Talking music with SteelHeart and More

So you want to make a podcast. Well, with Spotify, it's easy to record, edit and distribute your podcast everywhere. Plus now you can even record video podcasts all for free. It's called Spotify for Podcasters. With Spotify for Podcasters, you can even earn money with ads and subscriptions, and did I mention it's free creative tools like video podcast Q and A and pulls put the back to the eighties radio show on another level. Download the Spotify for Podcasters app today or go to spotify dot com slash podcasters to get started. Maybe this is back to the eighties radio show with the Sconelin Chang. Today, we've got a very special episode because we've got guests that are going to be performing live at the Troubadour this coming Thursday, the nineteenth in West Hollywood. You don't want to miss that, Chang. I know you are an old acquaintance of the Troubadour and many other locations on the Hollywood Strip. When you bring up the Troubadour, it takes me back into the grade eighties when hair bands were destroying metal and everybody was out there just having a good time man filling the music, the vibration la rock and Roll was born and alive. I remember going to the Troubadour and meeting of the guys from rat. I hung out with Diamond Dave at the bar. I see Sam Kinniston, there, Cheech and Chong there the Troubadour. So many great memories along with of Hollywood of the eighties. Oh my god, the rock stars that I wanted to beat down to askono. The list is well, if you've listened to Toscano and Chang here, you know some of those rock stars. So that is a story for a different day. So if you love music, you're gonna love back to the eighties. We're gonna be ready. So you remember the eighties five right, Well, it lives loud and proud. On back to the eighties with my pals to Scatto and Chay. This is back to the eighties. I'm your host, Toscato here with Ginade, the party diva who's reporting on the scene, whether it's music, film, whether it's sports. She's in on the underground. She's south of French right now in can Gina. Thanks for being on back to the eighties. Oh my god, I just I'm pulling on a gown right now. I gotta tell you it's red. It's a boostier. I got diamond earrings on. Okay, I know it's right, so a little more rock and roll. I got a white leather jacket with it. So I'm heading out because you know the after fourth Whittaker, Yeah, boundless energy and just she's walking through amazing roles. I mean just recently was Aretha Franklin. He paid the Father and it was so many nuances. Anyhow, I'm going to go see Forrest. He's receiving the can Film Festival's honorary what's called the Palm Door. It's an honorary one. Usually they give that at the end of the can Film Festival. And so here in the south of France, Forrest will be He's I've got a head out. He feedd at the twenty twenty two Can Film Festival. Because of his work for peace, he has been so prominent in helping and promote promoting is the wrong word, but fostering piece in so many different areas of the world. Of course, he's recognized for his body of work. But he is receiving this at the seventy fifth opening of the can Film Festival. Now I believe they have given this highest prize acknowledge. I think Jodie Foster got it last year. Now you're talking about Forrest Whittaker, who is this huge star. Talked to us a little bit about the reason why he's there, Well, you know, he's an Academy Award winner. But the reason that they are honoring him and he's come, I believe for thirty years he said, he's thirty years ago. He came is because he is being honored with the Palm Door, which is the top top honor and it's a it's a honorary special Palm do Or for a combination of his work as an actor, his work force film in film, and he produced a movie that they're showing tonight for the sake of peace. It's a film that has been produced about the wearing country of South Sudan, Okay. It's directed by Christopher Kastang and Thomas Sarniton. The film will be screened tomorrow in can Tonight. He gets the award, all right, and they are really receiving him on the red carpet. Okay. Yeah, this is fantastic because this is a gentleman who's come out in fast times and Ridgemond High the color of Money, Platoon, Steak at Good Morning Vietnam, in tons of others. I mean, oh wait wait wait, wait, wait wait wait wait, you're surprising me. I never knew he did Fast Times at Ridgemond High with an introduction. Yeah, he was Charles Jefferson in the movie. Do you remember he was a football player. I thought Good Morning Vietnam was his first role. Okay, that's a great piece of trivia. Now in nineteen eighty eight, since you are back to the eighties, which movie did he star as a famous musician? Ah, Charlie Bird Parker. Oh wow, that's right. And I believe he was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Bargain. Yeah, you are good. So the guys had a great body of work. He happens to be a fellow Trojan. This is in LA. I know you're around the world with the show, but a lot of La listens to the show. He's a fellow Trojan. I graduated from usc also, and he was a football player. And one fact about Forest, because I'm kind of a family friend, I didn't tell you that his daughter and his ex wife, who they're all very very friendly and very wonderful and a loving family. They're on the board of the Better World Awards Rock for Humanity b WA r OC for Humanity buying the executive producer on that and that website is BWA RC dot org. I have to plug that because the Academy Awards actually gave sent me a note saying hey, because I had asked them two months ago, when will Academy Awards be in with COVID. They couldn't commit. They say, we probably won't know until mid May. Well, I got an email which was really courteous. They're going to be doing the Oscars next March twelfth. As executive producer of BWA r OC, we were doing March eleventh, so we cannot because a lot of the celebrities and the artists and the musicians come to our event in Florida, and the Pompino b Champath Theater has given us a clause and said, no problem, pick another date. So we're gonna know soon. We're gonna announce it here, probably April first. And listen, we have got Pitbull on that show and I know you were back to the eighties guy, but his kind of music works all the time. And we've got other announcements coming up, looking forward to that stick around. There's more on Back to the eighties radio. Nobody has the movie I want. Hey, if it's on video, Blockbuster probably hasn't. I mean we have over ten thousand videos. Wow, I'll watch She's fastly having back tomorrow. I promise we relaxed and Blockbuster you can keep your videos for three evenings, so take home plenty and use our twenty four hour quick drop. Do you have any children's videos, sure, Blockbusters America's Family Video Story. You know we have more kids videos than any place else. Any More movies, more nights, more fun. What difference commercials? Dad music? Good? Now it's zero commercials. Please help supporting us in your donation today. We all going back to the eighties. This is back to the eighties here with Ginade the party Diva. Do you have anything else for us that's tasty for thank you? You're in the Hollywood. Maybe yeah, I do. I have conntacted someone that I think is going to come on your show on this show tonight, because we're talking about peace, which was always talked about in the eighties, and it started up in the sixties, but really got strong with Live Aid in the eighties. Millie. He's a rock legend that you know was he was a lead vocalist from Steelheart, and you are going to introduce him on the show because he has a new song that's going to drop for Peace, So he's going to introduce that to you. Talk about twenty seven, which is this Thursday, May nineteenth at the Troubadour. Can we regroup on those great, great, great artists who are going to be performing. Millie is going to attend steel Hart. Okay, we're working on getting Gene Simmons. Haven't confirmed that yet from Kiss, but it's going to be a great show. Did you you you're going yes, Oh yes, I am going to be there, hopefully it's me and a guest. And I'm just I'm just excited about the opportunity because you have people that are going to be from all walks of the entertainment industry going. Well, you know, I mean we talked about of course these are we're honoring these people and their legends, and of course they are doing their best to give a tribute. But what I really love about the tribute or it's intimate enough, seem like it's insider. You're there and you know, no one else got in and yet large enough that the acoustics is excellent, and that's you know, of course, we forget about all that element that makes it rock history. I love the rock history, and I love for you to tell me what famous thing happened. I'm putting you on the spot. Oh please, Joe the Door in the eighties. Well, one thing that everyone has to know is, and I've mentioned this before, which is kind of kind of sad, but it's kind of a piece of rock history. As Janis Joplin, who is portrayed in this twenty seven show, she partied the night before she died at the Troubadour. Okay, I'm sorry, I'm la I'm sorry, I'm laughing. But we've got so many threads of things happening at the Truth at the Troubadour. We also have Robert Johnson who Muddy Waters, Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan. They all say he is the unsung hero. He was the preface to Rock and Roll. It's his one hundred and eleventh birthday. About that, and it's on the day of the opening. Now, don't forget Vacaville, don't forget San Francisco. Don't forget Santa Barbara. I was you see Santa Barbara my first two years of school. Okay, that beautiful Santa Barbara. This would be the coolest moment for Santa Barbara to wake up and go to the show that's going to close the run. Okay, So did you put the tour? I mean, I'm very on it because I've been on the inside in Vegas, was bored with a lot of these shows that they say, oh, go to this, and then people just sitting around with cocktail said, see twenty seven. Go to twenty seven. You will have fun and you feel like you go through this adventurous voyage through these periods. There's a level of offensic and tee. You know what I'm saying. Yeah, yeah, no, absolutely, you guys can go visit our web page and we'll have more information on that. I'm not gonna promise you you're gonna be able to get in. There's only two days left, but the link is there on our website at khit com. Go ahead and look for it. Have a great time at the Troubadour that's on the nineteenth of May. Opens at seven pm, I think, yeah, and show starts at seven thirty, so you can hang a long time afterwards. Hey, there is some little fact that I love. Jim Morrison was a regular at the Troubadours are Haunting, The ghost are haunting. What do you think was the most unique musical happening at the Tubadour in the eighties. So many acts that have appeared there, from Metallica to Guns and Roses too, I mean, everybody else, what do you got for us? Yeah? That always kills me. The Guns and Roses, this has been there. I mean, I love them, and I guess LA is really even all my friends in music say LA is still music. It is the spot, it is Troubadour launched so many people. Nineteen eighty two Metallica, I believe a Metallica that was their big night in La. They headline and they debuted Okay, and then Duns and Roses in eighty six that got signed by I'm sure you've heard of Geffen. Yes, our represent such a nice man. Anytime I've invited him to anything, they always write a thank you. I can come, I cannot come. That is such class. Anyhow, I'm just mentioning David Gibbons always really nice dropping down to the seventies, and I know this is an eighties show, but I can't deny mentioning Elton John did make his US debut and he was introduced by someone that really was more famous in the sixties. This is shocking to me. Who's nineteen seventy I guess that would make sense. A famous guy from the sixties who wasn't really considered hip or cool. All right, now everyone mouths his words. He has a famous song he wrote that was named after one of the president's daughters. And you know that is that introduced Elton John. When Elton made his US debut at the Tributor, Yes We Care, line was actually, did you know after President Kennedy's daughter? Is that basic that I did not know? I got some trivia for you in nineteen seventy four. In nineteen seventy four at the Truebadoor. I don't know if you know this, but John Lennon, Harry Nielsen, and Ringo Star were ejected from the club for drunkenly heckling the Smothers brothers. I know what, someone asked me. I'm only knew this for this reason. I didn't know the date. Someone wrote me saying I heard you went to the twenty seven show. What do you think? I said, it's really great. It's going to be at the Troubadour and you should see some of this trivia. And I wrote him a little like bullet point quick, you know notation. That's why I was surprised. I mean I was even surprised Billy Joel made his debut. There. We can go on and on the long history with the Troubadour, and you don't want to miss it. This nineteenth at seven pm. You're gonna go see twenty seven the show. It is a rock tribute that you will never forget. I want you guys to check out b W A, r OC Dot or Gina. I can't thank you enough for being on Back to the Eighties. Don't miss Gina d the party diva who's reporting on the scene from cannon driving to the awards ceremony right now, right now, as I'm talking right now. Okay, Hey, I'll get your picture for us. You got it. Thanks for joining us. We'll see you probably next week or sometimes. This is the one and only Back to the Eighties Radio. We're gonna be right back, so dunk away. Hello, this is your doctor speaking. I detect a large amount of social media usage in your life intense. I am recommending you go back to the eighties. If you can't wear a spandex jumpsuit, what can you do? This back back to the eighties. This is the one that will way back to the eighties. Radio with us in studio, we have a very very special guest name. You've heard his voice from albums to movies. Concerts with us in studio we have Milienko Steelheart, Matta Jevic. You did perfect. Minicho Matievich, best known as the lead vocalist and songwriter for, of course, the rock band Steelheart. And you know what, one of the things that caught me and I was talking to my wife a little bit earlier, right before you and I started talking, you were in the two thousand and one the movie rock Star singing the voice for Mark Wahlberg's character Chris Izzy Cole. Correct. Yes, that was the voice and the song We All Die Young I contributed was. That was one of my songs that was on my third album, The Wait Record. We recorded it for that movie. The notes that you reach are just phenomenal. So yeah, I love it. I love it when when a rocker can reach those notes. Oh my gosh, like that you like, If I'm not mistaken, The van came out Steelheart in nineteen eighty nine. Was that the release of Steelheart? Correct? No, it was. Originally it was called Red Alert, but we had to change the name because there was a DJ Red Alert in New York. So then we scrambled this funny the last minute the album was done, everything's done, We're sitting and scrambling coming up with a new name, and we came up with Steelheart. Read at Barney's Beanery here in Los Angeles. Actually, yeah, that was the birth of Steelheart in nineteen eighty nine. And that first album, Steelheart, sold over a million copies. Is there a more precise number. Yeah, there's a lot more of that worldwide. I don't know the exact number, but it's the way over two million, and probably could have been even more. But we came in a tail end of you know, the whole rock era and then grunch took over kind of thing. So I think that we came in like the nineteen eighty six or something. I feel it would be pretty pretty intense. But you know what was beautiful is that there's so many people rediscovering the band now and actually doing cover songs of my songs now that are people are twenty twenty one years old. Who knows, maybe as a whole new beginning here, you know, I do know. A little birdie by the name of Ginade. The party Diva said that there is a possibility that we may be able to see you if you go to the Troubadour on the nineteenth of this month, of course, in a couple of days to see twenty seven the show, the Ultimate Tribute. I am gonna go. I'm gonna go, and it's really interesting. Now. First of all, I don't know if you guys know. I was also the singer for the Doors for a while with Raymond's Eric and Robbie Krieger. Yea, John didn't, but I did two major tours at Transcending the late Jim Morrison, and well, Jim passed away to twenty seven as well, you know, and close to birthdays in November thirtieth, and I think he passed was it December or something or third or fourth or something like that. Yeah, So I mean, ironically gate the death of twenty seven. Somehow they spared me because in nineteen ninety two, after my second album. We were on the road. My manager said, hey, you want to do We were on a forty nine show and he said, hey, you want to do another show and we'll make a fifty and then we'll go home and relax for a minute before we go back out. And so, yeah, great, let's do it. Went to Denver Arena and we're performing Halloween night. They had these lighting cross to stand app on both sides of the stage, but they then secured to the ceiling. You know, I'm rocking out and I just barely touched one man and it just I fell at wobbling and I try to get out of the way and as I'm running trying to get out of the way, jumping over the monitors, it hit me directly in the back of the head and I hit the stage face first, broke my nose, my cheek bone, so I said, my back, my knee. It was awful. I would out. Yeah, without doubt, I should have been dead. And you could watch it actually on YouTube. You watch accident. You were performing Dancing in the Fire. If I'm not mistaken from the Tangled in Rains album, that's right, Dancing in the fire and the fire definitely burned me, so it was so you know, it's kind of interesting. It's like, I, um, I kind of almost went into that, you know, that whole energy space for some reason. And uh, but you know, they didn't take me right take me. And I was just turned twenty eight. I believe, literally just turned twenty eight. So I was twenty seven. So maybe that's why I didn't count because it didn't I mean, I was right there. Yeah, you were spared. And then Steelheart had a new lineup, released the album Weight in ninety six, and then the album Good to Be Alive in two thousand and eight. Yeah, yeah, it was. It was. It was an insane recovery. I don't even know how I made the Weight record. Honestly. It was weird because it's just the accident was it's just so prolonged that I lost memory and then I became fuzzy, and then I was in and out and I was here, I was there. I was just never present, you know, and taken years, years to uh to really recover and kind of put the electrods back together, you know, And right now I feel good. You're listening to back to the eighties in the state of breathing, things it comes. He comes on with the co We are back here at back to the Idies Radio with us today we have Steel Hearts. We were talking about the music business and very lightly and we talked a lot about what's going on today. But one of those things that's going on in a couple of days is at the Troubadour, the twenty seven show. And I know you're going to be there. What are you looking mostly forward to that night? You know what I'm considering This actually is a very interesting show. You know, I think it's a it's an amazing concept. But I'm going to going Therefore, I want to see what level of energy or spirits, gods or whatever you want to call it come through the people who are representing the artists have passed. That's what I want to see. I want to see how much they've been touched by Because if you're doing let's say, I don't know who's doing Jim Morrison, I don't know who's doing Hendricks, Janis Joplin, you know those are some powerful energy people. Yeah, and you can't just do that. You got to be that, you got to feel that, you gotta be in it. And I am That's what I'm looking for. I'm looking to see, you know, the true honesty of people portraying you know, or transcending should I say, transcending the energy. And I'm looking forward to see, you know, how that comes through. A great thing to be looking for, because I know a lot of people are just saying I just want to hear Jimmy Hendrich or Robert Johnson or Kurt Cobain or Amy Winehouse, etc. But to experience if they have, you know, as I was talking with one with Gabe Masca, who portrays Kurt Cobain, said, you know, if you're I mean, you're bringing the spirit, the soul of this artist, that's a heavy load. That room should be filled with serious energy. Yeah, you know, if it's honest and if it's done with honesty. It's like there's a lot of people that can sing, you know, it's one thing to sing, but it's another thing to transcend a spirit, a beauty. There's there's there you can tell in a second when the magic's in the air. I think it's going to be a very interesting I'm looking forward to it. Somebody told me a little bit earlier that you have a song coming out, and I believe it's related to peace. Yes, I do. I we did release it already, and it's growing. We're building it. It's growing very nicely. I wrote a song called Trust and Love and it's two years into making. When I started it was right at the pandemic, and um, I wanted to make a big course like kind of like, you know, so the world can sing it. And what I started. I originally wrote it for the unification for the Peninsula of Korea. I do a lot of work in Korea, and and at that time, I believe it was always fighting and I'm going to drop this bomb and I'm going to do this and it's human trafficking, and it's just like, oh man, you know, watching the news. And I came by the piano and I and I sat down at the piano and it was just like literally the first thing that came out, Trust and love, Trust in peace. I can't live untill I know I'm free. And I was like, okay, well this is coming too fast, easy, so let me just go with it. So I started writing it and I wrote in English, of course, and I put on my website. I put the chorus up me singing it, and I reached out to all my fans. I said, hey, guys, please sing the chorus and send it to me. I don't care if you're good, bad, I don't care. Just give me your soul, give me your heart, and sing it and send it to me. And I got over like close at three hundred and fifty people that sent me in their vocals. Some sounded great, some didn't sound so good. It didn't matter, you know, and some even sang into the phone with it with a video. And sadly, one of the girls I know, she came to my backstage so many times. She had cancer and she passed away during that was the last thing she sunk, you know, my chorus, and I believe she died week or two after that. So I did. I put everyone on the chorus, and the song it just kept growing. We did. I sang it in Korean and it kept building. And then I was like, wow, you know what, this is even greater than just than what thinking or what I'm doing. It's just taking me somehow. It just took me to another level, you know. And then I said, well, why don't I singing in Croatian? I was born in Croatia, so I sang it in Croatian and then I said, well, you know, it'll leaves across the channel there. I want to do it in Italian, so I sang it in Italian and then I was like, okay, I could see what's going on here, and then before you know it, then I did Spanish, I did Chinese, I did Portuguese, Hindi, Japanese, Korean, English, there's ten Russian and I did Russian as well. Yeah, and we released the English version and you could see the video if you want to see Trust and Love English version or Trust in Love Korean version. The video is pretty intense. We don't really see videos like this anymore. This is like back in a day we would make these incredible videos, things that are, you know, just really cool videos that people would spend money on. Nobody spend money on videos anymore, which I understand because it's all free and it's kind of like crazy. But I don't know. I did it because I wanted to do it. It's my gift to the world. It's my gift. We had to see if I could raise the vibration, you know, because I feel I feel a new world this yere. We all know something new is right in front of us. Yeah, and we have one person testing our intelligence right now. You know, there's a there's a quote that I found that came from you. That is where you say, quote my heart tells me the time is now for us to rise to a new vibration and find peace in ourselves, the respect for each other, and then the understanding will follow effortlessly and quote and that is ground shaking. You know, there have been very few songs throughout these decades that can that can move mountains, and I think this is one of those. Well, I appreciate, thank you. I really really hope it reaches the hearts of millions. All right, this is steel hard, this is millienko with trust and love. I want you to think about it. Close your eyes because this is an inspirational answer support of global peace. Do you su color story in this stream in the hands of the breathe sucker? So can your grace bel there's a new word coming on. Just open up your heart, dreamt it lit and tree to blow the pace content what you have to own your life, open your eyes and flo looks take s jos can. All I can say is wold one of the slogans or models for back to the eighties. Radio is introducing the eighties to a homely generation, and I think that spirit and the soul, the creativity, the compassion for something different, for change is heard through the song. I can find no better time as now to be playing and singing this song. No perfect, Yeah, thank you. I mean it's uh. I'm happy that it's that you see it, and I truly hope that you know it catches on and the world sees it because it's, um, it's honest. Maybe that's the best way to say. It's honest. It's not it was I didn't write this with respect to all. You know, everyone's helping Ukraine, and I really respect that. Yeah, but I didn't invite it to to jump on a bandwagon, so to speak. I wrote this two years ago. This was two years in the making, just to be released now and again, like I said, it's something else driving me, something else doing this is not just me creating this. You know, there's a lot of elements that I don't even know how it came together. The video, there's over seven hundred people in this video that created this video. Jaz Yeah, I had Robert Altman, Bobby Altman, as my first DP, who is the late Robert Altman's of son. I mean, really powerful people came together on this and that's what it's about. The song is about the unification of people, putting people together and rising to in the vibration at time is now? It is? This is it? Time's kicking, guys, it's ticking. Need to live. Yeah, steel Heart Villienko, thank you for joining us here at Back to the Eighties. We were excited to be able to meet you hopefully on Thursday on the nineteenth at the Troubadour in West Hollywood. All right, thank you for having me. Commercials Dad music good now, it's zero commercials. Please help supporting us in your donation today. We all going back today eighties. This is Back to the Eighties. Co producer, musical director and guitarist of the twenty seven show, which is going to be at the Troubadour in West Hollywood on the nineteenth of May. Doors open up at seven. Eric Himmel, welcome to Back to the Eighties. Well, thank you, Mario, thank you for having me. I'm really supposed to be here. Thank you so much. How did this whole twenty seven show come about? Okay? Well, I will try to give you the cliff notes version of the twenty seven show. Sure four to twenty seven show. We have to rewind just a little bit because I had a Monday night residency at the world famous Piper Room in Los Angeles for six years and it was a variety show. I featured twenty thirty forty of the top touring musicians, a list vocalists, I had anybody that was anybody in music comes through and performing my night. It was a very eclectic night, completely unrehearsed, and that was kind of my home base in Los Angeles for the last six years. And you know, I would go out and tour as a as a side artist and participate in some of those things. And the reason I bring that up is because I was doing this show for quite some time and the Kurt Cobain gave maskas who you will be featuring on the show. Yeah, he was performing at the night and he actually was performing at fun Nirvana songs with some other touring musicians and as young in the crowd by name of Rainy L. P. Trolley and Rainy is a student of Adnance to Shog the richest man in the world in the eighties, so Rainy was his right hand man and businessman. But Rainy actually for ten years always wanted to get into the entertainment business, and with the writer out of San Francisco, James Delsandro, they both had this idea to put on an event, movie, any type of project that was related to the twenty seventh clubs. So I actually had no involvement with the initial concept of it, but Rainey was an attendance at My Night and saw Gabe performing a few Nirvana songs and it sparked his memory of law, I've always wanted to do this project, and Rainy's a big student of the Napoleon Hill book Thinking Grow Rich, and he saw that as a moment of opportunity to revive this project. And we were put in touch myself in Ramie, and within two weeks we created the entire life show, developed it, tastic, produced it, and directed the entire thing, and did the debut performance. Actually March tenth, twenty twenty, this day before the world shut down, was the last performance of the Tributor Club, and that is actually the real backstory of how twenty seven came to be. We did one performance with two weeks notice sold out the Tributor in LA and then the world shut down. Actually the genesis of this project. You pulled this off within two weeks with the group that you're involved with before, right before the world shut down, and today, I mean, you guys have come so far. Talk to us a little bit about what happened next. Right, So during sound check, it was it was quite interesting because you know, our drummer at the time, he was getting text messages and you know, we finished the song in the sound check and he goes, oh, I just had my weekend shows cancel. And the bass player looked at this song, he goes, yeah, I just had a tour cancel. So as we were getting ready to do this massive show, everybody's just world was falling apart, and somehow that night it was it was just a magic, a magic moment, that whole show. And we filmed it with five cameras. We took the audio, mixed the audio, and we did a multi camera presentation of the of the show. And that show was a It was a two and a half hour show and not one person left. We played the full versions of every song. We did three or four songs for artists, and we really did. The show was a little was quite different from the show that we're going to do with through to our next week on the nineteen nineteen, and it's quite different from the Vegas show that we did. So to get you to where we are now, and we're sitting around and you know, the world is chat down. We have this video and you know, by June it's ready to go and we're just viewing party and watched it and I was like, what are we going to do with this? And we saw we started to see that Lars Vegas was getting a little looser, you know, they realized that they had to open up and find a way to do the business. And I'm like, okay, this wouldn't be a good idea. So around I'd say November twenty twenty, we we just started cloth around Raymy, the producer of the show, he's had a really long stint in Vegas where he would go every weekend for two or three years. And his casino host Steve Speer, who helped get us to the right people in Vegas. I mean he told us that Ramy was bringing a million dollars every weekend to gamble us. So Ramy has us bad. Yeah, Raymy and Las Vegas have quite the long history, so it just made sense. And through November killed April twenty twenty one, we were negotiating and all of a sudden things would shut down again un there would be more restriction, so we never really got We never could get ink to paper until April thirtieth, twenty twenty one, and we opened May nineteen, twenty twenty one. It was the fastest anybody's ever put in a residency show together within two weeks. Once again, in a two week timeline, merchandise was created, light design was done, set design was done, performers were rehearsed, and we were in Las Vegas nine one hundred and thirty shows at the Virgins Hotel. Wow. So I guess you could say the planets aligned and the universe was basically blessing you guys with something that was just in the making and something that was going to bring so much to a generation that has been lacking that knowledge of how music used to be. Wouldn't you say, Yeah, it's quite interesting that even myself, for a moment, I'm like, I'll think this is impossible to put together, and I'm the one having to put it together. And for a second, I'll think like there's no there's no way. But then when you have the faith and you have a vision and you see the end product and you're determined enough, it does fall into place. And this show, for whatever reason, has we've had hiccups along the way, but when it comes time to deliver something in such a short period of time, we've found a way with the right team, and we deliver it and it's in its world class And you know, we had a lot of great reviews in Las Vegas. But in your second point is you're right. I mean, this is what's special about this show is people in attendance that maybe are from this current generation or one before, never had the opportunity to see some of these artists. So we really try to be as authentic as possible. We studied meticulous photographs and videos of their altbs. I mean, we really did our best to make you feel like you are in nineteen you know, late sixties Janis Joplin and you know, Jimmy Hendrix, and you know, we really did our best to bring that experience people. Because yeah, you're right, I mean I certainly never got to experience any but any one house so right right, and then you and then you have, of course the gentleman who your show opens up, I believe is mister Johnson. Is that correct, Robert? Yeah, Robert Johnson the original blues legend, So I mean he his music was all acoustics, delta blues. He was the creative jalta blues. But he wrote Crossroads. He wrote the song Me and the Devil Blues. He also wrote sweet Home Chicago, which you know every blues player Joe bonamassa Ara Clapp and everybody who's played that's Arara Clapp and is a really famous version of it. So we he's the beginning of the show and really tied of it together because he's famous in the and the movie Crossroads with Steve Vindoes that's Joan Sure, was Ralph Manto and Steve Why there are you? Yeah, So his legacy is not really well known by the people that listen to Amy Winehouse, but all the other five artists in the show have a deep history with the blues and they all it all ties really back to Robert Johnson. And the show is you're taking on this journey and it's narrated by John O'Hurley from side Belton. He explained how Kurt Cobain how his influence has come from Robert Johnson in any y how so, But Robert, you're right, Robert Johnson is an overlooked but he's the center point because the legend is that he sold his soul to the devil for his insane talent that he has. Yeah, and if you're just joining us and you guys do, get the chance to have a day off on Thursday, the nineteenth of May, I cannot stress how cool, how amazing and important it is musically for your soul, for my soul, that you attend at the Troubadour. What time, Eric, do the doors open? I believe seven pm? Seven pm? Yeah, in a show at seven thirty, you can somehow get your butt over there. I guarantee you're going to have the best time ever. We do have some tickets still available, but Los Angeles is a very week up town, so it's best too at this point, jump on them as quickly as possible when you hear that they feel interested, intending, because they will go at one point, they will go much faster and we will be we will be sold out. Don't go away, We're gonna be right back and back to the eighties. I love the show, highly recommended. All the acts were amazing. What was your favorite, Amy Winehouse? Of course, I felt like we had ghosts from the past, like singing to us was loud, it was boisterous, it was real, rattled you write up, rattled you write off. It was awesome. All of them look exactly like who they were representing and sounded even better. The show was ten out of ten. Cobain was my favorite by far. Honestly, it was the best I've ever heard. I thought that Hindricks it looked like Hings, greatest musical icons in our history, who were gone at such a young age. It's it's an amazing tribute, really really good. The whole show, top to bottom. This show is unbelievable. It really feel like here, such great night. I come down check out twenty seven. You're gonna love it. Hey, if you listen to rock and roll radio in the eighties, then listen to this Toscato and Chang. They will transport you back in time, back to the eighties. This is the one and only back to the eighties radio show. We are talking with co producer, musical director and guitarist Eric Himmel. And something that I really want to know is why you chose the artist that you chose from from Hendrix to Winehouse to Cobain, why did you choose the group that you have? Yeah, well, the you know, the show being twenty seven. I mean, we cattle this twenty seventh club, this mystery spig amongst all these extremely talented musicians that they all at twenty seven, an conspiracy theory about it. And we you know, when we created this show, it's really a musical journey because you have blues, you have rock, you have R and B, you have run, you have you know, psychedelic roun I mean, you really go on a musical journey. And the interesting thing allowed shows, if you don't like one artist, you're gonna like one of the other five. So you know, it's really appeals to a lot of people. But we chose these these six specifically because of the twenty seven death day, and and there's a few others that you know, we wanted to add. We would love to have had Brian Jones from The Rolling Stoney Guys twenty seven in the show. We don't feature Brian Jones. We really wanted to focus on the famous vocalists that have such a huge impact in society that the counterculture movement, you know, Janis Choplin, Jim Morris, and Jimmy Hendrix, will three. I mean, they they had such a such a huge influence in the world. And also all five of the artists tie into the sixth one, Robert Johnson, where he he essentially influenced them all indirectly with his original Delta Blues. And Robert Johnson only had I think like twenty recorded songs ever when they were all acoustic with just local and him. So whichow of those artists specifically for that reason, because while it's how they all tied into Robert Johnson and the story behind at the story of the counterculture, of the story of how all these amazing artists influenced each other in influenced society. Yeah, you know, it's interesting that some of the members of the Rolling Stones even mentioned that Johnson was probably the greatest guitarists of all time. So it's interesting that you bring that performers art to the stage again. And it's so awesome that we get to to enjoy that because you know, as I mentioned a little while ago, we are so needy. We're so musically needy nowadays because we tend to uh just you know, we live in a fast paced world. Everything's digital, everything is just convenience. Everything is fast paced, and sometimes we forget, you know, there was a time when you remember the times we used to go and shot for albums and we used to spend hours looking through albums and covers and music was more like an experience for us, for many of us. And now we have we've lost that. And when I saw that you guys have this this great, this great show, it kind of slowed me down, and I'm going, like, wow, what a great thing to bring the new generation something that they can come and they can actually sit down and go, oh oh, this is how it all started. This is how it all begin and the and and they all performed at a time where technology was different, how humans interact with each other, it was different. So we tried to really transport people for the you know minutes show, we really tried to center them to what it would be like to be witnessing these artists at that time. I mean, we really we really want people to be lost in the music instead of just lost in their phones and lost in this other distractions. I mean, we we've created a very heavy visual show with projection and so we it's very immersive to the point of you know, we we and we saw great results of our thing, and so you know, we sweaked the show over time, and we really saw that people were very engaged to it. And you know, a lot of the older generation, it brings them back to a time when they were experienced with music as children, and you know, we really see and our goal is to is to have that be a total experience. Well, that's awesome that the reception has been proven that it's that it shows. And a real cool thing that I think eric is when people are attending, Hey phones away, you can't skip through this playlist. You got to sit from beginning to end and just enjoy the heck out of it. Yeah, you are the guitarists. Now, are you the guitarist for every set, for every performer? Yeah? Yes. So the way it works is we have a backing band which includes myself as middle director and guitarist, and we have two guitars, keyboard, bass, and drums, and we stay up the entire time and back up all these different vocalists and we're all you know, everybody in the backing band. It's got you know, very very qualified and a long list of credits that they've worked with major artists. So it's you really you get the benefit of seeing some of the best musicians that Los Angeles has the offer backing up some of the greatest thingers and performers. So that's how that's that's part of the show works. And you guys are going to be playing at one of the most legendary locations in the entire world as well, the Troubadour in West Hollywood, this coming Thursday, May nineteenth. Get your tickets now. You can go ahead and get in contact through us add Back to the Eighties Radio, you can go through our Facebook, you can go through our social media, go through wherever you can. But get in to see twenty seven to show the ultimate tribute show. You're not going to regret it. You're gonna love it. Mister Eric Himmel, thank you for being on Back to the Eighties. Thank you, appreciate it. Thank you, and we'll see We'll see at the show. Yeah, we'll see you at the show. It's gonna be great. We are ending this rendition. I want to wish you all a piece all night. Remember to keep those smiles up, stay lifted and gifted, don't let nothing get you down. To everybody out there in Christis, remember tomorrow is a better day and we all matter. I bid you all on audios ribad asta manana, asta la vista, asta lawega, say nada. And to all my homies in the old audio Ohs. Toscano want to thank you guys for joining us. We bid you a pleasant week. Take care,