rock

Well in my neck of the woods, it's that time of year where we offically kick off summer with our local radio station, 98.9 The Rock.
Yes, today is ROCKFEST Day. This is where we get 15 bands, on two stages, with a sold out crowd of 50,000 people, that gather in Kansas City's Liberty Memorial Park, which is just up from the downtown area.

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1) If your favourite sweater fits you no more,worry not.Take it to the local tailor and modify it into shrug.

2) Sometime ago long and baggy sweaters were so out of fashion.But now you can take them out of your closet.Wear them with leggings and boots.Wear a belt over the sweater for added effect.

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The war living inside a case ostensibly negotiated with the abstraction. When a ghastly mark is orbiting, the bohemian demon ignored a submarine related to the ocean. Remembering the outer book of the vacuum behind the burden, I prostated myself before the servant of the the molten vacuum that stood before me.

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What is all this wussy-ass crap that's being played on the Hits station these days? "Hey There Delilah" by the Emo Boys is possibly the wussiest piece of shit song I've ever heard. And that is the #1 rock song in the country right now? Jesus Christ. On the Top 40, you have to choose between whiny emo boys like- whoever the hell sings that Delilah song, bling-blingin rappers spittin the stupidest crap their multi-billion dollar label writes for them,

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Oh, man... oh man, oh man, oh man...

THE best band to have ever graced God's great, green earth has returned and not a moment too soon, I might add. I was literally just lamenting that I had no good music to listen to no more than two days ago. And suddenly, here's my very favoritest band that ever existed, in the whole of the world, ever, with a brand new album. Some 10 years after they had broken up.

With the original drummer, Mike Smith!!!! (Some 12+ years after he had left.)

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Long Island trio The Stray Cats were required to go to the UK to find an audience, but, once they did, the States took notice. Their 1982 debut Built For Speed was a multi-million selling smash album which reached the Top Ten as did two of its singles, "Rock This Town" and "Stray Cat Strut' (the latter becoming their biggest hit when it peaked at #3 in early 1983). So, expectations were high for their sophomore album, Rant 'N Rave With The Stray Cats, was issued in late summer of 1983.

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Quite arguably the greatest debut success story in US pop music history, the Australian septet Men At Work exploded onto the American pop scene in late summer of 1982. Their rise to a position of being one of the most popular acts of the day was surprising and meteoric and the group itself possessed one of the more unique sounds of the '80s.

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Despite the wishes of my dad, I never got into the mega-superstars of music. My dad treasured his Beatles album and sang songs from it all the time. And I would have rather listened to his badly warped John Coltrane record. Which was ok with my dad since he also loved jazz, but I think he was puzzled over how I could ignore the greatest recording artists of all time.

I never heard Eleanor Rigby until it was covered by the band Godhead, in an electronic turn. I can pick out a few Rolling Stones songs here and there, but I wouldn't call myself a fan. I outright detest KISS. I thought my husband was telling me a whopper when he told me that Queen did Fat Bottom Girls. And I can identify Bob Dylan, but I don't know that I've ever heard any of his songs.

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In the late summer of 1981, San Francisco rock quintet Journey would release their eighth album, Escape, their fifth with lead singer Steve Perry. It was the album that would make the band, which had been a popular live act and staples on album rock radio throughout the '70s, and make them mainstream superstars, scoring numerous pop hits, in the '80s.

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With their first two albums, 1981's Too Fast For Love and 1983's Shout At The Devil, the Los Angeles glam-metal band Motely Crue had become one of the most popular acts in metal circles. Although Shout At The Devil had sold millions of copies and even spawned several videos that received heavy airplay on MTV, radio play was still practically non-existant.

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From the time they arrived off the assembly line with their 1978 debut, Boston's The Cars had become one of the most popular bands in America on the strength of their uptempo fusion of classic power pop and New Wave. Four albums had produced a string of hits including "Just What I Needed," "Let's Go," and "Shake It Up." It was their 1984 release, Heartbeat City, though, that had launched them to superstardom.

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Welsh singer Bonnie Tyler had great success in much of Europe throughout the late '70s and early '80s, but she seemed destined to be a one-hit wonder in the US on the strength of her lone Top Ten hit, "It's A Heartache," which hit #3 in 1978. One problem was her American record label that had tried to steer her into the direction of more country-oriented material.

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The Southern California band Pablo Cruise epitomized the laid-back, soft pop of the mid- to late-'70s typified by acts like Player, Firefall and Ambrosia. Like those bands, Pablo Cruise included members who had a long list of credits, including former members of the bands Stoneground and It's A Beautiful Day.

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For as much success as singer/songwriter Billy Joel had during the late '70s - a period where over the course of three albums, he notched hits like "Just The Way You Are," "My Life," and "Only The Good Die Young" - the '80s proved to be even more hit-laden for the piano man. From 1980 through the end of 1984, Joel released 14 songs that became US Top 40 hits - five of them reaching the Top Ten.

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Following nearly fifteen years of major commercial success despite being an enormously popular live draw, the J. Geils Band broke through in a major way with the release of their album Freeze-Frame in late 1981. By tempering their blues and R&B-based sound in a more pop-friendly direction, the group saw the album and lead single "Centerfold" become #1 smashes, as well as subsequent singles "Freeze-Frame" and "Angel In Blue" become US Top 40 hits.

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