Living like a Runaway with LITA FORD for a day…

Myself with HEAVY TV host, Nelli Scarlet.

Waking up, I decided to prepare myself for the day of rock by spinning my Lita Ford and Runaways albums on the turntable. A good start indeed and it’s always fun to revisit albums you haven’t heard for a while, especially when you know that you’re going to witness the songs live later that evening. I got myself ready and headed out to the Prince of Wales in St Kilda to meet the promoter, collecting HEAVY TV host, Nelli Scarlet, on the way. I like to get there early enough to look at the different options available to us in where to shoot the day’s episode of HEAVY TV. It was decided that the restaurant would be a nice touch. A decent amount of natural light and it was quiet enough to not have the dreaded spill of atmospheric sound from the goings on around.

HEAVY TV’s Doug Steele and Nelli Scarlet interviewing Lita Ford while camera man, Adam goes for gold and I look on with uber cheesy grin.

We were ready to go by 2:30 and a few moments later, in walks Lita. We are introduced to one another and ready to go. She sits herself down, the microphone is attached, and the interview is under way. Lita is in a great mood, laughing and joking with our hosts and she really comes across as a genuinely wonderful human being. She’s sweet and gentle, yet rough around the edges in that take no shit, rock n roll kinda way. Immediately she has become one of my favourite people to have had on the show. Everyone clicks instantly and the interview is a solid and enjoyable piece of work. This was Nelli’s first assignment and she did quite well, especially since in the car on the way there she seemed a little nervous but I was more than confident that she would deliver a stellar interview. She, like Cassie, has a great onscreen presence that alongside Doug, our resident guitar geek, will bring yet another great episode for your viewing. Chatting with Lita was a dream come true for Doug just as it was for me when we spoke on the phone a couple months earlier.

After the interview, Lita hung with us for a while and signed items and took photos with the HEAVY crew. She was a true gem and one thing that became clear, she has a broken heart that’s still mending from the ugly divorce she went through which became the inspiration behind her latest album, Living Like A Runaway. For a few moments Lita and myself talked about the song Mother; a heartbreaking ballad she wrote for her children that she isn’t able to see due to her ex-husband. Standing there, looking at Lita, I felt her pain albeit in a roundabout way. I have no problems with my mother but my dad and I don’t speak. His concept of being a father is so far out of this world that communication is just not possible. The lost connection between parent and child is where we bonded, if only for a minute, and I could tell Lita was still cut up very much by her situation. I felt really sorry for her and we hugged, both holding back the tears that I knew were swelling up in us both. Sometimes two strangers can just connect, if only for a moment, and it will touch your heart for years to come.

Lita Ford and I after her HEAVY TV interview.

We packed up our things and headed out. I went home and just thought about everything that had happened, that I am glad of what I have achieved in my life, realising that life gave me choices and I was in control and I chose the path I wanted to go. I may not have the finances of others or a house to call my own but I have good memories and great friends and family. I’m happy and that’s all I have ever wanted to be. Sure, I made a few mistakes along the way but I don’t like to see them as mistakes but more as lessons as I choose not to regret anything.

For years people told me I would never amount to anything. When I lived in Adelaide I was told repeatedly my band sucked, I was a loser and I’d never do anything. People would talk shit about me constantly, making up lies and stories about stuff that doesn’t concern them. I just shrugged my shoulders and kept moving forward. Someone once told me that all things happen for a reason. While for the most part that is true, I don’t think bullying or talking shit about others warrants any real positive reason so why do it? Why let what someone else does with their life bother you if it has no direct effect on you? Be a better person and just move on. You have exactly one life to live the life you want to live. Act accordingly. Don’t be a fuckin’ asshole. It’s really that simple.

Thanks for everything, Lita. You rock!

Lights, Camera, Cherry Rock… ACTION!

For those who don’t know, I write for an Australian music magazine here in Australia called HEAVY. It’s a fantastic quarterly magazine that focuses on all sorts of guitar driven music – regardless of what the name may suggest – covering everything from rock to punk to hardcore to metal and pretty much every genre in between. Basically, if it kicks ass, we’ll cover it. One of the offshoots of HEAVY that I am involved with is an online TV show called HEAVY TV. It’s pretty self-explanatory and we feature interviews with touring bands and the like. We have awesome hosts and everyone involved has a great time putting it together.

This Sunday just gone, HEAVY TV set up at the 2013 Cherry Rock Festival which is an annual event held by the fine folks at the Cherry Bar; a dive bar tucked away down AC/DC Lane in the CBD of Melbourne. The festival was a day-long event with two stages and a truckload of great bands, showcasing the amazing talent not only here in Melbourne but around Australia and overseas.

I arrived at 11:30am and judging by the empty laneway, I was early. I walked into the Cherry Bar and into the back room where we were to be set up for the day. The room is decorated in some sweet New York Dolls and AC/DC memorabilia, some SHAG artwork, a vinyl jukebox, and some bitchin’ couches decked out in pimpin’ animal print. It is home for the day and I love it.

Our crew is small but effective. For this day we had three camera guys; Mike, Adam and Cory who also shared sound duties, Doug Steele presenting and myself looking over everything and making sure we have the bands and we don’t let the interviews run too long. Nobody wants to be editing a 30 minute interview. Trust me, it’s not fun.

First band of the day was The Surefire Midnights; a rock n roll band from Perth who really got the party started and delivered a stellar set of kick ass originals and a nice cover of The Cult’s Love Removal Machine. Once they were done, it was time to get them in front of the HEAVY cameras for a little HEAVY TV love. Doug sat down with guitarist Laura, vocalist Clair and drummer Kylie to exchange unusual yet highly amusing tour stories that will make for a most interesting viewing experience when it goes live on HEAVY’s website. Stay tuned for that!

Barbarion were a band that I had heard a lot of talk about but not actually seen live. Once I witnessed the warlord spirit combined with Manowar guitar riffs, their over the top theatrics and flames rising from the stage (to which they have admitted being burnt by numerous times), I was instantly captivated. We needed them on camera and that is exactly what happened. In they came, in their stage get-up, to exchange warrior prayers and anecdotes of fighting the world with the man of metal. These warrior henchmen, along with the stunning Jagermeister girls, dished out an amusing interview, loincloths included.

Mikey (vocalist) and Ben (guitarist) from Mammoth Mammoth came in for a chat and following on from the release of their signing to Napalm Records, they were fired up and ready for their ass kickin’ appearance at Cherry Rock. They came and delivered mammoth amounts of rough and tough riffage and rants.

Matt Sonic & The High Times are a band I have only seen a few times but today’s performance was something different as between their own originals, their set was padded out with space jams reminiscent of early Monster Magnet. A title I’m sure they are most pleased with. We wanted an interview with them but they had to take off and get Matt Sonic to the airport. Next time though.

King Parrot have been creating quite a storm across Australia and Asia with their grindcore meets punk metal noise and they were next on HEAVY TV’s schedule. Both Slats and Youngie came in for a chat and talked about all things Parrot while flicking through the magazine, offering praise. Jolly good chaps.

Truckfighters from Sweden were new to my ears but after a mind-blowing and ear deafening performance, Niklas came in and sat down with the HEAVY crew for a chat about Swedish Truckfighting and whatnot. Nice guys, great band and I am glad they came to Australia and kicked out the jams for us all.

The whole day was great and quite a successful event and I am glad that HEAVY TV were given the chance to be a part of it. When I was studying at Flinders University back in Adelaide, my major was film-making and drama. There was no work in Adelaide and I gave up on it, much to my own disappointment as anyone who knows me personally can vouch for my love of film and TV work. I made the move to Melbourne in 2007 and I was given great opportunities for which I am eternally thankful for. Whether I am directing, editing, or simply holding a boom mic, the whole creative process is something I am glad to be a part of and the HEAVY TV team are a solid bunch of people with great vision and incredible ideas. I look forward to HEAVY TV’s future and I really hope you take the time to see what it is we do.

To all the bands we spoke with, I want to extend a huge thankyou for taking the time out to chat with us. We really do appreciate it. Of course we couldn’t cover everybody and to those we did not feature, we do apologise. It was an extremely busy day but maybe next time? To all the punters who gave comments and support, thankyou. We really do appreciate it.

Special thanks to the four Jagermeister promotional girls for being good sports and conversing with myself to help break –up the conversation from the usual rock n roll topics and geek film talk to in-depth chats about studying and journalism. I forgot their names but I thank them all and I’m sure it wasn’t an easy day for them but they were real troopers with sweet personalities and maintained their cool all day long. Cheers to you!

HEAVY Magazine
HEAVY TV

Episode 171 – That Great Love Sound

So here we go again with another bitchin’ episode of awesome music. Ok, it has to be said though that I am on painkillers due to serious back pain and I think I said the Hellacopters tune was called You Got Nuthin’ instead of You Are Nuthin’ and I can’t remember in my dazed state. It’s been a hardcore week of shows and yeah, it’s all over the place but it doesn’t matter cos the music is bitchin’. Hell yeah! Listen to it right now here… or why not just right click and save as on this link, grab yourself an MP3, pop it on your iPhone and voila, listen to it at your leisure, cos ROCK!

Enjoy tunes by:

Public Image Ltd
The Hellacopters
Lita Ford
Jeff Dahl Group
Ginger Wildheart
Ben Weasel And His Iron String Quartet
The Dubrovniks
The Raveonettes
The Methadones
The Wardens
The Black Keys
Sonic Youth
Honeycrack
The Saddest Landscape

Episode 170 – Rock N Roll Vs The World

So I haven’t done an episode in ages and I did this one just after Soundwave and never uploaded it because I simply forgot. True story. Oh and I still have no new microphone so the microphone sounds like shit. Still, you get a ton of great songs on this episode that all rule heaps. There’s lots of gig talk, Soundwave talk, random rants and stuff. You’ll dig it. Sit back and delve into my life with another episode of the Long Gone Loser Rock Show. You wanna listen right now? Do so by clicking this link or right click and save as on this link to grab an mp3 which you can crank up later on your iPods and MP3 players.

Enjoy tunes by:

The Wonder Years
Sugar
Bob Mould
Direct Hit
Converge
O’Brother
Butch Walker and the Black Widows
Iggy Pop & Zig Zags
Mixtapes
The Pooh Sticks
The Dragons
The Records
Jack White
Tricky Woo

Ten glam rock / heavy metal music videos you need to see before you die!

Growing up in the ’80s was one of the best experiences a kid could ever go through. Forget what those who never experienced it have to say. Let them slag off the ’80s as much as they want and praise the ’90s. Let them deal with the reality that their so-called great era was responsible for: commercialising punk rock, forcing us to deal with the horrors of rap metal / nu-metal, and not to mention the whole Nirvana deal and the grunge explosion. I hope you’re happy with that you ungrateful brats. But for those of us who grew up then with glam rock by our side, teased hair and an appetite for destruction, we knew what was up. We got to experience MTV when it played music, we know who Punky Brewster was, and we sure as hell remember when Bon Jovi was all about hair metal debauchery and not about Captain Crash having a nice day.

For those who don’t remember, or for those new kids on the block who due to the slackness of their parents doing the horizontal bop just weren’t conceived early enough and therefore unable to experience such a great era of music, I have come up with this guide to take you on a journey through 10 of the greatest music videos by ’80s metal / rock bands. Strap yourselves in because for the next 40 minutes, you are going to be re-programmed into something a little more respectful than your hippity hop jump metal that you hold so dear. Throw away your Adidas tracksuits that your bought because Korn told you it was cool, grab a drink and start watching because this is what it’s all about, my friends.

10. MOTLEY CRUE – “Wild Side”
Ok, this would have gone further up the list if it had more pyro, alas, it sits at number 10. Still though, it does have a bitchin’ spinning drum kit which was probably the coolest thing I’d ever seen when I was a kid. I mean, who wouldn’t want a spinning drum kit? Besides, the proof is right here in this video that spinning drum kits = females in skin tight leather singing backing vocals which = epic amounts of awesomeness.

 

9. WHITESNAKE – “Here I Go Again”
Not only is this a bitchin’ tune but the video is cool cos it stars the infamous Tawny Kitaen who ended up becoming David Coverdale’s mistress for Christmas. Proof that you too can marry the girl who stars in your music videos and if you’re lucky, possibly get her to do the splits on your crappy car. Apparently there’s a nipple slip in this video but I have never really payed enough attention to notice it because I’m more impressed with Coverdale’s hair and how when she pulls him into the backseat they don’t crash and blood flies everywhere and Tawny goes through the windscreen and her body flies through the air like Rose McGowan’s does in Death Proof and then Coverdale needs to have surgery because he wasn’t wearing his seatbelt and then the cops fine him for that and he loses his licence for six months and then they release Still Of The Night and the whole world is perfect again.

 

8. TWISTED SISTER – “I Wanna Rock”
What better way to fight for your right to party at school than with the help of Twisted Sister. Stickin’ it to the man as these rockstars come to your school and cause chaos and havoc all because some fat kid defaced a defenceless textbook. If heavy metal music means I am destroying my life then so be it, let me destroy the fuck out of it, grenades and all. Twisted Sister were the one band that kids could feel good about. They stuck up for us, regardless of the fact they looked like clowns. This video is a classic example of awesomeness and the obvious basis for which Steel Panther’s ‘Death To All But Metal’ was founded on.

 

7. MANOWAR – “Blow Your Speakers”
There isn’t much that is more metal and bitchin’ than a MANOWAR music video. This one is especially fab. We got four guys who are sitting around in mum’s basement, bored with TV when a mate suggests they listen to metal’s chosen warriors. Once playing, it’s too much for their turntable to handle and they immediately become possessed by the defenders of black wind, fire and steel and they mime their way through the next three and half minutes of pure power and heavy metal might. Drummer Scott Columbus even shows that drum sticks just aren’t enough for the brutal force of MANOWAR and decides to break them in half and use his fists instead. Nothing screams ’80s metal like that feat of strength does. My favourite part is when the kids go into some video store armed with a record and a VHS tape and gather round a TV and crank it up. Blow your speakers indeed! This video has all the cliche’s and more. Also, I wanna sword fight with guitars when I play my next gig.

 

6. RATT – “Body Talk”
I have included this for two reasons: 1) This song was in the movie The Golden Child starring Eddie Murphy and that ass-kickin’ babe, Charlotte Lewis, and 2) I want to perfect every single stage move that guitarist Robin Crosby (the blonde one) does so awesomely. Seriously, if I can do those, who knows what else I could achieve?! Oh, this song is awesome and much better than Round & Round (which you probably only know because of its inclusion in the movie ‘The Wrestler’ starring Mickey Rourke. Yeah, I’m onto you!)

 

5. MOTLEY CRUE – “Same Ol Situation”
Their second appearance in this list and rightly so. Hell, you could probably fill all 10 spots with Motley videos and it would be totally acceptable but I am trying to be diplomatic here. This video is everything you want at your rock concerts; Pyro, hot babes in red tank-tops, the nasty habits, Vince Neil singing, and a drum kit that comes out over the audience. Although what the fuck is up with Tommy Lee in his underwear? Surprised he’s not hitting the drums the same way he beeps horns on boats. Great song and a classic video with some bitchin’ mullets in the crowd.

 

4. POISON – “I Won’t Forget You”
Nothing says ‘I love you’ quite like CC Deville sitting on a bed confessing how much he misses his girlfriend while footage of the band surrounded by hot ’80s babes with big hair lust after them for some unskinny bop. Yeah, it’s lonely at the top. Life must have been really hard for CC and his buddies. All that money, all those girls, all that hair. It sure looks like touring in Poison back then would have been the worst experience for any red blooded male to have put themselves through. Ever. I sympathise with you Mr Deville, I really do.

 

3. W.A.S.P. – “LOVE Machine”
The classic tale of nerd girl turns sexpot because of W.A.S.P.’s love machines in nurses outfits and heavy metal music. These days a video like this would be quickly dismissed unless it was for a hip hop group or some R&B shit, but in the glorious ’80s (years before the internet and Google), this was as close to porn as our adolescent underage minds were able to go. Unless your parents kept a stash of porn in the house that you accidentally discovered whilst searching for birthday / Christmas presents then this would have been PG by your standards. I still haven’t worked out why singer Blackie Lawless walks like a crab or why that dude has tubes of flowing water around his legs.

 

2. GUNS N ROSES – “Paradise City”
This video shows everything that was awesome about Guns N Roses and gives you an indication of everything that’s wrong about the line-up these days. Mainly the fact that none of the original band are on stage with Axl anymore. Regardless, this video depicts GNR at the boom of their popularity and is packed full of stadium rock footage and other candid moments. A great video for one of 1987′s best songs. Fact.

 

1. BON JOVI – “Lay Your Hands On Me”
Nothing screams ROCK! like this video does. The opening drum beats sound all tribal n shit and it builds up to the climax. Just watch as Jon Bon Jovi comes up through the floor and that pyro goes off. Have a look at all those girls with big hair! Why aren’t all music videos this awesome? Pyro is the key. When in doubt, add more pyro. If I ever get to play an arena, my goal in life is to hold my mic out to the audience 15 metres above them so it makes no difference if the mic picks up the audiences screams or not and sing “Just a little bit louder now!”

 

Of course there are plenty more but this is where you come into it. I gave you 10 of the best. From here, you can ride like the wind. Fight proud, my son. You are the defender god has sent. Ok, I may be taking my Fighting The World lyrics a little too far but trust me, the ’80s was bitchin’. Growing up with the ’90s as your soundtrack would have really sucked. Watching punk rock become a commercial mainstream commodity was just weird. In the ’80s, punk rock was still considered dangerous and uncool. Rock N Roll was about partying and having a good time. Then grunge happened and ruined everything. Except Mudhoney. They were awesome. So were Green River and Mother Love Bone but that’s kinda where it ended.

Long live rock n roll!

Episode 169 – You Wouldn’t Like Me If You Met Me

Back again with a new episode of music and ramblings from myself in Essendon Rock City. This will be my last broadcast from this place as I am moving house. Good times ahead! So to celebrate this move, here’s another collection of songs that don’t match or go together but I don’t care cos it’s my show and I can do whatever I damn well please. If you want to get listening, just click this link and a page will open up and start playing the show OR if you are the mp3 type and want to download it to listen to in your own time, right click and save as on this link.

Enjoy tunes by:
Backyard Babies
The Bangles
Jesse Malin
HITS
Dwarves
Push Push
Rock N Roll Soldiers
Fastway
The Hives
Cosmic Psychos
Thee Headcoatees
The Horny Toads
Taylor Swift
Venom
Blink-182
Tegan and Sara
Pig Destroyer
Ash

Interview with Dick Taylor (The Pretty Things)

Having formed in 1963, England’s The Pretty Things are finally making their first ever trip to Australia for a string of shows giving fans the chance to see the band that have been dubbed a raunchier version of their fellow cohorts, the Rolling Stones. Having been a Stone himself as the band’s original bass player, Pretty Things guitarist Dick Taylor found time to chat with me about their upcoming tour and to lay to rest some of the outlandish rumours surrounding the band’s notorious New Zealand tour of 1965. Taylor is on the end of the phone and sounds in good spirits, all the while suffering through the sniffles, as he settles in for his first trip to the land of Oz…

I’ve never been to Australia although strangely enough my wife was born there. I have looked at it on Google Earth a few times though. I’m really looking forward to getting there because I know that there’s a good music scene there. John Stax, our first bass player, actually lives in Menzies Creek, there in Melbourne. I speak to him quite often and he discovered he had a copy of a demo we made a long time ago and he actually put it out through an Australian company. They made a single out of it about 10 years ago.

That seems to be about the closest we ever got to The Pretty Things in Australia… which is strange because besides Poison’s shows there in 2008, I can’t think of another band who would play New Zealand and not take the 3 hour flight across the water and play Australia…

Yeah we went to New Zealand but never quite made it to Australia.

Was there any particular reason why you didn’t continue on to Australia?

At the time, I don’t think it was ever intended to go on to Australia because we had been contracted to do the New Zealand tour… which was a really odd combination because there was us, Eden Kane and Sandie Shaw; a really odd collection of people to be together. Then we got told never to darken their shores again. (laughs) There was really quite ridiculous publicity surrounding the tour. There were a lot of people who really enjoyed it but in the papers we were supposedly drinking meth before we went on stage and attempting to set fire to things and bullshit like that. Also, we did so much touring in mainland Europe that the idea of going all the way to Australia again to get into trouble… we just never did it. There was no sinister reason why we didn’t go to Australia, it just didn’t happen.

So what about the rumours of you guys being banned from New Zealand because you’re going back there…?

We never really got an official ban. There was never a piece of paper issued to us: “Do not ever come back!” but apparently it was said in the parliament “they will never be allowed here again” so we shall find out in December because we’ve got one gig. We’re doing a day trip to New Zealand in the middle of the Australian tour to play Auckland as long as a) they give us visas, and b) they don’t say “right, you lot… back on the plane!” but we will find out, won’t we?!

It makes for great stories…

It would almost be worth it for the publicity value if we’re actually not allowed in.

Some people would say that The Pretty Things were more raunchier and more chaotic than the Rolling Stones… would you agree with that?

Yeah… definitely. When we first started we were certainly noisier than the Stones were and at that time the Stones were really good but, in a way, I think they were more restrained than we were in their music. In the beginning they were still trying to do the authentic rhythm and blues thing to a certain degree. Brian really wanted to play the blues and Ian Stewart on the piano was pretty much a blues man whereas we were playing all the art school dances and wanted to play music to people who wanted to throw themselves about, have a good time and dance to it. So in a way we possibly were more loud and raunchy maybe. I dunno, it’s not a contest anyway, it’s just music, isn’t it?

Speaking of the music, after such a lengthy career, is there any particular Pretty Things song or songs that hold some particular place for you more than others?

Ooooh… Um, one doesn’t leap out (laughs). Well it’d have to be Baron Saturday cos I sing the bloody thing. (laughs) Yeah, I like Baron Saturday.

Having been through a lengthy career and seeing technology change, do you find it easier to write and make records now than before?

Our producer, Mark St John is possibly the most… I’ll use the word ‘luddite’ because it’s the only one that fits… he is very much into analog and recording like that where possible. We’ve progressed in the sense that we occasionally use radar – It’s a digital recorder that is very close to being analog in the way it works. We try to use, as much as possible, analog techniques in the studio because it sounds better. We sometimes do write in the studio when one of us will bring a song along. Everyone chips in ideas and collaborates. Is it easier? No cos when you’re young you’re bubbling up with ideas all the while to write songs but I think when you get older it may be that you have to drag them out of yourselves a bit more. It’s just the way people are really. We now have a very young rhythm section and they’re full of beans and enthusiasm which is great and they also encourage us to get back in the studio and do recordings.

And all this enthusiasm we can only hope transports itself from the studio to the stage…

I hope we don’t disappoint. We just got back from Germany and we had full houses everywhere and very enthusiastic audiences so hopefully, the same thing will apply to Australia.

Now folks, this could possibly be the last time you see these cats in action so don’t miss what is sure to be one of the wildest rock n roll shows of 2012. The Pretty Things will be rockin’ at the following venues in December:

Tuesday 4th – The Corner Hotel, Richmond
Tickets only $49 + bf available from www.metropolistouring.com and www.cornerhotel.com.au

 

Wednesday 5th – Lizotte’s, Dee Why
Tickets $110 Main meal and show $110.00, Show only with bar menu available $68.00
available from www.metropolistouring.com and www.sydney.lizottes.com.au/live/index.asp

Friday 7th – The Factory Theatre, Marrickville
Tickets $49 + bf available from www.metropolistouring.com and www.factorytheatre.com.au

Thursday 13th – Caravan Club, Oakleigh
Tickets $55 + bf standing & $69 + bf seated available from www.caravanmusic.com.au

Friday 14th – Caravan Club, Oakleigh
Tickets $55 + bf standing & $69 + bf seated available from www.caravanmusic.com.au