50,000,000 hits and counting

Congratulations to Babymetal are in order today as their video for “Megitsune” just hit an impressive 50,000,000 views on YouTube. It was added on YouTube on June 4 2013, so it has collected some 10,000,000 hits annually since then. It is their second most successful video so far, after “Gimme Chocolate!!” that is closing in on 89,000,000 views as we speak. However, later videos (like “Karate”) are moving along quite fast as well, so the general trend here is that Babymetal are doing really well.

Watch the “Megitsune” video on YouTube.

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Emergency Preparedness Brochure to Swedish Citizens

For the first time since the end of the Cold War, Swedish authorities have distributed an Emergency Preparedness Brochure to all households in the country. It exists in many languages. If you are a prepper, it might be of interest to check this out. I have seen people on YouTube go nuts over this but it really is the authorities trying to get back to some form of shape. They dropped the ball and they know it. Terrorism was not part of this brochure in the old days, but they mention it now. Well, at least they understand that they have a duty to inform the citizens of the realities of worst case scenarios. Also, I would say this vindicates every prepper in the nation. The smart people. And that number has been rising pretty fast in recent times.

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Purple fever

Got these in the mail today, Classic Rock (issue) 249 and the new Deep Purple Family book by author Martin Popoff (dealing with 1980-2011). Have a few days off work and by the looks of it I am coming down with a cold. Darn it.

Still, good to have these gems.

Germany here we come

Babymetal will kick off their short European trek in Germany on June 1 (Rock Am Ring in Nurburg) and June 2 (Rock Im Park in Nuremberg), the biggest Festivals that they have over there. Total number of visitors will be about 150,000 people. If two thirds catches Babymetal it is still 100,000 Metal souls. Thus, Babymetal keep the momentum going in one of the most important markets out there.

Meanwhile, if you study the number of hits on YouTube for the acts that played at Rock On The Range a few days ago, Babymetal comes out on top. This means something.

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Babymetal conquered at Rock On The Range

Babymetal took Rock On The Range in Columbus, Ohio by storm a few hours ago. The concert was streamed and YouTube is full of high quality clips. Expect plenty of audience clips as well in the next few days. Next stop: Europe.

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40,000,000 hits and counting

There is no doubt that “Karate” is seen as one of the best songs in the Babymetal catalogue, and the video is pretty awesome as well. It was added to YouTube on March 17 2016, a couple of weeks ahead of the “Metal Resistance” album. It just notched up 40,000,000 views and it is still moving along nicely. Classic Babymetal.

Watch the video on YouTube.

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30 years ago

It was 30 years ago today that Judas Priest released the “Ram It Down” album. I saw them live on that tour in Stockholm and they kicked ass. Still have a soft spot for this record.

Good days.

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Kiss Exhibition at Jamtli

Visited the Kiss Exhibition at Jamtli Museum here in Östersund (Sweden) yesterday and I will present pictures here now. The collection belongs to a local fan (Alexander Johansson) and I think it is pretty great that people can see this stuff in this fashion right now. Nothing could have prepared me for the size of this, it was quite stunning. What you will see here is just part of what I saw…

(My images)

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Looking back (2)

More pictures from Jamtli Museum in Östersund yesterday. Most of the 220 Volt and Tina Moe related stuff that I found on display comes right out of my collection (I worked with them for a bit back in the day). Slightly weird to see it in a museum like this decades later.

This was on the first floor, I found more stuff downstairs. In any case I guess it pays off to be a collector at the end of the day. Sooner or later, it becomes history.

I remember creating this 220 Volt ticket for a 1983 show at Gamla Teatern in Östersund. Nobody else had done this sort of thing on the local scene before, getting it just right. I forgot to put in the time of the show though… Ouch… This gig was actually dedicated to the memory of Deep Purple (that did not exist at that point). I met Jon Lord as a freelancing journalist as this went down in Stockholm as he visited with Whitesnake and told him about this gig. He kindly wrote a nice letter thanking the lads for their dedication. Still has the letter in my collection, it was not on display here though.

Tina Moe Tour Poster from 1983. I saw a show that year in Östersund earlier when she was an unknown and told CBS about her. They signed her within weeks (as they had 220 Volt). It was a beautiful time in my life. Good days.

(My images)

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Looking back

Visited Jamtli Museum in Östersund (Jämtland County) today to check out the first film in a series that will cover local music and classic establishments that were popular back in the day. The gang behind Musik & Republik has concentrated their efforts to cover Frösön (where I grew up as a young lad) and what went on there in this one, particularly in the 1960s. Some great stuff from the vaults with local acts like Lady Kate 6 and Bad Times.

The bands of the era were unknown to me (I was like four at the time) but I really enjoyed what I heard from Lady Kate 6 in the film. They actually cut a single on the Sonet label in 1965 which was news to me. Were they the first act from these parts to achieve this I wonder? I googled this single and noted that a copy was sold for 66 dollars in 2010.

Somebody ought to get this stuff out on CD before it is too late. I would love that.

(Kudos to Arne, Jesper, Kalle & Co)