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Thursday, March 31, 2016

Top Five of : AVANTASIA


G'day, top 5 time again...and this time its my favourite not Saxon act at Wacken Open Air...the awesome Avantasia....Tobias Sammett is the master mind behind this mish mash of all sorts of rock, sort of like Meat Loaf meets Queen with a dash of Magnum....I recommend you hunt some down...here's a few suggestions

MYSTERY OF A BLOOD RED ROSE




DYING FOR AN ANGEL
(KLAUS MEINE)




SIGN OF THE CROSS/SEVEN ANGELS



DYING FOR AN ANGEL
(MICHAEL KISKE)



THE STORY AINT OVER
(BOB CATLEY)


THE SCARECROW



seeya next time











Tuesday, March 15, 2016

Top Five of : THUNDER


G'day, Howsitgoing?










BACKSTREET SYMPHONY

















I thought since its belting down over here in Gosford I'd do another Top Five...and since I was listening to Wonder Days...I figured I may as well do THUNDERS....














RIVER OF PAIN



I been into Thunder ever since I went to a gig of theirs while on holidays in Blighty, by accident I might add, I picked a name out of the gig guide, thought they sounded heavy, so I went, it was a at the Town & Country and Snake was on base , the next time I caught them was at Donnington, when Whitesnake headlined...rocking gig!












WONDER DAYS



Then sadly it was about 10 years before I saw them again, when I went to a music shop in Sydney on lunch one day and grabbed the Rock Champions compilation, very happy I was.....

it was at this point I decided I wasn't missing out on anymore cracking music by the boys so I hit the website and have been spending ever since

I have amassed a fair collection ever since including 99% of the dvds 


LOWLIFE IN HIGH PLACES




and the very recent Wonder Days and All you can Eat releases....

AMYS ON THE RUN


So, heres to the boys, may they rock for a good long while yet





BETTER MAN



GIMME SOME LOVIN



Of course I could add 50 more But instead ill just put up a gig...

The gig that started it all for me



Seeya next time
















Monday, March 14, 2016

Top Five of : SLADE


G'day, Howsitgoing?

19 hundred and 73 was the first year I saw the mighty Slade, they were on tour down here and a school mates dad took us to Randwick Racecourse to see them and Status Quo put on a rather loud gig...shortly after that I was at Roselands shopping Centre and went into Palings (for that was THE record store)and picked up that famous live album of theirs



and I reckon its fair to say, I been Slayed ever since...SO here are my favourite Slade tunes...ENJOY





MAMA WERE ALL CRAZY NOW





RUN RUNAWAY





SKWEEZE ME PLEEZ ME


RADIO WALL OF SOUND


GIVE US A GOAL





EVERYDAY




MY FRIEND STAN


and of course.....

ITZ CHRIISSTTMMAASSSS

























Thursday, March 10, 2016

JON ENGLISH : Rest Well Legend








Jon  and the Cast of
 "All Together Now"

Jon was a bonza singer, songwriter, musician and actor. He emigrated to Australia in 1961. Yep, he was one of the flood of ten pound poms that created Aussie rock n roll....He was an early vocalist and rhythm guitarist for Sebastian Hardie but left to take on the role of Judas in the Australian version of the stage musical Jesus Christ Superstar from May 1972,  which was broadcast on television. Jon also racked up a huge amount of hits ; his Australian top twenty hit singles include "Turn the Page", "Hollywood Seven", "Words are Not Enough", "Six Ribbons" and "Hot Town".









AND he could act , English was acclaimed for his starring role in the 1978 Australian TV series Against the Wind – he won the TV Week Logie Award for 'Best New Talent in Australia'. 











 He also co-wrote and performed the score with Mario Millo (ex-Sebastian Hardie). The series had international release, known as Mot alla vindar (1980) in Swedish, where both "Six Ribbons" and "Against the Wind" were released as singles, both singles and the soundtrack album peaked at No.1 on the Norwegian charts  the first single, "Six Ribbons" and the album, peaked at No.4 on the Swedish charts.









From 1983 to 1985, English won four Mo Awards with three consecutive 'Entertainer of the Year' awards and a further 'Male Vocal Performer' in 1985.  English has performed in Gilbert and Sullivan's operettas The Pirates of Penzance, The Mikado and H.M.S. Pinafore from 1984.




 Performances of Essgee Entertainment's productions of the Gilbert and Sullivan trilogy from 1994 to 1997 were broadcast on Australian TV, they were all released on VHS and subsequently on DVD.








Deb and I had the great good fortune to see him at Central Coast Leagues in 2013, helluva show




He died during surgery ...he shoulda went out rocking



Rest Well Legend  and Fare Thee Well




Albums
Jesus Christ Superstar – Original Australian Cast Recording (1972, MCA)
Wine Dark Sea (1973, Warm and Genuine / Phonogram) Produced by Michael Carlos
It's All a Game (1974, Polydor Records) Produced by G. Wayne Thomas
Ned Kelly – Studio Cast Recording (1974)
Hollywood Seven (1976, Polydor) Produced by Rod Thomas & William Motzing
Minutes to Midnight (1977, Polydor)
Words Are Not Enough (1978, Polydor) Produced by Bruce Brown & Russell Dunlop
Against the Wind aka Mot alla vindar No.10 AUS, No.1 NOR, No.4 SWE (1978, Polydor/Frituna; with Mario Millo)
English History (1978 compilation, Polydor / 1980, Frituna)
Calm Before the Storm (1980, Mercury Records/Frituna) Produced by Bruce Brown & Russell Dunlop
InRoads (1981, Mercury/Frituna) Produced by Tim Friese-Greene
Beating the Boards (1982, WEA/Frituna) Produced by Jon English, David Williams & the Foster Brothers
Jokers and Queens No.36 (1982, Midnight Records/WEA; with Marcia Hines) Produced by Jon English & Charlie Hull
Some People... (1983, WEA/Frituna) Produced by David MacKay
Dark Horses (1986, Chase Records/1987, Frituna) Produced by Jon English & Mario Millo
The Busker aka Busking (1988, BMG) Produced by David MacKay
Paris (1990, WEA) Produced by David MacKay
20th Anniversary Album (1993, BMG)
The Pirates of Penzance – Australian Essgee Cast Recording (1994)
Buskers and Angels (2000)
English History II (2001)

Singles

1973: "Handbags and Gladrags" - No. 50
1975: "Turn the Page" - No. 20
1975: "Lovin' Arms" - No. 55
1976: "Laid Back in Anger" (with Trevor White)
1976: "Hollywood Seven" - No. 13
1977: "Behind Blue Eyes"
1978: "Words Are Not Enough" - No. 6
1979: "Six Ribbons" (with Mario Millo) - No. 5 AUS, No. 1 NOR, No. 4 SWE
1979: "Get Your Love Right" - No. 27
1980: "Hot Town" - No. 11
1980: "Carmilla" - No. 27
1982: "Jokers and Queens" - No. 62
1983: "Some People (Have All The Fun)" - No. 50
1984: "Every Beat of My Heart" (with Renée Geyer)
1987: "Lover Please" (with Renée Geyer)
1993: "All Together Now"

Filmography

1972 Jesus Christ Superstar TV broadcast, as self / Judas Iscariot, first TV appearance
1975 Matlock Police one episode called "The Grass is Greener" of the TV police drama, as Quinlan, first TV acting role
1978 Against the Wind 13 episode TV mini-series, as main character Jonathan Garrett
1980 Touch and Go film, as Frank Butterfield, first film as leading male character
1991–1993 All Together Now 101 episode TV series, as main character Bobby Rivers
1994 The Pirates of Penzance TV broadcast of theatre performance, first of Gilbert and Sullivan trilogy from Essgee Entertainment
1995 Frontline Himself, one episode, Let the Children Play
2000 Pizza one episode of TV comedy series
2000 Walk the Talk film, as Phil Wehner, last known film acting role
2006 Countdown Spectacular as self/performer, last known TV appearance
2008 Time Trackers children's television series, as Old Troy, last known TV acting role
Stage and theatre works
1972–75, 1979 – Jesus Christ Superstar 700+ performances as Judas Iscariot
1974 The Bacchoi
1984–86 The Pirates of Penzance as Pirate King
1987 Rasputin as Rasputin
1988 Big River as Pap Finn
1994 The Pirates of Penzance as Pirate King, Essgee Entertainment production
1995–96 The Mikado as Pooh-Bah, Essgee Entertainment production
1997 H.M.S. Pinafore as Dick Deadeye, Essgee Entertainment production
1998 Noises Off
1998–99 A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum as Pseudolus, Essgee Entertainment production
2001 Are you being Served? [36] as Mr. James "Dick" Lucas
2003 Paris (co-writer with David Mackay)
2004 Dad's Army as Sergeant Wilson
2012 Jesus Christ Superstar as Pontius Pilate
2013 Hairspray as Edna Turnblad
2014 Spamalot as King Arthur, Harvest Rain Theatre Company

Awards

1979 – TV Week Logie Award 'Best New Talent in Australia' for role in Against the Wind
1979 – TV Week/Countdown Music Awards 'Most Popular Male Performer'
1983 – Mo Awards 'Entertainer of the Year'
1984 – Mo Awards 'Entertainer of the Year'
1984 – Green Room Award for Male Actor in a Leading Role (Music Theatre) for role as the Pirate King in The Pirates of Penzance
1985 – Mo Awards 'Entertainer of the Year' and 'Male Vocal Performer'
1991 – ARIA Awards 'Best Original Soundtrack/Cast/Show Recording' for Paris shared with David Mackay
























Tuesday, March 8, 2016

The Struts :Dont Wanna Live as a Unsung Melody










G'day, 
You know what I like after being a rock fan for 50 years?...finding someone new that makes me want to fork out for their releases and aint I just stoked that I discovered The Struts , I heard em before i seen em, they were the theme song for WWE NXT London ppv, so now you know my other hobby, 



Now, Its quite obvious to anybody that their influenced by Queen, the Rolling Stones, matter of fact the first time I saw Luke, I thought "f**k me Freddies been re-incarnated...and that aint far wrong to be fair.










The Struts are from Derby, Derbyshire. The band consists of vocalist Luke Spiller, guitarist Adam Slack, bassist Jed Elliott, and drummer Gethin Davies. Formed in 2010, the original lineup was composed of Spiller, Slack, bassist Jamie Binns and drummer Rafe Thomas.





In 2009 Luke, then living in Clevedon, met Derby-based guitarist/songwriter Adam Slack, who had also been playing with bands since his teens. At the time, each of their bands were "coming apart," and Slack and Spiller quickly connected musically. Spiller moved to Derby, where he and Slack lived, wrote, and recorded together for nearly three years. 




They recruited mutual friends Jamie Binns and Rafe Thomas to play bass and drums. In 2012, Binns and Thomas were replaced with bassist Jed Elliott and drummer Gethin Davies.




The band chose the name The Struts based on an offhand comment made at a rehearsal. Spiller said in a 2015 interview, "I was just moving around and somebody was like, 'you strut around a lot.' From then on, we knew we had a great name. We couldn't believe it hadn't been taken."










The band played frequently throughout the UK. They soon developed a following, and released their first single "I Just Know" in June 2012. Signed by Future Records, they were transferred to Virgin EMI after Future's demise and subsequently put out a four-track EP titled Kiss This.




The Struts toured extensively in England and France, and in 2014 performed for 80,000 people as the opener for The Rolling Stones in Paris. That summer, they did a 24-date tour, which included a gig at the Isle of Wight Festival. Spiller wore clothing designed for him by Zandra Rhodes, who formerly dressed Freddie Mercury. 







The production of Rhodes' clothing for Spiller was later featured on the BBC documentary Oh You Pretty Things: The Story of Music and Fashion.



As The Struts reputation as a live band grew, their audience increased, and their shows were frequently sold-out. Spiller's talent as a frontman was often noted by the press and reviews described him as "a force of nature" and as a "physical, mesmerising entertainer... vocally strong, expressive and blessed with excellent range". Spiller's looks and stage presence lead Roger Goodgroves of Get To The Front to describe him as "the musical love child of Freddie Mercury and Mick Jagger".









Mike Oldfield recruited Spiller to sing on his 2014 album Man on the Rocks. "He did a much better job of sounding like a rock star than me," Oldfield said.
The Struts first television performance was on Vintage TV's 'Live Sessions,' where they appeared alongside established acts including Toyah, Nik Kershaw and Judie Tzuke. The show was recorded in January 2014 at the Bedford in Balham and aired on March 20. The band played two tracks, 'Kiss This' and 'Could Have Been Me'.




Everybody Wants, their debut studio album, came out in July 2014. It charted in the UK and received positive reviews.  In early 2015, The Struts signed to Interscope Records/Polydor and in August of that year they released the EP Have You Heard, their first U.S. release. They began a tour of the States in support of the record in September. 20 dates were sold out, including the band's Los Angeles debut at The Troubador, which sold out in 30 minutes. "Could Have Been Me", the lead single, hit #1 on the Spotify Viral Top 50, #4 on the iTunes rock singles chart, and in the Top 5 on the U.S. alternative and active rock charts. The video for the track, directed by Jonas Ackerland, had more than 1.5 million views within two months of its Vevo debut.

they were then invited to support Black Sabbath at their massive Hyde Park gig, winning over a hostile crowd. Their debut album, Everybody Wants, was released in July 2014, peaking at number 52 on the U.K. albums chart. The following year saw the release of the EP Have You Heard.





You can even get a personalised digital pic from the boys ...SO I DID

The band shifted  to Los Angeles in early 2015. Their first television appearance in America was on Jimmy Kimmel in August 2015, and in September they were named "Band on the Verge" by USA Today. In December 2015 they performed on Late Night with Seth Meyers.

In January 2016, it was announced that The Struts would release a reissue of Everybody Wants on 4 March on Freesolo/Interscope Records/Universal Music Canada with five songs not included on the original UK release.



SO, heres to a long and successful career for the boys ....go on....get into 'em