This week I received a brainstorm from a fellow DJ at SCAD-Atlanta Radio. Lisa Vasquez (of Spanglish Mix Tape fame) was hoping to hear some Rush in honor of their recent (and overdue) induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. This was a great idea, especially coming from a younger generation Rush fan like Lisa. So I immediately put my music brain into action and put together a Hall of Fame Compare/Contrast feature for that nights Fuzz Factory show. I paired Rush with Heart, another member of the Hall of Fame Class of 2013. Both bands bring back fond memories from my first days of listening to rock & roll – my 1970’s childhood days.
Rush was one of my first purchases on vinyl. My brother Mike and I bought Archives for $3 at a large music tent sale. This tent sale had thousands of records. It was the first time I remember being surrounded by so much music. I must have been 8 or 9 years old. Archives was Rush’s first three albums together in one set. My brother and I didn’t know that, we just liked the cover and liked getting three albums at once. Next thing you know, hard rock is blaring from our bedroom for the first of a thousand times.
Heart’s second album Little Queen was released in 1977. I still remember seeing that album cover for the first time. The Wilson sisters were mysterious and beautiful. I stood in the record store aisle and stared back into their eyes and tried to decide which one I liked more. Little Queen belonged to Ann, she was the one. In hindsight, I had my first rock & roll fantasy. I was only 8 years old, but I knew these were the coolest of girls – the kind of rock & roll women I’d want to know.
So there you go. A little insight into the youth of your Fuzz Factory DJ, Brett Callero. Both Rush & Heart continue to make music and are both worthy of induction. However, I feel their early years are by far their greatest. That’s what I featured in the Fuzz Factory Compare/Contrast feature.
Hey – if you like rock & roll, especially with a bunch of guitar. Listen to the Fuzz Factory. We’ve got fat riffs, funky grooves and psychedelic pop twists from the last 30 years or so. Raise your arm and throw some horns, your ears will give you a fist bump. You better tell your rock & roll friends too. Tell them the Fuzz Factory is saving rock & roll radio one week at a time.
Here’s that playlist.
– – – – – – – – – – – –
Backwater – Meat Puppets
Break Free – Sebadoh
Need My Man – James Hall
I Love Rock N’ Roll – The Jesus & Mary Chain
Waratorium – Tomahawk
Long Distance Runaround/The Fish – The Joggers
Love Me Forever – The Black Angels
Iris – Deconstruction
Chloe Dancer/Crown Of Thorns – Mother Love Bone
Air Bud – Kurt Vile
Take My Bones Away – Baroness
Found Art – Big Business
Vertigo – Monster Magnet
Ocean Drive – The Telescopes
Miss Spiritual Tramp – Blitzen Trapper
Sheela Na Gig – PJ Harvey
Before And After – Rush *
Heartless – Heart
Making Memories – Rush
Dreamboat Annie – Heart
Lessons -Rush
Kick It Out – Heart
Working Man – Rush *
Magic Man – Heart
Fly By Night – Rush
(* = listener request)