It’s A Very Long Way To The Top – Ian Hunter’s Diary Of A Tour
Remembering Mott The Hoople’s 1972 American Tour
In November 1972 Mott The Hoople embarked on a whirlwind tour of America, sometimes headlining, playing in large theaters and clubs. If you’re wondering, the English band’s name comes from a 1966 book. And after three years together they were developing a loyal following.
Mott’s current big hit, All The Young Dudes, written by their producer David Bowie was climbing up the charts. Continue reading →
Lost Video Of Australia’s #1 Band In The 1960s Rediscovered
The Easybeats Perform Friday On My Mind On BBC’s Top Of The Pops
Top Of The Pops (TOTP) ran weekly on BBC One Television from 1964 – 2006. The program would highlight the top charting musical acts and their songs. Unfortunately only five complete episodes of the 315 TOTP programs from the 1960s exist. The rest of the tapes were wiped clean for re-use as videotape was considered more valuable than preserving the program.
Lucy Culliton the daughter of former television director Tony Cuillton was going through the belongings of her late father at the family home in the Blue Mountains, New South Wales, Australia, when she made an astonishing discovery.
On a shelf with reel to reel audio tapes, one small box was labeled “Easybeats print – Friday On My Mind.” It was a film copy of The Easybeats performance on TOTP from November 24, 1966.
Culliton had worked with The Easybeats earlier in 1966, directing the live music program It’s All Happening, and later an Easybeats TV special.
You’ll notice none of the musicians even have their instrument cords attached to amplifiers. So the performance is playback with live vocals from lead singer Stevie Wright.
In Australia Friday on My Mind was a number one hit and also charted well in Europe and the U.S.A. The song Continue reading →
The Hit Song “Dancing In The Moonlight” Was Written After Musician Sherman Kelly Was Nearly Beaten To Death And His Girlfriend Was Raped
Sherman Kelly 1970 photo: Sherman Kelly
Sleeping peacefully on the beach at St. Croix in 1969, musician Sherman Kelly awoke to five men beating him with baseball bats.
After he blacked out, one of the men attacking Kelly raped his girlfriend Adrienne. The other four were preparing to take their turn at rape. Continue reading →
Which One Is The Beatle?
Ringo Starr, one of the Beatles, puts a cigarette into mouth of his wax likeness during unveiling at Madame Tussaud’s Waxworks in London today. The museum now feature the Beatles among its replicas of well-known people. photo: AP April 29, 1964.
The Beatles wax figures at Madame Tussaud’s were the first rock band effigies to be displayed at the museum.
In 1967 the figures were lent out for Peter Blake’s photo session used on the cover of the Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band. Continue reading →
“Is there really a body in there?” is usually not one of the questions you ask yourself when visiting a grave. But this is no ordinary grave. Continue reading →
Five 1980s Rock Videos Where The Band Is Not The Star
Whitesnake definitely owes a large portion of their late 1980s popularity to Tawny Kitaen, the actress model who suddenly passed away on May 7, 2021 at the age of 59. Tawny Kitaen was the real star in the videos for Here I Go Again; Still of The Night and Is This Love. Kitaen later married lead singer David Coverdale. The constant playing of these videos on MTV no doubt greatly contributed to helping the band eventually sell 15 million copies (8 million plus in the United States) of the 1987 eponymously titled Whitesnake album. According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), the previous seven Whitesnake albums sold a total of less than two million units combined before Tawny Kitaen’s addition to Whitesnake’s arsenal of sales tactics.
Not that Tawny Kitaen started a trend, but bands have always known that a good song can be made into a VERY popular song by featuring sexy women in their videos.
Here are five cases where the band is not the primary focus of the video, but a very attractive woman is.
Ric Ocasek -Something To Grab For (1982)
Ric Ocasek of The Cars released seven solo albums over his career which had modest sales. His first solo LP 1982’s Beatitude was the most successful, hitting number 28 on the Billboard charts. Starring in Something To Grab For is future 1983 Playboy Playmate of the Year, Marianne Gravatte (b. 1959). Gravatte, a stunningly beautiful woman, was also featured in Ratt’s Lay It Down.
Maybe this article should be titled “bands that sound like Robert Plant” as it is Plant’s unique vocals that are being channeled.
Plant himself has never been a big fan of others trying to sound like Led Zeppelin. Plant called Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page’s 1993 pairing with Whitesnake / Deep Purple lead singer David Coverdale – David Cover Version.
If you heard any of the following songs without knowing who it was, you might think it’s Led Zeppelin.
Unsurprisingly the lead singers of these bands can do pretty good cover versions of Zeppelin. We’ll have two samples from each band – one original composition and one Zeppelin cover if they have ever covered the mighty Zep.
Great White
To me, Jack Russell of Great White naturally sounds more like Robert Plant than any other professional singer.
This song Save Your Love is from the 1987 album Once Bitten.
This 2011 live version of Led Zeppelin’s Ramble On is spot on vocally even if the rest of the band doesn’t capture the Zeppelin magic. Russell’s intonations on certain lyrics like “I’m much o-bli-ged, such a plea-sant stay,” sound exactly like Plant. A great cover.
Benny Goodman and Frank Sinatra “Switch” Instruments
No news caption is attached to explain this 1943 publicity photograph of bandleader Benny Goodman “singing” and crooner Frank Sinatra “playing” the clarinet. Continue reading →
