Mojo Nixon "Otis" (1990) RELOADED 07/28/12

HA......in a few words......ROCK N' ROLL FUN!!!!!!!

Every time I pull this CD out and play it, I get a kick out of it. I mean, check out the song titles!! It reminds me that rock n' roll should be FUN!!! This is one thing sadly missing from the scene today. Well it's been lacking for some time now. At least in the 80's there was some fun to be had in certain circles.

I really just posted this one for anyone who remembers him from back in the day. Hope it brings a smile to your face. And anyone else wanting some piss and vinegar in their fun - give this a spin!

Track listing

1. "Destroy All Lawyers (3:00)"
2. "I Wanna Race Bigfoot Trucks (3:45)"
3. "Ain't High Falutin' (3:16)"
4. "Shane's Dentist (2:04)"
5. "Rabies Baby (3:30)"
6. "Put A Sex Mo-Sheen In The White House (4:18)"
7. "Star Spangled Mojo (Trad.) Arr. by Mojo Nixon (1:23)"
8. "You Can Dress 'Em Up (But You Can't Take 'Em Out) (2:51)"
9. "Don Henley Must Die (4:20)"
10. "Perry Mason of Love (5:46)"
11. "Took Out The Trash And Never Came Back (4:42)"
12. "Gonna Be A New World (3:53)"

These are MP3's at 320K - REPOSTED 07/28/12
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Rory Gallagher "Live! in Europe / Stage Struck"

OK.....what can I say about this guy that hasn't been said before? If you know him - ya likely dig him! If you don't and u like hard rockin' blues with some rough vocals and kick ass guitar.....well check this set out. Rory was always at his best in front of an audience. And he doesn't disappoint here.

This CD consists of both "Live! in Europe" and "Stage Struck" tracks. I can't see for certain if all tracks are included here.

Tracks:

1		Messin' With The Kid	6:10
2		Laundromat	4:55
3		I Could've Had Religion	8:25
4		Pistol Slapper Blues	2:55
5		Going To My Home Town	6:03
6		Bullfrog Blues	6:47
7		Shin Kicker	3:50
8		Wayward Child	4:30
9		Brute Force And Arrogance	4:05
10		Moonchild	6:07
11		Follow Me	5:55
12		Bought And Sold	4:35
13		Shadow Play	5:06

Tracks 1 to 6 rec. live Europe 2-3/1972, first released with additional track "In Your Town" as Polydor LP 2383 112
Tracks 7 to 13 rec. live during world tour 11/1979-7/1980, first released with additional track "The Last Of The Independents" as Chrysalis LP 202 884-320
Track 9 erroneously title "Brute Force And Arrogance" rather than "Brute Force And Ignorance"


I count myself a luck lad to have seen him live (at the El Mocambo yet!) before his passing. R.I.P. Rory!

These are MP3's at 192K
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Hothouse Flowers - Live In-store appearance Sept. 1988

Hothouse Flowers live at HMV Square One - Mississauga, Ontario Sept. 1988

I believe HMV had only been open a short time (week or 2?) and it was announced that Hothouse Flowers would do a live in-store appearance there. This store was modeled after their success HMV stores in the UK - many of which had small stages and hosted live appearances on a regular basis. I didn't know much about Hothouse Flowers at the time, other than that they were from Ireland and were getting some good press. I think I had seen a video, that might have been it. But I figured I'd check it out anyway - something new & exciting (or at least I hoped at the time....).

Well I was not disappointed! It sure was quite a change to see a band play live in a music store. They seemed to be enjoying themselves, and the crowd seemed to dig it too. I got their CD "People" soon afterwards and began a big fan of theirs. I saw them a few months later in a club setting and it was a great night too. I remember getting a great pic of me & my friend Sandy with two of the members - still have it hanging in my hallway here! A big thrill back then.....

Anyhow, this was a purely acoustic set (as was the in-store custom). Sound quality is excellent on this (direct from soundboard). I would give it a 10/10! Songs played are as follows:

1) Kansas City

2) Mountains

3) Hallelujah Jordan

4) Willie

5) Big Fat Heart

6) It'll Be Easier In The Morning

Listening to it today brought back some great memories of the times (ahh.....the 80's!!). 

Anyhow....check it out:

These are MP3's at 320K

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Lyle Lovett & John Hiatt - live in Zurich, Switzerland 2/01/10

Wow - Lovett & Hiatt together in an acoustic setting.....now how sweet is that!??
Saw them a few weeks ago at Casino Rama (Ontario). Wasn't sure how is was gonna go in such an "area" style hall (1500+), but I need't have worried. Just two great singer/songerwriters doing there thing......and it was great!!! Really - how could you go wrong?

The week after show, just for kicks I thought I'd sniff around to see if anyone happened to capture it. Then I found this show - ironically almost a year old to the day. Was really please when I found out the quality was so high on the recording - a 9+ out of 10 in my books.

NOTE: this show was recorded in flac format. Despite a request from original recorder/poster, I have converted it to MP3's. My hats go off to him for all his great work on this set. However, I feel music in meant to be shared with others (especially such a great show as this....!) and I know friends who would enjoy this. So the deed is done.......enjoy....! Trax are as follows:

disc 1:

01) JH: Drive South

02) LL: LA County

03) JH: Memphis In The Meantime

04) LL: I Will Rise Up

05) JH: Walk On

06) LL: Fiona

07) JH: My Baby

08) LL: Nobody Knows Me

09) JH: Crossing Muddy Waters

10) LL: Don't Cyr A Tear For Me

11) JH: Like A Freight Train

disc 2:

01) LL: She's No Lady

02) JH: Tennessee Plates

03) LL: Natural Forces
04) JH: Thunderbird

05) LL: If I Had A Boat

06) JH+LL: Thing Called Love

07) LL: My Baby Don't Tolerate

08) JH+LL: Ain't No More Cane

09) JH: Have A Little Faith In Me

10) LL: Step Inside This House

Personally, I'm going to edit out some of the talk/kibitzing on here, and likely trim a few to fit it on one CD. But feel free to do what u like w/ it.....I'm just an old dinasour....! 

These are MP3's @ 128K

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Hunters & Collectors - Live 11/18/86 @ RPM Club (Toronto)

One of Australia's finest....Hunters & Collectors.....if you know them......YA LOVE THEM!
They really should have been a lot bigger than were. I know they did a lot of road work in Canada, and had a pretty strong following here. But I don't think they could ever make much headway in the States. In my books, their "Human Frailty" (also released 1986) is a classic. I saw them live a few times - if I'm not mistaken, both times at RPM.

I guess I must have had this set hanging around on cassette for years....really don't remember. But it is yet another CFNY (Toronto) presents "Tuesday Night Live", so the quality is very good. I'd rate it around a 9 on the old boot scale.

A nice tight and raw set (their specialty!) awaits.....

These are MP3's @ 193K
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Bat Head Soup - Tribute to Ozzy Osbourne (Various Artists)

Generally speaking, I find tribute albums to be a waste of time. I mean if I want to hear certain songs, I'll pull out the CD by that artist. But there is just something about the performances on this one that really make it rock!

I went looking for a jpg of the back cover, but found this site instead - it pretty much covers all the info you'll ever need:   ALBUM INFO

Pretty much all the shredders you could ever wish for are here = Brad Gillis, Yngwie Malmsteen, Richie Kotzen, Paul Gilbert, etc......as well as some ace vocalists = Dee Snider, Joe Lynn Turner, Vince Neil, Lemmy, etc, etc.

My personal faves are : "Mr. Crowley" (w/Tim Owens & Yngwie Malmsteen), "Crazy Train" (w/ Dee Snider), "Desire" (w/ Lemmy), as well as the old softie "Goodbye to Romance" (w/ Lisa Loeb & Dweezil Zappa).

If you're looking for a nice HEAVY slice o' RAWK........go for it:

These are MP3's at 192K
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U2 - 1983 US Festival 5/30/83

Well I thought I was pretty much done with U2 boots. I have a handful of my favourites here, that I play on a regular basis. I mean how many does a fan really need!? OK, don't answer that..........

I tripped across this one in my travels recently, and snagged just to check out the quality. I was surprisingly impressed by both the sound quality (8+ at least) and the passionate performance here. Guess I shouldn't really be surprised by the passion. I mean I've seen this band 7-8 times (from Boy tour at Ryerson Theatre onwards), and they have never once disappointed. We won't get into any discussion here about their last album........(as it sits collecting dust on my shelf......).

Don't seem to be getting ANY hits on this U2 stuff on my blog, but check it out if interested. It's likely the true fanatics have had this stuff for years......

These are MP3's @ 192K:
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Jerry Lee Lewis "Live at the Star Club (Hamburg, Germany 4/5/64)

Wow! What can I say that hasn't been said before about Jerry Lee Lewis???

As a guy who grew up on 80's rock (both classic hard rock and "new wave"), I never had much time for this old boy. Of course, as I matured myself (wiser?) and started to learn more about him, my curiousity was peaked. I stumbled across this album one day, took it home, played it weeks later.....and was really blown away by it!! This ROCKS THE HOUSE from the word go, and doesn't let up until the house lights come up. Bottom line....if you are a fan of rock n' roll, and never heard this before, you owe it to yourself to check it out!!

Here's some reviews I found on-line today that pretty much capture my feelings:

1) "......but then "Mean Woman Blues" comes on, and Lewis plays the piano with such ferocity that it actually sounds digitally manipulated. NOW we're talking.

Live at the Star Club might just look like a run through of a few polite, mum-friendly rock'n'roll standards, but it rocks likes a bastard. The sheer power - it borders on the point of chaos at times - is enough for me to even overlook Jerry Lee's habit of putting his own name into his lyrics. Quite a few of these songs may be pretty badly dated, but energy and youth is timeless, and Lewis has got both by the bucketful. At times it's like listening to completely different songs rather than just cover versions.

This is the kind of album that could turn a rock'n'roll hater to the dark side. Essential."

2) "The KILLER in all his glory, proving to everybody that he wasn't washed up in the least! An utterly incredible performance - this is rock'n'roll 101, people. Anybody that starts a rock band nowadays should be forced to listen to this before recording anything or playing live - I would imagine that 99.9% of the so-called artists out there would throw away their instruments in disgrace, realizing that they had no right to try to rock! And can you say CHARISMA?"

Rock steady gang!

These are MP3's @ 192:

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Cheap Trick "Cheap Trick" (1997 on Red Ant label) REPOST

Real odd release things in so many ways. Band signed to Red Ant in hopes of reviving a sagging career by partnering with a younger/hipper/connected label. Unfortunately the timing couldn't be worse.....Red Ant went bankrupt just 3 weeks after this was released. Yet somehow I was sent a promo way up here in the frozen north (from our U.S. exporter Alliance). I remember being so down about the music business in general that time in my life....."nothing new" "everything sucks", etc etc. Not the best time to be testing out a new CT album.....

Surely enough, when I spun it I was not impressed. On first listen I remember digging "You Let A Lot Of People Down" and not much more. I might have played it once after that, then I promptly handed it off to my best pal Alex.

About a 1000 years later (well about 13 to be exact....)......Alex asks me if I can find this one on the Net for him. Somewhere along the way, he'd lost/given away/misplaced his CD. I download it for him, and send him tracks. A day or two later, Alex (w/impecable taste as always!) says he loves the album, etc etc. So I listen to trax again, and I'll be damn......THIS SUCKA ROX!!!!
Can't believe I passed on this one the first time around.

Anyhow, enough of my blabbin'......if you're here, ya came for this......

Rock Steady!
MP3's @ 192K
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Foster and Lloyd "Foster and Lloyd" (1987) REPOST

Radney Foster and Bill Lloyd's first release from back in 1987. Seems like a long time ago. Not sure what happened to Bill Lloyd, but Radney Foster was still kicking around in 2002. I got his "Another Way To Go" CD, and it's got some great stuff on there as well. As for his current activities, I'm not really in the loop on them.....

But this Foster Lloyd album is a real solid effort! I still pull this out on a regular basis and really enjoy it. As far as I'm concerned, there is not a bad cut on the album. I remember a 90's trip with my good friend Alex down to see our bro Mike in Windsor. We played it in the car for Alex, and even he was impressed (and that's not an easy thing to do!). So we ended up playing that one almost non stop when rolling around town. Great memories.........

Back in '87, I was really into the "new music" as well as my classic rawk but I was interested a bit in country. A co-worker told me to try this one on for size. I really dug it, and bought my own CD. It is "country" in vibe I suppose, but it's really about great (pop) songs, deep (sing along) grooves, as well as heartfelt perfomances. What more could you want??

As a rule, I don't post legit releases. But after some research it looks like this one is no longer available. Damn shame/no surprise really in this day and age. I was going to post that Radney Foster CD too, but it's still available to buy.

Check it out!
MP3's at 192K
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Various (1993) - New Stuff Two

Here's a little blast from 1993! Used to be a Canadian mag called IMPACT back in the day. Every month they would give out a "new music" sampler with the magazine. Didn't last for long, but you could always find a few new things of interest on there.

On this edition, I fell head over heels for Randy Bachman's "Prairie Town", featuring none other than guest Neil Young on vox/guitar. Story went that they knew each other for a short time back in their Winnipeg days, and Randy wrote this one with Neil in mind. They laid it down together, and a while later a video shoot was scheduled. Neil showed up for the shoot, despite the fact that he was battered and bruised from a hang gliding accident a few days before. But he didn't want to let Randy down......what a trouper! I never did buy that Bachman album, but still get off on "Prairie Town".....worth the price of admission here alone.

A few other interesting acts here: The Lawn, Snow, 13 Engines, Rhymes With Orange, The Phantoms, Colin Linden, as well as The Tea Party.

P.S. I have a few other volumes here too if anyone is interested......?

Enjoy.
MP3's at 192K
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Van Halen - Pacadena Civic Auditorium Dec. 20, 1977 (REPOST)

Interesting early set here from these Monsters of Metal! Their classic debut album was released in Feb. 1978 so this show predates that event by a month or so. Entire band is flying in fine form here - especially mouthpiece Diamond Dave and shredder Eddie (no surprises).

After some research, I found that in some places this set is listed as Dec. 20 and in others it's Dec. 15. Regardless, the year is 1977. My trax were ripped from a vinyl LP (remember those kids!?) that I borrowed from a friend at work. To top that off, it had an old school cover printed in glorious black & white, and it was just titled Van Halen "Live". Looks likes it's been issued since on CD under several titles - "Civic Pride", "The Atomic Punks" , etc.

It was a real kick to get such an early recording after some many years of yearning for one. I'd rate the sound on this at 8 to 8.5 - rough in a few spots but with a real nice crunch to it.
So here is it gang.......Rock on!

MP3's at 192K
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Bash & Pop - "Friday Night Is Killing Me" (REPOST)

Yet another one of those "used to have on vinyl" releases......got this back in 1992 and was pleasantly surprised by it. The vinyl got liquidated long time back, then about 3-4 I still heard some of these tracks rattling around in my big mellon (always a good sign!). I tried to sniff out the CD only to realize it was now out of print. I ended up buying through an Amazon seller, and overpaying for a cut-out. But hey I now have it on CD, and still really dig this one!!

Stylistically not that far off the Replacements. Escpecially faves like Never Aim To Please, Hang Ups, and Friday Night Is Killing Me. If you're a Mats fan and haven't heard this......get down to it my friend.

Damn shame both Westerberg and Stinson aren't still putting out cool music in this day & age. But with the way the "business" is.....why bother!? I see Stinson is still trudging around with Axle "Fruitcake" Rose......suppose he's got to eat too......

Rock Steady Gang!

MP3's at 192K:

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The Babys - Live 2/14/80 Denver, Colorado (REPOST)

Ah yes, the Babys.....sometimes cruchy, sometimes sweet, always a nice treat (!?). Well I enjoyed this one myself. Sound quality is excellent (9.5 in my books). I assume this was recorded for live release by band/label, or maybe even King Buscuit but I couldn't find much info on it.

Recorded on tour for their "Union Jacks" album (their 3rd). I much prefer their first two to that album, but some really tastey stuff here. Funny, they must of had some good tour support as they even have a backup female singer here. Sure wouldn't happen in this day and age.

Another one for those stuck in the 80's!! Got to admit I just love the sound of those real drums, along with that classic Les Paul/Marshall combo here. Singer John Waite's voice is shaky at times but no big deal.

Enjoy....these are MP3's at 192K

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Roger Daltrey - Live 12/04/85 Constitution Hall, Washington, D.C. (REPOSTED 01/13/13)

Great energetic set from one of rock's premier vocalists. Found in fairly rare (for that period anyway) solo performance from 1985. He was promoting his excellent "Under A Raging Moon" album, so includes several songs from it as well as a few Who classics (surprise surprise).

Sound quality is pretty much a 10, as it was recorded for the King Biscuit series. Not sure if it was ever released on a major label (?) - can't see it listed on Amazon.

Band includes Clem Clemson on guitar (Humble Pie), as well as guest apperance from Russ Ballard who sings lead on "Your Time Is Gonna Come".

Tracks are as follows:

01) Martyrs and Madmen

02) Don't Talk To Stangers

03) Breaking Down Paradise

04) Move Better In The Night

05) Substitute

06) Your Time Is Gonna Come

07) The Pride You Hide

08) Behind Blues Eyes/5:15

09) Let Me Down Easy

10) Rebel

11) Voices

12) Giving It All Away

13) Won't Get Fooled Again

14) After The Fire

15) Under A Raging Moon

16) Free Me

17) Summertime Blues/C'mon Everybody

NOTE: full show here is about 1:42, so might be too much for many to take it. I just posted full show for completest in the crowd. Personally, I'm going to trim this down to under an hour to put on a CD.

These are MP's at 320K:
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U2 "Duets" (REPOST)

Hopefully you can read the trax above - the graphics on back tray of this were terrible. I got this one in same order with "Jesus Is A Cool Guy". When I saw the track listing on here, I just couldn't resist!

Again, mostly audience recordings here so quality varies but still a damn fine listen. Some of them you really wish had been a most pristine quality. But then again, that's the way a good boot should be.

My faves on here: "Miss Sarajevo" with Pavarotti (I think released legit at some point?), "People Get Ready" with Maria McKee (LOVE HER!!), and "When Love Comes To Town" with Keith Richards (how could this NOT be great?).
Enjoy....

These are MP3's @192K
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U2 - Jesus Was A Cool Guy (REPOST)

An interesting little boot I mailed away for (!!) many years ago. It's been a long time since I played this, and really enjoyed hearing it again.

For the fantics in the crowd, subtitle on this is "100% pure Live Acoustic Sound/Vol.2". And before you ask, no I don't have Vol.1.

Interesting collection here of fairly rare acoustic or rearranged versions, including some radio appearances. As expected, quality is all over the road but most of this is pretty listenable.

My fave tracks = "Lost Highway", "Springhill Mining Disaster" and "Can't Help Falling In Love". As a side note, you get a real feeling from this collection the band was having fun, and had a real loose sense of humour out there most nights. I wonder if they haven't lost that recently?? Although I must admit I haven't seen the latest tour.....

Anyhow, enjoy......
These are MP3's @ 192K
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Teenage Head - Live at Heatwave Festival 5/23/80 (REPOST)

Well now here's a real gem from days gone by! Special thanks to my friend John at Nathan's Rock Moat (I snagged from him!). Wasn't really concious of it's existance, so to stumble across this was a real kick.

After downloading, as I was listening and thinking that the crowd noise is awfully loud. As well the audience seemed a bit rambuntcious for 12 noon! After doing some surfing, I found many comments along these lines. General conscenous is that the broadcasting station (likely CFNY? but not sure) must have added this audience track in post gig. I have to say it's a bit of a distraction. So I tried a few things on ye old Sound Forge here - the usual, remove ticks/pops, and then EQ. I pressed a CD, tried it in the car, and it was still way too much! So I tried again a week later, and these are the results. It was a pretty fine line between trying to purge that audience noise and keeping the edge of the high end (not to mention the vocals).

By all means, if there's someone who can polish up better - have at it! But I'm pretty happy with the results. Brings back some great memories from my youth!

These are MP3's:

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P.S. Check out the poster at top and note that Teenage Head aren't even listed on there. They were a last minute "surprise" act (in the primo 12 noon slot!???).

Ace Frehley - Live at Pops, Sauget, Ill, 02/26/08 (REPOST)

Again, this set has been posted for some time now in many places. I decided to add today just so my rockin' buddy Grant can snag. Special thanks to my friend Joe from New York for sending me this on disc. I actaully saw Ace a few nights after this show, at a place called the Bears Den at Seneca Casino, Niagara Falls (USA). I met Joe at that show, as he was seated next to us.

Ace only did about a week's worth of shows, and we felt pretty fortunate to catch him in such a small venue. Capacity at Bears Den is only 475 (!!) - talk about intimate! And the band just KICKED ASS from the word go. Ace was actually upright and sober, and he surrounded himself with younger guys who really knew how to deliver.

They stuck to a nice mix of Ace solo stuff, and (of course) some Kiss classics. It was pretty powerful to hear that material after so many years. He was working on his new album (coming next month I think) but they didn't play any new stuff that night. I can safely say that everyone there that night was completely blown away!! And to top it all off, the tickets were a whopping $30 for that show (!!!!!!). I call that a bargain......

Enough of my yaking.....check it out.....

These are MP3's @ 192K

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The FLYING PICKETS - Live @ Albany Empire (1982) REPOST

Here's yet another one that survived many years on a trusty Maxell tape, then made into a CD. I bought the vinyl one day on Yonge Street, as I had heard some of their stuff on CFNY. They play it for laughs here in several spots, but these guys can really deliver vocally!

Here's the track listing on this baby:
ALBANY EMPIRE
I thought I had lost a few tracks when I taped the LP to cassette, but doesn't look like it.

I play this every once & a while when I want a COMPLETE change from the norm! Or when I want a good laugh.......great stuff though.

These are MP3's at 192K
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