WHO PRAYS FOR 164 SECONDS?
The FBO has been bombarded with requests that the taped-together solo-after-solo in Hear N Aid's 'We're Stars' (1985/6) be included in the FBO's Top Five Guitar Solos.
You may have missed this the first time around, but Heavy Metal Nation was justifiably furious by the lack of metal representation in Band Aid and We Are the World songs in early 1985, and Ronnie James Dio spearheaded a humorless effort to up the ante with frizzy hair, leather pants and the occasional moustache. It was recorded in May, but -- hilariously -- contractual problems kept the song from being released until WAY after Live Aid and the sing-for-peace fad had faded: January 1, 1986. One month to the day later the space shuttle exploded, and many (not realizing that Hear N Aid came out earlier) criticized the song theme -- 'we're stars' -- as a rub at NASA.
See this video:
Vote:
Using the tabs to the right, please vote on whether or not you think this solo deserves to be the FBO #3 Best Guitar Solo of all time. Symbolically the 2:44 solo vote ends on the 24th at 2:44pm.
Some FBO observers have suggested that the guitar solo, which begins at the 2:21 mark and runs 2:44 in length (an even 40% of the song), is merely one guitarist doing everything. Dio and company managed to get their hair right -- too bad no one was around to film the actual recordings of the solo. Here metal nuts like Neal Schon of Journey and Brad Gillis of Night Ranger play a little guitar to the camera, but many of the solos don't appear to be at all linked with the recording.
Also take special note of the pink outfit of Kevin DuBrow (Quiet Riot), that Dio doesn't let Ted Nugent or Vince Neil (Motley Crue) get any lead vocals, and the priceless still at the end of the 7:12 video (which includes heart-felt backups that these guys probably didn't record, yet cling one-ear to headphones as if this was The Take to change Africa).
It's also worth noting that FBO Contributor Robert Reid interviewed Ronnie James Dio from Russia's Far East in 2005. Dio was starting a Russian tour at the Theater of Musical Comedy in Khabarovsk (pictured, left). He is a humorless man. Read interview here. FBO Admin
Mobile/Semi-Permanent HQ -- Brooklyn, NY
2 comments:
Dude! I am so stoked to have stumbled across your blog! As a veteran of 2 Failed Bands of Oklahoma, I think what you're doing is awesome. Back in the 80s in Tulsa, me and 3 dudes from Nathan Hale High totally rocked. I played stand-up-bass for The Overlords, an Aldo Nova cover band. And then in college at OSU, me and two of my frat bro's (Sigma Nu - Snakes!) had a power trio called the Bad Lesbians. I played keyboard. We did a lot of Outfield and Quarterflash covers, mixed in with some of our original stuff. We had a few gigs at Sorority parties, etc. Anyway, we all graduated, and that stuff kinda slipped away. I guess I have sold out now, I'm a graphic design artist in Syracuse, NY.
Keep rockin' bro! I will be back.
dear admin, it is my poinion that the appearance of what can only be descrbed in fashion as a 'half shirt' at about the half way mark in the video no less, should disqualify this shitty guitar solo from any "best of all time" status. Just sayin...
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