Todem
Footballguy
I am a longtime musician (Guitarist). My first band was in 1984 at the age of 14. I played in an original project for almost 15 years starting in 1991 thru 2006 and then we had a huge benefit reunion show in 2012. Now I just jam with my son who is a beast of a prog rock drummer. Long story short I also sang in my band...mostly back up vocals but lead on a few tracks and also wanted to branch out with some solo stuff so.....I am from South Florida. Matt Kramer lead singer from Saigon Kick....very very cool guy. I did a lot of vocal training with his mom. And she had probably 30 cats....I lost count...living in her house LOL. She was a really cool lady and she helped me a lot. That is my Saigon Kick Story90. Saigon Kick
If anybody has any good stories about Saigon Kick, please weigh in, because I don't know much except:
Not to be confused with Hanoi Rocks, we'll see them later
Not to be confused with Candlebox, another post-grunge arrival, coming later here and I think a similar band
They were from Miami which was different enough
I liked their record The Lizard enough that they eeked in here
Love Is On The Way late era MTV slow sappy hit, post Extreme/Mr Big
Feel The Same Way
Saw them open for Van Halen I believe (kinda foggy) in 85 and they were promptly booed off the stage within 10 minutes of their set.Moving along before I get busy
81. Autograph
Not much of a story here, other than a pretty huge hit smack dab in the first half of 1985, "a last minute addition to the record" blah blah, nobody cares.
A song so ubiquitous in its essence that it still pops into my head on a regular basis, without ever hearing it.
Turn Up The Radio
Cover of We're An American Band that nobody asked for
They are not metal guys at all......they are more towards the rock side of the isle and their first 3 records (especially their second one) are excellent. Very heavy Beatles influence on that second record. Great guys too.Welcome to the Last Crack club, population me you and @Punk
Appreciate all the input, friends! On to the next quadrant, looks like a healthy balance of big hair and more metal, but first
75. King's X
Doug Pinnick was a little like Phil Lynott back from the dead.
On most lists, these guys place higher than some of the jokers we're about to see, but you know, we're aiming at that metal/hair vein. So, a little iffy, genre-wise? but not really.. these guys were trotted out as a metal band, on Megaforce Records and toured with all the headbangers. Also dUg makes records with George Lynch now.
Goldilox
Over My Head
Junior's Gone Wild - on the subject of soundtracks.. this was on Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey, a good one. Summer '91, right before the new shift
Jake E Lee is one of the 10 most influential guitar players for me. He was royally screwed by Ozzy and Sharon....like WTF. Two great albums post Randy and he get’s #### on. Why? Because after Bark At The Moon (which he wrote everything) he had zero rights to the music. He made sure he had them for The Ultimate Sin......and of course that led to his firing. POS is what Sharon is. She controlled everything. Badlands was a killer project. That debut album is fire. He is such a great player.71. Badlands
Very much a personal favorite, and taking us into a little Zeppelin-wannabe twofer. Sad and frustrating (for me and potentially no one else) that this is no longer streaming anywhere.
I don't know why that is, not ambitious enough to dig that deep into the googlesphere.
I invite you to read this guy's blog post and check out the album.
Wikipedia on what brought Jake E Lee from Ozzy to Badlands
Singer Ray Gillen recorded The Eternal Idol with Black Sabbath in the mid-80's before being replaced with somebody else, during their whole mess. Bounced around for a few years and ended up doing this project with Jake E. Lee. Their follow-up was OK but really I'm all about the self-titled debut. Who knows what their future might have been but SADLY.. and we say this too much around here.. Ray died in 1993 (of HIV related illness)
Winter's Call
THEY ****ING SUCKED.One more before a weekend break! We'll pick up with 69 and maybe Doro will join us.
70. Kingdom Come
Almost feels cliche to say, when I heard this on the local rock radio station, it was a natural assumption for 16 year old me that it was a Zeppelin song I had never heard, there will still a few of those. So as far as the single track that sounds the most Zeppy, these guys still hold the belt, sorry Greta Von Fleak
Besides that, it's hard to believe, thinking back, I heard something on central TX rock radio before I saw it on MTV but radio still did its job from time to time..
I picked up the tape, and it wasn't even the worst tape I bought that day.
Get It On - live!
The ballad: What Love Can Be not particularly LZ, or particularly great either
Kingdom Come opened Van Halen's 1988 Monsters of Rock tour. Check out the NYT article posted here on Van Halen's website, in which the reviewer trashes the Scorpions
Their next album was called Kingdom Come In Your Face. It was a load.
Saw these guys open for Rush and they were ridiculous. Great band that was a flash in the pan.61. Mr. Big / Racer X
Teenage guitar prodigy Paul Gilbert's Racer X - Into The Night
If not for Racer X this would be lower, but then again, hitting the top of the Hot 100 is a bump.
Buffalo NY bassist Billy Sheehan had cut his teeth with pretty well regarded local act "Talas", and then David Lee Roth's band, then started Mr. Big with young Mr. Gilbert and singer Eric Martin. Drummer Pat Torpey was in Impelliteri! among others, and unfortunately, he died of Parkinson's, bless you Mr. Pat Torpey you are not forgotten.
Anyway, they were alright, ####ed around with power drills, had some flashy stuff but nothing particularly catchy. They blew up in 1991 with a toss-off acoustic number.
Saw them open for Aerosmith, uh, I think they were good?
Addicted To That Rush
Daddy, Brother, Lover, Little Boy
HOT OFF THE PRESSES - Tom Breihan's Number Ones column on To Be With You
Tom, Mr. Big was huge in Japan because RACER X was huge in Japan. Hooking up with Paul Gilbert was a pretty shrewd move..
OK, I guess so.. there has been plenty more hammy crap..
So our band rehearsed in the same space as a lot of big acts (when they came to town and some resided in South Florida). Well......one night we are jamming...and in walks Yngwie. Yeah he was a character. I was playing thru my JC 120 with rack system and he loved the tone.....asked me if I wanted to trade him my JC 120 for one of his Carvin tube heads......He brought in the head and there was a 4X12 speaker on the stage (Mary's Place in North Miami Beach which was a great space) and I loved the tone of his amp as well....we traded amps that night. He was hilarious. Come to find out he had 12 of those heads in the studio LOL. That is my Yngwie story.54. Yngwie J. Malmsteen
The chosen one was born Lars Johan Yngve Lannerbäck in Stockholm, Sweden. Made this when he was 15.. which led to ---
And, exhale
Black Star
I'll See The Light Tonight
I saw Yngwie.. 15 years ago? at one of the places that tried to replace Hammerjacks.. and George Lynch opened!
Bonus beatz -- YJM was in Steeler with Ron KEEL -- Speed Demon ... KEEL, we salute you
A truly underrated band here. I had got to know these guys pretty well personally after their 4th album which very well may be their best work ever. Into The Sun. Check it out if you never heard it. Really.....it is freaking fantastic. Anyway hung out with Peter (Lead Guitar) and Kevin many nights and they are great human beings. It is a shame they broke up.....without Peter there is no Candlebox IMO. The music was never the same. Anyway I saw them open for Rush in 1993 and they killed it. Followed them ever since....and got to know them because my bass player works for Gibson and Peter played Les Pauls...etc etc and it went from there. Some fun times on their tour bus.....that's all I will say.53. Candlebox
The most recent band on the countdown is one that I enjoy, always have. With their debut album in 1993, strictly soundwise they straddled the line between the fading glam and the new wave of alternative rock, in solid fashion. It didn't hurt that singer Kevin Martin still had that dolled up eighties yowl.
One could easily argue, anyway, that they were a logical progression from Saigon Kick and Ugly Kid Joe.
Like so many of their peers in both camps, they faded fast. Second album was super meh, and while the third album was a nice recovery, it was 1998 at that point and they were already passé.
Fascinating that they came up in the Seattle club scene right at the time that grunge was going international. Almost like a little local backlash.
I feel like their success is an indicator that there was always plenty of room for good rock music of every strain. Conventionally speaking they generally get lumped in now with the Lives and the Lemonheads, could have been left out of this group here entirely, but they popped on MTV a bit, another band I have to live with the shame of liking, so let's just call them the last of the mohicans.
Cover Me
- not our last entry from the "With Honors" soundtrack
Far Behind
Woodstock 94 -- get in the pit!!
10,000 Horses (1998)
Rob tears up that fretboard on Headed For a Heartbreak.44. Winger
Stuart's favorites, only somewhat unfairly maligned, I mean, they're not NELSON.. but they are pretty damn wimpy.
Seventeen you're such a macho risk taker Kip Winger, singing about banging a high school junior.
Madalaine | 2 tuff 2 tame
Hungry this isn't bad
Cover of Purple Haze because pissing on sacred ground is a great way to get respect
But their best song for real, and it's super wimpy -- Headed for a Heartbreak
I was a huge 70’s Kiss fan. They were my first band (and then Rush took over my life forever). The 80’s were very hit or miss for me. But I got to see them live several times in the 80’s and they always put on great shows. Nothing beats the original lineup in terms of songs. But they became better players in the 80’s.....much better actually.36. KISS
1980.. Peter Criss is gone, Ace Frehley is leaving. Anton Fig bangs the skins for a while, but he's just a session guy. They bring in Eric Carr, and then in Ozzy-like fashion, they find a young virtuoso to play guitar. Turns out he's insane.. what say let's make today a Vinnie day.
So, no grey area here, their "MTV period" is marked clearly by all these big dumb gobstoppers--
I Love It Loud Vinnie Vincent wrote and played on Creatures but Ace appears on the cover and in the video
The makeup comes off. These dudes are ugly.
Lick It Up
Vinnie Vincent is fired because like a feral dog he cannot be told to stop playing solos. No ####. This would continue to be a problem for Vin.
Heaven's on Fire
This is KISS's third most popular song on Spotify. Not sure how that is possible
Mark St. John is their guitarist for an album but he gets arthritis and has to leave. Which sucks. Enter Bruce Kulick, who had played with Meat Loaf - his name was Robert Paulson- and Michael Bolton, not the Office Space guy.
Tears Are Falling I like this one best I guess. Finger-cheek move is primo shtick
Crazy Crazy Nights from the short lived US version of Top of the Pops
Let's the X in Sex
Smashes Thrashes and Hits also included a re-recording of their biggest hit ever - their old drummer's love song Beth, sung by their new drummer. Only KISS would do this.
Forever - big dumb ballad co-written by the Big Bolton himself.
God Gave Rock and Roll to You II - Argent cover. Around this time Eric Carr gets cancer and passes away :(
Meanwhile, Ace had his own adventures with the bottle but got his act together for a late eighties run with Frehley's Comet .. Anton Fig makes another appearance here.. my Fig boner comes from being a big Letterman dork..
Rock Soldiers
In the aftermath of all this, the original KISS members would reunite.. for a short while, and the saga would carry forward into the new millennium. Their drummer has been former Badlander Eric Singer, for some time now.
They were certainly different then what was around them....and I found their sound to be very cool.32. The Cult
@scorchy probably knows things about this band and their points of origin that I do not.
British band that started out more goth/post-punk but rocked their way into the mid-late eighties American metal mainstream. In 1983 Southern Death Cult's Ian Astbury joined forces with Billy Duffy, whose resume had included a stint with a young Steven Morrissey in a second iteration of punk rock group the Nosebleeds (no luck finding recordings or videos of this).
Third album Electric was produced by Rick Rubin...
Lil Devil
Love Removal Machine
---
Fire Woman
Edie (Ciao Baby)
Fourth album Sonic Temple was a hit with just about every metalhead I knew. With seemingly a revolving door at rhythm section - could nobody get along with these two? - they toured with a lot of big metal acts. Also, my #88 band were totally aping them.
Debut album sizzles a lot of great tracks. Very underrated.31. Living Colour
Born in London and raised in NYC, Vernon Reid cut his teeth in jazz and rock bands throughout the eighties, solidifying the Living Colour lineup after he met aspiring actor Corey Glover (spoiler- he lives!) at a party.
Cult of Personality
Middle Man
Glamour Boys
Open Letter (To A Landlord)
Sophomore effort Time's Up wasn't as successful, but was still damn good, perhaps lacking for a radio hit
Love Rears Its Ugly Head
New Jack Theme Live at the Grammies
Type
Stain had some good stuff too
Leave It Alone
Nothingness
Many years ago, @scorchy and I caught an older (than us, slightly) black rock band one night at the Sidebar, and we determined at the time that they must have been the FOURTH most successful black rock band in the late 80's / early 90's. But we can no longer remember or figure out what they were called.
One of the better 80’s hair metal bands. They actually could play. Good ####.GOOD SONGS LIKE THESE----
25. White Lion
I'm sorry OK but they had three albums with some really good stuff. This is a band that really put out a subpar effort in 1991 and thwoop! down the drain they went.
Broken Heart
All Burn In Hell HERE WE ARE BURNING PEOPLE IN HELL AGAIN
All Join Our Hands that's better
Wait my friend in hs called these cockpants
Tell Me play this and your wife will bang you
Radar Love is it controversial to love it?
Little Fighter
If My Mind Is Evil not enough cowbell
So my girlfriend in highschool and I saw these guys open for Bon Jovi in 87 and we rushed the stage to the front row.......they rocked the house. Played most of their debut album and really brought it. They seem to have faded after the debut....I like that they went more straight forward after that debut. But it did not help them achieve greater success.24. Cinderella
I wanted to be able to take the time to do my boys right.. they were definitely one of my very favorites back then, and if this was just 100% personal they'd be higher, but I am trying to be as objective as I can manage, with the top 25..
So I had them above Skid Row for a while but I just thought no, Skid Row had better songs and I think they are also more etched in the public conscience.. or maybe that's just how it seems to me. Anyway we're still a bit from Skid Row, and this feels like a good spot for these frilly warriors turned bluesy cowboys.
They were the first real rock band I saw live and they were like the freakin twin towers up there. Awesome. It was mostly the hair I guess, but I feel like Keifer and Brittingham must have some height.
Rob Halford came out later like a Keebler elf on a Harley
Tom Keifer's voice really worked, sounded more natural and less painful than most of the other throaty yowlers (Dean Davidson, Joe Leste...). But it must have been painful and he sure as schitt brought it every night in concert as far as I can tell. He started having problems and procedures after Heartbreak Station and it slowed them down for sure, what can you do...
I didn't think Heartbreak Station was particularly great but they did have momentum.
I was thinking about guys who sounded amazing but started having throat trouble relatively early, there's Tom Keifer and there's the Jawbreaker guy, maybe Cobain? not a top ten problem for him but I feel like it was out there.
Eric Brittingham.. from Salisbury, MD, birthplace of legends.
Fred Coury, holy #### he wasn't even 20, if I knew that I forgot
18, filling in with Ozzy. Master. Of course, Ozzy also wanted Marq Torien to be his guitarist.
Doubles sadlies, you may know, Jeff LaBar passed away last year, not to mention their old touring keyboardist died on the same day.
Statement from Jeff's family says enough..
Jeff LaBar's son Sebastian plays in the band Tantric now. He wasn't with them in their "heyday", but if anyone remembers Tantric.. they were the band Days of the New except they all quit because the main guy was a #####, and they started Tantric. The Slaughter of turn-of-the-millenium crud rock!
Night Songs was ###### great, I don't think there's a bad song in the bunch?, Long Cold Winter wasn't as great but started out with a couple of real jams and had plenty to offer still. Heartbreak Station, 1990/91 overall to me.. I wasn't feeling the slower, bluesier vibe or really the lyrics either, so much anymore.
They weren't able to put a fourth effort out until 1995, Still Climbing, and it's not bad, totally listenable but again the lyrics feel forced.
Shake Me
Nobody's Fool
Sign me up for this Limited series, Netflix!
Gypsy Road
Long Cold Winter zeppy number, Tom sells it
Bad Seamstress Blues/Fallin' Apart At The Seams Live MMP 1989 - this was the next lowest band on the bill after gorkies
Don't Know What You've Got live around then
Japan 1987 full show!
So....just catching up in here....awesome thread. I am really stoked to see the top 20. This was my middle school and high school life here!!
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