Music Break

Once again, one of these has become way overdue.  Let me start with something from Ted Nugent's eponymous 1975 debut solo album.  To record this album, the Nuge teamed up with bassist Rob Grange (a holdover from his earlier band the Amboy Dukes), singer/guitarist Derek St. Holmes, and drummer Cliff Davies.  While St. Holmes sings most the album's songs, Davies sings Stormtroopin', and I dare say sounds a bit like Ozzy.  (In their live set, St. Holmes sang this one.)


The Stampeders were formed in Alberta, Canada, and consisted of up to six members, but were down to a trio when they started recording.  The remaining three members were Rich Dodson (guitar), Ronnie King (bass), and Kim Berly (drums), all of whom contributed both lead and backing vocals.  On their big hit Sweet City Woman, Dodson sang lead and played the banjo, but on Wild Eyes, which came out a bit later, Berly sings the lead.  Later during the 1970's, the band underwent some personnel changes, and broke up in 1979.  However, in 1992, Dodson, King and Berly reunited and have been played together even since then.


Another successful Canadian band that's still around is April Wine.  During their heyday, from 1977 to 1984, the group included guitarists Miles Goodwyn, Brian Greenway and Gary Moffet, bassist Steve Lang, and drummer Jerry Mercer.  Goodwyn has sung most of the band's songs, with some lead vocals contributed by Greenway.  Goodwyn also plays keyboards.  In this live video of I Like To Rock, recorded in 1982, Goodwyn sings lead, Moffet wears a black shirt and white pants, and Greenway wears a yellow shirt, which he somehow manages to lose.  The studio version of the song appeared on their 1979 album Harder ... Faster.  The song ends with tributes to both the Beatles and the Rollings Stones.  Today, the band consists of Goodwyn, Greenway, bassist Richard Lanthier and drummer Roy Nichol.


On their 1977 album Spectres, Blue Öyster Cult led off with Godzilla, a tribute to the fictional monster of the same name.  At this time, the band consisted of lead guitarist Donald "Buck Dharma" Roeser (who sings this one), guitarist Eric Bloom, keyboardist/guitarist Alan Lanier, bassist Joe Bouchard, and drummer Albert Bouchard.  Although the song has been covered by quite a few artists, and has been used in a few movies, to my knowledge it has never been used in any of the movies involving the song's namesake.  This video combines the song with footage from the 1956 film Godzilla, King Of The Monsters!, and ends with an appearance by the film's star, Raymond Burr.


Let me end as I began, with a song having a name that ends with an apostrophe after "-in".  The biggest hit for British group Uriah Heep was Stealin', from their 1973 album Sweet Freedom.  At the time, the band consisted of lead singer David Byron, lead guitarist Mick Box, keyboardist/guitarist Ken Hensley, bassist Gary Thain, and drummer Lee Kerslake.  Hensley, who wrote this, would later join Blackfoot, while Kerslake would play on several of Ozzy Osbourne's solo albums.  Well, what do you know?  I made an Ozzy reference while introducing the first song, and finished with one, too.