Back in the early Spring of 1991, my girlfriend, (now my wife), and I ventured down to the New Haven Coliseum in New Haven, Connecticut… to frolic through a record convention. Record conventions are the best. I am guilty of not going to enough of these glorious events in my lifetime. Regardless, this record convention was chock full of vinyl, CD’s and all things Rock memorabilia that I could ever wish for. Oh yeah, there was Heavy Metal aplenty at this record convention back then… tons of it. The only parameter I needed to follow at this show was to narrow down my search, (I was not loaded with cash back then and I’m still not). Motorhead was at the top of my search list, going to this record convention. There was quite the choice of Motorhead vinyl, cassettes and CD’s to buy there… I settled on the 7″ vinyl, (45 rpm), The One To Sing The Blues. Even though I can’t remember what I actually paid for this Motorhead record, compared to purchasing a 12″ album import at the time, it was a good deal. Seven dollars keeps coming back to me, as to the purchase price though.
We left that record convention that day with just a couple of purchases. The other purchase I will save for a future post, (it was a cool piece of vinyl as well). I still own this Motorhead 45 rpm, rediscovering it recently as it was hidden away in my collection. Am I psyched that I still have it after 19 years? You betcha. I would safely guess this Motorhead record is kinda rare. The backside cover to this record sleeve has the header – Motorhead On Tour, it lists the U.K. concert dates for February 1991. There are 14 concert dates listed. Also on this backside record sleeve cover, are the complete lyrics to The One To Sing The Blues. Sure, I look back and wish I gobbled up every Motorhead vinyl treasure there was at that record convention, nonetheless, I am content with what I do have. This little record has it’s rightful place in my record collection, it being a Motorhead collectible and finding it with my wife, (then girlfriend), makes for a great memento.
Here is additional info on this Motorhead 45 rpm, The One To Sing The Blues:
Side A: The One To Sing The Blues
Side B: Dead Man’s Hand
* This record being bought in the U.S., is an import… with a Made In The U.K. sticker on the front sleeve of my copy I own.
* The One To Sing The Blues later appears on the Motorhead 1991 album – 1916. The backside record sleeve states this song as: Taken from the forthcoming LP/MC/CD “1916”
* The record label(s) as designated on the backside of the record sleeve and record: WTG Records and Epic
Motorhead, as they appeared on The One To Sing The Blues and Dead Man’s Hand:
Lemmy Kilmister – bass and lead vocals
Wurzel – guitar
Phil Campbell – guitar
Philthy Animal Taylor – drums
Thank you Blackie Lawless. Thank you for not going away, taking an extended leave of absence or selling out. There are too many 1980’s Heavy Metal Bands that did just those things, now they are scrambling to make their triumphant comeback or best album ever. Some are doing just that, only Blackie Lawless does not belong to that club. The Heavy Metal membership card that Blackie Lawless holds says two words… for life. Why shouldn’t it say just that? The true fans of Heavy Metal and/or W.A.S.P. are in it for life. While the 1990’s ushered in the Grunge genre and scores of pretentious bands (being mistakenly labeled) Heavy Metal, all the while lining up at Hollywood’s red carpet gala’s for accolades, W.A.S.P. was too busy making real Heavy Metal albums of integrity. The politically correct mainstream press was not a necessity for W.A.S.P.’s survival then, it certainly is not now. There is no return of or part ll theme happening with W.A.S.P., just a band that is a Heavy Metal mainstay, due to the perseverance and creativity of Blackie Lawless. To take a quote from Blackie Lawless, (as stated in the liner notes from Babylon)… If it is not the truth, it will not stand.
Crazy is the opening song on Babylon. The weight of the world always seems to be put on the opening track of any album. The first song sets the table for the remainder of the album, good or bad, this all important track can either be the demise or exclamation point for the songs that follow. With Crazy, this song kicks and extends it’s Heavy Metal tentacles like a giant sea squid on a caffeine rush. Crazy is the prelude to nine Heavy Metal songs of substance, this song alone foretells that W.A.S.P. connects in 2009. Blackie Lawless borrowed some of his Old School Heavy Metal and fused it with a more mature presentation, both with lyrics and tempo. Sure, Crazy is a fast moving song, only it’s the streamlined sound of it’s speed that makes it so appreciable. The consistency of Heavy Metal muscle is what I have come to expect from W.A.S.P., Crazy illuminates and flexes it from the opening note. My best Metal buddy Scott cued me into the comparison of Crazy to Wild Child, from the 1985 W.A.S.P. classic, The Last Command. (This was well before I owned a copy of Babylon, Scott was a lucky one who nailed Babylon on it’s import release date of October 13th). The opening guitar intro to both Crazy and Wild Child are very similar, still not a mirror image note for note.
Badlands was a Heavy Metal band that I caught onto the instant they released their debut/self titled album – Badlands
Ozzy Osbourne, the Heavy Metal Prince of Darkness. Ozzy Osbourne – Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee with Black Sabbath. Honestly, I revere the living hell out of this Heavy Metal legend. I did get to see Ozzy Osbourne live in concert twice during my lifetime. For me, those two concerts were unbelievable, with Metallica opening up for Ozzy in New Haven Connecticut, (at the spooky New Haven Coliseum) – it was The Ultimate Sin Tour for Ozzy and Metallica was promoting their legendary Master of Puppets album. The other Ozzy concert I saw had Queensryche open for Ozzy in Springfield, Massachusetts, (at the Springfield Civic Center), on this same Ultimate Sin Tour. Alright, so it is obvious I think the Metal world of Ozzy Osbourne… fine. However, by process of elimination, there has to be my least favorite Ozzy Osbourne song out there and there is one. I do not think much of the song, uh, ballad So Tired from Ozzy’s Bark At The Moon album. This song, ugh, ballad is responsible for my distaste of most Heavy Metal ballads ever released since, by any band. This album was released on December 10, 1983. Don’t get me wrong here, the Bark At The Moon album as a whole, is unreal good. Three songs on this album are incredible for me… Rock ‘n’ Roll Rebel, You’re No Different and of course – Bark At The Moon. These three Ozzy songs I can hold up on a Metal pedestal forever. Plus, Jake E. Lee on guitar is a Metal bonus to listen to.
Motorhead is and always will be a core favorite Heavy Metal Band of mine, (a top 3 band without a doubt). I was first introduced to this prolific band back around 1983, a friend of mine in high school gave me an 8-track of a live Motorhead bootleg. (This dudes name was Rich, I am glad we had crossed paths back then). The sound was enormously awful, (the actual 8-track didn’t help), the lead vocals were beyond raspy and unclear and the Heavy Metal Music being played was raw, uncommercial and unlike anything I had ever heard before in my young life. I loved it. I was beyond thrilled at listening to this Motorhead 8-track. I was enamored by every unpolished intricacy that my rookie Metalhead ears heard. Here is this band, on a beat up 8-track, recorded as a live bootleg somewhere far away in the world, that only a dozen or so dudes in my high school even knew about at that time in 1983. All that was written on the blank white sticker on this 8-track was a barely legible – Motorhead Live. I’ll never forget that… an Old School Metal memory at it’s most innocent. I was awe struck by the unnatural vocals of Lemmy Kilmister and his bass was over powering to boot. Gimme some more Motorhead is what I said.
When I listen to 
At the end of the day, I thank my lucky Metal stars that Krokus has existed – and still exists as a Heavy Metal Band. I have listened to Krokus since the early ’80’s, with Headhunter
Phew, now that this Krokus introduction is out of my Metal system, I can get excited now about telling the world about their 2003 album – Rock The Block 
Slaughter – Stick It To Ya 
I have owned for some time, the CD – The Best Of by Slaughter, the ten songs on this disc are great, only Fly To The Angels and Spend My Life are missing from the song selection. Not cool. So, I promised myself to add the real Slaughter albums to my CD collection over time, starting with Stick It To Ya. About one week ago, I found the used copy of Stick It To Ya at my local f.y.e., the astounding Metal price of $4.49 is all it took for me to claim this CD as my own. Man, I cannot get enough of this album… every single song too. Going back to 1990 for just a 
Twisted Sister – Love Is For Suckers was released on August 13, 1987, on Atlantic Records. Back then, as a Metal fan, I was totally engulfed with Thrash and Speed Metal. To make a Metal confession, I never bought this Twisted Sister album, after owning their first four albums. I was not overly impressed with Come Out And Play, (released in 1985), I guess the first three Twisted Sister albums really spoiled me. So, I took in whatever songs MTV or the FM stations were playing from Love Is For Suckers. Seeing the video for Hot Love and hearing it played on FM radio very frequently, back in 1987-1988 was, I thought, the coolest extent of this album. I always liked Hot Love, this song reminds me of some cool times back in 1987-88… and there isn’t anything wrong with that. Hot Love is upbeat and (gasp), commercially catchy in it’s unique Heavy Metal way. A few years ago, I bought Twisted Sister’s Big Hits and Nasty Cuts: The Best of Twisted Sister, it contains several cool live bonus tracks that enticed me… unreal great songs at that. The Metal kicker here, is that there are no songs from Love is for Suckers on this Best of album… I smell controversy. Therefore, my continuation of never hearing more than Hot Love from Love is for Suckers continued… Fast forward to September 18, 2009… Twisted Sister – Love is for Suckers has for all Metal intents and purposes, made a sucker out of me.
My favorite Saxon song ever created is Denim And Leather, found on their 1981 album Denim And Leather. The riff that repeats throughout this entire song is so addicting and memorable for me. I swear that this song could never lose it’s Metal appeal, ever. Each time I listen to Denim And Leather, this song just resonates with Old School Heavy Metal swagger, pride and power. The power is in the Heavy Metal music, the pride is in the lyrics and the swagger is Biff Byford on lead vocals. Denim And Leather is probably one of the very first in a long line of Heavy Metal anthems. (I would not want to take on the task of actually researching which song was the very first Heavy Metal anthem … it does sound like a cool thing to do if I have the spare time in the future though). If I ever make a list of my top 25 favorite Heavy Metal songs of all time, man, Denim And Leather would be right up there. If someone who has never listened to Saxon before, asked me to play them a song from Saxon, Denim And Leather would be choice #1. When this song gets cranked up really loud, it makes for the Metal maximum enjoyable listen.
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