Best Albums of 1976, Ranked

Hey y'all, welcome to Past Times at 80s High. I want to wish everyone out there a very happy 2025. Um, and which means we are now starting season two. So, God willing, we'll get the official launch soon. But anyway, so for season two, we are gonna begin with a favorite, which has been our decades series, where we pick a year and do our top ten favorite albums. First, let me just let everyone know I have Dongo here. Hello, Donald. Happy New Year! Good to be back. Yes, indeed. And Kevin? Hello. Brother Mark. Happy 2025. Yes, and I am AJ. So, this episode we are gonna do 1976. Thought we'd start bouncing around a little rather than just sticking to the order so that we can uh get some range here. But anyway, as always, we start with a news story, and before we go with that, I just want to remind everyone out there to please email us at pta eight zeroh at gmail.com. PTA eight zeroh at gmail.com. All right, so like I said, we typically start with our news story of the year. And Donald, do you have the honors? All right.

So there was a lot of weird stuff that year. Um the 70s, you know, people think that we're living in like the shit times now. It's just that we have cell phones and we see everything, but there was a lot more crazy shit going on back then and just didn't know about it because you if you didn't watch the news, we were outside playing and we didn't care. Exactly. People weren't sensitive about it, right? Exactly, right? But uh so it was just uh it kind of like, oh, that's interesting. Um, it's the one of the largest um kidnappings of human beings in our country, and in July of 1976, a school bus of children, there was 26 children and one adult, a bus driver, just driving back from going swimming. It was like a summer camp program, and they got kidnapped by like three dudes who just came up with a scheme to kidnap a bunch of kids and put them for ransom, and they took them to uh Chow Chilla, it was in Chowchilla, if I'm saying that right, California. And they the kidnappers took them to um like a rock quarry and they buried them in like a uh box truck. In the truck in a gravel, in a gravel pit. And you know, there's 26 kids in the in the bus driver, and they get buried, and then the kidnappers go off somewhere. But the amazing thing is is the bus driver riled up the kids, like, all right, let's go. And they stacked up a bunch of mattresses, and they were able to like open the the there was like a hatch in the roof, and they had to dig their way out, and they they escaped, and it was amazing, you know.

Wow, yeah.

What a bunch of iSOS, they would have died if you know what was going on in that business. It wasn't a bus, it was a box truck.

There wasn't you know an archer shaft, and they had left them with some uh like a small amount of food and water and stuff like that. Um, but they didn't plan, they didn't bury them deep enough, I guess. So they they were able to escape, which was cool. I mean, the bus driver, his name was Frank Edward Ray. Good for him. The kids, you know, looking back, they you know, he's a hero basically, because you know, one adult and you got 26 kids.

You know, you you're you're you're you're in a quarry, so nobody's around. You know, you could have just put a padlock on the truck. I'm I think you you know what I mean. Why are you gonna bury him?

That's it.

But you know, you talk about you know Gen X and and how tough Gen X is and whatever else. Think about 26 kids today.

You'd be like, oh my god, I think they would not be able to muster it.

My bus driver couldn't even make a left-hand turn at my own.

They would feel helpless without the phones. Instead, back then, it was like, nope, we gotta let's do this, guys. Exactly. Which was much helpful. So there was a lot of funny things about it where like the kidnappers were in their 20s, they were like 22, 24. They couldn't call the police station to give the ransom demands because all the parents and everybody, like news organization, everybody was calling the police station, so they kept getting a busy station.

They couldn't get through, right?

Exactly, they fell asleep, and then they the guys escaped, whatever you know, the kids escaped, so it had a good ending, which was great.

Can you imagine though? The props on the bus driver, though, like everybody's for the rest of his life for his career, yeah. Just give him that that nod every time.

You seem like right, right.

Good job, dude. Yeah, good job.

Yeah, awesome. All right, so then that is to you, Kevin.

So, anyway, moving right along, I went with the big one for 1976 because it was America's birthday, it was 200 years, the bicentennial, which was such a big deal because was such a big deal because it was so much easier to say than sesquincentennial, which was a 150-year anniversary. And next year in 2026, we have the semi-quincentennial, which is also difficult to say. So that's why bicentennial is my favorite. Right. So absolutely.

I can't wait for 2076 for our tricentennial.

Right. The bicentennial started out as a celebration in 1966. Congress put together a group that would have a big celebration, and in typical form of a congressional committee, uh, six and a half years later, they disbanded and renamed it because they couldn't decide on anything, whether to have the celebration in Boston or Philadelphia. And it just so six and a half years in everybody's taxpayer money went out the window in a time when, well, my family couldn't afford spaghetti for fuck's sake. But anyway. Um, and then it turned into uh more of a celebration across the country in different areas. We had the tall ships that showed up in New York Harbor, Boston Harbor. And the one that affected me was the Freedom Train. I don't know if you guys ever made it to that.

I I certainly remember the tall ships, but I don't remember the Freedom Train. Right.

So the Freedom Train was was an old engine that they had fitted all the cars with memorabilia. The Liberty Bell was on it. Um, I think one of the originals of the Declaration of Independence. And it went from 75 to 76. It went all over the country. And I actually think it was in the Northeast in April of 75. Um and I think my grandparents came down from northern Maine. We were in southern New Hampshire. We went over to Portland, Maine, and and saw it there. It was just it was kind of a cool thing because it was it just went all over the country and had all of this American, all of this, you know, it was very cool.

That is cool.

But AJ, do you remember that though? I do not. I was five. So I remember you running about, but the parade, the parades were up till then and thereafter were always just on Main Street in Littleton. This parade was so massive that it went from you know the north part of Littleton or whatever part, you know, Main Street, all the way down to Union Street near Corey's Market. And it was so it was the best parade I've ever seen in my life.

And for Littleton, that's massive.

Yeah, well, Littleton did it wrong. Littleton always did it right.

Absolutely. All right, brother. Well, now we are to you.

All right, let me take you back to December 12th, 1976. And uh there was a man who is he hails from the planet Gendell. Um is Ace Rayleigh from KISS. Yes. Um, they're in support of rock and roll over, and they're in Lakeland, Florida at the Civic Center, and they come down the stairs as you know they do, and they were talking about Ace not having very good balance, and what happened? Right. Well, I mean, I don't know why that is, but he's coming down the stairs, and he kind of stumbled and went to grab the railing. And unfortunately, his guitar was not grounded correctly, and then he flew backwards, and the band is going on unbeknownst to them. Well, you know, what the hell is going on? And uh the fans figured it out, and they're chanting, We want ace, we want ace. And um, you know, he was down for like five, ten minutes and he came out. The show must go on. He had some issues with numbness in his fingertips and a massive friggin' headache. But I'm sure they went on to play a great show.

And of course they, you know, they wrote a lot of people got electrocuted back in the old days. Uh, and I forget the amount of volts that they said it was, but he's lucky he's alive.

10,000 volts, maybe. But uh, but yeah, so I mean they they wanted him to uh write a song uh talking about the incident.

No, that was Ace's idea, I thought.

Well, no, no, he they wanted him to do it, and Ace wrote a song called Shock Me, but it was more about getting late after the show. But uh, you know, that's that's what Kiss did, and more notable. Yeah. So that's my number, my that's my new story of 1976.

Nice, and you know how I always have to shoehorn Kiss in. Um uh Bicentennial, what a great kiss poster that was, remember? Oh my god, that thing was awesome! Yeah, with the snare drum. What a great kiss. That I think is my favorite kiss poster of all time. Incredible. All right, so my new story. Um, I actually wasn't thinking clearly when we did this because I just went to the music, which I forgot that we're not just doing music when we do our stories. Um, but I uh August 5th, and I never knew this, which is why I chose it because I found it rather interesting. August 5th, 1976, Eric Clapton provokes an uproar over comments he makes on stage at a Birmingham concert, voicing his opposition to immigration using multiple racial slurs while exhorting the audience to support Enoch Powell and to keep Britain white. Now, uh first of all, I never knew he was racist in any way. And secondly, talk about cancel culture now. I mean, he just went on to have an amazing career where now he would never have played again. You know, it's insane.

No, he never would have. Only in his music there.

It's it's so interesting because uh, and I've read a little bit about it because here's a guy that his whole life was about playing the blues, which was right, yeah, which was not American white, exactly music. Um, and I don't I don't know because obviously I wasn't there, I didn't hear what he said, and I knew I know that they said he used racist terms, but I think his point was I guess today the term is replacement theory or whatever they call it.

Right.

Um and there's a whole big argument about immigration. You can't a country can't exist without immigration, right? Um, you you it's a necessity to to survive. Um I just find it weird that and I and again, we know that that Eric had a lot of drug problems and alcohol problems, and sometimes our speech isn't precise when that happens. But right again, I mean he worked with many black musicians and he modeled his whole career after blues men.

So it's just it's a it's a strange kind of it would be very interesting to hear what he really said, you know, like right, right. Was it out of context kind of thing or exactly and have a taxology report and a blood alcohol? Yeah, right, and one more thing. I just wanted to I wanted to shoehorn this in, Mark. Sorry, I've been trying to do it since the beginning, but because I can't pick this record, um, I found it very surprising that in '76, um, I forget the date now, but it um KISS released the originals, which were their first three albums in one compilation package. And I just can remember seeing that album cover in the basement. It was so cool with the fire all over it. And, you know, yeah, well, I won't get into naming albums, but you know, that's after they broke. So it was kind of a great idea, you know. I'm sure Gene and Billy Coyne and you know had a lot to do with it. But what smart marketing to once they broke to get their first three out there in bulk like that. But anyway, you know me, I had to. All right, so let's kick this off then. Let's see, Dungo, number 10 to you.

All right, so I'm gonna go with Bigger Than Both of Us, Paula Notes. Rich Girl was a huge cut off that album, and it was a fun song, and they're just it's it's an awesome Crazy Eyes was another good song off that album. I just think they're a lot of fun. Uh, you know, good, good soul, bluesy guys. All right, Kev.

So 10 to you then.

I love this album, such a fantastic album, and that's why it's on my list. Sad Wings of Destiny, Judas Priest. Nice. What a fantastic album. This is one of those albums that, like, obviously, I wasn't listening to Judas Priest in '76. I I found Judas Priest somewhere in the early 80s, and then went back and just fell in love with this album because there's so many great songs, and it's so different. It's so much more spatial than, you know, I mean, nothing against nothing against British Steel or whatever. Those albums were phenomenal, but that was a they had been rendered down to their purest form then. This was much more experimental, much more along the lines of what Zeppelin was doing. Um and also look going back and listening to it, it made me think of kind of the way that Metallica and some of the the heavier metal bands later on kind of, you know. I always think of Metallica like there's like 14 songs in one song, you know what I mean? You got like time change here, you got this one, right? Right, you get this piece that goes into this piece, right? And Sad Wings of Destiny had a lot of songs. Well, Victim of Changes, the opening song is 10 minutes long. Yeah, absolutely, and just what a great, great album. And to be able to go back and like listen to a band in their embryonic state after you have an idea of who they are, yeah, and fall in love with that music.

Well, you've always stuck to your guns there, Kev, where you've always talked about how you loved the the older priest better than when that absolutely I don't know about better, but I I just I I have a special spot for it. What's the album before that that you you loved? I can never remember it.

Well, so there's so there's this is where it kind of gets confusing, and it's the same thing. Like you were talking about um the the Kiss albums where they released um the first three once they get popular. There was one called Hero Hero that was a combination of I believe Sad Wings of Destiny and Rockerola.

Rock a role, that's the one I was talking about.

I loved rock a roll as well, but but there was that odd kind of some record producer went, hey, you know what? Let's let's have another product. No, Rock's Rola was actually had a spin-off on Coca-Cola. Really? Actually, one of the one of the album covers had a bottle cap and rock and roll on it.

All right. So then Brother Mac, that is number 10 to you. Brother.

Okay, well, going back to 1976, I was much more interested in fishing three times a day. That was the year that that's all I did. That's all everyone in Apthorpe did. We went fishing. So I wasn't all that big into music, but looking back, Bob Seeger Night Moves was a huge record. And some of the songs that I do actually like Rock and Roll Never Forgets, Main Street, Night Moves. Um, you know, great singer. Yeah, he was definitely huge. Good record. He had a great career, and uh, I don't have a lot to say about it. Yeah again, my first few selections that are gonna be a little vague to me.

Yeah, I mean I'm I'm kind of in that boat too, where you know, being so young at the time and being forced into just liking one band that I struggled, but I was able to find some. And but the same thing, I'm not gonna have too much to say, but I don't want to cut you off, Mark, until you're done.

Oh no, I'm done. I'm done. Uh that was my number 10, and I struggled with this list as well.

So to me, at the top end. Um, I have March 16th, the release of the debut album from the Runaways. All right now. This is Lita Ford, Joan Jett, Cherie Curry. Did I say that right? I can never say it. I didn't know if it was cherry. Cherie Curry? Yeah, Cherry Curry. Sounds like a recipe, but I really it does. But uh the thing that I find fast fascinating about them, I mean, first of all, I get kind of irritated with the the whole uh Joan Jett Lita Ford thing, because you know, Joan Jett went through the roof later, solo wise, and there's some animosity. Lita Ford didn't get laid.

I went through the bug, I didn't get a day, I got in a fight.

But anyway, she got in a fight.

It ain't no big thing.

But uh but anyway, um it was super tough for them, and you know, sunset strip, late 70s, they couldn't break because all ladies, you know, and or girls really then, but they tried and tried and tried constantly to get a male singer into them, but I just thought they were very punky rock, you know what I mean? Like not punk, not rock, but but a mix of them. And I mean cherry bomb. You know, I I mean some of these songs were just uh cherry bomb. Drive me wild was good, thunder was good.

They did cherry bomb? I don't know. Yeah, yeah, that's them.

And it was just they worked their asses off on the Sunset Strip with all you know of the other bands trying to do that, and just it's a great story. I mean, if you ever have time, there's a few documentaries out there on them, yeah, and it's great.

But even to this day, the sadly the manager, I believe, was um molesting all of them at some point.

Oh, really?

Which I mean, which you gotta think about. I mean, young girls trying to make you know what I mean. Yeah, it's just you know, bad as a groupie, um, but as a musician trying to make it, what a horrible situation to go through. That you know, because the guy, I mean, he was a real scumbag, and and he manipulated music manager who was a scumbag.

Never heard that right. Uh blackmail was another song that I liked there too. But um, what I was gonna say is the the animosity still to this day, I don't know how old Joan Jett and Lita Ford are, but I think they still like they they tried to sit for a meeting not long ago about talking about doing some not reunion stuff, but something together. And I don't know if Joan Jett's a bitch or if but that's how it came across.

I actually think that at some point, I can't remember the story, one of the man the manager assaulted one of them, and the other ones either didn't believe her or were there when it happened. Happened and didn't help, or something like that. So I think that's where that separation and that would explain why that scar is so deep amongst them.

So and Cherie Curry also, I think, in the midst of all of it, was taking, I think it was her, taking some like provocative photos and having them released without the band knowing. And they were trying to stay away from that whole, you know, exposure of the whole woman thing, like, you know, not trying to be sex symbols, is my point. And she did. Right. And uh that caused some animosity too. But anyway, I shall throw the towel in and go to you again, Donald.

You know, I had at number nine the runaways, and it is because they were like at a time when it was hard to be. Oh, yeah, it's always been hard for the girls to be in any of the heavy, you know, hard rock, heavy metal. And those girls were the pioneers of it, and uh, you know, Lita Ford, Joan Jett. Yeah, absolutely. You know, amazing. Um, they did an awesome job. You know, Kev, you know, like the CBGB in New York. Were they involved in that scene, the punk scene, or were they separate? Were they in the LA C side of it?

I thought they were, I thought they were more LA, yeah. I I could be wrong.

Yeah, and and uh Joan Jett was writing a lot of the songs too, which was cool. You know, yeah, yeah.

Choose a big Susie Quattro, yeah, yeah, yeah, huge.

Yep. You mean leather Tuscadero? Moss Isley. Awesome pick, Donald. So, yes, number nine to you, Kev.

Number nine to me is going to be not anybody's favorite Led Zeppelin album, but it is one of mine. Presents.

Yes.

It it was there's they it got panned a lot. Um, it did not sell great. I mean, it sold great out of the gate, um, but overall the sales weren't that stellar in comparison to the other albums of of that era for them. It was a little mucked up because um Robert Plant had been in a car crash and was in a wheelchair. Um and it was kind of like Paige had the full the full run, although he wrote the songs with Plant when when Plant was in California, but they came back and they were rushed because Paige wanted to use this state-of-the-art studio in Germany, and they were up against a hard end time because the stones were coming in to do black and blue, and they actually, I think Paige reached out to Richards and like finagled two more days in the studio out of them. I love the album though, it's it's stripped down, there's no keyboards, and all I can say about the I think the reason that I love it, everybody was like trying to layer and layer and layer. It was a return to the blues, but it felt like I don't know, the only way I could ever describe it is like it felt like blues from outer space or blues on the moon. I mean, it really it's got a strange kind of presence on the album that just other otherworldly. Um, and and that's why I loved it. Just a great, I mean, nobody's fault but mine, everybody loves that. That opening riff is just rips your teeth out. But the whole album to me, Tea for Nowhere, Royal Orleans.

I really need to revisit them because I understand their importance, and I'm not great. I'm not disparaging that at all. I just don't know what it is that I've never been able to super get into Zeppelin, and it's my fault because I have never really dedicated the time to it. Don't give me I know the importance of them by all means, and I think it's me with the stone great stuff. It's people with the Beatles, it's people you know, people all have that, but it's just for me, it's like, damn, maybe I just need to lock myself in a room, you know, and listen to the catalog.

And I think the funny thing that happens with bands of that magnitude, Beatles, Stones, Zeppelin, is that you might get exposure to a piece of them, but there's so many different phases. I mean, you the Beatles, right? Obviously, from rubber soul to revolver, it all changed and it became a whole different thing from I want to hold your hand. Right.

Like, what are you hearing first? Where are you ready?

And you don't listen to you can listen to Stone songs that I mean, obviously, they did radio friendly tunes, but then you know, I mean, I uh again, I always say with the stones, put on can't you hear me knocking? If that one doesn't get you, I don't know if you're alive, it's just fantastic. Yeah, one of the greatest recordings ever in my mind. And the same thing with Zeppelin, obviously. There's there's stuff that God forbid should judge Zeppelin by that horrible wedding song they do, as they call it. Um it's just you know, you you can't judge them by that. There's so much more. You get into the deeper cuts on physical graffiti, and it's like, wow, or some of the percussion stuff they did on In Through In Through the Outdoor, just unbelievable. But yeah, I think it's easy to get lost in just hearing it casually.

Definitely. All right, Mark. I'm going with Led Zeppelin presents as well. Might as well continue. You know, it continue on. That's why I was quiet on that one. Um, you have uh Achilles Last Stand, Nobody's Pop Up Mind. Just some great songs, a lot of Jimmy Page tripes upon what is it, the song Remains the Same. Do you ever see that documentary, if you will? It's basically a concert.

I didn't, but it was a news story, I think, from this year, right? I think it was released later in the year. Yep.

They did did a concert with it, and um not sure what year it was in, but I mean it was basically the it was a news story.

It was 7676, I think.

It was you know, it starts off Robert Plant's there playing with his naked kids. I mean, not like it sounds, they're in the river, and blah, blah, blah. And then um, you have uh John Paul Jones. What a weird haircut he had. I mean, John Paul Jones is is going back and forth with bass and keyboards, and and Robert Plant wasn't singing a ton that that concert. And you know, he he was hitting a few high notes, and of course, Bonham is Bonham. Incredible. But yeah, basically, it I mean, Jimmy is soloing like constantly. Just constantly, and and that's kind of what the you know, this record is kind of like there was uh a little concert, not a concert, but uh I mean it was a concert, if you will, but it wasn't in front of a live audience. They did uh a bunch of these songs. It was just Jimmy and and uh Robert Plant, and they had all these session musicians, they had a guy with a maracca, and they did a lot of these types of songs. So, but yeah, I mean it's not the best Led Zeppelin record, certainly not the most well known, certainly not the most critical acclaim, but yeah.

But how many of those albums do we love from other bands, right? Uh we weren't allowed to that, right? Exactly. So that that's my number nine. All right. Well, to wrap it up, my number nine is now this is an album that I should know a lot more about and have more to say about because I couldn't leave it off the list, but it's came out December 8th, and that is the Eagles Hotel California. This band is an incredible talent. I mean, what do we have? We have Don Felder, uh Glenn Fry, uh Joe Walsh. Did I say Don Henley already? No, and Randy Meisner. And just I mean, just on this album, the two big hits, of course, were Life in the Fast Lane and the title track. I mean, Hotel Cal California is just undeniable. I think there's they don't play it up, though. Uh they never played that one, but there's a lot of tension in that band. Kevin, you can probably reiterate on that for me.

Oh, talk about tons of tension with that band. But I gotta ask you, AJ, hadn't had Meisner left by that point and Timothy B. Schmidt come in?

I wouldn't know.

I'm not a hundred percent, but I think Meisner was was gone by that time.

Oh, he was credited when I was looking at some of the songs. He was definitely credited in writing, but he could have bailed by then. I mean, I love those songs. I just never like delved into the band itself and bought their catalog, but which I hear what it what is it, Eagle's Greatest Hits or whatever, is like one of the best-selling compilations of all time. Maybe I should snag that. But anyway, that's my number nine. And we are to eight to dungo.

Like I said, my my number nine and number eight were the oh, the run of Bob Seeger. So I'm gonna just stick with it. But yeah, I love Bob Seeger, and I, you know, I I have him in there, and I I want to add the song Fire Down Below. Yes, which can mean a oh yes, yes, yes.

Great song.

How you read the redheads or it's got some things to do with uh you know, or just you never had I don't know what you're talking about.

I can't figure out what he's talking about.

Uh we know your wife's a redhead.

They got the fire down below.

Oh man. All right, so that's eight to you, Kev.

All right, oddly enough, my number eight is Bob Seeger. Oh, good.

At least it wasn't the Eagles. I didn't want you to steal it.

I'm gonna bring up, you know, everybody's listed and nobody's mentioned my favorite song on that, which is Sunspot Baby.

Sunspot Baby, I'm gonna catch up sometime.

Which is just such a great funk. I I just I just love that tune. That was and it makes sense that that album is everywhere because pretty much most of the album was was hits. It was inescapable for that whole decade, really, not just the year of 76. Seeker was just just stripped down rock and roll. And I think I've told the story before, but you know, back in the 80s and 90s, Mark, you can probably relate to this. I would buy fake books, you know, to to to get the tablature and the chords for fake books. Yeah, fake books, yeah, that's what we called them. Um, and I never as much as I love Seeger, I've never been more disappointed because literally everything he writes is A.E. That's it. Really? So I I spent $14.95 on a book that has 72 pages of AE. A G here there, and maybe a D or something like that. I mean, it's keep it simple and keep it in the face. Absolutely. I mean, that his his music theory was not his thing. He just played rock and roll.

Right. Yeah, just straightforward rock and roll, which we're gonna get into in a little bit.

It's like that roadhouse blue.

All right, good that old time rock and rock. All right, so number eight to you, Mark.

Okay, this record um is it has a one massive hit, and a lot of fans of the band Kansas will know this record, Left Overture. Um, Carry On My Wayward Son is a incredible song. It holds a little special place. I don't know if this is gonna make me look like an idiot, but um my during my last injury, I binged the show Supernatural. Um Valerie turned me on to it, and it was, I mean, there were so many episodes on that show. But when uh Dean dies or whatever, they they played this song, and my wife was like in tears, blah, blah, blah. You know, they have uh No Miracles, I mean Miracles Out of Nowhere, stuff like that. You know, they do they have violins, they have uh keyboards, it's orchestra-like. This record I don't have a lot of familiarity to. I just that it's basically because of that one big song.

Yeah. Well, I have one on my list where I'm kind of like that. I mean, I do like the rest of the album, but the one song was just so undeniable. I get that. What an incredible song that was. Yes, it was. I'm not gonna sing.

Don't you come.

Thank you, thank you.

America very well, so does England, so does Korea.

All right, so number eight. So this is another one for me that I mean I probably like five songs on this six, but he's just the most single-longable artist. And this comes out Is that a word? I don't know, I just made it up. Single longable November 9th came out the uh debut album Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. I don't know. Every time a Tom Petty song comes on, have a thing for it, or I just want to sing out loud when I'm driving around. And you know, I miss what American Girl breakdown. Um what'd you what'd you say?

I said when you're running down a dream.

So American Girls play that during Super Bowl 42 at halftime. That is very PTSD to me.

Anyway, I will I will go to you, Donald, for number seven. I lost my so I finally have one that hasn't been picked yet.

Actually, going first is not the best, and sometimes no, I know I'm gonna go with Aerosmith Rocks, yes, sir. So one of the greatest rock and roll songs ever, back in the saddle again. Just is a kick ass tune just in your face. I love it. Nice, yeah. Is that all you're running with, Donald? Yeah, I'm keeping it. He knows the everyone's gonna know it.

He knows, he does not know how to cross the great me.

Yeah. Um, anyway, this is this is something, and and I think this might be a record for us for um most copies. Uh my my seven is Hotel California. Yeah, um, it was just a fantastic album. They had consciously decided to move away from country at that time and more towards rock and roll. Life in the fast lane was actually about a conversation that Glenn Fry had with his drug dealer while I believe breaking speeds of 100 miles an hour going down um the Pacific Coast Highway. Yeah. Uh yeah, definitely there was some life in the fast lane for sure. As they used to sing Life in the Vaseline. But um uh one of the one of the interesting little tidbits that I picked up while reading on that is they they were recording at the same studio that Black Sabbath, who might get mentioned later in this, so I won't mention the album, was recording. They they the Eagles had to frequently stop recording because in the studio next door, Sabbath was bleeding into their st their sound studio. The noise you mean was the Sabbath was so loud that it was that it was infringing on on what uh I didn't know if you meant music or drugs bleeding in well probably a little bit of that too. But no, no, they they they there were some sound issues of of um uh sabbath being too loud, which I think is kind of hilarious. Right, right when you think about the the Sabbath fans at that time and the Eagles fans.

Yeah, no kidding, right? Little different, maybe. All right, yeah, minor difference. I won't skip you this time, Mark. I will go to you for number seven.

What a good brother.

Okay, March 26th, Thin Lizzie, Jailbreak. Yeah. Uh there's some really good stuff on this. You have the title track, Boys of Back in Town. My favorite song on this record, Ace Really actually covered it, and it is Orig, one of it, I think it was Origins 2, and that would be the Emerald. It's a record I noticed they played that was out in 76, and I liked some of the songs on it, and that's why I picked it. From this point forward, there'll be records that I actually know about. So I apologize, fans. I was 12, I was fishing all day, every friggin' day.

All right. Well, my number seven, you I soul, is Sin Lizzie Jailbreak. All right. Um, those two songs you mentioned Jailbreak and The Boys Are Back in Town. Oh, well, that is such an amazing tune. And if the boys are gonna fight, you better let them.

Yeah, what a great line.

But um just the one thing, you know, uh, from Dublin, Ireland, Phil Linet, you know, doing most of the writing there. I mean, there's a friggin' statue in Ireland, okay, of Phil Linet, because this band is so massive across most of the world, with the exception of America. Here they're a two-hit wonder, and it's really sad because they have some friggin' amazing stuff. And cowboy song. Yeah, incredible. And just but thank you, Mark. The first time you stole from me tonight, I believe.

Well, that's fine. Yeah, no, but I didn't have a lot to say, so you could have gone.

Yeah, I don't have a ton either. I mean, my top five, I think I will be able to rant a bit, but I believe it's number six to you, Donald. Correct.

Okay, and I'm hopeful that in the next half we'll have less um repeats. But I can't, but I'm just gonna repeat. This is a repeat, but I'm gonna use the words of one of the great modern prophets. Man, come on. I had a rough night, and I hate the fucking Eagles, man.

Get your own fucking cab.

The dude.

The dude.

Hotel California, the Eagles was my on my list at number six. Yes. Don't need to talk about it much because we've had it already, but that's right.

I think all now all four of us have, yes. I believe. No, no. Oh, okay. Nope. All right, rather. All right, well, so then we shall move to you, Cap.

All right. I was gonna say that what one of my notes that I missed on Hotel California's 33 edits on that song to put it together. Interesting that goes that goes on forever. And that's one of as much as I love that song.

Right.

Yeah, no shit, huh, AJ?

As much as I love that song, you get to the end of it where they're trading off the riffs, and it just goes on and on and on. And it's like, I feel like maybe 30 seconds earlier, somebody should have just went. That's good. Right. That's good. It's like free. Exactly. Wrap it up, guys. Come on. Keeps going. Yep. Okay, okay, okay, okay.

Let's get it. Just Black Diamond on the studio.

It's like exactly.

All right, brother.

Um, go ahead. So that leaves me with high voltage rock and roll.

International version.

International. Well, yes. Yes, this is where I was confused, but go ahead. In the States at that time, it had not been the first one. New Zealand and Australia. New Zealand and Australia, yeah. And that was well, one of the one of the funny things, and hopefully I'm not stepping on anybody, but yes, you are, but that's all right. With the story or just the pick?

Just no, the with the pick. You don't even know what my story is.

So how does it be?

I don't know what your story is.

Go on with it. So it was it was Angus, and Malcolm's older brother was their producer from and he had been in the easy beats with Friday on my mind and and whatever else. But um at that time, not off that album, but at that time they had gotten big. With long way to the top, if you want to rock and roll. Fucking crazy.

Incredible song.

Right? But here's the amazing part is he decided that they needed bagpipes. Yes. And it worked! And he knew that Bon Scott had been in a bagpipe band. So he he told Bon Scott to play the bagpipes. The unfortunate part is in the in the bagpiping band, Bon Scott had been a drummer. Oh no.

And I don't imagine that's the easiest instrument to learn.

Right.

Noise I meant to laugh, but and they said it was they said it was the bane of its existence because I mean you think about how a bagpipe works, you have to fill it up with air. It just doesn't, it doesn't work with guitar. I mean, guitar, you make a noise, it comes out.

Right.

You have to blow up the bagpipes and all that. So it was always when they did it live, it was always off. It was just, it just was the terrible thing that happened to Bon Scott. Was was uh um George Young saying, Hey, you were in a bagpipe band? This song needs bagpipes.

All right, so that six to you, Mark.

Okay, this is a band called Sweet. Yeah, it's called Give Us a Wink. And if you look at it, how I have it written on my board, it almost sounds like give USA wink. And it made me wonder if that's when they did their American tour, but whatever. That's just that was written on the board. The Lies in Your Eyes, Fox on the Run, and my favorite song on the record that Brother David put on my uh on one of my mixed tapes when I drove up to Concord and worked at the state. Sweet FA. And it's such a beautiful song when you listen to the music, you know, with the keyboards and everything. But when you listen to the lyrics, it's Friday night, and I need a fight. If she don't spread, I'm gonna bust her head. You know, they talk about that's how the lyrics go. Sweet is a very underrated band. I think most of them are dead except for one of them. And uh kind of like Molly Hatchet, they're all dead. Sad. So many bands now. I know it's terrible.

Sweet was like a one-hit wonder five times.

Well, look at look at the video for uh Sweet FA. I think you'll enjoy it.

Yeah, I'll check it out. All right. Nice. So six to me. And this is Rainbow Rising. We were talking about earlier one big song. I mean, this album for me has several good songs on it, but Stargazer Alone. And Ronnie James Dio's voice is just so undeniable in it. I love it. Uh Richie Blackmore's guitar on the whole album is insane, although he is a raging asshole. I can't stand him. Oh god, now the song just left me, but you got Starstruck on it, really good. Run with the Wolves, I really like that uh Blackmore really got into the trying to get out of like the uh you know, the dragonslash epic type of scenario, and they did, I think what, one more album, then they kind of changed to get poppy and hip-hop with like Graham Bonnet and Stargazer Alone was enough for me to pick this album. That song is maybe one of the greatest rock and roll songs ever created.

That's that's funny because I actually really love the Graham Bonnet and Joe Lynn Turner.

Oh, I do too. I do I love the Graham Bonnet versions. I mean, of uh God, what's the one the big song he did, Kev? Street of the Since We've Been Gone.

Oh, since you've been gone.

You know, it's just a different band. It's kind of like comparing Van Halen, and that's kind of the and Dio didn't want to go in that direction, so they got no some pretty big Dio never stayed with Dragon Realm.

You know what's crazy? And I didn't realize it until reading through that. Um, the keyboard player at that time was Tony Carey, who had a in the early MTV years, had an interesting little bit of a solo career, and then came up with a kind of uh uh um a made up band called Planet P project. And they had a song called Why Me that was on constant play on MTV in the early years. I don't know. Tony Carey, it's a fine, fine day.

I don't, but I want to look at it.

Playing a P Project, why me? Again, just one of those things, songs to you hear from that era, and you're like, Oh, wow, I forgot that that existed, but it was heavy rotation at one point.

Yeah, I it's one of those songs that I guarantee if any of us heard will know. Yeah, you would probably just not the name of it too at all. Right. Awesome. Okay, yeah. I believe we are to number five. We are halfway here. So, Donald, to you.

Cool. So I'm gonna take it to the streets with the doobies, the doobie brothers, all right. Uh professional musicians. I mean, just dudes that knew how to play and can put out some serious good tunes. Yeah, taking it, taking it to the streets, the title track. Um, it keeps you running. You know, Michael McDonald is just a consummate professional musician, you know. He's he's a good, good, good guy. So what I got.

Sorry, it's just so quick and matter of fact.

I know I don't want to take any other time if if they're coming up again or that's okay, Donald.

You that's the beauty of you being number one. That's it. They are professional musicians.

Right. No, you put it best, Donnie.

Yeah.

I mean, I've seen a lot of their shows, and yeah, very professional.

Number five to you, Kev. All right. Well, if if Donald's not gonna, I just gotta say it that I I have a very strange relationship with with uh Doobie Brothers. Um, I love Michael McDonald. He was he was like the epicenter of of Yacht Rock.

This is Yacht Rock, the Album. Ya rock album out now.

The ones that was aired he was yeah, with the big beard, and he's and he's because he was everywhere with with Kenny Loggins, he was writing, with Steeley Dan, he was with Doobie Brothers. I should love the Doobie Brothers.

Christopher Cross. Yeah, Chris Cross is a yacht rock favorite.

There's two great documentaries, I can't remember, I think maybe Amazon Prime, about Yacht Rock. And it's just so much, there's so much fun. And I remember I've watched it absolutely. Yeah, I mean, there's guys, and again, I think we've talked about this. You got the Picaro brothers, you've got Steve Lukathur. These they played on something like I think they estimated like three to five thousand songs apiece. Oh my god.

I saw them in a band the other day, yeah, one of the Picaros, and it made me think of that, Kev. I'm like, fuck, I need to tell him now I can't remember.

Just amazing, amazing. Like you know, we've talked about the wrecking crew, we've talked about all these two different hired guns musicians that that uh but but McDonald was one of those guys that he he came out front and and had his own his own career as well. Yeah, as a matter of fact, there's there's um call it the the the Michael McDonald Bop or something like that. There's a there's a piano sound that is attributed to him. Yeah, I never understood why I don't love Doobie Brothers, but there's a couple songs that I like, but most of it like China Grove. I don't know, and that might be just exposure. I know, I don't know why I think they're very overplayed.

I mean, they're they're definitely one of the album topics. Because of the overplaying yeah, yeah, why not? I he's a accomplished musician.

Well, absolutely skunk Baxter, Skunk Baxter, the guitarist, was also played with Steely Dan a lot, too. You didn't get to play with Steely Dan unless you were in the upper echelon of musicianship, period. End of story.

Yep. All right. Well, beginning of story again.

I'm gonna do something I've never done before. I'm gonna go back to back with ACDC. Nice.

That's why I asked if you said the album title earlier. Right, right.

Although it wasn't released in the States until 81, a year after Bond was gone. Dirty Deeds. Just wow. I mean, what an incredible, incredible album.

Um you know the story behind the song?

The song? No, I don't, Mark. Please, please do. He was playing watching a cartoon. Oh yes, yes. Yeah. It was the beanie, yeah, something beanie, and that's and that's where the term came from. But I don't know any more than that if there was more to the to the story. But I mean just it's one of those albums that just I mean, come on. Dirty deeds. Ain't no fun waiting around to be a millionaire. It's gonna be some rockin' problem child, squealer, big balls, rock in peace, ride on. You know how many times as a teenager that I was hung over in a field somewhere and crushed because the girl I was pining for just left with it, left a party with another dude at 2 a.m. And ride on just got me through that period. You know what I mean? It was like just gonna, hey, if Bond can do it, I can do it, but we're just gonna ride on.

That's why I'm lonely. I'm gonna ride it on the bottom.

Those songs are just important, man.

Fantastic, fantastic tune, great album, and the first time that I've ever gone back to back to back, same artist.

I was wondering about that because when you when I was asking if you would said high voltage, right? I had dirty deeds on my list and I scratched it because I wasn't sure if I could pull it or not. So well, well done. All right, certainly. So five to you, then, right, Mark? Am I right?

Yes, it's international version of high voltage. Um so yeah, there's been a debate. Bon Scott or uh Brian Johnson over the years. Put me down on the Bon Scott category. The music was more fun back then, a little less dark. I mean, I know it sounds crazy because it I mean, no, they're their songs are just fun. They're just fun. Long way to the top. I am telling you, I I I'm really upset that I didn't put that on my mixtape that we did a few weeks ago. Yeah. I just love that song. I love backpipes. You look at the video long way to the top. He had all these dancers in the background, it just looked so anti-ACDC, but wow, just so much fun. They're in cars going down Main Street and everything. You have TNT, like, don't fuck with me. You have the title track, Live Wire, just a fun record. And uh that's all I gotta say about that one. Right.

I think I agree with you on the I mean, on the Bond Scott thing, even though they exploded after he died with Brian Johnson. But you're right, there was so much more of a playful, like, and I immediately think of Can I Sit Next to You Girl, which is just a fun song. I mean, he's just he's just being a creeper, and it's absolutely hilarious. But they're dirty limericks set to loud crunching guitars, exactly.

Which was a lot of similar, but they just never they never wavered, you know. Even changing singers, they kind of didn't waver from their sound, maybe sometimes a little too much, but just that's why it's so ballsy and fun. And I think they could be the band out there that never did better at a sh a singer change without changing like genres almost.

Right. But yeah, and they're actually I I remember reading a story that Bon Scott never never really like commented on anybody else, but he saw Brian Johnston perform and actually made a comment about him replacing him if something.

Sounds like Eric Carr and Eric Singer. Yeah, I don't want to go down that line again. Right. No, wait. I have nothing against Brian Johnson at all. Wait, I just as well.

Yeah, I I prefer Bon Scott Band was fun. And the Jack. We can't forget the Jack. What a she gave me the oh was a bad deal.

Eric Singer, Mark. Eric Singer never said, or Eric Carr never said, should I say he should replace me to Eric Singer?

No, he said he's going to replace me.

Oh, yeah, big difference. So but uh yes, Bon Scott was saying, like, if I if you ever need to replace me, he's the guy. You know, it's opposite. Like Eric Carr was horrified that they were gonna replace him with Eric Singer, which is another terribly sad story. Incredible. All right, so five to me, and this has already been picked at least once, and it's gonna be Aerosmith Rocks. This album, to me, in my opinion, is by far probably their greatest album. I'm way more of a fan of the you know 70s Aerosmith by far. I mean, God. First of all, Donnie, you said the the opening track, but just every song on it, I mean, now I need to look, of course, but Last Child, Rats in the Cellar is one of the dirtiest songs, and I love I don't know, the only word I can ever come up with for it is filthy. But stick of the dogs on the album, Lick and a Promise, another amazing one. And then ending with Home Tonight, which is you know a semi-power power ballad, I guess you could call it. It's a ballad, but I think it's an incredible song and underrated. This album just kicking off with that, and I'll never forget, Mark, and you always you always comment and tell me it's not in the back in the saddle tour, but when we saw them uh with Ted Nugent opening up in the 80s um in Springfield, Massachusetts, yes, it was years and years after Rocks came out, but because they got back together with Perry and Torred, they called it the Back in the Saddle Tour.

Okay, I got you.

And that I I can still see the A dropping with the light truss, the rawness of this record, you know, it's always toys or rocks, and this one to me just I think it's the best album they ever fucking did by far. Agreed, agreed. I'll get to my yeah, yep. So to you then, Donald.

For four, number four, yes, number four to me. Here's where I'm gonna go a little rogue on you guys. I don't know, you know, I gotta shake it up a little bit. You know, you're going to Libya. So like I had on my list at number four, Kansas, Left Overture, which is a great frickin' album name. I mean, brilliant name. Yes. But I'm gonna change it up because I'm gonna make an amendment because you know, this is you say step on toes or whatever. Audible? You make it an audible? We can't do live albums, and it makes it hard. You cannot do a live album. One of the most important live albums ever, and it's Peter Frampton's cannot do this. Why? Why can't I do it?

It's my all right, we're gonna allow it this week, boys. We shall allow it.

But Frampton comes alive. I just had to call this audible because it was almost my new album is too good not to put in, and we historically have not done live albums, but this one is like a pinnacle live album. Like any guitar player who has ever heard, you know, do you do feel like a and know what a talk box is? That's the that's like the baseline for how to play a talk box guitar.

No, I said that's where the talk box really got famous. Yeah. Right.

So I had to throw that audible in there. I'm sorry, people, I'm breaking rules. It's all right. You've done it before.

You're above the law, Donnie. You're above the law, apparently.

I will say this in Donald's defense. Two strikes your route. That live album is so huge, huge, that the other day, listening to songs from that era, I heard, I can't remember which one it was. It wasn't, I don't think it was show me the way, but something that that was on when you hear the studio version of the song, it sounds odd to you.

Yeah, exactly. Right.

Because the lives are the one. That's like rock and roll night with print.

You know, that broke them live, and yeah nobody liked the other one. Had to do it, yeah. Had to do it. Above the law. Above the law. Nobody's above the law.

Except you. Except you. All right, I'm gonna put an asterisk next to that while I'm keeping track of uh of all our picks. I'm gonna go ahead and that's gonna have an asterisk there, right there. Okay. All right, that's number four to you, Kev. Number four to me is where you all, I think, probably get mad at me just because oh no. This is that this is that album. This is that album that has to be there in 1976. I can see it on all your faces. It was the album that ushered it all in the corporate rock, the anthem, the polished Boston's first album. No, it was unavoidable.

It was unavoidable. I almost did it.

I avoided it.

It was done it at four.

Sorry. Sorry, it's on my phone right now, you prick. Yeah, yeah, thank you.

You're you're saying I couldn't believe that it it fell to me at that spot because obviously we all have a lot to say about it. Um I will I will go kind of wide brush strokes on it is that I have a love-hate relationship with it, not only because it was unavoidable because it was it was played to death, not just in its year or its decade, but for decades afterwards. Um, but also because it was that the pinnacle of production. I mean, it was there was there was no there was no burrs on that recording. They they took they they took a buffing wheel, yeah and some some turtle wax and just made everyone threw it like college.

I never saw them. Did they tour? They did tour.

I saw them. Well, I saw them on the third stage. It was what was that? I said, shut up and go.

I'm sorry, to me, the most overrated band ever.

Oh my god.

Well, my point being is that all those things, the corporate rock, the arena rock, the the highly polished production, but it's still I I finally listened to it driving up north um for Thanksgiving, maybe. And it's just it's a great album. It's a great album.

Yeah, in my opinion, but like we always talk about like the appetite for destruction, dark side of the moon, you know, the the albums that are cover to cover, awesome. And that is in the conversation. It's undeniable.

How do you call it a greatest hits album, AJ?

I'm confused. I'm saying in itself, it's a greatest hits album. Okay, okay, I got you. I got you. Absolutely.

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, there's there's no there's no downside, no throwaways, all yeah, and and again, and I'm sure AJ will want to talk about this at some point about the production of it and how it came to be and and all of that because it's an interesting story, for sure. Um, but just it it it can't be left out of the conversation. Oh it was, and I think Don, you you mentioned Appetite for Destruction. I think Appetite for Destruction knocked it off the throne of best-selling debut. Interesting. Oh, that's cool. Yeah, um, when they did get signed after what, 12 years, 10 years, right?

Right.

Um, when they when they say 10 beers or 10 beers, yes. Exactly. Hey, what's that ruler of the red-nosed rain beer? Um my brain daughter when I was reading her a story. Right.

I mean, I'm sure we'll talk about the struggles they went through and all that, but when they did finally get signed, they were I read they were signed to a 10 record six-year deal. Well, the six years has come and gone.

Yeah.

And uh Brad Delp has left us, and and so far they've got three.

All righty. That's four to you, brother.

Okay, um, I just need to say something before I go on with my number four pick. You could take four, three, two, one, mix them in a bag, and I would not be upset on the order they're in. So these next four records are incredible records that I absolutely love. I put their music on all the time and my phone and stuff like that. But I'm going with Kiss Destroyer, released on March 15th. Um, it's undeniable, as we know, AJ and uh you have Detroit Rock City, King of the Nighttime World, which is actually a cover, believe it or not. Shout it out loud, God of Thunder. Just you have a Bob Ezrin record. They're following up Kiss Alive one, if you will. And uh I don't think it it sounded like a very enjoyable record to record for the boys. I don't think Ace and Peter liked it that much, and Paul and Gene, I think they were a little uncomfortable as well, but it was a great record, and this is where Kiss really took off. I mean, they followed up Kiss Alive one with this great record, and it really was a I mean, it went up to what, number six, I think it was. And uh, great record. That's my number four.

All right, you just fucked my whole order up, Mark.

Well, you know what I mean?

For once I thought my top three were gonna beat you out. I thought I was gonna get to go before you on all of them. But anyway, I shall I might talk about that one later. But maybe we're at my number four, which thank you, Kevin. That would be Boston's debut album. I mean, like I said, it's just a greatest hits album in itself. The production of it, which Kevin, you already led to, is you know, they did it in their basement. And there's a few different stories on this. One was that they wouldn't allow them to release it without a profession uh professional production of it. So what they wound up doing was hiring a guy to do like two songs on the West Coast to take a few of the guys in and just record some of those songs while he remixed it again in his own basement. But more importantly, what I want to talk about, and I I I researched the hell out of this today. I knew the answer a while back. They had asked in a one of the big, big name producers, and I don't know if it was Mutt Lang, I don't think so, but it was one of those guys that was just phenomenal. He said, I can't, it's perfect, like literally said the album was so well done that he couldn't touch it and shouldn't touch it. Well, that's why it's one of the biggest selling albums of all time, because it's fucking phenomenal to me. And I will leave it at that and go to number three to you, Donald.

All right, so this this is funny because like spoiler, Boston is gonna be my number one, but I was oh you're spoilers. I was considering using it earlier, but I knew you the kissaholics are gonna come out with their source.

Now you're spoiling everything.

How do you know Kiss is gonna be up? Oh, wait, I already did. Yeah, never mind.

But I'm gonna stick to my list. I'm sticking to my list. Stick to your guns, other than the one audible that I called in for Frampton. Which I'm I'll die on that hill. Um, I'm gonna go with Billy Joel Turnstyles. Nice. I know you guys don't like Billy Joel. I don't dislike Billy Joel, I dislike him as a human.

Right.

You think he's a dick?

Songwriter. No, he's a dick. The guy can write some songs. Oh, yeah. And he wrote some good songs. You know, say goodbye to Hollywood. New York State of Mind is just a smooth song. Um, James. I love that album. I I think he's a great songwriter. Uh, I like it. That's where I'm going. He is incredible, it's fantastic.

And my hatred for him, Mark, in case you're curious, was how he treated like players that were hired guns in his band. Like, what's the drummer, Kevin? You know his name. Liberty. Yeah.

And that should be called out, right? Yeah, like he was fired him sight unseen, didn't even tell him.

Don't be a dick. Stuck he out. He said he You can be talented and not be a dick. Yes. He was struggling paying his mortgage, Donald.

Yeah.

Struggling paying his mortgage. So he approached Billy Joel and asked for a raise, and Billy Joel did not fire him, didn't tell him, just started their new tour with a new drummer. That's awful. Yeah.

I just hate hearing that. That's a prick move.

I just saw something too about a band like one of their roadies that was with him for like 30 years got sick, and they were like, sorry, bud. Yeah, didn't even as a band and individuals, they didn't even contribute to his GoFundMe. I just worked for 20, 30 years, was dying of cancer, and they and they couldn't even put like five bucks to a gold fund me to help the guy. That's a definition of a douchebag.

Like people spread it like wildfire, and but he he could write good songs, but yeah, if he's an asshole, he shouldn't be rewarded for that.

Icy. Yeah. Exactly.

Well, it's tough because we do well, there's no way that we can know exactly who these people are.

I mean, we hear these stories and what they actually did, right? Right. Yeah.

But it's like you gotta take the music for for what it is. And you know, if it's a personal choice if you want to buy the album, not that that happens anymore. But yeah, you don't, yeah, you can't tell me, even though you know this guy was this or that. Um if I love the song, I'm not gonna stop listening to the song. Of course, exactly, you know what I mean.

Yeah, I that doesn't take away from the music for sure.

I don't buy any more Woody Allen movies, but I still reference them and you know, whatever else.

But yeah, all right. So that's to you, Kevin. Number three.

So number three is gonna be one of those ones where you guys are like, what the fuck is he talking about?

We like that though, because then you know that feel for no no Frank, no Frank.

Spoiler alert. No Frank on this one. I love Frank, but there's no Frank on this one. No, this is a young lady named Joan Armor Trading, and she is one of the greatest singers you've never heard of. Um in 1976, she had this phenomenal album, great players on it. Not anybody that you would know of, wasn't anybody that I knew of. But this is an album that that my parents had, and that's how I'm aware of it. Um, later in life, I met people that were in college in the 70s, and many, many do told me that if you wanted to get laid in college in the 70s, if you didn't put this album on, you weren't getting any. Good one. So it's it's a self- Does that work now?

Does it work now? I won't put it on in a minute.

I am gonna look that up. You got the name, play it for the missus and see if it works out for you. Right. Um, do I have to play it with a woman nearby? What's the song? Joan Armor Trading, and the album is Joan Armor Trading. This is one of those albums that everything's solid, but the first side of the album is just killer. From down to zero, help yourself, water with the wine, love and affection, and then save me. It is a almost perfect album side. Again, the music on it is incredible, but her voice is wildly soulful.

I am not in love, but I'm open to persuasion. Where's the best for romance?

And I just absolutely love it. Good egg. You get you do really listen to it. Listen if nothing else, listen to the first side of that album because there's something there that goes beyond feelings, whatever else. Yeah, no, yes. It's it's it's it's amazing. Awesome. So definitely check that out. Cool. Joan Armor Trading. Sorry if I stole that from you, Mark.

When I was reading through this year, I knew you'd have some. What's the name of the song again? I know.

Joan J-O-A-N. I know how to spell it.

Mark, do you have Spotify?

Of course I do.

All right, I'm just gonna I'm gonna send it to you, buddy. I thought you used YouTube, brother.

Oh, John, oh, armor trading. I got it, I got it. I don't, you don't have to send it.

Okay, all right. All right, so that's number three, Mark.

All right. Well, this is a record that is incredibly, incredibly impressive. It is a great record. It's called Ted Nugent Free for All. And we have two lead singers on here. Um, we have Derek St. Holmes, and we have, I don't know, maybe you people have heard of him.

Three lead singers. Three lead singers, Mark.

Ted Nugent. Ted Nugent, obviously. Ted Nugent and uh Meatloaf. Yes. And you have the title track, it starts off, it's just a friggin' kick-ass song. And Ted Nugent's always, you know, he's always about fun back in those days. You have Dog Eat Dog, which is about your society. It's just a very dark song. And then you have a song called Writing on the Wall, which Meat Loaf is singing. Incredible vocal. And this song is basically a follow-up to Stranglehold. In fact, Kevin, I actually like his guitar solo better on this song than Stranglehold. And that is a very high bar to hurdle.

Hyper that is high-braiser.

And if you guys haven't listened to this song, you need to. And this will prove my Uncle Ted's chops and that he can breathe with a guitar as well. Also with Meatloaf on vocals, a song called Together. You need to listen to this song. Anyone out there, please listen to this song, and you'll understand Ted Nugent's versatility on guitar and Meatloaf's versatility on vocals, and wonder why they just couldn't make it work together. So that's my number three.

Brings me to number three. Ted Nugent, free for all. Oh no. Yeah. I thought I had my order good here where it was not gonna, it was gonna, I was gonna beat Mark out, but I clearly did not. Um I was saying, I mean, like I said, it could have been two. So incredibly sometimes you're the windshield, sometimes you're the bug. Incredibly underrated guitarist. Like this guy is soul blues, you know. You need people out there need to get past his politics, past his attitude if they don't like it, because my god, is he underrated? He's just frigging incredible. When we did Ted Nugent, which someday maybe that episode will come out. Incredible, incredible song. Um, Meatloaf on vocals is amazing. The guitar in it is amazing. Uh, you also have him on street rats, let's not forget. Yes, but you talked about Doggy Dog, uh, free for all. The the title track is probably one of the most radio played songs for Ted, other than Cat Scratch, Fever and Stranglehold, of course. Unbelievable album, which I thought you were gonna have lower than me, you dick. But anyway, that's number two to you, Donald.

All right, so number two to me, and I I can't believe this one slid in, but it's fly like an eagle with Steve Miller band. Um Steve Miller band, he's one of those like top 40 songs that people play over and over again that I don't get sick of, you know, like go on, take the money and run, rock me. He's he's a talent, another talented musician that great songwriter or puts out good tunes that people like, you know. It's hard to do I wait in line to buy concert tickets for him, probably not, but right. Do I respect the work that he does? Absolutely, yeah.

It's one of those bands do I change the radio station if he comes on? I I might but whatever you like, right? Yeah.

Um interesting on that album, particularly, is uh Mercury is my favorite one on that one, and it's kind of cool because his Steve Miller was actually a very accomplished blues guitarist, and then moved into being more commercial stuff with Fly Like an Eagle and stuff like that, but definitely started out as a blues guitarist and much more my speed.

And his father was uh big band like swing stuff, yeah. Number two to you, Kev.

Number dose to me, I am gonna go with the Royal Scam Steely Dan. Nice, what a great album. One of the cool things about this album that ties back to the Eagles Hotel California. On this album, there's a song where he says something about turning the Eagles down. Apparently, uh Walter Becker had a girlfriend at the time who was a big Eagles fan. Different kind of music altogether than what what they did, but she used to you know crank it up all the time. And and so having heard that, Henley and Fry in the song Hotel California put in they stab it with their steely knives. Yeah, but they just can't kill the beasts. And that was a a a retort to the Eagles to yeah, Steely Dan talking about the Eagles.

Um I sound ignorant, Kevin, for a minute. What kind of music did Steely Dan play? Because I really I never really understood what they did.

Well, here's the funny thing is talking about that um yacht rock is the people that that made the term yacht rock famous call Steely Dan the epicenter of it when they called Donald Fagan. He told him to fuck off. Um, it was it was jazz-influenced rock, there was pop, there's I don't know, it's it's it's funky motherfucking shit, is what it is. Um at the root of it. That's that's why I like it. Um again, that's one of those bands like we were talking about with Zeppelin and and um Stones and Beatles. That yeah, if you know Ricky, don't lose that number, then you don't know who the band is. Right, right, right. There's there's some like Chain Light Chain Lightning is just a great blues song. They had the best musicians that were available, and they brought them in. So Steely Dan was never really a band. Steely Dan was um Donald Fagan and Walter Becker. With hired guns, kind of like nine inch nails, except with except with talent.

Um well, no, you know, I'm just saying that uh oh my god, now I can't think of the guy's name. Nine inch nails. What's the lead guy's name again? Trent Reah, Trent Reznor. Yeah, he had rotating musicians coming in and playing.

One of the best songs Jenny Johnny Cash ever played.

Yes, yes, hurt hurt. I don't know if it's Johnny Cash ever did, but the original sucks, though. Oh you can think that, but I do still Seely Dan has a that they are considered the gold standard. So anyway, um uh a great album, Kid Charlemagne, about Stanley Allesley, who was the crafter of LSD in that 70s era, 60s, 70s era. Just so many great songs on that. It was it was wedged between I think it was Can't Buy a Thrill in Asia, which were both huge, huge albums. Uh Steely Dan is definitely worth listening to because there's almost no better collection of of musicians put together and recording.

I need to check some of it out. Because I don't, I being honest, I don't know a whole lot either.

Yeah, because the four of us haven't been in my music room, then we'll have the best collection of musicians ever.

Well, well, you just didn't know who Steele Dan was, so that was my point.

No, I think. No, I'm just saying that if all four of us were in my music room, we would create the best music that has ever been created.

Yes, but that's just as would I. I might be able to play that mini guitar behind you and play one note on it. That's called a mandolin.

So was it Scott? He used to say I play the electric triangle.

He said it. Oh, that was one of the funniest nights ever when he said, Big stack of Marshalls behind me. Before I move forward to your number two, Mark, I am going to kill you if you mess this up for me. He could because I thought I had one record that I was gonna be able to pick before Mark going after. And I have a feeling he's gonna swap shit up on me and I'm not swapping anything. Well, you're not swapping, but I'm worried. Number two to you, brother.

All right, AJ. I have Aerosmith Rocks. Alright. And uh this was tough for me because I did pick this in a mishmash as my favorite rock and roll record of all time. Best record of all time. And uh you have like Donnie said, and uh Back in the Saddle. My two favorite songs in this record, which are ballsy, riffy, just friggin' almost. I mean, I I don't want to say violent, but nobody's fault in combination. You have Last Child Sick as a dog. It's just filthy. Filthy, dirty, riffy, just friggin' honest. Incredible stuff. I mean, looking at all the records, I mean, because over the years it's it did not always know like I do with Kiss what songs were which on what were on what record, but uh this is an incredible record. It's just filthy. Something and I do listen to it all the time on my phone. I love this shit.

The rawness of it was just rawness.

I have freaking rashes all over my body in Boston. What what you yes, exactly. This is unpolished, absolutely unpolished, and I don't like polished music.

All right, so thank goodness I get to pick one before you because I actually rank these two albums a little different. My number two is Kiss Rock and Roll Over. And this is what I was worried about. I thought Mark was gonna get to it before me. Oh no, because that that was gonna be reversed at first, and I but anyway, I this these uh albums that came out this year were the height of Kiss, superhero ness, incredible. You know, I mean, starts out with I want you, you have Dr. Love on it, you have Lovin' Love Em Leave Em. You have Mr. Speed, which to me is one of the greatest Paul songs and most underrated. I mean, in the KISS community, it's massive. To me, it's awesome. Um, Hard Luck Woman's on this album, making loves on this album. I'm not gonna go too crazy on it right now, but when you go through their songs, this is one, and this is when Eddie Kramer came back after Alive, got them into the rawness. So they actually played actually, I think they were in like Canada and played in like a one big room together where they played, you know. I don't quote me on that, Kiss fans, because god, I don't want to be crucified. They played live, it was raw, kind of talking about Aerosmith, and I think it's really difficult to do this list. So, all right, that's number one to you, Donald.

Cool, and I left the ones that you're obviously gonna use for your number one, number two, because I deferred those to Mark and AJ. Um, amazing, not gonna discount how awesome those are. But I went with Boston, it was my number one, Boston, Boston. Kevin said it perfectly. That album is so polished, like it's perfect. That album is perfect, it's a studio production, and I know like Mark, you were saying it's it's it's a little too polished, but in time, that thing is just it's perfect. Like to me, the the song Long Time is one of my favorite songs. The solo on that, the way it kicks in is like I love that. The vocals are amazing. I would have loved to see them live to see how they could reproduce it. Like, could it be reproduced live versus studio? And I never got that opportunity. I never heard a live album from them. Right. They had unfortunately they had a short, you know, they had three albums, but it seems like they had a very short career. Like they didn't do like a lot of touring, like a lot of bands do.

So it's I don't think I ever remember hearing about them playing around here. And we live near Boston.

I never see a video of them live. Like, I don't know how they could reproduce that sound live.

Like there's there's some I've I've run into on YouTube lately of I believe that first tour, if not the second, but I think it was the first tour. And they were, I mean, Schultz was going from keyboards to to guitar, and it sounded it sounded right.

Right.

Um, I did see them on the third stage, which would have been the third album, which would 87, 88, somewhere in that era. I saw them at the uh the Worcester Centrum. Of course, I had the nosebleed seats, and yeah, if I squinted, I could almost see them on the stage, but the sound was was incredible.

And that's cool. You know, that's good to hear because another band I equate to that is like Def Leopard in hysteria. Like there was a perfect recording, and they did it pretty well live.

They do it, I don't know, excellent live. They thrive on their backing vocal, their gang vocals, they thrive on it.

I mean, they did it pretty good, and that you know, to me, that's important. You know, can they can they pull it off live?

Exactly, or is it a live album?

That album Boston Boston is just uh a recording masterpiece to me. It damn well is beautiful sounding, and you know, Schultz. I don't know if he was a dick or whatever, but I used our uh a Rockman, it was an awesome uh piece of equipment in the 80s. Yeah, it was a Walkman for guitar, and it sounded amazing, and it was way ahead of its time as far as you know, technology for guitarists and stuff. Was that to plug into and hear like a Walkman Walkman amp?

One of the things with Schultz is much much like Eddie Van Halen, earlier than Van Halen, is a lot of his sound came from the engineering that he that he understood. He created that sound for that guitar. Oh, hell yeah. You did yeah, and and it wasn't sitting there and playing with the reverb and the gain and whatever on your amp. He literally electronically made his guitar sound differently. So when they did play live, he did have that super polished guitar sound, yeah. Um, which now I think you can just push a button on whatever.

Yeah, and auto-tune and all this stuff. The vocals, I mean, they they their music was amazing, but the vocals were right on par too. Like the high notes that he was hitting were just uh you know, yeah, crap.

And that's the thing that can't be faked or whatever else. Red Delp was absolutely unbelievable. Yeah, as a singer. I mean, that was that was real. What I mean, it was multi-tracked and whatever else, but that was still him, and he was yeah, unbelievable. And for sure. All right, so that's number one to you, Kev. All right. Once again, I'm gonna pull one out that I just can't believe you guys didn't even mention. I would have thought you would have picked this early on. It's an album called Sandman by Harry Nilsson Oh dear Lord.

Yeah, it's you're shocked. Shocked.

This is one of my all-time favorite albums, and it's one of those albums that got it went out of print. It it went out, they just stopped making it because nobody had any interest in it except me. I actually bought it on eBay in the early days of eBay from a guy in Canada. I got a pristine vinyl and transferred it to CD and actually had an artist I knew take pictures of the album cover, and I made up like 20 copies of this on CD, and still nobody was interested. No, that's not true. Um, Harry Nilsen, if you don't know, was the Beatles' favorite American singer. Um, one is the loneliest number, Lime in the Coconut. Um, no shit. A tremendous uh Everybody's Talking from Midnight Cowboy. The guy was an amazing songwriter. He had, I want to say was an eight octave range in his vocals or something ridiculous like that. Wow, the guy, the guy was unbelievably talented, and this was one of those albums where it was like he was left alone with the keys to the kingdom, and he wrote these great fun songs. He had some of the best musicians playing with him, um, Van Dyke Parks um on keyboards, Jim Keltner on drums, Klaus Vorman. I mean, these guys were absolutely top of their game, and he just had fun with it. There's a song called Jesus Christ, you're tall.

I've been nobody, I've been nobody, I've been nobody. I wanted to dance with you and all.

And it's about, you know, uh nobody wants to date the girl because she's too tall. Um it's intimidating.

What's that? It's intimidating.

Well, absolutely.

Um but it's also pretty intriguing, too, though, right? Oh, absolutely. I want that challenge.

Can I climb that?

Um my height, every girl's taller. I'm not that short. Sorry.

Yep, there's I'll take a tango. Um again, this is one of my I believe you can get it on Spotify now. Worth listening to. There's one called How to Write a Song. He says, How to write a song. He says, if you write it on P if you write it on guitar, plays your guitar upon your knee. If you write it on piano, don't do that. Um he had a lot of wit in what he wrote, and and there's this one, it's six minutes and 40 seconds long. It's called the Flying Saucer Song. And it's just two guys in a bar talking, and he does the voices, and it and he just like it's crazy, it's absolutely wild. By no means his most popular release, but it was one of those albums that my father bought, and I listened to it over and over again, and there was just something there's greatness in it, and it just doesn't fit into the pigeonhole of what people expected from him or people like him, and that's I think what's about it or me.

Yeah, no, no, in a good way. Like, I never would have expected you to pick that up. Oh, right, right.

But it was, I mean, it was that album really meant that much to me. It was it, it is without question my number one.

Nice. So, number one to you, brother, which is the only steal I had.

Yeah, well, obviously, I'm picking uh well, I I couldn't come up with something to say funny, but kiss rock and roll over. The most classic Kiss record in their catalog, as far as I'm concerned. I mean, me and my buddy Ace Freely only have one problem. He did not write any of the material on this, but son of a bitch, did he just play classic Ace Freely sounds up and down this record? Yeah, I want you. They uh pollen uh ace trade solos, um, Love Em Leave Em, which is about uh, you know, basically marrying somebody for a hundred years, uh Baby Driver, Peter Chris's uh edition to this record. Ace plays a great solo on it. Um Hard Luck Woman. Let me tell you something about Peter Chris. That vocal he did on Hard Luck Woman is so classic. And let me tell you something about Paul Stanley. He said, I mean, every time I go on my friggin' computer, Paul Stanley says this was a nightmare. Paul Stanley says that was a nightmare. And like recording with Peter Chris and rocking all over was a nightmare. It's like, fuck you, Paul. That was the most classic. That this is the ultimate kiss sound at their absolute peak. I I I you know, Aerosmith Rocks, I picked number one in another compilation, but I had to pick this one. Yeah, I had to pick it. Incredible, I listen to it all the time, I pull it up all the time, and I listen to it with during you know, before the reunion tour. Just it's a great record, just classic kiss, perfect.

Absolutely, and Paul has always been that type who just shits on everything from the past, like even when it's he doesn't love it or it has something to do with Acer Peter, he can't like it. He's so hypersensitive, it's unbelievable. Good pick, they must know, right? All right, so I'll finish it up then. And mine is quite obvious, I'm sure, for everyone out there, and that is Kiss Destroyer. And yes, this was a little bit of a uh a tune-out for a lot of the KISS fans who came aboard, you know, from the first three albums and alive. Bob Ezrin came in, buckled them down, and contrary to what you said, Mark, believe it or not, Peter and Ace actually appreciated what he did after the fact, although they hated the discipline that he gave them. Like, I think a few songs they had Peter playing in an elevator to get the right sound. Yes, you know, like he was very intricate and uh eccentric. And the reason, the only reason I took it over rock and roll over and it's raw sound, is I went through my head through the songs, and I'm like, all right, great expectations. You know what? I like it better than see you in your dreams. I hate that friggin' song, and I just yeah, it's not like you know, it was a real tough way out. I mean, like you said in your picks, it was like a one and a one a destroyer is the album that I mean, think about it. What do you got? You got Detroit, Do You Love Me, Um, Shout It Out Loud, Beth, God of Thunder, and these are just songs that they pretty much continued playing live throughout the entire career of the band. I mean, what more can I say about Kiss Destroyer and then Detroit Rock City and King of the Nighttime World? I mean, obviously, it's not like uh Priest with um kicking into Electric Eye. The songs almost go together to me, the way Detroit Rock kicks into King of the Nighttime World.

I was I was going to ask, but I think my question has been answered. That the sound effects leading up to Detroit Rock City, the kid yelling in God of Thunder. Yeah, and I was wondering where did that come from? And then I realized Bob Ezrin, his kids who who had been working with Pink Floyd, yeah, right, exactly. So I'm guessing that's where embellishing theatrical kind of stuff to the music because they didn't do any of that before Destroyer, did they?

Not really, no, God not and then you that's which is kind of why people were almost offended by it. But then you know, like I mean, the woman washing dishes and the keys jingling, getting in the car. I mean, it's incredible, and then you know, then kicking into King of the Nighttime, just an amazing record and a staple in my I mean it changed my life, you know. I mean, this band did, and these albums, I mean, a lot of them are fatigued now, unfortunately, because they drove into my head for 15 years or 50 years, probably.

Well, I will attest to be with the Boston that album, I I could not listen to it for the last 25 years, right? And now I can finally I played it all the way through, and I might listen to it again. So that's great. There's hope, there's hope that we'll cleanse of that fatigue, you're waiting for and and appreciate what that was for. It's funny, you made Donnie made the comment from uh Lebowski about the Eagles, and I mean at that point when that when Lebowski came out, it kind of hit me. I'm like, yeah, man, I'm tired of the fucking Eagles. And I didn't listen to them until that the two, three-part documentary came out on Netflix, and and then you kind of go back and you're like, oh yeah, that's I remember this happened to that song, and I remember this, and you kind of like and you warm up to it again because it's it's their music, but it's your life. Absolutely. So you kind of get back to what those were, and and uh so I I believe that you can get over the fatigue of uh of the things. Oh, absolutely. Oh yeah, just takes takes half a lifetime, yeah.

Well, especially with Kiss for me. It's like, come on, right, like change that fucking stuff. All right, boys. Well, that wraps it up.

Nice. All right, now one more thing. I just gotta throw this out there since Donnie broke the rules with the live album. Yes, he did, and the Flintstones.

I would never let Donnie let the Flintstones down.

No, we'll never let him live it down, but I'm gonna one up, and I'm gonna go with a live album as a also mentioned, and that would be Jay Giles band, Blow Your Face Out. Honorable great, great album, honorable mention, great album, but I'm mentioning it because that rap that Peter Wolf does leading up to Musta Got Lost. I don't even like to listen to the song Musta Got Lost if it's not the Blow Your Face Out with a wibble gibble with the green teeth saying, Let me hear them. That is so iconic. Watching the tonight show signaling tomorrow, you know she ain't gonna call you. Hey Raputa. Raputa, oh that is that what that's your hand down your hair and then climb up the ladder you love. Oh god. That is just a an amazing moment in rock and roll. Couldn't let it pass. So thanks for breaking the ice album. Gotta do it.

Since you guys went illegal. Okay, here we go. Everybody discuss how it's really sad to see how the live album left us in like the mid to late 80s.

I just I've said it before. Uh, every time I go and see, like most recently, I saw Grand Funk Railroad, and it always hits me like three-quarters of the way through the show that this is gonna be over soon. There's not gonna be anybody to go see play live. Really? Yeah, you're right. The real music is going to be gone. I can feel it like dripping out of the life dripping out of it. So I try to take every chance I can to see somebody that I know is gonna plus, I mean, I'm gonna have to get back into sports again.

Awesome boys. Well, that wraps it up. Thank you, everyone out there for listening. We can't appreciate it more. And happy 2025, and welcome to season two. So let's hope to have a great year here because we're certainly gonna do our best. Uh, Donald, thank you. Thank you. Yes, Kevin, thank you.

Thank you, AJ. Thank you, fans. Brother Mike, thank you.

It was my pleasure. Thank you very much, AJ.

Yes, and we are out.