Tag Archives: Jon Lowder

My Holiday or: A Happy Podfather

30 Wednesday Sep 2020

Posted by in Life as We Know It, Podcasting, The Less Desirables Network

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Salutations™!!

Today I get to celebrate a holiday that many celebrate now but when I started there were a lot fewer. Today is International Podcast Day.

I have mentioned before that I have been podcasting longer than probably 98% people in the area and probably that much or more continuously. I started podcasting in 2007 when I was co-owner of a local comic book store. We only did about 5 or 6 that was even worth mentioning and it most of that was rehashing recorded conference calls with Marvel Comics execs. But, it was a start and wasn’t what I wanted to do. I wanted to do a radio show. I wanted to talk about pop culture. I still want to do radio. And, in a way, I do.

I started The Less Desirables with my pal Brian Attridge on February 3, 2010. You know that story. Eugene came along, Brian left, Caitlin came, Eugene left, Bruce came, Bruce left, Danielle came, Caitlin left, Bethany came. I’ve talked that ad nauseum by now. I wanted to do more than The Less Desirables, though. I wanted a whole network of podcasts, whether I was involved or not, perhaps just as an associate producer. Also, I wanted to get my “studio” out of my house and into a real business location.

So, in late 2012, Eugene and I moved all my stuff from my bedroom loft to a spot in the Chatham Building off of Fourth Street in WSNC. Soon after, in early 2013, I started producing both the Camel City News Hour hosted by Chad Nance and Fan Interference hosted by Ty Collins. CCNH lasted a few years and Fan Interference is still going today. Later in 2013, Nikki Miller-Ka, The BCPF and I started Tart & Tangy Triad, a food news podcast. That went until early 2016.

In February 2015, five years after starting The Less Desirables, Jon Lowder, Paul Jones, and I started The Beer Dads Podcast, after we were sitting at Small Batch Beer trying to decide what we were going to do a podcast about and I came in complaining about 3B, my son. We recorded it and Jon and Paul have become partners of mine. We have crossed the 200 episode mark.

In July of 2016, I recorded my first episode of The Man Who Ate the Town Podcast because I wanted another food podcast and had to rebut nasty comments about a critique of a local restaurant that I was actually a fan of. That is still going and I have had four co-hosts. Kelly Bone was my first, followed by Tim Johnson, then Ray Morgan. Ray is still with me and we have added Lea Metz to our lineup. I love them both being there. We will record episode 170 next week.

In late 2016, I started Sipping NC: The Art of Drinking Podcast with Jordan Keiper and we had a lot of drinking to do, for sure. We recorded into 2017 had to pause due to an illness in Jordan’s family. We are still on that hiatus, although Jordan and I have discussed, along with Danielle from TLD restarting it back up, but C-19 and other issues have kept us from doing that.

In 2018, along with “Jeff Evans” and Rory, we started Apartment 5B: Irrational Conversations with the Cool Breezes of Anytown, USA. We did that up to the pandemic, which JE’s wife was getting ready to have a baby, so we put everything on hold and we haven’t started back up.

In July 2019, Clay Howard and I started Beeswax Vinyl & More, a podcast that explored music in a different way. Clay’s schedule didn’t allow for him to do that long. I’m exploring other options for that. I haven’t given up on it. Stay tuned.

In February of 2020, Eugene B Sims started his long-awaited podcast, Wheeler’s Dog. He does two a week, one for the general public and one for his Patreon subs. I am an “associate producer” for that show. It’s all Eug, really. But, it is on my network.

And, finally, in July of this year, my “Kousins” Gary and Marvin and I started Asylum: The Tales from the Devereaux Diaries Podcast. We talk music but almost exclusively about our favorite band, KISS.

Also, I have produced a lot of podcasts for companies and clients. Forsyth Magazines, Blue Door Group, Phoenix Rising, Ring the Bell Realty, Center for Private Business, Dr. Shawn Ricks, and more are on the way in the next few months.

So, podcasting is now in my blood. I have done it so long and for so many that I’ve been christened, “The Podfather” and I love that title. I run with it and will continue to do so. So, to all my podcasting co-horts, whether they’re mine or not, to those in the community that do podcasts that I’m not part of but may have been inspired by (so I’ve been told) and to the people who listen to them, HAPPY INTERNATIONAL PODCAST DAY!!!!!

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“I think podcasting is here to stay.” – Adam Scott

The Aftermath or: Perfect 2020

01 Wednesday Jan 2020

Posted by in Life as We Know It

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Salutations™!!

20200101_000305-01

No caption needed

The BCPF and I hosted our first New Year’s Eve event at our house last night. It was just a small gathering. The BCPF made a French onion pot roast and brie and fig jam pastries and I made my “breakfast deviled eggs.” It was potluck from there, so Beer Dad Jon and his Pilot brought salad stuff and pie and wine. Beer Dad Paul and his Pilot brought wine, potatoes au gratin, and a corn & green bean casserole. Our Jim Young brought a “hot corn” dish made with jalapenos and spices. It had a kick but was delish. 3B and Nephew CRAJ hung out with us long enough to eat. I even put 3B to work in the kitchen for a few minutes.

I played DJ with an “all request line.” Each guest had their own time to make a request and I told them all, “if I don’t have it, I have something comparable.” The only thing I didn’t have was BD Paul’s initial request for Louis Prima. He was satisfied with a little Dean Martin, though. We talked about music, life, fun, beer, food, it was just good.

Then we pulled out the playing cards. We play a little game we call “shitboots.” Yeah, I don’t usually use curse words on this blog but this is the name of it, so there. It’s a game that my brother-in-law had a hand in making up in his college days. I won’t get into the game right now, but it is a load of fun and Celeste, BD Jon’s Pilot, won both games!

We had the ABC feed on the tele when the ball dropped. But, we all agreed, instead of listening to the trainwreck that is always an NYE program (I am looking at you CNN), we continued with music and the sound “off” on the TV. We had a bubbly that was recommended by our pal Frank at Publix and he was spot on. It wasn’t too sweet and it hit the spot. Good stuff.

Hugs, kisses, smiles, promises of a great year. It was a great way to start.

So, my wish to all my readers and all my listeners of the podcasts that I host/produce, the happiest of new years and let’s have a productive, safe and prosperous year in life, work and everything else. Also, in the words of Bill & Ted, “be excellent to each other!”

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“Come, gentlemen, I hope we shall drink down all unkindness.” – William Shakespeare

A Happily Recurring Theme or: Seventh Second

18 Thursday Apr 2019

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Salutations™!!

Note: I liked what I wrote about this day last year so I just copied it and reposted. It’s hard to write this story without repeating myself so, why fight it? I want to bring attention to the fact that I’m still here to annoy you, Dear Reader. I am happy to be able to say that (that I’m still here).

It was  six seven years ago today that I received my “zipper.” Being at the hospital before the sun came up, getting shaved from neck to (literally) toe, seeing my family, having my (then) fiance – The BCPF – standing holding my hand and trying to keep a happy face, having my parents pray over me as I get wheeled through some ominous doors, being moved onto a mostly comfortable operating table and telling stupid jokes to the operating staff before I just blacked out counting back from 100. That’s how I remember it.

I groggily stirred with a breathing tube snaked through my gullet whilst hearing a nurse, whose name I believe was Sandy, talk to me and me nodding that I understood whatever it was she was saying to me. The BCPF came in to see me, touching me, stroking my hair (I still had a little bit). I’m not sure of the timeline, I was still very doped up on morphine at the time. Maybe some time passed, maybe it didn’t, but Ma Mère came into the recovery room and in a moment we will all talk about until we’re no longer here, she patted me on the left shoulder and said, “see, you really do have a heart.” At this point, I pointed to “Sandy” and made a motion to bring me a writing utensil and something to write upon. In my continued, and glorious haze, I scribbled to my mother the following:

Leave the comedy to me!

I remember everyone laughing. My job was done, I went through another phase of “blacked out.” They had collapsed my lungs in order to get to my arteries and heart and whatever else they were doing with me and, as a lifelong asthmatic, my lungs and I have a long history of arguing. They weren’t wanting to cooperate and inflate so I could breathe on my own. So, recovery took a little longer than it should have. Then they wheeled me up to my own private room. I had to get up and sit in a chair. I asked for my phone and that’s when this selfie was taken:

Tim After Surgery

My son came in to see me, as did my family. I had put them all through a lot. They were tired, nervous, but happy that I was sitting there making stupid faces at them, I was alive. I had survived. Hand me my heart-shaped pillow and let me cough. There was no laying down for a while, that’s for sure. When I sat back, I could feel my chest shifting. After all, they did saw me in half. I didn’t lay down for about four weeks, actually. But, over time my strength came back and I was able to maneuver around like a real person.

On the way to that, though, I had people watching over me like a hawk. The BCPF made sure that someone was “on duty” with me the whole time, from my sister to my mother, her to her mother. Someone was always here. It got to where I had to fake needing to go to the bathroom just to go sit on the toilet lid and be by myself for a few minutes. I had some great friends bring me and my chaperones food. I can’t tell Chris and Ashley, Doug and Molly and Jerry and Jennifer how much I appreciate them doing that.

After this, though, The BCPF and I decided that we’re going to live. LIVE! And, that’s what we’ve done. We’ve been to Europe twice, the second a wedding/honeymoon expedition. So glad I got to see Notre Dame before this week happened. We accompanied friends to Costa Rica. We went to Walt Disney World with my family. We have time with each other. We enjoy just about everything we do. We collect records, we eat really delicious food, we hang out with really terrific friends, we just love our lives.

I have to really thank The BCPF for everything, because if it
weren’t for her, making sure I take my meds regularly, eating right, doing what little exercise I’ll do, going to my doc appts, and just living the heck out of IMAG0150me, I wouldn’t be here today to write this. She didn’t sleep much that first week. When she did it was in my hospital bed. My boy is also a huge part of my life. He’s almost 16 17 so he’s testing my ticker a good bit, but I love that boy to no end. They together are truly my everything. To my family, thank you all for your support and being here for me. To my friends, you’re all my bedrocks. You’re the foundation that I build on. To The Beer Dads, Jon and Paul, thank you guys for traversing this weird ride with The BCPF and me in our quest for World Domination. To everyone. I love you. Just… I love you. To Dr. Bret Borchelt. Thank you for “fixing” me.

I was 41 when this happened. I’m 46 47 now. I have to at least make it to 82 for me to be satisfied with it. I have to say, in all sincerity, I would never want to go through this again. However, in the grand scheme of things, it was all worth it and really, for me, wasn’t all that terrible. I think my family and friends had it worse than I in this ordeal. I got taken care of, waited on and yes had to endure some pain, but it wasn’t too awful. I’m just glad we have hit the “magic number” (no not three in this case) of six seven. That’s when the docs stop looking so closely at the procedure. I’m still here and other than being ridiculously fat, I feel great. So, all is well on this side of the world. I hope all of you have as wonderful a time as I do. Happy sixth seventh second birthday to me.

Until tomorrow, still kickin’…
Scorp out!

—
“Open-heart surgery is now part of a typical life experience for many people. Folks talk casually about ‘having a stent put in,’ as if they had their tires rotated.” – Roger Ebert

Heavens on Fire or: Animal Eyes?

13 Thursday Sep 2018

Posted by in Music Review

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Salutations™!!

34 years ago today, one of KISS’ best-selling 80s albums was released. That would be Animalize. It’s not my favorite of that era, but it isn’t my least favorite, either. It has some good songs that carried over to the live concert video they put out on this tour.

By the time KISS was putting this out, Gene was pretty much a ghost in the band. He was still very much a member because, hey, it’s Gene Simmons. But, he had gotten really into other projects that he was afforded both because he now had money and he wasn’t restricted by keeping his identity cloaked. During the recording of this album, he was starring in Runaway (1984) and producing or managing bands like House of Lords and Black N Blue (which, incidentally had future KISS member, Tommy Thayer). So, being the loyalist, perhaps sometimes to a fault, that he is to the KISS brand, Paul Stanley took over the whole deal and produced this album. I think he did a pretty good job.

Animalize.jpg

©Mercury Records

It had been two years since an album was released as a “makeup” album and only a year (almost to the day) of the unmasking of the band on MTV, which also was the release date for Lick It Up. KISS fans were still riding the high that was the return of the hard rock KISS that they had loved as a kid before the disco-ing down and artification of the band. Don’t hear me wrong, I loved that stuff, too. But, they lost a big part of their “Army” with those things. I recognize that. This album came out and it was still punchy, still heavy and still cool.

The song “Heavens on Fire” was a huge hit for the band and was on heavy rotation on MTV. For anyone under the age of 30, MTV was a channel that played music videos 24/7. I don’t know if you’ve heard of it or not. There’s some other channel now that calls itself MTV but it’s nothing like that MTV. Anywhat! They debuted new videos at 5-minutes past each hour. The “world-wide” debut of “Heavens on Fire” was at 1:05am on a Saturday night. In 1984, I lived in WV and we had 7 channels, MTV wasn’t one of them. However, for whatever reason, I was staying at my grandmother’s house in a larger town that did have REAL cable television and had MTV. I fought dozing off and once the video came on, I was jarred up and ready to fight someone. I loved it. One of the funniest parts is when Eric Carr runs up behind Paul and sings a line with him. That wasn’t planned and Paul’s reaction was genuine. It’s cool.

This was the only album that “featured” Mark St. John on guitar. He replaced Vinnie Vincent who had replaced Ace Frehley. Mark was a talented player but really unreMARKable (see what I did there?). I remember looking at the album cover (on LP) and thinking who the heck is that guy? Of course, because I read all the rags and stuff, I knew his name but he looked like a big block of a guy, broad-shouldered and stiff. Looking at it now, it looks like he took Peter Criss’ Dynasty costume, painted it all black from the green it was and was wearing that. He wasn’t really, but he seemed like a piece of stone. And, in the video, he looked uncomfortable. He also used Rockman gear to record the album, which we know is the invention of Boston guitarist, Tom Sholtz. Paul had to do a lot of EQing to get that Boston out of it. St. John left the band just after the tour started because of Reiter’s syndrome, now called reactive arthritis. He was replaced by Bruce Kulick. Who you’ll hear about in a few days and next week.

Eric Carr’s drumming on this album was great! I loved it. Solid and heavy.

Paul’s songs were the best on the album, bar none. Three of the songs, “I’ve Had Enough (Into the Fire),” “Under the Gun” (co-written with Eric Carr), and “Heavens on Fire” were co-written with recurring collaborator, Desmond Child. “Thrills in the Night” was co-written by ex-Plasmatics bassist, Jean Beauvoir who also played bass on this album for “Get All You Can Take”, “Thrills In The Night” and “Under the Gun.”

Gene, while mostly absent, was there for some of it. He wrote “Burn Bitch Burn” and “Lonely is the Hunter” solo and co-wrote “While the City Sleeps” and “Murder in High Heels” with Paul McCartney look-alike Mitch Weissman, who co-wrote “Get All You Can Take” with Paul. Gene’s songs are cool for the fact that he’s a little tongue-in-cheek but Paul wins this album.

The story I always tell about this album is this: In 1984, the PMRC and its ridiculousness were in full-force (and no, I don’t mean Lisa-Lisa & Cult Jam with…) and Ma Mère fell for it hook, line, and sinker. She didn’t want me listening to “that rock and roll devil’s music.” Which, she herself did when she was younger. Anti-authority, satan, drugs, alcohol, etc. That’s what we kids were getting too much of. Anyhow, I wanted this album, really, really badly. I stood in front of the cassette case, you know, the old kind with holes in the plexiglass so you could hold the tapes and look at them but couldn’t get them out and steal them?  I stood there and begged to get both this album and Prince’s Purple Rain. She made me promise that I wouldn’t worship the devil if I got them. It didn’t help that one of the songs was called “Heavens on Fire” and another one “Burn Bitch Burn.” I promised. I did her one better. Not only do I not believe in or worship the devil, I don’t go the other way either. I’m non-Prophet when it comes to my religion. But, I got them and wore them both out!

I still love the album to this day. Both, of them, as I’ve mentioned before.

I do want to also wish my two great pals, Clay Howard and Jon Lowder a very happy birthday. I love you guys! You mean a lot to me and my family.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“My eggs in one basket, but she threw me a bone. She was dealt a full deck, but she likes to live alone. Ain’t just talkin’ to myself, need a reason to stop (oh yeah). With a flower in her teeth, she drained the last drop. I said girls love money like bees the honey. But lonely is the hunter, you’re my one and only, and lonely is the hunter.” – “Lonely is the Hunter” (Simmons)

A Unique Piggyback or: Sixth Second On

18 Wednesday Apr 2018

Posted by in Life as We Know It

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Salutations™!!

Note: I liked what I wrote about this day last year so I just copied it and reposted. It’s hard to write this story without repeating myself so, why fight it? I want to bring attention to the fact that I’m still here to annoy you, Dear Reader. I am happy to be able to say that (that I’m still here).

It was five six years ago today that I received my “zipper.” Being at the hospital before the sun came up, getting shaved from neck to (literally) toe, seeing my family, having my (then) fiance – The BCPF – standing holding my hand and trying to keep a happy face, having my parents pray over me as I get wheeled through some ominous doors, being moved onto a mostly comfortable operating table and telling stupid jokes to the operating staff before I just blacked out counting back from 100. That’s how I remember it.

I groggily stirred with a breathing tube snaked through my gullet whilst hearing a nurse, whose name I believe was Sandy, talk to me and me nodding that I understood whatever it was she was saying to me. The BCPF came in to see me, touching me, stroking my hair (I still had a little bit). I’m not sure of the timeline, I was still very doped up on morphine at the time. Maybe some time passed, maybe it didn’t, but Ma Mère came into the recovery room and in a moment we will all talk about until we’re no longer here, she patted me on the left shoulder and said, “see, you really do have a heart.” At this point I pointed to “Sandy” and made a motion to bring me a writing utensil and something to write upon. In my continued, and glorious haze, I scribbled to my mother the following:

Leave the comedy to me!

I remember everyone laughing. My job was done, I went through another phase of “blacked out.” They had collapsed my lungs in order to get to my arteries and heart and whatever else they were doing with me and, as a lifelong asthmatic, my lungs and me have a long history of arguing. They weren’t wanting to cooperate and inflate so I could breathe on my own. So, recovery took a little longer than it should have. Then they wheeled me up to my own private room. I had to get up and sit in a chair. I asked for my phone and that’s when this selfie was taken:

Tim After Surgery

My son came in to see me, as did my family. I had put them all through a lot. They were tired, nervous, but happy that I was sitting there making stupid faces at them, I was alive. I had survived. Hand me my heart-shaped pillow and let me cough. There was no laying down for a while, that’s for sure. When I sat back, I could feel my chest shifting. After all, they did saw me in half. I didn’t lay down for about four weeks, actually. But, over time my strength came back and I was able to maneuver around like a real person.

On the way to that, though, I had people watching over me like a hawk. The BCPF made sure that someone was “on duty” with me the whole time, from my sister to my mother, her to her mother. Someone was always here. It got to where I had to fake needing to go to the bathroom just to go sit on the toilet lid and be by myself for a few minutes. I had some great friends bring me and my chaperones food. I can’t tell Chris and Ashley, Doug and Molly and Jerry and Jennifer how much I appreciate them doing that.

After this, though, The BCPF and I decided that we’re going to live. LIVE! And, that’s what we’ve done. We’ve been to Europe twice, the second a wedding/honeymoon expedition. We accompanied friends to Costa Rica. We went to Walt Disney World with my family. We have time with each other. We enjoy just about everything we do. We collect records, we eat really delicious food, we hang out with really terrific friends, we just love our lives.

I have to really thank The BCPF for everything, because if it
weren’t for her, making sure I take my meds regularly, eating right, doing what little exercise I’ll do, going to my doc appts, and just living the heck out of IMAG0150me, I wouldn’t be here today to write this. She didn’t sleep much that first week. When she did it was in my hospital bed. My boy is also a huge part of my life. He’s almost 15 16 so he’s testing my ticker a good bit, but I love that boy to no end. They together are truly my everything. To my family, thank you all for your support and being here for me. To my friends, you’re all my bedrocks. You’re the foundation that I build on. To The Beer Dads, Jon and Paul, thank you guys for traversing this weird ride with The BCPF and me in our quest for World Domination. To everyone. I love you. Just… I love you. To Dr. Bret Borchelt. Thank you for “fixing” me.

I was 41 when this happened. I’m 46 47 now. I have to at least make it to 82 for me to be satisfied with it. I have to say, in all sincerity, I would never want to go through this again. However, in the grand scheme of things, it was all worth it and really, for me, wasn’t all that terrible. I think my family and friends had it worse than I in this ordeal. I got taken care of, waited on and yes had to endure some pain, but it wasn’t too awful. I’m just glad we have hit the “magic number” (no not three in this case) of five six. That’s when the docs stop looking so closely at the procedure. I’m still here and other than being ridiculously fat, I feel great. So, all is well on this side of the world. I hope all of you have as wonderful a time as I do. Happy fifth sixth second birthday to me.

I talked to The BCPF this morning (2018) and inquired about her writing a post one year to recount the experience from her perspective. She said that would take time and she doesn’t have time right now, but one day. I may get her to do it and save it for when I need it. You can hear me talk more about it on The Less Desirables tonight.

Until tomorrow, still kickin’…
Scorp out!

—
“Open-heart surgery is now part of a typical life experience for many people. Folks talk casually about ‘having a stent put in,’ as if they had their tires rotated.” – Roger Ebert

Listing or: a New Play

05 Friday Jan 2018

Posted by in Life as We Know It, Movie Review, Music Review, Records

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Salutations™!!

Well, it’s a new year. Last year around the new year, I finished two long-time lists, The Rolling Stone Top 500 Albums of All Time and the 400 nominations for the AFI 100 Years… 100 Movies. Again, those were long, drawn-out treks. The movies list took almost nine years and the RS list was a three-year jaunt. Lots of hours spent in that. One day I may add up the run times of each film and each album to see how much time those actually took. I’m really curious.

nme

©NME

 

Then, this past year, I did Eugeology: Eugene’s List of Hard Rock Albums and Possible Gems where Eugene and Jon and I listened to a random list of 50 hard rock albums that Eugene thought were fantastic and perhaps lesser known to everyday music folk. I finished it in almost perfect time. Eugene got somewhere barely over half done and Jon never made it to half. Oh well.

Now, the point is, Dear Reader, you know that I do lists. That’s how I operate. Eug jokes that the only way to get me to do something is to put it on a list or let it involve a streak and watch me burn through it. He’s not far off from the truth, there.

I feel I need to explain this again, but I’m always asked why I have to have lists, why can’t I just listen to stuff? I’ll condense it and say that where I grew up there were no top 40 or pop music radio stations until at least 1982 and at that, it was a limited playlist. We didn’t have MTV and I really had no access to the plethora of music that was out there. My father listened only to what we now know as “classic country” and my mother listened to Leslie Gore and gospel stuff. She isn’t really a “musical person.” I spent most of my time, ages 8 until around 12/13, listening to nothing but KISS. I don’t regret that, but I do wish I had more knowledge of the rest of musicdom.

As I said at the beginning, it’s a new year. And, since I’m out of lists that I was already working on, well, I need another. So, I was looking through some Google searches and came across a few lists but the one that I think is manageable right now is NME’s 101 Albums to Hear Before You Die. I will figure out how to structure the listen. I know for the RS list I did 10 at a time and with Eug’s list we did one a week. I don’t know, just yet, how I’m going to approach it. I know that about half of the albums on that are on the RS list in different spots (obviously) but there are some out there things that I’ve never even heard of. You never know I may find the next Forever Changes (Love), Maggot Brain (Funkadelic) or Berlin (Lou Reed) on this list. Or, I may find the stuff too out there for me and abandon it. We’ll see. I know that NME has a 500 of all time, too. Who knows. I have the 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die (2011 edition) book and there’s a website with the whole list including all editions. You never know I may pick all of those. For now, however, I’m going to say the NME list is what I pick. You’ll see how it works out because I know you read every day, right? Right.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“Lists are how I parse and manage the world.” – Adam Savage

Back at the Funny Farm or: Another Perfect Day (Eugeology Entry 50)

26 Tuesday Dec 2017

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Salutations™!!

So, here it is. The end of the road for the Eugeology Series/Project/Experiment, whichever you want to call it. I’ll offer a retrospective on all of it in the next week or so. Meanwhile, let’s do this one:

51FSHTDDQNL

©Mercury/Bronze/Castle/Sanctuary

 

#50 – Another Perfect Day by Motörhead.

Back in entry #4, I predicted there would be a Motörhead album on the list. Well, Eugene kept me in suspense on it until the very last entry. This album is from 1983 and is the only one with former-Thin Lizzy guitarist Brian “Robbo” Robertson. It seemed like it was going to be a great thing until they started recording. Robbo was a bit of a perfectionist. Lemmy didn’t like the amount of time he’d consume trying to get the right take on each track. Lemmy said everyone hated it, too. I don’t know about that.

I know nothing of Motörhead’s songs except “Ace of Spades” which I’m glad isn’t on here.  Eug has been telling me about the “genius” that is Motörhead for the whole time I’ve known him and I never understood it. And I still don’t. Every song to me sounds like a big jumbled mess. Because Lemmy keeps so much distortion on his bass you can’t tell what he’s doing. It’s just fast, heavy and messy. Also, Lemmy has two notes he sings and both of them are screamed and seemingly stretched to his full vocal capacity.

I want to say that I like the guitar work of Brian Robertson, but the production is a bit muddy. So much so that even Phil Taylor’s drums are buried in the heap. Now, all that being said, I’m not saying its awful. To Motörhead fans, this is what they’re looking for. And, if I’m grading something on what its supposed to be, then I can’t fault the record. There are a few tunes that I like at least parts of. “Dancing on Your Grave” is pretty good. “I Got Mine” actually has Lemmy stepping outside of his two-note vox box. “Die You Bastard” isn’t too bad, either. I would say my favorite song on the album is “One Track Mind.” I like melodic and that’s about as close as Lemmy and Co. can get, I think.

I don’t really know what to say about this album other than, it’s just not my thing. Motörhead is just not my thing. I’ll probably be told that I don’t understand the spirit of it or the spirit of rock and roll or something. But, I’ll argue that no matter what it is to some, to me, it’s not a pleasure to listen to it. I don’t like it. But, I reiterate, it’s not bad. It’s just not something I want to hear. Perhaps if I was in a bad mood? Nah, probably not. But, Dear Reader, don’t take my word for it, listen to it yourself and you decide your thoughts on it. I do thank you, Eug, for attempting to enlighten me on Motörhead. I probably let you down on it, but I just can’t. Jon, still back at #19, perhaps by this time next year, you’ll have time to catch up?

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“One arm bandit, one-way ride. One arm bandit, one more try. One-way ticket, one horse town. One-way ticket, no way down. One track mind.” – “One Track Mind” (Kilmister/Taylor/Robertson)

I’ve Got a Rampant What? or: Live at the Inferno (Eugeology Entry 49)

14 Thursday Dec 2017

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Salutations™!!

Inching closer, we’re at the penultimate position in this countdown. The last entry was okay. It was more a question to Eugene about why the album for me. It was a good listen but it wasn’t anything spectacular. I know he has a way to go but I really want to read his review of that one. Jon meet ether… Ether, Jon. Let’s do the next to last ‘un…

Raven_-_Live_at_the_Inferno

©Megaforce Records

 

#49 – Live at the Inferno by Raven.

We waited over half the countdown for this one. It was a matter of getting it for all of us. It is available from Amazon Prime Music and I never had any troubles, but it isn’t available on any other streaming service. I also listened when it first was mentioned but am revisiting it with research this time.

I was amazed that so much sound came out of a trio. This is full! If I’m remembering correctly (and I could be mistaken), from what Eugene said it’s a show with no overdubs so what you hear is what they gave. You get hit from the opening until the end. I believe they proclaim that on the album itself. Another drawback to having to listen to stuff digitally, I don’t get to hold the media, thus missing a major advantage of being a music fan; marveling in the packaging, thought and effort that went into an album.

I knew nothing of Raven, just the name. I thought it was yet another five-piece New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM) music. They give you all that you’d want in such an album: rapid double kick with galloping rhythms, high-pitched screams, fast guitar riffs, etc. It was all in there. You can tell they were having fun and the crowd seems to be really into it.

This is no “gettin’ by” band, either. They’re the real deal. John Gallagher did things on the bass guitar that many guitarists would be jealous of. Listen to the solo “I.G.A.R.B.O.” That’s him slinging his c**k around. Figuratively, obviously. In fact, he has stated that the title of that song is “I’ve Got a Raging Boner On.” Whether that’s true or not, I have no reason to not believe him. We’ll go with it. Johnny G is also the one with all the glass-shattering screams in a register that makes even me say, wow (if you don’t know, I do a lot of falsetto screams and I’ve kind of gotten to be known for it in the VSS circle; he has me beat). I don’t know how he can growl at the crowd but still maintain the smooth vocals while singing. His jumping from lower to higher registers and back again, in the middle of the phrase is pretty cool. He does it the whole time but the verses of “Break the Chain” is where you can really hear it happen. And, his screams in “Hell Patrol.”

John’s brother Mark is all over the fingerboard. Sometimes it’s almost as if it’s too much, but he seems to reign it in and makes it work. He’s got chops, for sure. His tone is certainly in line with the status quo of NWOBHM era. That’s good – give them familiarity, but then break their face. The tone is heavy and meaty but it cuts through. He’s certainly not afraid of the tremolo bar, either. He whammies pretty darn well. Also, his pinch harmonics are pretty mean.

Future Harry Connick, Jr. audio engineer, Rob Hunter (known to his pals as “Wacko), is the one holding down those cliche galloping beats (not a bad thing) with some pretty mad fills and rolls. I love the crisp snap of his snare drum. He also does the backing vox for the show.

If I’m going to pick things that I don’t like (there aren’t many), I would start with the growling demon sounds in “Hell Patrol.” JG pretty much undermines the ingenious screams with that. I know he was just feeling it and playing the crowd and in 1984, it was definitely part of the landscape. So, just ignore that, I did. Also, nothing else stood out enough for me to gripe about it.

This was a fun listen. It’s probably not something that I’d want to hear a lot of, but I think the boys were good. I’d have it on vinyl if I came across it. They’re still together, at least the Gallagher brothers and a new drummer, Joe Hasselvander (who has no known nicknames). My faves on the album were “All for One,” “Mind over Metal,” “Break the Chain,” “I.G.A.R.B.O.” Thanks Eug for adding it. We have one more to go, I’ll get that assignment today, I hope, and we’ll be ready to close this thing out. Jon, (sigh), nevermind…

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“That complacent tramp setting the world on fire. C***s to smell you’re ready to kill and the father that calls me a liar. You can’t shimmy down, be her in this town. You won’t know the score to the break of the dawn. You’re totally wiped out!” – “Wiped Out” (Hunter/Gallagher/Gallagher)

A Hiatus or: Just a Bit

12 Tuesday Dec 2017

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Salutations™!!

I wanted to take a few seconds to tell you about what is going on with The Less Desirables Network.TLDNetwork

Sipping NC: The Art of Drinking has been on hiatus for a few months now, due to a health issue in Jordan’s family. He’s dealing with that and we’re still off until further notice.

The Beer Dads Podcast is going to be on hiatus until at least January and possibly into February. Beer Dad Paul started a new day job and he needs a little time for training and assumption of duties. Beer Dad Jon has a lot on his plate, as well. As you’ll see with The Man Who Ate the Town Podcast, forcing content for the sake of content is bad for business and we don’t want to do that. Plus, during the holidays it’s not uncommon for some of our shows to take a little break.

Speaking of The Man Who Ate the Town, I will continue to record those on time, but as much as I would like to have a new one each week, sometimes there just isn’t anything outside of the holidays and history and I want it to be more about the food and WSNC/Triad food scene than aggregated internet info. Also, there may be something new about the show that I can’t talk about right now. There may be no changes at all, but you never know.

Fan Interference is off until at least January. I am thinking we’d like to have a show to talk about the CFB playoffs and the national championship. Plus, the NFL playoffs will be starting up. I’m sure there will be some NBA stuff to talk about as well. So, January.

The Less Desirables will be business as usual. This show has only missed one Wednesday in 409 Wednesdays in a row and I don’t plan on it to miss, now. We have Matthew Troy, the conductor and Executive Director of the Piedmont Wind Symphony will be on this week. My bestie Eugene will be on next Wednesday, 12/20, to talk about his top TV shows of 2017. Danielle is working on a guest for the 27th so check back then to see who it is.

So, there you have it. The Less Desirables Network will have some out and some in through the holidays and into the new year. As always, we appreciate your support and thank you so much for listening and I thank you for reading the blog, which, by the way is going nowhere!

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“I take a hiatus every now and again, but I’m not good at that. – Miley Cyrus

Hot to Trot? or: Wild Dogs (Eugeology Entry 48)

07 Thursday Dec 2017

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I think I pleased Eugene with the last entry. The thing is he doesn’t comment much when I do like something. He indeed comments when I don’t. Jon doesn’t say a whole lot. He’s still sitting at #19. He may finish this time next year. We’ll see. Okay, let’s hit it. wild-dogs-541d88043e488

#48 – Wild Dogs by The Rods.

I have no clue who the Rods are. I have never heard of them, have never heard a single song (unless it’s been slipped in on me and me not know it). And, let me be clear up front, here. I think this is a fine album. I would say that I like it. Let’s leave that right there. Now, let me say some stuff about what’s going on here.

There’s not a wealth of info on the internet (Wikipedia is barren and the link to their website dies in transit) about them. The guitarist and co-vocalist David Feinstein (known to his pals as “Rock”) is the cousin of Ronnie James Dio. Okay. He played in the band Elf with his cousin. Okay. He’s a good riffing guitarist and I can’t tell who is singing what so I’m going to say he’s a good singer. He’s not overly flashy but just enough to make me say, “well, alright!”

The drummer Carl Canedy (also listed as vocals) is probably the flashiest of the musicians. The drums are more than solid, they are heavy and artful. The runs and fills are pretty impressive. Again, I don’t know who is singing what, so let’s say he’s good?

I believe this is the first album that had Garry Bordonaro as bass player with the band. I can hear some good riffing in there. There are runs and passages that are pretty good. He, too, is listed as “vocals.” I don’t know what that means, exactly, so I’m going to say he’s good?

As for the songs, there are a few that I really liked and a few that I didn’t. I am conflicted with the opening track. The song itself isn’t bad but I hate their use of the phrase “I’m too hot to trot.” I don’t know why that irks me but it does. I actually have used the phrase in conversation but its use in this song just bothers me. The rest of that song isn’t bad.

The pedophilia aspect of “Violation” is weird, but I can’t knock it too much because there were two songs from KISS that talked about the same thing and I loved both of those songs. The rest of the song lyrically is a violation. And it’s cheese. I’d say this is the song I don’t like the most. And, while I’m at it, I don’t like “The Night Lives To Rock,” the last song on the album, lyrically, because they say they’re gonna rock their arses off for me. That’s dumb. It’s very “Rock and Roll All Nite”-ish. Don’t force anthems, that’s anti-anthemic, I think.

I don’t care for the lead vox in the cover of “Keep Me Hangin’ On” but I do love the backing vox. It’s weird. Overall, that song’s pretty good.

Now, I do like “Burned By Love.” I love the harmonies in that. I like the title track. I like the guitar riffs in that. Also, there’s room for Canedy to show off his double kick work. After complaining about the lyrics of “The Night Lives To Rock” I’m contradicting myself by saying I do like the song “Rockin’ ‘N’ Rollin’ Again.”

My favorite tune on the album is “End of the Line.” The lead and backing vox are really good. “No Sweet Talk, Honey” is pretty rocking and good, too. So, I’d say it’s right down the middle, hit or miss. My faults are probably minor infractions in the grand scheme of the album.

Now, let’s revisit my initial statements on it: I think this is a fine album. I would say that I like it. However, my question is to Eugene. This isn’t a knock on the album, but why did this particular album make the Top 50? I feel that while it’s good, it’s a bit of a stretch. Even the ones in the past that I haven’t liked have been more obvious as to why you picked it. I don’t find a lot of memorable material on this. Until I just forced myself to pay attention, the best it could get was background filler. Again, I think it’s good, just I won’t ever seek it out and don’t care if I don’t hear it again. I know you’re several (okay ~20) behind and I should wait until you catch up with the review. I just think there could have been better albums for this spot. Again, this is your list and I don’t mean to question, just, I don’t know, it was kind of flat. NOT bad… flat. But, it’s still something I wouldn’t have heard and I appreciate the introduction.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“What are you going to do when I finally walk away? How are you going to feel when I’m gone? What are you going to do when I finally turn away? How are you going to feel when I’m gone? It’s the end of the line.” – “End of the Line” (The Rods)