The Story of Rock and Roll Radio Show

Episode 19 of Season 4 aired on Rebel Rock Radio at 19h00 on 13 May 2021.  Kicking off with Boston is always an excellent idea, there is something about that debut album that just makes everything alright.  We took a listen to track No 2 'Peace of Mind'.  next up was Jetboy and then we had a reminder of just how great Metallica are with their cover of Budgie's 1973 classic 'Breadfan'. 

The highlight of the show was giving airtime to the brand new track from KK Downing.  As you should know KK left Judas Priest many years ago but seemed to have sore balls about not being invited back.  He has now started KK's Priest and pulled in ex-Priest frontman Tim 'Ripper' Owens.  To be honest, it is a genius move, Ripper is one of the only guys who could pull this off.  The thing here is that KK will get a ton of hate because it is totally a Priest rip off and people will say he is ripping off something that he actually started and was a huge part of for 41 years. Here is my take, listen to the track 'Hellfire Thunderbolt' and just rejoice that we have a new source of the music we love.  There can never be too many bands in the world making this style of music in my view.  We followed up with the mighty Judas Priest just to calibrate the world.  KK has done a great thing but it is not Judas Priest. 

Other than that we discussed the passing of Tawny Kitaen and did a little tribute to the girl that helped Whitesnake become MTV megastars and wrecked David Coverdale's life :-).  Van Halen's 'Drop Dead Legs' was a part of that tribute.  We heard a bit more from Gojira, the new album Fortitude, is amazing.  Kid Rock always sounds good, his track 'Po-Dunk' hit the spot as did Cold Chisel with 'Flame Trees'.  Anyway, check it all out there is plenty to get your teeth into.  See ya next week.  

Artists featured:  Boston, Jetboy, Aerosmith, Metallica, Bush, Green Day, Scorpions, Red Dragon Cartel, Leslie West, Jimi Hendrix, Black Star Riders, Black Bone Nation, Type O Negative, The Monks, The Boomtown Rats, Motörhead, Last In Line, KK's priest, Judas Priest, Theory of a Deadman, L.A. Guns, Nirvana, Dogs D'Amour, Ugly Kid Joe, Cold Chisel, The Screaming Jets, Kid Rock, White Zombie, Ruff Majik, Buckcherry, Whitesnake, Van Halen, Gojira, Volbeat, Halestorm, Little Steven, Seasick Steve 

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

Episode 18 of Season 4 aired on Rebel Rock Radio at 19h00 on 7 May 2021, it is hard to believe it is May already, the year is flying by.  It was a smooth running rock 'n' rolling bit of perfection, starting with W.A.S.P's 'I'm Alive' off Inside The Electric Circus.  Other heavyweights we listened to were ACDC with 'Sin City', one of their best with Bon Scott at his finest, Metallica, Pink Floyd, Motörhead, and Irom Maiden.

The highlight of the show for me was Dan Patlansky with ' My Dear Boy' off his most recent album Perfection Kills.   I pointed out that Dan is not only one of the best blues guitarists in the world, an incredible teacher and all-round decent human being but also has the best guitar tone around.  The track demonstrated that as did the next song 'Couldn't Stand the Weather ' by Stevie Ray Vaughan.  

Punk was covered by the Sex Pistols and the UK Subs and the new stuff came from Thunder, Alice Cooper, and Great Van Fleet.  The Thunder album was released this week and is called All The Right Noises, it is very strong.  Other notable mentions were the Gojira track called 'Born For One Thing' off Fortitude.  It is a monster of an album, the drumming is amazing, its going to be Best Metal Album of the year in all the Metal publications I reckon.  More form that next week.  

Artists featured:  W.A.S.P., Cinderella, The Black Crowes, Sheryl Crow, Rory Gallagher, Murderdolls, Iron Maiden, Joe Bonamassa, Kris Barras Band, Thunder, ACDC, Rival Sons, Greta Van Fleet, Sex Pistols, UK Subs, Anti-Flag, Jerry Cantrell, Mammoth WVH, Alice Cooper, Gojira, Tom Petty, John Mellencamp, Red Dragon Cartel, Skid Row, , Richie Sambora, Dan Patlansky, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Metallica, Pink Floyd, The Horrible Crowes, Hellyeah, Motörhead, Adrenaline Mob, Zakk Wylde, Tool, Linkin Park, Bush

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

Episode 17 of season 4 was recorded while I was away on a Guitar Weekend in Clarans with Dan Patlansky.  there are quite a few references to Dan and to the band I jam with, the amazing Bunk Girls Motorcycle Club as a result.  There wasn't a lot of time for getting things to match up and flow so this show is pretty rough and ready.  It does of course have the sort of tracks you would expect from TSORR. 

We started with Korn, which is something different, it just had the right energy.   There was quite a bit of '80s metal, Tesla, slaughter, Y&T, Tokyo Blade, and even Stryper, remember them?  To hell With The Devil  was the top-selling Christian Metal album for about 15 years.  We took a listen to the title track.  We had the usual fare, ACDC, Gun 'n' Roses, Airbourne, Deep Purple, that sort of thing but we also checked out Anto-Nowhere League, The Wildhearts, and Paradox.  Pantera and Parkway Drive took care of the heavy.  

SA stuff courtesy of Dan Patlansky, Government Car and 12th Avenue and new stuff courtesy of Greta Van Fleet, Alice Cooper and The Offspring.  

Artists featured:  Korn, Y&T, The Cult, Bullets & Octane, Adrenaline Mob, The Lazys, Airbourne, Deep Purple, Guns 'n' Roses, ACDC, Crawl, Paradox, George Thorogood & the Destroyers, ZZ Top, Alice in Chains, My Chemical Romance, Coheed & Cambria, Yngwie Malmsteen, Greta Van Fleet, Alice Cooper, The Offspring, The Wildhearts, Anti-Nowhere League, Stryper, Tokyo Blade, Pop Evil, Kiss, 12th Avenue, Government Car, Pantera, Parkway Drive, Dave Hause, Tesla, Hanoi Rocks, Slaughter, Dan Patlansky, Dire Straits, Nickelback

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

Episode 16 of season 4 started a bit differently as I was testing out the auto DJ function and instead of starting up the theme song for TSORR, it played Whitesnake.  Normality was resumed quickly and we sped through some Black Sabbath and ACDC.  I pointed out that 'Neon Knights' off Sabbath's Heaven and Hell is the song responsible for the world's greatest ever collective sigh.

I am still deeply under the spell of the book Nothin' But a Good Time, the story of 80's hair metal so we checked out Girl and L.A. Guns.  We took a listen to Bob Dylan's live version of 'All Along The Watchtower' as promised last week.  The new stuff included more Smith / Kotzen and Greta Van Fleet off their brand new album The Battle at Garden's Gate.  I am raving about the tracks I have heard off the soon-to-be-released Myles Kennedy album, the track we played, 'Get Aong' is superb. 

Other than that it was pretty much par for the course, The Burning and L.A. Cobra for South Africa, James Reyne, ACDC, and Jet for Aussie, Kreator and In Flames for metal and The Distillers and Stiff Little Fingers for punk.  A highlight for me was listening to 'Dreamer Deceiver', Judas Priests' masterpiece off Sad Wings of Destiny, it is a reminder once again of just how good Rob Halford is.   


Artists featured:  Whitesnake, Black Sabbath, ACDC, Ministry, Scorpions, Girl, L.A. Guns, Greta Van Fleet, The Dead Daisies, Skid Row, Bon Jovi, Bob Dylan, Kreator, Gorky Park, Ozzy Osbourne, Stiff Little Fingers, The Distillers, Pink Floyd, Smith / Kotzen, Jet, James Reyne, Myles Kennedy, Twisted Sister, Probot, Dokken, The Burning, L.A. Cobra, Iron Maiden, Guns 'n' Roses, Accept, Jetboy, Great White, Hinder, Judas Priest, Todd La Torre, In Flames, Kiss.  

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

S4E15 aired at 7 pm on 15 April and went without a hitch.  The show kicked off with Rainbow off 1982's Straight Between the Eyes.  We spent some time in the '70s with Jimi Hendrix and Pink Floyd before checking out the LA metal scene circa 1980.  Check out the book Nothing But a Good Time by Tom Beaujour and Richard Bienstock for the full story of how all these wonderful bands that gave us so much good music came to be.  We took a listen to Skid Row, W.A.S.P., Tesla, Great White, and Quiet Riot, the band that kicked the door down and was the catalyst for this massive explosion in good times rock and roll. 

We got into the South African stuff early with AKing and Johnathan Martin and then we took a short detour into the New Wave world of Joe Jackson's masterpiece Look Sharp!  The pace picked up with Judas Priest, Circus of Power, Motörhead, Led Zeppelin, and Venom.  The Venom was particularly good, we heard 'The Death of Rock 'n' Roll' off their 2015 release From The Very Depths.

The final few tracks featured some amazing acoustic guitar from Lynyrd Skynyrd and 'The Last Rebel' and then a true blue classic protest song called 'The Great American Novel'.  It's an amazing lyric from his 1972 album called Just Visiting This Planet.   I tell you what, if he was pissed off back in '72 he must be apoplectic by now.

Artists featured:  Rainbow, Ace Frehley, Def Leppard, Jimi Hendrix, Joe Bonamassa, Blackstone Cherry, AKing, Johnathan Martin, Pink Floyd, My Chemical Romance, Skid Row, Quiet Riot, W.A.S.P., Great White, Joe Jackson, The White Stripes, ACDC, John Mellencamp, Thin Lizzy, Rock Goddess, Soundgarden, Stone Temple Pilots, Seether, The Pretty Reckless, Saraya, Judas Priest, Blaze Bailey,  Smith / Kotzen, Circus of Power, Motörhead, Led Zeppelin, Venom, Tesla, Black Sabbath, Jon Bon Jovi, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Larry Norman, The Distillers 

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

Welcome to Season 4, Episode 14 of The Story of Rock and Roll Radio Show.  The show went live at 19h00 on 8 April 2021.  We started with The Answer and a lame joke and ended with Mind Assault, a ridiculously good SA Metal outfit whose new album The Cult of Conflict is very worthwhile checking out.  In between that we heard some really great blues courtesy of Gary Moore, Dan Patlansky, and Roy Buchanan before switching to a healthy dose of 80's Metal from Skid Row, Night Ranger and Ratt.  I am currently reading Nothing But a Good Time: The Uncensored History of '80s Hard Rock by Tom Beaujour & Richard Bienstock so, you can expect plenty more 80's metal over the next couple of weeks.  

We checked out Iron Maiden and Judas Priest, as we always do and there is also some ACDC, Metallica, Thin Lizzy, and Black Sabbath buried in here.  We dumbed down for Bloodhound Gang's ' Ballad of Chasey Lain' and  Danko Jones and then slowed down for a while with 'Plaza'  by Cold Chisel, Ian Moss demonstrating once again what a brilliant guitarist he is.  We stayed slow for a ballad by LA Guns and then went to SA's finest in the form of Johnathan Martin with 'Highway to the Sun'.  As always it was a jol, hope you enjoy it.  

Artists featured:  The Answer, the Four Horsemen, Thin Lizzy, Live, Gary Moore, Karen Zoid feat. Dan Patlansky, Black Sabbath, Axel Rudi Pell, Roy Buchanan, Thunder, Ratt, Night Ranger, Skid Row, Bloodhound Gang, Billy Joe Armstrong, Slipknot, Probot, ACDC, Nazareth, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Ruff Majik, Danko Jones, Sixx AM, Mötley Crüe, Stiff Little Fingers, The Smiths, Foo Fighters, Smith / Kotzen, Greta Van Fleet, Cold Chisel, LA Guns, Johnathan Martin, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Mr Big, Kiss, ZZ Top, Metallica, Mind Assault

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

Episode 13 did prove to be unlucky but it all got sorted out.  The show was scheduled to T-off at 7 pm on 1 April 2021 but forces conspired against the gods of rock in a technological April Fools on me.  Due to a scheduled system update, a key part of the software wasn't there to let TSORR connect to Rebel Rock Radio.  I had to reboot everything and start again.  We got going at about 19h12 so the show has two endings, one to say cheers to actual live listenership and another to say cheers to you, awesome podcast people.

The show itself was very upbeat and very much a party theme going on.  We started with Boston and their track 'Party'  off Don't Look Back, then we had ' Party Like Tomorrow is the End of The World'  probably the only clean Steel Panther track ever recorded.  It's a long weekend so personally, I was really looking forward to the fact that tomorrow was a holiday and it made the show a lot of fun.  It's mostly upbeat and pretty punky actually, The new stuff Smith /Kotzen, Ricky Warwick, and Mammoth WVH is all spectacular and especially the Smith Kotzen album is well worth your money, check them out.  There was a nice quiet bit with Roan Ash and a song about his father and fathers in general, many of us are fortunate enough to have or have had fathers like this, tune into the words, it's a very special song from an amazingly talented songwriter with a golden voice.  

Artists featured:  Boston, Steel Panther, Bernie Tormè, ACDC, Van Halen, Foo Fighters, Dave Hause, Kid Rock, Rage Against the Machine, Ricky Warwick, Smith / Kotzen, The Damned, Stiff Little Fingers, Dead Kennedys, Guns 'n'  Roses, John Mellencamp, Danko Jones, The Pretty reckless, Amanda Palmer, Hatebreed, W.A.S.P., System of a Down, Rammstein, James Reyne, Jimmy Barnes, Mammoth WVH, Twisted Sister, Roan Ash, Valiant Swart, Halford, Scorpions, Fleetwood Mac, Gov't Mule, The Distillers, Iggy & the Stooges, Megadeth, Accept, Buckcherry, Marilyn Manson 

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

Fun and games with this episode, it went out live on 25 March 2021 at 19h00.  Straight out the blocks, there were problems with the station stream, I had no music playing as I prepared to patch into the schedule.  This led to a lot of unnecessary fault finding on my side.  Once the show started it came through but, on my intro, the microphone that was fine before the show suddenly didn't work.  Fortunately, I realised that the iRig has a battery and that sorted out the problem.  We kicked off with Leslie West and 'Nothing's Changed' off his wonderful Unusual Suspects album.    Next up Ace Frehley with Cold Gin and Black Sabbath with Snowblind,  tales of the excesses of old school rockstars ;-).

There is a lot of new stuff out so we caught up with some of it, more of Alice Cooper's latest Detroit Stories, Walking Papers'  The Light Below, and a track off the brand new Smith / Kotzen album which gets released about 8 hours after this show.  The highlight for me was the new Myles Kennedy track, album to be released in May, the pre-release single 'Ides of March' is amazing, guitar work all over it, I think Myles is going to deliver an amazing album here.  

The show had a number of couplings two tracks about crying, two tracks by guys called Tom, two tracks called Hold On, the usual things we do.  I enjoyed the Punk part of the show, good to hear the Jam with Going Underground and a first time for Gary Numan.  As usual, we ran out of time.  

Artists featured:  Leslie West, Ace Frehley, Black Sabbath, Rainbow, Motörhead, Michael Monroe, Chickenfoot, Jimmy Barnes, Alice Cooper, Texas Hippie Coalition, Audioslave, Seether, The Jam, Gary Numan, Sex Pistols, Warrior Soul, Machine Head, Guns 'n'  Roses, Halestorm, Danko Jones, Live, 12th Avenue, The Color Blew, Myles Kennedy, Smith / Kotzen, Judas Priest. Walking Papers, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, Tom Keifer, Kid Rock, Zakk Wylde, Dan Patlansky, Yngwie J. Malmsteen, Badlands, Avenged Sevenfold.       

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

Episode 11 of season 4 aired on 18 March 2021 amidst national load shedding and general chaos from power outages.  It had an effect on the show with people having to drop out continually.  The broadcast itself wasn't affected but it's a real fucking pain.  

We had a mellow start for a change with Rainbow and ' Catch the Rainbow' and then followed with The Wizard, the 1972 classic from Uriah Heep.  After that, it got a bit rowdier with Q5 and Slash.  It was great to hear Tank and Savage, the two invoking some good early '80's NWOBHM memories.  We paid tribute to Brisbane as Brissie has overtaken everyone as the greatest supporters of TSORR.   I am deeply grateful for the support.  In deference, we played Airbourne and The Screaming Jets and then later we some Jimmy Barnes and The Lazy's.  

From there we went all over the place from The Police to Kreator, Marianne Faithful to W.A.S.P, and then some SA rarities in the form of Kobus! and Blue Scream.  There was plenty of punk with Anti-Flags 'Wake Up!' and The Distillers with L.A. Girl, which makes it about 4 weeks in a row of the wonderful Brody Dalle.  There was a nice little bit of nostalgia where we took in 3 tracks from albums released in 2006, I had good memories of MTV days at between 4 and 6 in the morning.   The highlight for me was Rammstein with 'Mehr' and Alice Cooper's new track 'Hanging By a Thread', I enjoyed the Little Steven track as well. 

Artists featured:  Rainbow, Uriah Heep, Q5, Kiss, Volbeat, Slash, Tank, Savage, Rammstein, Airbourne, The Screaming Jets, The Police, Marianne Faithful, Probot, Kreator, The Pretty Reckless, Lita Ford, Alice Cooper, Alice in Chains, Blue Scream, Kobus!, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, The Killers, My Chemical Romance, Billy Talent, Anti-Flag, The Distillers, UK Subs, Guns 'n'  Roses, We Are Harlot, Jimmy Barnes, The Lazy's, W.A.S.P., Warrant, The Rolling Stones, Arch Enemy, Clutch, Little Steven, Tom Waits

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

S4E10 aired at 7 pm on 11 March 2021.  The show kicked off with Joe Bonamassa and a track called Bridge To Better Days which is something we should all be trying to build.   Breakdown by G 'n' R really went down well, one of those songs you really feel like listening to and it doesn't disappoint.

There was plenty to get your teeth into, punk from UK Subs, Ramones and the Clash, classics from ACDC, Megadeth and Black Sabbath, metal from Parkway Drive, Iced Earth and Pantera, and South African stuff from LA Cobra, Deadline, Rasskopleef! and The Uninvited.  Raaskopleef! was a first not only for TSORR but for radio in general.  It's a sort of cult band formed in Wellington in the Western Cape and this particular track called Elektrisiteit is a translation of Hunter S. Thompson's essay ' Electricity' .   Hearing Bon Jovi's 'You Give Love a Bad Name' again was great, it has been ages, great guitar work from Richie Sambora, no wonder they got so huge.  Other than that, a nice melancholy bit in the middle featuring Powderfinger, Hinder, Linkin Park, and Don Henley, and then we smashed it all up with 'Crazy Bitch' by Buckcherry, good times indeed.  

Artists featured:  Joe Bonamassa, ACDC, Y&T, Guns 'n' Roses, Foo Fighters, Alice Cooper, Def Leppard, Disturbed, The Bloodhound Gang, Parkway Drive, Warren Haynes, Nirvana, Iced Earth, Megadeth, Bon Jovi, Tesla, The Clash, Ramones, UK Subs, Whitesnake, Desperado, LA Cobra, Deadline, Powderfinger, Hinder, Linkin Park, Don Henley, Buckcherry, The Dead Daisies, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Raaskopleef!, The Distillers, Black Sabbath, Kid Rock, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Pantera, The Uninvited

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