'The Roar of L'Amour'

THE MENTORS - The L'Amour "hit" that defined 80's metal nights

Taken from a Facebook post

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There are several songs people associate me with from my era (I Saw Your Mommy - Suicidal Tendencies, Rotten to The Core - Overkill, etc.), but maybe the most associated was/is The 4 F Club by The Mentors

My approach to programming at L'Amour was to give the paying patrons the best time I could.

It wasn't about showing off my musical knowledge with deep cuts, it was about entertaining the masses in-between bands and trying to make the night more of an event for them.

On heavier nights that was easier, the bangers, thrashers, moshers just wanted to have fun.

On more commercial nights, the fun was there, but more about being "seen" than scene.

Playing Slayer, Metallica, Anthrax, Maiden, etc. was the easiest part of my job. Anyone can do that.

The challenge was "newer music".

I got maybe 50 demos/vinyl a month and when I listened to new(er) stuff to possibly play, it was rarely what I liked "best", but more about what I could interest the crowd with.

L'Amour was not a radio station, it was a fn club with people talking, getting drunk and being loud and that needed to be respected. The paying attendees were my focus, not showing off my knowledge of "deep cuts".

I also didn't want to be "filler" between bands, the soundman could do that.

When George (owner) first saw me spin, he mentioned that almost every song I played he wound up repeating the chorus (even if he never heard it before) and over breakfast one morning, we discussed my approach to programming a set.

I told him I looked for a few things ...

The album/tape needed to sound GOOD over the system, too many bands production were "sonic mud".

If it was a band not that many were familiar with, I felt by the end of the song people needed to do exactly what George said he did ... vibe to it.

Remember L'Amour was a disco and then when it started adding rock a hybrid of rock and dance club.

The DJ was the draw.

In rock venues, the DJ was who killed time between bands and L'Amour wanted me to change that.

Mike (owner) told me that he wanted the L'Amour DJ to be important to the atmosphere and they hired me with that goal in mind.

So when I got The Mentors album and heard '4 F Club', I knew I had a "L'Amour hit".

It had everything I wanted ...

It sounded good over the system; it had hooks and an unforgettable chorus

The first time I played it, I was bombarded with "who/what was that?

It was a perfect fit and that is what I looked for.

I remember Bobby G, bringing me the first Overkill album. I was friends with Gus before he was in Overkill, heck I went to the first audition with him after helping him get it.

I was hoping that it sounded decent and that there was something I could turn the crowd onto.

When I heard 'Rotten to the Core' I knew I had something.

One local band was frustrated they weren't getting the big gigs and asked me "do we need to cover Rotten To The Core?", I thought that was fn hysterical.

I remember Jon Z. thanking me for breaking Overkill locally.

I told him that the band deserved it and a DJ taking credit for playing a song is silly.

I was doing my job, bands wrote and performed the song, not me.

He respected that.

That was similar to The Mentors

So, The Mentors were in heavy rotation on heavier nights, I can play them, and the place would go as nuts as when I played 'Master of Puppets'.

I remember one afternoon, James Lomenzo from White Lion and I were driving in the village in my Firebird, and he asked me to blast The Mentors ... that's how much I was associated with that song.

Another night, Tom and Jeff from Slayer were in my Firebird and the only thing other than my cassette of Reign in Blood they wanted to hear was The Mentors because they were in my booth with me that night when I played it.

It was a different un-PC world back then and that song fit it perfectly.

It was loud, obnoxious, controversial and in your face ...

Now I get why it was associated with me

Again, I say "associated" with me.

I take ZERO credit for making it popular in the club.

They wrote and performed the song; I just did my job and played it because it deserved it and the patrons agreed it fit the club.

I got paid by L'Amour, but the club made money because of the patrons and in my mind ... YOU WERE THE BOSS!

Chuck Kaye

Ah Yes Indeed

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