Best Albums of 1983, Ranked (ft. Joe, Podcast Rock City)

Hey y'all, welcome to Past Times at 80s High. Got a great one for you today. We are going to do decades series number four. You know, it's been a fan favorite so far. We are doing our top 10 albums released in 1983. And what a great year, man. What a great year. A few things I want to get out. Well, first of all, I have my brother Mark here today. Hello, Mark.

Hey, how's it going, everybody?

And Kevin. Good afternoon. And Dongo, of course. What's happening? And then uh I like to mention our sidecast, Preachers of the Night. And you know, that's a KISS-centric one. If you're into the band KISS, we appreciate those listens. And speaking of KISS podcasts, one of my favorites is Podcast Rock City, which you can see at 7 p.m. on Sunday nights typically. And we have our first appointment viewing.

Appointment viewing. Sorry.

Appointment viewing, yes. And we have us our first guest today, and that is Joe, the host of Podcast Rock City. How are you doing, Joe?

I'm doing great. How are you guys?

Excellent. Awesome. Really excited about this.

I before we get started, I want to go ahead and say um having to come up with a list of records from 1983 is the biggest load of shit I've had to deal with. There's like 80 different records that came out. Yeah. I don't know how you guys did 81 and 82.

Oh man. This is my toughest thus far for sure. Yeah. That's crazy. That's crazy. But Joe, where can people find you?

Uh Podcast Rock City is an all live uh interactive KISS podcast. It's on um YouTube and Facebook every week. Just search up Podcast Rock City. Um and it's live. You subscribe, then you get put right into the box. And while we're doing the show, you can get in there and uh, like a few of you guys do, and chat and uh comment on the show. It's a lot of fun. And if you uh and that's 7 p.m. Eastern time every Sunday. And if you want to email us, it's at podcast Rock City1. That's the number one at gmail.com. Podcast Rock City One, that's the number one at gmail.com. That's it. I don't have anything else to plug. We just uh we just do it all live and it's a lot of fun. And we appreciate you guys coming. It's it's awesome.

Oh, by the way, congrats on your 10-year anniversary last weekend.

Yeah, I'm gonna tell you, it it it was it was it's a blown away. It's a it's blown away. It's one of those things where you just like, I can't believe we've been doing it this long. And I haven't been on every episode, almost every episode. I haven't been on it because of course I took a vacation here and there and the other guys did it, but you know, I think we're close to 500 episodes now. Wow, man.

Wow, wow. I just find it to be such a huge bonus to be able to participate, and that's something that we're working on, you know, because I feel like, you know, rather than me sitting there yelling at the speakers when I listen to you guys or shout it out loud cast, it's so nice to be able to, you know, speak our mind, you know, and that's what makes it fun for us, you know, the listener. So awesome, great show.

What was that other show? Shout Shout It, what is it? You know, these or something like that. I just had them on. I just had them on when the book came out. I love those guys, but but I'd like to jab, I jab it there. I um oh it's really funny because you know, at the end of our show, I always go, We love Kiss and we love KISS podcasts, most of them. Yeah, I Sonny gets text messages. Is he talking about us? Do you not does he not like us? And Sonny's like, I'll never tell. And it's nobody, it's nobody, but it, but it's you know, it's like being a wrestling fan. You just wonder what's going on, you know.

Which yeah, which some of us are big wrestling fans here. Oh, yeah, yeah, all right. So, as we do in our decade series, we start out with a news story of the year, and we are gonna give Joe the honors, of course.

Okay, my news story has uh has like a little story along with it. I was um sitting in front of my TV playing uh Atari, and I knew the game was Defender. Nice, yes, I'm not gonna lie, it's right I still have it, it's right through that door right there. You can't see the door, so I don't know why I'm pointing. Beautiful. Um, I still have my Atari. I still play. All right, so I was playing Defender. My parents were in the kitchen behind me getting Chinese food ready, and I knew that at a specific time I was going to see Michael Jackson's thriller video. Um and um for those of you that are old enough to remember, it was a big deal. It was like after it came out, I think it was like 24 hours of Michael Jackson's thriller video. It was unbelievable. It was unbelievable. I mean, I I growing up an MTV kid, pop music is really special and important in my life. And um that that music video, I just the girl's name I think was Ola Ray, and she was cute. Yeah, you know, it's like and that was her name. Yes, yes, and and I just recently watched an episode of the Big Bang Theory where they were talking about thriller, and I think Sheldon said that he didn't like it because he finds the idea of zombies dancing synchronized as a like a preposterous or something. But that is my news story. I loved I that was such a big deal. I mean, I you I couldn't think of anything bigger that happened in '83. I bet you guys can't.

You know where we're going.

I know where you're going, but I didn't go there because it was too damn predictive. Yeah, right.

Great pick, though. And one real quick thing before I move to you, Donald, is how Thriller came out in '82. So it took, you know, that just carried for you know, well, such a long time. What a fucking staple and a memory, you know. Just that whole album. Well, like, whether you like so many hits on it or not, yeah, it was just so important to all of our lives. Incredible. And that's what makes this great.

I'll tell you something funny that I just found out. I don't know if it's true. I read it on the Google, you know, but uh the Google. It must be true. Google Machine. The Google machine. Before that record came out, you know, it became the biggest selling album of all time. Do you know what the biggest selling album of all time was? It was bad out of hell. Oh, meatloaf, baby, with Bruce. Yeah, according to what I read. According to what I read. Yeah, that's nuts.

Oh, yeah. I know.

Yeah, that is nuts.

It was huge for sure.

And the tour had who playing guitar on it. Come on, somebody.

Bruce and Bob, baby.

Bruce and Bob. Okay, good. Nice. All right, just making sure. Right.

That's that was before he poached Stevie Stevens from uh Billy Idol, right?

Billy Idol. Yeah. I don't know if you um saw that we drew names, Donald. So you have the honors, and which makes me fucking last. So that's how you know I didn't cheat.

Has been pulled for you. Yes.

So my news story uh for 1983 uh kind of is what we're kind of seeing today with censorship, and it was the July 4th, the Beach Boys were gonna play in Washington, D.C., which they had the previous 1980, 1981, 1982. People loved it. And then there was this Secretary of the Interior, which whatever that job does under Ronald Reagan, James Watt. He was a Christian conservative, he didn't want rock and roll, which it's funny looking back now, the Beach Boys, I wouldn't think they were no, yeah, they're heavy metal, aren't they? Yeah, right. And we'll get into some 1983 bands that was like the birth of some pretty heavy rock and roll. Um, but he he banned them uh from attending. And George, what is it, George H. Bush, the the Bush senior, was like, not gonna do that, wouldn't be prudent. He liked them, and so did Barbara Bush. So they they kind of trumped him and allowed them to no pun intended, yeah. And then Ronald Reagan in like a a funny like jab at him gave him a plaster boot with a hole in it, and he said, Here, you know, shoot yourself in the foot, kind of thing. Right, right.

Yeah, Reagan that Reagan never came off as the type of guy that would be banning speech at all.

At all, yeah.

I think that would be Tipper Gore, yeah, yes, PMRC.

We talk about that often on this show, yeah. The PMRC for sure.

And he it wasn't James Watt, was the kind of the start of that. He I think he was from Arkansas, but it that Christian movement from Arkansas that was kind of trying to ban music and and language and things like that.

But crazy. Awesome. Great pick, Dawn. So, Kevin, that goes to you next.

Well, that's not the order on the Zoom.

Yeah, well, don't go by that.

Yeah, uh, I'm gonna geek out for my 1983. I'm gonna bring two things together. The first thing was that the ARPNE, which was the basically the early stages, the backbone of what became the internet in 1983 started using the TCP IP protocol, which actually gave us the internet that we use today. Now, at the same time that same year, Dynotech came out, which was the first commercially available brick mobile phone. The brick. And they actually called from I think Soldiers Field, they actually called Alexander Graham Bell's son, grandson, I'm sorry, in Germany. That was like one of the first phone calls that they did. But I found it interesting that 1983, the both of those things happening in that year, and look at where we are now with internet and cell phones, right? And I don't think anybody would have connected the two at the time, cell phone and internet didn't seem like they would be what they are today, but they have certainly for good and bad, changed everything in our existence and right there in 1983. Is that a world changer?

A world changer. Yeah, that's right, brother.

No, that's why kids walk into uh into wishing wells because they're staring at their damn phone instead of watching where they're walking, and they end up in the I'm gonna tell you today I went to the Home Depot and my girlfriend and I were pulling down the aisle, and when we were walking, there was a lady that was older than all of us pushing a cart with a kid in it on her phone. I had to wait for her to get out of the way.

I was like, these bunkers. Don't you just want to fucking run into them? Not the old lady. I might have nudged her a little. Okay, good pick, Kev. Thank you. Brother Mark, to you.

Okay. Uh Donnie brought up the Beach Boys, and Kevin brought up the Charles Manson connection. Well, this is the drummer of the Beach Boys, uh, Dennis Wilson. He drowned on December 28th, 1983, off uh Marina Del Rey on a 50-something foot yacht. I think he was going down trying to find treasures. He had a uh BAC of.26. Is that all right? And so yeah, he drowned. He was only 39 years old. And um and you know, I've always been intrigued by him. He was he was actually the only surfer in the Beach Boys. I don't know how him and the Manson family caught up with each other. Yeah. And uh that was a tie-in with Terry Melcher, and that went into the uh the the fact that Charlie wanted a record contract, and he actually went to Terry Melcher's house when other people moved in there the tapes, yeah and unfortunately.

We all know the rest of it. I'm not gonna get into it. Very fucked up, though, how that you know, you know, chain of events happens for sure.

I mean, he he he sounded like a pretty evil guy. Something would have happened anyway, but yeah, maybe I would think I think I've mentioned it before too.

I mean, he uh Charles also tried out for the monkeys. Yeah. Imagine how different the story would be if he'd been picked for the monkeys. We'd we'd have the torque family or something like that.

The torque family murders that television show wouldn't have been nearly as funny, right? Right. Might have been more funny. What a great fucking show, but anyway, awesome. All right, so last but not least, I shall go to September 18th of 1983, and yes, Captain Ove is here. I am taking my favorite band in the history of mankind. Yes, yes, when I love your shirt when uh VJ, uh I'm yeah, VJ, JJ Jackson came on, and there's KISS revealing their faces. You start out with a silhouette of them sitting at the frigging table and just wow. I mean, to me, the anonymity of KISS throughout the 70s and early 80s was such a huge part that I think is goes so overlooked to be able to have that. Gene would talk about you know, strolling through the audience, you know, buying a ticket at Madison Square Garden and just going through the crowd and then walking backstage, putting the makeup on and fucking getting up on that for four shows, you know, whatever it was. And just I don't know, to me, I mean, God, I was 11, 12 years old this year, I think that's sixth grade. And uh Joe, I haven't told you this. I don't know if you've listened to any of our episodes, but are you about to tell me that I'm attractive?

Thank you.

Well, of course you are, but anyway, it's what we were all thinking.

Yes. I just um Mark is my older oldest brother at 60. Um, we lost our brother David at 52 years old, 51 or 52 to cancer, and both of them were such diehard KISS fans that I was not allowed to like any other band as a child. And so everything that happened with KISS, and I know you get this being such a fan, but just every story, every magazine cover, and when this fucking happened, it was just so massive to me and such an important part of my life and pop culture. So I couldn't leave that out.

Right, absolutely.

That's a great one.

Yeah, I didn't want to do it because it was obvious. We assume you were gonna pick it. Right, right.

I got anytime I can throw Kiss into a cast, I have to. But real quick, before we go to you for number 10, Joe, I just want to ask, because Mark and I talk about this often on Preachers of the Night, and that is that Rio de Janeiro show, famous from exposed. And I Mark and I really felt how you could almost see them transitioning out of the makeup with their costumes and Vinny and just you know, Paul in his kiss tank top. It just you could see it happening almost, and I think that gets overlooked a lot.

I never got that feeling actually. I really I always yeah, that's interesting. Next time I watch it, I'll think about that and see if I I um I think that uh it would have been G when you watch it, Gene is still menacing, still menacing, and Paul is still very flamboyant, and Vinny's still stupid.

He wasn't in a dress though.

Yeah, and then uh Eric, you know, you can barely see him back there, but you know, uh, and but it's still so big. But the next time I watch it, I'll try to get that frame of mind and what I think, and then we'll talk about it. Then I'll steal that topic for my show.

Perfect.

We'll be commenting. Don't you worry about it. We'll be in the audience. I noticed.

Awesome. Okay, Joe. So you have the honors. We're gonna start with your number 10 album from 1983.

Okay, so like I said, I have 22 records on this piece of paper, and I had to go through and find uh 10. So my number 10 is the only visual uh I brought one record with me to show to show off because I wanted to point out something and see how many of you guys know this. You may all know that, but my number 10 is going to be nice the police baby. Yes, all right. Yes, do you guys know anything special about this record?

Kevin, come on, you're the fucking master.

The neurotic song. Nothing I'll be watching you.

Okay, so this I'm gonna go ahead and let you guys know. I listen the mouth blow your minds. There is 36 different covers to this record. Oh, no. So I had a all right, there's something else too. I'll get to that. When I went when I was a kid and I got this, the reason why I noticed this was because my cover had like a girl here. I want to say she was Asian and she was topless. Oh, no, so I was like 12 or 13, and I had a top.

Yeah, of course.

Okay, but then I don't know what happened to that record. I went and I got it again. It's still in your bathroom, and she wasn't now. She's a grandma, and I don't want to say, but I noticed that she's not on here. So I went on YouTube and typed in, and then there's a whole thing about this. Police fans try to get all 36 copies. Now, here's the other thing. When you pull your record, do you guys all have this?

I don't have it on vinyl. I'm not on the vinyl kit.

Yes, it's actually very dark purple vinyl, and the songs on this record unbelievable. I mean, unbelievable. Now, I will be honest and tell you, before MTV, I had no idea who the police were. I didn't even hear the record before this. You know, I I I was one of those late, you know, to the party kind of thing. But that's a great record, and that's my number 10.

Awesome pick. All right. So, um, like you were saying, it is hard to narrow down the albums. So I kind of went with you know what what I enjoy, which is what we kind of always did, what I enjoyed. And I also did albums that had multiple hits on because there's a lot of one-hit wonders in the 80s to 83, too. So um, that were awesome, and I still love them. Uh, so I went with Let's Dance, baby, with David Morris. Oh, David Moyce, another MTV hero kind of thing. And yeah, wait a minute, MTV.

I'm sorry. Sorry to interrupt.

My little china.

I I just broke our cardinal rule. Let the guy speak for 30 seconds. Yeah. Now, if that's what MTV Shut the fuck up, Mark. Let Donnie finish. I will shut the fuck up. I will shut the fuck up. Go on, Donnie. I'm sorry.

No, it's cool. So yeah, I went with Bowie because he was he was classic 80s, and you know, that was a great album. With Let's Dance, China Girl.

Oh, yeah.

Stevie Ray Vaughn on the guitar.

Yes. Nice.

Yeah, I was gonna say that which is which is the same time that well, his career was starting to take off after that, but but you would never associate his guitar playing with with that album. Right. You wouldn't go, oh well, that sounds like Stevie Ray Vaughn. No way, right?

Not at all. Right now, awesome. Great pick, Donald. So now hold on. Kevin, to you.

Okay.

I'll try to figure this order out now. Yeah, we'll we'll get there.

It'll come. Um, this this was you know part of a three-album run for this great band that we all love, and it kind of solidified me at the time as a metal head, um, definitely talking about Iron Maiden's peace of mind. Um, Nico McBrain had just joined the band, left uh and finished that kind of classic lineup that they had. But that's one of those albums that if you can't like God, if it if if if you're not losing your mind when the trooper starts, the trooper is like the awesome absolutely just Such a I mean, yeah, right? You know, you see the one with the baby and the new meme. It's like banging. I haven't seen that yet. Oh no, it's hilarious. Um it just, you know, at 50 something years old, you're driving down the road and and all of a sudden that comes on, and you've just you're you're putting your music up to ear splitting levels and and damn right, man.

Banging walking out to it because it's fantastic. Something I will jump in real quick just about your show, Joe, and that is Joey Cesada. I listen to his show as well, and he always talks about Iron Maiden. I don't think he's the biggest fan of them, but he always talks about it's like an old western because every song is just they all sound like fucking horses running. They they do have a but it's really true, kind of thing. It really is. It's a great analogy.

Well, Steve Harris's band, and and that's kind of the way he approaches the bass. But like they say, I mean, it's it's heavy metal with a history lesson, right? You've got all kinds of movie and literature references is where they drew from.

Incredible songwriter. Yeah, yep. Awesome. All right, so Mark, that's to you, right? Am I correct?

Yes, John Cougar, Mellon Camp. Uh-huh.

Uh-huh.

Uh-huh. Yes. Uh-huh. And this was massive back in the day. And it again, I shouldn't have jumped in earlier, but MTV played this on a loop. They played the walls, you know, crumbling down. They they played authority songs. And I really, really loved Pink Houses.

That was a America.

And there was a lot of macho shit going on back then. Right. You know, the line, forget about all that macho shit and learn how to play guitars.

Do you remember the uh controversy of the MTV Pink House contest? They they gave away a pink house on MTV. Right. Oh, yeah. I do remember. I remember in the commercial, he was like, and we're gonna paint the mother thing. Yeah. And uh it turned out that the house was built on a site that they had a bunch of like uh waste underneath. Oh, Jude is super fucking carcinogen or something. Not nuclear, but like some kind of chemical, maybe, or something like that.

At least it wasn't an Indian burial ground.

Yeah. Little poltergeist at right. Awesome. Awesome. All right, so that's to me then. And my number 10 for me was my hardest pick of this whole list. Like everything else on it was just staying. I couldn't not take it, but I struggled with 10, and I still have 30 picks that I could put there. But this, as I explained earlier, I have two older brothers, and the influence that they put on me, especially David here, Mark.

Oh, thank you.

Well, no, I just mean he drilled Sister Christian into my head, and that's you know, Night Ranger, Midnight Madness, and just record I just you know, you can still rock in America, just it all resonated with me, and David did this with a few albums where he would, I think he bought them for me for Christmas so that he could have them. Yeah, exactly. He did that with Brian Adams Reckless, too. It's like you're gonna love it, but anyway, just this album to me, you guys drilled it into my head, and I just remember David pushing it on me. I wasn't disrespecting you, Mark, but David was like, listen to this song, listen to this song, and and of course it got drilled into my head. I don't know how I was able to have that happen because it wasn't kiss. So I guess you guys did allow me to like a couple other bands.

My brother David was the kind of guy, in fact, I heard him do it. If somebody complimented a KISS record, he would say thank you. As if it was his own record.

Glad you liked it. So that's number nine to you, then Joe. Madonna. Oh, that reverse record.

He's not component to my so uh Lucky Star, uh holiday, I mean, uh borderline. I mean, the I will tell you, I remember the first time I saw her. I remember she in one of the videos, she was wearing this like thing that looked like a towel that I had in my bathroom. And I remember thinking she's wearing a towel as a dress. And I remember thinking this girl's attractive and sexy, and there may be something a little dirty about her, yeah, and I'm pretty sure I like it.

Absolutely. That's I think where all of us men felt back then. That's before she looked like Mufasa.

Yeah, I let about the time she dated Dennis Rodman. I was like, nah, nah, yeah, I'm done after that.

Her documentary ruined it for me.

But anyway, and you guys have all seen the um um I'm trying reservoir dogs, right? Where they have the whole conversation about where it's all about what what like a virgin is really about. That's just fine for you. I remember seeing the movie and going, hmm, I never realized that.

Yeah, I would. That's a legitimate conversation, but anyway, yeah.

Awesome. So that's to Donald. You went with Night Ranger. I can't get them off my list. I have to have Night Ranger Midnight Madness because I love that album. Love it. I could I put it higher. Um, but you could still rock in America, it's so rocking. I love that song. Um, Sister Christian is like the an anthem tune, you know, it's just incredible.

Oh, I just love it. When you close your eyes, I forgot about that one too.

He's awesome. Yep. Uh a little underrated. For sure. Yeah. Who was that?

They were on uh kiss, they were on Kiss Cruise 10.

Yes.

And um uh my girlfriend Karen and I, I was like, come on, let's go see Night Ranger. She's like, I know like one song, and then by the end of the show, she was like, I knew like eight songs. I never realized that they were that it was Night Ranger, so it was really kind of cool.

I love it when I see a show and you realize, holy fuck, they do that song. You know what I mean? It's great.

Yeah, with me with Starship.

All right, Donald. So that brings us to Kevin for here, his number nine.

Number nine is one of those, you know, we talked about thriller uh on 82, and it was, you know, Michael Jackson's approach to that was I'm just gonna why can't every song be a hit? And this too, Huey Lewis and the new sports, was another one that was just like, let's make every fucking song a hit. And they did. It went seven times platinum. Did uh it was it was on the charts for 160 weeks, and just I mean, it was a great album, and there was there was no real dead spots on it. Um, it was so great, in fact, that that um one of the songs was um submitted for Ghostbusters, and uh they decided not to do it. Apparently, um, what was his name? Here we go with my partner jr. Yeah, Ray Parker Jr.

He he he ripped off the riff.

He did, he ripped, he ripped it off, and if you listen to the song now, you're like, holy shit, that's one's I want a new drug, right?

And then the other is right.

Right, and it's I mean it's right there, but but it's so funny because what happened was there was a lawsuit, and they had to give rights and money to Huey Lewis for actually writing the riff and the song, but then later Huey said something about it in an interview which violated the NDA that he had signed. So Ray Parker again in turn sued him. And it's like I don't think there was any like real hatred in it, but everybody was like, Oh, well, I'll take this piece and I'll take that piece, and I'll see you in court.

Fucking puzzle it.

But absolutely a fantastic album, start to finish. Um walking on a thin line. I I think was one of the ones that wasn't quite as big as the other ones, but I always kind of really that one always kind of hit me. Great, great tune.

You know, it's really funny because I a lot of these songs, you know, I put together with the video, and I just remember loving the girl in the pink bikini at the end of if this is it. Yeah. When she walked up, and I was just I just remember thinking, yeah, 13-year-old Joe, that's I dig that. All we gotta do now is get to the beach and that'll happen. Right? All right, we were born in 1970, I take it.

Yeah, I was does that I'm trying to think. Was that the same video where he asked her to go on my yacht and his little dingy rowboat was called my mystery?

I don't remember that one.

Yeah, I think it might have been. I think it might have been a lot of beach scenes, a lot of yeah, a lot of beach stuff. Yeah, because that had a lot to do with the song, but you know, it certainly kept us watching, didn't it?

Yeah, absolutely.

Oh, great. All right, so we are to you, I believe, my brother Mark.

Okay, well, I have Cindy Lopper. She's so unusual.

You fuck.

Okay. Yep. Sorry, go on. All right, well, uh Money Changes Everything and Time After Time are my two favorite songs in that record. But what she means that record means to me is her disrespect for Captain Lou Albano who took a prod off the street to New York out of the Bronx and made her who she was today. That's right. How does she respect him? She slapped him in the face on Piper's pit. And uh joking aside though, I mean, uh, you know, with David Wolfe and everything, they ended up uh doing the you know the rock and wrestling thing with Vince McMahon. And I think that and a lot of people think this, that she created a vacuum that Madonna came and uh fell into and made herself a huge star.

And uh kind of her lopper's career. Yep, exactly. Well, I am gonna jump in here and I apologize, brother, but I go after you, so maybe we can just discuss this together, since that's my number nine. So when they were on Piper's pit with Captain Lou just behind there, going, tell him Sydney, tell him Sydney, yeah, abroad couldn't do this on her own. It was just so with her little New York accent just going, What are you talking about? Yeah, she's kind of sexy with that red hair.

I I love Cindy Lauper, and I had a massive I'm gonna tell you, my mom's been gone, I guess, six or seven years now. She's here now. She's going, he's still talking about that little New York girl. He's on her farewell tour. You know, she's she's doing a farewell tour. Did you guys know that girls just want to have fun as a cover? Yes.

Robert Hazard.

There you go. Good, yeah. No kidding, huh?

I did not know that. I must have been.

It wasn't quite the feminist anthem.

Yes, what it became. You know what she bops about? Yes, yes. Yeah, it's uh uh I'm an expert at she boping. The uh we all if you go on uh if you go on YouTube, you can hear it if you guys have never heard it, but it's the original, and when you listen to it, you're like, get out. That doesn't sound she. I mean, obviously, whoever produced her made it a lot better. Her she's an amazing singer, though.

Amazing, and time after time was there. I gotta say time after time, like yeah, just yeah, that still when I hear it, you know, it just it's so funny being you know, such a hard rock and metalhead, and how the pop back then, something we talk about, Joe, a lot on this show. Fucking pop back then was amazing, and how now it's a fucking joke, all played to tracks, and but god, I loved it. But I won't go further because you know, other stuff will be coming up.

Number eight in the midnight house. She cries Mo Rebel.

So I will tell you, here's a here's a a true statement. I've had that record for I don't know how many years, and I cannot remember the last time I listened to it. So I put it on about uh maybe a month ago, and I listened to it, and the majority of that record is nothing like Rebel Yell. It's very much like um that uh Duran Duran sounding more poppy than punk. Yeah, yeah. I was really surprised by that. So they got the Casablanca connection, right? With and the uh Bill A coin connection to Kiss. And my understanding is he's the reason why they fired uh Billy Coin in the first place is because he was spending too much time away from them. And that's pretty interesting. And Steve Stevens a badass on guitar, rocking, right? Yes. Yeah, I mean, he's connected to he's connected to Michael Jackson, right? He did Dirty Diana, and the other day they were on the radio here, they were talking about the soundtrack The Top Gun, and I was like, man, he's the guitar player that does the uh Top Gun. It's pretty awesome when you think that's Steve Stevens.

Wow, that's cool. Pretty cool.

Yeah, Rebel Yell, man. I was a big I remember I moved into my new house when I was a kid, and I had a picture of Billy Idol, Kiss, and Prince. And my and my uncle came in and goes, that says it all. Billy Idol.

All right. So am I correct when I say it to you, Donald? Yes.

Yep. And I would I had Billy Idol in there, but I'm gonna I'm gonna stick with the Billy's and I'm gonna slide in Billy Joel. At a boy, yes, because it was his ninth studio album, but yet this man can just write and write and write. He's a songwriter, you know, he can write lyrics and he can write a tune that gets your foot tapping. And he had multiple hits on this album. Tell her about it. Uptown Girl, Innocent Man.

For the longest if you said goodbye to me tonight, there would still be music left to write.

Ah, you know, just awesome. He was an awesome songwriter, you know. And again, you know, I was into rock and roll and metal, but yet when his stuff came on, you respected it. You're like, well, that's good shit, you know, that's good music. It got you grooving, definitely. Yeah, yeah.

Well, I I'll tell you a story about Billy Joel. I was dating this girl, and she met Billy Joel and she left me for him. And her name was Christy Brinkley. No, I'm kidding. Ah, you fucker. What was her?

I don't know you, Joe. I don't know.

Christy Brinkley. I had the biggest crush on Christy Brinkley.

It was just you. Nobody else did.

I loved her, and I was like, when he started dating her, so they did a like um like a 2020 had her an interview with her, and she kept calling Billy, she called him Joe. So I'm sitting this close to the TV just to look at this woman, and my mom is on the couch behind me, and she's going, um, she's looking at Billy, she's going, Joe, blah, blah, blah, Joe. And I'm looking at my mom, like, is she saying I'm going crazy? And then finally, she goes, the interviewer goes, I noticed that you call Billy Joe. Why do you do that? And she said, Well, Joe's my favorite name.

Oh, boy. A win. But it also says something though.

What kind of like if my favorite name was Betty, I wouldn't go around calling my husband or my wife Betty. Right. Right.

That's fine.

When you look like Christy Brinkley, there is a whole different set of rules for like imagine.

I'm just saying.

She was like, she she didn't, she doesn't, she like transcends human. She's like somebody designed her in a lab somewhere. She's like like Princess Grace, just like the perfect form. Unbelievable.

Yeah. You just said, mmm. I'm gonna I'm gonna cut that out and make it sound thick.

All right. So I believe, where do you, Kev? Is it me? I think so. All right. Now I have no idea.

What do I know? I'm the host. Um so we're going, what are we? Are we eight? Eight. We're eight. All right. Genesis, one of the biggest frog rock bands. Uh, even though there were tales of this leading up to it and the albums leading up to it, but this one was the one where they learned how to make their music marketable, like radio friendly. They they cut their 15-minute epic and video friendly, and video friendly down to three minutes and 30 seconds. Um, and like every song on that album again hit. It always makes me nervous when I see the album cover because it's that what was that game? The um the one where you put the pieces in and you had to do it in a certain amount of time and it would perfection, perfection, yes, yeah, yeah. Which is where all of our anxiety started with that game. Anyway, kids like um that fucked the whole world up.

Exactly.

Um, but but it was, I mean, this is this is where it was all mastered, where you know, Phil Collins, like him or hate him, I like he became the master of of the pop song. He was everywhere. He was oh my god. Huge hits with Genesis.

It's always the same, it's just a shame that's all.

And then just fucking doing off a solo album that was also had eight great songs.

His solo career, I think, was bigger. Absolutely. Absolutely.

It's incredible, and that that's just like a moment in time where where he was just a decade actually, where he was unstoppable, and that's kind of that Genesis album. Also, kind of strange that it was like I want to say their eighth or ninth album, and they, you know, with some lineup changes, and and they called an album that far from their career, they named it after themselves. It was their self-titled album, which is usually the first album, right? Right, or somewhere in that area.

All right, so where are we, Mark?

Number eight for me is uh the police synchronicity. Obviously, we talked about every breath you can take, which is again, we brought it up. It's a song about uh, I mean, a love song, and today it's considered a stalking song, but then we have to stalk.

It is a stalking, it is a stalking song, it was written to be a stalking song.

Yeah, well, you know, I mean I don't care if you you know you can't date anyone else, but if if you date anyone, it has to be me.

But every breath you take. Every move you make, every bond you break, every step you take, I'll be watching.

No, I think it pain. King of Pain uh meant something to me because you know I battled depression back in the 80s and and it's been a lifelong battle. I'm I'm open in my heart to my audience, and that spoke to me. Fucking right.

Yeah.

Yeah. So yeah. Nice brother. All right. So that's number eight to me. Finally, one that nobody has chosen before. And this takes me to sixth grade. Now, yes, when I was in high school, there was a smoking area. I mean, well, I'm in middle school at this moment, but when I would walk by the smoking area, I would hear shout at the devil, you know, 10 seconds to love. And this is Montley Crue, shout at the devil, and it just, you know, uh September 23rd, 1983. And this band, although I've lost a lot of respect for them recently, back then it was undeniable to me. There was, you know, one, two, three, four albums that really resonated with me. But this one I felt to be pretty much one of my first metal albums. Like I felt this was Motley Crue at Metal, and what a great fucking album it is. Awesome album. Incredible record. So, you know, I'm gonna try to, like I said, move a little quicker here. So I will take it to you, Joe.

Well, I'm gonna tell you we're gonna move a little faster because that's my number seven. Ah, nice. It was my number seven. I just recently another uh copy of that, and I just about a year ago found a mint copy because if you guys remember, the inside was all the members when you opened it, and there was so much ink in there that when you find a copy now, it's like Kiss Alive 2, it's stuck together. So I opened it up and it was great, and I was like, hell yeah, I feel great about this, but that album is uh awesome. I always thought, you know, the shout at the devil, the thing at the beginning was their version, their Detroit Rock City, right? You know, telling the story and everything leading up to the song. And uh anyway, so that's my number seven shout at the devil.

Awesome. And I'm just gonna slide right in and keep it up and shout at the devil mulligan.

You guys are stealing my kind of rolling three in a row.

I could I could put something else in, but I can't because it did have meaning to me. Because that was the first song in 1983 that I listened to on headphones on a Sony Walkman. Yes, that was it the yellow one burned into my brain. It was a Sony Walkman. I put the headphones on, and she's got the looks that cute. Okay, yeah. You know, I just first time I heard a song on headphones and a Walkman, it was pretty, pretty awesome.

Awesome. Yeah, Skelter, you know, great cover. Yeah, so we have another Seinfeld here where we're all picking the same album at the same time.

Yeah, I mean, like I said, I could I could have I have alternates, but I can't I can't throw that away.

Yeah, there's just a few we can't throw away. My whole list is that way, so fuck it, you know. All right.

It's funny. Recently I saw them talking about that album, and they were talking about, you know, we were saying shout at the devil, you know, the whole satanic thing in the PMRC, but we were saying shout at the devil, and I actually remember my buddy at the time playing that at his house, and his mother didn't care about any of the other songs in the album, but she would yell up, I told you not to play that devil song. We're shouting at him, we're shout we're shouting at him.

Yeah, I read one time that that wasn't gonna be the name of the record, it was actually gonna be shout with the devil. Ah, they smoked it. They changed it. I don't know how true that is. I have a ton of like old uh circus magazines and hit paraders in there, and I'm gonna I've probably read it in there somewhere.

All right, that's 70 to you, Mr. Well, Kevin.

All right, so I am going to break the shout at the devil streak and go in a different direction. Um, another album that was unavoidable in 1983, and another album that it was a prog rock band that found their stride and became that radio friendly, but still great songs. And that was yes, 90125. Ah, nice such amazing songs on that album. You know, they had added Trevor Rabin in. Um originally it was going to be a band called Cinema. It was some of the the remnants, um, Chris Squire uh and the drummer, I think Alan White was his name, um, we're gonna start this other side project. Yes, it'd fallen apart. But then as they needed players, they started bringing people in again and realized that they had become they might as well call John Anderson and be yes. So that's what they did. But again, I mean, an album, MTV, owner of a lonely heart, I mean, was every rotation it was there. Um and I went back and listened to that album, and it's still a great solid album.

Damn straight it is. Awesome. So then to you, Mark. All right, I have Easy Dot Eliminator.

What is it? Yeah, it's Eliminator. And this this record is special to me because Valerie is from western New York, out just like 20-something miles of uh Buffalo, New York. And we used to go out there for Patriots and Bills games. We also went out to see her stepdad. And um, you know, it was just so much fun when that when Z Z Top came on, and some of these songs, you know, you have uh legs and you give me all your loving shop dress man, got me under pressure, and she would just get so happy and excited, and I would just be loving it. And I love the songs too. And you brought it up earlier that that like KISS, they could be incognito, all they had to do was shave their 14-foot beard. Exactly.

So it's so funny, it's so funny that you said that she would get excited when those songs came on because the same thing happened to me when I saw the videos with all the hot girls. Yeah. So I'll tell you something that's interesting. So I keep throwing doing these kiss connections for you guys. You know, in the legs video, the blonde with the red and the black, she's really tall. She is the girl, if I'm not remembering this right, if wrong, she's the girl sitting with Paul Stanley having breakfast when he's having root beer in his in his cereal.

He's like, I'm having this for breakfast.

Oh, it was uh I'm having best. Don't you eat meat? Don't you eat meat? And she's he says, only when it's fresh. Exactly.

Only when it's fresh.

All right. No more kiss things. I'm sorry. No, it's okay.

We love that here, Joe. It's like a circle, it all comes around. Yes. Incredible. All right, so we're to me for number seven, correct?

Yes, that's right.

All right, and nobody's gonna get this reference, but I'm just gonna do this. And that is Ozzy Osborne Bark at the Moon album. Uh I just give a train. And that was uh Journey to the Center of Eternity. Yeah, but terrible, terrible reference of it. But anyway, this album was. I'm really up on your Gregorian chance when Jake Lee came into the fold after Randy.

The best Aussie guitar player.

I fucking agree with you. No, no, Jake Lee.

Jake Lee.

Yes. I mean, don't get me wrong. I think Randy is Randy. I mean, uh, they're just different styles without a doubt. Badland's album with Jakey Lee.

Badland's album is awesome.

Let's get to Bark at the Moon here. Yeah, I love I love Randy, but there's just something about about uh Jake that's badass.

Fucking bad axe, battle axe. And Bark at the Moon, when you kick into that title track, just God, it was amazing to me, and it you know, to me, it carried me through, you know, a time in my life, and I know a lot of these movies do that. I mean, a lot of these songs do that, but just God, it's incredible to me. Just, you know, that was a great, great Aussie album that and you know, I always hate the fact that Aussie didn't um, you know, give his uh due diligence to the people that helped him through this, the songwriters, and he is going into the rock and roll hall of fame this month, or or this year rather. And Jake E.

Lee, you mean, right?

No, I mean Ozzy solo, and he better fucking mention Lee Kerslake, Bob Daisley, like just the people I'm Ozzy didn't write his stuff like without these songwriters and lyricists, you know, I don't think he'd be what he would be. And you go back to Sabbath and you look at you know, all those guys, same thing. I mean, Ozzy has a unique voice and he's badass, but how can you overlook the fucking support that he had through all of those albums, man?

Doesn't make any sense at all.

So I just I I don't know why you have to make a big deal about it. Sharon wrote a check for $500 apiece to Daisley and and and Jakey Lee, and and that's what we should get out of it, right? They're good.

Yeah, but rock and roll rebel, I couldn't leave that one out. But I will move forward to you, Joe.

So a friend of mine, Kevin, said, Hey man, uh you you got a penny for a penny. We could get these 10 records. Yeah, Columbia House, baby. What was your name? What name did you use? RCA, RCA, I'm date myself too. I didn't have to use my name because Kevin did it, and I got my five tapes. Well, one of them, one of them I heard of the band, but I'd never listened to them. And when I got the record or the tape, I put it on, and it was like and then I went, do these guys have more records? And I've got everything sent. No, I can't say that. I've got some of the stuff since. And uh the first record that I bought after Master of Puppets was Kill Em All. Yeah. Yep. I still have it on vinyl upstairs. So it's it's crazy. It's it's such a great record, and you know, you listen to it and you're like, man, these guys were so far ahead of everything, and yeah, it opened up that whole thrash world to me, it's unbelievable.

Yeah, and for me, I'm just gonna jump in real quick. For me, it was very much the opposite. Like, I hated that. I hated it because I wouldn't allow it into my world. We didn't let it be. But then when fucking um Ride the Lightning came out, and then Master took me back, and it's like these guys, I warmed up to fucking incredible. Like the the fans of them hated the fans of the stuff I loved, but then we melded. It's like fuck, it's undeniable. Like they're just incredible.

I got my tickets for their show. It's I think they're gonna be here in June at the Mercedes-Benz Dome. And uh, we got our to Karen and I are gonna go, and it's gonna be a blast. Yeah. Here it'll be Suicidal Tendencies in Pantera. I'm a little upset because I would have I wanted to see Limp Biscuit, but they're not gonna be in Atlanta, they're gonna be like the night the next night, and just so it's whatever.

So just a little side note I don't think anybody else is gonna do Pantera, but Pantera had their first album in 1983, which I thought.

I couldn't believe it either, Donnie, when I saw it. Right? Yeah, yeah. And they were more like uh hair metal then, yeah, which is really fucked up. Yeah. All right.

So you know, just back to the Metallica thing, I just wanted to say that I my favorite album is the last one that they made that was called Injustice for All.

That's my favorite. Absolutely. The last one they made.

I don't know what they'll be doing since then, but that's just what was that, Kevin?

Yeah, I don't listen to anything after that either. And I'm a music teacher if and I teach guitar. So if I'm not if I'm not uh teaching Enner Sandman or nothing else matters, I never listen to. Although I will go ahead and say uh All Nightmare Long off of Death Magnetic is badass.

And if you've never heard it, I'll have to check that out.

Okay, so when we as soon as we get done, go check it out. I'm cueing it right now. It goes it it goes right back to old school. It goes right back to old school Metallica. It's just called All Nightmare Long. It's bad. It's probably about a 45-minute song. I'm kidding. Wow, it's long, it's long. You're like, wow, they're just going, yeah.

7 55 is the run time, but I've got it right here.

So, Donald, I believe we are to you. I just don't know what number we're running.

Secret, secret. I got a secret.

I got a secret. I got a secret.

I think Gilroy was here. It was kind of their elder album, you know. It was like a like a theme album or a concept album. It was undeniable, which you know is a little weird, but I I you know, at the time, I loved that song. Fucking Mr. Robotta was an amazing song. I love Tommy Shaw. Tommy Shaw is amazing. God, he's awesome. Damn Yankees, he was awesome. Fucking right. Yeah, yeah.

A couple of my students just went and saw them. Uh, these guys are older than all of us. And uh they went and saw sticks here somewhere around Atlanta, and they brought me guitar picks from the band. Funny enough, the back of the guitar pick has the whole band's autographs. Oh, cool.

I guess that's how you save money. Yeah, you don't have and you don't have to search for every member when you're picking them up off the floor, right? Which picks did you get?

You have to write very, very small.

Very small. But yeah, that's uh that's my I like sticks. That's a good as a that was a good song, too. Yeah, yeah. It was one of the I remember I had the single, I didn't have the the whole record.

Uh yeah, and that's one where it was kind of a one-hit wonder.

It was a one-hit wonder, but that one hit was so fucking huge that it takes us all back to that point in our life. You know what I mean?

Put it this way. In anywhere in your in your life since that song came out, have you heard somebody say Domo Arigato and not heard Mr. Robato in your head? Yeah. I mean, it's just a fact.

All right, you ice holes. So I believe we're to Kevin, yes. It is to me.

Yes. Um, and I went with the stray cats, Rant and Rave, uh, produced by Dave Edmonds. Um, again, we had that kind of 80s retro back to the 50s kind of thing that was happening quite a bit. Rockabelly. Right, the rockabelly, but yeah, but that but but that was a throwback. And you think about it, 1983, and they were reminiscing about the late 50s. So today in 2024, is there anybody musically reminiscing about the 2000s?

Yeah, I don't think so. Oh my god. Yeah, I can't wait.

I always so I just find that that was interesting that that such a short period of time, and they had that big retro kind of uh thing happening. Uh the only other thing that I can say about that period, and that again an MTV staple at that time, the sexy and 17.

Oh my god.

The girl with the oh my god. She's got like the hoofed up hair that is shaved on the side, and she's like got some careful, she's only 17.

She's got the cheese on and she's she was older than me. Oh my god, yeah. Oh, at that point she was. No, yeah. Yeah, yeah. All right, I'm sorry. I think it's my age now.

The video coming on, and she's getting ready to go out, and she's standing in front of the mirror dancing just in her underwear. Yes, and I remember thinking if my mom came into this room right now, I would have some splaining to do.

There'd be a lot of talking going on. Got some splaining to do.

Bert, you need to talk to the boy.

Yes, exactly.

All right, so I think my dad would have walked in and went, looks like he knows exactly what he's doing. Exactly. No shit.

Am I correct when I say that is number six to you, brother?

Yeah, uh okay. Breath hit Yeah. I have uh Night Ranger, Midnight Madness. And you know, you have Sister Christian on the record, and uh there's a great song called uh Touch of Madness. I think there was a little bit of a poltergeist reference at the beginning. But my favorite song is the opening song, Still Rockin' America. Or you can still rock in America in parentheses. I don't know why they did that, but that is so fucking riffy. It is such a heavy guitar laden song. It's guitars from the very beginning of the song till the end of the song, and as a guitar player, I just I thought it was incredible, and that's all I got to say. Y'all have already spoken on it.

So yeah, I love that fucking album.

No, it's just a great song.

Fucking right it was. So that is six to me.

Oh, yeah.

This one for me, in my opinion, is by the greatest heavy metal singer of all time, and that would be Ronnie James Dio's Holy Diver. What what can I say about this album? Just it is incredible, man. Fucking incredible, everything about him, and to come out of you know, this is you know, we talked about Blizzard of Oz in the past couple years, and you know, on casts rather, and just God, for them to come out of Sabbath and both go solo and to do as well as they did, and just Ronnie just had the voice, you know. I love Ozzy, everything he did, but fucking Dio, all his rainbow days, his elf days, just this guy could sing, you know what I mean? And just an amazing album. I mean, stand up and shout, holy diver, don't talk to strangers, fucking rainbow in the dark, you know, that keyboard beginning, and incredible music.

Those songs that you all mentioned, I like, but when it comes to Ronnie Dane, uh James Dio's voice, I only think one thing, and that's this. He doesn't do it for me. That's probably the most controversial, I'll be. I don't know. There's just something about it, it just it just doesn't, it doesn't work.

We have our opinions, Joe. And that's why we do it, right? Yeah.

I I like listening to him talking and interviews and stuff. He's very smart, but you know, at the same time, it just I don't know.

It just didn't he it it didn't strike me like it did so many others, but okay, you're off the show now, but and the other thing is that uh I don't know if this is true or not, but a lot of people attribute the metal horns to Ronnie James do and he attributed it to his Italian grandmother who would put the hex on people the Malacca. It was the Malacca, is what they called it. Yeah.

It's an Italian thing. And Gene Simmons claims he did it because that's how he held his pick. But anyway, so we are at we are at number five to you, Joe.

Number five for me is less dance. Um I you know, I've said this before. I cannot believe I have to go the rest of my life without Prince or David Bowie or Tom Petty. I it's just amazing, you know, that those guys are all gone. And um it's just one of those things where it's just too much, you know. And uh yeah, I love David Bowie, I always have. And uh I just remember those, you know, uh China Girl and Let's Dance. Oh, yeah, it's a great thing. I never really I was too young to catch on to in the China Girl video, how art how artsy fartsy Billy uh David Bowie was. Right, you know, um I never really thought of him that way until I became uh more grown, and and I went, oh man, it's he's really more like an artist than he is, you know. But yeah, that's my uh five, yeah. We're five, right? Five. Remember that? I forgot to cross off so I think that's to you, then Donald.

Yes, and I had Holy Diver from Dio. Uh sorry Rainbow in the Dark is uh one of my favorite tunes. I love that song. Um Joe brings up a good point. You know, I'd like to do a sing-off between like Dio, Chris Cornell, who I don't think Chris Cornell, a lot of people put him on a pedestal. Kevin Hayes there. Yeah, I do think Dio's a good singer, um, but it, you know, I I am constantly evolving my opinion of rock singers. It's weird. It's like I I one day I'm like, yeah, they're fucking awesome. And the next day I'm like, eh, maybe they're not so awesome. So it is evolving, and it it that's what's cool about music, I think. You know, you're just constantly changing your your uh opinion on something, and uh I disrespect your opinion, Donald. No, I think Dio had that, like he had that ballsy operatic um voice.

Um love a hater vocalist, though. I mean, it it's a true vocalist, you know, when you sit next to him. You might listen to him on the radio or on albums or whatever else. You know, you get like AJ said, I'd I was never a fan of Chris Cornell. I felt like I should like him, but I didn't. Right.

But I certainly that he and I missed that podcast, the hairband, which I felt, you know, I I was a hairband guy, yeah, and I felt Skid Rowe, Sebastian Bach, man, he might be eking up into my favorite rock voice.

He's the fucking one of the greatest singers of all time. We'll get there in another one, I'm sure.

That was my number one pick in the uh hair metal bands of the 80s. So yeah. So can I say something about Chris Cornell and defend him? Yes. I love his voice. Okay, I love his voice.

That's quite all right. I think he has a great voice, too. To each their own. Yeah. I believe we are to you, Kevin, number five.

Alrighty then. We're talking about the violent femmes, their first album, which is one of those ones that you forget how many great songs were on that. I mean, everybody remembers Blister in the Sun, but there was Kiss Off. Please Don't Go, add it up. Please don't uh no, that's not the one. Please don't go, but they definitely were were not your mainstream band. I'm not quite sure how they ever got recorded and and and into mainstream or played on the radio. The the guitar work was was wild. Um his voice was very unique and not a great singer at all, but fun, fun tunes and and a great album.

And important. Oh, exactly. Important.

Okay, my name is Yes90125. Um it's been picked again. And what you know, one of the things I love about Yes is their singing harmonies, it just goes right to the soul. And I would listen at uh Blueberry Lane and Winter Street to this record over and over at at night. You know, a few beers were probably involved, but I would listen my two favorite songs are It Can Happen and Changes. Just very emotional songs, and it really meant a lot to me. And it's really the only yes record that I know a lot about, other than I love the song Love Will Find a Way, um, from uh 1987. And I just their harmonies are incredible, absolutely incredible, and um that this record meant a lot to me back in the 80s, and it still does.

Yeah, all right. So I'll wrap up number five, and this one, although I you know, God rest his soul, I can't stand the lead singer of this band, but how can I not take quiet riot metal health in this fucking year? It was so important to me. Just God, come on, feel the noise, and metal health were just so like dominant that year. I don't know, it was it gave you attitude when you're fucking hanging out and you heard that song.

It was just incredible.

Once again, we're in the MTV era and they played music, yep. Yep, right. Yeah, when they were a music channel, imagine that. Yeah, I don't even know what they do now.

That's what the M stands for.

Precisely.

But anyway, it's even in existence anymore.

But Frankie Benaly, okay, Rudy Sarzo. I mean, God rest Frankie's soul, but what a fucking human being that guy was. Just a class act and an incredible drummer. And I just feel like that band, just like Twisted Sister on the East Coast, them on the west coast, it was a one album wonder. You know, you talk about one hit one day. Rudy Sarzo had an interesting history. Oh, super, and he still does with Randy Rhodes. Oh my god, everything back and forth.

All right, he did play in that band.

Yeah, he played with Ozzy and got Randy with Dana Strum into Ozzy. And but just I don't know, this album to me, you know, I I can that album cover is like fucking burnt into my brain. Yeah, you know, just album incredible.

When when I moved to Georgia, my cousin, the the f the first day I ran into him after moving here, he was chopping wood. And I walked up to him and I said, What are you doing? His axe he had taped white, black, white, black, white, black all the way down, like the microphone stand. And he's like, he goes, This is my quiet riot axe. Oh, nice.

That's awesome. Awesome. So that is number four, then to you, Joe.

All right, my number four is Pyromania.

Ah knew that one was coming. Yeah, so you gotta apologize to Donnie now.

Some of the worst trouble I ever got into was I walked from my house to the mall, and I literally had to go like by the airport to walk that far. And it wasn't close. I walked all the way to the mall, and I was wandering around the mall with some friends, and there was a Deaf Leopard poster. And if I think about the poster now, it wasn't anything special, it was like a stage shot or something like that. And I got home and my father was like, Where were you? And I was like, I went to the mall, and he was like, The mall mall? And I was like, Yeah. He's like, that's like 10 miles away. And I was like, 10 miles. And I go, Oh, all right. You know, I didn't even know what a fucking mile was. I just went. You know, and he got so mad because I had to terrible, I had to cross the highway and everything. So yeah, uh that album is just great. You put it on now and it holds up, and yeah, absolutely, it's really good. It's really good.

Awesome. So don uh Donald. Yeah, Donald. Yeah, yeah. Where are we? Four? Am I correct?

Four.

Yes, you are four.

We are on four, and I have Madonna. You got a count age. Madonna, Madonna. So she started the decade. I mean, Madonna was just everywhere in the 80s. She was in your face, and this was her intro album. Um, and like there was like she to me, she like I wasn't like she's hot, but yet she was kind of hot. You know, I mean like she got back out of smoke show, but she just something about her, she exuded like charisma and sex reading into her, and it was her producer. He had a weird nickname, but he was like a DJ in New York City in the Bronx, and he kind of came from nowhere, and they both kind of found their careers at the same time. And he launched, and was that Jelly Beangum or Bubble Pop or something. I'll look it up. Jelly Bean, that's yeah, he was a DJ in the Bronx, and they had a romantic relationship, and it just seems like they both kind of merged at the correct time, and both their careers took off from that point. And um, he's an interesting guy to look into, and you know, I just think she's an amazing musician. Like she doesn't have vocal chops that I would say like are amazing either, but she just has that knack to pop. Entertain. Yeah, she she knows how to how to get people dancing in the in the looking into this. You know, I um it wasn't on this album, but don't forget second best baby. Put your love into the I was like singing that all day long, you know. That song just gets into my brain. It wasn't on this album, but Madonna knows how to cut a tune that uh that gets into your brain.

Hookie. Hookie is what it is. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, she got the hook. All right. So that's four to you then, Kev.

All right, so we have talked about innocent man, Billy Joel. Um, again, this kind of ties into that that 50s retro happening in the 80s. Um, you had talked about you didn't like him because of what he did to Liberty the Drummer and whatever else. I always kind of took it as, you know, he wrote um uh Don't Go Changing, I Love You Just the Way You Are for his wife, and then a couple years later uh divorced her and started going out with Christy Brinkley. So that song was a lie. Precisely.

What the hell did she leave fucking Joe? What the hell? She should have been in love with the man for God. Exactly.

I got an issue, and I promise you this I pleased that woman.

I know you did, as far as she knows.

Oh god. So if only she knew.

If only she was aware. Go on, Kev. Yeah, no, that's all right. That's all right. All all all but three tracks on that album were actually written about Christy Brinkley. Um, one of them that wasn't was actually Easy Money, which was for the soundtrack for the Rodney Dangerfield movie of that same name. Easy Money. That was kind of cool.

What a great fucking movie, too. Yeah. Awesome. All right, brother, to you.

All right, Motley Crue, shout out the devil.

Yep.

Okay. I love the title track.

Buddy in the pillow.

My favorite song in the record, believe it or not, is Too Young to Fall in the world. Too Young to Falls.

That's the best Motley Crue song. Incredible. I love that too.

That's a great song. Awesome. So that's number four to me. That's right. Sorry, H. This one is You're the host, not me. The girls loved this band. But this is Seven and the Ragged Tiger by Duran Duran. Duran Duran. This fucking album had so much meaning to me. Just, you know, the dances in middle school and I mean the reflex union of the snake. Just flip flip flip. Oh, yeah. That's what I was gonna do too. But just the videos, they had incredible videos, and this is to me pop at its fucking best. You know, New Moon on Monday, another incredible song. Of course, I love it. I'm going towards all the the hits here, but you know, just those guys were musicians.

Incredible musicians. They were musicians. Yep. Um, it often makes me think of and it's shorts coming up down the road, but when they did Power Station with Tony Thompson and and um Robert Palmer, Robert Palmer, thank you. I mean, Sneaking Sally Through the Alley is one of my favorite albums of all time. But anyway, yes, I mean that that that still holds up. Go back and listen to Power Station right now. Wow.

Incredible.

Oh, yeah, yeah. Great album.

Damn straight. Awesome. So number three to you then, Joe.

Uh, I'm jumping back to She's So Unusual, Cindy Lauper. I know we talked about that, but I will tell you that when she I loved her from her videos, but then when she was on the WWF, I just she was just so cute to me. I don't know. The little orange hair and the you know, the bracelets and the just she was tough, you know. She was a real New York chick. And yeah, yeah, I just remember the the video being like, that's Captain Lou. Yeah, yeah.

The one second on the video.

Yeah, it worked out really well, and uh uh that was my number three. Awesome. Yeah, that was a chance we're gonna be doubling up a lot right now. Yes, sir. I agree. Oh, yeah.

I can't wait for our number ones. Oh god.

So that brings to you, Donald Three. Yes, and I'm gonna go with Stevie Ravon, Texas Blood. So, you know, I wasn't he came to me later in life. Like I wasn't in 1983, I wasn't on Stevie Ravon, but I circled back to him. He's an amazing guitar player. I don't I don't think he was God by any chance, you know, like he you know, but he was a good player and he knew how to move around the fretboard uh to get people going and get people dancing. But Texas Flood was a great, great album, you know, Pride and Joy, Love Struck Baby. It's kind of where I was at for that.

But yeah, great, great guitar player.

Yeah, yeah, fantastic.

Incredible guitar player, like way too young. All right, so Kevin to three.

I'm like looking at the probably bring up my list here because three, I'm sure all of you guys have this one. Um, I'm of course talking about John Hyatt riding with the king. Right. Kevin isn't even scared, King of the South. If you guys don't know who he is, um he wrote a thing called Love. Um and several other um you remember Jeff Healy, the Jeff Healy band. Yeah, he did Angel Eyes was his. Um he was awesome. He's John Hyatt is, in my opinion, one of the best living songwriters today. Lyrically, the man is just incredible. He's still putting out albums. I still get to see him once a year, it seems like he comes right here to Little Old Laconia, New Hampshire, um, and and plays at the at the theater there. And it's just the man is fantastic. Um, Riding with the King was his sixth studio album, and you know, he says himself it's where he started to find his identity. Um, you know, obviously started out as a songwriter in Nashville, and he had enough talent that the record companies would continue that let him get six albums out before he had any really response to it. But just an incredible player, an incredible songwriter. And and that was the album where he kind of started to put it all together. Riding with the King was covered by uh BB King and Eric Clapton. Um if you ever get the chance, and maybe in um not all of his stuff is mellower, but but it's definitely um not so much in your face, but you know, if you ever get a chance, listen to the guy because he is a true master.

Yeah, okay, okay. You're always the one who brings us new music. So I've tried. Yeah, you know, I know he's the obscure king. That's what I said. Yeah, absolutely. Awesome. All right, so Mark, three to you.

Okay, I have Dio holy divers diver such a uplifting record. I mean, just so I mean, if I took his advice, I would not be married right now because I would never go out with a woman, because it would only bring me down. And you know, I gotta be honest with you, my demons don't really ever let me go. I try to get rid of them. So, I mean, you all, you know, you've talked about this record, and I actually do like his voice, and uh the title track is awesome, and uh stand up and shout. Just a great, great record, and that's what I got to say about the deal. Holy die.

That's what I got to say. Great album.

All right. Well, I'm just gonna go to my number three then and just say the name of the album and move to the next person. Holy diver. I have Huey Lewis in the news, uh, September 15th. Number three, AJ, sport fucking a right. This song, man. I mean, these songs, you know, fucking I Want a New Drug, The Hot to Rock and Roll, Friggin' Walking on a Thin Line. This is it. This was like the soundtrack of 1983 for me. And and this is somebody that as a KISS fan being berated by my brothers, I was not allowed to care about.

And I think maybe that's why it was so shocked to hear that you quick.

Exactly. I just sometimes bad is bad. Yeah, it was just what an amazing record. This is pop at it at its best, like I said about the last couple. It's just this is when we had the genres of rock and roll that all mattered, where now it's rock for me and nothing else, because everything else sucks so badly. But this to me is when all these genres, you know, took part. So that will be number two to you, Joe.

Number two for me is one that I'm sure at some point we either still do or always had in our uh record collection, and that is Journey Frontiers.

Damn right.

Yes. I mean, that's the soundtrack of our childhoods.

Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

I remember they did an MTV concert, they had an MTV concert, and the MTV was still new. And Steve Perry goes, Uh, we're doing a concert for M Television. I remember thinking. Wow. I don't think that's what they call it.

All mine have been picked. So I'm just gonna go with Huey Lewis in the news.

When I'm alone with you.

And just move on from you know.

So do you, Kevin. Move on. So my number two, um, one of my favorite bands, uh, talking heads, speaking in tongues, burning down the house was great song. Inescapable at that time. Um, they had brought uh Bernie Warrell from Parliament Funkadelic into the band, uh playing keyboards, which really kind of fleshed everything out and made it pretty awesome. And the only other thing that I can say, other than that, there's great songs on this, but I think they did a better version of them live on the Stop Making Sense uh live record and movie that came out after that. Um Chris Franz is such an underrated drummer, the dude is absolutely incredible. If you don't believe me, go to the Stop Making Sense, the live and and listen to slippery people, and you will become a Chris Franz fan. The guy is just unbelievable on the skins.

Awesome. Okay, cool. Cool, awesome. So now uh that's Mark number two.

Kevin, I'm gonna, I'm sorry, Kevin, but um, you just gave that speech and it didn't sound like you convinced anybody to go listen to that song.

We actually we actually listened to him. He has more influence on this show.

Kevin, I'm gonna tell you right now, Donnie, Mark, AJ, fuck all you guys. I'm going to listen to that song as soon as we get done.

Never before have four people simultaneously lied no without saying no.

Definitely gonna listen.

We all just shut the fuck up. You're gonna tell me the song again.

I was like uh slippery people off stop making sense.

During my editing, I will listen. Trust me. Yeah, I'm putting it down right now. Slippery people. All right, well, it's Mark number two to you. It's in my phone.

I have Def Leopard Pyromania is my number two. An incredible record. To me, this is my favorite Def Leopard uh record. I know hysteria sold more.

Hysteria.

Did I say it wrong?

You say hysteria every time. I have to cut it.

Hysteria! It's hysterical.

But anyway, I mean, you got the title track. You got photograph. I mean, my best friend, God rest his soul, Freddie Presley, up in Littleton. We used to I'd I'd ride with him in his friggin' whatever sports car he had at the time, and he would play this on it over and over and over again. Probably my favorite uh Def Leopard song of all time is Fooling. Yes. Just a great record. And this is I mean, uh, we talked about their last record that they were getting ready to explode, and this one was almost to their explosion, and then hysteria. Did I say it right, AJ? Yes, you did. You blew them up, and then they kind of I did, Joe?

I mean, I thought I did, but I've noticed that you either add words to or change the pronunciation to you added a G to the song Foolin. Fooling.

Kevin, he's picking up on Mark's G's. I know Mark and I have a G thing.

My friend Joel King, I used to say King. King.

We all do coat hanger.

Yeah, so I I'm a big I'm big on the G's. What can I say? I even love the G chord on the guitar, Joe. So in the G spot. Oh god, yeah. If you can find it, you know, but yeah, it's hiding in there somewhere.

Let me go back and all right. It's a myth. Oh shit.

Awesome. All right. So I'm at two, yes. And here I go again. Um, I was spiking my hair.

Yeah, I was gonna say white snake, without I was spiking my hair.

It's Bill the Idol, Rebel Yell. This album to me, uh I'm at the roller skating rink. I'm fucking going around and I'm going do the to do the snowball to eyes without a face. You know, I just this was very important. Uh I can't say enough about it. It's just I spiked my fucking hair like this dude. You know, it was just really important to me, and just what a great friggin' album, you know. I mean, Rebel Yell. Just this was who I wanted to be in 1983, and boy, what an idiot I realized I was for wanting to be this person, but just you know, that's what was huge, and I'd go to school and have the spiked hair, and it's just there's the importance of that album to me, but those songs were also fucking incredible to me. I mean, Flesh for Fantasy, like another great one.

Just incredible songs and for talking a lot about videos that have hot girls in them.

Oh well, yeah, that's not gonna leave.

I wonder what cells I don't know, Donnie. We were all the children of the baby boomers, and I understand.

Timeout, Joe. I am technically and not 64. Okay. Barely, barely. I had like five and a half months, I would have been a Gen Xer. I mean, I'm we're picking on you, Mark.

You're gonna be the old man of the day.

Yeah, yes, I know. Every fucking day. All right, whatever.

All right, so that brings us back to Joe, and we're at what? Number one.

Are we at one number one? Number one, and for me, it's gonna be rant and rave.

Go ahead, Joe. Go ahead and fucking steal this one, and then Mark and I will do our best.

Why did you ask? I was just kidding. Of course, it's lick it up.

The guy from the Kiss podcast didn't.

I should have found something really obscure to do. Yeah, but um, yeah, so yeah, uh lick it up, man. You know, the first time you put that record on. I remember I did not get to see Kiss do the take the makeup off, I didn't see it. So the first time I saw them without makeup was when the video came on MTV and I was blown away. And when they showed them, I didn't know what to think because I didn't even hear that they had taken off the makeup. Yeah, it blew my mind. I was just like, this is nuts right now. You know, it felt like it felt like a week earlier I had just seen them on solid gold doing you know, a world without heroes and shit. They put another record out entirely in between that, and all of a sudden, no makeup, and uh the lick it up video was funny and cool at the same time, and uh you know, another one where they're uh just eating a bunch of sludge with a bunch of hot chicks, which means nothing.

And you were wondering if Gene was one of the golden girls.

You know, in that video, I don't remember if I if I I don't remember him. I know that in the next album he was or in the next two albums, he wore a little more uh like flame looking clothes, yeah.

But uh he was a little badass in lick it up, but the whole turkey leg thing just always ruined it for me. But yeah, what a fucking great, great yeah.

What do you have against turkey legs, AJ?

I have I love turkey legs.

There's a lot of bones when you get into it, but they're still delicious. All right.

There's a lot of people giving shit to guys from the 80s for like wearing women's clothes or dressing effeminately or whatever else. But in reality, Robert Plant, you look at those old concert pictures of him on stage, he was literally wearing the blouses of the girls that he banged the night before. Right. He was actually wearing women's clothes.

He was a smart man. He's like, I'm gonna do this, it's gonna be my trademark. Right, right. All right, so that's number one you, Donald.

All right, you guys know from previous casts that probably one of my favorite albums of all time is Def Leopard Pyromedia. Absolutely. Um had to pick it. Um, I love that album. It was one of the first albums I had as a kid that I would play cover to cover, side A, side B. Um, I love it. Give me Action, not Words is probably my favorite song off that album. And Photograph is is another favorite. Um you know, looking into it, you know, Phil Collins, not Phil Collins, was a guitar player for Def Leopard. He got fired for alcohol. Like, how bad do you have to be at alcohol abuse to be kicked out of a rock band from the UK? He might have been at a low point at that point, anyways.

And the band and the band is from the UK. They're drinking at eight years old.

He had to be a 3.0 to get evicted.

He probably was a dick when he drank, right? Um, well, anyways, he got into a band with uh the lead singer from Iron Maiden that was replaced by Bruce Paul Davidson, right? And it was uh I'd never heard of it, but have you ever no idea? Well, they members from Iron Maiden and Deflippard made uh you know an album. Look it up. I don't know. They failed.

They could have gotten Dave Mustaine in there and and rounded it right out.

Pyromania was my number one, which we all called Donald. I want to go ahead and zero question whatsoever that that was gonna be your pick.

Go ahead, Joe. I'm gonna be the the first person to go ahead and let Donnie know. Your number one was Pyromania, but I'm gonna let you know you're wrong.

Your number one record is lick it up. It should have been lick it up. Exactly. I I gave that to you two. That's that's moss, it's a moss ice. Yes.

The book ends here. Yeah, Kevin, that is two to uh one to you.

One to me. Now I have to just take a pause here because I I went to a cookout today and I ran into one of our five fans, and he immediately walked up to me and and got right in my face. He had been listening to he listened to the 1982, and he took issue with the fact that we did not have the go-go's on that list. So, Tony, I'm sorry, we will not make that mistake again. I think I thought at the end we talked about and gave props to to the go-go's, but certainly a great album from 1982. So hopefully we'll be forgiven and we'll get back up to five, maybe six fans at this point. Um moving right on to number one. Pink Floyd fans would not even pick this album to be their number one from 1983, but I certainly did. It was called The Final Cut, it was a bunch of leftover tracks allegedly from Pink Floyd The Wall, as well as tunes that they wrote to kind of flesh out the movie itself. I, however, loved the album. There was a continuation of everything that was great about the wall. There was more depth to what they were talking about, uh more uh technique and recording that just made it sound great. There's a song called Get Your Filthy Hands Off My Desert, where you literally hear it like a cruise missile go from one ear to the next and then explode. It just feels like you're you're right in front of it. It just just I think a fantastic album. It's it's obviously like I said, it's leftover bits, but it's still a great album.

And it resonates with you. Yes, absolutely. Awesome. All right, Mark. That's number one to you.

Okay, before I get to my number one, if we only have five or six fans, they must listen to our show like twenty times apiece.

Yeah, they're not really good at downloading, so they just keep hitting the button, but it works for us.

Oh, okay. All right. Well, I mean, this is gonna be shocking to everybody. I have Kiss Lick It Up. Yeah, and I'm sure this is, I think, um, in my uh when we did our top seven KISS records, this was my number two. And I absolutely fucking love this record. It is absolutely bone crushing. Came out in 1983, obviously, and you know what? Every time I hear this record, I like it even more. And this is after what? What are we talking? Over 40 years. 40 something decades, yeah. Absolutely bone crushing. Um, the only song I don't really I mean, give me more is just a Paul saying he likes women and likes to have sex with women song. And uh, I mean, it's still not a terrible song, but I believe him. I mean, exciter, friggin' not for the innocent. I mean, how can you not just friggin'? I mean, that is so fucking ballsy. I love that song. My brother David did it um with a friend of his, and they did a great rendition of it.

Yeah, okay, the song. Uh you said you your brother did it with a friend of his, and I went, whoa.

No, no, no, no. What are we doing? No, no, we're not even talking about AJ, but no, you know, young and wasted.

Bone crushing, Mark?

No, bone crushing. Um uh all hell's breaking loose. I mean, uh, yeah, I mean, it's just I mean, I'm sorry. It's just I love this record. Uh I mean, I just try to, I mean, I'm trying to use my brain to remember all the songs. Yeah, but shut the fuck up because it might come up again.

No, there's no fucking way, AJ. Maybe.

But um, I mean, just what a fun record. Just Vinny Vincent. I have to say something about Vinny Vincent. Damn straight. I'm sorry. But his guitar playing and his song writing between creatures, freaking lick it up and revenge. And uh, I mean, that was a common denominator in a lot of the the records. Anyway, lick it up. Sorry for my brain cramps.

All right. Awesome. So, number one to me, and yes, sorry for the big surprise here, but that is kiss lick it up. I'm not quite sure what I'm gonna be able to fucking run with here.

But go with the songs that I forgot for two seconds here.

First, well, a million to one might be one of my favorite kiss songs of all time. Incredible Paul vocal, yeah, incredible fucking Vinny guitar solo, just a heartfelt song. And like you've said in the past, Mark, Paul brings his soul into albums and his attitude, and that's why he will go down in history. Mr. Fucking Sensitive will go down in history, is one of my favorite vocalists of all time because in his prime he was so incredibly powerful, and fucking the attitude that he sang with put feeling into the song, and that's something that will never leave me, and that's the importance of kiss to me. Like I was always a Paul guy, but um, one thing that I have to say before I go on. I mean, first of all, the whole album to me is incredible. Gene, uh, I feel like not for the innocent could possibly be my favorite Gene song of all time. Fucking what a great fun episode that was, man.

That was a blast, man.

Well, we're gonna we're gonna tie it down now. Joe, thank you so much for joining us tonight. Thank you, man. Uh thank you Podcast Rock City uh every Sunday night at 7 p.m. You can find them on YouTube, and they are at podcastrockity one. That's the number one at gmail.com. And uh you can find us at PTA80H at gmail.com. And man, thank you so much for the you know, all of the uh five-star reviews and the downloads. We can't appreciate it more, but most importantly, Joe, I just want to thank you so much for joining us. Mark and I, being the KISS fans, can't get enough of your show, so we're we're there every week. And I just, you know, we really appreciate you coming on here.

Thank you very much. That means a lot. You know, it's like I'm like you guys, I'm in my basement, I do my show every week out of the basement, and you know, when you meet people or get letters or anything like that, you're always like, Man, I people really listen. The cool thing is we do the show live and you can see that there's a bunch of people in there watching it live. That's like instant gratification, you know? Where you feel like, oh, we would do the show if nobody was listening just because we like to talk to each other. Um but um it it definitely adds to the show when you know people are listening and participating in the show, and that makes it a lot of fun, and it makes it a lot of fun for us too, Joe. Well, thank you very much. I appreciate it.

Uh had a little video freeze here at the end of the show, but on behalf of Kevin, Dongo, Mark, and myself, Joe, once again, we cannot thank you enough for joining us, man. What a pleasure. We love your show, and we are out.