Happy TGIFriday, and thanks for hanging out with me for an afternoon of great Classic ROCK on KCast Radio. I'm James Michael Keats, and it's my pleasure to be with you every Monday through Friday from Noon to 3pm on KCast Radio to bring you the music you love and some stories you'll find interesting.
Today, I've got three topics I know you'll dig, because they're all related to Classic ROCK. Honestly, I'm pretty much exhausted from COVID-19 news/stories even if they're loosely related to Rock news. Today, it's all about the Classic ROCK!
Noon - 1pC: A band name has to do a number of things to work just right: it has to be memorable, it has to mean something to the band (which is way easier said than done), and most importantly it absolutely must be cool. As a millennial, I didn't grow with all the bands you hear on KCast Radio, but that certainly doesn't make me any less of a fan of them. Over time, in fact, I've had a blast learning about the bands I now listen to every day even though they were most popular before I was taking in music as a kid, and one of the most interesting things to me about bands, regardless of when they were most popular, has always been what they called themselves. Every band name has a story behind it, even if it's a boring one in some cases, and I want to share with you the origin of three band's names I've always wondered about. Check 'em out!
Guns N' Roses: These guys actually had the most basic band name origin story, but I actually find it pretty damn practical. You see, members of what would become Guns N' Roses had been involved in two other bands beforehand, and they were L.A. Guns and Hollywood Rose. Thus, according to a 1988 Rolling Stone story, the name of the new band became a mixture of those two. I know, practicality isn't really the hallmark of a good Rock band or how they decide to brand themselves, but I honestly can't help but appreciate the simplicity of Guns N' Roses' name choice. It's almost as if the members were like, "I don't give a s@&t what the name is, can we just call it something and play some f#*C*&g music??"
Led Zeppelin: Three years before the band's debut would be released—Led Zeppelin co-founder Jimmy Page played with The Who's drummer Keith Moon on a track for musician Jeff Beck. During the sessions, someone suggested they should start a new band together, to which Moon joked that it would go over like "a lead balloon." Page apparently remembered the line when it came time to form his new group.
The Doors: This one is my favorite, and I'll let you figure out why. Frontman Jim Morrison came up with the name after reading Aldous Huxley's 1954 book "The Doors of Perception," which detailed Huxley's experiences using mescaline, a complex tryptamine similar to that of LSD. I imagine Jim felt that he had something in common with Huxley when it came time to name his band, but that's just my own assumption, of course.
1pC - 2pC: I happened upon a source today who has ranked the 30 best live bands. I'm going to list them out according to where I got the list, but if you find that you're feeling some type of way about it and feel compelled to leave a comment, I believe we can come up with our own alteration! Here's the list, and please do let me know how you feel about it. In fact, if you have a story you'd like to share about one of these bands and your experience at a show, I'd love to read it!
30 - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
29 - Prince
28 - Elvis Presley
27 - Deep Purple
26 - Eagles
25 - Foo Fighters
24 - The Allman Brothers Band
23 - The Jimi Hendrix Experience
22 - Alice Cooper
21 - Grateful Dead
20 - David Bowie
19 - The Beatles
18 - Pearl Jam
17 - Guns N' Roses
16 - Kiss
15 - The Doors
14 - Rush
13 - Van Halen
12 - Aerosmith
11 - Iron Maiden
10 - U2
9 - Jimi Hendrix
8 - Bruce Springsteen
7 - Metallica
6 - The Rolling Stones
5 - AC/DC
4 - The Who
3 - Pink Floyd
2 - Led Zeppelin
1 - Queen
2pC - 3pC: What if I told you one of the most legendary rockers of all time suffers from stage fright even now after almost a half a century of performing!? AC/DC's Angus Young confessed in a recent interview for Guitar World that he has had an issue with going on stage since the debut of his school boy personae back in 1974.
"That was the most frightened I've ever been onstage, but thank God, I had no time to think. I just went straight out there. The crowd's first reaction to the shorts and stuff was like a bunch of fish at feeding time—all mouths open... I had just one thing on my mind: I didn't want to be a target for blokes throwing bottles. I thought if I stand still, I'm a target. So I never stopped moving. I reckoned if I stood still, I'd be dead." - A. Young
Angus Young is the last member of AC/DC still living today, truly a rock legend, and I can only imagine how badass it would have been interviewing him. Cheers, Paul Elliott from Total Guitar, great interview last week.
I have been James Michael Keats, and it has been my absolute delight and pleasure playing for you today some most excellent Classic ROCK here on KCast Radio, and I hope you'll join me every Monday through Friday, mid-days here at KCast Radio—from Noon to 3pm Central.
- JMK signing out
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