rasilerhttps://thesumofalan.wordpress.comR. Alan Siler is managing editor of kOZMIC Press and author of the books 'Doctor Who's Greatest Hits: A Guide to the Best Episodes from Time and Space', 'Facing the Raven: Doctor Who Series Nine in Review', and 'Star Trek's Greatest Hits: A Guide to the Best Episodes from the Final Frontier' and author/editor of 'Children of Time: The Companions of Doctor Who'. His essays have appeared in 'More Doctor Who and Philosophy' and 'Outside In Makes it So'. He's the co-founder of WHOlanta, an Atlanta-based Doctor Who convention.
Just Imagine (1930)
Written (story, dialogue and songs) by DeSylva, Brown & Henderson
Directed by David Butler
Starring John Garrick, Frank Albertson, Maureen O’Sullivan, Marjorie White
Fox Film Corporation
1:48:22
In undertaking this blog project, I expected to hit all the “biggies,” all the accepted (and expected) classics. But I also wanted to discover some of the rarer gems, some of the peculiarities, in the history of sci-fi. And boy, did I find one: a science fiction romantic comedy musical. In fact, its a movie I’d never heard of until putting together this list of films to review.
Made in 1930, this film begins with a request: Just look at how much progress 50 years can bring. Why, in 1880 we had nothing but horse-drawn carriages and good manners. Today, it’s all hustle and bustle. “Just Imagine” what another 50 years will bring: What will life be like in the far-flung future of 1980…? Continue reading →
Metropolis (1927)
Written by Thea von Harbou
Directed by Fritz Lang
Starring Gustav Fröhlich, Brigitte Helm, Alfred Abel
UFA
2:27:13
The Mediator Between the Head and the Hands Must Be the Heart!
The granddaddy of all science fiction films. It may not be the first, but there’s probably no more influential film on the genre than this. It’s a massive tale about class struggle and revolt, about machine vs humanity, about love, and about two and a half hours long. It’s a modern retelling of the parable of the Tower of Babylon and features some of the most recognizable imagery in all of sci-fi history: the workers at the machines, the robot, the robot’s transformation into the image of Maria, etc. It’s a mammoth undertaking to watch, and with patience, is an extremely rewarding work of art.
The Lost World (1925)
Written by Marion Fairfax (based on The Lost World by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Directed by Harry Holt
Starring Lewis Stone, Edward Malone, Bessie Love
First National Pictures
1:32:08
The only silent SF films I’ve ever seen are Le Voyage Dans la Lune and Metropolis. My plan for this series was to review those two and then jump into the 1950s. But Le Voyage inspired me to add a few more early films to my list. The next in line is The Lost World, which notably begins with an on-screen appearance by the great author himself, Sir Conan Doyle, who says:
“I have wrought my simple plan,
If I give one hour of joy
To the boy who’s half a man
or the man who’s half a boy.”
Le Voyage Dans La Lune (1902)
Directed by Georges Méliès
Starring Georges Méliès, Bleuette Bernon
Star Film Company
0:15:36
As I begin my journey through the history of science fiction films, I wanted to start as close to the beginning as possible. There are other films earlier than this that nominally qualify as science fiction (some sources consider La Charcuterie mécanique from 1895 to be the first sci-fi film, but I really think that’s stretching it), but this is the first of major importance, the first to depict purely science fictional themes, and the first to reach beyond the confines of our planet. In fact, it’s one of the most influential films ever made from a technical standpoint.
30 years ago today I was glued to the TV and Radio. Since I couldn’t be in either Philadelphia or London, watching Live Aid as it happened on television was as close as I could get. I have incredibly vivid memories of that day, some of them reinforced (30 years is a long time!) by the release of a DVD set in 2004. I watched (or listened to, as I was forced to run a 2-hour errand for a friend) the entire thing, start to finish. It was in incredible day that produced some amazing music. Here’s my Top 10 performances:
10. THE HOOTERS
At the time, the Hooters were just emerging on the scene. As they were from Philly, so they were a natural fit to kick off the Philly show (even though the announcer in this clip says they’re in London). They played two songs, but only one of them can be found on YouTube currently. Neither song was included on the official DVD.
Full Set:
“And We Danced”
“All You Zombies”
9. TOM PETTY AND THE HEARTBREAKERS
An American staple. Good, straight-forward American rock. Nothing fancy, but always solid. Don’t have a video of the full set, so I’m including his opener, “American Girl,” only because the cheeky monkey flips a bird at the camera in the first chorus.
Full Set:
“American Girl”
“The Waiting”
“Rebels”
“Refugee”
8. PATTI LABELLE
At the time, I remember wondering why the hell Patti Labelle was placed in the running order where she was, with all the big “headline” acts. But she gives a powerful performance on both original songs and a couple of covers. Ms. Patti is one of the greatest singers on the planet. Plus, if nothing else, her amazing hair would earn her a spot on my list. Here she is singing the absolute living shit out of Dylan’s “Forever Young.” At the end, she walks around the stage with no mic and you can still hear her. That’s power.
Full Set:
“New Attitude”
“Imagine”
“Forever Young”
“Stir it Up”
“Over the Rainbow”
“Why Can’t I Get It Over”
7. THE WHO
The street punks are now the responsible adults. But they still know how to rock like crazy. The second half of the London show was living legend followed by living legend. It must have been an amazing thing to experience. Here’s “Won’t Get Fooled Again”, the seminal classic, complete with a fuck up by Roger Daltrey. But other than, its a fantastic performance. And for the record, if I looked like Roger Daltrey, I would never wear clothes.
Full Set:
“My Generation” / “Pinball Wizard”
Love Reign O’er Me”
“Won’t Get Fooled Again”
6. LED ZEPPELIN
The Zeppelin dudes didn’t want their performance to be included on the official DVD release because they felt it was “subpar.” And it is. But subpar Zeppelin is still pretty damn good. And an opportunity like this doesn’t happen very often. It should be celebrated when it does happen.
Full Set:
“Rock and Roll”
“Whole Lotta Love”
“Stairway to Heaven”
5. JUDAS PRIEST
A powerhouse band that gave a powerhouse performance. Here’s their complete set culled from different sources (based on the difference in sound quality). Priest gave the American stage a sorely needed shot of heavy metal. This clip is the complete set and starts with an interview with Halford.
Full Set:
“Living After Midnight”
“Green Manalishi”
“You’ve Got Another Thing Comin'”
4. ERIC CLAPTON
I have to admit that I’m not a Clapton fan. I know a lot of his music, of course, and like some songs more than others, but I can pretty much take or leave him. However, he blew me away at Live Aid. Amazing performance. Three really well selected songs, each performed by a master of his craft and a great band.
Full Set:
“White Room”
“She’s Waiting”
“Layla”
3. ELTON JOHN
Elton’s show was amazing. The first song, “I’m Still Standing,” was marred by mic feedback, but after that, it was close to perfect. Because of delays in the running order, Wham! gave up their performance slot so that Elton could do his full show. But Elton invited the Wham! guys to sit in with him on “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down.” There doesn’t seem to be a complete performance on YouTube, so I picked “Rocket Man” because its my favorite version of that song ever.
Full Set:
“I’m Still Standing”
“Bennie and the Jets”
“Rocket Man”
“Don’t Go Breakin’ My Heart” (with Kiki Dee)
“Don’t Let the Sun Go Down” (with Wham!)
“Can I Get a Witness”
2. DAVID BOWIE
“We can be heroes, just for one day.” That song and that performance sum up the entire Live Aid day. Bowie is in perfect voice in this show with a great (and very quickly assembled) backing band, playing the perfect setlist. The end of “Heroes”, with the crowd clapping along, gives me chills every time. This is, by far, my favorite performance of “Heroes.”
Full Set:
“TVC15”
“Rebel Rebel”
“Modern Love”
“Heroes”
1. QUEEN
Really, there’s nothing else that can claim the top spot. Queen was absolutely on fire. The crowd’s reaction before they even sang a note showed that *this* was the act that everyone was waiting for, and the band didn’t disappoint. Brian May said that when the audience did the clap-along in “Radio Ga Ga” it took the band completely by surprise, as it had never happened before. And then the ovation at the end was like a volcanic eruption. It’s absolutely amazing to watch.
Full Set:
“Bohemian Rhapsody” / “Radio Ga Ga”
“Hammer to Fall”
“Crazy Little Thing Called Love”
“We Will Rock You” / “We Are the Champions”
DIO: HOLY DIVER Year of Release: 1983
Year it Came Into My Life: 1983
“Stand Up and Shout”
“Holy Diver”
“Gypsy”
“Caught in the Middle”
“Don’t Talk to Strangers”
“Straight Through the Heart”
“Invisible”
“Rainbow in the Dark”
“Shame On the Night”
I remember buying this album very well. I was browsing in my favorite record store in FL, Spec’s Music, and just happened upon it. I didn’t know that Ronnie James Dio had released a post-Black Sabbath album, so this was quite a surprise. By this point I had followed his years in Black Sabbath but had also fully explored his other band, Rainbow. I was very curious to see what Ronnie would do outside of these two powerhouse bands.
I loved this album immediately. Well, most of it, anyway. I’ll be honest, the one song that I didn’t like at all was “Rainbow in the Dark”. It just seemed too poppy, too keyboard-driven, to fit with either the rest of the album or with what I was expecting from Ronnie. Its still my least favorite song on this album, so it surprises me sometimes that people who like even heavier music than I do love it so much.
Aside from that, though, there are some killer tracks here. I remember being particularly blown away by “Stand Up and Shout”. In fact, I later picked up an import 12″ single of “Rainbow” and it had a live version of “Stand Up” on the flip side, recorded at Castle Donnington. Wow, what a powerful performance it was! Much better than the superb studio version. I’d seen Black Sabbath on the Mob Rules tour, so I knew that Ronnie was a great performer (sadly that was the only time I saw Ronnie live, but its a show that I remember extremely well).
I was very excited about Dio, partly because Ozzy Osbourne‘s post-Sabbath career had been so successful, and I was hoping the same would happen for Ronnie. And for a while, it did. The first four Dio albums all performed pretty well and had good MTV and radio coverage. It was fun to watch the more or less parallel path that the two singers’ solo careers took. There was a bit of a rivalry between them, which is a shame, because a co-headlining Ozzy/Dio tour would have been amazing. It could never happen, though, as was proved when Sammy Hagar and David Lee Roth attempting such a tour in 2002. It was a big success, but read Sammy’s bio to see some of the drama that went on backstage.
Even though overall not as successful as Ozzy, Ronnie’s solo career was a metal feast, turning out amazing albums like The Last in Line, Sacred Heart, Strange Highwaysand Killing the Dragon which are among the best works of his entire career, solo or otherwise. He rejoined Sabbath in 1992 for one great album, Dehumanizer, and then rejoined them under the name Heaven and Hell in 2007 for a tour followed by a new album.
Ronnie’s death in 2010 was devastating to me personally as it was for everyone in the metal community. Luckily, his wife and manager Wendy has kept his music alive with some really terrific releases, like a two-CD release of his two Castle Donnington performances.
DAVID BOWIE: “HEROES”/ LET’S DANCE Year of Release: 1977 / 1983
Year it Came Into My Life: 1983
“Beauty and the Beast”
“Joe the Lion”
“‘Heroes'”
“Sons of the Silent Age”
“Blackout” “V-2 Schneider”
“Sense of Doubt”
“Moss Garden”
“Neukoln”
“The Secret Life of Arabia”
By the time Let’s Dance came out, I was more than ready to surrender to the Thin White Duke. I had a friend who was a big Bowie nut who played “Heroes” a lot, as well as BOWIECHANGESONE. Plus, there were the songs that were perennially on the radio. I was starting to become familiar with, and even fascinated by, some of Bowie’s weirder songs, like “Beauty and the Beast”. I think I was really starting to be a Bowie fan around ’82, so Let’s Dance was kind of like someone struggling to open a ketchup bottle and then handing it to someone else, who pops it off easily, saying, “oh, you loosened it up for me.” Same here. After coming to terms with some of Bowie’s more challenging catalog, there was no way that the breezy, accessible pop of Let’s Dance could fail to seal the deal.
Actually, it wasn’t necessarily the album that sucked me in for good – it was the concert video of the Seriously Moonlight Tour which did it. Shown on HBO, I watched it over and over and over, memorizing every song, getting introduced to a lot more of his back catalog, hearing songs like “Breaking Glass”, “Sorrow” and “Cracked Actor” for the first time, and recognizing songs like “Golden Years” and remembering hearing it on the radio back in ’75/’76. This concert was for the most part a career-spanning introduction to the magic of Bowie, and I ate it up.
Once I had consumed that concert video, I began a rampage of Bowie purchases, snapping up all the old albums I could. I will admit that some of them were hard to swallow, as the production is kind of iffy, especially things like Scary Monsters. There were many instances where I would take to only a couple of tracks per album and not connect at all with the rest of it. For the most part I eventually grew to love every album. There’s still one, though, that I only like two songs on and don’t ever listen to the rest of it.
I just re-watched this concert last week with my buddy Josh, and found that I still love it, and that there are some songs that I like this version of more than any other, like “Young Americans”, “Scary Monsters”, “Cat People”, “Fashion” and the opening song, “Look Back in Anger”. I remember about five years ago going to a Bowie tribute night at a local bar, where a bunch of local bands (and a couple not-local) each played two or three songs. Most of them played hits, but a few strayed into some lesser-known material. The first band that played kicked off the show with “Look Back in Anger”, which thrilled me to no end, and I sang and danced along. Afterward, the singer came up to me and thanked me, saying that he was the only one in the band that wanted to do that song, the other guys thought no one would know it and their opening song would tank.
My love of Bowie led me to discover a lot of other great artists, most notably Kate Bush, who will get her own mention a couple of entries from now. I’ve stayed a loyal Bowie fan over the decades, loving his 80s, 90s and 00s work just as much as his earlier stuff. Reality was a superb album, and I thought that was the last we’d ever hear from him until 10 years later, he dropped a whole new album, The Next Day, out of the blue, and it has some stellar material on it, like the title track, “Dirty Boys”, “Love is Lost”, “Valentine’s Day”, “I’d Rather Be High” and “Set the World on Fire”. I look forward to hearing and seeing whatever else Bowie has in store for his fans.
KISS: CREATURES OF THE NIGHT Year of Release: 1982
Year it Came Into My Life: 1982
“Creatures of the Night”
“Saint and Sinner”
“Keep Me Comin'”
“Rock and Roll Hell”
“Danger”
“I Love it Loud”
“I Still Love You”
“Killer”
“War Machine”
If you don’t already know how I feel about this album, then you don’t know me. This album changed everything for me. But first, a little backstory:
I’d been a KISS fan, as you know if you’ve followed this blog, since 1977 when I was given the Love Gun album for my birthday. I taught myself to play drums by listening to songs like “Chistine Sixteen” and “I Stole Your Love”. My love for KISS continued on, but I’ll be honest, like for most people it waned during their pop years. Dynasty and Unmasked were fine albums, but they lacked the punch of earlier KISS albums. KISS had strayed too far from its path and had left many of its US fans behind. Their popularity had died off drastically, especially in the US. So when it came time to release a new album, what did they do? They released the weirdest album in their history, a concept album based on a proposed feature film that never happened. Plus, they changed their look a lot, with simpler costumes, short hair and no platforms. They could not have made a worse step in their career at that point. (Music From) The Elder was a nail in the KISS coffin. Any last few hangers-on quickly jumped ship, or worse, just stopped caring. I was still there with them, though.
In fact, throughout all this, KISS had gone through its first member change. Peter Criss had left and the band had hired new kid Eric Carr. One day in June in 1980 my mother came home from the grocery store and had picked up a copy of People Magazine just because it had KISS on it. I took one look at the cover and freaked out! There was Gene, Paul, Ace … and who the hell was this fourth guy? I tore into the magazine to find out all about this new guy, where he’d come from, and what he was doing in the band. After I read the magazine about 20 times, I wrote my first ever fan letter to this new guy. 2.5 months later, I got a hand-written letter back from Eric, all the way from Frankfurt Germany. I read that letter about a million times. And from that point on, I became a little bit obsessed with Eric Carr.
The Elder was Eric’s US debut on a KISS album. Yes, the album was very weird. No, it didn’t sound like a KISS album at all. But I loved it! I really enjoyed Eric’s playing and I was thrilled that he’d gotten a couple of songwriting credits. The band appeared on the SNL knockoff Fridaysin their new costumes, playing songs from The Elder, and it was great to see the new lineup for the first time.
But I was very aware that KISS had lost it. Not just the fans, or their direction, but “it”. That thing that defined KISS. The thing that made them special, different from every other band. I really doubted that they’d ever get it back.
But then Creatures came out. First impression: The cover was definitely a step in the right direction. It was dark, it was eerie, it was distinctive and it was powerful. This gave me a lot of hope! I remember very clearly getting home, taking the LP out of the sleeve, putting it on the turntable, putting the needle down, and waiting. Waiting for the needle to catch that groove and slide in to that first note. What would it be? How would KISS announce its return? What would they do to impress me? I turned up the volume and waited.
And then … BOOM! … this MASSIVE, thunderous, powerful drum intro pounded around me and this wall of big, loud, fat guitar sound completely filled the room. WHOA! It was like being grabbed by the throat and having someone scream in my face KISS IS BACK. And they were. My KISS had returned. The whole album was just amazing. To this day it is still my favorite KISS album, with 1992’s Revenge being a very close second. To this day, no other KISS song gets my blood pumping like “Creatures of the Night”. To this day, when I think of Eric Carr, the first thing that comes to mind is “Creatures of the Night” and that force-of-nature drum intro.
After that, my love of KISS never wavered again. I studied everything Eric Carr did. I had taught myself to play drums listening to Peter Criss; I had learned to think differently about playing drums listening to Neil Peart. But listening to Eric Carr affected and influenced my playing more than anything else.
I’ve got so many Eric Carr stories that I should probably save them for a separate post. Maybe I should do a series of the musicians that inspire me and why. Because with Eric, it wasn’t just the playing, it was personal.
I’ve got SO much I could write about, but I know this shouldn’t be too long. I loved Eric. He was an inspiration. He passed away on November 24, 1991. I remember that day vividly. It was the same day that Freddie Mercury died. Both of those news devastated me. KISS was never the same for me after Eric died. I always still loved them, and they continued to create great music, but that lineup of Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Bruce Kulick and Eric Carr is, in my opinion, the strongest KISS ever had.
YES: Classic Yes Year of Release: 1981
Year it Came Into My Life: 1981
“Heart of the Sunrise”
“Wonderous Stories”
“Yours is No Disgrace”
“Starship Trooper”
“Long Distance Runaround”
“The Fish”
“And You and I”
“Roundabout” (live)
“I’ve Seen All Good People” (live)
Finally moving on from 1980! That was the year that nearly every one of my “cornerstone” albums came out. And no, that’s not an intentional Styx pun (that album came out in ’79, anyway). Having been a Rush fan for a few years at this time, my pump had been primed for full-blown prog-rock. I had of course heard Yes before. I remember hearing “Roundabout” on the radio when I was fairly young. And once I started listening to rock radio in high school, I started hearing things like “Long Distance Runaround” and “I’ve Seen All Good People”. But the previous year – yes, 1980 again – Yes released the album Drama. I was completely unaware of this at the time, or about any of the big-deal line up changes. All I knew was that our local rock station started playing “Tempus Fugit” a LOT, and I really fell in love with it. It became my favorite song on the radio. I’d wait for them to play it. I remember a couple of occasions blasting it while I was driving. I guess a couple of my friends were aware of my love of this song, because I was given the cassette of Classic Yes for Christmas.
To be honest, I didn’t take to it at first. Let’s be frank, none of it sounded like “Tempus Fugit”! But the more I listened, the more my appreciation grew. “Wonderous Stories” was the first one that grabbed me, followed by “And You and I“. I slowly took in more of the other songs as well, and started to really like what I heard.
By the time 90125 came out in ’83, I was ready to become a serious full-time fan. I bought that album when it came out and really liked it, partly because it sounded much more like “Tempus Fugit” than any of the other Yes songs I knew. I saw them on that tour very soon after. They played two nights at the Lakeland Civic Center, the 3rd and 4th nights of the tour, I believe, and I went both nights. And that sealed the deal for me.It also introduced me to other songs that I hadn’t heard before. After this, I started buying up every Yes album there was, and I went on this journey deeper and deeper into the world of prog-rock. The last two I bought were Tales From Topographic Oceansand Relayer. Both of those albums eluded me for a long time, they were just a little more than I could digest at the time. But my appreciation grew, I began to listen to rock music the same way one would listen to a symphony – for the themes, the development, the progression of ideas throughout the course of a piece or in some cases throughout the course of an album. It took a while, but I finally climb the twin mountains that are Topographic and Relayer, and now they’re my two favorite Yes albums. “Gates of Delirium” is, to me, the culmination of prog rock. Its the progiest prog there is.
I continue to follow Yes and have loved everything they’ve created, especially later albums like The Ladder and Magnification. Just saw them a month ago at Atlanta Symphony Hall and they were fantastic. And Yes greatly expanded my musical horizons as I continued to explore deeper prog groups, like King Crimson, as well as the Peter Gabriel-era Genesis, and younger bands like Spock’s Beard and IQ. Seriously, two of the most perfect prog albums I’ve ever heard are V by Spock’s Beard (2000) and Dark Matter by IQ (2004).
BLACK SABBATH: Heaven and Hell Year of Release: 1980
Year it Came Into My Life: 1980
“Neon Knights”
“Children of the Sea”
“Lady Evil”
“Heaven and Hell”
“Wishing Well”
“Die Young”
“Walk Away”
“Lonely is the Word”
I had a best friend from the middle of 1st grade all to way to the end of 12th grade. His name was David. We hung out pretty much all the time, and spent the night at each other’s house a lot when we were younger. He’s one of those people who will always be a part of me.
I remember staying over at his place one time, and his older brother had a bedroom in the basement. That in itself fascinated me, as my house did not have a basement (its a pretty rare thing for homes in Central FL to have basements). I was always intrigued by the music the brother listened to, and there were things that David liked that he picked up from his brother that I would never have been exposed to otherwise, like Jean-Luc Ponty.
I remember being down in the basement with David this one time, and I was browsing through his brother’s LPs. I came across Heaven and Hell and was pretty transfixed by it. The front cover was interesting, but far more it was the back cover – which featured a pencil sketch of the band members – that really grabbed my attention. I’m not even sure why. But something about it just seemed … important. Now, I knew who Black Sabbath was but I didn’t know much about them. I just knew that this image wasn’t what I expected from them.
That feeling only increased when I heard the album. I immediately loved it, but it wasn’t what I expected from Black Sabbath. I’d heard “Paranoid” before, and one or two other songs, but I was not prepared for this. This was so different from what I thought a BS album would be like (in fact, I remember wondering at the time what other “real” Sabbath fans thought of it). The only name I knew from Sabbath was Ozzy Osbourne, but that guy was nowhere to be found. Instead, there was this new guy with the incredible voice.
Actually, my introduction to Ronnie James Dio came from that same year, from two songs he recorded on Kerry Livgren‘s first solo album, Seeds of Change – “To Live for the King” and the powerhouse “Mask of the Great Deceiver”. I was a huge Kansas fan at the time and so was really excited about Kerry’s first solo record. Ronnie’s vocals on these songs blew me away, and I wanted to know more about him. I found Heaven and Hellsoon after that and my journey down the long dark road of Sabbath began. But I also delved into the history of Ronnie’s previous band, Rainbow, which I also fell in love with.
Soon after Heaven and Hell, I bought the “best of” package We Sold Our Soul For Rock ‘n’ Roll. My growing love for Black Sabbath led to my love of proper heavy metal and hard rock, and through them I quickly found my way to great bands like Judas Priest,Iron Maiden, Metallica, Megadeth, Ozzy‘s solo stuff, plus all the “hair” metal bands of the later 80s.
I stayed a Dio fan all the way up to his death, and he’ll make another appearance in a future blog. Heaven and Hell remains one of my favorite hard rock albums ever. It’s an amazing work that is solid from start to finish. Great production, great performances, great songs and amazing vocals and lyrics.
Just Imagine (1930)
Metropolis (1927)
The Lost World (1925)
30 years ago today I was glued to the TV and Radio. Since I couldn’t be in either Philadelphia or London, watching Live Aid as it happened on television was as close as I could get. I have incredibly vivid memories of that day, some of them reinforced (30 years is a long time!) by the release of a DVD set in 2004. I watched (or listened to, as I was forced to run a 2-hour errand for a friend) the entire thing, start to finish. It was in incredible day that produced some amazing music. Here’s my Top 10 performances:
Ramblings of a Grown Up Kid 