The Story of Rock and Roll Radio Show

WARNING this show comes in hot with Pantera and Slayer, if you are not a fan then hang in there for two tracks there is a good reason for this aggressive start and for why it is followed by ‘I’m In a Bad Mood’ by Aussie legend Jimmy Barnes.  Fear not, the healing power of Rock ‘n’ Roll soon kicks in and the show becomes its usual light-hearted, metal loving self.   Welcome to the 42nd episode of The Story of Rock and Roll Radio Show.  Things came undone from the moment I looked for the files which were supposed to have been downloaded onto the station system and, two minutes before showtime, were nowhere to be found.  My colleague Mighty Mike Tymvios assisted by playing a beautiful classical interlude in the form of The Addams Family theme as a place holder while I got my shit together and made another plan.  Normal service resumed with teeth after about a 7 min delay.  To celebrate I left a little bit of the introduction ‘Lest We Forget’.  

As usual it was a lot of fun and a mixed bag, the highlight for me was playing The Kinks alternative version of ‘I’m Not Like Everybody Else’.  Ray Davies wrote it for The Animals who declined it and then they did it themselves with Dave Davies singing.  It was the ‘B-side of ‘Sunny Afternoon’ and that version is not my best.  The version featured here is a whole different beast, it’s the one Ray sang on the Live To The Bone album released in 1994 and it’s the one David Chase used in the outro of the Soprano’s Season 5 episode titled ‘Çold Cuts’.  It is simply superb, the video is on the blog section of TSORR website.  I played out with James Reyne’s ‘Always The Way’ especially for my friend Fanie Marais who was much loved on the local music scene and who passed away 3 weeks ago, RIP brother.  It’s also the first show not to have a bit of Punk.  Stranglers fans, apologies I had ‘Toiler on the Sea’ lined up but we’ll play it next week.    

Artists featured this week included:  Lynyrd Skynyrd, Van Halen, Ozzy Osbourne, Volbeat, Queensrÿche, Reef, Neil Young, Tom Petty, Pantera, Judas Priest, Slayer, The Uninvited, James Reyne, The Kinks, Skid Row, John Mellencamp, Raven Eye, Dee Snider, Five Finger Death Punch, Seether, The Black Cat Bones, Emigrate, Crash Car Burn, Motörhead, Loudness & Jimmy Barnes

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

This show is more fun every week, it is quite strange how the ones where you initially feel you have all the wrong songs turn out to be listener favorites.  This episode took place at midnight on 25 October and it felt a bit different from normal, I figured out it’s because there wasn’t any Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Rainbow or Megadeth which is unusual.  It’s being on a tightrope without a safety net.  Instead, there was some interesting newish stuff from Mustasch, Burning Rain.  Highlights in this episode for me were In This River off the Black Label Society - Unblackened album and Greta Van Fleet who have grown on me

For the Punk slot, we went right back to the roots with The Sex Pistols and The Clash. It still sounded very fresh, I reckon that Steve Jones is far more influential than people realize.  Compare his guitar sound with everything else happening in 1977 and you’ll see what I mean.  The local slot was filled by Cutting Jade and Dead-Line, I tend to gush about Dead-Line they are writing some good stuff and the guitar work is fantastic.  The male solo category was headed up by John Mellencamp and Jimmy Barnes and Metallica and Machinehead bought the Heavy.  I closed out with the greatest guitar solo ever committed to vinyl, I don’t normally play the classics because in many instances they have been totally overdone, this one however just felt exactly right \m/.

Artists featured in Episode 41 include Black Sabbath, Jimmy Barnes, ACDC, Mustasch, Metallica, Cutting Jade, Halestorm, John Mellencamp, Machinehead, The Clash, Q5, Greta Van Fleet, Rival Sons, Black Label Society, Live, Pink Floyd, The Sex Pistols, Burning Rain, Rose Tattoo, Black Label Society, Danzig, Audioslave, Dead-Line, ACDC, Mötley Crüe the Coheed & Cambria.

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

Episode 40 of The Story of Rock and Roll went out into the world at midnight on 18 October 2019.  Two hours went by in a flash, that’s the power of good music \m/.  It was foot to the floor for the first hour and then we started to get a bit more off the beaten track with stuff like Nibs Van Der Spuy, Walking Papers & 12th Avenue.  According to the WhatsApp line TSORR Radio Show is “The best show on Rockfest”!! and “I am wide awake tonight show is one of the best in a long time”.  So there you have it.  

The new stuff came from Mark Morton, the punk came from Green Day and from The Professionals.  As usual, I had waaaay too much music and the show could easily have gone 4 hours.  Somehow the ladies got bumped so I’ll fix that next week.  Every time I play stuff off Rush’s final album, Clockwork Angels, I like it more, what a special band, we listened to The Wreckers.  Every episode of TSORR is lead guitar-centric and this one was full of it.  Jeff Georges smack you round the head solo on ‘I Tried’ by We are Harlot was especially cool, as was the outro guitar work from Hammett and Hetfield on ‘The Day That Never Comes’.  Mike Orlando’s fretwork on Angel Sky would certainly qualify as notifiable.  You probably know by now that as with infectious diseases, where some are classed as notifiable because they are high in ‘you better give a fuckness’, so too, in my world, are guitar solos. Consequently, it is my duty to notify you every time you are about to hear one.  There was a small little tribute to a giant of a man, Fanie Marais who sadly passed away this week, it’s still an open wound for me.  Fanie was one of the nicest guys in the SA Music scene and he’ll be sorely missed.  He produced and Engineered all The Uninvited albums and he was a very close friend, he loved life and to say cheers I played him our beloved Rolling Stones with Sad, Sad, Sad. 

Artists featured included:  Megadeth, The Professionals, Nibs Van Der Spuy, Rainbow, Green Day, Led Zeppelin, Animal Bites, Metallica, We Are Harlot, Walking Papers, Sixx:A.M., Dokken, Airbourne, Joe Bonamassa, Accept, L:ast In Line, Audioslave, Windowpane, Pearl Jam, Oasis, The Rolling Stones, 12th Avenue, W.A.S.P.  Adrenaline Mob, Mark Morton and Rush

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

Episode 39 of The Story of Rock and Roll Radio Show aired at midnight on 11  October 2019.  It marks a change in the way the show is recorded in that the songs are submitted upfront.  This means any changes to the playlist on the night are impossible unless by some miracle the song is in the stations' data base.  It makes requests tricky.  Requests don’t form a huge part of TSORR Radio Show however listeners often submit excellent ideas that add a good energy to the show.  The new method for requests is to find the track on YouTube which is a lottery, you never know what the quality will be like or how many surprises are in a track you haven’t reviewed.  The first taste of this method is about two-thirds of the way through, and it was certainly a strange one that cut and shifted and had phones ringing in it.  I left it as-is for the purity of the show.  It going to be better in future if I know what the track is like upfront. 

Everything else was 100% fun, pretty much what you’d expect from this show.  The new stuff came from Hell Fire, Black Star Riders, Backyard Babies and Tom Keifer.  I don’t think we went back further than 1982 this week, I ran out of time and the Rory Gallagher from 1974 got bumped.  In fact, The Damned of all bands represented the 70’s.  Local music was covered by Crash Car Burn and Johnathan Martin, the weeks outlier was Alabama 3 with Too Sick to Pray.  It was the most appreciated track of the night according to the WhatsApp line.   

Artists featured this week included Dio, ACDC, Rainbow, Monster Truck, David Lee Roth, The Damned, Tom Petty, Rammstein, Sammy Hagar, David Bowie, Judas Priest, Black Star Riders, Joan Jett, Damn Yankees, Hell Fire, Amon Amarth, Iron Maiden, Def Leppard, Sixx:A.M., Alabama 3, Johnathan Martin, Megadeth, Crash Car Burn, Tom Keifer, Backyard Babies & Buckcherry with Papa Roach.    

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

Welcome to the 25th podcast of The Story of Rock and Roll Radio Show, affectionately known as Episode 37.  It aired at midnight on 27 Sept 2019 on a freezing cold night in Johannesburg South Africa.  The first 60 minutes or so was all foot flat,  driving rock and roll.  We kicked off with The Backyard Babies latest album and a track called ‘Good Morning Midnight’, which it was.  Scorpions, ACDC, My Chemical Romance all followed in quick succession and the pace didn’t stop until AX7 gave us some breathing room with their uber ballad ‘Seize The Day’.  I also changed gears for a bit when I dipped into the early 70’s with Bad Company, Deep Purple and The Sweet I then had to use a bit of Pantera to knock the Glam around the side of the head.  The crucial lesson with Pantera was this:  “What do you do 3:55 minutes into ‘Domination’”?  "You…. bang…. your …head for the next 65 seconds".  What a breakdown ! 

The Punk corner was represented by Stiff Little Fingers & The Stranglers, Australia by Rose Tattoo and South Africa by Arapaho & Piet Botha.  For once the ladies didn’t even get a look in and then for the first time we had some Lynyrd Skynyrd on the show which was a shock that will be rectified in coming weeks.  I am not sure how Skynyrd dodged airplay on TSORR for half a year!  There was a nice change of pace late in the show courtesy of Phillip Sayce and his blues instrumental ‘Alchemy’.  The comedic gem in this episode is where Deryck requests Godsmack’s I Stand Alone and I go above and beyond trying to play it.  Needless to say, it didn’t work out and I needed Ozzy Osbourne to wipe up the mess.

Bands featured this week include:  System Of A Down, Piet Botha, Arapaho, ACDC, Judas Priest, John Mellencamp, Stiff Little Fingers, Chickenfoot, Volbeat, Tom Petty, Scorpions, The Sweet, Disturbed, Stone Temple Pilots, Bad Company, Backyard Babies, The Stranglers, Phillip Sayce, Ozzy Osbourne, Rose Tattoo, Pantera, My Chemical Romance, Marilyn Manson, Saxon, Deep Purple, Avenged Sevenfold, Black Stone Cherry & Lynyrd Skynyrd.  

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

Episode 36 was a lot of fun, It was broadcasted live at midnight on 20 Sept 2019.  I'd flown back from a week in the Maldives early that afternoon so I'd had about an hour's sleep in the last 36 hours and it showed :-).  There are some funny bits towards the end where my brain is really melting.  For an unplanned show, it was very cool and the usual variety you have come to expect from TSORR was there I think. For example, Overkill into Simon & Garfunkel was a total jol.  I played another track from East Rand heavyweights, The Burning's new album Headed To Hell and slipped in The Poultry Christ by The Uninvited which was requested a few weeks ago by Hannes.  Apart from the lyric, the song is important because the two solo's on the Poultry Christ demonstrate the emotions 'fear' and 'relief' as the Poultry Christ struggles to get through the fence and then makes it to the river and escapes. 
 
Other noticeable moments of the show included the title track off the brand new album by Black Star Riders called Another State of Grace, Foghat with Slow Ride and Megadeth's masterpiece Holy Wars...The Punishment Due.  There is always one track that just sounds better than anything through the studio speakers and this week it was that one.  

Artists featured included Van Halen, Rammstein, Black Star Riders, Foghat, The Black Cat Bones, Motorhead, Aerosmith, The Boomtown Rats, Candlebox, Judas Priest, Powderfinger, Overkill, Hinder, Arch Enemy, Dave Hause, Great White, The Gaslight Anthem, Megadeth, The Uninvited, Aerosmith, Simon & Garfunkel, The Burning, Krokus, Bruce Springsteen, The Quireboys, Black Label Society & The Temperance Movement.

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

Episode 35 of the Story of Rock and Roll Radio Show aired at midnight on 6 September 2019.  It was a great episode even if I do say so myself.  I had exclusive permission to feature a track off Headed to Hell the new album by East Rand rock stars The Burning, it sounded fantastic and the comments on the WhatsApp line were overwhelmingly positive.   

I played some more from the Bite! album by Animal Drive! and also can’t get enough of Warpaint the new Buckcherry album.  Jethro Tull & The Rolling Stones sorted out the 50 year old music and Cold Chisel and ACDC did the honours for Australia.  Burning Witches represented the ladies and we had my besties Van Coke Kartel and Johnathan Martin in the local slot.  The Clash gave us the requisite bit of Punk Rock and then we had the third edition of the Long Live The Loud feature, two tracks suggested by my mate Marq Vas.  All in all, it was a total jol and as usual, I ran out of time.    

Bands featured on this episode included: The Burning, ACDC, The Cult, Van Halen, Q5, Volbeat, Buckcherry, Ian Hunter, Animal Drive, Mouthful of Flies, Faster Pussycat, Gary Moore, Burning Witches, Johnathan Martin, Cold Chisel, The Clash. Kiss, Judas Priest, The Rolling Stones, Overkill, Van Coke Kartel, Jethro Tull, The Darkness & Manowar 

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

Midnight 30 August 2019 marked the airing of Episode 34 of The Story of Rock and Roll Radio Show.  As always it was an interesting mix and included a few wonderful energy swings.  I enjoyed the shift going from full tilt with the new Long Live the Loud feature into Neil Young's Thrasher.  We listened to Boston and we listened to Slipknot and everything in between.  Looking back the show was so jam-packed I realized it was the first time we haven’t had two punk tracks on TSORR so it was probably a bit more metallic than usual.  You be the judge, it was one of those evenings where time was definitely relative and for me, it was moving fast.  So many good bands and so little time.  The highlight of the show to me was the Am I Demon vs Am I Evil playoff between Danzig and Diamond Head.  We had Jimmy Barnes and James Reyne representing Australia and The Springbok Nude Girls and Seether representing the local content.  That is also lighter on SA music than usual as I couldn’t quite squeeze in Mamba by Piet Botha.  I’ll do that next week, expect an over-representation of SA Rock in Episode 35. 

Bands featured included, Halestorm, Rival Sons, Boston , Led Zeppelin, Fozzy, Slipknot, Kiss, Marilyn Manson, Neil Young, Threshold, Avenged Sevenfold, Jimmy Barnes, Diamond Head, Seether, James Reyne, Anthrax, Saxon, Black Sabbath,  Guns ‘n’  Roses, Danzig, Springbok Nude Girls, Black Star Riders, My Chemical Romance, Parkway Drive and Temple of the Dog

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

Episode 33 of The Story of rock and Roll Radio Show aired at midnight on 23 August 2019.  This show marked the introduction of the ‘Long Live The Loud’ feature.  It takes place at 1 am i.e. halfway through the podcast and it’s a feature where I have 10 minutes of metal in the form of two songs suggested by the legendary Marq Vas.  Marq and I met in around 1990 and for a few years, we were inseparable on weekends.  Together we painted the town blood for a few years and even developed the concept behind his amazing band Metalmorphosis.  Some of the mad shit Marq and I got up to is detailed in my book The Story of Rock and Roll, check out the website for details of that.  Marq has a knowledge of music second to none and while we agree on the Metal we often differ in subtle ways around the edges so I figured it’s a good opportunity to inject something new into TSORR.  As well as knowing a lot of bands that many have missed Marq finds a lot of new metal and we are going to check it all out. ‘Long Live the Loud’ is Marq’s primary hashtag for all things Vas, and every week I will blast out two of his suggestions.  Welcome to the mind and music of a true SA music legend.

The show as always was an eclectic mix and we got pretty much around the world; Germany, UK, Australia, US, Sweden, Ireland, and South Africa.  I played stuff between 1977 and 2019 so it’s a good representation of rock through the last 42 years.   We had some metal, we had some blues, we had some punk, some grunge, all the stuff you have come to expect from TSORR where it’s all about the music \m/.  I played a band called Animal Drive which was introduced to me by Tinus a regular listener.  Animal Drive sounded very good.  SA music was heavily represented by SA blues genius Dan Patlansky as well as Hellcats, 12th Avenue and the fabulous Dead-Line.  It’s all there on this most excellent episode.    

Bands featured in this episode include Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Massive Wagons, Van Halen, Audioslave, Buckcherry, Northward, Dave Hause, The Screaming Jets, Therapy?, Dead-Line, 12th Avenue, Joe Bonamassa, Dan Patlansky, The Stranglers, Hellcats, Animal Drive, Kid Rock, Scorpions, Exciter, Conil, Motorhead, Texas Hippie Coalition & The Offspring

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

TSORR Radio Show’s 32nd episode went out live at midnight on 16 August.  It was Madonna’s birthday and we celebrated that making sure we played nothing by her.  As always the show kicked off with a bang, this week in the form of Iron Maiden.  The show starts very quickly, in fact so quick that Speed of Light was indeed a fitting first track.  A huge technical problem that has been plaguing TSORR since inception has been solved, you may notice if you listen regularly that the last song often just cuts off just before the end.  That problem has now been solved, genius boy strikes again.  

There were quite a few requests last night, more than normal, I played the Metallica for Johan and next week I’ll hit the Diamond Head / Danzig double for Valeska and the Motorhead cover of Whiplash for Athol,  looking forward to that.   We took a listen to a new all girl metal band out of Sweden called Burning Witches who were new to me and that went down really well.  The highlight for me personally was actually right at the end when I played The Fisherman by Jack Hammer.  Some good memories there RIP Piet Botha.  The new desk is stunningly beautiful and sounds better than ever, it was a fun episode, hope you enjoy it too.    

Artists featured in Episode 32 include Iron Maiden, Nazareth, Skid Row, Badlands, Newsted, Danko Jones, Queen, Rose Tattoo, Billy Talent, The Clash, Black Sabbath, Motley Crue, Foo Fighters, Jack Hammer, Metallica, Guns ‘n’ Roses, Fozzy, Live, Burning Witches, The Damned, Van Coke Kartel, Alabama 3, Peter Hanmer, The Pretty Reckless, Def Leppard, Rival Sons.

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