On February 3, 2026 Lamonte McLemore one fifth of the great singing group The Fifth Dimension passed away at the age of 90.
Amazingly, The New York Times did cover McLemore’s death with a well deserved obituary a week after his passing . McLemore, while not a rock star per se, was definitely part of the sixties pop rock identity.
We use the term “amazingly” because Continue reading
Iron Maiden 1981 (l-r) Steve Harris, Clive Burr, Paul Di’Anno, Adrian Smith, Dave Murray photo EMI / Robert Ellis
When this website began in 2011, I proclaimed that lists are stupid especially “best lists”. I believe they still are. “Best of” lists are always subjective.
But that doesn’t stop us Continue reading
Fastway 1983 (l-r) Jerry Shirley, Fast Eddie Clarke, Dave King
If there is one common theme to a band not making it big it is wrong place, wrong time. The public’s shifting and fickle tastes in music often conspire against success. But that’s not the only reason.
You can’t underestimate luck in the success formula.
Many talented hard rock bands were left by the wayside for no other reason except that they were unlucky.
The other reasons for not making it? Bad management, an indifferent record label, poor distribution, a lack of exposure and personnel turmoil within the band. Also in the late 1980s an oversaturation of the market with a lot of bands sounding indistinguishable from one another. Finally, the rise of grunge / alternative was the coup de grace for hundreds of hard rock bands.
With the exception of Badlands, where the band imploded and the singer died in 1993, we present here five 1980s bands that should have been huge but never got there.
I can say positively that Zebra’s music is unknown to the vast majority of rock fans. With one possible exception – the 1983 hit, Tell Me What You Want.
From 1983 on, their record label, Atlantic Records, dropped the ball and did nothing right in promoting Zebra. Continue reading
The band Van Halen share their name with its two founding members. So when speaking of Van Halen sometimes it’s important to distinguish if you are referring to the band or personnel. Frequently it was interchangeable. The band Van Halen or the guitarist Edward Van Halen. Infrequently was the reference to band co-founder Alex Van Halen.
Sitting behind a drum kit for over 50 years made it possible for Alex Van Halen to be in the background rather than the spotlight. Continue reading
Ian Gillan, Deep Purple photo: Jan Persson
We will conclude our overview of isolated vocals with a selection of songs from some of the most iconic hard rock and heavy metal bands.
What you may notice in listening to these cuts is that more than other types of rock, heavy metal has people who can sing and others who greatly benefit with the helping hand of compression and echo.
There were many bands to possibly profile and limiting the number of songs to a bakers dozen was a challenge. While we would consider including Metallica, Megadeth, Exodus, Anthrax, Slayer, Testament and other thrash bands, we left them out this time. Maybe we’ll revisit this subject in the future.
Starting things off is the band that many fans consider the inventors of heavy metal, Black Sabbath with Paranoid (vocals – Ozzy Osbourne)
In music polls, Led Zeppelin is consistently ranked as the one of the greatest bands in rock history. They also influenced practically every hard rock and metal band even if Zeppelin themselves did not call themselves a “heavy metal” band. This is their iconic 1971 song Rock and Roll (vocals- Robert Plant)
Most rock fans can name the song in three notes. If Deep Purple did not Continue reading
Model demonstrating the proper facial use of a vibrator. From National Lampoon, January 1977
Matty Simmons the CEO of National Lampoon and author of If You Don’t Buy This Book We’ll Kill This Dog (Barricade Books), describes in his 1994 memoir the challenges of getting traditional advertisers during National Lampoon magazine’s first decade. Continue reading
Sammy Hagar David Lee Roth photo: Bryan Steffy/Getty, Jason Kempin/Getty
The future of artificial intelligence is a very serious subject which at some point we will cover in a serious way.
But in the meantime this is a short, frivolous use of AI, but entertaining if you are a Van Halen fan.
In reality I doubt either candidate could name one Continue reading
AC/DC’s singer / lyricist Bon Scott once described himself not as a poet, but more a bathroom graffiti writer.
Though Bon Scott was self effacing, he could look at his own work honestly to see if there was room for improvement. Scott would frequently write and rewrite lyrics in notebooks and record on portable tape recorder he carried with him.
In one case he took a good rock song and made it a great song by completely changing the lyrics. Continue reading
Mae Today
One of Mae West’s most noted successes – a role with which she is now a bit bored – is as a high-living lady in “Diamond Lil”. The play is still being revived. In a New York dressing room in 1949, Miss West puts on some “prop” diamonds – valued at $2,000 – which she wears in the play. photo: Wide World Photos 8/4/1952
Mae West remained in the public eye for decades. First in vaudeville, then the legitimate stage, followed by movies and radio. Topping off her stardom, there were whispers and rumors throughout her career that Mae West was not actually a woman. Continue reading
The 1959 song Please Don’t Touch was a breakout hit for British rockers Johnny Kidd and The Pirates. Continue reading
