Bring Back Glam! - Four Years Later

Today is the fourth anniversary of Bring Back Glam!

Amazing, isn't it? Whether you've been here since the beginning or are new to the site, I welcome and appreciate your continued support.

It's been a nutty four years. A lot has changed for me personally in that time and when I think back to all the Glam over the past four years, I just shake my head. To this day I can't really eloquently express why I started this site. I mean, on that December day in 2006 I was certainly motivated. And bored, to be honest. I was sick and tired of commercial radio -- and I still am. I have satellite radio and I'll never go back to so-called "free" radio.

So what have we accomplished in the last four years? Well, I'm not sure. Have we brought back Glam? I don't know, but I think we've made some strides. And certainly there are more outlets for 80s Glam when it comes to summer concerts. We've got M3 and other festivals. For awhile we had Rocklahoma, but I guess it's more modern now. There are special events like Shiprocked that feature our bands. VH1 Classic has Metal Mania. Commercials for big brands feature the music of some of our favorite acts. I don't remember much of this happening eight or 10 years ago. While Glam was once mocked in the mainstream, I think there is less of this now. Instead, there is a certain sort of throw-back appreciation to awesome rock of years past.

In the past four years I've attended four Rocklahomas, two Shiprocked cruises, one Motley Cruise, two editions of M3, suffered through the heat at Rock n' America, been to three consecutive Rock on the Range fests in my native Ohio and traveled to Baltimore many times to see Kix on their home turf. I went to Las Vegas to see Motley Crue, hung out on a tour bus with Drowning Pool before the show and wished our own Kari a happy birthday Sin City style. I became - and remain - an original contributor to Noisecreep, an AOL metal site. I've interviewed so many people I can't even list them all - but some of my favorite experiences include Chad Kroeger of Nickelback and DJ Ashba of SIXX: A.M. I hugged Mick Mars and I've met our own Metalboy! in the flesh! And, as a benchmark, I've written well over 2,200 articles on Glam and general metal music.

The past year has seen BBG! expand with the addition of two more writers: Brian Carvell and Christian Graus. While Christian and I are physically separated by around 10,000 miles, we are good friends. There are days when I chat with him more than my own husband! We met because of this site, just like me and Brian. I hope you are enjoying their unique commentary.

I have no idea where this site will go from one day to the next. I envy those with massive websites and large staffs and marketing plans. The core of BBG! remains just one basically broke woman who happens to have an insane passion for Aerosmith, Motley Crue and Poison. I guess if that means I'm a simple person, so be it. Let's get rocked!

Same Name, Different Song - You Choose!

Quick! Choose which song you like better: Kix "Sex" or Nickelback, "S.E.X." I love 'em both because each is unique and catchy as all get out. I always find it interesting when bands record songs of the same name...but the lyrics are completely different. I should make this "Same Name, Different Song" business a regular series here at BBG! Anyway, which do you like better and why: Kix or Nickelback?

KIX - "Sex"

Nickelback "S.E.X"

Awaiting a comment from our friend Kenny in 10, 9, 8, 7...

World AIDS Day - And You Can Help

Today is World AIDS Day - and you can make a difference. In America, activists will gather at the White House to hold a "funeral" for the 1.8 million people who have died worldwide in the past year. President Obama issued an official proclamation and former President George W. Bush penned an impassioned article on America's global fight against AIDS.

Many musicians - Nikki Sixx included - are using their celebrity today to help change the course of AIDS in children. Perhaps you have $10 spare dollars to send to the cause in Nikki's name? Here's some information below:

Los Angeles, CA (November 30, 2010) – Nikki Sixx has joined forces with Keep a Child Alive’s (KCA) co-founders Leigh Blake and Alicia Keys for the launch of the DIGITAL DEATH campaign as part of KCA’s larger fundraising effort BUY LIFE.

On Wednesday, December 1, World AIDS Day, Nikki Sixx along with fellow celebs Alicia Keys, Lady Gaga, Kim Kardashian, Ryan Seacrest, Justin Timberlake, P. Diddy, Usher, Jennifer Hudson, Khloe Karshasian, Jay Sean, Swizz Beatz, Serena Williams, The Buried Life, Elijah Wood, Janelle Monae, Kimberly Cole, David LaChapelle, Daphne Guinness, Bronson Pelletier and others will end their digital lives and sign off from all social networking platforms including Twitter and Facebook in solidarity for those in Africa & India affected by HIV/AIDS. The participating celebrities will not come back online until their digital lives have been bought back and $1 million has been collectively raised for KCA.

Sixx, founding member of Mötley Crüe and nationally syndicated radio host of Sixx Sense with Nikki Sixx says, “Twitter has become somewhat of a lifeline for many people and I think this is a great way to support such a great cause. I look forward to my tweet confirming we’ve reached our goal of $1 million.”

Fans can either donate directly online at www.buylife.org or text the first name of the celebrity they wish to support (example ALICIA) to 90999 in order to donate $10 to KCA, and then reply YES to confirm their donation.

About Keep a Child Alive

Keep a Child Alive provides first class AIDS care, support, nutrition and love to children and families affected by HIV/AIDS in Africa and India. With 30 million already dead, the disease continues to wipe out whole societies, threatening economic infrastructure and devastating the family structure. There are currently 14.9 million AIDS orphans in Africa alone. Anti-retroviral (ARV) treatment has transformed the lives of people with AIDS in the West, returning them to health from illness. However, millions of people with AIDS have no access to these lifesaving drugs. KCA currently provides funding to 10 clinical and orphan care sites in 5 countries: Kenya, Rwanda, South Africa, Uganda and India; with previous projects in Ethiopia, Kenya, Mali, Zimbabwe and South Africa that have been successfully scaled to new levels of service and self-sustainability within their communities.

Keep a Child Alive is committed to engaging the global public in the fight against AIDS and is proud to be a pioneer in fundraising. KCA was the first charity to ask the public to donate directly to purchase AIDS treatment and the first to make an online documentary "Alicia in Africa" available for free download. Keep a Child Alive also pioneered text messaging as a means to donate using our innovative Text ALIVE campaign to inspire whole new audiences to support our work.  Keep a Child Alive was the first charity to successfully implement a text-message donation campaign in the United States, launching Text "ALIVE" in conjunction with the "As I Am" concert tour of our Co-Founder, Alicia Keys in 2008. To date, KCA has raised over $800,000 from one-time $5 donations through texting. Keep a Child Alive's latest campaign, BUY LIFE, uses the smart-phone applications Wimo/Stickybits to scan bar-code technology to donate directly to KCA. We are the first to use this bar-code technology for philanthropic purposes.  

Since founded in 2003, Keep a Child Alive has raised $27 million to fund the sites we support; $13 million of which is from our legendary Black Ball events. 

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At this point and time AIDS is completely preventable, especially in developed countries. The toll AIDS takes on countries like Rwanda and Tanzania is downright shameful. This is a social justice issue, plain and simple - and the AIDS epidemic is still very real and very close. "Seasons of Love," people. We're all in this together.

Vince Neil Makes it Through First Elimination of 'Skating With the Stars' - Good Grief

Vince Neil is still on Skating with the Stars. I figured he'd go home in last night's first elimination but he (just barely) skated by, pun very much intended.

Vince is horrible on this show, people. Just terrible. I had no intention of watching, but I ended up catching his first week routine online so then I thought I'd watch the entire second episode...good gravy, what a train wreck. I mean, seriously. Never in my life have written words failed me. I've always been able to express myself through writing - but not this time. I simply cannot convey how terribly embarrassing it is to watch Vince on skates. Then I think, "How does Vince feel?" I mean, he must be embarrassed, right? Or maybe he doesn't care. I don't think he likes the judging part very much and he certainly doesn't like the stupid stage banter - neither do I. At least I'll give Vince props for trying...but damn.

Skating with the Stars = not metal. Shudder.

For those with the same morbid curiosity as me, you can catch Vince skate again next Monday night at 8 p.m. on ABC.

Week 1 clip:

'Ace of Spades'...at Half Speed?

The guys in Motorhead recently made a commercial for some beer called Kronenbourg. I must admit, hearing "Ace of Spades" at half speed is a weird experience, but it works for the commercial concept. It seems that more and more metal bands are being tapped these days for marketing purposes. Maybe that's the way we can keep the music alive? If the art of the music video is dead and no one wants to pay for albums anymore and concert tickets are too high, then maybe commercials are the way to go. Watch:

Mr. Big, 'Undertow' - New Video!

Mr. Big knows how to rock. Their new song "Undertow" is just excellent. Really, there's no other way to describe it: the song has a modern edge, yet it is not nu-metal so I don't think die hard fans would be alienated. The production is great and the video is even excellent. "Undertow" is a single from the forthcoming release What If...due out in early 2011. Have a listen:

Bret Michaels, 'What I Got' - Just Plain Awful

Have you heard the new Bret Michaels cover of "What I Got?" The song was a big hit for Sublime back in 1996. Bret recorded the song for his solo album Custom Built. Now, admittedly, I'm not a Sublime fan but I have no bias against the song. I know every word to "What I Got" because it was played nonstop when I was in high school. Still, bias or not, I can't sugarcoat this one: I think both the song and the video are horrid. Have you seen the video. Here, watch and I'll wait:

See what I mean? I fully support Bret using fans and other "real people" in his videos - that's not my beef here. The final product just doesn't look smooth or something and the sync is intentionally off (or at least I think it was an intentional decision) but whatever the case, it is distracting. Plus did I mention the song is horrid? The mix is not good. Oh my. Yes, Bret can do whatever he wants but I think this was definitely a career miss. Or maybe I'm just confused but Glam and Ska don't usually mix. Agree?