Welcome to My Weekly Mixtape, a podcast that
celebrates the lost art of the mixtape. I'm your
host, Brian Culber. Joining me for tonight's
collaboration is the underrated rock book and
the underrated rock book two author, Jim Santora.
Jim, thank you for joining me tonight. Well,
Brian, it's always a pleasure. I always seem
to be on your shows, so it's a wonderful thing.
Always looking forward to it. Always appreciate
you bringing me on and always enjoy talking music
with you. So glad to be here. Likewise. So let's
get down to it. Jim, what does the word mixtape
mean to you? Well, it's been a real long time
since I've made any kind of a mixtape or even
a CD version of a mixtape, but going back to
my high school days, you know, I was really big
on cassettes and my earliest parts of maybe a
mixtape is going back and listening to the radio
and waiting for it. those particular songs to
come on the radio and and you know hit record
and kind of have some sort of loose mixtape but
you know when you got to the point where you
had like the dual tape decks where you kind of
sit there or the if you still had vinyl it would
record everything and i was pretty big on putting
those kind of tapes together a lot of them always
were the rock especially like a lot of the 80s
rock hard rock metal Always had that kind of
stuff going on. Probably up until the 90s, until
I really started getting into CDs. But even then,
I still remember even when I was a mobile disc
jockey, I used to give away CDs and used to make
mixtapes based on that. A lot of different hits,
you know, whether it was pop hits, rock hits,
whatever it was. And I would just give those
away, though I'm sure that was definitely illegal
at the time. Luckily, nobody died me out at the
time. But I used to love making the mixtapes.
I always enjoyed that. well jim you get to go
down that road once again so for the folks listening
tonight jim and i will be curating a mixtape
of 80s hard rock tunes i for one am extremely
excited to go down this rabbit hole as this era
is truly one of my favorites right now i have
a bank of no less than 35 songs just waiting
to go and it's going to be damn near impossible
for me to not feel an extreme amount of guilt
and shame for the overwhelming number of incredible
songs that probably won't make the cut tonight
jim what were you looking for in the songs that
you've brought to the table in your bank of tunes
this evening well you know the thing i was looking
at and a lot of times you know back in the day
when i was cruising around in a 1977 beautiful
saber with a tape deck that was actually an eight
track deck but it was it was old school adapter
that would go in and had it stuck out it might
have been about five feet long but it had one
spot where you put the cassette in but it was
a lot of times just cruising around with my friends
or my brother or whatever and so the songs didn't
have to be always super popular but it had to
be good music to cruise around to you know and
just kind of find the different mixtapes you
know the kind of you know back then trying to
impress the girls or something that were hanging
around you know you didn't want to have anything
too cheesy for them. But when you're cruising
down the road and all of a sudden the right song
comes on that mixtape and all of a sudden the
foot goes to the pedal just a little bit more.
And my tastes were all over the place during
this time period. So the mixtapes that I would
have put together would have been definitely
all over the place. But definitely a lot of bands
people would know for that time period that I
was into and then my friends as well. As I mentioned
earlier, tonight Jim and I will be curating an
80s hard rock mixtape, and we're going to use
that old cassette deck approach, meaning our
mixtape will be broken up into two sides, side
A and side B. Jim, as the special guest tonight,
will begin side A with his first song choice,
and then I'll add a song that I feel best follows
his choice up. We'll then flip -flop choosing
songs until we've mapped out 10 songs for side
A. We'll then give our mixtape a proverbial flip
and we'll map out side B. Only this time, I'll
kick things off and Jim will choose second. Our
overall goal for tonight is to craft the best
80s hard rock mixtape possible with only 20 songs.
At the end of the show, you can take our conversation
to the next level by visiting the 80s hard rock
page at myweeklymixtape .com and giving our final
mixtape a listen via the embedded playlist. Finally,
if you like what you're hearing on the show,
please consider becoming a Patreon mixtaper at
patreon .com forward slash myweeklymixtape. Jim,
before I turn it over to you to reveal your track
one, some of the fellow mixtapers who follow
us at myweeklymixtape on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram,
and TikTok have chimed in with their ideal opening
tracks for tonight. Amy Borchin chimed in with
Joan Jett and the Blackheart's I Love Rock and
Roll. Eric Chael chimed in with Dio's Holy Diver.
Scott Van Sickle chimed in with Kiss's Creatures
of the Night. Banger Timo chimed in with Husker
Du's New Day Rising. Ben from the Too Vague podcast
chimed in with Van Halen's Hot for Teacher. Kuya
Ozzy chimed in with Def Leppard's Pour Some Sugar
on Me. Our friends at the Ridiculous Rock Record
Reviews chimed in with Whitesnake's Slide It
In. and several mixtapers chimed in with both
Van Halen and Motley Crue songs. So we've got
some great food for thought tonight. Jim, with
that, I've officially pressed the record button
on our mixtape, and the floor is yours. So why
don't you dive into the song you chose to kick
off Side A? All right. Well, first of all, with
those selections that those people have made.
The Husker Du one, though not technically hard
rock. I totally love that song, New Day Rising.
But aside from that, we got to kind of refocus
here. So we hit record. And the first song I'm
going to go with is actually going to be Metallica.
And the song is For Whom the Bell Tolls. And
just from the opening alone, you get that full
on in your face sound. When I'm looking at this
mixtape, I want to just throw it down right out
the gate. And that is a song, in my opinion,
that totally opens up the gates for what's going
to be an awesome mixtape. Absolutely love it.
I want to give a shout out to my friend Tim from
the 2010 Minutes podcast, who also chimed in
with For Whom the Bell Tolls. Great song as a
bass player. I want to rock that opening, man.
I know it's the drums and the guitar, but that
bass line. Like, oh, it's so much fun to play.
It gets the hair on your arm standing up. Now,
I normally consider Metallica to be more of the
thrash metal, but For Whom the Bell Tolls does
take on that hard rock vibe. have no problem
including them in this hard rock discussion i
love love love that pick yeah it's one of those
bands and again you know the one thing i remember
from early even the early metallica even though
being more to thrash metal at least when i was
listening to the radio those songs were getting
airplay from that ride the lightning album you
know fade the black you know that kind of stuff
so so even though they were kind of more thrash
metal they still had a little bit of a radio
ish but that was definitely a throwdown song
that can kick off any mixtape well i think i
have the perfect answer for track two then because
obviously anybody that's in our age range remembers
the infamous tour that featured faith no more
metallica and my track two pick Guns and Roses.
And I am going to go off 1987's Appetite for
Destruction. And I'm going to go with the perfect
number two song because it's track two on Appetite,
as well as Guns and Roses opening track for the
Not in This Lifetime Tour. I am going with It's
So Easy. This song is hard rock. It's punk. It's
metal. everything i love about music it's everything
i love about guns and roses it's sleazy it's
angry it's aggressive it's everything that rock
and roll is meant to be and i'll be perfectly
honest if it's so easy kicked off appetite for
destruction i would love it just the same as
much as welcome to the jungle is the obvious
open and the song that everybody probably would
think for 80s hard rock it's so easy it's a little
deeper But for any Guns N' Roses fan, there's
no denying it. Plus, again, that bass line, opening
it up. I'm a bass player. It resonates. So track
two, Guns N' Roses, it's so easy. Well, I tell
you, I do love that song. I will say that while
I think that album tends to get a little overplayed
these days with the hits, but that is one song
that has always stayed solid for all this time.
I perfectly agree. That's the perfect second
song. to get on this mixtape. All right. Well,
you're back up. So what are you putting in for
track three? Well, now we've made it really a
challenge. You know, the list that I have kind
of goes all over the place. So it's going to
be a tough one here to kind of follow up while
we got two total bangers to start this off. I
am going to go with Ronnie James Dio, Rainbow
in the Dark. Nice. Just the opening guitar line.
And then you got a little bit of that synth work
that was in the beginning. And then just Ronnie's
vocals. It's like that song absolutely rocks.
It's probably the first time I really was introduced
to Ronnie James Dio. And I mean, that song still
slams when I hear it today. So I'm sure I had
it on a mixtape somewhere in my youth. And I'm
glad it's on a mixtape today. So that's our third
track here on this mixtape. It's a great song.
Oh my God, this tape slays already. I'm loving
where we're going so far. This is, I mean, come
on. You got to raise the metal horns for that
one. I love Dio. Obviously, we mentioned that
Eric Chael chimed in with Dio. Holy Diver is
another great one. I can go with Black Sabbath's
Heaven or Hell, which is from 1980. That still
fits in. Dio, really, man, he nailed it in the
80s. I loved his stuff with Rainbow. But in the
80s, he really took it to the next level with
his solo outings, as well as the stuff he did
with Sabbath. can't fathom an 80s Hard Rock playlist
without it so I absolutely love the pick but
now it's getting hard because we've got Metallica
Guns N' Roses and Dio how are we gonna follow
that up yep what do you got for us oh I'm scrolling
up and down my list right here okay I think I
know what I'm gonna do with this one I'm gonna
go a little glam but still the heaviest of glam
And I'm going to go from 1987's Girls, Girls,
Girls. I'm going to go track four, Motley Crue,
Wild Side. Okay. Probably Mick Mars' greatest
riff ever. The song absolutely slams. It's heavy.
It's aggressive. It's everything I love about
Motley Crue. And I know Eric, Time to Get Ill,
chimed in with Shout at the Devil. I also want
to give a shout out to my friend Jason Whistle
at the It's Not That Bad podcast because he chimed
in with Wild Side as well. Man, this is the best
thing, all the best things about Motley Crue
in one song. Track four, Motley Crue, Wild Side.
Motley Crue, yeah, you can't go wrong with Wild
Side. I will agree on that. And speaking of Nick
Mars, I just want to say that you don't realize.
How much that band owes Mick Mars for just the
creative genius and as under a radar guitarist
as can be for some of the stuff that he's put
together. If you had any other guitarists in
that band, I don't think Motley Crue is the same.
Wild Side definitely rocks. Yeah. And so far,
I'm really enjoying this mixtape right now where
we're not even halfway in the side one. But,
man, you're making it tough here as we keep throwing
song after song here. So I am going to go. So
we're now track number five, right? Yeah. So
where do you go from? You just put together four
excellent songs. So let's see. I'm going to go
number five. And this is more for the guitars.
Then, you know, I'm trying to keep it more with
the guitars and where this thing's headed here
on side one. And I'm going to go back to a band
not as popular as the first four artists that
were here. But I'm going to go with the band
Loudness from Japan with Crazy Nights. Nice.
Akira Takasaki, who's the guitarist for that
band. In fact, going back to Motley Crue, the
first concert I ever went to was Motley Crue
in the Theater of Pain tour. And Loudness was
the opening act. So that was the first time I
actually got to experience them. and heard that
album and the song crazy nights just alone like
they just were a phenomenal guitar metal band
and that song absolutely just slays with just
a guitar work alone i think it fits right after
wild side wild side kind of has its thing and
then when it kind of fades out i could see this
song just kind of kicking the doors in again
and keeping this tape alive that it certainly
is and speaking about staying alive Loudness,
their first album came out in the early 80s.
I want to say it was 81. Yeah. And they're still
going strong. They put out an album back in 2021.
Yes. They're still out there putting out music
and they put out a ton. They haven't slowed down.
Yes. They are a band that is, you know, and it
was amazing when I first heard them. I didn't
know who they, you know, obviously I didn't know
who they were. But then to go back and listen
to their earlier stuff and they were kind of
a different band. You know, when it got to the
States, they kind of got more within what the
U .S. metal sound was like. But prior to that,
they were like in some songs, they were almost
kind of proggish in their delivery. And I remember
when I first came to the States, they were compared
to like the combination of like Van Halen and
Deep Purple kind of stuff, just in the tones
and stuff like that. but yeah awesome song and
uh glad to have it as number five well i'm gonna
move on to number six here and now following
that one up i feel like i have a little bit more
of a liberty to try something different and i'm
gonna go with a band that's a household name
but a song that maybe necessarily isn't and i'm
gonna go from 1989's pump i'm gonna go aerosmith
but i'm gonna go with voodoo medicine man one
of the non -singles from the album now aerosmith
fans will know that this song was also on the
1990s live release a little south of sanity an
incredible version on that as well so to me in
the aerosmith universe it might not be a deep
pick but when you look at it against the hits
of loving an elevator janie's got a gun what
it takes the other side this song falls off the
radar and it shouldn't so in underrated rock
book fashion jim i have to say this is easily
errol smith's most underrated song that should
have been a hit but i guess stephen tyler singing
about masturbating with a noose is probably a
reason why they didn't release it as a single
but musically it's one of those joe perry riffs
that's just so funky and heavy at the same time
it's completely underrated so my track six going
a little deeper here Aerosmith Voodoo Medicine
Man. That is a very interesting choice. An interesting
choice was, and I know that we're not putting
the same artist in here, but it's interesting
to note that in my 20 songs that I did have a
song from the same album. Really? Yes. And I
was going to select Fine at some point, but not
going to disagree with the song that you have
here. I mean, that's a solid album and that's
a good choice, but yeah. definitely something
that kind of you know i've kind of put a song
that's kind of a little bit under the radar now
we've kind of and this is what i like about the
mixtape because the variety of what you could
do you know we could sit there and slam out all
the popular bands but now we're kind of going
you know the deeper cuts you know the band's
not so you know some of the bands that aren't
so great or not i shouldn't say great great to
us maybe not great to others right um so that
gets us to number seven on this side so interesting
choice of where i go as far as a direction because
i think we've kind of gone we had some heavy
stuff and we're kind of sliding because i want
to say the voodoo medicine was a little more
funky right so i think this is about a time where
of course i'm going to do this because i probably
did this in later mixtapes in my lifetime i'm
going to throw a little king's x in this mixtape
and i'm going to go with the song summerland
Nice. I'm going to go with that little bit of
Tide to Board guitar there at the open song.
You know, the Doug Pinnock vocals. You can't
go wrong there. They kind of have that element.
You know, it's a hard rock song, but it kind
of has kind of that. Is it a little bit psychedelic?
Is a little bit progressive? You know, it's got
a nice little groove to it. And I think it transition
wise, it kind of gets us into a another part
of where this mixtape is going to go. Yeah, I
think that was always a solid song from that
band and one of their more popular tracks as
well. But I think it fits very easy as far as
how we're going along here in this mixtape. So
track number seven will be King's X and Summerland.
I have to ask, man, how is it possible in this
universe that King's X isn't a household name?
Yeah, I mean, you know, it really kind of boggles
the mind. A band like King's X, no matter what
they did, they always ended up not being successful.
They're a band that played at Woodstock. You
know, all the popular bands that were at Woodstock,
94, and, you know, they played. And a lot of
people said that was one of the best performances
of that Woodstock. And, you know, they thought
for sure that they were going to get a lot of
big because it actually got played on MTV for
that. and then nothing and it's just you know
they just have a whole chronicle of history of
just having every opportunity and just for whatever
reason and it's like somebody once told me kings
x you either get it or you don't and there's
for whatever reason a lot of people that didn't
get it or they're finding out about them now
and didn't realize what they were 30 something
years ago i couldn't agree more and i truly wish
more people got it because they're an incredible
band But now following that up, I actually think
I know what I'm going to go with. Because we
had Voodoo Medicine Man, which is, I don't want
to say it's a funky song, but the riff's got
a little bit of a funky vibe to it. King's X
has a little bit of a prog feel. I wouldn't say
funky, but there's something going on with the
bass there that I could say would lean towards
funk. They are the groove machine. Yeah, so I'm
going to stick with that groove. And I'm going
to go with something I think is kind of funky
and definitely hard rock. but not one of the
heavier songs on the album and i'm gonna go with
1989's the real thing and i'm gonna go with faith
no more but i'm not gonna go with epic here i'm
gonna go with falling to pieces because falling
to pieces has a little bit more of the musicality
that would fit in with a king's x and that voodoo
medicine man song that we were talking about
it's still funky but it's a little more melodic
and you get a little bit more of mike patton's
vocals in this song he sings a little bit more
in this one than the rapping in epic which right
might lean a little too heavy into rap rock which
i don't see in this hard rock playlist so far
so my track eight is faith no more falling to
pieces well i listen that's probably one of my
favorite faith no more songs that's a really
good song that album is tremendous by the way
I mean, I still remember when they had the album
before that with We Care A Lot. I remember really
being introduced to that band by that album.
But they follow that up with the real thing.
And it's great stuff. And that follow the pieces
song is great, which really kind of I'm looking
at my list right now. And it's really putting
me in quite a predicament right now as to how
I follow that. So I guess I'll go, you know,
none of these bands are really considered. though
there's stuff like maybe you could kind of see,
I shouldn't even say proggy as much as I would
say, you know, the musicianship of all these
bands are particularly very, very solid, especially
these last couple of tracks, you know, musically,
we can all sit there and say, man, there's some
great feelings to all these songs that are out
there. So I'm going to go back to 1982. The band
Rush. from the album singles and i'm going to
go with the analog kit which is the second song
after subdivisions from that album that is a
song where i just like i mean again we've been
talking a lot about the bass players well mostly
you've been talking about bass players but the
getty lee bass lines in that song are tremendous
it's also a song because that's a song that you
know that that's a a song where they really kind
of get a little more heavier in some keyboard
stuff, but Alex Lifeson still shines on it as
a, as a guitarist. And of course, Neil Peart's
amazing. And it's, and it's a quicker song. So
I think we've kind of gotten into some songs
where a little bit funkier, not really a faster,
you know, not really a fast song per se, where
the analog kid kind of comes back and even Summerland's
not really considered a fast song. You know,
they're kind of a little bit slower or deliberate,
but Analog Kid kind of picks up the pace as far
as this mixtape goes. So I think we kind of went
heavy, kind of slid down into this other reservoir
of really good songs, but kind of entered a funk,
groovy type portion. And now, you know, Analog
Kid kind of gets us into a little bit more of
a faster pace. So track number nine, Rush, Analog
Kid. All right. Man. Well, you scooped me on
Rush because I had Tom Sawyer from Moving Pictures
ready, just waiting for the right time. As long
as Rush made this playlist, we're good. I mean,
really. Requirements for me would have been back,
especially back in the day when I'm doing these,
there would have to be a Rush something on there.
And a King's X. So far, I've gotten them both
on side one. So that's good for me. All right.
Well, now I got to close the side out. And you
know what? We opened with such a monster song.
I want to close with a monster song for this
side because this is the end of the side. So
we want to make a statement. So I know you picked
the speed up a little bit, but I want to make
people headbang so slowly that it's like a slow
motion. I want fists pumping. And then I wanted
to build into that manic close. So I am going
to go back to 1981. And I'm going to go with
the title track from ACDC's For Those About to
Rock, We Salute You. The ultimate closing rock
anthem. It should close the entire tape, but
I don't get to pick track 10 on side B. That's
your choice. So I am closing side one in an epic
fashion with one of my favorite rock songs of
all time. For Those About to Rock, We Salute
You. that is a tremendous song. And I could see
what you might do here with this mixtape is that
now that that song is now the end of side one,
you know, remember they used to have the tapes.
I think Memorex used to have the tape with the
stickers, with the numbers. So I could see you
put it, I could see you switching this as a number
two and a number one side, just so you can get
ACDC on. See what you're doing here, Brian. It's
not going to work. Nice try. Nice try. But no,
it is a great song. I mean, first of all, what's
not to love about acdc right we could have put
any acdc song in here to close this out and i
think it would have it would have fit in but
for those about the rock is a tremendous song
that's probably another one that's probably high
on my list of acdc songs so definitely a perfect
song to close the side well with that mixtapers
we've concluded side a of our 80s hard rock mixtape
which consists of metallica for whom the bell
tolls guns and roses it's so easy Dio, Rainbow
in the Dark, Motley Crue's Wild Side, Loudness,
Crazy Nights, Aerosmith, Voodoo Medicine Man,
King's X, Summerland, Faith No More, Falling
to Pieces, Rush, The Analog Kid, and ACDC's For
Those About to Rock, we salute you. Visit MyWeeklyMixtape
.com to hear all of the songs we've discussed
in this mix through the playlist embedded on
the episode page. Now, before we flip our proverbial
mixtape over to Side B, Jim, why don't you tell
listeners a little bit more about The Underrated
Rock Book 2? All right. Well, in October of 2022,
I released my second book, The Underrated Rock
Book 2, 200 more overlooked albums. This book,
if you're familiar with book number one, basically
picks up where the original underrated rock book
left off. 200 artists, 200 albums, and it covers
the whole gamut of all things rock. So we don't
leave any stone unturned. So if you like hard
rock, it's there. If you like southern rock,
it's there. New wave, punk, even some more into
some metal or metalcore bands. alternative rock
it covers everything so if you're a fan of rock
music in general all different genres and styles
uh the underrated rock book two is uh for you
and also if you're not familiar with original
underrated rock book you can check out both books
um actually they're kind of interchangeable so
while i have two books uh underrated rock book
two I know Brian had made a joke earlier today,
but about, you know, whether the other one was
underrated rock book one, but you know, there's
a reason why the underrated rock book two is
T -O -O and number two, because they really could
be interchangeable. You can read underrated rock
book two first and then go back to the original
book and you're not really losing anything. We
don't really rank anything one to 200 and this
one's not 201 to 400. So you can go in and find
your favorite artists or discover new ones. And
it's a good conversation piece that you can share
with your friends or any other music lovers that
you have, you know, that you know and your family
and so on. For more information, you can check
out underratedrockbook .com. The book is available
on Amazon in paperback, also in Kindle. And then
there's also other sites like Barnes & Noble
where you can get it in the e -book variety.
And also, if you go to the website, there's other
places you can pick it up. Smashwords is one
of the locations as well. If you want to get
the ebook as opposed to the paperback. And if
you like what you, you know, or if you want to
comment about it, you can always send information
to me at contact at underratedrockbook .com.
Always love to hear what people think of the
book. And also if you have suggestions for a
underrated rock book three, which I'm not saying
is going to happen or not, but you never know.
So we'll just kind of leave it, leave it at that.
So having read both books, I could definitely
say for the. rock fan in your life whether it's
you or somebody in your family this is definitely
both books are worth picking up now we've flipped
over side two and i'm hitting record and i get
to run with track one tonight and i'm actually
gonna double dip for the first time on my weekly
mixtape and i know we're really early in the
show it just so happens that a song that i picked
on episode one which was the greatest opening
guitar riffs also fits perfectly in 80s hard
rock And I think there's no denying when I talk
about this song, the logic behind including it
and the logic of kicking off aside with it, because
it is the opening track on 1998's Vivid. I'm
going with Living Color, Cult of Personality.
Vernon Reed, using the word again, is the most
underrated guitarist of that decade. And maybe.
one of the most underrated guitarists of all
time. How he is not included in top guitarist
conversations just blows my mind. He is an absolute
living legend. The riff is such a monster. It
crushes you in 2023 as much as it did in 1988.
So my track one, Living Color, cult of personality.
Yeah, I mean, that is a, for a band, many may
consider Living Color a one -hit wonder. And
if so, I mean, give or take, but if anybody was
to know this band, that's the song they know.
And that song is such a iconic song and it's
just a blast. That whole Vernon Reed, Corey Glover,
like the vocals and stuff like it's just so impressive.
I remember that came out in college and I remember
the interesting thing about that song. was that
it got played on college radio charts for months
and months before it really kind of took off
on MTV and then, you know, kind of became a more
of a massive song. But it really, really took
a long time for it to get the push. But, you
know, once it got the push, it's become a song
that people know as soon as you hear that opening
guitar riff or even the opening with the talking
parts there at the beginning. Right. And then
then the guitar parts like people already identify
what song that is. But yeah, tremendous song
to start us on side two, which really puts me
in a predicament of what I'm going to go with
here, because I don't know. I don't know. You
know, definitely want to find something that
fits. So I think I'm going to go with a song
from 1987 from a band called The Cult. The album
was Electric, and I'm going to go with Love Removal
Machine. I'm looking at it from following a song
like Cult of Personality. I'm looking for something
that still follows that hard rock tradition,
but I don't want to get too glammy. And I obviously
don't want to get too metallic, though Living
Color kind of rides that line as far as the heaviness
goes. So the next best thing is to add a band
like the Cult. And Love Removal Machine, I think
it's kind of got that ACDC stomp, which is where
they were kind of edited during that time after
what they did with the Love album, which was
more obviously they were a new wave band. And
then all of a sudden they went full on rock,
which I think a great album. This is a great
song. Billy Duffy is another very under the radar
guitarist that definitely deserves more credit
than he gets sometimes for his guitar work. But
yeah, track number two. Side two, Love Removal
Machine from the Colts. I'm getting scooped again.
Although I had a different Colts song chosen.
I went off of 89 Sonic Temple and I had Fire
Woman ready to go. But Love Removal Machine is
absolutely perfect. I love that song. And I actually
know what I'm going to follow that up with. I'm
going to go all the way back to 1980. And I'm
going to follow this up with the opening track.
from women and children first and i'm going with
van halen and the cradle will rock i mean love
removal machine has this vibe personality has
this vibe side two we're going with the swagger
the hard rock swagger and and the cradle will
rock has it just in droves so yes and the cradle
will rock i do want to give a shout out to gomez
from playlist wars And obviously the Sleevy G
Show, he chimed in with Hot for Teacher. But
I'm going with End the Cradle Will Rock because
with these songs before it, it just seems to
fit perfectly. Yeah, I actually had Van Halen
on my list, but it was probably the wrong type
of mixtape for the song I was picking. I was
actually going to go with Summer Nights was my
selection. 5150. But I think it was really depending
on the theme of where this was going. I think
if we did this mixtape in July. we might have
a different all together theme. Oh, yeah. I was
always impressed by the 5150 album. That was
always my favorite track from that album and
probably one of my favorite Van Halen tracks.
I think it's just impressive. But The Cradle
of Rock is definitely turning in side two, starting
to really slam pretty hard with The Rock. This
is definitely something I could see cruising
down the road with. So with that. I got to find
a song that's kind of in that same vein as what
we're already doing here. And I'm going to go
with a band from Canada. We've already done Rush
for Side Ones. We're going to go with another
Canadian band here. I'm going to go with Triumph
from the album Never Surrender. And the song
is called When the Lights Go Down. This song
really goes into what it's like to be on the
stage, right? And the best part of this song
is when we get into the Rick Emmett guitar solo,
he's doing a lot of stuff with the wah -wah pedals
and stuff like that. And there's just stuff like
in the middle of this song, he goes in there
and it's like wah, wah, wah, wah. I'm like, yeah,
like, you know, this is one of those songs where,
you know, that happens. And then, you know, the
vocals kick back in. It's just one of those songs
you want to just turn up the volume on. I think
it fits perfectly behind Dan Halen in this mixtape.
So track number four, right? If I do my math
correctly. That is correct. Triumph, When the
Lights Go Down. Another underrated group. You're
picking between that and loudness. Obviously,
it's not just a clever name, sir. You know how
to live with the underrated and I love it. Triumph
is definitely one of those bands that I feel
didn't get their just due. Yeah, you know, it's
interesting to find out they have a documentary
that's out right now. It's called Rock and Roll
Machine. I just checked it out a couple of weeks
ago. You know, it's very interesting that they
were a fairly popular band, but they were so
much a popular under the radar band that you
could be like, you know, they played like the
M3 Festival. They did all these different things.
They had popular albums, but I don't think they
were ever considered like a top tier band. though
they did everything that all the top tier bands
did in the 80s you know they kind of came in
in the 70s but then the 80s they had like a couple
stellar records but i remember this song when
i first heard it i was like oh man this song
just kicks everybody's ass i mean it's just a
phenomenal tune so uh but i got on the next take
well coming out of that i actually have a tough
one so i'm gonna switch it up a little bit that
goes slightly heavier but i'm gonna keep a little
bit of that swagger going okay side two side
one was the might and i feel like side two is
still got some heft but it's got a little bit
more and i said it again swagger and i'm gonna
go all the way up to 1988. my favorite song from
the band even though i have several that are
like right there right underneath it but this
one just edges it out it was actually my introduction
to this band and i was able to go backwards and
forwards with them throughout their career from
this song it's 1988's reach for the sky and i'm
going with rat way cool junior absolutely love
that song it's bluesy it's got a sick groove
the guitar riff is undeniable and it's one of
the most memorable 80s hard rock tunes just from
the fact the video the horns everything just
worked and i know for rat fans it might be a
little too over produced when you add in the
horns and everything else but damn did it blow
my mind when i heard it and i look i would not
be a rat fan today if it wasn't for the song
so my track five is rats way cool junior I'm
hearing the shuffle, that shuffle in the song
with the little bit of guitar. But yeah, you
know, you can hum. That's the kind of song that
you can listen to it and you can hum along to
that song. And that's a really cool choice. I
did have a Rat song in my list. I had Slip of
the Lip. Nice. But we're kind of going in a different
direction. So it wasn't going to make the list
here, unfortunately. But great choice. Way Cool
Junior is... And I think sometimes that song
is, you know, obviously the, the round and rounds
and stuff obviously would have gotten on another
day, their choice, but way cool. Junior is definitely,
you know, funny thing for our way. Cool. Junior
could have filled side one too, but we're going
a different direction here. And I, I get the
little bit of that. It's almost a little swagger,
almost getting a little cocky here with side
two. Definitely what we got. Well, I will say
one thing, Jim. Yes. Round and round would go
perfect on your hard rock summer songs along
with Van Halen's Summer Nights that you talked
about earlier. It would. It would. We'll revisit
that in July or something. It sounds like a plan,
man. Track six, what do you got? Yeah, so track
six, man, we're really rolling down through the
songs here. You know what? You know what I've
noticed? So we don't have a bout. Not yet. We
don't have anything to oppress the ladies. You
know, we're going through this mixtape, especially
we were cruising around. Some of the girls at
least we were cruising around like they might
not like all the other stuff we're doing. You
know, I like the balance, you know, because it's
got that little bit of a pop edge there. I'm
going to go with Dokken from the Tooth and Nail
album. And I'm going to go with Alone Again.
Yes. Listen, this is a song that it's a killer
ballad. It may not have been like a top 40 type
song, but. While it's a ballad, it still carries
enough weight to make it a heavy rock song. You
know, the docking vocals, the George Lynch guitar,
especially the guitar solo that he does in this
song is just killer. And I think, you know, we've
gotten to this point where it's like, you know,
we're just kind of smashing and breaking windows
with everything. And like, I think this is about
the point in this mixtape where we could go in
and kind of, hey, you know what? Now's the time
to kind of slow it down a little bit. You know,
we're cruising by. I can see right now I'm rolling
in the Burger King, you know, and a couple of
girls hanging in the car. Yeah. You know, just
in time for the docking song to play and then
just kind of slide it into the parking lot there.
But yeah, I was always a big docking fan. So
I knew I had to pick my place here as far as
where I was going to put that song. And I think
I've achieved my success there in getting it
on site, too. Yeah, it really works. That's a
fantastic ballad. It's one of the more under,
here I say it again, underrated power ballads
of the 80s because it doesn't get the limelight
when you think about the Bon Jovi ballads, the
Poison ballads, the Warrant ballads, Skid Row's
I Remember You. It never quite got to that level,
but it was just as damn good as all of them.
So surprising that it didn't, but you couldn't
have picked a better ballad. So what I'm going
to do. is follow it up half and half okay gonna
see your ballad and raise you a quarter of a
ballad but then i'm gonna bring it back into
the rock again okay and that all happens in one
song and normally this one might not have made
the mix where we were going on side one and side
two but when we want to bring people back for
kind of the closing of this tape i think because
if you go right from the only ballad and you
kind of jerk people back with something quick
or heavy or fast it might be jarring on this
mixtape so we're going to ease back into it and
i'm going to go with 1987 the album is pride
and i'm going to go with white lion's weight
okay yes so you got a little bit of that ballad
in the opening and then you kind of get into
another rock song so we're back We're up and
moving again. You got the windows down. This
is the kind of song you want to cruise with the
top down to. It's a definite driving song, but
it's got that beautiful opening. So coming out
of Alone Again, it really works, at least in
this mixtape that we're making tonight. I feel
it works. I totally agree. I mean, I like White
Lion. I like that song. I think we would have
a different issue if we said, hey, let's put
When the Children Cry on here, right? But, I
mean, this song fits, and I agree 100 % with
you. It's not really, you know, much like the
dock in Alone Again is a ballad, but not in the
sense of like we're saying, like the warrant
ballads or things like that. And I think a song
like Wait kind of is a little bit more up -tempo.
It's not necessarily a ballad, but it's kind
of that pseudo, you know, it's a, for lack of
a better word, it's a very safe song that...
You can kind of just kind of in general, like,
hey, it's hard rock, but it's kind of soft. But
these guys are still killer. Like the musicianship
of that band was was really good, too. So, yeah,
I think that's a great choice following up right
after Doc. And I'm afraid if I say the word,
people are going to think there's like a drinking
game going on. But Vito Brada, when you talk
about guitarists of that era. What's one word
you would describe him as? And I'm not just saying
it to get you to plug the name of the book again,
but really. He is definitely overlooked and underrated
more than you could say. Like, I really think
I think the band White Lion, even though that
was really a popular record. I mean, there's
songs like Wait and When the Children Cry, obviously,
were smashes. But Vito Brada was on another planet,
his guitar playing. It's a shame. He never got...
I mean, there's so many guitarists that never
get their due, right? Right. And here we are
talking about White Line. White Line was a great
band. I had heard one time years ago, they kind
of got compared to Triumph, though I never really
heard it. Maybe later years of Triumph. But yeah,
you could kind of hear a little bit of that in
some of their songs. But I think they were definitely
more melodic than Triumph was. Yeah, I would
agree with that. So coming out of that, track
eight. So track eight, and I could go one of
two ways. I could go definitely, well, I think
we've kind of killed the ballad thing now, kind
of raising the bar. Like we've kind of sloped
it down there. We're kind of coming up. So I
need to kind of find a song in here that's going
to back up White Lion's weight. And I think I
got the song here. I'm going to go with the band
Cheap Trick. And the song is Tonight It's You.
Nice. And I think when we're segueing back into
this, that's a song that I think it's very much
like the song Wait. I mean, it's a rock song.
It's kind of a hard rock song. Their cheap trick
has always been kind of all over the place musically.
But I think you can fit them in as a hard rock
band. And this is one of their strongest songs.
And I think, you know, going into the 80s, especially
when they go to like the next album and where
it's going to be. Where they kind of continue
on that or not the next album, the next album
after that. But as far as this mixtape goes,
I think we've really started to build back up
how we're going to finish this side. And I think
Cheap Trick follows up the White Lion, which
follows up the Doc and very nicely in this tape.
I had Cheap Trick on my list, Jim, although I
had chosen from 82's One on One. I went with
She's Tight. because in my mind that riff is
iconic steel panther covered it obviously talk
dirty to me in one way shape or form rip the
riff off maybe yes yes i mean like i when i first
heard talk dirt in me i'm like wow they're doing
cheap trick and then yeah it was a totally different
song and i like them both but it was really close
like one of those ones that really makes you
raise your eyebrow yeah i love the pick for tonight
it's you and it's damn near impossible to pick
because this is now my last song but we've upped
the energy again and we've upped kind of the
power coming out of docking into white lion and
now cheap trick one thing our list is missing
though i feel like we need to bring in some female
power to this list and i want to do that for
my last track i really feel like we need that
touch on this mix and i'm going to go to 1988's
lita And I'm going to go with Lita Ford, Kiss
Me Deadly. Massive hit. Obviously, I could have
went with Close Your Eyes Forever, which was
with Ozzy Osbourne, but that's a real downer.
And I'm not feeling that coming out of Cheap
Trick. But Kiss Me Deadly is one where Dokken
was, you said, one for the ladies. Wait was definitely
a pop song. I remember hearing it on Z100. Tonight,
it's you, Cheap Trick. While they are hard rock,
they've always had that pop element to them.
And I feel like kiss me deadly is a little bit
more leaning pop, but man, that album introduced
me to some female rock singers, because at that
point MTV was pretty much clouded with all men
rock bands. So her cutting through and Joan Jets,
I hate myself for loving you cutting through.
They were kind of the only shining lights on
MTV at that time. So I feel like. These songs
need a spotlight in this mix. And somehow, coming
at a cheap trick, I just think Kiss Me Deadly
for track nine works pretty well. Yeah, I mean,
I'll admit it. I'm not the biggest fan of this
song, but I do respect the place that we have
it on this mixtape. And also, remember, by the
time we got to the docking, we already pulled
into the Burger King. And we're hanging out.
And so now these songs are all kind of playing
and they're kind of the, you know, they're kind
of the safe bet here where we're hanging out,
like, you know, before we go back and, you know,
terrorize the town later on. Right. So it's a
good song. I think it fits. It kind of goes right
in, you know, after the cheap trick and everything
else that we've done so far. So solid number
nine there, which I guess brings us to the last
track on this mixtape. Yes. I too, and I got
stuff on my list where it's like, can't go there.
I'm thinking we have to start kicking the door
down one last song and just kick everything down.
We're going to terrorize again because the tape's
going to flip over. We're going to go right back
to the side one and play the stuff again, unless
there's another mixtape that's out there that
we can make this into, right? We may only have
one mixtape. So I am going to go. with twisted
sister to close out this mixtape and the song
is shoot them down oh this is like one of those
ones i just was looking at this song and saying
you know what this is a good throw down song
that if i'm if i'm putting a mixtape together
and i want to close it out I've kind of played
some songs that are kind of nice. And then I
want to get right back into the roar. I want
to get back into that insanity that was Twisted
Sister and how this song is just in your face.
And it's got a lot of attitude. We had a lot
of swagger at the beginning of this. So one more
song that kind of brings that swagger back before
it clicks over and goes back to side one. So
Twisted Sister to close side two with Shoot Em
Down. Man, I love it. I did have Twisted Sister
on my list as well, but I had from 84's Stay
Hungry, I Wanna Rock. That one for me was just
one of those songs as a kid that I absolutely
adored. And growing up, it always stayed with
me. It was cool in college. Dee Snider is one
of a kind, an absolute legend. And this song,
come on. I mean, even SpongeBob. yes we did it
as the gooby goober rock song like i mean come
on how could you not love it twisted sister is
such an iconic band great way to close it twisted
sister i feel like stays in that little bit of
a mainstreamy kind of end we had there and we
really covered an amazing spectrum here going
back through side b we had living colors cult
of personality the cult love removal machine
van halen and the cradle will rock Triumph, When
the Lights Go Down, Rat, Way Cool Junior, Dokken,
Alone Again, White Lions, Wait, Cheap Trick,
Tonight It's You, Lita Ford, Kiss Me Deadly,
and Twisted Sister, Shoot Em Down. Visit myweeklymixtape
.com to hear all the songs we've discussed on
both sides of this mix through the playlist we've
embedded on the episode page. Jim, now before
we eject this amazing... 80s hard rock mixtape,
which I will say we don't see each other's songs
before we record. We put together what I think
is a top notch mixtape. And the beauty of this
is there's always room for a volume two. There
is. And you know what? It's funny because I'm
looking at my list and I've crossed out all the
ones that we've either mentioned or, you know,
bands that were taken away. I mean, I'm still
sitting on seven songs. So it's like, wow, I
wish I would have had space to put those seven
songs on somewhere, anywhere. But yeah, you're
absolutely right. There's probably plenty of
room to get a second tape together and then roll
out even the rest of these songs. So, but yeah,
definitely happy with the choices that we put
on here. A lot of fun putting these things together.
It brings back a lot of memories of doing it
back in the day. You know, it's too simple to
do it now. Well, I don't know, I guess. if you
counted spotify playlists and stuff like that
where you can make your own stuff i guess that
kind of works out too so yeah it does but you
don't get that feeling of accomplishment when
you drag the songs i still curate my playlists
they're not meant to be played on random they're
meant to be played in order from start to finish
start to finish yeah yeah but i just feel like
the feeling of accomplishment when you finish
dragging your 20 songs over just isn't the same
i agree i agree Well, before we eject our final
mixtape, Jim, why don't you tell people once
again, where they can pick up a copy of the underrated
rock book two, as well as part one while they're
at it. All right. Absolutely. So underrated rock
book and underrated rock book two, you can go
to my website, www .underratedrockbook .com.
We are available on Amazon in paperback, also
in Kindle. And we have other places you can go
and get the electronic copy of it. You know,
Barnes and Noble is one of those places, Smashwords.
But you can go to underratedrockbook .com or
do a search on Underrated Rockbook and you will
find all things as far as where you can go and
purchase it. You can also find me on Facebook,
Underrated Rockbook, and also on Twitter at the
letter U, Rockbook. And you can always send me
a message at contact at underratedrockbook .com.
We'd love to hear from people. And this has been
fun, Brian. I've had a great time sitting there
kicking out all the songs and just wish I had
a tape deck so I could do it the old school way.
Amen to that, Jim. Thank you so much for joining
us. This has been an absolute blast and I look
forward to having you back for a future collaboration.
Well, sounds good. I'll keep these other songs
in reserve and we can do it another day. So definitely
appreciate the time and always appreciate your
support as well. Definitely will be talking soon.
Absolutely. I look forward to it. Remember, folks,
you can find my weekly mixtape on Facebook. Twitter,
Instagram, and Tik TOK at my weekly mixtape.
You can also head to my weekly mixtape .com to
hear the music we discussed in tonight's episode
and to check out the full catalog of my weekly
mixtape episodes. If you want to support the
show, please consider becoming a Patreon mixtaper
at patreon .com forward slash my weekly mixtape.
That's all for this week. Thanks for listening.
And until next time, enjoy the tunes.