John Lennon was murdered 29 years ago this week. As always, with the anniversary of his death, we hear recollections of that horrible night, we see old news clips on television, we hear his songs on the radio, and often, we see stories in newspapers and in magazines. It wasn't as prevalent this year, as a 29th anniversary just doesn't seem to have the same ring to it as a 25th or a 30th, but I assume we'll once again hear a lot more about the fallen Beatle at this time next year.

Four years ago, however, on that 25th anniversary, the milestone was noted everywhere. And the Weekender was no exception. In fact, our concert, "We All Shine On: A Tribute To John Lennon," remains one of the most memorable nights of music I've ever witnessed.

The event was held on Dec. 8, 2005, 25 years to the day of Lennon's death. We worked on it for about two months in advance. We found great local talent, the acts on the bill all cooperated in working out a setlist so that no songs would be repeated during the show, and on a cold wintry night that reminded many of the events of Dec. 8, 1980, a group of good-hearted and engaging musicians came together at the River Street Jazz Cafe to celebrate John Lennon's life and music and sing his songs.

The entire two-hour event was also broadcast live on 102.3-FM, The Mountain.

To this day, some of the acts that were on the bill that night still tell me how special it was and that it remains one of the most rewarding nights of music they'd ever been a part of. The spirit in the room and the sense of camaraderie was incredible, and the folks at the Jazz Cafe still say it was the most jam-packed the club has ever been. In the days following the show, we received many e-mails from people that listened on the radio, telling us how much they enjoyed it and appreciated it. At the club, people in the crowd often embraced and sang along to the songs.

Emotions ran high, all throughout the night.

Some of the artists on the bill were Smith, k8, John "Fud" Zavacki, Bret Alexander, Eddie Appnel and Pat Flynn, George Wesley, Don Shappelle, plus members of Strawberry Jam and Plus 3. Songs such as "A Day in The Life," "Watching The Wheels," "In My Life," "Imagine," "Starting Over" and "Norwegian Wood" were played with care and passion, and the show ended in an all-star jam of "Instant Karma."

Today, thanks to some great improvements to our Web site since that time, we can now bring you that special tribute concert once again. It's linked right here, in several parts, so you can listen to it anytime you choose. If you missed it, we hope you'll now enjoy hearing it for the first time. And if you were there four years ago at show, or were listening on the radio, I'm sure you wouldn't mind hearing it again.

It really was a beautiful night of music and a wonderful tribute to one of the most important songwriters of our time. And here at www.theweekender.com, it now shines on.

Thank you once again, John Lennon, for the wonderful songs.

"Love Is Rain," the new album from The Badlees, will make its radio premier this Sunday night at 7 p.m. on 102.3-FM, The Mountain. Fans across the country can also listen online at 102the mountain.com. My weekly radio show, "Music On The Menu Live," usually runs from 8-9 p.m., but we're extending it to two hours for this one, and we'll be hitting the air at 7.

The Badlees, everyone at the station agreed, are worth it.

Bret Alexander, the principal songwriter in the band, will join me on the show to talk all about the new album, and just for good measure, we'll also be spinning a few of the band's past hits and a few nuggets. In next week's issue of The Weekender, editor Mike Lello - also a fan of the band - will have a feature story on the group and the new album, and I'll have a full review of "Love Is Rain" in my "Music On The Menu" column. And on Wednesday, Oct. 14, The Cellarbirds - featuring Alexander, Paul Smith and Ron Simasek  of The Badlees - will perform live at The Woodlands as part of the Mountaingrown/Weekender Original Music Series.

Simply put: We've got you covered.

I, like countless others, simply love this band's music. Always have. And that's led to quite a few stories. In fact, I recall about 10 years ago, people would always ask me if I thought the film "Almost Famous" reminded me of myself. There were certainly some similarities. A young music journalist takes a particular interest in a promising upcoming band, spends a lot of time covering them, and a friendship is born. And yes, some of the scenes in the film reminded me a bit of The Badlees and myself in the '90s. But there were also some very big differences.

I was 25 when I first met The Badlees, not 17, like the writer in the film. I'd seen lots of rock and roll by then and thus wasn't so easily impressed. But I was very impressed with The Badlees, right from the first time I saw them. My love for the music came first. I became a fan based on the incredible quality of the albums. It was only later, well after those first impressions, that I got to know the guys. I also found the Lester Bangs character in the film to be annoying. He was a well-known music writer who tried to mentor the younger writer and always seemed to be lecturing him about the boundaries of journalism.  I couldn't relate to that at all. Even when I was young, I did things my way. I probably would have told Bangs to buzz off, to not take himself so seriously, and to remember what The Stones had said: "It's only rock and roll."

My job was simply to tell people about great rock and roll.

I supported The Badlees then and do it now because they are one of the best bands I've ever heard. Album for album, track for track, I'd put them right there with a group like U2. As a songwriter, Alexander comfortably sits at the table with Springsteen. And as a music journalist, and as simply a fan, that's an incredibly exciting thing to stumble upon. One of the most famous reviews in rock music history came from Jon Landau, who in 1974 wrote "I have seen the future of rock and roll, and its name is Bruce Springsteen." He was moved. He was inspired. That's how I felt in 1995, the first time I heard The Badlees "River Songs." And I still feel the same.

 "Love Is Rain" is a remarkable album. And I still want people to know that we've got a guy living here in NEPA writing Grammy-worthy songs that would get Bruce and Landau to perk up in their chairs. I'll get into that a bit more in next week's issue, when I review the album. But in the meantime, you can read my little version of "Almost Famous" on The Weekender Web site, where we've archived all of the stories I've done on The Badlees, all in the order they first appeared in the paper. No personal stories here. Maybe I'll save some of those for another time, or the book someday. Linked here are simply our interviews with the group, our reviews of their albums and their shows, quotes from the fans when they topped our readers' poll, and the ups and downs of what I feel is America's best band. You can check 'em all out right here:

Weekender Badlees archives.

And for an early listen to "Love Is Rain," tune into 102.3-FM, The Mountain, on Sunday night at 7 p.m.

We really think you'll like what you hear.

Hear the 102.3 FM promo here.

Having been a KISS fan for more than 30 years, I can honestly say that in 2009, some KISS fans have become a strange breed. It should be a fun and exciting time for fans of the legendary hard-rock band, but if you check out some of the group's fan sites on the Web and even read some of what's happening within the rock press, it appears the KISS Army is a house divided.

I'll get to that in a minute ... but first, you may ask "Why should this be such a fun time?"

Well, first and foremost, KISS is set to release its first new studio album in 11 years. It's got one of the coolest names ever for an album in "Sonic Boom" and early reviews say it's a great throwback to the band's pure rock sound of the '70s. In fact, most early reviews have been glowing. Plus, the band is on tour in the U.S. for the first time in years with an all-new stage show that the band says is bigger and badder than ever.

Why else should it be a fun time?

Well, former guitarist Ace Frehley just dropped his first new solo album in 20 years. It's called "Anomaly." And it's excellent.

And, on top of that, the band was finally just nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

To me, as a fan, this is all good. Yet to some, it's been reason to nitpick and squabble within the KISS community. Here's a few samples of some of the schlock floating around out there:

"Ace's album is way better than the KISS album."

When I read stuff like this, I feel as if it should be followed by the sound of a five-year old saying "Na-na-na-na-na." You know, like a "My-dad-can-beat-up-your-dad" kind of thing. Please, just stop it. Grow up.

I've also read this: "If they get into the Hall of Fame, they better only put in the original four guys."

And this: "I'm not going to see KISS if those other guys are wearing Ace and Peter's makeup."

Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

With all due respect to my fellow fans, some of you are idiots.

The fact is, both the Ace album and the KISS album are really good. The close release dates of the two also happened in 1989, when KISS released "Hot In The Shade" right around the same time Ace released "Trouble Walkin'." I say fans should do now what they did then. Just enjoy them both. You might like one a bit more than the other. And that's fine. That doesn't mean you have to slag the other. Personally, I'm just happy to be getting all of this great new music from these guys. Would it be cool if Ace were still in KISS, and the three best songs from his CD were simply on the new KISS album? Sure. But that's not how it is. They can't work together anymore. They've tried - twice - and ended up splitting up both times. Just get over it and enjoy the music.

As for the Hall of Fame, fret not. Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Peter Criss and Ace Frehley will be the ones to be inducted should the band pass the vote. But Stanley certainly had the right in a recent interview to consider a few other members as well, and to credit their contributions. The late Eric Carr drummed brilliantly in the band for 11 years. Bruce Kulick was the lead guitarist for 10 years. Listen to his solos on hits such as "Tears Are Falling" and "Forever." It's great stuff. And the band, with these members, sold millions of albums and performed hundreds upon hundreds of shows at the world's largest venues. And let's face it: If KISS broke up in 1982, after Frehley and Criss had both left the band, and were never heard from again, they would probably not be being considered for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Their enduring 35-year history and legacy is a big part of it. And the huge reunion tour of '96'-97 with the original four members would not have been nearly as big if the band had not also remained in the pubic eye so much throughout the '80s and early '90s.

All of these things are valid points in considering which members, in addition to the original four, should be inducted into the Hall.

As for the new KISS tour, the fact that some fans are upset about Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer using the same makeup design as Frehley and Criss is understandable. Fans have always been told that those makeup designs were true extensions of the band member's individual personalities, and thus making them interchangeable with somebody else for the sake of marketing seems wrong. But if it was going to be done, Thayer and Singer are the right guys. They each have a history with the band, they were fans before they were members, and they are great musicians who fully understand and appreciate the KISS sound.

What bugs me the most about all of the nitpicking by KISS fans is when they attempt to pile on Gene and Paul. Gene and Paul are NOT the bad guys in the KISS camp. They are not the ones that put substances before the band. They are not the ones that didn't show up for recording sessions when the band was making great albums. I mean, man, I love Ace just as much as anyone, but the guy almost missed one of the biggest shows of the band's career: the opening night of the reunion tour at Tiger Stadium. Ace is as cool as hell and his new album rocks, but even he now admits he was quite a handful sometimes and tough to work with.

Gene and Paul have always been there. From from "Dressed to Kill" to "Dynasty," "Animalize" and "Revenge," they always made sure there was a really good KISS album in your hands every year or two and that the accompanying tour would blow you away. And when the ticket said the show started at 9 p.m., it started at 9 p.m.

They gave you respect as a fan, and as a fan, I still respect and appreciate that.

A few of friends of mine were talking about the new KISS tour last week, and the show coming to Philly on Oct. 12, and the subject of Thayer and Singer's makeup came up. Some were not pleased. I said this: "If Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley are playing KISS songs two hours from my house, I'm going."

I also hope to catch Ace on tour, and if they somehow decide to put a few other members besides the original four in the Hall of Fame, I'm very cool with that, too.

On a personal note, I've seen KISS in concert 28 times and I've met most of the guys that have played in the band.  Paul and Gene were very cool to me. Could not have been any nicer. Paul even helped us out with "Concert For A Cause" one year and sent us an autographed guitar for the rock auction. Ace is very funny and very cordial guy. I even talked to Eric Carr once on the phone for a radio show I was working on and he was terrific. And I've also met Peter, Tommy, Bruce and even Vinnie Vincent. Never had a bad experience with any of them.

They're good guys, and in whatever lineup they've had, KISS has always been, without question, a great, great rock and roll band.

It's a fun time to be a KISS fan.

Just enjoy it.

Many of our Weekender readers may not know that in addition to being a huge fan of music, I'm also a pretty big sports fan, at least when it comes to Major League Baseball and the NFL. I even have my own blog for the people of NEPA to talk about the New York Yankees, my own favorite team, and I have a lot of fun with it. And since I noticed that today was actually a pretty sad day in Yankees history - the anniversary of the death of the great Mickey Mantle - I thought I'd offer some levity and a very funny Mickey Mantle story.

Back in 1982, Mickey Mantle spent an evening right here in NEPA and was a guest speaker at a banquet at The Woodlands. I was only about 14 years old at the time, but I managed to get a ticket and attend, and it was there that Mantle - in his great Oklahoma accent - shared this hilarious story with the packed room. I'm paraphrasing a bit, because it was 27 years ago, but I do know that it brought the house down. Of course, any story involving Mantle's former volatile teammate, Billy Martin, is bound to be pretty funny.

It went like this:

"Billy Martin and I used to like to do some hunting together, so one day I called up an old friend of mine in Texas and asked if we could hunt on his land. He had a huge property, with thousands of acres, and he had allowed me to hunt there before. I gave him a call, and he said we were more than welcome, so Billy and I drove out ...

Now this guy's land was pretty far out in the sticks, so it took us a few hours to get there. When we pulled up to the house, I told Billy to wait for a minute in the truck, and that I just wanted to let my friend know that we had arrived. He gave me a warm welcome at the door, said it was good to see me, and said that we were welcome to hunt as much as we liked. 'Hey Mick,' he said. 'Do me a favor before you guys head out. I've got an old mule out back that's not well, and he really needs to be put down. I've had him for years, and I just can't bring myself to do it. Can you do it for me?'

Now, that's a tough thing to do for the owner of an animal, so I agreed to do it for my friend. But, on the way back to the truck, I decided to have some fun with Billy. 'Damn it,' I said, when I saw him. 'Can you believe he's not going to let us hunt? He said it was OK, and we drove all the way out here, and now he won't let us. Son of a bitch ... I'll show him.'

I then ran around the back of the barn, with Billy following me, and pointed my rifle at the mule. Billy, who was upset about thinking we were unable to hunt, still seemed shocked at what I was doing, and ran off. I shot the mule, as my friend had asked, and then ...

I heard two more gunshots coming from the other side of the building!

I ran around to see what was happening, and found Billy with his rifle in hand.

He said, 'I just got two of his cows.'  "
 







 

Today, as most Americans already know, is the 40th anniversary of the moon landing. Some have called it the most magnificent achievement in the history of mankind, and until there comes a day when we become a planet completely free of war and are at total peace, I would tend to agree.

Putting men on the moon 40 years ago was not easy, and when President Kennedy issued his famous challenge nine years earlier, he knew it would not be easy.

"I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth, " said the president on May 21, 1961. "No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important for the long-range exploration of space. And none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish."

Speaking on another occasion, on Sept. 12, 1962, he added that "We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard."

It was hard. Very hard. And though Kennedy did not live to see it, his challenge was answered. On July 20, 1969, Apollo 11 Commander Neil Armstrong took "One small step for man, one giant leap mankind" on the surface of the moon. He became the first man to set foot there, and was soon followed by fellow astronaut Buzz Aldrin.

All of these years later, that word -- "astronaut" -- is still quite magical to me. It conjures up some of my earliest memories of life, when it seemed every young boy in America wanted to be an astronaut. Though I was only 22 months old when man first set foot on the moon and I obviously don't remember that incredible day, I do recall some of the subsequent Apollo missions and how exciting it was to see the "blastoffs" on television and the capsule "splashdowns" when the men returned. I recall how the TV cameras would follow the ships for as long as they could, after they had launched, until they'd become just a small white dot on your TV screen. Still, you could hear the transmissions from the courageous men in the spaceships to those at NASA, and as child, you would just watch in wonder at that little white dot, thinking, "Wow. Guys are in actually there."  The recent passing of Walter Cronkite reminded me that such astonishment was not limited to only children. Cronkite's reaction to the moon landing 40 years ago today was also one of wonder and wasn't much different than that of a young boy.

For kids in the '70s, astronauts were larger-than-life. Everybody wanted to be one. They were cast as heroes on popular TV shows such as "The Six Million Dollar Man" and "Planet of The Apes," and rocket ships were one of the most popular toys in any store. Pretending that you were an astronaut about to blast off, or hopping about in slow motion, as if you were walking on the moon, was fun, and as I think back on it now, that's how it should have been. Astronauts should have been looked up to and admired. They were smart and brave people. They were brilliant scientists and fabulous pilots and men of great adventure all rolled into one.

They were heroes.

And they still are. Kennedy said it was going to be difficult to put people in space and return them safely, and it still is. Blasting people above the stratosphere, 40 years later, is still not an easy day at the office. The proof is in the Challenger and Columbia space shuttle missions.The proof is in the people that we've lost and the heroes that we've lost. Perhaps it tells you something about our society that most of us, myself included, have forgotten most of their names. We should be better than that.

As I got older, I did what I think a lot of kids do, and I somehow got away from my fascination with astronauts. My heroes became athletes, and later, in my teen years, mostly rock stars. Even today, in my home, I have a room in the basement dedicated to my favorite sports teams, as well as a home office with framed posters of my favorite bands. Thankfully, however, some of the recent media coverage of the 40th anniversary of the moon landing, which is so richly deserved, has reminded me of who my first heroes were, and really, who they should still be. I am reminded that, when I was a kid, among the many posters of athletes and musicians that graced my bedroom walls was also a poster of Neil Armstrong standing on the moon.

Armstrong and other astronauts -- far more than any guy that can hit a baseball or play a guitar -- are truly people to admire. Somehow, I knew that when I was only seven years old, and though I may have forgotten it, I'm glad that I am remembering it today on this wonderful anniversary. John F. Kennedy, with his challenge, and those at NASA that responded to it and continue to respond to it, have clearly given us all a great gift. Through our astronauts, both past and present, they have given us knowledge, adventure and a sense of wonder.

And -- just as important -- they have given us real America heroes.
 

About the Author

Alan K. Stout is the music columnist at The Weekender and has been covering rock and pop music in NEPA for more than 15 years. His column, "Music on The Menu" appears every week in The Weekender.

Alan has won a Keystone Press Award for Excellence in Journalism for his music coverage and has been voted Northeast Pennsylvania's "Favorite Newspaper Columnist" seven times.

Alan's interviews include conversations with Billy Joel, Steven Tyler, Eddie Van Halen, David Bowie and Ray Charles. He also wrote the liner-notes to the entire Motley Crue catalog, he is the host of the monthly "Weekender/Mountaingrown Original Music Series" and is the founder of NEPA's annual "Concert For A Cause." He also hosts a weekly radio show, "Music On The Menu Live," which can be heard every Sunday night at 8 p.m. on 102.3-FM, The Mountain.

In addition to his work with The Weekender, Alan also serves as the Newspapers In Education Manager at The Times Leader.

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