Huge response to part 1 of my podcast with Billy Squier from my archives. Part 2 goes up tomorrow. As usual it is free worldwide via Itunes or www.podcastone.com . Just search The Eddie Trunk Podcast. Upcoming podcasts include Richie Kotzen, Rickey Medlocke, Michael Monroe and more.
I’ll be premiering a brand new track from The Last In Line this Monday on my SiriusXM show. The band is the original Dio band with singer Andrew Freeman. Very good new album from these guys. Much like Black Star Riders who were born out of Thin Lizzy, TLIL will play classic Dio but also has some killer new music as you are about to hear. Thrilled to have the US premiere this Monday. The album is out in Feb and the band played the Def Leppard Cruise in Jan which I will be hosting.
The benefit I’m hosting for Tony Macalpine in LA is on sale now. Tom Morello has just been added to the jam. This is going to be a special night for a great cause. Please come out if in the LA area 12/12 to The Wiltern. Then the next night is Lemmy’s 70th! 12/14 it’s Trunk Nation live again from LA on SiriusXM!
Just had a great meeting with my agent and the producer for TMS. Hope to have some news for you about future episodes soon. Won’t be before early next year however. Enjoy the replays in the meantime on VH1 C and thanks for your support and interest in the show. When I know you’ll know.
Orders for signed copies of either of my books as holiday gifts are coming in. Hit the Books tab or banner on this site for order info and remember to put Vol 1 or 2 with the order. US shipping only.
I’ll be in Buffalo (for the first time in 30 years) and Syracuse (for the first time ever!) this weekend with Don & Jim. Hope to see you at The Waiting Room or Palace Theater if in these areas. Info on the home page.
And THANK YOU to the REAL rock stars, our Veterans! Appreciate your service!
All roads have led to this. Forty-one years in the making, the R40 Live tour took a very real journey back through time. Beginning with the grand design: a state-of-the-art stage set that pivots, rolls and dives, and brings Clockwork Angels in to bombastic, colorful life before marching stridently back in time (through theater stages, a panoply of band and fan shots, the accrued memories of a life spent playing live) to a mocked-up school gym and the band playing there; a solitary bass amp set on the chair behind Geddy Lee, a mirror ball spiraling crazily above, casting thin rods of light like a light rain across the crowd, Working Man coming to a shuddering halt as the band’s beginning becomes their end.
Rush recorded and filmed R40 Live over two sold-out shows in the band’s hometown of Toronto at the Air Canada Centre on June 17th & 19th, 2015 in the middle of their R40 Live 35-date North American tour.
R40 Live had the trio of Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson and Neil Peart, performing a career-spanning live retrospective, celebrating their 40+ years together. The epic live shows by the Rock Hall of Famers were captured with 14 cameras to present the band feature-film style.
The center-point of this tour was the remarkable setlist, coupled with their idea of a “de-evolution” set design. When the band opened the show with cuts Headlong Flight and The Anarchist from their most recent studio recording, 2012’s Clockwork Angels, they did so with all the bells and whistles from that extensive tour. They worked backwards through their catalog as the show progressed, the innovative set design making for constant visual eye-candy, as stagehands exchanged the gear and props on stage to resemble the era-correct tour staging in accordance with the songs being played.
The first set featured the infamous dryers on stage while they played Roll The Bones, Subdivisions, and for the first time ever live, Losing It featuring violinist Ben Mink, who appeared on the original studio recording from 1982’s Signals.
The second set opened with classics Tom Sawyer, followed by crowd favorite, The Spirit of Radio, but also included Jacob’s Ladder, which hasn’t been performed live since 1980 on their Permanent Waves tour.
The last few songs of the R40 were set against the persimmon curtained theatre-looking stage, with the crowd raising their lighters and camera phones to Closer to the Heart, and then Alex and Geddy appeared with their signature doubleneck guitars as they played Xanadu, into the epic 2112 and encored with Lakeside Park/Anthem and What You’re Doing/Working Man.
The concert film also includes the the band’s renowned tour videos, highlighted by Roll The Bones (R40 Live), that features an array of special guests in the rap part of the song: Jay Baruchel (She’s Out Of My League), Les Claypool (Primus), Peter Dinklage (Game of Thrones), Tom Morello (Rage Against The Machine, Audioslave), Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili Peppers), The Trailer Park Boys, and Jason Segel & Paul Rudd (I Love You, Man). It is the first time the band put the song back in the setlist since the R30 tour, a full decade ago. During the R40 Live tour, Roll The Bones gained new life and became a fan-favorite with an arena sing-along to the chorus “Why are we here? Because we’re here – Roll The Bones.”
Singer/Bassist Geddy Lee explained how the large group of cameo appearances came about, “We had this older video of an animated skeleton doing the “rap” part of Roll The Bones, and felt it was time to update the concept for this tour. So, after a lot of joking around with our show design team, we thought it would fun if we called upon some of our well-known pals and see if they wanted to have some fun with the lyrics. There were so many good and funny moments that it was hard to choose, some really hilarious and outrageous stuff. I’m so glad it worked out as it brought a big smile to the faces in the audience (and to us) every single night!”
R40 Live audio was produced by Rush & David Botrill, and mixed by David Botrill (Tool, Muse); the film was directed by Dale Heslip, and produced by Allan Weinrib. The live photograph on the cover of R40 was shot by baseball Hall of Famer Randy Johnson, who captured the band in a rare moment when both Geddy Lee and Alex LIfeson were on Neil Peart’s drum kit riser. “As a friend and fan of Rush, and the passion I have for photography to capture moments, it’s great that both can blend together in a lasting impression, here for the world to see,” commented the self-described ‘6”10 ninja in the photo pit,” who was on a portion of the tour in his new role as photographer.
We here at EddieTrunk.com send our love and respect to all of the veterans who have proudly served our country. You are the true super heroes and we have undying admiration for your commitment and bravery.
God bless, all branches of our military. Thank you, for your service.
Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson will write his autobiography during the band’s Book Of Souls world tour next year, he’s confirmed.
Also, he’s hoping the experience of flying the biggest-ever version of Ed Force One will add to the story.
Dickinson will have plenty to tell, including his recent cancer battle, his two stints with Maiden and his solo years in between, along with his life as businessman, sword fencer and author.
He says, “It was flattering to be approached to write a book about my experiences. It seems an appropriate time to do it, as I will have plenty of time on tour to work on a book. I’m sure flying the 747 round the world will add to the tale with some unusual scenarios!”
The title is to be published by HarperNonFiction in 2017 as a hardcover, e-book and an audio book, with a paperback edition following in 2018. Four Nordic language versions have also been confirmed.
HarperCollins senior editor Denise Oswald says, “Bruce might quite literally be the world’s most interesting man. Being one of the greatest rock singers of all time is merely the beginning.
“His memoir, like his voice, is sure to set a new gold standard.”
Iron Maiden’s Book Of Souls was released on September 4th.
US tour dates:
Feb 24: Fort Lauderdale BB&T Center, FL
Feb 26: Tulsa BOK Center, OK
Feb 28: Las Vegas Mandalay Bay Events Center, NV
Mar 30: New York Madison Square Garden, NY
Apr 5: Detroit Palace of Auburn Hills, MI
Apr 6: Chicago United Center, IL
Apr 11: Tacoma Dome, WA
Apr 13: Denver Pepsi Center, CO
Apr 15: Los Angeles Forum, CA
Previously announced dates:
Apr 29: Christchurch Horncastle Arena, New Zealand
May 01: Aucklane Vector Arena, New Zealand
May 04: Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Australia
May 06: Sydney Allphones Arena, Australia
May 09: Melbourne Rod Laver Arena, Australia
May 12: Adelaide Entertainment Centre, Australia
May 14: Perth Arena, Australia
May 25th, 1988 was a day that Mike Tramp would remember for the rest of his life. White Lion, the New York-based rock band fronted by Danish singer Tramp, were beginning a three month tour as support act to AC/DC at Indianapolis’ massive 15,000-capacity Market Square Arena.
White Lion were riding high. Their second album, Pride, had sold a million copies, and they’d been on the road for the best part of a year, opening for Kiss – whose bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons had told Tramp he had “the coolest name in rock’n’roll” – and then Aerosmith, whose singer Steven Tyler would greet Tramp each night by singing White Lion’s breakthrough hit Wait.
…There would be more good moments for Mike Tramp and White Lion on that tour. When The Children Cry would reach Number 3 on the US chart, a personal triumph for the singer who had written the song three years earlier as a struggling wannabe. And Tramp was ecstatic when AC/DC’s Brian Johnson told him: “This is the first time we’ve seen a big amount of women in our audience!”
But the good times didn’t last. In Tramp’s words, “the rise of White Lion was like climbing a ladder with a rocket up your ass!” But, at similar velocity came the band’s decline. And although this resulted from a number of contributing factors (including record company politics), what ultimately destroyed White Lion was the very thing that made them great – the strange relationship between Mike Tramp and guitarist Vito Bratta.
As Tramp says now, “Vito and I had no connection whatsoever except through music. It’s sad, but true.”
…“I was the engine that made Vito move,” he says. “[Back in the early days] Vito lived with his parents on Staten Island, and he never lifted a finger to make any money. If he drove to my place in Queens, I’d have to give him $10 for gas.”
…The story of White Lion ends as so many rock’n’roll stories do – in a battle for the band’s name. In the 21 years since the band broke up, Bratta’s public profile has been virtually nonexistent, while Tramp has remained active, recording and touring as a solo artist and with the bands Freak Of Nature and Mike Tramp And The Rock’N’Roll Circuz. Tramp has also continued to use the name of White Lion. He has toured, with varying band line-ups, as Tramp’s White Lion and White Lion II. He recorded 12 classic White Lion songs on his solo album Remembering White Lion (“A silly album,” he says, “but I was able to pocket $40,000 and live off that”). And in 2008 came a brand new White Lion album, Return Of The Pride, fronted by Tramp.
But in 2010, Tramp ceded ownership of the name White Lion to Bratta in an out-of-court settlement. Tramp says that he and Bratta came to this agreement following “a deep conversation.” But he adds, more pragmatically. “I didn’t want to spend all my money on f–king lawyers.” And as Tramp sees it, what Bratta has achieved is a pyrrhic victory. “I’m proud of what Vito and I did with White Lion,” he says, “and for that, I still love him. But the only thing Vito will take with him to his grave is the name White Lion. He would never have left f–king Staten Island – which he still lives on – if it hadn’t been for a kid from Copenhagen with the energy of a rocket.”
Paul Elliott of Classic Rock spoke with W.A.S.P frontman Blackie Lawless. Excerpts from the interview appear below.
CR: You’re the guy in W.A.S.P. You’re also a born again Christian. Is there an inherent conflict in this?
Blackie Lawless: That’s true, but if people really listen to the new album, they might walk away with a different perspective on that.
CR: What is the meaning of the album’s title?
BL: Golgotha is from Hebrew. It means the place of the skull. It’s the name for the hill where Christ was crucified. That actual hill still exists and it looks like a human skull.
CR: What is the message you’re trying to convey in this album?
BL: There is not one message. I just want to make people think. It’s what I’ve tried to do for the past twenty-five years – to get people to think. If you go back to [1989 W.A.S.P. album] The Headless Children, the opening line says, “Father, come save us from this madness we’re under/God of creation, are we blind?” Even then, I was talking about this stuff, although not necessarily conscious of it.
CR: How would you describe this change in your life – is it a conversion or a return to Christianity?
BL: Interesting question – one I’ve been asking myself for the last ten years. There will be times when it feels like a new conversion, but then I’ll think back to my teens and think, no, this is an extension. From a Biblical perspective, if we look at stories like the prodigal son, we see a tremendous falling away, and yet someone who was able to return. If that’s the case, then I certainly fit that description.
CR: Was there a defining moment in this?
BL: Not really. It wasn’t like anything bad happened. It’s been a slow gradual process. It didn’t happen overnight.
CR: What happened in your teens?
BL: When I left the church I was eighteen. I left because I became disenfranchised with the concept of religion. What I discovered later was that religion was a concoction of man’s imagination. And the institutionalised thinking that goes along with it, I didn’t want any part of that, so I left the church and came to California and went as far away from that as you could possibly go. I went around for the next twenty years bumping into walls thinking I was mad at God.
CR: And then what?
BL: One day I woke up and realized I’m not mad at God, I’m mad at Man for the institutionalised thinking they put me through. And when I started coming back to my faith, I realized there was nobody on this planet more anti-religious than Jesus Christ himself. When you look at what he said to the religious rulers of his day, he railed on those guys.
CR: [Back in the early days of the band, you had] a real wildman of rock in the band – guitarist and Chewbacca lookalike Chris Holmes. Were you close, or were you just two guys in a band together?
BL: Before W.A.S.P. we had a band called Sister, and we were closer then. But when we signed to EMI, we had Rod Smallwood (Iron Maiden manager) on board. It was like, ‘Hey, this is now a business. You gotta tighten up.’ Chris and I were angry guys, but he was venting his anger in a different way to mine.
CR: He was a self-confessed alcoholic.
BL: Yes. That created a lot of separation between us.
CR: The problem that Chris had was revealed in the 1988 documentary The Decline Of Western Civilization part II: The Metal Years. It is the most famous scene in that movie: Chris sitting on an inflatable chair in his swimming pool, with his elderly mom watching on as he downs a bottle of vodka in one…
BL: I gotta tell you the whole story for it to really make sense (laughs). Penelope Spheeris, the director, was a friend of mine, and she devised this plan to have a face-to-face debate between me and Tipper Gore (co-founder of censorship lobby the PMRC – Parents Music Resource Center). This was going to be the centerpiece of the whole film. But then her husband (Senator Al Gore) decides he’s running for President, so on the day before we were going to film the debate, Tipper Gore pulls out. Penelope calls me in a panic. ‘Have you got another idea?’ I said, ‘No – that was gonna be the absolute firecracker.’ So a couple of says later she calls again and says, ‘Would you mind if I interview Chris?’ I talked about it with Rod Smallwood. He asked me what I thought. And the famous line of all time came out. I said, ‘How bad can it be?’
CR: And so?
BL:I told Penelope, ‘Go ahead.’
CR: And when you saw the movie, how did you react?
BL: I got a cut of the film and I flipped. I got on the phone to Penelope immediately. ‘You gotta take this out! The whole thing!’ And she says, ‘I can’t – the prints have already gone out to the theaters.’ So that was that.
CR: Chris Holmes left the band in 1989, returned in 1996 and then left again in 2002. Have you kept in touch with him since then?
BL: I really don’t know a lot about what he’s doing. I heard he made a record, but that’s about all.
CR: What’s next for you and the band?
BL: See previous answer. I’m taking it day by day. Literally, as the spirit moves me, that’s where I’m going.
CR: And is it a happy ending for Blackie Lawless?
BL: Well, so far, yeah, it is. I think about the old Sinatra song My Way: “Regrets, I’ve had a few, but then again, too few to mention.” So as far as that goes, I think I’m right where I need to be. I’m in a really good place.
