'That Metal Show' is back! Heavy metal fans reunite as Eddie Trunk launches new seasonEddie Trunk stresses that he doesn't take credit for Alice Cooper finally getting voted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
It is a fact, however, that the year before Cooper's induction, Trunk ranted about the injustice of his exclusion when Cooper was a guest on "That Metal Show," Trunk's VH1 Classic showcase for hard rock and heavy metal music.
So maybe, just maybe, Trunk's campaign to get what he considers way overdue respect for the bands that he and millions of other fans love helped move the needle.
In the meantime, says Trunk, he's just having fun, and fans can share it with the return of "That Metal Show," whose next 10 episodes begin airing Saturday night.
The first guest is Tony Iommi from Black Sabbath, with the rest of the season including the likes of Sammy Hagar, Lars Ulrich from Metallica and, poignantly, Jani Lane from Warrant, who died not long after the interview.
The show is built on the simple premise of a conversation about the music among the guests, Trunk and his co-hosts Jim Florentine and Don Jamieson.
"We want it to feel like it's the same things you'd talk about if you were hanging around having a beer," says Trunk.
That can mean, at times, discussing whether some of an artist's work didn't quite measure up.
"We have to keep it honest or it doesn't work," says Trunk. "If I didn't like something, or didn't agree with something, I'll say so. And most of our guests appreciate that. They like to talk about it and mix it up, because they know that in the end, we're talking as fans. We all love the music."
As the show goes into its ninth series of episodes, it has grown from its original 30 minutes to an hour. Trunk says that once in a while, it could grow even more, if VH1 is amenable.
"The interview with Lars Ulrich went so well," says Trunk, "that there's been some talk about extending that segment to 90 minutes."
Trunk's own affection for the music has enabled him to turn it into a career. He hosts "Friday Night Rocks" on WAXQ (104.3 FM) and had a hard-rock and heavy-metal book published earlier this year.
He gets recognized in airports and hosts shows around the country, and the VH1 program is making its way onto TV networks all over the world.
"I still love radio," Trunk says, "but TV is also an awesome platform."
He also has a few more goals, which include checking off some much-requested names as guests on "That Metal Show." Ozzy Osbourne is up near the top, as are Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley of KISS, Eddie Van Halen and, of course, the elusive Axl Rose. "We invite them every year," Trunk says. "We'd love for it to happen."
Who knows? Maybe he could help push Kiss into the Hall of Fame.
http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv/2011/08/20/2011-08-20_on_vh1_trunk_show_is_proving_its_metal.htmlI know this has been mentioned before, but it couldn't hurt the chances bringing it up again.
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