The Story of Rock and Roll Radio Show

Season 3 Episode 2 of The Story of Rock and Roll Radio Show was broadcasted live on Rebel Rock Radio between 7 and 10 pm on Thursday 27 August 2020.  It took place from behind the bar in Planet Rock and it was one of the most enjoyable shows I have done in ages.  The music was really great we had everything from Slayer to Lita Ford.  Most of the technical problems have been resolved and the odd mistake is rooted in stupidity more than anything else.  For example, I have sorted out the monitors and can listen to the show without the headphones but there is a delay so when the song ends on the monitors its already been over for a few seconds in the headphones, you may hear one or two of those lapses, but I the words of the Who I “Won’t get fooled again”.   

The show kicked off with Iron Maiden and a Live version of 'The Number of The Beast', and the front row was filled out by ACDC and Metallica with 'The Thing That Should Not Be'.  Tyler Bryant and the Shakedown sounded particularly cool as did Dino Jelusic’s outfit Animal Drive.  The new Bush album got another airing with a track called ‘Send in the Clowns’ which reminded me of parliament.  Oasis made a welcome return as did Alice in Chains with 'Rain When I Die'.  It was also lekker to catch ZZ Top’s 'Big Shiny Nine'. 

I am still not happy with the microphone and I’ll have to do a bit more work, it’s better but not right.  As I said last week, I suspect you are here for the music not to hear me talk kak and the music sounds great so it’s all good.  The highlight of the show for me was Heaven Shall Burn with their epic dual-language masterpiece Expatriate.  I advised pulling up the lyrics before I played it, the German part, in particular, is powerful as Thanos.  Other than that we had Johnathan Martin, The Uninvited and The Springbok Nude Girls representing South Africa, Scorpions for Germany, Oasis for the UK and plenty of USA in the form of Mötley Crüe & Megadeth.  There is so much here, a 3-hour show is fantastic.  The big trick was to get the ending right because the show kicks out at exactly 10 pm and it will cut off even the lord’s prayer.  I nailed that sucker and you get the full song.   

Artists featured:  Mötley Crüe, Halestorm, Scorpions, Manowar, Bruce Springsteen, Animal Drive, The Uninvited, Iron Maiden, Metallica, Tom Petty, Johnathan Martin, Soundgarden, Adrenaline Mob, Megadeth, Tyler Bryant & the Shakedown, ACDC, U.D.O., Sebastian Bach, The Gaslight Anthem, My Chemical Romance, Lita Ford, Avenged Sevenfold, ZZ Top, Queensrÿche, Slayer, Oasis, Cinderella, Bush, Trouble, Wonderboom, Springbok Nude Girls, Blink 182, Heave Shall Burn, Texas Hippie Coalition, We Are Harlot, Joe Jackson, Alice in Chains, Neil Young

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

Its a brand new Season, welcome to Season 3 of The Story of Rock and Roll Radio Show.  It marks the brand new chapter where I left the radio station and together with 3 other presenters from Mix FM started our very own Rebel Rock Radio.  Its a streaming site and TSORR is now exclusive to Rebel Rock Radio every Thursday from 7 pm until 10 pm.  

There are obvious advantages here, firstly you get an extra hour, secondly I am part of a really good team, thirdly I have pretty much no restrictions on what I say or play.  My commitment is to bring you the best music in the world and to fly the rock and metal flag until the day I die.

The show starts in the middle of Judas Priest with Saints in Hell, there is no Dr Who intro and the opening track Swamp Devil by Circus of Power didn't make the recording.  It's done from home with a brand new set-up including new headphones and mic.  The mic is still not right but its close now, bear with me, you are here for the music anyway I am sure.  Don't adjust your set when there are one or two minor silences while I adjust to the new desk.  


I can't control the end of the show, if I finish early its silence if I run over it cuts me at 10 sharp.  Apologies to The Rolling Stones who were the first victims of that.  There was a lot of good stuff on the show Black Sabbath back to back with Ozzy Osbourne, Van Halen back to back with Chickenfoot, lots of that sort of thing.  We had Seether and Mott the Hoople, some Death Angel and some Ugly Kid Joe.  Anyway check it out, it marks the beginning of an exciting time.  System of a Down with Violent Pornograpy was another good one to hear.  

Artists featured:  Mott The Hoople, Seether, Death Angel, Judas Priest, Hell Yeah, Ozzy Osbourne, Sheryl Crow, Charlie Sexton, Skid Row, Desolation Angel, Leslie West, Dirty Honey, The Stranglers, Guns 'n' Roses, Black Sabbath, Pirates of Radio, Foo Fighters, Red Dragon Cartel, Fokofpolisiekar, The Offspring, The Wildhearts, Van Halen, Palaye Royale, Cold Chisel, Stiff Little Fingers, Dirty Shirley, The Defiants, Government Car, Deadline, Chickenfoot, Damn Yankees, Anti-Flag, System of a Down, Seether, Desolation Angels, The Gaslight Anthem, Ugly Kid Joe, The Rolling Stones

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

OK so this one is very different and a hell of a challenge.  I seriously considered not releasing it but it goes against what I have tried to do from the beginning which is to showcase great music and to present it warts and all.  The spirit of the show is such that I am looking for reality, not perfection.  If you listen regularly then you will probably be fine with that.  Here's what happened.  You should know that due to Covid Mix FM shut down the Rockfest and as a result, the last 4 episodes of TSORR Radio Show were recorded live from behind my bar.  Having been presented with a wonderful opportunity to form an internet-based Rock Radio station I did this as a test show to figure out the new technology.  This is what happened:

The show kicked off with Joe Walsh and not the Dr Who theme and that is because just getting through the gateway onto the airwaves was difficult.  We got to a messy intro after Life's Been Good. The show was recorded between 16h00 and 18h00 from my office in Chloorkop and being in a drive time slot I couldn't resist some driving music in the form of Radar Love and Freewheel Burning courtesy of Golden Earring and Judas Priest respectively,  The mic is a real challenge and it there is no comparison to the Mix FM mic quality.  Live with that please and I will improve it as the weeks go on.  The show is a bit short because the beginning was late and there were a lot of dropouts due to WiFi issues.  In the end, I had to broadcast the whole fucking thing using my phone as a hotspot.  We got in some Rammstein and a bit of Megadeth specially dedicated to the government with This Day We Fight.  The highlight for me was Rock Show by Halestorm.  The show also wasn't as heavy as normal and had a fairly soft landing with The Killers and We Are Augustines but we still got in some W.A.S.P and some Maiden, so do not despair.  Great things are happening and announcements are imminent.    

Artists featured:  Kid Rock, ACDC, Judas Priest, Johnathan Martin, Golden Earring, Megadeth, The Killers, Van Coke Kartel, Rammstein, Airbourne, W.A.S.P., Iron Maiden, The Clash, Halestorm, Rancid, The Beatles, Reef, Ivan Ivankovic, The Gaslight Anthem, Joe Walsh, Gary Moore, Guns 'n' Roses, We Are Augustines and Coheed & Cambria 

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

Recorded once again behind the bar in Planet Rock on 7 and 8 August 2020.  I should probably have started a new season to differentiate these shows from the ones recorded at Mix FM.  It's such a crazy year, basically a write off so it is as it is.  This show was a struggle to put together, not sure why but I just couldn't get my rhythm.  It will probably be one of the more popular ones because that is often how it goes.  Full disclosure, there are some mistakes, wrong song titles, and a few other little gems but I won't point them out, see if you notice.  The thing I am finding is that because the show isn't live there is a massive temptation to edit.  I want to avoid this and just go with the flow (or lack thereof).  The beauty of a live radio show is that you get audience participation on the various forums and some requests and comments which lead to good radio.  This is tougher no question.  I think I need a guest on the show to give it a bit of additional energy.

You should find plenty to get your teeth into.  We kicked off with a great Van Halen track and in no particular order, some Accept, Marilyn Manson, ACDC, and Dio.  I thoroughly enjoyed finally getting the chance to play some Steel Panther.  They are way too foul-mouthed for radio so this was a perfect opportunity to give uber guitarist Satchel a chance to smash a few solos.  We took a listen to Tiger Woods, a real classic. 

A highlight for me was Parkway Drive and Arch Enemy back to back with a seriously brutal twosome in the form of 'Crushed' and 'The First Day in Hell'.  It calmed down a bit with some Springsteen and some Tom Petty.  It's the first time we have had anything off Born In the USA.  It hasn't aged as well as the Tom Petty which was taken from Live Anthology, a 48 track live compilation spanning 27 years.  The big thing about this show is that I have recovered my CD's which have been in storage for a good couple of years.  Going through them I am finding plenty of hidden gems that are making their way onto the show.  A few examples included a track by The Diamond Dogs, the best South African band to never get discovered, and a stunning cover of 'Burning For You', nicely done by Iced Earth.  Oh and don't forget to check out the Johnathan Martin track, off Into the Nebulous Night, the album is a masterpiece.  

Artists featured:  Van Halen, ACDC, Paul Stanley, Oasis, Parkway Drive, The Diamond Dogs, Accept, Thunder, Marilyn Manson, Skid Row, Mötley Crüe, Simon & Garfunkel, Arch Enemy, Iced Earth, Electric 6, The Gaslight Anthem, Dio, Johnathan Martin, The Misfits, Bush, Nickelback, The Black Cat Bones, Tom Petty, Steel Panther, Bruce Springsteen, Dio & The Rolling Stones

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

Recorded at behind the bar in Planet Rock on 31 July 2020 this is the 3rd episode away from the radio station.  Consequently, it has one of those little parental guidance stickers we used to use to look for to help us choose great records back in the '80s.  The sound problems are pretty much sorted out, the only niggle is that the mic seems to have a small delay before the volume settles.  I am not worrying too much, I am sure you are here for the music, not the chatter.

This week we had a mixed bag of rock, metal, ballads and blues.  We kicked off with Def Leppard's Demolition Man and then followed up with the Dead Daisies, Doug Aldrich's latest home.  Other amazing guitarists to be found on the show include Jason Hook, Rory Gallagher, Lt. Joe Satriani, Tony Iommi, Mathius Jabs, and Ace Frehley.  We let Anti-Flag and the Ramones take care of the punk.  The SA music was supplied once again by Fokofpolisiekar and then also by The Burning.  the third local track was the highlight of the show for me.  It's a track called Porsche Roller, a one-off demo featuring the voice of Jack King Lawless, the prodigious talents of Adam Thomas and the guitar work and songwriting of yours truly.  What's the point of having a podcast if you can't play your own shit :-)

 Check it out, let me know on TSORR Facebook page if you have any comments and check out the guitar work on Rock and Roll Angel.  I am finding that the absence of the live radio environment has a massive drawback in that it leads to overthinking.  I am committed to avoiding this pothole and just recording and releasing exactly as it happens.  

Artists featured:  Rose Tattoo, Kreator, Kiss, Def Leppard, Rory Gallagher, Anti-Flag, The Winery Dogs, The Dead Daisies, Ramones, Iron Maiden, Joe Satriani, Rival Sons, Cold Chisel, Fire Horses, Fokofpolisiekar, Extreme, Thin Lizzy, Scorpions, Heaven & Hell, Halestorm, Motorhead, Buckcherry, Clutch, David Bowie, The Burning, The Four Horsemen, Accept, Five Finger Death Punch, TSORR, Rock Radio, Best show for rock

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

Season 2 Episode 15 of The Story of Rock and Roll was recorded on Friday 25 July 2020 and then re-recorded on Saturday 26 July.  Since the demise of the Rockfest shows on Mix FM, TSORR has been recorded from Planet Rock my bar in the dark lands of Benoni.  Its challenging but incredibly liberating, to be honest, and it feels like I can finally give you the show the way its meant to be.  The reason for the re-record was the voice parts which distorted badly and all had to be scrapped and redone.  It's all about getting the levels right but each recording gets better.  

This one is definitely special and it's got stuff that would have got me fired on a radio station which means that its a true depiction of what rock and roll is about :-).  The show started with 'The Mermaid' by Dave Hause and then punched into high gear with System of a Down.  We hit the big bands you'd expect ACDC, Metallica, Ozzy but we also spent some time on South African music by Koos Kombis, Piet Botha and Johnathan Martin who has put together the SA rock album of the year in the form of his new release Into the Nebulous Night.

Highlights of the show for me were hearing The Stranglers 'Bring on the Nubiles' and The Sex Pistols with 'Bodies' back to back to remind us just what UK Punk was all about.  Here's to 1977.  Another highlight for me was giving Biff Byfords 7 min long epic Throw Down the Sword a spin.  If you have any comments of constructive feedback let me know on the TSORR FaceBook page, cheers until next week.  

Artists featured include:  Megadeth, ACDC, Metallica, Foo Fighters, Dave Hause, Koos Kombuis, David Lee Roth, Little Steven, Herman Frank, Blue Oyster Cult, UFO, Cold Chisel, Tesla, The Stranglers, System of a Down, John Mellencamp, Piet Botha, Biff Byford, Tesla, Shinedown, Kid Rock, Thunder, Michael Monroe, Sepultura, Johnathan Martin, Judas Priest and Ozzy Osbourne.     

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

Well, this is something totally different.  You may or may now be aware that the Rockfest Radio shows on Mix FM have been shut down indefinitely due to Covid 19.  This is the first episode of The Story of Rock and Roll Radio Show to be recorded from my home studio or should I say bar.  It was a technical challenge of note but I have figured it out.  You may find some odd bits and pieces but it gets better as it goes along.  The big challenge is the volume balance.  Getting the voice to record at a similar level to the music is not easy at all.  And then there is the difficulty of not getting all the dogs barking, pots banging general noise that comes from doing this outside a state of the art studio.  Desperate times call for desperate measures indeed.  

As I mention in the intro it does however mean that the show now gets a bit more sweary, a bit more political and a bit more opinionated, the song, however, remains the same.  Anyway see what you think. 

The show kicks off live with Joe Bonamassa and then we continue with Those Damn Crowes.  Tom Petty makes an appearance a bit later on and I play the Skid Row cover of Little Wing that I have been meaning to play for ages.  Check out those solo's at the end, man Dave and Scotty can wail.  It was great playing George Harris's band the Raven Age straight after his famous dad's band and it sure holds its own.  Quite a bit of SA stuff in the form of Agro and Deadline as well as TSORR stalwarts Fokofpolisiekar.  Santana sounded great, first time on the show and then all the usual stuff you've come to expect, Stranglers, scorpions, Airbourne, etc.  Playing Warren Zevon's 'My Shit's Fucked Up' was liberating. 

Anyway check it out, hopefully, it doesn't disappoint.  One thing for sure I miss the audience and the adrenaline of live radio.  Without the Whatsapp line and all the regulars tuning in its a bit different. Thanks, Covid, thanks a fucking lot.  :-(

Artists featured :  Joe Bonamassa, Those Damn Crowes, Led Zeppelin, The Gaslight Anthem, Five Finger Death Punch, Santana, Scorpions, Black Label Society, Queensryche, Ozzy, Iron Maiden, The Raven Age, The Offspring, The Stranglers, Skid Row, Greta Van Fleet, Agro, Deadline, Tom Petty, Papa Roach, Tom Petty, Asking Alexandria, Blackberry Smoke, Foo Fighters, Pop Evil, In Flames, Airbourne, Warren Zevon

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

Season 2, Episode 13 of The Story of Rock and Roll Radio Show took place at midnight on 3 July 2020.  It kicked off with the stated intent of getting this place Hotter Than Hell.  I think we succeeded but you will have to be the judge.  Metallica set a blistering pace with a live version of Hit the Lights off Hard-Wired to Self-Destruct.  It was pretty much all fast, driving, rock and roll through until we took a brief Punk break with The Jam and The Stranglers.  I say Punk lightly because both bands are prisoners of the genre rather than true examples of the idiosyncrasies of Punk.  That being said it set us up nicely for 11 minutes of Judas Priest featuring Richie Faulkner’s guitar solo at Wacken in 2016. 

As shows go this one had a pretty good mix of everything, we went back to 1967 for some Jimi Hendrix and also checked out what Leslie West sounded like in Mountain back in 1971 with Nantucket Sleighride, an often neglected rock classic.  There was a nice little bit of nostalgia with The Quireboys and The Dogs D’Amour and the idea of preparing for TSORR 30 years ago.  ACDC and Jimmy Barnes took care of the Australian music and Blue Scream and Fokofpolisiekar did the honours for local content.  Pop Evil made their TSORR debut with an awesome track called 100 in a 55 and then we were into the dying 15 min leading up to what I considered to be the highlight of the show i.e. playing you the track that I have been addicted to throughout lockdown, Killswitch Engage with Bite the Hand That Feeds.  I didn’t dedicate it to Jackson, my beloved Border Collie but I could well have J  

Artists featured:  Blue Scream, Kiss, Ozzy Osbourne, Axel Rudi Pell, Red Dragon Cartel, Fokofpolisiekar, The Stranglers, Mountain, the Jam, ACDC, Pop Evil, The Quireboys, Jimmy Barnes, Black Label Society, Q5, Rainbow, Black Veil Brides, Killswitch Engage, Jimi Hendrix, Mötley Crüe, Billy Squier, Sixx A.M., Judas Priest, Texas Hippie Coalition, The Dogs D’Amour, Metallica. 

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

Season 2: Episode 12.  After a 3 month hiatus, The Story of Rock and Roll Radio Show resumed at Midnight on 26 June 2020.  It was a ripper, and although I felt a bit rusty the show went pretty well.  Apologies for saying that the opening track by Savage was ‘Loose ‘n’ Lethal’ instead of ‘Ain’t No Fit Place’, the album is of course Loose ‘n’ Lethal.  It was a full house on the WhatsApp line so clearly the return of full bore rock and roll is as important to many people as it is to me.  Huge thanks to those who stayed up and listened live.   

Highlights of the show included Marilyn Manson’s cover of ‘You’re So Vain’ and new releases by Catalano and Axel Rudi Pell.  The Axel Rudi Pell is so good one listener suggested “Axel for President” and that got full TSORR endorsement.  I was fortunate enough to have been given a preview of ‘Woman and the Pouring Rain’ off Johnathan Martin’s forthcoming release Into the Nebulous Night by the man himself.  Playing this required some wizardry on the desk that initially didn’t work.  In the spirit of authentic radio, the confusion stands and after an aborted attempt, the track is played after Neil Young.  It sounds incredible, check it out.   

One of the sadder things that happened during lockdown was the passing away of Dave Greenfield, legendary keyboard player for The Stranglers.  We said cheers to Dave by playing the almost 8-minute closing track off Rattus Norvegicus ‘Down in the Sewer’.  It was a fitting send-off for a wonderful musician.  After that, we got back to business with some Overkill and My Chemical Romance.  We checked out a track off another track from F8 the latest FFDP album and easily one of the best releases this year.  

 SA metal stalwarts Agro released The Bitter End while we were off-air so it was a huge pleasure to unleash the beautiful fury of that album on you all.  Clifford Crabb and the lads have created a real work of art here.  It got heavy again with machine Head and then rocky with The Lazy’s and I closed out the show with a track by The Fismits called Questions.  I love it.   

Artists featured:  Savage, Axel Rudi Pell, Marilyn Manson, Texas Hippie Coalition, Five Finger Death Punch, The Stranglers, Boston, Overkill, Machine Head, Neil Young, Agro, Kid Rock, Catalano, Johnathan Martin, Therapy?, Def Leppard, My Chemical Romance, The Pretty Reckless, Accept, Megadeth, The Fismits, Amanda Palmer, Michael Monroe and The Lazy’s       

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

Season 2 Episode 11 was recorded at midnight on Friday the 13th, March 2020.  The world was in the grip of widespread panic and fear induced by the Corona virus which is now a worldwide pandemic.  It was, therefore, fitting that the second song on the show was Disturbed’s Down With the Sickness.   

The playlist looks like this: 

 Jump In the Fire | Metallica
 Down With the Sickness | Disturbed
 Same Ol'  Situation | Motley Crue
 Good Taste in Bad Women | L.A Cobra
 War Machine | ACDC
 The More Things Change | Cinderella
 Jesus Built My Hot Rod | Ministry
 Rock On | Q5
 Outlaw | Riot
 Escape | Pilgrim South
 Death and Night and Blood | The Stranglers
 I'm So Bored With the USA | The Clash
 I Don't Care | Ramones
 You've Got To Stand For Something | John Mellencamp
 Cemetery Gates | Pantera
 Mandatory Suicide | Slayer
 Wait & Bleed | Slipknot
 Cigarettes & Alcohol | Oasis
 Oasis | Amanda Palmer
 Up Next | Chickenfoot
 Single | 12th Avenue
 That Ain't Me | Pebbleman
 Payback's a Bitch | Blackberry Smoke
 Last Time | Sepultura
 Bloodstone | Judas Priest
 Wake Up Dead | Megadeth
 The Day I Tried to Live | Soundgarden
 Ballad of Mott The Hoople | Mott The Hoople

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