What Do You Want To Do With Your Life?

Where did you first here those words? Your mom and dad? Teacher? Guidance counselor? Friend? College professor? Well, not me. I first heard those words back in 1984. I was 8 years old and I was watching TV. A father is screaming, spitting, and sweating as his son is standing there holding his guitar... What Do You Want To Do With Your Life? Doctor? Lawyer? Baseball Player? No... I WANNA ROCK!!! That's right, I WANNA ROCK!!! Every little kid wants to be a rock star. Whether it was the Beatles or the Stones in the 60's... Zeppelin, Kiss, or Aerosmith in the 70's... Michael Jackson, Madonna, or Bon Jovi in the 80's... or Mariah Carey, Nirvana, or Pearl Jam in the 90's... at some point, you wanted to be a rock star. For me, it was Def Leppard. From the moment I saw the videos for Photograph, Rock of Ages, and Foolin' on MTV, I wanted to be a rock star. I pretended I was them playing in my sister's room playing her records and tapes. My nephew has just discovered Def Leppard and Green Day. Just got a guitar for Christmas, and tells me he's a future rock star. He's 10. Well, I couldn't sing... didn't have the patience to learn drums... and no one I knew could play guitar left handed. Anyway, I didn't become a rock star, but I did make it into radio. Now I get to play the bands I grew up with, which leads me to my shameless plug for 100.7 WZXL. It's A Whole Lotta Hair New Year's Eve on ZXL. All the bands I grew up with... Motley Crue... Ratt... Bon Jovi... Dokken... Twisted Sister... Warrant... Slaughter... Tesla... Scorpions... Whitesnake... Cinderella... and more. I will be your host and I can't wait to rock out as we welcome 2006. I can remember watching MTV throughout the 80's and watching larger than life rock stars... Jon Bon Jovi... Vince Neil... Tommy Lee... Jani Lane... Tom Keifer... and Dee Snider to name a few. Alot of people look at hair bands and think the whole scene was silly. Not me. The hair... the make-up... the outrageous clothes... that was rock and roll to me. They took Bowie, Alice Cooper, Kiss, Zeppelin, and the Stones and made it their own. It wasn't ground breaking, but it rocked and it was a 24 hour party. And then came Nirvana... that's another blog. In time we'll discuss that. For me, the 80's will always rule. So raise your devil horns, break out the pink aqua net, and make sure you tune into ZXL on New Year's Eve for A Whole Lotta Hair. I always considered Whitesnake to be overrated. But for one record, they got it right. 1987's self titled record. Still of the Night is one of the top five rock songs of the 80's. Crying in the Rain... Is This Love... Bad Boys... and the overplayed, but still catchy Here I Go Again. The record has everything you want from an 80's record. Screaming vocals... loud guitars... mindless lyrics. Outside of their '87 release, Whitesnake had a couple of good tunes, but that's about it. Play it loud, play it proud... and rock on!!!

The Miracle of Christmas

When you're a kid, there is nothing better then Christmas morning. My inner alarm would wake me up between 6am and 7am. Immediately, I would run to the tree and see if Santa left presents. Then I would run into my parents room and scream... It's Christmas Morning!!! My parents, like they were surprised, would slowly rise out of bed, use the bathroom, brush their teeth, make tea and coffee... all while I'm sitting next to the tree waiting... waiting... and waiting. How the hell was I to know they were up late last night after I went to bed putting all those presents under the tree? Not to mention eating the cookies I left out. What a rip off!!! The excitement of new toys and video games was unbearable. Just let me at them!!! Some highlights from my youth were my Dukes of Hazzard race track... my cowboy dress up gear, Nintendo, and all those WWF Wrestling figures. As time passed, my family started to open gifts after church at 2am in the morning. Then we could sleep late and not worry about waking up early. That was cool too... I got to open my gifts a few hours earlier. But also as time went on, I got older and toys no longer excited me, nor did I get them. Sweaters... new jeans... maybe CD or video game... Christmas lost it's magic for me. It became just another day. But then I started working. Now I was able to buy gifts for my parents, sister, and friends. And Christmas had a whole knew meaning for me. The reaction when someone opens a gift that you bought is great, of course if the gift sucks, you can kind of tell the fake reaction at times. That's okay, I applaud the effort. Now in my late 20's, I don't like asking or opening gifts. I just feel funny. If I want something, I'll just go buy it myself. Or the one thing I hate... I finally do tell someone want I would like and I get something totally different. Why ask me in the first place? I love buying gifts for my parents, friends, and most importantly, my girlfriend. She loves getting gifts. There's a shocker!!! The look on her face when she gets something she wants is so fulfilling. And when she gets something she really, really wants and had no idea she was getting it or I remembered she wanted it, is even better. I'm glad things worked out this way. For a short period of time, Christmas started to bore me. Now I know the true meaning of Christmas and why we celebrate in the first place, but I'm leaving religion out of this for now. But the excitement is back and I can't wait for Christmas morning once again. And someday, I might even be lucky enough to have a little arm pulling at me at 6:20am on Christmas morning. Hey, maybe T-bone is on to something? Merry Christmas everyone!!! No music to pass on today. Just put in your favorite Christmas music and enjoy the holidays!!!

Kissing 2005 goodbye!

Just a few more days and 2005 will be gone. First, we get to celebrate the holidays, which ever is your version of choice. Gathering with family and friends... exchanging gifts... and eating lots of good food (my favorite part!) Then it's back to work for you... Sean Patrick will be on VACATION!!! The perfect way to spend the end of the year. Just kicking back. A little work around the house... lots of laying on the couch... catching up with some friends I missed over the holidays... and hanging with T-bone at the Velvet Revolver show on the 30th at Borgata. Good times! Then it's New Year's Eve. Kissing 2005 goodbye... and welcoming a brand new year... 2006. I'll be, well, working. That's right, it's the second year of a tradition at ZXL that I hope continues for a long time... A Whole Lotta Hair New Year's Eve. We kick it off at 6pm... and I'll be playing the songs of my youth. Big hair... tight spandex... groupies... flicking your bic... singing loud, NO LOUDER... when rock music ROCKED!!! Cinderella... Bon Jovi... Motley Crue... Dokken... Ratt... Warrant. Not to mention the Scorpions... Winger... Slaughter... Whitesnake... Tesla... Twisted Sister!!! Cheesy lyrics... outragous hair... more make-up then Tammy Faye. I live for those days. It was exciting... it was loud... it rocked like no other era of music. David Bowie looked like a chick in the 70's... so did Dee Snider in the 80's... but the difference... Dee Snider could kick your ass!!! So tune in ZXL on New Year's Eve, it will be way more exciting then that Dick Clark B.S., turn the radio up loud, and get ready to be rocked all night long. If not, me and Dee will come kick your ass in the new year. So, you would think after talking about the 80's, I would recommend an 80's CD. Well, I am, sort of. Most of the American hair bands of the 80's were Van Halen... just with tighter spandex... alot more make-up... and guitar riffs ripped off from EVH. So let's go to my favorite Roth era Van Halen record... Fair Warning. Mean Streets... Unchained... So This Is Love. Some the best rock tunes of the 80's. VH I and 1984 get more attention, but Fair Warning rocks way more than both. By the way, I'm Hagar faithful, Roth ain't my taste, but I can't deny Fair Warning it's do. If you're a youngster, go check it out. If you're an elder, you know what I'm talking about... Rock on!

The Joys of Holiday Shopping!

I don't mind shopping. I don't even mind holiday shopping. I like buying things for friends, family, and some co-workers. It's fun to find things that they'll never expect to get.

But what I do mind...

Is the battle with other holiday shoppers. First off, I worked in a grocery store for five years. I know exactly how annoying... ignorant... and selfish shoppers can be. So I try to make myself unnoticable and get in and get out. I can relate to stressed out retail workers. I also worked at Boscovs. I'm a seasoned vet!!!

The battle starts before I even get out of my vehicle. The parking lot. Trying to find a parking spot is not fun. Up one isle... down another... find a spot, but someone beats me to the spot. Then I find another and someone steals my spot despite my turn signal being on. I'm ready to shout out my window, but the 6'7" 260 pound monster gets out of his hummer and I decide to continue on. Finally, I find a spot five miles away from the mall. It's windy... 20 degrees out... and I hate my life. Once into the mall, I start to shop. All is well until someone cuts in line. They're explaination is the person in front was holding their spot. I'm a nice guy, happy holidays... go right ahead. And then their friend... and their friend's friend jump in with them with hundreds of dollars of items. Find a happy place Sean. It'll be okay! I decide to head over to Best Buy... Kohls... Target. Sitting at traffic lights has never been something I had patience with. Green... Yellow... Red. Green... Yellow... Red. Green... Yellow... Red. Finally, it's my turn and some mini van with ten ribbon magnets on their hatch slam on their brakes when the light turns yellow. Sean's not finding a happy place. I want to get out. But I can see Swiss Family Stupidson is occupying the mini van with five screaming no neck monsters and I figure they have enough problems. Over to Best Buy, no parking, go figure? Now the fun begins... all the stores either don't have the DVD's I need... all the sizes I can't use... or completely out of the item I'm looking for. AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! Anyway, I finish for the day and fumble into my front door with several bags. Finally, peace and quiet. I can relax. But of course, the cellphone goes off a half a dozen times and then looking at the bags... I gotta wrap all the crap. I just love the holidays!!!

Onto better things... my music pick of the day. I'm going old school 80's hair band stuff. When rock music rocked and the men looked like chicks. God, I love the 80's. Cinderella - Night Songs. In my opinion, Cinderella is the most underated rock band of the 80's. Sure, they were as glam as it gets. But the tunes... a little bit of metal... a little bit of pop... and alot of blues. They were part Zeppelin... part AC/DC... part Cheap Trick. Check out Night Songs... songs like Hell On Wheels... Nobody's Fool... In From the Outside... and Somebody Save Me. Good stuff. Also check out Long Cold Winter and Heartbreak Station... both multi-platinum and filled with great songs like Falling Apart at the Seams... Heartbreak Station... The More Things Change... The Last Mile... and Coming Home. And if you see them in your area, don't miss Cinderella in concert. Even better live then on record. Rock on...

Reid My Lips... You're an Idiot!

Hey boys and girls, Sean Patrick here. Not sure what I'm going to blog today. I could talk about last nights Bike Bash... congrats to Bill Kita, but that's yesterdays news. Maybe T-bone's touching blog from Wednesday... you are such a fairy, but I love ya!!! Talk about my cats? Maybe not, I'll leave the heart felt stories to T-bone! How about that I'm not done Christmas shopping and I hate standing lines... nah, I'll curse too much! I know... I've got alot to say about the Donovan McNabb and T.O. saga.

The Eagles... suck!!! But it's not their fault, right? Well, lets take a look and see. Lets start with T.O.! Seven million dollars is not enough? I've got promo kids making seven dollars an hour... they've got a few choice words for you. So the money is not guaranteed. So what? You've already made millions and millions of dollars with the 49ers and the Eagles. Save it... invest it... something!!! You're single guy living in a house that could fit two dozen people? So you don't like McNabb. Big deal. There's alot people I don't like in the ZXL office... but I make it work. You could too. Just shut up!!! Would you be better off with Brett Favre at QB? Maybe, but he's not your QB so why even make the comment? Starting fights in the locker room... grow up before Kearse and Dawkins tea bag ya and you're really sorry!!! T.O. - Totally Over. McNabb. The T.O. saga effected him, I don't care what he says. His injuries were far worse then reported. But I'll give it to him... you tried to play through it. But the season ended on one play... MNF against the Cowgirls and Donovan through a pass to Roy Williams for a TD... by the way, Williams plays for Dallas. Not an Eagle in sight. McNabb's injuries had nothing to do with it. That game alone ended the Eagles season. Not Mike McMahon... not Koy Detmer... not the season ending injury to Brian Westbrook... or Lito Sheppard.. or the O line. But wait a minute... I may be wrong. Actually, the season ended before it started. Thank you Coach Reid. T.O. told you that he will be disruptive and you still let him come to training camp. Stupid stupid stupid. You tried to be everyone's friend and not be a leader. So you sent T.O. home, that didn't work. You suspended him. That didn't work. T.O. is uncontrollable and you thought you had a magic cheesesteak and you could make everything O.K., and now you're K.Oed. Lets talk about Coach Reid's unwillingness to run the ball. You have Westbrook who you are paying Five Million dollars to (hey T.O., he seems to be getting by?), and you wouldn't give him the ball. Just because you can't run Coach Cheeseburger doesn't mean your players can't. Instead, you put all the pressure on your QB... your injured QB... who was dealing with T.O.'s mouth, a sore groin, and the schedule of filming soup commercials with mommy. Good job Coach!

Blame T.O., the divided lockroom, McNabb... but the real blame is on Coach Reid. Have another slice of pizza with extra heart attack on it!!!

Alright, my ranting is over. Lets talk music! Check out the new Europe CD... Start From the Dark. I know... EUROPE? I nevered owned a Europe CD. Saw the videos... (sing-a-long) it's the Final Countdown. Carrie... Rock the Night... the indian song... um um... Cherokee. Okay tunes in the 80's, nothing special. But the PD from our sister station handed me the CD cause he knows I like guys with big hair. Not a homo reference either! Put the CD in my car CD player and WOW!!! Home run... I can't believe it!!! It's a great record. Alot heavier then the Europe that I knew in the 80's. A couple ballads. But they're good. The best songs are Flames... Hero... Wake Up Call... America... and Got to Have Faith. It's worth listening too. I promise. Later.... Rock on!!!

Bike Bash 2005

Wednesday Morning... gearing up for the ZXL Bike Bash 2005 at the Hard Rock Cafe inside the Trump Taj Mahal. A ZXL party with our listeners is always a blast. We get to listen to some great music... and we get to giveaway not one, but two Harley Davidson Motorcycles to one listener. Happy Holiday's indeed!!! Four hundred ZXL loyalists will pack into the Hard Rock... and with any luck... the place will be still standing in the end. Can't wait to see you there!!!

This is a short blog, cause well, I run the Bike Bash and I'm a bit busy. But I will still pass on some music to you... Butch Walker. He was the lead guitarist for a band called Southgang in the early 90's... moved onto Marvelous 3 in the mid nineties... had a minor hit called Freak of the Week. He moved on and went solo... two records so far... Left of Self Centered and Letters. The first... an all out sing-a-long rock anthem record... and Letters, more of an acoustic based rock record, equally as good. Check both of them out. If you have heard of Butch, but not from his music... Calvin Klein model for a bit... and the "IT" songwriter and producer of the day... Lindsay Lohan... Default... Pink... Avril Lavigne... Bowling for Soup... Tommy Lee... just to name a few. And he's not to be missed live... one hell of a live show. He just released a live DVD... hopefully under my Christmas Tree... maybe. See ya tonight at the ZXL Bike Bash 2005... later.

The Monday Blues

One day removed from being eliminated from not one, but two fantasy football playoff leagues, I'm handling it pretty well. I take sports very seriously and pride myself that I know a thing or two about football, basketball, and so on. Hell, we're talking about a guy that put a hole in his bedroom wall back in '94 when the Miami Dolphins fell behind 24-0 to the New York Jets, only to watch Dan Marino bring his team back to win the game. Starring at the hole in the wall, I felt a bit foolish. Or way back in the day, taking my wiffle ball and bat and going inside my house, leaving my friends outside because they didn't play by MY rules. So guys, wherever you may be, sorry. I'm a bit competitive, but it's gotten better through the years. Dan Marino and Reggie Miller both retired and I haven't connected with another player quite like I did with them. One day, I hope to pick a player that actually wins a championship and not suffer year after year in disappointment.

Women don't seem to understand the obsession with Sportscenter... Fantasy Football... and paying attention to nothing else but the game... ignoring conversation... fire... tornado... etc etc etc. But look at it this way... imagine a world where women compete for the best shoes and the outfit no one else has. Wait a minute... you do, so you should understand.

Feeling sick since Saturday morning, so I seek comfort music. That's right, comfort music. Something I rocked out to in my youth. Takes me back and takes my mind off of being sick. So I'm looking for hair... and lots of it. Dokken... Tooth and Nail (1984). Dokken ain't heading to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame anytime soon, but they made some great music. Looked silly... their videos even worse. But Tooth and Nail is Dokken at their best... Into the Fire... Alone Again... Just Got Lucky... and the rockin' title track. Good stuff... and George Lynch may be one of the most underated guitarists of all time. Also check out Back for the Attack(1987) and their live record, Beast From the East(1988)... all good stuff!!! Check out it... and rock on!!!

Fantasy Football Sunday

I live for Sunday's during football season. I'm either broadcasting live from Damon's of English Creek... or hanging with the guys watching the games and playing poker. More on poker in a minute. Love football and to add to it, I'm a Fantasy Football nut. The playoffs started this week and I made the playoffs in both leagues. I lost both. I'm not happy and that's about the nicest way I can say it. So while enjoying the games, there is lots of poker being played. Seven Card Stud... 7/27... High Hand High Spade Spit... The Good the bad and the ugly... Roll Your Own... yes all poker games. I found myself down $32 dollars only to be up $21 in the end. Good day!!! It's a friendly game, so no one is trying to break anyone's bank. Currently, home watching Brett Favre and Packers continue their miserable season against the equally miserable Detroit Lions.

On the work front, gearing up for the ZXL Bike Bash 2005 at the Hard Rock inside the Taj. Hopefully you all scored tickets and if you were really lucky... a key to the his and her harleys... compliments of Atlantic County Harley Davidson in Galloway. See you there!

On to some music you might like. You gotta check out Damone. They are great rock band from Boston. Saw them in NYC open up for Butch Walker... you'll be reading about him in the future. Damone has one record out... and EP you can buy at their website... Damone.net. Great rock band fronted by a chick with a great voice. They have a great sound and catchy songs. Check it out. Until next time...

The Day After

Welcome to Sean Patrick's 100.7 WZXL blog. I'll be posting hopefully daily with ZXL stories, my stories, interesting tidbits from my daily grind, and I will try to turn you on to some music maybe you've heard or not heard... but is worth a listen!

Last night was the company holiday party. Lots of drinking... lots of dancing... good food... and more drinking. I, myself, did not drink. I drove and made sure everyone was safe. Steve Raymond was dancing... that's right, Steve Raymond was dancing. Alli Morgan, well we hung with our Promo Crew and made fun of our good friend Kevin... and made jokes about a certain promo crew member that wasn't allowed to come because his mommy and daddy said the roads were too icy. Great kid, but WTF? And I'm still trying to figure out where all the ice was? And T-bone was gone by 11pm... typical! Anyway, good time was had by all... got my Christmas bonus... and no pictures that I'll be ashamed of on Monday. Other then that, chilling on this cold Saturday afternoon. Gearing up for the Fantasy Football playoffs tomorrow.

That is it. I promise it will be interesting in the future. Don't miss Def Leppard on the video game awards tonight at 8pm. And The Darkness... the new record is "One Way Ticket To Hell... and Back"... run, don't walk, to your nearest record store and buy this record. If you like Queen... Def Leppard... Jet... you will love this CD! Give his voice a chance, I know it's a bit much at first! Love feedback... talk to you soon...

Sean Patrick (Sean@WZXL.com)