The Story of Rock and Roll Radio Show

Due to popular demand here is the Zakk Wylde Rock Review that aired on Rebel Rock Radio on 19 Oct 2021.  It was a good look at his work with Ozzy, Black Label Society and his solo stuff.  As always 60 min is a stretch but I think we did the big man justice.  

The Story of Rock and Roll.  TSORR - Your one-stop shop for Rock

So that, as they say, is a wrap.  2021 in its P.  Season 4 ended with episode 52 and it aired live on 30 Dec 2021 on Rebel Rock Radio.  It was a wonderful show featuring music released in 2021.   I ran out of time and should definitely have done a 4-hour show.  My biggest disappointment was not having enough time to play the title track from Deangersmith's amazing album Lead Us To Your Taker (Disable the Corrupt)  or what I consider to be the best SA release this year, a gem by metal outfit Sunken State called Solace in Solitude.  Other noticeable exceptions were Mastodon and Trivium and glaringly Dee Snider.  So with those apologies out the way and a commitment to fixing that in 2022 let's have a quick summing up. 

The show kicked off fittingly with Tom Morello (feat Bring Me The Horizon) and a track called 'Let's Get this Party Started'.  From there we continued with Alice Cooper's 'Hanging By a Thread' off Detroit Stories and wound our way through US and UK releases to our first SA release, Albert Frost's title track 'Sacred Sound'.  Other SA talent featured included Dan Patlansky with 'Hounds Loose', Roland Suttie with 'Messages in My Head', and a stunning track from a band called Imagine&Nation out of Cape Town.  The song was called 'Rivers and Dreams' off an EP called Never Be Quiet.  I am hoping for more material from these guys in 2022.  They definitely got an additional sale on iTunes last night and well deserved too.  We checked out Nibs Van Der Spuy and Guy Buttery off Live in Lisbon.  Exodus put out the best seriously heavy album in my view, we took a listen to 'Elitist'.  Gary Holt has done amazing work on this album. 

The last hour was a rush to get to the 6 tracks that really rounded out 2021 as a fantastic year in music.  My favourite SA song was 'Beautiful Evolution' by Springbok Nude Girls and my best overall song was 'My Love Remains' by Ayron Jones.  It's reminiscent of 'Purple Rain' and it's loaded with emotion and has an awesome solo and just hits the spot.  Comments on the Whatsapp line pretty much confirmed this song as being exceptionally good.  The L.A. Maybe, Smith / Kotzen, and Neil Young were in my top 5 and I gave 2nd favourite to Volbeat and played 'Wait A Minute My Girl' before closing off with my personal album of 2021, Doom Crew Inc from Black Label Society.  'Farewell Ballad' off this seriously good album closed a great year in music and marked the conclusion of Season 4 of The Story of Rock and Roll Radio Show.  Thanks for all the support and I hope to see you for Season 5.     

Artists featured:  Tom Morello, Alice Cooper, Thunder, L.A. Guns, U.D.O., Albert Frost, Blaze Bayley, Joe Bonamassa, Gojira, Buckcherry, Todd la Torre, Billy Gibbons, Dan Patlansky, Image&Nation, Greta Van Fleet, Exodus, Me & That Man, Ricky Warwick, Michael Schenker, Iron Maiden, KK’s Priest, Nibs Van Der Spuy & Guy Buttery, Roland Suttie, Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros, Foo Fighters, The Stranglers, The Pretty Reckless, Seether, Serj Tankian, Smith / Kotzen, The L.A. Maybe, Springbok Nude Girls, Ayron Jones, Volbeat, Neil Young, Black Label Society

The Story of Rock and Roll.  TSORR - Your one-stop shop for Rock

Not sure what to say about this one,   It went out live on Rebel Rock Radio at 19h00 on 23 Dec 2021.  I wasn't in a good space at all, I think that you'll hear that, in the words of Simon & Garfunkel "I am distracted and diffused".  I get some mojo back about halfway.  Another factor is that 2021 has been a fantastic year for good music and I have been very busy putting together next week's show which will be spectacular.  I am looking forward to putting a knife into the heart of 2021 and I have an incredible soundtrack to do just that. 

This show was very much a jam session, it is noticeable for the lack of heavy hitters like Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, and Metallica and for the inclusion of more obscure bands like Gluecifer, The Raven Age, Cirith Ungol, Stone Sour, Iced earth and the like.   It also only features one SA band in the form of the very likable Future Radio and their track called 'State of Emergency'.  I didn't love this episode but maybe it will grow on me.  I was very quiet on the WhatsApp line and that always affects the show negatively, December is notoriously quiet and the ratings for RRR always fall through the floor.  In the final analysis is was heavier than normal with Pantera, Deangersmith, Exodus, Anthrax, Children of Bodom & Kreator.  It will probably end up being one of the most popular shows ever.   

The highlight for me was 'The Fires of Division' by Exodus off their new masterpiece Persona Non-Grata, Gary Holt has excelled on this.  The lowlight was the auto DJ kicking in every time the wifi connection drops.  You won't hear it on the podcast but it really breaks the rhythm of the live show.  I am looking forward to next week's show,  if 2021 gave us nothing else the music released was fantastic.  

Artists featured:  Palaye Royale, Last in Line, Accept, Black Sabbath, Children of Bodom, Exodus, Killswitch Engage, Linkin Park, Led Zeppelin, Thin Lizzy, The Sweet, Sixx A.M., Cirith Ungol, Hinder, Stone Sour, Kid Rock, Buckcherry, Rush. Texas Hippie Coalition, Lindemann, Iced Earth. John Mellencamp, James Reyne, Pantera, The Raven Age, The Stranglers, The Distillers, The Temperance Movement, Black Label Society, ACDC, Mammoth WVH, Future Radio, Kiss, Gluecifer, Volbeat, Deangersmith, Kreator, Anthrax

The Story of Rock and Roll.  TSORR - Your one-stop shop for Rock

Episode 50, two to go in Season 4 and we are done.  This episode aired on 16 Dec 2021, Beethovens birthday.  We started with a few minutes of 'Symphony No 9', known as Scherzo before moving on with Deep Purple and Highway Star.  After that is was standard fare with Def Leppard, Metallica, a bit of Megadeth off the Cryptic Writings album, and a track called She-Wolf. 

The love affair with Boston and Greta Van Fleet continued and I continued to play new stuff off the latest Volbeat and Black Label Society albums.  The brand new Neil Young called Barn and the third album from Nergal's side outfit Me and That Man went down very well.  The track we heard was called 'All Hope is Gone and featured Exodus / Slayer guitarist Gary Holt, Mantas from Venom, and Blaize Bayley ex Wolfsbane and Iron Maiden.  The album is called New Songs, New Man, Same Shit Vol 2.  

There was a sad moment for me personally as I paid tribute to a very special lady who was very much a second mother to me growing up and sadly passed away this week.  I am currently in lockdown as my daughter has covid so covid once again permeated the show in a not so subtle way.  Other than that it was a mix of classic (Iron Maiden, Judas Priest), heavy (Parkway Drive, Arch Enemy), and some acoustic-type stuff from The Boss Bruce Springsteen. I ran out of time and just managed to slip in the SA music right at the end.  You'll get The Uninvited and the Koos Kombuis classic 'Johnny is Nie Dood Nie' if you hang in all the way to the end.  

Artists featured:  Ludwig van Beethoven, Deep Purple, Def Leppard, Cold Chisel, Halestorm, Megadeth, Metallica, Boston, ACDC, Massive Wagons, The L.A. Maybe, The Pretty Reckless, Motörhead, Mötley Crüe, Foo Fighters, Greta Van Fleet, Leslie Wes, Jonny Lang, Scott Stapp, In This Moment, Blue Oyster Cult, Me & That Man, Scorpions, Volbeat, Queen, David Essex, Hollywood Vampires, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Monster Truck, Black Label Society, Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen, Van Halen, Seether, Arch Enemy, Parkway Drive, The Uninvited, Koos Kombuis

The Story of Rock and Roll.  TSORR - Your one-stop shop for Rock

S4E49 aired on 9 Dec 2021 on Rebel Rock Radio.  It is probably one of the few episodes that haven't featured heavy hitters such and Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, ACDC, Metallica, or Guns 'n' Roses.  So, in that respect, it is quite different.   We kicked off with 'Bat Country' from Avenged Sevenfold.  It's a track that pays homage to Hunter S. Thompson's essential reading masterpiece Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas  Then we had a few topical songs such as 'Get Me Out of this Place' by Rose Tattoo and 'Heat Wave' from Thundermother.  Buckcherry and Boston bought some party to the proceedings.  Hellyeah's cover of the Phil Collins hit 'I Don't Care Anymore' made the point that Covid really needs to move on now, it's time to get on with life. 

There were a number of regular TSORR listeners tuned in and I aimed a couple of tunes in their direction, Rory Gallagher, The Jam, The Clash, Stiff Little Fingers, the brand New Volbeat track Shotgun Blues, and Stone Sour's 'Your God' were all dedicated to people who join me week after week. I am very grateful to you guys.  SA music included Koos Kombuis's scathing attack on the SA situation with 'The Fokkol Song', as I pointed out that was recorded in 2010 and things have only got worse :-).  Johnathan Martin showed once again that he is the most underrated musician in the country.  Johnathan deserves way more success than he has had, his songwriting, singing, and guitar playing are world-class.  We also checked out The Color Blew and Jasper Dan. 

Highlights of the show for me were the seriously heavy duo provided by Machine Head and Exodus and then the rather subdued ending provided by 8 minutes of Neil Young, a very moving Springsteen track, and 'Backwards Traveler' from Wings' London Town album.  the show ended fittingly with 'Out of Time', a 1966 release from The Rolling Stones.  

Artists featured: Avenged Sevenfold, Extreme, Ozzy Osbourne, Rose Tattoo, Thundermother, Desperado, Buckcherry, Boston, Seether, Hellyeah, Live, Machine Head, Exodus, Alice Cooper, Hinder, Led Zeppelin, Greta Van Fleet, The Jam, Stiff Little Fingers, The Clash, Volbeat, Black Label Society, Stone Sour, Rory Gallagher, Koos Kombuis, Johnathan Martin, Jasper Dan, The Color Blew, Warrior Soul, Skid Row, Edguy, KK’s Priest, Bruce Springsteen, Wings, The Rolling Stones.  

The Story of Rock and Roll.  TSORR - Your one-stop shop for Rock

Here's a fairly recent Rock Review, it aired on Rebel Rock radio on 30 Nov 2021 and it went down really well.  AX7 is one of those bands that you need to spend a bit of time on, once you get it you really get it.  This RR focused on giving you a broad introduction to this most excellent band.  

The Story of Rock and Roll.  TSORR - Your one-stop shop for Rock

We are near the end of Season 4 now, as the season closes and we build to the 2021 wrap up we have episode 48 as a bitter-sweet reminder of how this year has gone.  The episode aired on Rebel Rock Radio at 19h00 on 2 Dec 2021.  The show kicked off with Thin Lizzy's 'Are You Ready'  and was followed by a whole host of tracks off albums released in '84 / '85.  These included Dokken, Qr, Deep Purple, and Hanoi Rocks with a track called 'Underwater World' off the brilliant Two Steps From The Move album.  I have most of these albums on vinyl and it is fantastic how good they still sound over 25 years later.  I am grateful that I was participating as much as I was during this prolific Metal Age.  

I said hello to a few friends who had tuned in and we hit the Fo Fighters with 'Times Like THese' and Kid Rock's 'Wasting Time'.  There was a number of very special supporters of TSORR tuned in and it was great to shift the show in their direction.  A highlight for me was Rage Against the Machine's 'Killing in the Name'.  I don't think it has been played on the show before, for the life of me I don't know why.  It's a true masterpiece and the sentiment is probably more relevant today than ever before "fuck you I won't do what you tell me".  What a rallying cry in a world of politicians and bureaucrats hell-bent on deciding what's good for you.  

Up until this point, the show was light on metal so I fixed that with a 3M triple play of Megadeth, Mercyful Fate, and Metallica and how they link up.  From here we had a bit of punk and some blues-based rock from our very own Dan Patlansky and the wonderful Samantha Fish.  Dan's new track 'Hounds Loose' is great, check it out.  On a personal note, I said cheers to a loving and loyal little black dog named Lara who we sadly had to put to sleep and I am sure that as this year draws to a close many of you can relate to the sadness that seems to permeate everything in 2021, Temple of the Dog with 'Say Hello 2 Heaven' and Judas Priest with 'Beyond The Realms of Death' did the job.  We ended with some more local stuff, Asylum Kids, The Uninvited, and The Fismits.   We closed with U2's masterpiece ' Moment of Surrender'.  The highlight for me was Lyzyrd Kyngs and Piet Botha's beautiful lyric, check it out and feel that piloerection.   

Thin Lizzy, Hanoi Rocks, Vandenburg, Blackfoot, Deep Purple, Dokken, Q5, Rammstein, Volbeat, Stone Temple Pilots, Brownsville Station, Foo Fighters, Kid Rock, Black Label Society, Kiss, Rage Against The Machine, The Roling Stones, Jasper Dan, Lyzyrd Kyngs, Blues Scream, Megadeth, Mercyful Fate, Metallica, Mason Hill, The Clash, Ramones, The Offspring, Dan Patlansky, Samantha Fish, Temple of the Dog, Judas Priest, Asylum Kids, The Uninvited, The Fismits, ACDC, U2

The Story of Rock and Roll.  TSORR - Your one-stop shop for Rock

Episode 47 of season 4 aired on Rebel Rock Radio at 19h00 on Thursday 25 Nov.  We kicked off 'nicely' as requested by one of the ladies in the office.  Nicely lasted about 2 minutes and then we were off and running with Manowar.  We went onto the SA music early and took a listen to a track of Albert Frost's new release called Sacred Sound.  Johnathan Martin got a chance next with '7 Years Bad Luck'.  In between, we had a bit of Queensrÿche and Gary Moore before getting back to South Africa and two of our most iconic SA bands, Dog Detachment and Asylum Kids.  The Whatsapp line comments confirmed the wisdom of this selection. 

We took in a lekker little early '70s twosome with Free's track 'Remember' and Elton John with 'Razor Face' off the fantastic Madman Across the Water album.  A highlight for me was the new release from Pirates of Radio called 'Parasite'.  I reckon it's their best release so far and you should wake up with it stuck in your head.  Things took a turn for the weird with Electric Six's 'Danger, High Voltage' which was fun to hear again.   

Then it was time for a bit of Metal courtesy of Iron Maiden Judas Priest and Hell Fire.   The Jesus and Mary Chain, Falling Mirror, John Mellencamp and Earl Slick with a  superb cover of Sam Cooke's ' A Change is Gonna Come' provided a bit of respite before we built all the way back up to Warrior Soul, In Flames and the phenomenal Parkway Drive.  All in all, it was pretty, pretty, pretty good.  

 Artists featured:  Joe Bonamassa, Manowar, Ace Frehley, Boston, Triumph, Devils Train, Blackberry Smoke, W.A.S.P., Albert Frost, Johnathan Martin, Burning Rain, Gary Moore, Massive Wagons, Queensrÿche, Dog Detachment, Asylum Kids, Def Leppard, Black Sabbath, Free, Elton John, My Chemical Romance, Linkin Park, Pirates of Radio, Electric Six, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Hell Fire, Metallica, The Jesus And Mary Chain, Falling Mirror, John Mellencamp, Springbok Nude Girls, Earl Slick, The Cult, Joan Jett, Warrior Soul, In Flames, Parkway Drive, Bob Dylan.  

The Story of Rock and Roll.  TSORR - Your one-stop shop for Rock

Episode 46 aired live on Rebel Rock Radio at 19h00 on 18 November 2021.  It was a show that I used as therapy to move through a really bad day at work.  You know those days where everything just goes wrong?  Yeah, one of those.  There was a massive thunderstorm in JHB with roads underwater, accidents, cars on the side of the road, and load shedding on top of all of this.  It was a great opportunity to demonstrate the therapeutic power of rock.  We kicked off with ACDC and 'If You Want Blood (You Got It)', then went over to Germany for 'Wild, Wild Nights,' another track off the brand new Running Wild album called Blood on Blood.  A bit of ZZ Top followed and then some Triumph which I thought was a highlight of the show. It is easy to give Rush all the credit for great Canadian music and forget about Rik Emmett and the lads.  This track ' Fight The Good Fight' shows admirably how good Triumph and the Allied Forces album was. 

We had plenty of heavy hitters; Rammstein, System of a Down, Five Finger Death Punch, and then some Boston and Foreigner to highlight why some people are stuck in the '70s.  Pearl Jam and Soundgarden took care of the grunge and Ramones and Blink 182 gave us our weekly dose of punk.  Then a strange thing happened and I played 'Mirror in the Bathroom' by The Beat which was a song I didn't like when it came out in 1980.  This is probably because it was the opposite of British Steel, Back In Black, Blizzard of Oz, Ace of Spades, Heaven and Hell, and Iron Maiden which were shaping my life at the time.  But it sounded good, I have mellowed.  

From there we tipped the hat again to Tokyo and Sao Paulo who are leading the listenership rankings for TSORR podcasts.  Sepultura's 'Refuse / Resist' was awesome and I enjoyed Japan's Lovebites with a track called 'The Wrath of the Hammer'.  From there it was the downhill run, there was a 5-minute break in the transmission of the live show as the power came back and the wifi had to restart.  The joys of an ANC run South Africa are evident.  We took a listen to the guitar work of Anton Lamour on Valiant Swarts' track 'Droomrivier', this was a small tribute to Theuns Jordaan who passed away this week and was loved and respected by many. The new Mastodon is awesome, we listened to 'The Beast', the show ended in grand style with 'Strachan' by The Hitchers and then some input from the Gallagher brothers with both Noel Gallaghers High Flying Birds and then Oasis.  As usual, I totally ran out of time.   

Artists featured:  ACDC, Running Wild, Backyard Babies, Black Stone Cherry, Triumph, ZZ Top, Black Country Communion, The Dead Daisies, System of A Down, Five Finger Death Punch, Boston, Foreigner, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Equator, Children of Bodom, Mother Love Bone, Jimmy Barnes, Rammstein, Texas Hippie Coalition, Blink 182, Ramones, The Beat, Sepultura, Lovebites, Valiant Swart, Jack Hammer, Metallica, Volbeat, Samantha Fish, Judas Priest, Tom Petty, Mastodon, The Hitchers, Noel Gallaghers High Flying Birds, Oasis, Nirvana

The Story of Rock and Roll.  TSORR - Your one-stop shop for Rock

Season 4  Episode 45 aired on Rebel Rock Radio at 19h00 on 11 Nov 2021.  I have to confess that I thoroughly enjoyed this episode very much.  It has been a rough week with load shedding in South Africa, we have had power outages for two to three hours at a time 3 to 4 hours a day.  There is a general feeling of burnout and a bit of high octane rock and roll was the best antidote in the world. 

We kicked off in grand style with BulletBoys and a track called 'Hell on My Heels'  the immortal opening count-in from Marq Torien serving as a message to the government.  From there we continued with '80s metal in 2021 with Running Wild's latest release Blood on Blood and Mötley Crüe reminding us of how it was back in the day with 'Bad Boy Boogie' off Girls, Girls, Girls.  Then a trip back to the early '70s with Alice Cooper and Grandfunk Railroad.  And so it continued for a blistering 3 hours.

It was wonderful to have 3 of the original TSORR supporters tuned in.  TSORR started on the community station Mix FM in Midrand JHB on 21 Dec 2017 and was on air between midnight and 2 am and 4 years later it is great to have some of those listeners still tuning in.  There was another amazing thing about this show,  in recent episodes, Sao Paulo Brazil and Tokyo Japan have become the top listeners of the show and I paid tribute to both.  In their honour, we checked out Sepultura and Loudness and raised a glass in appreciation of the support around the world as TSORR edges towards 15 000 listens.    

There was some great SA music from blues master Dan Patlansky, a gritty track from Jasper Dan and a really excellent song by The Burning called 'Taking My Kindness'.  The Aussies got a look in as always with Cold Chisel and The Screaming Jets and Germany with a brand new track from Scorpions called 'Peacemaker', there was also the obligatory bit of Rammstein.   Check it out it was a jol.   

PS, there was also the great exposure of the truth that Dee Snider is really Larry David :-)

Artists featured:  Bulletboys, Running Wild, Mötley Crüe, Alice Cooper, Grand Funk Railroad, Disturbed, Therapy?, Rammstein, Marilyn Manson, Cold Chisel, The Screaming Jets, Blue Oyster Cult, Kiss, Guns ‘n’ Roses, Death Angel, Iron Maiden, Greta Van Fleet, Massive Wagons, Twisted Sister, Motörhead, Sex Pistols, The Jam, Social Distortion, Dan Patlansky, Jasper Dan, Sepultura, Loudness, Kid Rock, John Cougar, Metallica, Wrathchild America, Scorpions, Mastodon, Black Label Society, The Burning, The L.A. Maybe. The Gaslight Anthem, Little Steven, Foo Fighters, Joan Jett & The Blackhearts

The Story of Rock and Roll.  TSORR - Your one-stop shop for Rock