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Benjy says...
Hi Rock of Ages subscribers
So the BBC ran a poll to vote for the top rock albums of all time and Bruce Springsteen's "Born In The USA" clocked in at Number One (see Rock News below) .... sorry, am I missing something here?? ... "Born In The USA"?? Where did they run the poll? New York? The Hard Rock Cafe in Leicester Square? It's insane, no disrespect to the self styled 'Boss' but whilst it is indeed a landmark album in rock music it is in my opinion definitely not the greatest rock album of all time and wouldn't feature in my Top 10 .... and have you seen the other contenders? The Stone Roses? Dire Straits? U2? ... No Jimi ("Are you experienced"), Pink Floyd ("Dark side of the moon"), The Doors ("LA Woman")??? - and what's with The Beatles "White Album" on the list? It has some great tunes but is perhaps the most disjointed album that they ever made, Sgt Peppers is by far the more ground breaking and influential record. It's my belief that favourite rock albums/artists, and indeed polls themselves are subjective by nature and even music itself is a matter of personal taste. After all there are many people who love the music of Patricia Lewis, Tiny Tim, The Village People, Barry Manilow, etc (bless 'em / pity 'em). However that venerable and most august of institutions, The BBC, should have known better to publish the results of this poll. I mean come on, didn't someone there who actually knows about modern music say 'hold on, this isn't right', where's the big guns? ...... so what are your Top 10 Rock Albums of all time? Drop me a line at rockofages@icon.co.za and let me know, I'll try and put them up on the website next month ...... Speaking of which, June is the beginning of our 4th year on Radio 2000 and we'll be celebrating with lots of competitions and prizes, interviews and tons of great music and features so stay tuned to Rock of Ages.
There are some exciting things happening on next week's show; firstly I will be interviewing the great PAUL RODGERS (Free/ Bad Company/ The Firm/ Queen) live at 10pm, we'll be talking about his new album "Live In Glasgow", his recent work with Queen and of course his years fronting the seminal blues rock band, Free ...... Secondly the Special will be devoted to our first CD compilation, "Footstomping Music" - 17 classic rock tunes now available at all music stores at a very reasonable price. Here is the track listing, if you can't find it in the stores email me at rockofages@icon.co.za and I'll get it sorted. Please support the show by buying a copy of this album, I would like to bring out a series of classic rock compilations that reflect the suggestions and requests of you, the rock fan, but it all depends on how this one sells - Come on let's show them the power of rock buyers.
Rock of Ages presents "Footstomping Music"
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| Rock Of Ages Presents Footstompin' Music |
- 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
NB There will be no newsletter and playlist mailed out next week due to our webmaster, Brian Currin, being away on tour with Jack Hammer in Mozambique. However the playlist will be added to the archive section of the website.
Doors Competition
Two weeks to go before The Doors online competition to win one of five limited edition 3 cd Best of the Doors cd/dvd sets closes so go to www.rock.co.za/rockofages and click on the Doors banner at the top of the page. Be sure to switch your computer speakers on and listen to the Rock of Ages jukebox whilst you are navigating the site - there are 24 Doors tracks on rotation.
Rock Of Ages News
Shock Rock Poll
Bruce Springsteen's 'Born In The USA' has been voted the greatest rock album of all time in a new poll. The 1984 album beat off competition from bands including Nirvana and The Clash to top the survey, which was carried out in conjunction with a new BBC rock documentary. 'Born In The USA,' which has sold over fifteen million albums worldwide, was described as having "unabashed sentimentality" by music writer, David Hepworth. He added: "Splashy sound, enormous drums, brilliant packaging - rock albums don't come any poppier." Here are the Top 10 albums:
1- Bruce Springsteen – 'Born In The USA'
2- Dire Straits - 'Brothers In Arms'
3- Nirvana – 'Nevermind'
4- The Clash – 'London's Calling'
5- David Bowie – 'The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars'
6- The Beatles - 'White Album'
7- Black Sabbath - 'Paranoid'
8- U2 - 'Achtung Baby'
9- The Stone Roses – 'The Stone Roses'
10- Led Zeppelin – 'Led Zeppelin IV'
'80s Heroes
'Guitar Hero: Rocks The '80s' is the title of a new Playstation 2 game, to be available from early July. It includes tracks by Quiet Riot, Twisted Sister, Asia, Ratt and Dio.
Iggy The Movie
Elijah Wood is to play Iggy Pop in an upcoming film based on the man's early career. It will be called 'The Passenger'.
Greedy widow auction
Courtney Love says she has little use for most of the items and wants to give away them at the famous auction house Christies. Love said: "I'm going to have a Christie's auction. (My house) is like a mausoleum. My daughter doesn't need to inherit a giant hefty bag full of flannel shirts. "A sweater, a guitar and the lyrics to 'Teen Spirit' - that's what my daughter gets. And the rest of it we'll just sell. We'll make a lot of money and give a bunch of it to charity." She also confirmed that her new album would be called 'Nobody's Daughter.' No release date has yet been set.
More than a feeling
Boston band member Tom Scholtz has revealed that the show will reportedly take place on August 19 at an as-yet undisclosed venue in the US. Amongst those playing live are the remaining members of Boston, Sammy Hagar, Cheap Trick, and Beatlejuice - a Beatles cover act that Delp once performed with. In a posting under the title 'A Final Boston Concert', Scholtz wrote: "We planned to let several well known singers that had a history with Boston cover Brad's lead vocal parts, and invite all our former bandmembers to sit in during the performance. "The musicians and crew members of Boston feel like they are a part of a family, the loss affected us all, and we needed to get together again one more time." Brad Delp committed suicide in March. He was aged 55.
Fabs finally online?
The Fab Four's music has never been available to download, but, according to McCartney, the much-mooted new deal between Apple Corp, iTunes and EMI is almost ready to get The Beatles online. He tells Billboard, "I don't want to pre-empt anything, but we're well on the way to something happening there, which is very exciting." Not least because Sir Paul is set to make up to £200 million from the deal.
Manson Denies Sex Charge
Marilyn Manson has denied reports that the sex scenes in the video for new single 'Heart Shaped Glasses (When The Heart Guides The Hand)' were done for real. He claims that the intimate moments between him and real life girlfriend Evan Rachel Wood were all simulated.
SHORT CUTS… Ted Nugent releases a new album in early July. Called 'Love Grenade', it's produced by Nugent's Damn Yankees pal Jack Blades … ZZ Top have cancelled their European tour. The reason? Bassist Dusty Hill is to undergo treatment for a benign growth in his inner ear ... Velvet Revolver are to release an EP called 'Harmony And The Tyranny' in June. It's to feature two tracks from new album 'Libertad', plus a cover of Talking Heads' 'Psycho Killer' and a video on the making of the album.
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.
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| You say it's your birthday... |
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May 17
Bill Bruford - Yes - 1949
Steve Earle - 1955
May 18
Rick Wakeman - Yes, Strawbs - 1949
Bill Wallace - Guess Who - 1949
May 19
Pete Townshend - The Who - 1945
Dusty Hill - ZZ Top - 1949
May 20
Joe Cocker - 1944
May 21
Hilton Valentine - Animals - 1943
Leo Sayer - 1948
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Bernie Taupin - 1950
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Stevie Nicks - Fleetwood Mac - 1948
Garry Peterson - Guess Who - 1945
Levon Helm - The Band - 1940
May 28
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Gary Brooker - Procol Harum - 1945
May 30
John Bonham - Led Zeppelin - 1948
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Your Host
| Benjy Mudie |
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| 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.
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