John Kennys Metal Show

[Black Shepherd Carnage]

All experiences are by their nature 'hapax' instances, nostalgia being as much informed by the immediate as by the past contexts. I stumbled upon Time by ELO about 8 years ago on YouTube and connected with it so much I went to the conscious effort of reifying it into my regular experience; we have a CD of it in the car, I have a vinyl of it (which was a gift, but that in itself was because I was talking about it so much), and I looked up as much as I could about the making of it, the band's prior and subsequent recordings, and so on and so forth. In brief, although disconnected from the actual time and place of its release, any kind of print interviews or reviews, it was still very possible to create a rich experience around it and thereby anchor it in my being. The possibilities for rich experiences are, let's say, as endless as ever, and judging by the explosion of great exploratory videos about music I see on YouTube these days, there is very much still huge interest among a significant young "minority" to truly sink into the broad and multi-faceted experiential side of the audio arts. Nostalgia can be a good experience, but getting too attached to "missing" things certainly doesn't seem a useful way for making the most of now.

[jpm4]

I was reading a book on the experiences of "Digital Migrants" - basically people who grew up without the internet and transitioned to using it in adulthood, which I imagine describes a lot of people posting here.

It made the point that dissatisfaction can come in two forms - from things being too scarce or too plentiful. Back in the days of taping the Soundcellar top 10 off the radio things were too scarce, as you either could barely get that music at all or you could get some of it but it cost a fortune. Nowadays you can have everything ever recorded for free or next to nothing instantly, but again it's dissatisfying because how do you place real value on something that is instantaneous and free?

Kids growing up today will have no experience of the first one.

[mugz]

...

[phil.t.mosher]

Does anyone know if any old shows were uploaded anywhere? Would really love to hear them back again just for the nostalgia factor.

Have very fond memories of this show... yeah, everything JK played wasn't always his cup of tea (and he a varying job of concealing it at times), but still my first exposure to the likes of Testament, Overkill and so many others over the years. Any old tapings must surely be nearly toast at this stage (or at least degrading)... anyone have any breadcrumbs that could be followed to hear back any of the shows?

[Dr Rockso]

I'll be returning to Ireland in August for a week. I'll see if I can find any of my old tapes when I visit my folks

[leatherface]

It was a Sunday night show .  He played Pro Pain a lot, 'Foul  Taste of Freedom' , though that may have been the 'Sound Cellar top 10' segment. Never bought their album though. Sorry John.

[Thorn]

He definitely played Pro-Pain a lot 

[leatherface]

He definitely played Pro-Pain a lot 

Ok so I wasn't imagining it then, I mean I can't remember where I put my keys sometimes but I remember stupid stuff like that 

[jpm4]

I remember him playing Ænema by Tool a lot.

[Thorn]

He definitely played Pro-Pain a lot 

Ok so I wasn't imagining it then, I mean I can't remember where I put my keys sometimes but I remember stupid stuff like that 

Yep, mid period Gorefest as well when they were rocking out a bit more, if memory serves.

[Eoin McLove]

Lots of Propain and Gorefest, yup. I started listening to it when in it began in 92 and followed it religiously till the end. As a very young kid who had no money to spend so only got a handful of tapes or CDs every year, getting to hear what was going on in the mainstream and underground worlds of metal every week, and occasionally hitting record on the old tape deck, was invaluable.

[Naraka]

I remember him playing Cradle of Filth's She Mourns A Lengthening Shadow. He obviously hadn't listened to Vempire beforehand and sounded a bit confused when the song ended😂

[Sworntothecans]

I used to tape every show on one tape, then copy the stuff I liked onto another one.

Was raging when my oul buck binned the multiple shoeboxes of tapes when the house was getting renovated.

[Eoin McLove]

JK gets a lot of shit for not being knowledgeable about metal, and maybe not even being remotely into it. I think that's completely beside the point. It was incredible as a young lad to have access to all that music.

[Pagan Saviour]

Amen Mclove. He dropped the odd informational clanger but in an era where you couldn't simply head to YouTube or whatever or afford to be buying albums every week, that show was a godsend. Like where else could you have heard an interview or track from Primordials Journeys End for example?

Just with the Pro-pain album and it wasn't the only one. I heard (could be myth but sounds plausible) that if Tommy had quantity of a shit album it would appear in the "top 10" ensuring air time and guaranteeing shifting a copy or two.