I'm Heavy Duty!

Yes! Today we celebrate. I’m celebrating because Mary and I got a new site up today for Heavy Duty Incorporated at WeAreHeavyDuty.com, our art and home furnishings business. To celebrate I’m finally posting Judas Priest’s Defenders of the Faith.

This album contains a song that has become my heavy metal mantra, “Heavy Duty.” The song contains the lyrics “I’m Heavy Duty” in the first chorus and “We’re Heavy Duty” in the last one. The first line I mentioned is, of course, the namesake of this web site. You can read more about why I chose that name. “We’re Heavy Duty” happens to be the URL for Heavy Duty Incorporated. “Heavy Duty” is simple metal dirge with some silly metal lyrics, but it never fails to give me a boost when I most need it. I play it all the time, and I have two copies, just in case. Just in case.

Another sentimental reason I love this record is that on April 12, 1984, the night before final exams in my senior year of high school, Roger Williams and I went to see Judas Priest live at the Hampton Coliseum. Roger is/was sort of an intellectual metalhead. If I remember correctly, he was valedictorian of his class and went on to Notre Dame. We lost touch after high school, which is unfortunate for him because I’m pretty sure one of those albums in the picture in his. Sorry Roj. Contact me to negotiate visitation rights.

The show was fantastic in a completely over the top heavy metal way. The “Metallian” creature on the cover was the actual stage, with the drums inside the mouth and a huge mechanical arm that lowered to allow Rob Halford to walk out. At least that’s how I remember it. Halford also rode a Harley onto the stage at one point. The whole band played perfectly was locked into the driving grooves that made this middle period Priest music so great.

Some of the other great songs on Defenders are “Freewheel Burning” and “Some Heads are Gonna Roll.” While overall the lyrics are the usual tough guy silliness you would expect there are more than a few corny-but-inspiring metal moments like this from “Rock Hard Ride Free”:

No denying, we’re going against the grain
So defiant they’ll never put us down
Rock Hard Ride Free
All day, all night
Rock Hard Ride Free
All your life

But my favorite, of course, comes from “Heavy Duty.”

We’re Heavy Duty
So come on let’s tell the world
We are defenders of the faith…

• Artist: The Music Machine
• Title: Best Of The Music Machine (Featuring Sean Bonniwell)
• Year: 1984
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 7
• Owner: Tracy
• Acquired: 1984 – Probably mail order from some place like Midnight Records in NYC.
• Keeper: Yes

Since I mentioned The Music Machine in my last post I thought I would post this Best Of The Music Machine (Featuring Sean Bonniwell) record next. It’s been a while since I’ve heard it and it’s more rocking than I remembered.

This album was released by Rhino in 1984. That’s like some label today re-releasing music that was popular, or at least existed, in the late 1980s, for a new audience. I was in high school when I bought this re-issue, so it’s not like I was being nostalgic. I suppose there may be some teenagers out there who would be excited to discover music from 1988, but it seems weird to me.

Most people think the seeds of heavy metal were sewn in the late 1960s, but I think The Music Machine got there a few years earlier. They have some heavy riffs, tricky song structures, dark lyrics, and –best of all– they wore all black clothing, dyed their hair black, and wore a black glove on one hand only. The notes on the back cover describe them as being “in the vanguard of the punk rock boom.” Maybe, but after another round of listening I’m convinced The Music Machine was proto-metal. And that’s what I’m talking about.

More about The Music Machine at Wikipedia.

• Artist: Dead Or Alive
• Title: You Spin Me Round (Like a Record) 12
• Year: 1984
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 10
• Owner: Mary
• Acquired: ?
• Keeper: Yes

Watch – Out! – Here – I – Come!

I’m back! And what brought me back? Too many chocolate chip cookies and an awesome dance single.

Mary and I heard Dead Or Alive’s “You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)” on the car radio yesterday, and I just had to hear it again. The version on this 12 inch is the “Performance Mix” and you can believe I was doing a performance all three times I blasted it today. I did move to turn it down a bit when I saw the UPS guy outside, but fortunately he went to another house. I was able to complete my dance routine mostly without interruption. And pretty much everybody has to dance when they hear this classic. It’s so punchy!

The performance by singer Pete Burns is so complete and uninhibited that I can’t imagine it being more entertaining. And I’m only talking about his singing, see the video for more. Life lesson from Pete Burns: If you going to do something, do it all the way and don’t hold anything back. Except maybe when it comes to body mods. I saw Pete on some strange TV show a while back and I think he’s overdosed on plastic surgery.

Like a record baby!

Dead Or Alive – You may be surprised who has been associated with this band over the years.
Pete Burns

Three minutes of dance heaven…

• Artist: Einstürzende Neubauten
• Title: Strategies Against Architecture 80-83
• Year: 1984
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 7
• Owner: Mary?
• Acquired: ?
• Keeper: Yes

I have the perfect Halloween soundtrack for you: Einstürzende Neubauten’s Strategies Against Architecture 80-83. These guys are the uncrowned kings of noise and experimental music. This early compilation is particularly eerie, and metallic, in the literal sense of the word. Typical “instruments” listed for each song include “hollow metal object”, “metal plates”, “scratching metal”, “air conditioning duct” and so on. What vocals are there, are, how you say… distressed? And check out a few of these Halloween-ready titles: “Tanz Debil (A Dance of Mental Illness)”, “Schmerzen Hören (Listen with Pain)”, “Draußen ist Feindlich (Outside is Hostile).”

Of course, the band expanded beyond this type of music over the years. And they have put on some noteworthy live performances in their time. I have never seen them in person, but I did get to see leader Blixa Bargeld once with Nick Cave.

They have a MySpace page. The two songs there are very pretty, and not at all like what this album is like.

You should read this Wikipedia article about Einstürzende Neubauten. No self-respecting art school student should be without some of their music.

Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble -- Couldn't Stand the Weather

• Artist: Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble
• Title: Couldn’t Stand the Weather
• Year: 1984
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 9
• Owner: Tracy and Bob
• Acquired: 2005 – Inherited from Bob Bobala
• Keeper: Yes

Oh, too many to blogs to keep up with. I haven’t been posting as often as I want. It’s too late and I’m too tired to do this record justice. Suffice it to say that Stevie Ray Vaughan was a massively talented genius and Couldn’t Stand the Weather is an excellent album. I think if I listened to it for another day I’d probably rate it a “10.” From memory I was thinking that this record wasn’t quite as good as the first, but now I’m not so sure. Stevie and Double Trouble (Tommy Shannon on bass and Chris Layton on drums) are slamming on all eight tracks. My favorite is the heavy funk title track, “Couldn’t Stand the Weather.” And their version of Hendrix’s “Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)” is phenomenal. I’m a huge Hendrix fan, but I like listening to this version just a little bit more. Vaughan’s tone is super fat. This is another record Bob should have kept.

More about Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble.