Dead Rock Stars

In this episode of Getcha Rocks Off, Mick Wall and his guest co-host, author and journalist Jon Hotten, as they jump into a DeLorean and venture back in time to the spandex and AquaNet hairspray-adorned Sunset Strip of West Hollywood in the '80s. They unpack many tales from their travels, and explore:the iconic Rainbow Bar & Grillthe origins of glam, hair metalFranki Banali and Quiet RiotOzzy and Sharonthe rise of Motley CrueMud wrestling at the TropicanaTommy Lee squaring off with David Lee RothThe feud between Axl Rose and Vince NeilGuns 'n RosesGin fizzesTwisted Sister hunting Krokus at Covent GardenJoe Perry scoring from the enigmatic Izzy Stradlinthe curious case behind Bruce Dickinson not getting any songwriting credits on Iron Maiden's Somewhere in Time album...and a whole bunch more sex, drugs n rock 'n roll!Find Getcha Rocks Off at:Web: www.nofilter.media/getcharocksoff Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/getcha-rocks-off-with-mick-wall/id1534949847Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0fCjXDHJqHFWC6UHODRzAgGoogle Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9nZXRjaGFyb2Nrc29mZi5saWJzeW4uY29tL3Jzcw?sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiXy-TV2MLsAhXPq54KHfHlAC0Q9sEGegQIARAC Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/boost-your-biology-with-lucas-aoun/getcha-rocks-off-with-mick-wall Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1534949847/getcha-rocks-off-with-mick-wall

In the final episode of the first series of our Rock Godcast, Dead Rock Stars, we present a contractual obligation fulfilling Greatest Hits. Just thank Dio we didn't opt for a live album. Or our very own Metal Machine Music. Talking of which, you'll find a heated discussion about that very album within, plus banter about Bon Scott's nickname of Road-test Ronnie, Rick Parfitt's big night in, Elvis and the Memphis Mafia, Lemmy's love of poetry and fax machines and the harrowing account of the Lynyrd Skynyrd plane crash (where some of the band exploded off the scene). Plus eye opening insights into David Bowie, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Prince, Phil Lynott, Freddie Mercury, Metallica, Ronnie James Dio and Marc Bolan.

In this latest thrilling episode, Mick and Joel pick over the life, loves and legacy of the greatest rock star of them all. The Big Cheese, the full enchilada, the deep-fried cheese burger. Or simply, The King. Elvis Aaron Presley is the pioneer of rock 'n roll. the man who created a road-map for rock stars before rock stars even existed. From a dirt-poor childhood, via a spell as a truck driver and briefly the world's most famous GI, he became the planet's biggest superstar and then its most mysterious recluse. Today, Elvis has taken on such a mythic quality that it's now hard to believe he was actually even a man (and a relatively young one when he died, aged just 42). This is an amazing, but tragic tale; a tale of fierce youth, facile films, fancy jumpsuits, and folly.

This week, seasoned rock writers Mick Wall and Joel McIver shine the spotlight on Marc Bolan; with a Gibson set to stun and corkscrew hair, he wasn't no square. Bolan was a true original, moving from late Sixties acoustic hippy whimsy to hard rocking, glamtastic boogie by the turn of the decade, and in doing so influencing a slew of artists, his friend and rival David Bowie included. Whilst enjoying an amazing run of hit singles, often compared to that of the Beatles, by the mid-70s Marc's solid-gold lustre was beginning to fade. However, by the arrival of punk, which "exploded onto the scene" around 1976, Bolan himself was cited as an influence, and he had in turn welcomed their short, sharp shocks. Any budding comeback was ended when Bolan was killed in a car crash in September 1977, but as we discover, Marc's was a brief but brilliant career.

In another thrilling episode of the podcast, Mick and Joel take a deep dive into the fast life and times of the finest female rock singer of them all - Janis Joplin. From being a troubled Texan teenager to the hit sensation at the 1967 Monterey pop festival, and a peer of Jimi Hendrix, Grace Slick and Jim Morrison, Janis always seemed destined to burn out rather than fade away. And when drugs, alcohol and self-esteem issues were added to an already volatile mix, sadly this proved all too true. And so, in October 1970, whilst recording her classic Pearl album in LA, Joplin would meet her maker after overdosing in a hotel room, and in doing so became part of the infamous 27 Club.

This week, Mick and Joel turn their keen eye and quick wits to the late, great Jack Bruce. Jack was a highly gifted musical prodigy, with a love for jazz and classical music, but who came to prominence in the British blues boom of the early Sixties, finding himself rubbing shoulders and sharing stages with the likes of Alexis Korner, Mick Jagger, Graham Bond and John Mayall. But of more importance was his introduction to Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker, ultimately leading to the formation of Cream, the pioneering British heavy blues power trio. Following Cream's dissolution in 1969, after two brief but brilliant years, Jack pursued an erratic and idiosyncratic solo career that would never hit the same heights again (bar a brief Cream reunion in 2005). But Jack was always a highly venerated musician and huge inspiration to a generation of bass players.

In this episode, esteemed rock writers Mick Wall and Joel McIver look at the purple reign of Prince. From teenage wunderkind, signed at 17 to a major label and given complete creative control to his stunning Super Bowl performances, Prince's life was not like other musicians'. Singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer, auteur, movie star, talent scout, provocateur, music factory... Prince was many, many things. Most surprising, and known to only a small coterie of people, he was also addicted to Fentanyl, the drug on which he overdosed in 2017. But Prince's known legacy is not only huge, his vast vaults are said to contain hours and hours of unheard music. Even for the most ardent Prince fan, there's still much we can learn from the man.

Once again, Mick Wall and Joel McIver look towards to Seattle, the home of both grunge, but also an abnormally large number of rockers now resting in peace. This week they explore the life of Chris Cornell, frontman for Soundgarden and Audioslave. Chris was also flat-mates with Andrew Wood, flamboyant frontman with Mother Love Bone, who would be one of the city's first rock star drug casualties. Cornell's tribute to Wood, Temple Of The Dog, not only united many Seattle musicians but would also introduce the world to one Eddie Vedder, And though Chris Cornell looked and sounded every inch the rock god, he was a troubled soul who survived drink and drug problems but took his own life in 2017.

This episode, Mick and Joel look at the enigmatic Syd Barrett, one time leader of the fledgling Pink Floyd. Though Syd's time in Pink Floyd was only brief his idiosyncratic songs have proven to be hugely influential and continue to reverberate through the decades. Bringing an eccentric Englishness to the burgeoning prog/psyche scene in the mid-Sixties, he was a man both part of and yet quite apart from the scene. But within two years, and unravelling through mental problems and drug abuse, Syd would disappear from music altogether to become a recluse in his hometown of Cambridge, where he died of pancreatic cancer aged 60.