Glam Dads

Happy Father's Day to the many Glam dads out there.

A lot of our favorite Glam heroes have kids - some have been honest about not being the best fathers while others are truly devoted to their kids. When I was trying to think of a song to talk about today, I had a really hard time coming up with anything positive... let alone Glam. In fact, I failed miserably.

There are all sorts of negative Glam songs about dads, especially Ugly Kid Joe's remake of "Cat's in the Cradle." That song is downright harsh. Do you think the negative tones are reminiscent of poor childhoods or just musicians blaming angst on their dads? Perhaps it's a masculine issue, too. There are so many positive songs about mothers...I feel there should be just as many about fathers. Someone - anyone - help me think of a positive Glam tune about dads. Please, don't suggest "Butterfly Kisses" though because 1) the song makes me twitch and 2) it ain't Glam.

In the meantime, here's my favorite musical dads - Aerosmith - performing "Love In An Elevator."

For a Change...Pretty Maids

Yesterday was truly mentally draining for about a million different reasons. Sometimes it takes some music I haven't listened to in awhile to bring me out of a funk. What was the cure? Pretty Maids.

Oh man, I'd forgotten how much I like this band! Pretty Maids formed in the early 1980s...with many lineup changes over the past 20+ years. I would say this band would make a nice replacement for Cinderella at Rocklahoma, but I know time is ticking and it's really hard to book a European band on such short notice.

I don't think Pretty Maids are necessarily 100% Glam -- they are more AOR, but still definitely in the vein of true 80s rock we all love.

I've never seen Pretty Maids live, but I know they've played with some huge names like Alice Cooper.

Let's watch Pretty Maid videos! Here's "Please Don't Leave Me."

Here's "Future World."

What do you think of Pretty Maids?

Check out more songs on the official Pretty Maids Myspace.

Traci Michaelz of Peppermint Creeps Dead

Traci Michaelz of the Peppermint Creeps has died while on tour in Texas. No other information is available at this time.

The Peppermint Creeps kept Glam going on the Sunset Strip throughout the 90s. Instead of just black eye liner and spandex, the Peppermint Creeps created an out-of-this-world persona, donning wild stage clothes to match an even bigger spectacle of a show.  

Michaelz also performed with Heart Throb Mob, Candy Apple Queenz, and the Glamvestite Vampires. Traci Michaelz was just 34 years old.

Farewell Tours?

I don't know about you, but I often find my mind wandering to odd thoughts during the day. Yesterday I was leaving work when the thought of Aerosmith doing a farewell tour crossed my mind. I swear - this is no exaggeration - I teared up a little. I truly worked myself into a tizzy over the thought of Aerosmith calling it quits. Then, I found myself wondering how many of the shows I'd attend on the farewell tour. As I (narrowly) avoided hitting a gaggle of geese in the company parking lot, I ran over the emotions I'd feel: excitement, sadness and longing.

Yeah, I'm nuts.

After I'd made it safely out of the lot (give me a break -- I work at a giant company so we have a huge parking area)  I started thinking about actual farewell tours. The ones that come to mind off the top of my head are Cher (who didn't actually retire), KISS (who didn't actually retire) and the Eagles (who didn't actually retire).

2008 brings a host of farewell tours. Some of the biggest goodbyes are for President Bush (yea!), George Michael (I'll be there!) and Paul McCartney (I'm skeptical this is his last go' round). Apparently AC/DC are planning a lavish farewell jaunt that will take them to all ends of the globe. When - and if - that happens, count me in!

I think farewell tours are more marketing gimmick than actual goodbye. Think about it: fans buy tickets for a "last chance" to see musical heroes rehash old tunes. I'm not so certain legacy acts, like Van Halen, Aerosmith or the Rolling Stones need farewell tours. They've been around for so long, true fans have likely had plenty of chances to catch them live. Since none of us knows when we're checking out, I suppose we should approach each day like our own personal farewell tour. Thoughts?

Here's Kiss performing "Beth" on their 2000 farewell tour.

Cinderella Cancels Tour

I was waiting for official word before posting and now it seems the bad news is true: Cinderella has canceled their summer tour. Singer Tom Keifer has a hemorrhaged vocal cord and therefore cannot perform. Warrant, Lynch Mob and Lynam are a part of this package.

Of course this means Cinderella is out of Rocklahoma. This is especially problematic as Cinderella signed on as the Saturday headliner.Warrant is still playing Rocklahoma and I presume the same about Lynch Mob, but I don't know about Lynam. I've got an email into Lynam's lead singer to see about getting some answers. At this point, Warrant is apparently trying to rebook shows on their own. We'll see what happens I guess.  

Update on Friday, June 13, 2008 at 08:57AM by Allyson B. Crawford

I just heard back from Jacob Bunton and Lynam will still be at Rocklahoma, so at least that's a little good news. He also says he doesn't have any more information on the tour, but promises an update after some decisions are made.

12 Days and Counting

There's only 12 days until Motley Crue's new album Saints of Los Angeles hits store shelves. I was promised an advanced copy so I could review here for you early - but now I'm getting a little nervous. I mean - it's just over a week away!?!

Next Thursday night, Motley Crue will guest on Larry King Live. I'll be live blogging that event. Well, provided my cable is fixed by then. My cable/DVR box hasn't worked in three days. When I called to complain (for the third day in a row) I was told a tech could come look at the line...next Thursday. As in, a week from now. Hopefully the cable software will work itself out and my DVR will magically work again on its own. I mean, how else am I supposed to record Metal Mania on Saturday night?

Let's Organize a Trip to Sweden Rock 2009

The videos are flying in from Sweden Rock 2008. I swear, I must go to this fest next year. I'm pretty sure if I don't go my life will be drastically incomplete. The lineup for this year's Sweden Rock was killer: Whitesnake, Def Leppard, Judas Priest, Poison, Ratt, Airbourne...and that's just a few!

Here's Poison performing "I Want Action"

Here's Poison performing "Unskinny Bop"

Here's Def Leppard performing both "Pour Some Sugar on Me" and "Photograph." *The quality sort of sucks, but the pictures are good.

Ok, so you've watched the clips. I think we should organize a Bring Back Glam! excursion to Sweden Rock 2009 - and I'm being dead serious here. Sweden is not a cheap trip, especially for those of us coming from America. When I was pricing the trip a couple months or so ago, my calculations pretty much landed at five grand for a week for two people. Granted I don't camp -- the Glam mistress doesn't camp -- and my husband is a picky traveler, so maybe you could knock off a couple hundred bucks. Still, I'm dead serious about going next year and I think a Bring Back Glam! contingent would be oh-so-fabulous. Just think, you've got an entire year to save five thousand dollars: that's a little over $400 a month, or just over a hundred a week...Ok, so it's still a lot of money, but we're talking about the trip of a lifetime here. Maybe if there's enough of us, we can get a group rate?! Here's hoping...

Anyway, if you want to go, send me an email. I'll keep the messages in a separate folder, and maybe we can make plans a little bit closer to the event.