Rocktober is Upon Us!

Hello, children.  Tomorrow marks the beginning of the best month of the year.  And that means Rocktober -- GMYH's annual month-long celebration of rock and roll -- is here again and rarin' to go.  As I do every October, I am going to fill you up with a daily dose of rock, at least on the weekdays where I'm in the office or have access to a computer.  

I've tried to focus on a theme the last several Rocktobers.  Over the last five years, I've done Rocktobers that focus on hair band songs, deep cut artists, the Glorious Ladies of Rocktober, deep cut songs, and live songs and albums. This year and the following five years will be no different.  Welcome, my friends, to the Rocktober Decade Countdown.  This year, all of the Rocktober songs will be from the 1960s.  Next year, all the songs will be from the '70s, and the progression will continue in 2020 ('80s), 2021 ('90s), 2022 ('00s), and 2023 ('10s).  I have not yet determined the theme for 2024, so lay off.

There will be no repeated artists during the course of the month.  I'm going to try my best not to repeat songs that I have featured in prior Rocktobers, but I make no promises.  As always, the week leading up to Halloween -- we'll say from 10/25 to 10/31, since Halloween is on a Wednesday this year -- will feature songs with dark, evil, or macabre themes.  Retro Video of the Week will be suspended during Rocktober, but Hair Band Friday will continue because, even though this Rocktober will focus on the '60s, ain't nothin' wrong with some unadulterated glam metal every Friday (in addition to the Rocktober post, of course).

Remember that this is Rocktober, so these will all be bands, artists, and songs that rock.  There will be popular songs, songs that you may never had heard before, and maybe even some bands and artists you've never heard of.  Rest assured, though, everything will rock.  And everything will be groovy.  Peace.

Hair Band Friday - 9/28/18

1.  "D.O.A." by Van Halen


2.  "Foolin'" by Def Leppard


3.  "Demon Alcohol" by Ozzy Osbourne


4.  "(You Can Still) Rock In America" by Night Ranger


5.  "Fly To The Angels" by Slaughter


6.  "Wild Is The Wind" by Bon Jovi


7.  "Take a Walk" by Mr. Big


8.  "Just a Gigolo/I Ain't Got Nobody" by David Lee Roth


9.  "Rhythm of Love" by Scorpions


10.  "Hell Child" by Lynch Mob

Retro Video of the Week: "Rosa Parks" by Outkast

This Saturday marks the 20th anniversary of the release of Outkast's third album, Aquemini.  It was the duo's second consecutive album that hit #2 on the Billboard album charts -- and the second in what would be five consecutive Top 2 albums in the U.S.  It was the first Outkast album I really remember, but then again, I'm not from the Dirty South, so I was late to the game on Outkast.  "Rosa Parks" -- which reached #55 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was the highest-charting single on the album -- was a staple at parties in college and brings back pleasant memories. Interesting tidbit: Rosa Parks sued Outkast and their label, alleging that the song misappropriated her name. The suit was eventually settled six years later, not long before Parks died.

Tuesday Top Ten: Shows I Saw at Riot Fest

A little over a week ago, I had the pleasure of attending my first Riot Fest, here in Chicago at Douglas Park.  In years past, for one reason or another -- weddings, football games, Oktoberfest, seances, etc. -- the weekend of Riot Fest has been bad for me.  This year, however, the musical gods were looking out for me.  Riot Fest always has an amazing lineup, and this year was no exception.  I went all three days and saw some amazing bands and artists.

Before I get to the music, let's talk about the fest itself.  The only other music festival I can really compare it to is Lollapalooza, and these two fests couldn't be more different as far as the patrons, attitude, and ease of intrafest movement.  There is no EDM, which means there aren't hordes of suburban teenagers tweaking on Molly.  The average age is probably somewhere above 30, which is nice.  And the fest itself is much more compact, which makes it a lot easier to see two bands who might be playing at the same time.  Also, it was a breeze getting into the fest all three days.

I only had a couple complaints:

• First, it is a giant pain in the ass to get to and from the fest.  Douglas Park is kind of in a no-man's land on the near southwest side.  Only one L line goes anywhere near the park, and they didn't seem to be running enough trains after the fest ended each night.  Trying to get a cab or Uber out of there was nearly as bad.  We had to walk about a mile Saturday night to get to a spot where our Uber could pick us up without having to get stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic.  I'm not sure there's a solution to this, other than putting Riot Fest in my back yard, as I've suggested no fewer than six times a day for the last six years to the Riot Fest organizers.

• Second, for whatever reason, they didn't announce the daily lineup until about a week before the fest.  I don't know if that was on purpose or if there were issues, but that's not cool.  

• Third, they need to put some lights near the food stands because when it got dark, it was nearly impossible to read a lot of the menus on the booths or to see the giant smoked turkey leg I was wolfing down.

• Fourth, there was a giant emotional support hog that somehow got into the fest, but then again, its owner was wearing jorts.

But the positives far outweighed the negatives, and I'd go back without hesitation.  

Here are the bands and artists for which I saw two or more songs over the course of the weekend:

Friday:  Matt & Kim; Flogging Molly; Bleachers; Atmosphere; Cypress Hill; Weezer

Saturday:  Gary Numan; Reignwolf; Bully; Cat Power; Wolfmother; Twin Peaks; Elvis Costello & The Imposters; GWAR; Jerry Lee Lewis; Beck

Sunday:  Blondie; Alkaline Trio; Father John Misty; Bad Religion; Run The Jewels


Here are my top ten shows that I saw over the course of the weekend:

10.  Atmosphere
One of the people who went with us wanted to see Atmosphere, and I didn't have anyone I wanted to see at the same time, so I went along and was pleasantly surprised.  I only have one Atmosphere song in my music catalog, so I wasn't sure what to expect.  They were entertaining and energetic.

9.  Bully
High-energy punk rock is kind of what Riot Fest is all about, and that's basically what Bully plays.  On a hot afternoon, they took my mind off the heat for a while.  Well, not really, but it was still enjoyable.

8.  Jerry Lee Lewis
Only at Riot Fest can one see GWAR and then walk a hundred yards or so to see an 82-year-old legend of rock and roll.  The Killer can still kill.  It may take him a while to walk from the side of the stage to the piano, but once he gets there, it might as well be 1956.  His band was solid as well, including IU alum Kenny Aronoff on drums.  There aren't too many early rock and roll legends still alive (pretty much just Lewis and Little Richard), much less touring, so this was pretty awesome.  On a related note, one of the oddest moments of the weekend was walking into Riot Fest on Saturday.  I overheard a millennial couple debating the morality of going to see Jerry Lee Lewis later that night because of the fact that, in 1957, Lewis married his teenaged first cousin once removed.  Boys will be boys!

7.  Flogging Molly
Flogging Molly never disappoints.  Never.

6.  Cypress Hill
As part of their set, Cypress Hill played the Black Sunday album in its entirety -- but from back to front.  That was one of my first CDs, so it was a nice trip down memory lane, and I was amazed at how many lyrics I still remember.

5.  Elvis Costello & The Imposters
Declan MacManus and crew played all of his hits and kept up the energy.  We were all amazed that he is 64.

4.  GWAR
One of the bands I was most excited to see was horror metal stalwarts GWAR.  I couldn't tell you the name of a single GWAR song, but I knew it would be a spectacle, and I was right.  Massive costumes somehow don't hinder the band from playing some pretty damn good speed metal.  And then there's the stage show.  Monsters, ghouls, demonic priests, blood shooting from various orifices.  It was everything I had hoped for and more.  And, perhaps coincidentally, it was the show at which the most people tried to sell us drugs.  Yeah, dude, I want to buy acid from a stranger so I can trip for the first time ever at a GWAR show.

3.  Run The Jewels
I had seen Run The Jewels last year at Lolla, and they were great.  At Riot Fest, they were a last-minute surprise addition, and they were the headliners Sunday night.  The people I went with wanted to get close, and so we did.  It was a great show.  Like GWAR, I don't really know any songs, but I didn't have to know any to have fun.  It was a lot of energy, and both Killer Mike and El-P worked the crowd and were funny when they needed to be and serious when they needed to be.  Definitely a great way to end the fest.

2.  Beck
I had never seen Beck before, so I was pretty pumped when he was announced as a headliner.  As I said to a friend during the show, he is basically the David Bowie of our generation -- a rock and roll chameleon who makes good music no matter what the genre.  Xenu has been kind to him.  His show was fantastic.  Great music and great lasers.  The only bummer was that Andrew W.K. was playing at the same time, and I would have liked to have seen him too -- since I like to party -- but I've already seen him in concert, so I stuck with Beck.

1.  Weezer
As of less than two weeks before Riot Fest, blink-182 was supposed to be one of the headliners.  Then, Travis Barker had some health issues, so the band had to cancel their tour.  Enter Weezer to take their place.  Now I like blink-182, but I love Weezer.  They killed it.  In addition to their own hits and their spot-on cover of Toto's "Africa," they covered the Turtles' "Happy Together" (with a little mashup of Green Day's "Longview" in the middle), "Take On Me" by a-ha (acoustic), blink-182's "All The Small Things" to start the encore in honor of who they replaced, and Black Sabbath's "Paranoid" to end the show.  To reiterate, I love Weezer.

Hair Band Friday - 9/21/18

1.  "I'll Sleep When I'm Dead" by Bon Jovi


2.  "Headed For a Heartbreak" by Winger


3.  "Fractured Love" by Def Leppard


4.  "Knucklebones" by David Lee Roth


5.  "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" by Poison


6.  "Get In The Ring" by Guns N' Roses


7.  "Eyes of a Stranger" by Queensrÿche


8.  "Jump" by Van Halen


9.  "Lost Behind the Wall" by Dokken


10.  "Metal Health (Bang Your Head)" by Quiet Riot

Retro Video of the Week: "All Hell's Breakin' Loose" by Kiss

Thirty-five years ago yesterday, something terrifying, exciting, and historic happened on live TV.  For the first time, Paul Caravello, Vincent Cusano, Stanley Eisen, and Gene Klein relinquished their make-up and respective stage identities as the Fox, the Ankh Warrior, the Starchild, and the Demon, baring their actual faces to the world on MTV.


Let's not understate how big of a moment this was, not just for Kiss, but for rock and roll.  Kiss was a massive band in the mid to late '70s (and early '80s, to a lesser extent), and after they started in 1974, they had never made any public appearances without their famous makeup.  Many people had no idea what they looked like in real life.  Of course, Peter Criss and Ace Frehley were no longer in the band, so they could still go about their lives in relative anonymity.

The "unmasking" coincided with the band's release of the Lick It Up album, which kind of plunged the band squarely into the hair band genre and helped the band continue its success and stay relatively relevant throughout the '80s, reaching a new generation of rock fans before the big reunification of the original lineup and putting the makeup back on for a surreal moment at the 1996 Grammys.

As a child, I was terrified of Kiss solely because of their makeup (I hated clowns), so the unmasking helped ease some of that terror -- which isn't to say the guys in the band look better without their makeup on because that's always been a tongue-in-cheek debate.  Of course, now the thought of seeing the band without their makeup makes me physically, emotionally, and sexually uneasy.

Rather than going with the title track off of Lick It Up, I'm going with the band's other single from that album, "All Hell's Breakin' Loose."  This is one of only three songs in the Kiss catalog that was written by all then-current members of the band (the others being "Love Theme From Kiss" off of the band's 1974 self-titled debut and "Back to the Stone Age" from 2009's Monster).  The song is known for it's rap-rock first verse sung/rapped by Paul -- an early precursor to rap-rock and rap-metal, for better or worse.  On top of that, the video is ridiculous, hilarious, and so totally '80s.

Midwestern Eavesdropping

Twentysomething female, to a friend:  "You're like the Avril Lavigne of music."

--Chicago, Monkey's Paw, Southport and Lill

Eavesdropper:  GMYH

As always, if you overhear something funny or ridiculous (or that can be taken completely out of context), email it to gmyhblog@yahoo.com, along with the location you heard it and your preferred eavesdropping handle, for inclusion in the next exciting edition of Midwestern Eavesdropping.

Hair Band Friday - 9/14/18

1.  "Let's Get Rocked" by Def Leppard


2.  "Fight For Your Right" by Mötley Crüe


3.  "Zombie Stomp" by Ozzy Osbourne


4.  "How Can You Do What You Do" by Mr. Big


5.  "Sunday Afternoon in the Park" by Van Halen


6.  "Get Your Shit Together" by Danger Danger


7.  "That's Not Enough" by Slaughter


8.  "One More Reason" by L.A. Guns


9.  "Big Guns" by Skid Row


10.  "Feel Like Makin' Love" by Dangerous Toys

Retro Video of the Week: "Angel Eyes" by The Jeff Healey Band

This week's Retro Video of the Week was a tough choice because there are a lot of great albums featuring huge hits that were released this week on various five-year anniversaries between 20 and 25 years ago -- Huey Lewis & The News's Sports, UB40's Labour of Love, Meat Loaf's Bat Out of Hell II: Back Into Hell, to name a few.  The problem is that I've already had a few Huey Lewis videos (including "I Want a New Drug" off of Sports) as Retro Videos of the Week, and I've also had "I'd Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That)" by Meat Loaf -- arguably the greatest song ever made.  I would go with "Red Red Wine" by UB40, but Labour of Love was released in 1983, and that song freakishly became popular several years later, so it's not really an apt anniversary.

So what are we left with?  The Jeff Healey Band's debut album, See The Light, which was released 30 years ago tomorrow.  In case you don't remember him, the late Jeff Healey was a blind Canadian guitar player, which makes the title of the album somewhat tongue-in-cheek, but then again Canadians are generally funny like that.  Healey was blind since he was about one, after both his eyes had to be removed due to cancer (he received prosthetic eyes, presumably so others didn't think he was a ghoul).  He began playing the guitar at three, and he played the guitar on his lap, almost like a steel guitar.

See The Light was the band's highest-charting album in the U.S., reaching #22 on the Billboard 200 album charts, and it spawned the band's biggest hit, "Angel Eyes," which went all the way up to #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 -- the band's only Top 40 hit in the U.S. (although they had 11 Top 40 songs on the Canadian charts).

Of course, you may remember The Jeff Healey Band as the Double Deuce's house band in Road House -- inarguably the greatest Patrick Swayze movie ever made.  To paraphrase Dalton, Healey plays pretty good for a blind white boy.  Here's the video for "Angel Eyes."

Tuesday Top Ten: Favorite Van Halen Songs

Van Halen is probably one of the top five American rock bands ever.  I don't say that lightly.  I say it because it's true.  Last week, one of my favorite authors, Chuck Klosterman, published an article on Vulture.com ranking all 131 of Van Halen's studio album songs.  It was a massive undertaking, and I'd be lying if I told you I read his write-up of every song, since that may have taken days.  Even though I don't agree with all of his rankings, I sure as hell respect them.  All in all, it's a pretty solid list.  Here are Klosterman's Top 10 Van Halen songs (song, album, year):

10. "'5150'" (5150, 1986)
9. "Romeo Delight" (Women and Children First, 1980)
8. "Runnin' With the Devil" (Van Halen, 1978)
7. "You Really Got Me" (Van Halen, 1978)
6. "Hot for Teacher" (1984, 1984)
5. "D.O.A." (Van Halen II, 1979)
4. "Panama" (1984, 1984)
3. "Dance the Night Away" (Van Halen II, 1979)
2. "Unchained" (Fair Warning, 1981)
1. "Eruption" (Van Halen, 1978)

This is a very fair top ten, and of course, like any list of music, is completely subjective.  I'm going to give you the list of my ten favorite Van Halen songs momentarily.  First, it's important for you to recognize a couple things about my relationship with Van Halen.  I own every studio album from Van Halen through For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge, as well as the band's 2012 Roth "reunion" album (minus Michael Anthony), A Different Kind of Truth.  So, I don't have Sammy Hagar's last album, Balance, or the much-criticized Gary Cherone album, Van Halen III, or the "Best of" albums that had a couple originals.  And while I don't dislike the "Van Hagar" era, my tastes trend toward the energy and urgency of the Roth era rather than the more polished Hagar era.  I make no apologies for my list.  Here we go:

Honorable Mention:  "Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love" (Van Halen, 1978), "Eruption" (Van Halen, 1978), "Ice Cream Man" (Van Halen, 1978), "Hang 'Em High" (Diver Down, 1982), "Top Jimmy" (1984, 1984), "Hot For Teacher" (1984, 1984), "Summer Nights" (5150, 1986), "When It's Love" (OU812, 1988)

10.  "Unchained" (Fair Warning, 1981)
"C'mon Dave, gimme a break."  "One break, coming up!"  You can't make that shit up.  And let's not discount the distorted riff.  Just a great rock and roll song. I also love the lyric "blue-eyed murder in a size five dress."


9.  "In A Simple Rhyme" (Women and Children First, 1980)
The sweet acoustic intro belies where the song quickly goes.  Enter Alex's breakneck drums, and the song takes off.


8.  "Dance The Night Away" (Van Halen II, 1979)
Like Klosterman notes in his piece, this song just makes you feel good.  It makes you feel like it's summer, even when you're stuck on an Antarctic weather station in the middle of winter.  You haven't seen the sun in weeks, and the wind is enough to rip your tits right off.  But then you hear that cowbell, that sweet and catchy riff, and that drum fill, and all of a sudden you're right back in Pasadena in the summer of 1980, just going at it with that bad boy Dale right there in the middle of the Cal Tech campus.  Nothing too lewd -- just a little making out and some over-the-clothes rubbing.  In a few years, he'll be in work-release program and you'll be in a PhD program.  You'll all but forget about him, except for every time you hear this song.  It brings a genuine smile to your face for three minutes and ten seconds, before the harsh reality of a career centered on the mating habits of penguins smacks you back into reality.


7.  "Poundcake" (For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge, 1991)
This is my favorite Van Hagar-era song.  Eddie uses a drill in the song.


6.  "Light Up The Sky" (Van Halen II, 1979)
That ascending guitar intro takes you straight into the sky, and you don't come back down.  This song -- as with many of these -- is on my running playlist.  Whenever it comes on, right after the bridge, when Roth yells "light 'em up!," I am physically unable to prevent myself from raising my right palm towards the sky like I'm grabbing a low-hanging boob and mouthing the lyrics in triumph.


5.  "Sinner's Swing!" (Fair Warning, 1981)
When I saw this one ranked at #70 on Klosterman's list, I nearly drove to Akron or Fargo or wherever he might live these days, and vigorously questioned him.  This is another frenetic hidden gem off of an underrated Roth-era album.


4.  "Beautiful Girls" (Van Halen II, 1979)
Setting aside that this was the soundtrack for maybe the best SNL fake commercial ever (though they have since changed the background music, presumably because SNL used "Beautiful Girls" without permission), this song is just plain awesome.  It's catchy, it rocks, and it's fun.


3.  "Everybody Wants Some!!" (Women and Children First, 1980)
Even if this song wasn't prominently featured in a scene involving anthropomorphic hamburgers in my favorite John Cusack movie, I would still put it up this high.  Those tribal drums and howling at the beginning set the tone for a five-minute ride down the road toward an aural orgasm.


2.  "Panama" (1984, 1984)
1984 was the first Van Halen album (tape, of course) that I ever owned.  I remember going to a friend's house after he got it, and we listened to it about ten times in a row on his brown Fisher-Price tape player.  On an album full of great songs, "Panama" was the song that struck me hardest.  This song still makes me want to roll down my windows, crank the volume, and pump my fist while I take my kids to the grocery store in our hybrid minivan.  And you better fucking believe that's what I do.


1.  "Romeo Delight" (Women and Children First, 1980)
This song is pure energy, and it sums up everything I love about Van Halen.  Right from the get-go, it grabs you by the balls, puts you shotgun in that T-Top Trans Am, shoves a tallboy of Bud in your face, and takes you to the best fucking party of the summer at 90 miles an hour.  By the end of the song, you've had a bottle and a half of whiskey, and you've woken up in the morning next to that hot nerdy chick who says she wants to study penguins.

Hair Band Friday - 9/7/18

1.  "Running Wild In The Streets" by W.A.S.P.


2.  "Ecstasy" by Vinnie Vincent Invasion


3.  "Shoot to Thrill" by AC/DC


4.  "Get In Touch" by FireHouse


5.  "Sweet Little Sister" by Skid Row


6.  "Dirty Girl" by Y&T


7.  "Road To Nowhere" by Ozzy Osbourne


8.  "Rock Me" by Great White


9.  "Ride The Whip" by Trixter


10.  "Tease Me Please Me" by Scorpions

Retro Video of the Week: "Celebrity Skin" by Hole

On Saturday, when you're sitting by your above-ground pool slamming cans of Busch heavy while your kids remind you of everything you could have been, I want you to think about the fact that Hole released their third album, Celebrity Skin, twenty years ago.

After the band's first two albums -- 1991's Pretty On The Inside and 1994's Live Through This -- which were very grungy and angry, the band decided to go in a little bit of a different direction on Celebrity Skin.  It's more polished, and the songs are definitely more radio-friendly. Courtney Love cleaned up her look, going from scary and druggy with smeared makeup to presentable and attractive with appropriately applied makeup.  

I'm not making any comment one way or another on whether that's a good or bad thing, as I like both phases of the band.  Celebrity Skin went to #9 on the Billboard album charts -- by far the band's best-charting album -- and it has gone platinum in the U.S., Canada, and Australia.  The title track is my favorite Hole song.  It was co-written by Love, Hole guitarist Eric Erlandson, and Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan, and it hit #1 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart.  Here's the video, with the aforementioned presentable Love.