TICKETS & MEMORIES

Yesterday I went to visit my mom and in my old bedroom I found all these old concert tickets! Wowww; did they bring back a lot of memories! Like snapshots from a certain period, a certain album, things that happened before, during or after these concerts. Here are some things that I remember about these concerts:

Dweezil Zappa: That was a special evening! Dweezil was in Holland with his younger brother Achmed. I saw them play a month earlier on Dynamo Open Air. Before the gig I was fortunate to talk with both of them..I guess Achmed was still around 17 or 18 years old during that time. The thing that stands out in my mind is that they played a medley of around 120 songs in 45 minutes!! They played a small part of it on Dynamo, but in Tivoli they played the whole thing..amazing!! Everytime you recognized a song they switched to the next one..virtuoso, just like their father!

Faith No More/L7: I was totally into Faith No More at that time (and still am!!). They just released Angel Dust and this was the first gig in support of that album, just before they really hit it big! The grunge girls from L7 were supposed to support them that tour and just had a "hit" with Pretend we're Dead. So..when the lights went off we heard a male voice say: "Cheers..we are Napalm Death from Birmingham" and instead of grunge we got some grindcore hahaha.

Soundgarden: Right time..right place. They just released Badmotorfinger and were on the verge of their breakthrough. Outside the venue, tickets were on sale for about 200 guilders.

Candlemass/King Diamond: What else can a headbanger wish for?! I was fan of both bands, so that was an awesome evening! Candlemass was awesome with Messiah doomdancing, a lot of candles onstage. Speaking of the stage; imagine looking at a complete graveyard with a castle behind it! Spectacular show from the King, reaching all the high notes. What I remember most is that at the end of the gig he was lying in a coffin...and dissapeared completely!

Anthrax/Iron Maiden: Great double bill also..don't remember much from that evening, except that Maiden was supporting the not so great No Prayer For The Dying album..but maybe somebody can help me out here?

Heathen/Sacred Reich/Sepultura: The only thing I remember is the huge dissapointment when we arrived at Noorderligt that Sacred Reich cancelled the show due to Phil Rind being ill..damn!!

Acid Reign/Dark Angel/Nuclear Assault: What I remember: drummer Gene Hoglan of Dark Angel sitting on 2 chairs downstairs in the foyer and their great gig. Acid Reign being a crap band. And of course; Nuclear Assault playing a very bad show like they always do live!

Mind Over Four/M.O.D.: I found this ticket and thought: Holy cow!! Did I see this gig?! I most certainly did..and remember nothing of it hahaha.

Suicidal Tendencies/Anthrax: I remember this day quite well. There were a lot of Suicidal fans, dressed in these typical Venice-style pants and with bandanas and caps with Suicidal on it. Suicidal played for 45 minutes and after the gig..they all left! That's hardcore right there for ya! Anthrax was touring their State of Euphoria album and that was the last time they drew 5,000 people on their own.

Monsters of Rock 1991 (Black Crowes/Queensryche/Metallica/AC/DC): Yeah..this was a great day. It was the 2nd time we had the Monsters of Rock tour in Holland. Together with 35.000 headbangers at Goffert Park, Nijmegen. I didn't like the Black Crowes (years later I did) but we were there for Queensryche. They just released Empire and were at their peak at that time. Metallica were great also supporting the Black Album. The thing was: we didn't know what to make of that album..yet. We were hardcore Metallica fans and it felt a bit like betrayal. Great show though! I think we only saw half of AC/DC because we had to catch the train.

Aardschokdag 1989 (Wolfsbane/Leatherwolf/House of Lords/Vengeance/Flotsam & Jetsam/Queensryche): One of the greatest days of my life concerning concerts! Leatherwolf was awesome..watching in awe at their "three axe attack". Very proud of course at watching our very own Vengeance who had just released the awesome Arabia album. I remember singer Leon Goewie falling so hard on stage that he made a flipover. Flotsam & Jetsam were skullcrushing..supporting No Place for Disgrace and I remember I was headbanging for 50 minutes straight! The best was yet to come..Queensrche conquered Holland once again. We loved them! Playing Operation Mindcrime back to back (except for Suite Sister Mary) and a perfect sound it was a party I will never forget!

INTERVIEW 24-7 SPYZ

Talking about people who are important for the way we listen to rock music today (with an open mind and not afraid to mix different genres) there is a man to who we owe a lot of gratitude: Jimi Hazel of the 24-7 Spyz. It was he who, with other bands like Fishbone, Living Colour and of course Bad Brains, showed the world that black people could rock like hell, but also brought their own influences like funk, soul and jazz along with them. They paved the way for many other bands who were no longer afraid to show that they listened to and could play other stuff than heavy metal alone.

Their debut album Harder than You was released in 1989 and sold, together with follow up album Gumbo Millennium (1990), a reasonable amount. Fame was around the corner, because Eastwest Record (a division of Atlantic Records) showed interest and signed them for their major debut: Strength in Numbers. But where peers like Living Colour were on their way to stardom things went terribly wrong for the Spyz.

I contacted Jimi because I read with great pleasure that he reunited with the Strength in Numbers lineup for a European tour to celebrate this great album. He was very enthusiastic to cooperate and was very open about certains things that happened in the past.

With the EP This Is..24-7 Spyz u introduced a new line-up (except for Rick Skatore). Where did you find them?

Jeff (Brodnax/vocals) was introduced to Rick (Skatore/bass) and myself by friends that were in a Virginia band called Egypt. They thought he would be perfect for the band. Rick and I had him come to NYC and he was great! Joel (Maitoza/drums)came by ways of guitarist Spacey T (Sound Barrier, Fishbone), who was in a band with Joel called Gangland. I heard the demo tape and got Joel's number and he actually auditioned over the telephone! He totally killed it! Absolutely true story!

What did you have in mind with this album? Was there a concept behind it? Can you tell me something about the process?

 I wanted to write the album that would take us to the next level. We finally had the means, opportunity and time to do just that. Losing our original singer and drummer didn't matter to me because we'd gotten new guys who would come in and take the songs I'd written and enhance them with their talents. Jeff was the better singer that P. Fluid wasn't and I wrote songs that really brought that fact to light. Joel brought metal proficiency to the grooves and when he merged that with the soul of the songs, magic happened. There was no concept, just determination. I also didn't want to record the album at home in NYC. I wanted to be free to write without any distractions and Rick felt the same way. I asked Terry Date to work with us and he said yes. Because he lived in Seattle, we chose Little Mountain Sound in Vancouver to record at. We rented some condos, brought our road crew and all our gear and moved to Vancouver for a couple of months!

Why did you pick Terry Date as a producer?

I wanted to work with Terry Date because I knew he was the man for the job! Terry's sonic genius and mastery of his craft made him a perfect match. He also doesn't sing or play an instrument, which I loved! No intrusion on the songwriting vision! I also loved his work with Soundgarden and Pantera, both bands were friends of ours at the time. Terry was as mellow as us and a wonderful guy to work with. I co-produced and mixed the album with Terry and we worked together like peanut butter and jelly!

How did you get the major deal and how are u looking back on that now? Did it work or do u regret signing?

After the departure of our singer and drummer in 1990, our label began to lose faith and made it clear that maybe we should seek another home. We'd sold 250,000 copies of our debut album (Harder Than You) and 300,000+ copies of our second album (Gumbo Millennium), so all the major labels came gunning for us once it was known we were looking for a new label. At the time, there wasn't a better independent label out there than the one we were signed to and if we weren't gonna stay there, there wasn't anywhere else to be but at a major label. I do believe we should have been with a major label but just not the one we signed to. They misrepresented themselves with regards to the plans for Spyz. Sylvia Rhone had issues with herself and took them out on our band. I truly regret signing the deal because the true intention was to destroy the band.

How do you rate your position between the other crossover bands at the time?

I don't know. I'd leave that question for the fans to answer! I do know that Spyz influenced many, many, many of the bands that would come after us and with the release of three albums and one EP, raised the bar musically within the crossover movement.

Was there a friendship/competition between the Spyz and bands like Living Colour, Fishbone or Head's Up?


No! Absolutely not! We were friends with all of the bands! I think there is always an unsung level of competition between bands but Spyz has always set out to be the best band we could be no matter what! At the end of the day, it all comes down to what you do.

How do you look back now on Strength in Numbers?

I'm much better now, 20 years later, LOL! I was deeply affected by the way the album was treated by the record label, which was the exact opposite of the way the fans and the media treated it. I couldn't listen to it for many years without crying or wanting to kill somebody! I now look at it as a moment in time, a chapter in a book that will continue to be written. It's held in high regards by many people and has become a holy grail cult CD for many people as well. I'm honored. We're all honored!

Is the album still unavailable? On wiki it said there were only 18.000 albums printed and is therefore long out of print (I have one!)


No. A small label called Wounded Bird licensed the disc and combined the EP with the album for a 2 for 1 disc. I have the original disc and a copy of the vinyl as well (Thank you, Kike Gimeno!) so I would hold on to the copy you have, LOL!

How was it to play together with Living Colour recently?

It was absolutely great and it was the first time we'd played together! Time, politics and the weather kept us from playing together for almost 25 years, but that's over! We came together to support our brother, legendary guitarist Ronny Drayton and play a benefit concert for his son, Donovan, who is incarcerated unjustly as we speak. You can read about it here : http://4donovan.com/blog.html
In the wake of the benefit concert, I believe you'll see 24-7 Spyz and Living Colour doing some touring together in the future!

What is the current status of the Spyz? Is this tour only for the celebration or will there maybe be a new album?

Right now, we're gonna do some playing playing in Europe, have a great time, see all our friends and family that we haven't seen in ages and play it by ear! When we get back home, we'll figure things out. I hope to see many of our fans both old and new come out for the European dates!

If you have anything to add, please do Jimi!


I'll say this: The 24-7 Spyz family (Jimi Hazel, Rick Skatore, Tobias Ralph, Jeff Brodnax & Joel Maitoza) thanks each and everyone of you that have loved and supported the band over the 25 years! We are honored, grateful and humbled. We'll see you soon! HMS4L!

Tourdates 24-7 Spyz:

29.02.2012 NL Tilburg, 013 
02.03.2012 NL-Sittard, Fenix
03.03.2012 NL-Amsterdam, Paradiso
04.03.2012 DE-Bremen, MS Treue 
05.03.2012 DE-Hamburg, Hafenklang 
06.03.2012 DE-Berlin, SO36 
07.03.2012 DE-Marburg, KFZ 
08.03.2012 CH-St. Gallen, Grabenhalle 
09.03.2012 FR-Le Fayet, Le Repaire des Ours 
10.03.2012 FR-Paris, The Machine 
11.03.2012 GB-London, O2 Academy Islington 
Support:  Noiseaux

Website: http://www.facebook.com/pages/24-7-Spyz/41607195879?sk=wall

MY FAVORITE ALBUM: RICARDO GODTSCHALK

Being a music freak I am very blessed to have a lot of friends who share my love of music. Besides going to concerts together, listening to music and talking about music it seemed a very nice (and logical) idea to give some of them some well deserved space here on this blog to give you their exclusive story about their favorite albums. So from now on there will be a guest blog here on Needle Dose every now and then, hope you enjoy it!

First up is Ricardo Godtschalk. I've known this fella for quite a long time now. He was part of a large group of headbangers from different towns who all shared one thing: the love of hardrock music. We all knew eachother, gathered on different locations, went to concerts, did tapetrading etc. Besides that Ricardo was a very talented guitar player, gathering local fame at the very young age of 15 with his band Diamond Evil. Unfortunately he stopped playing in bands at a very young age, but his love for rock music remained very strong. Went I mailed my friends with this request he was the first who replied saying that my question was a difficult one to tackle, but he had his story ready for publication in half an hour! This is his story about (one of) his favorite album(s): Clutching at Straws by Marillion.

There is one album that means a lot to me on a emotional level but is also an album I've known for a very long time: Marillion-Clutching at Straws. Clutching has a very special mood. I first heard it when I woke up on the morning of my 15th birthday after a night of heavy drinking. I got the album on cassette for my birthday (the cd was too expansive at the time) and everything changed when I put it in my cassette player. I can still feel the atmosphere when I think back to that morning. I played it 4 times in a row before I landed on earth again.

 What's great about it are the lyrics, but especially the melancholic mood of the album. The floating guitar parts of Steve Rothery in the distance and of course Fish with his storytelling kind of singing: timeless! later on I also bought it on cd, 24 bit remaster cd, picture disc, maxi picture single and picture single!

The first three songs are incredible; they pull you in directly and from there on it is one great trip. The song Sugar Mice probably has Rothery's greatest solo ever! There is no other band who is capable of setting a mood like that on an album. it's simply an album where everything comes together: the basslines, the subtle drumming, the guitar parts coming from that classic Roland amp and of course Fish who puts a lot of feelings in his lyrics.


 

Clutching at Straws reminds me of my youth, I can still taste the Jim Beam whisky and feel like I'm 16 years old again! In my living room there's still the Sugar Mice picture single hangin' above the tv and the Clutching picture disc above my couch..which says it all! These discs tell me more than a complete photo album.


*Clutching at Straws was released in 1987 and turned out to be the swansong of Fish. It was written during a period of inner conflict and in his lyrics, Fish already hints at the end of the band (The Last Straw)*