昨日 (Yesterday) was 十月十日 (October 10). Until a few years ago, that day used to be 体育の日 (Sports Day). But, along with a few other 祝日 (holidays), it’s been changed to the closest 月曜日 (Monday).
Therefore, this 月曜日 (Monday) (十月十三日 (October 13)) is 体育の日 (Sports Day). So, 今日 (today) is the first day of a 三連休 (three-day weekend).
(You can see my short FAQ post about 体育の日 (Sports Day) here.)
There are many 秋祭 (Autumn Festivals) around 日本 (Japan) this weekend and next. We plan to go to a couple of them.
Today (土曜日 (Saturday)), though, we’re just staying home because our daughters need to study for exams that they’ll will have at school on 火曜日 (Tuesday).
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I’m part of “Generation X” (born in the late 1960s – late ’70s). I was in Elementary school in the 1970s and a teenager in the 1980s.
I can remember (vaguely) the election of the US President Jimmy Carter. More vividly I remember when Rubik’s Cube®, Sony Walkman® (that played cassettes), MTV®, “Nightmare On Elm Street“, and Pac-Man® were big.
Growing up I loved Star Wars, The Incredible Hulk (TV show), Knight Rider (I’ve seen an episode of that old show recently…I can’t believe I liked it as a kid!), Evel Knievel, The Fonz, and heavy metal music (some of my favorites were (and still are): KISS (see my post here), Judas Priest, Metallica, Ozzy Osbourne, Quiet Riot, Motley Crue, and Scorpions).
Recognize any of those? Some things on that list were from the ’70s (until I was ten years old) and others were from the ’80s (when I was eleven years old til high school).
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(BTW, all of the band logos above are copyright© of their respective owners. And I got the images from the Hard Rock Hideout website).
My three kids were born between 1993 and 1996. Their generation doesn’t remember a pre-internet or pre-cell phone world. They were too young to understand the “9/11” attacks when they occurred.
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Anyways…what was popular with you when you were growing up? (Write about it in the comments section!)
Tokyo Five 
ok, listening to the ongoing conversation makes me feel a bit ancient but I will go ahead and put my 2 cents in anyway. when I was a teen the Beatles came to the States and of course the rest is history-can you guess the year? before the Beatles, I loved Elvis, Ricky Nelson, later-Eric Clapton, Bruce Springfield (is that name right?).
of course, later when I liked their music I also had teens who had music of their own and for a time, some of their music made me worry! I will admit that KISS was one of the major offenders. My son went absolutely wild for KISS and covered his bedrm walls in posters of them. The first day I saw all of those wild looking KISS creatures, I did freak out but I tried not to show it. also, we were going to a Christian Penetcostal church in the South and I remember hearing all kinds of bad things about how their music (and other rockers-who I don’t remember), was evil and if you let your kids listen to it they would be hearing some evil msg. from Satan!! and the msg. could be heard clearly if you played their music backward! since I could never figured out how to do that I never played it backward and always wondered if that was a real fear or someone just put it out there to scare Mothers. well, this is enough for me to say. I don’t want to embarrass anyone.
Kids today are growing up too fast-you probably hear that all the time. but it is so true-at least here in the States. when I was in my early teen yrs all I thought about was riding my bike, playing ball, and hanging out with my girl friends but boys didn’t enter the picture,at least not seriously, until I was 16. but now that I am remembering, to be accurate, my first major “crush” on a boy was when I was 14. it was love, but it was a one way thing. no drugs, but smoking was a temptation! drugs came later when I was married with young children! can you imagine?
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Four years old?! I remember that age!
My daughters have never cared for KISS either. They don’t like any of my music! 😉
They’re girls…so they like pop music. J-pop, in particular. (Do you know what “J-pop” is? Japanese Pop Music.)
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I have a 4 year old boy. He’s a hoot.
He could care less about KISS…but I’m working on that.
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I haven’t seen either of those movies in years!
BTW, you mentioned (in an earlier comment on my blog) that you have a wife.
Do you have any kids?
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W:DoA is a movie I haven’t seen since it came out on VHS. I consider it about the same level of good/cheesy as Runaway. It’s a good watch…not really a good movie.
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Yeah, Runaway came out in ’84 and it was alright….but in 1987 he played a Middle-Eastern terrorist in Wanted: Dead Or Alive (Rutger Hauer was the hero). That was a better movie, I thought.
Gene Simmons was never in a really big “hit movie”, though.
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Runaway is not bad. It’s cheesy as heck…and the special FX are gosh-awful, but it’s still a hoot to watch.
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1984 was also the time that Gene Simmons was trying to break into Hollywood.
Have you seen any of the movies he was in?
I thought Runaway with him and Tom Selleck wasn’t too bad.
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When I was 10, Peter Criss/ the Catman was my hero. I started playing drums because of him. I stopped listening to them for no other reason than Peter left the group. (Give me a break…I was 10.)
When I heard Heaven’s On Fire…wow. It was also around the time I started hanging around with another friend that was KISS fan and he had all the albums I had missed. (Elder, Killers, Creatures, Lick It Up.) Then I found out that Animalize wasn’t even the best of what they had been doing! (Lick It Up a much better album-IMO.)
As soon as I heard Lick It Up…I was back. Maybe that’s why I rate that album so high?
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Sir Pent…
>-MTV (it had been around, but really seemed to take off)
– Van Halen 1984
– Knight Rider & The A-Team
– Ghost Busters, Beverly Hills Cop, Temple Of Doom, Star Trek III (I can’t tell you how many times we went to the mall to watch these movies!)
– KISS Animalize
You’re talking about 1984? It was a great year for music!
Motley Crue Shout At The Devil, Metallica Ride The Lightning, Iron Maiden Powerslave, Dio The Last In Line, Judas Priest Defenders Of The Faith, Twisted Sister Stay Hungry, Ratt Out Of The Cellar, Scorpions Love At First Sting…and as you said KISS Animalize!
>I stopped listening when Peter Criss left the band in 1980
Many people quit listening to KISS around that time. All of my friends thought I was weird for still listening to them!
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Brain Trainingさん、
Thanks for visiting my site. Please comment on any of my posts often!
BTW, how did you find my site?
>I was born on the year 1984
I began high school in 1984!
>I was in high school 0n 1997
In 1997, I was 27 and my kids were 1, 2, and 4!
>CD’s are very expensive (in 1997)
What country do you live in? How much were CDs in 1997 there? How much do they cost now? (Do you still buy CDs?)
>I had my walkman.
I still use Sony Walkman® …only now it’s a MP3 Walkman!
>the only thing I recognize on the photo was Ozzy Osbourne and Gun’s n Roses, at least I know some.
You don’t know AC/DC, KISS, Judas Priest etc? You should check them out?
What music do you like?
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1984…you are making me feel old. I’m 1971.
So when you were born I was already 13…1984:
– I remember the ascendence of MTV (it had been around, but really seemed to take off)
– Van Halen 1984
– Knight Rider & The A-Team
– Ghost Busters, Beverly Hills Cop, Temple Of Doom, Star Trek III (I can’t tell you how many times we went to the mall to watch these movies!)
– KISS Animalize + Heaven’s On Fire…the song and album that brought me back to KISS (I stopped listening when Peter Criss left the band in 1980)
http://reverbnation.com/lizardsfromafar
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It’s good to know the things that existed or should I say popular when you’re growing up. I was born on the year 1984 and I was in high school 0n 1997 and those were the days when computer updates is rising. I remember those times where boy bands sprouted, and CD’s are very expensive so I still have to buy cassette tapes. And mind you, I had my walkman. Titanic was the greatest movie I have seen during that time and How I was amazed with that movie. Funny but the only thing I recognize on the photo was Ozzy Osbourne and Gun’s n Roses, at least I know some.
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>The Psycho Circus tour for me was a mixed bag.
I saw three KISS tours with make-up (and one without)…and they were all great to me!
The “Reunion” Tour because, of course, seeing KISS with the original members back in make-up was every KISS fans’ dream!
The “Farewell” Tour because I thought that was the last time I’d see them live.
And the 35th Anniversary Of KISS’ First Budokan Show in Japan because they were in their Hotter Than Hell outfits and played a smaller stage (this concert was at the Budokan…the others were at the huge Tokyo Dome) and earlier songs—like in their early days.
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Britney Spears…it’s a long story and I saw it for free. Nothing creepier than being two thirty-something guys in the middle of thousands of screaming 13 year old girls…
Satriani…on the surfing tour. Very nice. You have my jealousy.
Union. I missed them when they came through Chicago. Then I got their live concert video…I love the music but they put on a pretty lame show. Now I don’t regret is as much.
The Psycho Circus tour for me was a mixed bag.
– The 3D thing was only effective about 1/2 the time it was on
– It was mostly the reunion set-list with a few Psycho Circus tunes thrown in (PC, Within and Into The Void)
– Ace was in good form and animated at this show…when I saw them for the reunion, Ace was obviously not all there that night.
– Peter was NOT playing up to my expectation
– the stage show (other than the 3D thing) was excellent
– overall, everything seemed slow and bloated in comparison to the previous tour
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You’ve seen many concerts. Britney Spears!?!
I haven’t been to so many concerts. Let me see if I can remember them all…
In Florida:
Joe Satriani (“Surfing With The Alien” Tour)
KISS (“Crazy Nights” Tour)
Hurricane (I can’t recall the tour name)…opening for:
Loudness (“Lightning Strikes” Tour)
Faster Pussycat…opening for:
David Lee Roth (“Skyscraper” Tour)
Tesla (“Mechanical Resonance” Tour)…opening for:
Def Leppard (“Hysteria” Tour)
Kix (“Blow My Fuse” Tour) / Great White (“…Twice Shy” Tour)…opening for:
RATT (“Reach For The Sky” Tour)
In Tokyo:
Death Angel (“Act III” Tour)
L.A. Guns (“Hollywood Vampires” Tour)
Metallica (black album Tour)
Guns ‘N Roses (“Use Your Illusion” Tour)
KISS (“Reunion” Tour)
Aerosmith (“Roar Of The Dragon” Japan Only Tour)
Bon Jovi (“These Days” Tour)
Union (I can’t recall the tour name)
ESP (I can’t recall the tour name)
KISS (“Farewell Tour”)…in Tokyo
KISS (“Farewell Tour”)…in Yokohama (I thought it was their last tour—so I saw two shows)
Judas Priest (“Reunion / Angel Of Retribution” Tour)
KISS (“35 Years Anniversary of KISS’s First Show At The Budokan” Tokyo Only Tour)
They may be a little out order…but pretty close, I think.
KISS never brought the “Psycho Circus” Tour to Japan…how was it?
KISS did an outdoor festival at near Mt. Fuji…I didn’t go—but I’ve never seen KISS outdoors!
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I’ve been to 3 KISS concerts:
Hot In The Shade (great, long concert…Eric Carr was on fire that night)
Reunion (Great show, but Ace was obviously wasted)
Psycho Circus in 3D (Ace was really sharp, Peter was not playing that great)
This will be a partial list from off the top of my head…in as much order as I can:
Charlie Rich
Up With People
Bobby Brown
Def Leppard with LA Guns
Cinderella/Winger/Bullet Boys
Kiss (Hot in the shade)
Rush
Heart with Giant
Damn Yankees
Rush with Mr. Big
Extreme with Saigon Kick
Damn Yankees/Bad Company
Tony Danza (yes…THAT Tony Danza)
Kiss – reunion
Third Eye Blind/Nina Gordon/Jayhawks
BR-549
Kiss – Psycho Circus
Britney Spears
Gwar
Richard Cheese
Iron Maiden
…I’m sure I’m missing a couple and there have been non-national touring stuff that I have gone and seen.
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Not at all. It’s very interesting to me.
Have you seen many KISS concerts? Or concerts, in general?
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I have a tendency to over-analyze things, though.
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I don’t have a technical ear like you…
Kinda like the old expression…”I don’t know art. I just know what I like.” 🙂
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I really like Revenge (& was a very happy KISS fan when it came out), but because of the instrumental/drum-solo and horrible, horrible, horrible song I JUST WANNA…I can’t rate it as an overall, beginning to end consistent album.
I don’t include KISS because they still hadn’t fully developed the “real” Kiss sound yet. That and the production is a little hinky on it. They were a lot closer to the Kiss sound on the second album, but the production seems even worse on the second one than the first. The third has probably the best production of the first three…but the songs (even as described in interviews) are sometimes rehashes, throw-aways and last-minutes.
That’s why I usually go with CON or LIU for best album…the production on those was way ahead of their time, all the songs are pretty good and all the songs sound like they go together.
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To me the KISS albums that are full of great songs are “KISS 1” and “Revenge”. All but one or two on each are excellent (they both have an instrumental…which I don’t like much).
And…I didn’t include it on my list above, but “Hotter Than Hell” too!
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Actually, I think the best beginning to end KISS album is either Creatures Of The Night or Lick It Up. The songs on those albums are all interesting in their own right, but there is a consistent style and energy in all of the songs.
The album I think that truly captured the real KISS while still having great production value…Rock And Roll Over.
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I didn’t mind looking for a Japanese page for you.
No problem.
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I think Destroyer has some great songs on it, but MY OPINION is that it’s a really uneven album. I just don’t think it flows well from beginning to end. To me it sounds more like when you listen to a “greatest hits”…you know, where the songs are usually all good but don’t necessarily mesh together.
And thanks for the help with the podcast stuff…I wasn’t intimating that you should take any action on my behalf, just letting you know what was going on with my band and that Japan was one of my targets.
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