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ALADDIN SANE

LAMONT’S MUSIC NOTES-APRIL 13, 2019…46 YEARS AGO DAVID BOWIE RELEASED THE ALBUM ‘ALADDIN SANE’. BOWIE HIMSELF DESCRIBED THE RECORD AS “ZIGGY IN AMERICA”, PARTLY INSPIRED BY THE FACT THAT MANY OF THE SONGS WERE WRITTEN WHILE HE WAS TOURING THE U.S.

THE ACTUAL TITLE IS A PUN ON “A LAD INSANE.” BOWIE’S PREVIOUS ALBUM INTRODUCED THE ZIGGY STARDUST CHARACTER, AND A LOT OF PEOPLE THOUGHT HE WAS A LITTLE CRAZY. AN EARLY VARIATION WAS “LOVE ALADDIN VEIN”, WHICH BOWIE DROPPED BECAUSE OF DRUG CONNOTATIONS. BOWIE HIMSELF TOLD PEOPLE THAT THE “LAD INSANE” OF THE ALBUM’S TITLE TRACK WAS ACTUALLY HIS BROTHER TERRY, WHO HAD BEEN DIAGNOSED AS A SCHIZOPHRENIAC.

‘ALADDIN SANE’ ALBUM COVER ALSO BOASTED ONE OF THE MOST ICONIC IMAGES OF DAVID BOWIE. BOWIE CAME UP WITH THE LIGHTENING BOLT IDEA, SAYING IT REPRESENTED THE WAY HE FELT HE WAS BEING PULLED IN DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS, AND A PERFECT VISUAL COMPLEMENT TO THE ALBUM’S TITLE PUN.

THE ALBUM ITSELF HAS SOLD AN ESTIMATED 5 MILLION COPIES WORLDWIDE, MAKING IT ONE OF BOWIE’S HIGHEST SELLING ALBUMS.

HERE’S A RECENTLY FOUND OF BOWIE FROM 1973 PERFORMING A SUPERB TRACK FROM THE ALBUM ‘THE JEAN GENIE’

METALLICA

lamont’s personal archives

LAMONT’S MUSIC NOTES-APRIL 13, 2019… HEY IT WAS 19 YEARS AGO TODAY THAT METALLICA FILED A LAWSUIT AGAINST NAPSTER, YALE, USC, AND INDIANA UNIVERSITY FOR COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT. I USED TO LOVE NAPSTER, BUT I GET IT, BECAUSE MUSICIANS GOTTA GET PAID !!

METALLICA WAS THE FIRST OF MANY HIGH PROFILE ARTISTS AND RECORD COMPANIES THAT ENDED UP SUING NAPSTER. TO GIVE YOU AN IDEA HOW POPULAR NAPSTER AND PREVALENT WAS, AT ITS PEAK NAPSTER FACILITATED NEARLY 2 BILLION FILE TRANSFERS PER MONTH, AND HAD AN ESTIMATED NET-WORTH BETWEEN 60-80 MILLION DOLLARS.

NAPSTER EVENTUALLY WAS FORCED TO FILE FOR BANKRUPTCY.

HERE’S THE OFFICIAL VIDEO FOR ‘NOTHING ELSE MATTERS’

AMERICAN FOOL

LAMONT’S MUSIC NOTES-APRIL 12, 2019…IT WAS ON THIS DATE IN 1982 JOHN MELLENCAMP RELEASED AN ALBUM THAT WAS A CAREER CHANGER, ‘AMERICAN FOOL’. IT WAS HIS FIFTH STUDIO ALBUM, AND IT WAS RELEASED UNDER HIS STAGE NAME “JOHN COUGAR”. IT HELD THE NUMBER ONE SPOT ON BILLBOARD’S TOP ALBUM CHART FOR 9 WEEKS AND WAS THE BEST SELLING ALBUM OF 1982.

ACCORDING TO THE RECORD’S PRODUCER DON GEHMAN, MELLENCAMP WAS METICULOUS IN THE STUDIO WHEN THEY WERE MAKING ‘AMERICAN FOOL’ BUT THE RECORD COMPANY WASN’T HAPPY. THEY HAD DIFFERENT IDEAS ON WHAT JOHN COUGAR SHOULD SOUND LIKE:

“We had a record company that was hoping we were making a Neil Diamond‑type album, and after we spent two or three months in the studio recording these songs and mixing them to the best of our ability, I can remember an A&R guy in a pink shirt coming in to listen to them and basically thinking we had nothing. At that point, they put a stop to the project. We had ‘Jack & Diane,’ we had ‘Hand to Hold on To,’ we had ‘Weakest Moments’ – we had some good songs – and while I don’t know the precise nature of the discussions that took place, Riva went from wanting to get a new producer to not even wanting John on the label anymore. Finally, they came around to letting us finish it but wanting to hear the new songs we were going to cut.”

ACCORDING TO MELLENCAMP:

“The record company thought it would bomb,but I think the reason it took off was – not that the songs were better than my others – but people liked the sound of it, the ‘bam‑bam‑bam’ drums. It was a different sound.”

‘AMERICAN FOOL’ REMAINS MELLENCAMP’S ONLY NUMBER ONE ALBUM, AND HIS BEST SELLING ALBUM. IT WENT ON TO SELL OVER 6 MILLION COPIES.

HERE’S ‘JACK AND DIANE’

GRACE UNDER PRESSURE

LAMONT’S MUSIC NOTES-APRIL 12, 2019…THIRTY FIVE YEARS AGO RUSH GAVE US THEIR 10TH STUDIO ALBUM ‘GRACE UNDER PRESSURE’

THE ONE THING I’VE NOTICED WITH ANY RUSH ALBUM, THERE’S NO SUCH THING AS A BAD RUSH ALBUM ! A FRIEND OF MIND SAID “RUSH ALBUMS ARE SIMPLY DIFFERENT DEGREES OF INSPIRED GENIUS”

THIS IS FROM THE RUSH WEBSITE ON THE STORY BEHIND ‘GRACE UNDER PRESSURE’:

It was recorded at Le Studio, like so many other Rush albums. Rush originally approached producer Steve Lillywhite to record Grace Under Pressure, but he went on to work on other projects. The band produced the album themselves, with assistance from Peter Henderson, who had previously worked with Supertramp, Split Enz, Frank Zappa, and King Crimson.

Largely considered one of the band’s darkest albums, Grace Under Pressure was influenced by the growing tensions in the Cold War in the 1980s. The album’s running theme is “pressure” and how humans act under the influence of it. Despite the dark themes of the record, the band balances out influences from a lot of directions, including reggae and a harder feel of the classic hard rock sound.

The writing and rehearsing of the album went quickly, but the recording took a long time. Alex recalled:

“…once we got into the studio, things just took a long time. You can’t really help it sometimes, no matter how hard you work or how fast you work; there are certain things about recording that just take a long time.”

HERE’S AN INTERESTING FACT ABOUT RUSH. THE BAND IS THIRD BEHIND THE ROLLING STONES AND THE BEATLES FOR THE MOST CONSECUTIVE GOLD OR PLATINUM ALBUMS BY A ROCK BAND.

HERE’S RUSH PERFORMING ‘EARLY DISTANT WARNING’

I WORE THE GROOVES OFF OF THIS RECORD !

LAMONT’S MUSIC NOTES-APRIL 12, 2019…ON APRIL 12,1976 BOB SEGER RELEASED THE EPIC ALBUM ‘LIVE’ BULLET. IT WAS AN ALBUM THAT CAPTURED THE MAGIC OF SEGER AND THE SILVER BULLET BAND IN CONCERT PLAYING IN FRONT OF HOME FANS IN DETROIT. ACCORDING TO BOB SEGER:

“Our first headline shows ever in a large (twelve thousand seat) hall were the two shows at Detroit’s Cobo Arena, September 4th and 5th, 1975. I remember while I was singing this how nice it was to have such good on-stage monitors. I had never heard my voice so well while performing.”

‘LIVE’ BULLET WAS FAR AND AWAY SEGER’S BIGGEST SELLING ALBUM UP TO THAT POINT OF HIS CAREER, AND HELPED INTRODUCE HIM TO A NATIONAL AUDIENCE THAT WOULD EAGERLY EMBRACE HIM WITH THE RELEASE OF ‘NIGHT MOVES’ JUST 6 MONTHS LATER. AS LIVE ALBUMS GO, IT’S PRETTY MUCH DAMN UNTOUCHABLE.

HERE’S ONE OF THE GREATEST ROAD SONGS EVER…SEGER AND A LIVE VERSION OF ‘TURN THE PAGE’.

WATCH JOE PAVELSKI SCORE A GOAL OFF HIS FACE

Ouch! In the video below, Joe Pavelski scored the first goal of the game when the pucked bounced off his face in the first period against the Vegas Golden Knights to give the San Jose Sharks a 1-0 lead. Joe Pavelski had to leave the game but in true hockey player form, Pavelski returned wearing a full face shield.

WATCH SAMMY HAGAR & THE CIRCLE’S NEW MUSIC VIDEO FOR CAN’T HANG

Sammy Hagar & The Circle have released their new music video for “Can’t Hang” from their upcoming new album “Space Between” which will be released on Friday, May 10th.

Click here to pre-order “Space Between.”

Click here to check out Sammy Hagar on iTunes.

Stream and Download “Can’t Hang” by clicking here.

Lamont and Tonelli’s Dirty 30 Anniversary Show with Sammy Hagar & The Circle will be at the Concord Pavilion on April 20th.

Tickets are on sale now through: www.livenation.com

Click here for more info.

Click here to purchase tickets.

Watch Sammy Hagar & The Circle’s new music video for “Can’t Hang.”

Watch Sammy Hagar & The Circle’s music video for “Trust Fund Baby.”

Follow Sammy Hagar here.

EVEN IN THE QUIETEST MOMENTS

LAMONT’S MUSIC NOTES-APRIL 11, 2019…FORTY-TWO YEARS AGO SUPERTRAMP RELEASED THEIR FIFTH ALBUM ‘EVEN IN THE QUIETEST MOMENTS’. THE ALBUM ENJOYED TREMENDOUS COMMERCIAL SUCCESS, BREAKING THE TOP 20 BILLBOARD ALBUM CHARTS AT #16. THE RECORD WAS POWERED BY A HUGE SINGLE ‘GIVE A LITTLE BIT’ WHICH HIT #15 ON BILLBOARD’S TOP SINGLES CHART.

THE ALBUM WAS RECORDED IN COLORADO AT CARIBOU RANCH STUDIOS.

THE ALBUM COVER WAS ACTUALLY SHOT ON A MOUNTAINTOP AT A SKI AREA NEAR BY THE STUDIO. A GRAND PIANO WAS ACTUALLY SHIPPED TO A NEARBY SKI AREA, COVERED IN SNOW, AND THEN PHOTOGRAPHED. IT’S NOT PHOTOSHOPPED. THE SHEET MUSIC ON THE PIANO, ALTHOUGH TITLED ‘FOOL’S OVERTURE’, IS ACTUALLY ‘THE STAR SPANGLED BANNER’.

HERE’S A VIDEO FROM 1983. IT’S SUPERTRAMP WITH ROGER HODGSON, PERFORMING IN GERMANY.

THE MARRIAGE OF EDDIE VAN HALEN AND VALERIE BERTINELLI

photo thanks-Alan Light

LAMONT’S MUSIC NOTES-APRIL 11, 2019…IT WAS APRIL ELEVENTH 1981, AND EDDIE VAN HALEN HEADED DOWN THE AISLE TO MARRY HIS BRIDE VALERIE BERTINELLI, CO-STAR OF THE 1980’S TELEVISION HIT ‘ONE DAY AT A TIME’. THE TWO HAD MET EIGHT MONTHS EARLIER WHEN BERTINELLI’S BROTHER DRAGGED HER TO A VAN HALEN CONCERT IN SHREVEPORT LOUISIANA. THEIR MARRIAGE WOULD LAST 25 YEARS.

HERE’S A GREAT ‘ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT’ FEATURE ON THEIR MARRIAGE