Song Saturday: London After Midnight's Sacrifice

How's it going lurkers? It appears that a nice portion of you took quite a liking to last weekend's Song Saturday and Cartoon Sunday blogs, which I am glad. Therefore, I am sharing London After Midnight once again for Song Saturday. It has been a long time, since I last shared anything by LAM.

A previous Song Saturday blog from 2014, which featured the so-called "project" was updated yesterday. 

It would be much better to refer to London After Midnight as a "band," but whatever. That's something to take up with the vocalist, Sean Brennan. 

It also would've been much better, if LAM gained more exposure via traditional radio stations, during the 1990's. 

During the '90s, Goth music, films, and shows were at their pinnacle in regards to entertainment exposure. At least it seemed that way, during my youth.

During the '90s, Live Action TV shows, cartoons, music, and movies really began to acknowledge Goths and our sub-culture. So, with that being said, I find it a BIT  disappointing that London After Midnight wasn't aired on traditional local radio stations, including those in my area.

I don't recall of ever browsing our CD shelves of music at 101.7 WIPZ and stumbling upon LAM. If any of this Goth band's music existed in our studio, I surely would've played them on my radio show, All Things Frightening.

It was not until summer break 2005, that I discovered London After Midnight through LAUNCHcast Radio. In 2005, I was attending my last year at Carthage College. Also, I was no longer hosting my radio show at UW-Parkside because I transferred to Carthage in 2004.

This was along with the fact, that I was feeling politically fatigued from most of entertainment 12-13 years ago. That was another major reason why I quit radio. Entertainment became too politicized.

Entertainers should spend MORE time ENTERTAINING us fans and LESS time acting like a bunch of militant, self-righteous, wannabe political activists ad nauseam at award shows, concerts, and other social/entertainment events.

I want to be ENTERTAINED. Politicizing entertainment and being self-righteous about politics are fantastic ways to alienate loyal fans and hurt an entertainer's paycheck. These wannabe political "activists" assume that EVERYONE shares their views about everything like sycophants, when in reality, everyone does NOT.

Most of what has been released and are still being released are heaping piles of shit. 

And Hollywood entertainers wonder why nobody's buying their albums, shows, and movies? 

Since we are back on the topic of the Goth Sub-culture, I want to emphasize that the sub-culture is NOT  meant for everyone. 

At the risk of sounding like an "elitist," "purist," or "gatekeeper," lots of hipsters today are posing as Goths when they know absolutely nothing about the sub-culture and what it's like to endure being mocked, condemned, and demonized by the media, their watchdog groups, and Christian zealots for being Goth. Well, I digress.

In my previous Song Saturday blog about London After Midnight, I explained more about the "project," Sean Brennan's rant about social media, and my usual rants about social media and hipsters (just a smidge. Sorry, I can't it. Hipsters continuously ruin entertainment, food, religions, fashion, and sub-cultures, including the Goth Sub-culture).

In that same Song Saturday blog, there is a block of songs featured from LAM's 2nd album, Psycho Magnet.

Today we are going backwards by sharing a song from London After Midnight's debut album, Selected Scenes From The End Of The World.  There are at least 3-4 different versions of this album. Selected Scenes From The End Of The World originally released in 1992 with a purple album cover.

By 2003 and 2008, this exact same album was re-released in other colors such as blue and red for 2 more examples. Each version was re-released featuring bonus tracks, re-recordings, and more. 

Anyway, rather than bore you to death with more details and personal rants, here is London After Midnight's "Sacrifice" for today's Song Saturday.

London After Midnight "Sacrifice" Selected Scenes From The End Of The World [2008 RE-RELEASE]

Song Saturday: Lords Of Acid Block

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY, LURKERS!!! Judging by the above banner and songs for today's Song Saturday, they may appear unpatriotic but I am ALWAYS patriotic.

I'm a daughter of a military brat, was born on Flag Day, and will break out red, white, and blue attire for every patriotic holiday.

More than anything, I am celebrating freedom of speech with uncensored music by the Belgian Acid House band, Lords Of Acid.

Hell, I was PRESIDENT  in both 8th and 11 grade for History and American Government classes. As an adult, I remain to be anti-censorship.

Yesterday I dreamt that I was hosting my own radio show again like I did in college.

Before, during, and after being forced to attend my 10-year high school reunion several years ago, I was frequently asked, "Does it pay well?"

When it comes to being a Radio DJ/Hostess, you are not guaranteed to be highly paid; You are NOT guaranteed to be making lots of money like Howard Stern or Rush Limbaugh.

I don't have an exact estimate regarding how much the average Radio DJ/Hostess makes. However, you must really enjoy doing the job. Club DJ's can make more money than a local Radio DJ/Hostess.

In 2002, I became a College Radio DJ/Hostess at UW-Parkside. At the time, it was only considered "voluntary work," even though we had to worry about FCC regulations and being fined 25 grand for having dead air and lack of censorship.

College students, who worked in the Food Services around Parkside's campus, made minimum wage whereas hosting a radio show 13 years ago was considered a "hobby."

Before my college sophomore year ended, every person involved with 101.7 WIPZ had to stand united by meeting with UW-Parkside's higher ups. 

We really tried our hardest to persuade them into making our campus radio station go full power. We could have and should have been paid. Years ago, our shows were only heard locally in Kenosha, WI and online. 

Since WIPZ had an online radio broadcast, our content had to be censored. This was unless our show aired during "Safe Harbor."

Safe Harbor began at 10pm and we as disk jockeys were allowed to air uncensored music. Sometimes I was lucky to host DJ Madness, which was during Safe Harbor.

During DJ Madness, I aired and sometimes premiered uncensored albums. Most of the time, I censored songs live, if there wasn't a pre-censored single for the explicit song.

If I ever became a DJ again, I definitely want to air more Lords of Acid. 

Like I said earlier, Lords Of Acid is a Belgian Acid House group, which has been around since the late 1980's and early '90s. Their original name was "Digital Orgasm."

At UW-Parkside, we usually played "The Power Is Mine." Most of the group's music is almost impossible to air because of the raunchy lyrical content and drug references.

Lords Of Acid always had an underground cult following. People in their teens and 20's today mostly know about the group because "The Crabulouse" was featured in the teaser trailer for Sucker Punch whereas people my age and older knew about Lords Of Acid 15-20 or so years ago.

Rather than explaining more into detail about Lords Of Acid, I have a block of their songs from their uncensored albums Lust, Voodoo-U, and Our Little Secret.

Whenever Lords Of Acid released an album, they followed it up with "Stript" songs. 

"Stript" songs were instrumental versions of songs from their previous albums, which did not require any censorship.

Anyway, here is Lords Of Acid for today's Song Saturday.

1) Lords Of Acid "Let's Get High" Lust (1991)

2) Lords Of Acid "Mr. Machoman" Voodoo-U (1994)

3) Lords Of Acid "Special Moments" Voodoo-U (1994)

4) Lords Of Acid "LSD=Truth" Our Little Secret (1997)

5) Lords Of Acid "[Concerto For] Me and Myself" Our Little Secret (1997)

6) Lords Of Acid "The Power Is Mine [Coda]" Our Little Secret (1997)

Song Saturday: Type O Negative [Triple Dose]

How's it going lurkers? I meant to share Type O Negative last month, but I chose some other bands. Type O Negative's Peter Steele has been dead for the last 4 years.  

On April 14, 2010, he died at the age of 48 from heart failure. 

Wow! Peter Steele was old enough to be my father, when I really think about it; He was 20 years older than yours truly just like my mother. In fact, my mother turned 52 last Saturday.

I wonder how my old radio station manager from 101.7 WIPZ took Peter Steele's death. He was a huge Type O Negative fan. I am sure he was really devastated over the news. 

I remember when I started hosting my show at UW-Parkside in October 2002. I was in the middle of listening to albums, while making my show's playlist.

The moment my station manager heard me listening to some Type O Negative, he was overjoyed. That's how much he loved them. 

While being a "'tween" and teen during the '90s, I always listened to a few mainstream Type O Negative songs.

It wasn't until I transferred to UW-Parkside and launched my radio show, All Things Frightening, that I started listening to more Type O. 

Once, my station manager said to me, "I'm gonna make you love Type O Negative." Honestly, I think he had a man crush on Peter Steele.

I couldn't always play certain songs from the band. Some songs had "explicit lyrics." 

As long as I censored songs live, I could air them. However, I already had enough songs to censor on All Things Frightening.

Normally, I ended my radio show with Type O Negative's "Love You To Death," from their October Rust album. That was if I did not already play a song from them or another band. "Love You To Death" is such a dark yet calming song.

When I became a Radio DJ/Hostess, All Things Frightening aired on Fridays 4-6pm. Sometimes I hosted my radio show on Thirsty Thursdays, during DJ Madness. 

DJ Madness aired, during the "Safe Harbor" hours. Safe Harbor started at 10pm, which meant we could play uncensored songs on our shows.

Anyway, I have a lot of favorite songs from Type O Negative's October Rust. Not only is "Love You To Death" a favorite, but also "Die With Me" and "In Praise Of Bacchus" to name at least 2 more songs. October Rust is a great album to listen to, if you ever want to relax.

Months after I began working at UW-Parkside's 101.7 WIPZ, I happened to see Peter Steele on Fuse TV's Uranium. Uranium's Juliya C. interviewed Peter Steele in an episode, during the show's 1/2 hour block in 2003.

Type O Negative's Peter Steele Interviewed By Uranium's Juliya C. (2003)

This Song Saturday, I have a triple dose of my favorite Type O Negative songs from their 1996 album, October Rust.

1) Type O Negative "Love You To Death" October Rust (1996)

 

2) Type O Negative "Die With Me" October Rust (1996)

 

3) Type O Negative "In Praise Of Bacchus" October Rust (1996)

 

RIP PETER STEELE!!!

Early Song Saturday: Drain STH {Double Dose}

How's it going lurkers? Since I will be really busy this weekend, I've put a rush on Song Saturday and Cartoon Sunday. I'm sure it's already Saturday in other countries. It just turned Friday in America, several hours ago. 

I must shop for both my mother's and youngest aunt's birthday presents. Their birthdays are next week. On Easter, we are going to dinner with family. Therefore, I'm sharing Song Saturday and Cartoon Sunday early.

Earlier this week, I debated whether or not to publish a Song Saturday blog about Type O Negative (since Monday was the 4th anniversary of Peter Steele's death), or Drain STH. 

Because most people have never heard of Drain STH in America and overseas, this Song Saturday will be focused more on them. 

Drain STH was a female Swedish Grunge/Metal band that formed in the 1990's. 

In fact, the band performed at Ozzfest in 1997 and 1999 with Type O Negative and other bands. Both of Drain STH's albums, Horror Wrestling and Freaks of Nature, were released those same years and I own both of them. 

On 101.7 WIPZ, I mostly played songs from the Swedish Grunge/Metal band's debut album (Horror Wrestling), 11-12 years ago. I especially got someone, who I was "sorta seeing," 10 years ago, to love Drain STH. 

As soon as he heard their debut single, "I Don't Mind," he put Horror Wrestling into his CD burner. Wow! It's amazing how time flew!

Maria Sjoholm, who happens to be married to Black Sabbath's guitarist, Tony Iommi, was the vocalist of Drain STH. They met, while working on Drain STH in 1996 and married in 2005. 

Hmm, this makes me wonder if they're still married. Some of us consider Drain STH to be the female, Swedish version of Alice in Chains. Whenever I hear Drain STH's song, "Mind Over Body," I cannot help thinking about Alice in Chains, since Drain STH was highly influenced by them. This does not surprise me in the slightest.

It's like I said last Song Saturday, Alice in Chains heavily influenced many bands of the past and present.

Drain STH disbanded in 2000. It's a shame they never completely mainstreamed. I don't recall of MTV ever airing their music videos. However, I sometimes heard Drain STH's single's "I Don't Mind," "Crack the Liar's Smile," "Enter My Mind," and "Simon Says," as a teenager on Rock stations. 

From both albums, it seems like "Crack the Liar's Smile" and "Simon Says" were played the most. 

Years ago, I read that Drain STH were dropped from their record label and never became mainstream simply because the chauvinistic Metal masses said they were "too pretty" to be taken seriously. 

Talk about some chauvinistic, superficial, Boys Club Only, bullshit!

According to the Metal Edge Magazine's 1999 Readers' Choice Awards, Drain STH was voted "Female Performers of the Year" and "Most Underrated Band."

So... Where is Drain STH, Now?

Maria Sjoholm completely retired from music. Meanwhile, drummer/backup vocalist Martina Axen sang in Snake River Conspiracy and is currently recording a solo album. 

Guitarist Flavia Canel currently manages Sonic Syndicate and stopped professionally playing guitar. 

Lastly, bassist Anna K. joined Hanzel Und Gretyl, Revolting Cocks, and Opiate for the Masses. 

Now, Anna is working on a Stockholm, Sweden based project, which involves the members of Clawfinger and Skintrade.

This Song Saturday, I present the only 2 music videos that I have ever seen from Drain STH. "I Don't Mind" and "Crack the Liar's Smile" are both from the band's debut album, Horror Wrestling.

Watching "I Don't Mind" automatically reminds me of their Horror Wrestling album cover. Well, enough about the band. Here's Drain STH's "I Don't Mind" and "Crack the Liar's Smile."

1) Drain STH "I Don't Mind" Horror Wrestling (1997)

 

2) Drain STH "Crack The Liar's Smile" Horror Wrestling (1997)