SIX DEGREES OF KISS: BILL HALEY & HIS COMETS

Bryan Thouvenel I accept your challenge and will link Bill Haley & His Comets to KISS in six steps or less.

Bill Haley & His Comets (aka Bill Haley and the Comets) were true pioneers of rock and roll and one of the very first acts to expose the new Frankenstein genre of music to the masses by having four top ten hits between 1954 and 1956. How am I going to connect these very early rockers to KISS in six steps or less? Like this:

1. Bill Haley & His Comets had a top ten hit with "Shake Rattle and Roll" in 1954. The song was written by Jesse Stone and originally released by Kansas City bluesman Big Joe Turner.

2. A god awful version of "Shake Rattle and Roll" was used as the opening tune on the 1994 album Four Chords and Several Years Ago by Huey Lewis and the News.

3. The 1982 album Picture This by Huey Lewis and the News included a top ten hit single called "Do You Believe In Love?" It was the band's first hit, reaching number seven on the Billboard Hot 100.

4. "Do You Believe In Love?" was actually written by some guy named Robert John "Mutt" Lange and originally released as "We Both Believe In Love" by his band Supercharge on an album called Body Rhythm in 1979. Great album cover, guys.

5. Among other things Mutt Lange co-wrote the mercilessly corny title track to Michael Bolton's 2002 album Only a Woman Like You.

6. In the seventies Michael Bolton (then known as Michael Bolotin) was in the band Blackjack with future KISS guitarist Bruce Kulick and also of course Michael Bolton co-wrote KISS' 1989 top ten hit ballad "Forever" with Paul Stanley. 

And there you have it.

Queen + Adam Lambert LIVE IN TORONTO!

Recently I read a blurb on Facebook that said "I may be old but I got to see all of the coolest bands". I laughed and it got me to thinking about all of the great shows I have seen over the years. I am seriously considering getting that quote on a T shirt.
 
I clearly remember back in my early twenties (around 1992 or so) looking back at my own personal concert list and feeling a little sad because there were 3 shows that I would probably never get to experience. Kiss with the original lineup, Van Halen with David Lee Roth and of course Queen as we had just lost Mr. Freddie Mercury.
 
As the years went by the Kiss reunion actually happened, Diamond Dave eventually graced the stage with Van Halen. Getting to cross these shows off my "bucket list" was incredible but without Freddie, I was unfortunately accepting the fact that I would never see Queen.
 
Freddie Mercury is absolutely irreplaceable. Nobody had a voice like his, nobody commanded a stage like him and in all honesty, nobody ever will.
 
Queen's music lives on and Brian May is born to play guitar so when Queen teamed up with Bad Company's Paul Rogers my eyebrows raised. I briefly became excited that just maybe I would get to see Queen live in concert.
 
Paul Rogers is an exceptional vocalist. Love hearing him belt out the Bad Company catalogue but when I heard him covering the cherished Queen tunes, it sounded to me like Bad Company doing Queen. As much as I wanted to love it, it just didn't sound right to me.
 
Fast forward to American Idol 2009. I will unashamedly admit to watching my fair share of these silly music contest shows (idol, the Voice, etc) as I would rather listen to some music in the background rather than "Bachelorette's" and "Kardashians" fighting on tv.
 
Anyways, watching Adam Lambert pull off Bohemian Rhapsody one night, I told my wife that Brian May should immediately sign him up. Lambert's vocal range was incredible, he sounded enough like Freddie to make it work yet he could make it his own. He had a stage charisma that nobody could deny and let's be honest, from a marketing standpoint he certainly could bring along a slew of young fans that could be introduced to the classic Queen catalogue.
 
When they recently announced a North American Tour for the summer of 2014, I have to admit I got a wee bit excited. It would never quite be Queen without Freddie but I felt if anyone could capture the spirit, Adam Lambert might just be the guy.
 
I pulled out the worn tattered bucket list, smiling as I remembered the amazing Kiss reunion shows and Diamond David Lee Roth reclaiming his rightful place in front of Van Halen. I hesitated to officially cross Queen off the list. What if I was all wrong about Lambert? I decided to wait until after the show to place the checkmark beside Queen.
 

Electricity was in the air as 22000 plus awaited the curtain to fall. Twin video screens flanked the stage emblazoned with QUEEN with Adam Lambert. I scanned the crowd of all ages wondering how many of them had been introduced to Queen via the American Idol. I also wondered how the seasoned Queen faithful would accept Freddie's "pop reality TV music contest winner" replacement this evening.
 
At exactly 8:20pm the house lights went out and the crowd went crazy as Queen launched into "Now I'm Here". The curtain still hiding the stage as the video screens teased us with silhouettes. When the song really kicked in the curtain was actually sucked up into the lights and simply disappeared, it was a cool effect. The focus point of the stage was a huge circular video screen that was put to great use throughout the show.
 
A couple of years ago I penned an article entitled "3 Guitarists You Should See Before You Die". It appears I need to go back and rewrite this to reflect 4! Brian May plays with such precision, feel and groove it is absolutely hypnotizing watching him maneuver the fretboard. I was in hard rock heaven.
 
It took all of about 45 seconds to realize that Adam Lambert was born for this gig. Decked out in a studded black leather suit and aviator shades, he embodied the look of a rock star but his vocals were truly jaw dropping. Say what you will about American Idol but this guy can deliver the goods. Totally capturing the sound of classic Queen and at the same time maintains his own style. I smiled and crossed Queen off my bucket list before the second song even started.
 
For the next two hours or so, it was a roller coaster ride of Queen hit after hit. Ripping into Stone Cold Crazy, Brian May and Roger Taylor played with the intensity of men half their age. Another One Bites The Dust followed by Fat Bottomed Girls and the place was rockin! Best of all the guys looked like they were having an absolute blast on stage.
 
Slowing things down for a moment with "In the Lap Of The Gods"  they came right back swinging with "The Seven Seas of Rye".
 
"Killer Queen", which had Lambert camping it up on a lavish throne fanning himself and sipping Champagne from a bottle. "Somebody to Love" got the crowd singing in a call and answer reminiscent of Mercury and then into "I Want It All". Nine songs in and they were just getting started.
 

Brian May took to the stage with his 12 String acoustic. He asked us if we felt like singing? As he launched into the emotional "Love Of My Life" video images of Freddie rolled on the screens. It was an incredibly magic moment that elicited a fair share of tears and goosebumps from the crowd.
 
Brian took a moment to introduce the band before taking us on space ride for "39", images from the Metropolis movie played as Brian was surrounded by the supporting cast of musicians. Spike Edney on keyboards and piano, Neil Fairclough on bass guitar and Rufus Taylor (Roger's son) on percussion.
 
Up next Roger Taylor stepped out from behind the kit and stretched his vocal chords for "These are the days of your life" with his son holding down the drum duties. Adam Lambert rejoined the party to sing "Under Pressure" as a duet with Roger assuming David Bowie's vocals. After which Brian May asked the crowd "what do you think of the new guy?" motioning to Lambert as they laughed.
 

Freddie Mercury's solo song "Love Kills" was followed by "Who Want's To Live Forever" and then it was Brian May's turn to bend some strings. Personally, I am not a big fan of solos. I would much rather hear a couple more songs than any musician noodle for ten minutes or so. That said, Brian's solo was very melodic and tasteful and the video effects were solidly entertaining and c'mon it's "Brian Freaking! May" and when the solo rolled into "Tie Your Mother Down", I was right back into fist pumping rock n roll heaven.
 
Getting to clap along to "Radio Ga Ga" was a blast and then Lambert introduced "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" and suddenly Lambert was doing his best Freddie Mercury does Elvis Presley if that makes sense.
 

Now if there is a better rock song than Bohemian Rhapsody I am unaware of it. From the soft melodic piano to the lush harmonies that build throughout, the tasty guitar solo, the operatic middle section before exploding into a hard rock horns up anthem. It truly is perfection in a song and live? Unbelievable!! With the video screen jumping between live footage and the studio shot video of the song, the song ended with Lambert trading vocal lines with a video version of Freddie. Cue the goosebumps and as the gold confetti fell from the skies, the show came to a close and of course the crowd cheered for more.
 
Before too long the familiar thundering drums of "We Will Rock You" came thundering from the stage and audience was on their feet clapping along. Of course this was followed with "We Are The Champions" with Lambert sporting a gold crown of jewels.
 

Two hours and twenty minutes of pure rock n roll magic. The only negative thing I can say about this show is that it wasn't four hours and forty minutes long. Queen's incredible discography just left too many songs on the table. I could easily fire off 22 more songs, hell probably double that before I got to the obscure stuff.
 
As for Adam Lambert? He's the real deal, he isn't Freddie but he fits the sound and he can sing like a mother trucker! Somewhere upstairs I think Freddie might just be nodding in agreement.
 
Rest in Piece Freddie Mercury and thanks for the music!

SIX DEGREES OF KISS: ELVIS COSTELLO

Joey Haynie I accept your challenge and will connect Elvis Costello to KISS in six steps or less.

Elvis Costello (real name Declan McManus) is a brilliant British singer-songwriter who once got so shit-faced that he actually called Ray Charles a "blind, ignorant [N word]" just to offend sixties icon Bonnie Bramlett from Delaney and Bonnie, with whom he was having an argument. 

Bonnie Bramlett's daughter Bekka later dated Jani Lane and was in a Lindsey-less, Stevie-less version of Fleetwood Mac from 1992 to 1995.

Back to the topic at hand, for your listening pleasure here are three of my personal favorite Elvis Costello songs:

So how am I going to connect this once drunkenly racist but very gifted (and very British) artist to KISS in six steps or less? Like this:

1. Elvis Costello's 1996 album All This Useless Beauty (his 17th studio album and the last album he would make with his iconic backing band The Attractions) was co-produced by Geoff Emerick.

2. Twenty-six years earlier Geoff Emerick had co-produced Badfinger's brilliant second album for Apple Records called No Dice which featured the top ten hit "No Matter What" and a song called "Without You" that would become a number one hit for Harry Nilsson in 1972. 

Badfinger were a brilliant band. Below are some of my favorite Badfinger songs for your listening enjoyment:

3. For our purposes it is of great significance that Badfinger's excellent seventh album Head First, which was recorded for Warner Brothers in 1974 but went unreleased until the year 2000, was produced by Kenny Kerner and Richie Wise.

4. This is of great significance because Kenny Kerner and Richie Wise produced the first two KISS albums, Kiss and Hotter Than Hell.

And there you have it:

"Rise Up" With a Band Called Swirl

Ever heard of a band called Swirl?  Yes that's right I said a band and not some style of tasty dessert which is rather what it sounds like.  Well, neither had I until I was recently contacted through The Meister's Facebook Page and sent the seven song EP for review considerations.  Sometimes a gem just falls into your lap and that's exactly what's going on here.

The lead song on this EP is "Fourth of July", an up tempo bluesy kind of rocker, laden with catchy hooks and guitar solos that charges out of the gates running.  Swirl had my attention right off and I certainly didn't miss the irony as July 4th was the very date that I had cued it up for a spin, it was like fate!  By the time the funky bass lines of the lead in to "Spell" were halfway through I was scouring the internet for info about this great new band.  Turns out that they have been around for more than ten years starting out in Seattle, before relocating to Los Angeles. This EP is not the first Swirl output with their initial CD, titled Out of Nowhere, being produced by Carlos Cavazo, guitarist for the classic era of Quiet Riot and Matt Thorr of Rough Cutt/Jailhouse.  In the third song of the current collection we find the beefy riffs of the guitar driven lead single "Rise Up", possibly the best of the compilation with an insanely catchy chorus that could certainly be heard on today's rock radio.  "We Are Alive" has a little more thrashy style overtones to it that had my fist in the air during the chorus.  Swirl has a motivational "Message" for us that rings true in this track loaded with the emotion of this hungry independent band.  The membership of Swirl consists of 50% being held by brothers Duane
 DT Jones (guitarist and founder) and Brian "Bam Bam" Jones (drums) with Alfred Ramirez handling vox and Shane Carlson the bass.  Back in 2008 Duane T. Jones and Alfred Ramirez teamed up with Fred Coury, drummer for multi-platinum selling 80's hard rock act Cinderella.  The result of this pairing was two songs, "Time to Fly (Adrenaline)" and "Mad Disease (Sleepwalker)", on both of which Coury plays drums as well as produces.  Swirl have included these two cuts as the closers to the seven song EP that frankly just ends way too soon.  On the band's website (Swirl) there are listening samples of five other songs, presumably from Out of Nowhere, but the actual CD does not appear to be for sale........the search is on!

Swirl have toured in the US and Japan setting the stage for such heavy hitters as Extreme, Ratt, Slaughter, George Lynch and more.  The band is now located in Pasadena, California and they issued this EP in 2013 to overwhelming reception from their fan base dubbed "The Swirl Society".  I certainly hope the boys of Swirl have more gas in the tank and look forward to their next, hopefully, full length effort.....I guess I'm now part of the Swirl Society, and you should be too!

Cheers,
The Meister

(The Meister on Facebook) (Meister on Twitter)

(Swirl Website) (Swirl Facebook) (Swirl Twitter)

SIX DEGREES OF KISS: TYPE O NEGATIVE

Joey Vanchieri I accept your challenge and will connect Type O Negative to KISS in six steps or less.

Type O Negative was some kind of a band from Brooklyn, I mean, what would you call it? Gothic metal? Whatever that means. Some version of industrial? Who knows. I always thought "Black No. 1" resembled the Misfits, at least in a melodic sense. But how am I going to connect The Drab Four to KISS? Like this:

1. Type O Negative's 1996 album October Rust includes a cover of Neil Young's 1970 single "Cinnamon Girl."

2. Neil Young's song "Barstool Blues" from his awesome 1975 album Zuma was covered by the band Soul Asylum for a 1989 Neil Young tribute album called The Bridge.

3. The UK version of Soul Asylum's 1989 EP Clam Dip & Other Delights includes an intentionally sloppy and contemptuous performance of Foreigner's classic rock radio staple "Jukebox Hero." The song was co-written by Foreigner guitarist Mick Jones and singer Lou Gramm.

4. Before joining Foreigner Lou Gramm was in a band called Black Sheep and they released two albums with Capitol Records, both in 1975. The band even opened for KISS on Christmas Eve of 1975 but a van accident after the show prevented them from continuing with the tour.

5. The bassist in Black Sheep was a guy named Bruce Turgon who would work with Lou Gramm again during his post-Foreigner career, including as a member of the band Shadow King, and Bruce also joined Foreigner with Lou when Gramm rejoined the band in 1992.

6. Bruce Turgon co-wrote the song "My Way" with Paul Stanley and the song appears on the 1987 KISS album Crazy Nights.

And there you have it:

Conversation with Ken Barr - Ep145

Some of the most memorable KISS discussions we've had are the ones we've conducted with crew members. This week's guest should prove to continue that tradition.

Former KISS crew member Ken Barr joins Chris and Aaron this week for an in-depth discussion of a very transitional phase in the Hottest Band in the Land's career. Ken was a drum tech/guitar tech/carpenter for KISS from 1992 - 1996. His tenure included the Revenge tour, Alive III, the 1995 convention tour, MTV Unplugged, Reunion tour rehearsals, and the 1996 KROQ Weenie Roast. Lots of stories about the personalities behind the members of KISS, stories from the road, and Ken's thoughts on what the band is doing today.

Our talk with Ken today is just the tip of the iceberg of experiences that he's had throughout his career in the music industry. For much more, check out his book We Are the Road Crew at http://theroadcrew.wordpress.com/

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Keith Doyle, Kal Hinz, Paul Stamm, Joe Lascon, KISS Army Omaha, David Alpizar, James North, Todd Cunningham, Brad Kalmanson, Shane Hebert, PJ Brown, Wayne Cross, Andy Lafon, Billy Hardaway, I-am Hoops, Joel Hebensperger, Lee Maslin (Audio Junkies Podcast), Jody Havenot (Strange Ways Podcast), Andrew Jacobs, Brent Walter, Derik Novak, James Brendon Dunn, Chris Karam, Matt Syverson, Justin Hayes, Stephen Newton, Ron Strowdomis, Denis Schoen, Antonio Espin Ufano, Jason Thomas Broadrick, JTB’s Groovy Record Room, Dave Shirt.

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SIX DEGREES OF KISS: BILLY CRYSTAL

Brad Kalmanson I accept your challenge and will connect Billy Crystal to KISS in six steps or less.

Billy Crystal is famous comedian, actor and Oscar host who had this famous interaction with Stuttering John...

Stuttering John: How many years were you married before you cheated on your wife?

Billy Crystal: So you can take this to Howard, right? And you can shove this right up Howard's stupid fucking ass, OK?

Stuttering John: Why? You don't like Howard anymore?

Billy Crystal: No. Cuz Howard dumps on me all the time and it's just not fun when you're at a thing like this. And now you'll do this on the show and you'll all laugh and have good time but it's not fun.

How am I going to connect Jodie Dallas to KISS in six steps or less? Like this:

1. Billy Crystal was in When Harry Met Sally with Carrie Fisher.

2. Carrie Fisher was in The Burbs with Courtney Gains (pictured top right as Hans Klopek).

"Sardine?"

3. Courtney Gains played Malachai in Children of the Corn which also starred Peter Horton.

"Malachai!!!! He wants you too!!!"

4. From 1981-1988 Peter Horton was married to actress Michelle Pfeiffer.

5. Michelle Pfeiffer co-starred in the 1985 film Ladyhawke with Rutger Hauer.

6. Rutger Hauer co-starred in the 1987 film Wanted: Dead or Alive with Gene Simmons from KISS.

Watch Gene get his mind blown.

And there you have it: