Growing up in Southern California was awesome. Great weather, great people and great music. My dad surely influenced my formative musical years. Music was surely playing, if Dodger baseball was not. I was fed a steady diet of The Doors, Cream, Eric Clapton, Rolling Stones and the Kinks. We had great radio stations growing up. LA had KMET, KLOS and KRTH. Good music and holidays were full of countdowns. The number one song on the countdown was usually "Light My Fire" or "Stairway To Heaven".
My mom also peppered her stuff in there. She was a huge Ricky Neslon fan and the Everly Brothers were in there with Eddie Rabbit. I had a wide variety of music playing in the home. Vacations were the tape killers. We had a very small choice while driving to the Sierras. We usually got a steady diet of Dire Straits' "Sultans of Swing" or the "Urban Cowboy Soundtrack". In 1983, we got a few albums thrown in there. We got Hank Willams, Jr "Greatest Hits" and Def Leppard "Pyromania". Good change, but one was missing.
I was turned on to something new by friend Mike (now Mikey) Lopez. I heard the opening of Motley Crue's "In The Beginning" off of "Shout at the Devil". The hair on my neck stood up. As "Shout at the Devil" started I was hooked. I thought, "Holy shit! This is crazy!". This was the best rock music that I heard since KISS and Cheap Trick. This also spawned my interest in Ozzy, Black Sabbath, Motorhead, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, RATT, Van Halen and Aerosmith.
What a mind fuck to now that half of Motley Crue were from Glendora/Covina. Tommy Lee and Vince Neil went to Charter Oak High and/or Royal Oak High. Motley Crue and pro wrestling were the basis for my longest and most treasured friendship in life. Thank you to Jason Cabana for 30 years of friendship and brother hood. We have seen the Crue together probably 7 times. That is cool as hell. We had a teacher in high school, Mr. Chin, that had also been Tommy Lee's teacher. In junior high, Mr. Dvorak was a teacher that we had in common, as well. Totally cheesy, but trivial, too. Another bond for Cabana and I.
Through all these years, albums like "Too Fast For Love", Shout at the Devil", "Theatre of Pain", "Girls, Girls, Girls", "Dr. Feelgood", "Motley Crue", "Generation Swine", "New Tattoo", "Saints of Los Angeles" and a slew of greatest hits and boxed sets, have meant a lot to me. I can remember what my life was like and where I was when I hear these albums. They were my formative, teen age and adult years. It was like these guys helped me grow up. Not only the music mattered but seeing the disarray that their lives were in, I knew that was not what I wanted for me.
Motley Crue also helped usher in a very important era of music. Just like Van Halen before them, Motley Crue made their bones in the Hollywood club scene. They played places like The Whiskey, The Roxy, The Troubadour, Gazarri's, Perkin's Palace and The Timbers" in Glendora. That paved the way for groups like Guns n Roses, Bang Tango, Poison, Warrant, Stryper and Bulletboys, to name a few.
I write this because recently Motley Crue has decided that their next tour will be their last. Now, unlike Ozzy and KISS, Motley Crue has signed a contract that at the conclusion of the tour, they shall no longer play together, ever. The only caveat, all four members have to agree to dissolve the contract. They are adamant that this will not come to pass. I believe that. Sure Tommy is gonna enjoy not having to play the same stuff night after night.
In conclusion, I want to thank these four rowdy, debaucherous, ass kicking, rehabbed, un rehabbed, talented bastards for giving me a sliver of escapism in their music. Their music was always a good time for me. It takes me back to a simpler time. It makes me realize that the world was not always a crazy place to navigate through. Thank you for allowing me to check out and rock out for bit.
You know I'm a dreamer, but my heart's of gold, I had to run away high so I wouldn't come home low. Just when things went bad doesn't mean they were always wrong. Just take this song and you'll never be left all alone. Take me to your heart, feel me in your bones, Just one more night and I', coming of this long and winding road................................ I'm on my way, I'm on my waaaay.....................
HOME SWEET HOME
Monday, April 21, 2014
Friday, April 18, 2014
KISS....really?
I am an unabashed KISS fan. For those who are saying to themselves "What the hell is KISS?", well, KISS is a band. KISS was the first rock band that I got into and they blew my mind. The opening bass riff to "Detroit Rock City" had me hooked. It did not hurt that my uncle was a huge fan. In fact, he gave me my first two rock albums, KISS "Rock and Roll Over" and Cheap Trick "Live at Budokan". "Rock and Roll Over" had great songs like "Hard Luck Woman", "I Want You" and "Calling Dr. Love". I have been a fan ever since.
KISS has had a very storied history. Band member changes and marketing ideas from condoms to caskets and Hello Kitty crap. So, recently, the geniuses at the Rock and Roll Hall Fame voting committee decided to vote them in. KISS had been eligible for 15 years and only got in due to some serious lobbying from Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine fame. The Rock and Hall of Fame voters are, basically, comprised of current and former Rolling Stone writers, music executives and musicians.
A few notes about KISS and their accomplishments. They have sold over 100,000,000 albums, have 28 gold records, close 100,000,000 DVD sales and are one of the highest selling American artists of all time. Do they belong in the Hall? Uh, yeah!
Since KISS was formed in 1973, they have undergone a lot of line up changes, but, the most popular version has been Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Ace Frehley and Peter Criss. They were the core of the band's highest selling and most popular music. Thus, causing the Hall of Fame to induct these four members only. Mind you, the band has had members Vinnie Vincent, Mark St. John, Bruce Kulick, Eric Carr, Eric Singer and Tommy Thayer as members, as well.
There have been huge amounts of acrimony over the years as Paul and Gene have denigrated and marginalized Ace and Peter's contributions to the band. This has ranged from Ace and Peter's well known substance abuse issues, as Paul and Gene are notoriously clean and sober and always have been. So, when the Hall came calling, Paul was steadfast in not playing a set with them and slandering them in the process.
I watched the Induction on youtube.com. I was pleasantly surprised that the speeches were from the heart and were complimentary of each other. Awkward? Hell yes. But, the they were sure to say that each one was instrumental in their success, as a group. It was great to see those four guys together on stage, even though they did not play and show us why the were the best at what they did for many years.
I say thank you to those men for introducing me to music that really changed my life. They gave me that rock and roll itch. They expanded my musical horizons. They allowed me to love the music that is so important to the world. They gave artists such as Motley Crue, Pantera, Van Halen, Rob Zombie and so many others the inspiration to play the music that they do. Thank you KISS for making me love rock and roll and hate over commercializing yourselves and making yourselves a laughing stock of the genre. May you get back to worrying about sounding good and not selling condoms.
KISS has had a very storied history. Band member changes and marketing ideas from condoms to caskets and Hello Kitty crap. So, recently, the geniuses at the Rock and Roll Hall Fame voting committee decided to vote them in. KISS had been eligible for 15 years and only got in due to some serious lobbying from Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine fame. The Rock and Hall of Fame voters are, basically, comprised of current and former Rolling Stone writers, music executives and musicians.
A few notes about KISS and their accomplishments. They have sold over 100,000,000 albums, have 28 gold records, close 100,000,000 DVD sales and are one of the highest selling American artists of all time. Do they belong in the Hall? Uh, yeah!
Since KISS was formed in 1973, they have undergone a lot of line up changes, but, the most popular version has been Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Ace Frehley and Peter Criss. They were the core of the band's highest selling and most popular music. Thus, causing the Hall of Fame to induct these four members only. Mind you, the band has had members Vinnie Vincent, Mark St. John, Bruce Kulick, Eric Carr, Eric Singer and Tommy Thayer as members, as well.
There have been huge amounts of acrimony over the years as Paul and Gene have denigrated and marginalized Ace and Peter's contributions to the band. This has ranged from Ace and Peter's well known substance abuse issues, as Paul and Gene are notoriously clean and sober and always have been. So, when the Hall came calling, Paul was steadfast in not playing a set with them and slandering them in the process.
I watched the Induction on youtube.com. I was pleasantly surprised that the speeches were from the heart and were complimentary of each other. Awkward? Hell yes. But, the they were sure to say that each one was instrumental in their success, as a group. It was great to see those four guys together on stage, even though they did not play and show us why the were the best at what they did for many years.
I say thank you to those men for introducing me to music that really changed my life. They gave me that rock and roll itch. They expanded my musical horizons. They allowed me to love the music that is so important to the world. They gave artists such as Motley Crue, Pantera, Van Halen, Rob Zombie and so many others the inspiration to play the music that they do. Thank you KISS for making me love rock and roll and hate over commercializing yourselves and making yourselves a laughing stock of the genre. May you get back to worrying about sounding good and not selling condoms.
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