Tag Archives: Gene Simmons

Silent Sunday or: The Haul 6/10/17

11 Sunday Jun 2017

Posted by in Records, Silent Sunday

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Salutations™!!

The BCPF’s and my journey to Underdog Records yesterday was a successful and fruitful one. We got some good stuff and since you’re reading, let’s just jump to it, eh?

Gene_Simmons_(album)_cover

©Casablanca Records/Universal Music Group

 

We listened to several of them yesterday and excluding the Gene Simmons album – because it’s Gene Simmons – and the Queen album, I was really, really impressed and happy with the Michael McDonald album. Great musicianship and production. But, Underdog was jumping yesterday and we had fun. If you’re into vinyl and haven’t been to Underdog Records, then shame on you. “I don’t have a turntable,” you say? Well, Underdog has you covered. They have turntables, receivers, and speakers for sale. Pick one and find a whole new joy in music. And, if you’re not using Discogs to curate your LP collection, then you’re also missing out. If (goodness forbid) something happens, you need to know what you had to turn in to insurance and to recollect if you are so inclined.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Happy listening!

—
“I keep forgettin’ we’re not in love anymore. I keep forgettin’ things will never be the same again. I keep forgettin’ how you made that so clear. I keep forgettin’.” – “I Keep Forgettin’ (Every Time You’re Near)” (McDonald, Sanford, Leiber, Stoller)

Rock the Nation or: Montrose (Eugeology Entry 11)

23 Thursday Mar 2017

Posted by in Music Review

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Salutations™!!

I enjoyed last week’s entry, even thinking that I wouldn’t. Good surprise for me. Still waiting on Jon and Eugene‘s assessment of that one. So, let’s see how I like the selection this week.

Montrose_-_-s-t-

©Warner Bros.

#11 – Montrose by Montrose.

I like Sammy Hagar. I like the overplayed “I Can’t Drive 55” and “There’s Only One Way to Rock.” I like a few others of his solo stuff. My favorite stuff from him, though, is his days with Van Halen and that’s my favorite Van Halen. There, I said it. I like Van Hagar better than Van Halen. Do I think the songs are better? Well, I think they’re better written even if they’re not more mass appealing. I like that over the party cock-rock that DLR brought to the table. Don’t get me wrong, I liked Van Lee Roth, too, but enjoyed Sammy better. Anywhat! I got off the rail there.

This was Sammy’s “let’s rip off Robert Plant” phase. Sure, it sounds like Sammy but a lot of it sounds like he’s trying to be Plant. He was young and this was his vocal debut. I get it, he was finding his style. We all do that when we get into music. Heck, I still play like Gene Simmons. And, upon reading more about the album, it turns out that some refer to this album as “America’s answer to Led Zeppelin.” I can see that. It is, at least to me, mainly because of Sammy’s vocals.

Ronnie Montrose was a good guitarist. He had plenty of riffs on the album that were cool and his solos were on point. I feel at times his tone was a bit boxy, but it works for here. It’s not quite Tom Sholtz boxy, though. It was standard Les Paul tone for the time period. Les Paul through a Fender amp, worlds colliding there. I kid. I do like his pull offs and bends.

I did some digging on Denny Carmassi and like the fact that he played on the Heart album. I know it’s poppy cheese but I like it. He’s had a long and storied career that I never knew about (which isn’t surprising) and I enjoyed listening to his works, both post, and during, this production. Heavy beats, heavy playing. You can tell he’s pounding the snot out of the drums. I dig it.

I think my favorite part about the album is Bill Church. His bass lines are flavorful, tasteful and full. He literally fills the recording with his bottom end. Possibly taking up more than is needed. But, I’m a bassist and I don’t complain about those things. He went on to be Sammy’s bassist for most of his solo career. Great, solid bassist right there.

Even with all the components that I like (or mostly like), there’s something about this album that has left me just feeling “blah.” I’m sure I know what at least half of it is: that fast, rollicking “boogie blues rock.” I can’t stand that stuff. Precisely, I don’t like “Good Rockin’ Tonight” (not a Montrose song) and “One Thing on My Mind.” I really want to like “Bad Motor Scooter” and for the most part I do, but something about it, and I cannot put my finger on it, bugs me. I see from where Mötley Crüe got the intro to “Kickstart My Heart,” though. My favorite song on the album is “Rock Candy.” It also was the only song on the album that all four members got writing credit.

I listened to this album about seven times. That was easy to do since the whole thing isn’t but 32 minutes long. I listened over and over trying – nay, hoping – to get a better liking of it. I wanted to like it. I really, really did. And, I didn’t dislike it. That’s the thing. I wasn’t against it and I don’t not like it, I just didn’t like it. Other than this exercise, I probably won’t listen to it again. It’s a decent album that didn’t really grab me the way I wanted it to. That’s a shame.

I can’t wait to read Eugene’s memories of it and if Jon ever catches up, I’d like to read his thoughts on it. So, bring on the next one, Eug.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

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“But you’re rock candy baby. Hard, sweet and sticky, yes.” – “Rock Candy” (Carmassi, Church, Hagar, Montrose)

The Distant Closeness or: Never Give Up Cope

22 Friday Apr 2016

Posted by in Life as We Know It

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Salutations™!!

Yesterday evening I copied a quote from Mr. Bumgardner about how he felt (and almost exactly mirrored my sentiments) about the loss of Prince. Just like Bowie in early January, both of them hit me hard. This one, for whatever reason and as of now, hasn’t hit me as hard. And, that could be because I’m still not believing it. I don’t know when I’ll believe it.

He was only 57. Well, he was 57. How could that be? I still, no matter if I see pics and videos of him recently, can only see him as “the Kid” from Purple Rain. The horny, downloadflamboyant and smug 26-year old that opened himself to a whole new audience. Yeah, he was popular in the “Little Red Corvette/1999” sense, but this was different. This is the Prince a lot of people will remember. Not, that there is anything less important about his latest stuff, he was still genius. I’m just talking about the man, Prince.

And, it’s to the point now that I look at my phone every day, read TMZ every day, watch for Facebook announcements of my favorite musical people or actors or whatever to pass. I know there are a few that if something happened to them, I’ll probably break down and cry like a baby. Why is this? I can only think of a few people of notoriety that I’ve ever met, fewer than that I’ve actually had a conversation with. Yet, with Bowie, Alan Rickman, and now Prince in the last four months, I feel I’ve had parts of my heart ripped out. Again, I ask, why is this. Why do I feel this close and hurt?

I was reading an article in the Huffington Post and it made some interesting points. I’m giving full credit to HuffPo, Lindsay Holmes and Meredith Melnick who wrote and distributed the article but I’m going to use some of it:

“While many express their grief, others are surprised to experience a strong personal reaction: I didn’t know him, some have thought, so why am I this upset?

The truth is, there’s no rulebook when it comes to grief, explains David Kaplan, chief professional officer of the American Counseling Association. The emotion is so swallowing and vast that it’s hard to pinpoint why it manifests in the ways that it does. But just because we can’t explain grief doesn’t mean it’s invalidated, Kaplan says — and that especially goes for grieving a celebrity.

‘We grow up with these people,’ Kaplan told The Huffington Post. ‘We see their movies, we hear their music on a regular basis and we really get to know them. In a sense, they become a member of our family — especially the ones we really like — so when they die, it’s like an extended member of our family dies. It’s somebody we feel like we know.’

These deaths also feel so personal because they resonate with us on a deeper, psychological level. We may grieve celebrities because our dream was to emulate their career path or because a celebrity death can also remind us of our mortality, Kaplan notes.”

That certainly makes sense. I’ve always wanted to be a famous, touring, recording musician. I’ve been musical all my life but especially since I was 14 on. When did I turn 14? 1984. Now, I’ll always say that Gene Simmons – love him or hate him – is my idol and is the reason I am a musician the performer that I am. But, I really didn’t see normal rock stars do their thing until I saw Purple Rain. There was a lot of “live footage” on there and a lot of what you see is actually what you hear on the soundtrack. So, I had KISS’ Alive! and Alive II and then I had Purple Rain. Those were the live elements that got me to want to play and be a musician. Here’s the rub: I am not a fan of live albums. But, these are different, to me. They’re albums. However, I think that I’m, only now, coming to realize this about Purple Rain and with that comes the longing to want to listen to it, over and over. Maybe I’m only longing or maybe I’m feeling a pain that I haven’t fully realized just yet? Or, perhaps it is a reality that is just sinking in about how much he meant to me.

I can’t say, now. I’ll forever think this could be it. I really wish that if it is a reality that I could have realized it before he passed. There’s a lot of speculation about whether it was drugs or the flu or whatever; I really don’t care the reason. The only part that matters is that he won’t be putting out any new music. He won’t. I’m sure in his vast vault somewhere there are about 20+ albums, full albums, that are just waiting to be released. Maybe one day we’ll get to hear those. But, like I said yesterday, we have 39 studio albums to listen to and that’s a ton of music. I don’t know if it will ever be enough, though. Still, I say, Rest in Peace Purple One.

Again, much credit to Huffington Post, Lindsay Holmes and Meredith Melnick for the article. You can read the whole article, HERE.

Also, a/perture cinema, the Official Movie Sponsor of The Less Desirables, is showing Purple Rain film on the big screen tomorrow, April 23, at 10:15pm. Tix are all $10.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“We are social creatures, we are meant to be with other people when we face adversity. That’s going to mean different things for different generations. It may mean physically being with people … or it could also extend to online. You can get hundreds of people saying, ‘I know what you’re going through.’ And that’s very healing for us.” – David Kaplan

Volume Is Not the Point or: Oh, For Heavens Sake (Part 1)

26 Wednesday Nov 2014

Posted by in Life as We Know It

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Salutations™!!

I don’t know if I have ever talked about my own music “career” on this blog.  I may have mentioned things that I have had going on or what have you, but I don’t think I’ve ever talked about the band that I am still technically in (because we never officially broke up). That band is known as Heavens Sake.

Back in August of 1995, I was an almost-25-year old aspiring rock star that wanted to woo the millions with my musical abilities.  I was not at all happy in the position that I was in with the band I was “part of” or at least trying to make work.  I had a good buddy of mine, we’ll just call him “Hair,” that I thought may bring some clout to the singing department while I would hold down my duties as bass player and backup vox.

I saw an ad in the coolest weekly entertainment rag this area ever saw, ESP Magazine (none of the current ones can touch it), that read “Ace and Peter looking for Gene and Paul.”  I perked up! Gene Simmons is the reason I’m a musician and my favorite band is KISS. I could play Gene and Hair could play Paul. I called Hair and told him about it.  He said to go ahead and inquire.  He didn’t know how interested he was in playing rhythm guitar or the project but he’d give it a shot.  So I called up the drummer, Bobby Richardson, who was the “Peter” (as in Peter Criss from KISS) in the equation and discussed his ideas, his wants, his dreams, his direction. By his I mean his and David Barker who was “Ace” (yep, Frehley from KISS).  They had known each other a few years as acquaintances but nothing really major.  So they agreed to meet with Hair and I at Perkins (the predecessor of IHOP on Peters Creek Pkwy) to discuss what we wanted to try to do, in person. I often wonder had Hair said he didn’t want to do it, well, if I’d had gone ahead without him; the call and that first meeting, I mean?

So they got out of the car and we got out of our car.  I remember Bobby telling me later that Hair’s hair scared him upon first seeing it.  It was a sight to behold, no lie; big and lush.  I was always jealous. Anywhat! We went in and sat and had a powwow of plans and such.  After having a bit of nourishment and water Hair and I invited the others over to the “practice place” because we had a drum set, a couple of extra guitars and amps and my stuff, along with a PA.  They followed us and we agreed that we got good vibes from them.

You have to understand that Hair and I were playing in bands that were modernly heavy and I wasn’t really into a lot of that, but as I said up front, it wasn’t what I was wanting to do anyway.  I say that because the drum setup was more fitting for the heavier music, cymbals that were ridiculously high and a double bass kit with a rack you wouldn’t believe.  The drummer (I can’t even remember his name) was a former touring drummer that played a lot of shows like that.  Again, more than I wanted to be part of.  Bobby had some adjustments to make but was able to jam a bit, albeit uncomfortably. David played some guitar that was there, I don’t remember what kind.  Hair played his and I played my bass.

We knew that we were all KISS fans so of course, we started doing a little jamming on what KISS tunes we thought we could pull off. Hair wasn’t as versed in playing the guitar to KISS as the rest of us were with our instruments but it was cool.  It was a testing the waters event anyway.  Hair and I played a bit of a heavy song he had written and then played a bit of some other stuff that we had done in a previous band together.  Bobby and Dave played along but I knew they weren’t impressed and they confirmed it later. Afraid of losing them, I broke into an obscure KISS song called “Easy As It Seems” from the album Unmasked. You’d have to be a KISS fan to know anything from that album outside the hit, “Shandi.” I was told later that it was my knowledge of that song (and how to play it) that secured me in the “Bob and Dave like Tim” camp.

TimPromo

First Promo Pic, cir. 1995-96

So, we agreed to give this quartet thing a chance. We wanted to reinvent the wheel.  We wanted to be KISS without the make up but still in the outfits.  Now, don’t get me wrong, there was some leather and such but these were not the elaborate costumes like KISS wore in their heyday.  No, these were homemade or makeshift things as I’ll get to later.  Let’s get back to the history!

We went through about a month’s worth of practice and although I was having a ball, something was just not right. Putting my finger on it, I had an idea what the problem was but didn’t know what to do about it. About a month’s worth of coming up with a few ideas that could maybe work passed. Shouldn’t a month be an indication if something’s going to work? Songs were way more intellectual in meaning than our party rock band needed. Some of the music that Dave had written was still salvageable, I guess.

Then, after that month, I received the call.  Bob called me and asked me to come over, he and Dave wanted to talk to me.  Oh crap! I had just gotten in with the two of them and I was going to be kicked out!  I was asked to sit down and we imbibed a beer.  Bob started the conversation and said that they weren’t really thrilled with this situation and wanted out. *sigh*  Then, they rephrased the statement. They liked me and wanted to continue playing with me but they didn’t want to be with Hair any longer. Not that they didn’t like him; after all, he has great hair.  It just wasn’t a mutual direction for all of us.

I told them I hated playing that drop-D heavy crap and wanted to do stuff that was more hard rock; like we grew up with.  It was their turn to sigh, in a good way.  They were afraid that Hair and I were a package deal.  Nope, not at all.  I wanted to play music, music I love.  He wasn’t in it the same way I was, so I was okay with cutting the ties with that.  We’d still be friends, sure, but not band mates.  The only stipulation was I couldn’t be the one to inform him.  Bob handled that.  Hair took it quite well. Actually, upon talking to Hair when he and the drummer came to pick up their stuff from the “practice place,” he said he was actually quite relieved.  He wasn’t happy in the situation, either, and it was easier for him to move on and do something else.  Eventually, he and his then-girlfriend (now wife) moved away to a sleepy Virginian town.

So we were going to look for a replacement and move on.  Find someone to play that part of “Paul” in our own little band and let’s make a move. Turns out that wasn’t as easy, or necessary as it sounded at that time. And… scene.

So already, Chapter 1 in the band annuls had been written. Chapter 2 is on its way.

So until next time, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“Band members have a special bond. A great band is more than just some people working together. It’s like a highly specialized army unit, or a winning sports team. A unique combination of elements that becomes stronger together than apart.” –  Steven Van Zandt