Punk Flashback

 Todays Punk Flashback The Shapes

In the planets that revolve around planet punk The Shapes are definitely far out there along with planet Pluto. Fellow travellers would include the TV Personalities, Swell Maps and later on The Sconeheads and a whole host of indies. An antidote to the gothic splendour of Siouxsie, the intensity of The Clash, the rebellion of the Pistols and the growl of a thousand other punk bands. Basically the Shapes made music that you could jump to and at the same time make you smile and they played it in the places like The Vortex and The Roxy and they played it with bands such as The Killjoys, The Saints and The Cure.

The Shapes were so undeniably English and the masters of parenthesis. In the white hot anger of '78 they gave us 'Wots for lunch mum ? (not beans again!) ' and ' (I saw) Batman (in The Launderette)'. Its not yer 1234 punk more but a sound more akin to ATV but with humour. Never ones to take themselves seriously one of their last recordings was 'Jennifer Connifer' but that doesn't excuse naming a song Leamington (after Leamington Spa). If they don't make you smile then something's missing. Check out their Compilation 'Songs For Sensible People' on Overground Records which also contains the funniest sleeve notes I have ever read. Incidentally the bassist became a champion skydiver and the singer became Sister Bendy off Eurotrash!

Hardcore Flashback

 Todays Hardcore Flashback Caustic Christ

Pittsburgh, United States (2000 – present)

Caustic Christ is a hardcore punk band from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They are on Havoc Records. In late 2000, Bill Chamberlain (best known as the guitarist for The Pist) quit his band React and moved from Connecticut to Pittsburgh to start a band with guitarist/vocalist Eric Good and bassist Corey Lyons of Aus-Rotten. While Aus-Rotten’s split resulted in vocalist Dave Trenga forming the heavy, deeply political crust band Behind Enemy Lines, Caustic Christ was more in the vein of ’80s hardcore a la Negative Approach and Black Flag and surprisingly didn’t often cover politics as a topic. Together with drummer Ron Wingrove, Good and Lyons began to practice in Corey, Eric and Bill’s basement, played local shows and a few weekend tours, and recorded a demo. During that time, Aus-Rotten broke up and Bill also formed a band with their drummer and singer, Behind Enemy Lines. Sadly, in the spring of 2001 Ron was struck by a car and sustained brain damage that rendered him unable to play drums. After a hiatus, the band replaced him with Greg Mairs of Submachine. This was supposed to be a temporary solution while the band found another less busy drummer, but 5 years later Greg is still an integral part of the band.

With Greg, they recorded their first 7”, which was released on Havoc Records, as were all of their releases from then on. They have toured the entire United States extensively over the years with bands like Subhumans and Municipal Waste, and have been interviewed in Maximum RocknRoll, HeartattaCk, Suburban Voice, and numerous other punk zines. They are local favorites, greatly admired in the Pittsburgh and Philadelphia scenes, and playing at the Roboto frequently.

Classic Flashback

 Todays Classic Flashback The Seekers

The Seekers were a group of Australian folk-influenced pop musicians which was formed in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, in 1962. They were the first Australian popular music group to achieve significant chart and sales success in the United Kingdom and the United States.

Their 60s hits included: "I'll Never Find Another You", "A World of Our Own" , "The Carnival is Over" (which the Seekers sung at various closing ceremonies in Australia, including Expo '88 and the Paralympics), "Someday One Day", "Walk With Me", "Morningtown Ride", and "When Will The Good Apples Fall". Their tune "Georgy Girl" in particular served as the title song of the film of the same name. These songs have had significant airplay on 'oldies' radio stations over the years.

Bruce Woodley and The Rain, The Park and Other Things's "I Am Australian", which has been recorded by The Seekers, and by singer Judith Durham with Russell Hitchcock and Mandauway Yunupingu, has become an unofficial Australian anthem.

R.I.P.

 3 Years Ago Today We Lost Malcolm Young

Malcolm Mitchell Young (6 January 1953 – 18 November 2017) was a Scottish-Australian musician and songwriter, best known as a co-founder, rhythm guitarist, backing vocalist and songwriter for the hard rock band AC/DC. Except for a brief absence in 1988, he was with the band from its November 1973 beginning until retiring in 2014 due to health reasons. Young and the other members of AC/DC were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003.

Though his younger brother Angus was the more visible of the brothers, Malcolm was described as the driving force and the leader of the band. In 2014, he stated that despite his retirement from the band, AC/DC was determined to continue making music with his blessing. As the rhythm guitarist, he was responsible for the broad sweep of the band's sound, developing many of their guitar riffs and co-writing the band's material with Angus. He was married to O’Linda Young and had two children, Cara and Ross.

Young took a leave of absence from AC/DC in April 2014, to receive treatment for dementia. In September 2014, the band's management announced that he would be retiring permanently. He died on 18 November 2017.

Happy Birthday

 Happy Birthday Johan Liiva

Johan Patrik Mattias Liiva (born 18 November 1970, in Helsingborg) is a Swedish extreme metal vocalist, most widely recognized as the founding vocalist of popular melodic death metal band Arch Enemy, as well as a former member of Carnage, Furbowl, and NonExist. He is currently working as vocalist with the band Hearse and with his former Arch Enemy bandmates in Black Earth.

happy Birthday

 Happy Birthday Kirk Hammett

Kirk Lee Hammett (born November 18, 1962) is the lead guitarist and a songwriter in the heavy metal band Metallica and has been a member of the band since 1983. Before joining Metallica he formed and named the band Exodus. In 2003, Hammett was ranked 11th on Rolling Stone's list of The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time. In 2009, Hammett was ranked number 15 in Joel McIver's book The 100 Greatest Metal Guitarists

Happy Birthday

 Happy Birthday Rudy Sarzo

Rudy Sarzo (born Rodolfo Maximiliano Sarzo Lavieille Grande Ruiz Payret y Chaumont, November 18, 1950) is a Cuban American hard rock/heavy metal bassist. Sarzo has played with many well known heavy metal and hard rock acts including Quiet Riot, Ozzy Osbourne, Whitesnake, Manic Eden, Dio, Blue Öyster Cult and Geoff Tate's Queensrÿche, Devil City Angels