Happy Thanksgiving; Let's Be Thankful for Ronnie James Dio

I remember Ronnie James Dio as Ozzy Osbourne's replacement in Black Sabbath from 1979-1982. I did buy the "Heaven and Hell" album, which became a classic. I am a huge Ozzy fan as you can read in my previous posts; however Ronnie James Dio has made his mark in Heavy Metal history. Let's remember his contribution. - Kenny Leibow

By now, you've probably heard the sad news that Ronnie James Dio has stomach cancer. Cancer is a nasty beast, but all accounts say Dio's doctors caught the disease early. As such, the metal master will undergo treatment immediately. I don't know how long it takes to go through treatment for stomach cancer, but I imagine it's not exactly quick. Still, here's hoping Ronnie James Dio will be back singing on stage very soon.

Can you believe I've never seen Dio live? A shame, I know. He's definitely been on my must see list for awhile now...it just hasn't happened.

So, while you Americans enjoy Thanksgiving and the rest of the world goes about its collective business, maybe we should all pause and remember those people that are important to us. We should also give thanks for Ronnie and Metal -- because without music, we wouldn't have much to talk about! - allyson@bringbackglam.com

Source: http://www.bringbackglam.com

Ronnie James Dio - Killing The Dragon

Alice Cooper - Poison 1989

Alice Cooper was a "Shock Rocker" born out of the 1970's hard rock music scene. Even in the early 80's I remember Alice Cooper was widely popular with a cult following when I was in High School listening to old huge hits like "I'm Eighteen" and "Schools Out". In 1989, Alice Cooper had a resurrection with the song "Poison" from his album "Trash". Alice Cooper's popularity continued to grow to legend status after his appearance in the 1992 film "Wayne's World".

Below see the original 1989 music video of "Poison" and a live performance of "School's Out". I have also included a complete biography of Alice Cooper. - Kenny Leibow



















Poison -1989 Official Video







School's Out - Live Performance

Mini Biography

Source - IMDb

Alice Cooper was born Vincent Damon Furnier, in Detroit, Michigan, the son of a minister. He moved to Phoenix, Arizona, at a young age and still lives in the state today. At 17 he formed a rock band called the Earwigs, who changed their name to The Spiders and then The Nazz, before finally settling on Alice Cooper. The line-up included himself, Dennis Dunaway, Michael Bruce, Glen Buxton and Neil Smith. Rumors (which the band did not necessarily make efforts to deny) to the contrary, the name was not chosen from a Ouija board reading nor was it named after a woman once burned at the stake for witchcraft -- it was picked because the random name had a twisted sense of originality and misleading innocence, complementing the band's bizarre and macabre stage theatrics and lyric themes.

The band got their first big break playing at the Whiskey-a-GoGo in L.A. one night in 1969 when Frank Zappa discovered them and signed them to his record label. After two albums-and relocating to Detroit -- they were signed by Warner Bros., hooked up with famous producer Robert Ezrin and came out with their third album, the break-through "Love It to Death" in 1971. Several albums followed, including "Killer", the highly successful "School's Out" and "Billion Dollar Babies", and "Muscle of Love". The band made an appearance in the movie Diary of a Mad Housewife (1970) and their own theatrically released documentary Good to See You Again, Alice Cooper (1974). Alice himself also starred in an episode of The Snoop Sisters (1972) (TV).

The original Alice Cooper band broke up in 1975, with the lead singer getting his name legally changed to Alice Cooper -- and performing under the name ever since -- while some of the other members formed a band called the Billion Dollar Babies. That same year saw the release of a Greatest Hits album, while Alice as a solo artist completed the "Welcome to My Nightmare" album and his incredibly theatrical tour. It was on this tour that he met his future wife Sheryl Cooper, who had been hired as a dancer.

Along with the album and tour came a TV special, Alice Cooper: The Nightmare (1975) (TV), and both included dialog from horror movie legend Vincent Price. Alice made a number of other TV and movie appearances in the second half of the decade, including "The Muppet Show" (1976), Mae West's final film Sextette (1978), Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1978) and several appearances on "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson" (1962).

However, by the late 1970s Alice's problems with alcohol became life-threatening, and he was checked into a clinic for rehabilitation. He told of his experiences on the semi-fictional album "From The Inside" (there was also a comic book of the same title), and explored different sounds in the early '80s with four albums ("Flush The Fashion", "Special Forces", "Zipper Catches Skin", "DaDa"). After having a severe "falling off the wagon" to the point of almost dying, he sobered up once more -- this time for good -- and returned with the albums "Constrictor", "Raise Your Fist and Yell" and the 1989 album "Trash", which featured the hit song "Poison". The '80s also saw Alice starring in the horror flicks Leviatán (1984) (also known as "Monster Dog") and Prince of Darkness (1987), as well as having mostly new songs for the soundtracks to Roadie (1980), Class of 1984 (1982), Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood (1988) and Shocker (1989).

It was the 1990s, however, that brought Alice's most memorable movie appearance: playing himself in Wayne's World (1992). The phrase uttered by characters Wayne and Garth in his presence, "We're not worthy!", became one of the most popular movie catch-phrases of the decade. Alice also played the father of Freddy Krueger in Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991), and himself on "That '70s Show" (1998) and "Something Wilder" (1994). The decade also saw the release of his "Hey Stoopid" and "The Last Temptation". Alice toured occasionally but took a break from releasing albums until 2000, when he released "Brutal Planet". He followed this up with "Dragon Town", "The Eyes of Alice Cooper" and the "Dirty Diamonds", and continues to tour regularly, performing shows with the bizarrely dark and horror-themed theatrics that he's best known for.

KISS Tribute Band 1991

Deniz performed live with several musicians in the 1990s including his bands Ankara and Sin. In 1991 at Penrods in Miami Beach, Florida, Deniz was on stage playing Paul Stanley in a Kiss Tribute performance. Read the story below by Rudy Landa; and see the video of the live performance with complete Kiss makeup. - Kenny Leibow

"Halloween of '91, while attending Career Institutes
of America in Miami Beach, some buddies of mine
and myself put together a KISS tribute band and
played at South Beach's "Penrod' s on
The Beach" for our school Halloween Party.....

Here's my guitar solo from that night,followed by a
little tune that KISS fans will recognize.....it was a wild
and crazy time the early 90s......so many memories." -Rudy Landa

Denniz (Paul Stanley), Randy (Peter Criss), Alex (Gene Simmons), and me Rudy (Ace Freeley).



KISS Tribute Band 1991

SIN - South Florida Rock Bands 1990s

Deniz Kose performed in many venues through out the 1990s. The photo to the left is Deniz performing at Penrods in South Beach (Florida). As I stated in the previous post "Deniz and Kenny Collection 2", Deniz was in the group Ankara and SIN in the 1990s. Here is the story of SIN:

In 1993 Deniz started a studio in Hallandale, Florida called "Jamtite". I remember visiting the studio in 1996 to watch Ankara rehearse. Jamtite studio was located in an industrial type area with a lot of mechanic shops around. At night, it was a party zone packed with cars. One of Jamtite's many customers were two guys who rented studio time, Ray Gutierrez and Caesar Gutierrez. They were brothers whose family was Cuban. Ray and Caesar were customers for a long time, approximately one and half years. Deniz became good friends with Ray and Caesar. By the end of 1996, Ankara had broken up; and at that time, Deniz started jamming with Ray and Caesar. They all decided to put a together a band and called the group "SIN".

SIN consisted of Deniz Kose as the lead singer, Ray Gutierrez on bass and background vocals, and Caesar Gutierrez as lead guitar and background vocals. They played all original music. Ray and Caesar co-wrote the music and Deniz wrote the lyrics. When SIN practiced and recorded in the studio, the musicians on drums and keyboards were not permanent members of the band. They were musicians for hire.

SIN played many popular venues in South Florida such as The Button, Roses, Plus5, Churchill's, Rosebuds, and McFly just to name a few. When SIN performed live, they also used various drummers on stage. Deniz was forced to close Jamtite in 1996 because the building had a new owner who did not want bands playing there any more. About 4 days a week SIN rehearsed at Obenour Studio in Ft. Lauderdale. They rehearsed 5-6 days a week on average as well as performing live. Sometimes SIN would rehearse at a studio in South Miami, which was the group Exposé's old studio.

Deniz - "I remembers when Ray and Caesar invited Rudy Sarzo the bass player from Ozzy Osbourne, Quite Riot and White Snake to come to the studio and hang out at one of our rehearsals. Now that was a cool moment to jam in front of a musician who was one of my rock heroes. He actually liked our Band. That was a good moment and though I never made it to the Lime Light. it is moments like that I consider priceless."

SIN was together almost 4 years. They broke up in 2000. SIN left behind some great music and fun times. You can listen to some of SIN's songs on the music player on this blog. Also please listen to "Doin Fine" below recorded by SIN in 1998. - Kenny Leibow

SIN - Doin Fine


SIN
Deniz Kose - Lead vocals and Lyricist
Ray Gutierrez - Bass and Background vocals and co writer
Caesar Gutierrez- Lead Guitar.Background vocals and co writer

TRACKS
Trapped in the mirror
Whispering trees
Summer Rain
Doin fine
Into the sky
Feel

Venues in South Florida

South Florida is home to several arenas, stadiums, amphitheaters, and other live music venues.

http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/8636/concerts.html

Hollywood Sportatorium - Rush and Yes 1988

How many venues have featured Elvis Presley and Led Zeppelin in its history? A small arena in Hollywood, Florida did exactly that. The Hollywood Sportatorium was a major events facility for Southeastern Florida in the 1970's and 1980's, and at the time was the only venue of its kind in Broward County. Built in 1969 and opened in September of 1970, it had a concert capacity of 15,500 seats. It was located at 16661 W. Hollywood Blvd. (later renamed Pines Boulevard) in what was then Unincorporated Broward County. It was built adjacent to the Miami-Hollywood Motorsports Park, built just four years earlier. At the time, Pines Blvd was a small two lane road.

In addition to Elvis and Led Zeppelin, the Hollywood Sportatorium was host to Van Halen, Bruce Springsteen, Fleetwood Mac, Billy Joel, U2, Rush, Yes and Aerosmith just to name a few great bands and artists. After living in Florida for a very short time, I did get to experience a concert at the Hollywood Sportatorium in 1988. I saw Aerosmith on April 17th, 1988 on their "Permanent Vacation" tour with some friends. It was a fantastic concert! Unfortunately the newly built Miami Arena at the time took away all the business from the Hollywood Sportatorium and it was forced to close in October 1988. It was later torn down in 1993.

The Hollywood Sportatoriium was not only known for great rock concerts in the 1970's and 1980's, but also for Star Trek conventions. The acoustics were notorious for being poor and the building was basically cement and metal; nothing sexy about it at all. Billy Joel at one of his concerts, dealt with echoing sounds by yelling, “This place sucks!”. It is the memories and the experiences that were created along with the great bands who played there is why we want to remember the Hollywood Sportatorium. - Kenny Leibow

Sources: http://www.classics-rock-concerts.com

Below are audience recordings from the Hollywood Sportatorium, Hollywood, Florida of "Yes" and "Rush" concerts. By watching these videos, you can get a sense of the experience from inside the Hollywood Sportatorium. Listen to the crowd go wild when Rush starts to play "Tom Sawyer".

Audience recording of "Yes" from the Hollywood Sportatorium, Hollywood, Florida, Sunday, January 24, 1988.

Yes - Owner Of A Lonely Heart



Yes - And You and I


Yes - Love Will Find A Way




"Rush" playing at the The Sportatorium in Hollywood, Florida, USA, on February 13, 1988, as part of the Hold Your Fire tour.

Rush - YYZ / The Rhythm Method / Red Lenses 2-13-1988



Rush - Closer To The Heart 2-13-1988


Rush - Limelight 2-13-1988



Rush - Tom Sawyer 2-13-1988

Deniz and Kenny Collection 2

I just added 15 more original songs to this blog. When you listen to the music player on the left, the new songs are playing first. We are now in the next chapter when Deniz moved on to music maturity in the 1990's.

Deniz recorded a few songs with Steve Gibb in 1992. Steve is the son of the infamous Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees. Don't be fooled, all these songs are of the same genre "Hard Rock". Two of those songs, "Hole In My Sole" and "Shadows Of Your Dreams" you can listen to on this blog. Steve Gibb plays guitar and Deniz is the lead singer on all these songs. Deniz also wrote all the lyrics.

In 1994 Deniz joined a band called "Ankara". They were together from 1994-1996. You can listen to 6 original Ankara songs. The last band that Deniz formed was "Sin". They played together in South Florida from 1998-2000. There are 7 original songs from "Sin" on this blog.

Deniz is the lead singer and wrote the lyrics to all 15 songs. Like I did with the postings from the early days of the 1980's; there are stories to tell behind each one of these songs. We will be posting some of these original stories behind the music; and the cool lyrics of some of these songs. ***** The picture above in the middle is the CIA Talent show in South Beach where Sean, Deniz and Alex took first place.

The quality of these 15 songs is much better than the original songs I posted from the 1980's. Most of these songs were recorded in the studio, however they were converted from tape to digital. Enjoy the music! - Kenny Leibow

Tracks from Deniz and Kenny Collection 2

1. Into The Sky - Sin

2. Doin Fine - Sin

3. Trapped In The Mirror - Sin

4. Whispering Tree - Sin

5. Feel - Sin

6. What If - Sin

7. Summer Rain - Sin

8. Freedom - Ankara

9. Shine On - Ankara

10. Sleeper - Ankara

11. Best Friend - Ankara

12. Sing - Ankara

13. IEI - Ankara

14. Hole In My Sole - Steve Gibb, Amanda Green, & Deniz Kose

15. Shadows Of Your Dreams - Steve Gibb, Emerson Forth & Deniz Kose

VH1's Greatest Hard Rock Songs - Twisted Sister Makes the List

There is a lot of buzz regarding VH1's 100 Greatest Hard Rock Songs. This was a five-part television version, which was hosted by Brent Michaels earlier this year. You can see some clips on VH1.com. Skid Row, Scorpions, Ratt and Poison all made the list along with Twisted Sister's "I Wanna Rock" at #17. I remember this music video was hilarious especially the outrageous teacher. See the original rock video below. Like all lists there are those who will disagree. Please leave your comments on what you think should be the number one Hard Rock song. - Kenny Leibow

VH1's 100 Greatest Hard Rock Songs
01. GUNS N' ROSES - "Welcome To The Jungle"
02. AC/DC - "Back In Black"
03. LED ZEPPELIN - "Whole Lotta Love"
04. BLACK SABBATH - "Paranoid"
05. METALLICA - "Enter Sandman"
06. THE WHO - "Won't Get Fooled Again"
07. NIRVANA - "Smells Like Teen Spirit"
08. AEROSMITH - "Walk This Way"
09. VAN HALEN - "Running With The Devil"
10. MOTÖRHEAD - "Ace Of Spades"
11. DEEP PURPLE - "Smoke On The Water"
12. JUDAS PRIEST - "Breaking The Law"
13. DEF LEPPARD - "Photograph"
14. IRON MAIDEN - "Run To The Hills"
15. MÖTLEY CRÜE - "Dr. Feelgood"
16. KISS - "Rock And Roll All Nite"
17. TWISTED SISTER - "I Wanna Rock"
18. SCORPIONS - "Rock You Like A Hurricane"
19. RUSH - "Tom Sawyer"
20. BON JOVI - "You Give Love A Bad Name"
21. LED ZEPPELIN - "Kashmir"
22. THE JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE - "Hey Joe"
23. OZZY OSBOURNE - "Crazy Train"
24. IRON BUTTERFLY - "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida
25. THE RAMONES - "Blitzkrieg Bop"
26. LYNYRD SKYNYRD - "Freebird"
27. WHITESNAKE - "Still Of The Night"
28. FOO FIGHTERS - "Everlong"
29. JOAN JETT - "Bad Reputation"
30. PEARL JAM - "Evenflow"
31. AC/DC - "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap"
32. TED NUGENT - "Cat Scratch Fever"
33. GREEN DAY - "Basket Case"
34. HEART - "Barracuda"
35. ALICE COOPER - "School's Out"
36. VAN HALEN - "Hot For Teacher"
37. THE WHO - "My Generation"
38. QUEEN - "Stone Cold Crazy"
39. BOSTON - "More Than A Feeling"
40. POISON - "Talk Dirty To Me"
41. QUIET RIOT - "*** On Feel The Noise"
42. THE CLASH - "Should I Stay Or Should I Go"
43. DIO - "Holy Diver"
44. CREAM - "Sunshine Of Your Love"
45. FOGHAT - "Slow Ride"
46. ANTHRAX - "Madhouse"
47. KID ROCK - "Bawitdaba"
48. KORN - "Freak On A Leash"
49. IGGY POP AND THE STOOGES - "Search And Destroy"
50. RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS - "Give It Away"
51. MEGADETH - "Peace Sells"
52. THE RUNAWAYS - "Cherry Bomb"
53. STEPPENWOLF - "Born To Be Wild"
54. FAITH NO MORE - "Epic"
55. BLUE ÖYSTER CULT - "Don't Fear The Reaper"
56. WARRANT - "Cherry Pie"
57. THE KINKS - "You Really Got Me"
58. STONE TEMPLE PILOTS - "Interstate Love Song"
59. BILLY SQUIER - "The Stroke"
60. SKID ROW - "18 And Life"
61. RATT - "Round And Round"
62. DOKKEN - "Breaking The Chains"
63. SURVIVOR - "Eye Of The Tiger"
64. ROLLINS BAND - "Liar"
65. MC5 - "Kick Out The Jams"
66. EUROPE - "The Final Countdown"
67. ZZ TOP - "Tush"
68. WHITE ZOMBIE - "More Human Than Human"
69. LIVING COLOUR - "Cult Of Personality"
70. FOREIGNER - "Hot Blooded"
71. JANE'S ADDICTION - "Mountain Song"
72. PAT BENETAR - "Heartbreaker"
73. THIN LIZZY - "Jailbreak"
74. THE CULT - "Love Removal Machine"
75. WHITE STRIPES - "Seven Nation Army"
76. LITA FORD - "Kiss Me Deadly"
77. SOUNDGARDEN - "Black Hole Sun"
78. BAD COMPANY - "Feel Like Making Love"
79. BILLY IDOL - "Rebel Yell"
80. JOURNEY - "Any Way You Want It"
81. BLACK SABBATH - "Heaven And Hell"
82. RAINBOW - "Since You've Been Gone"
83. EVANESCENCE - "Bring Me To Life"
84. W.A.S.P. - "I Wanna Be Somebody"
85. VELVET REVOLVER - "Slither"
86. MARILYN MANSON - "The Beautiful People"
87. WINGER - "Seventeen"
88. ALICE IN CHAINS - "Would?"
89. ANDREW W.K. - "Party Hard"
90. JETHRO TULL - "Aqualung"
91. SMASHING PUMPKINS - "Bullet With Butterfly Wings"
92. NIGHT RANGER - "Don't Tell Me You Love Me"
93. AUTOGRAPH - "Turn Up The Radio"
94. THE DARKNESS - "I Believe In A Thing Called Love"
95. CREED - "Higher"
96. KANSAS - "Carry On Wayward Son"
97. EDGAR WINTER'S GROUP - "Frankenstein"
98. BUCKCHERRY - "Lit Up"
99. GRAND FUNK RAILROAD - "We're An American Band"
100. SAMMY HAGAR - "I Can't Drive 55

Source: http://video.yahoo.com

Twisted Sister - I Wanna Rock