Tune Tag #137 with Bob Tooker of Music & Muffins: Isley Bros, Genesis, Desi Arnaz, Clash, Queensryche, Stan Freberg, Bad Religion, Riot
We met IRL a month ago in Austin, TX, and it's always cool (and rare) to meet a fellow Substacker! I wish I could say we duked this Tag out while racing motorcycles during rush hour....but, nah...
Or, did we?!?!?
Welcome, Bob Tooker of Music and Muffins, to your debut Tune Tag!
“Pacific Northwest raised now living in the Midwest. Willing to discuss mountain biking, cars, music, and baking. And not necessarily in that order!”
👆Bob (r) was kind enough to fall by my local N. Austin Panera Bread, February 23, ‘26, on his way to points nearby on a business jaunt! He was also kind enough to buy me lunch, and patiently listen to my endless, “And, listen to this….” rockin’ stories!
One of Bob’s most recent articles on his Music & Muffins tackles the dilemma most of us vinyl hoarders collectors confront from time to time:
Last week, we were charmed to have Tamara Casey aka Taz, of Rare Groove Productions, join us for a St. Paddy’s Day Tune Taz:
Next week, we’ll set the Tune Tag Table for Ian Paul Sharp of LP, for his 3rd Tune Tag!
Bob’s song #1 sent to Brad: Riot, “Swords and Tequila,” 1981
Bob’s rationale: So, let’s start with something a little less Top 40: Riot and “Swords and Tequila.” This is a song from the band’s third album, released in 1981 (Fire Down Under). Although not having a strong following in the U.S., they did well in the UK. Formed in New York, they had a slightly different sound than what was coming out of the UK and the British Metal invasion of that time. At that point in my life, I was avoiding anything mainstream.🔥
Never one for the mainstream, Riot stood out as something new and different from what my friends were listening to at the time. I was at that point in life where you are trying to find yourself, deciding how you are seen by others. And as Punk was always an option, skinny jeans were not! “Swords and Tequila” featured powerful riffs with passionate vocals that seemed to walk the line between heavy metal and speed metal, although at the time, we didn’t call it speed metal, it was just new and exciting.
Brad’s response: Apparently, as Bob so alludes, these guys had a destiny somewhat unfulfilled. As Loudersound intoned about Riot in February 2021, “This is a story of heroic failure. Of bad luck and lousy timing, misguided decisions and clashing personalities. Of a band who fell afoul of the machinations of the music industry, the fickleness of the record-buying public, and the dark side of the rock’n’roll dream.
“Between 1977 and 1981, they released a string of albums that should have turned them into superstars, one of which – 1981’s Fire Down Under – remains one of the great hard rock records of the era.
“They’re fêted by everyone from [Metallica drummer] Lars Ulrich, who has cited them as an influence, to Lady Gaga, who took inspiration from one of their anthems. They had the songs, the look and the determination.”
“It’s just amazing that anything ever happened,” says drummer Sandy Slavin, who was a member of the band during their early-’80s heyday. “When I played with Ace Frehley, we’d be sitting on the bus and everybody would be telling you their music business horror stories. Mine was always just that little bit more horrifying.
“To be successful, you have to be a great performer, play the game and work with the press,” says Billy Arnell, who co-managed the band in the late ‘70s and early-’80s. “Riot wasn’t that great at that stuff. They didn’t understand that being in the music business, a multi billion-dollar industry, took more than thinking like a Brooklyn kid.
“Former guitarist Rick Ventura – a man who lived through the worst parts of the story – puts it more bluntly: ‘Talk about a band with bad luck.’”
