Dolly Parton will release Rockstar in November. It is the country mogul's first foray into the rock space. On that album is the Queen cover of "We Will Rock You/We Are The Champions." The song will be used for the 2024 Olympics in Paris. The video is cheesy and kind of fun and definitely positive.
I am forever jealous of Dolly's use of rhinestones everywhere!
I reviewed I Wanna Rock: The 80s Metal Dream documentary the other day. Now here's a little more content for you.
Former Vixen star and singer Janet Gardner did an interview with Fox News about the documentary and also her career as a dental hygienist. She talks a lot about her "post rockstar" life during the documentary, even though she still records and plays live with her husband, musician Justin James. Good to see Janet getting some more press and talking about enjoying school and her career.
Former Vixen singer Janet Gardner, now a dental hygienist, recalls Ozzy Osbourne tour during ‘80s metal fame https://t.co/M5PenSvXyF
This is kind of a big deal: Def Leppard and Motley Crue will be on 60 Minutes (Australia) tomorrow night. 60 Minutes features are long-form journalism, so the piece should give some nice interviews and background info on the joint tour of both bands. The Australian news program started back in 1979 and has been a down-under news staple since then.
I'm sure the video will be available for worldwide distribution after the initial broadcast. Keep your eyes peeled.
Paramount+ released a three-part documentary earlier this month called I Wanna Rock: The ‘80s Metal Dream (MTV Entertainment Studios). The documentary is directed by Tyler Measom and is only on Paramount+ - so it's worth a subscription to watch!
I watched the series over two nights. The segments are about an hour each, so easily digestible. Interviews feature John Corabi, Kip Winger, Janet Gardner, Snake Sabo, Dee Snider and other industry folks, including journalist Lonn Friend and music manager Vicky Hamilton.
Titles of the three segments:
Ep 101 - “I Wanna Be Somebody” Ep 102 - “Headed for Heartbreak” Ep 103 - “Smells Like Change”
You can pretty well guess what is covered by the segment titles. Of the three sections, I thought the most interesting bits were found in two and three.
The throwbacks to clips of musicians changing their look and sound to fit into the 80s metal mold was gold and I loved the little hunk showing when Michael Bolton tried to be a Glam singer (I wrote about that here once, years ago).
Janet Gardner talks about how she got into singing and her start with a Mormon singing group. Of course there's discussion of her parents' Mormon faith and conservative values and what they would think of their daughter wearing short skirts on stage with Vixen. Janet talks about her time in Vixen's heyday with mostly great memories and also addresses the rampant misogyny in the scene back in the 80s (and 90s and 00s and...)
The best parts of the documentary for me are the behind-the-scenes clips of Kip Winger working his butt off as an unknown session guy and then when he is tinkering in the studio with Reb Beach. Kip talks a lot about Winger's struggles and how Beavis and Butthead really hurt his band. He talks about the lean years during Grunge and also when his wife died. Then there is joy on his face as he walks viewers through his dream career of writing orchestral music.
Snake Sabo of Skid Row is pretty open and I will admit I did not know about his childhood trauma and mental health issues. I knew that he has been an advocate for mental health treatment in recent years, but good on him for coming out of the other side of abuse. He also touched on dealing with Sebastian Bach's drama a little, but not too much.
Seeing all the old promo photos from bands that made it huge - and those who didn't - is also a great treat. Watching all the photos flip, you can really make a nice playlist of some rare Glam. I mean, Candy is featured - with audio clips and an interview even! Really, "Whatever Happened To Fun?"
Your friend and mine, Riki Rachtman shows up to talk about what "killed" the 80s scene and he is dead right when he says it wasn't grunge so much as it was Garth - as in Garth Brooks and country music. I just read The Nineties by Chuck Klosterman and there's an entire section of the book dedicated to Garth Brooks and his complete domination of music in the 90s. For the first time, country was "cool" and mainstream and Garth released a chart-topping album almost every year of the 90s. His live shows were unmatched (I even saw one in like 1994 or 1995) and he was very upfront about what he liked. Garth apparently loves arena rock and over-the-top shows, so he modeled his career on that and making songs that he would like. So between country getting huge and grunge dominating the "traditional" rock market, 80s music was pushed aside and considered washed.
Watch the series for the Vicky Hamilton interviews and learn how horrible she was treated by a lot of big bands, especially Motley Crue and Poison. Then there's Guns n' Roses. No wonder the poor woman needed some therapy after all of that!
For folks going to Rocklahoma this year, the festival announced a couple minor lineup changes yesterday. The festival takes place of Labor Day weekend in Pryor, Oklahoma. Note that KIX will play on the day Limp Bizkit headlines - marking one of their final shows ever.
I do miss the days of early Rocklahoma and the fun of going and meeting so many folks who love 80s metal. It isn't the same anymore, but I'm sure it's still a fun time.
I have never been a big fan of Bryan Adams but I will concede "Summer of '69" is a great song. It always makes me smile and gives me a warm feeling (yes, that sounds sappy).
I find it interesting that Buckcherry chose to cover the song and I probably said as much when the track listing was announced. The cover is on the band's most recent album Vol. 10. that came out earlier this summer. Now there's a video for the track and you can see it below.
This post is specifically for my friend London, but you all can enjoy! Get thee quickly to YouTube and enjoy classic Saxon videos in HD quality. There are lots of videos already updated and more coming.
On the already-updated-list includes "Ride Like the Wind," a classic metal track and no I am not being facetious. It's my favorite Christopher Cross song and Saxon took it and made the cover completely unique and the awesome video definitely helps! (The actual video is the second embedded clip).
Monday, July 31, 2023 at 10:13AM 
Your friend and mine, Riki Rachtman shows up to talk about what "killed" the 80s scene and he is dead right when he says it wasn't grunge so much as it was Garth - as in Garth Brooks and country music. I just read The Nineties by Chuck Klosterman and there's an entire section of the book dedicated to Garth Brooks and his complete domination of music in the 90s. For the first time, country was "cool" and mainstream and Garth released a chart-topping album almost every year of the 90s. His live shows were unmatched (I even saw one in like 1994 or 1995) and he was very upfront about what he liked. Garth apparently loves arena rock and over-the-top shows, so he modeled his career on that and making songs that he would like. So between country getting huge and grunge dominating the "traditional" rock market, 80s music was pushed aside and considered washed.
I have never been a big fan of Bryan Adams but I will concede "Summer of '69" is a great song. It always makes me smile and gives me a warm feeling (yes, that sounds sappy).