Icons and Outlaws

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Join hosts and seasoned musicians Jonathan Sayre, Jeff Butchko and musically challenged Logan Sayre as they discuss the lives and times of their favorite musical legends. From rock to country, pop to hip hop, the stories are fascinating and seemingly endless. Plus every episode features a new, exclusive cover song, written and recorded by Jeff and Jonathan. Welcome to Icons and Outlaws.

  1. 03/04/2023

    Starting the Band, Episode 1 ”Introductions.”

    In this ongoing series, Jonathan and Jeff, along with fellow musicians Sean and Dave, discuss what it takes and what goes into "starting a band". From conception to writing, recording and eventually hitting the stage, the guys take you on a behind the scenes, candid journey. Thanks for listening and please, spread the word. Subscribe wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.

    43 min

  2. 07/19/2022

    Metallica Part 1

    Drummer Lars Ulrich was born into an upper-middle-class family in Gentofte, Denmark, on December 26, 1963. The son of Lone and tennis player Torben Ulrich. In February of 1973, Lars' father obtained passes for five of his friends to check out a Deep Purple (Smoke On the Water) concert held in the same stadium in Copenhagen as one of his tennis tournaments. When one of the dad's friends couldn't go, they gave their ticket to the nine-year-old Lars, who fell in love with the band and ran out and bought their album Fireball the next day. The concert and album greatly impacted Lars, inspiring the start of his music career. He received his first drum kit, a Ludwig, from his grandmother around 12 or 13. Lars initially intended to follow in his father's footsteps and become a badass tennis player, so he moved to Newport Beach, California, in the summer of 1980. Despite being ranked in the top ten tennis players of his age group in Denmark, Lars failed to make it into the seven-man Corona del Mar High School tennis team, solidifying his decision to focus on music.    So, while living in Los Angeles in late 1981, Lars placed an ad in the L.A. newspaper, The Recycler, which read, "Drummer looking for other metal musicians to jam with. Tygers of Pan Tang, Diamond Head and Iron Maiden."    Guitarists James Hetfield and Hugh Tanner of Leather Charm answered the advertisement.    James Alan Hetfield was born on August 3, 1963, in Downey, California, the son of Cynthia Bassett, a light opera singer, and Virgil Lee Hetfield, a truck driver. James was nine years old when he first began piano lessons. He then started jamming on his half-brother David's drums, and finally, at 14, he began to play guitar with Robert Okner. He was also in a few bands as a teenager – one was "Leather Charm" with Hugh Tanner, and another was "Obsession." James said that Aerosmith was his primary musical influence as a child and that they were why he wanted to play guitar. His parents divorced in 1976 when he was 13. They were devout Christian Scientists, and following their beliefs, they strongly disapproved of medicine or any other medical treatment and remained loyal to their faith, even as James' mother, Cynthia, was dying from cancer. This lifestyle inspired many of his lyrics during his career with Metallica. For example, the songs "Dyers Eve" and "The God That Failed" from the albums "...And Justice for All" and "Metallica" touch on those topics. His mother, Cynthia, died of cancer in 1979 when Hetfield was 16 years old. After her death, James went to live with his older half-brother David.   Although he had not formed a band, Lars asked Metal Blade Records founder Brian Slagel if he could record a song for the label's upcoming compilation album, Metal Massacre. Slagel accepted, and Ulrich recruited Hetfield to sing and play rhythm guitar. Lars and James officially formed the band known as "Metallica" on October 28, 1981, five months after they first met.   A funny story; James' and Lars' first encounter was anything but promising. As Mick Wall wrote in his biography of the band "Enter Night", "neither James nor Hugh had anything good to say about [Lars]. The kid was 'weird' and 'smelled funny' [and] he couldn't even really play drums." Deeming the entire encounter something of a waste, James later recalled (in Wall's bio) that "we ate McDonald's, he ate herring. [Lars'] father was famous. He was very well off. Spoiled – that's why he's got his mouth. He know what he wants, he goes for it and he's gotten it his whole life."   When asked what Lars remembers about their first meet up, in a Blabbemouth.com interview, he said:   "I remember connecting with him," Lars responded. "I could see that, even though he was painfully shy or whatever, that there were some distinctive similarities. I spent six months talking to people about heavy metal, and they'd mention STYX, JOURNEY, KISS or whatever. I'd talk about ANGEL WITCH, DIAMOND HEAD or TYGERS OF PAN TANG. He had a connection to the music and the things I was throwing out there that seemed a little more authentic or trustworthy. Not much happened during that first meeting because he was kind of the wing man, or the plus one, for a guy named Hugh. If James was sitting here, he'd tell you that the drum kit I showed up with was in such bad shape that every time I hit the cymbal, it kept falling over — which is accurate. Hetfield and I ended up staying in touch, and when I came back from travelling in Europe a few months later, I called him up and said, 'Hey, do you want to play and see what happens?' And he was up for it."   The band name, "Metallica," came from Lars' friend Ron Quintana, who was brainstorming names for a fanzine and was considering MetalMania or Metallica. After hearing the two monikers, Lars wanted Metallica for his band, so he suggested Quintana use MetalMania instead. That magazine wound up being a U.S. monthly magazine focusing on heavy metal music, which was published between 1985 and 1991   Guitarist Dave Mustaine replied to an advertisement for a lead guitarist where Lars and James asked him to join after seeing his expensive guitar equipment. In early 1982, Metallica recorded its first original song, "Hit the Lights," for the Metal Massacre I compilation. James Hetfield played bass, and rhythm guitar and sang, while Lloyd Grant was credited with a guitar solo and Lars Ulrich played drums. Lloyd was a Jamaican guitarist who was never officially in the band. Lloyd has said:   "Me and Lars was jammin' down there in Orange County, California and we jam with a few people and we lookin' other people to jam with..." they met through The Recycler. "We were playing for a long time and he came down to my place my apartment once and he says and he keep asking me to come jam with the band, but I was really busy doing other stuff and I went down and play with them-me and him and James. That's three of us. James was playing bass, I was playing guitar and Lars was playing drums and we rehearse that "Hit The Lights" song, but way before that Lars had let me hear that song. We were hanging out watching soccer and he says "hey I met this guy blah blah blah and he's exactly what we want to jam with and he played this one song and it was great and that's how I was first was introduced to "Hit The Lights." After that I went over and jam a few times and he called me and say they gonna be in this compilation album and he brought over a tape of "Hit The Lights" recording on a four track asked me to play some solo for that and they were going to bring the four track down and they were going to bring it down and dump it on the compilation album."   Metal Massacre I was released on June 14, 1982. The early pressings listed the band incorrectly as "Mettallica," pissing the band off. However, the song "Hit The Lights," generated a buzz, and Metallica played their first live performance on March 14, 1982, at Radio City in Anaheim, California. The lineup consisted of James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Dave Mustaine, and newly recruited bassist Ron McGovney, who had been in James' previous band, "Leather Charm." Their first live success happened as they were chosen to open for British heavy metal band Saxon at one gig of their 1982 U.S. tour. This show was Metallica's second gig. In addition, Metallica recorded its first demo, Power Metal, whose name was inspired by Quintana's early business cards in early 1982.   In late 1982, Ulrich and Hetfield attended a show at the West Hollywood nightclub Whisky a Go Go, which featured bassist Cliff Burton in the band Trauma.  Clifford Lee Burton was born on February 10, 1962, in Castro Valley, California, to Ray and Jan Burton. Cliff's interest in music began when his father introduced him to classical music, and he began taking piano lessons. In his teenage years, he developed an interest in Rock, classical, country, and heavy metal. He began playing the bass at 13, after the death of his brother. His parents quoted him as saying, "I'm going to be the best bassist for my brother." He practiced up to six hours daily (even after joining Metallica). Besides classical and jazz, Burton's other early influences varied from Southern Rock and country to the blues. Cliff has cited Geddy Lee, Geezer Butler, Stanley Clarke, Lemmy Kilmister, and Phil Lynott as significant influences on his style of bass playing.   James and Lars were "blown away" by Cliff's use of a wah-wah pedal and asked him to join Metallica. The two leaders wanted Ron McGovney to leave because they thought he "didn't contribute anything, he just followed."  According to McGovney, his time in Metallica was reportedly tumultuous, as he often clashed with Ulrich and Mustaine. In addition, he felt that, aside from using the connections he made as an amateur photographer, his role was that of a money man and transportation provider rather than a respected band member. He ultimately quit on December 10, 1982, due to growing tensions. After leaving Metallica, McGovney became uninterested in playing music and sold most of his equipment.   Although Cliff Burton initially declined the offer to join Metallica, by the end of the year, he had accepted on the condition that the band moves to El Cerrito in the San Francisco Bay Area of California. Metallica's first live performance with Cliff was at the nightclub "The Stone" in March 1983, and the first recording to feature Burton was the Megaforce demo (1983).   Metallica was ready to record their debut album, but they began looking for other options when Metal Blade could not cover the cost. Concert promoter Jonathan "Jonny Z" Zazula, who had heard the demo No Life 'til Leather (1982), offered to broker a record deal between Metallica and New York City-based record labels. After those record labels showed no interest, Zazula borrowed enough money to cover the recording budget and signed Metallica to his label,

    1h 28m

  3. 07/06/2022

    Cyndi Lauper

    www.iconsandoutlaws.com    Cynthia Ann Stephanie Lauper Thornton was born June 22, 1953, in Brooklyn, New York City, right here in the U.S., to Catholic parents, Fred and Catrine. Her mother was from Sicily. She has two siblings, a younger brother Fred (nicknamed Butch), and an older sister, Ellen. Her parents divorced when she was five.   Her earliest childhood days were spent in Brooklyn, but when she was about four years old, the family moved to Ozone Park, Queens, where she lived in a railroad-style apartment through her teenage years. Growing up, Lauper felt like an outcast. She grew up listening to such artists as The Beatles and Judy Garland. Then, at only 12 years old, she began writing songs and playing an acoustic guitar that she got from her sister.   Cyndi was primarily raised by her mother, who worked as a waitress to support the family. Mom loved the arts and frequently took Cyndi and her siblings to Manhattan to see Shakespeare plays or visit art museums. However, Cyndi did not do particularly well in school. She was reportedly kicked out of several parochial schools in her youth. Raised in the Roman Catholic faith, Cyndi Lauper recounted in Boze Hadleigh's "Inside the Hollywood Closet" the time a nun attacked her after catching a nine-year-old Lauper scratching a friend's back: "A nun ran in, ripped me off her back, threw me against the lockers, beat the s**t out of me, and called me a lesbian."   As many kids do, she expressed herself with various hair colors and eccentric clothing. She took a friend's advice to spell her name as "Cyndi" rather than "Cindy." Unfortunately, her" unusual" sense of style led to classmates bullying her and even throwing stones at her.   Lauper went to Richmond Hill High School, where she was expelled but later earned her GED. In her book, Cyndi revealed that after her stepfather threatened to sexually assault her and her sister and then secretly watched her take a bath, she left home for good. Cyndi left Home at 17 to escape her creepy ass stepfather, intending to study art. Her journey took her to Canada, where she spent two weeks in the woods with her dog Sparkle, trying to find herself. She eventually traveled to Vermont, taking art classes at Johnson State College and supporting herself by working odd jobs. Money was sparse, so she waitressed, served as an office assistant, and even sang in a Japanese restaurant for a time. At one point, her boyfriend at the time hunted and shot a squirrel, which she cooked up and ate. Lauper also faced an unplanned pregnancy, which she wanted, but her boyfriend did not. So, Lauper terminated the pregnancy.   "Nobody wants to run in and do that," She later told HuffPost. "It's just that I didn't want to have a kid that I love come into the world and not be able to share the kid with a dad." During this period, Cyndi got around by hitchhiking. Unfortunately, she put herself into close quarters with some potentially crappy individuals, such as the man who gave her a ride and forced her to perform a sexual act on him. "I just wanted to be able to live through it, get to the other side of it." On another occasion, she was assaulted by a bandmate and two accomplices.   Sometimes, it all understandably got too overwhelming for Lauper. "A lot of times I couldn't take it anymore, so I just lay in bed all the time," Lauper wrote. "When I really couldn't deal with anything, I used to get the shakes, just complete anxiety attacks." In 2019, Lauper gave the commencement address at Northern Vermont University-Johnson, the academic institution that now includes Johnson State. At this event, NVU awarded her the honorary degree of Doctor of Letters.   In the early 1970s, Cyndi performed as a vocalist with several different cover bands. One of those bands, Doc West, covered disco songs and Janis Joplin. A later band, Flyer, was active in the New York metropolitan area, singing songs by bands including Bad Company, Jefferson Airplane, and Logan's favorite, Led Zeppelin. Although She was performing on stage and loving that part, she was not happy singing covers. One night, while singing a cover of Kiki Dee's "I've Got the Music in Me" in 1974, her voice gave out. But it came back shortly after, and Lauper continued to sing in cover bands and a Janis Joplin tribute act. Then, in 1977, Cyndi's pipes said no more. Her voice disappeared again, and doctors discovered that she'd suffered a collapsed vocal cord.   Recommended by her temporary replacement in the Joplin cover band, Lauper sought the help of vocal coach Katie Agresta. She helped heal Cyndi and provided her with the tools and techniques to prevent it from happening again. Agresta also helped her realize that she was singing the wrong music entirely, discovering that she was more suited to pop, not hard rock. As Lauper wrote in her memoir, "[I realized] what I was aching for — to sing my own songs, in my own voice, in my own style, that I made up myself." In 1978, Lauper met saxophone player John Turi through her manager Ted Rosenblatt. Turi and Lauper formed a band named Blue Angel, Combining a New Wave look with a '60s throwback sound, and recorded a demo tape of original music. Steve Massarsky, manager of The Allman Brothers Band, heard the tape and liked Lauper's voice. He bought Blue Angel's contract for $5,000 and became their manager. "The playing was bad. There was something interesting about the singer's voice, but that was all," he later told Rolling Stone. Massarky set up a few major label showcases, but they all thought the same thing; the band wasn't great, but the singer was something special. Lauper received recording offers as a solo artist but held out, wanting the band to be included in any deal she made. She even turned down the chance to record a song by herself for the soundtrack to the MeatLoaf movie Roadie, produced by legendary disco song crafter Giorgio Moroder, the founder of the former Musicland Studios in Munich, Germany. Blue Angel was eventually signed by Polydor Records and released a self-titled album on the label in 1980. Lauper hated the artwork, saying it made her look like Big Bird. Still, Rolling Stone magazine later included it as one of the 100 best new wave album covers (2003). Despite critical acclaim, the album sold poorly ("It went lead," as Lauper later joked), and the band broke up. The members of Blue Angel had a falling-out with Massarsky and fired him as their manager. He later filed an $80,000 suit against them, which forced Cyndi into bankruptcy. She then temporarily lost her voice due to an inverted cyst in her vocal cord.   After Blue Angel broke up, Cyndi worked in retail stores, waitressing at IHOP (which she quit after being demoted to the hostess when the manager sexually harassed her), and singing in local clubs. Her most frequent gigs were at El Sombrero, which sounds like they have amazing chimichangas. Music critics who saw Her perform with Blue Angel believed she had star potential due to her four-octave singing range, which was not an easy feat. Then, in 1981, while singing in a local New York bar, Cyndi met David Wolff. He took over as her manager and had her sign a recording contract with Portrait Records, a subsidiary of Epic Records. On October 14, 1983, Cyndi released her first solo album,"  She's So Unusual." The album became a worldwide hit, peaking at No. 4 in the U.S. and reaching the top five in eight other countries. She became extremely popular with teenagers and critics, partly due to her hybrid punk image, which was crafted by stylist Patrick Lucas.   Lauper co-wrote four songs on She's So Unusual, including the hits "Time After Time" and "She Bop." On the songs she did not write, Lauper sometimes changed the lyrics. Such is the case with "Girls Just Want to Have Fun," originally written and recorded by Robert Hazard, which you can find on YouTube, and it's pretty awesome. She found the original lyrics misogynistic, so she rewrote the song as an anthem for young women.    The album includes five cover songs, including The Brains' new wave track "Money Changes Everything" (No. 27 on the Billboard Hot 100) and Prince's "When You Were Mine." The album made Cyndi Lauper the first female artist to have four consecutive Billboard Hot 100 top five hits from one album. The L.P. has stayed in the Top 200 charts for over 65 weeks and sold 16 million copies worldwide.   Cyndi won Best New Artist at the 1985 Grammy Awards. She's So Unusual also received nominations for Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Best Female Pop Vocal Performance (for "Girls Just Want to Have Fun"), and Song of the Year (for "Time After Time"). She wore almost a pound of necklaces at her award ceremony. It also won the Grammy for Best Album Package, which went to the art director, Janet Perr.   The video for "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" won the inaugural award for Best Female Video at the 1984 MTV Video Music Awards, making Cyndi an MTV staple. The video featured professional wrestling manager "Captain" Lou Albano as Lauper's father and her real-life mother, Catrine, as her mother, and also featured her attorney, her manager, her brother Butch, and her dog Sparkle. She was a huge wrestling fan. In 1984–85, Cyndi appeared on the covers of Rolling Stone magazine, Time, and Newsweek. In addition, she appeared twice on the cover of People and was named a Ms. magazine Woman of the Year in 1985.   In 1985, she participated in "USA for Africa's" famine-relief fund-raising single "We Are the World," which has sold more than 20 million copies since then.   At the Grammys in 1985, She appeared with another professional wrestler, a Mr. Terry" Hulk" Hogan, who played her "bodyguard." "'The Grammy means a lot to me,' said Cyndi (in the arms of Hulk Hogan) after winning Best New Artist, 'Because I never thought I would amount to anything. I always wanted to make art.'" She would la

    1h 36m

  4. 06/24/2022

    Journey

    www.iconsandoutlaws.com   The band Journey came together in San Francisco in 1973 under the auspices of former Santana manager Herbie Herbert who also managed The Steve Miller band, Roxette, and Europe. They were initially called the Golden Gate Rhythm Section and were backup players for established Bay Area bands. Originally, it included Santana alumni Neal Schon on lead guitar and Gregg Rolie on keyboards and lead vocals. Completing the band were bassist Ross Valory and rhythm guitarist George Tickner, both from the band Frumious Bandersnatch. Prairie Prince of The Tubes served as drummer. After one particular performance in Hawaii, the crew quickly abandoned the "backup band" idea and began developing their own distinctive jazz fusion style. After an unsuccessful radio contest to name the group, roadie John Villanueva suggested the name "Journey."   The band's first public gig was at the Winterland Ballroom on New Year's Eve 1973 to an audience of 10,000, and the following day, they flew to Hawaii to perform at the Diamond Head Crater to an even bigger audience. Prairie Prince returned to The Tubes shortly after. On February 1, 1974, the band hired British drummer Aynsley Dunbar, who had recently worked with the one and only David Bowie and was also a member of the second version of Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention. On February 5, 1974, the new lineup debuted at the Great American Music Hall, showcasing in front of Columbia Records executives. They signed a recording contract with the label following the performance and later performed at venues around the Bay Area.   Journey went into CBS Studios in November 1974 with grammy award-winning producer Roy Halee to record their debut album "Journey." It was released in April 1975, entering the Billboard charts at number 138. This record was a jazzy progressive rock album focused mainly on the band's instrumental talents. It featured songs like "Of A Lifetime" and the instrumental, "Kahoutek,"; both songs pushing the 7-minute mark. Rhythm guitarist Tickner left the band shortly after due to the heavy touring the band was promoting the album, allowing Schon to take on the complete guitar duties.    Journey entered the studio again in late 1975 to record "Look into the Future," released in January 1976 and hit the Billboard Top 200 charts at number 100. The band promoted the album with a two-hour performance at the Paramount Theatre in Seattle, which later aired on the radio as touring continued to promote their second album. For this second album, the members of Journey toned down the overt progressiveness of their first release in favor of a more straightforward sound. The album also features a cover version of The Beatles' "It's All Too Much" from the 1968 Yellow Submarine film and 1969 soundtrack. The title track, "Look Into The Future," was the longest recorded Journey song at 8:10 until 1980, when "Destiny" from Dream, After Dream would claim that honor.   From May to October 1976, the band went to "His Master's Wheels" Studios to record their third studio album, "Next," which, just like the previous album, was produced by the band. However, they brought a much more commercial sound while keeping their jazz fusion and progressive rock roots. The album was released in February and charted on the Billboard Top 200 at 85. It would be the last album to feature Gregg Rolie as the lead singer. "Spaceman" with the instrumental "Nickel and Dime" was the single, and, unfortunately, sales did not improve, which led Columbia Records to almost dropping the band.   About these times in the band's career, lead guitarist Neal Schon has said: "I still think some of the stuff we did then was great. Some of it was self-indulgent, just jamming for ourselves, but I also think a lot of other things hurt us in the early days. It took a while for the politics to sort of shape up."   Journey's album sales did not improve, so Columbia Records requested they change their musical style and add a lead singer who would share lead vocals with Rolie. In comes Steve Perry, right? Nope! The band hired Robert Fleischman from the Los Angeles-based band "Staggerwing" and began transitioning toward a more popular style, similar to that of Foreigner and Boston. Journey went on tour with Fleischman in 1977, opening for bands like Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, and Emerson, Lake & Palmer. Fleischman and the rest of the band began writing and rehearsing new songs, including the hit "Wheel in the Sky." However, this new lineup would be short-lived because the band was introduced to that guy I mentioned earlier, Steve Perry, during a performance before approximately 100,000 at Soldier Field in Chicago. This chance encounter was significant because differences between Fleischman and manager Herbie Herbert resulted in Fleischman's departure from the band within the year.   Steve made his live debut with the band at the Old Waldorf in October 1977, stepping into His Master's Studios and Cherokee Studios from October to December. Herbie hired Roy Thomas Baker as the new record's producer to add a layered sound approach similar to a band Baker had previously worked with, a little English band called "Queen." With a new lead singer and new producer in tow, the band's fourth studio album, Infinity, was released in January 1978, and peaked at number 21 on Billboard. "Lights", "Anytime," and "Wheel In The Sky" were the album's singles, and it has sold over 3 million copies. Journey then set out on tour supporting the album and headlined a full tour for the first time.   According to Herbie, tensions were high between Aynsley Dunbar and the rest of the band due to the change in music direction from the jazz-fusion sound. Guitarist Neal Schon said: "We would talk about it, and he'd say he'd be willing to simplify things. But we'd get out there, and after five shows he wasn't doing that at all." Finally, Dunbar's resistance came to a head when he started playing erratically and talking crap about the other members, which later resulted in Herbie axing Dunbar after their headline tour. He was replaced by Berklee-trained drummer and Montrose member Steve Smith.   Perry, Schon, Rolie, Smith, and Valory returned to the studio at Cherokee Studios in late 1978 to record their fifth album, Evolution, which was later released in March 1979, peaking at number 20 on Billboard and selling another 3 million copies. This album, which would be a milestone for the band, gave the band their first Billboard Hot 100 Top 20 single, "Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'," peaking at number 16, and was all over the radio. Following the tour in support of Evolution, the band expanded its operation to include a lighting and trucking operation for future gigs. The tour had grossed more than $5 million, making the band as popular as it had been in five years. Journey later entered Automatt Studios to record their sixth studio album, Departure, released in March 1980, peaking at number 8 on Billboard. The first single, "Any Way You Want It," peaked at number 23 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1980. The album featured an edgier sound, thanks partly to the "live in studio" way the songs were recorded. They initially went into the studio with 19 tracks, eventually trimming down to 12. This record would also go on to sell over 3 million copies!   Founding member and keyboardist Gregg Rolie left the band following the Departure tour to start a family and undertake various solo projects. It was the second time he had departed from a successful act in his career. Yep, he left Journey and Santana. Keyboardist Stevie "Keys" Roseman was then brought in to record the lone studio track, "The Party's Over (Hopelessly in Love)," on the band's live album "Captured." Rolie suggested pianist Jonathan Cain of The Babys as his permanent replacement so, with Cain's synthesizers replacing Rolie's organ, Cain had become the band's newest member. With Cain joining as the new keyboard player, the band entered Fantasy Studios in Berkeley, California, in late 1980, releasing their seventh studio album, "Escape," in July 1981. Escape became their most successful album, charting at number one in the United States. In addition, the album had a ton of hit singles, including: "Who's Crying Now," "Still They Ride," "Open Arms," and the iconic "Don't Stop Believin'." In July of 2021, it was certified diamond, selling over 10 million copies!!   Oh, and "Escape" had its own video game! Journey Escape was a video game developed and manufactured by Data Age for the Atari 2600 console and released in 1982.    Want to hear the plot of the game?   You're on the road with Journey, one of the world's hottest rock groups. A spectacular performance has just ended. Now it's up to you to guide each Journey Band Member past hordes of Love-Crazed Groupies, Sneaky Photographers, and Shifty-Eyed Promoters to the safety of the Journey Escape Vehicle in time to make the next concert. Your mighty manager and loyal roadies are there to help, but the escape is up to you!   These other bands may have been successful, but not Atari 2600 successful.   Journey began another lengthy yet successful tour on June 12, 1981, supported by opening acts Billy Squier, (My Kind of Lover) Greg Kihn Band, Point Blank, and Loverboy. They then opened for one and only The Rolling Stones on September 25 of the same year. MTV videotaped one of their two sold-out shows in Houston on November 6, 1981, in front of over 20,000 fans, later released on DVD, which for 1981 was HUGE.   Following the success of the 1981 tour, the band's entire establishment as a corporation, and the formation of a fan club called "Journey Force," the band released "Only Solutions" and "1990s Theme" for the 1982 Disney film Tron.    At this point, Journey was absolutely killing it, so they entered Fantasy Studios again in the middle of their 1982 tour to record their eighth studio album

    1h 48m

  5. 06/13/2022

    The Beatles

    In March of 1957, John Winston Lennon formed a "skiffle" group called The Quarrymen. What is "skiffle," you may be asking? It's a kind of folk music with a blues or jazz flavor that was popular in the 1950s, played by a small group and often incorporating improvised instruments such as washboards. On July 6, '57, Lennon met a guy named James. James Paul McCartney, while playing at the Woolton Parish church fete. In Britain, fêtes are traditional public festivals held outdoors and organized to raise funds for a charity. On February 6, 1958, the young up-and-coming guitarist George Harrison was invited to watch the group perform at Wilson Hall, Garston, Liverpool. He was soon brought in as a regular player. During this period, members continually joined and left the lineup. Finally, Lennon, McCartney, Harrison, and Stuart Sutcliffe (a classmate of Lennon at Liverpool Art College) emerged as the only constant members. One day, the members showed up to a gig wearing different colored shirts, so they decided to call themselves 'The Rainbows.' In a talent show they did in 1959, they called themselves 'Johnny and the Moondogs.' Once again, changing their name to "The Silver Beatles," they eventually decided, on August 17, 1960, on the moniker "The Beatles." Why did they choose the Beatles, Logan? They were huge fans of Buddy Holly and The Crickets – as a way of emulating their heroes, they called themselves after an insect. Right?   Well, According to John Lennon, "It came in a vision – a man appeared on a flaming pie and said unto them, 'from this day forward you are the Beatles with an 'A'! Thank you, mister man, they said, thanking him," he said.   Most of the accounts claim that Lennon's love of wordplay led them to adopt the 'a' eventually. Lennon would explain in a 1964 interview: "It was beat and beetles, and when you said it, people thought of crawly things, and when you read it, it was beat music."   After Lennon died in 1980, George Harrison claimed that the name came about differently in the Beatles' Anthology documentary (as is usually the case).   Harrison claimed that the name, 'The Beatles', came from the 1953 Marlon Brando film, The Wild One. In the film, Brando played a character called 'Johnny' and was in a gang called 'The Beetles.'   This answer would add up considering that the group also flirted with the name of 'Johnny and the Beetles', as well as 'Long John and the Silver Beetles.' Their unofficial manager, Allan Williams, arranged for them to perform in clubs on the Reeperbahn in Hamburg, Germany. On August 16, 1960, McCartney invited a guy named Pete Best to become the group's permanent drummer after watching Best playing with The Blackjacks in the Casbah Club. The Casbah Club was a cellar club operated by Best's mother Mona in West Derby, Liverpool, where The Beatles had played and often visited. They started in Hamburg by playing in the Indra and Kaiserkeller bars and the Top Ten club. George, who was only seventeen years old, had lied about his age, and when this little fact was discovered, he was deported by the German authorities. Paul and Pete thought it was good to start a small fire by lighting an unused condom in their living quarters while leaving it for more luxurious rooms. Arrested and charged for arson, they too were both deported. Lennon and Sutcliffe followed suit and returned to Liverpool in December. While in Germany, they stayed in a small room with bunkbeds. George Harrison admitted in The Beatles Anthology that this made things especially awkward when he crawled under the sheets with a woman for the first time — Lennon, McCartney, and then-drummer Pete Best actually applauded for him after the deed was done. Harrison joked, "At least they kept quiet while I was doing it."   They went back a second time and played the Top Ten Club for three months (April-June 1961). Stuart Sutcliffe decided to remain in Germany to concentrate on painting and left the group during this time. Sutcliffe's departure led McCartney to switch from playing rhythm guitar to bass guitar. While they were playing at the Top Ten, they were recruited by singer Tony Sheridan to act as his "backing band" on a series of recordings for the German Polydor Records label, produced by famed bandleader Bert Kaempfert ("Strangers in the Night", "Danke Schoen"). Kaempfert signed the group to its own Polydor contract at the first session on June 22, 1961. On October 31, Polydor released the recording, My Bonnie (Mein Herz ist bei dir nur), which made it into the German charts under Tony Sheridan and The Beat Brothers. Around 1962, My Bonnie was mentioned in Cashbox as the debut of a "new rock and roll team, Tony Sheridan and the Beatles," and a few copies were also pressed for U.S. disc jockeys. Cashbox, also known as Cash Box, was a music industry trade magazine published initially weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as Cashbox Magazine, an online magazine with weekly charts and occasional special print issues. The band's third stay in Hamburg was from April 13–May 31, 1962, when they opened The Star Club. However, that stay was dampened when Astrid Kirchherr informed them upon their arrival of Sutcliffe's death from a brain hemorrhage. Astrid, a German photographer, and friend of the Beatles, revealed that her fiancé (and former Beatles bass player) Stuart Sutcliffe had died. No one was more shocked than John Lennon, who reportedly broke out in a fit of hysterical laughter at the idea of losing his art school buddy.   Upon their return from Hamburg, the group was enthusiastically promoted by local promoter Sam Leach, who presented them for the next year and a half on various stages in Liverpool forty-nine times. Brian Epstein (no relation to a particular disgusting human being), took over as the group's manager in 1962 and led The Beatles' quest for a British recording contract. In one now-famous exchange, a senior Decca Records A&R executive named Dick Rowe turned Epstein down flat and informed him that "The Decca audition for guitar groups are on the way out, Mr. Epstein." Remember Decca? They were Buddy Holly's first record label that thought "rock n roll was a fad." Strike two, Decca. Strike two. Epstein eventually met with producer George Martin of EMI's Parlophone label. Martin expressed an interest in hearing the band in the studio. So he invited the band to London's Abbey Road studios to audition on June 6. Martin wasn't particularly impressed by the band's demo recordings but instantly liked them when they met. He concluded that they had raw musical talent but said (in later interviews) that what made the difference for him that fateful day was their wit and humor in the studio.   Martin privately suggested to Brian Epstein that the band use another drummer in the studio. Yikes. Pete Best had some popularity and was considered attractive by many fans. Still, the three founding members had become increasingly unhappy with his popularity and personality, and Epstein had become exasperated with his refusal to adopt the distinctive hairstyle as part of their unified look. So Epstein sacked Best on August 16, 1962. Lennon and McCartney immediately asked their friend Richard Starkey, the drummer for one of the top Merseybeat groups, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, to join the band. Unfortunately, Rory Storm didn't want to release Starkey but let Starkey out of his contract. Oh... Richard Starkey would eventually be known as "Ringo Starr." He chose Ringo because of the rings he wore, and it also had a cowboy feel to it. His drum solos were referred to as Starr Time.   The Beatles' first EMI session on June 6 did not yield any releasable recordings, but the September sessions produced the minor U.K. hit, "Love Me Do," which peaked on the charts at number 17. The single reached the top of the United States singles chart more than 18 months later in May 1964. This single was swiftly followed by their second single, "Please Please Me." They recorded their first album (also titled Please Please Me) three months later. George Martin capitalized on the wild, live energy the boys perfected in Hamburg and recorded the entire Please Please Me LP in less than 13 hours — saving "Twist and Shout" for last so the taxing vocals wouldn't ruin Lennon's voice before the other songs were done. That’s fourteen songs. Luckily, the longest song on the album was only 2 minutes and 54 seconds long. The shortest was a minute and 47 seconds.   The band's first televised performance was on a program called People and Places, transmitted live from Manchester by Granada Television on October 17, 1962. The band experienced massive popularity on the record charts in the U.K. from early 1963. However, Parlophone's American counterpart, Capitol Records (owned by EMI), refused to issue their singles "Love Me Do," "Please Please Me," and "From Me to You" in the United States. Mainly because no British act had ever had a sustained commercial impact on American audiences.   Vee-Jay Records, a small Chicago label, is said by some to have been pressured into issuing these initial singles. Allegedly it was part of a deal for the rights to another performer's masters. Art Roberts, music director of Chicago powerhouse radio station WLS, placed "Please Please Me" into radio rotation in late February 1963, making it possibly the first time the American people heard a Beatles record on American radio. In August 1963, the Philadelphia-based Swan Records tried again with The Beatles' "She Loves You," which failed to receive airplay.   After The Beatles' massive success in 1964, Vee-Jay Records and Swan Records took advantage of their previously secured rights to The Beatles' early recordings and reissued the songs they had rights to, which all reached the top ten of the charts the second time around. Then, in a shifty move,

    1h 15m

  6. 06/06/2022

    Michael Jackson Part 2

    Part 2 When Thriller was released in November 1982, it didn't seem to have a single direction. Instead, it arguably sounded like many singles. But it became apparent that this was precisely what Michael intended Thriller to be: a brilliant collection of songs meant as hits, each designed for a particular audience in mind. Michael put out "Billie Jean" for the dancers and "Beat It" for the rockers and then followed each jam with amazing videos to enhance his allure and his inaccessibility. These songs had a life of their own. Thriller was almost called “Star Light”. The lyric "thriller" in the track of the same name was originally "star light". The decision to change it was down to marketing appeal.    This wonderful article from Rolling Stone says: "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" had the sense of a vitalizing nightmare in its best lines ("You're stuck in the middle/And the pain is thunder. … Still they hate you, you're a vegetable. … They eat off you, you're a vegetable"). "Billie Jean," in the meantime, exposed how the interaction between the artist's fame and the outside world might invoke soul-killing dishonor ("People always told me, be careful of what you do. … 'Cause the lie becomes the truth," Jackson sings, possibly thinking of a paternity charge from a while back). And "Beat It" was pure anger – a rousing depiction of violence as a male stance, a social inheritance that might be overcome. It also almost caught the studio on fire. When Eddie Van Halen recorded his solo, the sound of his guitar caused one of the studio speakers to catch fire. The video for “Beat It” was set in Los Angeles' Skid Row and featured up to 80 real-life gang members from the notorious street gangs the Crips and the Bloods. It cost $100,000 to make.   Thriller's parts added up to the most improbable kind of art – a work of personal revelation that was also a mass-market masterpiece. It's an achievement that will likely never be topped. It was the best-selling album worldwide in 1983 and became the best-selling album of all time in the U.S. and the best-selling album of all time worldwide, selling an estimated 70 million copies. It topped the Billboard 200 chart for 37 weeks and was in the top 10 of the 200 for 80 consecutive weeks. It was the first album to produce seven Billboard Hot 100 top-10 singles. Thriller is still the highest-selling album of all time. Want to know what the top 25 are? Subscribe to our Patreon for our video bonus on the top-selling albums ever! Billie Jean was the first video by an African-American artist to air on MTV. The video revealed Jackson's new look of a leather suit, pink shirt, red bow tie and his signature single white glove. It was a style copied by kids throughout the United States. It caused one school, New Jersey's Bound Brook High, to ban students from coming to class wearing white gloves.   Toto members Keyboardist Steve Porcaro co-wrote Human Nature, and Steve Lukather contributed rhythm guitar on Beat It.   On March 25, 1983, Jackson reunited with his brothers for Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever, an NBC television special. The show aired on May 16 to an estimated audience of 47 million and featured the Jacksons and other Motown stars. Jackson had just performed a medley of greatest hits with his brothers. It was exciting stuff, but for Michael, it wasn't enough. As his brothers said their goodbyes and left the stage, Michael remained. He seemed shy for a moment, trying to find words to say. "Yeah," he almost whispered, "those were good old days. … I like those songs a lot. But especially—" and then he placed the microphone into the stand with a commanding look and said, "I like the new songs."  Then, wearing a white glove decorated with rhinestones, he swooped down, picked up a fedora, put it on his head with confidence, and vaulted into "Billie Jean." He also debuted his moonwalk dance (which became his signature dance). This was one of Michael's first public acts as a star outside and beyond the Jacksons, and it was startlingly clear that he was not only one of the most breathtaking live performers in pop music but that he could mesmerize the audience, something not seen since the likes of Elvis Presley. Michael had initially turned down the invitation to the show, believing he had been doing too much television. But at the request of Motown founder and Icon Berry Gordy, he performed in exchange for an opportunity to do a solo performance. And he killed it.    "Almost 50 million people saw that show," Michael wrote in his book Moonwalk. "After that, many things changed." At this time, Michael Jackson was obviously an immensely talented young man – he seemed shy but ambitious and undoubtedly enigmatic. Nobody knew much about his beliefs or sex life; he rarely gave interviews, but he also didn't land himself in scandals. He did, however, describe himself as a lonely person – especially around the time he made Off the Wall. Former Los Angeles Times music critic Robert Hilburn recently wrote of meeting Jackson in 1981, when the singer was 23, that Jackson struck him as "one of the most fragile and lonely people I've ever met … almost abandoned. When I asked why he didn't live on his own like his brothers, instead of remaining at his parents' house, he said, 'Oh, no, I think I'd die on my own. I'd be so lonely. Even at home, I'm lonely. I sit in my room and sometimes cry. It is so hard to make friends, and there are some things you can't talk to your parents or family about. I sometimes walk around the neighborhood at night, just hoping to find someone to talk to. But I just end up coming home.'"   Jackson's social uneasiness was probably formed by the wounds in his history; the children were insulated from others their age, and Jackson's status as a lifelong star may have left him feeling not just cut off from most people but also alienated from them – as if his experience or his vocation made him extraordinary. "I hate to admit it," he once said, "but I feel strange around everyday people." Not exactly an unusual sentiment for some highly celebrated celebrities, especially former child stars. At the same time, it's a statement full of signals: Michael didn't enjoy the sort of company that might guide him in positive ways. He probably never did throughout his life. Maybe the most troubling passage in his autobiography Moonwalk is when he talks about children in the entertainment world who eventually fell prey to drugs: "I can understand … considering the enormous stresses put upon them at a young age. It's a difficult life."   Thriller placed seven singles in Billboard's Top 10 (presently around 50 million copies). At the 1984 Grammy Awards, Michael finally claimed his due, capturing eight awards, a record he holds with the band Santana, including Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Best Male Pop Vocal Performance, Best Rock Vocal Performance for "Beat It," Best R&B Song, and Best R&B Vocal Performance for "Billie Jean," and he won an award for the E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial storybook. In addition, the album won Producer of the year (Quincy Jones).    At the 11th Annual American Music Awards, Michael won another eight awards and became the youngest artist to win the Award of Merit. He also won Favorite Male Artist, Favorite Soul/R&B Artist, and Favorite Pop/Rock Artist. "Beat It" won Favorite Soul/R&B Video, Favorite Pop/Rock Video, and Favorite Pop/Rock Single. In addition, the album won Favorite Soul/R&B Album and Favorite Pop/Rock Album. Thriller's sales doubled after releasing an extended music video, Michael Jackson's Thriller, seeing Michael dancing with a group of incredibly designed zombies and was directed by John Landis.   Michael had the highest royalty rate in the music industry at that point, with about $2 for every album sold (equivalent to $5 in 2021). The same year, The Making of Michael Jackson's Thriller, a documentary about the music video, won a Grammy for Best Music Video (Longform). At this time, The New York Times wrote, "in the world of pop music, there is Michael Jackson, and there is everybody else."   Oddly enough, On May 14, 1984, then-President Ronald Reagan gave Michael an award recognizing his support of alcohol and drug abuse charities.   In November 1983, Michael and his brothers partnered with PepsiCo in a $5 million promotional deal that broke records for a celebrity endorsement (equivalent to $13,603,408 in 2021).  On January 27, 1984, Michael and other members of the Jacksons filmed a Pepsi commercial. Pyrotechnics accidentally set Jackson's hair on fire during a simulated concert before a whole house of fans, causing second-degree burns to his scalp. Michael underwent treatment to hide the scars and had his third rhinoplasty shortly after. Pepsi settled out of court, and Jackson donated the $1.5 million settlement to the Brotman Medical Center in Culver City, California; its now-closed Michael Jackson Burn Center was named in his honor. Michael signed a second agreement with Pepsi in the late 1980s for $10 million. The second campaign covered 20 countries and provided financial support for Jackson's Bad album and the 1987–88 world tour.  He was making SO much money and was the most significant music star globally.   Then, months later, it was announced that Michael would be setting out on a nationwide tour with the Jacksons. He didn't want to do it but felt obligated. Clearly, Michael was bigger, better, and "badder" than his family's limitations on him. He should have been taking the stage alone at this point in his career.   Jackson's aversion to the Victory Tour was apparent when he sat looking miserable at press conferences.   The Victory Tour of 1984 headlined the Jacksons and showcased Michael's new solo material to more than two million Americans. Following the controversy over the concert's ticket sales, Jackson donated his share of the proceeds

    1h 20m

  7. 05/30/2022

    Michael Jackson Part 1 of 2

    The future king of pop, Michael Joseph Jackson, was born on August 29, 1958 in Gary, Indiana.   Joe Jackson, Michael's dad, was a former boxer and crane operator at U.S. Steel during the 1950s in Gary – according to a fantastic article by Rolling Stone, quoted in the book; Dave Marsh's Trapped: Michael Jackson and the Crossover Dream, there were actual quotas in place on how many black workers were allowed to move up the ladder into skilled trades in the city's mills. This idiocy meant black workers were paid less than white workers. Unfortunately, this also meant they were subject to higher rates of fatal industry-related illnesses – but Papa Joe hoped that music would lift his life. Michael's mother, Katherine Scruse, was from Alabama but lived in East Chicago, Indiana when she met Joe. Momma Katherine played clarinet and piano, had dreams of being a country-and-western performer, worked part-time at Sears, and was a Jehovah's Witness. She grew up listening to country & western music, and even though she had a dream to be a musician, she was stricken with a bout of polio that had left her with an unfortunate and permanent limp. Papa Joe and Momma Katherine were young when they married in 1949 and started on the idea of a big ol family. The first of the bunch was Maureen (aka Rebbie) in 1950, then Sigmund (aka Jackie) in 1951, Toriano (Tito) followed up in 1953, Jermaine in 1954, La Toya in 1956, Marlon in 1957. Then there came Michael in 1958, Randy in 1961, and little baby Janet in 1966, making her 16 years younger than Rebbie. Marlon was actually a twin but their brother, Brandon, died shortly after birth.   M.J. and his cluster of brothers and sisters constantly had music around them. Papa Joe was super into the new electric R&B sound tearing up Chicago, which wasn't far away, not to mention the beginning stages of early rock & roll. So Papa Joe formed a band with his brothers called "the Falcons," making some extra coin in the surrounding area at parties and small clubs. In his 1988 autobiography, Moonwalk, Michael wrote, "They would do some of the great early rock & roll and blues songs by Chuck Berry, Little Richard … you name it," Going on to say, "All those styles were amazing, and each had an influence on … us, though we were too young to know it at the time."   The Falcons eventually broke up, and Papa Joe put down his guitar and hid it in his bedroom closet. He wouldn't let anyone near it, let alone touch it, giving us insight into his control over the household. Regardless of Papa Joe's musical dismay, Momma Katherine taught her flock of kiddies how to harmonize while listening to her favorite country/western songs. Tito, just like daddy, was drawn to music and one day thought it was a bright idea to snag Papa Joe's precious guitar from the closet and take it to practice with his brothers. Well, guess what? He broke a string. Michael later said Joe whipped Tito for the infraction and, "he let him have it,." After the whoopin', Papa Joe told Tito to show him what he could do on the guitar. Well, Papa joe was floored. Tito impressed the crap out of him.   Is it possible that at that very moment, Papa Joe's lightbulb blew a breaker and saw his musical dreams come to fruition vicariously through his kids? First, he bought Tito his own guitar and taught him some Ray Charles music, then he got Jermaine a bass. Soon he was working all his sons into an ensemble. So, I'm going to say yes, the breaker blew. Papa Joe loved the blues, but he appreciated that his kids liked the new R&B – Motown and soul – and more than likely saw dollar signs every time they mentioned it. Joe wanted Jermaine to be the lead singer with Jackie and Tito, and Michael and Marlon playing the tambourine and congas. Michael has said that his father told him he had a "fat nose" (just a little foreshadowing here) and abused him during rehearsals. Michael recalled that Joe often sat in a chair with a belt in his hand as his children rehearsed, ready to punish any mistakes. Joe acknowledged that he regularly whipped Michael. Katherine said that although whipping came to be considered abuse, it was a common way to discipline children when Michael was growing up. Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, and Marlon have said that their father wasn't abusive and that the whippings, which were harder on Michael because he was younger, kept them disciplined and out of trouble. Michael said his childhood was lonely and isolated.   At just four years old, Momma Katherine saw Michael singing along to a James Brown song, and she saw – in both his voice and moves – he was already better than his older brother. So she told Joe, "I think we have another lead singer." Katherine would later say that sometimes Michael's precocious abilities frightened her – she probably saw that his childhood might give way to stardom – but she also noticed that there was something undeniable about his young voice. Michael was also a natural entertainer. He absolutely loved singing and dancing, and because he was so young, the choice was clear, Michael was young, AND Michael was BAD. Get it? No? He was fantastic, OK?   Joe Jackson was good at what he did. "He knew exactly what I had to do to become a professional," Michael later said. "He taught me exactly how to hold a mic, make gestures to the crowd, and handle an audience." But by Joe's own admission, he was also unrelenting. "When I found out that my kids were interested in becoming entertainers, I really went to work with them," he told the time in 1984. "I rehearsed them about three years before I turned them loose. That's practically every day, for at least two or three hours. … They got a little upset about the whole thing in the beginning because the other kids were out having a good time. … Then I saw that after they became better, they enjoyed it more." That isn't always how Michael remembered it. "We'd perform for him, and he'd critique us," he wrote in Moonwalk. "If you messed up, you got hit, sometimes with a belt, sometimes with a switch. … I'd get beaten for things that happened mostly outside rehearsal. Dad would make me so mad and hurt that I'd try to get back at him and get beaten all the more. I'd take a shoe and throw it at him, or I'd just fight back, swinging my fists. That's why I got it more than all my brothers combined. I'd fight back, and my father would kill me, just tear me up." Those moments – and probably many more – created a loss that Jackson never got over. He was essential to the family's music-making, but there was no other bond between father and son. Again, from Moonwalk: "One of the few things I regret most is never being able to have a real closeness with him. He built a shell around himself over the years, and once he stopped talking about our family business, he found it hard to relate to us. We'd all be together, and he'd just leave the room."   Around 1964, Joe began entering the Jackson brothers in talent contests, many of which they handily won. Michael started sharing lead vocals with Jermaine, and the group's name was changed to the Jackson 5. In 1965, the group won a talent show; Michael performed the dance to Robert Parker's 1965 song "Barefootin'" and sang the Temptations' "My Girl." From 1966 to 1968, the Jackson 5 toured the Midwest; they frequently played at a string of black clubs known as the Chitlin' Circuit as the opening act for artists such as Sam & Dave, the O'Jays, Gladys Knight, and Etta James. Oh, and James Brown. No one was as important to Michael as James Brown.  "I knew every step, every grunt, every spin and turn," he recalled. "He would give a performance that would exhaust you, just wear you out emotionally. His whole physical presence, the fire coming out of his pores, would be phenomenal. You'd feel every bead of sweat on his face, and you'd know what he was going through….You couldn't teach a person what I've learned just standing and watching." The chitlin circuit was a collection of performance venues throughout the eastern, southern, and upper Midwest areas of the United States that provided commercial and cultural acceptance for African American musicians, comedians, and other entertainers during the era of racial segregation in the United States through the 1960s. The Jackson 5 also performed at clubs and cocktail lounges, where striptease shows were featured, and local auditoriums and high school dances. In August 1967, while touring the East Coast, they won a weekly amateur night concert at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, NY.   "At first, I told myself they were just kids," Joe said in 1971. "I soon realized they were very professional. There was nothing to wait for. The boys were ready for stage training, and I ran out of reasons to keep them from the school of hard knocks." So in 1966, he booked his sons into Gary's black nightclubs and some in Chicago. Many of the clubs served alcohol and several featured strippers. "This is quite a life for a nine-year-old," Katherine would remind her husband, but Joe was undaunted. "I used to stand in the wings of this one place in Chicago and watch a lady whose name was Mary Rose," Michael recalled. "This girl would take off her clothes and panties and throw them to the audience. The men would pick them up and sniff them and yell. My brothers and I would be watching all this, taking it in, and my father wouldn't mind." Sam Moore of Sam and Dave recalled Joe locking Michael – who was maybe 10 years old – in a dressing room while Joe went off on his own adventures. Michael sat alone for hours. He also later recalled having to go onstage even if he'd been sick in bed that day.   On those tours, the most famous place was the Apollo in New York, where the Jackson 5 won an Amateur Night show in 1967. Joe had invested everything he had in his sons' success, though any accurate recognition or profit would also be his success. While on the circuit, Joe had know

    1h 6m

  8. 05/23/2022

    Foo Fighters

    David Eric Grohl was born in Warren, Ohio on January 14, 1969. Mom is teacher Virginia Jean Hanlon and dad was news writer James Harper Grohl. In addition to being an award-winning journalist, Dave’s dad had also served as the special assistant to Republican Congressman and US Senator Robert Taft Jr.  When Dave was young, the Grohl family moved to Springfield, Virginia. When he was seven, his parents divorced, and he was raised primarily by his mom. At the age of 12, he began learning to play the guitar. He grew tired of lessons and instead taught himself, eventually playing in bands with friends. He said, "I was going in the direction of faster, louder, darker while my sister, Lisa, three years older, was getting seriously into new wave territory. We'd meet in the middle sometimes with Bowie and Siouxsie and the Banshees." At 13, Grohl and his sister spent the summer at their cousin Tracey's house in Illinois. Cousin Tracey introduced them to punk rock by taking the pair to shows by several different punk bands. His first concert was Naked Raygun at The Cubby Bear in Chicago in 1982. Grohl recalled, "From then on we were totally punk. We went home and bought Maximumrocknroll, (a punk subculture music zine that ran from 1982 to 2019) and tried to figure it all out." In Virginia, he attended Thomas Jefferson High School as a freshman and was shockingly elected class vice-president. He taught himself to play pieces of songs by punk bands like Circle Jerks and Bad Brains and, using his clout as vice president, would play them over the school intercom before his morning announcements. His mother decided he should transfer to Bishop Ireton High School in Alexandria because he was smoking too much weed and it was affecting his grades. He stayed there for two years, one of those repeating his first year.  After his second year, he transferred yet again to Annandale High School. While in high school, he played in several local bands, including a short stint as guitarist in a band called Freak Baby. It was during this period that he thought it was a good idea to switch to learning drums. When Freak Baby kicked out its bass player and reshuffled its lineup, Davel took on the role of drummer and history was made. Show’s over, folks! The band then changed their name to “Mission Impossible.” Dave has said he did not take drumming lessons and instead learned by listening to Rush and punk rock bands. Obviously, insanely talented and possible robot and Rush drummer Neil Peart was an early influence: "When I got 2112 when I was eight years old, it f*****g changed the direction of my life. I heard the drums. It made me want to become a drummer." During his beginning years as a drummer, Grohl cited John Bonham as his greatest influence, and eventually had Bonham's three-rings symbol tattooed on his right shoulder. Mission Impossible changed their name once again to “Fast” before breaking up, after which Dave joined the hardcore punk band Dain Bramage in December 1985.  Dain Bramage ended in March 1987 when Dave up and quit without warning to join Scream, having produced the I Scream Not Coming Down LP. Many of Dave’s early influences were at the 9:30 Club, a music venue in Washington, D.C. He said, "I went to the 9:30 Club hundreds of times. I was always so excited to get there, and I was always bummed when it closed. I spent my teenage years at the club and saw some shows that changed my life." As a teenager in D.C.,Dave briefly thought about joining shock-rocker punk/metal band, GWAR, who were looking for a drummer around this time. At age 17, Dave auditioned with local Washington, D.C. favorites Scream to fill the vacancy left by the departure of drummer Kent Stax. In order to be considered for the position, Dave lied about his age, saying he was 34. I’m kidding but he did say he was older. To Dave’s surprise, the band asked him to join and so he pulled a Jay-Z (last week’s Icon) and dropped out of high school in his junior year. He has been quoted as saying, "I was 17 and extremely anxious to see the world, so I did it." Over the next four years, Grohl toured extensively with Scream, recording a couple of live albums (their show of May 4, 1990 in Alzey, Germany being released by Tobby Holzinger as Your Choice Live Series Vol.10) and two studio albums, No More Censorship and Fumble, on which Grohl penned and sang vocals on the song "Gods Look Down". During a Toronto stop on their 1987 tour, Grohl played drums for Iggy Pop at a CD release party held at the El Mocambo, which became best known for the 1977 surprise show by The Rolling Stones, which became popular when then Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau's wife, Margaret Trudeau, showed up and partied with the Stones.. In 1990, Scream unexpectedly disbanded mid-tour when bassist Skeeter Thompson left the band. Nirvana (1990–1994) We obviously can’t talk about Foo Fighters without discussing Nirvana. They’ll definitely have their own episode so we won’t get too into them today. While playing in Scream, Grohl became a fan of the Melvins and eventually befriended them. During a 1990 tour stop on the West Coast, Melvins guitarist Buzz Osborne took his friends Kurt Cobain and Krist Novoselic, of future Icons Nirvana, to go see Scream. Grohl called Osborne for advice after Scream disbanded and Osborne informed him that Nirvana was looking for a drummer. He gave Dave the phone numbers of Cobain and Novoselic, who then invited Grohl out to Seattle to audition. Grohl soon joined the band. Novoselic later said, "We knew in two minutes that he was the right drummer." Dave told the U.K. based magazine Q: "I remember being in the same room with them and thinking, 'What? That's Nirvana? Are you kidding?' Because on their record cover they looked like psycho lumberjacks... I was like, 'What, that little dude and that big m**********r? You're kidding me'." When Dave joined Nirvana, they had already recorded several demos for the follow-up to their debut album Bleach, produced and recorded by Butch Vig. Initially, the plan was to release the album on Sub Pop, but they received a ton of label interest based on their demos. Dave spent the initial months with Nirvana traveling to various labels as the band shopped for a deal, eventually signing with DGC Records. In the spring of 1991, the band entered the infamous Sound City Studios in Los Angeles to record Nevermind as seen in Dave’s amazing documentary, Sound City, from 2013. The album Nevermind was released later that year and exceeded all expectations becoming a worldwide commercial success. At the same time, Dave was compiling and recording his own material, which he released on a cassette called Pocketwatch in 1992 on indie label Simple Machines. Rather than using his own name for the project, Dave released the songs under his pseudonym "Late!" In the later years of Nirvana, Dave’s songwriting increased. In his first months in Olympia, Washington, Kurt Cobain overheard him working on a song called "Color Pictures of a Marigold", and they wound up working on it together. Dave would later record the song for the Pocketwatch cassette. Dave stated in a 2014 episode of the documentary series, Foo Fighters: Sonic Highways, that Kurt kissed him when he first heard a demo of "Alone + Easy Target" that Dave had recently recorded. According to Dave, "I'd told him I was recording and he said, 'Oh, I wanna hear it, bring it by.' He was sitting in the bath-tub with a walkman on, listening to the song, and when the tape ended, he took the headphones off and kissed me and said, 'Oh, finally, now I don't have to be the only songwriter in the band!' I said, 'No, no, no, I think we're doing just fine with your songs.'" Nirvana would jam Dave’s song on soundchecks during their 1991 European tour. Dave reluctantly held back his songs in the beginning. In a 1997 interview he said, "I was in awe of [Kurt Cobain's songs], and [I was] intimidated. I thought it was best that I kept my songs to myself." During the sessions for In Utero, Nirvana’s third and final studio album, the band decided to re-record "Color Pictures of a Marigold" and released it as a B-side on the "Heart-Shaped Box" single, with a slight title change; "Marigold". Dave also wrote the main guitar riff for "Scentless Apprentice", another song on In Utero. In a 1993 MTV interview, Kurt had said that, at first, he thought the riff was "kind of boneheaded", but was happy with how the song developed. Part of this development process can be heard  in a demo on the Nirvana box set ``With the Lights Out”, released in 2004. Cobain had said that he was excited at the possibility of having Chris Novoselic and Dave contribute more to the band's songwriting. Before embarking on their 1994 European tour, Nirvana scheduled session time at the popular Robert Lang Studios in Seattle to knock out some demos. The recording session was only 3 days long and Cobain wasn’t there for most of it, so Chris and Dave worked on demos of their own songs. They completed several of Dave’s songs, including future Foo Fighters songs "Exhausted", "Big Me", "February Stars", and "Butterflies". On the third day, Kurt finally arrived, and the band recorded a demo of a song later Titled "You Know You're Right". It was to be Nirvana’s last studio recording.   After the death of Kurt Cobain in 1994, the band known as Nirvana broke up. Dave received numerous offers to work with various artists and there were rumors saying he might join Pearl Jam. Dave almost accepted a position as the drummer for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. He later said: "I was supposed to just join another band and be a drummer the rest of my life. I thought that I would rather do what no one expected me to do."  Instead he booked time at Robert Lang Studios in October 1994 and began recording 15 of his own songs. Dave played every instrument and sang every vocal part on the record with the

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About

Join hosts and seasoned musicians Jonathan Sayre, Jeff Butchko and musically challenged Logan Sayre as they discuss the lives and times of their favorite musical legends. From rock to country, pop to hip hop, the stories are fascinating and seemingly endless. Plus every episode features a new, exclusive cover song, written and recorded by Jeff and Jonathan. Welcome to Icons and Outlaws.

Information

  • Creator
    iconsandoutlaws
  • Years Active
    2022 - 2023
  • Episodes
    13
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Copyright Accidental Dads Network, LLC 2022 All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    Icons and Outlaws