Saturday July 26, 2008 was the 59th birthday for one of music's finest drummers. I'm a little late with this, but I hope Roger Meddows-Taylor had one hell of a great day. We should be seeing Roger on stage in the US, along with the rest of Queen + Paul Rodgers, sometime in early 2009.
Multi-Interview Video posted on YouTube by arcadata
The Cross (Roger is Lead Singer) - "Baby It's Alright"
If you're not too familiar with the Washington Capitals' new number one goalie, luckily WashingtonCaps.com is happy to help change that. The Capitals posted a video today that is the first part of a great interview by senior writer Mike Vogel. In just over six minutes, Mike covers a lot of ground with Jose Theodore. Jose seems like a nice guy. Like everything I've seen and read so far, he appears genuinely happy to be a part of the Washington Capitals. Part 1 is currently available on Washington's home page and Caps TV. Part 2 is scheduled to be released Friday, August 1st.
I'm sure it will be a good show, with Bruce around. He always has some interesting stories to tell. Coach will probably come up with more than a few funny quotable remarks as well. So flip on The Fan 590 during breakfast or listen on the way to work Thursday, and have an enjoyable hockey filled morning.
Yes, this is it. We have now officially hit the dead part of summer, as far as hockey is concerned. This is the time of year we NHL Hockey fans get the blues. We feel a little lost, and we're desperate for any news about our favorite sport. We miss watching our heroes give it their all out on the ice, and feel like we just can't wait another day for the new season to begin.
If those back yard barbeques, family reunions and beach vacations aren't chasing away the summertime blues, then check out your favorite web sites and blogs to get the latest news or just to share your ideas about the upcoming season.
Alice Cooper is returning to his dark side on July 29th (USA) with a new album called 'Along Came A Spider' . This new album brings back the horror movie sounds that made us love him in the 1970's and 1980's. Real music and intelligent lyrics, twisted though they might be, are all over this release. As famous DJ Dr. Johnny Fever would say ... "Nice 'n Weird".
Alice is currently doing some European dates on his '2008 Psycho Drama Tour', with some North American stops between July 31st and October 31st. Sadly, none in the Hershey, PA / Baltimore, MD / Washington, DC area. So, no decapitations or hangings on any local stages around here. Hopefully his macabre theatre will be back here soon. As the horror movie master Vincent Price said in the 1975 'Welcome To My Nightmare' (link = TV special version) song "The Black Widow", ... "She is Delicious!"
If you're unsure about buying this latest spider/killer themed CD or tickets for the concert (if he comes to your area), don't fret. You can check out the entire 11 song album on the player provided at the Alice Cooper MySpace. Some video, ads, etc. are available at AliceCooper.com and at Alice's YouTube channel. Go on, get bitten now!
'Along Came A Spider' Album Trailer 1
'Along Came A Spider' Album Trailer 2
'Along Came A Spider' Album Trailer 3 (a.k.a. 'Psycho' Version)
I sincerely wish guitarist Brian May the happiest of birthdays. The rock 'n roll legend turned 61 today. May he have many more years of good health and music left in him.
Nazareth live in Germany 2006 - Photo by Dagmar Heinrich-Hoppen
Scotland's finest rock band, Nazareth will release their 21st studio album "The Newz" in the US on Tuesday July 22, 2008. The album has already been out everywhere else. The recording of the album was filmed for a DVD, which will be released later on. The current lineup of the band includes original singer Dan McCafferty on lead vocals, Jimmy Murrison (joined December 1994) on lead guitar, original bassist Pete Agnew and on drums Pete's son Lee Agnew who joined the band late in the summer of 1999, after original drummer Darrell Sweet died while on tour in the US.
Nazareth are currently in the middle of the '40th Anniversary "Road Trip" Tour 2008'. They started the non-stop worldwide tour in Europe back in late January, and will hopefully be announcing the November 12th through December 1st USA dates very soon. You may have seen advertisements for "Nazareth with Manny Charlton" , but that's their original (fantastic) guitarist Manny Charlton and his new American band (including awful lead singer), not the legally "official" Nazareth. The real Nazareth as a whole are far superior.
Visit the band's MySpace site to hear six of the great new tunes on the provided player. You'll find that unique sounding band that has influenced so many big names in rock history. They are commonly listed under heavy metal or hard rock, and they can seriously deliver on that front. However, with Dan's raspy yet bluesy vocals, they also offer a few sweet ballads that will bring tears to your eyes. Don't worry, you can find plenty of upbeat music by these lads as well. This album provides the whole range of their styles. I know I've got to get the CD the next time I get to the music store.
The following are parts of what was posted today at Black Sabbath Online by Joe Siegler.
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Win a free copy of the "Rules of Hell" Box set!
It's giveaway time again! This coming Tuesday is the US release date for the Black Sabbath Box Set "The Rules of Hell". If you've been living under a rock, then you don't know this is the Dio era of Black Sabbath's remastered box set offering. It contains the three studio albums Dio Sabbath released, plus the tepid live release, "Live Evil". This is the first time these albums have been remastered from the original Warner Bros source masters (the 1996 Castle versions were a different source master). I've had a pre-release copy in my hands for a few weeks now, and I have to say, they sound improvement is quite noticable (especially on H&H and MR)...
...Anyway, I'm here to give away some copies of the box as has been my custom on this site for quite some time now. I've got five copies of the box set that are being given away. First off, I wanted to thank the folks over at Rhino Records for providing me with the copies to be given away...
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For all the details about the giveaway and the different available versions, including the extra disc Best Buy special edition, see the entire article by clicking here.
Black Sabbath "The Rules Of Hell" Animated Trailer
Each team will play their division rivals six times and the other teams in their conference four times each. Washington will have two games each against Columbus, Los Angeles and Nashville. They face the rest of the Western Conference teams at least once.
Most of the games versus Western Conference teams will occur in the first half of the season, which means the Capitals will see a lot of their Eastern Conference foes in the second half. Washington will play 22 of their 41 home games during weekends. Click here for the full schedule.
My teenage daughter has started referring to me as "Big Guy". What does this mean? Why "Big Guy"? I'm not seriously tall. With normal shoes on, I'm exactly 6'0". That's not that tall. Could she be referring to how wide I am? Maybe she's easing toward calling me "Wide Load". Nah, it just has to do with how important I am to her. You know, being her father and all. Shit! She's a teenager, so that sure can't be it. She's never watched a single episode of WKRP In Cincinnati, and I don't look anything like Gordon Jump's character Arthur Carlson, a.k.a. "The Big Guy". It remains a mystery.
2008 Washington Capitals Preseason Schedule (and Sergei Fedorov photo) from Washingtoncaps.com
Date / Opponent / Location / Time
Wed., Sept. 24 at Carolina RBC Center, Raleigh, N.C. 7 p.m.
Thurs., Sept. 25 Carolina Verizon Center, Washington, D.C. 7 p.m.
Sat., Sept. 27 at Boston TD Banknorth Garden, Boston, Mass. 4 p.m.
Mon., Sept. 29 at New Jersey TBD 7 p.m.
Wed., Oct. 1 at Philadelphia Wachovia Center, Philadelphia, Pa. 7 p.m.
Fri., Oct. 3 Philadelphia Verizon Center, Washington, D.C. 7 p.m.
Sun., Oct. 5 Boston Verizon Center, Washington, D.C. 5 p.m.
All Times Eastern
It sure would be nice to be able to watch some of these games on TV, but I doubt that's going to happen. I remember getting giddy listening to them online last season. We got to watch via the intermittently working NHL Live Center Ice Video Portal (temporarily free), but preferred our own Steve Kolbe and Mike Vogel as far as the audio. All of us Cap's fans and bloggers commenting back and forth during the games was a good time. I anticipate it being exciting this year too.
The surviving original members of the band Bad Company are getting back on stage to perform together, but just for one night. The main reason for this one off show is to retain the legal rights to the name "Bad Company". Following this concert, anyone else trying to use the name will find themselves heading to court.
Can you blame them? You see advertisements all the time which promote a concert of a famous band, featuring one of the temporary replacement members that played with them for a little while. You might think to yourself - Great! So and so has rejoined the group. Then you check the fine print, or go to the concert only to find out the featured member is the only one whom you've ever heard of. There are a few great old bands that went through several breakups and lineup changes over the period of several years. Some of these guys don't mind misleading you into thinking the whole original gang will be playing, if they think it'll get you to buy a ticket. Sometimes new pathetic little upstarts will just take on the cool sounding name of a formerly successful band if they think they can start doing shows before the originals find out.
The following is the press release for the August 8th Hollywood, Florida show.
BAD COMPANY TO REUNITE - ONE NIGHT ONLY!
ORIGINAL MEMBERS PAUL RODGERS, SIMON KIRKE AND MICK RALPHS TO PERFORM FIRST SHOW TOGETHER IN A DECADE AT THE HARD ROCK LIVE IN HOLLYWOOD, FL AUGUST 8th!
Los Angeles, CA – July 2, 2008 – Bad Company original members Paul Rodgers, Mick Ralphs and Simon Kirke will reunite for the first time in nearly a decade. Following a huge demand from fans, Bad Company will perform one show only at Hard Rock Live at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida on Friday, August 8th. Tickets will go on sale Saturday, July 5th.
Bad Company’s hits such as “Can’t Get Enough,” “Feel Like Makin' Love,” “Rock Steady,” “Movin’ On,” “Shooting Star,” “Rock & Roll Fantasy” and “Bad Company” (the first to self title their band name in a song and album) propelled them to the forefront of the '70s arena rock movement. Paul Rodgers, Mick Ralphs and Simon Kirke will reunite to perform together for the first time since 1999 (founding member Boz Burrell passed away in 2006). Rodgers, celebrating his 40th year as a recording artist, recently performed at London’s Hyde Park with Queen as part of the “The 46664 Concert – Honoring Nelson Mandela’s 90th Birthday” and will be embarking on a world concert tour in support of their new studio album September. His most recent solo CD/DVD release, Live in Glasgow, charted internationally at #1 and #3 and is certified Gold.
After the break up of FREE (best known internationally for their smash hit “All Right Now” co-written by Rodgers) vocalist and multi-instrumentalist vocalist Paul Rodgers connected with ex-Mott the Hoople guitarist Mick Ralphs, FREE drummer Simon Kirke would later join that year and the trio began rehearsing. Ex-King Crimson bassist Boz Burrell came aboard a few months later and the supergroup Bad Company was solidified. Before releasing their first album, the band had toured for months and in 1974 signed to Swan Song Records (owned by Led Zeppelin and distributed via Atlantic Records) to release their highly anticipated debut album, titled Bad Co. Propelled by the hit single “Can’t Get Enough,” the album would quickly hit #1 on the charts and remain in the Top 40 for four straight months. To this day, the multi-platinum Bad Co. album arguably remains one of the most accomplished debuts in rock history, reading as a virtual greatest hits set in itself.
Straight Shooter, Run with the Pack, Burnin’ Sky and Desolation Angels would all follow within a five year run throughout the 70s yielding more multi-platinum awards with hit after hit, “Feel Like Makin’ Love,” “Seagull,” “Run with the Pack,” “Burnin’ Sky,” “Rock ‘N’ Roll Fantasy,” making Bad Company one of the biggest concert attractions of the decade. In 1982, the band released their final recording Rough Diamonds and the single “Electricland” would be their last before disbanding. The group’s multi-platinum award-winning greatest hits set 10 from 6 has become a record collection staple.
Maybe this June didn't offer very much as far as good concerts to go to, but July 2008 is looking a lot better. A wide variety of musical tastes can be satisfied in the Mid-Atlantic region.
There are still tickets available for some big names in Hershey, PA. Piano pop maestro Billy Joel will perform at the Stadium on the 10th, making his first appearance to Hershey in almost 20 years. In the middle of their "Snakes And Arrows" tour, Rush will be there one week later, on July 17th.
Another great outdoor venue to visit is Merriweather Post Pavilion. I'd love to take in an evening of soulful sixties rock and more on July 17th, when the legendary Joe Cocker performs there. Unfortunately to me, but to the delight of others, the other half of the bill is the Steve Miller Band.
Have you ever been to the Pier Six Pavilion in Baltimore, MD? They've got a couple interesting events going on there this month. "Volunteer Jam 2008", featuring the folksy Charlie Daniels Band and classic southern rock's .38 Special happens on the 19th. To experience some reggae performed from the best bloodline you could possibly imagine, get tickets for July 26, 2008. That's when Pier Six will have the "Roots Rock Reggae Festival". The festival includes music from the Marley family, including Ziggy, Stephen and Damien "Jr. Gong" Marley.
A little further South, the Nissan Pavilion in Bristow, VA (a.k.a. Washington, DC) offers some good times this July. The 13th brings in "Crue Fest", with Motley Crue, Buckcherry and others. On the 19th, full of Hershey's Chocolate, Rush will energize the place with both their old hits as well as newer music. To finish off the month at Nissan Pavilion, Poison and Dokken bring their "Hair Metal" (music genre) on the 31st.
Two indoor concerts I should mention, happen at the Verizon Center in Washington, DC. On the 26th. It may be your last chance to see The Eagles. If you're a fan, get your tickets now. George Michael will entertain the VC on July 29th, supporting his just released 2CD set called "Twenty-Five".
If you're not too familiar with the Washington Capitals' new number one goalie, luckily WashingtonCaps.com is happy to help change that. The Capitals posted a video today that is the first part of a great interview by senior writer Mike Vogel. In just over six minutes, Mike covers a lot of ground with Jose Theodore. Jose seems like a nice guy. Like everything I've seen and read so far, he appears genuinely happy to be a part of the Washington Capitals. Part 1 is currently available on Washington's home page and Caps TV. Part 2 is scheduled to be released Friday, August 1st.
Alice is currently doing some European dates on his '2008 Psycho Drama Tour', with some North American stops between July 31st and October 31st. Sadly, none in the Hershey, PA / Baltimore, MD / Washington, DC area. So, no decapitations or hangings on any local stages around here. Hopefully his macabre theatre will be back here soon. As the horror movie master Vincent Price said in the 1975 'Welcome To My Nightmare' (link = TV special version) song "The Black Widow", ... "She is Delicious!"
The Washington Capitals have finished Development Camp 2008 and finally officially signed future Hall Of Fame center Sergei Fedorov to a one year contract. With only defenseman Shaone Morrisonn left to sign (as far as we know, anyway), the Capitals released their 2008 preseason schedule.
The surviving original members of the band Bad Company are getting back on stage to perform together, but just for one night. The main reason for this one off show is to retain the legal rights to the name "Bad Company". Following this concert, anyone else trying to use the name will find themselves heading to court.
Another great outdoor venue to visit is Merriweather Post Pavilion. I'd love to take in an evening of soulful sixties rock and more on July 17th, when the legendary Joe Cocker performs there. Unfortunately to me, but to the delight of others, the other half of the bill is the Steve Miller Band.
A little further South, the Nissan Pavilion in Bristow, VA (a.k.a. Washington, DC) offers some good times this July. The 13th brings in "Crue Fest", with Motley Crue, Buckcherry and others. On the 19th, full of Hershey's Chocolate, Rush will energize the place with both their old hits as well as newer music. To finish off the month at Nissan Pavilion, Poison and Dokken bring their "Hair Metal" (music genre) on the 31st.
