The Real Me

Back in the early and mid-80s I was not afraid to get my metal on. Man, I went to so many concerts at the New Haven Coliseum and saw all of those bands: KISS, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Black Sabbath, Ozzy, Twisted Sister, Metallica, Anthrax, etc etc...Even though I moved on to and through a lot of music in the subsequent twenty-odd years I never really outgrew metal. I can't say I go to many metal shows anymore or keep up with any of those bands but I do still listen to the old stuff from time to time. Black Sabbath, especially, is never far from my "recently played" list...W.A.S.P. was a band I liked for a year or so, maybe in 84 or 85. I was into the hair bands like Motley Crue and Ratt but these guys were something different...they were a lot heavier than the other glam metal bands and probably more outrageous (ok, ridiculous), too. If you doubt me, look up some photos of the band circa 1984 and get a load of their costumes...I was W.A.S.P. as the middle act on a triple bill with Anthrax and Black Sabbath in 1985. Blackie Lawless, W.A.S.P.'s leader and singing bass player, was running around throwing posters into the audience and I would swear the bass line was still coming out of the speakers..ha. Anyway, that was at the tail end of my interest in W.A.S.P. and I never heard any of their other music. I don't think I listened to any of their music ever again - until last week when I was putting together the post on shock rock. In poking around YouTube I came across this video, a cover by W.A.S.P. of The Who's "The Real Me", from their 1988 record The Headless Children (which All Music Guide calls the bands "most accomplished work"...in fact, after reading their biography on AMG, especially the last few paragraphs, I am mildly intrigued about their recent albums, but not enough to buy them)."5:15" and "The Real Me" are my favorite Who tracks and this is a respectable take on the latter: