Playlist for August 12, 2006

Here's what we played on the show tonight:

1. Led Zeppelin ...................When the Levee Breaks


2. Queen............................... Killer Queen


3. Queen............................... Tie Your Mother Down


4. Def Leppard.....................Photograph


5. Def Leppard.....................Rock On


6. Rush..................................Speed of Love


7. Rush..................................Alien Shore


8. Thin Lizzy........................Thunder and Lightning


9. Thin Lizzy........................Cowboy Song


10. Cloudscape.......................Psychic Imbalance


11. Cloudscape.......................Hope


12. Annihilator......................Set the World on Fire


13. Megadeth.........................Kill the King


14. Megadeth.........................The Scorpian


15. Eidolon..............................Scarred


16. Eidolon..............................Lost Voyage


17. Testament........................Electric Crown


18. Cradle of Filth..................Nymphetamine


19. Obliveon...........................Perihelion


20. Obliveon...........................Android Succubus

*bands in italics are Canadian

Repairman Jack

I'm in the midst of re-reading the Repairman Jack series of novels by F Paul Wilson.

For those of you who do know the story of Repairman Jack, he's a man who fixes things--and I'm not talking about appliances. If you want to get even with someone, and have a taste for poetic justice, then Jack is your man.

The novels feature the classic anti-hero in the mold of Hornung's Raffles, or Leslie Charteris' Simon Templer: an honourable man living outside the law and dispensing justice with panache. Jack originally appeared in a novel called The Tomb, which was intended to be a one-off thing. He made a couple of guest appearance before Wilson brought him back in a full-blown series, starting with Legacies.

The problem was that over a decade had passed between the two books being written, so for Wilson to maintain the series without making it a 1980's period piece he had to go back and rework The Tomb to a post 9/11 timeframe. This version of the book is called the "Author's Definitive Version" and I finally picked up a copy last week.

Despite being a big fan of Repairman Jack, I'd never read the "definitive" version of The Tomb before now. Unlike Stephen's King's two versions of The Stand, don't expect major changes between the two versions of the Tomb--just enough tweaking to make it fit in with the later books.

I've read the books several times so I don't feel the need to reread them in order. I just finished The The Haunted Air(one of the best), and am currently on All The Rage(somewhere in the middle). It's possible that Hosts (my least favourite) might not even get read this time around. The goal is to get all of them finished in time for the upcoming paperback release of Infernal.

If you are new to the series, this is an excellent time to check them out, since the publisher has recently released a special discounted version of The Tomb to promote the upcoming hardcover release of Harbingers on Sept. 19th.

Judas Priest Rocks!

I'm watching the "Rock Honors" on MuchMoreMusic this evening, and despite being produced that great producer of soulless, crapulent pap, VH1, it's pretty good.

Queen, Judas Priest, Def Leppard, and Kiss are being honoured; each performing a couple of songs live. There's also tribute performances by Godsmack, Foo Fighters, All American Rejects, and an all-star band featuring Gilby Clarke, Slash, Scott Ian, Rob Zombie and Tommy Lee (telling note: Ace Frehley performs with the all-stars, as opposed to Kiss).

Aside from the all-stars, the show has two major high points: Brian May--performing with not only Queen, but also with the Foo Fighters and Def Leppard--and the mighty PRIEST!!!

Despite choosing the most predictable songs for their performance (Breaking the Law and You've Got Another Thing Coming), Judas Priest performed with their usual precision and conviction. It is impossible to watch Priest live and not feel that they believe 100% in what they are doing.

I had the good fortune of seeing them in Toronto during their Angel of Retribution tour, and I can honestly say it was one of the best concerts I've ever seen in my life. Rob Halford can still belt out the tunes, and the sound was flawless. By the time the show was over, we were drained, deaf and disappointed it was over.

Judas Priest are still one of the most popular metal bands, and I get requests for them all the time. I will almost always manage to put a little Priest in the show somewhere!

Hi, and welcome to the Tapping the Ether Blog.

Tapping the Ether is a heavy metal radio show broadcast on Saturday nights on CFRC-FM radio in Kingston, Ontario.

The show has been on the air for almost 16 years, and we play a wide variety of heavy metal styles, from glam to thrash, prog rock to black metal.

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