Purple Stuff Podcast: Christmas Songs III

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It’s that special time of the year again! The time of year where we reminisce about how hysterical it was when the shitter was full,  when people get together and wear intentionally lame sweaters, and get pretty tanked up and make poor decisions. Either way, it’s usually a blast. But what’s a holiday season without a badass soundtrack to play in the background? The new episode of the Purple Stuff Podcast continues our tradition of offering up an eclectic selection of Christmas tunes for you.

It’s our 3rd installment of holiday tunes and it’s pretty whacked out. Matt from Dinosaur Dracula and I present more favorites from our respective playlists. To me, there’s nothing better than chilling by the Christmas tree listening to the holiday classics that you only hear during this time of year. As usual, we don’t always agree on all of these tracks, but either way, they all have their place. You’ll hear everything from a Smurfs song to a snazzy. ’60s version of “Sleigh Ride.”

Hopefully we can provide you with some new ideas to add to your annual holiday celebration…or just a bunch of songs to avoid at all costs, whatever works for you! You can subscribe to The Purple Stuff Podcast on iTunes and basically anywhere else you can get podcasts. If you want to support the show and our websites, subscribe, spread the word, or leave a review on iTunes! Thanks for reading and listening!

Zakk Wylde: Guitar AND Word Slinger!

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March is Metal Month, so how are you going to honor the almighty METAL? Instead of merely blasting your favorite band and banging your head, why not throw up your devil horns while doing something semi-educational?

Guitar God AND New Jersey native Zakk Wylde is releasing his own book called Bringing Metal To The Children: The Complete Berzerker’s Guide To World Tour Domination. The book was written with author and photographer Eric Hendrikx and includes stories from Zakk’s career, backstage madness, and tips on being a true berzerker. The review listing on Amazon says it all: “…deranged tales of onstage indecent exposure and booze fueled destruction…”

The book hits stores April 10th. Pre-order on Amazon and Kindle here.

Metal Day in the NJ 11-11-11

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FoN3S4-JsU?rel=0]
“Barry Manilow you better cover your ears…”

In honor of METAL DAY, here are a few items from around the Internet that help illustrate New Jersey’s prominence as one of the most METAL states in America. Check these out! m/m/

– I found this classic clip from News 4 New York on YouTube that features interviews with employees and shoppers at Rock n Roll Heaven, a legendary music store in Clark, NJ. Reporter Anna Bond asks the folks in the store about the appeal of heavy metal with the underlying spin of metal being “the devil’s music.” The nightly news hasn’t changed much. Thanks to YouTube user playmobilfriends for posting the video!

– Read Newark Metal Music Examiner writer Scott Boutsikaris’ memories of Rock n Roll Heaven record store!

– Back in January 2009, the website Metal Injection did an awesome post on The State of METAL music in New Jersey. Some of the most popular metal bands from the Garden State are discussed in the article including The Dillinger Escape Plan, God Forbid, Monster Magnet, Overkill, and they also included The Misfits for their far reaching influence over rock and metal.

– Also, keep on the lookout for young and relentless NJ metal heads Rapid Fire: http://www.reverbnation.com/rapidxfire

Eddie Weinbauer’s Last Stand

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Before Trick R‘ Treat hit horror freaks like a ton of bricks made out of candy corn, 1986’s Trick OR Treat satisfied my Halloween movie watching tradition. This highly misinterpreted film was perfectly in line with 2 of my favorite things ever with the initials H.M: heavy metal and horror movies. If you just never bothered to watch it because you read bad reviews, you can’t take a film that stars Skippy Handelman seriously, or you’re just too young and it was before your time…NOW IS THE TIME for Trick Or Treat! One person’s cheesy movie is another person’s annual classic.

Once October rolls around I fire up my Halloween playlist which includes all kinds of spooky songs and hard rock tunes from horror movies. Fastway’s soundtrack is the nucleus of the film and if you enjoy hard rock from the ’80s, you’ll dig these songs. What makes this soundtrack better than so many others is that the lyrics and music fit the plot so well it’s almost eerie. At first listen, you might think it’s pretty generic hard rock from that era, but it’s way more than that once you get into the movie. The Halloween atmosphere is definitely in full effect when you start blasting songs like “Trick or Treat” and “Stand Up.”

I’ve already watched Trick or Treat once this month and I plan on at least one more viewing. With each viewing I notice another little detail that I may not have noticed before. This time, the dark comedy really hit me. Many people think it’s just a straight up horror movie, and that’s partly true, but there’s a few really funny scenes too. Now, I’m not joking with you here…it’s also a serious social commentary on heavy metal in the ’80s.

Back then, many parents were blaming heavy metal musicians for their children’s suicides or arson. Bad stuff was going on and parent groups and the government were actually trying to blame heavy metal musicians like Twisted Sister and Judas Priest among others. This was complete bullshit of course, but when you see the scene where rock God Sammi Curr was on the stand defending his music, it’s not far from how that all went down. Perhaps this film is more relevant now that we can look back at it and remember that heavy metal artists were looked at like Satanists. If you’re parents didn’t know anything about KISS, then just their posters would’ve given parents anxiety attacks knowing that’s the band their kid is obsessing over.

As you know, I can’t leave you without sneaking in a New Jersey tie-in! When you hit the 47 minute mark on the DVD of Trick Or Treat listen up for actor Marc Price’s audibly prominent New Jersey accent as he delivers a line in response to his mom’s question: “…Aspirin, and some soup.”

Other Trick Or Treat related posts:
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NJ T-Shirt Tuesday 86: Overkill’s 25th Anniversary T-Shirt

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photos from Tshirtslayer.com



New Jersey metal band Overkill always offer some of the coolest looking rock t-shirts around. The shirt pictured above was printed up specially for their 25th anniversary show which took place minutes away from their where they originally formed, Sayreville’s Starland Ballroom. I love how they incorporated the Garden State Parkway sign into the tee on the front and the state of NJ on the back. Overkill has never been afraid to admit that they hailed from Jersey and that is awesome. Presently, Overkill is working on new songs for an album slated for release in early 2012.

*One of my favorite songs ever and a theme song I used when I worked in radio is Overkill’s Kick-Ass Cover of “Frankenstein.”