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New Rock Piston Rock News

American Dreamin’: An Interview with Jack Edwards of Piston

American Dreamin’ an interview with Jack Edwards of Piston
American Dreamin’ an interview with Jack Edwards of Piston

On the Radar Jack Edwards of Piston: An Insightful Chat with A Guitar Guru

Jack Edwards of Piston
Jack Edwards of Piston

I recently had the honor of interviewing Jack Edwards of up and coming U.K. rock sensation Piston. For being a fresh new rock formation, this bunch has some pretty eye catching acknowledgments in the books already. Piston’s ‘Rainmaker’ was ‘A’ listed on Planet Rock (UK’s #1 rock station). ‘Rainmaker’ was exclusively premiered online by Classic Rock Magazine and Louder Sound. Aside from being featured in Total Guitar’s ‘Ones To Watch,’ Music Radar nominated Jack Edwards and Luke Allatt of Piston for ‘Best New Guitarist’ 2019. The duo were even recently voted #3 in Music Radar’s ‘Best New Guitarists In The World Right Now’.

My main goal was to delve into Edwards’ musical roots & where he aspires to be with the band in the near future (once the world opens back up that is) as a possible introduction to U.S. audiences. This band truly seems as though they would be up for the challenge of going global with their already musically well rounded, rich & deeply Rock ‘N’ Roll tracks. This interviewer’s goal was obviously to gain more insight into the foundation & expectations of it all, but actually ended up uncovering quite a down-to-earth rocker in Piston guitarist Jack Edwards.

Roctavia: I just wanted to take a moment to thank you for answering a few questions with me Jack, I really appreciate your time. Let’s start things off with diving into where it all began for you. What inspired you to turn towards music, & what moved you to pick up your first guitar?

Jack Edwards: I have grown up in a house surrounded by rock music. My parents are huge fans of rock so we would always have that blasting throughout. My dad would often work on his Harley Davidson blasting Mötley Crüe records, I remember that! There was an old guitar lying around my grandparents house and I picked it up and started making noise, then it all picked up from there!

Roctavia: Wow. That sounds like a pretty great house to grow up in!

Roctavia: Do you recall your first gig? Can you tell us what it was like?

Jack Edwards: I remember my first gig really well. I was in high school and it was the first time I had played in front of an audience properly. I had been so nervous that I couldn’t eat for two days! Anyway, I remember the feeling of adrenaline like no other, and how well we went down. I mean, we were just kids playing in a school hall to lunch packers but I definitely felt like a rockstar (for three minutes).

Roctavia: If you had one message for all of the young musicians out there, what would you say to them?

Jack Edwards: Stick with it, keep going and stay true to yourself.

Roctavia: On that note, what has been your biggest gig so far?

Jack Edwards: Definitely when we were on tour with The Cult. We played Manchester Apollo which held 3500 people that night. It was a wild experience being on that stage that many legends have graced.

Roctavia: Wow! That sounds like a pretty electrifying experience.

Roctavia: So I’m curious as to what the writing process looks like for Piston & are there any current projects in the works?

Jack Edwards: We have just set up our own studio, which we now use to write all of our tracks. We send the tracks to Rob, our singer and he lays his vocals down and then we perform them together. I mean, these are demos and we have nearly wrote album 2.

Roctavia: Your song “Rainmaker” packs quite the punch! Where did you draw the inspiration for it musically?

Jack Edwards: Oh thanks! Well I think Luke originally had the riff. It come from an AC/DC style thing he had going on, and we refined it from there! AC/DC meets Black Sabbath!

Roctavia: That’s awesome! It really does make an impact on the first listen!

Roctavia: Where do you see Piston headed 5 years from now?

Jack Edwards: Well, that’s hard to answer giving the current pandemic. Will we be playing shows? Who knows! We hope to! We plan on making albums up until we can’t do it anymore. 2019 was a hell of a year from us, so we will pick it up from there and keep going!

Roctavia: So how would you feel about touring the US? What would you look forward to most about crossing the pond?

Jack Edwards: We would LOVE to tour the US. I want to play in the obvious places in LA, but I think with us going to America it could get messy… one of us will probably die for sure! Ha!

Roctavia: Haha! Yeah, we do know how to have a lot of fun over here…you gotta be careful haha.

Roctavia: If you could collaborate with any one of your musical heroes, who would you choose & why?

Jack Edwards: That’s a tough question. I’d love to write a track with Axl Rose, personally. I have always loved his vocals and his lyrics.

Roctavia: I always love to end interviews on a fun or off the cuff question, so if you could choose one song to play every time you walked into a room for the rest of your life, what song would you choose and why?

Jack Edwards: “Kickstart My Heart” by Mötley Crüe because it just makes me want to take my clothes off and go crazy!

Roctavia: Hahaha! Great answer! Thank you so much for taking the time out to interview with us today! We look forward to hearing all of the new music in the works from Piston.

Piston are:
Rob Angelico (Vocals)
Jack Edwards (Guitar)
Luke Allatt (Guitar)
Brad Newlands (Drums)
Stuart Egan (Bass)

For merch and tour dates visit.
https://www.pistonuk.com
https://www.facebook.com/PistonUK/

@PistonMusic

Love & Rockets ~ Roctavia
American Dreamin’: An Interview with Jack Edwards of Piston by Roctavia
American Dreamin’: An Interview with Jack Edwards of Piston at Rock Band T-shirts
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New Rock Rock News

Rock N Roll-Soul To Soul: Fresh & Tasty Rock Collaborations

Rock Collaborations
Rock Collaborations

Rock Collaborations

The malaise of 2020 has definitely lead to the young & restlessness of regal rockers across the globe. It has been a pretty difficult year for those who are used to consistently touring, promoting, and globetrotting. One amazing phenomenon that has been produced by the year that the earth stood still is that more established rockers & up and coming artists alike are blurring lines by reaching out to each other across social media platforms and producing some pretty fine gems creatively.

Another thing that the time away from the world has provided many with are new perspectives & different points of view as far as the creative process as a whole is concerned. Whether it be production concepts, new & edgy soundscapes, or the good old ‘two heads are better than one ’ideals, there are some red-hot young artists bringing badass bops to the table for the world of Rock.

Our journey starts with Yungblud who is an expertly fresh, fun, and freeing performer that is quickly clawing his way to laying solid foundation towards becoming a household name. He is hands-down a new breed of rock star. As recently as September, Yungblud joined forces with Oliver Sykes of hard rocking Bring Me The Horizon fame to produce an exhilarating collab in their single “Obey”.

Some of Yungblud’s most recent singles also feature names like Travis Barker of Blink-182 fame as well as The Used and you can listen in on his Spotify profile here:

Another hot and ready band that recently unleashed a sizzling new album with lots of juicy collabs is The Struts with their October release of Strange Days. It features songs kissed by the magic touch of some pretty big names in Rock ‘N’ Roll fame. The cameos roll up with “Another Hit of Showmanship” which is an Albert Hammond Jr. of The Strokes collaboration, “I Hate How Much I Want You” which thunderously features Joe Elliot and Phil Collen of Def Leppard fame, rounded out by “Wild Child” that turns up the heat with scorching hot solos from Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine.

If you’re hungry for more from The Struts, you can check out their delicious catalogue of songs here:

Not to be outdone, Miley Cyrus is stepping up to bat and absolutely knocking it out of the park on her new album Plastic Hearts. It features more impressive cameos from rock history in the likes of Billy Idol on “Night Crawling”, Stevie Nicks on “Edge of Midnight” and the too too rad Joan Jet & The Black Hearts on “Bad Karma”.

You can listen to the whole speaker slaying album here:

The creative process can definitely stagnate and become stale especially in these trying times. Those who make a living on bringing people together seem to still be doing exactly that in the absence of the ability to congregate.

If you think about it (to the major benefit of the people of the world) we may not be able to see them perform these works of art live right now, but when the world opens back up we have loads to look forward to. In my opinion, there is a unique phenomenon that has occurred by getting more vetted artists involved in these new & exciting collaborations.

In a world that has been torn apart over the past year, these new tracks are bridging gaps between decades of fandoms & uniting us all in our love for our favourite artists again. There is something major to be said about the utmost level of respect that this collection of impressive young artists have for those who blazed the trails in Rock ‘N’ Roll before them. The very same trails that they are currently lighting up themselves.

Love & Rockets ~ Roctavia
Rock Collaborations at Rock Band T-shirts

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New Rock Rock News The Kinks

Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One 50th anniversary reissue.

Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One
Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One

So, many years ago, well to be precise 50 years ago, a band called The Kinks released an album that introduced us to a girl (Sort of) called Lola from the album Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One. This wasn’t the bands first album it was actually the 8th studio album originally released in 1970.

Fast forward to 2020 and the Kinks bring us a deluxe set of Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One remastered from the original HD master tapes. The vinyl release includes a 60 page hardback book, demos and conversations with Ray and Dave.

Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One tLola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One tThe Kinks Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Pt. 1 - Box Set Vinyl 2

Back in 1970 the single Lola reached number two in the UK Charts. Ray Davis said the inspiration for the song came from a night in Paris. Kinks manager Robert Wace spent the night with a cross dresser. Ray said “In his apartment, Robert had been dancing with this black woman, and he said, ‘I’m really onto a thing here.’ And it was okay until we left at six in the morning and then I said, ‘Have you seen the stubble?’ He said ‘Yeah’, but he was too pissed to care, I think”

Order your copy here from Amazon The Kinks Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Pt. 1 - Box Set Vinyl 2

To mark the occasion The Kinks have released a new video for Lola.

The Kinks at Rock Band T-shirts.

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New Rock Rock News The Network

The Network – A Green New Day

The Network – A Green New Day
The Network – A Green New Day

Ok so have you ever gotten the feeling that you’re on to someone? Or maybe you’re in on one of those “if you know, you know,” situations? Well everyone has their secrets & The Network is definitely on my radar in every sense of that statement.

Even though Billie Joe is supplying the denying, I’m for sure giving this six-piece new wave band the Green Day side-eye.

Interestingly, The Network released their debut album Money Money 2020 back in 2003. If you really wanna psych yourself out, you’ve gotta go check out it’s track list! Now I’m not saying that Green- Er – The Network’s politically tinged songs predicted the future…but well, it kind of seems like The Network’s politically tinged songs have predicted the future.

Why am I going on about an album that was released back in 2003? Well it’s because The Network is back this year with a new four track EP to sooth our troubled ear-holes after the dumpster fire that has been 2020. Billie Joe Armstrong unloaded a clip of The Network’s new music video via his Instagram stories upon the EP’s release while tagging The Network & questioning, “What in the actual F*ck,” then dropping the statement that “The Network is not GD.”  The ever so adored rocker then continued to elaborate with, “We are not The Network,” and, “I don’t know who these guys are,” topping it all off with, “F*ck these guys.” Ok Billie Joe, we love you & your side project The Network.

The-Network-–-A-Green-New-Day-2-1Billie Joe Armstrong
Fink of The Network not Billie Joe Armstrong honest.

The short & sweet track list that The Network’s new album Trans Am boasts is, well, also not very politically subtle. You can check it out here:

As for Gree- Erm – The Network, well they’re not saying that they told you so but- what? They have? Ok yes, they actually are saying precisely that. You can check out the track that didn’t make their new EP Trans Am’s cut below.

Love & Rockets ~ Roctavia
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New Rock Rock News Suspect 208

Suspect208 – The Ultimate Garage Band

Suspect 208 - The Ultimate Garage
Suspect 208 - The Ultimate Garage

Suspect208
Forged from the core of Rock ‘N’ Roll splendour, in the garages of Massapequa, New York, by the sons of major rock legends, Suspect 208’s members boast a pretty solid musical pedigree. Comprised of Noah Weiland on vocals; whom of which just so happens to be the son of late/great Scott Weiland  (Stone Temple Pilots/Velvet Revolver), London Hudson on Drums – Son of Slash! -my hero- (Guns N’ Roses, Velvet Revolver), Tye Trujillo on Bass – Robert Trujillo’s Son (Suicidal Tendencies, Metallica), and on guitar Niko Tsangaris (son of Chris Tsangaris).

London & Niko originally formed a band named Classless Act and have segued into the new & current rock formation of Suspect 208. London, when nudged as to why he chose to make his place in the world behind a drum kit, simply had this to say: “Y’know, I didn’t want to live in my dad’s shadow so…er…I played drums.”Touché London, Touché. We can sympathize lol.

The whole lot made for a much anticipated premiere single drop earlier this month with “Long Awaited.” No, I’m not pulling your leg in the slightest, that’s 100% the title of the fledgling super-group’s debut single. These young ones know exactly what they’re doing. It also most definitely helps that the up and coming musicians are managed by Slash, Perla Hudson & Niko’s dad Chris so everything is on the up & up. I suppose that this just so happens to be proof positive that sometimes parents do understand. It also kinda helps to be rock royalty too I guess.

You can check out the long awaited track “Long Awaited” here.

Love & Rockets ~ Roctavia
Suspect208 – The Ultimate Garage Band at Rock Band T-shirts
Categories
Rock News The Darkness

The Darkness Beer – Bells End.

The Darkness Beer - Bells End.
The Darkness Beer - Bells End.

The Darkness Beer

Just in time for the festive period The darkness bring us a Christmas ale named after their famous Christmas song Bells End.

Traditionally around this time of year The darkness usually tour the UK and Christmas officially begins when they play Christmas Time Don’t Let The Bells End.

The boys have now teamed up with Signature Brew the world’s number one brewery for band collaboration beers. Its a 5.2% seasonal bitter priced at £3.25 per can.

Get 10% off with discount code “RoadCrew”

Signature Brew’s Sam McGregor said “We were really excited to brew with The Darkness, we love their music, and the experience didn’t disappoint. The band visited the brewery several times and we collaborated closely with them to find the perfect beer style and the perfect name. 2020 has been a tough one for everyone. We’ve worked with musicians throughout the year, from our socially-distanced brewery shows to enlisting bands to help deliver our now legendary Pub In A Box. As we approach the end of the year everyone needs a laugh and a tasty beer – and Bells End will definitely satisfy both.”

Dan Hawkins said “The tasting session for Bells End went well, it was a big night and we tried every ale that we could think of. We wanted a beer that’s punchy and drinkable at the same time. Signature Brew really know their stuff and captured exactly what we were after. Bells End has got a bit of oomph to it but it’s something you can drink in the run up to Christmas and throughout the whole season. It’s a very wintery beer, it’s perfect and we can’t wait for everyone to try it.”

The Darkness Beer has to be the perfect Christmas present for The Darkness fans in your family or friends. You can pick it up from Haggerston and Walthamsow in London or get it delivered from here.

https://www.signaturebrew.co.uk/collections/live/products/the-darkness-collab-bells-end-extra-seasonal-bitter

Check out the unboxing with Dan here.

The Darkness Beer at Rock band T-shirts

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AC/DC Rock News

AC/DC Power up Review

ACDC Power up Review
ACDC Power up Review

AC/DC Power up Review

There are rock bands and there are ROCK bands. The latter being the group of bands that have amazing longevity as well as success- Iron Maiden, Def Leppard Judas Priest spring immediately to mind, although there are others.

AC/DC fit this category like a glove and so a new album – Power Up – is quite an exciting prospect.

I have only ever seen AC/DC play live once – Monsters of Rock 1984- and I am still stuck on Back in Black and For Those About to Rock as my favourite listens, but still, a new album could be great right?

With the reuniting of the Rock or Bust line up, Power Up has potential pedigree.

I must admit I was a little bit sceptical about the idea at first. These guys have been around forever- why a new album? Why now? Would it actually be any good?

I am a fan but not a devotee of the band, so would have no problem in calling them out if I thought Power Up was not worthy, buy I honestly have to say I loved it!

It only took 2 or 3 listens to really start appreciating that this a great album full of tunes, riffs and rhythms that work together to produce a thoroughly excellent piece of work.

You know what to expect from AC/DC . Proper rock songs , bit of blues influence to the writing and not a ballad in sight !

This is exactly what you get. No one else quite manages to combine the rawness and power like these guys do. It is almost impossible to produce good quality recordings of good songs without making it sound over produced and too polished, but ACDC have always managed to do this and Power Up is no exception.

The songs are short and punchy with a decent sprinkling of guitar riffs from Mr Young and they are accessible without being simplistic. Tunes like Rejection, Shot in the Dark and Kick You When You’re Down are, in my opinion, the pick of the bunch but there is not really a weak link.

My own personal favourite is Code Red. This is the final song on the album and is reminiscent of  the title track from Back in Black- similar riff structure and rhythm. Anything that reminds me of such an iconic song, without being a rip off, is impressive.

To sum up, this is NOT a band putting out a mediocre offering in a desperate attempt to cash in before it is too late. This is a band who know what they are good at- who know what works and have delivered an album that is worthy to carry their name.

Let us hope that a vaccine arrives soon so we are able to hear them play it live in the near future. My suggestion would be the whole of the new album first followed by a short interval and then a load of back catalogue bangers- a man can dream!

Meanwhile, have a listen to Power Up. You will not be disappointed.

The track listing for Power Up is as follows.

01. Realize
02. Rejection
03. Shot In The Dark
04. Through The Mists Of Time
05. Kick You When You’re Down
06. Witch’s Spell
07. Demon Fire
08. Wild Reputation
09. No Man’s Land
10. Systems Down
11. Money Shot
12. Code Red

By James Griffiths.



AC/DC Power up Review at Rock band T-shirts.

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Massive wagons Rock News

Massive wagons House of Noise review

Massive wagons House of Noise review
Massive wagons House of Noise review

One of the things that kept me going during the post lockdown 1 and pre lockdown 2 period were weekly visits into Birmingham city centre to visit a fantastic vinyl store in a small city centre market run by a mate of mine called Rich.

He  always keeps a few  new albums for me to listen to ( and normally buy) and it is a great way to spend a couple of hours.

Some time in the summer he put on House of Noise, the new album from Massive Wagons and I was hooked immediately.

This is not a new band. They were formed in Lancaster in 2009 and this album is their fifth full studio album.

Now lets be clear here, this is a PROPER rock band that have delivered a PROPER rock album and is jam packed with memorable riffs, chant along choruses and guitar solos and I love it.

In It Together, Bangin On Your Stereo, House Of Noise and Freak City set the tone and need to be played loud!

The rest of the album continues in the same vain, but also includes the slower rock swagger of Hero and the almost ballad like Matter Of Time.

The thing with this band and this album is that they have managed to capture an amazing sound and some fantastic musicianship whilst also maintaining a sense of fun.

The curry Song being a prime example of the latter. It is a very clever homage to what must be the band’s favourite food and works really well as a way of raising a smile and as a decent song .

These guys have already established a formidable live reputation and have had chart success with previous albums but there is every chance this House Of Noise will propel them to the next level. I can see ( Covid permitting ) their proposed tour in March of next year really helping cement their place as a great rock band .

I certainly hope it goes ahead and achieves this for them.

It is also worth checking out their previous studio offering from 2018 called Full Nelson.

These guys are here to stay and the British rock scene will be all the better for it!

Massive wagons House of Noise review by James Griffiths.

Massive Wagons at Rock band T-shirts

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Dave Grohl Foo Fighters Nirvana Rock News

Dave Grohl invites Nandi Bushell to play live on the next Foo Fighters tour.

Dave Grohl Invites Nandi Bushell To Play Live On The Next Foo Fighters Tour.
Dave Grohl Invites Nandi Bushell To Play Live On The Next Foo Fighters Tour.

After the rock off challenge between Dave Grohl and Nandi Bushell came to ahead with them both writing songs for each other, Dave Grohl got InTouch with Nandi again. This time Dave Facetimes Nandi to give her some good news. Dave said ” I can’t believe I’m talking to you it’s like meeting a Beatle”.

Later Dave Grohl invites Nandi Bushell to play live with him the next time the Foo Fighters tour the UK and maybe even do a song together.

You can see the video here below and watch the whole Rock off battle.


The rock off challenges.

Round Five the song for Dave.


Nandi Bushell reply’s to Dave with a song she has written for him and just like Dave Grohl’s song for her she plays all instruments.

Round Four the song for Nandi.


The Dave Grohl Nandi Bushell Rock Off Challenge goes to the next level, Dave Grohl replies to Nandi and writes a song for her playing all instruments himself.

Round three Nandi V Dave


Nandi takes on Dave to give a perfect cover of Dead End Friends from Them Crooked Vultures.

Round Two the reply from Dave Grohl.



Dave accepts Nandi’s challenge and give’s her the challenge of playing a song from one of his side project Them Crooked Vultures and the song Dead End Friends.

Round one the challenge.


In the first challenge Nandi absolutely nails Everlong by the Foo Fighters.

Dave Grohl once again cement’s his role as the most generous guy in music,
were not talking about money we are talking about taking the time to interact and help fans like Nandi.

Whilst we do have Foo Fighters and Nirvana T-shirts here at Rock Band T-Shirts, we don’t have any Nandi Bushell but I’m sure that will change as she is going to be a star.

Dave Grohl invites Nandi Bushell to play live – Nandi Bushell @ Rock Band T-Shirts

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Rock News

Christmas Rock Songs – Our Top Ten Christmas Rock Songs.

Christmas Rock Songs
Christmas Rock Songs

If you were brought up in the 70’s, 80’s or have good taste in music one thing is for sure, the best Christmas songs are by Rock artists. Rest assured you will not find Band Aid, “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” here.

So here we are going to look at the best of the best, the ones that have to be on any Christmas playlist. The one that have and will stand the test of time. These are new and old songs and in no particular order.

1 – Terrorvison – Our Christmas Song

Let start with a relatively new one, 2019 in fact from Yorkshires finest Terrorvison. This is the first new material for a long time from this band. They have never stopped touring and Tony Wright still does his sole music and gigs.

It’s the perfect British Christmas song. The band had this to say about it “Our Christmas Song is that festive present to the fans and anyone else with a love of the heady days of pop music, when the Christmas no.1 mattered and the main event on Christmas day was settling down to watch Top Of The Pops with the last few segments of your chocolate orange, washed down with a cheeky swig of your gran’s Snowball.”

The Darkness – Christmas Time (Don’t Let the Bells End)

Next a song that took The Darkness from being an up and coming band to a household name. Again they took the traditional British Christmas rock song and gave it a new lease of life. In 2003 they brought us the now classic Christmas Time (Don’t Let the Bells End).

Justin said “In honour of the marvellous support bestowed upon us by the sweet people of the British Isles, we giveth unto thee the gift that keeps on giving.

“It might be a Christmas song but it still rocks in the unique Darkness fashion. Christmas Time (Don’t Let The Bells End) is not an anthem for gluttony, consumerism or bloated, flatulent post-dinner snoozing.

“It is an acknowledgement that ’tis the season which affords us a greater tolerance and brings folk together.”

Queen – Thank God It’s Christmas

Next how a bit of Queen with Thank God It’s Christmas. Released in 1984 a very good year for rock music. Amazingly the song only peaked at number 21 in the charts.

Roger Taylor said “Ironically, Christmas tends to be such a stressful time for so many of us,”. “So many emotions, joyful memories of past Christmas’ as delighted children and responsible adults / parents. It’s just a great relief when it finally happens.”

Brian said “The video goes a little further, by including a subtle reminder that we as humans now need to feel a responsibility for the welfare of ALL creatures on Earth – not just for our own benefit, and that of our grandchildren, but out of respect for the rights of the animals themselves.”

Wizard – Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day

Next what has to be the ultimate Christmas song, especially if you hail from the UK, this song will be played every Christmas. We are talking about I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day by Wizard. You will be hard pressed to find someone that doesn’t like this song, generation have grow up with it.

It didn’t make it to number 1 in the charts because of a little song called Merry Xmas Everybody by Slade. What a year for Christmas songs 1973 was.

Roy Wood said “Unfortunately, our record hit the shops two weeks after Slade’s, which meant they had a head start,”.

“Theirs was a great song and pipped us to the post for 1973 Christmas No 1. But I didn’t cry in my beer because I was pleased just having a hit.

“We’re always asked to play it at concerts – even in summer. But I never get fed up with it because it’s done well for me. But when I wrote the song, I couldn’t have imagined it would still be around today.”

Slade – Merry Xmas Everybody

And so on to the competition Merry Xmas Everybody by Slade. As we said released at the same time as I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every by wizard, its very hard to choose which is the best between these two.

Noddy said that this song is his pension as every year it will make the UK charts.

Jim Lea said “We recorded it in the Record Plant in New York which is on top of a skyscraper. We said we needed an echoey room but in those days nobody went for this big, big sound that they’re all into now. These engineers thought we were mad, they’re going ‘no man, you know the Eagles, a very tight sound, Hotel California and all that pinging out of the speakers at you. I said what about the hallway downstairs and they went ‘we can’t use the hallway, there’s all these businessmen walking through for the other offices’. Anyway we ran lines down to the hallway and there we were in September singing ‘so here it is merry Xmas’ and we were totally unknown over there and people thought we were mad.”

Elton John – Step Into Christmas

So its still 1973 how to compete with Slade’s and Wizards’ songs? Elton John hold my beer. Amazingly Step Into Christmas only reached No. 24 in the UK singles charts. This was the same year as Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.

Elton had this to say about the song “The Christmas single is a real loon about and something we’d like to do a lot more of. We’ve never written a song especially tailored to be a single.”

Paul McCartney – Wonderful Christmastime

It’s 1979 and Paul McCartney reminds us what a proper Christmas song sounds like with Wonderful Christmastime. Again this has become a classic but it only reached number 6 in the UK single charts.

Twisted Sister – O Come, All Ye Faithful

In 2006 American rock legends Twisted Sister didn’t just bring us a Christmas song they brought us a whole album “A Twisted Christmas”. The best track has to be O Come, All Ye Faithful which was the base for one of their biggest hits We’re Not Gonna Take It.

A classic lyric from their version of 12 days of Christmas “twelve silver crosses, eleven black mascaras, ten pairs of platforms, nine tattered t-shirts, eight pentagrams, seven leather jackets, six cans of hairspray, five skull-head rings, four quarts of Jack, three studded belts, two pairs of spandex pants, and a tattoo of Ozzy”

Bruce Springsteen – Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town

1975 Bruce Springsteen covers Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town and it becomes the go to version, its been covered so many times but this has to be the best one. It was realised as single in 1981 to promote the charity album, In Harmony 2. As you would expect if you are lucky enough to catch The Boss in concert around Christmas you will defiantly hear this song.

The Waitresses – Christmas Wrapping

While strictly being classed as New wave the The Waitresses song Christmas Wrapping is a classic and one of the best Christmas Rock Songs. It was released in 1981 as part of compilation album A Christmas Record.  

Guitarist Chris Butler said “I am the most unbelievable Scrooge. So here, the irony of ironies, I’m supposed to write a Christmas song.”

“I’m much more humbled by it to the point where I am absolutely gobsmacked every year,” he says. “I get such warm fuzzies from people saying, ‘It’s not Christmas unless I hear this.’”

So that’s it The top ten greatest rock Christmas songs unless you know better.

Christmas Rock Songs at Rock Band T-shirts.

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Rock News The Struts

The Struts Strange Days review. A fans perspective.

The Struts Strange Days review
The Struts Strange Days review

The Struts Strange Days review – Strange days indeed ! So, what did you in lockdown if you were fortunate enough to be left with extra time on your hands- gardening ? reading ? putting you cd s in alphabetical order? British rock band The Struts went into a studio and knocked out an album in ten days!

The result is Strange Days, their third album following on from Everybody Wants and Young and Dangerous. Strange Days was basically recorded in ten days – essentially a live album with no audience with lots of songs completed in one “take”. I am sure there was a bit of tinkering here and there but, even so, quite an achievement in the days of polished sound, over dubs and multitracking.

I have to declare an interest here. I was asked to write this because I have been following the band for quite a while so will admit to being maybe slightly biased. I have met them a few times and have watched them working so hard to break the UK market in particular. I will try to be as balanced as possible but I think this album may well achieve that.

This album is brilliant ! It will take a very long time for it to be part of my life and live music memories like the other two are, but it is already proving to be a strong contender. I think there is something for everyone here.

The are barnstorming rock songs such as All Dressed Up (With Nowhere to Go), I Hate How Much I Want You ( with Joe Elliott and Phill Collen from Def Leppard), Cool, Can’t Sleep and Do You Love Me ( a cover of the Kiss song from their album Destroyer.)


These are typical of what you get from these boys- kick ass riffs and songs that I am already imagining live . Then there is Burn it down. A kind of Stones like rock ballad that shows of Luke spiller’s vocals brilliantly.


The last song on the album is an amazing mix of tone and style that has to be listened to multiple times to really feel its full range and impact. Am I Talking To The Champagne ( or talking to you) starts sounding like George Michael at his best and builds into a fantastic bluesy guitar/ saxophone duel – different but it really works- I was not a fan of this when I first heard it but it has really grown on me.


Another Hit Of Showmanship is, in my opinion a perfect indie pop song with obvious Strokes influences ( Albert Hammond Jr is performing on the track).The writing and performances here are stunning and it is one of the songs that makes it so impressive that these were essentially recorded live- to get it to sound this good is staggering.


I have saved the best until second last. Wild Child is the highlight for me. It is a huge 70s / Hendrix inspired rock song with one of the greatest guitarists of all time – and Tom Morello is pretty good as well!​ Joking aside, to get someone of the stature and reputation of Tom Morello to perform with you is quite a feat and this song just blows me away.

So now we come to my little gripes. I would give this album 9/10. Two halves would be knocked off of the perfect score of 10. I know not everyone will agree but here goes. The phone chat at the beginning of I Hate How Much I Want You was a bit annoying the first time I heard it and gets more annoying every time.

I would also move the title track to the end of the album. Its is a great song but is more of a Robbie Williams song than a struts song. It resonates with the times very well and is a really good song but I am not sure it sets the tone of the album. It maybe should be in the same position as the Kesha collaboration of Body Talks was on Young and Dangerous.

Overall, this album could end up being their best yet. Adam Slack’s guitar is incredible and Jed and Geth ( bass and drums) are heard so clearly here as a result of the “ live “ sound – it is a pleasure to listen to.

Luke Spiller has lived up to his vocal reputation here with ease and I cannot wait to hear what the guys do with some of these songs live. These boys are also one of the best live acts I have ever seen – I would rank them up with Kiss, Queen , The Darkness, Van Halen as must see live bands.

Strange Days is a triumph over lockdown adversity – I know music is not the most important thing to everyone, but if you are on this website and are reading this, then it probably is to you! Writing this has really made me smile and realise how lucky were are to have bands like these So go and buy the album ( check out their cover of Stop by the Spice Girls as well ) and wait for the live gigs to roll around again!

The Struts Strange Days review by James Griffiths

Strange Days The Struts new album
Strange Days The Struts new album

The Struts Strange Days review – The Struts at Rock band T-Shirts 2020

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AC/DC Rock News

AC/DC Power up Deluxe light box. Amazing new album deal.

ACDC Power Up Deluxe box set
ACDC Power Up Deluxe box set

AC/DC Power up Deluxe light box is here. Finally after waiting for what seems like forever the New AC/DC album is coming on November 13th. The boys are truly back in town with a classic line up with Mr Brain Johnson back at the helm.

Malcolm may have left us but he certainly hasn’t been forgotten as this album uses some of his unused riffs. Angus said “Power Up is as much in his honour as Back in Black was to Bon Scott.”

The brothers have lots of unused songs from the years of writing together, Angus said.

“At that time he said to me, ‘We’ll leave these songs for now. If we keep going, we’ll be overboard. We’ll get them on the next one.’

“That always stuck with me. When I went through and listened to them, I said, ‘If I do anything in my life, I have to get these tracks down and get these tracks out.’”

“Even when I sit at home and pick up my guitar and start playing, the first thing that enters my head is, ‘I think Mal will like this riff I’m playing.’ That’s how I judge lot of stuff.”

The new single “Shot in the dark” is now out, Angus had this to say about it.

“It’s got that great AC/DC vibe about it, great swagger, and a good AC/DC rock and roll chant. The title is a little bit cheeky because we all like a little nip [of alcohol] in the night or a few shots in the dark. I was very glad when the record company heard it [that] they felt it was a very strong song and should be the first one that people hear.”

Watch the video here

The track listing for Power Up is as follows.

01. Realize
02. Rejection
03. Shot In The Dark
04. Through The Mists Of Time
05. Kick You When You’re Down
06. Witch’s Spell
07. Demon Fire
08. Wild Reputation
09. No Man’s Land
10. Systems Down
11. Money Shot
12. Code Red

Now we get the the the Power up light box package. It’s USB chargeable, has a built in speaker that plays the opening bars of shot in the dark and The ACDC sign on the from lights up. It also comes with a 20 page booklet. I know what you’re saying “Take my Money”

Pre odder your AC/DC Power up Deluxe light box right here.

Watch Angus and Brian show us the new AC/DC Power up Deluxe light box.

Lets hope that one day he put the uniform back on and bring back the AC/DC live experience.

Rock band T-shirts has all your AC/DC Merch.