Monthly Archive: December 2022

Guitarist Ray Calcutt is back with new band WHITE SKIES which 2022 debut album was featured here some weeks ago, one of the best AOR albums of the year. He was part as well of British AORsters YA YA (or YaYa) releasing a couple of great albums back the ’80s.
YA YA’s second album got a remastering treatment, but the band’s debut 1984’s “Scarred” never has been released on CD. Many of you asked for good vinyl LP rip of “Scarred”… but there’s a CD version of the album, unofficial but very well done, silver pressed and with the best sound quality you can find of this criminally forgotten AOR platter.
This first YA YA incarnation included vocalist Lea Hart, who later would join Fast Eddie Clarke’s Fastway for their late ’80s record ‘On Target’.
“Scarred” delivered a synth-laden Melodic Rock/AOR sound from the mid-Eighties, with two tracks taken for the “Revenge Of The Nerds” movie soundtrack, giving a pretty good idea of the general style on the album: commercial ’80s stuff with cool melodies…

Universal Music / Virgin Records have put together “T’Pau – The Virgin Anthology 4CD Box Set” to coincide with the 30 year Anniversary of the band blasting on to the music scene making their mark overseas as well as at home in the United Kingdom.
“T’Pau – The Virgin Anthology” includes 4 discs housed in an extremely impressive Super Deluxe Edition box set that brings together two discs of rare remixes and edits (singles and associated tracks) across all three Virgin albums along with half a dozen demo recordings from the band’s heyday.
A couple of further CDs include the final two (Virgin) albums ‘Rage’ and ‘The Promise’, remastered & expanded versions with bonus tracks appended.
For the first time, T’PAU essentials & rarities are into the same package…

Lead by singer Carol Decker, T’PAU is one finest rock&pop acts emerged from UK during the Eighties. As requested, here’s T’Pau’s 1987 celebrated debut album “Bridge Of Spies”, reissued by Universal/Virgin as a 2CD+DVD Super Deluxe Edition featuring a remastered version of the original album, singles, B-sides, hard-to-find remixes, live tracks and previously unreleased demo sessions.
“Bridge Of Spies [Remastered 2-Disc Expanded Edition]” is out of print and it’s already considered a collectors item.
T’Pau’ had a string of Top 40 hits in the UK in the late ’80s, most notably ‘China in Your Hand’, ‘Heart and Soul’ and ‘Valentine’, and several hits in Europe before disbanding in the early Nineties. Decker still performs under the name T’Pau these days.
From the outside looking in the T’Pau story seems to bear all the hallmarks of an overnight success story. The band formed in Shropshire in the UK in 1986 and were signed to a major label and recorded their debut album with legendary producer Roy Thomas Baker (Queen, Journey)…

The New York Dolls set a precedent that most bands follow today. They were the godfathers of the rock and roll scene of the 70’s glam / punk / hard rock era. With only two albums under their belt, the Dolls managed to spawn many bands who have been influenced by the mighty Dolls. In retrospect, The New York Dolls, were way before their time, their record label never understood their appeal or recklessness.
With a reunion of the three surviving members (David Johansen / Sylvain Sylvain and Arthur ‘Killer’ Kane) taking place in 2004, Fastlane Records and David Johansen, decided to pay homage to one of the most underrated bands of history… The New York Dolls, in the form of “JETBOYS OF BABYLON : A Tribute To New York Dolls“.
The CD boasts a hefty line-up of bands mentioning The Dolls as main influence such as Tattooed Millionaires, glamsters Crash Kelly, The Alarm, and many more.
New York Dolls legendary frontman David Johansen graced this project by lending us his talents and re-recording one of his classic Dolls song, ‘Babylon’. The label also acquired the very colorful contribution of Sex Pistol’s Steve Jones on one track.
As requested, here’s this now hard to find CD…

Former Van Halen front man David Lee Roth has been working on his THE ROTH PROJECT for many years. Part of the project is an interactive comic, audio novel featuring narration and Sumi-e art by Roth along with original music and story enhancing sound effects.
There’s a backstory regarding this David Lee Roth project, started with guitarist John 5 and their somewhat secret recording sessions. Since working with The DLR Band in the late ’90s, John 5 remained friends with Roth in the years that followed. In early 2007, the two joined forces to record a batch of songs for a possible album along with Roth’s former solo band-mates, Gregg Bissonette (drums) and Brett Tuggle (keyboards).
They had, indeed, recorded material for THE ROTH PROJECT. Then came the crickets… nothing new was heard of regarding that project, until a couple of tracks were released by Roth some months ago.
Here we have these two tracks plus the unreleased songs from THE ROTH PROJECT, featuring Roth on vocals, John 5 on guitar & bass, Bissonette on drums, Tuggle on keyboards, and legendary Luis Conte on percussion…
Only at 0dayrox

”Life’s Machine” is the name of the debut album of BRAVE RIVAL, a new quintet hailing from Portsmouth who were recently nominated for “Best Emerging Blues Rock Artist Of The Year” at the UK Blues Awards 2022. And we can see why: armed with a twin female vocal assault, this is bluesy hard rock, replete with stunning melodies.
There has been a lot of press on this band of late, deservedly so may I add as they are pretty awesome. BRAVE RIVAL is fortunate in having a hypnotic duo vying for lead and twin vocals in Lindsey Bonnick and Chloe Josephine. Donna Peters plays drums, Billy Dedman plays bass, and Ed Clarke the swirling guitars. They’ve also brought in some incredible extra musicians to bring their songs to life.
The result is a wonderfully varied late ’70s / ’80s inspired song-set of twelve tracks that recalls Heart in their pomp; Girlschool; more than a hint of Pat Benatar; and a bit of Fleetwood Mac at their most classic era.

Rock Candy Records has been reissuing / remastering FRANKIE MILLER albums, and as requested, here’s one of his best: 1980’s ”Easy Money”, including 5 bonus tracks.
Mention the name FRANKIE MILLER to any musician of a certain era and their face will immediately light up regarding his singing ability and subsequent influence on a generation of British vocalists. The owner of one of the finest bluesy voices of the era, Frankie’s shadow loomed long and hard across a multitude of styles, with enough true grit and authority to carve out a top tier reputation. Compared in the same exalted breath as Rod Stewart, Paul Rodgers, Terry Reid and Joe Cocker, Frankie quickly established a reputation second to none.
For ”Easy Money” there was the need of bridging Miller’s brew of bluesy pop style with a commercially viable sound suitable for audiences in the early 80s. It sits well alongside his previous records, but ‘Easy Money’ incorporates more polish than before. ‘Why Don’t You Spend the Night’ remains one of Miller’s best songs, and it’s great to hear his solo version of ‘Tears’ – later re-recorded as a duet with Bonnie Tyler in 1983…
You’ve seen it first at 0dayrox

As requested, here’s one of the greatest AOR albums ever made, British combo ATLANTIC and their only album titled “Power“. Originally released 1994 in Europe & Japan, “Power” resulted a holy grail for fans of the genre as grunge already dominated the charts pushed by the industry.
ATLANTIC was more a project than a band, formed by talented UK musicians looking to create something musically similar to the first Phenomena Project. They took the time to carefullt write, arrange and produce – themselves, and with an AWESOME polished bright sound – all these songs.
They needed a top class, smooth singer for these classy AOR songs… enter reputed Philip Bates, an English musician who has been a member of many notable bands, including Trickster and Quill (and later ELO Part II).
Recorded 1992, what these six musicians created into the studio is just ‘MAGIC’. AOR magic. And they had as guest ‘harmony vocalists’ no other than Tony Mills and David A. Saylor (RIP both).
This is the remastered reissue of “Power” including a killer bonus track, an outtake (!) from the original sessions. The (!) means… sacrilege! How could they have dropped this song originally… all tracks on this album are pure gold.
A MUST HAVE

As you may know by now, this website specializes mostly in ’70s, ’80s and ’90s rock-styles, but also anything related to that era culture. And there’s enter LAZER CLUB new album ”Hollywood ’90s”.
During the Nineties, three guys lock themselves up in a Hollywood motel to write their first rock&pop album. They lived in the 80s, and LAZER CLUB born in the 90s. A time when clubs were a total blaze of color, with hundreds of green laser beams shooting out from the stage, brightly-colored lights on the edge of every step, more lights of different colors flashing on and off in time to the music, all bathed in a sea of dry ice.
And their album climb that step that separates the ’80s from the ’90s both in sound, arrangements and production. ”Hollywood ’90s” mix radio friendly melodies, synths, funky guitars, big beats and colorful vocals, and puts you into a cool time machine.
Pure ’80s / early ’90s stuff.
You’ve seen it first at 0dayrox

Here’s in exclusive another installment from great ”The Lost US Jewels series”, unearthing lost bands which deserved better luck. So we’ll live again those glorious ‘80s times with these WHISPER ALLEY recordings for the first time on CD, rock n’ roll from a time when the music was fun and the party never ended.
Hailing from Phoenix, Arizona they toured the clubs, both as an headline-act and support to the likes of Bulletboys, Quiet Riot and Great White. Their brand of hard-hitting Glam Metal was a distillation of acts like Motley Crue, Skid Row and Quiet Riot, packed full of razor riffs, instant choruses and a whole load of attitude.
The CD, called “Up Yer Alley”, contains 10 original songs: 6 tracks taken from the 1992-tape “Disturbing The Piece” + 4 unreleased additional tracks recorded in 1993. Vol. 15 of the “Lost US Jewels” series, as usual limited to 500 copies.
Only at 0dayrox

This album was requested by many; Y&T “Live… Salinas California 1983”, some kind of ‘official bootleg’ now properly released, Digitally Remastered for enhanced sound quality. Question is; can you ‘remaster’ a bootleg’? Oh yeah, at least in this case, because this was a professional recording intended for FM broadcast, and the sound quality is excellent.
The recording captures Y&T live at Sherwood Hall, Salinas, California, on 12th March 1983, with the band at their peak.
One of America’s founding fathers of metal / hard rock, Y&T tore up the rule book with classic albums in 1981’s ‘Earthshaker’, ‘Black Tiger’ from 1982, and ’83s ‘Mean Streak’.
On the road to promote their 1983 album, this is a brilliant Y&T performance where the band was on fire, delivering hot versions of these songs…

As requested, here’s the remastered release of ’80s recordings from Florida based rockers SCARLET formed in 1983. The band’s first notice came with a Top 4 placing on MTV unsigned band competition “The Basement Tapes” for their 1984 track ‘Stop Runnin’.
With a career that spanned from 1983-1988 when they split, Scarlet recorded several tracks traded for years on cassette among fans & collectors. FnA Records came to the rescue and was able to acquire the band’s original hard to find tapes and compiled all Scarlet’s unpublished recordings creating a full-length collection album of the band’s work.
Scarlet’s music fused glammy melodic hard rock with US melodic metal, something not so many bands did at the time. While their looks included spandex and big hair, Scarlet songs were heavier and punchier than tha raising / upcoming glam pop metal style.
They never got singed but not for lacking quality, mainly because some members refused to move to L.A., resulting in a broke up in 1988 with half of the line up finally going to California to pursue other avenues…

You wanna hear a band about to explode? In June 1977, CHEAP TRICK was in Los Angeles to record their second album, ‘In Color’. To get the band in shape for the record, they booked 5 gigs at the Whisky a Go Go the weekend of June 3.
The result: a series of fire-breathing shows that you can still hear reverberating on the Sunset Strip to this day. KROQ DJ Rodney Bingenheimer introduced the band at the shows, and his memories are clear: ““The Whisky was packed for every show. A lot of girls showed up. It was like the ‘new’ Beatles had arrived.”
Indeed, this concert stand takes its place alongside The Doors in 1966, Led Zeppelin in 1969, and Van Halen in 1977 as among the most notorious shows hosted by the venerable venue.
All of this would be mere legend, witnessed by only a couple of hundred Cheap Trick fans each night, but for the fact that the tapes were rolling courtesy of the Record Plant’s Mobile Unit One for four out of the five shows (and the fidelity and immediacy of these recordings are AMAZING).
But when ‘At Budokan’ hit 18 months later and propelled the band to superstar status, the tapes were shelved.
Now, 45 years later, the whole world can discover what those lucky souls witnessed those nights at the Whisky: that this quartet from Rockford, Illinois was on its way to making rock history.
The ”Live at The Whisky 1977 [Limited 4-CD Set]” contains all four shows in their entirety (well over half completely unreleased), complete.
Limited to 2,000 copies, ”Live at The Whisky 1977 [Limited 4-CD Set]” is already sold out…

Carrying the endorsement of Tyketto’s Danny Vaughn, THIS HOUSE WE BUILT are an immensely promising quartet from UK with a confident, summery, melodic classic rock fueled style which self-titled debut CD “This House We Built” will leave you grinning from ear to ear.
It’s incredible THIS HOUSE WE BUILT is still unsigned, but that’s about to change very soon. Although self-finaced at present, the production on this debut CD is awesome, top notch.
A 10-tracker packed full of expressive songs plenty of vitality and most of all, originality. They remind me of – at places – Tyketto, Firehouse, at others, Kip Winger circa “Thisconversationseemslikeadream” or the pop/rock savvy of Harem Scarem, Venice or Colorvine.
This is one of the best independent releases we heard this year… and You’ve seen it first at 0dayrox

Cardiff based band CARDINAL BLACK debut album ”January Came Close” is either a promise well-kept or the dawn of something remarkable. The Welshmen’s first album is an unequivocal labor of love, combining rock and soul-soaked blues to magnificent effect – introducing singer Tom Hollister and the award-winning, Slash-approved Chris Buck as world-class talents.
Well-accustomed to life in the industry, most band members – Hollister, Buck, and drummer Adam Roberts were performing together over a decade ago under the moniker The Tom Hollister Trio, and had previously ventured out to the States in pursuit of their dreams. Now back in the U.K. and working alongside bassist Sam Williams, the stars have aligned, as the Welsh outfit look set to achieve what they were always destined to do so.
Like a warm embrace, these spectacular songs envelop the listener from start to finish. Debut albums seldom sound so impeccably assured…