The Ugly American Werewolf in London Rock Podcast

Rush can be a very polarizing band. Even for those who "get it" there are eras that some fans disown or are slow to warm to. The 80s for Rush may be the most divisive period as everyone's favorite remaining power trio had seemed to turn in their heavy metal and progressive roots for synthesizers and shorter, more radio friendly tunes. After swaying perhaps too far into the techno-lands with 1982's Signals, Rush came back to self-produce (with a little help) 1984's Grace Under Pressure in order to establish a more evenly distributed sound. And without any big singles on the record, it still managed to go platinum in the US and their home country of Canada.

You'll hear the hallmarks of Rush throughout the album - the soaring vocals and furious bass work of Geddy Lee, the big riffs and blistering solos of Alex Lifeson and baterista brilliance from The Professor Neil Peart. But it's Peart's lyrics which go way beyond standard pop or rock storytelling as he wades into topics like nuclear war, life & death, freedom & fear, all set against the backdrop of The Cold War. Incorporating synths may take some of the heavy out of the sound but the lyrics deliver in an outsized way and offer more proggy accents than even their 1970s heyday. And The Wolf even gets a little emotional talking about the final track, Between The Wheels, as one of his favorites from the time he first heard it live almost 30 years ago. If you like Rush and don't know this one or dismissed it long ago, we hope you'll listen with fresh ears because the music is inspired and the lyrics are as relevant today as ever.

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Rudolf Schenker founded Scorpions as a teenager in Germany in 1965. With the British Invasion in full swing, he wanted to become a guitarist who wrote great songs, not a gunslinger ripping off the fastest licks he could. He built his repertoire over time and his band toured relentlessly to build an audience. By 1984, hard rock was all the rage and MTV ruled the world helping bands like Motley Crue, Def Leppard, Quiet Riot & other hard rock & metal bands find a larger audience. That's where The Wolf & Action Jackson first saw the Scorpions deliver their heavy riffs on their all-time classic Rock You Like A Hurricane. As the album that birthed that tune and others, Love At First Sting, turns 40 we thought we'd give it our track by track treatment.

Despite singer Klaus Meine's struggle with vocal surgery, he delivered some of his best work with the band on tracks like Still Loving You, Coming Home and Big City Nights. Love At First Sting went triple platinum in the US and allowed the band to tour the world for more than 18 months including many arenas and stadiums n the USA. It's the album that allows them to keep touring and they have a Vegas residency this spring where they will celebrate the album's 40th. Hear us analyze the tracks, dig into the English-as-a-second language lyrics, admire the riffs and celebrate the videos that defined the hard rock generations.

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Mel Gaynor is well respected around the world for his talents as a drummer. Besides being on the skins for Simple Minds as they took off to global superstardom, he has worked with legends like Elton John, Tina Turner, Lou Reed, Jackson Browne, Robert Palmer, Meat Loaf and many more. But Mel can do more than keep the beat and he's releasing his first solo album, Come With Me (out May 3rd), which showcases his songwriting & arranging talents as well as his strong, masculine vocals.

Mel shows his range between folk songs (Run, the 1st single out now), funk (Dangerous), country (Still Waters) and rock (Keep On Believing) while also delivering poignant versions of Wicked Game and his buddy Robert Palmer's Addicted To Love (which features Robert's vocals). Mel gives us his background growing up in London during the 60s and 70s, how he got started in the business, working with metal band Samson alongside future Iron Maiden vocalist Bruce Dickinson and more. Plus, he gives a couple of Simple Minds fans the chance to ask some fanboy questions about making videos, playing at Live Aid and the story behind their #1 hit Don't You Forget About Me.

Visit Mel's site, buy Come With Me and stay up on where to see him live at www.melgaynor.com

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Steve Hackett is not only a truly talented guitarist and songwriter but he's a bit of a workaholic. He rewards his fans by touring the world every year, releasing new material on a regular basis and live albums from the themed tours he's led. And though he's in the midst of his Foxtrot at 50 Tour (for which he's already released a live album) we're proud to welcome him back to The Ugly American Werewolf in London Rock Podcast (hear him ahead of the Foxtrot at 50 Tour on UAWIL #87) as he wraps up his final leg of the tour.

The Circus and The Nightwhale is his latest release, an autobiographical concept album of his life growing up near Battersea Power Station, forging out into the world of rock music and eventually finding happiness in his life. It's the most prog/concept album he's offered since he was in Genesis and he speaks with us about how he approached this album differently than others. The opening track People of the Smoke stirs memories of growing up in London and sets the tone for a brilliant album full of tapping, tremolos and other tricks at which Steve is so adept. Hear Steve talk about channeling Jeff Beck, using one of Brian May's guitars and why you don't want him playing bass on your album. He's proud that the album has hit #1 on the UK Rock Chart and to be celebrated on the cover of Prog Magazine.

In the second part of the episode, The Wolf & Action Jackson travel to Jacksonville, FL to hear Steve debut songs from The Circus and The Nightwhale live, to hear Foxtrot in its entirety and some classic Hackett solo songs as well. It made for a very special night for your intrepid hosts and one very special episode of UAWIL.

Catch Steve's blog, buy The Circus and The Nightwhale and pick up tickets to see him live at www.hackettsongs.com

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We at The Ugly American Werewolf in London Rock Podcast created our monthly sidecast, First Concert Memories, to give people a chance to share their passion for live music and how one particular rock show had a big impact on their life. FCM #8 is a glowing example of how a rock n roll show can regenerate and restore your passion for life after dark times.

On the morning of September 11, 2001, Brian Colburn, a radio & podcast professional and host of My Weekly Mixtape, was commuting into New York City from New Jersey. While entering the LIncoln Tunnel, passengers were told that a plane had struck one of the World Trade Center towers and they would be rerouted back to their origin point. By the time they were back in New Jersey, both towers had crumbled. Like everyone in greater NYC, around the country and the world, Brian experienced a range of emotions and it took a long time to process that horror.

However, on December 16, 2001, Brian saw that Blues Traveler, a New Jersey band he'd never seen live, were coming to the Roseland Ballroom that night. He called his buddies and within a couple of hours they were at the show. Hear Brian describe the feeling in the crowd as people tried to understand if it was OK to smile again, gather in a crowd and sing and dance to music you love. You'll get goosebumps as he describes John Popper playing the Star-Spangled Banner. You'll smile when you hear about Michael Franti joining Blues Traveler for a Bob Marley classic and Brian's encounter with him in the parking lot. And you'll tear up when you hear about the first responders who were honored on stage that night. This is why we created this podcast and we think you'll love Brian's story.

Check out Brian's podcast at www.myweeklymixtape.com

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Listeners of the show know that the point of The Ugly American Werewolf in London Rock Podcast is to keep rock alive by sharing memories of bands, albums, live concerts and artist interviews. But the best way to indoctrinate the next generation away from the ubiquity of Taylor Swift is to take them to non-Taylor live shows. The Wolf Cub developed a love for the Toto classic Africa after The Wolf played it for her a couple of times. As it's become one of her go to songs throughout the years, The Wolf promised his sweet daughter that if the opportunity came to see them live, he would take her.

Low and behold, Toto are opening for Journey as they continue to celebrate their more than 50 years in rock on an arena tour that would come to The Wolf Cub's home town. So as a dutiful parent, The Wolf took her and The She-Wolf out for a night of fond rock n roll memories. But who is left in these bands from their heydays? Did they play all the right songs? Which band sounded better? Which of these bands did the family say they'd go see again and which did they say thank you and goodnight after this show? Hear all about it through the eyes of a nine-year-old who has attended some big concerts (Rolling Stones, Duran Duran, KISS 3x, Chicago, America, Peter Frampton) and from the more seasoned perspective of her doting father.

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After Pink Floyd delivered The Final Cut, the 1983 album which would be Roger Waters last with the band, David Gilmour found himself at an impasse. While he had some music ready for a new album as Roger had domineered the writing in Pink Floyd for the last 5+ years, he was unsure of the band's future. And since Roger was working on a solo concept album (The Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking) David decided it was time he find out if he could make it outside of Pink Floyd.

So he enlisted some heavy hitters like Bob Ezrin (producer), Jeff Pocaro (drums), Pino Palladino (bass), Jon Lord (keyboards), Steve Winwood (keyboards), and Pete Townshend (lyrics) to help him create a solo album for 1984. The result was About Face with some statements on the death of John Lennon (Murder), the US putting missiles in the UK (Cruise) and his relationship with Roger (You Know I'm Right) which would continue to be a source of lyrics for the next two Roger-less Pink Floyd albums - A Momentary Lapse of Reason (reviewed on UAWIL #69) and The Division Bell (UAWIL #168).

We're not sure if David was truly looking to break away from the band and become a big solo act or just had pent up anger and music that had to get out. The tour to support the album was more successful than the album itself and it may not be our favorite but there are some bright spots and some riffs that would foreshadow things to come in Pink Floyd.

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In 1994, your hosts found themselves finishing their junior year of college when it was announced that Pink Floyd were coming back with a new album, The Division Bell, and a huge tour to promote it. After watching the concert film Delicate Sound of Thunder from the previous tour, The Wolf made it his mission to see them live. And of course, our hosts picked up the album as soon as it came out. But at the time, they found the album disappointing and didn't stand up to it's predecessor, A Momentary Lapse of Reason.

However, as the album turns 30, we can look back at it with a better understanding of how this record stands up in the Pink Floyd catalog. We can appreciate that it was the first time in 20 years that David Gilmour and Rick Wright wrote songs together. We can enjoy David's extraordinary guitar work - how he can pull so much emotion out of each note still floors us to this day. And we can hear the heartbreak and new love found (Coming Back To Life), the hope for a better future (A Great Day For Freedom, Keep Talking) and the bitterness that lingers from their feud with Roger Waters (Poles Apart, Lost For Words).

While some might dismiss this as latter day, Roger-less, not-as-classic Pink Floyd, we found that the tunes were better than we remembered and they conjured memories from a simpler and more wondrous time in our lives. And the memories from the lone time The Wolf ever saw Pink Floyd live help us warm to this record as a gem, albeit a dark horse, in the Pink Floyd catalog.

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The early 1970s were full of triumph and tragedy for Eric Clapton. The Guitar God who had bounced from band to band - The Yardbirds, John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, Cream, Blind Faith - finally went solo with mixed results. However, in 1971 Clapton struck gold on both sides of the Atlantic with Layla and his buddies in Derek & the Dominos. However, friend and guitarist Duane Allman died tragically in a car accident in late 1971 and while Clapton mourned his friend and longed for the love of his good buddy George Harrison's wife Patti, Clapton slipped deep into a heroin addiction.

Once Eric came out of his fog, he knew he needed to get back to making music and needed a hit or else he might be written off as an over the hill (at 29) junkie. So he gathered some of his buddies from the Layla sessions, took up residence at a certain address in Miami and put together a million selling record with a #1 US hit with I Shot The Sheriff. You see the many faces of Clapton on here from the blues (I Can't Hold Out), to reggae (I Shot The Sheriff), to gospel (Give Me Strength). Opener Motherless Children is a tour de force with the slide guitar and the closer, Mainline Florida, features Clapton showing off his skills with the talk box. If this album hadn't sold so well, who knows what may have become of Eric and if we'd have been treated to all the amazing music he's given us over the last 50 years.

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We at The Wolf love the all-time classic British rock stars that helped found the movement of and continue to carry the torch of classic blues based rock n roll. We've spent countless hours (and dollars/pounds/euros/etc) to buy records, concert tickets, videos and books to learn more about the artists that brought rock music to the masses. This week, we speak with someone who'd met and/or worked with most all of them over the years, guitar tech Lee Dickson. Though born in Glasgow, he eventually made his way to London and started working in live music production. At the end of the 70s he ended up working with Eric Clapton who then picked Lee up as part of his crew where he eventually became Eric's guitar tech and was for nearly 30 years.

Hear the stories of going to Japan with George Harrison and why George called Lee "Wanker" in his signed tour book - a story he's never shared before! Listen to Lee talk about working with Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page and Paul Rodgerts for the ARMS concerts. Feel the emotion when you hear him get choked up talking about the late great Ronnie Lane or doing concerts for sick children. Do you want to know about Live Aid? The Crossroads Festivals? Playing the White House with Lenny Kravitz? Working on the Rush soundtrack? Just listen up, you'll hear about all of that and more on this deliciously classic episode!

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