The Hair Cutz
The Hair Cutz
From Queensryche to The Rolling Stones: A Recap from the First Half of 2024
Can a single concert change the trajectory of your musical journey? Join us as we recount the electrifying experience of the Vandenberg and Geoff Tate tour in Florida, which inspired an in-depth look at Geoff Tate, his former band Queensryche, and their transformation from a cover band to progressive metal pioneers. We also introduce an exciting new feature that lets listeners send text messages straight from the episode, making it easier than ever to connect and share your rock ‘n’ roll thoughts. Plus, we’ll celebrate the iconic Faster Pussycat and their unforgettable performance during Tom Kiefer's Sonic Slam Tour.
We then turn our spotlight on Queensryche’s meteoric rise and the internal conflicts that led to Geoff Tate’s departure and solo career. You’ll hear about their groundbreaking albums "Operation: Mindcrime" and "Empire," and get a firsthand account of a recent Geoff Tate concert that left us in awe of his talent. Wrapping up the show, we dive into the spectacular Rolling Stones concert in Orlando, part of their Hackney Diamonds tour, which featured a thrilling mix of their classic hits and fresh new material. Don't miss out on this epic rock journey that promises to leave you craving more.
Hello and welcome to the Haircuts. Strap in and get ready as we take you on a hard, rockin' trip through the decades. Through the decades More shredding guitar, booming bass and pounding drums.
Speaker 2:Fuel that drives us hard rockers.
Speaker 1:Streaming around the world and beyond. The haircuts is your show for all eras of hard and heavy rock, and bringing it all to you, your host smacks greetings my fellow rockers.
Speaker 2:I am smacks your and you have found your way to another episode of the Haircuts. Hey, glad to be back with you, friends. It's the halfway point of 2024, so I thought this would be an excellent time to drop in and take you all on another hard rockin' trip through the decades hard rockin' trip through the decades. I hope everyone has been having an awesome year out there, seeing some good rock shows and, of course, always flying that flag of the hard-hittin' heavy metal rock and roll. In fact, one of the shows I caught this year inspired this episode. I got to see the Vandenberg and Jeff Tate tour while they were here in Florida and, damn, all I can say is I was just blown the hell away. So our Artist in the Chair episode is going to feature the awesome vocals of Jeff Tate and his former band Queensryche.
Speaker 2:But before we get to that, I want to tell you all about a new feature we have for the podcast. You can now send us a text right from the episode and platform you're listening on. How cool is this? I mean, I love the emails I get from you all and please keep them coming. The email address again is the haircuts at gmailcom, and of course that's haircuts with a Z, but a text so much quicker, so much easier. In fact, you can hit me up right while you're listening to the show. You're going to find a send us a text message right there in the episode notes. So come on.
Speaker 2:Dublin Ireland, frankfurt, germany, madison, alabama, all my hard-rocking friends out there. I want to hear from you. Hit me up with your comments, questions, suggestions. In fact, go ahead, check the show notes right now and blast us a text. I'm looking forward to getting those messages and reading them right here on an upcoming episode. All right, let's pay tribute to the spandex and the aquanet of the sunset strip. This is cat house by faster pussycat guitar solo. See you next time.
Speaker 3:I took a ticket down to the wall to stay. Just got back from the best car house in town and I had the best music on the least I ever found. And I went back to the best car house in town To get some more of that little travel right by now. Let's go to our house, where business is the pleasure. But baby, baby, baby, don't get mad so low. This is my barrel treasure Been a long time, but I'm on my way. Just got back from the best cowhows in town and at the best we're going to lead some higher ground. And I'm going back to the best cowhows in town To get to my one and two year moving right back.
Speaker 2:See you next time, we'll be right back. Hey, how about them? Pussycat guys, sleazy with a punk edge, the epitome of that era of the Sunset Strip. We caught these boys a few years back on Tom Kiefer's Sonic Slam Tour and I have to say, these cats, no pun intended, they absolutely brought it. Tamey Downs was a bit more reserved than he was back in the 80s, but aren't we all? I mean, come on. His vocals, though, were really on point, tight, good energy. Go see him if you get a chance. All right, let's head over to the chair. We're going to dive into one of the most fascinating bands from the seattle scene. Now, just because these guys hail from the pacific northwest, they are in no way grunge. In fact, they're considered one of the leaders of the progressive metal scene of the mid to late 80s and they're often referred to as one of the big three, along with Dream Theater and Fate's Warning.
Speaker 2:Queensryche formed back in 1982 in Bellevue, washington, and they came to be from a local band, the Mob. Queensryche has released 16 studio albums, one EP, and continues to tour and record to this day. The original lineup consisted of guitarist Michael Wilton, chris DiGarmo, drummer Scott Rockenfield, bassist Eddie Jackson and, of course, lead vocalist Jeff Tate. The original name of the band, mob, was a nod to Black Sabbath's album Mob Rules. They started out as a cover band playing hard rock and songs from Judas Priest and Iron Maiden. They found themselves in need of a singer for a local gig, so they ended up recruiting Jeff Tate from the local band Babylon to perform with them as a one-offer. Of course, mob was blown away by Tate's performance and tried to get him to join as a permanent member. It wasn't until Babylon broke up by Tate's performance and tried to get him to join as a permanent member. It wasn't until Babylon broke up before Tate came on board. However, even then it wasn't long-lived. Jeff bailed after a few shows because he had no interest in performing heavy metal covers.
Speaker 2:In 1981, mob put together the funds to record a demo Because Tate had the voice that fit their sound. They went back to him to enlist him to do the vocals. He agreed and they knocked out a four-song demo that included the song Queen of the Reich. Jeff contributed to the lyrics and assisted with arrangements for the demo, but was not committed to the group because he was fronting another band by the name of Myth Mob shopped that demo for over a year before they finally got a management deal with Easy Street Records.
Speaker 2:The new management team informed the band that the name the Mob was just not available, so the band was urged to choose a different name. They reportedly ran out of ideas and decided to name the band after the first song on their demo, queen of the Reich. The spelling of Reich was modified to prevent association of the band with Nazism, so they decided on Reich R-Y-C-H-E, which also can mean realm, kingdom or empire, and of course they added the umlaut and I hope I'm saying that right, my German friends. You know the two dots over the Y which really gave it that kick-ass rocking edge. So the demo they made made its way to a guy who wrote for a magazine by the name of karang and it resulted in a killer review. That article created such a buzz here in the states and abroad it caused them to go ahead and take the demo and release it as a self-titled ep on their own independent label, 206 Records, and that happened back in 1983.
Speaker 2:After the EP garnered some international praise, receiving a lot of airplay and actually selling an unusual number of copies for such a small independent release, tate finally agreed to leave Myth and become Queensryche's permanent singer. In 1983, the band was the opening act for Zebra for the Portland and Seattle shows. Those performances caught the eye of Mavis Brody of EMI America. He immediately signed the band to a multi-year contract, re-released the EP Queensryche and put them on the road with Quiet, riot, twisted, sister and Dio.
Speaker 2:This first cut I have queued up is one of the band's first songs. This is Queen of the Reich, electric guitar solo. Thank you, it's enough. The queen of the light. The queen of the light, yeah, it's coming for you. You're fading away. You're not a test, a slave, a gift of unhealed charity, thank you. Guitar solo. Thank you, it's the ending of your Christmas night. Your silence is the way. It's enough for you to know You're fading away. You'll never know. You're fading away Now. We're in the dark. You're slipping away, we're in the dark. Welcome back, friends. That was our featured artist Queensryche and their song Queen of the Right.
Speaker 2:As the band continued to build its following, it traveled to London to record its first full-length record, the Warning. Though none of the singles charted here in the States, it did, however, do very well overseas, and in particular in Japan. Man, I love our Japanese fellow rockers. They've supported so many of our US bands, even our show, as a great following from there. So to all my friends in Japan, arigato, appreciate you tuning in.
Speaker 2:It wasn't until 1988, with the release of Operation Mindcrime that the band really hit with commercial success. That was a concept album and it solidified the band's progressive metal style. The single Eyes of a Stranger became the band's progressive metal style. The single Eyes of a Stranger became the band's first hit here in the United States. The band followed that up in 1990 with the album that really put them on the map Empire. The album sold three million copies here in the States alone and peaked at number seven in the Billboard charts. The album produced a number of hits, including the title track Empire. Also came with that Jet City Woman and the power ballad Silent Lucidity. That album set the band off on a world tour for close to two years. It was called the Building Empires Tour and here's one from that album. This is Empire, empire, we'll be right back Turbo.
Speaker 3:Bad people say watch what we do yesterday. I'll tell you right now. They got nothing to lose. They're building empire. Shawty is ready to go to school. I'm the set of the show. Got all the fun. Husband, he wants an education. Yeah, he's got a number to know. Now it's all the streets of day Selling crack to the people who play. I'm an 8.7.
Speaker 3:What was this friend? Business in the American way. He's fine, he's my son. Don't talk no time. American way. What do we recall? Batman tears his skin, holds his Jesus hand. Brother killed. Brother For the pocket of another Game boy and another. The hands decline. It's not the time. What happened to the dreams you found? Game on no other hands. Decline, stop, stop. What have you dreamed about? Tear it all down. We'll put it up again. Another empire, he's fine, he's my son. Come down, no time. I'm a person of love. I don't know. And there's someone here who can see. In fiscal year 1986-87, the local, state and federal governments spent a combined total of $16.6 billion on law enforcement. Federal law enforcement expenditures ranked last in absolute dollars and accounted for only 6% of all federal spending.
Speaker 2:By way of comparison, the federal government spent $24 million more on space exploration 43 times more on national defense and international relations, and the spirit of the original is not far from us. We'll be right back. Thank you, hi. This is the lovely Lisa and you're listening to Smacks on the Haircuts. Hola, fellow rockers, and thank you for making your way back. So let's fast forward the band's career. They continue to tour and release albums. Fast forward the band's career. They continue to tour and release albums.
Speaker 2:However, in 2012, after the band secretly fired the management, which happened to be Jeff Tate's wife, the shit really hit the fan before a show in Brazil and I have to say, after learning this story, I really can't blame Jeff. I mean, how would you feel if your band had a secret meeting, fired your wife, which included his stepdaughter, and just assumed everything would continue on as normal? I mean, I would have kicked somebody's ass and thrown some equipment around too. Not long after that, tate and his wife sued Queenswright in court for wrongful termination. And the rest, my friends, is history. They performed separately, the band retained the name from the court order and Tate performs under his own name.
Speaker 2:I'm a huge Jeff Tate fan. Just seen his last tour with Adrian Vandenberg opening the show, and what a pleasant surprise. Vandenberg's set was. Adrian played in Whitesnake for years he co-wrote a number of the songs with Coverdale and his set included a slew of those Whitesnake hits. The night, however, belonged to Mr Tate. His show was absolutely incredible. He did all the Queensryche hits as well as some of his own material, and his band is made up of a number of young European musicians that are just masters at their craft. At one point in the show he had four guitar players on stage Just freaking, mind-blowing. Jeff even broke out the sax for a song or two, which I had no idea that he even played that instrument. And on top of it all, his dialogue with the audience was mesmerizing. It reminded me of listening to a professor lecture on the topic of rock and roll. The guy's highly intelligent and just an extraordinary performer. If this tour comes anywhere close to you, go see it. I promise you you will not regret it. It will be money well spent. Okay, in closing I want to give a recap of the unbelievable performance that I caught last week.
Speaker 2:The Rolling Stones made one stop in Florida for their Hackney Diamonds tour and that stop was right here in Orlando, florida. The lovely Lisa and I, we were there, and the set list was a dream lineup for any Rolling Stones fan. They started the show with Start Me Up, which was a surefire way to get the crowd energized. Right from the beginning the band played all the hits Jumpin' Jack Flash, give Me Shelter, paint it Black, all Stones anthems and they closed the night with satisfaction. They did play a few songs from the new Hackney Diamonds album and I think that's the best album they've done since Tattoo you.
Speaker 2:I thought introducing that new material alongside the classics really added a fresh dynamic to the show. However, the real treat were the deeper cuts. They played Like a Rainbow and Dead Flowers, both of which happen to be favorites of the lovely lisa. I've seen them twice before but I have to say this performance was top notch. We have a complete review of the show in a new section called the haircuts news and reviews and you can find that on our link tree site at the haircutscom and of course that's haircuts with a z. Just go down to the tab that says news and reviews and you can check it out there. In honor of this historic night, I've queued up a track from the original bad boys of rock and roll. This is Bitch.
Speaker 3:I'm feeling so stuck, I'm so distracted Ain't got a thing on me. I'm feeling drunk, too stubborn, it's like I ain't got a thing on me. I'm feeling hungry. Can't see the reason, just don't know how to say goodbye. Yeah, when you call my name, I'm a man of my mind. Yeah, when you lay me down, my heart beats louder than a big band's drum. Yeah, you got the bitch, you got the bitch, but the love is the bitch, all right. So I was sexy, moved like a stud, like a kick in the stall All night. So I was so shy, got a tempting word Don't have no thoughts. All right, all right, all right, yeah. Yeah, when you call my name Saturday, love is past the door. Yeah, when you leave me, my heart is about to love and I think that's all right. Guitar solo. ¶¶.
Speaker 2:Well, that is a wrap, my friends. We've completed another hard-rockin' trip through the decades, right here on the Haircuts. Be sure to follow us on Instagram, the haircuts and of course, that's haircuts with a z and don't forget to reach out. You can email us at the haircuts, at gmailcom, or you can send us a text right on the platform you're listening to. Just look for the send us a text link in the show notes. As always, I'd like to thank you for spending time with me here. This is Smack signing off, encouraging you all to keep the volume up. See ya.
Speaker 1:Thank you for tuning in to the Haircuts. Please remember to download, subscribe and like on the platform of your choice and remember sharing is caring, so tell your family and friends about the Haircuts Podcast.