Let's Organize a Trip to Sweden Rock 2009

The videos are flying in from Sweden Rock 2008. I swear, I must go to this fest next year. I'm pretty sure if I don't go my life will be drastically incomplete. The lineup for this year's Sweden Rock was killer: Whitesnake, Def Leppard, Judas Priest, Poison, Ratt, Airbourne...and that's just a few!

Here's Poison performing "I Want Action"

Here's Poison performing "Unskinny Bop"

Here's Def Leppard performing both "Pour Some Sugar on Me" and "Photograph." *The quality sort of sucks, but the pictures are good.

Ok, so you've watched the clips. I think we should organize a Bring Back Glam! excursion to Sweden Rock 2009 - and I'm being dead serious here. Sweden is not a cheap trip, especially for those of us coming from America. When I was pricing the trip a couple months or so ago, my calculations pretty much landed at five grand for a week for two people. Granted I don't camp -- the Glam mistress doesn't camp -- and my husband is a picky traveler, so maybe you could knock off a couple hundred bucks. Still, I'm dead serious about going next year and I think a Bring Back Glam! contingent would be oh-so-fabulous. Just think, you've got an entire year to save five thousand dollars: that's a little over $400 a month, or just over a hundred a week...Ok, so it's still a lot of money, but we're talking about the trip of a lifetime here. Maybe if there's enough of us, we can get a group rate?! Here's hoping...

Anyway, if you want to go, send me an email. I'll keep the messages in a separate folder, and maybe we can make plans a little bit closer to the event.

Big Hair: Interactive Winner

Last week I asked you send me photos of you with big hair. Here are the submissions below:

Here's our friend Eddie Long Hair:  

*Disclaimer: Eddie tells me this was for a Halloween party. I'm not so sure he doesn't look this Glam every day of the year.  

Here's our friend Christian:

*Disclaimer: this was 1989. Isn't Christian cute? This photo makes me want to give him a big hug. Still Metal all these years later.  

Here's our friend Kenny Ozz: 

 

*Disclaimer: Kenny seriously looks like this everyday - and not just when he's singing lead vocals with Drugstore Valentine. Seriously.  Glam. Seriously.

Here's our friend Valentine:

 

*Disclaimer: Ok, this was a few years ago during a Tonight You Rock gig. You know this photo is hot. True Glam in all its glory.

Here's our friend Danny:

*Disclaimer: This was taken in 2006 during the national finals of an air guitar competition. Danny got 7th place...with a broken arm!

So who wins? If we're going on sheer hair volume here - and shouldn't we always - I say that Eddie takes the prize. That's some big hair.  Very impressive.

This wasn't an easy decision. 

Now, speaking of big hair...Bring Back Glam! loyal reader Dai Raion tipped me off to a Japanese Glam band with massive hair. Oh man, this clip is awesome. It doesn't even matter that the words are in Japanese!

Here's the band X Japan performing "Anarchy in the U.K."

Urban Dictionary

Does anyone here ever read Urban Dictionary? You know, it's a website less credible than Wikipedia -- if that's even possible to comprehend. Somehow I stumbled across Urban Dictionary over the weekend and was appalled at the entry for Glam Metal:  

 
GLAM METAL: Sucked ass and deserved to die. The worst type of rock ever. Metal is not supposed to be happy or about girls and getting laid. I am glad grunge killed that suck ass piece of shit glam metal because they were all a bunch of cross-dressing faggots from L.A. Grunge and Thrash is so much better and I am glad they killed off faggy glam metal. Nirvana and Alice in Chains are so much better and I am sad they both have deceased frontmen, and because of them glam metal is DEAD. Now its trying to make a come back with fucking that faggot from Poison and his gay reality dating show "Rock of Love" and the guy from Motley Crue with his Sixx AM. I cant even see how people could have like it back in the eighties. Glam Metal is for queers.

 
Clearly I didn't edit any of that post. I mean, really, is this what people truly think of Glam? Is it? I would never go on Urban Dictionary and write a similar post about Grunge. Never. Good grammar skills notwithstanding, I just couldn't stoop that low and dare look so...uneducated. The thing is, Urban Dictionary has an option where you can rate the post and edit. I did neither. I do my fair share of rating Glam here everyday and, while I could totally own every single person on that substandard website Oxford English Dictionary style, I chose to rise above. I decided that would be the Glam thing to do.

The link to the article is here. It's up to you to personally decide to rate or edit.

The Color Issue

Do you like black and white music videos? I have much respect for musicians that try to be a little artistic with videos, and I think black and white really adds a nice touch. Maybe I love black and white music videos so much because of black and white photography. Nothing looks more high class than a black and white glossy sitting in a pewter picture frame.

I think musicians that shoot videos in black and white like to leave the door of perception open to fans. Glam bands often get slagged for wanting to look good, so shooting in black and white is even a little daring.

Here are a few of my favorite black and white clips:

Bon Jovi: "Livin' on a Prayer"

Poison "Every Rose Has Its Thorn"

Great White "The Big Goodbye"

And, of course, Motley Crue "Saints of Los Angeles"

I doubt I'm the only person to compare black and white film to color when it comes to music videos. Tell me, which do you prefer?

Coney Hatch, eh?

I think I'm above-average in Glam trivia. I think I know most of the signed band of the classic Glam time period...but yesterday, I was schooled. There I was, driving along and some band called Coney Hatch came on the Boneyard. Baffled, I listened.

Once home I looked up Coney Hatch and learned a few things: the band is Canadian and has a connection to April Wine. They apparently have four albums to their credit, including a best-of package. I must admit I'm surprised such an obscure band has a greatest hits compilation, but maybe Coney Hatch is really famous and I've been missing out.

Honestly, I wasn't impressed with "Monkey Bars." Since you should never judge a band by one song, I went to YouTube for more research.    

I must admit I like several other Coney Hatch songs more than "Monkey Bars." I'll also be the first to say there isn't anything really original here. In fact, my husband says the intro to "Fantasy" is a direct rip-off of "Smoke on the Water." I think this is a fair comparison. You decide.

Here's "Shake It."

Here's "First Time for Everything."

So, what do you think of Coney Hatch? Please tell me I'm not the only person unfamiliar with this band. By the way, you can hear more songs here.

Love on the Rocks and Other Treats

I was listening to Poison's Open Up and Say...Ahh!! the other day and realized something: the album cuts are just as good - if not better - than the singles.

Picture it: Dayton, Ohio and I'm at my cubicle, listening to my iPod. I suddenly catch myself skipping all the famous songs and constantly repeating both "Love on the Rocks" and "Back to the Rocking Horse." Now, let me be clear in saying that Open Up and Say...Ahh!! has been one of my favorite albums for literally 20 years now.

Open Up and Say...Ahh!! turned 20 just last month. Never in a million years would I have guessed I would still be listening to this album as much at 28 as I did at 8. I guess life is funny that way.

Back to the B-sides. So, I'm listening to "Love on the Rocks"  and thinking "gosh, this is a great tune." So, I proceed to really listen to all of  Open Up and Say...Ahh!! for the nine millionth time. By really listen, I mean, not allowing the songs to become background noise. Instead, I focused on the guitar tone, the lyrics, the entire feel of the disc. People can mock Poison all they want, but this band was in one hell of a groove while writing Open Up and Say...Ahh!!

Poison get slammed a lot for playing the same set every summer. People want to hear "Look What the Cat Dragged In" and the band obliges, but my goodness, I'm pretty sure I'd lose it if C.C. DeVille played the opening of "Love on the Rocks." Scratch that: I know I'd lose it.

There are five albums in the entire world of which I know every word of every song, and Open Up and Say...Ahh!! is one of them. The others, if you care, are Def Leppard's Hysteria and Aerosmith's Get a Grip, Rocks and Toys in the Attic.

What do you think of the Open Up and Say...Ahh!! album cuts?

Here's the album version of"Love on the Rocks." For the record, I did find a YouTube clip of Poison performing this song live in 1991, but it's not fair or accurate to compare set lists from different decades.

Big Hair: Interactive

We always talk about Glam metal bands around here - but what about the hair? Some of the hairstyles were badass...while many were just plain bad. I think it's high time we rank the best hair of the 80s - music notwithstanding. Here's my list of the best over-the-top Glam hair, and remember, I'm not taking musical ability into account here:

10. Nikki Sixx - Motley Crue. Seriously, the man had good hair and it was big too!  He's been dying it black for three decades now and there ain't nothing wrong with that. As Motley's image changed, so the did the hair until it's evolution into perfection. Ladies: have you seen the still shot of Nikki at the beginning of the new "Saints of Los Angeles" video? Meow. All that hair plus a white hat and expensive suit to boot. Sigh.

09. Eric Brittingham - Cinderella.  Ok, I prefer men in Metal bands to have black hair, but Eric gets a pass for his luscious, long blond locks (o.k., he's got dark hair now, but so do I. I was blond once too). His hair is so long it comes dangerously close to his bass strings - even when his guitar is slung low across his hips. Now, that's Glam.

08. Dizzy Dean Davidson - Britny Fox. Yeah, he's the guy who sang "Girlschool." Actually, maybe the number eight spot should just go to Britny Fox period. Those dudes had some big hair, yo. I mean, Pennsylvania probably still has a pollution problem thanks to the hairspray consumption of this band alone.

07. Taime Downe - Faster Pussycat. I should write a book, call it The Blond Years and dedicate it to Taime. Despite my penchant for dark Metallers, Taime looked awfully cute as a blond. His mane was big, bouncy and out of control. In short, that long hairstyle fit him - and Faster Pussycat - perfectly. Good times.

06. Mickey Finn - Jetboy. Mickey gets the sixth spot for having anti-Glam hair: it was short, spiky and typically green. Jetboy are a really great band, and Mickey's pointy hair gave this band a literal tough edge. I'm sure Mickey was just being an individual but I can't help but think it was also a smart marketing gimmick.

05. Slash - Guns n' Roses. Like Nikki Sixx, Slash still has amazing hair. It's like that man woke up one day, thought "I shall grow the best locks in Metal" and it was so. The famed guitarist has had essentially the same hairdo for twenty years - and that's perfectly fine with me.

04: Pepsi Tate - Tigertailz. There is no mistaking Tigertailz's status as a Glam band: the big hair immediately gave them away. It doesn't hurt their songs are big and rich and I am not talking about a country band here. Pepsi Tate had hair teased as high as a kite and it suited him just fine. Pepsi lost his battle to cancer last year and I think he'd want us  to remember him all Glammed out.

03. The Nelson Twins - Nelson.  Holy crap, this list wouldn't be complete without this duo. While Nelson couldn't live with out our "Love and Affection" they also - apparently - couldn't live without their hair straighteners! While their contemporaries were still teasing and crimping, Nelson had jumped ahead in the cosmetology world by keeping their long locks straight with, undoubtedly, Chi irons. 

02. C.C. DeVille - Poison. Woo hoo, C. C. used to have brassy hair! It was big and spiky...and all the girls loved it.  Did I mention it was brassy? I don't know what color dye he was using, but "white" must have been an option in 1988. I don't think it's a coincidence that the "reporters" at the beginning of the "I Want Action" video question C.C. "about the image."  My goodness, C.C. sure had some good hair in the 80s. Side note: I listened to "Unskinny Bop" four times on repeat while writing this piece. Is it wrong that I still smile at the TV/computer screen when Bret and Rikki smile right back? I mean, seriously folks, I still get weak kneed! I am 28 years old and know this video by heart - I could story board it from memory - and yet I still get giddy. Glamness, I can't wait to see Poison again this summer. I think C.C. should dye his hair pink again! He wore the look better than Vince Neil - dunno why, I just found it more believable.

01. The Dudes in Nitro.  It wouldn't be fair for me to just single out Jim Gillette here. I mean, boys had some hair. Words can't even describe, so look at the picture to the left. That's a very famous promotional shot for a reason: the hair alone summed up an entire genre. I have really long hair and I know for a fact I couldn't tease it as big or as high as Nitro. They win. I bow to them: the kings of Glam hair.

If you made it to the end of today's article, congratulations! You're probably wondering about the "interactive" part, eh? Here it is: send me a photo of you with your best impression of big 80s hair! Hell, maybe you're a Glam musician from the 80s and you feel you look better than the boys above. I can dig it. By submitting your photo, you agree the image becomes the sole property of Bring Back Glam! and I can mock or praise you how I see fit. Of course, there's a prize involved: to the winner, goes the spoils. I have some random Glam around the house and I'll pack it all in a box and ship right to your front door.  By submitting a photo you also promise you're over 13 - after all, this ain't kiddie porn. Also, I'm not in the mood for profane images and seriously, if I see another musician flip off a camera for a posed picture I am going to puke. Do something original to get noticed and I'll post your image here on Bring Back Glam! next week for all the world to see. The deadline for photo submissions is Sunday at 11:59 p.m. E.S.T. Send your entries to allyson@bringbackglam.com. Good luck.