Matt Connarton Unleashed 1-20-24, part 2

Um come he God, don't get so freely, Matt southing. Welcome everybody as we enter our number three New Marrow trace of Matt Connorton unleashed and we are live from the studios of w m n H ninety five point three FM, inglorious but a little Chili, Manchester, New h Sure, so welcome everybody. Of course, we are coming to you from our new studios. We are live on this January twentieth, twenty twenty four, coming to you from our new studios at on Canal Street here and uh, it's uh, it's nice to be in a place.

It's it's very clean, it's new. It's uh. I like it. It's very bright. I like it. PAULI c uh had a little bit of an issue with the brightness. I like the but I like the brightness a lot. That's the thing. It's kind of a running joke on Retrospectrum Radio because Paul, you know, Paul likes likes to dim the lights, you know the move. But I like it bright. I like a lot of bright light keeps the neurons firing in the brain, you know what I mean for me to well, there's that too. Yes, it's nice to be able to see things.

Let me play. The brightness of the room is to help. So if you are listening live, the studio line is open six oh three two five six oh seven six o three two five six seven. If you'd like to give us a call. We still the same number. I thought we had a new number. I know. I heard we're getting a new studio line at some point, but right now we still have the checking. I don't know why it would change, but I heard I think Peter had said something about it might change, but uh nope, six three two five six seven.

You can also text us at six one seven nine one seven four four seven six. I'm on social media at Matt Connorton. You can email me Matt at Matt connorton dot com. We don't have the Facebook live chat going. We're not on Facebook because keep having issues with that. But I think it's just Facebook being Facebook. It's being glad for everybody. But Petere, well that's the thing. So Peters the Magic Paul wasn't able to get into Facebook last night, and then this morning Peter was here to let us in and do a few things, and he had no problem.

But then I have the same issue, Paul did, so we're not we're not on Facebook at the moment, but but you can stream it, you know, go to wmn Hradio dot org and click listen live. Or you can always go to my website Matt Connorton. That will also get you there, so you can stream the audio from anywhere, because you know, we have a not only do we have a great local audience here in Manchester on ninety five point three FM, but we have a lot of people who listen online from uh, around the country and across the globe, or across the country and around the globe, I guess would be more accurate unless you're I guess if you're a flat earther you would say across well, you wouldn't say across the globe, you would say what across the across the planet?

The what? Uh No, I don't think so, mem that's getting very specific. But anyway, but you can you can listen many different ways. And thank you by the way, we had to Chloe and Nick and Derek Smith of course, who I think is going to be rejoining us shortly, uh, but yes, from the Mosaic Art Mosaic Art Collective and come down and say hello. Jenny and I will be there tonight for the show. It is on It's right above the Palace Theater, our Palace on Hanover Street. Yeah, check check out Mosaic Art Collective online.

Great show tonight, Abner the Second and Regals will be performing live and Jenny and I will be there. Come down and say hello. It's a great place, so we'd love to see you there for the show tonight. See six Hanover Streets there you go to one doors were opening at seven pm and they were our first in studio guests on the in the new studio here in the new location. Typically, you know, we do since we've gone to Saturdays and doing these three hour shows, we usually have very busy shows, very stacked with you know, different guests in each hour and whatnot.

But because it's our first show in our new environs, we decided we'll just you know, we'll just have limited guests just to kind of make sure that everything goes smoothly here now that we're in the new place. But we have a lot of exciting musical guests coming up in the in the weeks approaching, and it's going to be really good. So so I'm digging it. I like the new place. Like I said, it's nice. You know, everything's clean and new, so it's pretty cool, pretty cool. I like it a lot, I really do.

And it's it's I don't know, it's special. You're not like hidden in a building somewhere. You are the building. The thing is too And I can't remember if I said this. I've said it off air, I've made this observation. I don't remember if I said it on air on Paul's show. But this is kind of like one of those magic buildings. And what I mean by that is you look at it from the outside and it looks kind of small, and then you get inside the building and it's like big, you know, like there's so much more space in this building than I thought there was.

It just looks small from the outside. I remember when I first found out we were going to be moving here, and I was like that that tiny little building, we're going to be moving there. But then you get inside here and it's like, uh, seriously, it's it's actually quite large. It is this way bigger on the inside. Like this is actually one of those situations where it's true. Yeah, yeah, because it does. It looks super small from the outside. I know that. We were like, oh my god, it's gonna be a closet.

Yeah yeah, but it's not. It's a great space. Yeah absolutely. And it has a fan on the ceiling and I love that. Can I just say I love that We'll be able to circulate the air in here in the summer. True. Oh my, that's wonderful. Yeah yeah, yeah, that is opening the third story windows in the hall in the in the it's like a tunnel of air that goes down Elm Street Street tunnels such a wind tunnel. Yeah right, And if it's not flowing your way, forget it. There's no air coming in those windows, right, So yeah, I'll take this.

That is true. That is true. But yeah, six oh three, two five, six seven, If you would like to join us, we were talking, so I just found something online because we were talking in the first hour. If you missed the first hour, of course, the show will be up on the website by one pm at the very latest, and on the podcasting platforms and so forth, the same as always. But we were talking in the first hour about well, we kind of took a little bit of a side street. We were talking about Madonna and you know she's being sued by a couple of fans because she apparently she exhibits the same behavior that Axel Rose when he was younger and immature, used to exhibit, you know, going on very late, making making the fans wait.

And so Madonna did a show in New York City and uh started two hours late, and a couple of fans actually are suing her something. So we're talking about that, and I had UH again. We took a little bit of a side street. I was talking about how you know, before you buy tickets to any kind of a big show, a major touring act or or or a mid level uh touring act, you know, anybody, really you should do just take a couple of minutes. It'll that's all it'll take. You just do some light research online so you know what you're getting into, because apparently, so in the Madonna example, for example, she apparently has a bit of a history of doing this, of going on stage late and so forth.

But the other thing that I talked about, and this is where the side street comes in, is I was talking about how, you know, a lot of bands tour and they have very few original members, or in some cases they have no original members, and I was talking about Foreigner how the guy who was the original guitar player now effectively manages the band and still tours with them as a like a tour manager, but doesn't actually perform on stage. So if you are someone who is concerned about that type of thing, because sometimes you'll see people online talking about how, oh, I went to see such and such band, and I didn't recognize any of the people on stage, and then I no original members, or there's one original member or two original members, but the key members aren't even in the band.

And so that's more common than people think. And the average consumer, the average concert goer who maybe isn't that invested necessarily. They just want to go to a live show, but it's not the most important thing to them, just a casual night out. Maybe they don't care. Maybe they're willing to spend that money by that ticket and don't really care who's in the band. And I think that the concert industry, to a large extent, depends on those consumers who aren't necessarily informed and don't particularly care to be because it's not that important to them.

But if you are someone who's going to be concerned about that like I said, just to a couple of minutes of light research, see who's actually in the band, because if you're going to feel somehow cheated because you get there and you don't recognize it anybody who's on stage, you might feel, you know, well, you could have avoided that. You might feel like, Wow, I spent these tickets and I don't even know any of the people on stage. This isn't the band. Because you'll often hear people who complain about that kind of thing.

They'll say, oh, this is just a glorified cover band. It's not even the real band anymore. So do some light research again, take you two or three minutes if you care, before you buy those tickets, so you know exactly what you're getting. So that was a subject in the first hour of the show, in the nine o'clock hour, and then I happen to find an article. I figured this would be an interesting thing to circle back to and Derek, you're welcome to participate if you want to. I mean, you don't have to, it's up to you, but you're welcome to our friend Derek Smith.

He's back with us in the studio. No pressure, but if you have any input all right. But I found this article on Ultimate Classic rock dot com bands with no original members, So, and there's more of them than you might think. So these are these are you know, classic rock artists primarily who are touring, who tour with no original members in the band at all. And this is more common than you might think. So uh, here's what the article says. As you'll see in the following list of bands with no original members.

Not everybody can be you two, you know, because you two has had You two all their decades of existence. They've never had a lineup change. It's always been the same four guys. That study group never reshuffled bandmates. Oh, that sturdy group. Rather, I did think the phrasing was odd. Study group. No, that sturdy group never reshuffled bandmates. But but and by the way, off the top of my head, I cannot think of an other band that has been around as long as you two have that has never had a lineup change.

Never, not even for a single album. They've had lineup changes. Really, Oh, that's not the original lineup I thought it was. I really did. Yeah, yeah, no, Ron Wood, he hasn't always been in the band. Yeah, it's upt Derek All right, Oh, it looked like you were trying to tell me something that that you love. Yeah, we gotta yeah, pull that micup and I'll bring your mic up here. There, there you go. I was just gonna say, you know, aside from Charlie Watts, of course, who they lost, I thought that they carried on the members Ron Woods after Ron Wood's not an original member, yeah, but he's still with him now at least.

Yeah. Right, yeah, I mean, you know, the the lineup. I mean he's been uh, he's been there for so long. But yeah,

and of course Bill Wyman left and jeez, like fifteen years ago Bill Wyman left, I forget his name now who plays bass for them now? But

yeah, I can't think of it. So I can't think of an example other than you two of a band that has never changed members, it says here. For some changes have been the norm rather than the exception. Blood Sweat and Tears and Renaissance, for example, seem to be breaking up as soon as they formed. The Little River Band have been in flux over ever since the end of their hit making Heyday back in the early eighties. For others, the personnel shifts have been drastic. No one in Blackfoot, which was co founded by Ricky Medlock in nineteen sixty nine, has a tenure dating back further than a few years.

Guitarist Scott Gorham hooked up with then Lizzie just before they hit it big with the Boys are Back in Town, but continues with a group where most of the members joined in twenty ten or later. There are bands like Quiet, Riot, Gwar, and Rat, which slowly whittled down to their final original member Kevin Dubrow, Dave Brocky and Stephen Pearcy, respectively, before he left or passed on. Let's see skipping down here. This is a little more in depth than I thought. Defections and deaths have also altered career trajectories of groups like Heart, The Hollies and Yes,

but they had a wrinkle to things since the current lineups still most prominent members from their best known eras, including Nancy and Anne Wilson of Heart, Tony Hicks and the Hollies, and Steve Howe and Alan White of Yes Now. Heart is an example though, of a band where as long as the Wilson sisters are there, I think most people that's that's all they really care about. With Heart, I don't think that if either of them were to leave, I think that people would say, well, that's not really Heart anymore.

Part of why this is interesting to me too. And then we'll get into the actual list of bands that have no original members. But you know, Kiss is my favorite band. I'm a lifelong Kiss fan, and and right, and with Kiss, it's it's always a discussion among Kiss fans. It's always, you know, these arguments about well is it really Kiss without the original lineup. They are still to this day people who say, well, without Paul Gene, uh, Paul Gene Asen Peter, it's not really Kiss, you know. And and you know what that bends doing now that they had their quote unquote final tour the avatars.

Yeah, yeah, we talked about AI. Yeah, they're doing like the digital version hologram. Yeah, yeah, exactly exactly. But when I became a Kiss fan in the eighties, Kiss was not the original lineup at that point, so it didn't matter to me. To me, it's like, and I think a lot of Kiss fans feel this way. You know, as long as Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons are there, it's Kiss. But if one of them were not there, it wouldn't be Kiss, So that's always an argument among Kiss fans, but is so here's the list of bands that are currently active but have no original members at all.

This is from Ultimate Classic Rock dot com, and there's some explanations that go with this. So the first one listed here is Yes. It says Yes. We're founded in nineteen sixty eight by John Anderson, Peter Banks, Bill Bruford, Tony Kay, and Chris Squire, the latter of whom was their longest tenured member since his death in twenty fifteen. Banks was gone after just two embryonic albums, followed by Kay and then Bruford in the early seventies. K eventually We're during Yes his eighties pop renaissance.

Anderson remained off and on through two thousand and four. Yeah, and of course during the eighties, you know, Owner of a Lonely Heart was just a massive hit, a song that I never liked. But I think part of why I never liked it was because I had to hear it constantly and couldn't turn on MTV without seeing the video. But today, Yeah, for Yes, it says Steve Howe and then Alan White joined Yes as the band was reaching a creative peak in seventy one to seventy two. Creative, not a commercial peak, but a creative one.

I personally, I don't like any of any early Yes, if you're any early, like anything early yeah or for yes? No, the early stuff was very prague, you know. It wasn't like Yeah, it's not like the eighties stuff where it's very melodic. The early stuff is like I'm most familiar with the Fragile album and the Close to the Edge, yeah for them, but I didn't all on see prefer Chris Squire's solo album Fish out of Water, I've never heard it. Is it good? Yeah, it's very good. It's only five songs, but oh there's it's because there's a couple that are pretty long.

But really yeah, as prague is, but it's it's a flawless five songs. When did that come out? Mid seventies? Oh okay, oh okay. So he was obviously still in the band, as we said till the end. But but so you probably like the So do you like early Yes, you like the prog stuff. I like some of Fragile and Close to the Edge. Is I think that that title track is all one side of the vinyl. Oh that long of a song. Oh, there's a lot to it. But so you probably don't care for the eighties stuff then, right, No, Like, yeah, I didn't think so.

Yeah, Like Owner of a Lonely Heart was like the huge hit, leave It, I think is a cool song. But I but I was never I was never a big fan of any air. Yes, really not a big fan. You know, could kind of take him or leave them. They had that one other poppy single to what was it called. Oh, they had a bunch of hits. Owner of a Lonely Heart was the big one, but leave It was kind of a hit, and jeez, I can't even remember what else now, but yeah, they were massively successful for a while. The next one on the list is Heart.

It says Roger Fisher and Steve Fosson led several early incarnations of Heart with names like The Army and White Heart, beginning as early as nineteen sixty seven, long before the first Wilson's sister joined in the early seventies, I'll be damned. They were then briefly known as hocus Pocus before things started coming together for the group in the new decade. Now, Nancy and Ann Wilson have led Heart to multi platinum success in the seventies before co founders Roger Fisher and then Steve Fasson departed.

Contributors like Danny Carmassy and Gilby Clark have since moved through the lineup, among others. Nancy Wilson announced her own version of Heart in twenty twenty two. Like I said, though, I think generally the perception is that as long as the Wilson sisters are there, it's Heart. I don't think most people, even I mean diehard fans would know the other members, but casual fans would have no idea, no idea. The song I was thinking of, of yes is also on the Fragile album It's Roundabout, Oh, Roundabout Yeah, that one I don't care for either.

It's like their pops song from the album Yeah. Well yeah, it's interesting. I kind of like that one. But see that song. To me, though, what's kind of both like it's I think it's it's kind of a pop song, obviously because it was a big radio hit and you'll hear it on classic stations, but it definitely has prog elements I think too, you know, I think that you know, I'm just kind of playing it in my mind and it's like, actually, I think it's impressive that a song could have those prog elements but be successful.

That's successful commercially, you know what I mean? Right, Yeah, I'm playing it in my mind and it's like, yeah, it's yeah, the the baseline, it's definitely it's a departure from the rest of it though. Yeah, yeah, yeah, no doubt, no doubt. Now this is an interesting one, Leonard SKINNERD. Part of what makes this one interesting is the various lawsuits that happened over the years because, of course the original Leonard SKINNERD. Half the band was, uh, maybe more than half was killed in that plane crash, so it says here.

Leonard Skinner was originally founded by Ronnie van zandt Gary Rossington and Alan Collins, with classic era lineups that also included Ed King, Artemis Pyle, Ricky Medlock, Billy Powell, Leon Wilkison, and Steve Gaines, among others. Van Zant and Gaines were killed in a nineteen seventy seven plane crash that also left Wilkinson in critical condition, and Leonard Skinnard disbanded. Leonard SKINNERD reconvened ten years later, after the crash with Rossington, King, Wilkeson, Pile, and Powell were joined by a new frontman, Johnny van zant Ronnie's younger brother, who I would argue technically was actually a better singer than the older and dead van Zandt, which is heresy among Leonard Skinner fans.

But I actually think, actually, I think Johnny's a better singer. Collins was unable to take part after a car accident. Pile soon exited. He got in all kinds of legal trouble, and then King left, Medlock returned, but then Wilkeson died in two thousand and one, followed by Powell in two thousand and nine, and Rossington, the last surviving co founder, in twenty twenty three. Yeah, I remember there were a lot, Like twenty years ago, there were lawsuits because Gary Rossington kept the band going and he had effectively taken full control of the band, and other former members' families were suing him and trying to keep him from using the name, but not successfully.

But then Rossington died. So let's see Little River Band. I don't know if I care about this one. Anybody care about Little River Band? No? I like a couple of their songs, but I don't know if I want to really say, I can't even think of one. I gotta be honest. They had, they had a bunch of hits. Oh Lonesome Loser is a good song. No, not clicking? What other song? I feel like? There's another little River band song I like. I can't remember what it was, though, so I must not like it that much. Blood, sweat and Tears.

I don't really care about that one either. Okay, then Lizzie, because everybody knows the boys are back in town. Childhood friend Brian Downey and Phil Lynnett Lennott. I'm never sure if I'm saying that correctly formed Thin Lizzie in nineteen sixty nine with two former members of Van Morrison's band Them. Guitarist Brian Robertson and Scott Gorham joined just before the group's nineteen seventy three commercial breakthrough. Robertson was eventually replaced by Gary Moore. Lynnett also worked with members of The Sex Pistols before then.

Lizzie initially split in eighty three. He died three years later. Scott Gorum began leading Thin Lizzie again in ninety six. Together with co founder Brian Downey and early eighties era member Darren Wharton. Yeah, I don't care about the rest of this. I guess I don't care about them Lizzy that much. I'm bored. I got bored. I got bored with thin Lizzie Barry. I like jail Break, Oh jail Break. Yeah, that's a cool song. Boys Are Back in Town is okay, But it's one of those songs that I've just heard it so many times over the of my life.

I'm sick of it. Like, if you listen to a classic rock station for more than an hour, you're probably gonna hear Ployser back in Town and it's uh yeah, it gets it gets old. The Hollies, I don't care that much, Iron Butterfly, I don't care that much. Rat Ah, Yes, Round and Round, got about them. Yes. Stephen Pearcy began working with a series of precursor bands in seventy three, one of which was called Mickey Rat. Robin Crosby joined a few years after, and the name was shortened to Rat. That's with two t's.

Their early eighties hit hit making lineup was complete with the additions of Warren D. Martini, Bobby Blotzer and Juan Crusier. By nineteen ninety, they'd split with Crosby and RAT disbanded in ninety two. Pierc, d Martini and Blotzer reunited as RAT five years later, before Crosby overdosed in two thousand and two. The surviving four members got together again in seven but Piercy left once more in twenty fourteen. I liked some hair metal anthems found and round by them and their ballad of eighteen in life, No you're thinking of skid row eighteen, RAT has a ballad called giving Yourself Away.

Okay, I think Actually, Peter White and I had a conversation. I think about that song once, Giving Yourself Away. I think is such an underrated song. It's not a song most people think of when they think of RAT, and I think it might have been their last big radio single too, really good song. So today, Bobby Blotzer, who joined about a decade after Rat's founding announced in twenty sixteen, announced a twenty sixteen lineup that also included nineties era edition Robbie Crane that sparked a public disagreement.

Yeah, this is one of those lawsuit situations that sparked a public disagreement with Warren D. Martini, who didn't want the band to continue without Stephen Pearcy. Meanwhile, Lotser filed legal papers against one Crucier, who also had his own Rat themed group out on the road at one point. Piercy subsequently reunited with Crucier to launch still another version of Rat with all new bandmates and Jenny. Remember I was saying earlier, I was saying in the first hour about how sometimes there will actually be two different versions of a band using the same name out on tour.

And that's why it's important if you care about who's in the band, do some research before you buy those tickets so you know what you're getting or literally what version of the band you might be getting. Never thought of it, and you're right. There are times when there are two different concerts going with the same music and different members. Oh yeah, yeah, that's sometimes. Employ is a classic example of two different people's touring at the same time playing the same music. Well yeah, but not under the but not under the name Pink like Roger Waters.

You know he would do solo tours and still does I guess, you know, playing all that stuff. But but as Roger Waters. Yeah. Yeah, but yeah, and you know sometimes too. The way what will end up happening is and I think this happened with Rat. It doesn't get into further detail here in this article, but I think at one point there was one of the versions of Rat. What what one ends up happening is the compromise is. I think there was a version of Rat that was technically called Rat featuring Steven Piercy.

And that's how they get around the confusion. Really, yeah, that's how they get around illegally, you know, Rat featuring Steven Piercy, or you know, or La Guns featuring uh I forget the name of the singer from Elly Guns, but yeah, that's how they get around it. That's how they resolve it. Canned Heat is on the list. I couldn't care less or about Renaissance.

Let's see Quiet Riot. Yeah. I saw these guys not too long before Kevin Dubro died. I saw them at a I saw them in Laconia co founding co founded by a pre Ozzy Osbourne Randy Rhodes in nineteen seventy three, Quiet Riot rose to fame in the early eighties, when Kevin Dubro Carlos Cavazo, Rudy Sarzo and Frankie binally hit it big with Metal Health. Kevin Dubrou helmed a two thousand and four reunion before that's probably the tour I saw them on before leadership fell to Frankie Binali, who arrived nearly ten years after Quiet Riots started.

Both have since passed, leaving behind a group that included longtime bassist Chuck Wright and new editions Alex Grossi and Jimmy Peede pe d Peede no idea. Oh yeah, Rudy Sarzo later returned to replace right, So yeah, no original members there. Let's see humble Pie. I don't really care, Gore, I don't really care. So that's the list. But what was the Laconia Venue? Was it the theater that's still there? Oh, it's a place that I don't think it's even still open, although it might have. It might have been the Flying Monkey.

Is that still there? That's still there? Right? I believe it is. It might have been that. It might have been or New Market, but I remember, and you know, and they did a meet and greet after the show and super nice guys and uh, Kevin du Bros. Uh, and I know he's passed. I don't say this to mock him. I mean it as a sincere compliment. His hair extensions in person looked incredible. But Flying Monkey, I just it's technically Plymouth. Oh that's Plymouth. Oh maybe that's where Maybe that's where I may have moved.

I don't No. I definitely saw them in Laconia. Okay, so it wasn't the Flying Monkey. I'm not sure now, I'm not sure. It was a long time ago. I saw them with Dan Randall of Dan Randall and the Randletts. How do you how do you feel about that Derek band's touring with Like, do you have any you know some people just think it's wrong to do when a when a band tourism they don't have any original members? What do you think? Do you do you? Does it bother? You do care? Does it depend on the band or I really it doesn't matter to me.

If they want the music to live on, I'd say go for it. Yah, But the fans need to be there to back them obviously. Yeah, as de lucrative for him, because I feel like a lot of the time too, they're they're kind of depending on you know, people just not noticing, you know, especially you know where it's really prevalent, as on these package tours that you see where you see like you see eighties bands where it's like four bands and they're all touring at the same time, you know, and they were all big.

You know, like for a while there was a span of time maybe ten twelve years ago where every summer it would be you know, Poison and Winger and skid Row would all be on a package tour together. And and you know, and of course you know some asking Boch hasn't been in skid Row forever, you know, so you so you know you're getting something that's not going to be exactly what you may have remembered, shall we say. But yeah, so interesting stuff. But like I say, you know, do the you know, do the quick research before you buy those tickets, so you know what you're getting.

I mean, if I want to see a cover band, then I want to see a cover band, right, I want to get music cover band. Yeah, just be up front honest about it. Like, isn't there like Kiss has a sanctioned band that they've always a mini Kiss? Right? Well, yeah, there's there is a there is a band for for people who don't know. Yes, there is a there is a band called Mini Kiss. They are little people, and I guess that's the term we use. They are little people and they do the tribute show. But they're they're they're they're allowed to like Kisses.

Well, here's okay with this so interesting, that's an interesting subject. So Kiss has always been really good about because I know they have a certain and Gene Simmons in particular might have a certain reputation, but that I don't think is fair. They've always been really good about not going after cover bands. Don't you want your music being well, that's well, that's the thing. But some but some bands, some artists will go after cover bands and say, hey, you know, either knock it off that you you have no right you know, we don't give you permission to do that, or or or will say, you know, you got to make sure you give us a chunk.

Kiss has always been really good about that. But there's also a bit of an ulterior motive because during the eighties, the eighties into the early nineties, during the non makeup era of the band, because remember they were out of the makeup for thirteen years. During that span of time there was. Actually it was kind of helpful to them in the marketplace. This is something they'll never acknowledge, but it has been acknowledged by people who work with them. It was kind of helpful to them to have bands out there doing the you know, the show in full makeup, you know, playing that music as cover bands, because it just you know, yeah, it helps, right, So, even though Kiss was not in the makeup, having the cover bands out there did kind of help them.

And then ironically, when Kiss reunited with the original lineup and put the makeup back on in ninety six, it kind of made the cover bands irrelevant because well, now we have what the cover bands were doing, We have that back, so now we don't even need those those tribute bands. The other interesting thing about Kiss, though, is with the tribute bands, there are different types of Kiss, you know, like you've got the Kiss tribute bands that just do the standard you know show and full makeup and whatnot.

But then you've got other You've got some that are very sort of niche. I used to say niche, but I noticed the rest of the English speaking world now pronounces it niche, so I've tried to adapt to that. So people don't look at me funny. I'm gonna look at you funny. For example, there's a Kiss tribute band called Reason to Kiss Really, and they're like this acoustic duo that's kind of a neat name. They're like this acoustic duo or maybe they're a trio I forget and they only do Kiss songs from the non makeup eighties era.

And Kiss had a song in the eighties, they had a single called Reason to Live. So this acoustic group they call themselves Reason to Kiss and they and they only do the only do songs from that era. It's very very specialized, and there's but there's others. There's a bunch of Kiss tribute acts who just they work in a very specific uh you know, there's there's another one that only does like like the early nineties, non makeup stuff like that specifically. It's kind of cool. It's kind of cool. But coincidentally, last night I shared out on Facebook, you know, I'm a big Black Sabbath fan, and that's a band that, you know, during the eighties they went through constant lineup changes where Tony Iomi was the only original member of Black.

Tony Iomi is the only member of Black Sabbath, who's been in every lineup. In fact, Eric Singer the drummer and Kiss played in Black Sabbath for a couple of albums when I was more into hard rock and metal still in high school. I got to see the original line up as part of Ozfest one year. We might have been at the same show at the well it was it was it was Tweeter Center and then it became the Comcast Great Woods initially at that one too. Yeah, we might have been that. That was like two thousand or two thousand and one.

I think it was the first thousand one. It was when when Black Sabbath reunited. Yeah, and I in my Hope dress. I have the little black confetti yes at Black Sabbath, Yeah on silver I have some of that confetti that I kept from that. I remember that. Yeah, oh god, we were all at the same concert. Yeah. And speaking of Kiss, I never have gotten to see them, but I did help load their here and stage stuff at what was initially Meadow Brooke and now the New Hampshire Bank of Pavilion. Do you get to see him when they played there?

I was at that show. Yeah, So I did the day load in for that but I left and came back to I was. I was living in Manchester at the time. Yeah, yeah, yep, I was at that show. That was cool because that stage is small for an arena level sized venue, that's an unusually small stage and I was close to the front. So seeing seeing them in full makeup, with the stage effects and everything on such a small stage was actually kind of cool because I'd never seen them on a stage that small, you know, And because it because it was so small, they couldn't do the full because they had a bigger they had a bigger stage set.

They still had pyro, but they had that. They had a huge like mechanical spider sort of okay, I didn't remember seeing on that tour, but they couldn't use it at in that venue because it's small. But yeah, that was pretty cool. I was getting to getting to see them on a smaller stage like that. That was fun. That was a That was a really good show. The very first concert was the cape Cod Melody tent of a small venue and the stage would go around. Everybody sat all around it. It was Schuka Khan. No. That was my first concert I went through one says a child with my folks see Willie Nelson say.

I grew up going to his shows and the dad would get us backstage and whatnot. But I remember seeing the Melody tent of the circular rotating Stageply we were talking about earlier about getting to see artists at the Mosaic Art Collective. We've got that small venue that personal is hyenas. If I'm not mistaken, it's the cap called Melody. I think so, I think so. Oh. But the thing I was going to say about Black Sabbath is there's a lot of really good there's a lot of really good Black Sabbath that doesn't have either Ozzie or Ronnie James Gio singing on it.

Like when Tony Martin was kind of he's kind of the third man. He did six albums with them, and really good. But there was a span of time where Tony Iomi, like I said, he was the only original member in Black Sabbath, And but their output was their musical output remained, in my opinion, very high level. And there's a great book. I can't remember the name of the music journalist who wrote it. His name escapes me. But the book is called Never Say Die, and it chronicles the history of Black Sabbath from it starts where Ozzy left, and it ends where Ozzie returns, and it goes through.

I mean, you've got to be a real Black Sabbath fan to enjoy it, because it gets pretty granular, but it goes through in great detail. It explains all the lineup changes because it was a real revolving door. I mean, they went through a bunch of singers, like they did an album with Ian Gillen from Deep Purple called Born Again, but Ian Gillen only lasted one album. But it's a great album, you know. Like I said, they did a bunch with Tony Martin, they were Why do you think they went through so many?

Do you think it was personalities? It's weird because when I read that book, I didn't get the impression from it that because the first thought someone might think is, wow, Tony Iomi must be really difficult to work with, But from reading the book, it seemed to me like Tony Iomi's is actually pretty easy to work with. It just seemed like there were constant circumstances around, just external things that kept causing people to come and go, even Tony Martin, who sang Tony Martin sang on more albums than either Ozzie or Black Sabbath at that point, but even he wasn't there consecutively.

He left and came back. You know, Ronnie James Dio left and came back. He did two albums. He's from Portsmouth. Yeah, I didn't know that. Yeah, the Dio is from the Portsmouth area. No idea. I never knew that. I'll be damned, I like it. I had no idea. Oh that's pretty cool. But but I recommend that book for anyone who's interested. It's called Never Say Die, and it's and it really it's it's a good read, and it just talks about all the different lineup chain and then it ends with Ozzie's return. I was supposed to see them on It was ninety five The Forbidden Forbidden was the name of the album, and they ended up canceling the tour because it was it was you know, it was a couple of years before Ozzie came back, and just you know, they were they were kind of dead in the water commercially.

It took Ozzie coming back to really breathe new life into the band. But you know, and then saw them on oz Fest so, but I feel like the change up in vocalists may have been attributed to h Ozzie's drug use back then too and just being wild. Well that's why, yeah, that's why he him. Yeah, that's why they had to get rid of him. Yeah. Yeah. And then Dio came in, and Dio was a strong personality, so I think he and Tony Iomi butted heads and then so Dio was there for two albums and then and then I think after that was Ian Gillen who only lasted one album, and then probably Tony Martin after that.

But there even were a couple of other there instances where like I think there was one instance where Tony Martin did the album but then didn't want a tour, so they hurt somebody else for the tour. It's just crazy. It was such a revolving door.

I also think that, uh oh, there was also an album. There was a Black Sabbath album called Seventh There's an album called Seventh Star that was actually released as Black Sabbath featuring Tony Iomi because it was supposed to be a solo album and then the record company said, yeah, we changed our minds. We wanted to be a Black Sabbath album. So the compromise was they called it Black Sabbath featuring Tony Iomi. But yeah, I find all that stuff fascinating. So Jenny, do you know offhand? Uh? Do? Who we have next week?

I do? I do? We should plug that before we run out of time, and then we'll let me pull up the right. Where are we then today? And where am I? We'll end with talking about what's going on tonight? But yeah, is Gary Lawrence is that next week? Gary Lawrence is coming next week? He will be live in studio, coming in at the eleven o'clock hour. At the ten o'clock hour. We have after the Winter. Oh yeah, I love those guys. Yeah, they were on before. Yes, yes, yep, they'll be in at ten o'clock and then Gary Lawrence is coming in at eleven.

Cool and lots of lots more people coming up. I have Ricky Mapleton's coming in some let's see Ray Coast is coming in. Well, he'll be skyping in. Yeah he won't be I wish would come in. One way to travel. Tyler all good. Kevin Horn, Yeah, Kevin Horn's great. Oh yeah, lots of it. If you want to be on get in touch with me and coffee. No, that's sounded terrible. Yeah, j E N n C O F f e y dot com. You can find me there. Yes, and we should remind people too about the hop The hopknot officially now is they're closed Sunday and Monday, but they're open.

Uh, they are open tuesdays now, so they're open Tuesday through Saturday. Our amazing sponsor, and they've got a lot of great stuff. The hopknot n H, I believe is the website, and they've got some great events coming up and they're always doing good stuff. Of course. Of course, don't forget tonight at the Mosaic, our collection starting at seven. Huh collective. Didn't I say collective? You said collection, I say collection. Yes, Oh sorry, there is the collection of art, but yes, it is, it is. It is the Collective of collections at seven doors at seven.

Will start promptly at eight and run until about ten. Yeah, looking forward to that. Jenny and I will be there. Of course, we encourage everyone to come down say hello, check it out. It's a it's a great place. And uh, it was wonderful to meet Nick and Chloe, and of course I was wonderful to have you on today, Derek, and look forward to look forward to seeing you there. The first one. Yeah, the first one's our first guests and the new location,

so very good, very good. All right, so we will wrap up. We're gonna end with one more song from Abner the Second, who is going to be playing live tonight, and one more song from the band Regals as well the other musical artists feature tonight at the Mosaic Art Collective, and yeah, come on down. It's gonna be a lot of fun. It's gonna be a great time. And of course, if you missed any part of today's show, it will be up in just a little bit at w m n Hradio dot org and you can also get to it on my website Matt Connorton dot com.

And thank you all everyone who joined us today, everyone who tuned in, and uh wow, I can't believe it. Our first show in the new studio. This is pretty cool in the yes, yes, all right, So we're gonna leave you with this. This is called Ali from Abner the Second to close out this week's Matt Connorton Unleashed and we'll talk to you all soon. Hi, everybody,

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