00:42:03 And the final one from me, Matthew. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> Yes. Was songs that started with the word don't.
Speaker 2 00:42:12 Yes. There's law, isn't there?
Speaker 1 00:42:14 Yeah. Some banging Rock tunes you had Don't Stop Believing, which I think at some point was the most streamed rock song on social media. Yep. You, you've got, oh my goodness. Don't Stop Me Now by Queen. Don't Talk to Strangers by Dio. Don't shoot sh Shotgun by the Laps. Don't Break My Heart Again. By DC and the snakes Don't believe a word then Lizzie. So yeah. You wanna score
Speaker 2 00:42:45 A We're throwing, don't you forget about me from one of the greatest films ever. The Breakfast Club. Yes. Um, but yeah. Amazing. Amazing. So that was letter D I think we covered most things. Of course. We'll probably miss things out, but if you think we have missed anything out, let us know. Facebook or Twitter or Instagram or writes a letter or since a telegram or anything really. Um, next time it'd be e <laugh>. Yeah. Good Old Eagles <laugh>. Um, yes. E next time.
Speaker 1 00:43:25 So Matt, we, I'm gonna jingle for this one yet. We're, we're slacking, but this part of the show we're gonna cover off Unsung Hero <laugh> doesn't really work now. Good. I know. So the unsung hero I have for this episode is a record producer who is 80 years old. So this, see if you can guess who this guy is. The, this guy has produced Little Feet Montrose.
Speaker 2 00:43:55 Mm-hmm. <affirmative>
Speaker 1 00:43:57 The Dubby Brothers.
Speaker 2 00:44:00 Okay.
Speaker 1 00:44:00 And Van Hillen.
Speaker 2 00:44:02 Ah, <laugh>. I've got, I think you, I think you, you got me with there with, uh, van Ho the great Ted Templeman.
Speaker 1 00:44:10 That's Indeedy who it is. Ted Templeman 80 years of age. Uh, Ted was born in Santa Cruz, California, started off his career in producing an a and r. Um, he famously pursued Mu Austin at Warner Brothers records to get Van Hillen their first record deal. And Ted produced all of the Van Hillen material right from their debut all the way through to 1984. Um, he famously is the guy on the talkback during the song Unchained when he goes, come on Dave, gimme a break. And then Dave does one break coming up. Um, so that's Ted on the Talkback. Um, but Van Hillen, he produced, um, ed and Smile, um, for David Lee Roth once, uh, David left Van Hillen, but he also produced Montrose Debbie album, which is an absolute classic we've talked about. Um, that is one of the greatest debut albums. He also worked with, um, the Dubby Brothers. One of my personal favorite albums is a Captain and Me, which has got, you know, classics like Long Train Running China Grove. Um, uh, so I just wanted to call out, uh, Ted is probably one of the unsung heroes we've talked about producers in the, in the past. Martin Birch, Matt, you know, mut Langa. Yeah. Um, so just a shout out to Ted Templeman and gives us an opportunity to fill the playlist with lots of Van Healing Montrose Little Feet and the Dubby Brothers. There you go. Ted Templeman.
Speaker 2 00:45:50 Yeah. Fantastic. 80 years old. God bless him. Yeah, yeah. As you say, uh, one of those many producers that you know on the back of albums, um, and as you say, made an appearance on, uh, Unchained. Yep. And that classic kind of adlibbed bit, I guess it was Good Choice. Bri Choice. Miguel, good choice. So Boys and Girls, that brings us to Hey you Lola, as always. Sounding good. What you got for us bride, Bri.
Speaker 1 00:46:24 So the album, I'm gonna go a little bit progressive rock on this. Um, how do you follow up a career defining album in 1983? That was the question that had to be answered by the band. Yes. So yes. Produced the Behemoth album. That was 9 0 1 25 in 1983 with Trevor Rabin and the Band. And they stirred that for ages. They even brought out a live album. So they actually brought out an album with just the solos from all the band. That's how well they were, they were, uh, reigning the, the cash out of that cash cow. So, um, 19 84, 85, the Hidden gem that I'm gonna put forward is the album Big Generator. So Big Generator by Yes. Um, this couple of great, great tracks from that Trevor Reen era of Yes. Um, rhythm of Love, big generated the title track and an album, an album track. It did actually release us a single call. Love Will Find a Way, and if you want to hear that Orchestra Strings, lovely intermingling with rock music, which was hit or miss on the deaf lepper track, listen to Love Will Find Your Way because that's where Trevor Reen is able to just mesh the orchestra and the guitars together. So my album for Hidden Gem Time is Big Generator by Yes.
Speaker 2 00:48:04 Very good. Yeah, I remember it. It's a good songs actually, as you've said. Um,
Speaker 1 00:48:08 Yeah,
Speaker 2 00:48:09 Maybe not the most lauded period of, of of Yes' career, but certainly as you say, memorable. Yeah. Put some songs on the old day.
Speaker 1 00:48:17 Oh, I will do on, I'll play.
Speaker 2 00:48:19 I
Speaker 1 00:48:19 Do. And what about you? Um,
Speaker 2 00:48:21 Well, I've got a documentary actually and, uh, you and I both like a documentary. Um, it's what I came across quite recently. It's the, it's a BBC documentary, so hopefully our listen from around the world can, uh, access it. It's, um, it's The Stones and Brian Jones. Oh. So it charts the, uh, it's really interesting, um, if you think about The Stones as being, you know, obviously the last sort of 40, 50 years with, um, you know, Ronnie Word or m Mc Taylor or who it might be. But, um, Brian Jones, uh, essentially was the founder and and leader of the Stones in the, in the early sixties. And, um, man on timely death in, in, uh, 1969. Um, and by that time had had been fired from the Stones. Um, but really, really interesting kind of behind the scenes, uh, documentary, um, highlighting his, specifically his life and obviously how he intertwined with the Stones, um, his influence on them.
Speaker 2 00:49:20 He was trying to take them more in a kind of blues r and b direction, whereas, uh, Keith Richards and, um, ick Jagger were taking them in a more pop direction. So it was obviously falling out le loose led to him leaving the Stones, but fascinating, fascinating. A very, very interesting guy. Um, and as I say, you know, sad early demise, um, obviously was, you know, very much influenced by, by, uh, drugs and, um, and that led to his erratic behavior, which ultimately led to his leaving the Stones. But a, it's a fascinating documentary. If you get the opportunity to watch it, it's on the BCI player. Shouldn't be available around the world, one would think, but, um, yeah, check it out. The Stones and Brian Jones,
Speaker 1 00:50:03 I do like the way in which they, they do reference Brian as, you know, a key founding member and leader for The Stones, and he's not forgotten about similarly, the way in which they talk about Sud Barrett. Uh, yeah. And, and Pink Floyd, we, it's not all about Dave Gilmore and, and Roger Waters. They, they do go back and say at a point in time Sid ran the show as, as Brian did with The Stones. So yeah, I'm sure that's kind of fascinating documentary.
Speaker 2 00:50:30 Yeah, absolutely. That's it. That's
Speaker 1 00:50:34 It. Episode 47, boom.
Speaker 2 00:50:36 Yeah. What'd you, what'd you think of that? Enjoy that
Speaker 1 00:50:38 I did indeed.
Speaker 2 00:50:40 Good, good, good. Well we got episode 48 next we have, well we look at the letter E. Um, by that time I'll, I will have been to see, um, variety of bands, FM Dare and Tato, which I'm looking forward to. Oh, she'll have a report of that. And the Call of the Wild Festival. My wife and I are going into that, uh, headlined by television and those damn crows. So, uh, a gig review coming soon.
Speaker 1 00:51:07 Excellent. Well thank you, um, for everybody who's listening on the show, you can catch us on, we're on Twitter, we're on Facebook, um, our Twitter yes. Account is at ft a t Pods, so you'll get us there. Um,
Speaker 2 00:51:27 Email address,
Speaker 0 00:51:29 <laugh>,
Speaker 2 00:51:31 Um, HQ address, Brian May, Edinburgh. That should get from
Speaker 1 00:51:36 Exact thank you. Thank you. So yeah, thanks everybody for, for listening to this episode and we'll catch you all next time. Rock on. See you later.
Speaker 2 00:51:45 Hi everyone. Bye.
