For (all of) your eyes only.

 

I've heard other Bond fans admit it recently, AMC went on record with it a few year ago, but my heart had always known: For Your Eyes Only is Roger Moore's best Bond film.

 

I actually remember how easily sucked in I became at the opening sequence. Bond picks up a bald man in a wheelchair with the leg of a helicopter, and drops him down a smoke stack! I was hooked. The cars were amazing, the watch was cooler than anything I had ever seen, ski chases, underwater cool stuff, world traveling, a true player, sarcastic, British James mutha effin Bond. My mind was blown.

 

I was probably too young to be watching this flick, but, if y'all remember, back in the day, cable boxes were zip dial, orange back lit, manual contraptions that sat on top of our 25" Curtis Mathis consol Tv's. we all had such limited movie channel choices that we became captive audiences to the HBO programmers fancy. That is how I came to see the 1981 spy thriller.

 

Much like today, HBO and other premium channels would show movies from a recent theatrical run, but the choices were limited and the distance between the film's release and it's airing on cable would typically be a year or so. Watching HBO, at that time, could be mysterious unless you actually tuned into the tedious scrolling program guide.

 

According to GuideArchive.com, For Your Eyes Only aired heavily in the summer of 1982 on HBO. My grandpap had HBO, and I happened to live there at the time. It was a perfect storm for my almost 8 year old mind. Typically, PG movies would run during the day, and I believe I probably saw it in the morning. Even back then I was an early riser, the best part of which allowed me to watch stuff my annoying sisters would never tolerate in the later hours of any given day. Worse than Kerry and Katy was my grandmother, Eva. Eva had a monopoly on the Televison from 9AM till 5 PM during the weekdays. Donahue, Game Shows, and Soap Operas were not to be disturbed. We were required to leave her house each, only to return for one of three reasons:

A. Lunch

B. Supper

C. Streetlights came on

 

After a chance viewing of For Your Eyes Only, I immediately turned an old playing card into an imaginary code key card, and pretended to swipe my way into doorways, entering made up numeric sequences into pretend number pads along the way.

 

My love of Bond started there, and even though the series lost me for a few minutes during the Brosnan era, I was able to look backward at Connery and what made the franchise great to begin with.

 

For years I have told people my favorite Bond film is the 1969 epic phucking movie Thunderball, but in truth, my heart belongs to For Your Eyes Only. Roger Moore was my Bond for my young mind.

RIP Mr. Moore, and thank you. Maybe tonight I will try to hunt down the Seiko worn in the film?

 

On a footnote, watch for a young Tywinn Lannister in the ski chase scene, later he takes an arrow on the beach. Yeah, it's that's cool. Word

 

Nago

 

Nagos Nerd Alert will return in James Bonding with Theme Songs.

Sweet Sunshower

I wake up, open FB, and the first headline is something regarding Jimmy Page making a statement about Chris Cornell. I thought "who cares what Jimmy thinks of Chris.... wait." I panic, and dig deeper. I read the headline, and my heart sinks. All I can say is "wow." I am beyond disbelief, we lose rock stars all the time, but Chris meant something to me way beyond Bowie or Prince. Chris was the best voice of my generation. He spoke directly to the 18 year old Nago from Erie, PA.

I can't remember the first time I heard him. Probably the Singles movie soundtrack, maybe Temple of the Dog? What I do remember is how good Badmotorfinger is. Rusty Cage and Jesus Christ Pose are tattooed into my DNA. I heard Sabbath, I heard Zeppelin, I heard soul, and some controlled chaos with progressive timing.

I was early 20's or so when Soundgarden ruled the world. It was an awkward, yet rewarding time for me. I was pretty newly married, had kids and was already working for the company I have spent my entire adult life with. My inner circle was small (not much has changed there), but we all took care of each other for the most part. There was a huge portion of me that wished I could have been a part of my generation, but obligations made me take a back seat to scenes and parties. Soundgarden was a bridge for me. I loved their approach, their style, and their vocals. In a post thrash mainstream, Soundgarden was Metal in a sea of bullshit.

My son Mocha may not remember this, but his favorite song, from the time he could recite it, was Rusty Cage. He would sing that joker all the dayum time. Angie and I were proud of what we had created, even then.

Angie was the first person to text me today about Chris. I'm not surprised. We had that connection in our past life together. I knew she was probably hurting over this one too... And there it is, It really hurts. The next person was my old friend Bedo. Yeah, he feels exactly the same, and told me to get writing. I was not sure if I could. I am not sure if I am doing it any justice.

A voice silenced. One of the purest voices I've ever heard. One of my favorite voices, period. I am glad I had the chance to hear you perform. RIP.

Looking California, feeling Minnesota,

Nago

Rewatch... Rockstar.

In a fit of insomnia, I re-watched Rockstar. It's really stupid, but still pretty good fun.

If you were not exposed to 80's Metal the way I was, you probably wouldn't understand why this movie hits home. From a local band taking itself too seriously, to a overblown popular band way too full of itself, this movie gets a few things right. It suffers from the Hollywood treatment, and feels like one big montage after another at times, but watching Marky Mark lip sync "We All Die Young" is pure gold.

"And we all, die young!" What a good representation of late 80's metal songwriting. I say late 80's because the early and mid 80's had way less formulation. Compare an earlier big opus, maybe the 1983 Krokus song, Screaming in the Night, or an earlier power ballad, like the 1982 underrated track titled simply The Ballad by the lesser known Australian band Heaven. Songs of the earlier lot were a bit more raw than the over produced, bleeding heart metal of 88 through 92.

We All Die Young sounds like a song Steelheart could have done well, if a producer could have reigned in their vocalist to not sing in an octave only dogs  could hear. I need to check wiki and see who actually sings the song...

Ha! It's actually Steelheart. Wow. That is phucking funny. I never knew the producers dipped into existing Chest Hair Metal to find the perfect soundtrack for the movie.

I shouldn't be too surprised by the connection. It is BIG Hair Metal. An equally good choice for the movie would have been Hardline's Hot Cherie from 1992. Both songs are great examples of what Hair Metal was becoming. Like it or not, musically they are both stellar. Less about Hair, more about writing great rock songs?

You may have asked yourself at some point, why is Nago nerding out to a 16 year old movie at 5 AM? Because insomnia, and I do what I want. The truth: I needed something light hearted to take my mind off of Chris Cornell. Typically I'd just turn on the news and watch the continuing shit show that is modern American politics, but even that is losing its comedic value lately.

Make a Hair Metal playlist. Include We all Die Young and Hot Cherie. I promise it will get you moving. Avoid Way Cool JR, anything by Bang Tango, and don't even think about Fire House.

Good morning and Happy Friday.

Nago