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Live And Uncensored
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"Dr. Dreary" Bassist Dennis Dunaway's Adventures In The Alice Cooper Group Steel Notes Magazine www.steelnotesmagazine.com
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Steel Notes Magazine
February 2017
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INSIDE February 2017
FEATURED
4 "Dr. Dreary" Bassist Dennis Dunaway's 23 40 46 50 54 58 61 62 70 74 84 89 90 92 94 96 100 104
122 125 127
ADMINISTRATIVE
Adventures In The Alice Cooper Group NAMM Show 2017 Coverage Alexxis SteelePublisher/Editor-InThe Whirling Worldz of Marlowe B West Chief Presentz an interview w Rudolph Valentino Guido ColacciSteel Notes Live At The Jetport: Chuck Assistant Editor Bazemore, Johnny Bamboo, Nate Moran Live And Uncensored With Drama 610 Artist Mick ReynoldsProofreader/Copy Spotlight: Bonnie Benji Editor Save The Hippies Love is Around the Corner By Jerry Saravia Jeffrey HeldDesign/Layout/Cover Bongo Boy Album Release Schedule Q1 2017 Bongo Boy Out of the Garage Vol 3 Revew Josie Janci Bongo Boy Best Song Winners 2016 VP of Business Development Josie Around Town Punk Rock On The Block Scholar Singer-Songwriter Making Her Mark PHOTOGRAPHERS Remembering Dimebag Darrell Last Gentlemen Smuggler Book Excerpt By Alan Ottenstein Bill Des Jardins Nikki Palomino Bob Klein Valentine Poetry by Dylan Brian Azar Love Poems by Rex Brian Limage Brian Matus Bongo Boy TV S6e1 Review Brian Smith Bongo Boy TV S6e2 Review Dave Hummell
109 Interview With Scorpions Motorhead 114 116 118 120
STEEL NOTES MAGAZINE STAFF LISTING
Derek Mitch Gary Preis Larry Dell Renee Jahnke Ron Shirey Sheri Bayne Travis Eisenhard
Drummer Mikkey Dee The Grouch Says: Gar Francis Album Review Drop Of Rage By Ines Honig from Germany We Fail More Than We Think Canadian Recording Artist Kyla Lynn VIDEOGRAPHERS Vezina Single Release Onalaska Washington State Winter Lisa Koza Pictorial Larry Dell Bev Charlotte Kurtz Rock Your Way Jewelry Poetry By Yvonne Sotomayor
STAFF WRITERS Alexxis Steele Alessia Bastianelli Bob Klein Constance Steele Crystal Chanel Ciccone DC Ryder Dana Saravia Daniel Diefenderfer Drama D Dylan McIntyre Foxxy Roxxy Guido Colacchi Inès Honig JR Muffley JennyCat Jerry Saravia Johnny Gibbs Jr Peterson Karma Moonbeam Kelly Mitch Luca Cerardi Marlowe B. West Matt Roman Mick Reynolds Mike Dorn Monique Grimme Nikki Palomino Noah J Gambino Patrick Campbell Rex Maurice Oppenheimer Rick Dessi Scott Aber Scott Saxon Sheri Bayne Stewart Brodian Stormy Boz Tanya Green The Grouch The Gypsy Poet Todd Sobczak Tony Angelo Traci Dunton Shaw Victor Colicchio Yvonne Sotomayor
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Steel Notes Magazine
Part One
February 2017
Interview with original Alice Cooper bassist Dennis Dunaway, “Dr. Dreary” By Alexxis Steele
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Rockin' Out 2009 photo by Len Delessio
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Alexxis: How are you doing tonight, Dennis? Dennis: Good Alexxis. How about yourself? Alexxis: Great I’m glad to have you. Dennis, you are originally you’re from Cottage Grove, Oregon? And you moved to Phoenix, Arizona during your High School years? Dennis: Yes. My family migrated there in 1951 and I was only about 6 years old. Alexxis: Ok, so that’s where you met the young Vincent Furnier, who you were in Cross Country with and you were in an art class together too, right? Dennis: Yes, and Journalism class. [Laughter] Alexxis: Journalism class as well, that’s right I remember. Tell me about your dream books and diaries that you kept and how you actually got the name “Dr. Dreary”. Dennis: The name came from Alice because I used to be extremely quiet all I did was think about artistic things and what the band would do next and things like that. So I was very quiet like everyone else but Alice would be joking around and the jokes would be flying back and forth and all of a sudden I would come up with a joke that would tend to be very abstract and everything would come to a screeching halt while people tried to figure out what that meant. And Alice would say “I think Dennis is having a heartbeat.” [Laughter] Anyway, because I also tended to lean toward the darker side like ‘Black Ju Ju’ and the darker side of the Alice character came up mostly from my inclination towards you know, dark subjects and minor chords in songs. So Alice tagged me with “Dr. Dreary”. Now when we were on the road, you know on a different time zone every night sort of, I would keep waking up in the middle of the night. I would have a dream and I would wake up and I got in the habit of just always keeping a notebook by the side of the bed and a pencil and I’d just write down, I tried to sort of come awake enough to make it into some sort of an abstract poem. I wrote a lot of these, I have probably I don’t know, five or six different books full of these dream poems. And there were even times when I would wake up and I’d look at this and I didn’t even remember writing it at all but it was written in my handwriting. These dream poems would be referenced for Alice when we were working on lyrics and he was trying to think of an idea or whatever he would just page through these dream poems and he would see something that would trigger, an inspiration for him and a lot of the dream poems pop up here and there throughout our songs. Alexxis: Hmm, interesting... Were they sentences or phrases that you used? Dennis: It was pretty much a full page . I would write and then usually the dream would fade as soon as I woke up but say like um the best example I think would be the song “Killer.” Because I had a dream that I was floating along, kind of like a Chagall painting, you know where the characters are floating in the air. So I was sort of floating along next to this guy who was walking down the hallway to be executed. He was on Death Row. And I could hear his thoughts. And you know, what I wrote down pretty much word for word with a few changes here and there uh was the lyrics for “Killer.” Alexxis: So all of these came to you in your dreams, and you had very vivid dreams I guess, [Laughter] right? Dennis: They were the very dreams that inspired poems before I woke up. [Laughter] Alexxis: So now did you ever think to actually publish them as poems? Dennis: No, no. They’re too abstract. I mean it’s like, E. E. Cummings could get away with it. But let’s face it, how many people buy poetry books and they’re pretty abstract. When you start reading through them, I don’t know, they’re really hard to relate to most of them.
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Steel Notes Magazine Alexxis: Ok, gotcha! Dennis: You know, they’re very disjointed. It’s like when somebody tells you about their dream that they had and it doesn’t make any sense. Dennis: So these are like that. It’s just me telling people dreams and you know most of them aren’t that coherent. Some of them are. And some of them are only coherent because it started out by me being inspired by the dream while I was just sort of waking up enough to be able to write something down and then as I started waking up more then it started turning into more of a conscious effort to make it more coherent. Therefore, the dream would fade you know or the veil would cover your mind or whatever. So you know dreams can dissipate as soon as you start to wake up.
February 2017
Alexxis: [Laughter] Dennis: So when we decided to start a band that was an artistic idea. We wanted to incorporate these ideas of things going on, a crazy hell’s a popping kind of experience with the band and that’s really the root of what we ended up doing. Alexxis: So basically it was pretty much always your dream to turn your inventions of your art world and apply it to the rock band?
Dennis: Right. It wasn’t easy to find these other guys who could play instruments like Glen Buxton who was a tough guy from Ohio, you know? Our drummer was a tough guy on the cross country team, so to talk them into doing these ideas, wasn’t easy. You know when Michael Bruce got in the band, he didn't want to have much to do with Alexxis: Oh yeah. it. He was like a football player and he liked bands like The Salvador Dali Dennis: Once in awhile there Buckinghams and more clean is a very vivid one. You know cut kind of groups. The only everybody has vivid dreams thing that helped us talk them and people have recurring into doing these ideas is that we dreams as well, so this is what it was. It was me in the middle of were having so much fun with it. Of course Alice and I together the night and I actually sort of trained myself to wake up whenev- were very persistent and overly enthusiastic about it to where it er I would have a dream I would sort of wake up enough to write was hard to say no. something down. You know there was very little sleep anyway out [Laughter] So, the next thing you know we did a Halloween on the road back in those days. Dance in 1965, and we had a guillotine on stage, giant spider webs, and coffins. Alexxis: Oh, I’m sure! So you and Alice actually had a mutual admiration of art from artists like Salvador Dali, right? Alexxis: Now was that when you had the Spiders or was that the Earwigs? Dennis: Right. We liked Chagall, Picasso, Dali and also all of the pop artists and everything that was coming out of New York City. Dennis: This was actually still The Earwigs at that point, but when We liked happenings and I don’t know if you are familiar with we became “The Spiders” we used the same spiderwebs on our this picture but most people who have seen it would remember stage and we called it “The Spider Sanctum.” it. But it’s Salvador Dali and somebody throws a bucket of water then somebody throws a cat and with all these things the camera stops them in mid air. And Dali is in the middle he’s like jumping Alexxis: Sounds cool. up and this water is frozen in the air in front of him and the cats flying across and everything. So we liked the concept of that. Dennis: This guy that ran the popular club in Phoenix, Arizona at the time and was very kind, I always thought of him like Dick Alexxis: Yes that was very avant garde! Clark, you know the wholesome kind of clean-cut guy who wants to know what’s popular with the kids. What’s this weeks flavor Dennis: Things were going on in New York City at the time, Andy of what kind of music they like and all of that, but he was radio Warhol, Pop Art and when I was nothing but an artist, that’s all savvy. So we would come up with crazy ideas and he would come I cared about ever since I could remember. In grade school a lot up with crazy ideas and then he’d just plug them like crazy with of kids didn’t even know my name, they called me “The Artist” or radio spots all week long. The Spider Sanctum, that was his idea. ‘The Artiste’. We decided we were going to build a stage and the next thing you know on the radio all week long we hear “The Spider Sanctum..
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Sanctum..Sanctum” on big echo and everything.” [Laughter] Alexxis: [Laughter]I love it! Dennis: And we’re like Jack what’s the “The Spider Sanctum?” (Jack Curtis was his name).He would say, “I don’t know. I have no idea but you guys are going to build it by this weekend.” [Laughter] Alexxis: Oh geez. [Laughter] Dennis: So here you had The Three Stooges, you had The Five Stooges with lumber and all kinds of stuff and swiping curtains out of the back room at the club. Then Alice and I decided ok well then we’ll be called “The Spiders,” we’ll wear black turtlenecks. I painted a big tarantula on the drumhead and the paint was still wet when we played our first gig and we got clothesline and we made a big spider web and we made a big spider web on the front of the stage. So people had to look inside the spider web and then we were inside there and the guy had search lights, Jack Curtis had search lights out in the parking lot, going across the sky of Phoenix and the parking lot was the turnaround point from the main drag and it was very much like “American Graffiti.” The movie where all the hot rods would come cruising through the parking lot of the V.I.P. club and heading back up the strip to the A&W Root Beer place and then turn around and come back down. And there would be surfers, there would be pickups with Cowboys and there would be hot rods and all kinds of things. It was really happening, it was the place to be and and because we were the house band. Alexxis: That was at the V.I.P. Lounge right?
there and they would play on the stage at the other end of the room and then when they were done playing then The Spiders Sanctum, the lights would start flashing and everybody would turn around, so we were quite popular at the time. Alexxis: I bet! [Laughter] So what did the other bands think of it that were performing? Dennis: Well, you know we opened for The Yardbirds in 1966. I have a photograph of the marquee out by the VIP Lounge that say The Spiders up on the top of the marquee and below us it says The Yardbirds. [Laughter] Most people didn’t know who they were yet. Alexxis: Yeah, I actually just saw The Yardbirds a couple months ago. Dennis: Ah, great. Alexxis: I was there covering the show courtesy of Bongo Boy Records that I’m associated with and they were playing at Musikfest Cafe here in Bethlehem. But of course that’s not the original line up anymore. Dennis: Well it’s original Drummer Jim McCarthy. Alexxis: Original drummer, yes Dennis: Yeah. And I have a picture of him reading my book. [Laughter] Alexxis: Oh! Do you? Dennis: Yes, Cindy has been friends with him since the early early days. Cindy would go, and has posters he gave her from the Fillmore and she was actually with him at a hotel the night Jeff Beck quit the group. [Laughter]
Alice and Dennis photo booth Phoenix, Arizona 1964 courtesy of Dennis Dunaway
Dennis: Yes, at the V.I.P. Lounge. Exactly. It was actually The Jaycees. “The Phoenix Jaycees,” they put on rodeos and stuff. It was their place that Jack rented out for weekends and, it was supposed to hold 900 kids but we would pack 1,000 in there every weekend for two nights every weekend. The Spiders would do at least two sets and then other bands that were up and coming like The Birds or even British bands, The Yardbirds and Bobby Fuller Four. All kinds of great bands would come through
Alexxis: Wow,that is awesome!
Dennis: Yes,so she’s known Jim for a lot of years. We went to a club with him, Keith Relf, his wife, and Jim McCarthy and his wife in London. We went to a Blues club with them and after the show it was the wee hours of the morning and we came outside and of course it was London so there was drizzling rain and everything and there were no cabs coming by. So they came out of the club and saw us standing out there and Cindy was shivering and so Keith Relf ’s wife took off her fur coat and gave it to Cindy.
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Steel Notes Magazine She insisted that Cindy take it, she said “I’m a Londoner I’m used to it. I don’t need the coat.”
February 2017
this particular one night we were all together, toilet paper was the theme. So we came out wrapped in toilet paper like mummies and then we threw toilet paper into the crowd and stuff like that. Alexxis: That was very nice of her. We tried to have a different theme every set that we did. So two sets a night we needed Dennis: And Cindy still four themes, you know has that coat. rolling tires across the stage or whatever. And Alexxis: Very cool! anyway, this particular night that The Yardbirds Dennis: Actually, it’s actuwere there we decided to ally kind of like the coat use plastic forks and stick you have on in the picture plastic forks in our hair. with Glen Buxton from Glen took the silverware “The Billion Dollar Babies” tray out of the kitchen era. and that’s when he started playing slide guitar with Alexxis: Oh so like my the spoon. Well, Glen white furry one? [Laughter] was using the silverware for various things during Dennis: Right. Except hers, the show, and Jeff Beck the one that Cindy got is loved that. So during the brown. But it’s fuzzy like break, we went outthat. side because it’s always really hot in the club. So Alexxis: Awesome! That was everybody would go out a very popular jacket back into the parking lot and then. then come back for the BDB Alexxis With Glen Buxton And White Fur Jacket headliner band. Well, After Party 1973 Dennis: It’s not real fur, its Jeff Beck had come over faux fur. to The Spider Sanctum and swiped that tray of silverware and took it back and he was usAlexxis: Mine was fake fur too. ing the spoons. He was playing his Telecaster guitar, the same one that’s in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and he was throwing his Dennis: But anyway so now here we are at the V.I.P. The Yardspoons and they would bounce off of the strings. So he actually birds are brand new, they’re our heroes from the first time we put swiped Glen’s gig that night. on their record and heard those guitar parts and everything. And [Laughter] you know the bass player Paul Samwell-Smith was my biggest influence. When I heard him play, I realized that the bass didn’t Alexxis: Oh wow! [Laughter] have to do anything in particular. That you could really be inventive. And so that gave me the courage to go out and make up bass Dennis: So we went backstage and said “So what did you think of runs that people wouldn’t do or whatever. But when we opened us opening with your songs?” And they were like “Well”.. I talked for The Yardbirds, we had already learned a bunch of their songs to Jeff Beck and Alice told me the same things, similar converbecause we sent away to England and got their album. So when sations. Years later I told Jeff Beck, “We’re the band in Phoenix, we opened for them we played a bunch of their songs before they Arizona, and he said “I know, I remember that gig.” We’re flying came on stage. [Laughter] in and we’re thinking nobody is going to know who we are, we had never even seen a cactus before. They’re in the middle of the Alexxis: Hahahah desert and they go to this club and the opening band plays their songs. [Laughter] Dennis: We used to have these theatrical themes incorporating art into the band. One night we would have televisions on stage, Alexxis: Oh no. [Laughter] another night we would have a bathtub from when they were redecorating the bathroom at the club and the old iron bathtub Dennis: He said he remembered it. [Laughter] You know we with the feet. Alice was standing in the front pointing like George were just kids, we thought we would do a tribute to our hero. We Washington crossing the Delaware and we would haul this thing didn’t realize we were being rude. We did those songs pretty well through the crowd onto the stage. [Laughter] We did our show but nothing like The Yardbirds did you know. and then Alice got back into the tub and we hurled it back. Well
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Alexxis: Oh yes, so that was still The Spiders you were talking about, right? Dennis: Still The Spiders. Yeah. Dennis: But the theatrics were getting more and more elaborate at that point. Alexxis: Glen and Alice’s dad both helped make some of those theatrical stage things, didn’t they? Dennis: Well, they came down and kind of talked about their work while they brought lumber down. More like this guy named Scott Ward, who was a photographer from Cortez High School. His dad is the one who made the guillotine for us and I think his Dad actually helped us work more. Alice’s dad and Glen’s dad were there while we built the Spider Sanctum, but they were more locked into conversation about their researches I recall. Alexxis: [Laughter] Fun times!
Steel Notes Magazine Alexxis: Until you saw Todd Rundgren. [Laughter] Right? Dennis: Yeah, I mean we built the name. We were getting a good reputation playing for The Doors and all kinds of bands in Los Angeles, so by now we had migrated and we had become the house band at this club,The Cheetah Club, which was out on the pier right next to Pacific Ocean Park. So this place was gigantic and it was made famous by Lawrence Welk in the 30’s to broadcast radio show from there and it made the venue famous and it made Lawrence Welk famous. Anyway, we migrated to California and we built the name The Nazz, we had a pretty good reputation and then we heard about this other band from Philadelphia or wherever they were from, Philadelphia right? Alexxis: Yes, Philadelphia. Dennis: Oh yeah. Alexxis: [Laughter] Dennis: Ok, well this time we really had to come up with a name that nobody would think of. So we were coming up with all kinds of things you know. I don't know what, the craziest names you could think of.. Alexxis: Now was, this was at the point that where Neal had joined the band?
Dennis: You know the stages, we built in such a hurry. We found this Dennis: Yes, by this point Neal Dennis Dunaway, Neal Smith, Alice Cooper, Michael carpet in the back room joined when we were still The Nazz Bruce and Glen Buxton at the Landmark Hotel Hollyso we covered it because in 67. And soon after Neal joined we wood 1968 photo by Craig Folkes we didn’t have enough decided to change our name again wood to fill in everything and we came up with Alice Cooper. so there were two places on the stage where you didn’t want to step but we put carpet over it Alexxis: That’s when you were hanging out at the house of the girl and then we had Go-Go Girls in the corner of the stage and we from The Weeds of Idleness. had to tell them, “Ok well when you dance make sure you don’t dance over here because you might fall through.” [Laughter] Dennis: Right. The Weeds of Idleness. [Laughter] Alexxis: Oh wow that could have been a disaster! Dennis: Yeah! We didn’t have that much supervision and were just winging it. Alexxis: Now you had started out with The Earwigs, you wound up having to change the name of that band because someone else came out with it. Then when you changed it to The Spiders, a signed Japanese group released an album so you had to change it again. Then you changed it to The Nazz right? Dennis: Yes,we thought The Nazz was a name that nobody had.
Dennis: Now that’s a great name! We should have taken their name! Alexxis: Right now especially with pot being legalized all over, it would definitely be a good name. [Laughter] Dennis: Well we were also in Arizona and on the border where everything came across. But, the Weeds of Idleness was a perfect name for them because it was three girls that had a little house in Phoenix and they had equipment set up in their living room but we never saw them play a note, so the Weeds of Idleness was a perfect name for them.
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Dennis: We would hang out over there because they would be up late and we could go and think of crazy ideas and not have to worry about anybody criticizing us. So the name Alice Cooper was going to be it for me because anything that anybody said after that kind of failed in comparison. Alexxis: And that’s the Ouija board story right? Dennis: Not yet. Alexxis: Ok. Dennis: So I went home that night and when I walked in the door my parents said “Oh hi, what were you doing?” And I told them “well we stayed late because we had to come up with a new name for the band.” They said “Oh, what is it?” And when I said “Alice Cooper” the expression on both of their faces was like— [Laughter]
body wants to know about where the name came from! You know because there’s so many stories out there, and like you said everybody remembers it differently. Dennis: Right, well Alice said he wanted an American name and he wanted it to be like Lizzie Borden. Alexxis: Right and the story is that somebody said Alice Cooper was a witch. That was also going around. That Alice was a witch in Salem or something. Dennis: When we moved to L.A. somebody told me there were 3,000 bands that didn’t have jobs. I mean ok then what’s our story? We were always thinking how are we going to get attention? How are we going to be different? What are we going to do that somebody will write about or people will talk about, so that really drove most of our ideas. Dennis: We went to L.A. and the Alice Cooper group wanted to be different in every way that we could possibly be different. Now, the way we dressed and the name was important for that because we wanted to be shocking to people and we wanted people to talk about us. We wanted them to leave whether they liked us or not, we didn’t want anybody to be indifferent, nothing in the middle. You either hated us or loved us, and the name did that you know? That’s one of the reasons from my parent’s expressions, I’m thinking we can shock people before we even walk in the door. [Laughter]
Alexxis: Yeah, that their mouth’s dropped! Dennis: Yeah that reaction sold me. So now the next night when we went back, we were at The Weeds of Idleness house again, and now I’m on Alice’s side. Now we’re really pushing for this to be the name of the band. And everybody said well we need a name that’s for the whole band you know. And we decided ok, they said we’ll do it providing that’s the name of the band and everybody agreed including Alice. It’ll be the name of the band. And it still sort was not totally a done deal, and somebody had a Ouija board and Alice and this other guy who worked for us was really was pushing for the name. They operated the Ouija board, so I think it was rigged! [Laughter] Alexxis: [Laughter] Yeah, sounds like it right?
Alexxis: That’s right!
Pretties For You Promotional Photo 1969
Dennis: But it spelled out Alice Cooper. Yes everybody remembers it differently but I remember it. We didn’t get the name from the Ouija board, the Ouija board was sort of a tool for the guys that wanted that to be the name of the band to convince the others. Alexxis: Yeah, absolutely. So that’s the real story of what every-
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Dennis: You know these five guys called Alice Cooper and that’s when we also decided that we would dress in more androgynous styles and Neal’s sister, who I ended up marrying, she knew where to find these shiny fabrics. And also our friends were The GTO’s who dressed flamboyantly. Alexxis: Miss Mercy.
Dennis: And they turned us onto the local scene, but we knew where the thrift stores were in Phoenix, we’d go the thrift stores and we’d go to the women’s section because there tended to be shirts that were blouses that had the button backwards but we could dress more outrageously. When we got to L.A. the GTO’s showed us where this great thrift store was and that’s where Alice bought the ice skaters outfit, which is what he’s wearing on the cover of Pretties For You. The rest of the stuff is pretty much stuff
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that either Cindy coordinated or she bought the fabric and made the outfits because we had no money. Alexxis: She designed most of the costumes during the course of the band being together? Dennis: Yes, every album cover except “Muscle of Love” because we had the sailor suits on. Even though she did the sailor suits for the live performances and she did the white satin sailor suits. All of the album covers have stuff that she made and all of the stage shows had outfits that she made and not only that but she kind of kept all of our street clothes together which when we were walking down the street in L.A. we dressed crazier than most bands dressed on stage. Alexxis: But it got attention! Dennis: But that was that era, you know. We were just pushing the boundaries and that’s what artists do. You have Jimi Hendrix who dressed very flamboyant with colorful outfits. We would run into him in L.A. and the running joke between us is that we’d be dressed all crazy and we’d kind of like surround him and make fun of what he was wearing, which he thought was really funny. We’d say “Hey, what the heck are you wearing man?” [Laughter] Alexxis: Yeah, that was the beginning of Glam Rock right? Dennis: Yeah, I mean if you don’t count Little Richard and Liberace or whatever but we did it a little bit differently because we did it with this androgynous look and with this name you know. So that took an end, and also if we had performed and kind of made a joke out of it, it would have came off completely different. But when we were on stage we had this very serious delivery. Alexxis: Absolutely! Dennis: Even though there were a lot of things that would be comical, it didn’t come off that way. They came off more like this Salvador Dali picture I was telling you about where the cats were flying through the air and everything. That’s what we were going for. It was a Dali art happening. It was an assault on your senses and we wanted people to walk out trying to figure out what they had seen. We wanted people to tell their friends “Oh you got to come and see this band, you got to see what they do.” And then when they bring their friend, we’re doing something completely different so it kept evolving very fast. And most of the stuff—Alexxis: Kept them guessing. What are you going to do next, to top what you did before. Dennis: Exactly. And so if there was some kind of a weird thing sitting back stage or even out in the alley we’d grab the garbage cans or we’d grab a couple of tires and we’d just bring them on stage. It was very spontaneous and then you know we decided because people didn’t like us in L.A. a lot of people would walk out
and they’d yell insults and line up at the exits and so we decided we were going to incorporate the audience into the performance. So that’s where putting mirrors on my bass shining spotlight on it and this reflection would go out into the audience and we’d rip open feather pillows and spray the feathers all over the audience and we’d throw these giant weather balloons into the audience. And all that stuff was suddenly breaking down the barrier, we were not a separate entity in the room that everyone can target. They were part of this thing that’s happening you know if you don’t like us and here comes this giant balloon and all of a sudden you have fun you’re bouncing it around or whatever, we would win people over that way. How can they criticize us if they’re in the show? [Laughter] That was our philosophy behind it anyway. It eventually worked , but we had a lot of years where there was a lot of convincing because people thought bands had to be doing a particular thing. And also because they thought if you do theatrics, it’s a crutch and you’re trying to hide the fact that you can’t play. Alexxis: Right, but that was not really true in the case of your band! Dennis: Well you know, we did two albums before we actually learned how to play. [Laughter] Even though we weren't bad when we were a cover band in Phoenix but when we started writing new material, it was very abstract and it was more of an artistic statement than we were proving that we could play like other people.On the ‘ Love It to Death’ album, we had learned how to play and we had learned how to write songs, but mostly Michael Bruce learned how to write relatable hit songs and it was a whole different ball game. All of a sudden we wrote “Halo of Flies” specifically to prove to people that we could play. Alexxis: So originally, Glen Buxton was teaching you wasn’t he? In the early days back in high school he was teaching you guitar and kind of by default you had to play bass because all the other instruments were already taken. Dennis: [Laughter] That’s right. Alexxis: [Laughter] Dennis: Yeah Glen was the only guy who knew how to play. We started a band even before we knew what instruments we were going to play. Dennis: I would go over to Glen’s house we’d drop the needle on a record and he’d help me sort out bass notes and he taught me the names of notes and where they fell on the neck and we’d spend afternoons just learning songs. We learned a lot of songs because when we were at the V.I.P. we’d do four sets a weekend and we not only wanted the show to be visually different, every weekend we wanted to introduce new songs that we had learned. So we wanted to keep evolving really fast. Alexxis: Now where or when did the GTO’s come into play?
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Steel Notes Magazine Weren’t they the ones who introduced you to Frank Zappa? Dennis: Yes, Miss Christine was Alice’s girlfriend. And the GTO’s at that point lived in the basement of the log cabin in Laurel Canyon where Zappa lived. When we met them, we were just walking down the street in Hollywood and they were walking down the street. We thought,oh wow we like them so we went over to them and they said “Oh, well we’re going to a party do you guys want to go?”, so we said “well we don’t have a car or anything” They’re like “well, neither do we, we’re walking, come on.” So we went to this party and we became immediate kindred spirits with them, and we would see them at all kinds of gigs. They would show up and support us and they would be right up in the front of the stage screaming their brains out, [Laughter] it was great. And a lot of times, they were the only people in the room that seemed to like us. [Laughter] Miss Christine was the babysitter for Moon Unit, Zappa’s daughter. So we would try to talk Miss Christine into getting Frank to come and hear us play, and this happened a few times. He would promise to come and hear us. We wouldn’t see him. She would just tell us “Oh, I told Frank to come and see you and he said he would be there.”, then he wouldn’t be there. So this happened like three times. The third time we played at an outdoor baseball park in L.A. and we had built this thing called ‘The Cage of Fire’ which Alice would get inside of this and we were going to light it on fire. He was going to sing while it’s on fire. [Laughter] Alexxis: Oh wow! Dennis: Anyway, Frank was there. He was sitting down on the floor up in this locker room with his Les Paul Guitar, and he's playing but it wasn’t plugged in. But that’s when I realized how amazing of a guitar player he was. So we were like “Frank! Great! You finally came to see us. Cool!” You know and he said “Well I’m just the MC here and I got to go.” So he still missed our show. So now we totally missed our scene. Oh we got this other gig, can you please get him to come and hear us play. We know he’ll like us. We know he has a new record company and we want to be on it. And so, she made the mistake of saying “Frank will be here, he’s coming home tomorrow.” [Laughter] We’re like OK, we’re coming over, and she's like “No, no he doesn't like people to come over.” So Alice started turning on the charm and saying “Pretty please with sugar on it.” And all that [Laughter] So she finally gave in and said “OK, let’s just say come over at 9:00 and if it’s not ok I’ll call you .” At the time Alice and I walked all the way from Topanga Canyon down through Hollywood and through Beverly Hills and up Laurel Canyon to this house and because of our Cross Country long distance running legs we could do that. People in L.A. didn’t believe we did that but we would do it. Well, walking all the way back to Topanga by the time we got there Alice had turned this whole thing around to we got to be there at 9:00 in the morning. Maybe even earlier. So the band stayed up all night boiling our strings to make them tighter again because we couldn’t afford to buy new ones. We had to think about what songs we were going to do and what we were going to say and all that. We showed up early in the morning, knocked on the
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door and told Miss Christine to open the door and she was in shock, because we were supposed to be there that night not that morning. We barged right in with our equipment and went right down the hallway to Zappa’s bedroom where he and his wife were asleep. We setup our equipment, drums and amps everything right in the hallway outside his bedroom door and started playing. Alexxis: Wow! [Laughter] Dennis: The other guys in the group all remember that we went down to his basement and played but that’s not true, we were right outside his bedroom door. The next day we came back and we went down into the basement but we couldn’t set up down there, it was all full of all the Mother’s equipment. But anyway, we didn’t make it through the first song, because the door opened and Zappa’s hand came out and motioned for us to stop, and then he said “Let me have some coffee and then I’ll listen.” Well, he liked us and decided he was going to sign us to his record deal, and invited us to come back the next day and talk about it. Then he said “Do you guys have a manager?” And we said “No.” And he said “Well you’ll need to. You've got three days before I leave town. And if it doesn’t happen in three days, it’s not going to happen. So you guys need to find a manager or if worse comes to worse you can use my manager. But I would rather you get your own manager because I want him to do my stuff for me and not have too many other bands to worry about. Alexxis: Sure. Dennis: So in three days, Cindy found Joe Greenburg and Jeff Gordon. They came in her boutique,‘Inside Outside Boutique’ in L.A. where she worked. Linda who was Cindy’s best friend at the time,and who still is a good friend, remembers the day they came in and Cindy told them, “Well my brother is in a band and Frank Zappa is interested, and you guys look like managers, but they said they were, even though they weren’t. [Laughter] Alexxis: [Laughter] Dennis: They were looking for something to do besides what they were doing, so they said “Oh yeah, we manage The Left Bank.” Well that’s because Joe Greenburg knew a guy who worked for The Left Bank and when they left he called the guy and said “If anybody asks if we work with The Left Bank, tell them yes because of these two hot blondes. [Laughter]. The next day Cindy brought them up to our house in Topanga and we played for them and they didn’t care for the music much but they did care for the fact that Frank Zappa wanted to sign us if we have managers. So they told us they were managers and that’s how that came together. Alexxis: Oh wow. Very cool. So did Frank have you under his label for only one or a few albums? Dennis: Well it depends on who you ask. Frank got sick and left
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in the middle of the first night of our recording Pretties For You. We only had two nights. The first night Frank was sick, he didn't show up and the second day was total damage control because the first night went so bad. So that was two nights from midnight until sunrise. And then the next album we weren’t sure who was,and we were still on their label but they kind of decided that they didn’t want to put money into us. But Pretties For You made it to 110 on the charts. So at least we could get back in the studio and the second album was iffy as to whether it was really on Frank’s label or what because they went to Warner Brothers Reprise. The label was bought out and taken over for distribution through Reprise and Warner.
Dennis: So then we opened for Led Zeppelin at The Whiskey and went on tour with The Mothers of Invention. Alexxis: OK, so then you released ‘Easy Action’ later right? Dennis: Yeah, well we recorded it in ‘68 and it didn’t come out until ‘69. I think it’s about three months. Alexxis: OK. Now was that still under Frank Zappa’s label? Dennis: Yeah it was on ‘Bizarre’ and it took so long for it to come out that we thought they shelved it. We were getting so antsy and when we were ready for it, we finally recorded an album and then where is it? What’s going on, You know? And it took like three months. We kept trying to figure out what was going on with our album. But what really was going on is he already had the GTO’s, Captain Beefheart, Wildman Fischer and others. We came in late after his manager had already said you can’t get anymore bands because we can’t afford it. So we really ended up being the band that they didn't want to put any money into. We recorded at The Whiskey a Go Go when we opened for The Mothers of Invention in 1969, and also opened for Led Zeppelin there as well. That was a very good night for us because it was kind of like the night that we conquered Hollywood. Because if you could bowl them over at The Whiskey then you were in and that was the night that we finally convinced a lot of people that kind of just looked at us like we were the crazy looking guys walking around the streets all the time. [Laughter] You know even though people made fun of us like we were the down and out band, we worked more than most bands in L.A. We were the house band at The Chee-
tah and we were starving, but we still had a lot more gigs even though people just didn’t look at it that way. They just kind of put us down for being too different. And this was in Hollywood, that’s what I couldn’t believe! We’re in Hollywood and people are acting like we’re too weird. [Laughter] Alexxis: Yeah really! [Laughter] Dennis: [Laughter] Alexxis: Well basically, you were their first band to tour with their own lighting. Really innovators of wearing makeup and sequin costumes as well, right? Dennis: Well we were the ones that brought arena rock shows to light. We were doing all kinds of theatrics on stage and this was on a zero budget. We couldn’t afford food but we would build. You know I get the idea. Let’s have an execution on stage, let’s get dramatic, and by this point we lived in Pontiac, Michigan outside of Detroit, and we all lived in a house there. The other guys weren’t going for an execution, and the cage on fire again, so I said ok, I’m going to go get some wood tomorrow and I’m going to build. At first I want to build the gallows. We’re in a station wagon, how are we going to carry a gallows? Ok how about an electric chair? I went down the next day with whatever money we were able to find and scrounge up and got some 2x4’s and we went out in the garage and we built the electric chair. We had lights on it the full length and everything. I went in the house and got Alice and said “stop watching T.V. for a minute and come out here and check this out.” So we got him in the garage and turned out the garage light and turned on the flashing lights and had him sit down in it. I think that was Alice’s best performance. I said “Act like you get electrocuted.” Alexxis: Awesome![Laughter] Dennis: And he was convincing! It was like really whoa! Did he really get electrocuted? I don’t know, we didn’t build this thing too great. Alexxis: Right! [Laughter] Dennis: So the first shows that we did with the electric chair
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Steel Notes Magazine Alice actually did a dying scene. But then we couldn’t quite make any sense of it. You know then what’s he going to do after he died? [Laughter] Alexxis: Exactly! Where do you go from there! Dennis: So then he decided he's just going to sit in the electric chair and by then I wrote “Black Ju Ju.” I wanted a song that would promote this dark character that I thought Alice should be, and I also thought of the eye makeup. So now the Alice character was really coming together. And so part of “Black Ju Ju” in the middle was this hypnotizing thing where ok you’re going to hypnotize the audience. We’ll bring the lights down with very dramatic lighting and you’ll swing this big pocket watch. So we did that. And by then we started stealing the feather pillows out of The Holiday Inn and the fire extinguishers and blowing feathers all over the place. At one point Alice had a bare light bulb on a cord and he’d swing it around like Roger Daltrey did with his light bulb, but this was a really bright 300 watt light bulb.
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Alexxis: Very clever! Dennis: We’ll jump ahead for a second here. We got this girl who worked for Bill Graham. Bill Graham didn’t like us you know because he didn’t want theatrics on stage. And I can’t even say what he said to us. [Laughter] It was mostly cursing, with more curse words than that and he hated us. He said you can play music or you can do theatrics, you can’t do both on my stage. And he swore if I ever hire you, you will never headline at the Fillmore, and we never did. Even though we were headlining, we were the closing act and he would always have our name little at the bottom of the poster. The opening acts were real big and our name real little. Alexxis: Wow that was lousy of him to do!
Dennis: But anyway, when we played the Fillmore East in New York City, I think it only had one more weekend after us before it closed. One or two more weekends. So we were at the bottom of the bill it, was Bloodrock and this girl who worked for Bill Graham for years at the Fillmore named Gail Rogers and she had Original excerpt Black Juju lyrics by Dennis Dunaway worked there for so long Alexxis: Very cool! she had basically gotten to the point where she Dennis: We had this great lighting guy, who went to Cortez High had seen so many bands play that she would kind of just stay in School and he started doing our lights way back in the V.I.P. the back room and try to get the money counted and everything The thing that was powerful about The Alice Cooper Show is, it so she could get out of there at a decent time. Bill prided himself wasn't Rock and Roll lighting. It was dramatic, artistic lighting, on having the best layout of food for the bands backstage you and therefore,when Alice got hung in the gallows it was a very know. My bands are going to be treated right because it’s Bill dramatic scene like you would see in a Broadway show. It wasn't Graham’s Fillmore. He called a meeting, and Gail said Bill never the roadie guy flashing lights back behind the band like they called a meeting he’d go and yell at somebody but he wouldn’t call always do. We were able to bring this character to life because meeting. But he wanted a meeting with everybody that worked how could Alice be in a straight jacket and be convincing that he's there and he came in the room and said “These guys that are comin an Insane Asylum if there’s a rock band jumping around with ing in tonight, I don’t want them to have any food I don’t even lights flashing. Well we would bring the lights down and so that want you to get them a glass of water and no guest list!” he would be lit and we would be doing stuff but we knew when to kind of move out of the picture so the character had a chance Alexxis: Wow that guy was tough! to develop and where it would be believable as in ok, it looks like he's in an Insane Asylum you know? So in the early days because Dennis: This was the opposite of what he prided himself on doing we had no money, the straight jacket was the white man’s shirt for bands you know. So she said, “Well I got to go out and see and we’d turn it around backwards and tie the sleeves behind him. who this band is, why he doesn't like them so much.” she came So it was all relied on acting. out and thought “Wow, this is really different,”but she liked us.
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So now that the Fillmore closed, Gail came to work for us at Live Enterprises operated in New York City. When she came to work the first day she said “The first thing that I was asked to do is call Bellview and get a real straight jacket.” “Oh, this job is going to be different.” Alexxis: [Laughter] Yeah, I bet! Dennis: [Laughter] Can you imagine? So she called Bellview and said “I’m from The Alice Cooper facility and we need some straight jackets.” And Bellview told her “We don’t use straight jackets anymore, we use drugs.” “But we can tell you where you can get some straight jackets.” So that was the first job that she did for us. Alexxis: Wow, yeah that must of been very interesting! [Laughter]
in the history of their station at the time and they were playing it in heavy rotation. Every fifth song was ‘I’m 18.’ Alexxis: That was awesome! Dennis: You had to be The Beatles to get that. I talked to her many years later over a giant martini in Phoenix, Arizona and I said “So how do you know a song is a hit. What appealed to you about “I’m 18.”? And she said, “The lyrics.” By the end of the first verse, I already knew it was a hit. [Laughter] Alexxis: Absolutely, and it became an anthem song for teenagers you know?
Dennis: Yeah, definitely, but you know it depends. I mean by then we were kind of a cult band because we had thrown the chicken out in the audience up in Toronto over the varsity stadium, The Rock and Roll Revival with John Lennon, The Doors, Chuck Berry and everybody. And the audience ripped the chicken apart. So word spread like fire on that and you know we had recorded with Frank Zappa. We were a pretty famous underground band but we didn’t have a hit single.
Dennis: The thing about that is you know we all started at the same high school pretty much. Michael Bruce went to a different local high school but it was at the same time, in the same town and Neal went to another high school, but all three high schools- Cortez, Camelback, and North High were all in the same area of Phoenix, Arizona. So we were all pretty much the same age and so to write a song about being 18 when you were older than that was no problem for us. We can just click right in and we didn’t have to say “Well I went to school on the West coast and I went to school on the East coast” and try to compare notes. No, we didn’t have to talk about that so writing a song like ‘I’m 18’ we decided OK, who is the record buying public? OK, it’s a kid that’s still living at home but he’s old enough to have a job, so he's got money in his pocket he doesn't have rent to pay and everything. So that’s who was buying records. The majority of record buyers were that age group.
Alexxis: Right..
Alexxis: Right.
Dennis: With ‘Love It To Death’ we had ‘I’m 18’ which was played by Rosalie Trombley at CKLW up in Windsor, Canada right across the river from Detroit. She was like Wolfman Jack down in Mexico. They could have a transmitter that was more powerful than what was illegal in the United States, so her radio station covered the whole Midwest of the United States and all up in Canada. Rosalie Trombley was known as “The Girl with the Golden Ear,” if she played your record it would become a hit and back then you could have a hit break regionally like that. Well she started playing ‘I’m 18’ and by the third day all of the DJ’s at CKLW came to her while she was on the air,( she wasn't talking at the moment but it was a break), and they told her “you can’t play this song by the band. These guys threw the chickens and they’re crazy and they’re weird and all that.” She told me this many years later, the timing couldn’t have been more perfect because every phone was ringing off the hook for requests for ‘I’m 18’ and if the DJ said ok I guess it’s ok then. It became the most requested song
Dennis: We can relate to that you know. So let’s write a song that’s specifically for when we were that age and for those people. And that’s what we did and it became a hit for us and at the same time Cream Magazine and Circus Magazine were starting to cover The Alice Cooper Group and even like Circus Magazine had that kind of bubblegum format.
Dennis: [Laughter] Alexxis: So now after this would you say your breakthrough point came with ‘Love It To Death’?
Alexxis: Sure.. Dennis: But it was funny they would be like ‘Dennis likes that color green and long walks on a lonely beach’ and stuff like that. [Laughter] Alexxis: [Laughter] Dennis: They had all these pictures of Alice dressed half as a woman, half as a guy you know, and the pictures of us did not fit
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the format of the magazine, which made it even better. But when they started covering The Alice Cooper Group they were the only ones. Those two magazines. And a lot of kids started following them because that’s the only place they could hear about this band and that helped us because they were targeting that ‘I’m 18’ group of people. And so that had a lot to do with our success. Circus Magazine and Cream Magazine.
most people would agree, but MC5 everything was just as loud and hard and heavy as it could be. Well, we picked up on that. All of a sudden we realize OK, we’ve got to up our game. We can’t out power them so how are we going to follow The Stooges. How do you do that? [Laughter]
Alexxis: Sure, absolutely. Those were very popular teen magazines back in the day.
Dennis: Well Bill Graham had us follow, that’s another thing he would do is bring in the Ike and Tina Review and have us follow them. Like what? Oh My God!
Dennis: Yeah and this was probably still happening about the time we ran into you out on the road. Alexxis: Yes ,it was. Because that was like 71, 72, & 73. Dennis: Yeah. Alexxis: Now at this point, was this still under Frank Zappa’s Label? Dennis: No, It was after Easy Action we felt like we hadn’t heard from Bizarre, we hadn’t heard from Zappa, or anybody. We just felt they had decided to drop us and we were out on the road playing night after night and sometimes two gigs in the same night. You know I swear Bizarre had the chicken wire like in The Blues Brothers where people throw stuff at the band but there’s chicken wire in front of the stage. [Laughter] Alexxis: [Laughter] Dennis: And all kind of festivals in Detroit most of them were promoted by Nicky Quatro, Susie Quatros’ brother. Dennis: Susie’s band with her sisters, they were great, I mean it was girls that played hard rock and that was pretty unique for them. We did all these festivals with The Amboy Dukes, The MC5 The Stooges and SRC, Bob Seger and all these bands that were playing for the Detroit audience, which was the most loyal audience. San Francisco was loyal to their bands but so was Detroit. It was fists in the air every note of every song and it’d be the same local bands at all these festivals and every one of them would be sold out with everybody’s fist in the air. It was great. So after migrating there from Hollywood we had a quirky kind of a show going.We were on our guard and then we come to Detroit and The Motor City Bad Boys are doing all this hard and heavy stuff with The Stooges, who I think was the first punk band. I think
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Alexxis: Yes....
Alexxis: Ah, yeah. That’s a good combination hahaha Dennis: We had to follow Aretha Franklin once in the early days in L.A. So we picked up on this and decided, OK we’re going to have an execution on stage, we’re going to hang Alice and we’re going to get heavier music so “Black Ju Ju” came along. And when I finally figured out how to write a song like “Black Ju Ju” by then we all had this concept in mind that we were going to write songs to accommodate this Alice character that we all were developing collaboratively within the band. Neal had come up with ‘Second Coming’ ‘Hallowed Be Thy Name’ so you know all of our writing by then had gotten more coherent. At the same time we ran into Bob Ezrin, and he was a very important factor in that we didn’t know how to write a hit song. We knew how to write songs and Michael Bruce was getting much better. I mean ’I’m 18’ had pretty much developed, ’Cotton of Dreams’ we recorded the way Michael had wrote it, and we pretty much didn’t have to do too much on the arrangement. But there were songs like ‘You Drive Me Nervous’ we were floundering on. we loved the song and knew it had potential but we just couldn’t find the right pocket on it. Alexxis: Sometimes a song does not come together unfortunately. Dennis: We were struggling with it. We would put it on the shelf and then we would pull it off. We’d go at it again and then put it back on the shelf. Anyway, we were struggling with it again and Bob Ezrin said “straighten out the drumbeat Neal just Boom shh, Boom shh, Boom shh.” And all of a sudden the song took off the way we wanted it to. So Bob would have these insights you know where it’s kind of like, you played the song too many times and you lost your perspective. Alexxis: Very true that does happen with songs. Dennis: He could bring things into focus like that and he certainly knew how to record. His boss, Jack Richardson, kicked down the doors to America for Canadian groups because back then for some reason America shunned Canada. It’s like they didn’t count. And Canadian bands just couldn’t get played in America and couldn't get gigs in America not like they should have but Jack Richardson came in with the Guess Who and when we were driving around in our station wagon thinking we need a
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hit with the radio on and ‘American Woman’ would jump right out of that dashboard speaker, we would say “We need that guy! [Laughter]. We need that guy to produce us.” Well, we didn’t get Jack Richardson, we got Bob Ezrin. Warner Brothers said, “Well, Bob Ezrin never recorded anything so we’re not going to do that. But Jack Richardson has plenty of hits so we’ll sign you providing Jack Richardson is in the studio to oversee it and make sure you get a hit.” And that’s what happened with ‘Love It To Death’ and ‘Killer, everybody thinks that it was just Bob Ezrin well no, it was Jack Richardson. He was letting his young apprentice that had never produced an album, make an album with him overseeing it and make sure that it got done under budget and with a hit. So that’s what happened. ‘Love It To Death’ and ‘Killer’ Jack Richardson was in the studio at all times and Bob Ezrin was learning the ropes and by the time we got to ‘Schools Out’ Jack Richardson wasn’t there. Bob Ezrin had learned the ropes but Bob admitted that he would go back to the hotel at night and call Jack, “Hello Jack. How do I do the bass sound again?” [Laughter] Alexxis: [Laughter] ‘Schools Out.. That wound up being the biggest selling single for history of Warner Brothers Records and then it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2015 right? Dennis: That’s right. Yeah. Alexxis: They are still using ‘Schools Out’ on commercials all the time. Dennis: Right, they just used it on a Walgreens commercial which was weird because school was back in! Alexxis: I know, right! [Laughter] I can see them doing it in the summer time like May, June or whatever when schools getting out, you know? Dennis: We had targeted the “I’m 18” age group on “Killer” “Be My Lover” and “Under My Wheels.” “Under My Wheels’” did pretty good, it did really well in certain parts of the country like Texas and whatever but it wasn’t as big as ‘I’m 18.’ So we thought, “We got to get back to targeting that age group again.” So we’re thinking “OK, what can we all relate to when we were that age?” Well that final bell of school. [Laughter] That was the most exciting thing. So that song was one of those, you hear songwriters talk about you know this creative God sort of dropping a gift in your lap. Alexxis: Right, now I’m going back in time to the album that had the paper underpants in it. [Laughter]
Dennis: Yeah, that was “School’s Out.” Alexxis: Yeah, that was “School’s Out” [Laughter] What was the correlation between the school desk and the underwear? Dennis: You know album covers were getting more and more elaborate. We were one of the few bands that Jeff Gordon and Joe Greenburg were negotiating our Warner Brothers contract so we would have artistic control to avoid what happened to John Mellencamp.It’s like how the first time he sees his album he's called John Cougar. [Laughter] Nobody told him that. Alexxis: [Laughter] Dennis: They couldn't put out an album without us all seeing it and us saying OK, and then we got this idea, well, we’re going to make the album cover be a school desk, we’ll have it perforated, so it’ll have legs that bend out and it’ll stand up and you can open it and you got a slingshot, a bad report card, and everything inside. Then the panties, I don’t remember the band having that idea. I think that was a specific engineer where the artist made the school desk happen for us. It was all that thing of what appeals to a kid in school that is kind of rebellious and whatever. Well the panties were perfect! [Laughter], we don't have a desk cover we have panties. Alexxis: [Laughter] Dennis: And uh, you know. [Laughter] Oh brother! Alexxis: I actually think that same year is when I went to see you guys at a show, in New Jersey at the Wildwood Convention Hall, and I was dressed up in a black outfit with a cape, makeup,top hat and cane, flashlight the whole nine yards and I actually made Alice a pair of black velvet bikini underpants with “Alice” written in silver sequins. Dennis: It seems so that I would remember that. Alexxis: [Laughter] Dennis: Well, yeah so that was the other thing that was great. You know it took us a long time to get audiences on our side. But when we did all of a sudden the whole audience was dressing up to come to the concerts. That wasn’t that common back then really. It’s common now. Alexxis: Yes, that’s true! Dennis: But back then it was kind of a new thing. A lot of things were new then in the early 70’s. The Beatles had set the bar so
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Steel Notes Magazine high and you had The Stones and The British Invasion was still a heavy influence on things but things were moving in this new arena level shows. So instead of just being a band that they would book into a big venue, you would go there and do what you normally do at a club, well we wanted the people in the back row to see what’s going on. We want them to see something happen and go home or go tell all their friends about it. So things were getting bigger and we had our own light show on the road you know? I don’t think many bands had a light show. They would show up with whatever the venue had. When we would come around we would have these lights that we’re going to hang up, and even the union guys at a lot of these arenas didn’t even know what we were talking about! That’s how new it was. Alexxis: Yes you were setting the standard higher! Dennis: I’d say “Ricky, see that thing way up on the ceiling there, that drops, there’s a lever somewhere, that drops down and we can hang our lights on it . Now it’s all routine but back then it was new, and In fact, we used Shell Co. which was a P.A. company and we took our own P.A. on the road which other bands started doing at that point. But before that, when we first started it was like The Beatles, where they would show up and used whatever was there. At Shea Stadium they show up and it’s like somebody decided that 100 stereo speakers are going to be heard over the screaming people! [Laughter] We had that. You know if you look at real early pictures of The Alice Cooper Group, The Spiders or The Nazz, there’s no P.A. in the picture. Alice’s microphone is synced into the guitar amp. [Laughter] Alexxis: [Laughter] Oh yeah, something else I wanted to ask you about was your your bass. You're using a Gibson EB-0 bass with the finger position, split pickup with a treble position and you spray painted it green and called it ‘The Frog.’ That was on the back cover of ‘Love It To Death.’ Dennis: Right. It was the standard SG color but this was the EB-0, which was Electric Bass 0. [Laughter] And there was a EB-3, I don’t know where the other numbers went but that’s what Slap Jack Bruce played. It came with two pickups and the standard Gibson model. Mine only had one pickup but I added a split pickup to it later when we started going in the studio to record because I needed to get a different sound out of it. I spray painted it green because I wanted like everything else we did, to be different. I had just bought the bass when we were in Phoenix, Arizona and I used the same spray paint that I used for a model car, called Emerald Green. So first you spray Silver and then you sprayed this green paint over it for model cars. And so I did that when we decided we wanted to break down the barrier from between us and the audience and also because we thought with the ‘Pretties For You’ album, we were reflecting society. When we lived in Hollywood we were writing the album and doing the show that
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reflected it, which is all glitzy and flashy and everything. And so part of the flash was these mirrors that would reflect. The thing that is weird is, you know a lot of musicians would say “Oh God, he ruined that bass!” Well, the way the bass looks has nothing to do with how good the bass is and how good it sounds. It’s two different things. It’s not that he can’t play that well and the bass can’t sound that good if he has to put or glue mirrors to it. No, it was a theatrical thing that when the spotlight would hit that bass and I would move especially since there was smoke used in the show so that you could see the rays of light coming off this bass and all of these Austrian rhinestones that were called ‘Aurora Borealis’ because they were part of the rainbow. Alexxis: Yes very nice! Dennis: And they were Swarovski Crystals. They were expensive we would get them in New York City. Alexxis: Oh yes I love those crystals! Dennis: They're what Cindy, my wife, calls “Tinkerbells.” All these little dots and all the way on the top of the arena and this big ray of light that would go all the way to the back wall in Madison Square Garden and I would move slowly across the audience and it would be like a wave, like a wave people do at a football game. Alexxis: That is very cool. Dennis: You could see the audience could tell the ray was almost about to hit them and they would get so excited when the ray would be blinding them then they would all wave their arms and stuff. So that’s what it was all about. It was like OK I go in the studio and this bass sounds good and I can play but on stage we’re thinking “well if you really want to just hear our music you could just sit at home and listen to the record. But if you come to a show, you should get more. You should get visual, you should get a whole show. That was what we believed in. Then a lot of people were totally against us on that. Alexxis: Well, you definitely put on some show and I remember the show in ‘73 for Billion Dollar Babies at the Spectrum in Philly, which was the same night I was at the after party at The Showboat at Penn’s Landing. The stage was full of white fog and I think you all had the white outfits on. I do have some pictures from back then but I think because of all the fog on the stage it was kind of hard to see and the giant teeth. Remember that? The giant teeth walking around? [Laughter]
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Alexxis: Oh really Cindy was the dancing tooth?
Dennis: And Cindy did come out one night when somebody had spilled a beer on the “Billion Dollar Babies” stage which had plexiglass, so every time somebody spilled a beer and it was too sweaty, it would get really slippery.
Dennis: Yeah. [Laughter]
Alexxis: I can imagine!!
Alexxis: Oh! Very cool, I did not know it was her!
Dennis: Cindy fell down legitimately one night at Madison Square Garden and Alice came and looked into her cavity and said, “What are you doing? Are you OK?” [Laughter]
Dennis: Cindy was the dancing tooth.
Dennis: And she had a cavity that she could see out to the audience but the audience couldn’t see in. It would light up and she would come out and tap dancing in her silver tap shoes and then she would pretend to slip and fall over and Alice had a giant tooth brush and a giant tube of toothpaste and he’d go over and brush her while Michael would make erotic noises in the microphone.
Alexxis: [Laughter] Luckily she didn’t get hurt! Alexxis: Well that was a great tour and album and “Billion Dollar Babies” was Number 1 in America and also in Britain simultaneously.
Alexxis: [Laughter] Oh Yes I remember! He had a big drill and you could hear the sound like the teeth were getting drilled.
Dennis: Right.
Dennis: The Mad Dentist was Amazing Randy, the Magician. Dennis: He was the one over the guillotine making sure Alice didn’t get hurt. And the Mad Dentist had the giant drill. The song is called ‘Unfinished Sweet.’ Alexxis: Yes it is! Dennis: It’s about going to the dentist and he gets not the Novocaine out, but the funny gas and he has this kind of a nightmare sequence about the tooth and has the giant toothbrush and he brushes her and then this Dentist comes out with a gigantic drill that’s all lit up and it’s spinning around and everything. So it was a dream sequence really that went with that song. Alexxis: Yeah, they all were just really cool. Really cool theatrics. Dennis: And so one of the lines was , “Your teeth are alright, but your gums gotta go.” Alexxis: Yes I remember it ! [Laughter] Dennis: Oh, Cindy would come backstage and Alice had a break in the show at that point and we would do “Halo of Flies” and Alice would go back and change and catch his breath and stuff and have a drink. And Cindy would have whiskey backstage. Alexxis: I remember the bottles of booze onstage all the time. [Laughter] with Alice carrying them around.
Alexxis: “Billion Dollar Babies” is also one of my favorite songs. I mean I love “18” too, I love them all but “Billion Dollar Babies” has such a cool intro and beginning to it... Dennis: Alice had come up with we’re reflecting Society so now we live in this big mansion in Greenwich, Connecticut and the theme of the album reflects that all of a sudden we’re Rock and Roll brats that have a bunch of money and live in a mansion, that was the theme of the album pretty much, you know? Alexxis: Absolutely! Dennis: Alice thought of the idea of Billion Dollar Babies. We usually don't have a song that is the title of the album like ‘School’s Out’ was, and most the time we didn’t. But this time we wanted to write a song for that. Well our friend Rock and Reggy Vincent, who was Glen Buxton’s friend from Detroit, would hang around a lot and write songs and stuff. Anyway, he and Glen Buxton came down from where we were recording in this mansion, so everybody had their rooms upstairs and the whole downstairs was all microphones in every room and a big recording truck out in the driveway. So anyway, Rock and Reggy and Glen came down and they had this song called ‘Devil Doll’ which was a beautiful kind of a Roy Orbison ballet and we kept playing it over and over and sitting on stools and stuff and it was a beautiful song so nobody wanted to change it but I finally said “You know what, if this is going to be the title of the Billion Dollar Babies album we’re going to have to light some fire under it, dynamite or whatever”. And everyone's like “Well what do you
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got?” I had nothing, all I knew was it couldn’t be this beautiful Alexxis: Very cool. That’s great how the band was able to work it ballet it had to be something really aggressive. So I turned up my out . amp and we rehearsed loud and it was really loud so I went “Dun Na Na Na Na. Dun Na Na Na Na. Thats what its gotta be!” So Dennis: A lot of bands have it a lot easier to do it this way. Where anyway, Neal came up with the drumbeat and the song changed you have one or two guys usually the singer and the guitar player completely. It ended up to be something completely different than write the songs and then they come in and you just add your part how it started out. But that’s how everybody was, anything that or they tell you what to play, you know. We were very much a you brought to the table was everybodies’ to make better. And collaboration which is hard to do, but it comes out better because we were really good at that and nobody held any grudges, we had inevitably even if they try your idea and they didn’t like it, somefive guys so it was Democratic completely Democratic. We would times when they try to do what you verbally describe as your idea argue about every comes out differently. part of every song They’re trying to do your and we would all idea but you didn’t verbe passionately bally translate it to them driven to make properly and so they try every single thing something that is differthat we did as ent than what you wanted good as it could. to get them to do and it So we had a rule. winds up being better. You couldn't throw out an idea Alexxis: Right. unless everybody gave it a heartfelt Dennis: It could be better. try. So if everyone We also like mistakes. gave it a heartfelt So are things that just try, and then they happen that we didn't said “OK, three intend to happen musiguys don’t like cally. Or even on stage. If it even though somebody would play a two guys do.” OK part and all of a sudden that’s the end of they played the wrong it, we’re not doing note, we’re going “Wait a Neal Smith, Glen Buxton, Alice Cooper, Michael Bruce and Dennis Dun- minute, I like that note. it. You know away Sand Dunes Canary Islands 1972 Photo by Cindy Smith Dunaways [Laughter] That’s not the that’s how we were, everything wrong note, that’s the we did was like new correct note.” Like that. So this song went from being this beautiful Roy Orbison “Black Ju Ju” we recorded that live in the studio, it’s one of the ballet that could’ve been on the album and you never would have only songs where we recorded Alice singing his vocals live and the known the two songs were related in any way. That’s how we whole band played live at the same time and we did it in one take. worked, I mean a good example of it is “Reflected” on “Pretties For You” ended up “Elected.” Dennis: But Michael plays this dissonant note in the beginning Alexxis: Fascinating how it ended up! and we got to do it over. So we recorded it again and it didn’t have the dissonant note but the two tracks were almost identical except Dennis: It’s a different song really, but we had a lot of things that the first one had this real edgy note and so we recorded it again would evolve like that. Like ‘Dead Babies.’ ‘Dead Babies’ was actuand then we decided “Wait a minute, we like that edgy note.” And ally two songs that we’d given up on and they fell by the wayside. that’s the one that’s one the record. You hear in the Intro, there’s One had a good verse, and a crappy chorus. And the other one a part where he hits this dissonant note and so there you go. It’s a had a good chorus and not such a good verse. So I decided we mistake that turned out to be something we thought “No, let’s use should take the good verse and the good chorus and put them that. That’s better than the other way.” together. Nobody else wanted to do that, they just wanted to move on. So I wrote this bass line tied them together and you know we Alexxis: Yeah, absolutely. It starts out one way but ends up anothwere always doing things like that. So I got everybody to try the er. The ‘Billion Dollar Babies’ show also got you on the cover for idea with this new bass line that tied it together and then we voted Forbes as the highest grossing tour. and the majority liked it, so it was in. Dennis: Yeah, The Stones and Zeppelin were out on tour and you
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know the thing that people don’t realize when they compare all these big shows now, you know Beyonce or whatever, they're comparing it to what we did when tickets were $6.50. Alexxis: Oh yeah, I remember those days well. [Laughter] Dennis: We put everything back into our shows and the more money we had meant the was the show was going— Alexxis: —To be bigger. Dennis: We had all these ideas all the way back when we were in high school but we couldn’t afford to do any of that. But then you know it’s too bad the Alice Cooper Group had a premature demise because we had finally got to the point where we were ready to just about sign for our contract, which meant we could negotiate a real contract which is when most bands really make money and that would mean we could finally do all of these ideas we have been wanting to do. Well, unfortunately the money didn’t go to everybody, but we had bigger and better shows in us, we had a lot of ideas that we hadn’t done yet. Alexxis: I can imagine. Well the band is also in the Guinness Book of World Records for drawing the largest indoor audience for the show in Apollo, Brazil. What was that 158,000? Dennis: Right. It was unbelievable. It was like an outdoor festival where there were people pretty much as far as you could see but it as inside a building and the building was still half full. It was the biggest building I had ever saw in my life. Alexxis: Wow that must have been amazing! Dennis: They still have concerts there but normally they will curtain off a smaller area. So it’s more like a regular concert but they didn't have the curtains when we were there, it was like this you would be going for a pretty good exercise to walk all the way to the end and back. Rock concerts in South America were new at the time, and when we did it, it was a very very out of control [Laughter] kind of a thing. Where the guys with machine guns were trying to keep everything in control by threatening the audience that they were going to end the show if they didn’t quiet down or whatever.
Alexxis: Yeah, that must've been really crazy because you said that you were riding on the back of those Police vehicles and stuff like that. Dennis: It’s a military government and human life was not valued very high and the people in power like to keep proving they were in power and they could do anything that they want to do and could get away with it. The crowd and the people loved it, a Rock and Roll show coming to their country! And you know talking about the dancing tooth, they loved the (Tooth dancing) down there. Alexxis: [Laughter] Dennis: Oh so after the show, we went back to our hotel which was in town. You know Sao Paulo is bigger than New York City. It’s this giant city in the middle of the jungle. Dennis: So we’re in this hotel and we’re about four or five floors up and anyway so Cindy and l are in our hotel room and we hear these people chanting down in the streets. So we go out on the balcony and look down and these people are cheering and they’re cheering “El Dente! El Dente! El Dente” They want the tooth! [Laughter] And Cindy’s like “What the?” “No it means ‘The Tooth’ they’re cheering for you.” Alexxis: [Laughter] Dennis: And she's like “What should I do?” Anyway, this guy pulls up and we’re looking down the street and more and more people are showing up and saying “El Dente.” And this guy is in a red sports car and he drives away and he comes back and he's got flowers, a big bouquet of flowers for Cindy and they’re all looking up. So we are out looking at this then we go in and Cindy’s again saying “What should I do?” And I said “Well go out and wave to them you know, they won’t hurt anything.” So when she goes out on the balcony to wave to them you would have thought it was a Evita or something. [Laughter] People were cheering! Alexxis: That must’ve been some kind of experience for her!
(Stay tuned next issue for Part 2!)
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| 02.21.17 ASIA | THE WORLD
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NAMM 2017 BY TONY LEPRE
PHOTOS BY RENEE JAHNKE
Hello everyone, it’s that time again; NAMM 2017. The NAMM Show is an annual event in the US that its organizers describe as "the world’s largest trade-only event for the music products industry”. It is held every January in Anaheim, California, US at the Anaheim Convention Center, and is one of the two largest music product trade shows in the world. NAMM is a trade-only business show catering to domestic and international dealers and distributors. The product exhibits are an integral part of the show, allowing the dealers and distributors to see what's new, negotiate deals and plan their purchasing for the next 6 to 12 months. Only employees and guests of the exhibiting manufacturers and/or NAMM member retailers and distributors are allowed to attend, along with credentialed members of the press. Exhibitors are allotted a specific number of badges based on the size of their booth. Retail Members are allowed a certain number of badges based on their full-time employees. Founded in 1901, "NAMM" stands for the National Association of Music Merchants, although, since its inception, NAMM has evolved from a national retail association into an international association whose members now include commercial companies, distributors, affiliates and manufacturers. Wednesday I arrived on site and proceeded to see what the lowdown is for the day. In the front lobby they have many manufacturers and retailers offering media day presentations.
These three (3), stood out for me. ZYLIA: “The world’s first portable recording studio”. “ZYLIA uses state of the art microphone array to capture all sound sources that are present in the 3d audio scene. Multi-track recordings can be easily processed to separate individual instrument tracks”. On their website, (www.zylia.co), they break down every aspect of this device. All of the technical information and specifications are there. They have examples of artists recording with this device, videos of bands playing in a room, and the audio mixes in a format for all to see how this device can separate the frequencies of each instrument, vocal etc. When one researches this product and the company, one will know why I am including them here. This is truly revolutionary audio equipment. Ultimate Ears: “Sound Tap”.(www.ultimateears.com) “The Sound Tap plugs in between the house mixer and the wedge monitors on stage, letting you tap the signal for your In-Ears without effecting the stage and house mixes. The wedge keeps getting signal and you take control of the volume on your IEMs. The amazing aspect of the UE “Sound Tap”, is that, it is Universal. Any stage, venue,club,or artist can use this. It is easy to power and control your In-Ear Monitors with minimal extra gear, and without bothering the engineer. The
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Steel Notes Magazine walk through for a gig is simple in how the UE Sound Tap works. The unit, has 2 inputs, 2 outputs, 2 knobs, and a 3.5mm IEM jack. The inputs take the signal in from the mixer. The outputs send the original monitor mix to the wedge. One knob sets the input gain and the other sets your IEM volume. When they ask you what you need for ins and outs on stage, tell them that you’ll be using In-Ear Monitors and that you’ll be using the UE “Sound Tap. The house might be running powered or unpowered monitors connected by speakon, XLR, or ¼” cable, and the Sound Tap will pass clean, transparent signal to the house wedge while you enjoy your In-Ears. Every artist has control of their access to IEM monitoring. That’s the power and inspiration in Sound Tap. You have maximum flexibility and control. You can daisy chain units. If you want to run more than one set of IEMs off the same monitor mix, just connect one Sound Tap to another, and keep going until you hit the wedge and everyone has what they need. Because the Sound Tap works anywhere, it can easily slip into your rehearsal space. It’s important to practice the way you perform, and it’s nothing to strap the box into whatever mixer and PA combo you’re running in the garage. Also, Sound Tap features a unique protective circuit that cuts off the signal when feedback or loud noise comes down the monitor line”. For all of the above reasons and descriptions, is why I am including this in this article. This is another revolutionary product. GEARSECURE: (www.gearsecure.net) “GEARSECURE is a super small self integrated tracking device with a 20 year life span and regenerating power. It is available in two tag types – a microscopic flexible unit designed to hidden in almost every type of gear, and a round “mini button” specifically designed for brass and wind instruments. These elements haven’t been built as a tag; rather they’ve been created to build an industry standard for anti-theft for years to come. Everything integrates with a simple to use downloadable app. GEARSECURE is the result of empathy and compassion for the victims of theft that have been encountered during 25 years combined experience in musical instrument retail operations and loss prevention in the Chicago area. Through firsthand knowledge how theft affected both individuals and retailers, GEARSECURE knows how devastating loss can be, and know how to help”. Again, this is one of the revolutionary products to be debuting at NAMM 2017 for obvious reasons. Every musician I know can use this to protect their instruments. Another universal product which can benefit all musicians. After the presentations and conversations with these particular companies I went outside to take a break. It is then that I connected with my friend Joe Dolan. (www.sonicmag.com) (www.allhardrock.com) (check out his YouTube channel) He is a veteran of NAMM. This year he was working on a unique video for the NAMM executives. To show us what the experience is like from a retailer/merchants point of view. I won’t give up any of the details, but I can say this. You all will want to watch this when it is done. It will be one of those things that give an inside perspective to what the NAMM experience is about.
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I also ran into the person behind RAOK RAVEN TV. (www. raokraven.com) “Raok Raven is spreading philanthropy through music, entertainment & sports”. I personally admire anyone who does what this organization does, sincere and true acts of charity. I encourage all to support them in their endeavors. Then I randomly met the person behind this company: TRANSCEND. (www.transcendhemp.com) “Transcend Hemp Enhanced Products is a company devoted to using natural, Hemp Based CBD to create products that improve the overall health of an individual. Pain, cancer, PTSD, seizures, HIV/AIDS, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and a myriad of other chronic medical conditions continue to run rampant in today's society, despite the thousands of medical advances that are made each year. For thousands of years, nature has given us a solution to these problems. Transcend Hemp Enhanced Products aims to take advantage of nature's "gift" by harvesting Cannabidiol (CBD) directly from industrial Hemp, thereby harnessing the healing properties of the Cannabis plant without the psychoactive effects of THC. In other words, Transcend Hemp Enhanced Products can safely and legally restore your body and mind to their former selves without the legal and ethical consequences of typical high THC Cannabis products. Let's transcend our endocannabinoid system!” Being that I have been and always will be, one who supports the use of Industrial Hemp in any way possible for the human race, I am including this information in the article. Thursday met up with Renee Jahnke photographer (http://www. reneejahphotography.com/portfolio). We did our introductions and got our bearings, and then went over the schedules and plans for the next 3 days. Both of us prepared to be walking for miles over the weekend.
First up was Stu Hamm (www.stuarthamm.net), doing a demo at GHS Strings (www.ghsstrings.com). This was intense to say the least. He was playing orchestral arrangements of songs on his bass. I posted live on Facebook to share this unbelievable moment taking place. The legendary Stu Hamm has played and recorded
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with so many artists and won numerous awards. I don’t have the space to share it here, as it would be an article all unto itself. I encourage anyone to so seek out what this Jedi Knight Bass Player has accomplished and upcoming shows any chance they get. Then we met up with Emily V. (www. emilyvmusic.com) I had met Emily at a “lucky strike live” roughly a year ago and was blown away with her impeccable style and taste on the violin. “Emily V, (born Emily Kilimnik), is an American rock n’ roll violinist. Her style is commonly described as a guitarist taking the lead much like Jimmy Page, Jimi Hendrix, and Warren Haynes. She currently performs with the elite musicians of rock band Crimson Crowbar. She began playing violin at age eleven and has been an unstoppable force ever since. Awarded a scholarship in Violin Performance, Emily studied Classical music, Theory and Composition, and World Percussion music (African and Brazilian) at Cal State Long Beach. Emily’s love for Rock and Roll, Blues and Folk music began to really show as she would sit in with musicians at venues in the Los Angeles and Orange County areas. Emily has toured with the iconic, world renowned punk band The Adicts and has performed with such names as Walter Trout (The Walter Trout Band, John Mayall, Canned Heat), Willie K, Johnny Avila (Oingo Boingo), David Shelton (Don Felder), Stevie DiStanislao (Crosby, Stills, Nash, David Gilmour, Loggins and Messina), Wade Biery (Joe Cocker, Roger Paltry, Don Felder), Jorgen Carlsson (Gov’t Mule), Travis Warren (Blind Melon), Todd Wolf (Beth Hart), Jimmy Paxson (Stevie Nicks), Mike Malinin (Goo Goo Dolls). Michael Leasure (Walter Trout), Matt Hughes (Warren Haynes)”. I highly suggest going to see her perform live anytime you can as you will be impressed and inspired as I have been. Next up, Doug Rappoport (www.dougrappoport.com) doing a demo at the Seymour Duncan booth. (www.seymourduncan. com) “Doug Rappoport is a British born, American-raised guitar player. His style is deeply-rooted in the Blues while utilizing a more modern hard Rock tone and approach. Touring extensively with Edgar Winter for 11 years as well as guitar legend Rick Derringer plus sharing stage and studio with a who’s who of renowned artists, he has honed aggressive chops, confident stage presence and overall pro savvy through substantial road experience. An in-demand session guitarist; Doug’s work is featured in many national television and radio commercials. Notable spots include clients such as: Ford, Metro PCS (exclusively featuring Doug’s guitar playing), and ORCAN. Plus, he’s been a stand out guitarist on “American Idol”, and his playing can be heard in numerous films and film trailers. Many recording sessions are produced in his home studio, especially for guest appearances on albums and cues for TV spots such as “NCIS Miami”. Doug’s recording career also includes solo endeavors. His first solo album release BIONIC features a hard-rocking rendition of the Edgar Winter classic, “Dying To Live”-- and a blistering version of the Jimi Hendrix classic “Voodoo Chile (SR)”. The album likewise showcases several originals complete with instrumentals and vocal arrangements. All instruments, engineering, producing, mixing and mastering were completed by Doug in his home studio (except for drums, provided by the incredible
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Chris Frazier, and the inimitable Jimmy Paxson on "Voodoo Rapps"). BIONIC is available on I Tunes.” Doug settled in and took charge. He joked with the crowd and played various tasty licks and styles showcasing his amazing talent. We sat mesmerized by his playing, as did the crowd gathered there. A true highlight of the live music going on during NAMM 2017. Then we headed over to the Zemiatis guitars (www.zemaitisguitar.com) to visit the Al Bane 4 Leather area. (www.albane4leather.com). “He produces and manufactures theatrical clothing and accessories for motion picture and music industries. He has made available a retail line of clothing and accessories (leather jackets, vests, dresses, pants, belts, bracelets, purses, hand bags), as well as music instrument accessories (guitar straps, drum stick bags, wireless unit cases). Al Bane for Leather is available for custom leatherwork, tailoring and sewing to fit any and all of your needs, personal and professional”. Al was showcasing his 2017 line of guitar and bass straps this year. All the straps are handcrafted perfection and perfect designs for the rock and metal musician. You have to see and feel them to understand. I suggest all guitar and bass players take a look at his new lines of straps. If you want something custom ordered, Al is the one for you. Next we headed over to the JOYO (www. joyoaudio.com) booth to meet up with Jeff Duncan (www.facebook.com/ jeffduncanrocks) “Jeff Duncan has toured and recorded with Armored Saint (www. armoredsaint.com) (since 1988 and currently promoting both their recent studio album “Win Hands Down” and their new live album “Carpe Noctum”), was a founding member of the LA Metal band Odin (www.facebook.com/Odin-77888031676) and has recorded and toured with his band DC4. (www.artistecard.com/DC4 ) (www. facebook.com/DC4HardRock)” Jeff is a featured sponsored artist with JOYO effects pedals. Jeff has been using the JOYO pedals on tour with Armored Saint (Saxon, Metal Church and Queensryche) and the DC4 shows since he got introduced to them at last year’s NAMM. Jeff uses Joyo Power Tune, Joyo Analog Chorus, Joyo D-Seed Delay, Joyo Vintage Phase and Joyo Classic Flanger. I encourage all guitar and bass players to check out the JOYO catalog of effect pedals, as they have superior quality and craftsmanship.They can take the beating of constant touring as well as the company’s policy to stand by their artists. Our final stop for the day was Jack Fliegler (www.facebook.com/ jfliegler) (www.singularityaz.bandcamp.com) (www.theblekgoat. com/singularity-4-headed-metal-band-hailing-from-phoenix-az) at ESP Guitars (http://www.espguitars.com/videos/2030354) Jack did an amazing demo of slinging technical guitar shred playing music from various online and video games. (some FB live footage on his FB page). Since I have to keep my descriptions to pg-13 format, all I can say is check him out for yourself and prepare to be blown away. Now it was time to relax and chill out. Recharge and refresh. As tonight, we go to the Bash Fest Randy Rhoads Remembered event. We arrived at the Bash Fest Randy Rhoads Remembered event, which was being hosted this year at the Yost Theater in Santa Ana. Randy Rhoads Remembered is a celebration of the brilliant and original Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Randy Rhoads. Brian Tichy and Joe Sutton created this event in 2013 after agreeing Randy Rhoads surely deserved recognition for his musical impact.
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The opening band for this event, was MADE N' AMERICA. (www.made-namericarocks.com) “Based out of Los Angeles, California, this high energy, straight ahead, no nonsense pure rock n' roll band will have you adopting their tracks as your own personal anthems such as "White Girl Rhythm" and "Sin City". MADE N' AMERICA is a celebration of our freedom to rock and you will be singing along and pumping your fist in the air in a salute to rock & roll! Their latest release is titled "In Rock We Trust". They played a great tight set of original hard rock. Their songs remind one of AC/DC, Udo, and the like. Their set didn’t wane, they kept the vibe moving, and the crowd loved them. (David Keckhut, Vocals Andrew Haller, Guitar, Clackers Kay, Bass, Chris De Bateria, Drums.) The Randy Rhoads Remembered started off with a touching and inspiring introduction audio visual piece honoring Randy Rhoads. They kicked off into high gear with “SATO”, (featuring Dewey Bragg Vox, Marzi Montazeri Guitar, Rudy Sarzo Bass, and Brian Tichy Drums). From the first opening chords of the song and straight through the solo up into the end, it was pure delight and a spot on rendition honoring Randy in every way. At this time Brian Tichy introduced Rudy Sarzo and brought out Guitarist Rowan Robertson. They started into “BELIEVER” and proceeded to give us all the joy of what that song gave us all so many years ago when we first heard it. It was spot on and tasty as it gets with Rowan playing and honoring Randy the way he does. Brian introduced Eddie Trunk and Eddie started his banter as the host of the event. Brian told us all how this next song is what made him become a Randy Rhoads fan. Out came Ritchie Faulker and they jammed right into “I DON’T KNOW” with Ritchie playing all those nuances Randy did live. That was pure joy to hear that song done right, in the style and vibe that Randy did live. Perfect it was. Then Eddie Trunk introduced Kelle Rhoads and Kathy Rhoads D’Argenzio. They both spoke of the love and respect they have for all involved and how touching it is for them to have such an event honoring their brother Randy.
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Brian introduced the house band “The Madmen” (Dewey Bragg, Rudy Sarzo, Phil Soussan, Steve Ferlazzo) and brings Steve out to play the keyboards and introduces Mike Orlando on guitar. Steve proceeded to play the intro to “MR CROWLEY. I have to say, that his solo in this song was holy sh*t !*cking Intense and gave true respect and tribute to Randy and how Randy would embellish his own solos live. Mike did just that in a way that was, in every way, respecting and honoring Randy. Then Brian introduced Chas West to sing and Phil Soussan on bass and they brought out Michael Angelo Baito and they kicked off “NO BONE MOVIES”. Michael Angelo did his own take on the classic slide solo, which was to be anticipated, and he did a great job of bringing the vibe with great style. Next they brought out Marcelo Barbosa and they started right into “TONIGHT”. Being one of Randy’s most touching pieces, they did great justice and gave us all the goosebumps that the song does whenever we hear it. It was moving in ways that can’t be explained in words. Marcelo was spot on with the solo and the passionate ending solo. At this time, Kelle Rhoads did a touching keyboard piece in respect and love for his brother Randy. Steve comes out and they introduced August Zadra to play guitar and started the song “REVELATION MOTHER EARTH”. This is another one of those iconic Randy arrangements that is forever in our hearts and the band played it passionately. August gave us the joy that Randy always did on that song. The articulation of the solos was impeccable. We were all high off it all when they were done. They brought out Chas West and Brian did a little back in the day thing about the next guitar player. How he would go to this dive bar back east and see this guy tearing up “Rock n Roll” by Led Zeppelin and other classic rock songs, just being a regular guy playing his guitar, while seeing his face on the big screen MTV videos. Brian said how he was touched by his humility and how they became great friends. He then introduced Scott Hill. The band proceeded right into “CRAZY TRAIN”. This was the other song we all heard way back when and it changed the world for us. The live versions of the tours showed how
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Randy would take his solos and go places with them. Scott did it all justice. I’ve seen many guitar players play this song and not do it justice. His pure love and respect for Randy came through with every note and nuance. It was refreshing and amazing to hear him play the live version of that solo. It got me high from his expression and passion. Next up was the Kelle Rhoads band. “Killer Girls” and “Back to the Coast”. (Johnny Blade guitar, Nikki Lane Taylor drums, Tony Ruiz bass, G’Lan Bongos) Now the “Madmen” came back on stage and brought out Ira Black on guitar. They kicked right into “STEAL AWAY”. As with all Randy songs, this one has memories for me and the band captured it perfectly. Ira played the song with pure love and respect for Randy. His solo was spot on and passionate. Brian introduced Deen Castronovo to play the drums! Brian spoke about how as a drummer, he had to learn the guitar from hearing Randy and the inspiration Randy was to him. He put on the guitar and the band kicked off into “SUICIDE SOLUTION”. It was awe inspiring to hear a drummer play the guitar with such passion and love for Randy. Brian did a great job of bringing it to the table and handled it no problem. I was impressed to say the least. Brian got back on the drums and brought out Chas to sing again. He told us how Roy Z who was originally scheduled to play on the next song had an emergency and had to turn around and go home. He introduced Phil Demmel and said they had no rehearsal and he was stepping up on the spot to play the song. And Phil did just that. They played “YOU CAN’T KILL ROCK AND ROLL” with such passion and expression; it was mind blowing to know they were doing this “off the cuff ”. Phil brought it, played it, and made it happen. Another one of those iconic Randy songs, Phil gave me and all of us there, the buzz and brought forth the passion of Randy in that song. It was beautiful. Brian introduced Michael Sweet and Oz Fox to play on the next song. He also brought out Bill Hudson on guitar. They jumped right into, “OVER THE MOUNTAIN”. These guys blew me away. I’ve seen this song played many times as well, and I’ve seen multiple guitar players play Randy songs and it didn’t work out at all. This was the exception. They did it with such amazing skill and love and respect it was completely out of the ball park. Oz and Bill played the solo together spot on, impeccably with such style, ferociousness and passion that I will never forget this moment in time. It was beyond belief. Brian brought out Deen again on drums and introduced Jack Frost on guitar. They played “IRON MAN” in true Randy style. All who are into Randy know how Randy played the old Sabbath songs and Jack took us there. It was all there. All the nuances of Randy’s version of this iconic song were present with passion and respect for Randy. Pure joy it was for me.
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Brian introduced Nick Bowcott and they jammed “FLYING HIGH AGAIN”. Again, they played this song with amazing passion and Nick brought it with all love and respect. Another amazing solo played immaculately, honoring Randy in such a way that one can’t forget it. Brian introduced Janet Robbin a student of Randy’s. She told us how she took lessons from Randy from 9 years old to 15 years old and shared stories of her experience. That was a joy for all of us to hear. They brought Deen out on drums and Dewey played the tymbali’s. They played “LITTLE DOLLS” and it was mesmerizing. Janet’s love and respect for Randy came through as she played the song and the solo with such passion. It was an amazing thing to experience. Then, Brian, Rowan Robertson, and Mike Orlando came out with acoustic guitars. Neil Turbin came out to sing and Dewey joined him. Steve played the keys, and they played “GOODBYE TO ROMANCE” in such a way that it was definitely one of the highlights of the evening. To hear and experience them playing it this way was transcendent. It’s hard to express in words but saying it was akin to spiritual does some justice. They all played the solo on the acoustic. Mind blowing that was, simply Mind Blowing. Brian introduced Doug Aldrich and the band started into “DIARY OF A MADMAN”. Another iconic Randy arrangement, Doug took us there and beyond. Doug’s playing was intense with all the live nuances of Randy’s playing brought forth. His solo was awe inspiring and just beyond description. He played Randy the way Randy played. It was kick ass. It was so so f ’n KICK ASS. The night ended with something that, well, I can only hope someday all get a chance to experience. All of the guitar players came out with acoustic guitars. They sat there and Brian said thank you to all, and Joe told everyone to be quiet. They waited until the entire place was quiet. People, who were talking behind me, were told to shush. The place was as quiet as it could be. Then, with all love and respect, all these amazing guitar players played “DEE”. The entire time of them playing I was in tears of joy and remembrance. It was spiritual, Spiritual to the core of my being. As one person put it, it was like being in church. Words cannot express the emotions I had during this song. To hear all of them playing it, Spot on, with such Love and Admiration for Randy was something I will never forget. It is embedded in my soul. Continued on page 33
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Steel Notes Magazine Here is the list of musicians that played the Randy Rhoads Remembered event. “THE MADMEN”: (House Band) Dewey Bragg (Kill Devil Hill) Vocals; Steve Ferlazzo (Avril Lavigne / Lucky Strike Soundcheck Live Founder) Keyboards; Rudy Sarzo (Quiet Riot / Ozzy Osbourne / Whitesnake) Bass; Phil Soussan (Ozzy Osbourne / Billy Idol) Bass; Brian Tichy (Randy Rhoads Remembered Founder, the Dead Daisies) Drums
w.bashfest.us ) For all things BASH FEST (ww MusicFest) (www.facebook.com/California I want to personally thank Joe Sutton and Brian Tichy for doing this event. It was something I will always cherish that I had the honor to experience. I am forever grateful to them both and all the musicians who played for this experience.
GUITARISTS: (in alphabetical order) Doug Aldrich (DIO / Whitesnake / the Dead Daisies) Michael Angelo Batio (Nitro) Nick Bowcott (Grim Reaper) Phil Demmel (Machine Head) Richie Faulkner (Judas Priest) Bill Hudson (Trans-Siberian Orchestra / Circle II Circle / Jon Oliva’s Pain) Marzi Montazeri (Heavy As Texas / Philip H. Anselmo & The Illegals) Mike Orlando (Adrenaline Mob / Sonic Stomp) Rowan Robertson (DIO / Bang Tango / DC4) Janet Robin (Student of Randy’s / Lindsey Buckingham) Brian Tichy (RRR Founder, the Dead Daisies)
Friday it’s raining. SPECIAL GUESTS: Arrive at NAMM Deen Castronovo (Journey / Revolution Saints / Ozzy Osbourne) Drums and go over the list Kathy Rhoads D’Argenzio of things to do and Kelle Rhoads Band get to it. First stop is Neil Turbin (Deathriders / Anthrax) Vox Rusty Cooley Chas West (Bonham / Resurrection Kings) (www.rustycooley. com) (www. facebook.com/ RealRustyCooley). Renee and I met up with him as he had finished a signing and she asked if we could take pictures of him along with his signature guitar at the Dean Guitars Booth. He said yes, was extremely friendly about it and said he had no formal pictures of him with his signature guitar and needed some! So off to the Dean Guitars booth we went. Walking through the crowds, which is always like commuter traffic but worse, was fun as Rusty was funny and very cool about all it. We got to the Dean Guitars area and he immediately was in love with one of their new models. He picked it up like a kid in a candy store. Renee then took pictures of him with his signature model Dean Guitar. He was one of the friendliest down to earth musicians I have met in a long time. Dean Guitars signature model (www. rustycooley.com/signature-gear) Next we went to the EMG pickups (www.emgpickups.com) booth and met up with Jason Christopher (www.facebook.com/JasonChristopher-1467562093559613) who was doing a signing with his band mates from Ministry (Sin Quirin, Cesar Soto). “Jason was part of the punk rock supergroup Black President, with guitarists Greg
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Hetson, Charlie Paulson, singer Christian Martucci, and drummer Roy Mayorga. He played bass during 2011 for the band Stone Sour, including the band's Avalanche tour and their appearance at Rock In Rio. Jason is also the backing acoustic guitar player and singer for Corey Taylor (lead singer for Slipknot and Stone Sour) and the bass player for his solo band/side project Junk Beer Kidnap Band. Jason toured with Sebastian Bach from 2012 to 2014, joining them at Rock in Rio 2013. He also performed on their DVD “Abacholypse”. Jason also played bass in Prong from 2013-2016, performing on the 2014 live release “Unleashed in the West: Live in Berlin”. He plays on the last album "Prong X No Absolutes”. In 2016 Jason teamed up with old band mate Roy Mayorga, to play bass on the summer/fall tour for Ministry. Jason has also played with Dave Navarro, Jerry Cantrell, Scott Ian, Ace Frehley and Dave Lombardo”. Jason was very friendly and even in the madness of fan signings, kept his sardonic humor alive and we had some fun goofing off. Renee and I then split up. She went to the Tone Pros (www.tonepros.com) booth for the Doug Aldrich signing. (www.facebook.com/DougAldrich. official) “He founded the band Burning Rain with Keith St. John in 1998 and has played previously with the bands Whitesnake, Dio, Lion, Hurricane, House of Lords, and Bad Moon Rising. In 2015, Doug was touring as guitar player of former Deep Purple bassist and vocalist Glenn Hughes band. He is currently in the band Revolution Saints and the Dead Daisies”. I am very familiar with all of Doug’s music and he is one of the tastiest guitar players I have ever heard or seen. But I had to take a break so missed out on this one. I went to the Hilton Lobby area for my “lunch” break. To sit and relax, take a breather from standing and walking. I am glad I did as I caught the band Union Hobos (www.facebook.com/UnionHobos). “Union Hobos is an original high-energy rock band with a unique, timeless sound that captivates all ages of music fans. The melodies are a mix of Old Time Rock & Roll, Grunge, 70's Rock & Country that will stick in your head long after the concert has ended”. They are a mainstay of the NAMM event. Their set was a great blend of country rock rootsy americana grooves. I just sat there in pure bliss enjoying my break. We then met up and went to the next indicated thing on our agenda for the day. We met up with Hugh Thomas of 13th street guitars, at the PLEK booth. (http://www.plek.com/en_US/home) “The Plek Station is a high-end tool system for professional luthiers, guitar repair experts and technicians. The Plek Station is a compact machine developed around the high speed, high accuracy Plek technology but which is small enough to be used in repair shops, custom building and a range of other scenarios. It is a tool that not only performs precise fret dressing, nut slotting/shaping, bridge slotting and engraving but also helps with quality control and R&D. All of these procedures will reflect the working style and judgment of the operator, whilst at the same time allowing a far greater degree of accuracy. The Plek Station's ingenious scan mechanism gives you a way of looking at a guitar's fingerboard and frets in microscopic detail, as well as a way of working with that information. All scans performed on the machine are undertaken under string tension, either real or simulated, meaning that you see the contours of the neck and frets under actual playing conditions. This is a major breakthrough since the Plek illustrates precisely what needs to be done for perfect fretwork in any style, executes this rapidly, and delivers perfect results when the instrument is re-strung. In repair, the station achieves superior playability and frees the technician from time-consuming and strenuous handwork. Viewing a Plek scan allows the user to decide between dressing and a partial/complete refret by showing exact fret heights and projecting post-dress results. For luthiers, the Plek Station speeds up the production process and raises the quality of instruments to an extremely high and consistent level.” Hugh was busy doing business when we got there and when he was done said hello and I took a picture with him and the PLEK machine. (www.13thstreetguitars.com) (www.facebook.com/13thstreetguitars) “Hugh comes from a long line of woodworkers and is continuing the family tradition. Staff Sergeant with 10 years of electronics repairs in the United States Marine Corps, Top of his class at Musicians Institute, and now thousands of happy clients later, Hugh is still keeping quality of work as his #1 priority. Constantly learning and evolving the field of stringed instrument repair, Hugh has developed techniques and attention to detail that keep clients coming back again and again. Fine fretwork, setups, electronics installations with meticulous quality, custom projects and modifications. All work performed at 13th Street Guitars is done using Hugh's techniques and strict quality control. All work is guaranteed 100%”. I have been going to 13th street guitars for over 10 years. I
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have found there is nothing Hugh and his crew can’t do. If it has strings, they can and will repair, maintain and treat it as their own with a sincere desire of love for the instruments. Located in Orange County, many touring musicians stop in for repairs and maintenance when on the road. Many others send their instrument to Hugh and the crew for treatment and repair. It is a very friendly environment and the love they have for their craft and the instruments is always present in the shop. Now the day is over and it’s time for food. I met up with my friend Morgan and on the way to a NAMM food spot, I walked by Janet Robin at a booth, (I don’t remember which booth, sorry) and had to stop and talk. (www.janetrobin.com) (www.facebook.com/ janetrobinmusic) I introduced myself and shared my respect and admiration for her song at Randy Rhoads Remembered. I shared a story of my own as a student of Randy Rhoads. I was like a goofy kid all over again as we shared stories. It was a highlight of my NAMM experience. Now one of the things I have always tried to do during the NAMM experience is check out the Hilton and Marriot lobby’s for music that I don’t know about. All during NAMM they have artists playing outside and inside both of these hotels. Many times over the years I have caught a great band/artist that I didn’t know about. (Like that one year in the Hilton Lobby late at night when Stevie Wonder came up and did the magic he does with the band that was playing. That is a memory for life.) So I went to the Marriot and sure enough a great band had just started. The Curly Wolf (www.curlywolfmusic.com) (www.facebook. com/thecurlywolf) “Diesel fuel, burning tires, and Fernet-Branca…that would be the aroma coming out of your speakers if you could smell the music. The Curly Wolf delivers a hard charging alt-country rock sound that comes from a variety of musical and cultural influences. Cash, Hank, Waylon, Rancid, The Misfits, Queens of The Stone Age, Trucks, Choppers, Vans; these are the common threads that brought these boys together to create an aggressive new music alternative to today’s standard country music. Their new album, "Calling Your Bluff " is out now on iTunes.” I was pleasantly blown away by this band and I stayed for their entire set. I kept moving and grooving during the set as did the entire crowd. The music was exactly as their bio describes. Rootsy, Alternative Country rock that paid homage to all their influences but remained original.They owned that stage. I would have been doing some country swing dancing but being that I had been walking around now for 2 and half days, I just kept to tapping my feet. I have to check this band out again sooner than later. When they were done I went to the Hilton. The band GrooveSession (www.groovesessionmusic.com) (www.facebook.com/ GrooveSession) had just started and I was stoked! “GrooveSession is a trio on the rise! Recognized for unique songwriting and powerful live performance, GrooveSession is a true throwback and good old fashioned rock band uniting fans with a funky flare and positive message. Mind, body, and sound, GrooveSession brings a multi-genre blend of rock n’ roll that they call “movin' groovin' music.” A renaissance, a rebirth, an encompassed innovative flowering new sound on their quest to end the jammin' famine. Touring and playing over 1,333 dates while opening for and playing with many of today's greatest bands and musicians, there is something very special happening when GrooveSession performs. These guys love it all and you never know what you will get, but rest assured it’s going to be dynamic and musical. Tuned to 432Hz, this band is about the Earth’s natural vibration and healing properties that positive music and intention bring to life! Magical, professional, and musical with the ability to make fire with music!” Last year at NAMM my brother Chris and I jammed with bass player Ronnie Sanchez at the Cigar Box Guitars booth (www.cigarboxguitars.com). A mutual friend had introduced us to Ronnie right before and we jammed. Spontaneous, adventurous improvising away we went, playing some greasy spoon grove blooze! It was pure joy and we all got high off it. I got turned on to GrooveSession at that time. So to catch them at NAMM, in the Hilton lobby was pure heaven for me. Their set was magical, spiritual and transcended the realm of the material world. This is a band that is truly impossible to describe in words. You have to Experience them. They are an Experience. They get off playing; the audience gets off on them playing. It is that rare thing that happens with live music when the audience is taken to another level of existence, as the band is doing the same. After that, it was time to call it a night. There may have been something out there that could top that experience, but I was more than content to get home and rest. Being that the downpour of rain had stopped, it was like nature was in agreement. Saturday was a bright sunny day! Got my usual ice coffee with a shot, and met up with Renee. We looked over our notes for the day and headed to our first stop. Pete Thorn (www.peterthorn.com) (www.facebook.com/guitarnerd) “While prolific guitar sideman Pete Thorn may refer to himself as a “guitar nerd”, his resume proves he’s anything but. His effortless, dynamic playing have landed
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him onstage alongside such legendary artists as Don Henley, Chris Cornell and Melissa Etheridge among others and his debut solo CD “Guitar Nerd” garnered critical praise and landed on CD Baby’s top selling albums list. Channeling his inner gear nerd, Thorn has taken to demonstrating guitar gear and accessories on his wildly popular YouTube channel (62,000 subscribers). Pete's videos have so far garnered more than 12.5million views, proving there’s a lot of “guitar nerds” out there. But if a lifelong, unabashed passion for playing guitar in all its styles and permutations with some of the best artists in the world qualifies as “nerd” status?! Then Pete Thorn is, indeed, a fabulous guitar nerd”. I was stoked to see Pete Thorn in his element and checking out his signature guitar. He is an axeman among axemen, a true guitar virtuoso. I highly suggest checking him out any time you can and enjoy the taste and stylings that are his and his alone! Then Renee and I split up to cover 2 birds with 2 stones. As it is during NAMM, many demo’s, signings, and performances take place at the same time. She went to the Deftones and I went to check out The 44’s. On my way, I ran into Dave Marek a friend of the family of POPE SKATES. (www.popeskates.com) I was wearing their shirt that day. (I wear different shirts during NAMM to fly the flag of friends and people I support) He was like hey I know those guys! I introduced myself and we chatted for a bit and then I was off to catch The 44’s! I arrived at the Tagima USA (www.tagima.com. br/en) booth just in time to catch the 44’s playing. (www. the44sbluesband.com/) (www. facebook.com/The-44sBand-104594366246808) “The 44’s are a Los Angeles-based band who play blues-rootsrock music. The 44’s are one the brightest rising stars on the American blues roots scene. Make no mistake about it. The raw rough and tough sounds generated by these four expert musicians during live performances and in the making of their Sophomore album Americana, on the Rip Cat label, demands to be heard by Blues music fans worldwide. They evidence a genuine gift for creating blues in the moment while at the same time showing loyalty to a remarkable blues-and-r&b tradition that goes back decades through the James Harman Band and the Red Devils to storied greats like Howlin’ Wolf, Albert Collins, and Muddy Waters. They’ve become a favorite band of club and festival crowds across North America”. They brought it! I went live on FB for one of their songs and it was an immediate hit! They play the greasy spoon roots blooze swagger like no other. The buzz of catching them live was why I had to see them at NAMM. I was extremely high of their set. Then Renee and I regrouped and went to the Schector guitars booth (www.schecterguitars. com) to hopefully try and catch Zakk Wylde. (www.zakkwylde.com). Needless to say the line was about a mile long. Thankfully Renee and her media pass got in to take some great pictures of Zakk and Kings X front man Doug Pinnick (www.dugnation.net). Being that Schector was the sponsor of the Zakk Sabbath / Kings X show at the Grove, they were both there doing the signing thing. As I was outside the booth area I ran into my good friend Karen who is part of the“Brick by Brick” (www.brickbybrick.com ) venue in San Diego. She was telling me
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about this thing going on down there called the Metal Swapmeet (www.sdmetal.org/msm) (www.facebook.com/sdmetalswapmeet). It is what it sounds like, a swap meet for Metal aficionado’s! Next up we headed over to the Sperzel booth (www.sperzel.com) (www.facebook.com/ SperzelGuitarTuners) “We are proud to say Made in the U.S.A. From parts made in our factory in Cleveland Ohio U.S.A. and assembled in our plant by American workers. Our finishing is also done in the states; Aluminum parts plated in Denver Colorado, Anodizing colors in Indianapolis, black and satin in Mentor, Ohio. Small parts plated at Chromatic, Cleveland Ohio, and Chromium Process in Connecticut New England U.S.A. We are not like some guitar companies or other tuning key manufacturers that Claim Made in U.S.A. See if they will publicly state where they get their parts from”. These are truly handcrafted and can be custom made for individual needs. A family owned and operated company that brings that family atmosphere to each artist, as every artist who uses Sperzel tuners is family. I met up with Morgan Van Harding (www.attackoftherising.com) and looked over the new line of tuners. I told him I have to get some for myself. Impeccable quality tuners they are! Then Renee and I head over the to the Zemiatis guitar booth area to visit with Alison Metal Babe Mayhem. (www.metalbabemayhem. com) (www.facebook.com/MetalBabeMayhem). “With over ten years under her belt, Alison “MetalBabe” Cohen has established her name and her brand in the Los Angeles area and worldwide. She continues to follow her dreams and create new goals for herself everyday in an effort to reach the rock n’ roll community throughout the entire world. Most importantly, Alison “MetalBabe” Cohen thanks all of you for your continued support. She truly appreciates every email, message, comment, share, tweet, favorite, and like. She is so happy to see her friends and fans out there supporting and promoting her and Metal Babe Mayhem, and she will continue to love, support, and give back to the music community” She was showcasing her new “Studded Star” guitar strap made by Al Bane 4 Leather. This custom made guitar strap embodies the metal branding she has established and gives the artist who wears it the made in the USA highest of quality ready to go on the road guitar/bass strap! Now it was time to leave. We both had to rest up and get rejuvenated as tonight; it was Zakk Sabbath and Kings X at the Grove. So off I go to a friends’ to eat and power nap. Jerome, Morgan and I catch an Uber and head out to the Grove. When we get there, we see that the line is, literally wrapped around the building and into the parking lot. We are shocked. We thought we got there “early”. Thankfully a good friend of ours allowed us to come into the line where they were. Grateful I am for that. Finally get inside the front area of the Grove entrance, which has been converted to a full blown party layout. DJ Will is there spinning live old school and new school metal. (www.metaldjwill.com) (www. facebook.com/metaldjwill). As always DJ Will brought it like no other and kept the crowd in full metal jacket mode the entire evening! Coldcock Whisky (www.coldcockwhiskey.com) was a co-sponsor of this event and their booth area section was a madhouse. They had an ice sculpture made just for this event, which had 2 people on each end doing shots straight down the throat. Coldcock Whisky ice shots! That was a sight to see! I got my free Monster energy drink on the rocks and chilled out with a friend. He made a comment in his sardonic tone, “this is the Rainbow on steroids”. I busted up laughing. It is virtually a who’s who of hard rock metal there. Members of the Deftones, Fear Factory, Ministry, (and many others) were hanging out. It’s time for Kings X and we go inside. All I can say is that it’s like a revival of sorts. The storytelling, the music, the presence and atmosphere is all there. Doug Pinnick and his band mates bring us all home and we are safe in the arms of the love present. After Kings X is done I go outside. Get another Monster on the rocks. Hang with various people talking, schmoozing, and during this time Jerome takes a picture of me and it’s classic. The expression says it all. It is now time for Zakk Sabbath. From the first notes it is an Onslaught of power and presence. Zakk is singing in a style like Ozzy, and not his usual gutter growl. It is amazing. I will do my best to put into words what this experience was like. Unimaginable power and presence in every chord, note and solo. He is in complete control, in the zone, and some other dimension, place in time and brings it to us in this time space continuum. The ferocity he plays with in these what the f*ck solos he does is completely mind boggling. It’s not some wang dang doodle wanking look at me shred bullshit. Its Pure freedom. Every song, every solo, every aspect of this sonic assault
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Steel Notes Magazine is something that is beyond this material world. Then he jumps down into the crowd while playing and it’s just like something out of a movie or dream. A few feet away there is this person, exuding all this intensity, freely giving it to us all in the most intimate way possible. The entire set was like that. An out of body type experience that was completely spiritual. That is the only way to describe this experience, it was spiritual. When it was all over and done. I was high as one could be on the natural from such an experience. So now we all head over to the Hilton for the “after party”. If, where we just were was the “rainbow on steroids”, then this is 1000 times more so. Being that I am not a social crowd guy, and I am a goofball, that’s what I did. Have fun and be a goofball dork. We walked around and stopped and chatted with the various people we knew there. It served as the comedown after the Zakk Sabbath experience. After a while we all agreed time to go. Uber’d back to Jeromes to get my truck and back home for me to power nap and head back Sunday. So it’s Sunday, and Renee and I meet up and check out what is possible for the day. After about 90 minutes we realize there isn’t much going on for us today and so we decide to call it. I walk around for a while to see if any of my friends are here and this happened. I walk up to the Orange amps booth and there is Stevie Wonder playing some guitar! The crowd was huge so I couldn’t post up live but just stood there in ultimate bliss as I listened to him play some intense soulful bluesy licks. That in and of itself, was worth being there on a Sunday. I can still hear him playing in my mind.
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I want to thank Steel Notes Magazine and Alexxis Steele for this opportunity to cover NAMM 2017. I also want to thank Renee Jahnke for her professionalism, stamina, scheduling/production and her one of kind photography eye. I could not have done this without her helping me throughout the days. This wraps up my review, coverage and experience of NAMM 2017. Until next time, I hope you all enjoy this as much as I did.
After that I decided I should go as the rain is coming down and the storm is hitting hard. As I head out I run into a representative from SESH.IO. (www.sesh.io) (www.facebook.com/seshHQ) “This is the music industry’s opportunity to fully allow technology into the booking equation. As a DJ who has been on tour, I understand what every musician goes through, having to fly with heavy equipment or struggle to find a place to rehearse last minute.” “This is a sophisticated API that has been in development for over a year, and we are very excited to open up our app for public download. We want this to be the everyday go-to resource for artists and studio professionals, everywhere in the world. The Ultimate goal is to empower people to create music and harness ideas without the usual limitations of what we think we have access to. Because with Sesh the possibilities are endless.” So there you go, anywhere you are traveling and touring, a musician, engineer, producer, etc., and you can find what you might need through a simple to use app and resource! I leave and it’s pouring. I take the streets from Anaheim to Long Beach as the freeways are flooded out. So are the streets! But I make it home safe n sound.
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New Shows Added To The Season!
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Lee Rocker
Founding Member of the Stray Cats Fri., Feb. 3 7:30 PM - $36/$26
The Naked Magicians
Sat., Feb. 18 - 7:30 PM
$
55 (with VIP Meet & Greet)/$35/$25
An evening in conversation with
Yanni
Up close and personal on the Piano
Tues., March 7 - 7:30 PM 225(with VIP Meet & Greet) $79/$61
Colin Mochrie & Brad Sherwood
Sponsored by 99.9 The Hawk
Co-Op Bop
Hypnohype
Ron White
7:30 PM - $25
7 PM & 9:30 PM - $52/$47
Sat., April 15
Fri., April 21
Sponsored by The Morning Call
Thu., April 13
7:30 PM - $67/$57
$
Mature Audiences 18+ only Sponsored by 99.9 The Hawk
Presented in partnership with PA Jazz in the Acopian Ballroom Proceeds benefit the FREDDYŠ Awards
Olivia Newton-John
Fri., June 9
www.tatersalad.com Mature Audiences
Sponsored by CAT Country 96
7:30 PM - 21 $
The Scared Scriptless Tour
Sat., Nov. 18 8 PM - $47/$42
Sponsored by 99.9 The Hawk
Choose your seats online! Visit www.statetheatre.org For A Complete Schedule! 453 Northampton St., Easton, PA s 610-252-3132 s 1-800-999-STATE Steel Notes Magazine Join the State Theatre E-mail List for up to date information! www.steelnotesmagazine.com Non-profit Center for the Arts Fees apply. Regardless of age, everyone needs a ticket.
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Ladies and Gentlemen and Children of All Ages ... My name is Marlowe B. West and I am your Ring Leader ... Ya know ... I really dig this gig ... Being Star Reporter of the ever growing into glory Steel Notes Magazine for the past three years has been such a blast ... It has allowed me to share my awesome and adventurous escapades along this wondrous journey we all call Life ... Usually I take my loyal readers and fans deep inside the superficial exterior lives of the extraordinary people who cross my path here on this present plane of our physical existence ... However, this month I am taking full advantage of the wonders and magic of being the most imaginative and resourceful writer ... I am taking you all with me in a very different direction ... "So fasten your seat belts ...", as Bette Davis said in All About Eve "... It's going to be a bumpy ride." ... As we venture into the past. Yes ... We are already barreling through the time barrier ... Past the magnificent Chimera ... those faithful, vicious dog-like guards ... who have been appointed by The Fates to watch over the Gates ... Awaiting lesser trespassers ... like us ... who have to have a good reason to even attempt to go back in time ... It has been said that "Once you cross it's borders you can never return again !!!" ... Against the law ... Against the grain ... Unless you possess this Golden Key. Do any of you know what the Golden Key is and where to get it ??? ... You should all know the answer ... It is Love ... and it's only found in the Young at Heart ... There is no age limit to be Young at Heart ... True Love is Golden ... It has the power and is permitted to break down the walls that grow thicker and taller with time in a world filled with hate ... Like layers upon layers of cobwebs, age is capable of gaining volumn and weight which builds walls that can hold you back and keep you further away from the pure and radiant Life we were all originally born to live. Thus ... in the hour of our awareness ... we find ourselves in the lovely neighborhood Garden of Saint Valentine ... where the essence of True Love prevails ... Here we wander trance-like until we stumble upon the shrine of Rodolfo Alfonso Raffaello Pierre Filibert Guglielmi di Valentina d'Antonguella, professionally known as Rudolph Valentino ... an Italian-American film actor who was admired as the ‘Great Lover’ of the 1920s ... How sad he is no longer around to be interviewed ... but ... The Fates have summoned up the next best thing ... one of his greatest and truest most sincere fans was destined to meet us here ... Her name is Eleanor Gribbin and she will serve as medium ... from the Silver Screen beyond the Pearly Gates.
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MBW: Good evening, my dear Eleanor ... You look radiant kneeling here before this stunning, massively candlelit, most divine Rudolph Valentino shrine ... on the other side of time ... the romantic moonlight glistening in your loving and smiling eyes ... in this magical majestic garden ... an enclave of red roses ... like deep red velvet theater curtains ... I love your gypsy outfit, Darling ... How the candle light catches the golden coins around your neck ... How are you feeling, Eleanor ... the look in your eyes has changed ... I must say I am feeling a bit light headed myself at
the moment ... the intoxicating night blooming jasmine ... the fragrance of gardenia is overwhelming ... something strangely familiar is happening ... do you feel that, Eleanor ... you can actually hear and feel the beating of his heart amongst this spellbinding Hollywood setting ... Eleanor: (whispers) He is present MBW: Excuse me, my love ... did you say... Eleanor: (still whispering) Be still ... will you ... He is taking me in his arms ... most passionately ... He is caressing me ... kissing me madly ... He is taking me over completely ... I surrender ... (sigh) MBW: Eleanor ... Eleanor ??? Eleanor: ( now in a low husky voice with a soft, sibilant accent) Eleanor is presently indisposed, young man ... what brings you here ??? MBW: Who are you ??? RV: I am Valentino ... MBW: Just who I always wanted to meet ... We came a long long way to find you sir ... RV: So I understand ... I am greatly honoured ... You may call me Rudy MBW: Thank you sir ... I mean Rudy ... I mean ... I am Marlowe B West and I am here to represent the lovers of the whirled back home who idolize you and all you stand for ... It is sad for me to say ... but ... Love ... it seems ... has become a faded rose in the whirled ... the
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new people have been swamped over with viciousness, violence and hatred ... and I would give my verry life to bring it all back into the beautiful prominence for which the wondrous whirled was so blessedly created ... RV: Yes, my friend ... I agree ... It is plain to see how badly things have gone astray ... How can I assist you with such a glorious quest ??? MBW: I would love to interview you and bring you back with me in Steel Notes Magazine ... for which I am the proud star reporter ... and you are the ultimate star ... RV: Your wish has been granted, Marlowe B West ... I give you my all ... MBW: Consider me starstruck ... how utterly righteous ... Let us begin with you telling my beautiful loyal readers and fans what was it like when you first opened your eyes in a brand new whirled ??? RV: I was born on May 6th, 1895. My parents were Gabriella and Giovanni Guglielmi. I had an older sister, Bice, who was born in 1890, but died in infancy. I had an older brother Alberto and a sister Maria, born after me. I was not close to Alberto, growing up but Maria and I had a special bond. She would accompany me on my adventures throughout the neighborhood, my partner in crime. I was spoiled (from the time I was born) by the women in my life, my mother, teachers and friends of my mother (whom I had the habit of falling in love with!). MBW: How about school ??? RV: I did not like school. My grades were low except for penmanship, for which I always got an excellent. MBW: What was little Rudy like as a kid ??? RV: From an early age, I took risks. When I was just five, I attempted to shave with my father's razor which resulted in the scar on my right cheek.
MBW: When did that compelling Valentino aura first hit home ??? RV: I first fell in love, at the tender age of six. MBW: ... and when did romance come into the picture ??? RV: I had my first 'romance' when I was twelve (the daughter of the schools cook). MBW: How was your family life ??? RV: My father died when I was eleven from malaria. MBW: When did you start to make your way out into the whirled ??? RV: At fifteen, I applied to a naval technical school in Venice, passed the written test but failed the physical (my chest was too small). I then was accepted to The Agricultural Institute in Genoa. I enjoyed my time there especially caring for the animals. In later life I was the proud owner of four arabian stallions and several dogs. MBW: Sounds absolutely exquisite ... and from Genoa ??? RV: I graduated and spent a year in Paris. It was in Paris that I learned to dance and the girls were beautiful! MBW: Oo la la ... How about America ???
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Steel Notes Magazine RV: At the age of eighteen I boarded a ship headed to America landing at Ellis Island on December 23rd, 1913. After several odd jobs, I landed a spot as a taxi dancer at Maxim's, in New York City, teaching the tango to rich society ladies. I met actor Norman Kerry who suggested that I go to Hollywood and try acting. MBW: Very interesting ... That's exactly what I did when I got out of school ... What was Hollywood like when you first got there ??? RV: I found work as an extra in movies and during a bit part in 1919's "Eyes Of Youth" was discovered by screenwriter June Mathis who chose me for the lead (Julio) in her screenplay "The Four Horsemen Of The Apocalypse" (during this time my mother died). This led to my starring in "The Sheik", 1921. And soon I was called "The Worlds Greatest Lover!" MBW; How did becoming "The World's Greatest Lover" affect your life ??? RV: My career picked up from there and I starred in several movies. MBW: Would you mind telling us about the romantic status of "The World's Greatest Lover" ??? RV: I married and divorced twice. First to actress Jean Acker (remaining friends til my death) and then to Natacha Rambova (the love of my life). My divorce from Natacha left me with much sadness causing emotional as well as physical stress. MBW: ... a broken heart ??? RV: Steelmy Notes Magazine It was during promotional tour of "The Son www.steelnotesmagazine.com
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Of The Sheik" that I became suddenly ill. On August 14th, 1926 I collapsed and was rushed to the hospital. I was operated on for acute appendicitis and perforated gastric ulcers. Unfortunately, antibiotics had not been discovered yet and infection set in. Around 8:00 AM, on the morning of August 23rd, I lapsed into a coma. I died at 12:10 PM on Monday August 23rd, 1926. MBW: Rudy ??? Eleanor: (sobbing and holding her heart) He's gone ... but oh ... what a night
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Steel Notes Live At The Jetport: Chuck Bazemore, Johnny Bamboo, Nate Moran
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Chuck Bazemore
John Eorio Bio:
My music began as a young child, always singing along with the radio. I was 9 when The Beatles came to America and sang on the Ed Sullivan Show. I would play air guitar in front of the mirror while blasting the music. I asked my parents to please buy me a Beatles wig. When I was 12, my friends came to my house and heard me singing “I am a Rock” by Simon and Garfunkel. They told me I had a fantastic voice and that I should be singing in a band. I started to put together my own drum set with different pieces. At the age of 13, after my father saw how serious I was about playing, he bought me a drum set. I really liked singing, but was very shy. I saw a drummer who also sang and I figured I could hide behind the drum set and sing because I was too shy to sing up front. A few friends joined together and we created the group “Aurora Borealis”. We would play at the youth center and my mother always came out to watch me perform. I took a break from music for quite a few years. Between raising a son and running my own business, I was quite busy. I had a drum set that I would bang on occasionally, but didn’t really have the time to take in seriously. Life sometimes moves you in different directions, but I always had a dream of making my own album someday. After I sold my last business, I took some time off and I did a lot of traveling. I also started playing the drums again when I was around 48 years old. I was in a band and someone said I was the worse person in the band. That gave me determination to improve myself. I went to drum seminars and
Johnny Bamboo practiced long and hard. I wanted to be a great drummer and I knew I could be. The next time that person came to hear us play, he said I was the best asset to the band. I have my own band called T.H.R.O.G. We play classic rock and top 40’s. We haven’t really played out much because I was focusing on recording my own music. I have also drummed for several other bands. I picked up a
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guitar at the age of 52 and within 2 weeks I wrote my first song, “Lost and Confused”. I built a recording studio in my basement so I could record my own music. I met a great engineer, Ryan Focht, who is so easy to work with. He straightened me out with my timing issues and worked long hours recording my cd “The Truth – that nobody wants to hear”. I still get a little nervous playing guitar and singing in front of people. I am now 61 years old and have been playing drums
my whole life, so I am very comfortable behind the drum set. I haven’t been playing guitar near as long.
me sing to her. When I was in my first band, she never missed a show. She didn’t even have a drivers license, but always found a way to get there.
I dedicated my cd to my mother, who always believed I had a special talent. She always made
Even though I took a break for a while, music has always been in my soul. I guess it always will be. Who knows, maybe there will be a second cd.
Nate Moran Nate Moran Bio:
Nate Moran was born in Richmond VA and migrated to NY where he lived for 24years, spending two of those years as a homeless veteran. In 2011 he did his first mime and won a gold medal dance competition performing to Usher’s “There Goes My Baby” and now Nate passes the message to never give up. Nate has performed all over the world including Germany, which is one of his highlights and enjoys seeing people smile. That's one of the reasons he loves doing Mime and interpretive dance because it brings songs and music to life. Nate’s favorite quotes are: “Never Give Up” and “Always Take A Minute To Smile”. Nate has danced in the Famous Apollo in NY, Grand Sierra In Reno Nevada as well as many Historic places such as The Touchstone Theater. Back in October he took part of a spoken word and music interpretive dance for an Anti-bullying event for the GLVMA at The Masonic Temple in Allentown, Pa.
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He recently performed for Steel Notes LIVE at The Jetport as part of the magazine’s spot on Rockin The Valley. If you would like to see more of Nate Moran’s work: YouTube: Realschool1 Contacts: facebook.com/nate.moran.16 Also His Fan Page Instagram: natemoranperformer Email: moran.nathaniel@yahoo.com
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Steel Notes Magazine Nate Moran's first mime dance to Usher's There Goes My Baby, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0K1h73aHqJg
Omega Dance Competition https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7V1BfibW8D4
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Live And Uncensored With Drama 610 Artist Spotlight: BONNIE BENJI Shaquasia Moneé (born May 6), better known by her stage name Bonnie Benji is a multi-talented rapper, singer, songwriter, dancer, and actress. This american hip-hop recording artist was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York City where she graduated from the Brooklyn High School for Music and Theater in 2010. Bonnie is the second child and eldest daughter of 12 siblings. She started writing during her freshman year of high school in 2006 and later started recording early 2010. She managed her time in the studio but was also focused on earning her high school diploma. Struggling financially at a young age, her number one priority became to position herself to succeed in life and provide for family. Late in 2011, Bonnie attended Berkeley College, at a time when her music career was beginning to soar. She worked hard to make sure neither her studies nor her career endeavors lacked attention. Bonnie released the mixtape “Breakin All The Rules” September 2012. Her raw, original, rap lyrics caught the attention of hip hop fans from all backgrounds and walks of life. In April 2014, she released her debut EP “Highlights”, which featured production from industry producers Fresh Beatz and Smoova. Also on the project were features by G Unit artist Uncle Murda. Two singles “Prada” and “XLs” were released off the EP accompanied by eye popping music videos and visuals. Her career has proven to thrive towards success amongst and beyond the underground scene.
lationships with her fans and industry insiders, Bonnie has been afforded the opportunity to perform at over 100 venues nationwide and reach fans around the country thus contributing to her 50,000+ social networking following and over 500,000 listeners. ‘Ratchet Goods’is set to be released later this year. Bonnie recently released her debut single “Somebody” featuring Fred The Godson. Her highly anticipated release features compelling production from Sonaro and Smoova.
At age 21, she teamed with EMPIRE distributions, a business decision that has proven wise and beneficial. Building strong re-
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Steel Notes Magazine NEW SINGLE www.steelnotesmagazine.com
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Love is Around the Corner: A Short History of Rom Coms since When Harry Met Sally
By Jerry Saravia - Pseudo Film Critic
There is no way that anyone can view “How to Be Single,” the latest romantic comedy confection in the “Sex and the City” vein, and not have any idea on what to expect. The latest pop songs filter through the soundtrack as we witness young twentysomething/thirtysomething women juggling NYC careers while dating and bedding men in the club scene. Okay, nothing new here and New York has been the haven for such romantic couplings in the past, far too many to name here in the last twenty years alone. What strikes me about this latest soufflé is that “How to Be Single” has the most appealing cast I’ve seen in quite some time and its ending strikes a different chord than most of its ilk.
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But let us get back to the relentless clichés of the most exhausted genre of romantic com-
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edies in general, starting with 1989’s “When Harry Met Sally” (one of the best of its kind in the modern era). Why are these movies consistently juggling the same old routines with consistently fewer and fewer variations? “When Harry Met Sally” was an adult romantic comedy with more than a few whiffs of inspiration, including the terrific chemistry between Billy Crystal’s loquacious man who has precious luck with women and Meg Ryan’s OCD twitches such as making sure that the mail is in the mailbox! What makes that film thrive above the usual is that it is about two people communicating to each other about sex and love and getting to know each other while accidentally running into each other every five years, until they make the commitment to become friends. Meg Ryan in particular shows just enough shades through each encounter with Billy Crystal to give the film the dimension it needs – we notice that they are both falling in love with each other long before either one really knows it. More importantly, we want them to be together. That is when you know these films are working. And, yes, Virginia, this all takes place in New York City. Ever since “When Harry Met Sally,” romantic comedies lost their way. Many of them, including the extremely slight young adult version titled “Boys and Girls” (2001), paid homage to the Nora Ephron/Rob Reiner classic without a hint of a personality of their own. At least three rom coms stood out in the 1990’s somewhat, “Pretty Woman,” “Sleepless in Seattle” and “You Got Mail.” Incidentally, the last two starred Meg Ryan. 1990’s “Pretty Woman” had the star wattage of Julia Roberts, the hooker with a heart of gold (how often have we seen that type of character), and Richard Gere as a Wall Street corporate raider (not unlike Gordon Gekko) who hires her to be his escort. Again, what makes “Pretty Woman” stand out is the relationship that develops between the two – they are not just interested in sex and they both carry more than two dimensions to their characters which gives them depth of character and personality. Nora Ephron’s “Sleepless in Seattle” (1993) was essentially a modern take on “An Affair to Remember” and it had Tom Hanks as a Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan in 1998’s “You Got Mail” single dad living with his young son who has just lost his wife to cancer. After Hanks reluctantly tells his story on a radio call-in show, many women are touched by his story including, you got it, Meg Ryan as a lovestruck reporter who agrees to meet him at the top of the Empire State Building. Just as perceptive and just as sharply funny is Nora Ephron, once again, as writer and director of “You Got Mail” (1998) also starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan and also a rekindling of a past Hollywood romance, 1940’s “The Shop Around the Corner.” In “You Got Mail,” Hanks and Ryan already know each other (one owns a corporate bookstore not unlike Barnes and Noble, the other owns a small little bookshop) and dislike each other yet they do not realize they are emailing each other anonymously. The ending truly works because once they meet up, the realization comes through that love is simply around the corner, when we least expect it. There are other exceptions since “When Harry Met Sally” but far too few. Usually, the formula was as generic as they come: meet, fall in love, break up, meet someone else and find they are all wrong for each other, and then meet the one they should’ve stayed with from the beginning. That gets old real quick, as it did for Julia Roberts who tried it with Nick Nolte in “I Love Trouble” and Richard Gere again in the atrocious “Runaway Bride.” Meg Ryan did not disassociate herself from the genre, making a seemingly adventurous character actress in the beginning into a former shell of herself stuck in rom-com hell. At least Julia broadened her horizons in other roles that strayed from the
Cameron Diaz, Dermot Mulroney (center) and Julia Roberts in 1997’s “My Best Friend’s Wedding”
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genre yet, when she did return to the rom com factory, she made some wise choices or at least the screenwriters did for her characters. For example, Julia’s character accepted her failure to be with the man she initially wanted in 1997’s “My Best Friend’s Wedding.” It might not seem like much in such a romantic confection but the fact that she pursued her best friend from college (Dermot Mulroney, a semi-regular veteran of this genre) and hoped to marry him if they did not meet anyone by the time they reached the age of 28, well, the ending came as a bit of a surprise considering her devotion. Mulroney’s character is engaged to marry Cameron Diaz’s character and Julia has to accept that someone else is going to make her best friend happy. In many ways, it is the most romantic thing you can expect in this genre nowadays. I have avoided many romantic comedies in the 2010 era but I can say “How to Be Single” (which is not nearly as cheekily fun or as outrageously crude as “Bridesmaids” or “Trainwreck,” a romantic comedy that has big laughs and a truthful romantic spirit) is upbeat and almost nostalgic for the days of “Sex and the City.” It is not as sharply written or as wittily observant as that trenchant HBO series but it does have some curious questions about women that rises a few steps up from “Bridesmaids” and “Trainwreck.” It assumes young women today can make a choice and live with it – what a novel idea! Dakota Johnson plays a paralegal in NYC who has a college boyfriend whom she dumps, has trouble sparking any communication at a singles bar, has ambitions to settle down with a widower who is not ready to settle down, has to consistently run into her ex-boyfriend, and then finally decides, after much drinking and copious sexual encounters, to let go of her inhibitions and consider her own space of being single. The other women in the film – Leslie Mann’s nurse who decides to have a baby, Alison Brie’s anxious Lucy looking to get married – find their exits from the single life because they choose to, not because a man enforces it. Dakota finds her inner happiness by fulfilling her ultimate dream – visiting the Grand Canyon. Hey, a man can’t compare to one of the great natural wonders of the world. For more film reviews, check out Jerry Saravia’s blog at http://jerrysaravia.blogspot.com/
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Dream Catchers Multimedia TV, DCM TV and Retro TV brings back the shows of your past and takes you back to a time when television serves as the core of family togetherness. Relive the days when families gathered together to enjoy entertainment on TV. Watch the films and television series that touched our lives, remain in our memory, and even shaped a generation. Watch those good old classic comedies, sci-fi shows, horror flicks, and much more on Retro TV. Check out original films, documentaries, short films, foreign films, and TV web series on our Roku.network. Check out or livestreaming DCM TV Wide Eye Channel and view social issues that are touched on ranging from topics such as homelessness to taking a look at the laws regarding medical marijuana. If you like music you will enjoy watching DCM music TV. We
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bring you the show The Gig is up with Jenny BP. Viewers can go on a virtual night out with Jenny Bird Pownall. Jenny travels to various locations and not only features bands and musicians from the area, she interviews them as well. Make sure to catch the live interviews and music on our channel from Steel Notes Magazine! Dream Catchers Multimedia TV and Retro TV make watching television a once again enjoyable resource by bringing back that old " back in the day" family concept with modern ideas and fresh new faces. http://dreamcatchermultimedia.company http://www.strimm.com/DreamCatcher/DCM-TV Check out our Roku channel To add us to your ROKU channel lineup: https://t.co/fOo5ZZRvnu
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BONGO BOY RECORDS
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BONGO BOY RECORDS OUT OF THE GARAGE VOLUME 3 by VARIOUS ARTISTS A Review by Jenny Cat
Bongo Boy Records Out Of The Garage Volume Three is here. Out Of The Garage Volume Three includes 15 Garage Rock Songs by 14 International recording artists. This compilation is a part of Bongo Boy’s Compilation series on Bongo Boy Records with Worldwide digital Distribution and Promotions.
1. Doug MacDonald – JACK'S JOKE SHOP What
a weird concept for a song. Lucky for these guys, I like weird stuff and I love story songs and that's exactly what you get when you hear this searing blues tune about the ultimate prank. I'd love to see more people faking their deaths these days for the sake of humor and all things funny and they could certainly be inspired by this awesome song.
IN ASIA & THE WORLD WWW.BONGOBOYRECORDS.COM
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2. The Sloths - ONE WAY OUT Instantly, I fell in love with the intro to this up tempo garage rocker. I've never heard a song about drugs and tough life choices sound so upbeat before, but this one really kicks and I dig it. And yes Virginia, there's ample guitar in this one and it sings. I do love a good story song that makes me listen/think and this one covers those bases nicely.
3. British Invasion All-Stars - SHAPES OF THINGS, Oh yes, I do love this one from way back when by the Yardbirds and I must say that it is a lovely rendition. Predictable, but wonderful. True to it's roots, this rendition adds further sonic dimension thanks to its modern recording methods and production. Digging the reverb and the vibe. A must listen to if you are a fan of British rock. Jim McCarty (the Yardbirds) on the drums. Phil May (Pretty Things) on vocals. Dick Taylor (Pretty Things) lead guitar. Don Craine from the Downliners Sect on the Rhythm Guitar. Keith Grant (Downliners Sect) on bass.
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4. Susan SurfTone BOTTOM OF MY GLASS A grooving song about talking while under the influence of booze. THE BEST KIND OF SONGS, in my humble opinion. I am so glad they did resisted the urge to rhyme 'glass' with the other word used for 'donkey.' See what I did there? That's why Susan is a more mature writer than I'll ever be and this song makes me smile with it's edgy surf sensibility and long and beautiful guitar solo.
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5. Kyla - DON’T YA WORRY 'BOUT ME I could have sworn it was 1964 and I was at a high school social waiting nervously to be asked to dance. WHOA. Good work with this one with the retro vibe. I love anything retro and classic and this song has it all from the I vi IV V chord changes to the girl group harmonies. "I grow my nails, I grow my fangs but I'm no pussy cat – MEOW." Come on! There's a cat meow! This is a hit song. A must for cat lovers and tough chicks everywhere.
6. Barley Station – MUST BE SOMETHING Now, I had a flashback to 1967. This song could have heralded the Summer of Love in a big way with it's ethereal California style pop harmonies and British Invasion style groove. Great tune that harkens me back to bands like The Cyrkle and The Hollies. There's something about a clean guitar sound with tremolo that sets my imagination a-glow with warm thoughts of peace and love.
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7. Pamela Davis - YOU MAKE ME FEEL SPECIAL This tune reminded me so much of The Beatles, "If I Needed Someone." Crazy good harmonies and strong production values lead us to the ear worm to end all ear worms. I still have this one stuck in my head and that's better because earlier I couldn't shake Cher's "Gypsies Tramps And Thieves" from my head and this song is way better in so many beautiful, vintage 60's rock ways. 8. The Forty Nineteens - I'M FREE Garage rock at its finest. Another catchy tune for the soundtrack of your life. The driving guitar riff hold down the verses nicely and preps us for the chorus to open up and spank our ears with sonic goodness. And yes, GUITAR SOLO of NOTEWORTHY-NESS. A must listen to song for driving fast. Put it on your playlist, now. 9. Mark Lindsay - NEW THING I would expect nothing less from Mark Lindsay as he gives us his latest garage rocker tune. I love that Mr. Lindsay still makes great quality music and is still a driving force and advocate for rock and roll at a time when rock music is almost dead from the mainstream. Long live Mark Lindsay! 10. Nick Marr - TELL ME WHY A riff driven, classic garage rock tune complete with tambourine. Sounds like a winner to me, baby! He even says "ass." I felt like a Juvenile Delinquent while listening to this song. I think the Farfisa keyboard could have been louder in the mix, but that might be because I own like 6 of them and I never tire of their garage rock drone! Rock on with this song because there is a cowbell and bass solo that's not to be missed! 11. Susan SurfTone - UP DOWN AND ALL AROUND Hand claps! I was waiting patiently for someone on this compilation to use them in a song and these guys finally did! I can now die a happy woman! Up down and over is a great fun ride of a song and I really dug the fuzzed out guitar riffage in the middle of the song. Great 60's vibe. I'm in love with this album!
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12. Spyder Darling - NEW YORK WALKABOUT Nothing screams 1960's garage rock more than this tune, stylistically speaking. The words are contemporary in the way they describe the use of modern technologies. It’s a nice juxtaposition between old and new and a must listen to track. This is one of the more creative, out of the box songs on this album. 13. Gar Francis – Rainy Day Women #12 & 35 A favorite classic done meticulously well by Gar Francis. Bob Dylan wasn't much for melodic singing or harmonica work, so it's nice to hear this song done with the advanced musical tastes of Gar Francis. I detected a little bit of Chuck Berry guitar influence in the latter part of the tune and the horn lines added a different dimension all their own. The crowd howling in delight was a nice touch, too as that was a huge part of the original song. Awesome rendition of Dylan's famous tune!
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14. Zombie Garden Club – A Whiter Shade Of Pale ft. Johnny Douglas This classic as a piano ballad has got to be one of the most beautiful renditions of this song I've ever heard. Johnny Douglas, you devil! It's a strikingly beautiful contrast to the rollicking good time garage rock usually performed by this group. I am really impressed with the magnitude of vocal skill and simplistic yet powerful arrangement. A truly beautiful cover. 15. The Chords UK – Dedicated Follower Of Fashion Oh hell yeah! Everyone who is cool loves The Kinks and this cover of the Brit Rock Classic marries the beauty of vintage music with the modern, luscious production values of today! This track made me get up off of my cat hair covered chair and dance!
My thoughts overall: I don't know how Bongo Boy Records finds such talented musicians from all over the planet, but DON'T STOP! Keep these albums coming because we need fresh underground tracks to love. NOW, go buy this album.
Buy Direct From Label: www.bongoboyrecords.com email info@bongoboyrecords.com Also available at iTUNES, AMAZON, CDBABY, SPOTIFY, XBOX, KKBOX, and others.
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WINNER OF THE BEST SONG VOL X
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PRODUCER| SONGWRITER - ESQUILLE
INCHES FROM SIN WINNER THE BEST SONG CHRISTMAS COMPILIATION www.steelnotesmagazine.com
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I don’t remember the exact day…but it was in November and all the stars must have been aligned for me that day. A simple call to an old friend turned into the best news I had all year (yeah, it was a tough year) Out of the blue, I thought to call my friend of more than 20 years, Alexxis Steel, to ask her to go see a show with me. She told me that she had a better idea, and she was right! When we met the next day Alexxis shared with me part of the 2017 business plan for Steele Notes Magazine. Of course I was interested; but when she started to explain her vision for the role that I would play in this plan; I jumped right in. I haven’t stopped jumping since! The decision was made to incorporate a larger local flavor to the magazine. The Lehigh Valley has such a large, diverse and skilled music scene that it was only a matter of time until a dedicated show reviewer would be incorporated. It appears that those forementioned “aligned stars” chose “yours truly!” Now I’m not a musician, I never closed a show with a killer drum solo, or learned how to perfect a C chord on the fretboard of an heirloom Martin guitar. I do, however, spontaneously begin to move my hips when the bass line of a blues riff is in the air, feel my heart racing when a middle eight has perfectly executed stops and surprising contrast, and can’t help but be instantly impressed when I’m treated to a steel drum, jazz violin, or rocking horn section. As much as I love the instruments…I love the poetry. The words always engage my left brain, as much as the music does the right.
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Josie's Hit The lyrics that are laid List down by one, and repeated by many, and 5 Ton Jack occasionally stored 3D in history. The quotes used over and over Alias again by a populous Sunsets North that feels a connection to the writer, if Breeze only for the words he shares. The whole Stereotype package is a seducJimmy Supra tive ball of talents mixed with a scoop & Sarah Ayers of courage, a fistful Anticitizen of dedication and a pinch of insanity. Sick 86'd This passion for Parasitix music didn’t happen overnight…it’s been building and growing in me for as long as I can remember. I was one of those kids who spent their days in the record stores and their nights recording Rock Line artists onto their cassette players. My first boyfriend started a band that practiced in my basement, and my next beau caught my ear while being a DJ on the local college radio station. It seemed that people who didn’t understand how important it was to know the name of the bass
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player for The Stranglers (Jean Jacques Burnel) or what Klark Kent’s real name is (Stewart Copeland – The Police) just didn’t seem very interesting to me. When I had to fill out questionnaires in school about hobbies and interests it was always music; to which, someone would ultimately ask “and what instrument do you play?” That question was always a tell…. that person didn’t live like I did…he didn’t experience the endorphin release that I did when I heard a pleasing melody or the rush from a lightning fast punk tempo being executed perfectly on a shredded guitar. I’ve realized that you and I; my Steel Notes friends, are the chosen ones! We were created with minds that seek aural pleasure, and consciously work towards that end. We gather in garages, fire halls, restaurants, and clubs. We roll our windows down as soon as we can hear the live music at a festival show and suffer the closeness of hygienically questionable strangers in order to stand as close as possible to the sound when we are in general admission seating. This congregation of like-minded music lovers is what necessitated this venture. You are the people I am writing to, the aficionados not only of the technique and style of the music, but the energy, fun, and excitement it exudes. When I review a show, I consider the response of the crowd to be paramount. I’ll comment on the band, the venue and the guests. I will try to portray the whole picture, the synopsis, if you will, of the entertainment value of the gig. In the end, it’s really just my opinion – I hope you find me worthy to share it. I welcome you-no, I encourage you-to share your opinions as well. Share them with me, share them with your children, share them with the world! But whatever you do; never stop listening!
The local band, 5 Ton Jack performed a nicely done gig tonight at The Gin Mill in Northampton, PA. Even though the crowd was sparse; no doubt due to the freezing temperatures, the music was tight. With rare exception,
Band Name : 5 Ton Jack Genre: Rock, metal, some pop(?) Venue: The Gin M ill, Northampton PA Date : January 7, 20 17 Members: Adam Shook – Ba ss Ian Carroll - Guita r Brent Seip - Drum s Sanna Sleet - Voca ls
Now, in the words of the great Dobie Gray “Give me the beat boys and free my soul I wanna get lost in your rock n' roll And drift away . . .” And so, I shall begin. Welcome; savvy readers, to a small part of my world and a large part of my life. I hope you drift away with me, into the beauty of music. Always listening, JOSiE Joanne Janci Comments, opinions, suggestions: josie.janci@steelnotesmagazine.com facebook.com/joanne.janci
the musicians were right on. The vocals had great tone and, with crowd pleasing delight, the vocals rocked the block. Sanna KILLED Jefferson Airplanes "Somebody To Love" and the way she could flawlessly enter a verse to follow Adam or Ian vocals was a skill that rock bands should have been taking advantage of for years. Grow the crowd and the energy will define you! Contact the band: https://www.facebook.com/5tonjack/ https://www.reverbnation.com/5tonjack
(Set list and schedule on page 76)
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Band - 3-D nd with great Genre: Rock cover ba audience instincts s Pub Venue: Samuel Adam Date: January 1, 2017 lley PA Hometown: Lehigh Va
February 2017
The band 3-D chose that name when the 3 members all had names that began with D. Well, they now have a new drummer whose name is Bruce. Since they didn't re-name the band, I'm just gonna call him "Drummer". So, now we have Dave, Dan, and Drummer – hence the name 3-D
I got to see them on their first gig with the new guy; Drummer. And what a great time that was. The band played well together, the set lists were right on, creating a fun atmosphere for the audience, and Dave, the charismatic gutiar playing singer did everything possible to engage the crowd. He told me during a break that they intentionally sprinkie some dance toons like "gold on the ceiling" into the second set to get people on the dance floor. They had a couple of the gals come on stage and perform a part that I fondly call the "oooh oooh" girls, they sang backup "Oooh Ooohs" to The Rolling Stones Sympathy for the Devil!
Band Members: d Vocals Dave Apgar-Guitar an als Dan Baab - Bass/Voc ms Bruce Michaels - Dru
Because Lehigh Valley musicians are very supportive of each other; there happened to be a few in the audience that night (ok, more than a few) Dave managed to coerce Bob Hahr and Sanna Saleet onto the stage where they took turns singing verses of Black Sabbath's War Pigs (video url) It was a great idea and the audience loved it!
Set I Petty American Girl - Tom Topp Cheap Sunglasses - ZZ Raisers - ZZ Topp Beer Drinkers & Hell rulo Talk Dirty - Jason De n Earring lde Go ne Zo ht Twilig mith ros Ae y Wa Walk this Aldeen She's Country - Jason World The Middle-Jimmy Eat ack dsm Go ay Aw Keep Set II ng- Judas Priest Another Thing Comi - Black Keys g ilin Ce e Th On Gold netar Be Pat r ake Heart bre Crazy Bitch - Jet - The Romantics What I like About You ys Ke ck Bla e Th yBo y Lonel - Tonic IF you could only See es - Led Zepplin How Many More Tim h bat War Pigs - Black Sab ne ge Against The Machi -Ra e nam the in g lin Kil Set III Be My Girl - Jef ck Crows Hard to Handle - Bla y Da een Gr se Basket Ca Skynyrd Simple Man -Lynyrd Hash Pipe - Weezer le of Mudd She Hates Me - Pudd Down ors Do 3 e Tim Not My vil- The Rolling Stones Sympathy for the De Sandman - Metallica Dirty Deeds - AC/DC
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Probably the biggest surprise was vocalist/bass player Dan's range of vocals...he sings great, with a strong raspy voice that can be heard throughout the night. He sang Godsmack, Zepplin, ZZ Topp ..but then...there was Weezer. That still doesn't compute in my brain! The goal of a cover band is to entertain the crowd and keep the guests out all night long...3D absolutely did that! I can't wait to see them again, hopefully on a night I'm NOT working! Booking Agent: Dave Apgar 3d.dave2015@gmail.com https://www.3dkeeprockalive.com https://www.facebook. com/3D-1587976814785811/
Josie, Dan, Bruce, Sanna (from 5 Ton Jack) & Dave
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Set I 1. One Way Or Another 2. Heart Breaker 3. Hungry Like Wolf 4. You Better Run 5. Barracuda 6. Everylittle Thing 7. I Luv R-N-R 8. Radar Luv 9. Somebody To Luv 10. Talk Dirty 11. Because Night Set II 1. Lit Up 2. All Summer 3. I’M Only One 4. Get It On 5. No Matter W 6. Who Knew 7. I Want Candy 8. White Rabbit 9. Blister In Sun 10. Once Bitten 11. Roadhouse Set III 1. War Pigs 2. Zombie 3. Hell 4 Children 4. The Zoo 5. Where River Flow 6. Mother 7. 99 Red Balloons 8. Man In Box 9. Mr.Brownstone 10. Laid
I spent a few hours Saturday night at Grumpys and was pleasantly surprised to see Alias performing. After about half an hour the entire room was on their feet, moving tables to make a dance floor and singing along with every song. The band returned the crowds enthusiasm and I am sure no one (but me) seemed to notice the volume of some of the vocals were a bit low. With a fabulous mixture of danceable rock tunes; Alias can instantly become one of my favorite L.V. cover bands. Thanks for the great evening guys! Interesting fact: Alias does some of the best social networking I’ve seen…these guys are doing it right!!
Band: Alias Genre: Classic Rock Cover Band Venue: Grumpys, Allentown, PA Date : 1/7/17 Band Members: Dave Meichtry - Guitar/ Harmonica & Vocals, Tom Gutekunst - Drums/Vocals, Chris Fullenwider - Guitar/Vocals, Jeff Crammer-Bass/Keyboards/Vocals Booking Agent: jcrammer@aliastheband.com
http://www.aliastheband.com Upcoming Events – but don’t worry, friend request them on facebook…you’ll see when they are playing…guaranteed!
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I saw SUNSETS NORTH for the first time by accident. I was driving home on New Year’s Eve before midnight with a girlfriend so that I didn’t have to worry about five oh after midnight. On the way, we heard music coming out of the bar which is about two blocks from my house. Naturally, I wanted to stop and once I rationalized that we could walk home if necessary (yeah, I don’t think I’d ever really have done that) we agreed to stop. I was pleasantly surprised to see it was a live band in the bar and decided that I was staying. That night the bar was filled and so was the dance floor so I didn’t get to see much of the band during their performance, but I could definitely hear them. They were doing a set of cover songs that was keeping everyone on their feet. Entertaining the audience is always a good thing, and even though I wasn’t officially working that night, I decided to pay attention anyway. Sometime during the second set they played an original song and I was floored. During the break I remember talking to Trevor and telling him that the original song was by far better than the covers they were doing. He thanked me and in a slightly patronizing tone asked me how many gigs I thought they would book doing original music. Of course I said I understood and proceeded to explain that I wanted to keep in touch so that I could review their band at their next area performance. I kept in touch with Warren North who, by the way, just released a solo named Café, with a video that you can see at https://www. youtube.com/watch?v=fOYR_BkB23E . Between NYE and Jan 28th, when I reviewed their gig at Leather Corner Post, I had the opportunity to listen to Sunsets North original CD titled “out_ of_CTRL.” Its good…. really good. In fact, they were nominated for best original CD by the Lehigh Valley Music Awards. Now this puts me in a spot because my plan was to review them as a cover band. I decided to do that for now, and in a future issue, do a full interview with the band and review the CD – assuming the band is agreeable.
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BAND NAME: SU NSETS NORTH GENRE: ROCK, PO P VENUE: LEATHER CORNER POST OREFIELD, PA DATE: JAN. 28, 20 17 BAND MEMBERS WARREN NORTH – VOCALS BOB BRADFORD – Evans DRUM KI T TREVOR VAUGH AN – Les Paul GU ITAR DERRIK STAIN – ESP BASS
Their show at Leather Corner Post on Saturday 1/28/18 was stellar! They played to a packed house and even though there wasn’t much of a dance floor, the fans found a way. I stayed for the first set and loved every song they did. I asked Warren if the set changed from last time and he told me it changes every few weeks. Apparently, that technique works for me!
The set included songs by Sublime, Spin Doctors, Kings of Leon, Tom Petty, Cage The Elephant, and Eve Six. Warren made sure to keep the crowd singing and clapping and Trevor would walk through the crowd playing his Les Paul during some songs, Bob, the drummer, was flawless and Derrick, the bassist, has phenomenal timing and was a sight to see during their rendition of Led Zeppelin’s “good times, bad times”. It felt like you had your friends, who were really great musicians, playing in your basement. I didn’t want to leave! Luckily for me, I’ll get to go see them againand this time I’ll be sure I’m not working and able to stick around the entire evening. When I asked Warren what their future plans are he replied “to take over the world of course!” Up Coming Gig: Look for an interview with the March 4th, 2017 band in next month’s issue-and before that, you owe it to yourself, Sam Adams Brewhouse 9:00pm - 12am to go and enjoy the show! 7736 Adrienne Dr Breinigsville, PA 18031
CONTACT THE BAND: https://www.sunsetsnorth.com/ https://www.facebook.com/SunsetsNorth/
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New York resident and former Saucon Valley High School graduate, Chris Barczynski aka “Breeze” (thank God he has a nickname) stopped in the valley last week to share his musical talents with some friends. He did an intimate acoustical set at The Gin Mill in Northampton, on Thursday 1/19/17. Because a mutual friend (Lynn Johnson) told me to look him up; and because Breeze is both polite and good with his follow up; we connected in time for me to set up the interview with him. When things fall into place that way, I’m always certain there’s a cosmic reason for it. I couldn’t wait to see what this one may be. When I arrived Breeze was setting up his little corner of the bar with his amp, mike, chair and guitar. As I introduced myself and he pleasantly extended his hand; I instantly ignored it and dove in for a hug. Not that he had a choice, but he accepted the hug politely and I don’t feel it had anything to do with his SAG/ AFTRA affiliation! I asked if I could ask a few questions while he continued to set up his equipment and he cordially obliged. I liked his attitude within minutes. As Breeze finished setting up his equipment, I started asking some things-first question, which I’m sure is the question we ALL want answered was “why didn’t you ever change your name Mr. Barczynski? As he laughed, he said Breeze was a nickname given to him by his college football team mates and it just kinda stuck. That made sense, but didn’t really answer my question…but no matter. I was ready to move on. Next up was the other obvious quandary…. why in all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world…did he walk into this particular gin joint. No disrespect against the venue, The Gin Mill does a hell of a job supporting the local music scene and entertaining the local community. I just was curious how this particular place snagged him. His answer was that he is friends with George, the owner of the bar, and was happy to gig in his friend’s establishment. Never mind the fame he had from his previous
Lehigh Valley Band, The Honey Buzzards or any of his other bands, the TV appearances on The Singing Bee “, “The Early Show” Last Call with Carson Daily, or “The Daily Buzz”. Forget about the Musician: Chris “Breeze” Barczynski kudos for Genre: Rock, blues, popular music. winning the Original music recorded and may be 2008 New purchased. Acoustical set contained Jersey Nets covers and originals. Battle of the Bands, and Venue: the 2009 The Gin Mill - Northampton, PA award reDate: January ceived from Internet Radio for the Top 5 Best Independent artists. Don’t EVEN THINK ABOUT the film industry validation which came from his music being featured on such heavy hitters as “The Tudors”, “Drake and Josh” and “Zoey 101 “. And I didn’t even mention that his silky voice can be heard on everything from a Kidzbop CD to a Canadian Club radio commercial. Let’s face it, that’s a pretty impressive resume, and by no means all inclusive. Regardless of his fame, Breeze was here, to our delight, to entertain in a room of about 60 people. I could hardly wait, nor could his fans/friends. Back to the conversation. I hesitate to call it an interview... because there is no way that I ran that verbal interaction…hell, I forgot to write down a portion of the discussion because he would derail me without warning. I think he first got me when I asked him to pronounce the name of his band that I struggled with. I was referring to the name “Formuliac Maniacs” when I asked this question. (Go ahead, YOU TRY and say it…) His reply was “you can’t say Cock?” Well…. what can a gal reply
Steel Notes Magazine e and Hugh Gallagher Breeze with Christin
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Steel Notes Magazine to that? So, in journalistic professionalism I professed both my ability to say the word cock and my confusion as to the relevance of my verbal capacity. I learned that cock happens to be the acronym for his acclaimed band Citizens of Contrary Knowledge. And I swear I would have figured that out if it was on a trivia show or something. For the record, once Breeze stopped laughing at my discomfort he explained that “” Formulaic Maniacs “was a consideration for a new bands name but not written in stone-they are still discussing it. I silently cursed the internet and decided not to do any research before an interview ever again. As we moved on in the conversation I asked about the book he is writing, “The Chronicles of the Music Man”. He has written a song to go with each chapter. I asked if he was writing a rock opera. “Yes, he replied, and I see the book as a cross between The Vagina Monologues and Rock of Ages. “The book isn’t complete and when I asked how he could finish a story of his life and career; when obviously that hasn’t occurred yet, he simply said, after this presidential election, he figured it was time. WE didn’t’ discuss politics tonight, I had a feeling we would need more time for that topic. Breeze told me that. His intent in writing the book was to share some of his intimate beliefs about life, the world, and the journey. He spoke of referencing his views on expectations versus realities and how they can be polar opposites. Although there was no discussion about timeframe for completion; my personal hope is that he finds a sublime ending, for more than just his book. You can see excerpts from his book here - http://thechroniclesofthemusicman.blogspot.com/2011/07/feed-rich.html We talked some more about things …lots of things, like school. He went to an absurd amount of schools before he went to college, simply because his family moved around a lot. He went to college at Franklin and Marshall, and I found out that Mr. Smarticle was 5th in his class and went to college on an academic scholarship. His football career which allowed him the opportunity to play in college as well as professionally in England was cut short. He sustained a career ending knee injury. He ultimately became depressed to the point where he felt relief was out of his reach. The conversion from athlete to musician was the transition that probably saved his life, or at least his mind. At one point that evening I heard him say that music was a good “fall back” if football didn’t work out. I should have realized that someone with two exceptional skills that are so different from the other would most certainly have the brain of a smarticle. By now the crowd
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was getting anxious to hear Breeze, and quite frankly so was I. After a few minutes of greeting the guests, shaking hands with some old friends, and acknowledging his roots, Breeze picked up his acoustic Takamine and showed us all why he is so successful. It’s always about the music, and this man certainly IS his music. Breeze did primarily cover songs during his show, and told me earlier that he selected that set because he had to. Every musician knows that to keep a crowd interested they need to perform the songs that allow the fans to be able to sing and dance along.
Breeze fingering his Takamine The room transformed from a group of folks dining and drinking to a solid swell of rhythm. With songs from at least 4 decades and artists ranging from Johnny Cash to Nirvana; Breeze made sure everyone in the audience was taken care of. His rendition of Bowie’s Major Tom and Princes’ Red Corvette were definite highlights, and the emotion in this singer-songwriters voice when he performed the original song, Kate, from his previous band, The Honey Buzzards, gave me chills. If you’d like a moment at the show, check out our Facebook page and take a look at the video of Breeze doing Johnny Cash‘s Folsom Prison Blues. Maybe he missed a lyric or two throughout the evening, and I’m sure that one or two chords were a bit off, but that didn’t take anything away from the entertainment value of his performance. Breeze did three amazing sets, and in between each one, he walked the bar, shook hands with old friends, and even stopped for multiple photo ops. His family, his friends, his business associates, all made an
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appearance Thursday night-to say hello and show support to the Lehigh Valley native who remembered to come home again. Late in the last set Breeze announced that he’d be returning to the valley every five to six weeks-the applause in the bar was deafening as his longtime fans and new found following joined together in celebration. The entertainment was phenomenal, the atmosphere was energized and fun, and the promise of another opportunity to experience the same thing left everyone smiling. Earlier I asked Breeze to think about a question - I asked, him to tell me something we would be surprised to know about him. So as he was
Set I Thank you – Led Zepp elin (great way to sta I’m not kidding rt the show – flawless) Last Dance with Conversations Kill – Mary Jane – STP Tom Petty Wonderwall – Oasis (changes were fantas Ra tic, di oactive – Imagin great job on middle 8) e Dragons Free Falling – Tom Pet ty Red Corvette – Prince (this song choice was Set III surprising since he pre faced it by saying it wa (Side note, BY TH s a song by one of his ido IS TIME, I ls that left us last year. I WAS DANCING, SO rated his performance I didn’t an 11 in my notes! ) take the best of Major Tom – David Bo notes….) wie (Excellent job on Wish you were controlling the tempo here – Pink with only a guitar to Floyd timing, vocals in this song really revealed Wish you were Breezes’ range) here – Incubus (see what he did Kate – The Honey Bu there???) zzards (I had chills du ring Sweet Child of min this one, you could fee e – Guns l the pain in the lyrics and Roses and his voice) So m e Kind of Wonde Counting Stars – On rful – e Republic Grand Funk Ra Jenny – Rick Springfiel dio d Cr ee p – Stone Temple Land down under – Me Pilots n at Work A Beetles song Better Man – Pearl Jam –I didn’t write down the name Sister Golden Hair – America Ho Hey – The Lu Folsom Prison Blues mineers – Johnny Cash (see live Hold On – Phil video here - https://w Phillips (I ww.facebook.com/jo anne. actually watched Am janci/videos/147475413 erican 9202112/ Idol that season and voted for Phil Phillips Set II Lovin’ – Sublime (Br eeze took this song and Encore made it a marathon mi x – he incorporated – Social Distorti multiple songs at the on –Ring chorus and merged it of Fire (thanks right back into Lovin again Mike ’ – fun time. Some of Muller) the whol the songs he mixed in the e room was re were Dixie Land, Giv e bopping…. And coun it Away Now, Feel Lik ting the e Making Love, and, even weeks until we can Trailer park Girls wo enjoy the rked it’s way in- I did Br ee n’t ze ag time it, but it had to run ain! at least 10 minutes) Dead or Alive – Bon Jovi (*missed a song or two here) About a girl – Nirvan a – (Excellent guitar playing in this song) Faith and then One Mo re Try– George Michaels (Breeze called this his tribute to Ge orge M) And then, for some rea son that I can’t recall… . Breeze recited the Ge ttysburg Address-nope,
packing up his guitar, and shaking hands with the audience he looked at me and told me he had my answer. I waited until he was free and asked what he came up with. He smiled; and with that sexy smirk, said simply “ Josie, If I was born a woman; I would have wanted to be Gladys Knight” Well, I replied, “is there any specific reason for that?” Breeze said simply “because she speaks to me and because she was the baddest bitch the music world has ever met.” Once again, question satisfactorily answered. I decided that was the perfect ending to a magical night. Until next time, Breeze, the Lehigh Valley bids you Adieu.
Buy Breeze’s Music https://www.breezesings.com/music Join Breeze’s mailing list: http://www.breezesings. com/ find him on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ ChrisBreezeBarczynski/ Twitter : https://twitter.com/ChrisBreeze Preview music and videos: https://www.reverbnation. com/chrisbreezebarczynski
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Band Name: Stereotype Genre: Rock Cover Band Venue: Steel Pub Date: January 27, 2017
Band Members: Mike Stanley - Vocals Reuben Rodriguez - Guitar, Vocals Jerry Pandelios - Guitar Dave Boger - Bass, Vocals Tim Klein - Drums
February 2017
I saw Stereotype on a Friday night in January. Just that sentence alone would make most people think of an empty club, preferred seating and a vacant dance floor. In this case, however; It was the opposite! The Lehigh valley typically has a very hip music scene, with fans that would brave any weather to support their favorite bands, but this night was above and beyond the typical diehard fan audience. Stereotype managed to draw a full capacity crowd to the Steel Pub in Bethlehem, PA. And the “instantly full” dance floor is testament to their crowd pleasing show. I was only able to stay for their first set due to my other review commitments for the evening. The musical talent was obvious. Where guitar player Jerry Pandelios is as good of a shredder as he is a showman, Reuben is focused and consistent. Fear not, Tim Klein was obviously enjoying himself despite some problems with the mix that Mark the soundman attempted to correct. Vocalist, Mike Stanley, who previously fronted Dirty Blonde with Jerry Pandelios back in the day is a nice choice to front this 80’s cover band, from his long hair to his tall stature. (A special shout out to Ed, who I met at the bar before the show! He told me to be easy on his kid during the review….lol ) I always have had a certain prejudice towards the bass guitar, maybe because I learned how to play the super simple bass line from Deep Purple’s “Smoke On The Water” from my first boyfriend in my bedroom. It took about 3 minutes to learn and after I played it 485 times, my mom took my guitar. It was ok, I was bored of it anyway. Ok, back to business – bassist Dave Boger not only did an amazing job hitting all the notes on a Led Zeppelin cover, but had made a gallant effort singing Fuel while Mike either got another beer or went to the bathroom.
I am sorry I missed the rest of the show. I did see a “guest performance” on someone else’s video camera, with Larry Werner of Social Call. It bears repeating that the Lehigh Valley’s Music community is super supportive of each other! Since the photographer originally scheduled was unavailable, Sheri Bayne provided some hot shots for all of us to drool on. In the meantime, here’s a video link. https://www.facebook.com/joanne.janci/videos/1483694701641389/
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Photos at The Maingate by Sheri Bayne
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When I saw James and Sarah’s quartet on Saturday night, I realized just how important the match between venue and talent really is. The quartet looked regal against the glass door overlooking the golf course. The open dancefloor and table area at Woodstone Country club really allowed everyone to enjoy the music however they liked. Whether they were eating dinner, having drinks, or dancing in the aisles, the crowd was happy. The large bar area was filled with fans singing along and smiling all night as well. James and Sarah found their home for the evening, and they certainly made us all feel like welcome guests. There is much to be said about a quartet whose members are professional musicians. I could talk in superlatives forever about the skill level of Lou Franco on the guitar, or Mitch Shelly on the fabulously decadent looking stand up bass. Or the fact that the depth of the music was created without a drum kit, and Sarah’s vocal range runs wider than you would think possible. And every note was smooth and silky, even over the din of dinner. There were times that Lou and James had a field day with each other. Lou would start jamming to lure James into a battle of the instruments. Lou would jam, then James would jam, the whole time Sarah is smiling and Mitch is keeping the beat. I wondered more than once when (not if, but when) James was going to pass out for lack of oxygen. He didn’t, by the way.
James Supra and Sarah Ayers Quartet Genre: Blues, Rock Woodstone Country Club, Danielsville PA Date: January 21, 2017 Band Members: James Supra – harmonica and vocals Sarah Ayers – vocals, songwriter Lou Franco – Guitar Mitch Shelly -Stand Up Bass
would never be able to do what she does. Sarah told me about how great James is talking with people and handlng the business side of their music. The admiration they have or each other is obvious when you sit with them, nd you can’t help being brought into their light. Since I’ll be seeing them both again soon with their individual bands,to do a full interview session, I wanted to share some of the photographs from my fabulous photographer, Brian Azar of Finesse Fotography for this issue. Perhaps we will meet up with James and Sarah after the LVMA’s???
After the first set I got to sit down with James and Sarah for a short time. We talked about their success and their musical relationship. James said there’s a synergy between he and Sarah that allows them to work so well together. He also admitted that she does all the songwriting and he
Photos at The Maingate by Sheri Bayne
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PUNK ROCK ON THE BLOCK!!!!!!
Reviewed and photographed by: JOSiE (Joanne Janci) The Alternative Gallery, Allentown, PA January 21, 2017
Matinees are always awesome! Traditionally a matinee is cheaper, less crowded, and just as satisfying as the prime time equivalent. I prefer a matinee whenever it’s available because it opens up your night for the opportunity for another bout of entertainment. So it stands to reason that matinee day is two-fer day!
Oh, the grand pleasure from a matinee! (and a nooner, everyone likes a nooner…Hence, I digress) Now, let’s step this matinee experience up a notch and house this matinee in one of the most interesting and socially responsible venues in the Lehigh Valley. While we are at it, let’s add some dedicated bohemian volunteers who have a common altruistic goal of helping local artisans showcase their work and jumpstart their careers. And as icing on the metaphorical cake let’s make this matinee a slam dancing, Mohawk sporting, jack boot wearing, fucking punk rock block party! That, my friends, is one hell of a matinee….and one reason why my job is better than yours!
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The Alternative Gallery in Allentown PA was the gathering place for local punk rock lovers on Saturday. When I arrived; I was immediately greeted by a world of beautiful individuality. The all ages show encouraged anyone and everyone who wanted to experience the energy of the music, to attend. There were 70-year-old men with white beards and skater hats. There were children on parent’s laps wearing noise blocking ear phones. There were black men, Spanish women, LBGT groups, disabled people and even a couple of chicks-not many, but a few. There’s never many females at punk rock shows…which sucks because let me tell you, as one of those chicks who used to pogo in the pit—it really is, bucket-list-worthy! If you haven’t experienced the energy of a woofer blowing, triple time tempo, slam dancing show with synchronized riffs and a vocalist whose job is to spend as much time in the crowd as on the stage; well, then you haven’t realized what pure adrenaline infused audience participation really feels like. There’s no prejudice in the pit…male, female, black, white, everyone is welcome to show their acceptance of each other by bumping bodies. Much safer than crowd surfing for a gal…you don’t ever get felt up when you’re moshing-just pushed around a little. It kind of feels like gravity works differently in the pit…as hard as people get slammed, they rarely fall down, people fall sideways…into someone else, who saves you from falling down, and pushes you back…and you are an ecstatic pinball of thrashing pleasure! Oh, I said no one falls down-I meant unless it’s into the performing band’s amps….that always happens. Every show. Every time. Every band. Since the 80’s. I’m not kidding. Ask anyone. There were four bands on the bill for the day – Anticitizen, Sick 86’d, Mike makes Right, and The Parasitix .
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Anticitizen started the day off. They are a three-man group out of New Jersey that look like they ended up together because they all got on the wrong bus! We have bassist Kabeem Hunt who looks like a reggae dude; complete with dreadlocks and a rocking Curt Cubow bass. A hippie looking child of the seventies named Chris Leanning , who bangs the skins like nobody’s business. And finally, C.G. Vyle, the man born with the affliction of amazing blonde hair and the ability to sing and play a sharp looking custom Stagg 300 guitar. Put these guys together in a photograph and you wonder what the connection is…put them together on a stage, and there is no longer any question. They played a tight 12 song set in about 30 minutes with surprising combinations in the base line, smart alliterations in the lyrics, and a slamming drum solo to close. A crowd pleaser was “Drink, Smoke Fuck, Die” which I managed to video tape for your listening pleasure! (you can see it on Anticitizen’s facebook page) Interesting fact: When we talked after their set, C.G. Vyle, (guitar and vocals) not only offered me a complimentary copy of their CD, “Trash Live!” * (my personal favorite on the disk was “Police State”),but gave me the option of a cassette version if I preferred. I looked quizzically at him and said, wait, does anyone own a cassette player anymore?? …well, C.G. said they decided to just sell cassette players at the show. Way to wag the dog; Anticitizen, right on.
Anticitizen
https://anticitizenpunk.bandcamp.com/ https://www.facebook.com/Anticitizenpunk/
SICK 86’d
Next up was Allentown natives Sick 86’d. Sick 86’d has the benefit that the opening band didn’t of having a lead vocalist that isn’t tied to the stage with his instrument. If you’ve been to a show, you know exactly what the difference is. A vocalist without an instrument leads the entire pit to thrashing glory. He stands among the fans, screaming powerful lyrics into your face. The fans love every second of it. Their music sounded rich, with solid breaks and middle eight’s in just about every song. Their music sounds similar to bands like GBH and the Exploited – heavy, aggressive, strong. But these
guys are really a group of sweethearts, they are involved with the alternative gallery and were the only band to actually give me a set list!!! (thanks Shawn). Sick 86’s consists of a lead singer; Shawn Yanchuk, two guitar players; Zach Weierbacher and Steve Young, a bassist; Tyler Young (aka. Cartman), and drummer Mark Weierbach.
Interesting fact: I have never seen so many members of a punk rock band in my life. I kept counting…3 people, no wait, 4 people. Hang on…that guy has the microphone, so there are 5 people. Yep, that was the final count – 5 guys in Sick 86’d. For the record, the photo has some stragglers in it…like I honestly don’t know where these guys came from, but it’s cool. It’s punk, man. https://www.facebook.com/Sick86d
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Mike Makes Right
Mike makes Right had to cancel due to technical difficulties but I spoke with Jon Yankowy before the show. Jon said their music is inspired by bands like Nuclear Assault, Discharge, and Negative Approach. Jon said they love everything about aggressive music and sound. In the meantime, you can grab their disk on bandcamp to tide you over until they book locally again. Watch my Facebook page for updates. https://www.facebook.com/Might-Makes-Right https://mightmakesright1.bandcamp.com
The Parasitix And finally; the headliner of the afternoon, the Parasitix. And man, were they worth the wait! Professional, entertaining, solid – just an amazing experience in quality punk rock music. Everything they did was polished. Lead singer, Paul Wilde, not only controlled the party in the pit, but lead the fan favorite sing alongs, drank a few beers, and made sure to keep the mic in one piece. If you have not ever seen a thrashing mob in a floor level pit, then you should know that the band’s secondary role to making music, is protecting their equipment. Who cares of the audience falls into each other? Just be sure to keep them off the gear! The skill level was stellar. Paul is charismatic, engaging and controlled. Steve on guitar was focused, on-tempo, and can shred like Hendrix on speed. Larry on bass was playing with the crowd while hitting some changes that would have been surprising in a traditional musical arrangement, so catching that on a warp speed song was pretty impressive. And Josiah, the drummer who was not only having his daily workout on a set of physically demand-
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ing songs, but was helping with vocals, and I swear I caught him doing some mixing mid-song, as well! It’s easy to see these guys are serious players in the music game-I can’t wait to see them again. The set started with a sing along The guys were right on, with screaming guitars, rocket fast percussion and vocals that didn’t’ skip a beat. They did a set of all original songs except for two - Anti Nowhere League’s “So What”, and “Bodies” by The Sex Pistols. I love the fact that 18-year-old fans know the words to a 1970 punk rock song...I dare you to find an underage fan of rap that can do that! I managed to get the guys together for a picture but no luck on the interview…. the matinee lasted a few hours longer than expected and we all had to head to our second night of the day.
Paul Wilde: Vocals Larry: Bass Stevie: Guitar Josiah: Drums https://www.facebook.com/theparasitix/ https://theparasitix.bandcamp.com https://www.reverbnation.com/theparasitix https://twitter.com/theparasitix
Next month, you can read more about the Alternative Gallery in Steel Notes magazine; I will be doing a feature article on the location and the players! Always listening, JOSiE
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yle Chris SiE, C.G. V JO t, n u H otes Kabeem and Steel N n e iz it c ti n Leanning, A Magazine
Zach Weierbach - Guitar, Tyler Young - Bass, JOSiE - Steel Notes Magazine, Mark Weierbach – Drums, Bob Wal ker – with the band F.O.D., Shaun Yan chuk – Vocals, Steve Young – Guitar, Steve Sutter – with the band Admit Nothing
Stevie, Larry, Josiah, JOSiE and Paul. Parasitix and Steel Notes Magazine
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Kayla Avitabile
PRESS RELEASE
"Scholar Singer-Songwriter Making Her Mark"
Local 17 Year Old’s Music Appearing on Compilation CDs and at National Music Conferences and Showcases Phillipsburg High School junior, Kayla Avitabile, has been a Lehigh Valley singer-songwriter since she was 14. Ranked in the top 10 of her class, she balances the busy school life with her passion for music. Along with performing as a solo alt rock singer-songwriter, Avitabile performs in school and community theater, and sings in Pieces of Eight (a PHS female barbershop group). Following her performance at SteelStacks on February 24 she is heading to the 2017 Millenium Music Conference and Showcase where she will be performing the next night. Even more exciting for Avitabile is that among more than 120 band submitted songs, one of hers was selected by the MMC review panel to be on its 10 song compilation CD. Avitabile’s music also appeared on a festival CD in May, 2016. “I feel so honored to have my song chosen to be on this CD”, Avitabile shared. “Being a solo alt rock singer-songwriter and performer is sometimes difficult because audiences tend to expect a band in this kind of genre or don’t expect to see a girl. Sometimes I feel some crowds will not take me seriously for those reasons, but once I’m on the stage, I gain comfort and sense appreciation for my music.” Avitabile adds, “I really love playing out but the school schedule is often pretty crazy, that’s why I tend to perform out a lot more in the late spring and summer.”
At the end of March, Avitabile will also be performing at the Cape May Singer-Songwriters Festival which she describes as “very special because I’m so young and it’s surreal to realize that I am starting to play at festivals now, the kinds of places I go to see bands. I take it as recognition that my songwriting has improved and I hope will continue to do so.” Avitabile’s first big gig was opening for MegaJam in 2013 when she was 13. Since than she’s played many festivals including Mayfair, Riverside, ArtsFest, Heroes of Dirt (movie premier) Festival, Muses in the Vineyard, and has performed at national conferences in Phoenix and Philadelphia. She was a Discovery Lehigh Valley Best New Artist nominee at age 14 (2014) and was a Youth Artist in Residence (2014 -2015) emceeing, performing, and interviewing other Artists as part of a Martin Guitar Foundation funded Singer-Songwriter Series. “I’m especially excited with my music on the MMC CD because the tracks are being played on rock radio 92.1 in Harrisburg. It’s another first for me.” As a final thought Avitabile adds, “2017 seems to be a good year so far and I can’t wait to see what more will come.” To learn more about Kayla Avitabile or to listen to her music go to her Artist Facebook Page at facebook.com/kaylaavitabile, her YouTube Music Channel at youtube.com/channel/ UCO_2Xxo7oJ3TPmDB9QtII4w, or her Sonicbids EPK at https://www.sonicbids.com/band/kayla-avitabile
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Remembering Dimebag Darrel Lance Abbott, more familiarly known as Diamond Darrell and Dimebag Darrell was born on August 20th, 1960 in Texas. Although it was his virtuosic guitar playing and fine lyrics composition that brought him fame, this might come as a surprise to many of his fans that Dimebag started playing as a drummer, while his brother Vinnie Paul practiced his fingers on the whammy bars.
February 2017
By Andrew Catania
Dimebag Darrell was an inspiration for many budding musicians for his virtuosic groovy techniques. Yet he himself was a diehard fan of American rock band Kiss and was particularly inspired by Kiss’ lead guitarist Ace Frehley. He often mentioned that his primary influences were drawn from the likes of Tony Iommi, Pete Willis, and Eddie Van Halen.
Later, as Vinnie’s aptitude veered off from the chords to skins, Dimebag Darrell took hold of the guitar. The chords suited perfectly complemented the musical flair that his fingers possessed and there was no turning back for him. Dimebag Darrell and Vinnie Paul formed their first band called Pantera’s Metal Magic, which gradually evolved, gained prominence and became Pantera of today.
His professional music career, spanning over a good 25 years from 1979 to 2004, is an era that is punctuated with multiple associations, experimentations, and his contribution towards progressing groove metal, and numerous solos and joint feats. Aside from his cofounded brainchild Pantera, Dimebag Darrell had partnered and performed with Damageplan, Anthrax, Pumpjack, King Diamond, Gasoline, and Rebel Meets Rebel.
Since the very start, Dimebag Darrell’s playing techniques exhibited a clear non-conformity to the conventional playing styles in various genres. He attempted to improvise his metal forte through strong doses of groove. Combining the essence of heavy metal with groove, Dimebag Darrell is one of the pioneers who evolved, nurtured and promoted the groove metal genre.
Darrel started playing on a Hondo’s version of Les Paul and later switched over to playing on a variety of other guitars, including cherry sunburst, ML, his personalized ‘Dean from Hell’, Dean ML, Jackson Rhoads, and a blue Hamer ML. Dean Guitars and Washburn Guitars have also released signature Dimebag models for his fans and inspired musicians.
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In recognition of his immense contribution to metal instrumentals and his signature grooves, Guitar Player magazine listed Dimebag Darrell as one of the bearers of ‘The 50 Greatest Tones of All Times’. Rolling Stone Magazine placed him at 92nd rank in the list of 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Times. UK’s Metal Hammer Magazine ranked him as the best guitarist
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of all times. Aside from the media appraise and popular opinion, Dimebag Darrel was declared as one of the most influential stylists driving the progression of modern metal. Dimebag Darrell had delivered fiery performance on his tours and concerts, completely stealing the shows through his blazing and enthralling tones. During one such performance, with the crew of Damageplan in Ohio, an armed man opened fired at Dimebag Darrell live at the stage. Darrell was severely wounded by multiple straight head shots and could not survive this murderous assault. Darrell was buried in full honor, along with his favorite Bumblebee Charvel Hybrid VH2 that was presented to him by the maestro Eddie Van Halen.
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COMING 2017-2018: The non-fiction drug crime book "The Last Gentleman Smuggler" by Steven M. Kalish and Nikki Palomino What better way than to celebrate moving into 2017 like those who celebrated going into 1967.... COMING 2017-2018 the non-fiction crime book "The Last Gentleman Smuggler" by Steven M. Kalish and Nikki Palomino ...."You've had the Cocaine Cowboys, George Jung, Barry Seal, the Hippie Mafia and the Biggest Pot Dealer in New York City’s History, now you've got Skip, the fulcrum between Panama, Colombia, the US War On Drugs, Rock 'n Roll and Beautiful Women." "Steven quarterbacked both of those loads but I think it's this load that got busted in Beaumont that goes with this story I am going to tell you. Steve and Don will both remember this one. In 1979 or 1980 Roland and Steve sent me and another guy (an older coon ass Cajun fellow) named Teddy Bear to the Cayman Islands to get a shrimp boat for them. There was nothing wrong with the Jason Lee, but you really need two boats due to more business or to help the other boat if it breaks down. Anyway, the boat broke down on the way back from the Caymans, and we had to have the Coast Guard tow us into Key West. Roland & Steve sent us some money via Western Union to get it repaired. After repairs, we then sailed the boat to Cameron,La. and docked way back in the woods in an out-of-the-way channel. Within three hours of docking we were boarded by the DEA. They wanted to search the vessel . Steve was there checking out the boat and was acting like he was working on the electronics, and when I took the guys down in the cargo hold, Steve walked off the boat and drove away. Let's see if he remembers that. We then took the boat to Galveston and got her ready for a load. I think this boat could have been the Lady Mauricette because we also painted a board and stenciled it with whatever name we used and then secured it on the stern of the boat...." Gilbert Rodriguez, Roland Miles' crew. The boat that launched J. Douglas McCullough to create a task force in search of the truth behind America's biggest drug raid. The story behind something bigger than The French Connection... Exclusive excerpt from the pages of the 2017-2018 non-fiction crime book "The Last Gentleman Smuggler" by Steven M. Kalish and Nikki Palomino... facebook.com/groups/1100845919933061/ facebook.com/DAZEDGrungeRockerAuthor/ facebook.com/dazed.novel.series/?fref=ts facebook.com/groups/dazedraioshow/
facebook.com/dazedradio/?fref=ts facebook.com/groups/506370846059672/ www.dazedthestory.com
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Makeshift Lovers
Valentine Poetry by Dylan Free Beneath the great void, I stand beside thee. Choking out echos of yesterday, Knowing nothing is ever free.
Often I say that winter is my dearly beloved. We’ve gather in harmonious wedlock, and cared for each other’s safety. She keeps me warm with her chilly embrace, and I cradle her in the prison of my bed with the sheets being her cell, and the pillows being the bars. With every great love, comes an even more tempting mistress. Slipping seductively, slowly, into the clutches of another partner, but only for a short time before the moment vanishes into the summer sun. As the door creaks open to reveal a penetrating light that only a true lover could handle. Her sweet, sticky aroma runs circles in my head and I study her warm, wet body. Covered in darkness, she twists and dances in the shine of stars, and flirts with the pale moonlight in the dead of night. Moving as swiftly as a cool breeze through the bristled arms of fresh pine needles. In her greatest moments she shifts from a shining beacon, to a downpour of heavy howls and pent up rage in little less than an instant. She cradles me in an embrace much warmer than a previous admirer, with an even simpler touch upon my skin.
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She’s a worthy mistress, the love we make echos out like the sound of an old song sung. Her name is Spring And Spring Has Sprung.
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Isolation I walk among you, In crowds of missing faces, So cold and distant. In rooms of white, And glowing dust, My thoughts lose grip And the faces rust. The crushing pressure, In this ocean of fear, The silence is maddening, Get me out of here...
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LOVE CONSTANT (for Michele) You are the bright star in my universe The sun in every day The center of my life The beating of my heart You are my companion of the moment That never ends You are my constant love You are my joy in beauty You are my pleasure in grace You are my truth in living You are my destiny And my history We share all time that ever was You are my daily Goddess Here and now You are my love
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A gift of fate Beyond all reason Whether circumstance or God The force that joined our souls Is power pure Of this I’m sure Its purpose is formed In our existence You are my companion of the moment That never ends You are my constant love
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BEYOND MEASURE
AT THE CENTER
It’s funny We’d had an argument, Not an argument, Really, Just a disagreement Over nothing
Where the village is an eyepiece On the world And the heart surveys the Universe Where the couple turns their backs On the night And feels the light In each other’s arms
And due to the wisdom Of our union, After all these years, We let it go Because it’s not worth it, You said, and I agreed, Smiling, I love you Beyond measure
Where the brave accomplishment Is finding And facing The truth in our hearts And our lives
Beyond Measure
Where we can’t give enough And we take too much To make the stars In our souls Align We can’t earn Time
My love Transcends my human ability The means of civilization To gauge, assess, quantify, Calculate
With the holy men Scrutinizing blueprints And the bird Gathering twigs For its nest
Like the Buddha Breathing in the universe And exhaling The now
Neither the mountain, nor the sun, Nor hurricane, nor blossom, not the Queen, nor the King No one and no thing Knows best
I liked that phrase A poem In itself
Like the number of times The world still has To go around Our love is Beyond measure
Where the village is an eyepiece On the world And the heart surveys the Universe Where the couple turns their backs On the night And finds the light In each other’s arms
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BONGO BOY SEASON 6 EPISODE 1 Review by Dawn Belotti Bongo Boy TV National Television Broadcast on 66+ TV Channels and more. Los Angeles California resident, Kristine Mirelle labels herself a “Freakin’ Mess” in her latest song and video. Originally hailing from New Mexico she also owns a food line. Kristine is a busy lady. With her updated Desperately Seeking Susan look and a rich alto voice, Mirelle sings about something a good deal of us have felt or dealt with during out life. Fear of a relationship, feeling we weren’t in a place to commit even we wanted to. Others have tried to fix these “Freakin’ Mess” candidates realizing they need to sort their own crap out. If there are people, out there, who can relate to a song; the performer/songwriter did a good job. Record Label: Kristine Mirelle Music Album: Freakin’ Mess | Music Video Director: Joseph Wesley | Website: www.kristinemirelle.com
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From Union, New Jersey, here is Raftree. I have seen these guys on a bill with a well know band who are also friends of mine. I was impressed with them then and impressed with them now. Raftree can rock. A bit of a modern grunge feel and a hint of Monster Magnet, these guys are destined for much bigger things. Their “All The Time” video is a raw, no frills performance. Raftree doesn’t need anything more to impress. Their vocalist has a killer voice and one of the band members is sporting a Rainbow shirt. . How can you not love that? Record Label: Twelve-23 records Album: Raftree EP | Music Video Director: Joseph Wesley | Website: www.raftreeband.com Sin City (Las Vegas) lady, Rosalee with her video for “Hmmm.” This episode of Bongo Boy definitely highlights women in rock. I love Rosalee’s voice, which reminds me a bit of Toby Lightman. A little R & B and a little blues thrown in gives her a unique sound. The video is shot in various locations including a drained pool. Once the garish costume is discarded, Rosalee is quite stunning. Record Label: The Omnitone Album: What it is | Music Video Director: David Henry Gerson Website: www.rosaleemusic.com
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I had a fan girl moment when I saw Iggy Pop was part of Hotei’s song and video. Hotei is no stranger to classic legends having fallen in love with their music early. Now a London native, Hotei is no slouch himself. With his crafty guitar work, Hotei is a master musician. Iggy Pop also co-wrote “Walking Through The Night” and handles the vocals, which is the featured video. It Is a well produced song and video. Record Label: Spinefarm/Universal Album: Strangers | Music Video Director: Tomoni Okamura Produced by: Naoyasu Toukaie and Takashi Sugai | Website: www.hotei.com New York City’s Anana Kaye & Iraki Gabriel with “Ain’t Dead Yet.” This creepy video is a horror film noir fan’s dream. I am one of them especially when I see Owl representatives on the set. Most of the video is shot in black and white with clips from a variety of classic films. Anana, who originally hails from the Republic of Georgia, is yet another female vocalist with a damn good voice. Her soulful sound is easy to listen to and makes you curious to hear what other styles she can produce. Record Label: Duende Productions Album: Sentient | Music Video Director: Anana Kaye and Iraki Gabriel Website: www.annakaye.com
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Cassani and Waheed Ahmed are back with another heartfelt positive song from the troubled city of Oakland California. “Shine” is a brilliant message citing that we are stronger than we think we are and at our darkest moments is when we shine. These are true words spoken against a background of R &B and Hip Hop. Record Label: Step 2 The Future Music | Album: Shine | Music Video Director: Waheed Ahmed Web Site: http://step2thefuturemusic.com/ The last lady of the episode hails from Sweden. Deborah Henriksson channels Celtic warriors in her video “Breakers’ Roar.” Reminiscent of Enya and Loreena McKennitt, American born Henriksson has uses her vast travel performances to infuse a variety of sound to her music and experiments with her magical voice. Record Label: DHP Records |Album: Breaker’s Roar | Music Video Director: Matts Nyman Website: www.deborahhenriksson.com Sponsored TV spot: Backroom Blues Hour radio show https://bongoboyrecords.com/backroom-blues-radio-show/
BONGO BOY TV www.bongoboytv.com MUSIC TELEVISION FOR INDIE MUSIC
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BONGO BOY SEASON 6 EPISODE 2 Review by Dawn Belotti Bongo Boy TV National Television Broadcast on 66+ TV Channels and more. Covering a song from well known artists is always a risk. The goal is not to cause fans to cringe while making the song your own. No one wants to hear a bad karaoke version of a song. The trick is to choose a song that fits the artist. Gar Francis took on Bob Dylan’s “Rainy Day Women #12 & 35 and added an edge. In other words he did a good job. The video editing is well done with the Vaudeville era characters performing perfectly to the beat. Record Label: Bongo Boy Records | Album: Rainy Day Women #12 & 35 Music Video Director: Monique Grimme | Website : www.garfrancis.com
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Neighbor to the north, Survivorman Les Stroud certainly surprised me. I am well aware of his Discovery Channel program but had no idea he was a musician as well and he does a good job at that too. His appreciation of nature brings spectacular cinematography with his video for “Arctic Mistress.” He may be Canada’s version of One Eskimo. I was impressed with Les on this one and the video is beautiful. Record Label: Survivorman Music Album: Mother Earth | Music Video Director: Les Stroud and Barry Farrell Website: http://www.facebook.com/thereallesstroud From Bologna, Italy Dos Floris with the song “Water” The opening of this song reminded me a bit of The Cult’s “Sweet Soul Sister” but only briefly. The Tranquility theme, of the episode, is well represented with this video. A crystal clear stream, a wood nymph and vocals accompanied by piano definitely will put you in a Zen mood. Record Label: DyNaMik Records Ltd Album: The Widowed Earth Music Video Director: Mediamorphose | Website: www.dosfloris.com Tremble, who hails from Los Angeles, with her video “Want to Want Me.”, her sensuous, sultry vocals dispense her own brand of R & B. A catchy chorus and a modern sassy look give this song and this girl a solid future. Record Label: Mondo Tunes Album Want to Want Me Music Video Director: Eric Soboleski Website: www.trembleofficial.com
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Michael Resin is back with “Nothing is Forever.” The video is an ode to science fiction and the Swiss musician dispatches a different style of music with this song. While the theme is based on the ideal that love doesn’t last forever, Resin still makes a sad theme rock. Record Label: Bongo Boy Records Album: Praying For a Miracle Music Video Director: Michael Resin Website: www.michaelresin.com Los Angeles’s Trevor Wesley is a quite a character in his video for “In This World” (Ft. Raven Felix) this is quite the resort with a bit of croquet and a tribute to the derrière. I don’t know how tranquil this one is but it certainly made me laugh which apparently was Wesley’s intention. Record Label: Piano Boy Productions Album: Chivalry Is Dead Music Director: Embryo Website: www.trevorwesley.com Les Fradkin truly embraces the tranquility theme with his “Reflections of Love” video. Beautifully filmed with brilliant cinematography, act as a back drop for this soothing instrumental. With a hint of Celtic sound Fradkin reaches a farther horizon with his creation. Music is always a surprise with Les Fradkin. I have watched several videos by this artist and the music is always unique and different. I
am looking forward to watching him perform in April. Record Label: Bongo Boy Records Album: Reflections of Love | Music Video Director: Monique Grimme Website: www.lesfradkin.com
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Luca Cerardi Interview with
Mikkey dee Here we go, the first PAISTE TO PAISTE interview. I have to thank Gianluca and Christian, who gave me the opportunity to be part of the Paiste family. They have been incredibly supportive of the idea of a drummer interviewing another drummer, and I had the chance to start with the great Mikkey Dee from Motorhead/Scorpions. I was very glad to share the stage with him a couple of years ago, and I will never forget his energy. I witnessed first person the magic he created on stage with Lemmy and Phil. Another big thanks, this time to Mikkey, for agreeing on being interviewed and sharing his thoughts on so many topics. Everybody, enjoy the interview to one of the greatest drummers of the past 40 years.
What does playing drums mean to you? I started playing drums when I was 4 years old. Which means it’s definitely a big component of my life. It’s as if I asked you what breathing means to you! It’s something I have to do to keep going. I just love it.
When did you realize that you could actually be a professional drummer?
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Only at an older age. Being an athlete I wanted to succeed in sports. Playing drums was something I was always doing, but it was more of a hobby. What I used to be focused on was athletic training, in fact I used to train 6 days a week to become a hockey player, and I was into other sports as well. I was definitely older when music started to gain relevance. It was not something I actively meant to do, it just happened. King Diamond required more of my time, there were more shows to do, so over time being a musician completely took over my life. I was playing drums most of my time, and that’s when I realized I had actually become a professional drummer.
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only had 20 minutes before “Mr. Brown” would get home. You have Greek roots, don’t you? Yes, I do have Greek roots and I value them very much. They helped me become what I am today. I grew up in Sweden, and even though it’s a great country to live in, it was sometimes too “safe” of a place. Meaning, I did not have many challenges or competitions to face growing up. My Greek side instead was pushing me to be a stubborn motherfucker, to become a number one in sports, to achieve something great in life. I feel like the balance of Swedish culture and Greek roots allowed me to be very balanced in life. Who inspired you the most along your career?
Do you remember your first gig? Yes, I was 7 years old and my band mates were 9. We were obviously beginners but we were having fun playing the few songs we learnt. I remember we played Cream, Johnny Winter, Deep Purple and some Jimi Hendrix too. Have you always had the support of your family over the course of the years? They always completely supported me. There are a few drummers in my family - only drummers, no other instruments. My cousin used to play in a rock/blues band, and my uncle used to play too. I still remember that when we used to live in an apartment complex, my mom started walking around asking people about their daily habits. She wanted me to practice and play drums only at times when I would not disturb anybody. So I used to come home from school, and I knew I
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I have to say my cousin and my uncle, because they were the first drummers I had around. Mainly my cousin, because we were really close and he’s always been so nice to me. In terms of bands, I would say Rolling Stones, Cream, Hendrix, Johnny Winter, Deep Purple. When I was a kid I was the only one knowing so much about music already. It wasn’t like today, now it’s so easy to just search things on YouTube. Those were the years when you had to wait long times for a magazine to come out, or for a vinyl to be released. A record was a holy thing, a treasure. I believe that was a good thing, since it made people appreciate music so much. Those were the times during which real rock stars were born. We have popular musicians today, but they are just not as brilliant as they used to be in the past. What kind of music is most appealing to you nowadays? I’m a very active musician and I think drummers, more than other musicians, are supposed to listen to many different styles of music. It’s like food, basically, you need to taste various things all the time. I listen to fusion, soul, jazz, even disco, classical music, and of course hard rock and metal. I have to say I don’t like it when people still talk about the King Diamond era. I mean,
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yeah, we rocked, but come on man, let’s move on. Fans want musicians to stay stuck in those epic periods, but what most musicians need is improvement, and we can only do that by moving on. Back in the day I moved to LA and with Dokken I learnt so much. They taught me how to get groovy. Then I joined Motorhead, which was another great learning experience. Now I’m with Scorpions, and I feel so “me”. All those experiences made me the drummer I am today. I can be really technical, play light, get heavy, and that’s because of all the things that I have done over the past decades. I get frustrated when people expect musicians to do one thing only, it pisses me off.
I keep active. I have two children and I stay active with them. I go play soccer, tennis, ski. I love it. I go fishing, I walk and hike. I know my body really well and I know what’s best for it. I’m very energetic in each show, and that’s the way I want it to be. With Scorpions I try to bring even more energy on stage, I want to improve from the “me” I was with Motorhead. We feel so fresh and powerful. People say Scorpions are at their best now, even better than the past, and I think it’s because we all bring great energy to the table. We have fun and we give 200% of ourselves. Klaus, Rudolph, Pawel and Mathias are exhausted after every show now. That’s great, though. The fact that we give it all we got.
Did you go to school to learn how to play drums? No! Thank God for that. When I speak to young kids, they all ask me how I could play like that with Motorhead. Come on, that’s easy. The real question is: how did you think of arranging that part in that specific way? If I could talk to Neil Peart, I would not ask him how he did things technically, I would ask how he thought about doing things that way. The sound of drums has to feel good in your body, it’s not only a matter of playing a rhythm correctly. Technical things are boring, we are not robots. I like to showcase my soul, my style and my passion. It’s the soul that has to drive a drummer, not simple sound. I saw you playing a solo live. What goes on in your brain the moment you start your solo? I don’t think. Actually I never really think when I play. With Scorpions, for instance, I had to think for the first couple of days. They have many arrangements and various details to keep in mind. I hated that part, but it’s all good now. As for the solo, its main objective is entertainment. It’s not really that difficult to perform, but I care about entertaining the audience. I always try to make it fun for all fans. Being on the road for so long requires a lot of physical energy. How do you keep it up?
What’s in your future? Scorpions! My future is with this band. This opportunity came to me at the perfect time. We all feel an amazing atmosphere and we want to make it last. How did you handle the departure of Lemmy? This is a sensitive topic. Phil is devastated and thinks about Lemmy all the time. As for me, I will try to celebrate him every day. He lived 70 years and had the perfect life. I remember when he was 50, and he told me “if I die tomorrow, I’d be ok with it, because I don’t regret anything about my life”. He accomplished so much, he had a great time. We all had a great time together. He has been a huge part of my life, but I refuse to be knocked down. I don’t like it when people say that his departure was a disaster. Nobody would want him to live another 10 years the way he had
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to live the last part of his life. He was not able to do what he wanted to do, like gambling, partying, playing. Wanting him to live longer was selfish, he really did not deserve to keep living that way. He said “fuck this shit, I had enough!” and he passed. Let’s keep celebrating Lemmy’s life! A word to define Motorhead? Magic. Some Motorhead songs had a blues sound. Was that a special genre for you guys? I have been playing any kind of music, I even played disco music when I was younger. My purpose was always to be a great drummer, without any particular worry about musical styles. I used to put fusion into a hard rock song, and heavy metal into pop. I need variety and mixing, to make the soup taste good. Blues has always come easy to me. I’m not a blues drummer, but I can play any style, hence the blues in those Motorhead songs. How’s the music business going now, in your opinion? Do you think things have changed since your early days? Musicians/bands don’t have a lot of choices nowadays. Financially, this is a tough business, even tougher now than it was some time ago. The music industry does not take any chances, like they used to do in the past. Many bands can be performing and producing records for a long time, without being noticed and supported. Musicians keep going because of their passion, because they have family and friends that go see them live, but that’s the maximum you can hope for. Back in the day the business supported bands much more, but today it’s just a different climate. Today you get support only if you are able to find the way to make a lot of money. Many people have said that newer generations suck, but hang on, let’s think a little deeper. These people don’t have a choice. If they don’t follow the instructions they are given by business people, they don’t stand a chance in making a living out
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of music. I don’t think we should blame the newer generations, we should blame the music business. Musicians should be able to play what they like, not being forced to play something they don’t really want to play. I think it’s important to stay true to yourself, but it becomes very difficult to do that when the only way to be a musician is to listen to business executives. It might be the only way to get a tour or to make a record. At the end of the story, it’s up to every individual to decide what to do. Even Motorhead had troubles with the business in the past. Good thing is that we were tough enough to make them stay out of our studio. We made our own music, and definitely did not need anybody else’s involvement. You have two children. What’s your suggestion to young kids in terms of playing instruments and becoming musicians? Mark is 14 years old, and he is a really advanced drummer, you can find him on YouTube - search for Marcus Dee. Sometimes speed takes over and I just tell him to slow down. Speed can make him lose control. But a part from that, I don’t tell him much. I can’t tell him how to play. Also, I never really pushed my kids to play drums, they can do whatever they want. I believe that everyone should do what they like, what they feel is the best thing for them. What really matters is for them to be happy, whatever it is that makes them feel that way.
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It Takes A Punk To Cover The Proto-Punk Bob Dylan’s Rainy Day Women #12 and 35. How exactly do you cover a legend? Gar Francis knows the answer! This Bob Dylan classic was recorded and produced by Gar Francis in which he recorded all the tracks himself. Playing piano, fuzz bass, guitar, harmonica, and vocals. The track originally recorded by Bob Dylan reached No 2 on the US charts in April 1966. Gar's version of Rainy Day Women still makes a fun time of this classic. Music Review by The Grouch Hej America! My good friends at Bongo Boy have asked me to review the latest single by Gar Francis. Naturally, I enthusiastically agreed. For those of you who don’t know, Gar is monster from the East Coast; over the past several years I have heard a lot of his music and I can honestly say there is nothing, from what I have heard of Gar’s music that I did not like - a lot! This latest single is no exception. This time out Gar is covering Dylan, specifically the song Rainy Day Women #12 & 35. This is a bold move for anyone, but Gar pulls it off. Dylan, in my opinion, was the proto-punk. I have seen the reaction to the show in Newport where Dylan went electric and oh how the folkies were up in arms. Bob Dylan was busting heads. The thing about Dylan is, despite the fact that often times his voice simply sucks, he is such a huge figure that covering Dylan well is a really difficult thing to do.
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How exactly do you cover a legend? Especially a legend built on the solid foundation of aggressive intellect? I am not sure I can answer that question, but what I can say is that Gar Francis knows the answer! Listen to this song. Gar has taken a sip from the cup of the gods. Gar is a wicked player who can get some nasty, gritty sounds out of his guitar. The vocals have a decidedly menacing snarl which are dripping with sarcasm. Simply put, it takes a punk to cover the proto-punk. Gar is that punk. Listen to this song and tell me if I am wrong. I give this track 5 out of 5 scowls. - The Grouch Download Single: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/garfrancis1 Artist: www.garfrancis.com Record Label: www.bongoboyrecords.com
PLEASE INSERT MUSIC VIDEO ->>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYcQT76tVEs
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Band Interview
Interview with the members of "Drop Of Rage" By Inès Honig Hi, my name is Inès Honig, I grew up in France and I've been living in Germany for over 15 years. I love music, I love to listen to it, to make it and to dance to it. I also really appreciate watching musicians at work and getting a chance to chat with them. For my first interview, I chose to introduce a band of my own region, Saarland. I chose “Drop Of Rage”, the winner of the classic rock radio future rock award 2016. This radio station used to put me on the guest list of a concert where I met someone who had indirectly introduced me to the person who gave me the opportunity to write today for all of you. So as an expression of my sincere gratitude, and because they are in conclusion a part of my story, let’s talk about these guys. The heavy rock band “Drop Of Rage” was formed in 2009 and reformed in 2012. It includes Michael Wilhelm, Denis Milde and Lars Paulußen. Their professions are also interesting because they work as emergency medical technicians, working in the steel industry and with aluminum, it reflects for me the definition of “heavy rock” as a genre that is lighter than metal, yet harder than
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rock. But enough of my fixation of that point, now to the interview…and before I forget, there is another member of the band, more on this later. Where does the name of the band come from? Denis: Before we started to do our own thing, we used to have a cover project named “Devils Of Rock”. When it came to the end of this project we decided that it would be the right time for a new name. As we always wanted to keep the initials of the name, “Drop of Rage” came out of the blue. The meaning of this words are actually not part of our programme but it sounds fucking awesome, and it would still be D.O.R. Michael: let me add the fact that we also had already a banner with those initials. The first album is called “open the D.O.R” so those three letters are versatilely applicable. Which artists and bands are you affected by? Denis: We have all been affected by the classic ones like AC/DC, Lynyrd Skynyrd, etc . The German artist who influence us the most is Marius Müller - Westernhagen. One day I saw the Spencer Davis Group playing at a shopping mall in Saarbrücken and this was a very inspiring experience for me. Pete York, the drummer made the greatest impression on me, and he was the reason why I bought my first drums. Michael: Molly Hatchett, Deep Purple, ZZ Top, Led Zeppelin, Clutch, Whitesnake, Kiss.... Lars: and my greatest hero Lemmy! How was your first gig and what has changed since the first time ? Michael: The first one was in the course of the cover project at a biker club, I used to play in the band for like a month at that time. I remember that we didn't have that much equipment
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and the cable of my guitar was about three-foot-long and so I unplugged myself by every step forward. It was very clumsy at the beginning but now it gets more and more elaborated and professional. We developed ourselves technically and musically. By now we also have our own and complete equipment so we can get booked and go for it anytime. Denis: The first gig could be called “classic break down accompanied by music” Lars: My first gig with the guys was already on a bigger stage. I was really happy to play again after a long time so I was a little bit nervous. Now everything I first experienced affects my playing as well. You already stepped up for the classic rock radio future rock award” in 2015. When did you decide to try again in 2016? What was the motivation? Lars: Right at the moment we saw that it would be a competition in 2016, we decided to try again. It was also a great opportunity to reach more people and for them to get to know us. How did it feel to have finally won this time and what has changed for you since the award? Michael: It was an awesome feeling. Since then we have had a lot more demands from people who did not know about us before hearing us on radio and we have sold more CDs. A lot of gigs resulted from people hearing of us while planning their events. Denis: We have also met our first “hardcore fan” who had tears in the eyes as he met us. He was so happy to see us after having heard us at the radio show. It was badass. It is hard to establish a foothold in music business, what do you think are the reasons and how do you handle it? Michael: I think one reason could be the fact that nowadays many people only want prefabricated music which has to sound like a certain genre or a specific movement. Preferably with the same instruments and the same technic. That's not what we are
Steel Notes Magazine doing, we still do our thing and stay hard. We also use the new media, so we have our YouTube channel, you can find us on SoundCloud and amazon, now we are also on radio and soon on BandCamp. What makes the rock scene from Saarland so special and unique? Are there any advantages or disadvantages if you want to establish yourself here? Michael: The scene is in any case something special, there are many bands some of them really big some other smaller so it is varied. Denis: I think it is a disadvantage because, having so many bands and different genres means the audience always has to choose between the shows because there are so many events at the same time. Lars: In the countryside, it is much easier because there aren't that much events so the most people would come to the shows. Michael: An advantage would be the facts that you can meet so many people and get to know them. You can also profit from the multicultural situation. A few weeks ago we have just played with a band from France and they did also bring their audience to the show. When we have a gig near Luxembourg you can be sure that people living there will also come to our show, so that is nice. Do you have any plans for the future? Where will you be in five years? Lars: Wacken Mainstage Michael: Wembley Park Lars: Madison square garden Denis: Yeah and with AC/DC as support. *laugh * Micheal: More seriously we give all we have to push us as far as we can. We are planning a new album that will be released the end of this year, so we are focused on that at the moment. Last but not least “Number 4 of Drop Of Rage”. I have the honor and pleasure to present the lovely lady called “Metal Slut”. She weighs only 198 pounds and is the mascot of Drop of Rage and follows them to every single gig. She was built by Horst, a mechanic’s friend of the band with all sorts of bike pieces and many more. You can see Horst building this beauty in the clip of “Devil in the Bottle”.
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Alessia Bastianelli – Italy Venice 01.28.2017
We Fail More Than We Think . How many times do we buy items without being convinced, and we already know that we will regret it? Or how many times do we believe more in our memories than to actual events? Or yet, we make decisions not based on logic, but on our beliefs. These are only some of the most frequent errors of the mind. They happen almost daily. Being aware of the mistakes we naturally have in our thinking can make a big difference in avoiding them. Unfortunately, most of these occur unconsciously, so it will also take time and effort to avoid them—if you even want to. Let’s look at some. The first is confirmation bias. Often, if we agree with someone’s way of thinking, we are more inclined to become friends with this person. That is, we tend to surround ourselves with information that matches our beliefs . This makes sense and it means that consciously or unconsciously we ignore or reject anything that threatens our own point of view by surrounding ourselves with people and information that confirms what we already think. A very similar concept is frequency illusion. It occurs when we buy a new car and suddenly we see the same car all over the place or when we are on diet and suddenly we see tasty food everywhere. The difference between confirmation bias and frequency illusion is that, with the first, we proactively seek out information that confirms our existing beliefs, whereas with frequency
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illusion our brains seek out information that’s related to us, but we believe there’s been an actual increase in the frequency of those.
A second type of common mistake is that we believe our memory more than the facts. For example, if we are asked to read a page of text and then are asked if there were more words in that page ending in “ing” or more words with the letter “n” as the penultimate letter in the word, the most frequent response it is that there are more words ending in “ing.”
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Yet, according to the logic there are more words those ending with “n” as the penultimate (e.g., end, hand, etc.) rather than words with the termination “ing.” The reason is the latter are easier to remember. The result is that we choose to rely on our memory instead of reasoning. Another common mistake occurs when we buy something that we really do not want even if we don’t like it after we start using it. This is a well-known cognitive bias that affects everyone. It is called postpurchase rationalization, often known as “Buyer’s Stockholm Syndrome.” Once we have made the purchase decision, we are held captive by it, and even if we don’t like the item, we use it. Eventually, we prefer to convince ourselves that we like whatever it is we purchased. It occurs because we make emotional decisions and rationalize them later.
We don’t like to think we make emotional decisions, so we need to give it a rational justification; otherwise, we would feel the discomfort of trying to hold two contrasting ideas at the same time. In the case of purchases, we need to rationalize and justify purchases in order to really believe that we needed to buy those objects, so that our thoughts are aligned with actions made.
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So groovy… The Grouch enjoyed this upcoming new single and admits Kyla is a talented woman. Bongo Boy Records announce the release by Canadian recording artist Kyla Lynn Vezina. “Don’t Ya Worry ‘about Me” Hej America! (Or I should say North America) - This time around my friends at Bongo Boy have asked me to give a listen to, and share my thoughts about the newest single from Kyla. Kyla comes from Canada and the name of her single is Don't Ya Worry 'Bout Me. The cover art sets the tone for what to expect. This is a neo-60s type of song. The 60s vibe is prominent throughout the track. That, of course, is a double edged sword. On the one hand the 60s gave us some brilliant work by the people at Motown and some absolutely stunning iconoclastic earthquakes by the likes of Jimi Hendrix. On the other other hand, the 60s also gave us smelly hippies sitting in drum circles... Fear not, Kyla has much more in common with the former than the latter. What I hear in this song is a throwback to Motown. (As a side note, if you have never seen the documentary “Standing in the Shadow of Motown” I highly recommend it.) Kyla has a very good voice. Personally, I could listen to her sing all day. She just grooves; she has enough snarl in her voice to be provocative. All in all Kyla provides the listener with a pleasant musical escape - she also make me laugh. The Mr. Ed imitation along with the Bela Lugosiesque singing of the word fangs cracks me up. The thing that makes this song fun is that the listener has the feeling that Kyla is in on the joke. Lest, you are tempted to think this song might devolve into a parody, the moments of humor are just that, moments from which Kyla quickly returns to her signature strong soulful expression of emotion. All in all Kyla made me smile and I enjoyed her song. Give it a listen. I think you will like it too. - The Grouch | Sweden WEBSITE Official Release Date: 1.10.17 | Record Label: Bongo Boy Records | Producer: John Lovaghy. Songwriters: Kyla Lynn Vezina, John Lovaghy, Laszlo Koos and Jacky LeDuc Studio: Cosmic Forces Music | Location: Mascouche, Quebec, CANADA UPC: 703856898851 | ISRC: USPXQ CAT#:USPXQ11018851
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http://www.attractionsmodels.com/
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Onalaska Washington State Winter Pictorial Photos by John Patterson
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Rock Your Way Jewelry By: Bev Charlotte Kurtz Kurz
You can purchase Bev’s awesome rock jewelry at: https://www.etsy.com/shop/rockyourwayjewelry Steel Notes Magazine www.steelnotesmagazine.com
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Poetry By Yvonne Sotomayor
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He said- She died
My first flaw I should’ve followed me You said you dreamt with me You said we’d steer and drive together But our roads were very different Though you said we were the same You said I was the one But there were many more You said you were with me But kept more company of others You said you were true But others told me differently You said I need to believe But didn’t give me truth You said it was my fault Perhaps; but when was it yours You tell me all my wrongs But where are all yours You tell me I need help But when will you receive You told me I was your love But denied me with your exes You told me you lusted for me But our bed was cold as ice You said we’d talk later But silence was the measure You said-I listened You said-I wanted You said-I relished You said-I became You said-I discovered You said-I was heartbroken You said-I realized You said-I unleashed You said-I regretted You said-I wept You said-I was hollowed You said-I gave up
February 2017
EL DIJO-ELLA MURIO Seguí mi corazón Y te sequi a ti Mi primer error -debería haberme seguido a mi misma Dijiste que soñaste conmigo Dijiste que conduciríamos juntos Pero nuestros caminos eran muy diferentes Aunque dijiste que éramos iguales Dijiste que yo era ‘ella’ Pero habían muchas más Dijiste que estabas conmigo Pero mantuviste más compañía de los demás Dijiste que eras honesto Pero otros me dijeron otras cosas Dijiste que necesito creer Pero no me diste la verdad Dijiste que era mi culpa Quizás; Pero cuando fue tuya Me cuentas todos mis errores Pero dónde están todos los tuyos Me dices que necesito ayuda Pero, ¿cuándo lo recibirás Me dijiste que era tu amor Pero me negaste con tus exes Me dijiste que me deseabas Pero nuestra cama estaba helada Dijiste que hablaríamos más tarde Pero el silencio era la medida Me dijiste-te escuché Me dijiste-yo quería Me Dijiste-me gusto Me dijiste-me volvi Me dijiste-descubrí Me dijiste-estaba destrozada Me dijiste-me di cuenta Me dijiste-yo desaté Me dijiste-me arrepentí Me dijiste-lloré Me dijiste-estaba vacía Me dijiste-y renuncié
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Woodstone Country Club and Lodge, located in the Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania, is your premiere golf, dining and bridal destination. Whether it is an elegant night out or dinner with friends after a day of skiing at nearby Blue Mountain Resort, the 19th Grille offers the perfect setting for your evening. Views of the golf course, our outdoor patio and our custom stone front bar set the stage for our palate tempting menu in a serene relaxing setting.
3777 Dogwood Road, Danielsville, PA 18038
610-760-2770
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