Whitesnake – Still Of The Night

Sorry, I don’t mean to be just a WEEKLY poster. But you know, life and how to live it gets in the way.

Title: Still Of The Night

Artist: Whitesnake

Album: Whitesnake

Year Released: 1987

What It Is: Phone message from me to my man Moose: “Dude, on the plane to Atlanta, I just thought of a category. “Songs that no matter if you’ve arrived at your destination and are running late, you have to finish listening to it before you turn off your car stereo.” First song I though of was “Still Of The Night.”
Text message from Moose: “Really? After all these years. Yeah, I’ll buy that.”

That’s what this is. You pull your car into the garage and this is blasting out of your speakers, you WILL risk carbon monoxide poisoning to bang your head and do air guitar.

Riffage / Hookage: This is one of the classic riffs in rock history. Not just 80’s hair band rock history. ROCK history!

Cowbell?: Don’t know. Don’t care.

Words Of Wisdom: Oh, jeez. It’s David-Freakin-Coverdale. He’s no Dylan or Costello. Just jam to it. He could be singing his Chinese take-out order to these riffs and I’d love it. “I want the General’s Chicken and some pork fried rice and an order of beef lo mein…”

Mixology Report: Why wouldn’t you mix it?

Top Five Genius Results: Cinderella – Shake Me
Ratt – Round And Round
Winger – Seventeen
Motley Crue – Looks That Kill
Scorpions – Big City Nights

For The Good Of The Order: This album was recorded with some vets of the industry backing Coverdale – Aynsley Dunbar, Don Airey, Neil Murray, and John Sykes. However, the videos show off the ‘new’ Whitesnake – featuring Adrian Vandenberg, Viv Campbell, Rudy Szaro and Tommy Aldridge. Why? Coverdale basically fired the band. The band shown in the videos did none of the recording, save two guitar solos. This followed a mass sacking after the “Slide It In” record, and then even before the next record was out Campbell was out and Steve Vai was in. What is it about Deep Purple where any band formed by ex-Deep Purple members goes through about 290 lineups in 5 years?

Oh, yeah, there’s a video. You know, I don’t think this was played much. But it does have Mz. Tawny Kitaen (of course) and incredibly cheesy front man moves. (Here, watch me as I remove my jacket…)

 

Frozen Ghost – Should I See

Title: Should I See

Artist: Frozen Ghost

Album: Frozen Ghost

Year Released: 1987

What It Is: Catchy, 80’s synth pop with a message (about it’s only distinguishing feature from the other ready-made 80’s synth pop bands). The message? Don’t stifle my views man you moral majority influenced hypocrite. Of course, since they’re Canadian, they do it politely.

Riffage / Hookage: Chorus has a catchy hook and the synth and bass lines are also ear candy. The sax solo clinches it as Canadian though. A nice, polite sax instead of a shredding solo is the Canadian way. The ending did have the guitar and interesting time changes (for effect). But that guitar was too little, too late, I think.

Cowbell?: Only if the cowbell came from a computer.

Words Of Wisdom: “Cover my eyes and ears
‘Til it all dissapears
How can you judge for me
What I should hear and see

You take away freedom of choice
Take away the right to voice
My beliefs and and all my views
You take away my right to choose”

Well, like, that’s your opinion, man.

Kidding aside, this song has a pretty strong message. It’s like this band anticipated Fox News.

Mixology Report: Fits in pleasantly, especially with an 80’s mix.

Top Five Genius Results: No genius, denied. That’s not surprising, since I looked in vain for a digital copy and had to break down and get a hits collection via Amazon. Yes, I actually have a CD in my house now (well, until I hit the used CD store). The horror!

For The Good Of The Order: This band was formed from the ashes of Sheriff, which reached #1 with “When I’m With You” in 1989, six years after the band recorded the song. Gotta love that timing. (I bet it’s one of the few pre-1992 #1 songs that I don’t recognize at all – and if I heard the tune it would have been completely by accident.) At any rate, Andre Lanni and Wolf Hassel were Frozen Ghost, though if I remember the credits correctly Lanni played 12 instruments, produced the record, programmed the synths and the drums and sang. Hassel played bass. Ol’ Wolf probably laid down his parts and then took off for Val D’Or or someplace and asked Andre to call him when the record was done.

Hey, an 80’s video! Complete with hair, a drummer with a headband, and blank expressions by the hired touring musicians. And hair. LOOK AT THE HAIR! Yeesh. They should have been “Band Of Mullets” Or “Mullets Of Kintyre”. And they weren’t even hockey players. (But the were Canadian).

 

Anthrax – Caught In A Mosh

Title: Caught In A Mosh

Artist: Anthrax

Album: Among The Living

Year Released: 1987

What It Is: An introduction to speed metal-101. It’s not as heavy or frightening as some of the pioneers, and it does have a poppy sheen to it at times (and it does SWING a bit, too, which hardcore speeders would just go thumpa-thumpa-thumpa). But it’s loud, fast, and riff-tastic.

Riffage / Hookage: Because it’s classic speed metal, there are riffs and tempo changes everywhere. One of my complaints is that this genre of metal slips away from really classic riffs to show off on how fast they can play or allow the guitarists to go “wheedly-wheedly-wheee!” I mean, let the good riffs set in your brain and show off on another cut!

Cowbell? : Solid drumming. Fast drumming. What else do you want? I doubt if there’s really time to go cowbelling when you’re going 150 BPM.

Words Of Wisdom: “Don’t tell me how to do my job
There’s the door, your names on the knob
You’re always in the way, like a beast on my back
Were you dropped as a baby, cause brains you lack”

BTW, I think this is the first time the word ‘mosh’ was used in the public square.Well, at least I never heard it in BFE Indiana in the 80’s until then.

Mixology Report: Some squeamish folk’ll may blanche at this. However, in 2009, this isn’t really way out there. So tell the squeamish to bang their heads, dadgummit!

For The Good Of The Order: Scott Ian has made a second career out of being a VH-1 talking head. It’s sad, really, since Anthrax were way out of the VH-1 arena when this was released. However, you know, VH-1 doesn’t play music anymore. (And VH-1 Classic doesn’t play as many videos as it used to. Hey, why not have a channel that plays music 24/7/365. I hear that could be successful!)

Ah, “imbedding disabled by request”. Well, OK then. Here’ a link! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nYejkFKb9A

 

Jody Watley – Looking For A New Love

Title: Looking For A New Love

Artist: Jody Watley

Album: Jody Watley

Year Released: 1987

What It Is: The one memorable solo success from the former Shalamar member. It’s obvious she learned what made hits in the 80’s. Production, baby, production! This was the template for Paula Abdul’s success (except Watley didn’t need electronic vocal effects like Ms. Abdul.)

Riffage / Hookage: The chorus hook is so darn infectious you can’t help but sing along. Yeah-yeah-yeah!!!

Cowbell? : Ah, gotta love that 80’s techno percussion. The dull metallic thwacks really date it! (As does the synth bass, of course.)

Words Of Wisdom: “Hasta la vista, baby”

Did she have to pay royalties to Ah-nuld?

Mixology Report: A great song for an 80’s mix or a dance mix.

For The Good Of The Order: I distinctly recall that many of my lady friends in small town Indiana wanted (and tried to get) the Jody Watley hair. Yeah, that worked.