Blog
Your blog category
-
Between A Heart And A Rock Place: A Memoir by Pat Benatar with Patsi Bale Cox Book Review
This is an awesome book about the story of singer Pat Benatar.
Pat, along with co-writer Patsi Bale Cox, tell Pat’s story in great detail.
Lots of stories about her growing up, eventually becoming a rock singer, meeting her husband Neil Giraldo, who is also her guitarist and songwriting/producing partner, the early days of MTV and making music videos, the struggles they faced with their label bosses, and so much more.
I cannot recommend this book enough.
Pat is an amazing talent and has great stories to tell.
Check out this book.
-
I Once Was A Singer
As I type this in February of 2024, it has been almost 25 years since I graduated high school.
Lately, I have seen my classmates from back then post pictures from those times and even though I do not long for those days again, it has been nice to see them.
And by seeing these, I have been reminded of when I sang in the junior and senior year talent shows.
I had sang in my church choir as a kid and sang in choir in my freshman and sophomore years of high school, but I never sang solo before, outside of my bedroom or house.
Well that changed in my junior year.
My friends Jason Smith (lead guitarist) and Ryan Yoakem (drummer) one day asked me if I wanted to audition for their band, which would also include bassist extraordinaire Chris Justice and rhythm guitarist Adam Crance, and sing for the talent show that year.
I had never done this but I said sure.
Jason picked me up on a Saturday in early March of 2000 (I remember I bought AC/DC’s newest album Stiff Upper Lip that morning) and we went to his house and we played the song we were potentially going to play at the talent show.
The song was Sweet Child O’ Mine by Guns N Roses.
I passed the audition and we went from there.
We ultimately played other songs and we eventually did a few gigs later that year, but the main goal was to do the talent show.
We had to do an audition for that, which we passed.
When the day came for the first performance (we played four or five times I believe), I kid you not when we were waiting side stage to go on, I could hear the crowd chanting “Luke, Luke, Luke, Luke, Luke!” over and over as if I was some superstar.
I was very nervous before going on, but once it was time, we went on and I and the band delivered the goods.
We rocked!!
And not to toot my own horn, but why we did not win that year I do not know. I’m not bothered by it, and I’m happy for who won (I’m sorry I don’t remember.) but just judging by the crowd reactions we got, we should have won.
But that’s OK.
Sorry guys I did not introduce you all individually on stage. I was young and stupid. Now I would do it.
So I will now say Thank you Jason, Ryan, Chris, and Adam for allowing me to sing with you guys.
It was a blast.
I don’t know about the rest of the guys, but I went from being considered this “quiet, shy kid” that most people did not know or care about to the most recognizable person on campus.
I remember going to geometry class and the whole class erupted with cheers.
I actually signed a few autographs.
Sooooo many people were blown away by the performances and wanted to know if we would do it again.
Well, we did do it again in 2001, for the senior talent show. That was fun too, but for me, my heart was not as into it because I had already technically graduated (I had all my class credits by December of 2000 so I did not take any classes in 2001, but I returned for the walk and a few other things.). But it was still fun and everybody kicked butt.
I love that we did it and I wish I could still sing like I did then.
Sadly, I do not sing much anymore.
I blew my voice out in 2016 or 17 and even though I can occasionally belt it out, I have to be careful because when I attempt to sing now, I feel my throat closing up on me and I feel as if I am getting a cold.
It sucks, but that’s the way it is.
But hey don’t cry over me.
It’s all good.
Even though I don’t sing much anymore, I go to many concerts to see my favorites sing and play their songs. I’ve even met some of them, so I can’t complain.
I’m glad that with those performances that we did that we were able to maybe bring some joy to the ones that saw us do it.
I know I had a blast doing it.
Again thank you guys for allowing me to sing with you.
Here are a few pictures I found, courtesy of my classmates, from back then.
One is from one of the performances in 2000, and the other is from a graduation class picture in 2001.
I used to have much longer hair then.
I tried to have my hair look like Bill Ward, the original drummer of Black Sabbath, when he had long hair.
Hey I tried.
-
John 5 Concert Review
- Date of Concert: February 10, 2024
- Location of Concert: The King of Clubs in Columbus, OH
- Openers: 8lb Pressure, Sticks N Stones
My girlfriend Mariah and I went to see one of our favorite guitarists, John 5 (real name John Lowry) in concert.
I had seen him play in Rob Zombie’s band 4 times (he left Zombie’s band to join Motley Crue) but I had yet to see him solo. And Mariah had not seen him yet and really wanted to. So we went.
Opening bands 8lb Pressure and Sticks N Stones were pretty good, but we were there to see John 5.
He can and does play every style of music imaginable.
His solo music is instrumental and wow it’s incredible.
Look him up. He has worked with everyone as a musician and songwriter (Rob Halford, David Lee Roth, Marilyn Manson, Rob Zombie, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Paul Stanley, Ace Frehley, Steve Perry, the list goes on).
The guy is a musical genius.
Go see him if you can and check out his music.
Photo Gallery (click on thumbnail to view larger image)
Video Gallery (click on thumbnail to play video)
-
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young: The Wild, Definitive Saga of Rock’s Greatest Supergroup by David Browne Book Review
I have been a fan of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (David Crosby, Stephen Stills, Graham Nash, and Neil Young) since I was a teenager in the late 90s.
I’m also a fan of Crosby, Stills, & Nash and all of these guys’ solo and other group (The Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, The Hollies, Crazy Horse, Crosby/Nash, The Stills/Young Band, CPR, to name a few) ventures.
I have been somewhat aware of their history through documentaries, books of their own for the ones who have written books (David Crosby, Graham Nash, and Neil Young), but I had not yet read a book about all of them together.
So on a whim, I bought this book when I was at a bookstore recently.
Again, I was somewhat aware of their history, both collectively and individually, so I knew this was going to be a wild ride.
And shew it was.
Judging by this book (which is quite detailed and actually David Crosby and Graham Nash were interviewed for it along with many people who know or have worked with them) and judging by everything I’ve ever heard, read, or saw, I am AMAZED that these guys collectively could make even one song, have a drink, breathe in the same room, or do ANYTHING together.
I love these guys, but they are the perfect example of a dysfunctional group of people who cannot agree on much of anything.
I knew they were dysfunctional, but my goodness they were dysfunctional.
When they were able, they made great music together and have made a lot of people happy with their music. Myself included.
But many times when they tried to make music together, they would start and then never finish. Or restart sometime later, sometimes years later, and not finish. Or they would start a concert tour, either as trio or quartet, and not finish it. Or it would not even get past the idea stage.
It is unbelievable to me the dysfunction that existed within this collective.
I can tell there was always respect, but the egos and/or substances, quite frankly, would almost always get in the way.
CSNY made three studio albums. I love all three, but there were many years in between them (1970 for Deja Vu, 1988 for American Dream, and 1999 for Looking Forward).
CSN made five studio albums (Crosby, Stills, & Nash in 1969, CSN in 1977, Daylight Again in 1982, Live It Up in 1990, and After The Storm in 1994). I love them too, but again, it is amazing they made even one.
I can definitely tell that CSN worked better than CSNY because they did more albums and a lot more concert tours, but CSNY always was bigger. So when the opportunities arose and when everyone agreed, they would do that.
But unlike The Rolling Stones, U2, Aerosmith, or any typical band who have been around many years, it was few and far between when it happened.
It was essentially four solo artists getting together to do a group tour.
And that gets to what I’m about to say. Again judging by this book, it seems to me these guys may have been better off just being solo artists or front their own individual groups and have them be the boss of each one.
As a fan, I’m glad they were able to make the music they made together because I think it is great stuff.
But I feel each person may have benefitted just being on their own period.
And each have made amazing albums on their own too and as other groups, so there is something to be said there.
For example, I think David’s (RIP in 2023) last five albums (Croz, Lighthouse, Sky Trails, Here If You Listen, and For Free) are five of my favorite albums of all time. And he made those in basically the last ten years of his life.
But I can really see after reading this book why they did not make as much music together.
And that is sad. So much potential, and at times amazing, but gosh how much time was wasted.
But saying that, I’m just glad it happened at all. And at the end of the day, I’m sure that each man was and is grateful for the music they did make together and the times, however dysfunctional, they did spend together.
Music is a funny thing. In the most darkest of times, it brings people together.
And it certainly did bring, at times, these four very talented people together. Not a lot of time, but when it happened, it was MAGICAL.
-
The Beekeeper Movie Review
I finally saw the movie The Beekeeper in theaters.
It is the latest Jason Statham movie.
I was late getting into his movies (The Expendables was the first that really got me hooked.), but once I did, I became an instant fan.
I own most of his movies and like them all. Some more than others, but that’s with anything.
I think The Beekeeper is one of his best.
It is a very satisfying action movie.
He plays a retired “beekeeper”, which is a very off the grid agent that keeps things balanced.
In the movie, he literally is a beekeeper working on this woman’s farm, when he later finds her dead of a suicide.
As it turns out, she was conned out of all her money by a computer call in company.
Statham spends the movie going after this company, companies like it, and the people involved the best way he knows how.
Again, a very satisfying action movie.
I really enjoyed it.
I grew up on movies like this so I always have time for a great action movie.
Way to go Statham!!
-
(Riley’s) L.A. Guns Renegades Album Review
Frist off, I LOVE this album.
Now, long story.
This album was released November 13 of 2020 as L.A. Guns, but since there was a lawsuit between Drummer Steve Riley (of this band) and other members Phil Lewis (vocals) and Tracii Guns (guitarist), Steve ended up changing the name of the band to Riley’s L.A. Guns (hence why I put Riley’s in parenthesis in the title of this review) so Phil and Tracii could be L.A. Guns.
Confusing I know.
Anyway, I did not give this album the time of day at first because even though I love everybody, especially Steve, I was all about Phil and Tracii having the name and they were putting out phenomenal L.A. Guns albums (and still are) without Steve.
And in the last several years, it has unfortunately become a thing of bands splitting but members using the same name for their version of the band.
It’s happened with L.A. Guns, Queensryche, RATT, just to name a few.
I wish everyone could just get along and/or use different names, but that’s not how life works.
Anyway, long story dragged on longer, it took me awhile to give this album a listen.
But once I did, I LOVED it.
Steve, along with classic L.A. Guns bassist and songwriter Kelly Nickels (writer of their biggest hit The Ballad of Jayne) got together with singer/guitarist Kurt Frohlich and guitarist Scott Griffin (who actually was L.A. Guns’ bassist for awhile when Phil and Steve were still in the band together while Tracii was out) and made this AWESOME rock album called Renegades.
I cannot say enough about this album.
Since buying it on CD, I have played it SEVERAL times.
I love it every time.
Great songs.
I am sooooooooooo glad I gave this album a chance.
I’m sorry the lawsuit happened and the band name got split into two bands, but I support both and love both.
So regardless of the band name, I see it as two great bands and I am allowed to love both.
And I do.
Thank you guys for making this AMAZING album.
When I saw them live in 2023 (review here) and was lucky enough to meet them (sadly Kelly was not there), I told them how much I loved this album and they greatly appreciated it and signed it for me.
Thank you so much!!!!
Sadly, a few months after I saw the band, Steve passed away.
They made another PHENOMENAL album before Steve passed called The Dark Horse (review here), and it was released January 22 of 2024 on Steve’s birthday.
Again, I’m sorry that all the bad things happened, most especially Steve passing away, but thank goodness we have the music.
And this music is great!!!
Give it a listen.
-
Riley’s L.A. Guns The Dark Horse Album Review
The second album by Riley’s L.A. Guns was released on Monday January 22 of 2024.
Drummer Steve Riley’s (RIP) birthday.
This album was recorded awhile ago while Steve was still with us.
Like their first album called Renegades as this lineup (Steve on drums, bassist Kelly Nickels, singer/guitarist Kurt Frohlich, and guitarist Scott Griffin), the band again made a very ROCKING album.
I preordered the CD but went ahead and bought it on ITunes so I could go ahead and start playing it.
I’m glad I did because I cannot stop listening to it.
All the songs are great.
It’s a perfect album.
Sadly, though, I’m guessing this is the last album as this band, since Steve is now gone, and I’m guessing they are not carrying on without him.
But I am glad they got to be together while they were and made two AMAZING albums and were a great live band too.
Check out this album and Renegades.
You won’t regret it.
Rest In Peace Steve!!!! I love you and thank you for the music and your kindness!!!!
-
Bob Dylan The Philosophy of Modern Song Book Review
Singer/Songwriter/Musician/Pulitzer Prize Winner Bob Dylan released his second book (his autobiography Chronicles Volume 1 was released October 3 of 2005) November 1 of 2022.
Unlike his autobiography, this book is Dylan’s interpretation/examination/opinions on a list of several songs from throughout history.
He gives his thoughts on songs by Marty Robbins, Johnny Cash, The Clash, Elvis Costello, Rosemary Clooney, Carl Perkins, Elvis Presley, and several others.
His descriptions of some of these songs are as detailed or more detailed than the actual songs themselves.
He really dove in on these songs.
Some of his thoughts are deep and heavy, but some of his thoughts are even funny.
It is a fascinating book, extremely well written by Dylan, and I recommend it.
-
Jack Russell/Tracii Guns Medusa Album Review
Here is my first album review for 2024.
Jack Russell (Lead Singer of Great White/Jack Russell’s Great White) and Tracii Guns (Guitarist of L.A. Guns) collaborated on an album called Medusa.
It was released on Friday, January 12 of 2024.
If you are a fan of both their work in their other bands, you will love this.
Jack’s great vocals and Tracii’s great playing, backed by very good musicians, make up a very rocking album.
This was released by Frontiers Records, who release a lot of albums, and often put musicians together that usually don’t or have ever worked together in a situation where they do work together.
Check out this album. Every song is very good and the album Rocks!!
-
I FINALLY Saw My First Celebrity Crush in Concert!! Madonna Concert Review
- Date of Concert: Monday, January 15, 2024
- Location of Concert: Little Caesars Arena, Detroit, Michigan
I have been a fan of Madonna since I was 7 years old, when I saw her in the movie Dick Tracy in the theater in 1990.
She was my first celebrity crush and I have never stopped being a fan.
I really like most of her albums and videos, (she still sings great) but I never saw her in concert.
Until now!!
I saw her in her hometown of Detroit.
She puts on quite a show, with tons of songs from throughout her career, lots of costume changes, dance routines with other dancers, and she had a lot to say.
She told stories about her parents. Her Dad was with her at the show and she said that he taught her hard work and said that “if you think I’m a warrior, you can thank my Dad”. And she said she hopes he is proud of her.
She talked about her Mom (she was pictured during part of the show) and how she’s with her all the time. She also said she is proud to be a Mom (two of her daughters were part of the show, one playing piano, the other doing a fashion show walk) and thanked all the hard working Moms out there.
She talked about how she persevered when she had nothing and ultimately made it because of hard work.
And she thanked all of the fans for sticking by her all of these years. I’m happy to be one of those supporters.
This tour literally is a celebration of her over 40 year career, spanning most of it in various songs, dance/show routines, videos, stage clothes, the works.
She has always been great, in my opinion. A couple of albums I don’t love, but I love most of them and even the ones I don’t love have good songs on them too.
As you’ll see by the pictures and videos I took below are not great because my seat was not the best. There was a piece of stage in the way of my view, but I still enjoyed the show and am very glad I FINALLY saw “The Queen of Pop”.
A DJ opened the show and Special Guest Bob The Drag Queen (a.k.a. Caldwell Tidicue) appeared several times throughout the show as well.
She puts everything she has into the show and in her career. Always has and always will.
I know she is considered controversial at times, but I’ve always been a fan. I know I keep saying that but I mean it.
I think her music is great. I’ve always thought she was and is beautiful. She’s made some good movies too like Dick Tracy, A League Of Their Own, Evita, just to name a few.
This was a big bucket list concert for me.
Thank you Madonna for everything.
You are loved by me and the world over.
Photo Gallery (click on thumbnail to view larger image)
Video Gallery (click on thumbnail to play video)
