Christmases may not be what they used to be when I was little – but I have great memories from many Christmas Eve’s (which is when we celebrate here in Sweden).
I was maybe 4 years old when I got my first plastic Strat-toy guitar. It was back when toy guitars still had steel strings. Of course, you didn’t get a pick to go with the guitar, so I played that thing until my fingers bled – literally. I forgot about the other presents.
Then, Christmas 1978 – I was a big fan of the movie GREASE and the only thing I wanted for Christmas was the Grease-soundtrack. When I saw that rectangular, flat package under the tree, I just KNEW what it was! I couldn’t WAIT for that stupid dinner to be over with so that I could just rip the paper off my present! ‘
And sure enough – it WAS the Grease double-LP with pics and all, oh my GOD I was the happiest, happiest kid on the planet!! John Travolta must have been my first crush, before I even knew what the hell a crush WAS, lol! :)
[This is what it looked like when you opened that double-LP]
I was dancing around on the chairs and the table in the kitchen when my parents were at work, doing my own dance-version of “Greased lightnin‘”!
Christmas eve 1980…. I remember that very clearly as well. Back then, I only had my mother’s portable record player from the sixties in my room, and some mono-radio/tape-player that my parents didn’t use anymore, so instead of throwing it out, I got it.
But it was a piece of crap, if you tried to record something on that thing, it would do two things: 1. The volume went crazy loud if you tried to record something from the radio, and you couldn’t adjust it (earplugs please!) 2. It recorded in the wrong speed, so it would either record too slow or too fast… Worthless!
So, I wanted something to record on or listen to music on. I got my very own mono cassette-player. Geez, when I say it now I realize I’m like a hundred years old..! When I remember all those things that are just SO “out” today that kids nowadays probably don’t even know that the heck a cassette is or was. :)
Something like this… Only the buttons of the player that I got were rounded:
And best of all, I got a handful of cassettes with it too – John Lennon‘s “Double Fantasy”, ABBA‘s “Super Trouper” and Olivia Newton-John‘s “Totally Hot”.
That’s all I needed to forget about the rest of the world!
THIS song from Olivia Newton-John‘s album was my favorite – funny enough many years later I heard a version of it by british band THUNDER that was even better. Good songs are timeless! This was the only video-version I could find that had fairly OK video- and audio quality. :)
Ah, what the hell – here’s the Thunder version as well – ten years later (1990):
/Seems that they removed the only video-version there was on YouTube, now all there is is live-versions or this crappy thing… but better than nothing I guess: :)/
Every Christmas has given memories like that. It’s not about getting “stuff“… it’s really about memories, things that matter to you. Doesn’t have to be expensive, but when it’s got a thought behind it, it’s not just another thing that’s going to collect dust somewhere, it will stay in somebody’s memory forever.
The community world as we know it is a strange place sometimes. One thing that people do on Twitter for instance, is that they “follow” you – ONLY to see if you will follow back. No other reason.
I’m sorry, but that just pisses me off. If that’s the reason why you’re following my Twitter-thing, then don’t even bother. It took me a while to realize that it was a common thing. I had no idea at first. I was under the impression that you followed people or bands or whatever – because you’re acually interested in their updates and news?!?!
Twitter is this neverending, constantly updated stream of information, it just drowns you with info like the Niagara Falls of tweets… New ones every fucking second. The only reason for me to follow anyone or anything, is because I actually want to know what they have to say.
I’m following bands/artists I like to learn about their tours, new YouTube-uploads, interviews… All that. I follow bands or sometimes people I don’t even know so well, because they have funny or interesting tweets.
But it would drive me crazy to have hundreds of accounts on there, because I would miss the few things I REALLY give a shit about.
In short: If you’re just trying to promote your band by adding hundreds of random accounts as “re-followers”, just walk on by. Not interested.
I can even tell right away when somebody suddenly starts following me, that they will be gone the minute I post something – without having re-followed them first. It always leads to a “minus one” follower. How predictable and how utterly ridiculous.
Secondly – the goddamn Facebook thing. Those who know me also know that I’ve been anything but a fan of that place since it took over after MySpace. It just makes me nervous. Your whole personal life is out there for the world to see in a way that I’m not comfortable with at all.
Back in the day, you could use any nickname you wanted (I was just “Lita77” on MySpace) and it wasn’t as obvious or as easy to find you if you didn’t want to be found. You could even use a fake e-mail addy to avoid being searched. The Facebook-thing says that it’s private, but really – every time I post something for my friends, and they like or comment on it, it’s there for THEIR friends to see and so on. It’s beyond control, and it’s way too complicated to understand how to prevent the spreading of info. I’m sure it’s possible, but that should be by default, not something I have to search for.
Anyway, I have a locked and private account under a different name because I don’t want people on there, basically. The few that I do have on there, are on it for various reasons, but mostly because it’s the only (simple) way to get in touch with people who are either “road people” (crews, band members and similar) or people with common interests that are somewhere abroad. Or people that I didn’t call to say hello to before either, but kept in touch with via MySpace (or whatever was used six-seven years ago).
I don’t have some of my best friends on Facebook, because it tricks people to believe that they know what their friends are up to – through FB. They think that they are “staying in touch”. But it’s mainly just an ego-trip, and I’m guilty of it myself. Because you think that you’re following your friends’ lives, you don’t pick up the phone as much anymore. Right? You saw your friends on Facebook this morning and they seem to be doing great. Why bother picking up the phone when you “see” them every day?
That’s all just fake and bullshit. Most of us don’t advertise if or when we’re feeling bad. Everything on Facebook is about posting funny shit, little anecdotes, videos, pics, news… But apart from the occasional drama-queens who don’t have ANY sense of privacy whatsoever (I don’t even have any people like that among my friends thank god) nobody will write what they’re really thinking in public.
One of my best friends asked me last year if we shouldn’t be friends on Facebook. No, I don’t want that. It just edulcorates the friendship, you get the wrong picture of their lives and thoughts.
I’d rather just talk with her on the phone, even if it’s just once a month or less, or I’d like to hang with her in person when we get a chance. But no – I don’t want the Facebook thing.
People don’t call eachother as much anymore, because they don’t have to. Or they THINK that they don’t.
And this morning, I got a friend request from a person who really disappointed me a few months ago. I thought it was a friend, but he acted to fucking fake towards me at one of the festivals earlier this summer. “Oh hey…!” and then he just took off like he had a firecracker up his ass.
I was sitting alone backstage when he walked in, and he just nodded when he passed me – to go and sit at another table. WTF?!?! I’m pretty sure that I showered that morning. Yes, I’m being sarcastic…
After that I just thought, well – people always show their true self sooner or later. It wasn’t a close friend per se, so I didn’t care particularly. Imagine my surprise when that same person sent me a friend request on Facebook this morning.
Either he doesn’t know who I am, as I’m there under a fake name, or he does know, but thinks that I didn’t understand that he dissed me. Make no mistake, just because I didn’t bitch about it, doesn’t mean that I didn’t GET it. It just wasn’t worth losing any sleep over. Piss off.
I don’t want to collect friends on Facebook. I have less than 50 people on it, and I want to keep it that way. And the 50 people include artists that I followed before they had “professional” pages. Many of the “smaller” artists only had personal pages before, so they aren’t even “real” friends, only people whose careers I wanted to follow.
It’s the same thing there – with the constant flow of information and updates, it would make my head spin having hundreds of people to keep track of. I’d rather follow the few chosen people who I added myself, than have hundreds of strangers clogging up my newsfeed 24-7.
But it is scary sometimes how we have changed from calling our friends reguarly, or dropping an e-mail to say hi how are ya – to updating our OWN statuses, hoping that others will see them.
It’s no longer a question about contacting somebody else, it’s about indirectly “contacting” people through a newsfeed saying “hey – here I am! If you can see me…”.
Been thinking about how the life and image of rockers – or at least my interpretation of it – has changed over the years.
There were so many expectations and unwritten rules when I first discovered metal. Granted, I was a teenager, I would have sniffed out the “proper” behavior in any type of community, because you were so eager to fit in. But there weren’t many female role-models, so you became one of the guys.
There were a few “rules” that I remember from back then.
1. Thou shalt not listen to any other type of music because that is extremely uncool (see list of approved bands below)
2. Thou shalt be dressed properly
Examples:
A) Denim jacket or vest, alternatively leather jacket, decorated with badges, patches and large back-patch of your favorite band to gild your creation.
B) Jeans must be stone-washed, dirty and have holes at the knees. Should be as tight as possible.
C) T-shirt with any metal band, doesn’t have to be your favorite band, but no matter what you wear, you must show to the world that you are a true ROCKER (it was like a religion, metalheads were supposed to spread the gospel much like Jehova’s Witnesses…)
D) Footwear: sneakers or boots
E) Accessories: Anything with studs, any kind of studs but preferably these:
You could never ever compromise with the above if you wanted to be cool. I remember walking around in a leather jacket, covered by a denim jacket – OPEN all winter, freezing my ass off (I’m pretty sure my lips were blue and purple every winter) because it was extremely uncool to button your jacket. Probably because you couldn’t show your metal t-shirt properly if you did.
Bands that were considered cool had to be butt ugly and preferably British: Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Motorhead, Ozzy, Sabbath or even Def Leppard (their pre-Hysteria era…) or some got dispensation because they looked and sounded like brits, such as Accept or Anvil or something like that.
It just had to be “manly”, as masculine as possible. Which is why I still don’t really get how the hell MANOWAR could ever be considered the “manliest” band in the world, when they are any gay dude’s wet dream? I mean, seriously – check this out and tell me if that’s not a poster that would look great on any YMCA wall:
[Why would a straight dude want to look at another dude wearing a thong?!]
You really had to be careful what you said and did, what you wore, how you acted – because the slightest thing would make the other “disciples” think you’re not cool enough and not “a TRUE headbanger”.
Actually, some of that still lingers now, at my age (I just don’t give a crap nowadays, I sure as hell don’t need to prove to anyone how “metal” I am anymore). Like the detail that I don’t like beer. Never have, never will. “What kind of rocker are you if you don’t like beer?” is a line I’ll hear in the company of rockers if I say no to a beer.
At some point I even pointed out that metal to me is about choosing your own path, making your own decisions. How cool is it to just follow everybody else’s footsteps? If I want wine instead of beer, and have the balls to say so, regardless the comments I KNOW I’m gonna get – then who’s more metal? Drink your beer and shut up, loser. ;)
The expectations on what was required to be a rocker changed a bit in the mid-/late 80’s, but then people were divided into two groups: “Real” rockers and posers.
The so called “real” rockers were the ones who still wore their denim jackets and sneakers – and then, there was the “posers” who got into the glam-side of the genre and started spraying their hair, wear colorful clothes with glitter (preferably a neon color, pink, yellow, purple…) bandanas and (god forbid) MAKE UP!
[Still “gay”, but in a different kind of way]
As I was on the Judas Priest-side, I remember quickly taking sides against the glam era. I thought they were so embarrassing and so….sissy. I could have puked on bands like Poison, Pretty Boy Floyd or Tygertailz.
But all of that somehow merged as the years went by, because even our own heroes started looking like girls. Even Judas Priest and Whitesnake joined the band-wagon and started to bleach their hair or got bad perms.
And with bands like Skid Row or Guns n’Roses who weren’t old-school metal OR glam/sleaze, the whole scene became accessible to old-school and newbie-rockers. It’s like they were the glue that was needed to unite rockers again.
You could be, or wear, a mix between the old denim-style and whatever glittery you wanted to spice it up with. And it was cool as fuck with guys who used eyeliner and got that “I haven’t slept for three days” kind of look. It wasn’t “gay” anymore.
And speaking of gay, you realized how latently gay the rocker world really was, when Rob Halford came out of the closet. Dudes dug his S&M style for years, and women were pretty much banned in the world of metal in the early days. So you had guys strutting for other guys – and somehow they managed to call it “manly”.
Motley Crue were considered wimps when they first started to appear in magazines with their glam style. But in fact I suppose they were more “manly” than the dudes who were afraid of women back in the day. All of course depending on how you choose to define the word “manly”.
The kiss of death came with the grunge era. Suddenly, all the leather and spandex was out. The sloppy “homeless”-look was in. Baggy, plaid flanel shirts, hair mugs, the roadie-style cargo pants – all of it looked like it was from a Salvation Army dumpster.
Over night, everybody else became uncool. Unless you looked like you belonged in the gutter and listened to Nirvana or Pearl Jam, you had no right to exist in the metal world. It was the dark ages of rock in a way. Many people I knew cut their hair and desperately started looking for something else to identify with. I remember people being very confused during thir period.
The whole religion as we knew it, had been shattered. There were barely any non-grunge bands touring, all the rock clubs that had blossomed in the 80’s closed down, Headbanger’s Ball on MTV didn’t show the kind of music we liked anymore. Everything was just so depressing. The rock scene had been taken over by bands who hated themselves and wanted to die (Nirvana quote).
Eventhough metal came back even after those “dark ages”, fashion or expectations weren’t as distinctive anymore. You could look any way you damned well pleased, pretty much.
But it’s like any other religion, you want to support your beliefs, show the world who you are. So, go to any metal festival in Europe during summer-time, and you’ll notice that people still look like time stood still.
I’m still wearing rock t-shirts, but maybe to a more limited extent. I’ve ditched the denim jackets, and leather is cool to look at but it doesn’t keep you warm when it’s cold out – and when it rains.. forget it. :) Sneakers are still a part of my “rocker identity” but not because I’m trying to prove anything, I just think they are great for everything and still look cool (nowadays you can even buy them in leather and studs).
Metalheads still have the need to show who they are. We still want to be a part of the underground movement it once was, kind of like the punk era. It separates us from “the common people”. Even if we just choose a simple rock t-shirt or our true rocker jeans.
What has changed though, is that after all these years, metal has now landed a different image.Iron Maiden is no longer a band for sweaty young guys – it’s a respected, well known band that even non-rockers know. Bruce Dickinson is invited to speak on BBC news and whatnot, it would never have happened in 1983.
Ozzy is no longer the crazy, dangerous bat-eating madman, he’s the guy on TV who yells:“Sharon!! The fucking TV is stuck on the fucking weather channel!” and is a guest on “Ellen”.
Alice Cooper is seen golfing and supporting the republican party. Quite ironic that the man who has been anything but conservative with his art and music, is now a part of the establishment that would have tried to ban him twenty-thirty years ago.
Things have changed radically. Metal isn’t so shocking anymore. After the shock-rock era ofMarilyn Manson, and after the kind of old and outdated attempts by extreme death-metal bands to create headlines, metal is now almost as accepted as Bruce Springsteen.
And people listening to it don’t have as many rules to follow anymore. Look anyway you want, listen to whatever you like (cause even Bon Jovi is considered hard rock – or you can choose the crossover-bands that mix death metal with techno/pop, such as Amaranthe).
The boundaries are not as tight anymore, there’s not as much to prove as there once was. Back in the day you were fighting for your music to get recognition – but in fact, you didn’t WANT it to be mainstream. You wanted to be a part of that “misunderstood” group of people who were into metal. Because it was like a family of outsiders, and there’s just something appealing about that.
Many rockers who didn’t fit anywhere else, found their home and their identity in metal. Gave them strength in numbers, for sure. That’s probably why it’s still such a rush to be in the crowd of 20 000 people, chanting to our heroes’ classic songs, going absolutely crazy. Metal survived, through everything.
Now, when metal is on national TV (at least here in Sweden it is) it’s as if it’s not “our” music anymore. It’s become mainstream, more or less.
We are rockers and we stuck through it all. I think we’ve finally got something to be proud of. :)
DYNAZTY’s album “Sultans Of Sin” became my favorite album of 2012, and I wanted to get a chat with these guys a few months ago. However, they were “hot stuff” at the time after being on TV all the time, the press loved “the heaviest boy-band in Sweden”… The timing wasn’t right back then – but it was perfect now.
The “boy-band” finally dragged their asses back to Malmö with the tour package Dynazty/Raubtier/Sabaton last night.
SABATON – KB Malmö 2012-11-27:
Arranged the interview with guitarist “Rob” Love Magnusson through Facebook (well, the crap is good for something every now and then..!) and so – it was time for another video interview for The Rearview Mirror.
I arrived to KB 20 minutes too early, went there straight after work – DEAF on one ear (!) which is a pain in the ass. I hate trying to talk to people when I can barely hear them. Terrible timing.
Texted Love the minute we got there and he let us in.
– Our dressing room is upstairs, second door on the left….I THINK... I’m just gonna grab something to eat, I’ll be right with you guys, he said and ran off to get some dinner.
Went upstairs to the dressing rooms. Been up there like a million times before it seems… Hanoi Rocks, Judas Priest, HIM, Motorhead, Dio…. Countless names, lots of memories. I know the place well.
It wasn’t the second door on the left. It was the THIRD – and the reason I learned THAT really quickly is because the first thing I saw through the half-open door, was a pant-less singer, Nils, putting his pants on (probably oblivious to the fact that there were guests on their way up…).
– You MIGHT not want to walk in there right now, I told Henrik and Mari who came right after me.
No big deal to me, been in slightly more awkward situations before. :) Like the JOP tour when one of the guys in the support act forgot to lock the door to the shower and I accidentally walked straight in. He was a lot more embarrassed than I was, lol. ;)
Anyway, when they were all fully dressed, Henrik started arranging his cameras all over the bands’ dressing room.
The guys were super nice. As usual, drummers always have a story or two to tell while you’re waiting. George mentioned rolling out of his top-bunk in his sleep, landing flat on his face without as much as waking up! He only realized what had happened when he woke up with an aching nose on the cold bus-floor in the morning. Ah – the joys of touring! ;)
You’ll get to see the whole conversation soon enough. It’s in the hands of The Camera-guy, who decides when it’s good enough to go public. :)
After the interview, I went downstairs to secure a good spot in front of the stage before the doors opened. It was SOLD OUT!! Jesus Christ, KB hasn’t been sold out in YEARS as far as I recall. Not even W.A.S.P, who ALWAYS draws large crowds,
But Sabaton is THE shit here right now. People are nuts about them. I heard from fellow rock-fan Pekka before the show, that the guys in Sabaton were all sick as dogs. That was verified by singer Joakim later that evening when he apologized to the fans for not making it to the signing-session, as he had to be rushed off to the doctor instead. One can only admire a true artist for getting onstage anyway, the rock’n’roll way – the show must go on. Always.
Dynazty took the stage right on time, and did one hell of a job. I wasn’t as impressed at Sweden Rock Festival, but it might have been because my expectations were way too high. This time they were more comfortable, I think that an indoor gig suits them better – they communicate much better with the crowd in that setting.
I loved their set, great songs, good performance – and great vocals. They are all skilled at what they do, but I love when a band has a really good singer. Nils has a strong, crystal clear yet rough voice, impressive as hell.
I suspect that the guy behind me who tapped me on my shoulder to ask me which songs the band had been playing, was there to review the show but didn’t know much about Dynazty. :) I let him write down the songs from the set list I got right before the show to be able to plan my filming (helped a lot-thanks guys!)
Following Dynazty – Swedish “Rammstein” – Raubtier. Metal in Swedish. Not even that, in a northern dialect, “norrländska” that fit their music surprisingly well.
I had never heard them before so it was a nice new aquaintance. A great live-band that got the crowd warmed up.
When it was finally time for SABATON, the place was PACKED – it was boiling hot! Once the band made their grand entrance on stage, people went crazy! The kings, the heroes, had arrived!
Wow, the energy and the atmosphere in there was indescribable. You don’t see or experience that too often. Not in that way. There’s something about Sabaton that people can’t resist and they get through to people very well. They genuinely love what they do, there is no doubt about that. You can see the spark in Joakim’s eyes even through his pilot-style shades! And definitely in the rest of the band’s whole body language and facial expressions, it’s a party from beginning to end!
I left early though. Long story, I was hungry, tired and had to take the bus home for once so… didn’t see the whole show. But I saw Sabaton several times this summer as they were on the bill of almost every festival I ended up at :)
From the BANG YOUR HEAD FESTIVAL IN GERMANY in July…. I was caught in this crazy crowd and manage to catch this much of Sabaton’s energetic show!
I basically had a great evening last night, meeting old and new friends and also getting together with the talented guys of Dynazty for an interview. Video interview soon!
I was taking a stroll for a bit of early Christmas shopping in beautiful Copenhagen earlier today, and passed a street musician on my way from point A to point B. He was so talented. Great voice, so much heart and soul in his music, it was just him and his acoustic guitar.
I admire street musicians so much, because they are certainly not playing to get rich and famous. They are playing because it’s in their blood, it’s in their whole being. If you want to contribute with a buck or two, feel free, but it’s not mandatory. THAT… is true, unspoiled music the way it’s supposed to be – played for all the right reasons.
The little girl who was singing outside a mall in Manchester recently, stood there for quite a while and I remember her genuine smile as she was singing covers- she had a great voice too. There are just so many people out there who will never “make it”, who will never become stars, never record an album, never be in any music magazines – but they will entertain people in maybe the only true, pure way.
Back in the early 90’s, I was a big fan of two Irish street musicians who used to come to Malmo every summer and perform on the streets during the Malmo streetfest.
The first few years they came here, they arrived with their truck, and they would use the truck platform as their stage. Quite original, but it worked. It was father and son – Adam ‘O Henry (Adam and Henry Kelly) and they would sing predominantly Irish folk-songs, which they made their own – but as the years went by, they started adding some of Adam’s own songs as well – fantastic music, amazing voices… I still get shivers when thinking about it.
[Adam Kelly – started out as a street musician, touring the streets of Europe]
They would have three “shows” a day if I remember it correctly, and I would sit there all day long, because I didn’t want to lose my spot, I loved them.
When they first started, they had pre-recorded backing music that they played and sang to, but later they brought a band and played everything live. They became very popular and I bought their home-made cassettes that they sold after the shows and also their two CD’s.
It was a family business, the band consisted of family members (and others I’d assume…), I think Adam’s mother and uncle, were walking around with hats in the crowd, in case anyone wanted to chip in.
Actually, they even got arrested for singing on the streets, as mentioned in this interview with Henry Kelly:
I heard that you were in Switzerland several times in the prison. What happened there?
Henry Kelly:Oh, that was merry. It was in 1990 and we played in the streets of the large cities, however without public permission. We were taken in safekeeping five or six times, but in a few minutes we were released again.
It’s insane that musicians get arrested for entertaining people, while it’s perfectly legal to attack people on the streets because you want to SELL something… Well, just my humble opinion.
Anyway, I don’t know if the story was true, but Henry, was a cross country truck driver in the States (lived somewhere right outside of Boston) and he asked Adam what he wanted to do with his life. When Adam answered that he wanted to play music, Henry quit his job and took Adam out on the road to play on the streets of Europe – mainly in Germany. The duo eventually made it to indoor venues as well.
I asked them at some point howcome they didn’t try to get a record deal. Adam’s voice was out of this world, it’s one of the most beautiful voices I’d ever heard. Turns out that they had actually BEEN offered a deal by EMI, but declined.
The reason being that they thought a label would kill their creativity by telling them what to do. It could also mean that if they didn’t fall in line, they would get dumped, and their career would be over. They wanted to stay in control of their own destiny, just be free to do what they wanted to do – their own way. So they produced their home-made music, which was definitely worth every buck.
Things went well for Adam, when he joined the popular Kelly Family and went on world tours, even making TV-appearances.
Found a fan-page with a bit of background:
Adam Kelly and his father Henry Lawrence Kelly formed their duo, which they called Adam O’Henry in 1987.
With a guitar, their two voices and their believe in themselves and their music they went to North of Spain where they sang on the streets.
In the years 1988 to 1995 Adam and Henry travelled through Austria, Italia, Hungry, Spain, Sweden, Norway and other spectacular countries, singing on the streets.
In the years 1988 to 1994 Adam O’Henry toured with The Kelly Family, warming up the audience and singing in the Kellys’ breaks.In 1996 they had gained a big fan crowd and went on from the streets to music- and concert halls. In 1997 Adam started performing with his cousins in The Kelly Family.
Henry was tired and felt too old to travel around. But in the summer 1999 at the Malmö-festival in Sweden, father and son made a comeback (with Angelo Kelly on the drums). He now lives in America.
I don’t know if Henry is still alive, the last I read was that he had passed, but I’m not sure… I just wanted to share music that was played in the streets here in Malmö, that many people probably still have very fond memories of. Far away from everything that has to do with big business, just stripped down to what it’s supposed to be about – pure music.
Here they are – from 1995, Adam’s own song “Flames of love”:
IN THE REARVIEW MIRROR 