Never Forget - 9/11/01

Don't forget all those that died on that day, and all those taken from us in this crazy war. I wish my kids could have known this skyline, and the world before. At least we knew who our real enemies were........

Certain songs took on a whole new meaning for me after that day. I can now never hear Don Henley's "New York Minute" without thinking about Sept 11th, and all the people that lost loved ones that Tuesday morning and how at any second, I could lose the people closest to me.

Cherish every second.

98.6 WBOG - The Bog

When I was much younger (I'm talking 10 or 11 years old), I remember having my childhood friend Geoff sleep over pretty frequently. We decided one night to make our own radio show. We set up my old Panasonic boombox that had built in microphones and proceeded to record ourselves talking about anything and everything onto cassette tape. I can remember each of us flipping thru the JC Penny catalog looking for what we wanted to get for Christmas. There was even a whole part of the "show" where we did nothing but quote Cannonball Run. Even then I was obsessed with that movie. We'd also flip between us talking and the radio to see if there was a song on that we wanted to record. It was funny hearing us since our voices hadn't changed yet so we sounded so young.

As I got older and was almost old enough to drive, I made my own mix tapes so I'd have cool music to listen to once I got my licence. I mentioned my old "radio broadcast" to my friend Erik and we decided to make our own show. We got real hi-tech. We went to Radio Shack and bought a microphone and plugged it into my stereo shelf system. (You know the ones that looked like individual components, but were actually a record player, radio and dual cassete deck all in one.) We set up a playlist and recorded a real radio show. One of us would set up the music while the other introduced the songs. We called the station "98.6 FM WBOG", and our tag line was "Coming to you straight from the bog". (We picked an even numbered station because they don't really exist in the US.) We played mostly 80's rock like Whitesnake, Skid Row, Cinderella, Ratt, Scorpions, Ozzy and Metallica. At the end of each 45 minute side, we'd do our own paridy of whatever commercial was playing a lot on the radio at that time. We did one for Pizza Hut & US Army. I remember we got a little punchy on a some of them, to the point that we'd be craking up mid-recording.

I wish I could find a copy of that tape and transfer it to CD, MP3 file or something to preserve it. As I await the birth of my second child, I guess I can't help but look back on the memories of my life prior to marriage, kids, mortgage, and being an all around adult.

Van Halen Reunion

After watching the Van Halen "reunion" press conference, my wife and I got into a discussion about VH. She was never a real fan of them, especially Roth (she can't stand his screaming). Anyway, she said "Well, you were always more into the hair bands than I was." Umm............Hair band? I don't think VH is a hair band. There is no way I could put them into a category with Winger, Poison, Warrant, Ratt or Whitesnake.

Philip Francis Rizzuto: 1917-2007 (#10)

Phil (nicknamed Scooter) was one of the great Yankee shortstop's from 1941 to 1956, and won 8 world series titles with them. He was a broadcaster for 40 years and "Holy Cow!" was he a great color man. If you never saw or heard him speak, you have to watch his Hall of Fame induction speech to get a true feeling for his personality and what a great guy he was. Click here to read the story, watch his speech and see plenty of clips of Phil doing what he loved.................talking baseball. I grew up watching Phil and Bill White calling the games on WPIX in NY. I met him when I was a kid and worked baseball card shows. His signature is among the collection of signed baseballs I have. He was very friendly and always smiling.

For those of you that don't follow baseball, Phil Rizzuto is the play-by-play announcer in the MeatLoaf song, "Paridise by the Dashboard Light".

The Police: Giants Stadium 8/5/07

Almost a year to the day since I posted this, I finally got my wish to see The Police in concert last night at Giants Stadium. I have to say that I was very impressed with how the sounded. Sting's voice was right on, Andy Summers guitar sounded great, and Stewart Copeland never missed a beat. I was happy to see that it was just the three of them on stage and not a bunch of back up singers and instruments. This really impressed me since they sounded very full on every song.

I tailgated in the parking lot with a bunch of family & friends (Jenn unfortunately did not go. She's been having a difficult time walking in her last tri-mester of pregnancy). They opened the show with Message in a Bottle, followed by Synchronicity II (which is one of my favorites) and Walking on the Moon. There was very little talking going on between songs which I was happy about.

They also played (in no particular order):
So Lonely
Roxanne
Don't Stand So Close to Me
Voices Inside My Head
When the World is Running Down, You Make the Best of What's Still Around
De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da
Every Little Thing She Does is Magic
Invisible Sun
Walking in your Footsteps
Wrapped Around Your Finger
King of Pain
Can't Stand Losing You
Every Breath You Take
(I know I've missed two or three here)

The only song I wish they did was Murder By Numbers. It was surprising to look around and see how many people didn't know some of the songs though (Voices Inside My Head, When the World is Running Down & So Lonely for example). I guess they just went to hear King of Pain and Every Breath you Take.

My friend Matt drank so much that he actually missed half the show because he passed out. I have a picture of him sleeping in his seat, but I'll spare him and not post it. I took more with my camera phone, but they came out crappy, so I'll spare you the blurry light streaks I got.

If they come to a town near you, do what you can to see them. It was definately worth the $100, except for Matt, but that's a whole other story....

Double whammy!

Today is my one year blog-iversary and also happens to be my 100th post. I decided to make a list of ten groups with ten items in each (obviously totaling 100). All except for the last group are in rank order. It was difficult to come up with many of these, but I think I finally got it right. So without further a-do.................here's my "Top Ten-Top Ten":

Bands:
1. Led Zeppelin
2. Pink Floyd
3. Queensryche
4. Alice in Chains
5. Ozzy Osbourne
6. The Beatles
7. Guns n’ Roses
8. Metallica
9. Van Halen
10. U2

Albums (Greatest Hits don’t count):
1. Led Zeppelin – Led Zeppelin (I)
2. The Beatles – Abbey Road
3. Pink Floyd – The Dark Side of the Moon
4. Metallica – Master of Puppets
5. Queensryche – Operation: Mindcrime
6. The Cars – The Cars
7. Guns n’ Roses – Appetite for Destruction
8. Steely Dan – Aja
9. Alice in Chains – Dirt
10. Van Halen – Van Halen (I)

Songs:
1. Led Zeppelin – Kashmir
2. The Who – The Real Me
3. Metallica – Master of Puppets
4. Black Sabbath – War Pigs
5. Queensryche – Eyes of a Stranger
6. Alice in Chains – Would?
7. Ozzy Osbourne – No More Tears
8. Whitesnake – Still of the Night
9. Yes – Roundabout
10. Soundgarden – Outshined

Movies:
1. The Cannonball Run (DUH!)
2. Star Wars Saga (“Empire Strikes Back” being the best)
3. The Lord of the Rings Saga (I’m sorry, but I can’t separate these)
4. Smokey and the Bandit
5. Goodfellas
6. Pulp Fiction
7. The Godfather Trilogy (Godfather II being the favorite)
8. Ghostbusters
9. National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation
10. Grease

Movie Quotes (How can I pick just 10!!):
1. “I don't care what you smell!” – Han Solo (Star Wars)
2. “Ssssh. Listen. Do you smell something?” – Dr. Ray Spangler (Ghostbusters)
3. “You get nothing! You lose! Good day sir!” – Willy Wonka (Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory)
4. “You’ve committed one of the classic blunders……never go up against a Sicilian, when DEATH is on the line!!” – Vizzini (The Princess Bride)
5. “Why’d he call me shorty? ‘Cause you’re small, small, S. M. All.” – Fenderbaum & Jamie Blake (The Cannonball Run)
6. “Funny how? Like I’m a clown? I amuse you? I make you laugh?” – Tommy DeVito (Goodfellas)
7. “I gotta stab her three times? NO! You don’t gotta stab her three times, you gotta stab her once!!” – Vincent Vega & Maynard (Pulp Fiction)
8. “There were horses, and man on fire, and I killed a guy with a trident.” – Brick Tamland (Anchorman)
9. “What? Over? Did you say over? Nothing is over until we decide it is!! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?............” – John Blutarski (Animal House)
10. “He’ll keep callin’ me……..he’ll keep callin’ me until I come over. Thi…….this is ridiculous. I’ll go, I’ll go, I’ll go, I’ll go, I'll go…………..SHIT!” – Cameron (Ferris Bueller’s Day Off)

Women (My wife is not included in this list. That wouldn’t be fair to the other women):
1. Alyssa Milano
2. Elisabeth Shue
3. Diane Lane
4. Jennifer Aniston
5. Charlize Theron
6. Christina Applegate
7. Christine Taylor
8. Marissa Tomei
9. Alicia Silverstone
10. Mena Suvari

Cars (Manual Transmissions whenever possible please!):
1. ANY original Shelby Cobra
2. 1967 Chevy Camaro RS/SS
3. 1996 Porsche 911 Turbo
4. 1977 Pontiac Firebird Trans-Am
5. 1994 Ferrari 512tr (Testarrosa)
6. 1996 Nissan 300ZX Twin Turbo
7. 1969 Dodge Charger R/T
8. 1966 Pontica GTO
9. 1968 Chevy Chevelle
10. 1955 Chevy BelAir

All Time Favorite TV Shows:
1. Seinfeld
2. Night Court
3. Friends
4. Happy Days
5. The Sopranos
6. The Dukes of Hazzard
7. Gilligan’s Island
8. Knight Rider
9. Batman
10. Brady Bunch

Places I Want to visit:
1. Australia
2. Italy
3. Ireland
4. England
5. Hawaii
6. Alaska
7. Greece
8. Germany
9. Egypt
10. France

Things about me:
1. I’m legally blind in my right eye. (Born that way)
2. Was at Yankee Stadium for Game 4 of 2001 World Series (NY vs. Ariz.)
3. My mother and I have the same birthday.
4. Been married three times (I’m very happy now, but learn from my mistakes. If you have any doubts, there’s probably a reason!)
5. Drove from NJ to California in 3 days 5 hours.
6. Got my first speeding ticket on my 17th birthday. (69 in a 45mph zone)
7. Had my first accident the day after my 17th birthday. (totalled the car 15 hours after the ticket)
8. Drove from Dallas, Texas to Northern NJ in 25 straight hours in a minivan with 5 other people.
9. Sang lead on five songs with a full band on stage at a club in Northern NJ.
10. Drove a stock car 165 mph on the Pocono Raceway for eight laps.

Would you expect these?

After reading this post by David Amulet, it got me thinking about my record collection. I have some albums that that you may be surprised about, and some I’m afraid to admit. Here’s a few of them:

Men without Hats – Rhythm of Youth
Jerry Reed – The Essential Jerry Reed (Yes, Snowman from "Smokey & the Bandit")
Prince & the Revolution – Around the World in a Day
Duran Duran – Seven & the Ragged Tiger
Alvin & the Chipmunks – Christmas with the Chipmunks Vol. 1
Olivia Newton John – Totally Hot
Chuck Mangione – Feels So Good
Hall & Oates – Big Bang Boom
Rick Springfield – Working Class Dog
Little River Band – Greatest Hits

Do you have albums in your collection that you’re semi-ashamed to admit, but won't get rid of?

Also, Thursday is my one year blog-iversary (or whatever it’s called), and will also be my 100th post. Hopefully I'll have my post ready for that day!

Unexpected Cover Tunes

A couple of weeks ago, I posted about cover songs and which version you all felt was better. I now have a slight twist on that topic. I have come across some songs that were covered by rock bands that you would not expect. Here's a few:

1. Van Halen covering Linda Ronstadt's "You're No Good" (with slightly modified lyrics)
2. Faith No More covering Lionel Richie's "Easy"
3. Type O Negative covering Seals & Croft's "Summer Breeze" (this one really threw me when I first heard it)

Can you think of any other unexpected covers?

Just two things........

My wife and I have some news. Go check out our post at Dad Said, Mom Said.

Also, I got tickets to see The Police at Giants Stadium! I can't wait to see them.

Cover Tunes

I was just walking thru the warehouse where I work and the guys were listening to the local rock station and Manfred Mann’s “Blinded by the Light” was on. As I walked back to my desk (which is no longer in the corner BTW), I started to thinking about cover tunes. I think this is one of the only songs that I like the cover version better than the original by Bruce Springsteen. How do the versions of these songs compare to you?

Come Together – The Beatles vs. Aerosmith
You Really Got Me – The Kinks vs. Van Halen
Turn the Page – Bob Seger vs. Metallica
War Pigs – Black Sabbath vs. Faith No More
Land of Confusion – Genesis vs. Disturbed
Live and Let Die – Wings vs. Guns n’ Roses
Helter Skelter – The Beatles vs. Motley Crue
Love Reign O’er Me – The Who vs. Pearl Jam

As a side note, I really don’t like when a band covers their own song, like Eric Clapton did with Layla, or The Police with Don’t Stand So Close to Me. In most cases the songs were great how they were…………leave them alone.

Songs in Commercials

Everyday I am reminded that I am getting older. Not OLD by any means, but older. A perfect example of this is the type of music that is used in commercials. Over the years, I am finding more and more that songs I grew up with and loved are becoming commercialized (no pun intended). Here are a few examples:

1. Van Halen: You Really Got Me – Back in 1996, when Nissan discontinued the 300ZX, they had made a tribute commercial to the famed “Z” car with Barbie, Ken and GI Joe. Barbie leaves Ken because GI Joe drives a “Z”.
2. The Cars: Just What I Needed – Circuit City has all but killed this song for me. It’s on The Cars debut album (which is their best in my opinion), but I now cringe when I see the commercial and hear the song.
3. Led Zeppelin: Rock & Roll – Cadillac used this song to promote its lineup of cars a couple of years ago. I guess they were trying to change their image. I remember Robert Plant saying that Caddy’s were the ultimate luxury car when he was younger and was honored that they wanted to use a Zep tune in their commercials.
4. The Who: Bargain – Nissan basically used this song to promote whatever deal they had going at the time.
5. AC/DC: Back in Black – When Motorola introduced the Razor phone, it featured this song in their commercial.
6. Black Sabbath: Iron Man – To give the impression of a tough, manly truck, Nissan got the rights to use Iron Man to push their Titan line-up. (Maybe we just need to have a little talk with Nissan).
7. Scorpions: Rock You Like a Hurricane – TGI Friday’s used this one to promote a line up of sizzling steaks they had launched.
8. Van Halen: Hot For Teacher – This one may not be as obvious, but when Dodge got back into NASCAR as few years back, the end of their commercials had a drum beat that was supposed to sound like the rumble of a big block V-8. It actually sounded more like the intro to this VH tune. I think Eddie probably realized it and made them stop because the commercials didn’t run with that ending very long.
9. Bob Seger: Like a Rock – I know everyone remembers this one. Chevrolet used this for a long time to promote their truck lineup.
   

Here’s a link to some others. Can you remember any?

(BTW - The "Z" commercial was one of my favorites)

Cornell Going Solo

Well, after all of the talk about Rage Against the Machine reuniting for a few shows, it seems to be official that Audioslave is no more. Chris Cornell announced that he will no longer be fronting Audioslave. It appears he will be releasing a solo album in the Spring of this year, and pushes off rumors of a Soundgarden reunion.

I was always enjoyed Chris' voice and feel that he is one of the most talented and unique rock singers in the last 25 years. (Ironically enough, as I write this post, Temple of the Dog's "Times of Trouble" just randomly played on my media player). It doesn't matter who is backing him, he sounds awesome and I will continue to be a fan.

I should have bet on this happening!

I guess Sting read my post a few months back and decided to get the Police back together. Last night I watched part of the Grammy’s and I saw them open the show. I have to say that I am happy they’re back together an am looking forward to seeing them tour this year. They sounded very good, but I was a little disappointed in their version of Roxanne. Did anyone else feel this way?

Either way, it should be a great year for rock fans with Van Halen also touring (minus Michael Anthony on bass) with David Lee Roth.

What a joke!

So I just read that Axl and his buddies over at "Guns 'n Roses" cancelled a concert up in Maine. It wasn't cancelled because of his usual voice problems or anything. They backed out because they were not allowed to drink on stage! Come on guys! Suck it up! You can't go two fucking hours without a drink? What an ass! Am I alone on this?

Why couldn't they just get along?

In the late 70's The Police showed up on the music scene with Roxanne. Everytime I hear this song, it reminds me of 48 Hours with Eddie Murphy. He sits in a jail cell with headphones on screaming this song at the top of his lungs. Anyway, they had a few hits including "Message in a Bottle", "Don't Stand So Close to Me" & "Every Little Thing She Does is Magic". Then in 1983, Synchronicity was released and I was locked in as a fan of the Police at a tender young age of 11. I saw the videos for "Every Breath You Take", "King of Pain", and "Wrapped Around your Finger" often on MTV. The song that really sucked me in was "Synchronicity II". It was much heavier and raw than the other songs on the album. The video opened with Sting hanging from a pipe screaming with a background that could have been in Mad Max. It was a dark and erie song. I bought the album and listened to it from beginning to end over and over again. Each song I listened to was so different from the previous track withs songs like "O My God" followed by "Mother" (which I wish I could find as a ring tone for when my mom calls. I'm cheesy like that).

On side two (when there was a side two), were the three hits of "Every Breath", "King of Pain" and "Wrapped". The song that I always loved was the last one on the album, "Murder By Numbers". The music was so simple with just a drum beat and symbols opening the song with the base and guitar joining in half way thru the first verse. It was a mysterious song about how a murderer might think and how a president is also a murderer, but never gets his hands dirty or gets convicted and put in jail for the crime. It ends with Sting playing random base guitar notes..............then all three guys quietly give a sarcastic clap, as if to say, "It's over guys., We're done here. It's been hell working with you". This album is one of the main reasons why I got into rock music and I wish they didn't stop making music.

Scaramouch?

I remember when I was about 4 years old, my uncle bought me Queen - A Night at the Opera. As a kid, I thought that when they said, "Scaramouch, Scaramouch" in Bohemian Rhapsody it was the funniest thing.

One day when I was in pre-school, the teacher told us all to bring in our favorite song. Most kids walk in with "C is for Cookie" and Alvin and the Chipmunks which everyone was singing along with..............and then it was my turn. I was so excited to play it. My Mom even wrote, "Scaramouch" next to the song on the album cover so I knew which one to play. All I know is that was the first uncomfortable situation that I can remember in my life. It was six minutes of total silence. I remember bopping up and down to the music and looking around the room at all the kids blank stares. I'm surprised I didn't get sent home with a note to my parents.

Then in 1992 when Wayne's World came out, Bohemian Rhapsody was featured in the movie. I thought it was so funny that they were banging their heads to the real heavy part at the end since my friends and I used to do that too. Suddenly, everyone was doing it. The song was so different for the mid-70's and now it was part of this pop-culture phenomenon of the early 90's. I hated that.

It's heavy man

So the past few nights between the Yankee games, American Idol (yes............my wife and I watched it) and taking care of the baby, I've been trying to watch "Heavy: The Story of Metal" on VH1. It's actually been very interesting to see how it evolved from Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath and how bands like Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer and Anthrax hated the hair bands of the 80's. If you are interesed in this kind of stuff, you should try to watch it. Click Here for the TV schedule.

Gotta love Keith!

This is hysterical! Watch Keith Richards as the fan comes at him on stage!



............and Jagger just keeps singing!! LOL................I love it!

Hey did anyone hear that Keith Richards fell out of a tree yesterday? THAT is almost as funny as the video. I mean, what the hell is he doing in a tree?!?

New CD's

So the US mail just keeps bringing me more and more gifts. Last week I received my Queensryche and Dave Matthews tickets, then last night I got home and my new Godsmack and Staind CD were waiting for me.

As I listen more, I'll give more details on them. Until then, I'll read the "Poky Little Puppy" to my six month old which also came with my shipment from Amazon.

Welcome Back O & A!!

So it finally happened................David Lee Roth was fired from CBS Radio after taking over for Howard Stern back in January. Opie and Anthony, have returned to terrestrial radio in his place after being fired from 102.7 WNEW four years ago for having a contest that dared people to have sex in public places. More points were given for the higher risk areas and one couple was arrested for having sex in St. Patrick's Cathedral in NYC and almost immediately, O & A were off the air. They went to XM satellite radio a year and a half ago and will now broadcast from 6am to 9am on 92.3 FreeFM (formerly K-Rock) in Manhattan and the move the show to XM. People may remember them also for their "WOW" or Whip 'em Out Wednesday gimmick where anyone that had either a "WOW" bumpersticker or "WOW" on their vehicle somehow would have the potential to have women flash them as they drove by. Some old co-workers mounted a "WOW" sign on the back of my car one day without me knowing it and every women that pulled up next to me had a smile on their face as they looked over..............I guess waiting for me to gesture for them to flash me. I just thought I was having a good day and if I knew that sign was there, I would have!

I was never a big Stern fan so I definitely wasn't upset to see him go, but I knew that DLR would not be a good radio host because he tried to be to political..........and unlike Ted Nugent who is very outspoken with his views, Roth had no idea how to entertain people and still get his point across.

Opie and Anthony entertained me for years on my 45 minute drive home from work, and now they will be doing it again in the morning. All I can say is......WELCOME BACK!!!!