The entire legacy of Van Halen has always been defined by which singer you’re listening to.  While Gary Cherone was always going to be a placeholder in the band between David Lee Roth and Sammy Hagar, both of the main vocalists of the group couldn’t have been more different when trying to work on some of their latest ideas for the band when they made a record. Each of them had a specific idea of what they wanted Van Halen to be, but ‘The Red Rocker’ knew when some of the records in the band’s catalogue should have never been put out to begin with. Granted, it’s hard to take Hagar at his word when it comes to the worst Van Halen albums sometimes. He was the first to say that he didn’t care for the band before he joined, aside from Eddie’s licks, and even when he had the idea of coming and jamming with the guys, he made it abundantly clear that he wasn’t going to be singing any of ‘Diamond Dave’s material. He didn’t like the Vegas show schtick that much, but the band were always going to listen to what the fans wanted. So while Hagar did manage to endear himself to the fans for the better part of a decade, getting fired over a phone call wasn’t what he was looking for after tensions reached a height. He knew that he and Eddie could talk things out, but the hardcore fans were always going to be looking for the moment when Roth would eventually come back. And while Roth did blow his chances of a reunion within a few seconds at the MTV Awards, that seemed to be enough water under the bridge by the time that Hagar left his reunion tour absolutely seething at Eddie. The band might have pulled the dick move of firing Michael Anthony and branding themselves as a completely new group without Hagar, but it’s not like Hagar was too broken up when he heard what they did. A Different Kind of Truth was the definition of a band spinning their wheels in his mind, and while Eddie was happy enough to end his career on his own terms, putting out a live record was the bottom of the barrel as far as Hagar was concerned. They could do whatever they wanted with their legacy, but Hagar felt that there was no reason to give fans a shoddy version of what they had already heard, saying, “They’ve got some pretty rough vocals. I’m trying to tread lightly on the whole thing. Every time they do something, I’m like, ‘Oh my God, can these guys do anything worse to their reputation and to the level of the music of the band? Standing back, I’m just going, ‘What the (expletive) are these guys thinking?’” That’s fairly brutal just reading it, but it’s not like Hagar didn’t know what he was talking about to a certain degree. His version of Van Halen was always going to earn their stripes by playing as best as they could on the road, and since Live Right Here Right Now was still one of the best live records of any band from their generation, it was going to be hard for Roth to keep up in any capacity whenever they performed. You can’t blame ‘Diamond Dave’ for not sounding the same way that he did when he was first cutting the debut record, but it’s clear that he wasn’t in any shape to sing like he used to when he went onstage. Eddie had talked about wanting to keep the album totally live whenever they put it out, but that also meant getting more than a few songs throughout the night where Roth was struggling to reach those high notes. That was already a problem with A Different Kind of Truth in general, but by this point, it wasn’t like anyone cared about what Roth’s pitch sounded like. Everyone understood that they were coming to see Eddie, and even if the album did have a few blemishes, the fact that Eddie could still play the guitar like it was second nature was everything that the fans were hoping to hear when they bought a ticket. ADD AS A PREFERRED SOURCE ON GOOGLE The post The 2015 Van Halen album Sammy Hagar wanted to delete: “Some pretty rough vocals” first appeared on Far Out Magazine.

Tom Petty didn’t sign up to be a rock and roll star for all the glitz and glamour that comes with it. The fact that the Heartbreakers managed to have a hit at all was through sheer persistence on Petty’s part, and once he reached the top of the charts, he wasn’t looking to be around for a few years by following the trends. He could switch up his style every now and again if he wanted to, but everything he did was in service to making the kind of tunes that could stand alongside some of his favourite British acts he heard as a kid. Because while there are more than a few times where Petty has pulled a few pages out of Elvis Presley’s playbook or sung alongside people like Carl Perkins, what really turned his head was listening to The Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show. That was the wake-up call for every kid that you could be a member of your own little gang in a group, and since the fans were reacting like they saw four different Elvises at once, Petty figured that was the best job he could ever hope to have. But when you think about it, not everything that The Beatles played was within reach. Not every kid was going to be able to play those strange chords that they threw into every one of their songs, but even if the Fab Four gave everyone something to aspire to, The Rolling Stones felt a lot more attainable compared to everyone else. They were playing the blues, and Mick Jagger and Keith Richards weren’t afraid to be a little rough around the edges. A lot of their tunes did have a few blemishes that weren’t exactly meant to happen, but that’s the reason why it’s easier to jam with The Stones than The Beatles. Every one of their classics had certain moments on the record, but when they stretched the song out, all bets were off as to where they were going to do every single time they played. And for Petty, that kind of excitement all started with ‘Satisfaction’. There had been plenty of bluesy tunes like this before, but that fuzzy guitar line is the textbook definition of what a great guitar riff should sound like. Which is funny because Richards didn’t even want it to be played on guitar. He was trying to emulate the sound of a horn whenever he performed, and while you can hear it just a little bit in the way that he’s playing on the record, the result is about as close to heavy rock as the early 1960s ever dared to get during that time. And while Petty considered The Beatles one of the finest bands to ever walk the Earth, he considered ‘Satisfaction’ one of those defining moments for the genre, saying, “They had so much attitude, it dripped off the plate. The riff and distortion grab you, and the lyric is so worldly. It’s hard to talk about ‘Satisfaction’ because everyone knows it so well. But it’s a great moment in rock history. Just the phrase is worth a million bucks.” The riff is one thing, but the fact that Jagger managed to sound so snide singing the chorus of the tune is what really made the song work. The Stones were already becoming known as the antithesis of The Beatles in many ways, and throwing in some punk-ass lyrics about not being able to get what you want was the genesis of everything from hard rock to punk all in one little package whenever he sang. Petty didn’t exactly want to be known as a punk for any reason, but The Stones were at least the one piece of common ground that he had with bands like Sex Pistols when he debuted. He wanted to make his guitar sound mean whenever he played, and even if his parents in Gainesville weren’t always understanding of what he was doing, he was willing to stick his neck out and go against the grain just like Jagger did. ADD AS A PREFERRED SOURCE ON GOOGLE The post The “great moment in rock” that blew away Tom Petty in 1965 first appeared on Far Out Magazine.

The number one rule of every single Traveling Wilburys was that everyone had a great time. George Harrison didn’t want to have the same kinds of responsibilities that weighed down every other rock and roll band, and since he was working among other legends, it was better for him to make the record and be done with it rather than worrying about going out on tour or going through the interview junket a thousand times. But even if Jeff Lynne was happy to be there half the time, there were more than a few tunes that drove him up the wall when they first started laying down everything.  Then again, it was going to take a lot of guts for anyone in the band to say that they didn’t like a line that someone had written. No one could look at someone like Bob Dylan with a straight face and say that one of their lyrics sucked, but Lynne wasn’t one to argue over words. What mattered was the melody, and that meant getting everything perfectly right when working on a song like ‘Handle With Care’. The band’s debut certainly has a sheen to it whenever you listen, and that comes from Lynne’s attention to detail. By comparison, Lynne had said numerous times that he didn’t really care that much for their second record, and a lot of that might have come from the fact that it was more indebted to the sounds of garage rock than anything else that they had been working on on the first record. Or maybe it was because someone very important wasn’t around to join the party anymore. Roy Orbison had been one of the best voices on the band’s first album, and while most of the band were worried that he might not have agreed to join the band, the fact that he was welcomed with open arms was the perfect epilogue to his career after he passed away. If Orbuson was going to join the band, though, Lynne was going to make sure that he had a song that the rest of the band could be proud to have played on. But when Lynne first got the demo for ‘Not Alone Any More’, the rest of the band didn’t seem to be taking to it that much. Orbison still sounded absolutely beautiful, soaring above everyone with those fantastic high notes, but since the rest of the music wasn’t doing him justice, Lynne couldn’t bear listening to the song for that long before realising that he needed to change everything about it.  He wasn’t going to be known as the one who failed to make an Orbison classic, and after one too many times of hearing the demo, Lynne changed the chords around to help make the tune iconic, saying, “It only had three chords all the way through. And somehow it wasn’t, I felt… I’d taken a tape home and listened to it. And it was driving me nuts because it wasn’t doing Roy justice. And I thought, we’ll have to change the chords to make a tune– go somewhere.’ And I did. I changed the chords and I changed nearly all the chords in the whole song.” And changing the chords around was half the reason why a lot of Orbison’s songs worked so well. Harrison had even said that it was difficult to find the kind of songs that fit his voice whenever making Wilburys tracks, and even though Orbison slid in perfectly on ‘Handle With Care’, sometimes his voice needed that little push from the rest of the band to sound fantastic over the music. The rest of the Wilburys would have been happy to work on another tune if it meant giving Orbison his shining moment, but nothing was going to stop Lynne from turning in one of the best songs that he knew how. Orbison was one of the great originators of the operatic rock and roll song, and Lynne wasn’t going to rest until he had the kind of tune that could stand alongside tracks like ‘Crying’. ADD AS A PREFERRED SOURCE ON GOOGLE The post The 1988 Traveling Wilburys song that drove Jeff Lynne crazy: “It wasn’t doing Roy justice” first appeared on Far Out Magazine.

Our fuss-free copycat Texas Roadhouse smothered chicken brings all of the cheesy, savory heartiness of the original right to your own kitchen.

We'll tell you the telltale signs on how to know if the seafood you're about to eat is actually fresh or if you should make a U-turn out of the restaurant.

from Dr. Jane Ruby: TRUTH LIVES on at https://sgtreport.tv/

by Cindy Harper, Reclaim The Net: Australia’s under-16 social media ban has been in force for four months and the headline finding from a new working paper out of the University of Chicago’s Becker Friedman Institute is that around three-quarters of the teenagers it targets are ignoring it. The paper, “Why Bans Fail: Tipping Points […]

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  German battlecruisers bombarded the towns of Scarborough, Hartlepool, and Whitby in an early morning raid. The Great War’s violence now came to British shores. Like many attacks, the aggressors deliberately chose their targets. Bombarding civilian towns elevated the barrage’s psychological impact. Here, German shells, like Luftwaffe bombs in 1940, targeted homes, churches, and historic places (Whitby Abbey).    Bombardment of non-combatants generated a wave of outrage and shock value. Being an island nation, the British possessed a certain immunity from distant battlefields. The coastline’s vulnerability suddenly became clear, igniting outrage that newspaper headlines amplified into ” Where was the Navy?” The German terror attack, a blend of strategy and psychological warfare, looked good on paper but, in principle, backfired.    Bottled Up and Nowhere to Go Imperial German Navy battlecruiser SMS Derfflinger. Source: Wikimedia   As the Great War started in 1914, the German High Seas Fleet faced a severe disadvantage in the numbers game. Despite nearly two decades of German production, the Royal Navy outnumbered its opponent in tonnage and firepower. Should there be a decisive fleet action, Britain’s Grand Fleet could easily absorb losses. The Royal Navy’s overall superiority, plus German caution, helped keep the German Navy in port. Also, the Kaiser proved reluctant to risk his prized ships.    Given the strategic impasse, internal and public pressure mounted for action. Proof was needed to justify building this expensive fleet. The resulting compromise called for fast strikes by battlecruisers. This reduced the chance of a British-dominated battle and luring Royal Navy ships into a one-sided engagement.   The Why of the Raids German strategic plan for bombardment. Source: Naval-history.net   The German strategy for the raid had multiple goals. First, lure smaller Royal Navy forces into a trap. German planners hoped to use Britain’s practice of quick reaction against them. The plan called for ships to slip in, attack, and flee using fast, heavily armed battlecruisers. In the following pursuit, the small British force chasing the hunters would meet the waiting guns of the High Seas Fleet.    Next, German planners hoped to demoralize British morale. An attack would create cracks in the Royal Navy’s image as Britain’s protector. As Allied planners in World War II found, collapsing civilian morale would prove difficult. Finally, Imperial Germany needed to show the High Seas Fleet’s reach. Mounting a successful raid could show the German ability to hit anywhere with ease. British Intelligence, having partially broken German naval codes, indicated a sortie but not the time or target.   Raiding the Yorkshire Coast Shelling of Scarborough. Source: War History Online   With plans set, a split force headed for England’s Yorkshire coast. Each town ended up on a targeted list for either psychological reasons or military facilities. Of the three towns, only Hartlepool had coastal batteries. Upon the strikes, the Germans hoped to use speed, darkness, and bad weather to lure the British in.   The first German shells began hitting their targets in Scarborough (8 AM) and Hartlepool (8:10 AM). Whitby’s attack began at 9:05 AM. Hartlepool, with its limited defenses, endured about 1,150 rounds that hit the docks and steelworks. Whitby and Scarborough had streets, homes, and hotels hit. All three suffered extensive damage and casualties, with more than 130 people killed. Soon, shelling ended, and the German battlecruisers retired into the mist.    The Royal Response   Unbeknownst to their enemy, the Royal Navy sortied 4 battlecruisers before the raid. Even with the limited advanced warning, each side missed the other. As the Royal Navy maneuvered, the bombardment had concluded; the enemy ships turned to steam into the mist. Towards Germany.    Due to poor visibility and the limited warning, both sides passed within a few miles of each other. With no confrontation, creating frustration, and setting a tone for future battles.    British Indignation and German Blunder WW1 Royal Navy recruitment poster. Source: Library of Congress   In Britain, a wave of indignation and anger swept the nation. As public outrage mounted, the Admiralty faced blistering criticism. How could the world’s biggest fail so badly? In Parliament, First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill reassured the nation that the Royal Navy stood ready.   On the flip side, public anger led to a surge in enlistments. Also, cries and posters like “Remember Scarborough” appeared everywhere.   Germany claimed the raid as a victory. This boosted morale but ultimately proved a blunder. Britain’s Grand Fleet failed to catch the enemy squadron; public opinion hardened, and a belief in continuing the war emerged. The longer-term aftermath proved little. The crippling blockade still stood.    This and other raids only set the tone for a future historic clash at the Battle of Jutland.