The Story of Rock and Roll Radio Show

Episode 44 of Season 4 aired on 4 Nov 2021 at 19h00 on Rebel Rock Radio.  Kicking off with Van Halen and running through a series of rockers from the likes of Quiet Riot, Chrome Division and Jorn got the show off to a lively start.  We had a bit of prog for a change, Porcupine Tree and Mastodon doing the honours.  I have always seen Mastodon as a metal band despite the prog label attached to them.  They have definitely moved in that direction in the last 10 or so years. 

We celebrated 20 years since Nirvana's Nevermind and played 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' and more grungy stuff from L7, then into a very cool cover of 'Boys of Summer' by The Ataris.  For some reason, we had fewer of the classic bands like Judas Priest, Aerosmith & W.A.S.P than normal.  I think it's probably the first time ACDC didn't get a run.  We also made up for the lack of SA music last week and checked out Fokofpolisiekar & Arapaho.  I needed to wrap up the elections theme that I started last week and The Uninvited and The Burning, out of Cape Town and Benoni respectively stepped up for the job.  The final word on elections was given to Deangersmith from his album Lead Me To Your Taker (Disable the Corrupt) and a track called ' The Bigger They Are The Harder They Fall'.  

P.S. The Hollywood Vampires track featured Jeff Beck, I couldn't find it during the show.  
P.P.S after hearing this again I found a bit at around 2:08 where I obviously didn't put the microphone on.  It's after AMH before Arapaho and I had been asked to mention to people that all those letting off firecrackers for Guy Fawkes / Divali are terrorizing a lot of very loved pets.  Please forgive the gap and don't adjust your set.  It's about 60 sec but feels like forever from my perspective :-( 

Artists featured:  Van Halen, Wolf, Quiet Riot, Jorn, Chrome Division, Hollywood Vampires, Wilko Johnson & Roger Daltrey, W.A.S.P., Avenged Sevenfold, Rob Zombie, System of a Down, Porcupine Tree, Mastodon, Nirvana, L7, The Ataris, The Clash, We Are Harlot, Trivium, Judas Priest, Manowar, Danko Jones, Buckcherry, Demon, Faith No More, Aerosmith, AMH, Arapaho, Fokofpolisiekar, Hinder, Dave Hause, Neil Young, The Uninvited, The Burning, Audioslave, Clutch, Massive Wagons, Volbeat, Deangersmith

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

Episode 43 of Season 4 went out live on Rebel Rock Radio on 28 Oct 2021.  It was politically charged, I had no choice.  In the midst of load-shedding 4 times a day, labour unrest and trucks being burnt on the  N3, South Africa is on its knees due to the disastrous ANC government.  A rot started by Jacob Zuma and perpetuated by Cyril Ramaposa is destroying the country.  Municipal elections are taking place on 1 November, this show is inextricably linked to this point in time. 

We kicked off in party mode with My Chemical Romance and 'Vampire Money' off Danger Days.  next up Massive Wagons off their 2020 release House of Noise.  Then it was time for ACDC and it flowed from there.  There were plenty of classic bands.  We heard from the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, The Doors and Alice Cooper with 'Elected' (what else?).  New stuff came from Joe Bonamassa off his new Time Clocks album, and from KK's Priest with 'Metal Through and Through'.  Note that AA Milne is not in the band :-). 

As shows go it was pretty well balanced.  We had Venom, the godfathers of today's metal, with a track called 'Don't Burn the Witch'.  We had punk courtesy of The Stranglers and UK Subs, we had the blues with Joe Bonamassa and Rory Gallagher, we had amazing guitarists in Mr Big, Winery Dogs and with Gary Moore.  Reference was made to the situation with the songs.  For example, We had The Cruel Sea with 'Anybody But You',  Adrenaline Mob with 'Judgement Day',  'Race to Extinction' from Accept,  and, another track possibly written about the SA government titled 'Straight From Hell' by Helloween,  In the end, we had some good positivity with Little Steven and 'Out of the Darkness' which I sincerely hope I will be able to report on favourably next week.  We shall see. 

Artists featured:  My Chemical Romance, Massive Wagons, ACDC, The Rolling Stones, The Cruel Sea, Seether, Accept, Helloween, Anthrax, Ratt, Bad Company, Billy Talent, Soundgarden, The Doors, Led Zeppelin, KK’s Priest, Adrenaline Mob, Alice Cooper, Iron Maiden, Great White, Venom, The Stranglers, UK Subs, Anti-Flag, The Donnas, The Cult, Rush, Killswitch Engage, Avenged Sevenfold, Joe Bonamassa, Rory Gallagher, Mr Big, The Winery Dogs, Gary Moore, Judas Priest, Metallica, Little Steven, Richard O’Brien, The Uninvited

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

S4E42 aired on Rebel Rock Radio on 21 Oct 2021.  I was in Clarens with my band the Bunk Girls Motorcycle Club on a guitar clinic with the most amazing Dan Patlansky so the episode felt a bit different from normal.  Having people around changes what you play and consequently, it's the first show that doesn't have something really heavy, no Slipknot, No Trivium, no Killswotch, sorry about that.  

We kicked off in the usual way with some upbeat rock and roll from Buckcherry of the new album Hellbound,  Avenged Sevenfold's 'Girl I Know' off Diamonds in the Rough.  We stayed raucous for about  an hour and then got into the Neil Young, Springsteen phase before going really bluesy with the ladies, Larkin Po 9making a TSORR debut) and the wonderful Samantha Fish with a track called Down in the Swamp.   

There was a nice stretch of SA music with Dan Patlansky and Albert Frost, two of the finest players around.  We paid special attention to Dan's tone and the fact that it is a product of a relentless lifelong search to get the right sound.   I then did something weird and played pretty much every band that the haters love to hate in a row.  I don't plan these things it just worked out like that.  All in all, I don't know what I think of this one, let's see what you think, comments as always are welcome, you can find The Story of Rock and Roll's Facebook page if you have anything to say about it.  Peace.    

Artists featured:  Buckcherry, Avenged Sevenfold, Godsmack, Halestorm, Warrior Soul, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Black Stone Cherry, Massive Wagons, Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen, Larkin Po, Samantha Fish, The Who, Jimi Hendrix, Megadeth, Hellfighter, ACDC, Kiss, Rush, Springbok Nude Girls, Bed On Bricks, Dan Patlansky, Albert Frost, Hinder, Nickelback, Def Leppard, Greta Van Fleet, Supertramp, Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band, John Mellencamp, Kid Rock, L7, Marilyn Manson, Matthew Good Band, The Wildhearts, The Damned, Foo Fighters, Mötley Crüe

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

Episode 41 of Season 4 contained 40 songs which is probably a record for the show.  It aired at 19h00 on 15 Oct 2021.  It was a fairly joyous affair, we had no load shedding and I got my car back from the garage, I think the mood permeated the show.

We kicked off with Black Spiders out of Sheffield and then checked out Craig Goldies, ex Dio's, band Ressurection Kings from their 2016 release of the same name.  We pulled in some big guns in the form of W.A.S.P.  and Skid Row and then took in two in a row with Chris Cornell on vocals. The early stuff was taken care of by Mott the Hoople, The Rolling Stones, and The Who.  There was some commentary around the fact that the Stones have dropped 'Brown Sugar' from their new live set supposedly because of pressure from the politically correct.  I played 'Some Girls' to highlight the Overton Window.  The Who sounded great with '1921' off Tommy.

We checked out the new Black Label society track off the new album Doom Crew Inc which will probably be called Doom Squad forever on TSORR.   A highlight for me was the new Joe Bonamassa release called 'Time Clocks'.  I had a bit to say about the amount of hate Joe gets these days and highlighted the fact that this song is an anthem.  Give it time to grow on you, Joe is amazing, I am grateful he keeps giving us an album a year where most artists keep us waiting 5 or more years.

We went to the UK for 4 tracks, especially enjoyable was Death of the Clown by Dave Davies.  SA music was taken care of by Blue Scream, L.A. Cobra, and The Color Blew.  Blue Scream, was a Tully McCulley project with Roger Kaye and Robin Gallagher involved.  You can read more about the band and Roger in The Story of Rock and Roll, he was a hell of a character.  We hit the home straight with the two Toms, Petty and Waits, and an almost country and western track from Lynyrd Skynyrd off the God and Guns album.  Special shout out to In Flames and Trivium for bringing the heavy.  The New Trivium In The Court of The Dragon is stellar.  

Artists featured:  Black Spiders, Resurrection Kings, Smith / Kotzen, W.A.S.P., Skid Row, Audioslave, Temple of the Dog, Jorn, Wolfmother, The White Stripes, Live, King Kobra, Mott the Hoople, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Whitesnake, Baton Rouge, Extreme, The Eagles, L7, The Pretty Reckless, Black Label Society, The L.A. Maybe, Loverboy, In Flames, Trivium, Joe Bonamassa, Seether, Oasis, Dave Davies, Stiff Little Fingers, The Dogs D’Amour, Blue Scream, L.A.Cobra, The Color Blew, Alice Cooper, Tom Waits, Tom Petty, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Halestorm, The Lazys

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

S4E30 aired on 7 Oct 2021 on Rebel Rock Radio.  We had the threat of load shedding once again but the power utility waited until the show was over before cutting us off.  I am grateful for that but the fact that they haven't been able to turn it back on against is an extreme source of irritation.  So, we started with 'Troublesome Times' by Texas Hippie Coalition and then went to Germany to catch Devils Train and a track called ' You and Me'.  We went old school with Saxon and Michael Schenker and then all the way back to the '70s for some Deep Purple and Grand Funk Railroad. 

Dan Patlansky took care of the Blues with a track of his Perfection Kills album and then we checked out the KK's Priest album Sermon of a Sinner now that it is finally all released.  It is fully cool and the guitar work between KK and A.J. Mills is spectacular. Then there was an update on the incredible story of Richie Faulkner having a heart attack on stage while playing the final track 'Painkiller'. Richie has become the most metal oke on earth after finishing the song.  While his aorta ruptured filling his chest with blood, he faultlessly played all his solos and once the show was over was taken off to hospital and a ten and a half hour operation.  He is OK and we wish him a speedy recovery

The new Guns 'n' Roses was great, we checked the new track called 'Hard Skool' and then said happy 70th birthday to John Mellencamp, can you believe he is 70!  We got our punk from The Stranglers and Stiff Little Fingers and then we checked out two tracks about the Orca, one from Legend of the Seagullmen and then a most poignant look at the plight of this most marvelous creature through the eyes of Johnathan Martin.  The song is extremely touching if you allow yourself to really connect with what he is saying.  We finished off with two very South African tracks that may be a bit of a mystery to non-SA listeners, trust me they are both very relevant, happy to explain them to anyone who needs it.  We finished off with a little cheers to Van Halen legend who announced his retirement this week with the final words "Stay Frosty".  Enjoy it Dave you have earned it and you gave us fun by the ton \m/ respect.

Artists featured:  Texas Hippie Coalition, Devil’s Train, Dropkick Murphys, Michael Schenker Group, Dee Snider, Five Finger Death Punch, Grand Funk Railroad, Deep Purple, Candlebox, Danko Jones, Dan Patlansky, Bush, Korn, Heaven& Hell, KK’s Priest, Judas Priest, Jimmy Barnes, Powderfinger, Adrenaline Mob, Gary Clark Jr., Guns ‘n’ Roses, Joe Satriani, Pop Evil, Kiss, John Mellencamp, The Doors, The Stranglers, Stiff Little Fingers, Johnathan Martin, Legend of the Seagullmen, Mark Morton, ACDC, The Temperance Movement, Koos Kombuis, The Cherry Faced Lurchers, Van Halen

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

Here is the Rock Review on ACDC that aired on Rebel Rock Radio on 7 and 9 Sept 2021.  

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

Episode 39 of Season 4 aired at 19h00 on Rebel Rock Radio, incredible how the year is flying past!  We kicked off with 'The Mob Rules' brilliantly covered by Adrenaline Mob.  The track came off a tribute to Ronnie James Dio album called This is Your Life.  It set the show off to a blistering start.  It fell to Alice Cooper and Slash's Snakepit to pick up the pieces.  Slash features on both tracks.  From there we were into some Gospel music from Stryper and some not gospel music from Mötley Crüe.  There was a bit of early '80s stuff then we went to Seattle to check out solo work from Stone Gossard and Jerry Cantrell of Pearl Jam and Alice in Chains respectively.

One of the show highlights for me was a 3 song bit featuring SA bands spanning nearly 40 years.  We went from a new band in Cape Town called Image&Nation with a track called 'Rivers and Dreams' back to the mid-'80s and a recording I have of The Diamond Dogs, to AKing out of Bellville featuring half of Fokofpolisiekar.  We also checked out the power of Dean Smith, an ex-South African responsible for pioneering some serious SA Metal, and his new album released as Deangersmith.  The album is called Lead Us to Your Taker (Disarm the Corrupt) and the track was called 'Buckle My Shoe'. 

In the last hour we got heavy with Hatebreed and Testament then commercial with Nickelback and Bon Jovi ( yes I said the N-word), and played out with some classic ACDC, Judas Priest, and show closer 'Gypsy Lee Rose' from Brody Dalle's outfit The Distillers.  I Ran out of time as usual.  I was so busy I totally forgot to play the new Guns 'n' Roses track, which tells you something about a few things.  

Artists featured: Adrenaline Mob, Alice Cooper, Slash's Snakepit, Stryper, Triumph, Texas Hippie Coalition, Black Star Riders, Sebastian Bach, Mötley Crüe, Stone Gossard, Jerry Cantrell, Biters, Kid Rock, Frank Marino, Rory Gallagher, Rival Sons, Black Stone Cherry, Dangerous Toys, My Chemical Romance, Seether, Image&Nation, The Diamond Dogs, AKing, Deangersmith, Testament, Hatebreed, Serj Tankian, The Stranglers, Queensrÿche, ACDC, The LA Maybe, Nickelback, Bon Jovi, Judas Priest, The Distillers.  

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

This has been quite a palaver to get this episode out, after two days of wifi problems I finally managed to get it out so apologies for that.  Episode 38 of season 4 aired on 23 Sept 2021 at 19h00 on rebel Rock Radio.  It was quite different due to the unusual amount of South African music from unsigned acts.  We kicked off with The Clash by accident when Thin Lizzy 'Suicide' didn't load and I had to act fast with 'Clash City Rockers'.  From there on it was an hour of classic rock with Motörhead, Ozzy, Van Halen, Bowie, AX7 and Rammstein.

I spent a bit of time discussing how Dan Patlansky is not only one of the most talented guitarists on the planet but has also contributed to SA music more than most through his guitar clinics which have inspired many amateurs to get stuck in and start getting their music out there.  Two such artists, Roan Ash and Roland Suttie are examples of this and were featured next.  We also took a listen to Dean Smith and his track 'Freedom Fighter' under the Deanangersmith monicker.  Dean is a SA Metal legend having been a mainstay of bands such as Odyssey, Ragnärok, Brothering, and Mouthful of Flies, he is absolutely prolific and deserves more recognition.  He also doesn't give a fuck what you think and that is what makes him so endearing :-) 

We checked out another track from Mark Biagio and The Fismits and then got stuck into the brand new Stranglers album called Dark Matters.  I was extremely complimentary and made it clear once again just how much I love The Stranglers.  We did a bit of anger management with Fokofpolisiekar 'Angs Aanval' and Hatebreed with Black Flags 'Thirsty and Miserable.  All in all, it was one of my most enjoyable shows.  Hope you dig it.    

Artists featured:  The Clash, Thin Lizzy, Mason Hill, Rammstein, Rob Zombie, Blue Öyster Cult, David Bowie Motörhead, Night Ranger, Ozzy Osbourne, Van Halen, Avenged Sevenfold, Tyr, Deanangersmith, The Fismits, the Pretty Reckless, Samantha Fish, Dan Patlansky, Roan Ash, Roland Suttie, ACDC, Aerosmith, Def Leppard, Cinderella, Bon Jovi, California Breed, Gojira, Marilyn Manson, The Stranglers, Seether, Dirty Honey, Airbourne, Fokofpolisiekar, Hatebreed, Mark Knopfler, Foo Fighters, The Gaslight Anthem, Billy Joe Armstrong

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

Episode 37 was one of the more difficult episodes due to the fact that I was traveling and had to record the show instead of broadcast live. .  The connectivity can’t be trusted for a live show and even recording is difficult.  It probably doesn’t have the flow it usually does , maybe I am too close to it, see what you think.   The recording went out live on 16 Set 2021 from the sleepy town of Sedgefield.

We kicked off with Bush, which on its own was a bit different, then we went onto some classic Led Zeppelin and Alice Cooper.  New stuff came from The L.A. Maybe, and Ayron Jones.  I desperately wanted to play more off Senjutsu, the new Iron Maiden album to help those who are hating it see the light but it seems to have a block on the iTunes version which prevented me from playing it for you.  

The Stranglers and Stiff Little fingers took care of the Punk and Talking Heads made another appearance on the show with their Brian Eno produced classic "Once In a Lifetime'.  The heavy stuff came from Alexi Laiho and Children of Bodom, Slayer with a cover of Inna-Gadda-Da-Vida' and some Metallica and Megadeth for good measure.  

The highlight of this show was the last 30 minutes where things took a turn in a slightly progressive direction.   We checked out Rush, Threshold, and Opeth and that led yo a beautiful final track from South Africa's own Peter Hanmer.  Peter has some of the greatest guitar instrumentals it is possible to hear.  I urge you to check out his stuff.

Bush, The L.A. Maybe, The Darkness, Alice Cooper, Led Zeppelin, Greta Van Fleet, Ayron Jones, Iron Maiden, Thin Lizzy, Y&T, Great White, Korn, Shinedown, Thundermother, Samantha Fish, Joe Bonamassa,  Jimi Hendrix, ZZ Top, Children of Bodom, Slayer, Metallica, Neal Young, Tom Petty, The Stranglers, Talking Heads, Stiff Little Fingers, Machine Head, Megadeth, Loverboy, Bon Jovi, Judas Priest, Rush, Threshold, Opeth, The Legend of the Seagullmen, Peter Hanmer. 

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

Episode 36 aired on 9 Sept 2021 on Rebel Rock Radio.  The episode was prerecorded because I was traveling at the time and not sure if I would have connectivity.  The first hour was live from a show I did on Bulldogs Radio on Friday 3 Sept and then I continued for the next two hours.  Consequently, the first 60 min is fast-paced balls to the wall rock and roll featuring the likes of Kiss, Van Halen, Blue Oyster Cult, Black Sabbath, and mainly '70's classic rock bands.  

The new stuff came from Springbok Nude Girls who have had a major return to form with the release of their new Partypocalypse.  Overall it was a nice mix of the '70s, '80s, '90s, and '00s metal and rock.  We heard some more from my current latest favorites Samantha Fish, Ayron Jones, and the new Serj Tankian EP Elasticity.  I really enjoyed Agent Orange by Sodom and Red Army Blues from The Waterboys.  

Artists featured:  Black Sabbath, Michael Shenker Group, L.A. Guns, Cinderella, Boston, Skid Row, Mötley Crüe, Bullet Boys, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Ayron Jones, Blue Oyster Cult, Van Halen, Kiss, Rainbow, Metallica, Paradise Lost, Hell Fire, Led Zeppelin, Godsmack, Sevendust, Samantha Fish, The Black Cat Bones, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, Guns 'n' Roses, Dave Davies, Springbok Nude Girls, Serj Tankian, Savage, The Clash, Live, The Waterboys, Molly Hatchet, Great White, Judas Priest, ACDC, Sodom, The L.A. Maybe, Warren Zevon

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