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/