Tesla Thursday

It's a scientific fact that Tesla rocks.

Last night, I was in the mood for Tesla. More specifically "Little Suzi." If you don't know, the song is included on the band's debut 1986 debut Mechanical Resonance (and yes, I know "Little Suzi" is a cover).

I can't believe Tesla has been around since 1986. Moreover, I can't believe the band didn't really hit until 1989 and "Love Song." Since that time, Tesla has continued to release quality rock, albeit not completely Glam.

Tesla is currently gearing up for a winter tour that kicks off February 1 in Seattle. The band will zig-zag across the United States, hitting Ohio twice. If I'm lucky, I'll either get to see the band in Columbus or Cincinnati. This would be a special treat since I've never been to a Tesla show.

Here's the video for "Little Suzi."

What's your favorite Tesla tune?

Who Is Julian Angel?

Let's say you're having a party and you want to play dance and glam music. I've actually got a new CD that fits both categories.

German Julian Angel offers a mix of techno, glam and sleaze with  Choreography Sucks.  

The track listing looks like this:

Rock with a Slam
Sucker Punch
Sumthin' Huge
Teaser/Pleaser
Oh La La
Give the Radio Back
Bling Bling
This Is On You
Boob Boob Booty
Jump Jump
Strip Down Vegas
What Goes Up

Now you can already tell by the song titles that this isn't music for the snooty set. This is party music, and that's exactly what Julian Angel wanted to create. Most interesting is that Angel sings the tracks and recorded all the bass, guitar, and keyboard parts.

Other critics have said "This is the album Tommy Lee wished he recorded." I don't think I agree with that sentiment because Choreography Sucks is a completely different dance sound than what TLee is into these days. Still, for all the Prince vibe and big club sound, there are definite touches of Motley Crue and Poison, especially in the lyrics.

You can hear samples of Choreography Sucks at Julian Angel on Myspace

What If...Motley Crue Edition

I play "what if" games all the time in my head.

"What if I eat sixteen cookies for lunch?"

"What if I spend $700 on a new handbag?"

"What if I run every red light on the way to work?"

On a Glam note..."What if Motley Crue were a new band?"

Seriously.

Let's say the Sunset Strip kings released Too Fast For Love tomorrow. Would it succeed or would it flop?

The music scene is so different today. Yes, we have the Internet and the power of Myspace, but fans don't seem loyal and they certainly are not rabid like they were in the early 1980s.

When I go to club shows, I'm impressed to find 50 people in attendance...let alone a hundred. Every picture I've seen from the Sunset Strip heyday shows packed clubs, with people hanging out the door.

Can we get back to that? I'm not sure. I mean, I certainly wasn't partying on Sunset in 1983, but I'm guessing bars didn't charge a $25 cover and beer didn't cost four bucks a bottle. The high cost of life is clearly hurting the music industry...but that's another article altogether.

Motley Crue was - and is - a band that feeds on crowd energy. Founder Nikki Sixx is a marketing genius. He knew what he wanted to create when he dreamed up the band. Even though the band had some catchy tunes, their beginning musicianship was lackluster. It was their over-the-top image that helped send them, well, over-the-top.

Fans wanted to be around Motley Crue because they were cool. Certainly dangerous, new and larger-than-life.

I'm not sure if Motley were a modern band...people would even notice.

The Internet has given us an incredible tool to find all sorts of new artforms...and yet, it has pulled us further apart. It's easier to stay home and watch videos on YouTube instead of going to a show. We can listen to our old favorites instead of going to bars and finding new talent. Plus...the world is certainly more jaded now.

Many of you know I'm a big fan of Avenged Sevenfold. Even though Glam is my number one music choice, I still think it's important to like new music. Avenged Sevenfold's most recent release is absolutely phenomenal, yet most people don't even know about the band. In fact, the band hasn't sold that many total albums considering their major label status. In some ways this is ironic because there are more ways to sell music these days than 20 years ago.

Back to Motley Crue. Too Fast For Love comes out tomorrow. It's released on CD, special press vinyl and naturally, iTunes. Do you buy the release? How do you even learn about the band when Rolling Stone doesn't cover Metal acts and other magazines offer spotty coverage at best. MTV doesn't play videos anymore...

Have we reached a time when new artist cultivation is dead? I shudder to think we have.

Discuss.

Mista Bone

Holy crap!

How did I not know that Great White made a video for "Mista Bone?" Of the entire Great White catalog..."Mista Bone" is my favorite. Yes, it even trumps "Once Bitten, Twice Shy" which I also really love.

"Mista Bone" has a damn good bass line. It proves how cool you can sound - and look - while playing open E.

Great White is coming to Cincinnati next Friday night. Since it's so close to the Motley Cruise, I probably won't be able to attend...but I guarantee if you go, you'll hear "Mista Bone."

The song is so great because it's simple. Everyone knows that Great White is a blues-based band, and "Mista Bone" stays completely true to that form. Jack Russell's voice has a perfect whine that supports the sensuality of the lyrics.

Here's my question: if this was an officially released video, why can't I find a clip on YouTube that features artist credit?

What in Common?

Here are three bands:

MASS
Blue Tiger
Pairadice

What do they all have in common? Feel free to discuss.

Why Now?

Well, well, well. Two more reunions, two more bands that will probably make the line-up of Rocklahoma 2008.

Over the weekend, Steve "Sex" Summers of Pretty Boy Floyd announced a special one-off show (in Los Angeles) with the band's original members. By all accounts, this means Kristy "Krash" Majors and Summers will share the stage again for the first time in years. My guess is the set will be heavy on material from the Leather Boyz with Electric Toyz era -- and not much else.

In related news, Black n' Blue is set to headline the Z Rock festival. The European event is big for the band, and further fuels my suspicion that singer Jamie St. James really is out of Warrant, meaning Jani Lane is back in the fold.

The boys in Warrant can't be so stupid to think fans won't question why Jamie St. James is suddenly - and out of the "blue" - touring the world with his former band. Are Black n' Blue a good band? Yes. Did they earn fame and fortune? Not really. Is Jamie St. James in a better position fronting Warrant? I don't know.

It would seem that the decision makers (or name owners, depending on how you look at things) in Black n' Blue, Warrant and Pretty Boy Floyd got a copy of the memo that declared 2008 "the year of the glam reunion."

While reunions of these classic glam bands is pretty great overall, I can't help but wonder "why now?" What is creating this over-arching desire to reunite with the band members that helped make them famous - or at least earn dinner?

I think I remember a recent press release from the organizers of Rocklahoma that basically said bands are reuniting just to play the festival. That's possible...but I still think there's a bigger reason at work here. Perhaps I'm overlooking the obvious, which is that all of us need to earn a living and the buck really does stop with a reunion. But come on: the Van Halen brothers certainly didn't need cash when they agreed to tour again with David Lee Roth.

So what is it?

Is it because glam popularity seems to follow recessions? Think about it: the 80s were the glam Metal salad days.The 1980s were a time of great unemployment, inflation...and therefore a recession. Reaganomics couldn't really stymie the issue...it took time and growth creation to ease the financial burden.  Still there was time to party, and the lyrics to most Poison and Motley Crue songs fit in really well. Now, a recession seems all but inevitable and here we are again with glam coming back, better than ever. If you think about this, it is ironic that grunge was popular during the economic and technology boom throughout the Clinton nineties.

If music follows the economy...what do you think is next for Glam Metal?

By the way, here's the Black n' Blue video for "Hold On To 18."  Jamie St. James looks like a cross between Dee Snider, Richard Simmons...and David Lee Roth.

I Wouldn't Wanna Work With Anybody Else But Bob...

I'm going on Vince Neil's Motley Cruise in less than two weeks. In preparation, I decided to find some recent clips of Vince playing with his solo band.

Instead, I found something damn hilarious. Just watch the clip below.

Sometimes I miss the early 1990s.