From the Desk of CLASSICKONG 🦍🎙️
Good Friday morning from all of us at WTSG-DB*, where the music never stops and the memories are always welcome.*
Before we turn up the volume today, we begin with a heartfelt thank you to the men and women of the United States Armed Forces, past and present.
To our veterans, active-duty service members, reservists, National Guard members, and military families: thank you for your service, sacrifice, and dedication to this great nation.
We remember those who never made it home, and we never take for granted the freedoms their sacrifices helped preserve.
Today, August 21, takes us from Metallica’s garage to the dance floor with Patrick Swayze, from the heavy guitars of RATT to the unmistakable voice of Glenn Hughes. We’ll remember country legend Kenny Rogers, spend some time swinging with Count Basie, and celebrate one of the most extraordinary voices American popular music has ever produced: Linda Ronstadt.
And somewhere along the way, apparently CLASSICKONG is going to eat something called spumoni.
Don’t worry.
We didn’t know what it was either.
😂
Metallica Goes Back to the Garage — Garage Days Re-Revisited 🤘
On August 21, 1987, Metallica released The $5.98 E.P. – Garage Days Re-Revisited.
It represented an important moment in Metallica history.
The band was still dealing with the devastating loss of bassist Cliff Burton, who died September 27, 1986, at only 24 years old.
Metallica brought Jason Newsted into the band, and Garage Days Re-Revisited became the first Metallica release to feature him.
Rather than immediately attempting another massive studio statement following Master of Puppets (1986), Metallica went back to some of the music that helped shape them.
And they really did go back to the garage.
The band rehearsed the material in drummer Lars Ulrich’s garage, which they helped convert into a small rehearsal and recording space.
The original five tracks:
- “Helpless” — originally by Diamond Head
- “The Small Hours” — originally by Holocaust
- “The Wait” — originally by Killing Joke
- “Crash Course in Brain Surgery” — originally by Budgie
- “Last Caress / Green Hell” — originally by the Misfits
Those songs would eventually become part of Metallica’s much larger Garage Inc. collection in 1998.
And how about that title?
The $5.98 E.P.
Metallica didn’t want fans being charged some ridiculous inflated price for an EP, so they put the suggested price right there in the title.
The CD version even became:
The $9.98 CD – Garage Days Re-Revisited.
😂
But underneath the humor was something important.
This was Metallica acknowledging some of the musicians who helped create their musical vocabulary while simultaneously introducing Jason Newsted to the band’s listeners.
The next chapter was coming.
In 1988, Metallica would release:
…And Justice for All.
And the machine would keep rolling.
Dirty Dancing Gives Us the Time of Our Lives 🎬🎶
On August 21, 1987, American audiences were introduced to a little movie called Dirty Dancing.
And buddy, that soundtrack became almost as important as the movie itself.
Starring Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey, Dirty Dancing combined its early-1960s setting with classic recordings and newly recorded music, creating one of the most memorable movie soundtracks of the 1980s.
You couldn’t get very far from a radio in those days without hearing:
“(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life” — Bill Medley & Jennifer Warnes
Then there was:
“Hungry Eyes” — Eric Carmen
“She’s Like the Wind” — Patrick Swayze
“Yes” — Merry Clayton
And woven throughout the movie were classics including:
“Be My Baby” — The Ronettes
“Love Is Strange” — Mickey & Sylvia
“Do You Love Me” — The Contours
For younger moviegoers, Dirty Dancing became an introduction to music recorded years before they were born.
And Patrick Swayze wasn’t simply an actor pretending to be a singer.
Swayze co-wrote and performed “She’s Like the Wind,” giving the movie another genuine hit and proving once again what a remarkably talented man he was.
The soundtrack became a phenomenon in its own right.
But more than anything, those songs became permanently attached to memories.
Hear the opening of “Hungry Eyes” or “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life,” and suddenly it’s 1987 again.
That’s what music does better than almost anything else.
And with a respectful little nod to Johnny Castle…
Nobody puts music in a corner! 😉
Anthrax Shows the Persistence of Time ⏳🤘
On August 21, 1990, Anthrax released its fifth studio album:
Persistence of Time.
This was a darker and more serious Anthrax than some listeners had previously heard.
The album included:
“Time”
“Blood”
“Keep It in the Family”
“In My World”
“Belly of the Beast”
And Anthrax’s memorable version of the Joe Jackson song:
“Got the Time.”
The album earned a Grammy nomination for Best Metal Performance and became the final full Anthrax studio album featuring singer Joey Belladonna until his return on Worship Music in 2011.
Persistence of Time remains an excellent snapshot of thrash metal in 1990—heavy, intelligent, aggressive and increasingly mature.
Metallica’s Garage Days anniversary from 1987…
Anthrax’s Persistence of Time from 1990…
August 21 apparently came with instructions:
TURN IT UP.
RATT Lights the Fuse on Detonator 🐀🎸
Also released on August 21, 1990 was RATT’s fifth studio album:
Detonator.
And if there’s one thing we’ve always loved about RATT around here, it’s those guitars.
Warren DeMartini and Robbin Crosby made one heck of a guitar team.
RATT could be melodic and catchy, but there was always some muscle underneath it.
Listen to something like “Lay It Down.”
That opening guitar riff tells you exactly who you’re listening to before the vocals ever arrive.
By the time Detonator appeared, RATT already had an impressive run behind them:
Out of the Cellar (1984)
Invasion of Your Privacy (1985)
Dancing Undercover (1986)
Reach for the Sky (1988)
Detonator (1990)
The album included “Shame Shame Shame,” “Lovin’ You’s a Dirty Job,” “Givin’ Yourself Away” and plenty of those wonderfully heavy RATT guitars.
Sadly, Detonator would become the final RATT studio album to feature guitarist Robbin Crosby.
Crosby died June 6, 2002, at only 42 years old.
His contribution to RATT’s sound should never be forgotten.
The Desmond Child Connection
Behind Detonator was one of the most successful songwriters and producers in modern popular music:
Desmond Child.
And calling the guy merely “successful” almost seems inadequate.
Just look at some of the songs carrying his songwriting fingerprints:
KISS — “I Was Made for Lovin’ You”
Bon Jovi — “You Give Love a Bad Name”
Bon Jovi — “Livin’ on a Prayer”
Bon Jovi — “Bad Medicine”
Aerosmith — “Dude (Looks Like a Lady)”
Aerosmith — “Angel”
Aerosmith — “What It Takes”
Alice Cooper — “Poison”
Joan Jett & the Blackhearts — “I Hate Myself for Loving You”
Cher — “Just Like Jesse James”
Ricky Martin — “Livin’ la Vida Loca”
And that’s barely scratching the surface.
Before becoming the songwriter and producer seemingly everyone wanted to work with, Child was a recording artist himself with Desmond Child & Rouge.
Music also ran in his family. His mother, Elena Casals, was a singer, songwriter and poet.
What makes Desmond Child particularly fascinating is that he could collaborate with dramatically different artists without erasing what made those artists distinctive.
Bon Jovi still sounded like Bon Jovi.
Aerosmith still sounded like Aerosmith.
Alice Cooper still sounded like Alice Cooper.
And RATT?
RATT still had those guitars.
Some songwriters have a few hits.
Desmond Child helped write part of the soundtrack to an entire generation.
Much respect from all of us here at WTSG-DB.
Happy Birthday, Glenn Hughes — The Voice of Rock 🎂🎙️
Born August 21, 1951, Glenn Hughes celebrates his 75th birthday today.
What a career.
Trapeze.
Deep Purple.
Hughes/Thrall.
An extensive solo career.
Black Country Communion.
The Dead Daisies.
And through it all…
That voice.
Hughes joined Deep Purple during the band’s Mark III era alongside David Coverdale, contributing bass and vocals to albums including:
Burn (1974)
Stormbringer (1974)
Come Taste the Band (1975)
His ability to combine hard rock with soul and funk gave Hughes a vocal identity unlike almost anyone else in the genre.
And CLASSICKONG has a particular recommendation from Glenn’s solo catalog:
Resonate (2016).
This one is a BANGER.
There’s an overall heaviness to Resonate that we absolutely love around here. It’s muscular, powerful hard rock while still leaving plenty of room for Glenn’s enormous voice.
If you primarily know Hughes through Deep Purple or Black Country Communion and haven’t spent much time with his solo catalog, CLASSICKONG recommends putting Resonate on your list.
This birthday, however, carries some additional emotion.
Glenn recently announced his retirement from touring while dealing with serious health problems and preparing for another heart surgery.
So today we’re doing more than celebrating an extraordinary career.
From CLASSICKONG and everybody here at WTSG-DB:
Happy 75th Birthday, Glenn.
Thank you for decades of tremendous music.
We’re sending our very best wishes your way and hoping for strength, healing, better health and many more birthdays ahead.
Take care of yourself, Glenn. The music can wait.
Remembering Joe Strummer 🎸
Joe Strummer was born August 21, 1952, and died December 22, 2002, at only 50 years old.
As singer, guitarist and songwriter with The Clash, Strummer helped create music that combined punk rock with reggae, ska, rockabilly and other influences.
Essential Clash studio albums include:
The Clash (1977)
Give ‘Em Enough Rope (1978)
London Calling (1979)
Sandinista! (1980)
Combat Rock (1982)
Songs including “London Calling,” “Should I Stay or Should I Go,” “Train in Vain” and “Rock the Casbah” helped carry The Clash far beyond punk’s original boundaries.
Joe Strummer remains one of punk rock’s most recognizable voices.
Remembering Kenny Rogers — The Gambler 🎂🤠
Kenny Rogers was born August 21, 1938, and died March 20, 2020, at age 81.
And what a storyteller.
Before becoming the silver-haired country superstar generations remember, Rogers had already enjoyed considerable success with The First Edition.
Remember:
“Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)”
Yep.
That’s Kenny Rogers.
His solo career would eventually produce an enormous collection of country and pop favorites:
“Lucille”
“The Gambler”
“She Believes in Me”
“Coward of the County”
“Lady”
“Through the Years”
“You Decorated My Life”
And, with Dolly Parton:
“Islands in the Stream.”
Kenny had something that can’t be manufactured in a studio.
He could tell you a story.
Sometimes all it took was a weathered voice, a great lyric and a few minutes.
And when Kenny Rogers told you:
You’ve got to know when to hold ’em…
know when to fold ’em…
Well…
You listened.
Count Basie — The Art of Swing 🎹
Today we celebrate an absolute legend of American music.
William James “Count” Basie was born August 21, 1904, and died April 26, 1984.
The Count.
Pianist.
Composer.
Bandleader.
Pure legend.
Count Basie became one of the defining figures of the swing era, leading an orchestra whose rhythmic drive and effortless sense of swing became unmistakable.
But Basie’s own piano playing deserves special attention.
He understood something every musician eventually has to learn:
You don’t have to play every note available to you.
Basie could leave space.
A few perfectly placed notes could say more than another musician might communicate with fifty.
That sense of timing, restraint and swing was part of his genius.
And the musicians who passed through the Count Basie Orchestra over the decades represent an extraordinary chapter of jazz history.
CLASSICKONG’s Count Basie Essentials
Count Basie’s catalog is enormous, so rather than pretending we can squeeze a lifetime of recordings into one blog, here are some albums worth exploring:
Count Basie Swings, Joe Williams Sings (1955)
April in Paris (1957)
The Atomic Mr. Basie (1958)
Chairman of the Board (1959)
Count Basie and the Kansas City 7 (1962)
Sinatra-Basie: An Historic Musical First with Frank Sinatra (1962)
It Might as Well Be Swing with Frank Sinatra (1964)
Basie Straight Ahead (1968)
Basie Jam (1973)
The Timekeepers with Oscar Peterson (1978)
And buddy, that’s still only an introduction.
If your normal musical diet consists mostly of rock, country or pop, do yourself a favor.
Spend an evening with The Count.
Listen to the rhythm section.
Listen to the spaces between those piano notes.
Listen to that band swing.
Great musicianship doesn’t need a genre label.
It just needs ears willing to listen.
A CLASSICKONG Spotlight — Linda Ronstadt ❤️🎶
While researching today’s music history, we came across a commonly repeated story claiming that Linda Ronstadt made her Broadway debut in The Pirates of Penzance on August 21, 1980.
There’s only one problem.
It isn’t true.
Linda was appearing in the production during its Central Park run that summer, but the show didn’t open on Broadway until later that year.
Rather than repeat a bad date, we’re correcting the record.
But all that research got CLASSICKONG listening to Linda Ronstadt again.
And once that happens…
Well, you’re not getting rid of us that easily.
😂
Linda Ronstadt refused to spend her career inside one musical box.
Rock.
Country.
Pop.
Traditional Mexican music.
The Great American Songbook.
Operetta.
She kept exploring.
She kept learning.
And she kept singing.
CLASSICKONG’s Linda Ronstadt Must-Haves
Heart Like a Wheel (1974)
Prisoner in Disguise (1975)
Hasten Down the Wind (1976)
Simple Dreams (1977)
Living in the USA (1978)
Mad Love (1980)
What’s New (1983)
Lush Life (1984)
For Sentimental Reasons (1986)
Canciones de Mi Padre (1987)
Cry Like a Rainstorm, Howl Like the Wind (1989)
And that last record?
Around here, it’s something special.
For CLASSICKONG, Cry Like a Rainstorm, Howl Like the Wind isn’t simply another great Linda Ronstadt album.
It’s a defining record.
And we mean “mature” here in the very best possible sense.
That doesn’t diminish the wonderful albums Linda made earlier in her career. Those records helped bring her to this moment.
But by 1989, something had changed.
Years of singing, performing and exploring everything from rock and country to standards, traditional Mexican music and theatrical material had given Linda extraordinary command of her instrument.
On this album, you hear a singer who knows exactly what her voice can do.
She can be delicate.
She can be vulnerable.
She can show remarkable restraint.
And when the song calls for it, she can unleash a voice of almost breathtaking power.
Beautiful.
Powerful.
Effortless.
The album also features the magnificent voice of Aaron Neville, including the beautiful duets:
“Don’t Know Much”
“All My Life”
“When Something Is Wrong with My Baby”
Linda Ronstadt and Aaron Neville together?
Those two voices were simply made for one another.
But CLASSICKONG’s personal favorite from the record is:
“Adios.”
And while working on today’s story, we discovered something that made a song we’ve loved for years even more special.
“Adios” was written by Jimmy Webb.
Suddenly it made perfect sense.
The man who gave us songs including “Wichita Lineman,” “By the Time I Get to Phoenix” and “Galveston” was behind this beautiful song too.
And then came another discovery.
Listen carefully to those gorgeous harmonies on “Adios.”
That’s Brian Wilson contributing backing vocals and helping with the vocal arrangement.
Jimmy Webb.
Linda Ronstadt.
Brian Wilson.
With Peter Asher producing the album.
Good grief.
Sometimes you love a song for years before discovering who wrote it or who else was standing behind the microphone.
And when CLASSICKONG learned that “Adios” came from the pen of Jimmy Webb—and that Brian Wilson was part of those beautiful harmonies—suddenly it all made perfect sense.
But none of that is why we originally loved the song.
Our ears had already made that decision.
Now we simply understand a little more about why it reached us.
For CLASSICKONG, Cry Like a Rainstorm, Howl Like the Wind represents Linda Ronstadt at the top of the mountain.
The pinnacle.
If someone ever asks why Linda Ronstadt deserves to be remembered among America’s truly great vocalists, CLASSICKONG has a very simple answer:
Put on Cry Like a Rainstorm, Howl Like the Wind.
Then just listen.
Elvis Presley Passes Another Incredible Milestone 👑
On August 21, 1976, RCA Victor announced that sales of Elvis Presley records had passed the 400-million mark.
Think about that number.
And remember:
Elvis was still alive.
By 1976, he had traveled an extraordinary road from the young singer who walked into Sun Records in Memphis to one of the most recognizable entertainers on Earth.
Less than one year later, on August 16, 1977, Elvis Presley would be gone at only 42 years old.
But the records remained.
They still do.
And generations born long after Elvis left the building continue discovering that voice.
National Senior Citizens Day ❤️🇺🇸
Today is National Senior Citizens Day, an opportunity to recognize the achievements, wisdom and contributions of older Americans.
And around here, we think that’s worth celebrating.
Because so much of what we enjoy today was handed down to us by somebody who came before.
Music.
Traditions.
Skills.
Stories.
Lessons.
Sometimes even an old record collection.
Every generation leaves something behind for the next one.
So today, take a little time to call your parents, grandparents, an older friend or neighbor.
Ask them a question.
Listen to one of their stories.
Maybe ask:
“What record did you love when you were my age?”
You might be surprised where the conversation takes you.
As for some of us who might be getting a little closer to qualifying ourselves…
Wait a minute.
Why does CLASSICKONG keep looking at me?
😂😂😂
Knock it off, Kong.
We’re not old.
We’re vintage.
National Spumoni Day 🍨
And now we arrive at perhaps today’s most important cultural observance.
National Spumoni Day.
When CLASSICKONG first heard the word “spumoni,” he wasn’t entirely sure whether he should grab a spoon…
…or call the doctor and ask for antibiotics.
😂😂😂
Fortunately, it’s considerably better than it sounds.
Spumoni is an Italian-style frozen dessert traditionally made with layers of different flavors and colors, often containing things such as nuts and candied fruit.
CLASSICKONG tried it.
CLASSICKONG likes it.
In fact, CLASSICKONG would like another bowl.
He does, however, believe something this delicious deserves a name considerably more appetizing than:
SPUMONI.
😂🍨
So we’re opening the floor.
If you could rename spumoni, what would you call it?
Until somebody comes up with something better, CLASSICKONG has volunteered to continue researching the subject.
One bowl at a time.
Purely for journalistic purposes, of course.
CLASSICKONG’s Question of the Day 🦍❓
Today’s stories covered everything from thrash metal and jazz to country music and one of the biggest movie soundtracks of the 1980s.
So let’s see who’s been paying attention.
Which song from Dirty Dancing was co-written and performed by the movie’s star Patrick Swayze?
A. “Hungry Eyes”
B. “She’s Like the Wind”
C. “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life”
D. “Do You Love Me”
No peeking.
We’ll give you the answer at the bottom.
One More Thought from CLASSICKONG 🦍❤️
There’s a common thread running through many of today’s stories.
Influence.
Metallica made a record honoring bands that influenced them.
Desmond Child helped artists turn ideas into songs that would influence millions.
Dirty Dancing introduced younger listeners to recordings made years before they were born.
Count Basie helped build a musical language musicians still speak.
Linda Ronstadt spent a lifetime absorbing different kinds of music until all those experiences helped create the mature, magnificent singer we hear on Cry Like a Rainstorm, Howl Like the Wind.
Kenny Rogers understood the power of telling a good story.
And Senior Citizens Day reminds us that nearly everything we know came, at least partly, from somebody who walked the road before us.
That’s how music survives.
One generation hears something…
Loves it…
And hands it to the next.
Sometimes we even spend years loving a song before discovering that Jimmy Webb wrote it and Brian Wilson was singing in the background.
There’s always something else to discover.
That’s why an old record is never really old when somebody is hearing it for the first time.
Keep listening.
Keep discovering.
Keep sharing.
And above all…
Keep the music alive.
Trivia Answer: B — “She’s Like the Wind.”
Listen to Today’s Broadcast
Sit back, relax, and enjoy today’s story in audio form with CLASSICKONG.
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From all of us here at WTSG Digital Broadcasting:
Thank you for listening.
Thank you for supporting independent radio.
And most importantly…
Keep the music playing.
WTSG-DB — Great Music. Great Radio. Great Community. 🇺🇸
