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He's a producer, he's a keyboardist, he's a singer, but he's mostly known as a guitarist, the main writer and the leader of "Foreigner". Here are some interesting facts about Mick Jones who is celebrating his birthday today. (Photo: Vintage Guitar) 1. He was born on 27 December 1944 to a middle class family, in Portsmouth in the south of England. His full name is Michael Leslie Jones. 2. From a very young age he knew he wanted to be a musician and taught himself to play the guitar. 3. He began his musical career in 1960, when he was only 16, in the band "Nero and the Gladiators". The band played instrumental rock and roll music and in 1961 released two successful singles. 4. When the band disbanded Jones was 18 years old. He then gone on tour in France, as a member of the backing band of Dick Rivers. 5. Jones '"affair" with Rivers ended after he had an affair with Rivers' fiancée and went to live with her in Paris. 6. Jones spent the next eight years in France, as a songwriter, session player and orchestral arranger. Among other things, he worked and wrote songs for Johnny Hallyday, who was known as the French "Elvis". In one of the songs he wrote for Hallyday "A tout casser" Jimmy Page was featured on guitar. (Photo: foreigneronline.com) 7. With Hallyday, Jones got to travel the world and live the good life. He toured with "The Beatles" in Paris, and connected with musicians such as Jimmy Page , Peter Frampton and Steve Marriott. 8. At one point Jones felt he had exhausted himself and was looking for a new challenge. He returned to England in 1971 and joined Gary Wright from "Spooky Tooth" to formed the band "Wonderwheel". 9. In 1972 Gary Wright re-formed "Spooky Tooth" and added Mick Jones as a guitarist. 10. That same year Jones also managed to play on Peter Frampton 's "Wind of Change" album. 11. By 1974, Jones had released three studio albums with "Spooky Tooth". That same year they realized they were more successful in the US than at home in the UK, so they made a collective decision to move to New York. 12. That did not stop Jones from playing on George Harrison 's "Dark Horse" album that year. 13. But the band's move to the US that did them no good. Soon after their move Gary Wright who was also Mick Jones' roommate decided to break up the band and to start a solo career. 14. Following the dissolution of "Spooky Tooth" Jones was left in New York, unemployed, he said that at this point he seriously considered returning to England and starting medical school or starting dental school. 15. He later joined "Leslie West Band", but they also disbanded, so Jones decides that this time he is going to form his own band. A band that he will lead and which he can direct it's musical directions. 16. He immediately starts recruiting the musicians who will accompany him, with half of the lineup being "American" musicians, including keyboardist Al Greenwood, bassist Ed Gagliardi and singer Lou Gramm and the other half is "British" and includes former "King Crimson" multi-instrumentalist Ian McDonald , drummer Dennis Elliott and Mick Jones himself. (Photo: Hulton Archive) 17. Jones chose the band's name - "Foreigner", because half of the band was British and the other half was American. 18. "Foreigner"'s first album came out in 1977 and was an immediate huge success. It included hits like "Cold as Ice", "Feels Like the First Time", "Long, Long Way from Home", "Starrider" and more, which soon made it one of the best-selling debut albums in the US. 19. By 2009 the band released nine studio albums and became one of the best-selling bands in the world, with sales of over 80 million copies. 20. Jones co-produced all of the band's albums and co-wrote most of their songs with singer Lou Gramm . 21. He also wrote the band's most successful single "I Want to Know What Love Is", on his own. 22. Beyond playing the guitar, Jones also plays keyboards, bass, percussion and sings background vocals. 23. On the band's first albums Jones was also the lead singer on one or two songs from each album. For example "Starrider" and "Woman Oh Woman" from the debut album. 24. Along with his membership in "Foreigner" Mick also became a sought-after producer who produced albums by artists such as "Van Halen", "Bad Company", "The Cult" and Billy Joel. 25. Jones co-wrote the song "Bad Love" from the album "Journeyman", with Eric Clapton. 26. To date, Jones has released one and only solo album - "Mick Jones" from 1989. In 2024 he was inducted into the rock and roll hall of fame together with his band "Foreigner". "Face/Off" - Israel's Rock Blog Follow us on Facebook  / Instagram  or Subscribe to our website

Written By: Moti Kupfer Release date - 27.12.1967 “My mother sang songs all around the house. I know those melodies touched me deeply. When I took my guitar to a restaurant with friends, my mother would come along, and we would sing all night.” Leonard Cohen  was never meant to be a singer. He was a poet and novelist who received critical acclaim for his books, including: "Let Us Compare Mythologies", "The Spice-Box of Earth", and "The Favourite Game". But praise and good reviews do not pay the grocery bills. So Cohen left Canada, where he was born, and moved to the United States. By a twist of fate, he became a fringe figure in Andy Warhol’s Factory scene. Warhol, who occasionally scouted promising artists and musicians from the crowd ("Velvet Underground"), heard Cohen perform " Suzanne ", a song Cohen wrote about his unfulfilled relationship with Suzanne Verdal, the partner of Canadian sculptor Armand Vaillancourt. The song was first recorded and popularized by American singer Judy Collins. Warhol brought Cohen onstage for his first performance in front of an audience, giving him the initial push he needed. Cohen went on to perform at several folk festivals, until John Hammond, a producer at Columbia Records, heard about him and signed him. From there, the path to his debut album "Songs of Leonard Cohen", released on December 27, 1967, was short. Cohen was born into an Orthodox Jewish family in Westmount, Quebec, in September 1934. When he was nine years old, his father, Nathan Cohen, passed away. At fourteen, he studied music and singing at Westmount High School, where he became particularly fascinated by the poetry of Spanish poet, playwright, and director Federico García Lorca. During high school, he taught himself to play acoustic guitar and formed a country-folk band called “Buckskin Boys.” As mentioned, Hammond signed Cohen and was initially meant to take him into the recording studio, but due to illness he was replaced by John Simon, who would later produce albums for "The Band", "Blood Sweat & Tears", and the group that launched the career of Janis Joplin , "Big Brother & the Holding Company". Cohen’s intention was to record the songs in a minimalist fashion, accompanied only by guitar, relying primarily on his groundbreaking, beautiful songwriting. His lyrics avoid strict rhyme schemes and instead embrace a loose, creative structure. Throughout the album, Cohen often leads the listener to the edge of an emotional moment, touching but not quite crossing it. At times this appears in his relationship with a woman ( “Suzanne” ), at others in the story of two women travelers he hosted in his hotel room during a snowstorm in Edmonton ( “Sisters of Mercy” ), and elsewhere in the image of a man reaching his hands toward the sky as if he could touch it ( “The Stranger Song” ). Cohen also tells the story of a woman who loved him deeply, while he felt unworthy of her love ( “So Long, Marianne” ). It can be said that much of the album carries a dark, even bitter atmosphere, tinged with sadness over things that were unattainable, or almost within reach. The album appears on Colin Larkin’s All Time Top 1000 Albums list and on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. For Listening: Spotify , Apple Music "Face/Off" - Israel's Rock Blog Follow us on Facebook  / Instagram  or Subscribe to our website

If you are a fan of Hard Rock or Metal, there is no way you have not ever listened to an album produced or mixed by Martin Birch. (Photo: Fin Costello) Birch was for "Iron Maiden" as was George Martin for "the Beatles". If Martin was then called "The Fifth Beatle" then Martin is undoubtedly the sixth "Maidenist" (the band numbered 5 members at the time) or Eddie's stepbrother. He has produced nine consecutive "Iron Maiden" albums ranging from " Killers " in 1981 to " Fear Of The Dark " in 1992. Only the masterpieces he produced and engineered for Maiden alone justify putting him in the Hall of Fame for producers (if there was one). " The Number Of The Beast ", " Powerslave ", " Somewhere in Time ", " Seventh Son of a Seventh Son " and more. Birch was born on December 27, 1948 in Surrey, England. He began his professional career as a technician and producer in the late 1960s as a sound technician on the albums of Jeff Beck and "Fleetwood Mac". He later became the sound engineer for masterful albums by the band "Wishbone Ash" such as "Argus" and "Pilgrimage". He rose to fame in the early '70s when he worked on "Deep Purple" albums including masterpieces " In Rock ", " Machine Head ", " Fireball ", " Burn " and even the masterpiece live album " Made in Japan ". Birch stays with the extended "Deep Purple" family as he produces albums for Jon Lord and Roger Glover , among others. Even after the breakup of "Deep Purple" in the mid - 1970s, Birch worked with "Rainbow" while producing his first three studio albums and the live album " On Stage " with Ronnie James Dio . But that is not enough. Birch produced all of "Whitesnake's" first albums, from "Trouble" in 1978 to " Slide It In " in 1984. Birch is also responsible for the production of "Black Sabbath"'s first two masterpieces with Ronnie James Dio " Heaven And Hell " and " Mob Rules ". Birch encouraged the band to explore new areas and experiment with musical structures appropriate to Dio’s multi-octave vocal range and the results were nothing short of stunning. He has also produced other artists such as Gary Moore , "Blue Öyster Cult" and even "Michael Schenker Group" on the amazing album "Assault Attack". Birch believed in working for a long time with a certain artist, as George Martin did with "The Beatles". He believed that in-depth work with a certain band, album after album, was preferable to moving and skipping between artists, and indeed as can be seen in his career he accompanied bands such as "Black Sabbath", "Deep Purple", "Iron Maiden", "Whitesnake" and "Rainbow" across a sequence of albums. Martin's last album to be produced was Iron Maiden's " Fear Of The Dark " from 1992, after which he retired. Over the years, Birch has earned various nicknames on the album covers of the bands he has produced, such as "Farmer", "Black Night", "Pool Buly" and more ... The song "Hard Lovin 'Man" from "Deep Purple's" " In Rock " album was dedicated by the band to Birch. It is interesting to note that on Fleetwood Mac's "Mystery to Me" album, Birch also received credit for playing an acoustic guitar. Martin Birch passed away on August 6, 2020, he was 71 years old at the time of his death. There is no doubt that Birch will be remembered as the super producer of the Hard Rock and Metal genre. "Face/Off" - Israel's Rock Blog Follow us on Facebook  / Instagram  or Subscribe to our website

Written By: Moti Kupfer Release date - 26.12.1971 “Just don’t buy me a rose wrapped in parchment, just don’t bring me a rose, because then I will tell the truth, the one who brings me a rose is the wrong man.” Yael Levi sang it, Tirza Atar wrote it, and Nurit Galron composed it, although, when it comes to the melody, it can be said with complete honesty that it belongs no less to Dewey Bunnell, one third of the members of America, who released their self-titled debut album on December 26, 1971. “America” was actually formed in London, when the band’s three members, Dewey Bunnell, Dan Peek, and Gerry Beckley, all sons of U.S. Air Force personnel—met at an American Air Force base in London. Bunnell was born in Harrogate, Yorkshire, England, to an American father and a British mother, and as a young musician he was inspired by "The Beatles" and "The Beach Boys". Gerry Beckley was born in Fort Worth, Texas, also to an American father and an English mother. He began playing piano at the age of three, and a few years later learned to play guitar. As a child, he played in a band called “The Vanguards,” which performed surf music, and after spending a summer in England he was influenced by bands of the British Invasion. Daniel Peek was born in Panama City, Florida, also the son of an Air Force serviceman, and from 1963 onward studied at a school in London. Toward the end of the 1960s, the three met with the intention of making music together. Two years earlier, “ Sgt. Pepper’s ” by "The Beatles" had been released, inspiring countless young musicians. Peek, Bunnell, and Beckley likewise envisioned a “Beatles-like” creative path, but their combined vocal harmonies ultimately steered them more toward the sound of "The Beach Boys" and "Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young". “America” was the name they chose for themselves, inspired by the jukebox in the local cafeteria, which bore the label “Americana.” Almost as a declaration: we are not British musicians trying to sound American - we are the real thing. After performing as an acoustic-guitar trio around London, they caught the attention of "Warner Bros. Records" and entered the studio with producer Ian Samwell, who had previously worked with Cliff Richard, John Mayall, and "Small Faces", along with his right-hand man, Jeff Dexter. Samwell and Dexter heard America’s acoustic guitars and understood that their direction was not the Beatles, but rather vocal harmonies and folk rock. Recording for the debut album, simply titled “America” after the band itself, began in March 1971 at "Trident Studios", which at the time was one of the few studios equipped with an eight-track tape machine. When the album was first released, it achieved only moderate success, and Ian Samwell and Jeff Dexter brought the trio back into the studio to record additional songs. Among them was a piece initially called “Desert Song,” written by Dewey Bunnell after he encountered paintings in the home of musician Arthur Brown, best known for “Fire.” One painting conveyed the feeling of a hot, dry desert, while another depicted a strange looking horse. The song was later renamed " A Horse with No Name" , a track that describes a difficult journey through the desert, all in search of a small measure of inner peace. Despite the soothing vocal harmonies and folk rock guitars that define much of the album’s sound, several songs deal directly with the Vietnam War, mainly from the personal perspective of the soldiers themselves, as heard in " Donkey Jaw" . In " Sandman" , the familiar figure of the Sandman, traditionally associated with pleasant dreams, is turned on its head. For the soldiers, sleep was anything but comforting, becoming a nightmare driven by the constant fear of falling asleep and being killed by the enemy while they rested. The second and most successful single from the album is the soft rock ballad " I Need You" , a song that was later covered numerous times and helped define the soft rock sound for generations to come, most notably influencing bands such as "Air Supply". On the album cover, the band members are seen standing at the front of the photograph alongside three of eight Native American prisoners who were held under guard in Montana during a period of conflict between Native American tribes and American settlers. For Listening: Spotify , Apple Music "Face/Off" - Israel's Rock Blog Follow us on Facebook  / Instagram  or Subscribe to our website

Today we will tell you about the renowned producer Phil Spector. (Photo: happymag.tv) Spector, who was one of the most important producers in the rock world, is a descendant of a Jewish family. He was born on December 26, 1939 in the Bronx, New York, but grew up in Los Angeles, where the family moved when Phil was only 9 years old, after his father committed suicide. Spector began his musical career at the age of 16 as a guitar player. His first band was "The Teddy Bears", with whom he scored his first hit "To Know Him Is to Love Him" ​​in 1958. Beginning in the late 1950s and throughout the 1960s he produced some of the most important albums of the period and collaborated with big names in the music industry, including "the Beatles", John Lennon , George Harrison , "The Ramones" and more. Spector changed the whole concept of recording and producing albums. His great contribution to the world of music, is known as "The Wall Of Sound", which includes multi channel recordings, layers upon layers of instruments and sounds that create a "wall of sound". However, Spector's genius in production and sound comes at the expense of mental problems that caused him extreme acts, including threatening John Lennon with a gun, the mental and physical abuse of his partner Roni Spector and of course the shocking murder of Lana Clarkson. Spector probably also had a psychopathic past. One of his first wives accused him of imprisoning and sexually abusing two adopted children. On January 16, 2021 Spector died at California State Prison. he was serving his sentence there, for the second-degree murder of his actress girlfriend Lana Clarkson, on February 3, 2003. The cause of death determined for Spector who was due to be released from prison in 2024 is covid-19. "Face/Off" - Israel's Rock Blog Follow us on Facebook  / Instagram  or Subscribe to our website

Today, December 25, 1975, "Iron Maiden" was founded by Steve Harris, who was inspired by the 1939 film "The Man in the Iron Mask," which is an adaptation of a novel by Alexandre Dumas. Harris saw in the film a torture device called "Iron Maiden" and decided to use the name for his new lineup. (Photo: https://maidenrevelations.com) It all started in 1971 when Steve Harris purchased his first bass guitar, which was an imitation of Fender Precision. Harris taught himself how to play it and just ten months after later he had already joined a band called "Influence". The band later changed its name to "Gypsy's Kiss". In February 1974, Harris joined the band "Smiler", where he first met drummer Doug Sampson and singer Dennis Wilcock. Initially, the band played simple, basic Rock that directly clashed with Steve Harris' ambitions to write more complex songs. When Harris started writing material for the band, its members were not open to his "progressive" direction, which was influenced by bands like "Jethro Tull", "Wishbone Ash" and more. They rejected them due to the fact that they were too complex for their taste. That was enough for Harris to decide to form his own new band, where he would have freedom of creation and control over the musical direction. What Harris did not know when he gave the name "Iron Maiden" to the band, was that there was another British band of the same name, which had been active since the late 1960s and even released an album in 1969, called "Maiden Voyage". Old Maiden included bassist Barry Skeels who would later become the tour manager of bands like "Black Sabbath", "Saxon", "Manowar" and more. Old Maiden's style was progressive blues-rock with touches of hard rock. Steve Harris remembers getting an angry phone call from the old band, who objected his use of their bame for his band, but Harris simply informed them that he would continue to use the name. The first incarnation of "Iron Maiden" included Steve Harris who was then only 19, Dave Sullivan and Terry Rance on guitar, Ron Matthews on drums and Paul Day on vocals. This band underwent many lineup changes in the first years of its existence. Shortly after the band's formation Dennis Wilcock - Harris' friend from "Gypsy's Kiss" - will replace Paul Day as singer, since he did not have a good stage presence. (Photo: https://maidenrevelations.com) In 1976 Dave Murray would have a successful audition as the band's third guitarist, but the two guitarists Dave Sullivan and Terry Rance objected his joining to the band and gave Harris an ultimatum that would force him to prefer Dave Murray over them. But Dave Murray's days in the band were few, since he was kicked out of the band following an argument with singer Dennis Wilcock, until his return after Wilcock left the band. Three years after the formation of the first band, on December 31, 1978, Iron Maiden will release their first recording known as " The Soundhouse Tapes ". At this point the band included Steve Harris on bass, Dave Murray and Paul Cairns on guitar, Doug Sampson as drummer and Paul Di'Anno as singer. It can be summed up and said that today in 1975 "Iron Maiden" gave the music world the best Christmas present ever ... (Photo: Iron Maiden discography Photos 2020) "Face/Off" - Israel's Rock Blog Follow us on Facebook  / Instagram  or Subscribe to our website

Guitarist Brian May called him a "role model" stating: "totally a hero of mine, there are some people in life that no matter how old you are, you feel nervous if you meet someone, he's one of those, he's a real role model". Blues artist B.B. King said about him: "...How can you forget a guy like Jan". In 1973, he was awarded the title "Best guitarist of the world" by the magazine "Melody Maker" and surpassed great guitarists such as Jimmy Page and Eric Clapton . His music influenced bands like "Iron Maiden", "Marillion", "Helloween" and more... (Photo: Fin Costello) Today we will tell you about Jan Akkerman, known among others for his membership in the Progressive Rock band "Focus". 1. He was born in Amsterdam, Holland on December 24, 1946, into a musical family - his father played the clarinet and trumpet. 2. The first instrument he started playing when he was 3 years old, was the accordion. 3. When he was 10 years old he started playing the guitar. He studied at the Amsterdam Conservatory until he was in his teens, when the family moved to Vienna, Austria. 4. He joined his first band, "Johnny & the Cellar Rockers", in 1958, aged just 11. The band also included his childhood friend Pierre van der Linden on drums. 5. Later the two will form the instrumental group "Hunters" which was greatly influenced by "The Shadows". 6. During the late 1960s, Akkerman, Van der Linden, bassist Bert Ruiter, and singer Kaz Lux formed "Brainbox", they received a recording contract with "Parlophone Records". 7. In 1969 he founded the band "Focus" together with keyboardist, singer, and flutist Thijs van Leer. 8. In 1970 they released their debut album "Focus Plays Focus", which was not a success. 9. After the release of the album, his drummer friend Pierre van der Linden joined the band and they released the excellent album "Focus II / Moving Waves", which included the "hits" "Janis" and "Hocus Pocus". 10. The track "Hocus Pocus" will appear in several TV shows such as "Top Gear", "Saxondale", "Skins", "Supernatural", "Vinyl", "My Name is Earl" and "Shameless" as well as the 2007 film "Hot Fuzz", "Robocop" from 2014, "Baby Driver" from 2017 as well as many TV commercials including for "Nike". 11. In addition, the track will receive quite a few cover versions over the years. Among them:are Iron Maiden", "Marillion", "Helloween", Gary Hoey, "The Vandals" and Vanessa-Mae. 12. The album "Focus II / Moving Waves" was an international success and Akkerman became, overnight, a superstar guitarist, who in 1973 won, among other things, the title "Best guitarist of the world" by the magazine "Melody Maker", ahead of great guitarists such as Jeff Beck , Jimmy Page and Eric Clapton . 13. His name as a great guitarist earned him a collaboration with "Framus" guitar company, to produce one of the first "signature guitar" models. 14. Until 1976, Jan will release 4 more studio albums with "Focus", including "Focus 3" which included the the great track "Sylvia" , "Hamburger Concerto" and "Ship of Memories", which consists of songs that the band recorded between 1970-1975 and were never released. 15. Akkerman would leave "Focus" in 1976, but would return in 1985, when the band released the album "Focus" under the name "Jan Akkerman & Thijs Van Leer". The band will reunite again in 1990 in the Dutch TV show "Goud van Oud". 16. At the same time as his membership in "Focus", Akkerman developed an extensive solo career that began back in 1968, during which he published over 30 albums. The albums combined many styles of music beyond the Progressive Rock that characterized him in the days of "Focus" and among others classical, jazz, fusion, funk, and blues. 17. Among the special albums in his solo career is "Tabernakel" from 1974, which was released after Akkerman purchased a medieval lute, taught himself to play it, and played it in half of the tracks of the album, consisting of medieval music. It was an unusual record that featured guest artists such as Tim Bogert (bass) and Carmine Appice (drums). 18. In 1976 Akkerman released the concept album "Eli" together with Kaz Lux on vocals. The album won יןצ the "Edison Award" as the best album of 1976. In this album, Akkerman experimented, among other things, with playing a 12-string guitar in a non-standard parallel fifths guitar tuning. 19. In the early 1980s, Akkerman began to experiment with a "guitar synthesizer" as in the album "Oil in the Family" from 1981 and was among the first to do so. 20. In 1992, Jan Akkerman was involved in a serious car accident, but returned to playing already in 1993. 21. Akkerman is a multi-instrumentalist who plays, among other things, guitar, bass guitar, lute, piano, accordion, and drums. ("Focus" - Photo: Michael Putland) 22. He is a unique guitarist, who is constantly experimenting with new guitars and equipment. His unique guitar sound is characterized by his pioneering use of volume swells that produce a smooth, "fluty" and sustained sound, although he is also a very fast and technical guitarist. 23. Throughout his career, Akkerman was a sought-after session player who, among others, played on albums by artists such as Peter Banks, Jack Bruce, Phil Collins , Paco de Lucía, Ice-T, and B.B. King 24. In addition, Akkerman collaborated with other artists such as former "Yes" guitarist Peter Banks, with whom he released the album "Two Sides Of Peter Banks" in 1973, which featured also Phil Collins , Steve Hackett , and John Wetton . 25. In 2005, Akkerman received the "Golden Harp" Dutch award. 26. Akkerman also wrote a column for the guitar magazine "GitaarPlus". "Face/Off" - Israel's Rock Blog Follow us on Facebook  / Instagram  or Subscribe to our website

The rough voice, the Mutton Chops beard, the cowboy hat, and the hanging microphone ... Here are some interesting facts about the sharpest ace in the deck of cards - Lemmy Kilmister. (Photo: Robert John) 1. He was born on December 24 1945 in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England as Ian Fraser Kilmister. 2. When he was 3 months old his parents divorced. When he was 10, his mother remarried a footballer named George Willis. 3. After the marriage the family moved to Wales where Lemmy attended a Welsh school, as a single Englishman. It made him experience a sense of alienation. 4. The nickname Lemmy was given to him at the same Welsh school. Some say that nickname came from the phrase "Lemmy (lend me) a quid", as Lemmy used to lend money, even though he stated that he did not remember the origin of the nickname. 5. At school he noticed a boy with a guitar and many girls surrounding him with. That was enough to make him decide to take his mother's guitar to school, even though at first he did not know how to play at all. 6. He later taught himself to play the guitar. And after his family moved to Conwy he was a member of several local bands, including "The Sundowners". 7. One of Lemmy's hobbies as a child was horseback riding. He even took riding lessons. 8. At the age of 16, he attended the "the Beatles" show at the famous "Cavern" club in Liverpool. Following that performance, he learned to play their entire first album, " Please Please Me " from beginning to end, on the guitar. 9. He later moved to the town of Stockport in the Manchester area and played in the band "the Rainmakers", of which he was a member for 3 years. 10. In 1965 Lemmy joined the band "The Rockin' Vickers" which released 3 singles after signing a contract with "CBS". 11. In 1967 he left the band and moved to London. During this time he shared an apartment with Noel Redding the bassist of "The Jimi Hendrix Experience" and with Neville Chesters the band's road manager. It helped him get a job as a stage worker and as a roadie of the Jimi Hendrix and "The Nice", which Keith Emerson was a member of. 12. In 1968 he joined the psychedelic band "Sam Gopal" under the name Ian Willis. They released the album "Escalator". Lemmy wrote some of the songs, played guitar, and sang. 13. In 1971 he successfully auditioned for the position of guitarist in the Space Rock band "Hawkwind". On the eve of his first appearance with the band, the original bassist left abruptly, so Lemmy shifted to the bassist position, without any prior experience playing the instrument. Despite his inexperience, Lemmy did great and became the band's regular bassist for 4 years. 14. On May 14, 1975, Lemmy was fired from "Hawkwind" after being caught with drugs on the Canadian border. Lemmy said it was just an excuse to fire him and that the real reason was the band singer's jealousy that the song "Silver Machine" in which Lemmy was a lead singer became a hit. 15. Rumor has it that in revenge for his dismissal from "Hawkwind" amid a tour of North America, he returned to England and slept with all the band members' spouses. 16. In 1975, when he was 30, he formed the band "Bastard which" quickly changed its name to "Motörhead", as the name of the last song he wrote and sang in "Hawkwind". 17. He wanted the band to be fast and mean and sound like the "MC5". On another occasion, he noted that the goal was for the band to be so loud that the neighbor's lawn would die when they played. 18. The original line-up included Lemmy on vocals and bass, Larry Wallis on guitar, and Lucas Fox on drums. This band recorded its debut album in 1975, but the record company was not satisfied and the album was shelved and released only after the band's success in 1979 as "On Parole". 19. The band's first official album called Simply "Motörhead", was released in 1977 and already included the classical lineup of Fast "Eddie Clarke" on guitars and Phil "Philthy Animal" Taylor on drums. 20. The band's big break came on the fourth studio album - "Ace of Spades" from 1980, which included the theme song that became a metal anthem. 21. In 1981, Lemmy and "Motörhead" collaborated with the girl band "Girlschool" as part of the mini-album "St. Valentine's Day Massacre". 22. In 1982, after the recording of the album "Iron Fist", guitarist "Fast" Eddie Clarke abruptly left the band. Lemmy recruited guitarist Brian David Robertson who was a member of "Thin Lizzy", but he did not match the style of "Motörhead" and after recording one album - "Another Perfect Day", he left the band. 23. The record company did not like the revolving door of the guitarists in the band and pushed Lemmy to release a compilation album. Lemmy was very worried that this was the end of the contract with the record company and insisted that the compilation album would also include new songs to show that the band was not "dead". He enlisted guitarist Phil Campbel l and they wrote two new songs for this collection released in 1984, called "No Remorse". The hit "Killed by Death" and the song "Snaggletooth". 24. The clip for the song "Killed By Death" was boycotted by MTV because of "excessive violence". The clip shows Lemmy driving through the wall of his girlfriend's house mounted on his motorcycle, to the amazement of her parents, riding away on the motorcycle. In the clip, Lemmy was shot by police, after a quick chase and later executed in an electric chair, only to return from the dead as he rushes from the grave on his motorcycle. 25. By the way, one of the nicknames for the band's icon that appears on most of their albums is "Snaggletooth", as the name of the second song written especially for the 1984 "No Remorse" collection. 26. There's a "Motörhead" song that even appeared in SpongeBob's movie "Spongebob Squarepants Movie". The song "You Better Swim" which is a remake of the song "You Better Run" from 1992. 27. Lemmy was a fan of the punk band "The Ramones". He wrote the song "R.A.M.O.N.E.S." From the album "1916" on them. "The Ramones" later recorded their version of the song and Lemmy joined them on stage to perform the song during their last show held in 1996. 28. Who wrote lyrics to four songs on Ozzy Osbourne 's " No More Tears " album. (Photo: Metalsucks.net) 29. He noted that he received more royalties for the song "Mama, I'm Coming Home" he wrote for Ozzy, than for all the songs he wrote for "Motörhead". 30. He recorded the song "Hellraiser" which he wrote for Ozzy, and also for "Motörhead" "March Or Die" album from 1992. 31. During his days at "Motörhead", Lemmy was also part of a side project called "Head Cat", along with drummer Slim Jim Phantom from the band "Stray Cats". This is a rockabilly band that played songs by Carl Perkins, Eddie Cochran, and Buddy Holly. 32. Lemmy sings with a very high microphone while his head tilted up. He said he got used to singing like that and that initially, it was to allow him not to look at the fans during the show. 33. In the 1970s, Lemmy was asked to teach Sid Vicious of the "Sex Pistols" how to play the bass guitar. After several lessons, Lemmy gave up saying that Sid is a lost cause. 34. On Lemmy's 50th birthday, members of "Metallica" surprised him when they appeared before him at the "Whiskey A Go-Go" club in Los Angeles, as a tribute band called "The Lemmy's", playing songs by "Motörhead". The four songs played that evening were recorded by "Metallica" during rehearsals and were released as b-sides for the single "Hero Of The Day", which was released in 1996, and later also in the " Garage Inc. " collection from 1998. 35. This was not "Metallica's" only tribute to Lemmy. They dedicated the song "Murder One" from their album " Hardwired ... To Self-Destruct " to himת as well as the clip released for it. 36. In 2006, Lemmy participated in a tribute album to his beloved band "The Beatles", called "Butchering the Beatles: A Headbashing Tribute". He covered the song "Back In The USSR" along with John 5 and Eric Singer. 37. Lemmy has collaborated with many artists like Slash , "Ugly Kid Joe", "The Damned", Wendy O. Williams, Nina Hagen, Doro "The Ramones", as well as Dave Grohl 's "Probot" album. 38. Lemmy has a large collection of World War II items, including Nazi Memorabilia. He noted that the bad guys' uniforms are always more beautiful. 39. Lemmy's last appearance with "Motörhead" took place in Berlin on December 11, 2015. Two weeks later he passed away 40. Lemmy passed away four days after his 70th birthday, on December 28, 2015, as a result of complications of violent prostate cancer. He learned that he was ill with the disease only two days before his death. 41. To allow as many fans to say goodbye to Lemmy, his funeral ceremony was broadcast online through the band's YouTube channel. 42. During his 40 years of activity as part of "Motörhead", Lemmy has released 22 studio albums (23 if you take into account the album "On Parole" which was recorded in 1975 and was shelved). After Lemmy's death, the band released the album "Under Cöver" in 2017, featuring cover versions performed by Lemmy and "Motörhead" covering artists such as "the Rolling Stones", "Twisted Sister", "Metallica", Ted Nugent, David Bowie , "Judas Priest" and more. 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On December 24, 2002, Yngwie Malmsteen  released “The Genesis”, an archival album that reaches further back than any other point in his catalog, to the moment when he was barely seventeen years old and already thinking years ahead of everyone else. “The Genesis” is not a debut, not a compilation, and not a lost studio album. It is a window into Malmsteen’s adolescence as a musician, built from recordings made around 1980, long before fame, contracts, or expectations. These are the tapes of a teenage guitarist who had already absorbed classical theory, devoured hard rock, and decided that blues tradition was not enough for what he wanted to say. What we hear here is not refinement, but instinct. At that age, Malmsteen was already shaping the core of what would become neoclassical metal. Inspired by Bach, Paganini, and the dramatic guitar language of Ritchie Blackmore and of course Jimi Hendrix whose " Voodoo Child " cover is included in the album, Malmsteen was experimenting with harmonic minor scales, fast arpeggios, and violin-like phrasing at a time when most guitarists were still rooted in pentatonic comfort zones. Even in these early recordings, the guitar is not part of the band, it is the band. Earlier in 2002, bassist Marcel Jacob issued “Birth of the Sun” album under the "Rising Force" name, also based on these early recordings. Shortly afterward, Malmsteen released “The Genesis” as his own definitive statement, featuring most of the same tracks, but with Marcel Jacob's bass tracks redone by him, reworking parts of the material and reclaiming these songs as the true starting point of his musical identity. Listening closely, it becomes clear that many of the tracks on “The Genesis” are not dead ends, but seeds. Musical themes, progressions, and compositional ideas introduced here would later reappear in more developed forms across Malmsteen’s career. Riffs evolve, melodic phrases resurface, and structural concepts later blossom on his solo albums. “The Genesis” allows you to hear those ideas before they were sharpened by studio budgets and decades of perfectionism. The performances are raw and sometimes uneven, but that is precisely their value. The production is minimal, the arrangements skeletal, and the vocals (by Malmsteen himself) secondary. These recordings capture Malmsteen before discipline overtook impulse, when speed was pursued for discovery rather than display. You can hear him pushing boundaries simply to see where they break. There is no sense of calculation, only obsession. That purity makes “The Genesis” one of the most revealing documents in his discography. For Listening: Spotify "Face/Off" - Israel's Rock Blog Follow us on Facebook  / Instagram  or Subscribe to our website

He is a musician, singer, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and producer best known as the guitarist and singer of "King Crimson", but he has played and collaborated with artists of all shades of the musical spectrum, including: Frank Zappa , David Bowie , "Talking Heads", "Nine Inch Nails", Paul Simon. (Photo by Greg Cristman) Here are some interesting facts about Adrian Belewת who celebrates his birthday today: 1. He was born in the city of "Covington" in "Kentucky" USA on December 23, 1949, named Robert Steven Belew. 2. The first instrument he played as a child was drums. He was also part of the elementary school orchestra. 3. In high school he started a cover band called "The Denems". 4. Inspired by Jimi Hendrix he started playing the guitar, it was very close to him for months when he was at home due to mononucleosis. At the age of 17, he was further inspired by a performance by blues rock guitarist Lonnie Mack, who later also became a close friend. 5. The first concert he ever saw at "Crosley Field", Cincinnati, in 1966 was by "The Beatles". He would later state that Paul McCartney is his favorite artist of all time. 6. Belew taught himself to play the guitar mainly by listening to records. He was able to find ways to imitate the produced and effect-rich sounds of those records himself, using unusual playing techniques. 7. He developed a very unique playing style and managed to make his guitar play non-standard sounds and imitate different effects and sounds such as car horns, animal noises or industrial sounds. 8. In the mid-1970s, Belew adopted the first name "Adrian" and moved to Nashville in search of a career as a professional musician, while at the same time playing in the cover band "Sweetheart". 9. In 1977 he was discovered by Frank Zappa at a "Sweetheart" concert. After a year, he received an invitation from Zappa for an audition. After he faild his first audition, he managed to convince Zappa to give him a second chance. It was an intimate experience in Zappa's living room, and in the end Zappa was impressed and accepted Belew to his band. 10. Belew accompanied Zappa in concerts and even got to sing solo in two songs. He was also a part of the 1979 "Sheik Yerbouti" album. 11. Adrian would describe the time he spent with Zappa as "Frank Zappa's school of rock". It was a crash course in music theory due to the rigorous rehearsals and technically demanding music of Zappa. 12. On the other hand, Frank Zappa would later say the following iconic sentence about Belew: "“Adrian Belew reinvented the electric guitar!”. 13. At the same time and on Brian Eno's recommendation, Belew received an offer to join David Bowie 's band. Bowie and Iggy Pop were waiting for him in the hotel lobby after his concert with Frank Zappa in Berlin. 14. Bowie picked him up from the hotel lobby in a limousine to a restaurant, where by chance Frank Zappa also dined. When Bowie tried to get a response from Zappa about his offer to Belew Zappa said: "Fuck you Captain Tom". 15. Belew recorded the live album "Stage" from 1978 and the studio album "Lodger" from 1979, with Bowie. Later he would return to work with Bowie as musical manager, guitar player and vocalist, on the "Sound+Vision" tour from 1990. 16. In 1980 he founded the band "GaGa", where he served as a singer, guitarist, songwriter and even as a drummer in the studio recordings. 17. At that time, Belew became friends with members of the "Talking Heads" band. He was invited to join their performance of the song "Psycho Killer" on stage and impressed them with his wild and unconventional guitar solo. Adrian will later be invited by the band to also play on the excellent album "Remain in Light" from 1980 and will later also play on the side projects of the bands members. 18. From 1981 until 2009 Belew was the singer, second guitarist and occasional drummer of "King Crimson". This is the longest continuous membership of a member of the band other than Robert Fripp of course. 19. One of Belew's conditions for joining the new "King Crimson" lineup was that Robert Fripp would allow him to continue developing his new solo career, Fripp of course agreed. 20. The new lineup of "King Crimson" also included former drummer Bill Bruford, and bassist Tony Levin. Belew became the first guitarist to officially play alongside Robert Fripp in "King Crimson" as equal guitarist (although Ian McDonald and John Wetton also occasionally contributed additional guitar on recordings). He was also the first singer of "King Crimson" to write all the lyrics by himself. 21. Belew will participate in 6 "King Crimson" albums, starting with the excellent trilogy of the 1980s: "Discipline", "Beat" and "Three of a Perfect Pair", through the excellent 1995 album " Thrak " to the last studio album "The Power to Believe" from 2003. 22. At the same time, Belew developed a solo career that began with the album "Lone Rhino" from 1982. To date, he has released no less than 18 studio albums as part of his solo career, the latest being "Elevator" from 2022. 23. During the hiatus taken by "King Crimson" beginning in the mid-1980s, Belew founded the pop band "The Bears", along with fellow guitarist and singer Rob Fetters, drummer Chris Arduser, and bassist Bob Nyswonger. 24. The band recorded and released two albums, "The Bears" from 1987 and "Rise and Shine" from 1988, but after three years of recording and touring the band broke up in 1989. 25. In 2005 his single "Beat Box Guitar" was nominated for a Grammy Award. 26. In 2006, Belew formed a trio that his fans called "The Adrian Belew Power Trio", which also made one performance at the "Barby" club, Tel Aviv, in 2016. Two years earlier, he appeared in Tel Aviv with the the "Crimson Project". 27. Belew collaborated with so many artists, which the canvas is too short to mention. Among them: Paul Simon in the albums "Graceland" and "The Rhythm of the Saints", "Nine Inch Nails" in four albums including "The Downward Spiral", "Porcupine Tree" in the album "Deadwing", Cyndi Lauper in the album "True Colors", Joe Cocker and even Jean Michel Jarre and Mike Oldfield . 28. Belew created his unique effects application called "FLUX", which contains over three hundred different sounds which he describes as sounds that you cannot achieve with any other equipment. The apps have received significant recognition in the music industry, including two 2015 Webby Awards and 2015 Red Dot Design Awards. 29. Belew is considered a pioneer in the use of the guitar synthesizer effect, as he was one of the first players to bring them into popular music and use them consistently. 30. Belew also designed custom models for guitars, among others "Fly" model with "Parker" company. 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On December 23 1987, Nikki Sixx was pronounced dead for 2 minutes, after a heroin overdose. ( Photo: Markus Cuff ) For the story behind this extreme event, read here: In 1987 the members of "Mötley Crüe" were on the roof of the world. Sales of millions of copies of their albums, sold-out shows, private jets and a life of debauchery and hedonism that broke even the definitions of "Rock Stars". But the band's wild lifestyle has begun to take its toll. On December 8, 1984, singer Vince Neil got into his car under the influence of drugs and alcohol. He collided violently with another vehicle causing the death of Razzle, drummer "Hanoi Rocks", who was sitting beside him in the vehicle, as well as a brain damage to the two passengers who were in the injured vehicle. This horrific accident was supposed to serve as a "warning sign" for members of "Mötley Crüe", but the exact opposite seemed to have happened. Nikki Sixx deepened his heroin addiction and it peaked on the night of December 23, 1987. During an unstoppable drug and alcohol party attended by, among others, Slash and Steven Adler from "Guns N' Roses", as well as Robbin Crosby from "Ratt", Nicky injected himself with an overdose of heroin and lost consciousness. Not that it hadn’t happened before, but this time Nikki turned blue and his friends couldn’t wake him up. Slash 's girlfriend at the time, Sally McLaughlin, tried to resuscitate him, but without success. When Nikki got into the ambulance he was already pronounced dead. The TV channels even broadcasted news of his death. But one of the paramedics refused to give up and continued to "work' on Nikki , injecting into his heart two adrenaline syringes that managed to bring him back to life. He then said he had an out-of-body experience following his death and when he woke up he still saw the two syringes stuck in his heart. The scene from the Netflix movie "The Dirt" released in 2019, describes very well of those difficult moments: Nikki went into rehab and managed to be part of the recordings of the band's next album "Dr. Feelgood", which was released in 1989. Nikki was even relatively "clean", and wrote the song "Kickstart My Heart" following that horrific event. It became the band's best-selling album and it's only single to reach number one on the Billboard 200. "Face/Off" - Israel's Rock Blog Follow us on Facebook  / Instagram  or Subscribe to our website

Although he is not one of the main writers of "Iron Maiden", he is one of the two stable and permanent pillars of the band, which has been part of each and every one of its albums and has significantly influenced its sound. (Photo: Kevin RC Wilson) Here are some interesting facts about guitarist Dave Murray: 1. He was born in Edmonton in north London England on 23 December 1956 as David Michael Murray. 2. He grew up in a poor family which often moved from place to place throughout London. His father was not in good the health, so his mother was the main provider. 3. Poverty led to a lot of quarrels at home and this caused Dave a lot of frustration. Therefore, as a teenager he often wandered the streets, he was part of the "Skin Heads" gang, and was often involved in street fights. 4. Eventually the family settled in the "Clapton" area and Dave grew up nearby guitarist Adrian Smith who became his childhood friend. 5. Dave became interested in music at the age of 15, after hearing Jimi Hendrix 's "Voodoo Chile" on the radio. He said that since then everything has changed for him. He left school, and began to grow his hair, he was roaming through record stores, and listening to a lot of music, while at the same time he began to play the guitar. 6. Among the artists that Dave listened to and influenced most of all is "Thin Lizzy", "Deep Purple", "Black Sabbath", "UFO", "Queen", "Free", "Judas Priest", "Wishbone Ash" And more. 7. At the age of 16 he formed the trio "Stone Free" with Adrian Smith . Dave played guitar and Smith served as the singer. (Photo: Breavewords.com) 8. After Smith saw the attention Dave was getting from the girl fans, he decided to learn to play the guitar and purchased Dave's old guitar for £ 5. 9. In 1972, Dave and Adrian Smith formed the band "Evil Ways" which later changed its name to "Urchin". 10. In 1974 Dave left the band and joined "Electric Gas". Later he moved to the punk band "The Secret", with which he recorded his first single "The Young Ones" and later the demo "Café De Dance" under the pseudonym "Reggie Mental". 11. In 1976 he successfully auditioned for "Iron Maiden", but the two guitarists who were then in the band Dave Sullivan and Terry Rance objected and gave bassist Steve Harris an ultimatum. Harris preferred Murray over the two. He noted that Sullivan and Rance left him no choice because Dave was the best guitarist he ever worked with. 12. Unfortunately after a few months Murray was kicked out of the band following an argument with singer Dennis Wilcock. During this time Dave returned to "Urchin" and was privileged to record the single "She's a Roller" with them. 13. Shortly afterward Dave returned to "Iron Maiden" after singer Dennis Wilcock left the band. Since then he had become a regular and permanent member of "Iron Maiden". 14. Murray was the one responsible for recruiting Adrian Smith to "Iron Maiden". In 1979 Smith received an offer to join Iron Maiden but "Urchin" had just signed a recording contract with "EMI" and Smith rejected the offer. After "Urchin" broke up in 1980 Murray and Harris met Adrian Smith and again offered him to join "Iron Maiden". After a successful audition, he was accepted into the band. 15. Murray is the only member of "Iron Maiden", along with Steve Harris, who appears on all of the band's albums. 16. Although he is not one of the main songwriters of "Iron Maiden", his influence on its sound is tremendous. 17. His contribution to writing is usually made together with other members of the band. In fact, the only song he wrote exclusively for "Iron Maiden", is "Charlotte the Harlot", which appears on the band's debut album. 18. Other songs he co-wrote are: "Still Life", "Deja Vu", "Chains of Misery", "Judas Be My Guide", "Brave New World", "The Nomad", "The Thin Line Between Love, and Hate", "Rainmaker", "Age of Innocence", "The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breege" and more. (Photo: ironmaidenordie.tumblr.com) 19. Dave is mainly characterized by the use of the Legato guitar playing technique. Dave's solos are fast, fluid, and clean where you can hear every note. 20. He is mostly identified with the Fender Stratocaster guitar, but has also made use of Gibson Les Paul, most notably in recording the " The Book of Souls " album from 2015. 21. One of his most famous guitars - the black fender Stratocaster with a body from 1963 and a neck from 1957, used to belong to guitarist Paul Kossoff who is known, among other things, from the band "Free". 22. In 1985 Dave was a guest on the song "Stars", from the charity project " Hear 'n Aid " by the best metal artists of the era, under the supervision of Ronnie James Dio . 23. Dave is featured on the song "With You Again" from the 1997 album "Welcome to the World" by the band "Psycho Motel" - Adrian Smith 's band formed in 1995. 24. He appears alongside Adrian Smith in the list of the 10 greatest guitar players in metal by Gibson Guitars. 25. One of his main hobbies is playing golf which he tends to share among others with drummer Nicko McBrain during the band tours. 26. Some days of the year he lives on the island of Maui in Hawaii. "Face/Off" - Israel's Rock Blog Follow us on Facebook  / Instagram  or Subscribe to our website