Born to Lose.
Live to Win.
1981
Monday, September 11, 2017
Monday, September 04, 2017
Peace In Rest, Dave Hlubek
My obligatory Dave Hlubek Peace in Rest post. Hlubek was one of my first guitar heroes and I was way into Molly Hatchet circa 1979-80 before I discovered NWOBHM. I loved Southern Rock as a kid because it was all about guitars, guitars, guitars. Yes, this suburban California Chinese kid was into Redneck Rock.
I saw Hatchet twice on the 'Flirtin' with Disaster' and the 'Beatin' the Odds' tours. Hlubek became one of my faves, not only because he shredded, but in a Guitar Player magazine interview he revealed how he had lived in Sunnyvale, California (my hometown!) for a short time as a kid when his Navy dad was based at nearby Moffett Field in Mountain View. That tripped my teenage mind out; a rock star had lived HERE!?
Not long after all of this I became obsessed with the European Metal bands. I traded my 'Flirtin' with Disaster' tour jersey to a penpal in Newcastle, England for, if I remember correctly, a Black Sabbath 'Heaven And Hell' 1980 U.K. Tour shirt.
Anyway, I loved Hatchet for a time and their concerts were great. Here is some Molly Hatchet and Dave Hlubek detritus from my teenage scrapbook. Photo by the teenage me from the July 27, 1980 Day On The Green show. The 1981 Oakland Auditorium show would have been even better if Whitesnake had not cancelled and replaced by Les Dudek (who was joined onstage by Neal Schon that night) instead.
Peace in rest, Dave Hlubek. Your talent and music meant a lot to me as a pimply-faced teenager.
"I'm flirtin' with disaster every day.."
I saw Hatchet twice on the 'Flirtin' with Disaster' and the 'Beatin' the Odds' tours. Hlubek became one of my faves, not only because he shredded, but in a Guitar Player magazine interview he revealed how he had lived in Sunnyvale, California (my hometown!) for a short time as a kid when his Navy dad was based at nearby Moffett Field in Mountain View. That tripped my teenage mind out; a rock star had lived HERE!?
Not long after all of this I became obsessed with the European Metal bands. I traded my 'Flirtin' with Disaster' tour jersey to a penpal in Newcastle, England for, if I remember correctly, a Black Sabbath 'Heaven And Hell' 1980 U.K. Tour shirt.
Anyway, I loved Hatchet for a time and their concerts were great. Here is some Molly Hatchet and Dave Hlubek detritus from my teenage scrapbook. Photo by the teenage me from the July 27, 1980 Day On The Green show. The 1981 Oakland Auditorium show would have been even better if Whitesnake had not cancelled and replaced by Les Dudek (who was joined onstage by Neal Schon that night) instead.
Peace in rest, Dave Hlubek. Your talent and music meant a lot to me as a pimply-faced teenager.
"I'm flirtin' with disaster every day.."
Sunday, September 03, 2017
Mongolian Metalheads
I feel very bad for not posting about this sooner.. Especially because I've literally had the following book for 2 YEARS. I happened to come across it again as I was organizing my office and I must apologize to my friend Devon who gave it to me.
Long story short, back in the Spring of 2015 Devon and his band Conquest For Death went on an amazing tour of Asia playing shows in Japan, Korea, China, and... MONGOLIA! Yes.. MONGOLIA! Who knew, right?!
Prior to the tour Devon informed me about the scene in Mongolia and how it was small but very passionate and rabid about the music. I gave him an autographed copy of Murder In The Front Row to give to the person who organized the shows there but I still really didn't have my head around it until Devon returned. After the tour was over, he presented me with a copy of a photo book the locals wanted me to have. It's a collection of portraits of 56 fans from the Mongolian metal scene. Wow..
A couple of the Mongolian fans wrote me messages in the book, which was mind blowing that there are locals in Mongolia who speak English. I don't know anyone in the States who can speak, let alone write, in Mongolian. Do you?? Amazing!
Each portrait is captioned with the fan's name and their Top 5 metal albums. What's striking to me is how these Mongolian fans don't look any different from metal fans here. Some of them look very "metal" while others present themselves as "normal" looking. However, the fact all of these individuals bleed metal makes their appearances irrelevant.
I wish I could feature all of the portraits here. It's very profound to realize there are people "like me" on the other side of this planet who appreciate some of the same music that has influenced and inspired me since I was a kid. Obviously, in the current day and age we live in this realization that people tend to have more in common than not, especially once you take politics and religion out of the conversation, should be inspiring and give you hope for the future. METAL.. To make the obligatory Saxon quote: "Denim and leather brought us all together!"
Anyway, the group behind the book has an active Facebook page. Check them out.. and thanks AND apologies to Devon for the inexcusable delay with posting this! HAIL!
Long story short, back in the Spring of 2015 Devon and his band Conquest For Death went on an amazing tour of Asia playing shows in Japan, Korea, China, and... MONGOLIA! Yes.. MONGOLIA! Who knew, right?!
Prior to the tour Devon informed me about the scene in Mongolia and how it was small but very passionate and rabid about the music. I gave him an autographed copy of Murder In The Front Row to give to the person who organized the shows there but I still really didn't have my head around it until Devon returned. After the tour was over, he presented me with a copy of a photo book the locals wanted me to have. It's a collection of portraits of 56 fans from the Mongolian metal scene. Wow..
A couple of the Mongolian fans wrote me messages in the book, which was mind blowing that there are locals in Mongolia who speak English. I don't know anyone in the States who can speak, let alone write, in Mongolian. Do you?? Amazing!
Each portrait is captioned with the fan's name and their Top 5 metal albums. What's striking to me is how these Mongolian fans don't look any different from metal fans here. Some of them look very "metal" while others present themselves as "normal" looking. However, the fact all of these individuals bleed metal makes their appearances irrelevant.
I wish I could feature all of the portraits here. It's very profound to realize there are people "like me" on the other side of this planet who appreciate some of the same music that has influenced and inspired me since I was a kid. Obviously, in the current day and age we live in this realization that people tend to have more in common than not, especially once you take politics and religion out of the conversation, should be inspiring and give you hope for the future. METAL.. To make the obligatory Saxon quote: "Denim and leather brought us all together!"
Anyway, the group behind the book has an active Facebook page. Check them out.. and thanks AND apologies to Devon for the inexcusable delay with posting this! HAIL!
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