The Ugly American Werewolf in London Rock Podcast

As The Wolf & Action Jackson grew up throughout the 1980s and their taste for guitar driven rock music grew, the legend of Jimi Hendrix always loomed large. A left-handed virtuoso who blew away all the other guitar gods of his generation, Hendrix remains a legend more than 50 years after his death. When the boys created First Concert Memories to help capture and share true rock n roll stories, the...

By 1975, Fleetwood Mac had already had many iterations and lineups. Started by veterans of John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, early Fleetwood Mac were a blues based band with limited success on the US Billboard chart. By 1975, they had lost their main singer, lead guitarist and main songwriter in Bob Welch and remaining members Christine McVie, John McVie and Mick Fleetwood were on the search for a spar...

By 1985, REM had carved out a following both in their home base of Athens, GA and at colleges and indie radio stations around the US. Their first two albums Murmur and Reckoning gave them a foothold as they learned how to craft songs and play live. But they were ready to take the next step so instead of retreating to North Carolina where they'd recorded their first two albums, they went to London...

The Wolf & Action Jackson are so happy to be able to share the story of Night 2 of Metallica in Nashville on Saturday, May 3. While the first night of the No Repeat Weekend was great, including the opening acts Suicidal Tendencies and Pantera, Saturday, May 3, 2025 was a special night in the boys lives as friends, fans and concert goers. Though their seats were solid on Thursday Night, the setlist...

Though The Wolf saw Metallica kickoff their 72 Seasons/No Repeat Weekend Tour in Amsterdam in 2023, Jackson was not able to join. In fact, Action Jackson hadn't seen Metallica live since 1993 when he, The Wolf and their buddies saw them in Naples during their sophomore year in college. As our show is on the same network, Patheon Podcasts, as The Metallica Report, we hoped we'd have the chance to s...

We are happy to welcome our fellow Pantheon Podcast brother Jon Verno, host of Metal Mayhem ROC, to share his first EVER concert at the age of 13 - Ted Nugent live in Rochester, 1980. Hear Jon share what it was like as a brand new teenager to witness the sights, sounds and smells of his first ever live show and how it made an impression that has lasted to this day. Verno has seen hundreds, if not...

By 1985, Motley Crue were in a tough place. Though they'd achieved success, wealth and worldwide fame thanks to their first 2 albums Too Fast For Love and Shout At The Devil, the band were suffering from some setbacks. Vince Neil had driven his Ferrari while drinking and caused a crash that ended up killing his friend Razzle Dingley of Hanoi Rocks. As he worked to stay sober and navigate his legal...

As long time listeners of the show know, The Wolf and Action Jackson were and remain huge fans of The Police. When they were 10, Synchronicity and Every Breath You Take ruled the albums and singles charts while being broadcast hourly on MTV. We'd thought we'd found the rock band we'd grow up with. However, lead singer and songwriter Sting had other plans. He'd grown tired to the infighting with An...

Listeners of our show know of our love for Led Zeppelin and their iconic lead singer, Robert Plant. Already this year we've devoted 2 shows to Physical Graffiti as it turned 50, a show on The Firm's debut album featuring Jimmy Page and one on the documentary Becoming Led Zeppelin which is now available on streaming services. And though we've reviewed several classic Zeppelin albums, we've also gon...

While Dire Straits were a solid band that had radio hits since their first album was released in 1978, there was nothing to portend the outrageous fortune they would find in 1985 with Brothers in Arms. Their previous album, Love Over Gold, failed to go platinum in the US or produce any big radio hits. Twisting By The Pool from their 1983 EP was catchy but also kitschy and made some wonder if they...

By 1980, Pete Townshend was 34 or 35, regarded as a true legend of rock music and a revered songwriter. He was one of the true pied pipers of rock n roll. The only problem was, there was no such thing as a middle-aged rock star. In 1978, the death of Keith Moon hit him hard and put in the question the future of The Who. Punk music was railing against old bands like The Who and while Pete was with...

We all have vivid memories of our first rock concerts. You know the ones - when you're young, full of anticipation with no knowledge or understanding of the assault on your senses that a great rock show brings. These are the moments we capture on First Concert Memories and for episode 21, we have none other than Brian Slagel. Yes metalheads, THE Brian Slagel who founded Metal Blade Records more th...

By 1980, Judas Priest were ready to take on all the world! Fresh off their classic live album Unleashed In The East, Priest were ready to conquer America and the world with a more pop sound. Priest hit the charts with songs like Living After Midnight and Breaking The Law and offered new anthems to the teenage set with United and Metal Gods. But they stayed true to their heavy metal roots with song...

As long-time followers of our show are aware, The Wolf and Action Jackson are HUGE Led Zeppelin fans. When it was announced several years back that there would be a Led Zep documentary coming, we were psyched and knew that we'd not only have to go see it on the big screen but do a review on UAWIL. However, we we didn't know that director Bernard MacMahon had not only unearthed and cleaned up video...

It's possible that Aerosmith is the greatest American rock band of all time. And in our opinion, their best album was 1975's Toys In The Attic which is still their biggest selling original record with over 9 million sold in the US. As it turns 50 we decided to dive deep into what makes this album so great and why it endures to this day as a hard rock classic. Yes, it has singles that were popular...

Bad Company hit the scene in 1974 in a big way. Signed to Led Zeppelin's Swan Song label and managed by Peter Grant, the supergroup composed of Paul Rodgers (Free), Mick Ralphs (Mott the Hoople), Boz Burrell (King Crimson) and Simon Kirke (Free) had a huge success with their self-titled debut which would go on to sell 5 million in the US. Many bands struggle to follow up a big debut with an equall...

For The Wolf and Action Jackson, The Who in 1989 were coming back one last time to perform - something they hadn't done since the early 80s and had sworn off. The classic 60s artists were back in a big way and The Who were touring the US doing 40 songs a night from their brilliant catalog, from their solo albums and with a focus on their rock opera Tommy to start the show. That tour eluded our fea...

By the mid-70s, Jeff Beck was a bit of an enigma. He started out as a blues player in The Yardbirds replacing Eric Clapton and sharing the stage for few shows with Jimmy Page. Then he formed The Jeff Beck Group with Rod Stewart as his lead singer and Ronnie Wood on the bass where the band tried to be more commercial. He created one of the great power trios with Beck, Bogert and Appice and while th...

By 1985, Eric Clapton's storied career seemed to be flaming out. The Rock God status he'd attained in the 60s with The Yardbirds and Cream and maintained as a solo artist in the 70s had started to wane thanks to inconsistent records, drugs and alcohol. His previous record, Money and Cigarettes, lacked hits and failed to go gold - his first for Warner Brothers. Needing a success in the days of MTV...

In 1985, Phil Collins could do no wrong. His album No Jacket Required would eventually hit the top spot in the US and the UK. He'd also have the top album and top song on both sides of the Atlantic. He won a Grammy for Against All Odds (which would hit #1), his duet with Philip Bailey, Easy Lover, was a smash hit around the world and hit duet with Marilyn Martin, Separate Lives, would also go to #...

On Part 2 of our track x track review of Physical Graffiti as it turns 50, we review the 2nd LP/CD. While there is little in the world of rock music that can stand up to the first LP/CD, the second is more eclectic and shows the real breadth of all Led Zeppelin could do vs. more one dimensional bands at the time. In The Light is an epic that builds to joyous uplift. Sick Again shows Jimmy's slide...

Though there has been lots of timeless music made over the years, punk music was the most tied to a certain time as any genre. The enormous explosion that was The Sex Pistols, the band who embodied the punk genre more than any other band, ended just as quickly in early 1978. After a media hyped tour of the US, where Malcolm McLaren had them play small venues in the midwest to encourage outrage, th...

1975, Led Zeppelin were at the height of their rock god power. They'd made 5 albums that sold off the charts, especially in the US where they enjoyed the fruits of their labors on the Sunset Strip. They were a top touring act that could fill arenas and stadiums with four of the best individual musicians in any band. They founded Swan Song Records to not only handle their own records but even signe...

Vision Quest was released in theaters February 15, 1985. Based on a book that was hot in the young adult space, it featured a young Matthew Modine as Loudon Swain - a high school wrestler from Spokane, Washington who is looking to accomplish something big in his life. While the movie had limited appeal beyond teenagers (it only grossed $13 million), cable TV and video rental stores gave the movie...

Jimmy Page was in rough shape by the end of Led Zeppelin. His addictions had ravaged his body and he didn't contribute nearly as much to 1979's In Through The Out Door as he did all previous Zeppelin records. After the death of John Bonham, Jimmy fulfilled his obligations to release Coda, provided the soundtrack to Death Wish 2 as a favor to his neighbor and embarked on a brief fundraiser tour wit...