Blue Murder were an English rock band led by guitarist-vocalist John Sykes. The group was formed in 1987 following Sykes’s dismissal from Whitesnake. The initial line-up was rounded out by bassist Tony Franklin and drummer Carmine Appice. In its nascent stage, vocalist Ray Gillen and drummer Cozy Powell were attached to the project. In 1989, Blue Murder released their self-titled debut album, which cracked the Billboard 200 chart and spawned a minor hit with “Jelly Roll”. By the early 1990s, however, Blue Murder’s music had fallen out of fashion with the popularity of grunge. Franklin and Appice left the band, while Sykes put together a new line-up and released Nothin’ But Trouble in 1993. After a live album the following year, Blue Murder were dropped by their record label and broke-up. Since then there have been numerous attempts to reunite the band to no avail.
It truly was a super band with great pedigree rock musicians. There best song was by far “Valley of the Kings”
You probably think this is going to be a bout Finland’s finest ,Lordi, but you’d be wrong. It is going to be Denmark’s mega band ‘Mabel’ , ok mega band might be a bit of an exaggeration.
Mabel entered the Eurovision in 1978,in Paris, with the song ‘Boom Boom’ where they received a well deserved 13 points, earning them the 16th place out of 20.
The band name Mabel changed a few times. In 1978 Mabel moved to Spain and became ‘Studs’, releasing a debut self-titled album in 1981 and then moved to New York City and became Danish Lions in 1982. After recording demos, the band returned home to Denmark, however, Leader singer Michael Trempenau, who had changed his name to Michael Tramp, decided to remain in the USA. He met guitarist Vito Bratta and the pair decided to form a band named ‘White Lion’
Mike Tramp clearly wanted to put the Eurovision embarrassment behind him, and decided to go a different musical direction.
Their debut album Fight to Survive in 1985. The band achieved success with their No. 8 hit “Wait” and No. 3 hit “When the Children Cry” from their second album, the double platinum selling Pride. The band continued their success with their third album, Big Game which achieved Gold status and their fourth album Mane Attraction which included a supporting tour.
One of my favourite songs of all time is “When the Children cry” .However there is another of their songs I want to focus on.
“Cry for Freedom” is a political song about apartheid in South Africa and was one of many songs from the band that addressed social or political issues such as uprising to oppression. It is from the 1989 album ‘Big Game’
There you are minding your own business, enjoying a concert by a legendary rock band, Then suddenly some stupid with a flare gun burns the place to the ground. “Wait a minute” I can hear you all think “This and the title sounds very much like a song” and you would be right.
Deep Purple wrote a song inspired by an event which took place on December 4,1971 in Montreux, Switzerland. On December 4, 1971, Montreux Casino burned down during a concert by The Mothers of Invention after a fan had set the venue on fire with a flare gun. A recording of the outbreak and fire announcement can be found on a Frank Zappa Bootleg album titled Swiss Cheese/Fire!
Deep Purple, who had planned to record Machine Head at the venue were forced to find another recording location. They wrote the Rock classic ‘Smoke on the Water’ about the eventful day.
Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Inventions were performing “King Kong”, about 80 minutes into the show , when, during Don Preston’s synthesizer solo, someone shot off a flare gun. The flare hit the wooden roof and quickly spread.
“They were very organized,” Zappa said in an interview shortly after the fire. “I was just lucky that many of the fans]were able to speak English, because I didn’t know what to say to them in French.”
In an ironic coincidence, Zappa died on Dec. 4, 1993, the 22nd anniversary of the fire.
Still so profoundly sad that Dolores died so young, This is one of their best songs, although there is no such thing as a bad Cranberries song.
The song was written in response to the death of Johnathan Ball, 3, and Tim Parry, 12, who had been killed in the IRA bombing in Warrington, northwest England, when two devices hidden in litter bins were detonated. Ball died at the scene of the bombing as a result of his shrapnel-inflicted injuries and, five days later, Parry lost his life as a result of head injuries.56 others were injured, some seriously. Parry died in his father’s arms in Liverpool’s Walton hospital. The two boys had gone shopping to buy Mother’s Day cards on one of the town’s busiest shopping streets.
“There were a lot of bombs going off in London and I remember this one time a child was killed when a bomb was put in a rubbish bin – that’s why there’s that line in the song, ‘A child is slowly taken’. [ … ] We were on a tour bus and I was near the location where it happened, so it really struck me hard – I was quite young, but I remember being devastated about the innocent children being pulled into that kind of thing. So I suppose that’s why I was saying, ‘It’s not me’ – that even though I’m Irish it wasn’t me, I didn’t do it. Because being Irish, it was quite hard, especially in the UK when there was so much tension.”
“Paranoid” is a song by English heavy metal band Black Sabbath, released in 1970 off the band’s second studio album Paranoid (1970). It is the first single from the album, while the B-side is the song “The Wizard”. It reached number 4 on the UK Singles Chart and number 61 on the US Billboard Hot 100.
It was the first Black Sabbath single release, coming six months after their self-titled debut was released. Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler (from Guitar World magazine, March 2004):
A lot of the Paranoid album was written around the time of our first album, Black Sabbath. We recorded the whole thing in about 2 or 3 days, live in the studio. The song “Paranoid” was written as an afterthought. We basically needed a 3 minute filler for the album, and Tony came up with the riff. I quickly did the lyrics, and Ozzy was reading them as he was singing.
Written off by critics as horror trash from ‘unskilled labourers’, Sabbath’s masterpiece album took beaten-down listeners on a rollercoaster out of their struggles.
Finished with my woman ’cause She couldn’t help me with my mind People think I’m insane because I am frowning all the time All day long I think of things But nothing seems to satisfy Think I’ll lose my mind If I don’t find something to pacify Can you help me Occupy my brain? Oh yeah I need someone to show me The things in life that I can’t find I can’t see the things that make True happiness, I must be blind Make a joke and I will sigh And you will laugh and I will cry Happiness I cannot feel And love to me is so unreal And so as you hear these words Telling you now of my state I tell you to enjoy life I wish I could but it’s too late Source: LyricFind Songwriters: Michael Butler / Ozzy Osbourne / Tony Iommi / William Ward
In my opinion 1993 was the worst year in Pop music-I have no scientific data to back this up, it is just based on the re-runs of Top of the Pops on BBC4. Most of the songs are awful and hardly memorable.
Luckily the rock track on this episode of Rocktober is not from 1993 but was released in June 1992, I find it hard to believe it is 30 years old.
“Motorcycle Emptiness” is a song by Welsh alternative rock band Manic Street Preachers. It was released on 1 June 1992 through Columbia Records. It was the fifth single to be released from their debut album, Generation Terrorists. The track is inspired by S.E. Hinton’s book Rumble Fish, about biker gang culture. According to the band, the lyrics are an attack on the hollowness of a lifestyle centered around the consumerism which is offered by capitalism, describing how society expects young people to conform. The line “From feudal serf to spender” draws a direct parallel between slavery of peasants to the lord of their manor under the Feudal system in medieval times and the brand loyalty of people in modern capitalist societies, which the companies use to their advantage in pursuit of profit.
In 2006, Q magazine readers voted the song as the 88th best song ever.
“Nothing Else Matters” by Metallica, was released in 1992 as the third single from their self-titled fifth studio album, Metallica. The song peaked at number 11 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, number 6 on the UK Singles Chart, number 1 in Denmark, and reached the top ten on many other European charts. “Nothing Else Matters” was featured as a playable track in the music video game Guitar Hero: Metallica. Recognized as one of Metallica’s best known and most popular songs, the power ballad has become a staple in live performances.
Metallica fans might have been confused when the band released Nothing Else Matters . A touchy-feely ballad that front man James Hetfield had written about missing his then-girlfriend Kristen Martinez while on tour, the song was a far cry from the war’n ’lightning imagery that had dominated Metallica’s past decade. But for fans who were paying attention, the song was the next logical step in the band’s progression.
“Peace Sells” is a song by American thrash metal band Megadeth from their 1986 album Peace Sells… but Who’s Buying?, written by Dave Mustaine. It has since been a constant at Megadeth concerts. According to David Ellefson, it became quickly apparent when playing the song live prior to recording the album that “Peace Sells” would be a hit. In 2006, VH1 ranked “Peace Sells” at number 11 on their list of the “40 Greatest Metal Songs” of all time.The song is also known for the distinctive bass intro played by Ellefson.
Happy Birthday Dave Mustaine
Lyrics What do you mean I don’t believe in God? I talk to him everyday. What do you mean, I don’t support your system?
I go to court when I have to What do you mean, I can’t get to work on time? I got nothing better to do. And, what do you mean, I don’t pay my bills?
Why do you think I’m broke? Huh? If there’s a new way, I’ll be the first in line. But it better work this time.
What do you mean, I hurt your feelings? I didn’t know you had any feelings. What do you mean, I ain’t kind? Just not your kind.
What do you mean, I couldn’t be the President Of the United States of America? Tell me something, it’s still We the people, right?
If there’s a new way I’ll be the first in line But it better work this time Can you put a price on peace?
“In the End” is a song by American rock band Linkin Park. It is the eighth track on their debut album, Hybrid Theory (2000), and was released as the album’s fourth and final single.
“In the End” received positive reviews by music critics, with most reviewers complimenting the song’s signature piano riff, as well as noting rapper Mike Shinoda’s vocal prominence in the song. “In the End” also achieved mainstream popularity, and was a commercial success upon release. The song reached the top ten on numerous worldwide music charts and reached number two on the US Billboard Hot 100, the band’s highest peak on the chart, as well as their first song that peaked within the top 40 in early 2002, making it a sleeper hit. It also reached number one on the Z100 top 100 songs of 2002 countdown. It ranked at number 121 in Blender magazine’s The 500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born. In June 2021, it became the first nu metal song to surpass one billion streams on Spotify.
One thing I don’t know why It doesn’t even matter how hard you try Keep that in mind, I designed this rhyme To explain in due time
All I know Time is a valuable thing Watch it fly by as the pendulum swings Watch it count down to the end of the day
The clock ticks life away It’s so unreal Didn’t look out below Watch the time go right out the window Tryin’ to hold on, did-didn’t even know I wasted it all just to watch you go I kept everything inside and even though I tried
It all fell apart What it meant to me will eventually Be a memory of a time when I tried so hard I tried so hard and got so far But in the end it doesn’t even matter I had to fall to lose it all
But in the end it doesn’t even matter One thing, I don’t know why It doesn’t even matter how hard you try Keep that in mind, I designed this rhyme To remind myself how I tried so hard In spite of the way you were mockin’ me Acting like I was part of your property
Remembering all the times you fought with me I’m surprised it got so far Things aren’t the way they were before You wouldn’t even recognize me anymore Not that you knew me back then But it all comes back to me in the end
You kept everything inside and even though I tried It all fell apart What it meant to me will eventually Be a memory of a time when I tried so hard I tried so hard and got so far But in the end it doesn’t even matter I had to fall to lose it all
But in the end it doesn’t even matter I’ve put my trust in you Pushed as far as I can go For all this There’s only one thing you should know I’ve put my trust in you Pushed as far as I can go
For all this There’s only one thing you should know I tried so hard and got so far But in the end it doesn’t even matter I had to fall to lose it all But in the end it doesn’t even matter
Today marks the 37th anniversary of the Live Aid concerts.
Live Aid was a benefit concert held on Saturday 13 July 1985, as well as a music-based fundraising initiative. The original event was organised by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise further funds for relief of the 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia, a movement that started with the release of the successful charity single “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” in December 1984. Billed as the “global jukebox”, Live Aid was held simultaneously at Wembley Stadium in London, UK, attended by about 72,000 people and John F. Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, US, attended by 89,484 people.
The one act that stood out during the concert was Queen, their performance in Live Aid is akin to Elvis’s comeback special. As with Elvis in the Comeback special, Queen’s career was basically rebooted at the Live Aid concert.
Queen didn’t open or close the Live Aid show. They performed just before 7pm, uncharacteristically in daylight, bookended by gigantic acts like U2, Elton John and David Bowie.
Past their peak and still suffering from the catastrophe of a misadvised run of shows in apartheid South Africa the previous year, Queen was not expected to be in the limelight. Especially Freddie Mercury had been the focus of disparaging coverage and rumors in the press, about his sexuality.
Despite all the pessimism , Queen did shine and it is still seen as one of the best music performance ever, although the set only lasted only 21 minutes, it remained in musical history to this date and will remain there for a long time.
Queen were immediately preceded at Wembley by the comedians Griff Rhys Jones and Mel Smith – who were dressed as policemen and joked about receiving a complaint about the noise “from a woman in Belgium.” They introduced “the next combo” as “Her Majesty… Queen.”
A truly charismatic Mercury, who looked full of confidence, jogged out on to a vast stage whose top was adorned with a banner saying “Feed The World.” Mercury, sporting his trademark mustache and wearing white jeans, a white tank top, and with a studded band around his right bicep, began by sitting at the piano and playing a short, inspired version of “Bohemian Rhapsody.”
During “Radio Ga Ga” he got up and strutted around the stage, using the microphone and stand as a prop, and getting the fired-up crowd to join in with the chorus. The next few moments were remarkable, as Mercury led the 72,000 spectators in some spine-tingling vocal improvisation, as they sang along to “ay-oh.” His final, wonderful vocal was dubbed “the note heard around the world.”
This is the full session of Queen at Live Aid, sit back and enjoy.
History of Sorts 
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