My Seventh Album

I had this album on vinyl when I was in the third grade.  It was my first Scorpions album so I was pretty excited.  I can't exactly remember, but I think my brother Steve bought it for me.  Something the Scorpions were always known for was their provocative album covers.  How my parents allowed me to have this album is puzzling but I had it and listened to it often.  In addition to the song "Rock You Like a Hurricane" that I discussed in this post Love at First Sting had many other excellent songs.  Some of them include "Bad Boys Running Wild" (Great opening guitar riff by lead guitarist Mathias Jabs), "I'm Leaving You," "Coming Home," "Big City Nights," and "Still Loving You."  All of these songs were major hits from what was arguably the Scorpions best album.

My Favorite Dokken Song

There are MANY great songs from the band Dokken.  My favorite one is "Unchain the Night" from the 1985 album Under Lock and Key.  It has a slow, interesting intro and builds up from there.  With great rhythm from start to finish from bass player Jeff Pilson, a great guitar solo from axeman great George Lynch and great vocals from Don Dokken - this is a great song the whole way through.

Listen and Enjoy!

My Sixth Album

Dokken Tooth and Nail Front Side

I used to think I was the only kid who spent money buying albums by just looking at the art work on the front cover or the way the band looked back cover.  Years later after reading Fargo Rock City by Chuck Klosterman and watching an episode of VH1 Classic's That Metal Show and seeing co-hosts Eddie Trunk, Don Jamieson and Jim Florentine have a "TMS Top 5" contest on the coolest album art I realized there were many like me.  

One album I bought based on looks was Dokken's 1984 album Tooth and Nail (OK, I admit the album name was pretty bad ass too).  I was at Musicland in the Kirkwood Mall in Bismarck ND looking at albums and I saw the monster's hand ripping though the water with flames coming out.  That immediately grabbed my attention along with the Tooth and Nail on top.  The back of the album had a photo of the band and I saw guitarist George Lynch and his Black "Skull and Crossbones" guitar.  The combination of the three sold me immediately. 

Dokken Tooth and Nail Back Side

The funny thing is for months if not over a year I didn't even realize the name of the band was Dokken (It wasn't until the Under Lock and Key album came out that I realized Dokken was the band name.).  I also didn't realize that I had an album of one of the most criminally underrated bands of the hair metal era.  Future posts will discuss this album as well as the other three studio albums released by this great band during the years of their classic lineup that included Lynch, Don Dokken (Lead Vocals), Jeff Pilson (Bass) and "Wild" Mick Brown (Drums).  It is unfortunate that George and Don didn't get along at all resulting in George leaving and starting the band Lynch Mob.  If the lineup listed had even 1-2 more years together they would have been more talked about.  As a hard rock and metal fan I can honestly say Dokken was one of the few bands who's albums got better with time!

The Song That Pretty Much Made Me a Hard Rock Fan For Life

A photo of the Scorpions in the mid or late 80s.

1984 was a great year for music (especially hard rock).  There were many  songs that year that were huge hits.  One in particular holds a special place in my heart.  Authors are taught the importance of having catchy titles for books or articles.  This song had a title that said it all, "Rock You Like a Hurricane."  I heard it outside of Fargo.  I can't remember the radio station that played it but I do remember my brother Mike getting a speeding ticket going 87 mph with my parents new car (My parents and us were driving to Grand Forks to visit my sister who had just moved there).  I heard the song and remember the DJ saying it was by the Scorpions (Which I thought was a cool name).  I did get the album Love at First Sting which it was from (Pretty sure I begged my other brother Steve to get it for me).  I will be writing many posts about it as it is a hard rock classic.  Below is the video for "Rock You Like a Hurricane."

One of my Favorite KISS Songs (But Not The Video)!

I grew up as a huge KISS fan.  Although I liked them better when they wore make up the problem was I was too young to actually see them during that era. (They were at the height of their popularity in 1976-77 and I was born in 1976).  The music and music videos I was exposed to was mainly the Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Erik Carr and Bruce Kulick lineup without the make up.  Three albums I listened to quite a bit was Lick It Up, Animalize, and Asylum (Shown on the left).  One of my favorite songs off those three albums was "Tears Are Falling" of Asylum.  Gene likes simple catchy riffs and this song delivers.  The only problem with the song is the music video.  I love KISS but they need to stick to the color Black via wardrobe.  In the 80's era of hair metal they were on this "Bright Color" phase that just isn't them.  It was like they were on an identity crisis or something.  Lucky for them many other acts were jumping on the bandwagon as well.  Is it just me or do they look completely ridiculous in the video below?

An Underrated Song Off a Classic Hard Rock Album

Although there are many great songs from this classic album, the one below is one of my favorites that doesn't get the credit it deserves!

My Fifth Album: Time for Some Female Rock

As I kid when I got home off the bus I would eat since the food at Linton ND schools usually sucked and I was hungry from not eating much at lunch.  When I got home and ate I would watch whatever TV show was on (Usually 30-minute comedies like Three's Company).  For a while WKRP in Cincinnati was on.  I remember Dr. Johnny Fever (a disk jockey on the show) putting on the song "Promises in the Dark" by Pat Benatar off the Precious Time album.  This was her third album and the song hit #38 on the pop chart[1].  As far as being a hard rocker, most people know Pat for the single "Heart Breaker" (Don't worry, I will write about it in the future).  However, "Promises in the Dark" is my favorite song by her and the video is below.  It starts slow but builds up and rocks hard till the end.

Anyone who thinks Pat couldn't rock is nuts.  Also, two of her band members are super-talented hard rock musicians.  Pay attention to lead guitarist Neil Giraldo on the left (her future husband) and drummer Myron Grombacher.  Both guys could more than hold their own with the majority of hard rock musicians of that era.

References:
1.  Retrieved from:   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precious_Time_%28album%29

The Song That Should be Your Alarm Clock Ring Tone

Click the photo to find out what it is and then get it downloaded!

My Fourth Album

Many people my age remember albums.  Many of us remember there was a time when you actually had to buy an entire album and not a song off I-Tunes.  People who remember this who bought albums might have bought one without hearing a single song just because it looked cool.  I know there are many who have done this as the hosts of VH1 Classic's That Metal Show (Eddie Trunk, Don Jamieson and Jim Florentine) talk about some of the albums they bought because they looked cool.  I think they even had a "Top 5" Coolest Album Covers countdown.

Even though my sister got me into Def Leppard because she made me a tape that included the song "Rock of Ages" (Really cool song and intro when you are 8-years old or any age for that matter), I thought the album art for Pyromania was really cool.  Since I saw it in her collection, my brother Steve's collection (He later gave me the tape) and my future sister-in-law Faye's collection, I assumed it had to be good.  Because it looked cool and most people I knew who owned albums had it I bugged my sister to buy it for me and she did.

This is a CLASSIC hard rock album.  There are NO clunkers on this one.  Every song was great (See below for side 1 & 2).

Side 1:

  1.  "Rock, Rock (Until You Drop)"
  2.  "Photograph"
  3.  "Stagefright"
  4.  "Too Late for Love"
  5.  "Die Hard the Hunter"

Side 2:
  1.  "Foolin'"
  2.  "Rock of Ages"
  3.  "Comin' Under Fire"
  4.  "Action!  Not Words"
  5.  "Billy's Got a Gun"

An Underrated Video From a Classic Hard Rock Album

Pretty much everyone knows the song and video "Round and Round" off Ratt's Out of the Cellar album.  A song and video off that album that many people forget about is "Back for More."  This video features cameo appearances from Nikki Six and Tommy Lee of Motley Crue (Look at the 2:32 mark).  It was also actress Tawny Kitaen's first music video before she stared in some of Whitesnake's videos from their 1987 self-titled album.

Enjoy!

My Third Album

In the words of Eddie Trunk in his book Eddie Trunk's Essential Hard Rock and Heavy Metal [1],

"A product of L.A.'s Sunset Strip scene in the 1980's, Ratt has put out albums that are as good as, if not better than those by Motley Crue, but aren't often held in the same esteem.  Because Ratt doesn't have as much of a tabloid circus surrounding them, people seem to forget that this band has had some major hits and reached headlining-arena status in the mid-'80s."

After I saw the music video for "Round and Round" I immediately told my sister Shari about the group, song and video.  She liked the song so much she bought the album for herself.  After seeing me sit down and listen to the album repeatedly in her apartment she immediately took me to Musicland in the Kirkwood Mall in Bismarck, ND and bought the album for me.  It was a great gift and like Van Halen 1984 I listened to it until it became warped. I promise future posts will discuss this and other Ratt albums in more detail.

P.S. The woman on the cover is actress Tawney Kitaen who was the high school sweetheart of Ratt guitarist Robin Crosby[2].  She is probably most famous for appearing in the Whitesnake videos "Here I go Again" and "Is This Love" off their 1987 self titled album as well as the movie Bachelor Party starring a very young Tom Hanks.

References:
1.  Trunk, E.  2011.  Eddie Trunk's Essential Hard Rock and Heavy Metal.  New York, NY:  Abrams Image.
2.  Retrieved from:   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tawny_Kitaen

An Eye Opening Hard Rock Music Video for me in 1984

Once again the TV show Friday Night Videos introduced me to a band I liked and a rock and roll classic song and music video.  The song/video was "Round and Round" by Ratt off the Out of the Cellar album.  

The video had actor Milton Berle star as the man running the dinner party as well as the over-weight red headed woman.  Ratt was able to get Berle to act in the video because his nephew Marshall Beryle was the band's manager at the time[1].  Also, the fit, attractive actress in the video Lisa Dean who later played the woman in Michael Jackson's video for the hit Dirty Diana[1]. 

As a kid I really liked the part where guitarist Warren De Martini jumps off the drum stand and lands on the dinner table at the 2:22 mark in the video.  The fact he had a skull and crossbones guitar was also a cool visual at the time.

As a song "Round and Round" hit #12 in the Billboard Top 100 and was voted #51 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of the 80's[1].  Even though the song was released nearly thirty years ago I still hear it on a weekly basis on most hard and classic rock music stations.

References:
1.  Retrieved from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Round_and_Round_%28Ratt_song%29

My Second Album.

My second album was bought by my older brother Mike.  He actually visited me when I was at Shari's apartment in Bismarck, ND.  He brought two records home that he got for free at one of the music stores.  I don't know if he won them in a contest or how he got them.  One was Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers Damn the Torpedo's and the other and MOST IMPORTANT was a hard rock album from my favorite band (Even though I had only hear one song at that point) KISS.  The album was Destroyer which included the only KISS song my sister liked, Beth (Imagine that, the only KISS song a female likes).

Too bad for Mr Petty.  I didn't listen to that album for 2-3 years.  When I finally did I was surprised by how good it was (It actually was REALLY good).  Too bad at that time I didn't know I had a rock and roll classic on vinyl.

My First Album

As I said in the previous post the song "Jump" was what made me interested in Van Halen.  My sister Shari bought me the 1984 album later that year.  However, what made me listen to the album over and over again was songs like "Panama" (See video below), "Hot for the Teacher" (See video below) and "I'll Wait."  Those songs along with all the others made me listen to the album until it became warped.

My First Van Halen Song: Jump

The first time I heard the song "Jump" on the radio I became a Van Halen fan.  Since we lived in rural North Dakota we didn't have MTV so I was lucky and saw the video (See below) on Friday Night Videos with my friend Mitch Maier.  We were about eight and it was a sleep over and his parents allowed us to stay up late and watch it. 

My First Hard Rock Experience at a Very Young Age

The date was sometime in 1982.  I was about 5-6 years old and I was watching TV when I saw an add for a concert at the Bismarck ND, Civic Center.  I remember there was lots of explosions (I specifically remember Eric Carr's "Tank" drum kit stand), a guy smashing his guitar, and guys in make up.  To top it all off the name of the band was KISS which I thought was pretty funny being a little kid.  I told my older brother Steve who was about 17-18 at the time that I wanted to go.  He he was going and would take me.  However, he went without me and the rest is history as this was my first exposure to Hard Rock and Heavy Metal music.

Below is a TV commercial promoting the Creatures of the Night album which may have been similar to what I saw.