Decibel Geek Podcast

It's no secret to fans of the Decibel Geek Podcast that we, especially Aaron Camaro, have a great affinity for Ugly Kid Joe. Born out of suburbia (ie. Isla Vista, CA) in 1990, Ugly Kid Joe showed up in the middle of a power shift in the rock world with a sound that didn't fit into the glam rock style that was on its way out nor with the dirge-like sound emanating from the grunge underbelly of Seattle that would soon take over the world.  Named on the spot as a spoof of California hair-farmers Pretty Boy Floyd, Whitfield Crane and best friend Klaus Eichstadt formed the initial lineup of the band and released the breakthrough EP, 'As Ugly As They Wanna Be.' The album broke through to mass audiences with the success of the track 'Everything About You' and would go on to become the first EP to be certified multi-platinum by the RIAA. In this long-form discussion, Whit Crane shares the stories of how the band was formed, what the musical climate was like at the time, and his opinion of Pretty Boy Floyd.

After a week of reflecting on January - July of 1987, we round things off this week by discussing August - December and try to shoehorn in as many tunes and memories as we can.   August saw the release of two of the year's landmark albums in Michael Jackson's 'Bad' and Def Leppard's Hysteria.    MJ had not released an album since 1983's historic 'Thriller' release and the world's ears were ready for a followup. 'Bad', released on August 31st went on to produce five number one singles in the USA; a record which has not been broken.   Def Leppard's slickly-produced 'Hysteria' album had smash hit after smash hit and would go on to sell over 20 million units.   Other notable releases from August of 1987 included albums by Metallica, Twisted Sister, and Aerosmith.   September spawned album releases by rock legends such as Pink Floyd, Motorhead, Rush, The Ramones, and KISS. While not all of these releases would go on to be big sellers, some amazing songs were overlooked by the general public.    T

1987 was a special time in the adolescence of a young Aaron Camaro and Chris Czynszak; being aged 13 and 11 respectively. This was an interesting time in American pop culture with tv shows like The Cosby Show and Cheers leading in the ratings while edgier upstart FOX Network was providing more reality-based programming that would go on to dominate the next decade. Popular movies in 1987 included Three Men and a Baby, Lethal Weapon, RoboCop, and Wall Street; which included one of the enduring quotes of the decade in "Greed, for lack of a better word, is good." We discuss all of that and spin some of our favorite music from January through July of 1987 in part 1 of this 2 part special. The "hair band" movement was in full force in 1987 as bands such as Def Leppard, Motley Crue, and Bon Jovi were ruling the charts and filling arenas. But a glimpse of a grittier future in rock was given with Guns N Roses landmark debut album, Appetite for Destruction. Taking the world by storm with a no-frills, attitude-f

When we think back to those angst filled teenage years in the early 90's when we couldn't find a fake i.d. and we still had a curfew, some of our best memories are of spending Saturday nights hanging out at a friends house, eating day old pizza and watching the Headbangers Ball on MTV. While the show started back in 1985 with an ever-rotating host, the show came into our collective consciousness during the transition from Adam Curry to this week's guest, Riki Rachtman. While Curry did an admirable job hosting the Ball, the show took on a more adventurous and fun direction when Rachtman took the reins in 1990.  Riki Rachtman's profile in rock history goes back further, though, to his days as owner of The Cathouse; a famed L.A. nightspot that was frequented by rock stars of all sorts and the women that adored them. Rachtman's first on-camera appearance took place in 1988's Penelope Spheeris-directed The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years. In the movie, Rachtman is interviewed on l

We're pulling into the homestretch of KISSMAS in July and thought we'd end the month with a Geeky BANG! Before we get down to it we want to proudly announce that you can stream the Decibel Geek podcast every Friday night through Maximum Threshold Radio! These guys are spinning rock and metal 24 hours a day and were nice enough to let us Geeks take over their airwaves every Friday night at 7:00pm EST. We appreciate this opportunity and hope you will check out all of the other great programming they provide as well. This week's Geek of the Week is Victor Ruiz of the Mars Attacks podcast. Victor had the winning suggestion for this week's KISS-related show subject and we wanted to give a tip of the hat to him. Be sure to check out Mars Attacks for lots of great rock and metal discussion. To qualify for Geek of the Week, just join the facebook fan page at www.facebook.com/decibelgeek and leave us a comment. Simple as that! With 20 studio albums, numerous solo albums, and other projects to boot, it's logic

After such a great response to our Lydia Criss conversation in week 1, KISSMAS in July shifts into a new gear with Chris and Aaron's favorite KISS Kover songs taking center stage. When researching covers of KISS songs, it quickly became apparent that KISS has influenced artists from just about every genre of music (we couldn't find any jazz KISS covers).  While there were, of course, plenty of examples of straight-ahead rock bands paying homage to the hottest band in the land; the covers from the worlds of disco, pop, folk, bluegrass, and death metal really surprised us.  We must give credit to the fine folks of KISSFAQ for providing such a great, deep discography of pretty much anything and everything KISS and related.  The tribute album section includes officially released product as well as 5 (and counting) tribute albums that were produced by KISSFAQ forum members. Now, THAT'S a devoted following!   Obviously, with so many cover songs existing, it would impossible to even include a fraction

Welcome to KISSMAS in JULY here at Decibel Geek headquarters! We're always looking for new excuses to do KISS-themed material and doing a full month of KISS stuff in July just seemed like a logical choice.  We kick off the month-o-KISS with an in-depth conversation we recently had with Lydia Criss. Formerly the wife of original KISS catman Peter Criss, Lydia entered the KISS Army's consciousness in 1976 when she accepted the award for 'Beth' being the #1 single of 1976 at the People's Choice Awards. What was the reason for Lydia accepting the award? Listen to our discussion to find out. A few years ago, Lydia published a coffee table memoir of her life entitled Sealed with a KISS. Jam packed with tons of photos never before seen of KISS and Peter Criss from their earliest days as a struggling band rehearsing in a frigid loft in downtown Manhattan, their apex of popularity in being named the most popular band in America according to a Gallup poll, and beyond. The book also gives a rare glimpse into Lyd

Without question, one of the more popular theme shows the Decibel Geek podcast has ever produced was our Bizzaro Covers episode which featured hard rock and metal bands performing non-hard rock and metal songs.  While original material is always a joy to listen to (unless it's being produced by Nickelback), a good cover song that puts a new spin or perspective on a song provokes emotion and can trigger the listener into liking something they normally wouldn't even care about. Before we dive right in to the music, there are a few things we need to pimp. Our Canadian correspondent Wally Norton recently scored a great interview with Coney Hatch singer Carl Dixon that was picked up by a few other web media outlets.  Also discussed are some wonderful comments from this week's Geek of the Week. To be qualify for Geek of the Week simply head over to our facebook fan page and click LIKE; simple as that.  Of course, if you want to go one step beyond and tell a friend or write a review in iTunes, your c

With so much going on in 1969 there was no way we were going to be able to squeeze all of it in to one episode and we're back this week to give you a second dose of the news, the music, and the personalities of the year of the rooster. We begin things on a dark note as we discuss the Manson family murders including murder of actress Sharon Tate and Charles Manson's obsession with the Beatles song Helter Skelter and his morbid perception of the lyrics. This leads into a taste of one of the standout tracks from the Yellow Submarine album. With the Beatles on their way out, a successor was on the rise in Led Zeppelin as Robert Plant and company  released I and II in 1969. We spin one of Rolling Stone magazine's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and segue into Jimmy Page's least favorite Zeppelin song but we dig it. 1969 saw the second and final album by the Jeff Beck Group released as Beck-Ola climbed to #15 on the charts on the strength of Jeff Beck's guitar playing and the growly pre-AOR vocals of a youn

While we don't typically delve deep into thrash territory on the Decibel Geek podcast, 2 bands that came out of California in the early to mid 1980's (one formed out of necessity to battle it out with the other), are truly a part of rock royalty and are the subject of our interview/discussion this week.  Metallica's 1981 lineup that included James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Cliff Burton, and lead guitarist Dave Mustaine was a true force to be reckoned with but politics and substance abuse caused it to be short-lived with the band unceremoniously canning Mustaine while on the road. Determined to exact revenge, Mustaine formed Megadeth in Los Angeles in 1983 with bassist Dave Ellefson.  With both bands releasing platinum albums and performing for sold out audiences across the globe, the rivalry remained pretty evenly matched between the groups until Metallica saw mainstream success with 1991's Metallica (aka The Black Album) shooting the band into a new strata for metal music. One could argue, though, that Me

Jack Russel of Great White joins us this week to discuss a career that has spanned the highs, lows, and everything in-between.  Last week was a busy week in the press for Russell between dodging drunk boaters and having to clarify remarks about former manager Alan Niven. He takes a few minutes to discuss these stories, as well as where the current legal case with the rest of the band stands, with us before we launch into career-talk. And what a career it's been. From their early days in 1978 as Dante Fox, Jack tells us how the name Great White came about and how it relates to albino guitar players.  We get Jack's recollections of the Sunset Strip in the days before it exploded which included flyer wars with Nikki Sixx and Motley Crue as well as his thoughts on how the internet has pretty much squashed the chances of a regional thing on that level happening again. We discuss the reversal of touring to sell albums shifting to recording an album as an excuse to tour and Jack's thoughts on what downlo

In the short year that the Decibel Geek podcast has existed, some of our more popular episodes have been our Year in Review shows. We have received some great feedback from all over the world about our 1975 and 1983 episodes and this week we head to the 90's as we focus on a truly transitional year in rock music in 1991. Chris and Aaron are spinning a plethora of their favorite songs from 1991 and you're sure to hear lots of stuff you may have missed while radio stations were shoving Bryan Adams and Amy Grant down your throat. While the glam to grunge overnight transition took place in September with the release of Nirvana's landmark Nevermind album, you'll hear plenty of examples of the wide variety of great music that was being released even before anarchist cheerleaders picked up black pompoms and the janitor got his groove back. 1991 was a crazy year for cannibalism, true and fictional, with Jeffrey Dahmer proving that Aaron Camaro is not the only lunatic from Wisconsin and Anthony Hopkins' stra

While America is our home base and largest listener area, our friends up to the north have been accumulating like a blizzard lately. We've had quite a few new Canadian listeners over the past year. There are a few reasons, we think, for this.  1. Mitch Lafon of Bravewords.com was the first official guest to ever be on the Decibel Geek podcast and is based out of the Montreal area. He's also appeared a couple other times as a guest. Mitch Lafon & Russ Dwarf 2. Our interview with Killer Dwarfs singer Russ Dwarf helped us attain more audience members. KD is a great band and Russ still waves the flag up in Canada. 3. The addition of Wally Norton to the Decibel Geek staff. Wally's regular feature, Hoser Heavy Metal has helped shed some light on Canadian rock bands you should check out. His recent interview with Helix's Brian Vollmer also received acclaim throughout the internet and brought more folks from the Great White North our way. So, with that said, it's only natural that we'd decide to shin

Welcome to our nightmare. We think you're gonna like it. Actually, the episode that we post for your listening pleasure today was truly a dream come true for us.  In this long form discussion, veteran guitar maestro Dick Wagner reflects on what it's been like being on the inside of rock history for 40+years. Appearing on more than 200 albums and garnering more than 35 Gold and Platinum albums, Wagner has quite a story (or in this case, many stories) to tell as he gives us a glimpse of the fantastic historical essays that await you in his recently released (and soon to be hardcover-released) e-book entitled Not Only Women Bleed: Vignettes from the Heart of a Rock and Roll Musician. Dick shares stories with us from his earliest days including backing Jerry Lee Lewis in a television appearance as well as the circumstances that led him to become the musical director for the Alice Cooper solo band.  Also in this discussion is Dick's recollections of a short stint living in Nashville in the early 1990'

"We hear & we obey" - Gene Simmons Truer words could not be said of this weeks episode. This week, we turn the controls over to you, the listener. We've received some great requests over the last few weeks and now we get to share your choices with the world. We're happy to present our first Listener Request Show. Before we get started, Chris & Aaron give a quick update of what's been going on at the official Decibel Geek website including a number of great new articles by our most recent writing addition, Wally Gator including 3 Guitarists You Should See Before You Die, Hoser Heavy Metal, and Death of the Album. We also give a shout out to Andrew Jacobs with another great interview; this time with KISS Army founder Bill Starkey. Now, onto the music. We received requests from all over the world from this show as well as many States. You'll hear requests today from Australia, Canada, California, Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee, New Jersey, South Carolina, Virginia, Utah, and Illinois. It's wonderful hearing fro

We're back this week to give you a Stiff Upper Lip after we Flick the Switch and Blow Up Your Video; making you feel like a Fly on the Wall who needs some Black Ice to recover from a Ballbreaker. If that doesn't give you a clue as to what we're talking about, then we'll spell it out for you....AC/DC. While the Bon Scott era of AC/DC laid the foundation of what we have today, we wanted to take an episode to appreciate some of the highlights of the Brian Johnson era of the band.  With the tragic passing of Scott in 1980, AC/DC was left pondering the decision of whether to go on. A fan in Cleveland, Ohio forwarded a cassette tape Brian Johnson fronting the band Geordie to AC/DC manager Peter Mensch who then recommended the singer to Angus Young and company. Young remembers Bon Scott raving about seeing Geordie years before and it was decided that Johnson was a good fit for the band. Brian Johnson, of course, burst onto the scene in his first album with the band, 1980's legendary Back in Black album. T

Before we flash back in  time we want to remind you of our upcoming Listener Request episode! We want you to call in your hard rock/metal song request on our hotline and we'll play our favorite requests on the show! The number to call is (540) - DBGEEK-1 (or (540) 324-3351). That number will take you straight to our voice mail hotline. Don't be shy! We had some great feedback on the recent 1975 Year in Review show so we decided to jump back into the time machine and venture to another year. This time we're going back to the days of Atari, Dr. J, and Metallica before they became sycophantic Lou Reed cohorts. We're heading back to 1983. This Year in Review episode has got a little bit of everything from the pop culture stew of 1983. There was a lot going on in the entertainment world from M.A.S.H. ending its legendary run atop the television world to the release of the tragedy-laden movie version of The Twilight Zone movie. We touch on that stuff but we're a music show, right? The musical landscape of

Networks, KISS Reviews, and The Group Thing We've been awfully theme-y lately and decided to spend this week doing what we do best; being unorganized and playing whatever we feel from our iPod. Before we get to the  music, we've got a few news items. Cue the teletype: We're now a part of a cult! Decibel Geek Podcast is now a proud member of the Auralgasm Podcasting Network. Don't fear, this doesn't mean that you'll be squirting from your ears in the future. It simply means that we were selected from a large group of entries to be a member of this new podcasting network for independent, high-quality shows. The majority of the shows on the network are comedy based so we're not sure if that means we are funny or unintentionally funny. Either way, we're thrilled to be part of this new and growing network. Head over to Auralgasm to see our dedicated show page with custom artwork. And while you're there, check out some of the other shows. We have and they've made us laugh. We're just sayin'. This week Chri

Chris and a raspy-voiced Aaron Camaro return this week with a trip into the past. We're adjusting our flux capacitor and taking the wayback machine to 1975; an era where people wore bellbottoms, platform shoes, and had ridiculous haircuts without a shred of irony.  While there was plenty of music to vomit over, there was also lots of cool rock being put out into the ether. We take some time to share that music in today's episode as well as our discussion of some news events that happened throughout the year. So, kick back, grab a quaalude, and take off those Toughskins while we take a look at 1975. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After a week spent in Bizarro World, we're back to discuss something *GASP* KISS-related. We'll give you a second to pick your jaw back up. Ready? Okay. The Tour With the recent announcement of the upcoming Summer tour featuring KISS & Motley Crue, we decided that now is as good a time as ever to devote a show to our favorite Starchild, Paul Stanley. The Starchild For almost 40 years, Paul Stanley has provided audiences all over the world some awesome musical contributions. No matter what is in fashion, be it disco, new romantic, heavy metal, hair metal, etc, Paul has been able to tap into a genre and produce relevant results. The List Today, Mitch Lafon of Bravewords.com joins Chris Czynszak for a discussion of their favorite Paul Stanley-penned KISS tunes. Co-host Aaron Camaro has his voice in the shop this week for repair but does chime in during the intro and outro of the show. He will be back next week. The Tribute Today's show is dedicated to the memory of Tony Whitfield; a Decibel Gee