Rolling Past Expiry Hard Rock 2010

chuck, i think you'd really like this album by The Other Side on De-Lite. Starts out with a southern rock disco cowbell cover of "lies" by the knickerbockers. second song is a peppy rocker with great two guitar action. third song "gotta get to you" has great hard rock riff + disco flute! closing track on side one has the promising title of "ghengis chicken", but it turns out to be a sort of corny henhouse country joke number. how much you like it would depend on how much you like rock bands doing "country". even southern rock bands.
second side opens with a fat break beat and skynyrd guitar. this whole album SOUNDS really good. every southern rock band should have recorded their albums in a disco studio in philly. (i don't even know where these guys were from. but they've got the twang and the guitars.) the next song "day dream" is a serious prog disco treat. great mix of percussion, synth, organ, and those duelling guitars. it's got the mexican beat a la babe ruth. epic power ballad "dead or alive" is next. the only skippable number, really. it was made with stadium cig lighters in mind, but i don't know if these guys ever got out of the bars. last song is "rock x-ing" and its a decent rave-up with handclap beats and AGAIN the great guitars, but the song itself is only fair to middling. but its short. and before you know it, the album's over.

really loving the dirty tricks album i got too. their third and last. produced by tony visconti. apparently the band tried out for ozzy after he left sabbath the first time. this album is just wall to wall guitar goodness. you can hear the nwobhm coming around the corner on this thing too.

I will probably die some day still confusing Dirty Tricks with Dirty Looks (who I realize they probably don't have very much in common with.)

Will keep an eye out for them, though, and for The Other Side; thanks for the tip, Scott. (Probably not within my budget, but you never know.)

as far as overall expiry thread appeal goes, i think everyone here would dig the dirty tricks album. even crazy phil.

A friend passed on a couple Steve Morse Band albums on a thumb drive. The one I've listened to is Out Standing in the Field from late 2009.

Lots of power riffage, moreso even than the Dixie Dregs debut back in the Seventies. Lotsa jazz fusion thrown into same, all instro so far, "Name Dropping" is the kick off track and the most might. "Relentless Encroachment" is similar. "Flight of the Osprey" is Euro power metal with all the pretty stuff but not the singer included. "John Deere Letter" made me laugh briefly being Morse's country hoedown licks into superplayer style. Solid B if you like the subject matter. If you really really like it, an A. C if you've no use for solo instro chops heavy for the sake of chops guitar heroism by Marvel superhero-like musos.

I just happen to have the answer to this question:

chuck, i think you'd really like this album by The Other Side on De-Lite. Starts out with a southern rock disco cowbell cover of "lies" by the knickerbockers. second song is a peppy rocker with great two guitar action. third song "gotta get to you" has great hard rock riff + disco flute! closing track on side one has the promising title of "ghengis chicken", but it turns out to be a sort of corny henhouse country joke number. how much you like it would depend on how much you like rock bands doing "country". even southern rock bands.
second side opens with a fat break beat and skynyrd guitar. this whole album SOUNDS really good. every southern rock band should have recorded their albums in a disco studio in philly. (i don't even know where these guys were from. but they've got the twang and the guitars.)

They were from Minersville, in Schuylkill County, PA, where I grew up. I saw them many times.

I wrote about them here a year or so ago:

ttp://www.dickdestiny.com/blog/2007/12/sludge-in-70s-other-side-minersvilles.html

And they were on a label financed by profits from Kool & the Gang.

Aghh. Now let's get that link working.

http://www.dickdestiny.com/blog/2007/12/sludge-in-70s-other-side-minersvilles.html

well, there you go, they were from pennsyltucky all along! nice. i did time in wilkes-barre for a year. felt like a century. sometimes i forget that it ever happened.

I actually saw them perform "Genghis Chicken" many times. The drunk girls and guys at the shows at the Pottsville bowling alley always liked it a lot.

pottsville! man, you are bringing me back. i spent a year in hazleton one night.

you are making me hungry for pierogies too.

Then you are quite familiar with coal piles and cinders as country-living beautification, too.

the thing i remember most about living in wilke-barre in the late 80's was the truly amazing number of building fires. every news broadcast would lead with a fire story. also, apparently, after reagan closed down some state mental hospitals, lots of the former patients moved to wilkes-barre. or were moved to wilkes-barre. apparently. and they would wander around the town square and streets all day long. i didn't have a lot of fun there. i was lonely and felt completely lost at sea. my parents made me go to school there. that's why i was there. did a year, went home for the summer, and then moved to philly at the age of 19. the rest is history.

Ha ha

NEW RINGGOLD, Pa. – Hey, didja hear the news? Beyonce and Jay-Z are moving to Schuylkill County, Pa.!
That's the rumor swirling around these parts: That the singer and her rap mogul husband, Grammy Award winners both, are planning to buy a multimillion-dollar spread on 210 secluded acres in eastern Pennsylvania.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100430/ap_en_ot/us_beyonce_s_rumored_move

It's also convenient — just over two hours west of Manhattan by stretch limo, even closer by helicopter or private plane.

This is stupid, bad and wrong. Unless you're going well over 120 mph and expect zero traffic,
Schuylkill Co. is certainly not two hours 'west' of Manhattan. Make that five easy, considering
the traffic on the route you'll have to take.

It'd make a good sitcom, though: Beyonce in Old Slovenly Whiteville. Sending servants to the supermarket'd be a laugh riot. They would doubtless be disturbed by the alarming lack of quality restaurants and good takeout.

Better have a romantic attitude about snow, ice and salt on the roads, too. And if you're a wine drinker, forget it, unless you like the box varietals. You'll have to bring it in with your own shipping line.

http://dickdestiny.com/pennsyltuckyvotersmall.JPG

What's that you say, sonny? Someone named Jay Tee's comin' here?! You have to speak up, Ima little
deef.

Think I asked on the '09 thread whether REO Speedwagon (like their fellow Midwest prairie dogs Kansas, Styx, and Head East) ever made any Uriah Heep moves early on, and now I'm thinking that's more or less what the astounding killer 10-minute "Dead At Last" on their '71 debut was, at least up until the Freedom Soul Singers gospel-rock chorus at the end. Also, that dark shadowed photo of the band on the back, and even more so "Five Men Were Killed Today" (complete with Andre' Borly on prehistoric electronic instrument the Ondes Martenot) make this a sort of death-rock LP. All the songs about various kinds of ladies ("Gypsy Woman's Passion," "Sophisticated Lady," "Prison Women") have a real kick to them, too. Wondering if goodtimey riverboat-piano woogie "157 Riverside Avenue" was the only song that lasted to their Kevin Cronin era; don't have the live LP, but that was on there, right?

Also caught off-guard this morning by the tricky changes in "Waiting Place," the secretly pompy early-Rush-getting-funky cut on Side Two of the first Artful Dodger LP from '75. Not sure what my other faves are; "It's Over" and "Things I Like To Do Again" maybe, but the whole thing pop-rocks on such an even keel that it's hard to pick standouts. All sounds good; not sure how many great songs they had, though. George may be able to set me straight on that issue. Also, fwiw, here's what I wrote about their followup, a couple years back for Blurt:

ARTFUL DODGER Honor Among Thieves (American Beat)
Along with their '75 debut, this newly reissued bicentennial sophomore slab is one of history’s great lost hard-pop albums, from Virginia’s answer to the Raspberries or maybe Slade, back when labels like Columbia would stick with East Coast rock bands who looked like baseball infields even if their LPs never hit the Billboard 200. Like Richard Bush of the A’s, Billy Paliselli has a classic adenoidal high register. But the title opener has him yelping Steve Tyler-style, “Scream” could be where Bryan Adams learned his best early ‘80s ideas, "Hey Boys" is archetypal bazooka bubblegum, and there’s a backwards-guitared Little Richard cover. Some say that, on stage, they had as much balls as the Dolls.

("Some" in that last sentence actually means "George", I think.)

Yeah, 157 Riverside Avenue probably still is in the current REO stage show. It certainly was on the first live album. I always thought the early band was essentially Gary Richrath's. So the less he did his guitar thang and the more successful they became, the less I liked them. Tuned out around 'Can't Tuna Piano" although I think the album just before it "REO," would make a great Sugarland album today.

I also liked the "Lost in a Dream" album, made in the studio Sly & the Family Stone were using. Sounds nothing like what everyone got used to REO sounding like although it is a good hard rock album. Live they gave Kiss a run for their money -- I saw one show -- until the fireworks smoked the stage. But without any hits and having as undistinguished singer in "Mike Murphy" as they did, they were just wasting time until Cronin was enticed back into the band.

Best stuff on the first Artful Dodger album -- which I liked best -- were the tunes "Wayside" and "Think Think" which had a gruff power pop quality. Probably one or both of them are on YouTube. Live, one of their better songs was a cover of "Showdown," prob'ly sparked by the New York Dolls although Artful D put a lot more Everly Brothers/early Stones into it.

Btw, George and others might be interesting in knowing that there are two murderous new Rufus Huff tracks ("Cocaine" and "Crazy Mama") on a new Zoho Roots compilation called Tribute To J J Cale Volume 1: The Vocal Sessions. Rest of the album (covers from Swamp Cabbage, Dixie Tabernacle, the Persuasions, etc.) isn't doing much for me, however. (Then again, it's not like I've ever been a huge JJ Cale fan, either.)

Also kinda liking Necessary Illusion, new blues-rock solo album (on Tarock Music) by Rick Shaffer from old Pennsy new-wavers The Reds.

This interview with Jesse James Dupree of Jackyl is pretty great.

i am a huge jj cale fan! that is all.

Favorite songs on that new Jackyl album so far are the slowest (countrified Cinderella-style post-Southern rock power ballad "When Moonshine And Dynamite Collide" a/k/a the title track) and fastest (biker boogie-metal closer "Full Throttle.") "My Moonshine Kicks Your Cocaine's Ass" and "Freight Train" also reasonably speedy; "Just Like A Negro" ridiculous -- "you know the brothers are the ones who started rock'n'roll, yeah" -- but maybe in an entertaining way and sorta funky (are the backup grunts supposed to represent jungle noises or something??); "Mercedes Benz" cover pointless and rather off-key. And I wish Dupree had more way with a tune. So basically, I'm on the fence.

aw, i like the rods.

I like 'em okay I guess. Had never listened to them before I got '82's Wild Dogs (their best, according to Popoff, because "there was still hope") for a buck last month; wish they went totally crazed (especially tempo-wise) like they do in the title track more often, but the rest is halfway fun in a totally dumbass way. (Jasper and Oliver: "Rumoured to heavily into sexism!!!," ha ha, their exclamation points not mine.) First two songs "Too Hot To Stop" and "Waiting For Tomorrow" maybe halfway catchy, and slightly pompy midtempo almost-ballad almost-anthem "End Of The Line" puts me in mind of early Def Leppard. I guess slowly covering the Supremes' "You Keep Me Hangin' On" means they were Vanilla Fudge fans. But they still have that kind of cold, ploddy, blues-drained brainlessness that really starts to bug me about bands like Priest in that era; saving grace is that they also seem a lot trashier than Priest. Was not aware that (possibly Jewish?) David "Rock" Feinstein was a cousin of Dio and a former Electric Elf until I read Jasper/Oliver. So were they considered NWOBHMers, or not?

Uh, I guess not, since they were apparently...American. Duh. (Wild Dogs was recorded and mixed in the U.K., but the bands's management was in Rochester, NY.) Other early LP covers on line look more street-dog punkish and Boyzz-like, and Popoff calls '81's self-titled "poverty metal", though he only gives it a 4; maybe I'd like that more? And they used to get compared to Motorhead?? Not really hearing that on this one.

Well, Wild Dogs has an actual (albeit three-headed, one more than the Roxy Erikson song!) street dog on the cover. But I meant some other LPs make the Rods look like greaser hoods. (Not sure why that makes me think I might like them more; just does.) (Also, learning that they were from in or around New York -- still haven't pinpointed where, exactly -- gives both my Jewish and Vanilla Fudge theories more credence, especially since the drummer went on to produce Anthrax. Though probably who I should really be associating with is Riot, right?)

(Roky Erickson I meant. Though Roxy Erickson might've been a cool idea --especially if Roky had joined when Eno was still in.)

Meanwhile, I've pretty much conclusively decided that Yesterday & Today' self-titled debut is one of my favorite metal albums of all time -- or at very least, with Riot's Rock City, one of the mid/late '70s metal albums that I most cluelessly left out of my metal book even though I don't think anybody who's ever whined about what's included and not in that book has ever mentioned them. Curious what people think Yesterday & Today's heavy sonic predecessors are -- near as I can tell, there's no Sabbath or Zeppelin in their sound here at all. Maybe a perfect meeting of Deep Purple's British precision with Grand Funk's manly mid-American groove? I swear, the drumming and singing, especially, just kill on this record, and it is relentless in its power, its rhythm, its tunefulness, you name it. George is right about "Alcohol"; totally should have been the frat-rock drunkalong hit of '76. But that's an anomaly, and so is the totally fucking gorgeous psychedelic blues ballad, "My Heart Plays Too," at the end of Side One. Popoff calls them "spiritual Grandpa" to Van Halen, and yeah, I was definitely thinking the same thing, although the first couple VH albums had a certain Top 40 pop sense that these guys didn't seem to have to bother with. (Not saying one's better than the other; the philosophies are just different. But there are definite sonic similarities, maybe even more to VH's third and fourth albums.) But like I said, I'm more interested in where Y&T's sound came from. And also how a band that started this mature apparently just wound up backpeddling from there (judging from what people say about their later albums, anyway.)

Better late than never. I thought the record was great. Bought it because it was reviewed in a Billbaord with a little pic of the album cover originally.

Leonard Haze, drummer, was one secret weapon. He was always fireballing and with groove. Meniketti is pretty much a blues rock guitar player, no gimmicks, but right on top of a the high energy tone you could get from a Les Paul straight into a Marshall. "Ima mean earthshakuh, baby; A cold cold heartbreakuh, yeah." The lyrics aren't spectacular but when you throw the execution on top of the drums and riff on that tune, it's pretty great stuff.

There's a trio of albums - Earthshaker, Black Tiger and Meanstreak which are pretty consistant.
So with Struck Down and the debut, that makes five albums which are never less than above average to vry good.

They didn't have much of an image and when they tried for one it was always not quite right. They didn't really get a single until "Summertime Girls" and that wasn't representative of their best material.

And they certainly didn't have any colorful personality like David Lee Roth.

None of these are sins. But they didn't get quite the mileage they deserved for being so expert and out their by themselves on the first album. Like Riot. Like about half a dozen others from the period.

Curious who you'd think the other half dozen or so are, actually. (Though maybe I could figure it out myself if I gave it some thought -- or pull out the list of recommended albums you sent me a couple decades ago, when I was mapping out my metal book. Still have it somewhere, I think.) Anyway, "one of my favorite metal albums of all time" probably overstates the case; just mean it'd place high somewhere in Stairway, if I had to do the book over again. And right, I don't pay attention to the lyrics much, give or take "Alcohol"; it's the overall command of the band's playing and metalcraft that blows me away. And yeah, also occurred to me a few hours after posting that Y&T lacked a Roth, or an Eddie for that matter, to ensure pop-culture visibility.

Been wanting to defend Babe Ruth's Kids Stuff, from 1976 -- after Janita Haan and Alan Shacklock had left -- but I'd be pushing my luck. Funk ("Oh! Dear What A Shame") and disco ("Sweet, Sweet Surrender," "Oh! Doctor") moves toward the starts of sides don't have much rock in them, and are tentative even for their adopted genres (plus, Babe Ruth had way more groove early on, when they were heavier.) Too many ballads, too. But toward the end, things finally kick in, with Ellie Hope doing a tough Joplin in the hard funky rocker "Keep Your Distance," which builds to an really cool extended breakbeat. And then LP closer "Living A Lie" is a fairly explosive guitar ballad. So, maybe worth a buck for "Keep Your Distance" alone, but not worth much more.

was gonna post something last night but i fell asleep. was also gonna point out that Y&T had no diamond dave. or great songs, really. always thought of the 70's stuff as good to sometimes great, but also somewhat faceless. they were the new breed though, like van halen. and they, like vh and and scorps and ufo and priest, would inspire the modern metal warriors to come.

Yeah, supposedly Metallica (or at least Lars?) were big Y&T fans. Pretty sure I read that someplace once, anyway.

their second album is even more metal.

speaking of 1977, do you even own a copy of sin after sin by judas priest, chuck? just wondering.

Yes! I have it on CD, a Columbia/Legacy pressing from 1981 with bonus tracks "Race With the Eveil" and "Jawbreaker (Live)". It is the one Priest album I actually like. (Which isn't to say I might not like more of their earlier ones, if I explored them more. Though then again, I might not. I have no use for most Judas Priest I've heard, obviously.)

("Race With The Devil," duh.)

Almost bought a vinyl copy of Rocka Rolla at a garage sale a couple weeks ago, actually. Probably I should have. (Was thinking it was 1984 not 1974, unfortunately -- maybe it was a reissue too? Robot monster cover, not the one with the bottlecap. Assume I'm more likely to like what those guys were doing in the '70s. I should've bought it.)

(And obviously the CD Sin After Sin pressing is 2001, not 1981.)

you should own a copy of hell bent for leather too.

HEY CHECK THIS OUT! trailer for the barry richards t.v. show collection on dvd. BOB SEGER SYSTEM footage about five minutes in but there is a ton of awesome stuff on this thing. i gotta get one.

http://www.youtube.com/user/WDCAfan#p/a/u/0/xv9dBcTlQa8

want the entire humble pie segment they filmed!!!!! ahhhhhhh!!!!!!!

Btw, should mention that I definitely over-estimated the rock quotient of Sparks' Propaganda upthread -- loud-ish guitars in "Who Don't Like Kids," maybe "Don't Leave Me Alone With Her" and the rather Queen-pomped "At Home, At Work, At Play," but that's about it; guessing that's less than on Woofer In Tweeter's Clothing, maybe Kimono My House, though I'll go back and check those eventually. Still like the album's arch weirdo energy -- especially "Achoo," best anthem for hay-fever season I know -- but I understand if other people cringe at it. (I stop caring about them after the '70s, basically.)

I used to wear a Yesterday and Today logo T-shirt back in the day, promo for their '76 debut -- although I'm not entirely sure I ever had or heard the LP. Can't recall a note of it, and funnily enough I had no idea they were the same band as Y&T (but I never paid any attention to Y&T.)

And yeah, I only keep Babe Ruth's "Kid Stuff" LP because I collected all the previous stuff. After Haan and Shacklock left they really blanded out.

Woofer In Tweeter's Clothing, maybe Kimono My House

Hint: Check Big Beat, when the Maels raided the Tuff Darts for guitarist Jeff Salen. "Fill 'Er Up," "Throw Her Away & Get a New One," "Everybody's Stupid," "I Like Girls" (hilariously unconvincing), and "I Bought the Mississippi River."

Re xhuxk's query about bands/artists way out in front, as per one example, similar to Y&T:

Pat Travers.

His first four solo albums, particularly the debut and Putting it Straight and Heat In the Street from 77 and 78 were special. You really ought to hear "Life in London," "It Ain't What It Seems" and "Speakeasy," all from Putting It Straight, and "Makes No Difference" from the debut.

Travers first had Nicko McBrain in his band, then Tommy Aldridge. It wasn't until '80 that he had his hit with "Snortin' Whiskey" and by that time his best work was behind him, although Radioactive from the next year had an excellent first side.

He's also known for his cover of Little Walter's "Boom Boom (Out Go the Lights)" which was on the debut.
Along with a fine version of "Hot Rod Lincoln."

live version of boom boom is still my go-to song for when i want to, i dunno, pillage a neighboring town? steal some sheep? it never fails to invigorate from head to toe.

Hi. The new Meat Loaf album is fabulous. That is all.

Went and saw Iron Man 2 today. More than decent movie, best when Robert Downey is being Tony Stark around his cast of supporting actors and actresses, rather than the superhero stuff. Was my favorite comic as a kid and Downey plays Stark as having way more of a funnybone than he ever did, but less the bruised alcoholic.

The AC/DC record accompanying it is not really a best of. But the programming is cool. As a paste-up/fix-up AC/DC record, it doesn't have a bad moment. Plus it includes a lot of live video from a variety of concert dates, much less than Family Jewels, but much easier to absorb in one sit with a few beers,

While AC/DC are becoming ugly but entertaining looking old men, Mickey Rourke is working at being the best physical ogre in acting. He gets more vile looking with every movie -- the tattoos, fake gold teeth and diseased hair, working hard at being a Gorgon.

Stormy Davis on the I Love Vinyl board. I don't even own my Silverhead LP (the one in Starway) anymore, but maybe George knows the answer...

I picked up the Detective after reading you guys on the Expiry thread. I was always somewhat curious about them because of the Swan Song connection, but always passed it over even though it's a perennial dollar record. Well, this time I decided to pay the dollar and I'm really glad I did! pretty top-heavy -- the first two tunes are probably my favorite. But a keeper nonetheless. Des Barres's blatant adoption of Robert Plant's style is pretty funny -- he didn't sound that way on the Silverhead records, did he?? It's been a while since I played mine

On the first Silverhead record he sounded like Steve Marriott. Quite a bit on 16 & Savaged, too.

Half the first Detective record was produced by Jimmy Page using a pseudonym, so maybe Pagey was egging him on. The drums on some of those tunes certainly have a Bonham-like feel.

Been very much enjoying quasi-superpowertrio St. Paradise's self-titled '79 LP -- their first and only, I believe -- for the past couple weeks as slickly boogiefied turn of '80s post-Foreigner corporate hard rock. Band is singer Derek St. Holmes ex of Nugent's band (also on guitar); Rob Grange who played bass for the Nuge; and Montrose/Hagar/ Heart drummer Denny Carmassi. At least one track got played on Detroit AOR that year (I remember the band showing up in weekly countdowns), though damned if I can be sure which one -- best guess is "Live It Up," a dumbbell but Diddley-beated weekend party rocker that Nugent gets co-songwriting credit for, though maybe that just sounds familiar because he'd done it himself on Cat Scratch Fever. That starts Side Two; both sides advance from basic catchy medium-weight butt-rock to heavier and tricker cuts -- namely "Miami Slide" (funkiest track, about viceful sleazeballs with spoons under their noses and gold chains) and "Hades" (not as frightening its name suggests, but then neither were Styx) at the end of Side One and the incrementally proggier "Tighten the Knot" then "Beside The Sea" (only two cuts over five minutes) at album's end. Attempts at mythic songwriting don't exactly stick, yet do manage to add some melodrama somehow. A minor album, but extremely listenable.

Oh yeah, also worth mentioning that second song on the album, "Gamblin' Man," sounds more like Bob Seger's "Travelin' Man" than "Ramblin' Gamblin' Man." And St. Paradise also do a song called "Jesse James," though not the Woody Guthrie one Bob did on Smokin' O.P.'s.

Given the album covers w/his art on 'em (Molly Hatchet, Nazareth, Dust, Wolfmother), it bears mentioning in this thread that painter Frank Frazetta died today. I put a selection of his album art on my MSN metal blog.

One of his family homes is in Monroe County, Pennsyltucky.

Interestingly, on the St. Paradise record St. Holmes does "Live It Up" as a Bo Diddley tune with a couple gospel-like singers on the chorus. Plus he drops a bit of a reggae break into the bridge. It's a hard rock tune but I can see Tedly forbidding him to play it that way for a Nugent album.

Post Ted Nugent I thought this album was a bit lightweight, squandering an opportunity. However, it's certainly aged better than most of the Nuge's sans-St. Holmes LPs from the same period.