Tag Archives: Roland Rat

Singles Night at the Virtual Hot Tub #33

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Yeah, it’s that time again! Time for another Singles Night at my Virtual Hot Tub. These nights are always huge amounts of fun, with some rockin’, some ripe cheese and some surprises. Plus the occasional dud, just to keep me on my toes.

Recap time, for the newbies: Singles Night is all about digging into my collection of 7 inch singles, which have come into my possession from various sources. I play through the pile, one after the other, A side then B side. There’s all sorts of genres and styles in that pile and sometimes the unexpected CAN happen.

So grab the’sen a drink (I recommend the booze) and let’s see what we get in this pile of 45rpm glory…

  1. Royal Blood – “Limbo” / “All We Have is Now”
  2. The Cult – “Spiritwalker” / “A Flower in the Desert”
  3. Zodiac Mindwarp & The Love Reaction – “Planet Girl” / “Dog Face Driver”
  4. Slade – “Mama Weer All Crazee Now” / “Man Who Speaks Evil”
  5. Kevin The Gerbil – “Summer Holiday” / “Hawaiian Holiday”
  6. Boney M – “Belfast” / “Plantation Boy”
  7. Elton John – “Part Time Love” / “Cry at Night”
  8. Chas & Dave w/ Rockney – “Strummin'” / “I’m in Trouble”
  9. Showaddywaddy – “Rock’n’Roll Lady” / “I’m a Traveller”
  10. Suzi Quatro – “She’s in Love with You” / “Space Cadets”
  11. Chuck Berry – “My Ding-A-Ling” / “Let’s Boogie”
  12. Queen – “Hammer to Fall” / “Tear It Up”
  13. Def Leppard – “Animal” / “Tear it Down”
  14. Queen – “I’m Going Slightly Mad” / “The Hitman”
  15. Gary Moore – “Parisienne Walkways” / “Fanatical Fascists”
  16. Music from ‘The Sting’ ft. Marvin Hamlisch on piano – “The Entertainer” / “Solace”
  17. Showaddywaddy – “Heartbeat” / “Lucy Jane”
  18. David Soul – “Silver Lady” / “Rider”
  19. Frank Sinatra – “I Believe I’m Gonna Love You” / “The Only Couple on the Floor”
  20. Hot Chocolate – “You Sexy Thing” / “A Warm Smile”

Who wants to guess the lamest track of the bunch? If you guessed Kevin the Gerbil’s song, you’d be dead wrong! I’m a lifelong Roland Rat Fan and anything from his world is golden to me. In actual fact, there’s noting awfully cheesy on that last – certainly not Chas & Dave or Showaddywaddy, either.

Starting off bang up to date with a great single from Royal Blood, the rock genre delivered the goods with bangers from The Cult, Zodiac Mindwarp, Queen and Def Leppard. I’ve only just noticed that Queen wanted us to “Tear It Up” whilst the Lepps wanted us to “Tear it Down” – crazy!

Talking of crazy, I love Slade and that single was a gift from my pal Greeny at his wedding (it was number 1 when I was born). A happy addition to the collection.

Another fun night, it got a bit hazy with the beverages piling up. I’ll keep you posted with more of these soon.

Oh, and one more thing: RIP David Soul.

EMQs with… Platinum Al

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Last year, in the depths of lockdown and with no live entertainment to review, the glorious website that is Ever Metal was kind enough to open up their Ever Metal Questions series to the reviewers. As an EM contributor I was finally able to fulfil a lifelong ambition – and satisfy my enormous ego – by being interviewed for the site.

The questions were pretty much what we ask musicians, only I had the privilege of answering them myself. And now, in a move that confirms that I really have no shame, I proudly re-present the same interview here, at the Virtual Hot Tub. Well, it is my birthday this month…

Enjoy!

What is your name, what do you do, and can you tell us a little bit about how you ended up doing it?

My name’s Alun, AKA Platinum Al.  I write some reviews for Ever Metal, which came about through meeting Rick and Beth at Pentre Fest a while back.  “I can write!” I lied, and they’ve been too kind to bin me off ever since.

What Country/Region are you from and what is the Metal/Rock scene like there?

North Wales in the UK.  We seem to be a bit out in the wilderness to the outsider, but thankfully there are a few venues that put good bands on in Chester and Wrexham (both nearby) and of course, the good old Tivoli in Buckley (just up the road).  Liverpool and Manchester are both accessible.  The big win for us though is Pentre Fest – and all the other events that North East Wales Metal Productions put on.  It’s introduced me to loads of new music and it’s right on my doorstep. 

What is your favourite latest release? (Album, EP, Single, Video)

Desert Storm’s “Omens” on APF Records is album of the year so far.  Beyond that, I’m still reeling from the wonder of Giant Dwarf’s self-titled master piece, my album of 2019.

Who have been your greatest influences, in music or in life?

George Lucas, for Star Wars – which influenced me more than anything since I was five years old.  Stan Lee and Marvel comics have also been a big inspiration.  Skateboarding in general has opened my eyes and ears to the wonder of the world since my teens. 

In music, there’s dozens: Johnny Cash, Motorhead, AC/DC, Ramones, the Damned, The Misfits, Black Sabbath, The Cult, Soundgarden, Led Zeppelin, Queen, Monster Magnet, COC, Melvins, Jimi Hendrix etc etc.

What first got you into music?

I listened to the Star Wars soundtrack first of all; it still has an amazing emotional response on me even now.  The next big development was seeing the film Highlander, which I loved.  A friend of mine recommended the Queen album A Kind of Magic as it featured several songs from the film, and it’s been downhill from there.  Thankfully, through skateboarding I was introduced to music that was a bit off the beaten track, shall we say.

Which current bands or musicians would you like to see collaborate on a record?

Good question!  How about Shakin’ Stevens – the Welsh Elvis – fronting the Misfits?  Danzig can write the songs.

If you could go to any festival in the world, which would you choose and why?

Pentre Fest!

What’s the weirdest music related thing you own?

I have some pretty weird vinyl in my collection, like Roland Rat, the Wurzels and an album called “How to Strip for Your Husband”.   Oh, and a Joan Collins work out record.

If you had one message for your Ever Metal readers, what would it be?

Never ever bloody anything ever.

If you could bring one rock star back from the dead, who would it be?

So many greats to choose from (sadly).  I’ll nominate my old mate Lemmy, as I probably embarrassed myself when I met him by talking bollocks.

If you could change one thing about the music industry, what would it be?

Stop developing new formats – you lied to us about CDs when vinyl was the ultimate.  There are some albums I own on vinyl, tape, CD and download – and I’ve had to buy every single one.  Can we all just agree to not buy whatever new garbage format they try and lumber us with in the future? 

Name one of your all-time favourite albums?

Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols.

What’s best? Vinyl, Cassettes, CD’s or Downloads?

Vinyl, obviously!

What’s the best gig that you have been to, and why?

Black Sabbath at Birmingham Genting Arena on their “The End” tour is up there.

What do you get up to when you’re not writing/ taking photos?

Working the day job and being a dad mostly.  Then listening to music, skateboarding, riding my bike, watching old Hammer horror movies, collecting toys, drinking beer.

Which five people would you invite to a dinner party?

Sir Christopher Lee, Johnny Cash, Jimi Hendrix, Joey Ramone and Lemmy.

If they have to be alive, then James Hetfield, Glenn Danzig, Dave Vanian, Henry Rollins and pro skateboarder Mike Vallely.

Jaffa Cakes? Are they a cake or a biscuit?

I don’t know, but I had cherry ones in Greece and they were amazing!

Thank you for your time. Is there anything else that you would like to add?

Just thanks for giving me the opportunity to flaunt my massive ego by doing an interview, it’s something I’ve always wanted to do!  HAHA!

Oh, and to the readers of Ever Metal: thanks for reading, and never forget that we are fans just like you and we do this for the love of the music.  Never say die!

Read more Ever Metal staff EMQs here.