The OTHER Hair Metal Blog

Arrogant B*stard Ale

I finally found a hops and barley refreshment (i.e. beer - not Grape Nuts puree') that best describes the little voice that's in my head. You know that voice - don't ya? It's the one that they talk about in The Secret and on Dr. Phil. Well anyway - keep in mind that I am about as down-to-earth as anyone on the planet. Heck, maybe even more so (that might explain my resume - c'mon the power of The Secret). But every so often, that damn little voice screams loudly, and this time it was thirsty. Very thirsty. And irritable.

Enter beer. This beer. An ale, actually. Arrogant Bastard Ale.

It certainly has bite. And taste. It's a beer that's refreshing (much like a Mentos - but with emphasis on the BUZZ). Even satisfying. The woman in my life laughed at the bottle, took a sip and proclaimed "GOOD BEER." Such proclamations are usually left to Vikings, Germans and self-proclaimed Weekend Warriors. This time a blonde can claim that statement. And a Southern blonde at that.

By this time, I was tempted to let my cat Booger sip it since he did jump up  on the table and gave it a hefty sniff). But then those animal activists and anti-Michael Vick bloggers would have had quite the field day. So I took the glass away. And (hopefully) rightfully so!

Hello, Buffalo! Poison still rocks!

Well, at least according to the natives of Upsate New York.

From BuffaloNews.com:

DARIEN — At its prime, Poison was a rock juggernaut — a multiplatinum album seller and a guaranteed box office success. But, like most hair metal acts, the grunge era made it seem like clowns compared with new acts. Even popmusic’s ’80s retro kick seemed to hold the group as red-headed stepchildren of the era.

But then something magical for the band happened: reality television.

Between VH1’s “Surreal Life” and “Rock of Love,” two shows that prominently featured C.C. DeVille and Bret Michaels, Poison’s lead guitarist and singer, the band’s cache has moved from booze-addled outcasts to rock elder statesmen.

Poison, who in 1999 would not have been able to fill the Icon let alone the Darien Lake Performing Arts Center, ended up playing to an audience of thousands Wednesday night.

How could two reputedly sleazy reality shows benefit the band so much? Because the fun of excess and sleaze is what Poison is all about. While people who made up much of Poison’s original fan base were a large portion of the audience, at least a third of the audience consisted of a young, yet coveted, demographic: 18- to 30-yearolds. Michaels and DeVille may have mortgaged their own dignity by taking part in a glorified dating game and Real World knock-off, respectively, but in opening up all their personal warts for television judgment, they won a huge new group of fans.

Read more at http://www.buffalonews.com/entertainment/story/147032.html.

Axl to sing on Sebastian Bach's CD.

Well, there may be no Chinese Democracy, but there will be an official CD released that has Axl Rose singing on it. Axl Rose is set to appear on former Skid Row singer Sebastian Bach's latest project. The new release is called "Angel Down," and it is set to hit the stores soon.

The following is news that all Gn'R fans will be excited to hear. Well, maybe some? We'll see.

Nikki Sixx on his mom, being a dealer, Dire Staits and Cialis.

MÖTLEY CRÜE bassist Nikki Sixx recently answered several questions posed by the readers of Blender magazine for the "Dear Superstar" section in the publication' s September 2007 issue. A couple of excerpts follow:

Blender: Have you always kept a diary — and do you still keep one now?

Nikki: The earliest diaries were '78, '79. I used to carry a book around and draw pictures of what the stage set would look like, ideas, band names, that kind of stuff. By the beginning of MÖTLEY CRÜE, I felt like I really had something to write down. Some of the ones from the "Shout at the Devil" era are really raw and barbaric — like, "Slept with four girls. Two were on their period. Can't remember any of their names. Me and Vince got in a fistfight. Sold-out show. 100,000 people. Nikki." And then the next one would be, "I miss my grandparents. " By the time I got to about '85, my writing really started flowing. And that's pretty much how I do it now — stream of consciousness.

Blender: Your mother dated Richard Pryor. What's the thing you remember most clearly about him?

Nikki: We used to live on Sunset Boulevard, in an apartment in the Sunset Tower. I had a very young sister, and my mom would take off and do her thing — and I would watch my sister for a couple of days at a time. I have one very clear memory of playing in the parking garage with my sister and a car pulling in and my mom and Richard getting out. They were blasted. And she said, "Oh, I love you so much," and just went straight up to the apartment and left us in the garage. That's the clearest memory.

Blender: As a teenager you were a drug dealer. What did you sell and were you any good at it?

Nikki: I sold a lot of pot, acid and chocolate mescaline: We would take the mescaline and mix it with Hershey's chocolate powder; then we'd get vitamin capsules and empty them out and put the mescaline chocolate inside. Very big in Seattle in the late '70s — they'd dump the capsules out and put it on their tongue and get a faster hit. I always dipped into my profits: I never really made money.

Blender: What's the worst thing anyone's ever written about you in a song?

Nikki: Someone said that "Tattooed Millionaire" by Bruce Dickinson [IRON MAIDEN] was about me, but I don't know. It was something to do with the fact that I fucked his wife, and I think he was upset. That wasn't my fault, by the way — I want to go on the record. She was his wife, but I didn't know that. I don't think Bruce found out about it until "The Dirt" — I should have kept that a secret. DIRE STRAITS's "Money for Nothing" was about MÖTLEY CRÜE — "Money for nothing and the chicks for free … that little faggot got his own jet airplane." They were in a store that sells televisions, and there was a row of TVs all playing MÖTLEY CRÜE — and that's where it came
from. Isn't that great?

Blender: Have you ever taken Viagra?

Nikki: I have, on the road, in the last couple of years — Viagra and Cialis. That shit rocks. We were playing somewhere, and there was this beautiful model — she came to the show and we had a great conversation
and were hanging out. She was funny, witty — and we just felt something. So she says, "I'm gonna go do something, and I'll come up to the room and meet you, and we'll hang out, watch a movie." So I said,"OK."

And I go to someone, "Give me one of those Cialis things that you guys are taking." So I take it …and she never showed up. That was a painful night.

On tour now - Rhino Bucket!

RHINO BUCKET has announced that DIO/ex-AC/DC drummer Simon Wright will play drums on the band's upcoming U.S. tour. RHINO BUCKET's U.S. trek will take place September - November in support of the group's three latest releases on Acetate Records.

Simon will join this U.S. tour to help support the re-release of the "Pain" CD that he played on in 1994. The re-release, which has been titled "Pain And Suffering", has been remastered and includes five unreleased tracks. The other two CDs are the latest studio release "And Then It Got Ugly" and "No Song Left Behind", which includes three previously unreleased tracks plus "One Night Stand", "Beat To Death Like A Dog", "Hey There", and other tracks from their out of print Warner Bros./Reprise Records releases.

Classic hard rock band Sinopoli offers “Fornication” as a free music download

Sorry, guys. But I love this band.

Free Music Download For Visitors To Sinopoli’s MySpace.com Page
Classic hard rock band Sinopoli offers their hard rock song “Fornication” as a free music download for a limited time only. The free track is best characterized as a playful romp featuring a fantastic guitar-driven hook that is sure to satisfy almost any fan of classic hard rock, 80’s rock, hair metal, party rock or even no frills rock music in general. Just visit the classic hard rock band’s MySpace.com page (please see below for a direct link) to download the song at no charge.  The download link is just below the song’s title.

Classic Hard Rock Band Offers Music Online For Just $0.69 Per Music Download
Sinopoli is also proud to announce that highlights from their musical back catalog are on sale as digital tracks for the first time ever. All songs are individually available for the low, low price of just $0.69 each. Any music fan can download 1, 2, 3 or even the entire selection – there is no minimum to buy. Party anthems such as "Got Me Going" (a local hit on radio station WJRZ), "When I Get Home" and "Let's Get The Party Started" are just a few of the classic hard rock songs that are now available at www.findittmusic.com. Also take a trip to www.myspace.com/sinopolirockmusic for the free music download and previews of new songs that will soon be available.

Van Halen reunites with Roth - against all odds!

Well, kiddies. It's time to declare "game on" with the Van Halen reunion with David Lee Roth. Personally, I just never though it would happen.

Some highlights from around this big thing that we call "The 'Net":

From Reuters.com:
Asked about Anthony's absence, Roth said: "This is not a reunion. This is a new band. ... Usually when a band comes back like us it's rockers with walkers, and this is everything but. Meet us in the future, not the past."

Roth said Van Halen was "plotting and planning" a new album, his first with the band since 1983's blockbuster "1984." 

"Saving the world is (U2 singer) Bono's job. We just want to save a hundred cities," Roth said. "Then we want to save Europe, then we want to save Japan, Australia and ... Hong Kong. Then we make an album. Lots of big dreams here, lots of ambition."

From ChicagoTribune.com:

More internal politics could be read into the four-page press release announcing the tour from the tour promoter and two public-relations firms. The release mentioned neither Hagar nor Anthony, and focused exclusively on the six albums the band recorded with Roth from 1978 to 1984, even though the band subsequently scored nine Top-40 hits with Hagar.

From Billboard.com:

"It's a new band," Roth said. "I've done more rehearsal in the last four months than I've done in the past 20 summers. The whole sound is better than it has ever been."

Roth added, "It was Wolf who picked the song list, and we've got close to 25 of your greatest hits -- all the favorites that you've been hearing tearing out of the back of a pickup truck at the Burger King drive-through for how many summertimes. It's all very well intact -- the same sh*tty attitude but with a whole new look."

And of course, there's a commentary on YouTube.com about the Van Halen reunion not including Michael Anthony.

Sinopoli's story hits Google News. Now go buy a download for $0.69!

This is another example from school of "the little engine that could" thinking.

New Jersey classic hard rockers Sinopoli had a banner day in Google News. The band has their music available on music.finditt.com for just $0.69 per track, and their story was ranked #1 in Google News for the keywords "digital download," "classic rock" and "hard rock."

Not bad at all, boys. Not bad at all! Visit Sinopoli's MySpace.com page.

Is $0.69 too low for a classic hard rock digital download?
TransWorldNews (press release), GA - Aug 7, 2007
It can be said that their style has always remained true to their roots and classic rock influences (Queen, Kiss, David Bowie), but the truth is very simple ...

Link to "classic rock" in Google News.

Is $0.69 just too low for some music?

Is $0.69 just too little for a hard rock band to ask for a track of their music? Classic hard rock band Sinopoli dares to ask just such a question. A selection of their back catalog is available for just $0.69 each, and almost any music fan can select 1 track, 2 tracks, 5 tracks or all 12 that are available.

Please visit http://www.findittmusic.com/artist.aspx?artistid=85 to hear sound samples and purchase music. Or even find them at www.myspace.com/sinopolirockmusic if you are feelin' a little bit shy (or maybe not). Below is their latest press release.

Is $0.69 too low for a classic hard rock digital download?

Is $0.69 too low for a classic hard rock digital download? Is it just too little for a music fan to pay? Should every digital download website follow the leader and charge a full $0.99 per individual track? Well, it looks like classic hard rock band Sinopoli may just have the answer. Sinopoli is proud to announce that highlights from their musical back catalog are on sale as digital tracks for the first time ever. All tracks are individually for sale for the low, low price of just $0.69 each. Any music fan can download 1,2,3 or even the entire selection for just $0.69 per track. Party anthems such as "Got Me Going" (a local hit on radio station WJRZ), "When I Get Home" and "Let's Get The Party Started" are just a few of the classic hard rock songs that are now available at www.findittmusic.com.