Is my music collection considered “oldies” now?

In 1986, when I was sixteen years old, if you had asked me my opinion of music that was released twenty-five prior to that (in 1961)…music by artists such as Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles and Chuck Berry was popular at that time…I wasn’t interested in that type of music and I probably would of considered it “ancient”.

It’s now 2011 and 1986 is now twenty-five years in the past!
My taste in music hasn’t changed at all. I still listen to the same great albums that I bought in the ’80s.
My I-pod has a number of albums from 1986.

Look at this list of albums that are now twenty-five years old (listed here in order of release). You can’t deny that they’re all excellent…much better than most of the forgettable “music” that is released today:

• Black Sabbath “Seventh Star” 
  
• Ozzy Osbourne “The Ultimate Sin”

• Metallica “Master Of Puppets“

• Van Halen “5150“

• Judas Priest “Turbo”

• AC/DC “Who Made Who“

• Savatage “Fight For The Rock“

• Loudness “Lightning Strikes“

• Great White “Shot In The Dark“

• Iron Maiden “Somewhere In Time“

• W.A.S.P. “Inside The Electric Circus“

• KiLLeR DWaRfS “Stand Tall“

Have you heard any of these albums? What do you think of them?
As for me, even though they’re twenty-five years old now…and nearly every one of these bands have better albums in their catalog (except Metallica—“Master Of Puppets” is legend!…these albums still stand the test of time!

Gene Simmons is a werewolf

A new remake of the movie “The Wolf Man” is set to be released in America soon (the Japan release date hasn’t been announced yet).

I never cared much for the 1941 version.

Movie poster for 1941's "The Wolf Man"

But I thought the 1994 movie “Wolf” starring Jack Nicholson was pretty good. (But I almost always like Jack Nicholson movies).

Movie poster for 1994's "Wolf"

But this 2010 remake of “The Wolf Man” looks like it’ll be quite good.

Movie poster for this year's "The Wolf Man"

It stars Anthony Hopkins and Benicio Del Toro as the “Wolf man”.
Lon Chaney Jr.’s 1941 “Wolf man” has become a pop culture icon…but with modern special effects and make-up, Benicio Del Toro’s 2010 “Wolf man” looks so much better.

Lon Chaney Jr as the "Wolf Man" in 1941

Benicio Del Toro as the "Wolf Man" in 2010

Anyways, it was reported that when making this 2010 remake of “The Wolfman”, the director wanted the best werewolf howl possible, so he auditioned many people to record them howl…and he finally decided to use the wolf howls of David Lee Roth (of the American rock band “Van Halen“) and Gene Simmons (bassist of the American rock band “KISS“).

***

Another excellent remake of a classic horror film is the 1994 version of “Frankenstein” starring Robert DeNiro.
Have you seen it?

Movie poster for 1994's "Frankenstein"

Boris Karloff as "Frankenstein's monster" and Robert DeNiro's version.

But I was disappointed with the 1992 remake of “Dracula” starring Keanu Reeves.

Movie poster for 1992's "Dracula"

Hard Rock Cafe Japan

When I came to Japan in 1990 there was only one “Hard Rock Cafe” in this country at that time.
It was the “Hard Rock Cafe, Tokyo” in 六本木 (Roppongi, Tokyo) with the gorilla hanging on the window.

Back then, I went to the Hard Rock Cafe occasionally…mainly because it was a popular place around the world back then and, as Japan only had one HRC back then, it was almost certain that American and European rock musicians would stop by there after their shows on their Japan tours.

I talked to Van Halen, Blue Murder, and Bon Jovi in the Hard Rock Cafe, Tokyo.

But as time went by, Hard Rock Cafe set up more and more shops in Japan.
I don’t know why. I don’t think they’re very popular anymore. The food and drinks aren’t so good and they’re over-priced, in my opinion.
I don’t eat at the Hard Rock Cafe anymore. I haven’t been inside one in many years.

I do like the collection of guitars and gold records that they decorate their walls with…and the KISS memorabilia that seems to be at each of their restaurants, though.

But now in Japan, there are eight Hard Rock Cafe restaurants:

○ Hard Rock Cafe, Tokyo in 六本木 (Roppongi, Tokyo),

○ Hard Rock Cafe, Uyeno-eki in 上野駅 (Ueno Train Station, Tokyo),

○ Hard Rock Cafe, “Narita-Tokyo” in 千葉県成田市 (Narita, Chiba)…just like “Tokyo Disneyland” and “Narita Airport“, this HRC is in Chiba, Japan which is near Tokyo,

○ Hard Rock Cafe, Yokohama in 横浜 (Yokohama),

○ Hard Rock Cafe, Nagoya in 名古屋 (Nagoya),

○ Hard Rock Cafe, Fukuoka in 福岡 (Fukuoka),

○ Hard Rock Cafe, Osaka in 大阪 (Osaka), and

○ Hard Rock Cafe, Universal Studios Japan at the Universal Studios Japan in 大阪 (Osaka).

I passed by a Hard Rock Cafe yesterday and noticed that they’re having a “HRC meets Hello Kitty” campaign.

This doesn’t really interest me…as I wrote above, I don’t eat at Hard Rock Cafe and my wife and daughters aren’t into Hello Kitty (And I certainly don’t care about Kitty-chan either), but if you want to see the “HRC meets Hello Kitty” merchandise then click here.

Do they have many Hard Rock Cafe restaurants in your part of the world?
Have you visited many? Do you go there often? Have you been to any of them in Japan?
Do they sell “HRC meets Hello Kitty” merchandise in your city? Would you buy it?