The SaltyRockz Blog – Bob Dylan

TRYING TO BREATHE THE SAME AIR AS DYLAN

Bob Dylan has been something of a musical obsession for me for 25 years. But the closest I got to touching the hand of Bob was back in March of 2004 in Chicago.

The circumstances under which I almost got to meet the man were not normal and had a lot to do with Jim Callaghan. Not the one-time Labour Party leader. That would have been just too bizarre. But rather a rock and roll security guy of the same name.

A literary agent I was dabbling with at the time had some contacts with Callaghan and there was talk of him wanting a ghost for a warts’n’all autobiography that was in the air. An interesting project, for sure, especially since Callaghan had worked with the Stones for years and years – and when Keith Richards was at his most naughty and hedonistic.

In fact, I was so enthusiastic for the project that I was even prepared to stump up half of the cost of flights to Chicago, where Callaghan was marshalling Dylan’s security doings. The fact that my potential co-worker just so happened to be working with Dylan certainly weighed in my decision to invest some dough in the venture. After all, Bob was playing a number of nights – four, I think – in intimate Chicago theatres; one to two thousand seaters maybe. Gig heaven. If the book idea didn’t come off, then at the very least I’d have the chance to see one of my all-time heroes in truly intimate circumstances on at least two occasions. It was a real Dr. Pepper moment. What’s the worst that could happen?!

I’ve loved Dylan since a hippie lass from Huddersfield introduced me to his music back in university, around 1983. Up to that point I’d not paid the fella any mind. Dylan seemed old, irrelevant, uncool. To a 19-year-old heavy metal fan in the full arrogance of youth he was nothing more than an overly nasal irrelevance. But The Huddersfield Hippy persevered with Dylan’s latest album at the time, ‘Infidels’, and slowly but surely I started to get hooked. ‘Infidels’ is a million miles away from a true Dylan classic, but it did and still does hold a special place in my heart. First loves and all that. Not Huddersfield Hippy. The album.

From ‘Infidels’ I suddenly got the Dylan bug and swiftly backtracked to what I quickly realised was a back catalogue that was utterly immense. First it was ‘Blood On The Tracks’, then it was ‘Highway 61’, then ‘Desire’, then ‘Blonde On Blonde’ and so on and so forth. I started to understand what a scenester Dylan had been, what a hip dude he was, what bloody unbelievable songs he’d written, what social relevance he had. It hadn’t been an instant revelation, but it was a revelation all the same.

Callaghan was canny. He knew he was working something on Bob’s time that might not have been considered kosher, I guess. Though discussing a book with me was hardly like divulging the notoriously secretive Dylan’s innermost thoughts, there was still no backstage pass for HoJo. The first time I met Callaghan was outside the Aragon Ballroom on March 5, with throngs of Dylan fans milling about. His opening gambit was brilliant. ‘Tell me a joke, then…’ Shit. I’ve always been the world’s worst at remembering jokes. Bar none. I utterly blew my opening lines.

If Callaghan had marked me down with a big fat mental cross right there and then, at least he had the good grace not to let it show. In fact, quite the opposite. We buddied up for the next two or three days, me and Jim, meeting for breakfast in diners, chatting in my hotel room, chatting in his hotel room. I suspect I didn’t do myself any favours, though. Much as I was genuinely interested in Jim’s book idea and found the man charming in a roguish kind of way – he truly did have the most amazing stories – I found it utterly impossible not to be thinking about Dylan all the while. Like a true fan. ‘Oh my God, he’s in this very hotel. Wouldn’t it be great if we bumped into him in the lobby? Will Jim take me backstage tonight to introduce me? What will I say? What will he say?’

Of course nothing of the sort happened. While I got the VIP treatment front of house and enjoyed the shows from privileged vantage points sat at the front of the balcony I never got within a country mile of real human contact with His Bobness. Jim Callaghan, bless him, was doing his job – and doing it right.

Witnessing Dylan for two nights in such intimate surroundings was truly awesome, mind. If I hadn’t been so damned jetlagged the first night it would have been even better. But hey, that’s just nitpicking.

I didn’t even get so much as a glimpse of Dylan, actually. I didn’t get so much as a glimpse of the proposed book either. I think Jim changed his mind in the end. I never saw any book appear, at least. But for me, getting that close to Dylan in his natural habitat was a thrill in itself. And above all the whole experience made me realise that I was glad I hadn’t become so jaded by my rock and roll doings over the years as to forget what it feels like to be a real honest-to-goodness fan of a man whose music I still love and admire to this day.

Want to email me about this blog? Get in touch at hojo@saltyrockz.com

HoJo rocked as a top journalist on legendary UK metal magazine
Kerrang! and now runs a way-cool rock T-shirt site at www.saltyrockz.com.

Rob Halford Launches New Apparel Company

The world of Rock and Roll has one Metal God – Rob Halford. The multi-Gold and Platinum Producer, Songwriter, Vocalist has graced the world’s largest stages for decades leading his revolutionary solo acts: Halford, Fight and the legendary Judas Priest.

Developing new standards for the Rock and Metal genres with blazing vocals, dynamic themes, adorned head-to-toe in glass, leather and steel – The Metal God is universally recognized as an artist whom continually inspires and drives today’s global Hard Rock industry.

With an eye on defining consumer-fashions for today’s Rock and Roll lifestyles, Metal God Entertainment and Rob Halford are pleased to debut a new garment entity: Metal God Apparel.

With Pre-sale beginning today and shipments commencing June 15, 2009 Metal God Apparel will debut dozens of new, edgy-designs this year for youth, teens, men and women. Metal God Apparel re-produced on custom-dyed, cotton tees integrating the newest fashion technology resulting in an extremely attractive, lightweight, soft-to-touch, active-wear for today’s global music audiences.

Please visit http://www.MetalGodApparel.com/ for more details.

What’s New – Week of April 27, 2009

Take a big whiff, head bangers—no, I didn’t fart! Sheesh! That’s the smell of hairspray, used spandex, sweaty leather and wadded up denim! That’s the smell of the House of Hair!

This week on the HOH, I’ll be guiding you on a two-hour tour through the best metal, hard rock and party-till-you-can’t-remember-your-name hair bands ever to strut the airwaves! Twisted Sister, Judas Priest, Quiet Riot, Ratt and a bunch more are set to tear your heart out and dress it in cute, little spandex pants. So adorable! Plus, I want to send you on an all-expenses paid trip to Las Vegas to see me in Monster Circus. What’s that, you ask? Well, tune into this week’s show and find out! The House of Hair is gonna be killin’ this week!

What’s New – Week of April 20, 2009

Hey, hos! This week’s House of Hair is primed and ready to blow a 50 megaton mushroom cloud of Aqua Net straight into the atmosphere! I’ve got Lita Ford, Twisted Sister, Slaughter, Def Leppard and all the unusual suspects – plus a lot of your requests – locked and loaded!

And, don’t forget: a free trip to Rocklahoma could be in your future! It’s all headed your way on the House of Hair! You don’t wanna miss it!

The SaltyRockz Blog – HAIR METAL

Round about 1989 I sat in a record company office in Hollywood with Warrant vocalist Jani Lane conducting an interview for Kerrang! magazine. Jani was a top boy, affable and articulate, self-deprecating and funny. The band’s début album, ‘Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich’, was about to be released and we were discussing Warrant’s OTT image of make-up and teased hair that had become pretty much de rigeur for any band wanting to make a splash in the American metal scene. “So Jani,” I asked, deciding I’d put him on the spot. “Would you be prepared to walk down the street in your home town back in Ohio like this?” I liked his response. “Fuck no, man! Are you crazy? If I walked down the street like this I’d get my ass kicked in a second for being a fuckin’ faggot!” For someone trying to make his name in the world of Hair Metal, I appreciated the honesty.

Lane’s refusal to embrace the Glam lifestyle 24/7 certainly didn’t hinder Warrant any. The band went on to have two double platinum albums and three Top 10 hits. Not a bad haul by anyone’s standards. But the truth is, anyone who was prepared to live Hair Metal morning noon and night had more balls than most of us, despite looking like some kind of drag queen gone wrong once they’d emptied the entire contents of their sister’s make-up bag onto their ugly-assed faces every morning. I for one didn’t have the necessary chutzpah to be walking down Birmingham New Street looking like that, so by this time had retreated into the resurgent biker look being rocked by bands like The Cult.

It’s kinda weird now, in our post-grunge world, to imagine just how normal it was for bands to adopt the Hair Metal look back in those giddy days of the 1980s. But for a while there the preening and the posing and the hairspray and the make-up seemed to be the most natural thing in the world to accompany heavy rock music. Look at photos from the time of Mötley Crüe, Guns N’Roses, Ratt, Bon Jovi. Pretty much any rock band you choose felt it was an essential part of rock’n’roll culture to get with the Hair Metal picture.

Grunge, of course, killed Hair Metal stone dead in 1992. It seemed that almost overnight looking like a chick with a dick and playing party rock was the ultimate kiss of death. What had once brought record company A&R men swarming like bees to honey suddenly saw them getting all snooty and claiming that rock music was all about ‘keeping it real’. Some bands cut their losses and quickly cut out the Silvikrin. Remember those early photos of Alice In Chains? All of a sudden we were all pretending we were far too mature to be dressing up like a Heavy Metal Widow Twanky. The trouble is, we all realised too late that Grunge was NO FUN. Some great music, sure. But too introspective, navel-gazing and downright miserable. Grunge never seemed to make anybody happy, whereas Hair Metal couldn’t help but put a smile on your face.

Hair Metal is, of course, making something of a comeback right now. rock’n’roll for the sake of rock’n’roll. It’s dumb and it’s fun. And I for one have no problem in saying I have no problem with it whatsoever. Though I suspect I won’t be breaking out the missus’ make-up bag this time around!

Want to email me about this blog? Get in touch at hojo@saltyrockz.com

HoJo rocked as a top journalist on legendary UK metal magazine
Kerrang! and now runs a way-cool rock T-shirt site at www.saltyrockz.com.

The SaltyRockz Blog – RUSH

SEWING THE SEEDS OF RUSH

Rush. They were the mainstay of heavy metal sewing circles across the UK in the late ’70s. Seriously. It’s an art that’s long since died out, but back when I first got the rock bug embroidered denim jackets were absolutely de rigeur for the wannabe British rock fan. And if you hadn’t ‘done’ Rush then you were frankly no-one!

How, why and when this phenomenon started I have no idea. Anybody who has a clue, please e-mail. But at the age of 14 the embroidered denim was every bit as much a part of the ritual of gig-going in Britain as the lights and the sounds and the ridiculously tight trousers.

Now doubtless there were thousands upon thousands of patient mums up and down the land working hard to perfect such sewing trickery as required by UFO with their devilish little flashes, that sinewy Led Zep lettering or the rollerball-derived workings of Scorpions. But I’ve heard dark mutterings about gangs of hairy young men (possibly featuring Saltyrockz designer Hunnsy!) meeting in secret hideaways, needle in hand. No, they weren’t shooting heroin. They were embroidering together. Swapping tips on how to make those logos look ‘just so’ on their backs. It all sounds hilarious now, but it was a deadly serious business back then. And the holy grail in these rock’n’roll sewing circles was undoubtedly Rush.

Rush’s logo was a bitch. Like their music, it was complicated and not a little spooky. The all-seeing, overpowering star seemingly looking to overwhelm the naked, defenceless man. What did it all mean? Nobody could figure it. Was it ever-so-slightly homoerotic to be sewing a fella’s butt cheeks onto your own clothing with such care and attention? Nobody was letting on if it was. But one thing was certain. If you didn’t make an absolute pig’s ear of it and could produce an authentic-looking Rush logo for the back of your jacket, then you were most definitely cock of the walk.

Me? I was well jealous of the rockers who’d pulled it off. Did they have super-human powers in their fingers? All I’d managed to sew was a tremendously poor Scorpion in lime green, overly-thick wool that ended up looking like a radioactive blob! Rush was out of the question. I could have bought myself a Rush patch, of course. Saved myself all the bother. But what was the point in that? That was a cop-out that would gain you no respect and risked you being dismissed as an amateur metaller, a poseur and a Johnny-come-lately without the true HM stamina required to stick at the ultimate task in sewing. Where was the glory?

Were Rush themselves blissfully unaware of the Battle of the ’Broidery? Did Alex, Geddy and Neil know of the man hours that were going into this bizarre ritual of fan appreciation? It’d be nice to think that they did, but I suspect they had deeper things on their minds at the time. Like the battle for hearts and minds on Cygnus. And which kimono to wear. But as far as I’m concerned that doesn’t and won’t ever alter the eternal and honoured link between Rush and sewing.

Mind you, it’s so much easier to buy a T-shirt at our age, isn’t it?!

Want to email me about this blog? Get in touch at hojo@saltyrockz.com

HoJo rocked as a top journalist on legendary UK metal magazine
Kerrang! and now runs a way-cool rock T-shirt site at www.saltyrockz.com.

What’s New – Wek of April 13, 2009

A big hello from the casa de hard, the metal mansion, the spandex short stay motel—or, as it is known to millions–the House of Hair!

What’s up, headbangers? This week I’ll be letting my hair down, strapping on the spandex, applying a fresh coat of mascara and doing some serious damage to your speakers. I’ll be bludgeoning you with Judas Priest, my band, Twisted Sister, W.A.S.P., Dio–and that ain’t even the half of it! Rocklahoma looms large, my pretties, and you’ve got a shot to get there for free! So be sure to tune it in and turn it up, the House of Hair is heading your way!

ROCKLAHOMA ANNOUNCES STRYPER, THIN LIZZY, SKID ROW, WARRANT, NIGHT RANGER

PRYOR, OK—Rocklahoma, the premier eighties rock festival in the United States announced additional bands to its third annual event.

Rocklahoma held in Pryor, Oklahoma and called by many throughout the world as the “Woodstock of Eighties Rock Music” has announced additional bands for the main stage for the four days. Added to the history making festival includes Stryper headlining Friday Night along with fan favorites Night Ranger and Warrant. Added to Saturday, is the legendary Thin Lizzy. Sunday Night’s addition includes eighties favorite Skid Row.

Stryper featuring three original members, lead vocalist Michael Sweet, drummer Robert Sweet and guitarist Oz Fox, along with bassist Tracy Ferrie.

Michael Sweet of Stryper had this to say, “Rocklahoma is an event that I’ve heard about from peers and friends and they have always said that Stryper would be a perfect fit for this festival. Oklahoma holds a special place in my heart since my family lived in Moore, Oklahoma. I have a lot of family in Oklahoma. We’re excited to finally be able to perform at Rocklahoma and look forward to an amazing night!”

Recently added to Saturday’s lineup at Rocklahoma is Thin Lizzy, a seventies favorite whose hits went well into the eighties and include “Jail Break” and “The Boys are Back in Town.” Vocalist John Sykes “We have heard a lot about Rocklahoma and are really excited to be playing this year’s festival. The set will be jam packed with Lizzy Classics, so see you there!”

The lineup on each of the three days is as follows:

Thursday: Anthrax, Saxon, Overkill, Metal Church and Leatherwolf.

Friday: Stryper, Night Ranger, Warrant, Danger Danger, Helix and Hurricane Alice

Saturday: Thin Lizzy, KIX, KEEL, Gypsy Pistoleros, plus two to be announced.

Sunday: Twisted Sister, Skid Row, Great White, Nelson, Bonfire and Vixen

Rocklahoma features attendance from all over the world, already selling tickets throughout Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa, South America and throughout North America including every state in the United States!

The Third Annual Rocklahoma will have over ninety bands on four stages, including favorites from previous Rocklahoma festivals, Beautiful Creatures, LA Guns featuring Tracii Gun, Britney Fox, Bang Tango, Lillian Axe and Faster Pussycat.

Both Playboy and Rolling Stone in 2008 called Rocklahoma one of the top festivals that should not be missed.

Catch The Fever Festival Grounds is located four miles north of Pryor, Oklahoma and has 6,200 assigned and numbered seats, as well as general admission on the lawn for over 50,000 people. The grounds also feature over 4,000 campsites, on-site parking, bathroom facilities and a convenience store. Rocklahoma also has a Picture Alley that allows anyone in attendance to approach the stage during any performance and take photographs of a favorite artist at close range.

Rocklahoma offers a one-day and four-day general admission passes, along with V.I.P. Passes that includes all the food and drink, including Free Miller Lite for all four days. Rocklahoma offers a layaway program on all ticket plans that enables fans to reserve their ticket at the current price.

The public can also order tickets online at www.feverfest.com, charge by phone at 1-866-310-2288, or any of the 3,200 O’Reilly Auto Part Stores across the United States.

The SaltyRockz Blog – Anthrax

METAL THRASHING MAD WITH ANTHRAX

One of the most enjoyable side benefits of Saltyrockz has been that it’s given me the opportunity to get back in touch with a bunch of people I knew and worked with back in the Kerrang! and Metal Hammer days. You know how it is. You spend plenty of time with people in bands, then life gets in the way and somehow the trail goes cold. But the joy of email has meant that these last few weeks I’ve been catching up with Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian after far too many years of radio silence.

At one time I was very close to Anthrax. Presumably like just about every other young rock fan in the ’80s it was the dual pincer attack of Anthrax and Metallica that turned me onto Thrash. I remember being given a copy of ‘Armed And Dangerous’ by the band’s manager at the time, the notorious Johnny Z. I was over in the States interviewing another of Z’s acts, Raven, and ended up listening to a pre-release tape (remember tape?) on the plane on the flight back home.

I’d never heard anything like Anthrax before. The riffs were raw and untamed and nastily aggressive, but Joey Belladonna’s vocals were right out of the top drawer. As far as I was concerned the Thrash Metal I’d heard up to that point was let down by the singing. Always enthusiastic, but in the main unburdened by talent. In retrospect maybe I just didn’t understand the concept of truly aggressive vocal delivery. That’s what Steve Perry will do to you! No matter. Anthrax had a sound that I could relate to, but which was still obviously different and hugely exciting. Something new was happening, and alongside Metallica, Anthrax were at the forefront of whatever it was.

I have no clue where I first met Anthrax. That’s what the ’80s will do to you! I do remember, though, that I was charmed by the New York five piece from the start. Drummer Charlie Benante, guitarists Scott Ian and Dan Spitz, bassist Frank Bello and the aforementioned Belladonna made me feel welcome in their camp from the off and I soon seemed to settle into a routine of regular work with them.

While Metallica’s supremely-focused ‘Metal Or Death’ approach to their work understandably gained them respect, I felt more drawn to Anthrax and their more open-minded approach to music. They made no secret of their love of rap and skate culture and were the innovators of the whole ‘Bermuda shorts in metal’ routine. I remember that there was a signed Anthrax skateboard propped up in the Kerrang! office for ever and a day where Charlie had written “I’m going to HoJo’s cool pad”. He never made it, which was probably a good thing since I was living in a shitty bedsit in Birmingham at the time! Luckily for me we ended up having our rendezvous in more exotic places like The Bahamas, where Saltyrockz snapper Ray Palmer and I spent a few days arseing around in the sun while the band worked furiously to try to get the ‘Among The Living’ album finished in time to satisfy a particularly voracious record company. Still, at least we still had some time to hang and frolic on the beach, as Ray’s images for the Kerrang! cover story proved.

Reading back over the piece just now made me realise exactly how exciting and how different Anthrax were at the time. “What do I care if some asshole wants to walk around with fuckin’ women’s clothes hanging off his body and more make-up than my fuckin’ mother,” Scott said to me at a time when Hair Metal was all the rage. “Years from now he’s gonna have to live with that!” True that. All that Scotty has to explain in 2009 is the Bermuda shorts! Mind you, though, 20 years from now he is going to have to answer for that lunatic beard he’s been sporting recently! Wonder if he’s thought that one through, properly!

Want to email me about this blog? Get in touch at hojo@saltyrockz.com

HoJo rocked as a top journalist on legendary UK metal magazine
Kerrang! and now runs a way-cool rock T-shirt site at www.saltyrockz.com.

Written by Headbanger · Filed Under Metal Band Reviews, Reviews 

BANDS ACROSS THE WORLD PLAYING ROCKLAHOMA

April 6, 2009

Rocklahoma, the premier eighties music festival continues to go global, as international members of the band community will be performing.

Rocklahoma features attendance from all over the world, selling tickets throughout Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa and South America and now for the first time, bands coming from all over the world. In addition to the already announced Gypsy Pistoleros from England, Rocklahoma will now feature two bands Bai Bang and Rebel State from Sweden, two bands from Germany Mad Max and Bonfire, Vougan from Brazil and Anj from Russia.

Juergen Breforth of Mad Max had this to say, “We are absolutely honored and proud to celebrate our 25th band anniversary at ROCKLAHOMA 2009! This will be our very first U.S. show ever and there is no better place than Rocklahoma! For us this is a dream come true! America, here we come!”

The Third Annual Rocklahoma will have over ninety bands on four stages. More bands are to be announced in the upcoming future. On the three side stages, Rocklahoma has partnered with Retrospect Records to showcase additional bands of the eighties.

Side stage manager and Retrospect Records CEO Sam McCaslin went on to say, “I believe this is the strongest side stage line-up ever assembled at a rock festival. From Melodic Rock to Power Metal, all bases are covered and are sure to win over a legion of new fans at Rocklahoma. We are all very excited at the quality of talent brought to this years most prestigious eighties Rock Festival.”

Lineup for the side stages include: MASS, Hallows Eve, Krank, Aska, Bai Bang, Mad Max, Roxanne, Ronny Munroe, Frontrunner, Reckless, Real Steel, Cuttlass, Miles Beyond, Herazz, Revengeance, Letchen Grey, Lickity Split, Biloxi, Aura Surreal, Hollywood Harlot, Electro Nomicon, Halcyon Way, Ritual Habits, The Glitter Boys, Nasty Nasty, Lorraine, Bodragaz, Axeticy, ANJ, Hallucination, Atomic Clock, Widow, Strike The Sun, Altered Ending, Rebel State, Chizel, Zeroking, Fan Halen, T.H.V, Herman Rarebell of the Scorpions and friends, Terry Glaze formally of Pantera, Silent Rage, Warrior, Pair A Dice, Julliet, Wild Street and Vougan.

In addition to the above named bands, groups who were on the main stage at the previous Rocklahoma festivals are also playing the side stages. Those bands include Beautiful Creatures, LA Guns featuring Tracii Guns, Britney Fox, Bang Tango, Lillian Axe and Faster Pussycat.

Rocklahoma is one of the largest Rock Festivals of its type featuring music from the eighties. Attendance has come from all fifty states and six out of seven continents.

Both Playboy and Rolling Stone in 2008 called Rocklahoma one of the top festivals that should not be missed.

Catch The Fever Festival Grounds is located four miles north of Pryor, Oklahoma and has 6,200 assigned and numbered seats, as well as general admission on the lawn for over 50,000 people. The grounds also feature over 4,000 campsites, on-site parking, bathroom facilities and a convenience store. Rocklahoma also has a Picture Alley that allows anyone in attendance to approach the stage during any performance and take photographs of a favorite artist at close range.

Rocklahoma offers a one-day and four-day general admission passes, along with V.I.P. Passes that includes all the food and drink, including Free Miller Lite for all four days. Rocklahoma offers a layaway program on all ticket plans that enables fans to reserve their ticket at the current price.

The public can also order tickets online at www.feverfest.com, charge by phone at 1-866-310-2288, or any of the 3,200 O’Reilly Auto Part Stores across the United States.

Written by Headbanger · Filed Under Heavy Metal News, Rocklahoma, Rocklahoma 2009 

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