Camp Kill You

Grade 6 was a pretty fun year. We had a Jamaican male teacher named Mr.Hoyte who was infamous for making kids cry...but not this kid! You either loved or hated the guy and in retrospect he was my all time favorite teacher. He used to bring his saxophone to school whenever it was ANY of his students birthdays and play happy birthday for them. After lunch he would always give us a textbook lesson to do, eat an apple and then take a nap. Looking back now I think he was hitting the ganja on lunch time cus his eyes were always red, he still had munchies AFTER lunch, then he'd crash and burn.

Towards the end of the school year it was announced that the grade sixes would be going on a week long trip to camp kilcoo. Since "Meatballs" was one of my all time favorite movies I was super pumped and had master plans of panty raids and shower peeping. When I brought my cheque and consent form to school I was informed that the trip was already full and no more spots were available. I was crushed!

Two days later I overheard a classmate of mine telling another how he had just dropped off his cheque and was going on the trip. I immediately asked him if what I heard was correct and he confirmed it. I had just been involved in a conspiracy theory to stop me from going to camp kilcoo! I immediately brought this to the faculty's attention like an enraged lawyer and all they did was deny deny deny. Finally they admitted that due to my behavior over the course of the year it was in their best interest not to let me go on the trip.

 Instead I had the pleasure of being in a small class of 20 some odd kids like myself who were also denied the privilege of going due to behaviour issues or bad grades. This class was in my home room and our teacher for the week....none other than Mr. Hoyte! The Hoytester was cool as ever that week, he didn't make us do ANY work whatsoever. We just did our own thing and socialized. I didn't know a lot of these kids as they were all from different classes. 

The school board may have denied us our trip, crushed our dreams, and prevented any riff raff from taking place, but they overlooked one small detail.... They had assembled the baddest of the bad asses in a room together for one week like it was a super villain convention where we could all get to know each other, and in turn combine our efforts to bring the muthafuckin' ruckus for the next two years to come...

Microphornicating

I am taking a break today from our current timeline in the blog to discuss current issues. For the past 2 years I've been working on my newest full length cd entitled " 73' " as some of you may already know. These recordings revolve around samples I've gathered from the late 60s and early 70s, most of which are fairly well known classics that I've borrowed from.

This recording has been a completely different and new approach for me and I've been getting a lot of positive feedback over it. I myself also feel this is my best work to date. Lyrically I have been delving into some personal issues that occurred within my life, mostly over the last 4 years. I never talk to friends or family about my own issues and problems so this has been a very interesting approach for me which has been difficult yet therapeutic. 

I've been longing to make a video for one of these songs and I've finally decided on "microphornication" which utilizes samples from The Eagles "Hotel California". In the past I've done a few live videos and made a few cheesy ones with animated gifs, not too mention one video somebody produced that was out of sync. I truly consider this to be the very first official Kabal music video and I hope you dig it. The link for the video can be found on the video tab.

This project was self produced. I wrote, filmed, directed, starred in, edited & produced the entire production in one day. It's amazing what you can do with a camcorder, tripod, iPod, and some free video editing software! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do and any help to make it viral would be greatly appreciated.

A Friend For Life

Starting grade 6 was a pretty big deal. I was in a new school, there were a lot of new unfamiliar faces and everyone seemed so concerned about fitting in, unlike grade school where we were dirt ball kids who didn't care about our appearance or being apart of some form of group. I used to roll to school with bed head on a daily basis, but now I was showering every morning to avoid ridicule. I was very interested in girls so I had to bring my "A" game with me  if I had any chance with the ladies. 

Continuing the previous trend, I was once again the class clown in my new school, saying and doing whatever I could to get a laugh out of my class mates. Needless to say I was sent out in the hall a lot or forced to sit behind blockers, large partitions that isolated you from the rest of the students. There was a very friendly girl who say behind me named Dorothea Myer. One day while wearing my Twisted Sister shirt, she started talking to me about music. Apparently her older brother Mike listened to all the same bands I did, I assumed he must have been a cool dude. I didn't know it at the time but many years later her brother would be one of my best friends and band mates. 

For halloween that year I decided to be a boxer. I wore shorts, shoes, boxing gloves and a robe. My sister did some makeup on me to give the appearance of a black eye. There was a boy in my class named Jerry. Him and I were the 2 biggest kids in the class and our height and frames were virtually identical. I can remember thinking he would be the only boy in the class who could give me a run for my money in a fight. On Halloween day Jerry asked if he could see one of my boxing gloves, I obliged in a friendly manner and handed him one.

The next thing I knew he put the glove on and started punching himself in the face with it! All the kids were laughing hysterically including myself. Amazingly it seemed like the punches weren't even phasing him, confirming my suspicions of him being a tough kid, not to mention a fellow class clown like myself. Jerry and I hadn't really talked much in class before that day, but now we had bonded in a strange way and had become friends.

jerry in "toys r us" circa 87/88

Jerry ended up being my best friend in that class and we would unknowingly go on to be best friends and band mates in the future. To this present day we are still best of buds and I couldn't of asked for a better friend. Jerry would literally give me the shirt off of his back, and be there for me anytime anywhere in any given situation.

A lot of people graduate school and never see their supposed best friends ever again. People get jobs, wives, families, and then drift apart from each other. We've had times in our lives where we weren't joined at the hip, but now over 25 years later we are still the very best of friends. Our loyalty and commitment to each other is undying even though we both have our own busy lives to manage. Friendships like this are one in a million and I wouldn't change that for the world...

Beat Street

In 1984 when breakin' was blowing up there was another very important film that I neglected to mention, yet it deserves much credit as it is a very fundamental element to the hip hop culture and to my existence. The movie was called "Beat Street" and it focused on the breakdancing and graffiti scene in New York City. The soundtrack was composed by the first rap group I ever heard, Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five.

Early into grade 6 there was a notice posted announcing a breakdancing display that would be performed in front of the school. They were encouraging students to come and sign up for it after school. When the bell rang that day I scurried off to apply. My jaw dropped when I discovered 50 to 100 kids waiting in line. I took a bus home daily and there was no way I was going to wait in this line and then have to walk over an hour to get home when the try outs were said and done.

When the day came, every student in the school was assembled in the gymnasium to witness this breakdancing spectacle. A lot of the breakers were decent and some of them were just plain wack! In grade 5, I was one of the best breakers in my school. I could moonwalk, pop & lock, do various waves and the worm, the turtle freeze and the crab walk were also specialties of mine. I even had a decent backspin and my knee spin was untouchable. 

Compared to some of the kids on stage that day my skills paled in comparison. One of the students even pulled off a head spin which I had never seen in real life, only in movies. Another Asian boy from my grade pulled of the deadliest backspin I had ever witnessed, he spun with extreme quickness and I lost count of his rotations somewhere after 10.

My ego was a bit deflated to say the least but I still knew in my heart I had just as much skill if not more than some of the performers that day. In a way I was somewhat discouraged to continue breakin' after that day. The trend was starting to slow down and the fashion aspect of it was changing drastically. I am also that guy who discovers new cool things before everyone else, but once they becomes popular I lose interest as it doesn't make me unique or an individual anymore. The flavor of the year was staring to lose taste and I was left with a quench and desire for something new to inspire me...

Funk & Fire

The summer before I went into grade 6 my mother signed me up for an indoor arts and crafts program similar to some form of day camp. The program was about 2-3 weeks if I remember correctly. The day before camp started my mother came home with something for me.... Speed stick original deodorant.

Apparently I was starting to smell funky. Although I had body and pubic hair at a young age not too mention a high libido, I had fully hit puberty now. I was getting acne and now body odor. Camp wasn't much to write home about, it was mediocre fun. My highlights were the days we went swimming and having the opportunity to steal money out of people's clothes in the locker room. I did create some pretty cool works of art and even made a friend or two. 

I went into my first day of grade 6 with confidence. I had my fresh buzz cut with rat tail and I was decked out in my freshest breakdancing gear. When I got to school and started observing the other kids I was shocked to see lots of students wearing the same shirt I was and/or the same parachute pants I had on. Suddenly I didn't feel so special as I was merely blending into the crowd and not standing out like I usually did. 

It wasn't long before I found myself sent out in the hallway for disrupting the class. I was leaning on the wall right beside a fire alarm and I could not stop staring at it. I had heard rumors they had ink inside them, so if you pulled it you could easily be identified. I don't know if I was over come with boredom or curiosity but the next thing I knew my finger was slowly pulling the leaver down but no alarm sounded. I removed my finger and checked for ink....nothing. I inserted my finger again and slowly started pulling the lever down again. No alarm. I was convinced it was broken and proceeded to keep slowly pulling the lever down. Before I knew it a tiny glass rod shattered and the alarm blared, causing me to jump right out of my skin!

The next thing I knew all the classes started filing out and evacuating the school. I quickly jumped into my class's line like I had never left the room. Outside now my heart was racing! Fire trucks were on the way and the principal was on a megaphone raging about how he would catch the culprit. Overcome with fear and guilt I went and turned myself in. I assumed I was going to get caught and figured revealing myself as the culprit would ease the punishment.

I got to the office preparing for the worst and the principal was actually really nice. I concocted a story of how I "accidentally" hit the alarm and he bought it.  No punishment was given to me but he insisted that I join the school basketball team because of my height. I agreed and next thing I knew my mom was getting me up at 6am to go to basketball practice before school. That practice was one of the most grueling experiences of my life. I was a rock n roller and we don't do 6am for nobody....not even an irate principal. Needless to say I never attended the 2nd practice...

JV C ya!

While all these doors are open in my mind I keep digging and digging for old memories that are related to music. Before I'm 100% ready to move onto my days in middle school, I want to be sure I haven't forgotten or left out any key elements of my life. I suppose I could mention a few random facts, like that I was actually a member of the chess club in grade 3 and 4. 

Asides from being an artist I used to do calligraphy in my spare time. I may have written more "lines" than any other kid in my grade ( I will not staple classmates finger tips). In kindergarten I stuck my tongue to a metal handrail, was the best artist in my class, and I was busted playing "house" with twin sisters. I got a very early rep as a "badass" when I stuffed the principals muffler to the max with snow to impress some older kids. The school board wanted me to skip grade 1 but my parents refused. I learned to print and write my loooong last name in grade 1. I had my first video game meltdown playing Space Invaders when I couldn't get past level 35.

I was just like any other kid in that day and age, I played with toys, went to the creek, journeyed on epic bike rides, played hide and go seek & army, went swimming, built go karts and tree forts, I played organized sports such as soccer, baseball & hockey, I went tobogganing in the winter and made snow forts & snowmen, I drew and colored, but the thing I enjoyed the most was strapping the headphones on in solitary and listening to music.

Somewhere around 1981-1983 my father bought a new JVC home stereo. This meant I now got the old stereo for my room, but more importantly we had a massive brand new system with giant speakers housing 12" woofers! If I remember correctly my dad paid somewhere in the neighbourhood of $2000 for the system and I figured we were living large. Looking back we were always a middle class family but perhaps a touch on the upper side, as my pops always seemed to be able to afford whatever new trend or toy was hot on the market. 

The stereo had 2 large speakers, a tuner, an am/fm radio component, a cassette player, and most importantly a turn table! This baby was sweet and I spent a lot of time in front of that stereo growing up. I loved throwing a record on and staring into the cover as the songs stirred images up in my mind. Little did I know at the time that the cassette deck would be one of my first instrumental tools in creating rap music years later...

Rewind, Pause...

As some of you may know and some of you may not, I have an uncanny ability to memorize song lyrics. It's gotten to the point where I can be driving in someone's car with them and I'll start singing a song I'm hearing for my first time by the mid point of the track. The driver would ask "oh...YOU know this song?" to which I always reply "Nah this is my first time hearing it. Not a bad tune."

I own hundred of CDs from a variety of bands. My collection is mainly thrash, hardcore, punk, metal, industrial, rap, hip hop, reggae and classic rock. I practically know almost every lyric to every song on every cd and record and cassette that I own. I often get asked by people "Do you know every word to every song in the world?" That one always makes me laugh, but the answer is obviously no. The other question I get from people is "How did you acquire the ability to do this?" and the answer my friends and loyal readers, definitely stems back to my childhood.

When I first started collecting records at age 5 a lot of them didn't come with printed lyrics so you were left to figure it out yourself. I personally used to listen to a song repeatedly with pen and paper in hand. You couldn't keep jumping the needle back on a record in fear of scratching your tender vinyl, so i would record songs onto cassette tape and use the rewind and pause button as I wrote the song down. I would generally work on one line at a time and there would always be that one word or line that i just couldn't quite make out, so I had no choice but to add lib and decide for myself what the words would be. I used this method for years and after awhile I didn't even need to write the lyrics down anymore. As long as I listened to a song enough times it would be engrained in my brain for life.

During my highschool days I was into psychedelics and read a lot of books dealing with the human mind. I discovered subliminal learning and realized I could now memorize lyrics in my sleep. I had a small ghetto blaster (radio) that could continuously play a tape, flipping automatically every time a side ended. Learning rock songs was one thing but I was listening to tons of rap in these days and there were TONS of words to be memorized. I would listen to music all night long then hop in the shower to get ready for school, the tape still playing (now loudly) as I sang or rapped along knowing more words than I did the day before.

Being involved with bands for 15 years also helped the cause as I wrote hundreds of songs over the years and can still remember every single word. In the 90's everything started getting rereleased onto compact disc and a lot of those CDs came with lyrics. It was interesting to compare what i knew them as and what they really were, and i had a pretty good track record!

When the Internet finally arrived it became possible to pretty much access the lyrics to ANY song in the history of music. People could now sing "Season ticket on a one way ride" instead of "Sees a nigger on a one way ride" when listening to AC/DC's Highway to Hell.  To sum it up i suppose it is all about repetition to an extent, but I am now on a level where I can learn a modern day pop song's lyrics before the song itself has even finished playing... I reckon I trained my brain throughout the course of my life and I believe this blog is true evidence as I can remember very early memories, a thing most people have a difficult time doing...

First Gig

It was either grade 3 or grade four, I can't quite remember, but we were given an assignment through our music class that had me drooling upon discovery. We the students, were to gather in groups of 3-4 and choose a song of our preference to perform in front of the class on instruments that we were going to make!

I previously had a "Muppet Show" drum set when I was 5-7 years old so naturally I wanted to play the drums. When I came to my father excited about the project, he insisted that a drum set would be difficult to build and decided on making me a bass guitar. It was already set in stone my friend Craig would be the guitarist for our group so I agreed and we informed the 3rd member of our band he was now the new drummer. We were a bit concerned about this as he was a known slacker but he assured us him and his father would pull it off with ease, build a drum set that is.

We also undisputedly decided that the song we would perform  would be Black Sabbath's "Iron Man" and I would be supplying the vinyl seeing as playing along to the real song was also a requirement of the school assignment. As reluctant as I was to be a bass player I couldn't help but admire and admit the fact my dad did an incredible job on this bass guitar. He made every piece by hand out of wood and used glue and vices and tools until the head, neck and body became one. My dad varnished it and put actual knobs on that turned, he also strung it with picture frame wire which made it look amazing, but there wasn't much twang or sound to it at all.

None the less it looked killer and I was so proud of us, I couldn't wait to get to school the next day and show my friends. I was also highly anticipating seeing what they and their fathers had constructed. When I got to the bus stop the next day I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the guitar Craig's dad had built him. It was stylishly shaped, painted bright, and was an actual functioning electric guitar!!!

As feared, our fearless "drummer" showed up with (and I shit you not) an empty "cool whip" container about the shape and size of a large one you would buy margarine in. There was also a t-shirt inside it which he later explained to the teacher altered the sound and tone of his "drums" when inserted or removed. LOL! 

We managed to make it through the song. If I remember correctly we were all supposed to learn the words and sing it as a trio, but it came out more so as me the lead vocalist backed up by a chorus of mumbles. Despite the few shortcomings we suffered, like my bass making no sound or our lack of a drummer for that matter, we were still pumped about our "first gig". Both Craig and myself were inspired and it wasn't long after that he got a real guitar and started taking lessons and yours truly got the first drum machine from Toys R Us.

It was time to kick out the jams!!!

Casa Loma

So I'm finding it somewhat tricky to write a blog entry every single night. Especially when my son is around here with me as I'm just so consumed in the fun I'm having with him. Once he is finally in bed, it's normally getting late after a fun filled day, which has me finding myself exhausted and wanting to relax....and not use my brain anymore. I may refrain from weekend posts just to give myself a break once a week.

It is now Sunday morning and my son Gabriel is still sleeping after a big day yesterday, so I thought i would take the time to write. Today's post is not music related but it still revolves around the time period I have been writing about. So all throughout grade school we would go on various school trips. My favorite 3 places to go were the zoo, the science centre, & Casa Loma.

Loma was at the top of my list however. Being into darkness and dungeons and torture and ghosts and medieval times and what have you, made going to the castle a very special and exciting experience for me. I loved venturing off with my friends and exploring every inch of sir pallet's dream house. I was obsessed with all the secret passages and tunnels that lay within the structure's walls and was exhilarated by hunting ghosts down in the darkened corridors.

My friends and I would also tend to venture into areas of the castle that were not intended for the general public. Any hole, doorway, or dumb waiter we stumbled upon had to be investigated to the fullest degree. Looking back on it now it's like we were "the goonies" or "the little rascals", brave kids who had no fear and thrived off of adventure and excitement.

Yesterday I brought Gabe there for his first time and he absolutely loved it. I had a great time too as I have not been in about 10 years. It was really fun watching him run around and explore all the familiar places and I couldn't help but remember all the great times I had there as a child myself. Some areas are now closed off from when I was a youngster but I was still explaining to my boy how it was at one time and he listened on with eagerness. There was even a wedding going on that day and surprisingly we ran into some friends of ours who were attending it. It never ceases to amaze me how I run into friends everywhere and anywhere I go. Lifestyles of the poor and infamous...

Punks Not Dead!

The more i write about 1984 the more I seem to remember, it was an important year for me indeed. There was also another new musical genre that I discovered through my sister Christine and it was called "Punk".
It definitely wasn't hardcore by any means but was a good introduction to the music none the less. My sister didn't have many punk records but the 3 she did own would be my introduction to the world of punk rock, The Clash, Adam Ant & The Monks.

G.I.Joe was getting very mainstream at the time and all the boys were on the army tip. The look was somewhat similar to the punk style, so I too was soon decked out in army pants and camouflage t-shirts.  Another defining punk quality was the hair style. Spikes, mohawks and shaved heads seemed to be the most popular choices. Since my parents would never let me do anything extreme with my hair I settled for the "buzz cut" which ironically was the complete opposite of the locks I had been longing for throughout grade school.

Ear piercing and nose piercing was quite popular amongst punkers as well and that was something I hadn't really seen in the heavy metal scene.... and by god I wanted my ear pierced! Once again my parents flat out refused me and the next day I was in the school washroom trying to push one of my mothers dull stud earings through my earlobe... to no avail.

Musically it was an epic year for me. Discovering punk and rap on top of all the continuous rock and metal that was coming out. When I went into grade 6, I still had a shaved head with the new addition of a "rat tail", yet another new trend amongst youngsters. Essentially kids would leave a small patch of hair at the back of their heads and grow it long like a tail while still having trendy or conservative hair cuts, but the way I saw it, I was one baby step closer to growing my hair long...

Top 7 @ 7

Back in the early 80s the radio station Q107 started a show at 7pm nightly called "The Top 7 At 7", on which they would play one song from each of the top 7 metal records in the charts. Between 1983-1985 there were a few dominating albums that stood the test of time in the ranks and I was quite fond of them all. These 7 albums were essentially my soundtrack for grade 5 & 6.

The 7 records were (in no particular order):

1. AC/DC - Flick Of The Switch

2. Ratt - Out Of The Cellar

3. Ozzy Osbourne - Bark At The Moon

4. Twisted Sister - Stay Hungry

5. Def Leppard - Pyromania 

6. Iron Maiden - Live After Death

7. Mötley Crüe - Shout At The Devil

My birthday was coming up and I had my master plan set. I was going to tell each kid coming to my party exactly what record to buy, which they in turn would have to relay to their parents. That day at school I took each friend aside individually and had a confidential one on one meeting with them. They all agreed and the plan was now set in stone.

My birthday finally came and as planned all the kids showed up with flat, square presents that measured 12" x 12 "....except for one who brought a rectangular box, sure to be some kind of "bored" game. When it was time to open my gifts I was more than happy to discover that each of my friends had gotten me exactly what I had instructed them to....except for that one gift.

Turned out my friend Shawn, who's father was a fire fighter, decided not to get me Mötley Crüe's "Shout" as it contained a large pentagram on the front cover, the sign of the devil. Instead he opted to get me a board game, but not just any old board game. When I finally unwrapped his present (which I saved for last) I did not find mousetrap or life or candyland.... It was something I had never heard of or ever seen before.....a ouija board.

To this day it still baffles me, the logic behind the whole matter. He wouldn't but me a record to listen to because it had a satanic symbol on the cover yet he bought me a gift that I could use to contact spirits and perhaps even bring people back from the dead with! I tried it out a few times but never had any results. Years later I came to learn I was doing it all wrong....but I still had all of those records to play backwards!

Role Model

I had became somewhat of a movie fanatic with all the flicks I was getting to watch on pay tv. I was mainly into horror and comedy as I loved to laugh and I loved a good scare. Before we got pay tv my family would go to movies on a somewhat regular basis. Sometimes the whole family would go, sometimes my mom, sister and I would go. Sometimes just me and my dad would go which i preferred as we always saw the coolest movies despite my dad complaining the seats and aisles were too small and cramped for his long legs and bad knees.

As my sister got older and responsible she would take me to see movies with her friends. I was fortunate enough to see an abundance of movies during my childhood including such classics as King Kong, Meat Balls, the Star Wars trilogy, Grease, and Gremlins just to name a few. It seemed like every week or two I saw a movie and nowadays whenever someone mentions an old movie, nine times out of ten I chime in with "oh I saw that in the theatre when I was a kid".

One day my dad told me we were going to see a movie, just the two of us and I was thrilled as hell! My pops said "remember Rocky 2 we watched on tv the other night? Well we're going to see Rocky 3!" I wasn't overly excited as I found Rocky kind of boring but none the less I was eager to go to the flicks with my old man. To my surprise the movie was amazing and I loved it. Rocky III was definitely better than the previous two films and it also introduced me to one of my future wrestling heroes "Hulk Hogan". There was also a fairly rocking song in the movie "Eye of the tiger" which I bought on 45 not long after.

It was the villain of the movie that intrigued me more than anything. He was a mean looking black man with a Mohawk and tons of gold jewelry... His name was Mr.T. "T" soon surfaced in the world of television on a new show called "The A-Team" and it was an instant success. My father and I watched the show religiously. Even though T looked mean he was a very nice man and a positive influence on young people. In fact Mr.T was my very first role model, I even drew a picture for him when I went to meet him at the grand opening of "Toys R Us" in Brampton.

I was a bit upset when T didn't actually get out of his limo, instead the long stretch drove through the crowd of kids with T hanging out the sunroof waving to everyone. I did manage to hand him my drawing and he smiled and winked at me. With all the darkness inside of me and the negativity associated with heavy metal music, it was nice to have something in my life that brought me happiness and positivity, even if it was a short lived moment...

The Message

During 1984 there were two monumental moments in my life that were delivered via television.

While watching wrestling with my father one day (which I had no interest in) I heard Black Sabbath's "iron man" ring from the boob tube and it immediately caught my attention. The ring announcer suddenly spoke over the music...."from Chicago Illinois with a combined weight of 565 pounds, the AWA tag team champions, Hawk and Animal, the legion of doom, THE ROAD WARRIORS!!!!" 

Two huge men emerged from behind the backstage curtain and rushed the ring in a frenzy, quickly pummeling their jobber opponents before the bell even sounded. Hawk and Animal looked like they were straight out of the film "The Road Warrior" and there look was a cross between bikers, punks, and metal heads. I remember seeing them military bench press their foes over their heads and I thought "these guys are stronger than anyone, they'd kill Hulk Hogan!!!"

For the big finish Animal climbed to the top rope while Hawk lifted one of their opponents up in a vertical suplex. Hawk then handed him to Animal who proceeded to power slam him from the top rope for the one two three. I had never seen anything like it and in 2 minutes my life and my perspective on wrestling had changed. I was oficially a wrestling fan!

The 2nd moment occurred when I was watching music videos on television and I came across a song called "The Message" by a group named "Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five" They were a group of African Americans who somewhat looked metal, as they were adorned in leather vests, pants, hats and studded arm bands. However there was no guitars, no drums, just these guys walking around the mean streets of new York "rapping" over musical similar to what i had heard in the movie Beakin'.

I don't know what it was about the video but I instantly loved it and was thankful my VCR was on record. I now had a new favorite song and video to break dance to in my basement. When I got to school the next day I overheard a few black kids talking about "the message" in my class and I jumped right into the conversation. Apparently  I was the only white kid who had seen the video as everyone else in the class was clueless as to what we were talking about.

To this day the message is still known for being the single most influential song in rap & hip hop history, and I couldn't agree more. It opened me up to a whole new world of music that  I absolutely adored, much to the dismay of my metal head friends...

Revenge of the nerd

There was yet another life changing event that occurred in 1984 that I feel deserves honorable mention even though it isn't music related, but it would eventually become the most instrumental tool in my musical ventures. The introduction of the home computer. 

My friend Craig had the "Vic 20 " and my cousin Gord and my buddy Duane had the "Commodore 64" and I was fortunate enough to have gotten to use and know them both before they were introduced into our school that year. I clearly remember the first time they took our class to the library to use the new computers. The teacher gave us a quick crash course in how to use them, then we were given assignments to do before the class was over. I whipped through the work in no time and while all the other kids were struggling to finish up I was drawing a picture of the NASA space shuttle.

As the class was winding down to its end all of the kids were now done the tasks given by the teacher and were standing around me in awe admiring the work of art I had created. Once I knew I had every students undivided attention I simply held down the enter key causing my shuttle to launch up and off of the monitor screen. There was a huge eruption of praise from my peers and I felt really great about myself. Here I was, the bad seed, the class clown, the "devil worshipper", showing up all of my classmates.

Before the computer was introduced I had grown up playing Atari and Intelivision at my friends houses until my dad bought us the new cutting edge system "coleco vision" and I immediately wrangled up 30 bucks in silver dollars I had saved and went to consumers distributing in the mall to buy donkey kong jr.

I went onto continue using computers throughout highschool and always had a knack for them. From 91-97 I never touched one again asides from playing the odd game of "Doom" at Paulie's house on PC circa 93. I got on board again once the internet age started booming and it was amazing to see how far things had come since my BBS days in highschool.

BBS stood for bulletin board system and it was a form of peer2peer sharing via telephone modems/home computers back in the 80s, a pre cursor to the world wide web if you will.I had boughten my cousin Gord's "64" off of him and was constantly in my room on it.

The home computer is what I now use to create and arrange and record the music I make today. Although I never looked the part I have been a computer nerd since the inception of the computer itself...

The Darkness

I'm not sure if it was all the heavy metal music i was listening to, or all of the horror movies I was watching, or perhaps a combination of the two, but as happy as I was as a kid, there  was still a darkness inside of me. I didn't really have any negativity or strife in my life asides from the odd smack or verbal lashing dished out by my old man, yet my mind was filled  with many dark visions of torture, terror & death.

The images in my mind started to manifest themselves on paper and to me it seemed like a good way to release the darkness. One of my most repetitive drawings I did was of an apartment building, and in each window a depiction of some form of vicious attack or murder was taking place. A mugger shooting his helpless victim, an irate husband stabbing his wife, etc. To me it seemed like a good way to get the darkness out of my system, much to my teachers dismay.  

I was hearing tales in the news and on television about the satanic undertones of heavy metal, people playing records backwards that delivered messages from the dark side. The PMRC was using metal as a scapegoat for teen suicide all over the world, not too mention any other crime they could pin on the music.  Kids at school started assuming I was a "devil worshipper" so I thought to myself if that's what they think/want then I'm going to give it to them!

To me it was all mind games and intimidation that worked to my advantage. I would eat bugs just to see people's reactions, I also had a very high pain tolerance so I would inflict injuries upon myself and let kids bite me as hard as they could. My claim was I had sold my soul to the devil in exchange for being impervious to pain.

I also had a very large collection of matches. Anytime I went somewhere new with my family I would grab a match pack as a token or souvenir to commemorate it. Now my collection was starting to dwindle as I was becoming somewhat of a pyromaniac, obsessed with the hell fires i was forged from. I started off burning small pieces of paper and piles of dried leafs and twigs. I graduated to bigger things such as trying to burn trees down. There was nothing like the rush of throwing one match into a field of dry grass and watching it turn into an instant inferno. 

One day while playing in the garage with matches my father caught me. Needless to say he was furious and it was quite possibly the angriest I had ever seen him! He went off about how I could have burned our house down and killed the entire family. As much as I loved burning stuff his words really hit home and made an impression on me. I decided to not play with fire (at home) anymore even though deep inside me "the darkness" was still there and the fire was still burning...

Breakin'

1984 had a very important key element that changed my life dramatically. A new fad or trend or whatever you wanted to call it at the time had emerged from out of nowhere.....  It was called "breakdancing" and I'm not going to explain what it is as I'm sure you all know of it, if not.... Google it sucker!
Soon a major motion picture simply titled " Breakin' " was released and the seed was planted.

At that time period it was out of this world and the public ate it up, especially the kids. Everyone started dressing different and yes even your humble narrator jumped on board and actually became fashion conscious to follow the heard. I started learning to break dance and actually got pretty good! My dad got me a big cardboard box from somewhere which I flattened out and carefully covered with peel and stick floor tiles we had left over from our new kitchen floor.

The music that accompanied this new art form was essentially electronica and it didn't really do much for me, so even though I looked the part I was still down in my basement breakin' to Iron Maiden and what not. There was one song I loved to break dance to more than any other however, it was by a fellow named Herbie Hancock and the song was called "Rockit".  There was a video for the song and it was really bizarre and somewhat cutting edge for the time period. VCRs had just come out as well so I was now videotaping my favorite music videos and yours truly would rewind that video over and over again so he could keep breakin' to it.

A new girl ended up coming to our school named Michelle that year. Michelle was a year older than everyone because she was back a grade at her previous school....and she had boobs! I charmed my way into her world immediately and was instantly smitten. I now had NO time for my gang or bugging girls or pounding whimps. My recess and lunch breaks were spent lying in the grass of the playground with her holding hands and talking, as we were in seperate classes and never saw each other throughout the day. She was the first girl I had my first "real" kiss with and I eventually got to touch her boobies! (above the shirt) older girls rocked! 

Yep it had been a pretty big year.... my first punch in the face, my first puppy love & the heartbreak of being dumped that came with it, my first time "necking" AND my first time touching a girl's breast with actual consent! The whole breakin' movement was also the first time in my life that I actually felt peer pressured to be like all the other kids as opposed to the unique individual that I was and still am today. I didn't want to be the weird kid anymore and my new threads were getting me the ladies! Things may have changed on the outside temporarily, but inside not a damn thing had changed! Or so I assumed, as Breakin' would eventually lead me down a new path where I would discover a new musical realm...

Jenny Jenny

1983/1984 was another big year for me. I was graduating grade school and moving onto grade 6 in the spring. My friends and I were the big shots of the school this year, and I was dating quite possibly the hottest girl. Her name was Jennifer and she even came with her own theme song.....8675309!

My gang and i were getting into more trouble than ever on the playground. There was a corner where the "handball" wall met up with the doorway for the grade fives that we dubbed "the killer corner" & anytime an unsuspecting kid dwelled there, we would rush in and work them over. Cabbage patch dolls were the big fad for the girls, so naturally we would snatch a patch and pound on it.

One day my girlfriend came up to me telling me about a new kid who had just transferred, who was hitting on her and harassing her. He was shorter than me but very stout. As soon as recess hit I went looking for him to defend her honour. When I confronted him he didn't even say a word, instead he just hauled off and hit me with a huge right hook to the cheek. This was the first time I had ever been punched in the face.

My body didn't budge but my head quickly snapped 45degrees to the right then snapped right back into place. Our eyes met and I was stone faced. I could see the fear in his eyes. He had given me his best shot, a sucker punch at that, and it didn't even phase me. I had taken it like a champ and a big "ooooooooohhhhhhhh" rang from the crowd of kids watching, then everyone went silent anticipating what was going to happen.

The next thing I knew the bell rang and we were assembling in a straight line to head back to class. All the kids were going off giving me props about how tough I was and how if it was one of them who got punched they would have been on the ground balling there eyes out! I felt good inside even though I didn't technically win the fight or even lay a finger on him for that matter. Once again the most deadliest weapon of all had prevailed, the mind!

 The fat sucker punching new kid now knew his place in the pecking order and he stopped bothering Jenny, in fact I don't think he ever spoke a word to her again! Life was peachy keen, I was still on top and nothing could get me down..... Until my girl dumped me shortly after! Ces't la vie!

Down the left hand path

Throughout the course of this blog I have been mentioning stories and happenings from my past that aren't music related from time to time. My main focus was and is the story of music in my life throughout my life, but when writing my blog entries at night sometimes other repressed memories  get unlocked and I feel it important to capture them at the moment before they are gone. I hope you enjoy these moments as much as I do unlocking them from behind closed doors in my brain. 

Dipping back to 1982, I was being chased by an older, angry girl at the school bus stop. There was a park at our stop and I was going full tilt all over the joint trying not to get caught. I ran up to the top of the highest slide and as I reached the peak my foot went in a small hole causing me to trip and fall all the way to the ground below, face down, with my right arm under me bent at a 45degree angle.  I hit the ground hard and slowly got up to my feet, to my amazement I wasn't crying. I was just walking in a circle holding my arm repeatedly saying "fuuuuuuuuuck........shiiiiiiiiiiiit" while all the other kids stood around in a circle of silence staring at me like a sideshow attraction.

I didn't know it at the time but I was in a serious state of shock.....and had a broken arm! Before anyone could say a word the bus pulled up and all the kids ran off. I slowly followed, I was so out of it that I didn't even pick up my lunch bag or school bag OR the record my sister let me bring for show and tell, after a long fought argument with my mom about me bringing it.  As soon as I stepped on the bus the driver, who was normally calloused and bitchy, was now struck with a look of panic and fear. She insisted I sit in the front seat and made a make shift sling out of my jacket. When we arrived at school she quickly rushed me to the office and they called my mom. 

The next thing I remember is waking up in a hospital bed with the side guard rails up. They looked so tall that I felt like I was in a giant baby crib and I could not move. All I heard around me was other people moaning in serious pain. I battled to fall back asleep amongst the haunting cries of misery.  It ended up I broke all 3 bones in my arm close to the elbow. I also mangled the nerves so badly that I actually needed surgery, which is generally unheard of for a broken arm. I had a cast for a major chunk of the school year and was forced by my not so pleasant but delightful to look at grade 3 teacher to do everything left handed. I got quite decent at writing and drawing, and ended up somewhat ambidextrous for the years to come.

When I finally awoke after the surgery, now in a proper hospital room, the first thing I saw was my mother and father standing at the foot of the bed. They were both clearly upset and sobbing. That was the first time I ever saw my father cry. I couldn't believe that this big, menacing man actually shed tears like I did. I blurted out one sentence which caused me to erupt in tears before I even finished it.....

"Christine is gonna kill me I left her record at the bus stop!!!"

Twisted Tales

1983 was quite the year for me. Music videos were booming, I was hitting puberty at a very early age, pay tv was educating me on sex & violence and flea markets were popping up all over Brampton. 

One particular day while shopping with my nana in a flea market at bramalea city centre (before malls were open on sunday) I discovered a small comic stand. I had a few comics in my days but was never really that big into them, until I picked up an issue of "Twisted Tales".  The cover depicted an old granny in her rocker knitting, behind her a mantle adorned with a severed head. When I took a peek inside I was shocked to see an abundance of graphic violence and sex.

There's no way my mom or dad would ever buy me this, but when I asked my nan to "buy me a comic" she quickly agreed without hesitation or even inspecting said rag first. Needless to say I was a legend the next day on recess!

 Around this time I discovered a movie called "The Warriors", a classic flick about New York street gangs and I instantly fell in love with it. I also caught wind of the Hell's Angels and was now determined to have my own gang. The guys I hung out with all started dressing alike and we were packing dog chains, d cell batteries, jack knives and any other form of weapon we could find.

I got quite cocky and started mouthing off to older kids who wouldn't hesitate to come at me.... until they were getting beaten like a dog with whatever happened to be up my sleeve or in my pocket that day.  We had a few mini rumbles here and there, and eventually the gimmick wore off as we were now finding ourselves interested in girls.

Lunch time was now reserved for chasing chicks, mooning, ratting (a frontal moon) and trying to get kisses and cop some feels. We were lovers now, not fighters...

Pits, tits & drop kicks

A lot of different things in pop culture defined me as a youngster growing up. As far as toys went all I needed was Star Wars. I did get into He-Man while all my friends leaned towards G.I.Joe. Another old school favorite of mine was Micronauts. 

Music obviously was a factor, being bred on classic rock and heavy metal. I also grew up near a small forest, creek and a place we used to call "the pits" which served for all your outdoor needs. Swimming, hide and seek, playing army, capture the flag, etc.  The pits was also equipped with some pretty sweet bike trails as well as a "Tarzan rope" for swimmers and even an old abandoned car with "The Red Wreck" painted on the side of it, which we tried to blow up once by inserting rolled up newspaper into the gas cap and lighting it on fire. You could even fish there and disgustingly enough cigarette butts worked as bait. That was reason enough for me to never swim in there once! That and the fact a buddy of mine took a shit one time while he was swimming.

After discovering smut at such a young age, my friends and I were now on the hunt and luckily for us we always seemed to find crumpled up pages of dirty mags down in the woods. One day we hit the jackpot and found a garbage bag in a field behind my house, which is now the 410 highway between Queen st and Williams parkyway. Needless to say we had hit the jackpot and quickly brought the haul back to my place. We weren't in the backyard 5 minutes when my dad came out and busted us. Ended up our neighbor saw us through the window and quickly tipped my old man off via telephone. Thanks Mr.Reay!

Another favorite activity of ours was smoking cigarettes at a very young age. I can't remember if we actually inhaled or not but it became a daily ritual for us to chain smoke a pack of rothmans that my pal Craig would snake from his mom. A few times in the pits we discovered "weeds" that we actually thought were marijuana. We rolled them up in newspaper, fired them up and coughed our lungs out.

The pits always had dangerous excitement if you craved it too, like walking the edge of the "tits" (2 round cliff facings that were the highest points above the water) or pissing off partying teenagers and/or lovers,  causing heart racing chases through treacherous terrain. There were also urban legends of lunatic masturbators and dead bodies in watery graves.

I didn't watch much television as I was barely home and when I was home it was music videos or video games on the coleco vision. My dad had a bit of a strangle hold on the tv remote and I had no choice but to watch his boring syndication. On Saturdays he would always interrupt my cartoon viewing to watch Bob Vila's "This Old House" from 10am to 10:30. He would then return at noon to watch a sport I didn't really care for called "Wrestling" but I'd sit through it none the less as I knew "Kung Fu" was in afterwards! 

One of my earliest wrestling memories was seeing a guy in a nice 3 peice suit cutting a promo at ringside in front of a live audience. During his promo a heel rival came out and attacked him with a weapon knocking the baby face unconscious. The heel then proceeded to stomp the fallen hero as he tore away at his fancy suit, eventually stripping him down to his tighty whiteys. I can recall being scared and thinking I'd never want to be apart of something that could see me humiliated like that!  It was like something that would happen in a bad nightmare, only on school grounds with a sandbox for a wrestling ring and brooding kids cheering the action on. 

No sir wrestling was not for me........ not until one day when I was drawing pictures while my father watched "wrasslin'" (as he liked to call it) and the VERY familiar kick drum of Black Sabbath's "Iron Man" bellowed from the family television...

Video Killed The Radio Star

As if Toronto Rocks wasn't cool enough, other music video shows started popping up all over the grid. CHUM radio started its own show called "CHUM 30 countdown" which played more of the top 10 commercial type music, but it was still enjoyable to see new music videos.

Another obscure music video show that manifested was called "City Limits" and it was hosted by Christopher Ward. Chris played a lot more underground music as well as what we now refer to as "80s retro" I didn't know it at the time but the station it aired on was owned my Moses Znaimer, city tv owner and the man who brought us Toronto Rocks.

City Limits was on channel 22 which eventually evolved into "the nations music station....Much Music!" City Limits had a reoccurring guest who showed up from time to time. He was a "rock-on" named Wayne who was Ward's "cousin"....or so he said. It would take me a decade to realize that "Wayne" was actually comedian Mike Myers in the early character development stages of "Wayne" from SNL and the Wayne's World movies.

Even though I wasn't particularly fond of a lot of the artist's music, the videos were still very eye catching, innovative and enjoyable to watch. Artists such as Michael Jackson, The Cars, Phil Collins and Huey Lewis (just to name a few) were really upping the music video game with the growing technology in the video industry.

Upon further recent research I discovered "City Limits" was actually Canada's first video show, and Ward is credited as being our country's very first VJ (video jockey)The limits also originally aired Friday and Saturday nights from midnight to 6:00am. I also learned that the "Chum 30" actually premiered in 83', a year before Toronto Rocks. Sorry if my facts were a bit off but I am recalling memories that are 30 years old! ;)

There was one video in particular however that would introduce me to a whole new world of music that changed my life forever...

Toronto Rocks!

I always had an extremely vivid imagination as a child. I loved nothing more than sitting in my room alone playing with my star wars and fisher price toys. To this day I still prefer to work alone as opposed to in a group. It was that way throughout my scholastic career and I'm sure it stems back to my own personal affection towards playing alone instead of with others.

When music came into my life it was yet another activity I enjoyed in solitaire. I loved putting the big, oversized, black leather headphones on, adjusting them to my little melon head and escaping to my magical, musical paradise. Whenever I was doing such, I would tend to close my eyes and envision  images in my head that the music would conjure up. I seemed to have a knack for this and every song brought its own mental scenario, and every time I listened to those songs on different occasions my "head movies" were consistently the same.

This all changed in 1984 with the inception of the music video and a television program that changed my life forever called "Toronto Rocks" which was hosted by John Majhor. It aired at 4pm which had all the kids rushing home from school! Toronto rocks was THE predecessor to MuchMusic and MTV. Majhors played a wide variety of music videos that spanned from classics like Michael Jackson's "Beat it" to The Eurythmics "Sweet Dreams". I was being exposed to more new bands and the coolest part was I didn't need to use my imagination anymore to visualize the music I was listening to. 

As if this wasn't amazing enough, Toronto Rocks decided to make Wednesdays "mid-week metal mania" playing nothing but heavy metal videos that ranged from glam rock hair bands to the heaviest of the heavy. I was now given access to a whole new world of metal and numerous bands that I didn't even know existed! Once again my musical tastes and inspirations were expanding, and I couldn't wait to see what new and exciting groups awaited discovery each and every Wednesday!

Licensed To Blog

There are certains days, occasions and what not that I'll post in my blog from time to time that deal with what is currently going on in my life, and yes today is one of those days. Yesterday at work I was having a rather busy yet enjoyable day until I went for a quick smoke break at approximately 1:50pm and found out that Adam "MCA" Yauch of the legendary "Beastie Boys" had passed away. Needless to say my day went from enjoyable to depressing at warp speed.

The Beastie Boys have been my all time favorite band since the age of 13. In 1986 I was listening to RUN D.M.C. "Raisin Hell", Public Enemy "Yo! Bum rush the show" and a few other classics, when out of left field came the first WHITE rap group! They were called the Beastie Boys and their record was entitled "Licensed to ill" and the shit was ill!!! I fell in love with it within half a heart beat! The beats were heavy, there was a lot of guitar, and three distinct loud mouthed punks getting in your face with a trifecta of lyrical onslaught. I had even gotten my "Rock-On" sister of all people to hop aboard the rap train! I can remember driving aroun in her pony with her, blasting "Fight For Your Right" while we both enthusiastically sang along like it was yesterday.

The Beasties got huge with that lp and were quickly at the top of the charts and the top of the news headlines as controversy followed them everywhere they went. Once the smoke cleared they were discarded by the general public as one hit wonders and nobody could give two shits about them anymore.....except for this kid! I had been into breakdancing and rap since its inception and once these 3 white kids like myself came along and showed me I could rap too there was no way I could ever turn my back on the boys.

I scoured magazines and harassed record store clerks for two years solid,(yes pre-internet kiddies!) like a professional private investigator on his most important case, trying to find any information I could about when a 2nd Beastie Boys record would be released. Finally in 1989 "Paul's Boutique" arrived and I was at SAMs in the Bramalea City Centre the day it dropped. There was a big beautiful display set up for it in the middle of the shop, and to my surprise there was not a single soul in the store besides the cashier and me. I was shocked and repulsed and it was at that exact moment I realized nobody cared about them any more even though I hadn't stopped going on about them since first discovering them.

I picked the record up from the display which had clearly not been touched by one customer yet, went and paid for it, then scurried home to the family stereo to drop the needle and strap on my ear goggles. I lied there and listened to this incredible entity from start to finish 2 or 3 times, carefully following along to what are quite possibly the smallest lyrics I have ever seen printed by a band. I can't even find the words to describe how fucking amazing that moment was, and to this day Paul's is still my all time favorite Beasties album and my all time favorite record from any band period. It's the greatest sampling masterpiece in the history of hip hop, boasting more samples than other rappers have used throughout their entire careers.

The public completely slept on it, record sales sucked, yet ask any true B-Boys fan what the best record is and they will all give you the same answer. Sadly I'm not sure how "true" or die hard these fans are persay, as the majority of them never even heard the Boutique until AFTER the boys blew up once again in 1993 with "Check Yer Head", meanwhile yours truly was once again doing P.I. work, hot on the case! The only difference this time was I did it for 4-5 years spanning from 89-93 and as great as it was to finally have my boys back, I couldn't help but be thoroughly disgusted by all the public sheep who quickly gave them praise and acted like they had been down the whole time since 1986.

I got to see them twice in concert that year for the 93 comeback, first at the concert hall and again later that year at varsity arena. The show at the concert hall AKA the Masonic Temple (now home to MTV Canada) was, is and forever shall be the greatest concert I ever attended in my life and I'm grateful I got to share that night and experience with one of my closest friends and bandmate Mike Chapman. Rest in peace. I'll never forget the image of Mike boogying through the crowd ever so NON discretely holding his hand held tape recorder up in the air bootlegging the show. Needless AND sadly to say the jig was up and security confiscated it. Mike did however pull off the bootleg mission at the 2nd show @Varsity Arena, and you guessed it! Yours truly still has a copy of said cassette to this day. 

The Beasties continued to release new material as the years went on, once again with the usual gaps of time between them. Everything they released was generally up to par with what they were all about, but like every great band the sound usually evolves as the years go on. In my eyes the Beastie Boys are to rap and hip hop what The Beatles are to rock and roll, regardless of their skin colour. They are my biggest musical influence and the reason I found the faith and belief in myself to start rapping when I was 14. Without them there is no Kabal. Without MCA there is regrettably no more Beastie Boys, as Adam could and never will be replaced, but the B-Boys will live on forever through the music they've created over the last 32 years.(Yes they started officially in 79' as a punk band)  I could go on and on with stories and facts that would fascinate you or perhaps bore some, but I think I'll leave it at this.....i encourage everyone to not mourn him, but celebrate him, his life & his music through his music this weekend as I know I shall be doing....and to always remember the man, the musician, the fucking epic legend!
thank you Adam! I love you man! R.I.P. my brother!

"MCA" Adam Nathaniel Yauch August 5th 1964 - May 4th 2012

X-mas 83'

So getting back to christmas 83' (finally) I was ready and hyped and amped to see what record my cousin Jamie had gotten for me this year. My cuz had already turned me onto some awesome bands and I couldn't help but wonder what the next one was to be!

I unwrapped the album and to my surprise it wasn't a new band at all! It was another record from a band I already knew and loved......Black Sabbath! This was a recording of a live concert however and was my very first double lp! Yes there were TWO records inside the sleeve, which was adorned with various characters from Sabbath songs (the war pig, the neon knight, etc)all standing on what appeared to be a desolate beach and shore line. It was called "live evil" and I learned my very first palindrome!

Unlike my last Sabbath record, this one did not have Ozzy Osbourne singing. The vocal duties had been picked up by a very small man with a very big voice named Ronnie James Dio. Dio had a completely different voice and style compared to Ozzy, but it still worked great with the music. Nothing against Ozzy I live him to death and all, but in reality Dio was a better singer with more range.

Not long after I was at the chinguacousy library where I used to frequently rent records and books from, when I discovered something that took me by surprise! Dio had an album with his own new band entitled "holy diver" I checked it out from the bibliotheca immediately! It was pretty heavy, very fantasy oriented, and contained some kick ass songs! Once again my cousin had (inadvertently) introduced me to a new band!

Blue Moon & Blue Movies

If I had read between the lines of the lyrics to the majority of AC/DC songs, I may have noticed all the sexuality they were oozing. Mind you a lot of the song titles spelled it out in black and white very clearly. You had songs like "squealer", "go down" and " love at first feel" just to name a few. Looking back now I can understand why my mother wasn't thrilled about my musical tastes.  I wasn't about the sex, or the drugs for that matter..... Just the Rock n' Roll!

Around this time pay tv was introduced to the public. You could get a small box that you hooked up to your existing cable which gave you access to either "first choice" or "superchannel" and a third shittier channel that I can't recall the name of. My folks jumped on the ppv bandwagon immediately and I was stoked! In the first month we had it I must have watched star wars and meatballs about 17-20 times each!  This was the greatest thing ever!

I also discovered two of my all time favorite movies, "An American Werewolf In London" and the epic animated masterpiece "Heavy Metal" which was loaded with rocking tunes, bloody violence and huge cartoon boobs! 

And as if my dads playboy magazines weren't enough, there was an actual playboy channel! Unfortunately my father had purchased a variation of the new ppv box that came with a key, when the key was removed the picture would scramble. My parents went to a bowling league every Friday night, conveniently the night playboy tv aired. My dad would remove the key from the box. It was very frustrating but that changed once I found the hiding spot for the key!

I could now witness the magazines under my mattress coming to life!  I would watch it all night literally until I heard my folks pulling in the driveway close to midnight. I'd grab the key in a flash and dart upstairs faster than lightning, return the key and then jump in my bed and pretend to be asleep.

I now had a new love in my life..... And no, not playboy but movies in general. This was the beginning of my horror movie obsession that still lives strong today.  With endless choices of flicks to watch I was positive life couldn't get any cooler, until my ultimate love (music) took the next step in evolution, and the music video was born!

Play Toy

Throughout grade school I was always the tallest kid in my class. This had its advantages, for one people didn't mess with me very much. Even older kids who tried to bully me backed down pretty quickly when I surprisingly would stand up for myself. My friends weren't complaining either as they always felt safe and protected. 

When somebody had something negative to say about metal I could usually persuade them to change their opinions faster than the needle dropping onto my favorite AC/DC record. Even though I was big and had a hair trigger temper I still leaned towards word over fist in childhood confrontations.  Perhaps I knew subconsciously that the mind is the most powerful weapon of all.

In 1980/1981 I discovered a "Playboy" magazine in my father's underwear drawer one day while trying to rustle up some quarters for the arcade. Dolly Parton was on the cover and I couldn't WAIT to see her boobs! Little did I know she wasn't even naked inside, there was just an interview with her! I felt so ripped off but that lasted a whole two seconds once I saw my first centerfold! Needless to say I was instantly hooked on the rag and hid it under my mattress.

The next night I couldn't wait to view it again but was shocked to find it was gone! "Oh shit I'm dead" I thought, but breakfast passed the next morning and not a word was spoken about it.  The next thing I knew it was like a game or ritual, or perhaps even a right of passage was unfolding. I'd steal the mag nightly, hide it under my bed & the next day it would be back in dad's underwear drawer and not a word was spoke about it. To this day I still have no clue if it was my mom or dad who kept returning the playboy to its rightful spot on a daily basis, but I love them for it none the less!

I was flirting with girls at a young age, knew how babies were made & was now eyeing up my female classmates to see who was growing bumps! I was never interested in reading time but now here I was at the front of the class, lying on my stomach, trying to catch a glimpse of what was under my grade 3 teacher mrs. Bernie's skirt.  As smart as I was for my age, ironically all I had to do was analyze the lyrics to some of my favorite songs to learn about the birds and the bees, as a lot of the stuff I was listening to was chock full of sexual innuendos. I was just to busy rocking out to the music to realize it at the time...

Microphornication

I am taking a break from the blog today as I have been working on a new song. It is now complete so I thought I'd share the song & lyrics. Diggit!!!

Microphornication

http://kabal.bandcamp.com/album/73 

Well it's been a long time since I went on a tangent-

and just ran shit and ranted ad libs/

And flapped these lips-hear me run these jibs 

you duck the lunging spits- and dodge the talking shit/ 

The puck drops but you ain't making the playoffs 

My days off i rap my fucking face off/

No reason for me rhymin and no rhymin to my reason 

just hooting the trees and then I'm shooting the breeze/

I couldn't move emcees Who said I had no flow 

i couldn't prove to the industry that I could be gold/

I'd grab a mic and go- a motor mouthed mutherfucker 

Spitting 64 bars with absolutely no structure/

Off my black cap- improv  mad crap

And still told a story better than your  grandpap/  

never singing  no rhythms never bringing so gimmicks 

Just ripped like Mach spitz in the fuckin flo lympics/

The critics wanna diss how I flip routines/

But I got metal in my blood  and upped the technical degrees/

I gotta spit 16s and come correct with a hook

back in the days I'd just blaze a few pages out my ( rhyme) book/

now look how times flies and my how things change 

I never took no shorts and kept on playing the game/

And ran trains on microphones howling like a lycanthrope 

Hurricane theo now im coming like a cyclone/

Makin beats on my own down in the necropolis

Greek kids STILL call me Don Theodoropolus/

You never topple this mount Olympus 

So count the bitches who be down with my sickness/

Lyrical syphilis like spreading the disease

But I come harder than anthrax attacking killer b's/

Ain't never slacking on my steez u ain't prepared to face me 

Night breed and the tribes of the moon embrace me/

Im super crazy an insane luchadore

My moves are crazy I brainbust ya through the floor/

Figure fours and still strangle with mic cords

Singapore canes  and power bombs onto spiked boards/

That's how I kill the poor call me Dead Kennedy

Or better yet Predator collecting heads of enemies/

Never went public cus I'm stuck down in Midian

Motherfuck  the public ( cus)  they don't get what I'm giving them/

Another villain who be filling up disk space

I'm misplaced  like your 80s mix tapes/

Still punch lines while your trying to sniff base

dumping on your mind so I'm calling you shit face/

Ain't never disgraced my love of the art form still

cumming strong like pornstars in  hardcore/

Gonna  wet ya like a blonde toy who fuck and fucks

"so what the bumba clot boy buck buck buck buck "/

 My studios the most ghetto in the history of rap 

I pay zero while your paying 350 a track/

80% of what i hear cant hold a candle to that 

You ain't believing what your hearing so I bring it on back/

My studios the most ghetto in the history of rap 

Yet I get kudos for my sound meanwhile you pay to sound wack/

80% of what i hear cant hold a candle to that 

You ain't believing what your hearing so I bring it on back/