Tune Tag #75 with Russell🤼‍♂️The Pro Wrestling Exuberant: Black Sabbath, Genesis, Tesla, Manhattan Transfer, Ozzy Osbourne, Journey

Surprise, Russell! As a teen, I saw '60s wrestling stars Johnny Valentine, Wahoo McDaniel, Ernie Ladd, and Fritz Von Erich! Can you say, "The Iron Claw"? Oh, it is ON, Russell🤼‍♂️It is SO on!

In this corner, Russell,

The Pro Wrestling Exuberant

!

📣LLLLLLLet’s Get Ready to Tune Tag!

Russell: “I appreciate the opportunity to write here for FRONT ROW & BACKSTAGE’s Tune Tag!”

The Pro Wrestling Exuberant

on Substack primarily covers ‘80s/’90s-centric pro wrestling topics from the point of view of an immersed fan since the 1980s, and former pro wrestling referee and magazine writer (during the ‘90s)!

The focus of The Pro Wrestling Exuberant is to tell the stories of different wrestlers from the ‘80s/’90s eras, chronicling both their on-camera careers and elements of their off-camera real-life personalities. The Pro Wrestling Exuberant is for the immersed pro wrestling fan and the casual viewer with an interest in historical wrestling topics, but we’re also for the curious reader who enjoys character-driven personality profiles regardless of whether they have ever watched a pro wrestling match!

My name is Russell Franklin, and I’m the writer of

The Pro Wrestling Exuberant

on Substack. I have been watching pro wrestling and collecting wrestling merchandise since the mid-1980s. In the 1990s, I wrote for newsstand wrestling magazines in an era where there was a large number of them being published every month!

In the 1990s, I worked as a pro wrestling referee. This was an amazing experience, and I have many great memories from this and many stories from things I saw! Music is one of my other main interests besides pro wrestling. I have a strong passion for ‘80s music, in particular hard rock from that era (or as some call it, hair metal)!

Last week, we enjoyed the ground-breaking Tune Tag, Part 2 of

Matt Madurski

of Chart Chat:

Tune Tag #74 with Matt Madurski of "Chart Chat," Pt. 2: Lou Reed, Blackstreet, Gotye, Perry Como, Far East Movement, Sting, AWA

Next week, Tune Tag in to witness the debut of newcomer,

Ryan Gonzalez

of the year-old The Ryry Rundown!

Russell’s song #1 sent to Brad: Black Sabbath, “Iron Man,” 1970

1970: A few short months before blowing up as an arena headliner, replete with Marshall stacks, a road crew and a lighting scheme, this humble garage band with charity shop cast-offs is poised to conquer the world with a thunderous sound, all but solidifying what came to be known as heavy metal. It all started with iron, man.

Russell’s rationale: “Iron Man” was my introduction to heavy metal. I first heard the song in 1986 (16 years after it first drew breath), and was riveted by the combination of guitar riffs, the lead singer’s voice, and the general frantic energy of the entire song!

As a direct result of this song, I began seeking out other heavy metal groups, and it quickly became my favorite genre at the time. It also resulted in me seeking out hard rock groups, as well. Nearly forty years later, my taste in music has remained the same.

“Iron Man” is significant in another very personal way: A few months before I first heard this song, I discovered professional wrestling. Like most new viewers, my introduction was the popular WWF (now WWE) with well-known wrestlers like Hulk Hogan, The Junkyard Dog, and Randy “Macho Man” Savage.

In 1986, someone told me about another promotion called NWA (National Wrestling Alliance), bought by Smashing Pumpkins co-founder/guitarist/singer, Billy Corgan in 2017. NWA was a rival to WWF, and I decided to go to a live show to see if I liked it. I did, and it would become my favorite promotion, and I credit it for making me a life-long wrestling fan!

Russell: “The Road Warriors, Hawk and Animal, released in 1985 from Remco for AWA (American Wrestling Association) that I purchased at the time, and one of the earliest wrestling figures ever released in the U.S., and first of The Road Warriors.”

My lasting memory of that first show, and that era, is a tag team called The Road Warriors (action figures shown above). They were one of the most popular and most physical tag teams of that or any era. Hawk and Animal were thickly-muscled, aggressive and wore face paint, and looked like larger-than-life movie characters.

The Road Warriors’ entrance theme was “Iron Man.” Every time I hear those opening chords (which make me think of a spinning airplane propeller for some reason), it takes me back to the ‘80s and being at an NWA show. The crowd would erupt in joyful glee at those chords, knowing The Road Warriors were about to make their entrance!

Brad’s song #1 sent to Russell: Genesis “Apocalypse in 9/8” (“Supper’s Ready” snippet), 1972

Russell’s response: I only recently listened to a Genesis album in its entirety for the first time: 1973’s Selling England by the Pound.

You picked a good one for your Genesis introduction, Russell! It served as a bridge of sorts between their two landmark studio albums, 1972’s Foxtrot (my intro to the band in real time) and 1974’s The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. The Genesis Live album (released in July 1973) came between Foxtrot and Selling England (released two months after Live, in September).

I didn’t know much about them beforehand, except Phil Collins was in the group, and I liked a few of his solo songs I’d heard in the ‘80s.

The connection here to “Iron Man” is Collins, who is also a drummer (I did not know that before writing this piece) and was the drummer for Genesis from 1970 to 1975 before he took over as lead singer when Peter Gabriel left the group.

[Brad: Cool thing about Genesis, Russell, is that the band auditioned about 400 singers to replace Gabriel, before realizing they’d had their next singer in the group the whole time! Phil had sung harmony with Gabriel on a few early-’70s songs.

I saw them twice with Gabriel: Once in 1975, for his final tour, promoting the band’s The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway album, and once, in early ‘74, in a small venue, as they had just released their previous album, your first exposure to them, Selling England:

Paper Plate: Peter Gabriel Offers Solid Diet Advice Following 1974 Genesis Show

How the band managed moving Collins in as singer: During concerts, they hired former Yes and King Crimson drummer, Bill Bruford, before eventually settling on former Zappa, Weather Report, and Santana drummer, Chester Thompson, who then became the band’s touring drummer for several decades (Phil, of course, would drum in-studio on their records)! Several times during each concert, Bill and Phil, and then, Chester and Phil would do extended drum duets within certain songs!

Here’s a fascinating video where we see how Phil and Chester work out their duets on a fancy ottoman in Brussels!👇

For Phil’s last concert, nearly a couple years ago, Phil’s son, Nic, played drums, while Phil sat in a chair downstage to ease an aching back]:

In The Heir Tonight: Drummer, Nic Collins, 22, More Than Just Genesis "Phil-in"

Back to Russell: In 2002, Collins was the guest drummer for the Black Sabbath song, “Paranoid,” at a concert called The Party at the Palace held at Buckingham Palace Garden [Brad: I never knew that, Russell! Happy to watch that, here! An amazing Tag!]:

Brad’s rationale: “Iron Man,” reportedly, is about the Apocalypse. “Supper’s Ready” has always been the Genesis magnum opus (taking up an entire side of vinyl at around 24 minutes!), and it culminates in their musical representation of the “Apocalypse in 9/8,” toward the end of the multi-part composition.

For my money, though (and, I’ve spent plenty to see them live four times, with half of those performances during their Peter Gabriel years), while many bands have spent many words explaining their notion of the apocalypse, Genesis sees fit to, mostly, musically represent the second coming. Gabriel’s wise-beyond-his-years lyrical content (he was around 22 when he wrote the words) is more graphic and spine-chilling than most sophomoric attempts by others:

Verses 13 and 14, written by Peter Gabriel:

With the guards of Magog swarming around
The Pied Piper takes his children underground
Dragons coming out of the sea
Shimmering silver head of wisdom looking at me
He brings down the fire from the skies
You can tell he’s doing well by the look in human eyes
Better not compromise, it won’t be easy.

666 is no longer alone
He’s getting out the marrow in your backbone
And the seven trumpets blowing sweet rock ‘n’ roll
Gonna blow right down inside your soul
Pythagoras with the looking glass reflects the full moon
In blood, he’s writing the lyrics of a brand new tune.

Russell’s song #2: Ozzy Osbourne, “Killer of Giants,” 1986

Metal mates: Metallica join Ozzy Osbourne's Ultimate Sin Tour as the opening act in Valley Center, Kansas, 1986.

Brad’s response: A guess, here, would be a similar apocalyptic tone to my Genesis snippet? I am appreciating the beyond-metal grandeur on this track, produced by the venerable (and incredibly versatile) Ron Nevison (whose presence here informs my next selection)!

Russell’s rationale: The night that Phil Collins played drums for Sabbath’s “Paranoid,” it was sung by Ozzy Osbourne, the original lead singer of Black Sabbath. “Paranoid” is one of my favorite heavy metal songs, and tied with “Iron Man” as my favorite Black Sabbath song.

Ozzy and two of the other original band members of Black Sabbath, Geezer Butler and Tony Iommi, reunited in 1997, recorded one live album (1998’s Reunion) and toured on occasion for the next 8 years. That night in London, though, when Collins was the drummer, the only other original member performing alongside Ozzy was guitarist, Iommi.

I picked “Killer of Giants” of the many Ozzy songs I like as well for this connection because I thought the theme of apocalypse was there in the lyrics in both, and in listening to the Genesis song, I thought both songs were telling a similar story of destruction in their own ways.

Brad’s song #2: Babys, “Isn’t It Time,” 1977 (synching to studio track)

Russell’s response: I had never heard of this band, so Brad’s choice here gave me something new to listen to. It took several listens for me to fully appreciate the song. I like Michael Corby’s piano in the opener, and the different sounds here really clicked for me after the third listen. The supporting singing trio, The Babettes, add a lot to the song and blend very well in their backing of lead singer John Waite.

The connection here is after The Babys disbanded, Waite’s next group was Bad English. The drummer for Bad English was Deen Castronovo, who was also Ozzy Osbourne’s drummer at one point!

Brad’s rationale: Ron Nevison strikes again, with more trademark dynamics, including strings and horns on this Babys track (live performance with the band synching to track) on the Dutch TopPop show above. [Russell’s Waite/Bad English/Castronovo/Ozzy Tag is another next-level connection! Nicely done, Russ!]

Fellow native Texan, guitarist/singer/recording artist, Gary Myrick, played (and co-wrote 4 songs) on Waite’s solo No Brakes album in 1984. Gary sat down with FRONT ROW & BACKSTAGE three years ago to talk about those sessions (and his career):

He Talks In Stereo, PART 1: Singer/Guitarist Gary Myrick Embraces His Texas Blues Muse-EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

Russell’s song #3: Journey, “All the Way,” 2001

Brad’s response: Well, while Ron Nevison has produced Journey in the past, he’s not here. And, that was my first thought as to a link. Instead, Kevin Shirley produced Arrival.

We do have an historic (if not iconic) release in several ways here: Discog’s notes: “Journey’s twelfth album, first released in December of 2000 in Japan and released in a revised version in the U.S. in April 2001. Arrival is Journey’s first album since 1977 not to feature longtime frontman Steve Perry, as well as the first full album to feature new frontman Steve Augeri, who debuted with the band on the single “Remember Me” from the album Armageddon (The Album). Arrival would also be the band’s last with longtime label Columbia [after 26 years].”

As I went to choose a track (just below) from the Jonathan Cain ‘70s solo album (on Bearsville/Warner Bros.), I was reminded that he once played keys for The Babys (he was also in Bad English, which also housed John Waite as lead singer), hence our link to Russell’s Journey track….nice.

Also nice was my meeting with Journey on the launch of their 1975, self-titled debut Columbia album (a hot mess of jazz fusion!)…and their career (sans Cain and Steve Perry)! That story:

Behind The Mic: A Personal Peek Into 1970s FM Classic Rock Radio--Pt. 1, The College Years

Russell’s rationale: Journey is another one of those classic groups I’ve only recently discovered. I’m still exploring their catalog. I like Escape a lot and it’s one of my go-to records right now to listen to. I just got Journey’s Greatest Hits on CD and was surprised how many of their hit songs I had heard over the years, but didn’t know it was from them!

I picked this song because of Deen Castronovo (above). After his time as the drummer for Bad English and Ozzy, he became Journey’s drummer. He spent the largest part of his career with this group, initially from 1998 to 2015, and re-joined in 2021.

Brad’s song #3: Jonathan Cain, “‘Til It’s Time to Say Goodbye,” 1975

This was likely the song the Jonathan Cain Band played on American Bandstand in 1976, just before Dick interviewed Jonathan:

Russell’s response: The connecting thread here is Jonathan Cain, who became the keyboardist for Journey in 1980, a few years after he recorded “‘Til It’s Time to Say Goodbye,” one of his earliest pieces as a soloist. I just discovered Cain is also the songwriter for one of my favorite Journey songs (and rock ballads in general), 1983’s “Faithfully.” Their massive 1981 hit, “Don’t Stop Believin’” was written by Cain, Steve Perry, and Neil Schon).

A longtime Christian, Cain sang the song he co-wrote on The Jim Bakker Show in 2017:

Russell’s song #4: Tesla, “Modern Day Cowboy,” 1986

Brad’s response: Kind of at a loss as to what/who Russell’s linking to, here (from my Jonathan Cain single), so I’m willing to learn!

This was Tesla’s debut single, and a track off their debut long-player, Mechanical Resonance, released in December 1986, and produced by Steve Thompson and Michael Barbiero, on Geffen Records. I was far away from any new music in late ‘86, having just graduated from college in Orange County at age 31, and was beginning a new career as a full-time professional youth minister at a Los Angeles-county Lutheran church.

I do recall several of my high school youth groupers mentioning Tesla and liking them! To me, now, they sound a little Ratt-a-two-y. ‘Twas Ratt’s “Round and Round” that I remember liking two years earlier, in an “off-brand” like for me! Tesla and Ratt seem quite similar, stylistically, to me. They’re both Californian, while Ratt is a Hollywood product, Tesla came from up north in Sacramento.

Russell’s rationale: Tesla is one of those groups that I used to listen to in the past that I am rediscovering now. I recently got 1989’s The Great Radio Controversy, their second album, and 1991’s Psychotic Supper from used CD stores, and I think they have that quintessential ‘80s hard rock sound I like so much with the strong electric guitar riffs and compelling vocalist.

“Modern Day Cowboy” was, and still is my favorite Tesla song and captures the spirt of ‘80s hard rock at its peak, in my opinion. The connection to Jonathan Cain is Albert Grossman, who was the manager of Bob Dylan and Janis Joplin, among others. Grossman also had his own record label and recording studio.

Tesla’s first album, Mechanical Resonance, that “Modern Day Cowboy” is on, was released in 1986, and was recorded at Grossman’s Bearsville Studio in upstate New York. Cain’s Windy City Breakdown was released on Grossman’s Bearsville Records label in 1976.

Brad’s song #4: The Manhattan Transfer, “A Gal In Calico,” 1978

Russell’s response: I dug deep on this one, but couldn’t come up with any connection between Tesla’s “Modern Day Cowboy” to Manhattan Transfer’s “A Gal in Calico.” I’m looking forward to what Brad’s rationale is because I am clearly missing something.

The only connection I could make seemed too obscure and separated by too many degrees. It was related to Albert Grossman again: Roy Markowitz produced the demo for Manhattan Transfer that led to their first record with Atlantic in 1975. Markowitz had played as a drummer with Janis Joplin, who was managed Grossman, and Tesla recorded “Modern Day Cowboy” at Grossman’s studio.

Again, this seems too obscure and does not seem direct enough of a connection between these two bands and the two songs.

Brad’s rationale: I took Tesla’s “Modern Day Cowboy,” and matched them with a modern-day vocal group (who loved often going retro), and tagged ‘em up with “A Gal in Calico,” and hope they hit it off, tumbling tumbleweeds and all! “Yee-hawww!”🤠