Rio Re-Release!

A few weeks ago, Duran Duran reissued their classic Rio album as a double CD. The first CD features the original UK release, and the second features demos, remixes and night versions of some tracks from the album. Of course, I had to buy it. I was surprised to realize that the CD I'd been listening to since I got a CD player was the UK version. After comparing the two, I actually like it better. It's got a bit more meat to it, more bass, more funk. The US version seems too glossy to me now. The demos were interesting to hear. They didn't vary too much from the album versions, with the exception of "My Own Way" which had a different chorus and few lines of the second verse. I've owned the night versions for a while now, so they were no surprise, but still as danceable as ever.

At the same time, they released a live CD and DVD of their 1982 concert at Hammersmith Odeon in London. This concert brings me back to being 13, in my parent's living room, waiting up till the ungodly hour of 11pm to tape this off MTV. This show cemented my love for the band. I watched that tape over and over again, and was glad to have it because I don't think MTV aired it more than a few times. A lot of fans I met in later years had never seen it, and I actually still have that old VHS tape. I also love it because the band performed a killer cover version of Cockney Rebel's "Come Up and See Me (Make Me Smile)." Back in the day I held a tape recorder up to the TV so I could listen to it as much as I wanted. I remember being so excited when I heard it used on the soundtrack to the movie Threesome. Finally, I could buy a good quality version! The band released it as part of their Singles box set a few years ago as well. Memorably, I also saw the original five members play the song live in 2005, which was a complete surprise and thrill at the same time.

Unfortunately, the mix on the live CD isn't great. It seems a little muffled and muddy to me. Admittedly, I'm not really the biggest fan of live albums, but I wish the sound was crisper.

It annoyed me that I couldn't find either of these items in a store like Best Buy or Target but had to order them from Amazon. But before I start the lament of the demise of the record store, let me just say that I'm glad to have them at all.

Rio is a great pop record, and the Hammersmith Odeon gig shows a band in their prime. Great stuff for a longtime devoted fan like me.

Music As Torture

Last week, I read an article in our local newspaper that really disturbed me. It seems that music played at excruciating levels has been used as a form of torture against prisoners in the military prison at Guantanamo Bay. A group of artists have filed a Freedom of Information request to find out exactly which songs have been used in this manner.

Apparently this has been going on for quite some time, and the fight against it has been waging for at least a year. This tactic is officially banned by the UN Convention Against Torture, and by several human rights organizations. Some of the songs used include Rage Against the Machine's "Killing In The Name," Metallica's "Enter Sandman" and the Barney TV show theme song.

This is wrong. Music should not be an instrument of torture. The artists put their hearts and souls into their creations, their art. It is meant to stir emotions, not be used to drive people mad. A form of popular culture should not be used as an interrogation technique.

I wholeheartedly support the musicians in this matter and hope it is resolved in their favor.

Memories

The other day, and a few weeks ago, I was talking about Foreigner. I'm a really big fan of theirs, and while there are some people out there who don't appreciate the new line up, I'm not one of them. I've had ties to Kelly Hansen and Jeff Pilson going back years.

Kelly Hansen was the lead singer of a 80s hair metal band called Hurricane. They had one hit, "I'm On To You," which, unfortunately, had a silly "nah nah nah nah nah nah" refrain in the chorus. I always thought Kelly had an incredible, strong voice and was a really underrated singer. I went to see the band open for Stryper at Radio City Music Hall in November 1988. I went alone and was probably one of the only people to buy a Hurricane t-shirt instead of Stryper merchandise. And yes, for the record, I did have to dodge a Bible hurled into the audience from the stage during Stryper's set.

Jeff Pilson was the bass player in Dokken in the 80s, and I was a huge Dokken fan. I actually painted the band's logo on the back of my favorite denim jacket. I only got to see the original line up of Dokken once, when they opened for Aerosmith. But a few years later, I got to see Jeff Pilson up close when his solo band War and Peace played a local club. They played at a hole in the wall called February's, which was tinier than tiny. I was up front, and, consequently, got spit on many times when Jeff sang (a warning to those who see him today). The best part of the show came at the end when he pulled me and a few other girls on stage with him to sing the chorus of the Dokken song "It's Not Love." That was my not quite 15 minutes of fame.

I'm excited to see them both doing well with Foreigner. The band has a new CD out that I'll be going to, where else but Walmart, to pick up.

Only At Walmart

Yesterday, while I was doing a bit of reading about the Genesis DVD I wrote about, I noticed that the DVD was available exclusively at Walmart. Last Friday night, on the Palladio channel I mentioned yesterday, I watched a new concert DVD from Foreigner. The DVD, and new CD, are also only available at Walmart. I started to think about all the new releases I'd heard about over the past few months that could only be gotten at Walmart - the Eagles, Journey, AC/DC.

What's the deal?

According to a June 2008 New York Times article, Walmart is now the biggest music retailer in the country. It's natural that musicians and their management companies want to stay on their good side. But, in the case of Journey and the Eagles, the musicians are releasing their music directly through the retailer, cutting out a record company entirely.

It's no news that the music industry as a whole is in decline. But is teaming up with a retailer as your only means of release a good idea?

Both bands had great first week sales, and the marketing efforts were all encompassing all over the store, not just in the music department, and in their print, radio and television ads. The bands also retain more money per CD sold than they would if they released through a record company.

But what if you don't live near a Walmart? I know the store is prevalent in other areas in the country, but here on Long Island, Walmart is a relatively new comer. I'm sure there are other areas in the country where the store's presence hasn't reached.

AC/DC's announcement of their pairing with Walmart had fans on message boards complaining about the decline of small record stores and the rise of big box stores. And yes, the words "sell" and "out" appeared often as well.

So, is Walmart the future of music? Damned if I know. Anyone have any better ideas?

Must See TV

One of the biggest problems with being married to a musician is that anytime my husband sees anyone playing live music, he stops to listen. It doesn't matter where we are or what we're doing, we're stopping in our tracks. If he hears a steel drum in the subway, a pan flute at a craft fair, or the pianist at Nordstroms, I'm prepared to wait at least through the length of one song until we can go about our day.

This also applies to any live performances he happens to come across when he's channel surfing at home in front of the TV. One night we watched Guy Lombardo perform "Tiny Bubbles," I kid you not.

But this has also led us to some really good things. He's recently found an HD channel called Palladio that shows amazing music programming that you won't find on any of the mainstream music television channels.

Case in point. Last night we watched Genesis: When in Rome, a concert taped in Rome in 2007. I grew up listening to Genesis and watching this I remembered how much I enjoyed their music. In particular, I loved the "In The Cage" medley of some older stuff I hadn't heard before. I'd forgotten Genesis was a really progressive band before they went really commercial, and it was amazing to see them rip it up. I wouldn't have seen any of this, or heard any of this, if it wasn't for this channel.

Palladio is now our own brand of must see TV.

I Love Laminates!

There is nothing like a backstage pass.

From the first concert I ever went to, I coveted a backstage pass. I used to watch the people wandering around with laminates around their necks and desperately wished it was me. I thought it would be the height of cool to have one.

As I got older, I began to see bands play in clubs and bars. I was able to go backstage at a lot of these places, but it didn't seem like it was really "backstage." Most of those places only required a sticker for entry, if anything, or you had to pass through on your way to the bathroom. I wanted to be backstage in an arena. Wearing that coveted laminate.

It finally happened for me in May, 2001. All access at a Bon Jovi show. The photo of me holding out the laminate with my big cheesy grin says it all.

It felt, and still feels to this day, as good as I always thought it would. And walking around backstage at Madison Square Garden was an incredible experience. Definitely the height of cool.

Just A Small Town Boy...

I admit to having a soft spot for Bret Michaels and Poison. Why? Two words.

Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania.

Bret and drummer Rikki Rocket hail from this small town outside of Harrisburg. I had family there and spent a lot of time running around the town as a little kid. It's a small community that, years ago, was dominated by a large dairy farm and nursery called Ashcombs, and a small amusement park and racetrack called William's Grove. Every summer when I would visit my family we would go to William's Grove and ride the rides all day, and at night watch the fireworks set off at the park from my aunt's front yard. Later at night you could always here the roar of the engines from the racetrack. My aunt lived very close to the dairy farm and nursery, so we could walk to get homemade ice cream in the nursery's store. The air had that cow manure smell, and we didn't worry about getting dirty running in the fields. It was a good place to be a kid.

I gravitated to Poison in the mid 80s because their music was pure fun, and they looked good. Yes, I'm a sucker for the glam rock look. And when I found out the band originated in Mechanicsburg, I was thrilled. It was an easy place to miss on the map, yet here was a major rock band calling it home! And I had a tie to it! Surely, if I ever met the band, I was in.

My aunt used to tell me about seeing Rikki around the store where she worked, shopping with his mom. She always knew it was him because, as she said, he was the only kid in Mechanicsburg with purple hair. She also knew a girl who used to date him, and this girl loaded my aunt up with tons of old flyers for me to have. They featured the band's original name, Spectres, and the pictures of teenage Bret and Rikki were cute. I saved them for posterity, in the hopes of being able to have them sign one when I finally met them.

Well, I'm still waiting. Not that I haven't tried. Poison opened for David Lee Roth when he played our local arena, Nassau Coliseum, in 1987, and my friends and I went to the hotel near the arena to try and find them. Now, I realize that because we're so close to Manhattan, most bands commute in to the shows, but then I really thought they'd be there. Instead, we got propositioned by one of Roth's roadies. Um, no thank you.

In the summer of 1999, I got the closest I'd ever been, at the PNC Bank Arts Center. I was there with my friends to see Great White, Ratt and Poison. Thanks to my best friend working in the industry, we had backstage passes. I got an autograph from CC Deville, but no Rikki or Bret. I saw Rikki's family in the catering area, but I was too shy to go up and start a conversation. The closest I got to Bret was when I literally almost bumped into him as he was heading for the stage with security while I was hurrying out front to see the start of the show. Afterwards, he was surrounded.

Now, with the success of Rock of Love, Bret Michaels is more famous than he's ever been. I watched every episode of all three seasons, fascinated and horrified at the same time. Where do they find these women? I've watched his True Hollywood Story and Behind the Music episodes, and can practically recite verbatim the story about writing "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" in a laundromat. I think Riki Rachtman had the best line on Behind the Music - Bret walks the fine line between slutty dirtbag and really nice guy. And even though I'm a bit perturbed that he hasn't accepted my Facebook friend request yet, I'll still keep coming back to him and Poison.

Small town ties are hard to break.

Coincidences?

Yesterday I wrote about the movie Anvil! The Story of Anvil. It was a really good movie, but I couldn't help but notice some references to another one of my favorite rock and roll movies, This Is Spinal Tap, spread throughout. Now, I'm certainly not comparing the documentary to the mockumentary. I'm just sayin', is all.

1. The drummer in Anvil is named Robb Reiner. The director of This Is Spinal Tap is Rob Reiner. Weird.
2. While on tour in Europe, one of the members yells out "Hello, Cleveland!" on the way to the stage. The members of Spinal Tap yell this out as they try to find the stage and get lost backstage, one of my favorite scenes. Sadly, Anvil and Spinal Tap play shows in front of about the same amount of people.
3. During the recording of their new CD, there's a shot of one of Anvil's amps set at 11. Nigel's go to 11, too.
4. Anvil record their new CD in England, and on a day off visit historic Stonehenge. Historic Stonehenge visits Spinal Tap in their film, albeit in miniature.

Just had to put that out there.

Never Was

I think how you view life says a lot about you as a person. Are you a glass half empty or a glass half full kind of person? I like to think of myself as a glass half full person myself. I prefer to think things are going to work out, good things happen to good people and life in general is good. I prefer to give people the benefit of the doubt and try and maintain a positive attitude.

That's how I viewed the movie Anvil! The Story of Anvil.

Back in 1985, Anvil were poised for success. But a combination of shoddy production values, nonexistant management and no label support kept them from achieving the level of success they thought they were destined to have. They never made it anywhere close to the type of fame the big four in thrash metal (their genre) did - Metallica, Anthrax, Megadeth and Pantera. More than twenty years later, and into their 50s, singer Lips and drummer Robb Reiner were still trying to make it. The movie follows their journey as they tour Europe, record a new CD and try to get signed to a major label.

I watched the movie and kept hoping for the band to get a break. It seemed as if they took one step forward and two steps back the whole way through. They booked a European tour, great. But they had a tough time making it to gigs, getting paid by club owners and playing to mostly empty houses. One heartbreaking scene showed the band playing an arena with a 10,000 person capacity, with the actual head count being 174. They got in touch with a reputable producer who liked the new material, great. But they went into debt to pay for the recording and got turned down by every major label they approached. Finally, they played a festival in Japan to a capacity crowd who really appreciated the music and made them feel like it was worth it.

As that glass half full person, I was inspired by Steve "Lips" Kudlow. Throughout all the years, all the heartache that he has surely endured, he never lost hope. He never wavered in his belief in himself, his music and his band. In his dream. To me, that's admirable.

Obviously there are those out there who no doubt think, enough already. Just give it up. It hasn't happened by now, it's not going to happen. I can't be that kind of cynic. I still believe in dreams.

It's fitting that Anvil are now achieving success for a film about them not achieving success. The film has won many documentary film awards and the band is still recording and touring. As a glass half full person, I wish them all the luck in the world.

A Little Bit Country, A Little Bit Rock and Roll

I am an equal opportunity music lover. I really don't care what kind of genre a particular song is, if it speaks to me, I like it. So, I was really attracted to the TV program Crossroads, on CMT. Crossroads pairs a country artist and a rock artist, and they team up and sing each other's songs. I think it's a great concept, and I particularly love the slogan of the show - great music knows no boundaries. I couldn't agree more.

I've seen a few episodes of the show, but I kept missing one in particular, and I was finally able to catch it the other day. It featured a longtime favorite of mine, Def Leppard, who were paired with up and comer Taylor Swift.

In my eyes, Def Leppard can do no wrong, but I didn't know much about Taylor Swift's music. But after watching this show, I went running to my iTunes to download her stuff. There's nothing I appreciate more than a good, hooky pop song, and to quote Joe Elliott, take out the banjo and fiddle and that's what you've got. The songs were really infectious, and Ms. Swift has a new admirer on her hands.

Next on my must-watch list for this program is Heart and Wynonna. These ladies can all sing their asses off, and I can't wait to hear how they handle each other's material.

What Happens in Vegas...

Will be rockin'!

Tonight, Slash will host a concert to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Mirage Resort and Casino. Billed as Slash & Friends, the lineup includes guests such as Joe Perry, Rick Nielsen and Robin Zander, Matt Sorum and members of Rob Zombie's band.

I have no doubt they will tear it up.

Feeling a bit Urgent...

Actually, I'm feeling a bit bummed, but Foreigner doesn't have a song with that title. I'll be missing their show tonight, and I'm sad about it.

I just have to say it. Foreigner is a great rock and roll band. I think the "corporate rock" label for them and other bands like Journey and Styx is just plain stupid. They play good, solid, hook filled rock and roll, and what's wrong with that? Being commercial isn't the equivalent of being bad.

Some may say Foreigner isn't the same since Lou Gramm left. After all, he was "the voice." I can see both sides of this. Lou Gramm had an amazing voice, but his age, his illness, and the fact that he'd performed for so many years was working against him. I saw him with the band a few years ago, and I found it hard to watch and listen to a singer who can't hit the notes he was famous for. It's heartbreaking. But I admit to being biased about the new singer Kelly Hansen. I was a fan of his band Hurricane in the 80s, and I always thought he was an underrated singer back then. Listening to him perform songs I love pumps me up and I think he really does them justice. And Mick Jones is simply Mick Jones, still awesome after all this time.

So this evening as I go about my regular life, I'll be humming Foreigner songs to myself and wishing I was rocking out. Maybe next tour...