Rock Of Ages

Benjy says...

Hi rock fans,

An Eagles special without Best of my love, Peaceful easy feeling and 'that' song? you bet! - last night's special featured the lesser known but infinitely more musically challenging side of the band that is sadly not heard on modern radio (unless of course you listen to Radio 2000). There was definitely a edge to The Eagles... if you listen to the lyrics of songs like King of Hollywood, One of these nights, The Disco Strangler and even Hotel California they chronicle the dark, seedy underbelly of 70's Los Angeles and the 'me generation' in particular like no other contemporary band of the time. Congratulations to our five winners of the Complete Greatest Hits 2 cd set, courtesy of Warner Music/Gallo Africa - the question was which was: 'The Eagles were the backing band for which famous female country rock singer in 1970? The answer was the deliciously beautiful Linda Ronstadt..... more tricky rock questions and prizes for the lucky ones this coming Thursday........

Over the last few months I have been asked some questions about how Rock of Ages actually works so let me take this opportunity to answer them:

Question: You broadcast from Cape Town but your engineer Jill is in Joburg how does this work?
Answer: Jill sets up a stereo line for the music between the two studios about 30 minutes prior to the live broadcast,she also sets up a separate'comms' (communication) line so that we can talk to each other, off and on air.Once the red light clicks on at 8pm the show is sent down the line to the Joburg studio and then relayed to all the Radio 2000 transmitters around the country.

Question: Do you play the music from a computerised play list?
Answer: No, there is no play list, or computer for that matter. All the music that you hear on Rock of Ages is played 'live' from cd. I have about 100-120 cds with me on any given night and the selection is made from there.

Question: How do you decide what to play? Answer: I have posted an in depth answer to this on the website (www.rock.co.za/rockofages/playlist.html) but in brief I spend 2 to 3 evenings a week compiling the coming week's show, checking against a database to see that I am not repeating a song too often. I package 4, 5, 6 and sometimes more songs in a row depending on genre, year, artist or weird topic ie. flutes in rock, strange voices etc ... I have a rough idea on what I am going to play that night but the beauty of the show is that once the red light goes on everything can, and does change... the unpredictability of the show is what keeps me stimulated!

Question: Where do you get your music from and how many cds do you have? Answer: For the first part I am continuously buying music, that's my passion in life - I'm a self confessed music junkie!... I buy a lot on the Net - from Amazon.com, Freak Emporium and other classic rock sites as well as small indie stores. The music companies send me a fair amount of new stuff and the occasional 'classic' reissue plus I scour a handful of specialist stores and street sales. As for the second part of the question, all I can say is that I have been collecting music since I can remember; vinyl, cassettes, cds, etc... I have never counted.

Coming up on this week's show....... the special is dedicated to a band that in my opinion had all the right ingredients to make it but through line-up changes and a healthy dose of bad luck quite never made it and sadly have been relegated to the footnotes of classic 70's rock.

The Rock of Ages Special - Juicy Lucy

Who was the mysterious Juicy Lucy? Glenn 'Fernando' Campbell was always meaning to tell us. The cheerful dude in the big hat who played the steel guitar loved to keep everyone guessing and he never revealed his secret. At least - not to me. But Lucy was doubtless one of those ladies of the road, who lubricated the wheels of rock, if you'll pardon the phrase. Musically speaking Juicy Lucy, the band that bore her name, was one of the most respected outfits to come howlin' and wailin' out of the Sixties' blues boom. They had style and class. They also had some of the finest musicians of the day, ready to rock and eager to tour. Their debut album Juicy Lucy (Vertigo), released in 1969 became famous for its notorious gatefold album sleeve, depicting a plump, naked lady covered in grapes, bananas and a half consumed melon. Not a pretty sight, but once seen, never forgotten. Despite their dramatic launch and excellent credentials, the band never quite made it into the international super league. They had a Top Twenty hit in 1970 with their version of Bo Diddley's 'Who Do You Love' and a subsequent hit with 'Pretty Woman'. Glenn was filmed in action with the band for the rock movie 'Supersession' and Juicy Lucy went on to record several more albums for Vertigo, Polydor and Island, including 'Lie Back And Enjoy It', 'Pieces' and 'Get A Whiff Of This', before they finally broke up in 1972. Juicy Lucy underwent considerable line up changes during this turbulent period. The band featured on 'Pieces' provides revealing aspects of a fascinating saga which began when Glenn Campbell first arrived in Britain from the States, and ended with the final version of Juicy Lucy, fronted by guitar legend Micky Moody.

The roots of Juicy Lucy lay way back in The Misunderstood, a band championed by the lugubrious, mild mannered Radio One DJ John Peel. The reasons for this enthusiasm lay in the fact that Glenn Campbell (Not the 'Wichita Lineman' dude) was not just a fine musician who played a pedal steel guitar with great gusto. He was an American in London and thus seemed closer to the source. He was also very funny and entertaining, and liked a glass of English beer. His laid back sense of humour provided a welcome contrast to the attitude of many British blues practitioners, who seemed to imagine that you had to undergo some sort of private hell and spread a message of unrelenting gloom to be considered a true blues man! The original Misunderstood was formed in 1966 and reformed for its trip to England. They made two singles for Fontana including 'Children Of The Sun,' and featured good looking young singer Steve Hoard. However the Misunderstood were eventually superseded by a more commercial Juicy Lucy. The first Lucy lineup included Ray Owen (vocals), Glenn Campbell (steel guitar, mandolin and vocals), Neil Hubbard (guitar), Chris Mercer (saxophone, and piano), Keith Ellis (bass and vocals) and Pete Dobson on drums. The band was managed by Nigel Thomas who also looked after the affairs of Joe Cocker. Micky Moody (born August 30, 1950), who is featured on the present album, remembers seeing the first version of the band on the road. 'The band was virtually formed around Glenn and everyone remembers their first album cover with the lady covered in fruit! I think her name was Zelda Plum. It was a great album and I remember seeing the band in action at their early gigs.

Future Whitesnake guitarist Mick Moody and singer Paul Williams then joined Juicy Lucy as Ray Owen had been sacked a few months after the release of the debut album. The new lineup went straight into recording the album 'Lie Back And Enjoy It.' and were gigging all the time, particularly in Germany where the band was very respected." However it proved increasingly difficult to break out of the club circuit, and reach a higher level of acceptance. A further album, 'Get A Whiff Of This' was recorded before the group finally disintegrated in 1971.' Glenn Campbell went back to America, apparently disillusioned, but during their time together the, Campbell/Moody guitar partnership had worked well. 'Despite the defection of the mainman, Paul Williams wasn't ready to give up. Mick Moody remembers -'Paul said he wanted to keep the band together. He wanted me to be the lead guitarist and also play bottle neck slide and the band kind of reformed. We had the famous rhythm section of Ron Berg and Andy Pyle from Blodwyn Pig. The line-up varied from time to time and Bernie Marsden actually came down for a blow. We were looking for another player because we wanted twin guitars. I'd been promoted to lead and we needed a rhythm player to get that American funky sound, without being too heavy. Bernie came down, but he was wrong for the job, as he was more in the Clapton vein.' The third and final version of Juicy Lucy remained functional between July 1971 and June 1972. Rhythm player Dave Tedstone worked with them for a while but the line up on the final album 'Pieces' mainly featured Paul Williams (vocals), Micky Moody (guitar), Jean Roussel (keyboards), Ron Berg (drums) and Andy Pyle (bass). The band virtually split up not long afterward when Paul left to join Jon Hiseman's Tempest, and the rhythm section defected to Savoy Brown... that was a sad end to a band which had started out with such promise, and high hopes.

Singer Ray Owen formed his own band Moon who released a single album in early 1972 - he now fronts a new version of Juicy Lucy, they have just released a new album "Do that and you'll lose it" and continue to tour Europe.... check out their website at www.juicylucyinfo.co.uk. Mick Moody went on to play with Snafu, Roger Chapman, Frankie Miller and Graham Bonnett before joining David Coverdale in the classic lineup of Whitesnake. One the finest British blues rock guitarists, he continues to play and record, he has a new album out called "Don't blame me" (www.mickymoody.com). Paul Williams went on to front Savoy Brown for a couple of albums in the mid 70's and recently reunited with Mick Moody to sing in a new band called Blue Thunder. No doubt, when the last punters have left and it's time for a drink at the bar, reminisce and they swap tales of the days when Juicy Lucy was on the loose!

Band members

Ray Owen - Vocals
Glenn Campbell - Pedal Steel Guitar, Vocals
Keith Ellis - Bass
Neil Hubbard - Guitar
Pete Dobson - Drums
Paul Williams - Vocals, Keyboards, Percussion
Chris Mercer - Sax, Keyboards
Mick Moody - Guitar
Jim Leverton - Bass
Rod Combes - Drums
Ron Berg - Drums
Andy Pyle - Bass
Jean Roussel - Keyboards
Loughty Amao - Percussion

Discography

Juicy Lucy (1969)
Lie Back And Enjoy It (1970)
Get A Whiff Of This (1971)
Pieces (1972)
Here She Comes Again (1995)
Blue Thunder (1997)

Information and pics courtesy of www.alexgitlin.com

Rock of Ages's recommendations

As much as I love loud electric guitars, pounding drums and swirling keyboards I am also a huge fan of quiet acoustic music particularly by those players who are steeped in country blues and folk - Kelly Joe Phelps, Ben Harper, Chris Whitley and Ry Cooder spring to mind immediately. Add to the list Australian Jeff Lang...I was recently sent a copy of "Prepare me well - An introduction to Jeff Lang" (Telarc Records) **** which is is a collection of recordings hand-picked by Jeff from his Australia-only released albums to make his first official release in the US and Europe. He plays with an intensity and passion rarely matched in music today, songs like "London", "The road is not your only friend" and "Mr God" glitter with achingly beautiful acoustic guitars, shimmering slide and lap steels and even a singing saw (!). This is real 'singer-player' music not that pseudo angsty hippie crap that Uncut magazine punts to the unsuspecting public.....

John Mayer's previous offering "The John Mayer Trio Live!" showcased his vastly underrated skills as a guitar player on a host of Fender-bending tunes including Jimi's "Wait until tomorrow". His new album "Continuum" *** (SonyBMG) finds Mayer back in the laid back soulful rock camp where he originally made his mark; the songs are very melodic, he sings like an angel and occasionally he lets rip with a scorching solo particularly on songs like "Gravity" and "Slow dancing in a burning room"......

Ratings:
***** Volcanic....not to be missed.
**** Seismic....highly recommended...buy it!
*** Aftershock....solid effort.
** Xmas cracker...Pooof!
* Do I need to explain this?

Rock of Ages presents "Footstompin' Music"

"Footstompin' Music" is almost ready for release through Universal Music, I guess it should be in the stores at the end of February or early March at the latest. Here is a pic of the front cover for you to drool over as well as the final tracklisting:

Grand Funk Railroad - Footstompin' Music
Deep Purple - Burn
Uriah Heep - Look at yourself
Black Sabbath - Sweat Leaf
Thin Lizzy - Chinatown
Robin Trower - Too rolling stoned
Mountain - Never in my life
Wishbone Ash - Blowin' free
Foghat - I just wanna make love to you
Budgie - Baby, please don't go
Santana - Toussaint l'Overture
Alice Cooper - Muscle of love
Nazareth - Go down fighting
Blue Oyster Cult - The Red & the Black
Lynyrd Skynyrd - Gimme back my bullets
Free - The Hunter
Taste - What's goin' on

Keep the rock real...

Benjy

Contact Rock of Ages

Email:
Website: www.rock.co.za/rockofages
Snail mail:
PO Box 53585, Kenilworth, 7745
Studio phones: 021-4342523 / 4342525

Disclaimer:
The views, opinions, rants, raves and ramblings expressed on this website are the author's own and in no way reflect the views of Radio 2000 or the SABC.

Latest Playlist

All the playlists are available in the
Playlist Archives.

Rock Of Ages News

Genesis are sell outs
All 100,000 tickets for Genesis's reunion shows at Twickenham and Old Trafford sold out in less than 90 minutes!!

Halen freezes over?
Edward van Halen has challenged David Lee Roth to join up with a Van Halen reunion. He told Roth via an interview in Guitar World magazine: "Dude, get your ass up here and sing bitch..come on!" In a slightly calmer mood he went on to say "As it stands right now the ball is in Dave's court, we're ready to go"...and this is from the same man who said never again?

CD Sales still declining
Global revenue from music downloaded on to computers and cell phones doubled to about $2 billion last year. But the digital business counted for only 10% of total music sales last year and the surge in demand for downloaded music had not offset a decline in sales of physical music media such as cds, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) said....Why are music sales declining? Well ROA thinks that it's partially caused by a virtual deluge of crap new music over the last 10 years...Where are the frontier blazers? The new U2, Zeppelins, James Browns, Mozarts, Hendrixs, Arethas of the world....what you say?...Paris Hilton, James Blunt, Scissor Sisters or the many modern rock bands with matching black nail polish and whiney songs - they are the new legends? F**k me, pass the razor blade Charlie!

Somebody kill Lordi!
Eurovision winners and musical ambassadors (read 'embarrassments') of Finland, Lordi have opened a restaurant called...wait for it...Restaurant. Should you ever be in Rovaniemi, Finland with time to kill well then......

Wishing For May
Nightwish have announced that they'll make an announcement about their new vocalist in May. The band have officially confirmed that auditions have now ended to find the person to replace Tarja Turunen.

Shaw Blades Show Their Influence
Shaw Blades, featuring Styx's Tommy Shaw and Jack Blades from Night Ranger, release the album 'Influence' through Frontiers on February 16. This is a covers record, including songs from The Mamas And The Papas, Buffalo Springfield, Steely Dan and Simon & Garfunkel.

Short Cuts ... Ex-Jane's Addiction frontman Perry Farrell is to release a new album in May. It's to be called 'Ultrapayloaded Satellite Party', and also features former Extreme guitarist Nuno Bettencourt ... There are unconfirmed reports that Rush are to call their new album 'Snakes And Arrows'. the band are currently working on this with producer Nick Raskulinecz ... Porcupine Tree's forthcoming album will feature guest appearances by the likes of King Crimson's Robert Fripp and Rush's Alex Lifeson ... Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickenson is reportedly planning to produce a film on the life of Aleister Crowley. Like Jimmy Page, the singer is fascinated by Crowley who was known as 'the wickedest man in the world' ... funny that 'cos ROA reckons that George Bush has that monicker all sewn up.

More Classic Rock?
I can highly recommend the About Classic Rock website run by Dave White. Not only does Dave host one of the most knowledgeable classic rock blogs on the Net but the site itself is very entertaining and informative. There are always great indepth stories on the artists and the rock quizzes are addictive. If you are like me, a classic rock fan, then the weekly About Classic Rock newletter is a must. Sign up at classicrock.about.com

More rock on R2K......
Suffering from Rock withdrawal symptoms on a Tuesday night? Well then tune the dial el pronto to Barney Simon's show between 8 and midnight every Tuesday on Radio 2000 (or R2K as Barney calls it) for the best in South African rock plus gig guide,albums reviews, demos, new releases, news from around the country and much more...... Unmissable!.... Also don't forget to catch Michelle Constant between 1pm and 3pm Monday-Friday for news, music, interviews and loads of cool stuff.... and of course.... Mo G on the morning drive, weekdays 8-10am... Exclusively on Radio 2000.

Live Gigs

Boulevard Blues Band
21st Bertie's Mooring, Gordon's Bay
26th Lord Nelson's, Simonstown
27th Kunskafee, Durbanville
28th Guzzlers, Tableview

Mike Hill
2nd Feb Independent Armchair Theatre,Obs... ALBUM LAUNCH

The Hellphones
27th Back2Basix, Westdene

Jim Neversink
31st Tanz Café, Bryanston
2nd February Steak & Ale (with Josie Field)

You say it's your birthday...

January 18
Larry Smith - Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band - 1944

January 19
Dewey Bunnell - America - 1951
Janis Joplin - 1943
Robert Palmer - 1949
Rod Evans - Deep Purple - 1945

January 20
Paul Stanley - KISS - 1952
Eric Stewart - 10CC - 1945
George Grantham - Poco - 1947
Mel Pritchard - Barclay James Harvest - 1948
Paul Stanley - KISS - 1952
Ian Hill - Judas Priest - 1958

January 21
Wolfman Jack - 1939
Richie Havens - 1941
Chris Britton - Troggs - 1945

January 22
Steve Perry - Journey - 1949

January 23
Bill Cunningham - Box Tops - 1950
Pat Simmons - Doobie Brothers - 1948
Robin Zander - Cheap Trick - 1953
Danny Federici - E Street Band - 1950

January 24
Warren Zevon - 1947

January 25
Michael Cotten - Tubes - 1950
Gary Tibbs - Roxy Music - 1958

January 26
David Briggs - Little River Band - 1951
Eddie Van Halen - 1955
Ashley Hutchings - Fairport Convention - 1945
Derek Holt - Climax Blues Band - 1949

January 27
Seth Justman - J. Geils Band - 1951
Nick Mason - Pink Floyd - 1944

January 28
Brian Keenan - Chambers Brothers - 1943
David Byron - Uriah Heep - 1947

January 29
Louis Perez - Los Lobos - 1953

January 30
Marty Balin - Jefferson Airplane - 1942
Steve Marriott - Small Faces, Humble Pie - 1945

January 31
Phil Collins - Genesis - 1951
Terry Kath - Chicago - 1946
Phil Manzanera - Roxy Music - 1951
Johnny Rotten - Sex Pistols - 1956

Courtesy of
About ClassicRock

Birthday Archives

January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December

Newsletters

Weekly Newsletter

To receive your weekly dose of Rock News, Playlists, Recommendations, Competitions and much, much more, please join our
Mailing List.

News Archives

Previous newsletters are available in the News Archives.

Playlist Archives

All the playlists are available in the Playlist Archives.

Stay tuned every Thursday 8-12pm for the best in classic rock on RADIO 2000.

Your Host

Benjy Mudie

Then	Now

Benjy Mudie is a self confessed 'rockaholic' with little chance of recovery... a music obsessive whose entire life has been spent in search of the lost chord... from discovering Jimi's "Are you experienced" at 13, he has constantly devoured music through lp's, singles, tapes, cds, dvds, books, magazines, film, concerts, radio, tv and the internet. His entire working life has also been music related: from running a record store and later joining WEA Records in the mid 70's through to his 21 year A&R/Marketing stint at Tusk Music where he signed some of the biggest names in South African rock and pop. The last 8 years have been spent nurturing new talent at his indie label Fresh Music and reissuing classic albums as part of it's ongoing Retro series.... To say that 'music is his first love' (to paraphrase John Miles's classic song) is somewhat understated.

----------------------------------------------------------------------