Saturday, September 26, 2009

The Scorpion's Lair will not be on Tomorrow

Due to a last minute family situation tomorrow's show has been cancelled.

But please check out The Scorpion's Lair Myspace to check out all the great bands in the friends list.


-- Posted from my iPhone

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Remember to Listen to The Scorpion's Lair

Don't forget to tune in on Sunday from 3-5pm EST on Brooklyn College Radio as I once again guest host The Scorpion's Lair. We'll be bringing you the best in rock and metal from bands you know and bands you should know.

And hey, we know that Sunday is football day but the commentators suck. Put your TV on mute, log on to Brooklyn College Radio from 3-5pm EST and listen to some awesome rock and metal with your football.


-- Posted from my iPhone

Rock Against Dystrophy at Cha Cha's on October 11th

The next big Rock Against Dystrophy event is happening Columbus Day Weekend. Come down to Cha Cha's in Coney Island on Sunday, October 11th from 1-9pm for a full day of music for a great cause. We will be rocking out to some great music to raise money to benefit the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

Scheduled to perform:
- ODD ZERO
- Mystical Children
- Lost Legacy
- GAS
- Good and Plenty Band
- Killer Joe
- Big Pussy and the Bada Bing Band featuring Vincent Pastore

This is an ALL AGES SHOW, so come on down and help us rock out to knock out Muscular Dystrophy. $15 admission

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Frehley's "Anomaly" Hits the Outer Limits

Normally when people hear about a solo album they tend to brush it off. There's a certain lack of respect for anything that doesn't sound like a solid band in name. But every so often there is an artist who solidifies their spot in the music world and if Ace Frehley hadn't already done so from his years in KISS then his latest solo release "Anomaly" will surely do it.

I personally was first introduced to the amazing talent of the Space Ace when I first became a proud member of the KISS Army back in 1996. At that point I was 16 years old and KISS had been around for about 20 years and I had to dive head first into KISStory to catch up on the years of music I had missed. As I began listening to the early KISS albums I found myself being amazed at how Ace's guitar work on those albums is what had inspired the bands I was listening to at 16. His solo's fit into each song as if they were meant to be there, not just tossed in to sell albums. And as my search through KISStory continued I came across the four solo albums the band released in 1978. And without doubt, and no disrespect to the others, Ace's was the best of the four and just proved how talented Ace is. And you KISS nay-sayers can throw out at me the old "of course it was the best, it had 2 radio singles", but take a moment and actually listen to the album in full. The solo that opens "Speeding Back to My Baby" grabs you and slaps you around making you realize that Ace did some amazing things with a guitar.

Fast forward to the present and Ace hit's us all with his latest album "Anomaly", 31 years after his first solo album and twenty some-odd years removed from his band Frehley's Comet which is probably best known for the song "Rock Soldiers". And after one listen to his latest work I can't help but wonder why we had to wait so long for this album. It has so many elements of the Ace we know and love plus more.

The big single from the album is "Outer Space" and for Ace this couldn't be more perfect as the song to get on the airwaves. It's got a very catchy chorus and highlights his full abilities as a guitarist, but leaves you wanting to hear more just like "New York Groove" did with his 1978 solo album. There is even a great throwback to the 70's with his cover of "Fox On the Run" by Sweet. Ace's version of this 70's classic is true to the original but just gives it a little more edge.

And the truth be told my favorite tracks on the album are both instrumentals. While the track "Genghis Khan" has a simple chorus that is sung, it is essentially an instrumental track. What's great about the track is that when it start's it sounds like they recorded a jam session. But as the song plays out it just turns right from jam session into a song seamlessly. As for my other favorite, it's a perfect track to close an album with.(NOTE: The iTunes version of the album has a bonus track) "Fractured Quantum" makes you realize how far we've come in music as blends acoustic with full electric. You can get the sense of how rock and metal has progressed from its simple start years ago with bands like The Beatles to the more technical and extreme's of today with bands like Slipknot. And I haven't felt so much emotion in a song since I heard Edward and Alex Van Halen's "Respect the Wind".

I saw on Twitter today that "Anomaly" landed 27th on the top selling albums for the week of it's release, which proves that rock is far from dead. It's thriving under the radar awaiting it's time to take back the reigns. "Anomaly" is a true rock album and is great if your a long time rocker like myself or just finding yourself entering the world of rock and metal.

Friday, September 18, 2009

The Scorpion's Lair Returns on Sunday

After a scheduling issue last week, The Scorpion's Lair is returning to the airwaves THIS SUNDAY from 3-5pm EST on Brooklyn College Radio.

Make sure you listen in as yours truly joins the TSL crew as guest host to bring you great rock and metal music from bands you know and bands you should know.

-- Posted from my iPhone

Monday, September 14, 2009

Go Away West, PLEASE!!!

Many of you know that I usually ignore pop culture unless it is directly related to rock and/or metal, but the big news today of Kanye West's actions at the 2009 MTV VMA's has pushed my buttons.

Now I gave up on MTV years ago when they stopped playing music and stop referring to the rock and metal community, which ironically enough was when the "M" in MTV changed to meaning money instead of music. So I have not watched them in ages and almost forgot about the 2009 VMA's, keyword being almost. As I logged into Twitter after the TrueBlood season finale to see what others though of it, I was instead bombarded by tweets calling Kanye West every name in the book. In my natural curiosity and desire to see no talent hacks fail I turned on the VMA's to see what the big deal was but I had missed it. Although I did catch Green Day's performance with I am declaring to only good part of the VMA's.

I then turned on the news and found out that Kanye West had pretty much destroyed Taylor Swift's moment by storming on stage to say that Beyonce was more deserving of the award than Taylor. I then proceeded to worry about both our youth who think Kanye West actually has talent and buy his albums and to worry about the music industry as they continue to back individuals like him while other true talent is going ignore and unsupported.

What we need to do as a society is ignore his actions because the more we discuss it the bigger his ego will get and the more likely it'll be that he'll do something like this again. Kanye West is an ego-maniacal bigot who should be banned for life from music industry events.

I want to commend Taylor Swift for being calm and chilled out as her spotlight was so rudely interupted. She showed maturity beyond her years by being a bigger person and for that she deserves all the support in the world from her fans.

And lastly, I know its unlikely that Kanye will ever read this, I ask that you please put yourself back in the closet Kanye and lock it shut behind you.

Scheduling Delayed The Scorpion's Lair Return

Yesterday was supposed to be the return of The Scorpion's Lair on Brooklyn College Radio from 1-4PM EST. Unfortunately we did not air due to a scheduling mix up.

We are working on getting that mix up corrected and will hopefully be on soon, just hang tight and as soon as we have everything worked out it will be announced.

Dame Fortune NEWS and Upcoming Show

We're about to go back underground so we can prepare to celebrate our 10 year anniversary all year long in 2010 that will include but is not limited to: new songs, new shirts, our first ever DVD release with both multi-camera live footage and a documentary and videos, our first ever national tour, and a bunch of other surprises we can't even tell you about.

But before we do that, we wanted to say goodbye for a while to all of our friends and fans who have been so supportive this year. And what better place to do that, than our favorite friendly down to earth rock and roll biker club in the valley, Paladino's. Those that have been coming to see us over the years have said that their favorite Dame Fortune shows have been a Paladino's, and yet it's been 3 years since we've played there. So come rock with us on Saturday September 19th at 8:30pm
at Paladino's where the heart of rock and roll still beats strong. Call us at 213-840-3333 for 10 buck tickets and we'll make it a night to remember!

Here's what the rest of the line up looks like for the night:

7:30 Forceps: a cover band that does Rage Against the Machine, NIN and The Deftones etc.
8:30 Dame Fortune: yours truly
9:30 Clandestine: Evanescence meets Rush with a hot female Asian singer
10:30 The Fold: a groove oriented thrash metal band along the lines of Pantera
11:30 The Saloonatics: fresh from playing for the troops in Iraq with covers of Van Halen, Areosmith, Metallica and Journey




P.S. Lots going on in our world. Happy to announce that our music for "The Days Are Just Packed" was recently used in New York for the
Jerry Lewis telethon as the musical accompaniment to a video cut together by our buddy Turbo. John Merritt was recently featured in an
article in the Tri-County Times talking about the hometown connection to his song "Holly Fenton," There's an article about us in the new issue
of the British Rock mag Fireworks #37, and we had our first religious protest against us. Look for more details about all that & more in a major site
update coming soon!

Thursday, September 10, 2009

My Return to Radio

As many of you know my brother Jay Scorpion, host of The Scorpion's Lair became very sick at the beginning of the summer. At that time we all had figured it wasn't going to be long but unfortunately things progressed for the worse and The Scorpion's Lair took a hiatus for the summer.

Well Jay Scorpion is home and is on the road to recovery but is unable to host. So with his permission and an OK from Brooklyn College Radio that yours truly, Turbo, will be filling in as host of The Scorpion's Lair alongside the rest of the TSL Crew until Jay Scorpion is healthy enough to return.

So starting this Sunday, September 13th from 1-4PM EST you better listen to The Scorpion's Lair online at BrooklynCollegeRadio.org as the TSL Crew and I continue to bring rock and metal music to the masses.

The 2009 MDA Telethon was A Success

I want to take this time to thank everyone who donated their time and effort to make this years Telethon run so smoothly and an extra special thank you to all of you that made a donation. The National final tote was $60,481,231 and the final tote here in the NY/NJ Area was $5,628,134. Even in tough economic times you all still pulled through for us.

Please remember that you can follow MDA all year long at MDA.org and you can find MDA on all the major social networking sites well.

And remember you can donate anytime of year by going to MDA.org whenever you feel like making a donation.

Sunday, September 6, 2009

My MDA Telethon Times

As always I am scheduled to appear on this years Telethon. Below are my times:

Sunday September 6th
- 11:50pm

Monday September 7th
- 12:50pm
- 3:10pm
- 5;30pm

And if your not in NY/NJ area you can donate at at www.mda.org


-- Posted from my iPhone

Friday, September 4, 2009

The 2009 MDA Telethon is THIS weekend

Yes it is that time again, the 2009 MDA Telethon has arrived. And for yours truly this will be my 25th Telethon. Over the years I have had the pleasure to work with so many great people; Frankie Avalon, John Tesh, Maureen McGovern and the late-great Sammy Davis Jr.

And this year is no different as I once again get to work with Russ Saulsberg and Giovanna Drpic from NY/NJ's MY9 News and the incomparable Tony Orlando. My very first Telethon was with Tony so it's only right that my 25th be with him as well.

This year will be the same as recent years past as I work behind the scenes with the production crew and present another patient profile that I produced with my friends Brendan and Adam at Plywood Pictures. This years video is on Corey and Eric Ryan, twins from Central Islip, NY who share my idea that we are individuals that happen to have Muscular Dystrophy and that it does not prevent us from living our lives. It will also feature the song "The Days Are Just Packed" by Dame Fortune and look for their album The Secret Art on iTunes.

I'll be hitting the studio tomorrow and will get details as to when I will be appearing on air here in the NY/ NJ area where the 2009 MDA Telethon came be seen on MY9. Once I have my on air schedule I'll post it here.

I'll also be doing updates whenver possible over Twitter and ask that all of you on Twitter help make the Telethon a top trend topic by tweeting #MDATelethon as much as possible this weekend.

For everyone outside the NY/NJ area check you local listings and to make a donation go to www.mda.org.


-- Posted from my iPhone




Tuesday, September 1, 2009

2009 MDA Telethon Radio Interview

I was up early this morning to do an interview with Chris DeBello about this years MDA Telethon, here’s when and how you can hear it:

This Sunday, September 6th at 7AM

Radio Stations:
WSUS-FM 102.3
WNNJ-FM 103.7
WHCY-FM 106.3
WTOC-AM 1360

It can also be Streamed online and Podcast at www.chrisdebello.com

Make sure you check it out