The 500 - #96 - Tommy - The Who

I was inspired by a podcast called The 500 hosted by New York-based comedian Josh Adam Meyers. His goal, and mine, is to explore Rolling Stone Magazine's 2012 edition of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

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Album: #96

Album Title: Tommy

Artist: The Who

Genre: Rock, Hard Rock, Acoustic Rock, Acoustic Folk, Psychedelic, Art Rock

Recorded: IBC and Morgan Studios, London, England

Released: May, 1969

My age at release: Three

How familiar was I with it before this week: Very

Is it on the 2020 list? Yes, at #190 - dropping 94 spots

Song I am putting on my Spotify Playlist: Overture/It's A Boy

There is so much I could write about this amazing record. It is, without a doubt, my favourite from The Who's catalogue. It accompanied me for much of the drive on my first road trip from London to Calgary in 1988. It was also one of the first three CD's I purchased in 1985 when, as an early adopter of this technology, I spent an outrageous sum ($500 ...$1500 adjusted for inflation) on my first CD player. However, if you will indulge me, I'd like to share a lengthy tale. I think the juice is worth the squeeze on this one and I promise to be brief next week.  

The Technics SL-XP7.

In the late 1990s, I became friends with a group of local musicians who also shared a love of hockey. Every Wednesday night, we  would gather at a local rink for an hour of shinny. Post game, we'd head back downtown where some of the players, or a group of our musician friends, would be performing at a local club or bar. It was a unique blend of hockey and music that became one of the highlights of my week.

Farquharson Arena - home of Wednesday night shinny in the '90s.

Late one December, the group's organizer, a talented singer, songwriter and musician named Dave Merritt (well known from the musical projects Adam West and The Golden Seals), arranged a road trip to Toronto. Our mission was to play an exhibition game against a team of hockey-playing musicians from Toronto's Parkdale neighbourhood. Among their ranks was musician and author Dave Bidini of the Rheostatics, at the time one of Canada's most respected alternative rock bands. I had seen the Rheostatics open for The Tragically Hip a few years earlier and had been a fan for several years, so the opportunity to share the ice with Bidini and his teammates was especially exciting.

Four releases from The Golden Seals - Check them out at their website.

Unfortunately, the timing worked against us. The game took place just days after Christmas, and holiday commitments left us scrambling to assemble a full roster. In the end, we managed to bring only nine skaters, including our goaltender, Oscar "Porchee" Macedo. By comparison, our opponents, the Morningstars, rolled onto the ice with a full bench and a noticeably higher skill level.

(Fun Fact: The Morningstars take their name from Dale Morningstar, founding member of The Dinner Is Ruined, an avant-garde rock band active in the ‘90s. Dale also co-founded The Gas Station Recording Studio, which has been called "the hub of the Canadian Indie Rock sound". Morningstar has produced records from well known Canadian artists that include Gord Downie (The Tragically Hip), The Barenaked Ladies, hHead, Thrush Hermits and The Cowboy Junkies.)

Dale Morningstar at the 2025 Toronto Folk Festival.

Despite the odds, we held our own. Much of that was thanks to the aforementioned Oscar Macedo who turned in a remarkable performance between the pipes. When the final buzzer sounded, we had lost just 5-2, a result that felt far more honourable than the circumstances suggested, and we gladly accepted an invitation to join them for beers and burgers, post-skate. I even have a short, grainy video I pieced together shortly after the event. (I used to think it was good footage on my small, '90s computer monitor -- alas, technology proves otherwise).

Team photos, post game, December 1999. Morningstars
at top, our ragtag squad at the bottom.

More importantly, that game served as my introduction to the Hockey Association of the Arts (HAA). The organization brought together musicians, artists, actors, writers, road crew members, and other creative professionals who happened to love hockey as much as their chosen craft. Supported in part by the monthly music and arts magazine Exclaim!, the HAA fostered a community in which creativity and competition coexisted in equal measure.

What began as a post-Christmas road trip eventually opened the door to an annual sojourn, every Easter weekend, to participate in the three-day Exclaim! Hockey Summit of the Arts. My team, The London Fog, even won the B-Division trophy in our first tournament in 2000, defeating the Ottawa Songbird Millionaires 4-3.

The London Fog at our third Summit (2003). I am front row, far right.

Each evening of the tournament, after the hockey playing was done, the teams (numbering more than 20 and from coast-to-coast by 2004) gathered at a Toronto drinking establishment for the Hootennany. Every team was  required to put together a half-hour set of music for the crowd. At first, it was just a big jam. The professional musicians with whom I played let me bring my sax on stage to toot along with them, typically just following the bass line with the four or five notes that I knew worked in key. We performed old rock standards, including Little Richard's Good Golly Ms. Molly, a rockabilly version of Creep by Radiohead, as well as Brand New Cadillac and, of course, London Calling from The Clash.

Some footage from our 2002 tournament we hosted in London is here.

Pucks promoting the 2026 Hockey Summit of the Arts event.

However, as is often the case with creative types, the performances at the Hootenanny became increasingly elaborate with each passing year. What started as a handful of musicians sharing a few songs after hockey gradually evolved into a full-blown spectacle. Teams arrived in costume, complete with entrance music, props and choreographed routines. The bar was being raised every Easter weekend, and we knew it was time for the London Fog to up the ante -- and in 2007, we took our first shot.

Tournament favourites Chart Attack Hack recapture 80s hair metal at the Hootenany.

The good news was that talent was never our problem. Our roster was absolutely stacked with gifted musicians and singers. What we needed was the right idea, something memorable that would entertain the crowd and reflect our team's personality. Several ideas were pitched, and I was thrilled when the group embraced my suggestion to rewrite a selection of songs from Tommy, The Who's legendary rock opera, and transform them into a hockey-themed tribute to our team and the tournament.

The concept gave us another opportunity as well. We wanted to recognize Tom Goodwin, a member of the Morningstars and one of the tireless volunteers who helped organize and coordinate the Hockey Summit of the Arts year after year. Tom was one of those behind-the-scenes people whose efforts made the entire event possible, and weaving him into the performance felt like a fitting thank you. It also helped me craft our closing number. He became the titular "Tommy" in our mini-rock-opera.

Our goalie, and bass player Oscar (r) with Tom Goodwin.

I could hardly believe my good fortune. They had always supported my enthusiastic, though, decidedly average saxophone playing.  By entrusting me to rewrite lyrics to songs from one of rock's most celebrated albums, plus letting me play a little backup guitar, and even sing the final number, I felt like I was attending a rock and roll summer camp.

Performing with The Fog at a 2010 Hootennany. I look
much cooler in stills than I sound live.

Prior to our performance, we took to the ice on Saturday afternoon for a game against the Ottawa team we had defeated six years earlier. Since both teams had already been eliminated from playoff contention, the game was little more than a friendly exhibition.

Ottawa Songbird Millionaires (early 2000s).

Somehow, over a 'few' beers the previous night, my pal, and coach, Steve "Lumpy" Sullivan concocted a scheme to entertain the unsuspecting referees and tournament crowd at the start of the following day’s game. The moment the puck was dropped, every player on both starting lineups would collapse to the ice...as though having been shot. Then, our keeper, Oscar, would skate out of his crease for a breakaway. I think we enjoyed the charade more than the bemused crowd...but we did get some laughs and some cheers.

Wisely, I asked a friend to film the stunt, the video can be seen here.

That night, for our "mini-opera," we performed four songs from the album. We opened exactly as Tommy does, with the Overture and It's a Boy. 

We followed with Drinking Wizards, a parody of one of The Who's biggest hits, Pinball Wizard, featuring Vince Braca on lead vocals.  Oscar then took over singing duties for a comedic version of Uncle Ernie, which we cheekily retitled Stumble About.  We did tend to lean into our tendency to enjoy our share of cocktails on those weekends.

Oscar performing Stumble About at the Hootenanny, the 
"multi-media" presentation behind him.

Finally, we closed with Tommy, Can You Hear Me? and We're Not Gonna Take It, the album's powerful concluding tracks. For the finale, however, we put our own spin on the song's famous refrain, replacing it with the heartfelt message, "We just want to thank you." As the small audience sang along (we were booked early and few people were in attendance), dozens of photos of Tom Goodwin filled the screen, creating a touching tribute made possible by the secret and gracious contributions of his family. I have footage of these performances somewhere, but couldn't track them down for this blog. When I do, I'll post them.

Label from the single, We're Not Gonna Take It.

The Fog played its "last" game in April, 2011. By that point, most of us were  in our late-40s with a few members in their 50s. We still played pick-up hockey in non-competitive beer leagues (much the way the team began), but our days of late-night carousing coupled with multiple competitive hockey games are behind us.

Fittingly, for The Fog’s final game in 2011 we organized a shinny match against friends of the team and played on a Saturday afternoon in London. It didn't feel like "the last game" at the time and, maybe, it won't be. But if it was our swan song, I will take a boatload of memories into hockey retirement. 

A photo from our "last" game. April 23, 2011

Thanks for indulging me with this extra long, nostalgic post. Next week, we'll leave dressing rooms, power chords and rock-operas behind, but dive into a little psychedelia with Miles Davis, as he charts the unknown edges of jazz with his 1970 record, Bitches Brew.

The 500 - 123 - Run DMC - Raising Hell

I was inspired by a podcast called The 500 hosted by New York-based comedian Josh Adam Meyers. His goal, and mine, is to explore Rolling Stone Magazine's 2012 edition of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

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Album #: 123
Album Title: Raising Hell
Artist: Run DMC
Genre: Hip Hop, Rock Rap
Recorded: Chung King Studio, New York, New York

Released: May, 1986
My age at release: 19
How familiar was I with it before this week: Quite
Is it on the 2020 list? Yes, at #209, Dropping 86 places
Song I am putting on my Spotify Playlist: Walk This Way

Album cover for Run-DMC's, Raising Hell.

Raising Hell was the third record from American Hip-Hop pioneers Run-DMC. It became their second of two records to make The 500 chart. Their self-titled debut at #242, and I wrote about it in October, 2023. In that post, I shared some information about their history and my earliest exposure to the hip-hop genre.

Album cover for Run DMC's self-titled first release.

Although Run-DMC had been recording since 1983 and began releasing albums the following year, my friends and I remained unaware of the trio until they swamped our radars with their genre-bending re-make of Aerosmith’s 1975 hard‑rock song Walk This Way. To say Run-DMC’s version took over the summer and early fall of 1986 would be an understatement. It was unavoidable. The track blasted from car radios and battered cassette decks slung over the shoulders of high-schoolers and pre-teens. It seemed to air on Canada’s MuchMusic television station almost hourly, becoming indelibly stamped on my memory. To this day, when I hear it I am transported back to 1986 when the song  became a significant piece of my mental soundtrack.

Album jacket for the single, Walk This Way, by Run DMC

With time and maturity, I can emphatically declare I now prefer the Run‑DMC version over the original by Aerosmith, although as teenagers my friends and I weren’t nearly so generous. We mistakenly believed the hip‑hop trio from Queens was “stealing” the earlier riff we loved.

As self‑styled rockers growing up in the predominantly white city of London, Ontario, we were generationally and geographically removed from hip‑hop. We didn’t recognize it as a rising art form, nor did we understand the concept, or legality, of borrowing and interpolating riffs and samples from the works of others.

As we edged toward our twenties, I think we felt a bit threatened, even left behind, by this new sound. To us, the song seemed as though Run‑DMC was trying to cash in on a great piece of someone else’s achievement. We considered it wrong and unfair. However, I would later learn that the “borrowing” is permissible and compensated.

A screen capture from the Walk This Way video. In the shadowy
background is Jason, "Jam Master Jay" Mizell. At front, from left
to right are Joseph "Run" Simmons, Steven Tyler, Darryl "DMC"
McDaniels and Joe Perry on guitar.

Truth be told, the picture does not reveal the whole story about the recording. Two members of Aerosmith – singer Steven Tyler and guitarist Joe Perry – actually needed a Walk This Way collaboration far more than Run-DMC. It would serve to revitalize their careers. In 1986, Aerosmith was struggling. Badly. By the mid‑’80s, the group were starting to be seen as washed-up, "has-beens". They were battling declining sales, internal instability, and addiction issues. Their recent albums were underperforming, they had lost cultural relevance, and the band was no longer a major commercial force.

Aerosmith's 1985 release, Done With Mirrors, was a commercial
failure for the once reliable group.

Conversely, Run‑DMC were entering 1986 on the verge of a historic breakthrough. They were already hip-hop’s hottest group, and culturally ascendant. They had strong sales from their first two albums – the aforementioned debut and King of Rock from1985 - had made them a global hip-hop phenomeno. Their third album, Raising Hell, was already shaping up to be a major success. Run‑DMC did not need rescuing and, rumour has it, they nearly declined the opportunity to record the Aerosmith cover.

Members of Run DMC and Aerosmith in the studio, on
March 9, 1986, when Walk This Way was recorded.

I've been trying to figure out why I now like the Run-DMC version of Walk This Way better, and I think it comes down to the guitar playing of Perry and the incendiary solo that finishes the five-minute song. Comparing the guitar solo in Aerosmith’s 1975 Walk This Way to Perry’s re-recording for Run‑DMC’s 1986 crossover smash is a bit like comparing two eras of music history.

Joe Perry (1986)

The original Perry guitar solo on Walk This Way, found on Aerosmith’s Toys in the Attic (#229 on The 500) is longer, looser, and unmistakably rooted in the band’s  blues‑rock swagger. It has a raw, improvisational grit typical of their mid‑’70s peak. By contrast, Raising Hell producer Rick Rubin has said  the Run‑DMC version needed a tighter, more streamlined solo. It had to be "one that could live inside a hip-hop arrangement without derailing its rhythmic momentum."

Album cover for Aerosmith's Toys In The Attic record. (#229 on The 500).

And that intentional refinement wasn’t accidental. Rubin pushed Perry hard during the 1986 session. As Rubin recalled, Perry’s first attempt didn’t cut it. Rubin told him directly that he didn't think it was great. Punctuating the criticism by saying; "I feel like you could do better!’’ It was only after that blunt assessment that Perry delivered the final take, one that was shorter, sharper, and engineered to serve Rubin's radically new context.

Rick Rubin (1986).

From Perry’s perspective, the collaboration was far more than a re‑recording session. He later described the remake with Run-DMC as “a high point” for Aerosmith and “an artistic spark” during a period when their career had stalled. Perry’s solo wasn’t just a performance; it was part of a cultural moment that helped relaunch Aerosmith and blasted hip-hop into the mainstream. Well, not the mainstream of my teenage circle of friends. It would be some time before we came around to accept...and now love...the collaborated version between two future Hall of Fame groups.

The 500 - #167 - Master Of Puppets - Metallica

I was inspired by a podcast called The 500 hosted by Los Angeles-based comedian Josh Adam Meyers. His goal, and mine, is to explore Rolling Stone Magazine's 2012 edition of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. 

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Album: #167
Album Title: Master Of Puppets

Artist: Metallica

Genre: Thrash Metal

Recorded: Sweet Silence Studios, Copenhagen, Denmark

Released: March, 1986

My age at release: 20
How familiar was I with it before this week: Fairly

Is it on the 2020 list? Yes, at #97, rising 70 spots
Song I am putting on my Spotify Playlist: Master of Puppets

In the summer of 2024, I penned a lengthy post about Metallica's Black Album (#255 on The 500) in which I sketched out a brief history of heavy metal -- from its founding in late-’60s heavy blues, through its commercially successful glam rock phase in the ‘80s and into the arrival of Metallica in 1984.

In that post, I recalled my introduction to Metallica in 1987 when I was working at Fluffy's Pizza with a devoted headbanger named James Fast. James worked in the kitchen and, at first, I was a delivery driver. We both worked late into the night, especially on weekends, often finishing our shifts at 3:00 a.m. Those long hours were ballasted by caffeine, cigarettes and music. The stereo system in my car (a 1981 Chevette) was in overdrive, and James had his portable cassette player blasting away at the back of the kitchen.

We quickly connected over a shared love of Rush, Iron Maiden, Queensryche and Judas Priest; however, my tastes skewed toward more progressive rock sounds (Genesis, Peter Gabriel, Marillion, Yes) and James liked his sound louder and heavier. Among his favourite bands were the Danish Black Metal band Mercyful Fate and Metallica.

Metallica in 1987 (l-r) Kirk Hammett (lead guitar), Lars Ulrich (drums),
Jason Newsted (bass) and James Hetfield (guitar, vocals).

James tried hard to make me a Metallica fan, sharing stories of their epic performances and regularly sharing cassette tapes of their albums. These included their most recent work, Master Of Puppets, which I could listen to  during deliveries. I didn't mind the music. The songs were high energy and aggressive and that helped keep me awake as I drove around, squinting for street names and house numbers during late night deliveries. In a time before Satellite navigation and on-screen mapping apps like Waze, I relied on a well-worn map that I kept stuffed in the glove compartment. It had been folded and unfolded so many times it was hard to read the street names obscured in the creases.

The approximate delivery area I served, with Fluffy's Pizza Springbank located
on the map with a red star.

Despite James' best efforts, Metallica didn't stick – just another band that I "didn't mind" but too indifferent to commit time or money. Eventually, though, I was won over and Metallica songs are now scattered through my workout playlists.

I have to give Metallica and James their due. Master Of Puppets is an important record and considered by fans and music critics to be a highwater mark for Thrash Metal -- hailed for its strong lyrics, technical excellence and influence on the genre. The guitar riffs are relentless and the lyrics tap perfectly into teen-age anger, conspiratorial curiosity, rebellion and angst.

A 500 Podcast guest and Metallica fan, Joe Manganiello, aptly described the record as containing "muscular poetry", touching on themes of addiction, anti-war, religious corruption and corporate exploitation. It also delivered  a powerful instrumental inspired by H.P. Lovecraft's cosmic horror series, The Call of Cthulhu. In view of those laudatory comments I wonder why the teen-age version of me didn't like the record more.

Cthulhu (The Old One) creature from H.P. Lovecraft's mythos.

Perhaps I'll check in again with my friend "Jimmy Quick", as I like to call him. We have remained in touch over these past 40 years. He works as a sound engineer on television productions and is still a fan of Metallica. I'll have to let him know his late night, oven-side persuasions finally worked.

The 500 - #170 - Live At Leeds - The Who

I was inspired by a podcast called The 500 hosted by Los Angeles-based comedian Josh Adam Meyers. His goal, and mine, is to explore Rolling Stone Magazine's 2012 edition of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. 

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Album: #170
Album Title: Live At Leeds

Artist: The Who

Genre: Rock, Hard Rock

Recorded: University of Leeds Refectory, West Yorkshire, England

Released: May, 1970

My age at release: 4
How familiar was I with it before this week: Very well

Is it on the 2020 list? Yes, at #327. dropping 157 spots
Song I am putting on my Spotify Playlist: Magic Bus

Album cover for Live At Leeds by The Who.

Well documented in this blog series is the first Rush record I purchased – their 1976 live release, All The World's A Stage. I bought it when visiting my dad in my future hometown of London, Ontario, during March Break in 1980. It was a job change and dad was setting up house in advance of the family move from Kingsville on the shore of Lake Erie.

Album cover for All The World's A Stage -- Rush.

In order to listen to this double record, I coaxed an attendant at the Central Library to allow me to borrow headphones and use a music listening booth. What I heard, blew my fourteen-year-old mind. How could three musicians create such a big, full sound? I understood that studio recordings could be enhanced with layers of multiple tracks for guitars, bass, vocals and drums, but this was a live recording...by a trio! Additionally, there were moments when the three of them seemed to be soloing at the same time, effortlessly switching between complex time signatures and melodic phrases. This was not straightforward 4/4 time rock and roll – at the time I thought of it as "orchestral rock" or "symphonic metal"?

Rush performing live in 1976.

Not surprisingly, Rush players Geddy Lee (bass/vocals), Alex Lifeson (guitars) and Neil Peart (drums) have cited several bands on The 500 as influencing their sound -- chief among them is The Who. In a July, 2020, article in Rolling Stone Magazine, Lee named The Who’s John Entwistle as the greatest rock bass guitarist of all time, saying:

"He was one of the first gods to me. Gods of rock. [Laughs] Ever since I first heard (The Who's) My Generation, it was like, “Who is that?” His was a name I needed to know."

It's easy to spot the influence on Rush when you listen to The Who's 1970 record Live At Leeds. It is equally hard to imagine that The Who’s four members made such a heavy, complex sound. Throughout Live At Leeds and much of The Who’s classic catalogue, Entwistle's bass work is riveting. One of his nicknames, Thunderfingers, is apropos Those digits of his dance up and down the fretboard with purpose and confident melodic authority. He is a master of the oft-overlooked instrument.

Entwistle in 1970.

Throughout their careers with The Who and Rush respectively, Entwistle and Lee were not content to serve as simple rhythmic bricklayers. Instead, they played their instruments more actively, finding engaging melodies that supported the piece while making it far more interesting. There’s truth in the observation that Lee and Entwistle play the bass as if it is the lead instrument. Perhaps, unsurprisingly, both began as guitar players and played trumpet in school. Their understanding of melody and counter-melody certainly informed their songwriting and bass playing.

John Entwistle surrounded by his many bass guitars.

It was at my high school friend Brent Murray's home that I first heard Live From Leeds. We were likely skipping school and hanging around at his mom's apartment while she worked. I was gobsmacked. It sounded so raw and real, as if I was standing in the crowd at the Refectory (cafeteria) at Leeds University in West Yorkshire on February 14, 1970, when the concert was recorded.

A 2019 picture of the small stage in the Refectory at Leeds University.

The extended version of the song Magic Bus, which concludes the record, remains one of my favourite Who performances, so it was an easy choice for adding it to my personal, ever-growing, 500 Playlist. However, Entwistle has called Magic Bus one of his least favourite songs to play because the bass part is so simple –  for the most part, a single note (a low A) played repeatedly. Conversely, Who guitarist Peter Townsend has termed it a favourite because of the rhythm. The song Such is the fate for even the greatest rock bassist. It was a staple of their live performances for decades. Alas, sometimes, even the greatest rock bassist of all time has to accept the role as a rhythmic bricklayer for the benefit of the band.