Tag Archives: music milestones

Features, Milestones

Happy 40th Anniversary To The KISS Army (8/1975-8/2015)

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Today is a pretty awesome Music Milestone in my book because its the fortieth anniversary of the KISS Army. Those ardent loyalists who support everything that is the band KISS. I’ve snagged some of the official formation stuff from Wikipedia and then noted some of the KISS Army “moments of importance” below and will continue afterward on my own.

Logo - KISS Army

The KISS Army History:
In January 1975, Starkey and Evans, two teenage Kiss fans from Terre Haute, Indiana, began contacting local radio station WVTS in an effort to get Kiss music played. After being repeatedly turned down by program director Rich Dickerson, Starkey and Evans began calling WVTS claiming to be “the Kiss Army.” Additionally, they sent letters to the station and signed them, “Bill Starkey–President of the Kiss Army,” and “Jay Evans–Field Marshall.” By July 1975, WVTS had begun to play Kiss records, often referring to the Kiss Army. Some of the letters included threats to blow up the station. Before long, listeners started calling the station asking how they could enlist. Dickerson worked with Starkey and Evans to provide advance promotion for a Kiss concert at the new Hulman Civic-University Center in Terre Haute. Before the show, Kiss publicist Alan Miller contacted Starkey to discuss the Kiss Army. At Miller’s request, Starkey and Evans took phone calls on the air at WVTS to recruit as many members as possible for the Kiss Army. As a result of these efforts, the November 21 show sold out (10,000 seats). During the concert, Starkey was brought on stage and given a plaque by Kiss. Soon after the Terre Haute concert, the Kiss Army became the official fan club of the group.
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Features, Milestones

Black Sabbath’s “Black Sabbath” Debut; 45 Years Of Heavy Metal Influence (1970-2015)

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Artist: Black Sabbath
Title: “Black Sabbath”
Label: Vertigo Records
Release Date: 2/13/1970
Genre: Heavy Metal/Blues Hard Rock

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I could think of no better present on a Friday the 13th than to share with the heavy music fans of the world the news that Black Sabbath’s own debut (and self-titled) release “Black Sabbath” is having its 45th Anniversary today. The phrase “It Begins Here” was never truer based on so very many listeners viewing this as the crushing beginning of the Heavy Metal sound. It was different from the type of Rock that bands like Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and Cream had delivered before them and while holding some similar roots in the Blues area with a little more amplitude, the stuff that Sabbath delivered on this debut was much heavier, darker and had numerous ominous and occult references. Just look at how it began in the title track of “Black Sabbath” and you quickly see the sinister tone that the band was out to deliver to their fans and whoever might take a chance on it.
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Features, Milestones

Judas Priest’s “Rocka Rolla” Serving The Hard Rock For 40 Years (1974-2014)

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Raise the glasses my Metal friends because today is a monumental occasion for sure as we celebrate the 40th Anniversary of an album called “Rocka Rolla” which is the very release by the mighty Judas Priest. Now I will admit that I did NOT purchase this when it came out since I was not actually in the consumer age group at the time and I wouldn’t actually hear this specific work on LP until 1980 or 1981 so my reflections about it come from that particular time. I also don’t really get into the hard core production aesthetics of the release since so much of that is documented with finesse on the albums official Wikipedia entry. These are aimed at my own impressions on the work when I first got to absorb it and now back to the task at hand. The album “Rocka Rolla” is a very interesting one in Judas Priests history because not only is it their first but it’s also not quite a Metal album. Yes there are moments that surely “rock” across its contents, but overall the album is very steeped in Hard Rock, Blues and even bears some Psycehedelic elements. I was the kid on my block that got the others around him to listen to Judas Priest and with that influence created a certain fanaticism in one of them as he became the absolute diehard who sought out all of their past works. I began my own Priest journey with “Hell Bent For Leather” and “Stained Class” and from there I went backward. Now back to the debut.
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Features, Milestones

Celebrating A Decade Of “One Day Remains” by Alter Bridge (2004-2014)

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I’ve usually left my “Music Milestone” toasts fall to artists and releases that have reached a little bit more of a shelf life but then again have started to make exceptions from time to time when the release or artist has made such an impact on the music scene around them that it bears toasting. Such is the case for the band Alter Bridge, whose debut album “One Day Remains” was released on this very day ten years ago. Can you believe it? Are you following this awesome band yet? If not I think that you should be. Let’s raise a glass and discuss this one.

Logo - Alter Bridge

When Alter Bridge first announced their existence after the disbanding of Creed back in 2004, I had to admit that I was a little bit skeptical because I had been a fan of Creed for a few years by that time and pretty much felt that the musicians of that band were just launching what would amount to be “Creed 2” when working with Scott Stapp proved to be an impossible practice. It was easy for a fan to think this way when it appeared that this new band would be everyone who was in Creed with the exception of Stapp. The lineup of Alter Bridge would also include the bands founding bassist Brian Marshall who was allegedly fired by the singer (or so legend would have you believe at the time as well). With the key musical director of Tremonti heralding the charge and the rhythm section of drummer Scott Phillips and Marshall I expected an album loaded with “Creed like” tunes but we really didn’t get too much of that outside of the single “Open Your Eyes” which I felt had a strong vibe of the previous band that they were all most recently a part of. When the band presented a new singer to the world I also expected a similar vocal register to be found until I heard the soaring melodies that came from Myles Kennedy. His was a brand new name to me but he was apparently a member of the Mayfield Four, a band that had two albums and a career dating back to 1996 but again, this was all new to me. The band’s name would be inspired by a bridge that used to exist near Tremonti’s youthful home and their debut album entitled with a phrase on how they felt life should be lived – as if “One Day Remains”. Interesting stuff for sure, but what about the music that was to be found on the debut? Would it measure up?
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Features, Milestones

Marillion’s “Fugazi” Hits 30th Anniversary (1984-2014)

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The milestone anniversaries of albums is really getting under way for 2014 as I present numerous milestones for the albums I have enjoyed for a great number of years and that brings us to Marillion’s “Fugazi” which was released thirty years ago today. Now I’ve admitted in other blog posts that I was NOT the biggest Marillion fan until many months after the “Misplaced Childhood” album had been released and I kind of went backwards after I first heard them since this was later in the Fish era of the group. That being said I had heard about the band and liked the tune “Assassing” which I heard on a Metal compilation release that Kerrang! had issued but I will admit that I never looked deeper into them at the time which would have been smart to do but oh well. “Fugazi” is Marillion’s second album and most of the tunes on the release were epic in length with two of the songs stopping short of seven minutes and another pair surpassing the eight minute mark. My indulgence of “Assassing” was often as I really liked the feel and vibe of its composition and how it appeared to tell a story. I would later learn that so much of the Fish works were tales that brought you to different places and emotions. Thinking back on the album I would say that “Punch and Judy” was another favorite and the albums closing two monsters of “Incubus” and the title track. All words were penned by Fish and the music appeared to have contributions from just about everyone. According to the written history of the release its title was based on the dramas that it took to put together. It was the first with drummer Ian Mosely who had previously been a member of Steve Hackett’s band. The original track listing is below.
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